MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Congrats Elimar!
I slept all afternoon. A friend is coming over to bring us dinner, her homemade pot roast. How nice that will be. I haven't had much appetite but may once the food arrives.
This pain has nothing to do with gastric distress. I take Nexium for reflux daily. This pain feels like it is definitely in my ribs or between them. The stabbing seems to start from the far right side near my shoulder blade. The intensity is severe. That is why I agreed last time when the nurse said I had to go to the ER. Lifting my arm over my head was not possible yesterday. Taking a deep breath was extremely difficult. Today the pain is better, but I am exhausted. I see a different RO Thursday since mine is on vacation. I doubt I will get any resolution to this. Nobody seems to know what it is.
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Justme, I haven't had Rads yet, but I have had pain like what you described. I went to 3 neurologists (one at a big University) for 2 1/2 years and went from what you describe, to pain and numbness down my left side. With it was getting nowhere and began to move to the right side, I went to an orthopedist and he located the problem in 5 minutes. An x-ray revealed bone spurs inside my vertebrae where the nerves come out...we worked to heal it and a month later found a bulging disc on the MRI that was pressing on my spinal column. He said most likely, the early problems (pain like you described) were bone spurs, and the disc was the cause for it worsening. I don't know if radiation causes damage to bones, but spurs are formed when your body tries to heal bone damage by growing more bone. IDK if that is what is happening, but I told him the pain began near my shoulder blade and he told me right off the bat that it was something in my neck and he was right. Had surgery this past July 29th to fix it and it is way better. If you can't get answers anywhere else, it might be worth finding out if the rads could cause bone spurs. If so, they can do injections to help with the spurs (surgery was for the disc). I'm really grateful cause I don't know if I could have gone through that pain and all this at the same time.
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oh yeah, sorry, guess I should introduce myself.
My name is Lee Ann, I saw the age group and just turned 40 the end of July, so I wanted to find some others around my age going through the same. Getting ready to start chemo in a little over a week and this thread just looks like a ton of fun and I could just really use that right now, so I was hoping to join in. 0 -
welcome LeeAnn, you've come to the right place for fun, but also for any info you might want too. glad you decided to join us.
Eli, congrats on the mystery pic - once you know what it is, it's hard to remember why we thought it was anything else!
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Welcome LeeAnn - So glad you are here with us. We do have lots of fun here and there is also a whole lot of good information and support here.
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Welcome lwarstler. We have a few ladies starting rads, but I don't think anyone is beginning their chemo now (although we have plenty who have been thru' it.) Post which drug(s) you will be taking and you'll get some specific replies about that chemo. Also, look for a thread on Sept. or Oct. 2011 chemo if you real-time stories as you all go through it together.
Yaya5, Once I read your clue, I did think of medicine. Then took another look and saw the pills that I missed seeing the first half-a-dozen times. Like marlegal said, once I knew what I was looking at, it looked like that and nothing else. That was one of my favorites so far, because you are right, it is something most of us see every day. The pic makes it look very liquid-y (kind of like the blown glass someone guessed.)
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Janis do you still have your gall bladder? I know that passing s stone hurts like the dickens..
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LeAnn welcome to our group but sorry you had to join us here. This is a great group and don't hesitate to ask questions. Someone around here usually has been through it.
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Hi, thanks for the welcomes. I am on the September chemo thread sometimes. I am getting ready to start TAC (Taxotere, Adriamycin and Cyclophosphamide) x6.So far, it seems like most ohters starting now are doing well with the chemo. Tiredness seems to be the biggest issue and as long as it doesn't hurt, I am looking forward to the break. I had pain for 2 1/2 years and then a neck fusion that was supposed to help me be pain free finally and found out one week after I had breast cancer, then lumpectomy/reduction and port insert in each of the last 2 weeks so I am just hoping to be done with surgeries for awhile....it hurts and I just need a break from the painful stuff. The only concern is whether I will have bone pain from the neulasta shots and I guess I'll just have to wait and see. In the mean time, I am just trying to stay positive about getting through things.
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LeeAnn, they administered my Neulasta shots into my belly (plenty of it) - there was no pain from the injection & I had no problem with any after effects. Silly me, I didn't realize there might be so since I didn't know I guess I just didn't go there!
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So excited about this wig I found. They gave me a synthetic wig for free at our cancer center and I am grateful but the hair was really scratchy on my neck. We live in a really small town and unbelievably, this little beauty store near us has all types of wigs really cheap so I decided to take a look. I got this exact silhouette human hair wig: http://www.silhouettehairs.com/goods_detail.php?goodsIdx=261 for $60 and it looks amazing. She is ordering it in my color and should be here in time for chemo. I am so excited that I will have something that looks good and doesn't scratch. It shaped like my hair was too before I cut it in prep for chemo. Happy Dance!
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Welcome LeeAnn!! Hugs!! I bet you are going to look like a knockout in that wig. What's really great is when someone tells you that they love your haircut!! LOL. I think we ate all of Nancy's cake so here is one of your own--but you do have to share!!!0
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Welcome lwarstler- I will not be too far behind you. I am still recovering from mx on Sept.7. Still have 1 drain, and am scheduled for port insertion on Oct. 13th. This is a great site, as many women on here seem to have a sense of humor like mine. The comedy relief is much appreciated. I have always had long hair but dreamed of a short, cool, rocker chick look. I think I'm gonna go for it here in a few weeks. I figure, it's gonna fall out anyway, so no biggie if I look stupid!
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welcome lwarstler. I had mild bone pain from the nuelasta. It wasnt enough to cause me problem that I couldnt handle. I know some have swore that taking a clariten daily for 3 days handles this issue. My Onc and the treatment nurses never heard that, so I didnt try it. I thought if the pain was that bad I would. Thank goodness it was mild and just a few asprins did the trick.
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Maybe I'm in denial but when friends & family ask how I am I tell them fine. I actually feel fine although I had one cancerous node. My oncologist wants me to do both chemo and the hormone blocker. As of right now I'm refusing the hormone blocker and depending on what my oncotype dx shows I will probably refuse chemo also.
I know this may shorten my life span but I just want to put this behind me after the DMX. I'm anxious for my exchange and I want to go back to being just me. Chemo, losing my hair, more hot flashes, etc. is a constant reminder that I may still have cancer and I don't want to accept that yet. Only one positive node. Is that really such a big deal? Anybody else feel like this?
Denise
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chiluvr, There are women who had NO positive nodes, but would up with mets elsewhere in the body. There are women who did do chemo, rads, hormone blockers, and they still wound up with recurrences. There are women who did all the treatments and are cancer-free now. Was it the treatment? No way to be sure.
You know what the worst case scenarios are for doing further treatment and not doing it. Which will you be most comfortable with? Any woman can choose her own "path" after a B/C Dx, but you are only at this fork in the road once. I know you will choose what is right for you.
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Denise, I think that everyone has their own personal choices, and reasons for those choices. I can see where you're coming from. My choice is to do whatever necessary, as sucky as it is, to not have to live with the worry. I wish you the best on your journey, regardless of the path you choose. Hugs!
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As Elimar point out, it is hard to predict what will happen in the future. We all have to make our own life choices, but for me it was important to be aggressive about treatment. The bc may come back, but at least I will know I did what I could. My question is, will refusing treatments help you to forget about the bc and "leave it behind you?" For me, not doing the treatments might make me think about it more. I wish you the best luck, whatever path you choose.
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Denise, What you choose is always a path that you will be happy with no matter what happens in the future. There are no guarantees of success no matter our choice. I chose the most up-to-date path and took the chance of relying on new technologies with the mammosite rads. But I'm happy with that choice and will not regret it no matter any consequences. I did choose to do hormone tx and for me the SE's are very minimal to none. Be happy with your choice and you can move beyond BC. (((HUGS))) and stay strong. Kitty
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p.s. It's just not like me to miss an opportunity to be cynical... Speaking of "making a choice" on treatment, is there anything more loathsome than reading those statistics and studies? Yes, I did do my homework to make an informed choice, but I really felt only slightly more confident than I would consulting a Quija board or Tarot cards. There's just no way to know which statistical group anyone will fall into. Maybe I'll get lucky?
There, I feel better now.
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Hey elimar, love the pic of All My Children. I grew up with them and they will be missed. Also, I'm right there with you in reference to the Tarot cards and Quija board. Too funny! Roll the dice sister!!
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Is All my Children being cancelled? I still watch it on soapnet
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Sherry, I think ABC cancelled All my Kids and One Life to Live. Not sure if any others have been axed. Last I heard, they were going to tape new episodes to air on the internet. It's sad, really. A piece of history going away.
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Goodbye Ericka! 0 -
Denise - Treatment choices are so individual there is not a right or wrong answer. We know our bodies best and have to believe we are making the right choices for us. I did not rads and Tamoxifen - did not need chemo. In this crap shoot called breast cancer, I wanted to do what I could to prevent it from coming back. Is it already back? Only time will tell and I am not going to lose sleep wondering.
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Just back from the simulation. Why am I so tired? Probably because I didn't sleep at all last night. Holding my arms over my head for the 40 minutes or so was not hard. But after, the tech said you can bring your arms down. I said no I can't. The left was fine, but the right was clenched on to the handle and I could not get it to open. The tech had to pry it open. It was asleep, but okay after a while. Got some tattoos and made some appointments to start 28 rads in 2 weeks.
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Stjude: I saw these visors with spiked hair sticking out the top on e-bay and am thinking of getting one just to be able to have fun with.
Paula, I'm glad you didn't struggle with the neulasta. I remember my mom had bone pain so bad, she would actually cry in her sleep. It has had me really scared so I bought Claritin, but I am glad to hear it wasn't bad for you.
Denise-In the beginning I thought I might skip chemo, then they said it was stage III, but when the doc said chemo basically reduces risk of recurrence by 25% and I could be cancer free now or not I thought about it again. In the end, I decided that I have been through enough and don't want to do this again, so I am going all out. However, I agree that you have to think about what you will live with best in the long run and go with that. I'm sure you will make the best choice for you, just make sure you get all the facts so that you can feel confident you made the best choice five years from now.
Kay...ouch on the clenched hand. I know how it is when those muscles start to relax. Glad it wasn't bad during the simulation.0 -
Denise I know its hard to deceided on all this. You have to do what you feel is right for you. Dont let anyone talk you into something you are not sure about. You can please anyone in the end. You have to do whats right for you.
When I found out for the second time I had BC I was shocked and stunned. I didnt think I was going to be going down that road again in less then 2 years. All my options were laid out to me and I did alot of reading and talking to others about their experences. I even had people who thought I was off my rocker for have both my breast removed at 45 years old. Alot of people just dont understand what goes on when you are told you have cancer. Its easier for them to tell you what they want you to do. Some people dont understand what being BRCA+ means and what my family history is. Once they heat alot of them understand, some dont but thats ok because in the end its my choice and noone else's. They are (or were) my boobs and my choice on how I wanted to be treated before during and after. Cancer had my boobs but thats all I wanted to give it, nothing more nothing less!
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Iwarstler-I hac chemo 4AC + 4Taxol. The Nuelasta did give me some minor bone pain and the Claritan definitely helped but it wasn't that bad. I did have alot of joint pain about day 3-5 from the Taxol. My MO offered me more meds to fight this but I'm not one who likes to take alot of drugs.
Denise- Are you considering Radiation?
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Nobody ever mentioned radiation to me so I'm assuming I'm not a candidate. I'm not sure where they would direct the radiation since I had a DMX. The way I understand it - that one stinkin' lymph node that was positive could have put a cancer cell(s) into my bloodstream which is why they want to do chemo, in the event that the cancer did travel. My attitude, however, is why poison my whole body in the event cancer MAY HAVE traveled.
I have always felt this way about chemo, even 30 years ago before all the advancements were made. If they could give me 100% guarantee that if I did chemo it wouldn't ever come back I would do it but since they can't I'll take my chances.
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