MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
Comments
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Thought I'd mention a PM I just got from an old friend here from the boards...she's not old, the friendship is old and I know you know what I meant!! I have mild truncal LE and that would be a huge NO-NO for tattooing the area! Dang! I'll have to spend that $500 somewhere else.....sigh
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MP - a bathroom mirror?
Welcome all you newbies. There's a great group of women here that can answer your questions or just listen to you vent when needed. And we also have fun and enjoy guilt free/calorie free drinks and snacks.
My DD threw me a "but I'm not dead yet" surprise party last night. She was originally planning on throwing me an end of treatment party but since I won't be ending treatment and I'm doing so great right now she still wanted to do something. And she had everyone wear blue and insisted on no pink.
I have some great kids
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Keep guessing the Mystery Pic (pg. 566) and Marybe will reveal it tonight. I can't guess, because I know. I am going to make marlegal's wait a little shorter by saying she only got the countertop part of her guess right. You can guess again mar.
reesie, Your "not dead yet" theme party sounds like every birthday I've had lately. Wah!
barbe, Good call! How soon we forget the many LE risks out there.
lory48, So you see, I don't make up that LE crap. It's real. Frightening how some little thing can give someone a flare-up, or give you the onset of something that will be with you for life. Glad your arm's feeling better today.
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Hello, I am new to this. Just had a lumpectomy and SNB - both nodes have macrometastases. My surgeon wants to do an ALND soon. Should I do it? Does it really change the treatment plan since I already know I will have chemo, radiation and 5 years of an aromatase inhibitor? I had a lot of drainage (but no drain) from both incisions and get infections easily. I am very worried about lymphedema if I have the ALND. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.
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Well I'm really behind again (3 pages) but I sure would like to welcome our newbies. We do have our fun and can still be counted on for support and warm hugs when you need it. So vent, cry, whine, laugh, get silly and anything else you want, we are all here for support. By the way thank you everyone for you support when I was feeling so low. I can't tell you enough how much that helps. I did take note of all the beefcake and really can't help myself and thought I would share mine with you too. I really love Nathan Fillion in Firefly and now Castle. Can't get enough!
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Seattle T, welcome! My first and best answer would be get a second opinion to discuss your options, and go armed with a list of questions so you have a full understanding. My other thinking is you are right to have that worry about LE, as the ALND carries that risk (usually at higher percentages than all the other surgical procedures we tend to get.) I don't think it would change the treatment plan. In fact, without ANLD, they may be planning to radiate you axilla anyway, so even with that you have a risk of LE. You've heard of the ROCK and the HARD PLACE?0
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Speaking as someone who had ALND and now lymphadema
I would get a second opinion and see what they say. I was in a different circumstance in that I had cancer in lymph nodes before chemo, so didn't really have an option. ALND is not a guarantee that you'll get lymphadema, and it is certainly more important to get all the cancer, but I think the current thinking is that with radiation, most people don't need an ALND. Best wishes in however you decide to proceed.0 -
So what is the dealeo with chemo and heartburn?? I mean really.. acckk
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With LE, no one really knows.
Guess what, I developed LE in my hand this past month. FOUR AND ONE-HALF YEARS AFTER SNB!!! No clue as to what set it off. I only had 5 nodes removed (thank goodness negative). Anytime a lymph node is removed (even just one) you are at risk.
Sorry for the mini rant and lecture.
Trish
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lory, try zantac or prilosec for heartburn and chew some tums, too. that's worked for me.0
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Something interesting I happened to notice about the lymphatic system. It's not split down the middle. It's not exactly a right side/left side thing. The sides do no do equal work. Who knew? I'm just going to GUESS that there is more risk for LE if a woman has surgery or rads on the left. It is doing the lymph circulation for almost 3/4 of your body. That is a much larger area to guard against injury or infection.
I've not yet seen this pointed out anywhere on BC.org, but then I haven't read the huge LE thread either. No doctor ever pointed this out to me (but then again, LE doesn't even exist to some of them.) Just thought I would mention it. Anyone can look into it further if interested.
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Eli you make an insteresting point. Last weekend on my Casting for Recovery both of my roomates had left breast cancer and they both have developed LE. One was 1 1/2 years out and one was 3 years out when they developed it. The 1 1/2 years out got a bad sunburn at the beach and the 3 year out was playing with her dog and he actidentally bit her instead of the toy and she pull away and ended up with a bad wound. Seems we are never safe from LE. I am left brest cancer and so far so good on the LE even though my breast is still swollen from rads. I get full body lymphatic massages every other week.
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Personally, from the studies in the summer, I would NOT get ALND or anymore lymph nodes taken out than they took with the sentinal node. I do sort of believe in the sentinal node thing, but then I had micromets in mine and didn't get rads! Or chemo! So what difference does it make, really?
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Not having LE myself (yet?) I have not delved too deeply into that particular subject. My mind is just constantly wondering...both a blessing and a curse. (Snicker!)
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The LE board talks about moving the fluid from one side to the other with massage. Apparently it can drain once it gets there. I had rads and have to massage the axcilla because of the pain. My acupuncturist has me using castor oil which is helping with the scar tissue... I massage the oil in and around the incision site ~ it seems to be helping a lot with the pain and discomfort, plus with the LE.
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Yes, that's what the LE therapist that I'm seeing told me, and that once you move it to the non-LE side, it gets absorbed by the body. Now while I don't have LE myself, I do have some fluid buildup to the left of my implant (right breast), and it does feel crunchy/painful when I massage it there. I didn't know that until I had gone to see her, so the visits have been worthwhile, if only for that.
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I got LE even though bc was on the right, but then I have had none of the usual se's from tx and several crazy unusual ones.
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MP-Ok you know when you hear a song and you can't get it out of your head? Well, when I look at the mystery pic, I see an image that is slightly pornographic. Ok I have a dirty mind, I admit it. but I just can't get myself to open my mind to other possibilities. . .
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cmb, Freud's ghost just texted me...he doesn't want you looking at any trains, cigars or monuments.0
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But Claire, it's so TINY!
No clue what the picture is, btw... though it certainly isn't a cigar...
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You know the old saying, out of sight--always on your mind. Oh wait. Don't get me started on the when was the last time I had. . . oh never mind.
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And Kitty I remember Nathan as Joey on one life to live, I thought he was so cute back then.
that was awhile ago. . .
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Reesie, I love the party theme!!! You're right, you do have great kids. It's wonderful that you know that and appreciate it.
Mystery pic ... damn, it's a blessing and curse that I get to guess again!! Okay, this time I'll say the bottom of a coffee mug
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Ok, ladies here is what the mystery pic was.....It was a gummy nose so Paula was right on with her guess. I think my mind must truly be in the gutter because when I spotted that package of body parts gummy candy with the Halloween display, that particular one sort of jumped out and me and I thought Wow, I can't believe they can actually produce something like that and get away with it...Xrated candy....but then I realized it was only a nose. I had it propped up on one of those plastic bowls they give you takeout food in so it would be standing erect and yes, it was on my kitchen counter-top. So Claire you do not have a pornographic mind at all because I saw the same thing and thought it was hysterical, but when I showed it to the people I work with they would say it's a nose.
Lory, Chemo can be very hard on your gastro-intestinal tract......I take nexium....you know that commercial for it where they always talked about that little purple pill?...that's it.
Do you remember ever hearing about a procedure where they were reconnecting the lymph system which would eliminate lymphedema.....I think they were doing it in CA.....or did I just dream that? My left breast was removed and I do not have lymphedema in my arm, but I wear that sleeve when I work in the yard or paint or go in a plane......however, I do have a pouch under my arm that gets larger at times....think someone called them dog ears. It is rather annoying, but no one ever sees it.
Goodnight Ladies, I am off to the TV....this is the night for my shows.
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I had to laugh at all the "dirty minds' that were on Marybe's wavelength.
Paula, you really know your x-rated looking Halloween candy! There is a lot of prestige that comes with that, for sure!
Since we had a little confusion this week, we will have Chrissyb post our Mystery Pic next weekend. Darlam was sorry she forgot, but it works out better this way since Chrissy will not be having a turkey hangover (or shopping hangover) like so many of us will.
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My across the street neighbors have their Xmas light up and turned on tonight. Don't they even wait til the turkey gets digested anymore?0
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A local radio station has been playing nothing but Christmas songs for over a week. I have already tuned in in the car.
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So I have my 3 month thyroid bloodwork this monning at 7 and then work at 9. Then I go and wake up at 4:45. Visions of work dancing in my head. RRRRGGHH. I really would love a cup of coffee right now--in that in between stage of not being able to keep my eyes open but not being able to shut off my brain.
and I really would love to share some blueberry muffins too. . .
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SeattleT, here's my welcome to our club. I'm a new member, too, and already have found so much support and wisdom. I echo the advice to get a second opinion on the ANLD. Also, read all you can about the pros and cons of that procedure. I had micromets in 1/3 nodes, and my BS said she was not going to do the ANLD, that current thinking was that it would not change the treatment plan and that the risks outweighed the advantages. As you'll quickly learn here, every woman's BC is slightly different, and what's right for one may not be right for someone else. But I think you owe yourself a second opinion.
Good luck!
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Hi Ladies,
Claire I hope your test goes well! I have axillary web (only one SN out) and I went to LE therapist who taught me how to massage the fluid from the left affected arm to the middle and right side of my body. But I wanted to say now that I have had BMX (and am still recovering) I don't see the cording or feel the intense pain down to my fingers on my affected side. Could BMX have stopped the axillary web? Let's hope that's one GOOD side effect. SeattleT I would get a second opinion.
I know some of you hate starting Christmas before Thanx, but to tell the truth I've had such a bad year I am actually enjoying getting in the Christmas spirit a little early this year.
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