CALLING ALL STAGE I SISTERS
Comments
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carey: So sorry to hear about your relative...it does seem like you have a cloud over your head. They say it comes in threes, so maybe this is the end of all the bad news and everything will be fine from this point on. Sending you prayers and positive energy!
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Hi all, thanks and we did get good news today. Out of the node panel they took, only one was cancerous and the rest were clear, yippee! So Monday they go to the oncologist and find out the treatment plan. Then my ex sister in laws dad came home from the hospital and is doing well, they say it was a TIA as well. Unfortunately news with my sister in law's mother in law is not good - sending her home with hospice. Didn't talk to my brother today yet to get the fire update. Whew, i think its time for a glass of wine!
Have a good night all.
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Great news Carey! Clink! That's my wine toast to you and your family...blessings!
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Meece: sorry to hear about your dad and hope he is okay. I am the only child around my parents and I sometimes feel like i carry the load with everything from sickness to hosting every family event. My brother is 4 hours away and away from it all good and bad but now i feel bad for sometimes feeling that way but it sure does get overwhelming at times!
Anyway, way back when i first posted about my mom, I had some back and forth conversations about my issues because it scared the heck out of me since my mom is the first and only person in our family to have any kind of cancer. She never had any issues on mammos either. BUT I had my first biopsy right at my baseline at 35, turned out to be a fibro in the right side. I had a clear mammo the year after so they cleared me for waiting for 18 mos for the next. That one was good but the next, they found calcifications in the left which were obviously benign.Last year was clear. Now the calcifications completely freaked me out because everyone says "feel for lumps" well how do you find those little puppies?!!! Well i find it very stressful to go but now that my mom was diagnosed, it worries me even more. I was sending my posts when i was feeling the "I am doomed to get it" stage....I've gotten over that mainly from the posts on here!!
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Thanks Chachamom, I just got the cork out!! It has rained so bad here that some areas including some streets around my home have flooded (now receded) but sounds like a nice bath with my wine is in order
Its gloomy!0 -
Carey, I am glad the news was pretty good. Just a note. On the calcifications, you might not be able to feel them, they can be pretty small, so don't freak if you can't find them, that they are small is why thy are just keeping an eye on them. Much love. Enjoy the bath and the wine
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Yes, Carey, they will just keep and eye on them for ANY changes. It's good they found them, so they can watch that area. I head to UCLA on Monday for my mammo and an MRI. They are using the MRI to watch my calcifications carefully. Although I hate both scans, I feel good that I am under the watchful eye of professionals. You will, too.
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Hey---where is everyone??????this thread is not as active as when Sheila is here.
Big shoutout to ya Sheila and all the other missing sistas.
Have a nice weekend.huggggs K
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I was diagnosed a year ago and now work all the time after surgery and radiation. I missed my 1st and 2d follow up appt with RO one month ago and now my 1 year "diagnostic mammo" last week. I work all the time and am afraid that if I take off I'll be canned. I know that might be unrealistic, but I can't seem to get all appts together for a "day off" instead of "doctors appt" Somehow everyone knows after I told 2 people I trusted that I was treated for BC. Haven't gotten blood work for MO yet but I did see him. and will get it before my August appt. Never saw the surgeon again. I keep putting my job first. The hours have me on a treadmill. I am the only one who does my job and sometimes work 12 hours a day. I feel that if I take time off I will get behind. I will have help mid august so that is good, and then they're trying to hire a third person. I am trying to make appts for other things and working on it slowly, but I need my job and the money. Just wanted to vent.
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Meece: they never suggested an MRI for watching my calcifications but others on here have suggested that I look into it with all that has gone on plus i have dense tissue. The MRI is also how they found my mom's 2nd lump that was not on mammo or sonogram. My mom's surgeon basically told me not to push the MRI issue as they would basically be putting needles in me for every little thing they saw. I don't know what to do now!!
Granny, you are right! It is quiet without Sheila!!
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careyomomof2 - I don't get that.....several of my previous docs also said the same thing when I wanted an MRI because of dense breast tissue. I do know that the insurance companies don't like to pay for "unnecessary" MRIs for just that reason....the cost of biopsies on top of the cost of the MRI. I don't mean to minimize the risks of biopsies. No procedure is without risks and downsides. It's not so much the calcifications, which they obvious know about - it's the dense breast tissue.
I'd had a history of calcifications in 2009 which, amazingly, did show up on mammo despite dense breast tissue. I had an excisional biopsy and it was ADH. After that I was never comfortable that my mammograms were adequate to evaluate my breast tissues. It's true, MRIs often lead to biopsies that you might not otherwise have and most times those biopsies are benign. Personally, I'm so glad that I kept pushing for the MRI when my mammos went back to "Nothing suspicious seen, but masses may be obscured by extrememly dense breast tissue." To me, that means "This is basically a waste of time because we can't see anything." Yes, I had three benign biopsies as a result of my MRI, but my ILC and DCIS were also caught at a very early stage. My breast surgeon said it would have been at least 5 more years before the ILC would have been felt or seen or possibly seen on mammogram.
Again, chances are that nothing bad will be found. However, I'm thrilled that I pushed the issue and found my two cancers even though I also had to have three additional "unnecessary" biopsies.
Don't mean to upset or worry anyone, I'm just a rabid advocate of breast MRI
. Instead of waiting and worrying I preferred finding out for sure one way or the other and being able to deal with it at an earlier stage. But, that's just me.....0 -
Hi all,
Yup, I am guilty of making too much quiet around here!
Wanna join me and make some noise?
Hope everyone is having a good week end.
Joan0 -
Hey Joan...GUILTY!!!!!.how are you?
come on we gotta keep this thread running without Sheila...
where are the rest of you??????you know who you are!!!!!!
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Checking in....I've been traveling as well..went to WI for a few days and next week I'm going to visit some girlfriends in the next town over for a few days. Hope everyone is doing well...see you when I return.
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Thanks Kaara for checkin in....I think Sheila would be a little upset if we dont keep in touch..dontch think?
Im away too but mine is like a mercy mission.been doin that a lot lately.sick friend.helpin out.One more week to go.
Come on the rest of you.I really dont wanna start mentioned names!!!!!!!!got it?
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I did a brief run down the freeway to Sacramento yesterday to go to the AMerican Idol concert!!!! Sheila, it was great!!!
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Good for you, Eph! I hope you enjoyed the concert. I just saw Daughtry in a free concert after a Mets game in NY. They were awesome and have come so far since Idol.
Don't know if I'll get to Idol this year...went last year and it was fun.
Well, I'm the only one up around here ....am doing final edits on a lab book I wrote with a colleague. The publisher made dozens of errors which I have corrected. Doesn't anybody speak English any more?
Oops - hey Granny, how are you doing? How's the therapy going? I have so many doctor appointments this week. The first mammo in a year.....no celebrating until that's over.Kaara, how'd u like the end of the bachelorette? I wasn't surprised....it was quite entertaining.
Sleep.....
J0 -
Hi Y'all:
We returned home today from the visit with DH's relatives for 3 days, then to Virginia Beach for a day and night to visit friends and on to Norfolk from Monday till Sunday for a military reunion.
What fun we had visiting friends from when DH was on the USS Wisconsin. We visited the ship, relived earlier times in my hometown, etc.....Our next reunion in July 2014 will be in New Orleans!!!!!
There were 2 ladies that read my article in our military newsletter about my breast cancer being caught with a yearly mammogram, that had mammograms they had been putting off for 3 years. All was well with both and I'm so happy that they took my article to heart.
I've got lots of catching up to do, reading posts, washing clothes, etc.
I hope everyone is having a great day.
LaDonna
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Well my mom met with the BS today and also the first appt with the oncologist. Turns out the drain tube was clogged. Not sure how the visiting nurse didn't catch that. They took the tube out anyway but they used a needle to drain it and she has to go back 2 or 3 more times for draining. I hope no problems arise from this. Then the oncologist suggested radiation and chemo but they are going to do the testing (i guess thats the oncotype?) first and go from there.
I'm still worried tht my mom isn't saying much about any of this. I guess she is just going and taking care of what they tell her to do but i am really worried that its going to "hit" one day and she falls into some sort of depression or ???
Filterlady: sounds like a nice trip. Glad you enjoyed yourself!
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Carey, I know when i was first diagnosed I didn't cry except after I first heard. I focused on getting well, getting treatment, lining everything up, working etc etc. It wasn't until a while later that I had a few pity parties. Not depression, just needed a little release. They didn't last long, and I felt much better afterwards!
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Carey, I ended up getting drained via needle several times. I think my drain must have clogged also. It just takes a minute and you're numb and don't feel the needle. I was pretty calm about my diagnosis and surgery, still haven't cried, and it didn't set off a depression (which I've had problems with in the past). Just keep loving her and being supportive. She may really need you when she's getting chemo or radiation. My daughter was totally sweet to me and it was great.
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Carey: Your mom may be a lot stronger than you think she is. When I was dx, I really didn't cry much. I approached it from the standpoint that it is what it is and I can't change that. I busied myself doing research and finding out all I could about my dx and the type of treatment so that I would have a say in how it went. I've yet to become depressed and actually feel blessed that I had so many years disease free. I consider this a bump in the road towards continued good health, and the new lifestyle I've adopted will only help with that. Just keep being there for your mom and listen to her when she feels the need to talk and everything will be fine. Good that she is getting the oncotype test, because she may not even need chemo. It would be pointless to put that in your body if you didn't need it. I didn't do rads, but from what I've heard, it isn't all that bad...just makes you somewhat tired. Encourage her to get pleanty of rest.
Sending you positive energy and prayers.
I'm off to spend a few days with some girlfriends on the other side of our mountain. It will be a break for me and loads of fun!
Have a great rest of the week everyone!
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Carey I was DX the end of Sept and did not cry until Christmas. I was two weeks in to rads and was already starting to have problems from it and I just sat down Christmas Eve with one of my best girlfriends and let it out. I needed the release at that point and felt better afterwards. Just be there for her when she needs you.
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Hey sistas---im glad to see more and more check ins....
yeah the good the bad and the ugly...what else is new?
gonna start throwing out names of the missing sistas soon.
come on...you know who you are!!!!!
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Good evening ladies! Hope everyone is doing well! I am almost 3 weeks post chemo and start rads tomorrow. I am ready to get on the next phase of my treatment! Bring it!
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Hey Granny!
I'm here, just lurking mostly, but still here.
catbill
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Hi Granny, been hanging around. Been feeling a bit down. My brother finished his rads last week and started chemo yesterday. He has a very aggressive malignant mass in his throat. Went from undetectable when they scanned his carotid arteries in December to so large it was constricting his esophagus, larynx and trachea as well as partially collapsing his left lung by early July.
Please remember him in your prayers my friends.
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Chabba, prayers for you and your brother
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Chabba, I am praying for you and your brother!
We might be buying a new house! ...exciting and scarey! We decided to bite the bullet and take a major chunk out of our deferred comp plan to get a nice home in Rancho Cucamonga. The market is crazy right now with multiple offers (over the list price).....so it is very nerve racking! But on the other hand we decided the benefit of having a "forever we could live here" home in California outweighed the desire to save for our later retirement years.....who knows how many years any of us has??? We should know in the next two days if we'll get the house (offering 16k over the list price!!! Nuts, right?.......but we've lost two houses already to other offers over the listed prices!)
Wish us luck! I also have my appt with the micro surgeon that will be on my DIEP team on Thursday. I'm hoping to get a date set!0 -
Hi all. Am just passed treatment 4 of 6 (tax, carbo and herceptin). Have had naseau this time and had to take the compazine....ugh hate the way it makes me feel. Not taking it again! Have a ? for my dr and welcome comments from y'all....I have been taken off of herceptin because it is affecting my heart function. So...if you can't take herceptin w/out the chemo and I'm taking herceptin because I'm her2+ and have been taken off of it then why am I still taking chemo? Why not just onto radiation?
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