MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
Comments
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disneyfan, you sound as if you had the "positive attitude" that we are all told to have, it's not fair! So sorry that you have to face cancer a second time.0
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Is NebraskaGrandma the only one to have checked out this article so far?
http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20091116/panel-breast-screening-should-start-50
Regarding the article The Moderators have created a thread that you might want to add your name to. Find it easily under the Active Topics:
Sign Against the new Mammography Guidelines
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I was the first to sign over in the forum that the moderators set up thx to that article and your heads up!!!
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Elimar...How did you make your letters bigger.? I don't know how to do it.
And a question to anybody who is over 50...Does that mean even The Women who were DX already we can only have mammogram every 2 years. Just a thought!!!!! IF IT EVER GET APPROVED OF COURSE.
WE NEED WOMEN POWER HERE
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Nebraskagrandma,
Remember that this queen lurks a lot. Have enjoyed keeping up and seeing all the darling photos-keep them going. (sorry no kids or pets here)
I did forget to mention that I got my swine shot!-by the way no side effects or flu for that matter.
Now on the mammogram thing-phone has not stopped ringing since the news. Interesting not announced in Oct. I will not support the change even though my cancer showed up 2 months after a neg mammogram and ultrasound. Too bad I didn't go late that year-still would have been under 50-and maybe it would have shown up!--Oh, maybe our insurance rates will go down-sure.
Let's face it, it probably comes down to money-I am not saying anything else until I watch GMA tomorrow. Have a great night and remember this queen lurks a lot!
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My guess is they might be setting us up to expect less approved screening/treatment, so that if in the future things make it so that we get less scans/treatment, it would match with the guidelines, which would give the powers that be reasoning for the change.
The timing seems right.
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queenlurker, LURK ON!
Let's all tune in to Good Morning America tomorrow and see what's up.
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Already programmed in my DVR.
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hi all..I did make it to FL and had a good time. It's one place you can lie down all day and not feel sick!
I think I am making a bit of progress on the pain. had a bad bout this evening, but all in all I would say it is about 10-20 percent better. Specialst app is not till the 25th, who knows maybe I will get better before then.
Hope everyone had a good weekend, all the chat room ladies were positively radiant in the Florida sun shine,and we saw the space shuttle take off!
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For our convenience, The Moderators have put a thread in our Mid-Age FORUM (go look) that links to their official stance of the controversial recommendations to change to B/C screening guidelines.
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elimar I think I became a board police tonight in a good way. Just read that, but still shows Susan Komen's name against DR ????? (Forgot the name) instead of Susan Love.
Since the moderators made a change on the other thread maybe you can PM them the mistake.
I did enough communication with them this afternoon. I don't want to bother them again.
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Stumbled upon your comments about tamoxifen and radiation and that you are a nurse at a cancer hospital.
I just had a lumpectomy for stage 0 (pre-cancerous) last week. Now I had done research and resigned myself to the idea of radiation next, but yesterday my surgeon suggested seeing an oncoligiist for possibly taking Arimidex or Tamoxifen.
I simply don't see the need and after reading the side effects, can't seem to justify going through that as well for five years! Bad enough the hot flashes etc. I have been experiencing without adding to it! Again this lump was stage 0, why would I need to go through this - even radiation for that matter? There is no evidence of any other cancers from my breast MRI's. What are the chances of more developments in the future?
Are they being too causious (sp)?
Sandra in Missouri - 55
Sandra
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elimar, I read the article and am dumbfounded. My cancer was found on a mammo, I had had one 6 months earlier and a nothing was there, but there is was when it finally needed to be seen. Now I know I am in the age group for the new guidelines, but it seems the young women are the ones that will suffer the most. Their cancer is usually much more advanced than when we are older, because we are screened every year. I want to know where they got their numbers if 1 out of every 7 or 8 will will get bc in their lifetime. I hope this isn't the new guidelines that will be set into place with all that new national health care that is being proposed. I am afraid that is where we are headed.
Juannelle
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sandra, what tx we do is all so personal. We all have our specific reasons why we have taken the course we have taken. Personally, I am more afraid of recurrence than SEs. I want to know that I have done everything possible to keep this monster at bay. I thought that when I got my dx that I would have a lumpectomy and then rads. No chemo. Well because of my Oncotype DX score I am now 1/2 through with my chemo. It certainly wasn't what I wanted to do, but it is my insurance policy against recurrence.
Now saying all that, I know that they can never give you a guarantee that you will not have a recurrence, cancer is a crap shoot and you never know which bucket you will be in. We all just have to do what is right for us. When you are talking about your tx, it is all about you.
I wish you well.
Juannelle
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Sandra, I feel I did as much as I could to prevent recurrance except for the hormone therapy after tx. Being a TN, that wasn't an option fo me. I had CAx4, Taxolx4 and 6 weeks of daily rads.
I agree with Juanelle, your decision is personal, you need to have a good relationship with your dr. If it were me, I would go see the oncologist, and ask him or her all the questions. You may be right, there may be no reason at all to do anything further, but your onc would be able to give you an informed suggestion by looking at your personal medical file.
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Sandra, you are welcome to join us, but also look in the forum for DCIS women. I don't know too much about the pre-cancerous Stage 0, because my cancer was invasive (even tho' small sized.) What I gather (and anyone please correct me if I am wrong) is that for DCIS, the hormonal therapy is often used as a preventatve for future DCIS growth in either breast. The radiation is most likely a caution just in case some DCIS cells that were not visible do exist in the duct lining of the affected breast. The imaging is not able to detect single cells or tiny clumps unfortunately. Treatment choices are hard to make. Get all the info., and trust yourself to make the right choice. Let us know of your decision.0
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Self Exam Not Valuable?
What?The government panel that just recommended a more lax approach on the screening guidelines also "Recommends against breast self-exams based on findings from two large studies showing the practice to have no value."
I did the self-exam on my breasts on a regular basis. That is how my cancer was found. If you feel it is a valuable method to detect breast cancer, please stop by a thread I created on this issue and leave a comment. (Opposing views tolerated, tho' probably debated)
http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/110/topic/744035?page=1#idx_1
You can comment on this thread as well, but I was so upset that I had to make a separate thread on the issue!
[Edit: Link having a problem, please cut and paste. I'll try to fix it if I can.]
[Edit: Link problem fixed. Hope it stays that way.]
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Sandra,
Please don't misunderstand my reasoning, I had a MX w/SNode bx. I was told that if I had a lumpectomy I would need to do rads, and I do not know if that would have changed my onology surgeons stance on the Tamox also. Another difference is it Invasive or not ? As Juannelle said it is all so personal and individual. Does a family Hx come into play ect, ect, Very good advice from Meece ! Elimar, you are correct from what I have learned about DCIS. They can pick up micro calcifications on a digital mammo and a Breast MRI, but until pathology is done on tissue they do not know if the abnormal cells are present.
Queen,
So glad to know you are still out there ! Lurk all you want
I do still wonder about Bettysgirl ?Elimar !
I feel your rage and rightly so...........
Thank-you for keeping us updated on this insane issue. I will be adding my 2 cents anywhere I can, and yes Ladies this could be just the start of where our Health Care could be headed. It's sad to say but I am glad that if I had to have breast ca it was before this transition, as #1 I may not have been dx this early, #2 I may have had to wait months or years for tx. I feel like they are trying to drag us backward......we don't want to lose all the headway that sisters before us have fought for.
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On a Lighter note, The Many Faces of Lincoln...........
These make me laugh everytime I see them, the second one we call "The Stink Eye"
Laughter is the BEST medicine !!
Blessings my friends
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I agree that family does matter in the dx, but in the end the decision is up the the person. Not saying that they shouldn't listen and take in what others have to say. For me personally, this was my decision and everyone around me was supportive of my decision. My DIN did not agree with me at first, she did not want to me put all those caustic chemicals in my body, but she knew that once the decision was made, that she would support me through it all. She has been great, but she did have to get her head wrapped around it.
I think we all try to make the best decision based on what we know and feel. I know how hard the decisions are, I like all of you have been there. Just what ever decision you make today or tomorrow be it, don't look back with regret in 5 or 10 years from now. That is what my Onco told me, once the decision is made go forward and don't look back.
Sandra, you have my wishes for the best decision for you. You will do it and then you will go on with your life.
Juannelle
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Juanelle,
I hope you didn't misunderstand me, I mentioned family HISTORY, not family opinion.
Lots of good advice for Sandra and I personally would also like to wish her best of luck in her journey, and prayers for peace of mind.
I wanted to say I went to the thread to sign the list against the new guidelines, and I'm so thankful for the sister that listed the web site to find our Senators so we could e-mail them about our concerns. Another great way to make our opinions known !
I would also like to say that Fox News website Forum is posting Dr. Marisa Weiss's letter and the breastcancer.org web site ! Kudo's to them !!
Blessings Middles,
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Fox News TV has Dr. Steven Garner Radiologist, on disputing the new guidelines. Followed by Nancy Brinker !!
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Bizarre stuff - the "new guidelines." On the other hand, one thing I've heard is that early detection is "up," but it's having absolutely no impact on long-term survival. So perhaps the theory is that the mammograms are leading to not only unnecessary biopsies (when they can see anything, since younger breast tissue tends to be dense) but also early diagnoses that don't really save lives... Just trying to make sense of it: this isn't necessarily what I think... Although my tumor was OUTSIDE the area that they were smushing into the machine every 18 months or so since I was 38, so what good was that to me?
Re: BSE's. I did find my own tumor, but not by doing scheduled monthly specific exams on a specific date following instructions on a creepy doorhanger. I was itchy due to a reaction from some improperly rinsed detergent in my bra, and as I was scratching, I thought, hm, I'm kinda lumpy. I'd had a friend five years younger who'd been diagnosed the previous summer, so I poked around and found two areas that were lumpy in a different way than the rest of the tissue. I tracked them for a few months, and then mentioned them to my gynecologist. One was the ILC - the other was apparently nothingness.
Ohhhhh, the creepy randomness of it all.
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Sandra,
Please check out the Forum DCIS, there is a very informative thread called Past Post from Bessie on understanding DCIS.
It's priceless
Blessings,
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I am very worried about these guidelines, how will insurance companies use this info. My lump was found by mammo...no doctor was ever able to feel it ( and goodness knows, many tried to find it once they knew it was there..so much for modesty)
My lump didn't show up till I had mammo at 53 and I must admit I missed a few years of mammos. If the lump had formed in my 40's and I waited till 50 for mammo who knows what stage my cancer would have been at. This is very scary for the future of our daughters, sisters and friends.
Jean
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I am going to have to do a lot of reading tonight to catch up on all of this. Mine was found on a mammogram also.
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Sandra, I did not see that you have DCIS only Pre-Cancerous. Was it DCIS? If not and it was LCIS there is some new protocols out regarding treatment. I wish you the best in your decision making. Many many women have not SE from Tamoxifen, of course those who often post are looking for ways to deal with those SE's.
Paula- Your grandson is adorable. I have had to deal with the fact that my DD will not be having babies and of course she has to also. She is has been hypo-thyroid since her teens and though she has done the infertility route it has yet to be and she is done with that route. Who know's maybe she will in time on her own... in the meantime I am enjoying everyone else's.
I do have a puppy and I love him like a kid and one of these day's I will post a picture.
Hugs and Love to all,
Linda
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I did post this also in Rads but I thought I would throw it out here. Did any of you have the choice of 16 or 25 treatments? I tried to read a few studies on this but they were a little over my head. Any suggestions?
Have a gret evening!
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Speaking of the Tamoxifen, I'm only on day five of taking it. I haven't noticed anything yet. Do I need some time to build up to the hot flashes? How long? I was having some a few weeks ago due to my peri-menopause...Kind of wondering if the Tamoxifen ones will be noticeably different. There I go getting impatient again.
[I don't like when my post jumps to the next page. It doesn't seem related to the previous post anymore. Hmmm.]
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Sandra--I want to echo the other ladies here that our treatment choices are very personal. I would add that a consultation visit wiht an oncologist could be very helpful by giving you some rates of recurrence with different treatment options, and the rates of temporary side effects and permanent damage from the different treatments. Then you can make a treatment choice with all the facts in hand. You don't have to make any decisions at the consult appointment, you can always arrange to call back with your decision later.
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