2010 Sisters
Comments
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samsue - Glad the "squish" session went well. Praying for good results. You will have to let us know when you get the results.
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Omaz are some links for that drug:
http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/druglist/evista.jsp
http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/hormonal/serms/evista.jsp
Not sure if you read about it.Grannydukes where are you located. Sounds like Buffalo NY?
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Thanks Lago - Apparently it isn't used in women who already have the diagnosis of BC and was only approved in 2007. Good references.0
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I'm close to Grannydukes-living in Long Island NY-we had almost 2 feet of snow! I love snow but this was a bit ridiculous... I missed my presurgical testing on Monday because of the blizzard but fortunately managed to reschedule and complete it on Tuesday.
Question for everyone-I have my lumpectomy/sentinel node biopsy (with option for axillary node dissection if needed) on Jan 7th. I'm taking off 4 days post surgery from work. I'm a social worker in a hospital and I have avoided telling people at work until I know a lot more about what my treatment will be. Is 4 days off reasonable since I don't do any lifting at work? What's the recovery like from this? I don't have a lot of sick/vacation time and I'm trying to save it for later on...appreciate any input.
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abluedragonfly - I had a lump & SNB. My job does not require any lifting either. I could have been back at work 2 days post op. My surgery day (same day surgery) was a long one - got delayed and did not get home until 9:00 at night. Laid around the next day - very little pain - only took two pain pills. Was in my office on the third day just hanging out. On the third morning, I even took the surgical dressings off, took a shower and put new ones on. Actually did not feel too bad.
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samsue, glad all went well with the squish jsession. It makes me feel better about next week.0
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Jo1955: How long after surgery did you wait for the full pathology i.e. grade and stage to come back?
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ablue - I got better in a similar time line but then at day 10 after surgery developed an infection that required antibiotics. My advice would be to take it a bit easy on the lumpectomy side for maybe 2 weeks. I think I did too much with that arm BECAUSE I felt good and it contributed to my infection.0
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Omaz: Thanks, I'll definitely take it easy as I don't want any setbacks and I also don't want people at work to know anything is going on yet...
What about getting the pathology back-how long did yours take for the stage and grade? I'm anxious to know how long it will be since I'm triple positive and I know that will make all the difference in the treatment that is suggested-or is chemo likely anyway with Her2?
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abluedragonfly - I had the stage & grade results three days after my biopsy when I was given my dx on a Friday. I was set up with my DH's onc on Monday and he gave me the results and explained them to me. He said based on what was in the report, I would not need chemo. For what ever reason, I did not have a oncotype test done. Guess, because of location and size of tumor it was not necessary.
Full pathology report from surgery was read to me by my surgeon on my one week follow up.
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I guess I'm still a bit lost with completely understanding all of the results. So far I've been told that I have IDC and I'm ER+/PR+/HER2+ and that the MRI showed the tumor size as 1.2 cm. I also read the pathology report and noticed that it read "moderately to poorly differentiated" when describing the IDC. I had a needle biopsy and a core biopsy and one report also mentioned "no lymphatic involvement". I assumed the grade and stage came after the lumpectomy? Can someone clarify a little bit and explain what these results might mean so far? And again, does triple positive almost always mean chemo? I know I have a lot of questions but I'd rather be prepared for whatever is next...Thanks
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ablue - From what you are describing your lymph nodes are clear which is a good thing. As far as being triple positive, I can not answer that one since I was HER2-. The "moderately to poorly differentiated" means it was not a well defined tumor which is what I also had. Your med onc would be the one to ask about this. I did not have chemo but did have 25 rads + 5 boosts.
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abluegragonfly, I also got my results at my 1 week visit with my BS. I did recieve some info from the biopsy, but that might change as it did for me with the final path report. As far as being triple positive the HER2+ is the one that will require Herceptin treatments, and that is given with chemo. No lymphatic involvemnt means no blood supply to the tumor.
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ablue - I checked my notes and didn't write down the day. After the lumpectomy the surgeon told me the two nodes were clear and the margins were clear (they checked them during surgery and had to take a little more on one part just to increase the distance). I think he called within about 3 days and said the pathology report also showed negative sentinel nodes and clear margins using their more detailed techniques. As for chemo, if you are HER2+ I am thinking they will probably suggest chemo and herceptin. Maybe if the tumor is really small they won't, I don't know. I think when they found out I was HER2+ it was a given that I would get chemo and herceptin. The herceptin infusions are usually given over a year so you would possibly get a port-a-cath (power-port) too.0
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Omaz: Thanks, that confirms most of what I'm reading for triple positive and I'm just trying to mentally prepare in advance for the chemo. I'd rather not be shocked when it is suggested to me. Right now the tumor size is 1.2 cm on the MRI but I understand that it can change when they do the lumpectomy. I hate all this waiting and guessing. I suppose it won't be much longer and then I can get on with treatment.
After your lumpectomy, how long did you wait to get the power-port and then how long did you wait to start chemo? I really don't know what I would do without everyone in these forums right now!
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ablue - The infection I had delayed the port installation by a week so it ended up that the port was placed 3 weeks after the lumpectomy instead of the scheduled 2 weeks. Some breast surgeons can place the port at the time of the lumpectomy (on the opposite side) but mine didn't do that so I had a different surgeon place the port. Chemo started 6 days after port placement. My MRI estimate of tumor size was accurate. How old are you if I may ask? I am just wondering about whether you will go into chemopause.0
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ablue I'm a triple positive too. The should test all that again when the remove the tumor. Typically HER2+ tumors are grade 3 but not always. I've thought "moderately to poorly differentiated" referred to the cell grade not tumor. Moderate meaning grade 2/poorly meaning grade 3.
After surgery they will be able to stage you.
I appears you will be a lower stage than me because your tumor is smaller and possibly your grade is lower. I would still think you'd get chemo with herceptin. From what I see those of us that don't have node involvement get Taxotere/Carboplatin/Herceptin (Hereceptin for a full year). I'm getting 6 treatments. Some folks get 4 depending on their stage. There are some that get AC-TH but usually that's folks with node involvement but there are a few that get it even if no nodes are involved.
BTW I just had TX5 Tuesday. This is one of my bad days. I just went shopping with my DH, plan to wrap a few presents, maybe make cookies and then go out for dinner with my DH, BL & SL tonight. I feel a little weird but nothing major. Just don't want to drive because my eye sight gets a little screwy on the emend drug they have you take for 3 days.
Hope that helps.
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ablue- After my first surgery (lumpectomy and SNB) I felt so good that I told DH I wanted to take the bus home, not a taxi. I live in NYC and we walked two blocks and took the bus home. I rested a bit for a few days, but could have gone to work within a couple days. As I recall, I only took 1-2 Tylenol, nothing stronger. The nurses told me to use the ice packs a LOT. I did do that and I think that is why I had such quick recovery. During surgery, they said my SNB was negative. Unfortunately, when I went for my routine follow up (perhaps 5 days later), the more definitive pathology staining came back that there was a micromet in one node. So I had to be scheduled for the Axillary Node Dissection. I think if you show positive during the 1st surgery, they go ahead and do the AND right then. I wish I had been told I wasn't out of the woods until the more conclusive path report. Wishing you an easy, speedy recovery!
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Hi Gals,
What a bad day. Just have to vent. I went for my first post-cancer mammo on my remaining breast and had to go back in for closeups, and then got called in for an ultrasound. The radiologist saw something that is casting a shadow in the ultrasound so recommends an MRI, biopsy or to followup in 6 months, my choice. I'm so not ready for this again so soon. I've been feeling so good and was sure I'd be in and out in a few minutes. I was there an hour and a half. He did say he was being super-cautious due to the recent history.
To top it off I also had a dental appointment for a filling in the afternoon and nearly couldn't keep it together. They were so nice to me, he asked if I wanted to reschedule, but I went ahead and everything went fine. What a crappy day though.
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shelly so sorry for your crappy day. I am still doing rads and cannot imagine what you are going through right now. Hope everything turns out OK, please keep us posted
ablue-I had my lump on a Thursday and was back to work on Monday. Did have to take a nap at lunch that day. I took pain meds on Thursday and Friday and then went to Tylenol after that. Was very careful about lifting things and not doing things with my arm for a while. Some of my path report came in on Wed and the rest came in on the following Monday. My MRI showed my tumor to be .08cm then ultrasound said 1.2cm but when the final path came back it was 1.6cm. There was about 2 wks in all that. Good luck with your surgery and keep us posted.
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Shelley - Sorry to hear you had a bad day. Can't imagine what was going through your head and the emotions you were feeling. Hope everything is okay.
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Iago, Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts with me. Every little bit of information helps. As you know. I had no idea about the reconstructed nipple allways being erect. That definatley gives one some thing else to consider.Possibly one could try them out with out the nipple first and then descide and have it done abit later.(Sounds like Iam test driving a new vehicle or some thing) lol
I actually just had my 50th birthday on Dec 12/10 , interesting how we are close in age.
Every time I go over my options I allways come back to the fact that if I dont do the masectomies I will allways be having to be mammograming and likley having biopsies and I hear you when you say you dont want to go through all this again. I feel that having the masectomies is the safest route as well and have pretty much descided that this is the way I will go.
Thanks !!!
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Adey; Sounds like you are very comfortable with your decision. That is so great to hear.
You said you are in the process of expansion. How often do you go to be expanded and how long will it take till you are fully expanded?
I wish you all the best with your last kemo and the rest of your reconstruction process.
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abluedragon - I think you'll be okay with four days off. I had surgery on Wednesday and returned to work that Friday. My surgeon said the more active you are, the better you will do. If you end up with a drain, there's a little more to it.
I didn't get a lot of information until my Oncotype DX results came back. They pretty much knew it was cancer the day they did my callback mammogram and ultrasound. I can remember asking how can you just look at a blob and tell that it's cancer. The radiologist said because I've seen thousands of them. I was glad he was direct with me but it was still stressful to wait to get the biopsy and then wait around for the phone call (at work) confirming the results. The radiologist who called with my results did say it was IDC but that was about it. They made arrangements for a pre-op appointment the day of the callback mammogram so mine must have been pretty obvious.
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{{{{SHELLEY}}}} So sorry you had such a lousy day. I was scared spitless when I did my 6 month mammo (all clear) so I can relate so well. What are you going to do?
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Sorry to repeat this but I am a regular on a few too many threads.
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abluedragon, I had a lumpectomy with sentinal node biopsy. One node showed a "trace" so they went and took 13 more (all clear). It would have been an outpatient type thing until they went to the second surgery, but I was very glad I did not have to go back and have another. Anyway I got done aabout 5 pm, at 7 am was up and showered and ready to leave. Had to wait to get discharged till 930, and went straight to work. No pain pills other than advil. That being said I am sure it has a lot to do with your work situation as well as the placement of your lump. I have my own office where I can close the door if need be and I choose my activities. As far as my lump, it was side boob almost under my arm (in fact for 3 years I was told don't worry its a lymph node). So I ended up with 2 very large scars about 3 inches apart under my arm. I imagine part of my feeling no pain is the area was and still is to some degree numb. Also I would think this being under my arm was in a sense protected vs if the area is under the nipple etc...
As far as results, my pathology confirmed the biopsy almost exact expectations re size and er/pr her2 etc...
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abluedragon, wanted to further mention I am trying to conserve sick leave a we get paid out for what is not used on retirement, and I like money more than I hate pain. So if you have sufficient sick leave you may not need to be as aggressive on hurrying back. I also wanted to conserve SL in case chemo made me unable to work, but so far I have not missed work other than for infusions.
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Thanks All,
I'm feeling a little better today. Yesterday I was in a panic. I just saw both my Onc and BS in December and they said to have the images sent to them so I'll see what they say. I see the Onc Jan 6th. If he thinks I should see the BS then I will. I wasn't scheduled to see him for 3 more months. I don't want to be in denial like I was the first time and wait too long. On the otherhand, having the biopsy on my big lump made it go crazy. I could feel it changing/growing in the 3 days before surgery. This concerns me as I don't think I can have chemo again so soon if it turns out to be cancer. It is way up outer left quadrant so probably not IDC. Guess I should start researching ILC. Maybe an MRI would be more prudent, but also less definitive. How can this be happening? Arghhhh. Just rambling now.....
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