Calling all TNs
Comments
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Bak94...insurance was not an issue for me. I think I had to pay a bit more out of pocket, but I did not get refused payment because of Tomo. Radiation did get rid of the im positive nodes but it came back in my left breast.
It does sound like we have similar cases. I would love to chat with you. I am headed out to help a friend with an event but will be available via phone. I will pm you my cell #.
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Bak94...running out of time so here is my number 206.229.3138........sending you good thoughts for tomorrow. Call me anytime!
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Bak- Sending good vibes for tomorrow!
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ksmatthews, that 'feeling' slowly comes back. be patient. I am just happy now to be able to be at a point to get to that point... hummadaa-hummadaa lol ;D
titan, I think you're absolutely right. My hubby I think so respected what my body had been through, he was incredibly supportive and loving and, for lack of a better word, so cudd'ly... we had a fantastic weekend away this weekend and, ahem, got back to 'normal'... woohoo!!
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can you believe what we talk about on this forum? LOL thank goodness we have this. I just had a very close friend of a very close friend, get diagnosed and is in recovery from surgery right now in SF - she has a 6 month year old baby. I advised her, like our oncs, to stay off internet, except for this site... because this has been a godsend for me throughout this insane ordeal. Thank you all, again and again, for being there... !!
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Sounds like we are all doing it..ha ha...except for the ones in active treatment..and I can tell you that sex was the LAST thing on my mind during that time..I don't think we did it at all and if we did I certainly don't remember it.
My foot is much better..went walking with the DH tonight..just to get some fresh air and ended up jogging 2 miles...it felt better to jog than to walk..weird.I think it was from shoes I wore shopping to the mall and then out with my DH on black friday...I need to wear my stilettos this weekend to a Christmas party so I need to get better NOW.
Hugs to Bak and Inmate!..let's get this treatment over soon!
Swiftbird..your friend is lucky to have a friend like you...
And Heidi..I was just waiting for you to post a cartoon...good stuff
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Inmate:
Round 1 with BC: stage 1 (chemo, BMX, radiation)
Round 2: recurrence in the breast. Nobody really told me a stage, they just said it was considered a "recurrence" because a lump came back in the same breast, right along the surgical line, while I was doing radiation). Treatment plan was surgery, continued radiation with additional boost doses and then followed by chemo. Yes, the chemo they advised to me was "stage IV" chemo, but that is because you are moving into second and third line drugs. Why would they use the same drugs as before, since those didn't take care of all those pesky little cancer zombies running around your body. (that's how I explain cancer to my kids: zombies and all my treatments are "zombie killers"!)
Round 3: metastasis to brain. Now they call me Stage IV. This was diagnosed before I even started chemo from Round 2. But that's okay, I still have me as the winner of the fight!
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Has anyone had a lump accur in the breast on the surgical line that was not the one that had cancer in the first place and has a prothesis? I am really scared just found a lump the size of a marble? I don't want to call my onc. because I am scared - really don't want to go through chemo or anything again. What does scar tissue feel like - could this be scar tissue?
thanks,
Kelli
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Survivor.....that took my breath away. I guess I was feeling like I was alone in the speed at which these zombies are moving. In a way I am relieved but at the same time so sad to know that I stand with such a strong group of women. Too bad we stand against such a little *****r. (sorry for the excessive use of asterisk) Thank you for sharing your path with me.
kad22........you should never be afraid to talk to your Dr about any lump, feeling or pain. It is better to know than to wonder. We have to wait so much already for test results, we certainly don't need to add worry about what it might be. We all just put our big shoes on and walk the path that has ben chosen for us. Just think, it might be nothing and the relief that will give you.
Teka.......thanks!
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I can feel a small lump along my surgical line. I only had a lumpectomy. I had my RO to check it during radiation and he told me it was scar tissue. Last week i saw my MO and had her to feel it, it is very tender to the touch and she also said scar tissue. I still worry about it.
I had a ct scan done on the 15th and all was clear. Does the ct scan do our breast? I go back to the RO today and I am going to ask him again about it. It is not growing, just sore and my MO said with it being tender was another sign that it is just scar tissue.
I am sorry to those of you with reoccurances and I dont know alot about the chemo cocktails, i have never really took the time to study them, but just do what you think is best for you and your circumstance.
Positive vibes to us all!
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Ksmatthews,
I noticed some scar tissue during chemo, my Onc checked it over and said that's all it was. If I'm not wearing a bra ( scar is upper across breast ) I can feel it pull a bit, it feels weirdly uncomfortable sometimes and a little sore to the touch.
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I had a mx, not a lumpectomy, so don't know if the feelings are similar, but I had a bb-sized lump on my scar line that my BS did a quick US on and said it was just fluid trapped in the scar tissue. It wasn't sore until I was constantly checking it, though.
It's easy enough to check, apparently. 0 -
thank you so much girls, I guess it it just so hard not to worry about those things..none of my dr's seem to be worried and have all said scar tissue so I trust them. If it feels like it is getting larger I will def. request and us.
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Had my bmx today, well technically yeasterday. Feeling pretty good and so far 2 nodes that were taken look cancer free as the breast too. I hope final pathology backs this up!
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bak94 congrats!
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bak94-glad that BMX is done fingers crossed for good path report.
Anyone hear from LJ?
Navy
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Dear ksmatthews - I have the same type of lump along the surgical line that you mention. I wrote many posts here a while back asking people what they thought and had my surgeon, nurse practiontioner, Oncologist, Rad. Oncologist, just about everyone touch it and they said it was just a scar. Not to mention, I even had an ultra sound done which came out okay, they couldn't see anything. Even though many of them said that it was a longer shaped scar tissue, I myself, feel a pointy kind of lump. I can't even tell if it is growing or not. It is tender to the touch and sometimes, it is really very tender. It is definitely there all the time. I had a lumpectomy by the way, as well. In any case, I am now waiting for my usual 6 monthly MRI, which is due in Jan/Feb. After I had seen all these professionals, I just kind of relaxed and just don't care anymore. What else can I do? I really don't know how one can handle the news of a recurrence, I feel it is the worst thing ever to have to bear that. My hats off to all those brave ladies who have had to face that. You are great!
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MacFry is ready for Christmas!
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bak--so glad your surgery is behind you now. Rest up and follow docs orders and avoid lifting and raising those arms too high. Hope the path comes back great too!
Maggie
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I was diagnosed with TN bc. I found the lump in the middle of September but all the tests have dragged on for so long and I am so frustrated that it is taking so long. I finally had an ultrasound biopsy on 10/27 and it was said to be under 1 cm. I had a breast MRI on 11/21 and it showed it to be 1.6 cm and some lymph nodes were shown to be enlarged. I am so frightened that it is growing so fast and it has been so long since I found the lump and that it might be spreading while the doctors are dragging all of these tests out. It seemed to "pop up" overnight. Finally, I asked to meet with an oncologist to get his opinion and BAM! He called the surgeon and said based on my MRI, to get the surgery scheduled ASAP. I am having surgery next week on 12/7, a lumpectomy. Then I will start dose dense chemo 4-6 weeks later, then radiation. I am so glad to find this group as I am having a hard time coping. The long time I have been waiting for treatment is the worst. I am having a CT/PET scan tomorrow morning to look at the rest of my body. My brain MRI was clear. I am praying for a good path report after my surgery next week. I have been reading a lot of information but so glad to connect with others fighting this.
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Welcome CatWhispurrer! You'll get a lot of support from the wonderful ladies on this thread.
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Hi CatWhispurrer! I'm veryy sorry you have been diagnosed.As Sugar said, there is a lot of support here in this group. I am just up the road from you in TN and am a big cat lover, too!
I'm glad you are getting the dose dense chemo; it seems to be very effective and I wish in retrospect that I had gotten it. I also had a delay of almost a month before I started treatment last February.
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Hi Christina and Sugar. I see most people get treatment in about a month. When I finally go to surgery next week, it will be almost 3 months since I found the lump. That is what is scaring me the most. It has been very frustrating with dealing with places that do the testing not being very sympathetic about moving the process along. It took a MONTH just to get a diagnostic mam because they refused to do it unless they had my previous mam films which were at another clinic. The other clinic took 2 weeks to send it to them and then another week to get the new mam scheduled. That is how the whole process has been going...... 2 weeks for this, then wait 1-2 weeks for results/talking to Dr., then another test the following week, then wait 1-2 weeks for that. It has been mentally exhausting while I feel this "thing" is growing uncontrolled. It went from under 1 cm the first US with no swollen lymph nodes, to 1.6 cm and swollen lymphs on my breast mri a month later. I am SO ready to get the treatment going already!
My sister was diagnosed with HER2+ bc 5 years ago and doing well, but this TN diagnoses has me very scared. Thank goodness that my BRCA test was negative.
Tina
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Tina - the mammogram that discovered mine was in Aug...I had the surgery end of Sept....then another surgery end of Oct...and started chemo in Dec. of 2009. Glad to hear your sister is doing well. She's an inspiration for all of us being a 5-year survivor. Aside from the Her2+..was her ER and PR negative?
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Uh Heidi I believe that's MacSanta?! Merry Freaking - do I say Holidays or Christmas? What to do what to do. LOL
Welcome Catwhispurrrr- Sad to read your going through so much pain over just the Dx and having to hurry up and wait to take care of it all. Glad you found this forum too. Patience is the name of the game with BC and they are really not kidding. Hopefully the wait is over and the recovery is soon on it's way.
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Heidi..me thinks that McFry looks a little pissed off...just saying.
Catwispurrer..love your name...I'm a huge cat lover...totally stinks that you had to wait so long until your surgery....that's just not right....but..glad you are finally having your lumpectomy...don't freak out too much about being tn...as you can see there are alot of us on this board...and yeah..we are still on this board...still living, still breathing..hang in there ok?
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Sugar, yes my sister's bc was ER/PR neg. Actually, they didn't find out about the HER+ status until later when an intern saw it in her notes about 6 months after her surgery. Everyone had overlooked it because she was diagnosed as tn from the biopsy, but then the FISH test was done at surgery but nobody caught it until the intern was going back through her records. So, she got the same dose dense treatment that I am going to get, but then she got Herceptin later after her chemo was done and took it a year. So, the moral of the story is that I am going to ask to have my tumor re-tested after the surgery just to make sure. Her tumor was 3 cm when it was diagnosed and had invaded the chest wall so she had chemo first, then bmx, then radiation and finally herceptin. Yes, she is my inspiration and is trying to help me cope although she lives in WI (my home state) and I live in GA. She is flying to GA to be with me next week for my surgery.
I love seeing all the cat lovers on this forum. Makes me smile and feel in good company.
Tina
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Christmas Cats (taken with my cellphone):
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Look at those Christmas cats...so cute. Our local mall has a special "dog" night where our canine friends can get their photos taken with Santa. Of course, I've got my dog Brandie booked in again this year
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"Heidi..me thinks that McFry looks a little pissed off...just saying."
Well, maybe if you spelled his name right... just saying...
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