2010 Sisters
Comments
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Omaz, Herceptin has a very good response with HER+. GD, Get the nodes out and see what the path says. Then discuss all of it with your new doc. If you don't like what she says, third opinion.
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thanks girls.once again putting the cart before the horse.im sooooo good at that.yesterday it was one day at a time today im worried about something thats not gonna happen till maybe the end of sept.i think im getting addicted to the stress...im goin to PA this weekend to see my grandkids and my 6 mos old great grandson.id like to put this on hold for a while if the brain would just shut off.and my granddaughters want to hear the tape of what dr#3 said.
im rambling again.sorry.
God bless you for listening.Please God the stress will kill me before the cancer will.
K
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granny, if the stress really did kill before the cancer I'd already be gone...lol! I understand all about not being able to shut off the brain. Check out the "You know your (sp) a cancer patient when..." thread if you haven't already. You'll laugh...really... I promise!
P.S. I have four teen (not fourteen!) boys and a husband and they all think because I finished chemo six weeks ago and I'm "only" doing radiation now I'm perfectly fine...I get NO slack at all and barely any sleep. I'm still hanging in there! Maybe a little bitter, but still hanging in there! This is where I hang out for support!!
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thats the mantra in my family.they say GRANNY THE STRESS IS GONNA KILL YOU FIRST.and then they go on to say breast cancer is sooooooo surable.dont worry.just do what the drs say.its soooo easy for them to say that when im scared shit about the rads and chemo.no one and i mean no one says anything easy about either one.the side effects are soooo bad.just cut the damn nodes out and leave me alone.i just wish it was that easy...i was always the fighter,activist,warrior etc.i think im just to worn out and fragile for the heavy duty rads and chemo.that will kill me
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Well, my doc's response to my question about Oncotype was that he would order it for me if I wanted, but there is also "no evidence" that the RS is a trustworthy predictive factor in women with micromets. It's still a "best guess" scenario. I guess my onco is one who relies on evidence as much as he can and minimize the guesswork if possible.
More discussion with my husband resulted in deciding to proceed with chemo. Yes it will be a tough 3 months, but what if further down the road I do have a recurrence or even new cancer and I'll wish I had done chemo now. It's all such a crapshoot and I'm not a good gambler. Although it was considered a micromet, it was somewhat extensive and had multiplied. In the weeks since it may have been busy in there some more, so I think chemo is the prudent thing to do. My regimen will be ACx4 every 3 weeks starting September 1.
Thank you all for your support and input. It helps so much to know I'm not in this alone!
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MrsNice-I totally get it. Keep us posted on your progress. We are with you all the way.
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Granny, check out some of the threads that talk about rads. I finished mine the middle of July. It's not as scary once you have your first session. Walking thru the front door of the clinic I was crying, trying not to let anyone know. It's doable. Yes, you'll be sore, and the boob can get really red but there is aloe and a couple of other remedies that some of the girls suggest. You may have a permanent tan but if you're like me.... I'm the only one that notices!
Breathe.... (((hugs))) coming your way.
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I don't know where I belong on the threads so am going for 2010 sisters - I had IDC two years ago - went through full chemo and 33 rads then arimidex and femara both of which I am off of as of six weeks ago - I was terribly sick on both of them. Now this week I find out I have bone mets - skull and lower spine but very light according to technician's report - also have microcalcifications in left breast (the good one) and they want to get into the other breast and do a full mastectomy - doctors in my last location not happy about this as I had mets to chest wall but here they say they've got a surgeon who does mastectomy with chest wall mets - anyhoo not a happy camper today - thinking of dumping my onc and going to Princess Margaret in Toronto - will make decision next week after meeting with onc. once again - I've been fooling around with this mess sinc June 12 and nothing's happening - was told I'd have to have chemo for bone mets - hope I can do this again - have only had my hair back for about 6 months - worn out.
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Oh sandy, I am so sorry to hear about your latest struggle. I would get a 2nd opinion anyway. Big, gentle ((((HUGS)))))) for you and you will be in my prayers.
Please keep us informed and we'll keep you in our hearts.
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Granny: Hang in there sista, I believe we will look back at this a year down the road and say "we made it-wish we could have relaxed a little" at least I'm sure hoping that is the case. How are you making out for rides? I am booked for my 2nd surgery this coming Monday. Not sure how many nodes but I am hoping not too many. At least since I have been seeing my onco things are moving faster. Surgery moved up a week. Had my abdominal US results come back and all clear! YES. Now waiting for one more pelvic results. Nausea still slight on and off. I'm coping or trying to. Hugs to all you sisters.
Cathy
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My port placement went well yesterday. I had 5 or 6 hours of very sore right shoulder, finally took some ibuprophen and its much better. I will have my 1st Avastin on the 19th and then start chemo on 9/2. At least I feel like we started to do something!! It was over a month from dx to port...
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Thanks for the note GrannyDukes - still haven't gotten the report on clean margins. Can you believe it? I even called the pathologists office and they said they hadn't completed it yet. I had four cycles of AC before surgery and it really wasn't that bad. I was so anxious the first time they gave me some anti-anxiety drug in the IV and I slept through most of the chemo. I never really felt nausea - just a lot of indigestion so I was still a little careful with what I ate. I usually felt pretty normal within a week or two - just in time for the next chemo! But it was all OK and office staff is very nice and sensitive. Hope your experience goes well - Remember it is all temporary for a LONG TERM benefit. Keep me posted.
KAZmTAZ - I had the same experience with having to wait over a month before I finally received treatment - that was much worst than the treatment. Also - it took me a long time to get used to the port. I had episodes where it seemed like my body was telling me "you have a rock under your skin - get it out!" But this was mostly a creepy feeling and not so much painful. I was gald I had the port when I went for surgery and the RN doing the IV said she was so glad I'd had a port since the chemo can make it hard to find a good vein otherwise. Again - a temporary discomfort for a long term benefit. good luck with the chemo.
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thanks sistas for all your wonderful words.it is very uplifting ...im going for a mammo and possibly a ultra sound on tues.and onc .on wed. and probably #3 surgery next month.I am not the crazy nut i was last week only because i like dr#3 and her staff and all my drs know her....the jury is still out on anything else..im not saying yes or no yet...i played the waiting game for so long since last nov. that im used to it(i think) dr#1 made me wait 10 days for results on 2 diff.surgeries.
lets have a group huggggggggggggg...I love my sistas.we are gonna beat this monster.
luv ya
K
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Hello all. This is my first time posting. There are so many different topics. I chose this one because I was diagnosed June 17, 2010. I do not understand all of the abbreviations you all use. I was diagnosed with dcis. When I found out, I quickly decided that I was going to live. I called on my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I down loaded a healing CD and I played it all night by my bed as I slept. I played it on my walk-man as I worked. I never missed a beat. I had my moments, crying here and there, but I had to pull it together quickly for myself, my two handsome sons, my beautiful daughter, my five beautiful grandchildren, my fiance, all of you and more importantly my God so that I can be used as a testimony to help build His kingdom for He is a healer. I had surgery on July 23, 2010. I do not have to have any chemo or radiation. I have to see the oncologist in September to see if I have to take a pill. My prayers go out to all of you
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Hi Lpennyk, welcome to the club no one wants to join. There is a thread that has a list of all the abbreviations we use on the boards. Stop by here and take a look.
http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/62/topic/735716?page=45#post_1952791
Congratulations on finishing your surgery!
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Hello Barbara;
Thank you for the warm welcome and thank you for the congratulations on finishing my surgery. I have a tissue expander in right now, which is very uncomfortable at times. I tried to find the thread for the abbreviations, however I could not locate it. I clicked on the address in your note and it said site not found. It is probably right in front of my face like most of the things I be searching for.
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Try under 'waiting for test results" in the forum index. You will see it there.
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Hi Beanius! Thanks for the kind words and thoughts. I finally ended up calling the surgeons office late Friday afternoon and they called pathologist who gave them a verbal report that margins were clear. Yeah! A big victory as that means no more surgery and on to radiation therapy. I will probably go on tamoxifin or an aromatase inhibitor after that as I am post menopausal. I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
You are on CMF? Are you getting neulasta shots after each cycle? Hope it goes well and we can look forward to good 2011 - I have never watched so much TV in my whole life.
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Hulu.com, bravotv.com, cbs.com and more all have full episodes of all kinds of shows available to watch on the computer. My daughter also got a disk from netflix that we can put in our wii and watch all the 'instant' movies/shows from netflix on the tv (you do need wireless I think). If you have netflix this option is free and unlimited.
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SharonNM - Gigantic congratulations to you for your clear margins. No more surgery!! That is such great news so you can skip chemo!!! Hurray! Hurray! I was blessed with clear margins too, but unfortunately it got into 2 lymph nodes so I opted for CMF which was possible due to my low oncotype score of 6. It is not too bad. My blood counts have been perfect so far so no neulasta. I still have four cycles to go, then rads, then tamox. Congrats again to you!!! I've heard rads isn't too bad either, so I hope it goes well for you. Here's to a super great 2011!!!
Omaz - We also watch a lot of fun shows on the Internet. We've gotten instant movies from Amazon too.
Happy Sunday to all of you and have a great next week.
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Question about Neulasta--why do some get this and others not? I just finished my first chemo (FEC)--do they decide if you need it prior to the next chemo based on your white blood cell counts? Just curious as it seems that some already know they are taking it even before chemo has started. I haven't had discussion with my Oncologist yet about it but will this week--just out of curiousity than anything.
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I haven't started yet (TCH x6) but my doctor said for sure I would get neulasta shot after each chemo.
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Hi everyone,
I was dx in July 2010 was gonna have both breast remove with reconstruction on Aug 9th because of family history and past biopsy I had in the past that turn out fine. Well things didn't turn out that away. During surgry my lympth node tested positive so they remove all of them and only remove the one breast and put in my port. Gonna do the other breast after treatments so they can do reconstruction at the sametime. Go back this week to get final pathology report and get set up with a onacologist to set up treatment plan. I kow its gonna be a long journey but i am ready for it.
Marion
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rachel--> Not sure about everyone, but most people that have AC chemo get it routinely, because AC almost always makes the white blood cells drop low. I was on a different chemo last year (FOLFOX for colon cancer) and with that chemo my onc waited to see if my counts dropped first, then when they did I had neupogen instead of neulasta. I had several rounds of chemo before they dropped low enough to need the shots.
I'm guessing with FEC you will only get a shot if you need it. I'm sure others on FEC will let you know what their oncs do, but that's my two cents
Tina
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Rachel5738 - I had the neulast shot after each of my AC's but not with the Taxol. I think it depends on the drugs that you are taking and their effects on the white blood cell counts. They will do blood tests each week to see where you are at. May your Onc decides based on that if you need it or not.
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Hi Rachel-
No Neulasta or Neupogen for me either on my FEC-T. They did check my blood counts every week and only once WBC's were low enough to not give my chemo (FEC#3), I was not offered anything to boost them. Just waiting a week did the trick. It was the only time there was a delay to my schedule. I attributed the low count to a particularly busy time at work and not eating enough protein. That one delay really made me pay attention to getting enough rest and eating extra protein. Boost shakes and protein bars have been a great help! No problems at all with white counts on the taxotere, by the way. It did not seem to be so hard on them.
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Thanks Shelley re: Neulasta. Hopefully, One less thing to be injected....
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Thanks Shelley re: Neulasta. Hopefully, One less thing to be injected....
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Hi mareruss4 - So sorry to hear of your diagnosis but you sound really good and positive. Please let us know how you pathology report turns out. BTW - I'm just finishing my second round of chemo and it's going very well. I'm able to do all my usual things, plus now that surgery has healed I'm back to my hour a day of exercise routine. It's awful to get this BC, but they have great treatments now days and it's all very doable. Best wishes to you!
Rachel - I don't know about neulasta. I think they give it if your white blood counts are real low. So far my blood work has been normal, but I'm just finishing round 2 of 6 rounds...
Shelly - I have had such a craving for protein on chemo, seems like my body is telling me something. Thanks for the good protein ideas.
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Beanuis: What chemo drugs are you doing? Just curious. I've still to start, will be doing FEC and Taxotere.0
