CALLING ALL STAGE I SISTERS
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Annette---YAY for you.
Im on vacation and im being timed on the puter...
huggggggggggggs K
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Hi my name is Deb , found out about 2 weeks ago that I have cancer in my right breast. Numerous test and bio later ICD stage 1 grade 2 ER+/PR+, HER2-. Scheduled for surgery this coming Monday. On pins & needles, one good thing, I have a super support group between family, friends & peers at work. Couldn't ask for a better group of people.
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I have not had chemo yet but it's in my near future. I go to the radiologist tomorrow to find out about radiation. My onc. told me today, I will be getting chemo, just do not know at this time how much. But I am happy there was no cancer in the two nodes the removed from me (or should I say dug out of me). I still can not use my arm very well and forget about writing. I had to have my husband make out the medical papers yesterday at the doctor's office.
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welcome kholing-sorry you had to join us but glad you found us- i didn't have chemo either but there are many who have...I am sure they will chime in...a lot depends on your personal stats and features of the breast cancer...let you rfeelings go while in here..you are safe
Thanks all- LOVE LOVE THE PICS!!!!!! made me laugh...
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Hi djwraw! I am like you, I have cancerous mass in my right breast. I had my biopsy, where they found it was malignant. About a week later, I had my second surgery, where the surgeon removed more tissue around the initial site and removed two nodes. They put two drainage tubes under my breast, luckily those are long gone. Good luck to you! This is the best bunch of people to be with.
Take care!
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brenilea- I was grateful to keep my hair and my boobs..I have friends who have neither ...cared just like you do but had no choice...one pal had a hair shaving ceremony, another went to her hair dresser and had her hair coloured and cu for the last three weeks she would have it and another had her long hair cu short and donated to a group that provides wigs for children with cancer....all say it was one of the hardest things they have ever done .you are allowed to be afraid and to be pissed off ...and to mourn its loss.
Melmes....major drag....but enjoy the fact that you have been able to grow it,know you will be able to grow it again and oh....I don't know....cry ?!?! Wail and scream.....damn unfair...period
kollingsworth- no chemo here either. but hoping your chemo ourney is a gentle one
Barbara- Excellent. if I end up in Tampa, I will let you know !
annette- congratulations!!! WHEEHAA!!
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djwraw- sorry you have had to join us...glad you have had the surgery and are ont he road to recovery....get a big bottle of aloe vera for the radiatoin joureny and slather it on morning,noon and night and you will be ok....glad your family, friends and work mates are supportive. It helped me through for sure
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(((Annette)))
Hugs
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Hi to the newbie's Deb and Kollingworth.... glad you found us. A great group of ladies!
Annette what wonderful new that all was ok... glad to have jumped in your bag, you might find some crumbs because I was really hungry and they had this great chocolate chip cookie thing at the coffee bar.... I'm trying to loose weight because I'm doing the E-lab thing. But, they were sure good!
Oh, annette, wanted to ask what kind of test they're doing for the estrogen. I can't get anyone to do anything worthwhile in that department. Did go to a NP and he had a "spit" test that I did but to go back to him isn't that easy now. He's moved his practice out of my town... and to go to him would be harder. But, if it's the only worthwhile test... anything is possible.
Granny, what are the GKids doing, limiting your computer time????
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Samsue- my oncologist tested three things in my blood to find out if I am menopausal ...one of them was my esrogen level...out of 330 or 333? I beleiv eit needs to be under 30 to be considered that you are menopausal...I was 111 last November....
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Anette, dear sister/chick ~ Happy, Happy News!!!!!!!!!!! ♥
Welcome kollingsworth ~ Sorry you have to be here, but we are happy you have found us. This is absolutely the BEST bunch of "sisters" you could ever hope to find. Ask anything at any time, we are here for each other.
Welcome Deb ~ we will ALL be with you Monday. Don't laugh out loud when one of us belches or something (gees, would any of us really DO that!?!), the staff will think you really lost it!! Seriously, we are with you.
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djwraw-welcome but sorry you have to join us here. This is a great place for support so feel free to ask any question you want. Someone can help you here. Good luck on your surgery, hope you heal really fast.
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ACK, I am allllll stressed up and no place to go right now. My doctor's office called, and when I called back she said they needed to schedule an appointment to have my sutures removed AND ALSO that my doctor wants to talk with me about some results from the oncologists. So now I'm sitting here waiting and waiting and waiting for the call that will come during lunch (I'm at work) and wondering mightily what it is about and stressing hard that it could be more stuff I just do not want to hear right now, blergh. How do you control that slamming sensation in your chest coupled with the sinking stomach while you are waiting for a doctor's call?0
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Know the feeling..........My grandaughter kept telling me through all those phone calls...................just Pray and be Positive.....................that form a 10 yr. old..........
this time I will do it for you......................hugs,
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Melmes - I so remember that feeling. I called for the post surgical biopsy results and was told that I needed to speak with the surgeon. That hadn't been the case with my pre surgical results so I decided something must be very wrong. Freaked out all day, at 4 p.m. still no call. I called and was clearly upset and they put him on the phone. He just wanted to give me the GOOD NEWS personally that all my margins were good, etc. Along with a hug, I am hoping to offer some hope for it not to be bad news. It must be lunchtime there now...
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her secretary said she wants to go over some of the oncologist's report with me but didn't want to call me at work. I would probably be better off if that last bit had not been dropped. It might well be nothing - but the fact she didn't want to call me at work sticks in my brain like a big old red flag: "bad news = doesn't want to disturb at work". So whether it is or isn't, I'm stressing now and I can't stop.
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Hi Melmes,
I HATE when medical professionals and their staff are cryptic!! There's absolutely no upside to that type of communication. Don't get me started on the anxiety their vague communication has caused me. Part of it is my overreaction, but come on, they should be trained better!
I remember when my original biopsy results were lost in the shuffle, I called the pathology lab. The receptionist tracked down my results, told me she couldn't tell me what the results were, but that she would fax them to the radiologist. She ended the call "All the best to you, love.". Totally innocuous, I know, but it set me in a tailspin until the next day because I assume that you wouldn't be wishing your best on someone unless they were dying.
That being said, it's usually nothing big and they often don't want to bother you at work because they're not sure of how much privacy you have i.e. if you're in a private office or cubicle, etc. In any case, I can totally relate to how you feel.0 -
Hi Melmes.........Story of what happened to me....19 years ago my gyn sent me for a routine mammo.....I got a call at that time to go back for a closer look........they did this closer look 4 times one right after the other.......scared as hell........at the time my husband was going to start Chemo for Pancreatic cancer, and he was dying.......I sat in that waiting room, then they said "ultrasound"....Well at this point i was hysterical (normally very calm)...........The Dr. came out and said "they can't find your last mammogram so that could be the problem.....when she saw how upset I was she said "'I will keep them looking for that mammogram if it takes them all damn day"................"go home, and in about 1/2 hour call your GYN............Went home, and called him in 1/2 hour......................His receptionist said "hold on, he is in delivery right now".....I said "that's ok, you tell me what they found out".............She said "no, he said he needs to talk to you"..............PANIC.............RED FLAG.................SCARED TO DEATH .....Why would he leave a woman delivering a baby to want to talk to med..............Jesus this is bad news...............again ............hysterical............When he came to the phone he said to me>>>>>>>...I was told how upset you were, so I wanted to be the one to tell you the good news..........your mammogram was B9...................God was good "that day", but a funny footnote to this story.
At the time I was praying (because of my husbands cancer, and I couldn't be sick too), I said "Jesus if in my lifetime I am suppose to have breast cancer, I will accept "your will", but please not now.............Guess he was listening........but he waited 19 years..........Oh well, he kept his part of the bargain, and I guess I have to accept it too.............just a small story
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gah. She wants to do a re-excision because she is not comfortable with my margins. If she finds more disease we are talking mastectomy. How did I go from ICV 8 millimeter zap and call it a day to mastectomy in the space of two weeks?! this suuuuucks. I hate missing so much work - we're int he middle of a term and between stressing, doctor's visits, and surgery and recovery, I've missed soooo many days already.
it looks like my chemo will be Taxotere and something else. Guess I better go research it...
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Melmes: There's at least a little comfort in having a plan in place once all the biopsies and research and questions and appointments are underway. Then you feel like the rug has been pulled out from under you yet again and you're starting all over when the plan suddenly changes. Sorry you're looking at bigger surgery than you expected. Hang in there!!!0
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Melmes...I also had a re excision and second time it worked.0
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Melmes, I too had a re incision to get clear margins. We waited about 2 weeks after the first lumpx.
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Melmes..so sorry....oy!....but if they are saying re-excision to move the margins, that is extremely hopeful....they want to give you the best possible chance of knocking cancer on its ass so....not a bad thing....and as for receptionists etc...they are tentative....not supposed to say things over the phone, can't read people's reactions etc.....I asked my dr to simly call me and tell me if it was cancer last july rather than having me drive out ther,e sit in a waiting room and then have to walk out upset and drive back....I told her" I am at work. I have friends around. Call me either way so I won't freak out that you have called me in the first place and jus tell me either way. If I need support, I will open my office door and ask for it"...and she did...and I did and it was ok.
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Hi Everyone, just found out i'm almost stage 2 and will deff. have to have chemo.Next sep is MRI and then decide on surgery options? really overwhelmed and just plain SCARED!
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bbignlv- you will be ok...you really will....this is a great place to get support and there is always someone here who has been through the same experience who will happily walk you through it. I did not have to have chemo but I have friends who have and they are ok now...one of my best galpals has been 6.5 years cancer free..she had chemo because one of her margins was a bit off....but she managed...she is ok...remember to breathe...and keep a 24 rule inmind...ie....if today is a crying , scared day...go to bed...tomorrow will be brighter and you get to start all over! You WiLL be ok...hugs
Sandee
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bbignlv: Welcome! Sorry you have to be here. It's perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed and scared - this is big stuff! Do you know what type of tumor it is? Regardless, an MRI is great for getting a different overall look at both breasts. Our stories are each a little different, but we're all here for the same reason.
Be prepared for ups and downs, good days and bad, things going too fast and not going fast enough. You'll hear this over and over - the beginning is often the hardest part of the journey. Once you and your doctors have all the information needed you'll agree on a plan. That's a big first step and for many of us it gets a lot easier after that. It sucks, but at least you then have an idea of what lies ahead.
You can do this - step by step, day by day, hurdle by hurdle. Allow yourself to have a bad day now and then and pat yourself on the back when you have a good one. A lot of it is your frame of mind.
Keep us posted. Just about any question you have will hit a familiar note with someone here.
Take a breath!!!
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bb- I will chime in and say welcome sorry you had to join us but we will all do whatever we can to help you through this...you are safe here to vent, ask questions crack a bad joke whatever you need to do to get through it...sandee was right- remember to breathe...
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bb welcome but sorry you have to join us. I did not have chemo so don't know much about it, but others on this thread did and will be lots of help.
melmes. I had my lump 6 months ago, no chemo and went through rads. Now have sever nerve damage and my BS wants me to consider a DBX. I have had enough time now to get used to all this so I am not all that upset about it now like I would have been 6 months ago. I have an appt with the PS in June and will see what he recommends and then will proceed from there. At least now I know I am cancer free and can just work through the process. Good Luck on your next surgery.
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