CALLING ALL STAGE I SISTERS
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Ladies I didn't know how to thank Deb (Deborye) for teaching me how to post Images.
I think I found the right place to do it my friend, my teacher.
THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.
Sheila0 -
Sue-61: That is my little fluffy corgi Cooper. He's 7 and my daily sunshine. When we were hit by a van a few weeks ago his short legs were his saving grace and he only got a nasty hematoma becuase he could run under the van and avoid the wheels. He's doing really well now, though he's still got a good-size scab.
We're warm here in Illinois today. I'm originally from Los Angeles and it almost feels like a SoCal autumn (warm sun & cool breeze). I know I'm in the minority, but I'm looking forward to or crisp fall days coming back later this week.
Be well, Sido
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Hello!
Depending on what day you count as an anniversary,,,I think I am 2 years out from being Stage 1. (either Oct 5 - mammo from h*ll day, or Dec 21 pathology results and "you have cancer day!")
I had a lumpectomy and a re-excision, 16 rads and 4 boosts, and Tamoxfin from h*ll pill!
I am glad that we have a place to post. As although the treatment is over and my check-ups have been good, I am having a hard time in this "new normal."
Hugs....Kosh
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Hey, all! I'm also getting a bilat mastec w recon in February after doing lumpec and rads. I decided I will do better at sleeping at night and I dont want to do those stinkin biopsies. I had a lot of DCIS. so...I'm waiting for rads to heal a bit, and then off they go!
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Hello ladies....I am stage 1b grade 1 no nodes involved....Tumor was 1.6 cm total and I had grade 2 DCIS...Both were ER/PR + and Her2NEU negative......I was diagnosed 5 months after my sister Fran was diagnosed with stage 3 bc and 4 months after we lost our sister Charity to stage4 bc......i am 2 yrs and 10 months out from diagnosis and 2 yrs 9 months out from a bi lat mast with TRAM recons......We do not carry the BRCA genes either......Our grandmother and mother had bc too.......I did not do chemo or rads......I had a hyster and ooph almost a yr after my masts so am now on Arimidex.....Femara was too hard on me.......I have an 18 yr old daughter and have been married for 23 yrs.......
Sido, glad Cooper is ok!......One of my friends has a Beagle mix named Cooper...He is such a sweetie.......
Koshka!..SO glad to see you!!!!.0 -
Wow - 4 pages already and I've only been gone a couple of days! Nice to see old friends (hi mmm5!) and new ones too (aabinion - good luck with your upcoming bi'mx and recon........won't be long now. Where are you having surgery done?) And to everyone who hates pink.............it's pathetic in November to see the castaway sales-table from October. Oh the stale Halloween candy is sad enough - but the left-over PINK breast cancer awareness junk is NOT inspiring........who wants them now in NOVEMBER anyway?
Hope everyone has a nice weekend.........the sun was shining brightly all day and later when it set, the pink clouds WERE inspiring to me (they did NOT remind me of bc!)
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Swim, I am one of those who actually likes pink!......I know!.....I am so bad!.......I love pink sunsets more than anything and in Puerto Vallarta we saw many beautiful pink sunsets............I llove after October Pink sales then I can get new things for my sister Frn who collects it like no one I know.......She has so much stuff with a pink ribbon on it she bought a book shelf just to store it on.......I don't mind though cause we came close to losing her when she did chemo cause the docs gave her twice what she was supposed to have at one time..........I am so glad to have this thread to come to also.....
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My mom in law just gave me a pink polka dot pajama set for my bd. I like it because when she picked it, I knew she just liked it, not because it had anything to do with breast cancer woohoo! If it did, I'd hate it
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hollyann..I always loved pink. It actually makes me feel good. When I was DX one of my DD's friend gave me a Pink ribbon Xmas ornament. Every October I hang it on my door. I even changed my Avatar in October which is still the same. One of these days I will change it. Take Care
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Hi everyone..I am Jeannie. I am so glad we have this for us!!
Hello..Debbie (Sawyer)nice to see you..I have been thinking about you.
This was my 55th birthday present. I am so amazed at the different types of breast cancer and just how many people don't "get it"!! My personell director at work had told me that she has alot in her immediate family but when I spoke to her recently she made some very off comments!! It was regarding me being stage 1 and insisted that I was wrong and that it wasn't invasive!!! I thought "oh well"...glad I took the time off for rads!! My oncotype came back at 12..so that is good! No chemo. 33 rounds of rads.
I am stage 1 as well. Just had 3 tattoos on last Wednesday and have another appointment this Wednesday and I will get my rads schedule. So sorry that you are having your second lumpectomy..let me know how that goes.
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Seyla, I love your avatar. I am a pink lover for the most part. DH has bought me several Brighton jewlery items with the pink ribbon, my car has had the pink ribbon on it for nearly 6 years, I have other various items of pink in my home. It is a good reminder for me, that I beat the BC devil when I went up against it head to head. Yes, there is always the possiblity of another round, but I don't look at it that way, at this point I WON!
Pinktober castaway sales...I don't care when I buy it. I am aware that I am a cancer survivor every single day. Not a day goes by, as I am showering or dressing, that I don't look at myself and remember what it was like to go through surgery or chemo or rads or biposies or tests or scans. I remember much of it as if it happened last month. Myawareness of BC doesn't occur only during the month of October, and it those who have not been touched by it are aware of it for 31 days a year, I say good. It could be like it was 40 years ago when no one spoke of it. That a woman had cancer, but you didn't say that "part of the body".
I guess the one thing that bugs me about awareness is, when you tell someone you've had BC, do you notice that their eyes automatically scan your upper torso? As though they might see some difference through your clothing. You wonder if they are checking you out to see if and how much you bounce. Going through treatment sort of made me feel that my breasts were no longer private or mine. Every doctor, technician, nurse etc looked at my naked chest and made their assumptions about it. It sort of made me detched from them as a personal part of my body. That sounds weird, huh?
Well I have rambled on long enough. Good night, ladies. Thank you for being here for me.
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Hello Sistahs! Good to see this separate forum worked out for us all.
I am Stage 1~just had my 1-year mammo two weeks ago (all clear! YAY! bookgirl~wonder if my BS will want me to have an MRI as you) & I see the BS this coming Wed, which will be my 1-year cancerversary of my lumpectomy.
I had a tumor marker run last blood work-up & it is listed on the work-up for the end of Dec for my Jan 4 onc visit. NP told me it is just one more piece of the puzzle, but for me, it is something else to worry about.....
Since I was DX at the age of 56 & my Onocotype DX score was 14, I didn't have to have chemo, but did have 33 rounds of Rads. No BC history in my family.
I'm in Michigan & it was a BEE-U-TEE-FUL day! LOL
Sleep tight ladies!
{{hugs}}
Valerie
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I'm really glad to have a thread just for us! I'm actually doing very well except for a 5lb weight gain in only 2 months on Arimidex. I'm excersizing more and hope that will help. People either are horrified that I have BC or dismiss that I have it because it's "only" Stage 1. I have experienced survivor guilt when I read about our sisters with more advanced stages. However, I am sometimes hit with the fear that my Stage 1 will become more advanced in the future. No one really knows for sure. I made the mistake of reading the Stage IV thread and discovered women who had started out like us at Stage 1. That really scared me for several days. Then I decided to deal with what I have now and do my best to stay healthy. I was one of those Stage 1 women who was Intermediate (18) on my OncoTypeDX test. My tumor was 1.8 cm and my surgeon was hoping that the test would give me a clear direction as far as chemo was concerned. It didn't. I opted not to have chemo (only 3% advantage) but I had surgery (partial mastectomy with clear margins), radiation and take Arimidex. So many decisions!
So, my life is getting back to the "new normal". I now appreciate every day and my family and friends in a new way. I treat food as medicine and excersize (yuk!). I have been hypnotized to lose my sugar and wine dependance. Since menopause, I had been drinking 2 glasses of wine every day after work. From what I have read and heard, that's a no-no for my type of cancer. They say the problem is that the liver treats alcohol as a poison and works to eliminate it instead of processing the bad estrogen out of my body. Interesting.
I refuse to take away all my sinful pleasures but I have eliminated red meat (because of the artificial hormones) and eat lots of vegies and fruit, and take my supplements.
Taking life for granted is no longer an option. Have a great Sunday!
Roseann
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Sido, well that little Cooper is one tough cookie! My dog died 6 mo ago and I am debating heavily as to whether or not to get another. I have had 2 golden retrievers in my life.....gorgeous , handsome boys but both died young from Cancer. Broke my heart but Goldens are known to have a high rate of Cancer. So I adopted a dog from a shelter and she was reallly really not too bright but a loving girl. I had her for 8 yrs (she was 4 when I got her....someone turned her and her litter into a shelter 2 wks before Christmas so I just had to go get her outta there); My only concern is that I would like a smaller dog this time. The New England winters can be horrid and I used to have to shovel out part of my back yard as the snow would drift so high that sometimes I had trouble opening the storm door to let the dog out to poop. OH, and the spring clean up would yield about 100 lbs of poop. You can't scoop in MA until the thaw. I have seen mini long haired dachshunds that look like little golden retrievers but I am afraid to lose one in the snow drifts. But boy do I hate living alone...........even a dumb dog would be good company, right????
Sue
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Good morning everyone,
Sue-61 ...... now I am curious......... why can't you scoop in Ma until the thaw ?
Pat
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hmmmmmm
when it snows, we usually get freezing rain on top of that. Unless you are right "behind" the dog to scoop a warm one (Oh, this is such a gross message I am posting), you are doomed. The poop can freeze in about 10 min. Oh, why do I live in New England if I hate the cold????? If it starts to warm up abit, I venture into my yard with a large trash bag and pointy shovel and scoop away. But I usually end up with a lot of snow in the poop bag.
There is a wonderful fam in my neighborhood who does my snow blowing for a very reasonable rate but there is no way to get the snow blower into my back yard so I am on my own in that department!
When my husband died, a couple of his friends asked me if I needed anything done. Anything at all.........I mentioned the poop and never heard another word from them!
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Good Morning everyone!
Its Spring again in NY.
Valerie.. Welcome to our group, I also noticed you just celebrated your life for being out 1 year.
I have no cats or dogs. Have 2 DD 32 and 29 years old. My younger one moved to Hawaii on January of 2009 with her boyfriend. They are very happy there. She is coming to visit for 2 weeks in December. I cant wait. My older one is local only 10 minutes away.
I'm so happy we have this place to visit each other, well you know what I mean.
Will take a nice walk now.
Hugs to everyone.
Sheila0 -
Roseanne, Were you really hypnotized for that and did it work??
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Roseanne,
Your comment about the hypnosis fascinated me too. I have been trying to lose weight while on Arimidex. It sounds like you know the drill, exercise, clean up your act etc.
Well, I was stymied by a plateau recently and then went back to 'cheating' with sugar and chocolate, my old nemeses.
I am very curious as to how the hypnosis is working? Sue-61, We got a dog for my dad after my mom passed away recently. A really smart lab/border collie that we rescued from the pound. My poor dad hadn't smiled in months until he met that dog. They are good buddies now and he's really great company.
Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday.
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Sue-61,
Totally understand the weather issues as I grew up in New England but have lived in Florida for just about my whole adult life.......except for two years back in the late eighties when we lived on the north shore of Boston. My husband had accepted a short term job contract then but towards the end of the two years we could not wait to get back to Florida ( too cold) . However, we did have the best times while living in Ma......... such fun.......the city itself......... Fenway Park....... great restaurants and so on
Anyway, when you said you can't "scoop" in Ma. until the thaw I thought you meant it was not "allowed". 
and could not understand why! Got it now. Thanks for the explanation.
Pat
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Hi, all!
It was weird...I've been on a "happy streak" now that I'm done with rads and just doing the Tamoxifen thing (while waiting for my Feb DIEP), and I had a real panic attack in church today about dying! I was singing the lovely worship songs about God being our life and strength, and it had the opposite effect! I felt like "here I am 38 years old" and I'm not going to have the chance to live more than 20 more years (dying at 58 which is way tooooooo early for me). I know that since we are at an early stage we have the hope that we can outlast this thing completely, but statistics never go beyond the 5, 10 or 20 year mark. I guess I need to go read some of the 30+ year survivor stories on the other boards!
Remind me that we can beat this thing for a LOOOOOONGGGGGG TIME! I want to live till at least 87 years old!
Sorry...I think I'm messing up the happy vibes.
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Cakesisgreat,
Hugs-hugs- hugs to you!!!!! . There are many survivors out there who have lived to be very old and eventually passed away from something else. We all have these moments of fear..................... even those without bc. None of us have guarantees. May you live to be 87PLUS.
Meanwhile............wanted to ask you another question from your earlier post , if you don't mind. What kind of reconstruction are you having? Asking because a big part of me wishes I had done this. If you prefer not to answer I understand.
Pat
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Hi, I'm Debbie , 52 years old and I have just been diagnosed with Infiltrated Ductal Carcinoma on the left side. My surgery for a mastectomy is scheduled Dec 3rd. No history of breast cancer in my family....I am the first. What a terrifying experience. I don't know yet, if there is anything in the lymph nodes, that will be tested during surgery. I have a history of benign tumors, but always benign. I have already had the kicking, screaming, and balling fit....now, I just want to get this over with. I fully intend to have the other breast removed (even though I am told there is nothing there), as a precaution. I opted to have my surgery first then have reconstruction later. I was also told, to relax, I am classified as a 1 out of 3 ( I assume that means stages) and it was explained that the cells are just slightly less than normal. I was so panicked about the possibility of this making it into the lymph nodes and thereby needing chemo (that almost frightens me as much as the cancer). But in reading these posts.....doesn't sound so fatal. Any comments or insights would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi everyone♥ And Welcome Newcomers♥
Sheila I am so glad you invited me to this thread. And thank you for the thank yous about showing you how to add pics.
What a beautiful day in MA, I was outside almost all day. I just put a roast in the oven, yard work can really build up the appetite.
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Deb, your day sounds like mine. Yard work, out for a ride with DH and then more yard work. It was absolutely beautiful here today!
I hope everyone else enjoyed there day!
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Hi Debbie... I agree this is a difficult time when you don't know exactly what you're facing
1 out of 3 is the grade which is the lowest one. Stages go as I II III and IV you wouldn't know until after surgery. Please at least try to take it one day at a time. Once you know the size and ER PR and HER+ status they will decide what kind of treatment you will need.
I'm glad you found us. Ant questions you have please post again.
ONE LITTLE REMINDER UNTIL YOU REACH 50 POSTS YOU CAN ONLY POST 4 TIMES IN 24 HOUR PERIOD. BUT YOU CAN PM ANY ONE OF US THERE IS NO LIMITATION ON THAT. YOU SEE TOP RIGHT CORNER OF THE PAGE WHERE IT SAYS PM CLICK THAT AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS.
Good luck
Sheila0 -
Pat (hmm), I used to swear a lot when I was in Boston, I had a kid who went to BU, knew how to get there and get home, and get to Fenway. Then I started doing perdiem workers' comp casemanagement and hated it. (people sprained a knee and thought they would go ahead and get social security disablity for life) and found out how to get to Mass General and New England Baptist. Now I am being treated at Dana Farber and kind of know my way around, but if there is a DETOUR......ouch, I get in a panic. Thank goodness for that big CITGO sign over Fenway.....If I get going and hope I am going the right way, that sign lets me know I am near BU AND Fenway......Glad you know how COLD it gets in New England and "get" the wait til the thaw on the dog poopy info.
CAKE, we all have freak outs every now and again. I am old enough to be your mother and it is not fair that you have BC in my opinion. Nor is it fair that I have it. I sometimes wake in the middle of the night and cannot explain the funny feeling I have in my chest. I can breathe fine but I feel like something is going on in there. Being a nurse, I know it's anxiety but gosh I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS..........
DEBORYE, yup, sometimes this is why I love New England.......I am in Maine until Fri and then back to MA. Sat outside doing a crossword puzzle and guzzled about a gallon of water, it was so warm in the sunshine. And I love the sunshine.
EXPRESSIONS, who the heck told you to relax???? I was a wreck last Dec and if anyone said relax I would have smacked them one. Altho I think my breast surgeon said he was positive I would be fine. And he was right. I certainly don't like when docs make "guesses", but most have so much experience that I do trust most of them. I think we all on this board know what you are going thru and just how you feel. When I had my surgery, I was SO GLAD that day arrived. My dtr was in tears and I was NOT, I just wanted it DONE. And of course being from New England, and having surgery on Jan 28, IN THE MIDST OF A BLIZZARD just added to the "fun." Right after the surgery, while I was in recovery room (my girls tell me, I was pretty well snockered) the surgeon stopped in to say he was sure the nodes looked fine but being Dana Farber, they wait until the final pathology (might have taken a wk or so) before you get the official call with the news. And it sounds like you have had a lot of mammograms and biopsies, so I will bet your nodes are clear. I think we all on this site understand the agony! And I remember my sisters saying to me, "for goodness sakes you've had mammos every 6 months for the past 2 yrs, so it couldn't have spread" and that really brought me no comfort. But I am telling you to believe it! OK, you can smack me one if you like...........
Sheila! This is the BEST site on this site.....we are all nice and there is no bashing. I love it. Thanks, Sue
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Oh gosh, I keep forgetting people. Hey I am 62 but ......
Lindissima, thanks for the dog info. Maybe we should start a dog lovers board to see if I should get another dog. I think you did a great thing for your father. I am seriously considering adopting. But I am such a worrier.....always have been....and altho Stage 1.....would hate to board a dog if i had to have more surgery or something......
Valerie, GREAT NEWS from you. Very happy for your results.
MAKRAZ, which babe in the pic is you???????
Roseann, I have packed on about 15 lbs since the Arimidex. I don't think I weighed this much when I was 9 months prego many moons ago.........
MEECE, so jealous that you live in sunny california. Have been to San Diego a couple of times......pure heaven.
If I missed anyone, i am sorry, I have to eat supper a we say in New England..........Sue
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Sue..I feel the same way. Thanks for the compliment about our thread. Sometimes we can disagree but I really believe we have a nice little (its getting bigger) peaceful and caring group.
I hope it will stay like this in the coming weeks.
DEB I'm glad you accepted the invitation to join.
TO ALL MY BC SISTERS THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AND MAKING THIS THREAD TO GROW. LOVE TO YOU ALL
Sheila 0
