justamber

My mom has no insurance at her job but she is getting EXCELLENT treatment at JPS hospital in Fort Worth. It's all free. Cancer Care pays for her meds and transportation to & from Chemo. American Cancer society has helped with a free wig, masectomy bras, prothstetic breast. All her chemo, radiation, appointmens, surgery is all taken care of. She just has to pay a co-pay of $20.00 per visit. $100 for the surgery. I even found help for housing assistants for cancer patients through the United Way since she isn't able to work right now. Hope this helps. God Bless!

Hi. My mom was diagnosed with IBC in Feb 08 and she wasn't asking any questions either. It's like she doesn't want to know. I kept asking her questions and she always said "I don't know, they arn't saying"

I eventually asked the doctor when I went to an appointment with her. I stepped out in the hall to "use the bathroom" and told the nurse I wanted to ask the dr. some questions privatly. She found the dr. for me and we talked. My mom had no idea. I didn't tell her because I didn't want her to worry about me.

I needed to know for me. I needed answers. If there are things you want to know, ask. You are going through this too, not just your parents. Good luck and GOD BLESS!

My Mom was diagnosed with IBC Feb. 26 2008. She had her Masectomy today. I have done so much research and most everthing I found said Chemo, Surgery, Radiation (&possibly Chemo again). So when her doctor said that was  their plan for my Mom, I felt good because it was the same as what I have found in my research. I think that is a pretty standard way of treating IBC because of the aggresivness of the cancer. My mom went through Chemo (with 2 drugs, sorry I don't remember the names) once every 3 weeks for 12 weeks. Then she was supposed to have her surgery but the Dr.s didn't feel like it was contained enough. So, they added a 3rd Chemo drug and the plan was to do it everyweek for 12 more weeks. Well, she started having fluid build up on her lungs and her heart was & still is only pumping at 36%. So, the Dr. said that her heart couldnt handle any more Chemo. The Chemo was doing more harm than good. So after several short hospital stays, the dr.s pulled her off Chemo and scheduled the surgery. Also originaly she was supposed to have a double masectomy. Well, they wouldn't do a double one because that meant another hr. and 1/2 of being under anestia. Her heart couldn't handle that. So they just took the breast where the cancer was. She  just came out of recovery a little bit ago and already looks better. The last CATscan didn't show that the cancer had spread anywhere. Not even her Lymph Nodes. :) They were really worried that she may have a heart attack on the table or have bleeding problems (Chemo patients are at a higher risk for bleeding) BUT PRAISE GOD!!! She didn't have any problems. : ) I am so thankful and happy. I asked the doctor if the cancer would come back and she said with IBC the chance of it returning is really high. She also said that it would probably return to the bones or liver. But I believe God will take care of her. HE is better than any doctor. Make sure you all have a good support group and lots of prayers & faith. You are not alone.