MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
Comments
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Sherry, that is WONDERFUL that you are getting pain relief!!! Janis, so sorry that you are gaining pain. Get thee to a PT!!! Have them check for LE. I have mild truncal LE and get some of the issues that you are describing.
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Sherry I have a friend who is a veterinarian. Miranda told me they started using acupuncture on a horse that had been so seriously injured he was in danger of being put down. He had a serious knee injury and no traditional vetting helped. He was very cherished and the owners were willing to pay whatever it took to save him. They did acpuncture and he recovered completely. Miranda sure is a believer.....I sure hope it works as well for you sweet lady! You have been through far too much.
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janis, At three mos. out for rads, you should feel you are getting BETTER, with maybe an occasional nerve twinge as the nerves grow and reconect in that area. Your description of "puffy" does imply excess fluid in those areas, and where there is fluid, there is generally inflamation. Whether it is truncal lymphedema or pec muscle aggitation or built up scar tissue, you could probably benefit from some PT to your front. Rads caused the tissues to shrink or tighten a little bit, definitely get less elastic. PT helps with all of that.
sherryc, How did things go with the MO? When I go to mine for the blood draw, I get the CBC results about 10 min. later when I am in with the doc or NP, but the liver function gets done later and they mail me the reports. Did you get any results today?
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Eli...thanks for the info. I am a bit concerned about lymphedema and will see my BS on the 24th. I am sure he would recognize it. Whatever is wrong it does not seem normal at all and I agree I should be seeing improvement. Will keep you posted of course. PT to my front sounds special........I had to stop PT on my neck to switch to my back and can barely afford the small copays and gas to get there and back. Cancer really has hurt in so many ways. I am sure everyone can relate.
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Janis, it's good that you'll be seen soon for the breast pain, and I hope it's all good news and an easy fix. I just wanted to say that breast lymphedema (called truncal lymphedema) is often quite painful. The pain can be hard to describe, it's resistant to OTC pain meds (or even prescription pain meds for that matter), and it can tend to move around and be hard to pin down exactly. Here's information about truncal lymphedema if you'd like to know more about it:
http://www.stepup-speakout.org/breast_chest_trunckal_lymphedema.htmNew swelling can also signal a brewing infection, so do keep a close eye on it for warmth to the touch, redness, fever, flu-like symptoms, itching, or increased pain, and head for help right away.
Truncal lymphedema is treated by a well-trained lymphedema therapist with gentle lymph massage, special exercises, and compression (often just from a sports bra or Spanx-type cami). Treatment reduces the swelling (and teaches you how to keep it that way), and that in turn clears up the pain and lowers the infection risk.
Gentle hugs,
Binney0 -
Janis - you are not alone. The added expenses are just another one of the gifts BC continues giving... I hope you can get some relief and things get easier for you.
Sherry - glad the acupuncture is helping and I hope the doctor visits today went well.....Will be with you Monday and promise to try to behave......
As for me, I am kinda nostalgic this weekend. This time last year, I was celebrating turning "fabulous forty" ....Didn't turn out so fabulous.
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What a strange couple of weeks I've had. Had exchange surgery Dec. 16th (hate them btw), and then Dec. 22nd I picked up my almost 3 year old granddaughter from her mother's (who is living with a new bf) to find her struggling to breathe. Rushed her to the hospital where it turned out she was having a major asthma attack and was near death. If God hadn't put into motion everything exactly the way He did, my dear GB would have died that night. The ER doc said she would have been dead in the morning. I get chills just thinking about how close we came to losing her. She was in the PICU for 5 days and spent Christmas in the hospital.
Her mother told the docs at the hospital that her pediatrician told her it wasn't necessary to keep the baby on daily medication for her asthma, when in fact, SHE stopped giving her the medicine. I found this out when I took the baby to her doctor's appt a few days after she was released from the hospital. The ER docs have DCF involved.
I spent Dec. 22nd until the 25th in the hospital, almost full time including overnight. I won't even go into the "mother" situation.
But on the bright side, never gave my foobs any thought until the crisis was over.
Hope all of you had a nice Christmas, or at least as nice as our circumstances allow these days.
Denise
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Oh, wow, that is scary. How lucky you were there at the right time.
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Denise - Thank goodness your granddaughter is doing ok. Breaks my heart to hear of the poor little thing being so sick and at Christmas no less. I hope this results in positive changes in her world and the new foobs grow on you... (hugs)
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denise, i can imagine how awful the experience was for you and your granddaughter. she is very, very blessed to have you ... obviously, you saved her life.0
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chiluvr228, Wow! What a scare. Good thing you went directly to the ER that night. That's one Christmas you will not soon forget, and now you unfortunately have to face other family issues to keep your little GD safe. It will work out for the best, I'm sure. Now, why do you hate your foobs?
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janis, I'm posting this after reading yours about swelling from rads...others may have answered but I'll throw in my 10 cents! do NOT assume that your surgeon will recognize LE. Sad but true that many doctors ignore swelling. Regardless of what he thinks, please ask for a referral or get the name of a trained LE therapist and go for an evaluation. Radiation can bring on LE even months out from treatment. In my case, my breast continued shrinking for literally years after I was done with rads. That shit does things to us that no one really knows about!!! Hopefully it also kills all those nasty cells that may have lingered, so I'm ok with the effects that come on, but please please please make an appointment with a LE therapist for at least an initial evaluation. I developed LE 2.5 yrs post surgery and wished that I'd known then what I know now.
This is me coming off my soapbox
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I'm going to be another voice chiming in about truncal LE--I got it after rads, the pain was terrible, and only stopped after I had a mastectomy. So much for "conserving" my breast. The Rad Onc I was seeing at the time actually correctly diagnosed the problem, then told me there was no treatment! Fortunately my Med Onc knew better and referred me to a couple of LE therapists who taught me the massage and got me a compression bra (uncomfortable to wear but it did decrease the pain from a 10 to a 6). My BS knew nothing about truncal LE. So even if your BS knows about truncal LE he/she may not know about treatment.
Listen to Binney, she's an expert and got me through a really rough time with all the LE stuff.
Hi, Binney!
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binney...many thanks for doing your homework and all the good advice. I will be reading up in just a few minutes. If my BS is clueless then I will have to go to my MO. I have to have a referral to go to PT.
odie.......thanks to you too. The more experiences I hear about the more I understand this.
Denise, I am so sorry you had to go through such a frightening and traumatic experience. How awful, but at least you were there for her and she is okay now.
marlegal...I always love your 10 cents, or two cents! Sound advice and good to know that I am not alone. Hopefully my BS will know about LE if that is the case. I don't think infection as the pain is not constant and no redness. Just the persistant swelling and some pain. The right (BS) breast definitely fills out my bra well. Go figure huh?
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Denise, big hugs for what's to come! You did good.
Janis, my surgeon doesn't believe in LE and I actually had a revision surgery to take even more tissue! Well, of course it wasn't tissue, it was LE, so it made it even worse. My MO diagnosed it. My surgeon still doesn't get it. Thank goodness my PCP is VERY aware of it. At my recent visit to the hosptial they were amazingly aware of LE!!! Once they asked what side my cancer was on, they did nothing on that side! I was surprised and pleased. Didn't want to tell them it could have been my other side as it's not only nodal surgery that interupts the lymphs, but any breast surgery.
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Meant to add, your PT should be teaching YOU how to do the massages so you don't have to pay to get it done. My DH does my back.
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Binney....I read the information and it sure fits me. The swelling and the pain have developed in the past couple of months but gotten noticeably worse as far as the pain and discomfort goes. I fill out the BC side of the bra a lot more than the other side. Thanks for the link...
Barbe I really don't know WHO to contact! I don't see my MO until next month so wondering if I should call that office? I LOVE his nurse and she has been more helpful than he ever has. Maybe I will just leave a message for her. Barbe I really am sorry you have had to go through so much!
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Justmejanis, try the search engine here: http://www.clt-lana.org/therapists/default.asp and see if you can find someone in your area.
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Janis, any doctor on your team can make the referral, even your PCP. So can the helpful nurse. If one won't do it, ask another. The LANA site Momine gave you is a good start. Here's more information and ways to find a therapist who's fully trained:
http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Finding_a_Qualified_Lymphedema_Therapist.htmBe well!
Binney0 -
Thanks Binney! I put in my search for 50 miles and came up empty handed. So put in my state and came up empty handed as well. I always live in backwards places! Will come up with some plan. I am definitely going to leave a message for Esther next week.
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Janis, here are two listings sites for fully-trained therapists. Enter Idaho in each and you'll find several therapists in Boise and Meridian:
http://www.klosetraining.com/TherapistDirectory.asp
http://www.vodderschool.com/find_a_therapist
If the links don't work let me know and I'll copy them out and PM you. Hope that helps!
Binney0 -
Did I miss the mystery pic?
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Yea! Where is the mystery pic? Who was supposed to post it?
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Thanks Binney I will check in awhile. Boise is out of the question, I could not afford the gas to get there even though it is only about 25 miles from here. Meridian is not much better at at least 15. It is so darn frustrating. I'll see what I can find. Thanks.
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Denise- So sorry about your GD. My youngest son had very bad asthma when he was a baby and it is so terrifying. I had to really learn to listen to his breathing to know what was going on because he was too young to communicate. So sorry you spent Christmas in the hosptial but she is so lucky to have you.
Eli- I had two really good Dr visits. My pain Dr released me even though am having neck pain. He feels that my PCP is handling it good and just wants me to check in when I finish this treatment. If i need him I can call him. Feels good to ditch a Dr. event hough I really like him. My MO appt when well all my bloodwork is good I just have to wait a few days for my Vit D levels but otherwise good. He is concerned about my neck but agreed for me to get off my tamox for a couple of weeks and try the steroid pac again. He could not believe that it did nothing for me the first time. He said if this did not work wants me to call him and he wants to ge to the bottom of it. We talked about my upcoming BMX and he is very supportive since my last B9 lumptecomy on my other breast. He said my breast are very unpretictable and he thinks a BMX is a good decision. I told DH that I am finally feeling good about my BC future. I told my MO I had changed BS after this last surgery and that the new one wants me to have a breast MRI on MOnday because my guide wire came out right before the last surgery and he wants to make sure everything is OK before we proceed on the BMX. I think my MO was glad because I don't think he and my old BS have the best relationship. Neither one has ever said anything but I can read between the lines.
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NO you didn't miss it. I can't do it. DD isn't here & I have no clue how to do it. I've been away from home all day so this is the 1st moment I've been on the computer since early Friday @ work. Sorry!
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joni ... we'll wait for you hon
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Joni, no worries!
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No problem! Please don't stress over it.
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Joni I never guess the puzzles as I am afraid to win! I tried to upload a photo once and after almost tearing out all my hair, I gave up. My DH even tried, he is a lot more computer savvy than I am, and he couldn't figure it out either! Maybe we are missing something but enough other people here participate it is no big deal my not guessing. I totally understand!
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