Calling all TNs
Comments
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ewu - my very first sign of cancer was pain in my breast (although no doctor or myself realized this at the time) - this was felt 8 months before any lump became evident. It was a big relief to have the tumour removed - after that - no pain, thank God.
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Meadow, - Have fun with the wedding prep, and of course, at the wedding, too!! Enjoy and take lots of pics!!
Hope all here are having a good Labor Day weekend! A little cool and rainy here in NYC, - but will be sunny tomorrow!
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Hi ladies (and gents)- I posted this on another thread, but realized maybe I should have posted here as more people come to this one. I just had my BMX on Friday, and found out one of the 4 sentinal nodes she took out tested positive for cancer. This was a surprise for 2 reasons- I have always been considered clinically node negative, and I had neoadjuvant chemotherapy so I thought worst case scenario they would find fibrosis from old dead cancer cells (because my tumor appeared to respond pretty well to chemo ). I'm curious for those of you with positive nodes, how many of you had positive nodes after chemotherapy? Did they always think you had positive nodes, or were you surprised at surgery? To be safe, I had a fully axillary dissection done, so I will find out next week if there was more than 2 nodes. If the node had fibrosis it in, would it still be considered positive? I feel so defeated after this news 😓 In one way I'm greatful she took more than 1 or 2, because I see some of you were only tested for 1 or 2 which would have given me a false negative, but I can't help but feel totally doomed.
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Sam0632, I too didn't have what they call a pathologically complete response to my neoadjuvant chemo. I didn't find out until after surgery either. As for the nodes, my BS thought some looked larger at first diagnosis ut chemo must have taken care of them as she took out 7 and none showed cancerous. I remember feeling blindsided about the residual cancer too tho.
You may want to read up on Xeloda. It's a 6-8 month treatment that may lessen your TNBC nonPCR recurrence rate. There is a discussion board for those of us taking it at Xeloda and TNBC. I'm sorry you have to deal with all this,but there is always hope.
https://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/xeloda-...
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happy sept ladies. I am just checking in and updating. I had my surgery to remove my uterine cancer wed. Everything went well. They did an abdominal hysterectomy and were able to remove everything including my omentum and sample lymph nodes. I should get final pathology by next fri at the latest. My 1month post op is 9/26 and my team will plan my treatment. Chemo is a definite; notsure if radiation is during or after.
I will say the surgery was a long 4 hrs and the recovery in the hospital went smooth. I came home sat afternoon and am trying to rest, regain my energy, and minimize the pain. I'm just dealing with the post surgery constipation made worse by having abdominal surgery. Let's just say the vertical incision is a bitch.
Meadow I'm so happy to hear wedding news.
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NavyMom, I'm going to talk about the pain next time I call my surgeon. Things happened too fast in the last couple of weeks. The doctors didn't ask and I forgot to mention.
adagio, it seems pain is a rare symptom of early stage bc. Wish I know it before.
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Hey Shopgal2,
Regarding the post surgical constipation, you might want to try figs. Nobody believes me, but they really are the original laxative (syrup of figs) I ate fig newtons and took a magnesium supplement every day after my BMX and didn't have one minute of constipation.
Good luck with your upcoming treatment. It sucks to have that happen on top of having breast cancer. All the best to you.
Trish
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thanks Trisha. I'll try figs. Prunes were usually my go to during bc, but I was looking for something different this time.
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Fig Newtons sound so much better than prunes!
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It's good to hear that your surgery went smoothly, Shopgal.
Sending healing thoughts your way,
yn
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((((Shopgal)))) big love for you. Take it easy. Heal well. XX
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Shopgal sending much love your way.
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(((Shopgal))) ugh...the constipation. Fig newtons are good!!
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sending lots of love and support your way Shopgal x
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Shopgal2...thinking about you every day and sending positive energy and love for a good recovery. ❤️
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Me too, Shopgal!
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shopgal .. try this
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thinking of Shopgal, all in treatment, newbies, all my dear friends
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thanks gals. Prune danish and overnite oats did the trick.i actually feel better than I expected. I had my home care nurse come on tues and she said I look great. Guess I'm a quick healer. The only annoying thing is some numbness in my upper inner thighs that my surgical team said is from removing lymph nodes and some nerve compression during surgery.
Now I'm going stir crazy resting at home. I've been on a cooking craze the past 3 days. I think I love fall cooking and baking. I've made a yummy pasta with baby Bella mushrooms in a vegan sauce, vegetarian stuffed peppers, and tomorrow fresh Roma tomato sauce that you make raw without cooking.
What are your fav fall dishes to cook or bake
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YOU are AMAZING, Shopgal!
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mkn86,
do you mean like the cells from your tumor leaking into your tissues? I asked about this too. My onco said to feel the lump and if it feels like soft jello, mushy, that it could be that the tumor is leaking out. You might want to get it checked out. There are no silly questions when it comes to your concerns or questions.
I was very worried that after my first chemo my tumor actually grew and it hurt a bit. My doctor made an appt and checked it out, remeasured it and reassured me it was ok. So if you ever have questions or concerns just call!
hope this helps.
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ShopGal, I've been thinking about you and glad you are healing well! That's awesome that you're up to cooking and that it's something you enjoy. I used to enjoy cooking occasionally, but somehow we got in the habit of my husband doing most of the cooking. He cooks 99% of the time, and I do the clean up. He's a much better cook and is a lot more creative in the kitchen than I am.
I am currently home healing from my DIEP flap surgery that I had a week and 1/2 ago. It's been a long time coming - I've had my expanders in for over a year - things were just delayed when I decided to do Xeloda and then radiation. I'm feeling great and am so excited to have finally made it to this step.
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Hello to everyone
Shopgal so sorry for everything you are going through. I am happy the surgery went well and you jumped right to cooking. I have been reading things on and off. Nice to see Val, Meadow, Vid and hear some things from Annie and anyone I forgot to mention.
A little updated from mom. She is done with radiation next appointment is Novemer. She is back to Italy cooking pasta and making pizza. She is a good cook. She feels great so far and I am hoping she continues like that. The skin from radiation is almost back to normal and she is ready for her 2 weeks vacation to the sea in couple of days.
At our last appoitment doctor said there will be no blood work or scan at all. This was a surprise knowing the advanced stage mom was . He said only physical exam and than if there are symptoms they will do a scan. Is this what some of you experince as well? It is kind of scary they dont do anything and just wait. I want to be proactive and if it come back get it early.
Love to all
Cristina
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Yes Dova. You will find most of us do not get regular scans.
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thank you makeuplover. I had another consultation with my MO last thursday and well... that resulted in being given chemo on the day itself. which is a relief for me. I am officially killing more cancer cells as i type this.
it's day 4 today since chemo session 1. :
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How are you feeling, MKN? The first two days were my low days, but not bad at all.
Has anyone had to do PT/massage therapy for swelling and scar tissue? My RO is sending me for a few sessions. I'm imagining nothing but pain. Ugh.
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LovemyVizsla,
I had PT/massage for cording in my right arm. It was uncomfortable, but really, really helped.
Good luck.
Trish
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LoveMyVizla, I did PT/massage earlier in the summer for the same reason. I didn't find it painful - I actually enjoyed it, and it helped. Although she also massaged my neck, arm, shoulders in addition to the scar tissue on my side, so that was bonus! My PS wanted the swelling to go down before my DIEP surgery, and he was happy with the progress that the PT made.
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Feeling pretty good LovemyVizsla. Thank you for asking. Energy is okay
will try to walk for 15 mins later to get endorphins up. i figured if i have the energy to get bored then it's a good sign to do other things like exercise and read books and work a bit. feeling a bit sore in the tumor area. trying not to keep checking because it's only been 4-5 days and i don't want to worry myself into thinking nothing's "changing".
there's a bit of dry mouth but i drink water and eat oranges throughout the day
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MKN, exercise is the best thing you can do during treatment, I was very weak at the end, but can only imagine ho wmuch worse it would have been if I hadn't kept up with my daily (most days) dog walking/hiking.
Kelly and Trishyla, ho wmnay times did you go to PT? I'm only scheduled for here right now. I think she wants them to show me what to do and then I can take over.
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