Stage II w/Lymph Node Involvement
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Hello - thought I would join this group. I was diagnosed 4/3/09 with IDC. I had a right mastectomy in June and like Meg the nodes were negative on first glance and then later one of the sentinal nodes came back positive. I had to undergo chemo and chose to do 6 weeks of radiation rather than further surgery to remove more lymph nodes. It was a difficult decision but I just didn't want to go through more surgery. I had a hysterectomy/oopherectomy before my BC dx. (for reasons other than cancer) so I am now on Femara (an AI other than Arimidex). I've been on Femara for 5 weeks - if anyone is on Femara and has had any side effects let me know. So far so good for me on the Femara.0
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Welcome Suz! How did they know to check the sentinel node again? (Just curious -- I now have something new to worry about
Lilah
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balsie~
The Arimidex is pretty tolerable so far (been a few months now). I do have pretty painful joints in the mornings or when I have been sitting still for more than an hour. So I run and lift weights, do yoga...anything to keep my body moving throughout the day. Mornings are still painful because I have to sleep sometime, lol! But it is easily managed with Tylenol or Advil, nothing stronger. I did have some hotflashes for the first month, but they are very rare now. Overall, I'd say it is a pretty mild price to pay for having a medicine that reduces risk of recurrence.
Cheers,
Nadine
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5timewinner~
Nadine,
Thanks for the info ..... I think I will do just fine on arimidex. I already have had hotflashes from the chemo and they are not that bad. I will let you know how it goes. It is so nice to have this group to go to with questions.
Cheers to you!
Balsie~
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Hallo, I am another "oldie". I was diagnosed on Febr. 14, 2002. At first my sentinel node looked clear, then the lab result came back, some positive cells in there. Had another 18 nodes removed, all clear. I had chemo, rads, 2 years of tamoxifen and just finished 5 years of Arimidex this November. So far, I am still dancing with "NED". My next apointment with my onc is in February.
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Mostly a hit and run poster these days, more run than hit! Just happened upon this thread. Haven't read all of the posts (275 is far too many for a hit and runner
) but since I am stage 2b with node involvement I figured I'd add my stuff to the mix. I've had a ton of treatment and a ton of surgeries but am so a "glass half full" kid that I won't regale you with the particulars. Suffice it to say that I don't believe in whining and complaining but rather celebrating. I had two positive nodes, multifocal tumors (largest 2 cm), two mastectomies (one elective), and am PR/ER+ and HER+. Was diagnosed in December of 2003. I am finishing my 5th year on arimidex and intend to beg to stay on it when I'm through. Here's hoping I'm successful. Cheers to us all. 0 -
Lilah, My understanding (from a nurse perspective - not a pathologist's perspective) is that my sentinal nodes were reviewed by a pathologist while I was under anesthetic for my mastectomy and it didn't show cancer at that time. Then there are further tests done on the nodes that require further teasting and a longer period of time to produce results. That's when they found a small amount of cancer in one of the sentinal nodes. I can't tell you not to worry (especially because I'm the queen of worriers) but they probably did the appropriate tests on your nodes when they removed them. I knew within a week after my surgery that the node was positive. Hope this helped a little.
Thanks for the success story Happy Trisha. I've heard such negative things from others on AIs so it is nice to hear someone who's been on them for five years actually wanting to stay on them.
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Nadine, I'm surprised to see that you're a IIb with a grade 3 and 15 node positive. Is it the 2 cm tumor that puts you in stage 2?
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Sassy and happyTrishia...Welcome!!
Trishia...You are the very close to my own dx...I had 2 lymph nodes..my biggest of my 3 tumors was just under 2cm and I am ER and HER2 Positive, too!! I also did a dbl mx. B.C. is like a fingerprint...it seems hard to find someone exact, but HappyT...you are close to mine and its so inspiring to see you years later doing great! How old were you when you were dx? Did you start on Tamox and then switch to AI? Did you have oophm/hyster? Sorry if I have a lot of questions...I am just trying to learn here, like so many of us! Did you girls have reconstruction?
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ReneeS:
The day that my onc gave me all my staging info he also said, "but none of those numbers matter because you became a survivor the moment the tumor was removed."
I spent far too much time early in my treatment researching the numbers and statistics, etc and what all that may or may not mean...now I can see what a waste of life energy that was. I am here today, and currently free from cancer. So today I celebrate!
To answer your question, I have seen/heard a couple different interpretations of Stage IIb BC, one of which seemed to fit the info my onc gave me. Others may interpret my info differently.
Peace,
Nadine
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5time--Love your attitude..If we ALL could have learned THAT lesson early on! I , too, spent wasteless hours researching info/staging etc. At one point, I grounded myself from typing the word Breast Cancer into the computer for an entire month. It was at that time that I spent more time with family and learned to move on.....Carry On Warrior!!! xo
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Thanks Happy Trishia, you path is very similar to mine (multifocal, triple pos, 2 nodes pos) and like warrior said it's always great to hear from somebody dowing do well nearly 5 years down the track.
I'm just coming up to my 1st year since diagnosis, feel great, chemo a distant memory and looking forward to 2010.
Noticed some of you have been asking about SE's from Arimidex, well I've been on it for 3 months and haven't noticed any side effects, only mild hot flushes which I've had since Chemo sent me into Menopause in May. I have no bone or joint pain and go to the gym most days. I'm busy with little kids and work full time, so thankfully the Arimidex dosen't slow me down at all.
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Warrior, I was diagnosed in my early 50s. I started on tamoxifen but after two months of sheer misery switched to arimidex and have been fine ever since. Already in menopause due to chemo so arimidex was okay for me. Only surgery was reconstruction. Waited a year and a half after radiation to make sure I was fully healed. Had lat flaps with implants. Options limited due to radiation and nowhere enough fat for a DIEP. Love the results.
Trisha
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Hi everyone,
I am so happy to have found your group. Though I'm usually pretty upbeat, I'm going through a tough time right now.
My background is that I was finally diagnosed last February (after showing my hard duct, then my lump to my gyny for about a year), and had a mastectomy in early March. They told me that I was stage 1 due to the fact that my tumor was small, but unfortunately I already had three involved nodes, two of them were micrometastises. Had 6 infusions of t/c followed by rads. Completed treatment November 15, and have been on Arimidex for about three weeks.
I saw my onc a couple of days ago, by myself. I usually go with a friend who sees the same doc, also a stage 2A but with no lymph involvement. The last time my friend saw him, he told her that she had a very good outlook and to go live life... very enthusiastic.
When I saw him yesterday, I asked for a pep talk. He was much more restrained--saying that my markers were good, and I had very strong treatment, but the fact that my lymph nodes were affected adds a good deal of uncertainty as to my future. To top it off, he is sending me for a brain MRI next week because I have had a few fainting spells since I started chemo.
I don't think that they'll find anything with the brain scan, but I'm very worried about the future. I hadn't looked at statistics much, but I just read about a study of chemo/tamoxifen that is on the front page of this site. The survival statistics aren't as good as I would have liked to see...
I know, I know, I'm not a statistic. But I thought I'd be celebrating having finished treatment, and celebrating a better year ahead, but I see a lifetime of scans, scans and more scans--and dreading the results.
Sorry for being so morbid--this isn't always me, but I'm quite depressed right now (and yes, I'm on meds for depression).
To continue the discussion about arimidex, I'm having pains in my hands, especially in the morning, but it's bearable. Hopefully I won't get more SE's, because I'm bound and determined to stay on AI's.
Good to meet all of you,
Jo Anne
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Hi all,
I'd love to join this thread. Please see my sig for my diagnosis.
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Oh Jo Anne I think you have a great future...and think of it this way...if you are having scans and tests at least they are making sure if anything does surface they will catch it right away. I know it is easy to worry and I do that too....Chin up ..you can do this!
I to have to start taking arimidex on Friday and tomorrow I go for my first infusion of zometa. I am worried about the SE of arimidex but you say yours are bearable , that is good to hear. Please keep me informed at how you are doing. Hang in there!
Warmly,
Balsie~
j
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thanks for letting me join! just finished chemo and onc says prognosis is great for lymph positive these days. we can do it,
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Hi Ladies,
I don't know my stage yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm falling into this group. I had a bilateral mastectomy w/ lat reconstruction Nov. 13. Nodes looked good during surgery, but a few came back with small traces plus I have a non invasive spot that showed up in a different spot that will need radiation. I had to do the lymph node surgery last week and it came back 0/17, so that is good news. Just the two that came back positive in the final path report. I see my medical onco on Jan 14th, so I have to wait until then to hear about treatments... I'm healing pretty good from surgery. My PS did a great job, I can't believe what they can do he was able to do nipple construction at the same time. My total surgery that day was 9 hrs... I think all the waiting is the hardest part for everyone just starting out and all the questions your friends and family think you should have answers to
I'm looking forward to the 14th!BTW, anyone else think they are stiffer or more sore from the lymph node surgery? I could lift my arms over my head (slightly) within 24hrs of mast/reconstruction. This time it feels like it is taking forever to gain movement in my arm.
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Riverview817
I agree the node surgery was the most difficult...keep moving your arm. I actually had to go to physical therapy to get my range of motion back. The good news is it does come back, just takes time. Keep us posted.
Yours sounds like what I went through...they thought the first two nodes were ok but when the final path came back I had mirco pieces of cancer so they had to go back in and do the Axillery node dissection and they were all clear. I did have to go through chemo (TC) but all went well. I really thought I would have a tougher time with the chemo then I did. It is very doable
Have a happy new year!
Hang in there
Balsie~
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I , too, had lymph node surgery. They should of released you from the hosptial with list of exercises that you can do. If not, call the nurse coordinator and ASK! Do the exercises religiously...they truly help. I had a failed Sentinal Biopsy...the dye never moved so they had to do a full auxillary dissection. Thank God he did that because I had large cancer in there...almost 1 cm tumors in there! There is a great blog in the beginning of this thread about woman that are ten years out and longer with lymph node involvement. To me, It just means our lymph node system DID ITS JOB!! It grabbed the bad guy before it could move on......
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Hi all,
First of all, I wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year!
Balsie, thank you for your kind reply. I have been reading in Dr. Susan Love's breast book that anxiety/depression tends to creep up on most of us a bit after completing treatment, so I guess I'm not alone. I am going to try to do some exercise, deep breathing and imagery today and hope to have a better day. I'm the kind of person who likes certainty--I investigate everything when planning a vacation, for instance--and those of us with a cancer diagnosis will never have the certainty that I crave. Dr. Love says that it takes two to three years for us to start trusting our bodies again... Regarding arimidex, I was surprised that I had symptoms pretty quickly. I wake up with arthritic-like pains and a trigger finger. I found that it helps me to exercise my hands whenever I wake in the night, and I'm not in any pain in the morning. If this is as bad as it gets for me, I'm okay with it. I have one friend who can hardly walk from the arimidex pain, and another who had absolutely no symptoms at all (and is ten years cancer-free). My onc said that there's unproven, anecdotal evidence that those with symptoms have better results than those without. Who knows...
Riverview, I needed physical therapy after my surgery because I had a "frozen shoulder." The pt helped a lot--I still am stiff on that side, but I can put my arm behind my head now.
Dogsaver--how did you find your holistic oncologist? I live in the Los Angeles area (near Pasadena), and we have tons of options for alternative/adjunct treatments, but I don't know how to find someone I can trust.
Happy New Year once again. I'm going to run out and go shopping before the Rose Parade traffic clogs up all the streets,
Jo Anne
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warrior...new to discussion boards, please bare with me! I was stage 2b,w/lymphnode +(2 outa 10) and HER2+. my onc. dr. wants me to do a trial study. just wanted to know if there is anyone who had heard of or are doing the trial with herceptin and or bevacizumab along with chemo? I was diagnosed nov. 11th, had Lt. breast mast on dec.8th, healing VERY well. I raise my glass of (arizona raspberry tea) and toast all my "pink" sisters........HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!
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Hiya Warrior friend!
Count me in...diagnosed Dec. '04 Multifocal BC largest 1.5 etc ER/+PR/+Her2+++ i node 4 mm mets.
Happy New Year to my Stage 2B sisters!
Marcia
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Happy New Year!!!
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Wishing everyone a happy new year!
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Yes, I will get a list of exercises. I've been doing some from my mastectomy/reconstruction and have great movement on my left now. Just not great after the lymph surgery. I can't wait to get back to regular exercising!
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HAPPY NEW YEAR WARRIOR SISTERS!!!!
Jaelnse - As our safety nets are taken away, no matter how horrible ie chemo, it does get scary and this is something we all learn as it happens. I never posted here then to know that it was normal but NOW I see it was! I am on Tamoxifen but have heard of the bone pain with the AI's. Good advice to exercise the hands the nite before....its little things that will help one warrior sister reading this and for THAT i am so grateful you all share!!
Marcia...Marcia...Marcia...Will NEVER get bored from your inspirational Bikini Pic! lol Marica is a role model for many of us that have had Flap surgeries...DIEP..GAP etc!! Congrats on being over the 5 year mark, my friend...an inspiration to SO many of us here!
Opie..Welcome. I know this is all so new to you. You seem to have a great attitude.....if you don't get an answer about ur study..then post on HER2 page or make your own thread!
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Suz -- Ah yes thanks for the elaboration... you're right -- mine was done a few weeks after surgery. I had SNB and the dye showed that the sentinel node WAS cancerous so they removed that and the 17 other lymph nodes around it. The rest were clean.
Warrior -- like you I had the total axillary node removal (and have since come to learn that every woman has a different number in there -- fascinating)!
Riverview -- No one gave me exercises either so three weeks after the surgery, when I met my ONC for the first time, I said -- I can't lift my arm higher than my shoulder! She said: didn't you get the exercises? I said -- what exercises?!? (I didn't even get told the risk of lymphedema I'd face for the REST of my life, thank you). Anyway... once I started working my arm and shoulder (wall crawl is the best for the reaching up)... I regained most of the movement (if not all). Then I had my UMX and now am back to exercises/stretching. You'll get the movement back but you do need to work it.
Happy New Year ladies!
Cheers,
Lilah
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Hi Girls..well, as with a new year...I vow to make sure I am in the best optimal health that I can be. With that said, I am just taking a poll to see what kind of vitamins/supplements you are on. I just learned that Vit D should be taken at night because it promotes sleep! I used to take it with breakfast. So....share if you want so we can all learn something new today!
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Thanks, Warrior! I just bought a bottle of D3, and took it tonight. I also take fish oil, and calcium(when I remember). My dog get's a fish oil capsule daily, and he loves it, so he reminds me to take my pills in the morning. He comes in the bathroom, the minute I go to brush my teeth, and stares at the drawer it's in. Calcium I keep forgetting because I can't take it within four hours, of my thyroid meds. or tamoxifen. Wolfie isn't around to remind me at work....
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