MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Random comments....if you have any choice in scheduling your surgery, always ask for earliest in morning. Someone told me that early on in my journey, and I asked my surgeon each time, whether biopsy or port or lumpectomy or follow-ups, to make me first case. Less chance of the day getting filled with emergencies, less fasting time overall, earliest out of hospital, etc. It doesn't always work, but it never hurts to ask and I got that first slot more often than not.
Eli, I know you don't want to turn this thread into "what's new with Eli?" by posting all the details that we tend to do when we come here about BC. Are you starting another thread for that, or does it just work for you to pass along the detaiils you want in here, and keep the reins on things otherwise? I want you, of all people, to get the full measure of our support during this, but I want it to be the way that helps you the most. If that's on the down low, okay ... but if you'd like more, speak up girl and we'll take it to another thread, okay?
Hugs all.
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Does anyone know if you have an excisional biopsy can you get lymphadema?? (I may have posted this in the wrong place)
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Hi all - I'm new to this...after ductal excision surgery due to unilateral spontaneus bloody discharge I was dx with multifocal atypical intraductal hyperplasia - flat epithelial type,florid epithelial hyperplasia, adenosis and apocrine metaplasia, microcalcifications present within benign breast tissue...blah, blah, blah.. I have an appt with the oncologist dec 7 - I know this isn't cancer so what is the big deal??? I have no medical history..adopted. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.
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Elimar, I'm sorry to hear you are going through all of this. Personally, the spot on my lung and scan was one of the more stressful times. I hope you can be free to talk about life issues here and I want to know how you are doing and what will be happening with respect to the rectal cancer.
For me, I am struggling with some emotions running amuck. MO offered me a break from Tamoxifen but I want to tough it out as I haven't been on that long. Just long enough I guess. Whew, just gotta keep my pie hole shut for now.0 -
Hope the scan shows the suspicious areas are nothing. Keep us posted. ((((((Elimar))))))
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jewellmb-Wow, I work with medical records daily, have been thru the BC drills, broken shoulder, etc, etc but your post & diagnoses are quite a mouthful. I don't know how to answer "I know this isn't cancer so what's the big deal?" other than, if your doctor(s) are sending you to an oncologist there must be a threat of some kind to your wellbeing. I hope that you get the answers you need. As far as the unknown medical history, I'm sure that's got it's own brain terrors on occasion. My daughter was adopted & I imagine as she gets older & different issues crop up there will be uncertainty glaring her in the face. Best of luck at your appointment.
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I am trying to write responses as I read posts, so bear with me.
Eli~ my baby got married, which leaves DS2 the only bachelor left.
I am also allergic to CT contrast. My experience was an immediate itching throat and uncontrollable sneezing and itching. Not something which can be dealt with easily in a CT machine. Like you, the nurse came quickly with a syringe of Benedryl. After they watched me for awhile the continued the CT. When I was ready to dress I asked why they had a floor the moved up and down. I was loopy with so much Benedryl in me. I have always been sensitive to it, so luckily my mom was there to drive me the 50 minute drive home. I now make mention of my allergic reaction on any medical form. Don't want to go through that again. When I have CTs now, I have to be pre-medicated.
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Wow, I read on...Eli~ I am so sorry for what you are going through. I had no idea. We had our Colonoscopies on the same day. What made them suspect something was up with you?
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Elimar: {{{Hugs}}} My heart goes out to you!!!
I also found my answer to the lymphadema question, Yay!!!
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Blackcat2012, The excisional biopsy is the exact same sugery as a lumpectomy, with no malignancy involved. Can it lead to LE? Unlikely, but never say never. What I mean is unlike most of the lumpectomies, you do not get the SNB along with it nor do you get radiation to surrounding tissues and nodes. If any lymph channels are severed during the excisional biopsy, they have a good chance to heal without the additional impediments I have mentioned.
Welcome, jewellmb! While all those things you mentioned are not breast cancer, none of them are behaving like normal cells should. I have a tendency to oversimplify things, but one way to think of it is all that hyperplasia might be a mutation or two away from turning into cancer, or perhaps it won't. Cancer is really a process for cells, and yours are a few steps into that process and may or may not make it to the end. Sometimes hyperplasia is monitored over time, sometimes the advice is to remove the areas of hyperplasia in a preemptive manner. You mentioned multi-focal. If there are a lot of foci, it may make the monitoring difficult. The visit with the oncologist is probably to go over all of that with you.
Meece, I had blood, thought to be hemorrhoids. Wrong! Due to that thinking I had three, count 'em...three, procedures I probably did not even need. My mind (and apparently even the doctors') was fooled by the virtually "clear" colonoscopy I had so recently had. If not for that false sense of security, perhaps I could have gotten the proper treatment before my C/C had advanced this far. It is a terrible shame.
Marlegal, Well, I haven't joined a C/C Support Group if that is what you are wondering. I actually looked on one website, and all the same supportive buzzwords were being used same as we use them here, so I figured I would just stick with the gang I already knew. I thought to just keep my latest C/C experience semi-private, just answering to those who sent me PM inquiries, but that is a lot of typing to respond back to everyone of those individually so I ended up writing about getting some scans and about my anger feelings a little. I hope it has not been too much.
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Damn cancer! It is so sneaky. You have a clear mamogram or colonoscophy or whatever and think everything is fine... You do everything "right" eat right, exercise, don't smoke and still wham-o!
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Eli I hope the liver and lung stuff turns out to be nothing. You have enough on your plate as it is. And I agree with Marlegal we want to be your support here.
Jewell-ADH is a pre-courser to cancer. I had it and had it removed and 14 years later ended up with bc. A year later the other breast had some of the other stuff that you mention( which also puts you at higher risk for bc) and at that point I decided to go for the BMX with reconstruction. I do not want to have to deal with BC again and wanted to lower my odds as much as possible. Don't be surprised if they want to put you on tamoxifen as a preventive, they sometimes suggest that although they have no way to know if it is fueled by estrogen or not.
Beckers I have a break a few times because of surgery. My MO has never been worried about the short breaks as long as I get back on the program.
Blackcat not sure what the answer is maybe someone else knows.
I got the call from the PS office today and they schedule me for my revision surgery on Nov 30th. I go tomorrow for my pre-op. although I get the good looking PS not the robot. Should I be jealous or Eli? I am suppose to be alot more sore this time around. My exchange was actually pretty easy.
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Cindyl, It has come up time and again that for most of us, we only had one or two of the "risk factors." If only the randomness that gives us cancer could make us all be Powerball winners tomorrow!
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Asked the MO if I should go off the Tamox. prior to my port surgery? His nurse told me to stop the Tamox. today and the port goes in on Mon., but maybe he stopped me now because soon I will have the (portable) chemo to take. My funny RL friend told me I will have to BEDAZZLE a pouch to carry that chemo around.
I'd like to say "So Long Hotflashes" but don't know whether I will get the kind of chemo tht gives them to you or not. It IS a different kind than for B/C.
(I never had chemo or a port before, so was not so good at answering questions pertaining to that stuff. So now I will soon become a real know-it-all.)
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Hey Barbe1958 should be able to bedazzle you a pouch...that gal has razzle dazzle sewing ability!
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Elimar, blech! How incredibly annoying. I have to tell you though that the robot surgery is brilliant. They did my hyster and 2 hours of adhesions clean-up with a robot.
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Elimar- do you know what kind of chemo you will be getting? I am so sorry about you being stage IIIc. I know I was totally devistated when I heard those words. The PET scan was the easiest one. The longest wait is after the put in the IV crap you have to wait before they do the scan. The scan itself was 21 minutes. I took 2 xanax prior to and could have slept through it. The tech gave me a CD of the whole thing afterwards. Of course I couldn't mae heads or tails out of it. I have spots on my lungs too. The said they were benign. They could have been caused by the previous radiation or other lung infections prior to. Waiting for the results is the hardest part. I wish you the best.
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Well it's 4:30 a.m. Time to go to work and make the bread.
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Elimar--The business of not eating or drinking after midnight before surgery is part laziness and part "that's the way we've always done it." The stomach will be empty after about 6 hours of not eating or drinking, but rather than figure out what is 6 to 8 hours before surgery time and telling someone to stop eating and drinking then, they just say midnight for everyone. The extended time means that people scheduled for afternoon procedures are more dehydrated, which makes it harder to start IV's and increases the risk of complications and can slow healing and recovery, but it's more convenient for the anesthesia people to just say nothing after midnight. That is why I always insist on the first or second time slot of the day. I may have to get up earlier, but it limits the suffering, dehydration and cuts the number of sticks to get an IV started in half. On the other hand, I wish they would put me out with gas and start the IV after, but no one will do that--"It's to dangerous for adults." funny, it's the standard for children, but too dangerous for adults. Doesn't make sense to me, except that it takes longer to put someone to sleep with gas than with IV medications.
Dianarose--chemo induced neuropathy may or may not go away over time. No way to tell except to wait and see what happens.
Jewellmb--hyperplasia is a pre-cancerous condition, similar to colon polyps. I had a lump removed that was atypical intraductal hyperplasia in my 20's, and got mammos every year after until I had them both removed. You are now at high risk for developing bc, but tamoxifen can help prevent it, and some women with similar findings opt for mastectomy. The onc appointment is for information for you to consider.
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Dianarose, if it gives you hope, my neuropathy has completely gone away. I had it fairly bad in my hands and my tongue and lips.
{{{{eli~}}}
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I understand these questions must seem so trivial and self centered compared to the issues with which all of you are dealing. I was just searching and somehow found a link to this thread and it sounded like someone here might be able to address some of my concerns.
Eph3 12 - Thank you for the response - are there questions I should ask the oncologist that I simply am unaware of at this point? The surgeon did mention possible tamoxifen and some drug I have never heard of raloxifen??? I can't remember - was just trying to concentrate on the big picture when he was giving me the report. Thanks again for any suggestions -
elimar - Thank you for your response - what kind of monitoring might I expect? The surgeon mentioned doing an MRI. I have never had luck with mammos - always sent to ultrasound (10 years plus) even this past time the ultrasound was "clear" but the surgeon said he would recommend the surgery anyway. Thank you for any monitoring info you might be able to provide.
Sherry C - Thank you for your response - so there is no test available to determine if the problem is estrogen driven? I read up on ADH and what I read says only 20% turns into bc so 80% are fine???? So if I take tamoxifen and whatever the other drug is, it might help but it might all be for nothing?? I know stats are only numbers and if you fall into the 20% , the 80% isn't all that important - how do I best determine my odds for being in the 20% or the 80%? Thanks for any direction you can provide.
NativeMainer - Thank you for your response -will the oncologist be able to tell me where I am on the "sliding scale" of normal to bc? How will I best be able to make a decison about optimal choices for treatment - what questions do I need to ask and what information do I need to make such a decision? Thank you for any information you might provide.
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Native, Thanks. Now I don't have to carry around all that guilt for swallowing a mouthful of water two hours before some prodedure. I always thought my kidneys would get a hold of it in time for it not to mattter. Thanks also, your message to the other two ladies backs up what I wrote to them. I may not have a medical background, but I'm halfway decent in synthesizing the info. at least.
Short story: A friend is getting a hysterectomy on Nov. 28th (she waited two weeks just to be able to get the robot) and I told her I'd try to get my surgery the same day so we could party in the pre-op. Well, my big surgery is a couple mos. away, but the CS did have that same day available to put my port in. I almost signed up for that BUT it would have been an afternoon time, whereas this Monday I got the 6 a.m. slot. Yes, yes, yes, I took it. So much better to get up and get right in there. If you go that early, just like NM siad, no waiting and hunger/dehydration not yet an issue.
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jewellmb, A friend of mine that has ADH just gets the regular mammos, and they compare to previous ones. I have heard that sometimes if an area gets biopsied, they will leave a clip (marker) behind to better identify the exact area in the future. Getting an MRI would probably be to a) get a better look; and b) create a baseline that could be used for future comparison. Pre-menopausal women only have the two anti-estrogen drug options...Tamoxifen and Raloxifene. You would be given one, not both.
Don't think of your questions as trivial. We don't. Self-centered? Well, aren't we all. I don't see Jesus or Gandhi posting here, so don't worry about it.
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elimar - Is there a test to determine if I am pre or post menopausal? I had a hysterectomy a few years back but they left ovaries so how do I know? The surgeon did ask me the same question and I responded with I had no idea... What drug is offered if one is post menopausal??
I'm 50 avg size - I read if one had gained over 20 pounds since 18 one would need to lose between 4 and 11 pounds to reduce risk of bc - have you ever heard of this? I hardly weighed over 100 lbs at 18 so yes I have gained over 20 pounds plus a little.
Thanks again for all your help - Happy Thanksgiving and I'll remember you on Monday
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Elimar, about being there at 6:00.am. Everyone will be fresh and lovely after the weekend off!
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Jewell - they can do a blood test to tell if you are post-menopausal, they check the hormone levels. If you are post-menopausal you have the option of taking Aromatase Inhibitors (but you have to be post to take these) they stop your body from making estrogen. There are three on the market right now - Arimidex, Femara or Aromasin (these are the brand names).
Meece - I see you had your cancer treatments a little further back than I did, how long did it take the neuropathy to go away. I'm 2 years post final chemo, and haven't seen much improvement yet.
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Outdamnedspot, Or still suffering from turkey-bloat. I know I will be. Heehee.
jewellmb, Yes, they can check your blood for estradiol levels. Linda has answered about some of the other drugs for post-menopausal. They works differently than Tamoxifen, but with the same purpose of keeping the estrogen "food supply" cut off. I do not think any of them are approved for preventative use though, so I'd say push that info. back in your mind until you actually get a B/C diagnosis. Still would not hurt to get the test for estradiol, just to know where you are at. Don't know about the weight gain thing. Geez, I was not even my full height at age 18, still growing. I am sure I gained over 20 pounds after that age. I've maintained an average weight now for over 20 years, so hard for me to think that was a factor in my B/C, but who the heck knows?
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Hey, don't think I am having a cancer breakdown or anything, but I am going to keep to myself for a few days. I put my 16 1/2 year old dog to sleep this today and am in mourning for her. Not a joke.
R.I.P. Best Little Girl In The World (That's her at her Sweet Sixteen Party.)0 -
Life just plain sucks sometimes E. So sorry!
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So sorry for your loss. Will be thinking about you.
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So sorry Elimar - praying you will have a few peaceful, blessed and relaxing days this weekend.
Jewell - I've seen a couple of studies they've done on using the anti-estrogen drugs prophylactic-ally for women at high risk for breast cancer, not sure if it's a standard of treatment anywhere though. One of the studies, I believe, was done in Canada with Exemestane/Aromasin. I also think that a study was done with Tamox also. You can do a google search and find them - if you can't I'll see if I can find them later.
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