Illinois ladies facing bc
Comments
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Always good to hear such wonderful results! YAY!
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Awesome news Jackie
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Most people are searching for happiness. They're looking for it. They're trying to find it in someone or something outside of themselves.That's a fundamental mistake. Happiness is something that you are, and it comes from the way you think. -Wayne Dyer
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The happiness which brings enduring worth to life is not
the superficial happiness that is dependent on circumstances.
It is the happiness and contentment that fills the soul even
in the midst of the most distressing circumstances and the
most bitter environment. It is the kind of happiness that grins
when things go wrong and smiles through the tears. The happiness
for which our souls ache is one undisturbed by success or failure,
one which will root deeply inside us and give inward relaxation,
peace, and contentment, no matter what the surface problems may be.
That kind of happiness stands in need of no outward stimulus.
Billy Graham0 -
I am in harmony with God's beautiful world. A summer bouquet may include an
assortment of flowers in a rainbow of colors. The variety makes the whole bouquet
even more beautiful. I realize I am one flower in the wondrous bouquet of humanity.
Without judging or comparing myself to others, I enjoy the unique beauty in all of us.
I am a divine expression of God and so is everyone else. As I value our commonalities
and our differences, I experience harmony. I relax into knowing that I am loved and
that I have a unique contribution to make. As I learn to love myself, I am at peace--
with myself and others. Living in peace, I am in harmony with God's beautiful world.
unattributed0 -
Mindfulness of oneself cultivates wisdom.
Mindfulness of others cultivates compassion.
Stonepeace0 -
I posted some where else here a few weeks ago, and people suggested that I post here. I was diagnosed with BC on May 13, and I had a lumpectomy on 5/27 at St. Francis in Evanston. Dr. Hyser was my surgeon. The lump ended up being 2.3 cm, which was larger than what the ultrasound showed, which was only 1.6 cm. I love Dr. Hyser, but I decided to go to Kellogg in Evanston to be followed by a MO. I am currently a patient of Dr. Merkel there. Dr. Merkel decided that unfortunately due to the size of my mass, that I would need 9 weeks of chemo. I had a port installed at EH 10 days ago, and I was supposed to start chemo tomorrow, but I am postponing it for three weeks, because I also have a huge anal polyp which Dr. Hyser is going to remove when he does a colonoscopy on me on 7/12. I was told that I could not get a colonoscopy until a month after I finished chemo, and I did not want to wait that long. I have a really strong family history of colon cancer
I am looking for some advice from other people here though. About 15 years ago, I was diagnosed with a really mild case of Asperger's Syndrome, and more importantly with some extensive learning disabilities. My executive functioning skills stink, and I don't enjoy cleaning. One of my sisters is a doctor in New Orleans, and she came up for three days while I had the lumpectomy. She is on my case now about having somebody come in to clean my condo. She is worried that my condo is not anywhere near clean enough for somebody that is going through chemo. My problem is that there are other things that I would rather do than clean. I am receptive to having somebody to come in to help me, but I looked on Angie's List, and there are two cleaning services highly recommended for Evanston. One is girlfriday, and one is Maid Pro of Evanston. Has anybody here had an experience with either one of them.? I am afraid that they will not understand what is involved in preparing for chemo, and I would prefer to have somebody that would work with me to help me get better organized, as opposed to just coming in to clean. I did a search for Asperger's, and most of the posts were talking about their kid that had it. Thanks
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Welcome peaches1. Wish you didn't need to be here, but no one asked so we could say no thanks. I hope others will come on ( we aren't as big of talkers as we once were here ) even if it takes a day or two so please keep checking back in here. There are I think a lot of women in your area ( all around Chicago and suburbs ) and hopefully they will have had some experience with those two companies you mentioned or know someone who has.
Sure glad you have a family member ( sis ) who is a Dr. because that will/should be a big help in coping and understanding how all these things work. I think I am not typical --- during my 6 mos. of chemo which were all in winter ( a harsh one at that ) I kept cleaning out cat boxes, going out daily to feed feral cats, and doing my own house-keeping. I didn't have any Lysol or even bleach water to clean/rinse away germs. I stayed well through it all with nary a sniffle though I will admit that I got the worse case of thrush ever. I would never tell this to your sister --- but I felt like not changing my lifestyle didn't affect me much, but then I've likely been over-exposed for years and my system tolerated perhaps what others couldn't. I was amazed since I know I had enough chemo to totally wipe out everything and then some.
I do wish you well and hope you have the best outcome possible. I do hope you will keep checking in though. Sundays can be a bit on the quiet side here. I usually am here because I post to this thread daily with a quote -- so it is in my favorites list and anytime a new post comes in, I see it on the list.
Blessings,
Jackie
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Peaches have you checked out this organization? http://www.cleaningforareason.org/
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Welcome, Peaches. I live a bit south of you, in Edgewater Glen. I too go to Kellogg--Dr. Law is my MO there, Dr. Shaikh my RO and Dr. Yao my breast surgeon. My husband had both his hemicolectomy (necessitated by a colonoscopy botched in a freestanding endo suite out south by a different health system’s specialty group) and hernia repair done at St. Francis--the former by Dr. Gruener & the latter by Dr. Prendergast. I gather Dr. Hyser is a general surgeon, as he did your lumpectomy and you’re planning to have him do your colonoscopy/polypectomy. I’m generally a fan of having my doctors do just what’s in their specific wheelhouse, but if you have confidence in Dr. Hyser, then that’s what matters. Bob really likes St. Francis for its faith-based atmosphere, because he finds it comforting. (He is on staff at Advocate Christ--way too far from home for our inpatient healthcare).
Sadly, I have no experience with either of those maid services, as I have a housekeeper who started as our nanny when our son was three months old (her husband is a prostate cancer survivor but he had radiation, not chemo). I would check with the social services director for the NorthShore/Kellogg system, since that’s where you’ll be taking your chemo (and, I presume, radiation after that). You might also confer with Gilda’s Club on Dearborn and the Cancer Wellness Center on Revere Dr. up in Northbrook. These entities are intimately acquainted with the specific challenges posed to chemo patients and if anyone would have specific references for housecleaners who know how to keep your home as antiseptic as possible it’d be they/them (my inner grammar geek is hedging her bets).
Let me know how it goes. I’d offer to meet for lunch or snack, but until my derm confirms the biopsy surgical wound on my back is MRSA-free, it’s probably not a good idea while you’re immunocompromised during chemo. (Being an Evanstonian, I am sure you are aware of the comfort-food value of Hoosier Mama Pies, but beware--their calories blindsided me when I visited nearly daily during radiation).
Do you care to make your specific diagnosis profile (grade, hormone/HER2 status, estimated adjuvant treatment start dates) public so we can all better advise you?
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Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.
Immanuel Kant0 -
Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and live in the Chicago area. Wanted to say hello and connect with all of you. This whole BC journey has really turned my life upside down, and I've been so scared of not seeing my four little girls grow up. 😔. But I'm doing my best to stay positive and have faith. I also wanted some advice on medical oncologists. I've already done neoadjuvant chemo and surgery, but had some residual disease and want to make sure I'm making the right decisions on where to go from here. I'm looking into switching MO's--or at least get a second and maybe even a third opinion and explore clinical trials, etc in order to reduce recurrence risk. My MO is brilliant, but I find her to be very cold and lacking a bedside manner. And since this is going to be a life-long relationship, I feel like I need someone not only competent, but warm and compassionate as well. My MO's demeanor only escalates my anxiety, which is the last thing I need. I am particularly looking at U of C or Northwestern, but welcome all recommendations. Looking forward to connecting with all of you!!
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Welcome, Mom of Twins. Where in the area are you? If you are south of the city and don’t mind going into the city, U of C in Hyde Park, Rush in the Medical Center District near Little Italy or NWM are topnotch. (Caveat--NWM’s parking is outrageously expensive and traffic in Streeterville can be glacial). If you live west, I would take a look at Central DuPage, which is part of Northwestern’s system (a friend’s mom is being treated there for pancreatic cancer). If you are north or northwest, take a look at the NorthShore system--especially the Evanston & Glenbrook Hospitals’ branches of Kellogg Cancer Center. (I live just s. of Rogers Park and go to the Evanston branch, and my MO is Teresa Murray Law, who has an excellent bedside--and chairside--manner). My husband is a cardiologist, mostly at Advocate Christ, which has an excellent breast cancer surgeon in Dr. Barbara Krueger but I’m not familiar with their MOs. Lutheran General and Ill. Masonic are also part of Advocate. I’m not sure about their MOs. You might want to message lindab (there’s a number after her name, but I don’t recall it), who lives in the upper Fox Valley or brithael, who lives in the far south suburbs but has her care team at U of C.
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Hi ChiSandy! Thank you so much for your thoughtful input. I live in the near Western suburbs and work in the city, and all of these are fairly easily accessible for me. I currently am being treated at Rush, and overall have had a great experience. I adore my BS and PS, and I have a great team. It's just the struggle of staying with my MO long term that I'm questioning. She's extremely competent, but I left last week's visit feeling very hopeless and sad, as she had little positive to say and was condescending. And I truly don't believe that was her intention, I just don't think it's a good personality match for me. Maybe I'm just a needy patient, but I think I need someone who doesn't sugar-coat, but is also full of optimism and hope. Or at least helps to make me feel that way, as my BS and PS always have. I hope I get more input from others, and I will try to find Lindab or hopefully she'll reply to this message.
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Advocate Good Samaritan in Downers Grove might be a good choice for you. Is the “cold-fish” MO at Rush Dr. Cobleigh? I have one other suggestion for you: Dr. Kathy Albain at Loyola. She and Bob were internal medicine residents at UIC back when dinosaurs roamed the earth (and highway tolls were a dime per booth, Howard Johnson’s ran the Tollway Oases, it cost only 75 cents to ride the CTA, before there was a “Pink Line” and when there were individual commuter rail lines instead of “Metra”). She actually pioneered the development & use of the Oncotype DX test.
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Thanks for all the replies. I took the advice of ChiSandy, and talked to one of the social workers at Kellogg, and she also suggested that I contact cleaningforareason. I just checked their website, and they do have a maid service in Evanston that donates their services once a month for four months. They only have a max of two cancer patients at any one time that they donate their services too. They will need a note from Dr. Merkel stating that I am in active treatment for cancer. I am not starting chemo until 7/18, but I have already had the port installed.
I considered going to a BS at Kellogg to have my lumpectomy, but my sister the endocrinologist has a good friend who is a hematologist at the cancer center at Tulane, and Cindy told her that my surgery was mostly a no brainer, and any good general surgeon could handle it. She said that it was more important that I pick a MO that knows a lot about breast cancer. BC is all Dr. Merkel treats, and a friend of mine was involved in a trial of his a few years ago, and highly recommended him. My friend also said that her sister was treated by Dr. Merkel while she was going through radiation treatments a few years ago.
Dr. Hyser is in the same practice as the two surgeons your husband went to. He is the chief of surgery at St. Francis, and is in charge of the surgical residency program at St. Francis. I suspect that he does most if not all of the breast cancer surgeries at St. Francis. My PCP is at St. Francis, and I have been going to her for 16 years. She sent me to Dr. Hyser for the rectal problem. Three days before my appointment, I tried to get a mammogram at St. Francis, and when they found out I had a lump, they would not give me one without a referral from a doctor. When I went to see Dr. Hyser, I mentioned the lump in my R breast, and I asked if he could take a look at it, and he ordered a diagnostic mammogram and an ultrasound. It took me 11 days to get an appointment for the mammogram and ultrasound. After they came back positive, he decided to put my rectal problem on hold, and focus on the lump. He does his own breast biopsies, and even offered to put in a port for me. My sister came up from New Orleans for three days when I had the lumpectomy, and met Dr. Hyser and loved him. He has a wonderful bedside manner, and she felt very confident in his surgical skills.
Diagnosed 5/13/16. Lumpectomy on R breast on 5/27/16. IDC grade 3. 2.3cm lump. No node involvement. ER+, PR+, Her2+, FISH equivocal, Starting chemo on 7/18/16, for 9 weeks with taxotere and cytoxan. Then having radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy.
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ChiSandy,
Ha! Yep, you got it. I'm assuming that means you've heard similar things about her? I have heard of Dr. Albain and heard she was great. Thanks for all of the info and great recommendations. This is a hard stage because there will be some big decisions to make and I only get one chance to hopefully do it right (e.g. treatment, clinical trial, etc?)
Thanks again. And would still would love to hear from others about their experiences and recommendations.
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As yesterday is history, and tomorrow may never come,
I have resolved from this day on, I will do all the business
I can honestly, have all the fun I can reasonably, do all
the good I can willingly, and save my digestion
by thinking pleasantly.
Robert Louis Stevenson0 -
Mom of twins My oncologist is from Rush. She is excellent, direct but not a teddy bear. She's not for everyone though so she might not be the one for you. Where are you being treated?
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Lago, I'm going to send you a PM.
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replied
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Peaches, you really can’t go wrong with any of the MOs--Law, Merkel or Wade--at Evanston Kellogg. Law does mostly BC (but also ovarian), and she is whom I was originally assigned. I was prepared, if I didn’t like what I heard, to ask for someone else or even go elsewhere. But she & I hit it off right away. I started our first conversation with “this is why I don’t want chemo” (had just ordered ODX and was awaiting results). She replied, “whoa, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I want to know all about you first: what you do, what you love to do, any family members who can physically and emotionally help you or depend on you, etc.” She then went on to say that given my tumor’s histology and stage she was 90% sure she’d recommend against chemo. Turns out she was right. As to Dr. Merkel, he treats half the women in my support group (our next meeting is Wed. July 13 in the Graham Prof. Bldg, across Central St) and he is indeed marvelous. Most of my fellow members do or did get chemo and “know the ropes,” so to speak. Right now Barb Guido, RN will be co-coordinating it with Dr Carol Rosenberg (we recently lost our facilitator Carol Flanagan to an unrelated cancer). We are a varied bunch of introverts, extroverts and everything in between. You can say as much or as little as you want.
If Merkel says you need chemo, he’s right. Grade 3, hormone-positive but HER2 equivocal, >2cm spells TC.
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Mom of twins - I finished active treatment in October 2014 at northwestern. I live in northwestern burbs but felt strongly about treatment at NOrtherstern or U of C.
My MO is Dr Jain and I like her very much. I have great confidence in my care program.
Best wishes wherever you go.
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Life is tension. Without tension, there could be no life.
Too little tension or too much tension interferes with the
process of life in the same way a string of a guitar interferes
with the melody when it is either too loose or too tight.
Bruno Geba0 -
Kazzy, thanks for the response. I will look into hers. It's so nice to have personal references for doctors and I'm definitely considering NW and U of C. I still would love to hear from others, too!! Thank you
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The best portion of a good person's life,--
Their little nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love.
William Wordsworth0 -
A big secret for happiness …stay away from people who steal your peace of mind.
Elle Sommer
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A little rain early a.m. We are cooler here and that is really welcome. I hope you are all enjoying the summertime and able to get out ( after work or on week-ends ) for this really pretty ( if now and then too hot and muggy ) summertime. Feels like it is moving a bit fast for me, but I have been working three hours a day, every day. I thought that would stop but will continue for at least another month and a bit more. A little extra pocket money won't hurt and may help me pay up something.
Thinking of you all whether you post or not.
Jackie
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Happiness? It is an illusion to think that more comfort
means more happiness. Happiness comes of the capacity
to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely,
to risk life, to be needed.
Storm Jameson0
