MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Hi elimar-Our Founder First i want to say I really like your sense of humor. I read the posts every day. I stated Femara about 2 months after I was all finished with radiation, with a crisp right breast, which remained purple until this day, its under my breast so nobody can see it, between 6-7 inches of scar from my lumpectomy and a colorful burn......They really compliment each other. But to tell the truth I really don't care. Be Well
Sheila 0 -
I just read all of your posts. I think I may have finally found a home.
Omahagirl - I have the ac blowing 24/7 in my bedroom. To make it habitable for my DH, I bought a warming blanket with dual controls. Anytime, my DH is too cold, all he has to do is turn on the blanket.
I am 53 and the mom of a 3 year-old son. He is adopted [a relative that didn't know she was pregnant...delivered the baby herself and then called me.] I have been trying my whole life to have children, we finally got our miracle.
But, eight months ago a routine mammogram turned into a eight month nightmare of stereotactic, right-breast lumpectomy and a dx of DCIS. The pathology report showed clear margins with just ADH crossing the margins. I was really naive at the time. On May 21st, my BS met with me two weeks post-op, and told me he would call me that afternoon to decide what we would do next. He didn't even check the surgery site for healing. He has never called!
In late June, I contacted my primary physician, to request a follow up mammogram. It took three weeks to receive it in the mail. I arrive at the Breast Center for the mammogram and find that they had only ordered it for one side. I fibbed and said that I felt a lump on the left. They called and got the authorization for diagnostic on both.
I read on these boards to go with your gut...boy are these boards right! They found two new lesions on the left at 12:00 & 3:00.
I found my own oncologist [actually from a referral from my ENT] and called for an appointment they got me in, in only two days. She is wonderful. She got on the phone with my bs and let him know that SHE was now in charge of my care. She was surprised that I had not had rads or discussed tamox. She preformed a BRCA, which came back negative. I do have a very strong history of cancer from breast ca, ovarian ca, my mom died from colon cancer, my dad from liver ca, a 32 yr old niece from colon ca. It is all so scary.
I was sent for a US, and a US-guided biopsy, unfortunately, they were not able to locate the lesions on US. One week later I went for a MRI, to see if we could do a MRI-guided biopsy. The radiologist felt that it would be better to biopsy via stereotactic. However, they found a third lesion, which was more prominent on the MRI. The radiologist stated that the third lesion was amenable to MRI-guided biopsy.
Two days ago, I had the stereotactic on the two initial lesions by the radiologist that read the MRI. He didn't disclose anything to me, but it seemed that the one at 3:00 was against the chest wall and was concerning him...just a feeling, of course, but it left me very concerned. He said that he may not need to look at the third lesion, particularly if I was going to have a bmx. He told me that he would call me this afternoon to go over the results and then he would send them on to my oncolologist. I am scheduled to see her on the 10th.
On top of all of this...I am being worked up for a unusual cyst on my cervical spinal chord called a syrinx. It was confirmed on MRI 07/31 and I had a MRI two weeks ago on my brain for correlation, I see the neurologist Sept 15th.
As you can see, my plate is pretty full between dr's, diseases, working as a full-time accounting manager, and a mom to my three-year-old.
I appreciate all of you strong women. I want to pray with you and share in your support.
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Thanks for that story Dustysmom. You were a good advocate for yourself, and a resourceful one too! (We know you are not encouraging us to fib up a storm to get the attention we need -- or are you??? An-ha-ha-ha. Conspiratorial laughter!!!) I take it that is Dusty in your avatar pic. At three, my two little angels already knew how to shave! Just kidding, but seyla888 (above) encouraged my silliness.
Seriously, let us know the outcome of you doctors' visits. You come back here and get your support anytime!
footsprintsangel, I hope you will check in and let us know about your doctors' visits this week.
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Welcome all,
and welcome home Dustysmom "Nikki" , I felt the same way when I got here. What a blessing that little guy is ! Wow you really have been through alot. Bless you, we all have those moments when we feel very strong and other times we feel discouraged. That's what is so wonderful about these Great Ladies. Supportive, Caring, and throwing in some humor here and there.
Elimar congrats on your personal progress how many do you have left ?, and being assertive re to: your care you go girl.
OmahaGirl, I hear ya, I want the fan on me 1/2 the night and my SO is freezing ! what can you do ? The other night he started coming down with a cold and said he thought he was having my hot flashes
) sadly, I kinda enjoyed that he got to experience it .Blessings to all my sisters,
Paula
and yeah...................... no cat fights here ! Such a waste of time and energy !
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Thank you Elimar and Nebraskagrandma!
Yep that avitar is my little Dusty faced-painted to look dastardly...he is still so cute.
Remember what I said...warming blankets save relationships...LOL.
I am still on results watch. Dr is supposed to call beteen now and the next 50 minutes. I just want to know! Then I can design the attack.
Thanks for being there! I have strong shoulders for all of you as well. Hugs to all.
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trying to keep up- welcome to all the "newbies' here.
We are a group of strong women, with a lot in common besides BC and we all are survivors!!! It also make me feel better (just a little) that I am not alone in the permanent grandma/mother place. I had hoped to experience empty nest a little....oh well plans change huh???
Ck-up with the onco is tomorrow.
Footprint- Hope you are doing okay. Let us hear from you soon.
Have a great Thursay and everybody hug their little gremlins....even when they drive you crazy
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No resluts...lab is slow. Hey, they promised tomorrow. Of course I believe them...LOL!
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As for hot flashes, we have not turned our furnace on in that past TWO winters! We have a gas fireplace in our livingroom for when we watch TV at the end of the day, and we sleep with our bedroom door shut so it stays cold! The gas company even came out and changed our meter last spring thinking something was wrong! hehehehehhe
Oh, for those of you who don't know, Barrie, Ontario gets 6-12 feet of snow every winter, with temps at 20-30 below freezing easily. Niiiiiiiiiiice.
(My DH has his little pile of blankies he uses...hehehee)
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Good Morning Ladies !
It is pouring down rain in Papillion (Omaha) Nebraska, and 70 degrees. It's be unseasonally cool this week.
Nikki,
Hoping that you get those test results today, waiting can be the worst part.
bettysgirl,
Have a good appt with onco today
elimar,
how are the rads going ? I am imaging cool breezes blowing over you during the tx........
Everyone have a great day !
Blessings all around,
Paula
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Barbe1958,
I don't think my hot flashes could help me survive a winter like that ! I'd still have to run the furnance
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me either!!! while the hotflashes come and go i am till very cold natured. Mt temps vary and the flashes still come mostly at night. At work I have to pull out the jacket and at church i have been wearing multiple layers of shirts to try to stay warm. I'd have to go into hibernation if it was that cold here.LOL
We won't talk about how much money GA power got from us this month to keep the house cool during these dog days of august!!! I almost had a heart attack when i got the bill!!!!
Gotta run. Time to pour the coffee in the travel mug and hit the road. I had hoped for a longer day out of town to just be me but i have to be back to pick up the girls at the sitters by 5....Guess i will have to power shop!!!
Have a great day.
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Nikki, sorry you have to wait longer, love your attitude, the wait just sucks! Elimar, I did my rads over 5 years ago and still cringe, I blistered where skin touched skin in the fold of breast, found that a peice of soft sheet tucked in there with no bra the most comfortable, then I used silvadine on the blisters, great stuff. Jezza, my Kate is being given Lupron for severe endometriosis, she has had 3 procedures already and still in pain, I had hysterectomy at 32, my Mom at 34, looks like she is the next in line, she doesn't want any more children which is a good thing, I kept my ovaries so had natural menopause at 45, my Mom had hers removed and went into immediate menopause and 2 nervous breakdowns they called it in the 1960s, she took Premarin for 20 years but has never had bc, knock on wood, I just hate watching my child suffer, hurts the soul.
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I know that you lovely women will feel my pain:
Last night, at about 6 pm, I noticed that the downstairs A/C wasn't working. My master bedroom is downstairs. By the time I noticed this, it was 81 degrees downstairs, and I had the dishwasher and dryer running and something in the oven, to add to the fun. My husband stopped at Lowe's and got a portable room air conditioner, something we'd been discussing anyway, since we BOTH like it cold at night but don't want to pay to make the whole house cold. (Once, when we lived in Lincoln, NE, we had the heat lowered to 50 degrees at night, and we woke up with ice on the INSIDE of the bedroom windows. It was magical.) When we unpacked it at 7:30, we realized that he'd turned the unit on its side to bring it home, and if you do this, you must wait at least 6, preferably 24, hours before turning it on. I suppose there's freon or something in there that moves around? So I ended up setting the alarm on my phone for 1:30 in the morning so I could wake up and turn it on. I was still mostly awake at 1:30, having daydreams about being in hell and being burned at the stake, but when I tried to turn the A/C unit on, I learned that the outlet we'd plugged it into doesn't work! The next closest outlet looks like the one Clark plugs the lights into in the Christmas Vacation movie (lamp, weather radio, speaker for TV, fan, etc.), and I wasn't about to move the unit and re-arrange my room at 1:30, in addition to which I was worried that the vent tube connected to the window wouldn't stretch far enough. My husband had fallen asleep in the living room, so he wasn't helpful. (As it turns out, he was not actually sleeping, either, but was enjoying the same sorts of crawling through the desert toward the shimmering oasis half-dreams that I was having.)
Needless to say, when my alarm went off at 5:30 this morning, I did not feel refreshed and leap energetically up to tackle the day. The whole night was like a continuous flash, without any useful sweat to cool me off. It was still a toasty 81 in the bedroom. The outside temperature was a moist 76 - not very helpful. My new best friend, the A/C repair person, will come today - sometime between 9 am and 1 pm.
It would be nice if people could just keep their stories of crisp fall weather, fireplaces, and snow to themselves until I get this resolved. I'm feeling a bit unstable. If I murder someone in the school pickup lines today, I'm hoping I get either menopausal women or breast cancer survivors on my jury.
Coleen
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I am 46 and have been thru all the radiation - I never got very tired - if you have lived thru chemo this is a breeze! My skin did get pretty fried but anything is better than chemo!
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Okay - so with everything everyone else has going on, I know that my hot night really isn't a big deal - the story looks lame juxtaposed with the other mid-life things the women in this group are dealing with. Just trying to implement the "tragedy plus time equals humor" formula to make myself feel better.
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Lots & lots of coming and going with amazing stories one and all.
Congrats & hugs to those in the midst of treatment currently...... and to Dusty during the waiting. (I always think that's the equivalent of hell on earth.)
Hope everyone is able to find some joy in the day at hand.
Hugs & happiness.
Strength and courage.
Strength and courage.
Strength and courage.
xx00xx00xx00xx00xx
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Kleenex I love your story, I can totally relate.
I am patiently (lol) waiting for a call from my PCP about the referal to a PC about getting my implant removed. I had them installed four years ago after the first bout and my left one had to be removed when we found the new lump. I am opting for no reconstuction this time I jsut want the other saline bag removed. Insurance is balking as it is cosmetic procedure. Its so silly they would pay to reconstuct my left side with out a flinch but I ask for the right side to be removed and they freak out. I know I will win and it will be covered but in the mean time I wait. I hate red tape and pencil pushers.
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It's going to be another beautiful day...Hoping I"m not the only one who feels great! Got quite a chuckle from the story by kleenex (sorry that these old bones love the heat though). Yup, the waiting drove me literally insane -nothing can be worse. I woke up on the day of my treatment unveiling and thought yeah the waiting is almost over, let's get on with the treatment.
Have a wonderful day! Oh, lots of leftovers at this emptynesters house if anyone interested
casey
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Oh Coleen !!
I'm so sorry for complaining about the rain and 70 degrees this am. I should have known better ! I have kids that live in San Antonio they don't let the grandkids out to play in the middle of the day. One night I talked to them and at 9:30 pm the grandkids were out on their swing set with flash lights. Only time it was cool enough. It's not LAME ! If you can't get a good nights rest, you don't have the amunition you need to get through the day. You lived in Lincoln once ? Cool and yes winter is very cool.........
Have a great day Ladies...........
Paula
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Well middle ladies I won't be sleeping tonight but not because it's to hot! I am having bilateral wire localization biopsy's tomorrow at Sloan. This is to hopefully put the lid back on Pandora's box which was opened on June 26th with an MRI. The MRI guided biopsy's showed only LCIS no malignancy's, I am keeping my fingers crossed these will be the same! I won't have the results for a week arrrrrrrr!
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Linda,
I'll be thinking of you tomorrow, and praying for the best results possible. Hate the waiting everyone has to go through.......................
Blessings everyone,
Paula
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It's FIXED!!! Ramiro rode in on his white horse (red truck, really) and replaced a capacitor and the world is once again a beautiful place, one with cool air pouring down from vents all over the house. Ahhhhh. Bring on the stories of fall - I'm okay now. I'm hoping we can get the portable unit fired up as well - I'm thinking a night at 62 degrees will erase the horror of last night.
Lincoln was fun - All Weather, All the Time!
One good thing about our age range is that we are NOT afraid to make a scene, especially when something is STUPID - like your story, SDavis, where they will pay to reconstruct but not to de-construct to match. What a pain! I hope it goes well!
Good luck to you, Linda, with your bilateral biopsies!
Coleen
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Hi ladies,
I think that I will fit in on this thread quite well, especially after reading Coleen's post. I am 40, soon to be 41. I guess that I'm lucky to live in Wisconsin cuz when I start flashin from hormonals this winter, I can go sit in a snow bank - sorry Coleen, no more talk of snow. LOL
Lisa
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Joy of joy...results back...
Inconclusive, need to have MRI-guided biopsy tomorrow morning.
Then we are going to schedule incisional biopsy for the two lesions to clarify findings. It the third lesion biopsied tomorrow is inconclusive then it will be as well.
FYI - it remains 100+ degrees here with no real relief in sight. Thrilled your AC is fixed. Thanks to the gallant knight on his steed.
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Thought I was ready, but when I heard mention of SNOW, I got a little choked up. Dustysmom, your 100 degree temps make our 90 today seem...chillyish. Thank you. I hope you are not near the fires.
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Great News Ladies !
I just heard on the news that a glass of red wine before rads lessens the side effects !!
CHEERS !
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Oh DustyNicki your torment continues. I was so hoping that you'd have a definitive answer.
I can't think of any plucky little twits of balderdash to offer, for you to lean on. Know that we're here for you, thru the ups & downs & sideways -- as they present themselves. You WILL make it thru. You WILL. That's just the flat out truth of the matter. I'm so sorry that the unknowns continue to take control for the moment. There will come a time when you have a plan.
Until then, treat yourself to whatever decadent joy you can find.
Hugs to all you other middlers as well.
Glad to hear that your air is flowing happily. We're up north in Door Co, WI (BobMomLisa, where are you??) for another week and we've been in fleece sweatshirts, every evening for at least a week already. This is a big, wide country isn't it? And that doesn't even take into account our international gals -- who add yet more weather flavorings from far and wide.
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NEW YORK - Cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment
may want to sip some red wine before treatment.A study in women with breast cancer found that drinking red wine can help limit the toxic effects of radiation therapy.
"The possibility that particular dietary practices or interventions can reduce radiation-induced toxicity is very intriguing," Dr. Gabriella Macchia, of Catholic University, Campobasso, Italy, noted in an email to Reuters Health.
It's already known that some wine components may protect against the harmful effects of radiation. These components include polyphenols in particular, and the tannins.
In the current study, Macchia and colleagues evaluated the potential protective effects of varying levels of self-reported red wine consumption in 348 women treated with radiation therapy
afterbreast cancer surgery. The findings were "interesting," Macchia said.
The incidence of radiation-induced skin toxicity greater was 38.4 percent in non-drinkers, 31.8 percent in women drinking only half a glass of wine daily, 13.6 percent in those drinking one glass daily, and 35 percent in those drinking two glasses daily.
Women who drank only one glass daily had a much lower risk of suffering skin effects from radiation therapy. Specifically, their risk of significant skin toxicity was about 75 percent less than that in non-drinkers, the researchers found.
"If wine can prevent (radiation)-induced toxicity without affecting antitumor efficacy, as we observed, it also has the potential to enhance the therapeutic benefit in cancer patients without increasing their risk of serious adverse effects," Macchia said.
"The possible protective effect of wine, which we assessed only in women with breast cancer, should also be evaluated in male and female patients with other types of tumors (e.g., prostate carcinoma) who are undergoing radiotherapy," she concluded.
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Nikki it sounds as if you are right behind me with all the same biopsy's, I am sorry sweetie that you have to go through it too! All this testing and waiting sux's.
Paula I love that article but doesn't this drink don't ever drink again drive you crazy! I miss a glass of wine or a fun Martini, but I gave up all alcohol last year, now I see I could have been drinking some good red wine while receiving rads, poop!
Hope everyone else is COOL...
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Do they mean 8 oz. of wine, or what constitutes A GLASS? Does anyone know what amount was used in the study?
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