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Illinois ladies facing bc

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  • wendyk13
    wendyk13 Member Posts: 1,458
    edited January 2007
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    Hi Rita, Joanne and everybody

    Rita...I am doing TCH for 6 cycles and then Herceptin to finish up the year (yep - you are lucky to be her2neu neg, trust me) I am going to Delnor Hospital out here in Geneva. I go to chemo kindergarten on Monday, port put in Tuesday at Central DuPage and then oh goody chemo! I am getting my rather longish one length hair cut this afternoon - shorter by inches and layered so I can get used to this hair business which brings me to my next point...

    Sylvie...what a BIG BABY I am being about some hair and what you've been going thru. Jeepers. Kinda puts it in perspective. Hug that little boy for us, OK?

    Joanne....that is my big sister's name and your family calls you a walking bag of cancer? I smiled at that one - how weird is that!?!

    Wendy
  • bwetzel400
    bwetzel400 Member Posts: 5
    edited January 2007
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    Hi Rita... I have had 2 cmf going for the third this next Tuesday.. Anxiety already strarting.. I really feel like its not been to bad. kind of like I make it worse.. we have had alot of extra going on so I attribute some to that.. these ladies are right sdo\\o far this is very do -able. I read about others going thru the other type of chemos and kind of feel I have no right to be so freaked out.. Just my nature.. we will get thru this I know/ Holly has seemed to have a rought go of it. am hoping she is doing well. I have been off a few days with family.. hello to all and hope you are all doing well,
    Rita cannot remember have you started or when do you and is it all Iv every 3 weeks?
    hugs and stay strong
    brenda w from Highland
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    Brenda W. from Highland......I will be thinking of you on Tuesday. The next Friday, the 26th is my first CMF treatment. I understand your apprehension. I'm already beginning to worry about it and have an entire week looming ahead of me. I will have 6 infusions...3 weeks apart, too. Guess we need to shrug off the worry and have a good weekend, but sometimes that isn't easy to do. :-)
    I'm off to get my hair trimmed shorter and layered more! The last hurrah!!!!

    Brenda D....how did your oncology appointment go? Do you now have a tratment plan? Let us know!!!!

    Rita
  • tmo49150
    tmo49150 Member Posts: 2
    edited January 2007
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    I'm here from Glenview, a north suburb of Chicago. I was diagnosed on my daughters 12th birthday, 10/17/06. Stage I, IDC 1.2 cm. ER+, PR+, HER2-, no node involvement.

    I had a lumpectory and SNB on 11/22/06 at Highland Park Hospital and will start radiation therapy this coming Tuesday at Northwestern Medical Center in the city. The medical oncologist told me he would put me on Arimidex after radiation but he also wanted to do an Oncotype DX test to see if I was a candidate for chemotherapy. We are waiting for the results. I really hope I don't have to go through chemo.
  • wendyk13
    wendyk13 Member Posts: 1,458
    edited January 2007
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    Hi tmo49450...Wendy here from South Elgin but used to live in the city right at Foster and Austin so know Glenview pretty well. Good luck on your oncotype...wishing you a "1"! I did go to NW for my 2nd opinion for chemo/herceptin questions and saw a Dr Kaklamani in oncology...what a sweetheart but you are going for rads only (my fingers crossed for you) so you won't get to meet her. My treatments will be out W here tho...took us almost 3 hours in the rain on a Friday night to get back home....jeesh!

    Wendy
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    Hi Tmo....
    Welcome to the Illinois thread. We will keep our fingers crossed for you in hopes that you can avoid chemo!!! Please let us know the results of your test and come back often.
    Rita
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 282
    edited January 2007
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    GO BEARS!!!!

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 282
    edited January 2007
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    BEARS WIN!!! GO COLTS!!!

  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    How about those Bears! You picked the best combination, jp!!

  • Sandra7inCA
    Sandra7inCA Member Posts: 3
    edited January 2007
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    Hi Ladies,
    I just had to post on your thread. I lived in Chicago, near Ashland and Irving, for 20 years and loved it! Circumstances brought me to Southern CA. I have always been a BEARS and CUBBIES (sigh!!) fan. Wasn't the game fantastic yesterday!! I can hardly wait for the Superbowl. GO BEARS GO!!!
    I began chemo, TCH, on Jan. 10th and will be going for my 2nd. round on 2/1/07. Gentle (((HUGS))) and good thoughts to all you ladies in Illinois.
    Love,
    Sandra
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 282
    edited January 2007
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    Sandra: Good luck to you as you continue your journey through cancer treatment. I had my last round of chemo three years ago on February 2. I'm not up on all the treatments. What is TCH? I had dose dense adriamycin/cytoxan (4 rounds) and taxol (4 rounds). Let us know how you progress.

    I'm a Cubs fan and my husband is a Sox fan. I'd have to say, this is definitely a Cubs town.

    My daughter and I went to the local sports store and loaded up on Bears championship t-shirts and jerseys for the family, my daughters' boyfriends, my mother. It was really fun! I really enjoyed the game yesterday. Great game. So was the AFC game. The superbowl should be amazing.

    Good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress.

    Joanne
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 4,011
    edited January 2007
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    Hi Girls!
    Wendy -

    I lived at Foster and Higgins for 20 years! Small world...

    Laura
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    Brenda from Highland......I've been thinking about you today. Hope the chemo treatment went well. Let us hear how you're doing.

    Rita
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 2,728
    edited January 2007
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    TMO: This is a small world. I work for a SNF in Deerfield and go to different hospitals to evaluate people for rehab. I go to Highland Park Hospital, and Glenbrook Hospital every day!

    And yes - How about Dem Bears?

    We are off to the Superbowl, and what a great game. The Bears and the Colts.

    Hope everyone has a great day.

    Nicki
  • scarednancy
    scarednancy Member Posts: 10
    edited January 2007
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    Hi,
    I too am an Illinois Bears Fan. I started my cancer journey on 10/9/06 with a yearly routine mammogram which quickly led into an ultrasound and followed immediately by a biopsey. It was quit an hour. This all happened on a Friday morning so my biopsey report didn't get back until Monday and it said, "Poorly differentiated Invasive Ductal Carcinoma". I could have died at the sound of that. I was referred to a surgeon in Peoria, IL who sceduled the lumpectomy and SNB. I had surgery on 11/8 and had a 1.1 cm tumor with clear margins and nodes. The surprise was that it was ILC instead of IDC. They sent my tumor off for the OncotypeDX test and I got a 9 so the oncologist said chemo was of no benefit to me. I started radiation two weeks ago and so far so good. I will follow the radiation with 2 years of tamoxifen and 5 years of armidex. I live about 80 miles west of Chicago and love having all of you near to talk to.
    I sure hope the Bears win the Superbowl!!!
    Take care,
    Nancy
  • Sandra7inCA
    Sandra7inCA Member Posts: 3
    edited January 2007
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    Hi Joanne,
    Thanks for your kind thoughts. TCH is Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin. I will be getting 6 treatments of the TC, 3 weeks apart, am getting Herceptin right now, each week, but after chemo is finished, H every 3 weeks until next January. So far, I still have my hair, (only 13 days past chemo) and the only side effect I had was heartburn.
    I have great memories of going to Wrigley field and watching the Cubs play. I even went to the old Sox park, on the south side, I think. Do you think the Cubs will ever go to the World Series? I sure hope so!! I know the fans will go crazy if that happens. I also remember going to Riverview on 5 cent day when I was a kid. I know, you are probably too young to remember it.
    Well, I'll think about you and the other wonderful ladies from Illinois when the BEARS win the Superbowl!!!
    (((HUGS))),
    Sandra
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    Nancy,

    I also had my lumpectomy performed by a Peoria breast surgeon...Lynne Jalovac. I loved her.
    Did you by any chance have her or Denise Mammolito for your surgeon?

    Unfortunately, I was in the gray zone so I'm doing my first chemo on Friday and am pretty apprehensive about the chemo part.
    I'm glad you're doing well with the radiation! I'll start my radiation after my 4th chemo treatment and then have 2 more chemo treatments to complete after the radiation.

    Rita
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    Sandra........you and all the other Cub fans out there will love this! The week after I was diagnosed with bc, my 33 year old son, a die hard Cub fan, brought me a bracelet. It was a poly-rubber blue stretchy band with the Cub insignia and the word BELIEVE! It's not everybody who compares the trials of the good ol' Cubs to the trials of breast cancer! :-) And we are eagerly looking forward to Ryno coaching the farm team in Peoria this summer!

    Rita
  • momdeeco
    momdeeco Member Posts: 3
    edited January 2007
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    Hi to all. I live in the Peoria area. Small town of Bartonville. Was Dx 11/05 (found a lump) after a normal mammo in 8/05. Lynn Jalovic did a great job with my surgery. Still dealing with Chemo brain/ and minor side effects from herceptin. What a journey this has been!

  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    Hi mom (Karla) and welcome to our Illinois thread. We are pretty close to each other. I'm in Bloomington, but I've been to Bartonville several times. About 5 years ago I did 6 evening sessions at Monroe School for the teachers on Science Education. We did all types of fun science activities that they could use to spice up their science curriculums. They were a neat group!

    Then, on a totally different level, a group of six ladies arrived in Bartonville on a Saturday morning to see your local psychic. We had heard about her and thought it would be fun to book back-to-back appts., then do lunch and the Mall. We expected it to be very entertaining and got a real surprise as she knew all types of things about us all and none of us had told her anything. We simply booked 6 time slots in one name. I think you could say that we got more than we bargained for!!!!

    There is also a little Italian restaurant up on the hill....Tyroni's I think, that we try to visit at least once a year. Such good food and reasonable prices!

    Anyway, come back often!!
    Rita
  • tmo49150
    tmo49150 Member Posts: 2
    edited January 2007
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    Well...I scored a 14 on my oncotype dx test. Would have liked a 1, but no chemo for me. Hip Hip Hurray!

    I'm a Cubs fan and both of my kids are Sox fans. I sometimes wonder where I went wrong But then I'm a liberal democrat and they are both conservative republicans. Since I'm divorced I put the blame on their father.
  • kats
    kats Member Posts: 162
    edited January 2007
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    tmo,
    image
    on NO CHEMO.

    Doin' a Happy Dance for ya.

    image
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    Yeah, TMO!!!! That's wonderful! NO CHEMO!!!!!!

    Rita
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 282
    edited January 2007
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    Rita: Good luck with your chemo tomorrow. I hope all goes well for you.

    Wendyk13: Also good luck with your chemo tomorrow. I hope it goes well for you, too. I re-read your earlier post and saw that you had your port put in at CDH. Who is your surgeon? I had my mastectomy and immediate reconstruction there and then a follow up “boob job” about 8 months later.

    Sandra: I love going to Wrigley Field for baseball games. I’ve always said I was born about 40 years too late. I don’t like these new baseball parks (US Cellular a/k/a new Comiskey). I hope your chemo is going well for you. When I started my breast cancer odyssey in 2003 the Cubs were one win away from the World Series. I’m told my first words after my 9 hours of surgery were “how did the Cubs do?” I’m not sure about Lou Pinella, though. He might be the best or the worst thing for the Cubs. It remains to be seen.

    TMO: Great news about not having chemo!

    Nicki, Nancy and all: Go Bears!! I’m usually bored silly during the Super Bowl but not this year!

    Kats: Where are you in the Western Suburbs? I am in Wheaton.

    Hello to all the other Illinois ladies.

    Joanne
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    Thanks Joanne! This is one of those "I can't sleep for anything nights!" I sold my business to a young man from Wheaton in August 2005. It's now based on Naperville Road and I had to come up there 8 different days do help with the transition. Small world, eh?

    Rita
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 282
    edited January 2007
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    Rita: What's the name of the business?

    More importantly, how did it go today?

    Joanne
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    Joanne,

    Today went well. The actual treatment was much easier than I anticipated. I do have a terrible headache right now and am ready to lie down for awhile.

    My business was "Questions Galore." I wrote scholastic bowl questions for competition and did the state series for Illinois, Arkansas, and Alabama. The man who purchased it also runs Pyramid Tutoring Center on Naperville Road.

    I'll write more later. The couch is calling me.

    Rita
  • ritajean
    ritajean Member Posts: 4,042
    edited January 2007
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    I'd like to encourage all you Illinois ladies out there to post under this thread and to check in often....as well as those Illinoians who are "transplanted" to new areas. Let's get better acquainted and provide a firm support for each other.

    Rita
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 282
    edited January 2007
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    Rita: How are you doing? Have you tolerated your chemo well? I hope so.

    Joanne
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 2,728
    edited January 2007
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    Hi! I forget this thread exists. You can usually find me in the Circle the Wagons thread. I post there everyday. If you all get a chance come to the wagon circle thread. Its for all stages of bc not just those who are moving beyond. Actually I sorta feel like I started Moving Beyond from the day I was diagnosed. Alot of chit chat and support.

    I was diagnosed IDC multifocal with one positive node. April 21-2005 is the day I will never forget for the rest of my life. Anyways I had dose dense 4 rounds of A/C then 4 rounds of taxotere with Herceptin. Only had 12 rounds of Herceptin but thats a long story. Finished chemo one year ago - so I sure can answer alot of questions for those of you who are new.

    Rita: Good luck with your chemo. Your in the countdown. I down - for me the first one was the hardest.

    The weather here in the Chicago area has been unreal. I cant believe what a mild Winter we have had so far.

    Im so excited about the Bears. Hope you all have a great day.

    Nicki

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