TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
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Lago, I honestly, sincerely am happy for people too, but there is just something about that Thank God part of the comment that bothers me. If someone says, Yippee, all my nodes came back negative! I would be jumping for joy with them. And I am if they say Thank God all my nodes came back negative too, but it just makes me feel like I'm cursed or something. I know that's not what was meant, but that particular comment does bother me. I thought it was just me, but apparently it isn't.
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I never thanked god for clear nodes. Matter of fact when I was diagnosed I said "Thankgoodness I don't believe in god because if I did I'd be really pissed at her right now." So maybe that's why it doesn't bother me.
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LOL! I like the her too!
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When I said that to my NP when I first met her she didn't know what to say.
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I too, am happy for women that were fortunate to be node negative. Dont get me wrong. But in my case, my tumor was only .07 mm, not even 1 cm, but had spread to 3 nodes. Just makes me feel like I was defintiely cursed! Sorry to sound off, just had heard that comment one too many times.
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Or missy that your nodes were doing their job. There is a reason why, although we have a different node status and different tumor size our stage is the same… with a similar prognosis. I don't feel cursed wit the big tumor. I just was dealt a bad hand this round… getting breast cancer in the first place. I expect this next hand to be a good one. (Been meanint to play the lottery. I think we're due to win, right?!
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Thank you, lago. You always seem to have the right words, and I look up to you. Yes, I expect this next round of my life to be the best. Every day is a gift that I treasure.
Im off to buy my lottery ticket
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I was diagnosed one year ago tomorrow. I'm saying that tomorrow is the day that I was given a second chance. I read back through some of my facebook statuses from this time last year - wow, how much changes in a year. I an thankful.
I had a 5mm tumor and one node positive. Having that positive node sometimes worries me but it could be that it captured the cancer that was trying to go set up shop somewhere else.0 -
Yep, as usual Lago knows the right things to say. I'll be buying a lottery ticket too!
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Well not always. Still looking for that full-time gig. My 3 month contract job ended this Monday
( Granted I do have an interview for adjunct teaching next week).I still have to purchase my ticket too. Just don't want to go out in the snow.
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I was told that triple positive was what you wanted if you had to get breast cancer because you had 2 more medications specifically targetting your type...herceptin and fumara
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herceptin5, while I'd like to believe that, I think it would be better if you didn't need the herceptin to fight your cancer. But I think that herceptin has made statistics more similar to ER+, Her2-. The ER+ is definitely an advantage though.
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Hey ladies just catching up here. I too always wondered about the stress factor. I was like Arlene, kids before 30, never on the pill, do not drink, ate organic and healthy no processed food, not overweight. I had a mammo Jan 2011 nothing all was clear, in June I had an incident on an airplane that had me stranded on a plane with no power for 6 hours in 110 heat and a emergency landing. I am claustrophobic and experienced rolling panic attacks for 3 months after. The adrenaline from the attacks I am sure overworked the crap out of my hypothalamus gland and pretty much left my body in a state of stress for 3 months solid. Oddly enough I found the 2.5 CM lump and had a biopsy in Nov. Up to that point I never experienced any real physical symptoms from stress and really was lucky to not really have any serious issues for stress. So I think it was the panic attacks that probably exasperated the BC.
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Stress I believe is just one of the switches. You need several switches to get cancer going I think having dense breast tissue made me a petri dish for when the switches were all turned on. The kids before 30 isn't a huge difference. My sister didn't have her kids before 30, also had dense tissue and is fine.
BTW birth control is only an issue when you are on it. I did take it back in the early 80's for a few years. I don't believe this is a factor for me.
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I believe it is a whole combination of things also that finally meet in the perfect storm and turn on the switch. Personally, I think stress is a big factor, but I think environment plays a role also. I had dense breast tissue also.
And....if mine recurs, there will be no more healthy eating. I am going back to sugar, booze, and steak n shake burgers! Immediately.
Lago...it was great to talk to you on the phone. I am sorry the weather didn't cooperate so we could get together! Daughter and I had a great time shopping, but by the time we went to Hugo Frog's for dinner, we were freezing. We did end up staying an extra day so just got home yesterday afternoon. Roads on 65 around north of Lafayette were a mess and we were delayed an hour sitting on the highway for an overturned truck.
I am quitting Pristiq because I don't think I need the anti-anxiety component and it does not help me for hot flashes. It has officially been a week without anything. I am hoping the brain flashes end soon. They are slowly getting better.
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hi all
i have been lurking on these sites for quite some time - following all the threads and trying to educate myself
you ladies seem so informed and positive - I could use a little positivity right now
diagnosed 8/11 with a 2.4 cm grade 3 trip positive, no nodes on imaging
started neo-adj - i have had a hard time dealing with this. When i was first diagnosed I was terrified, numb - just did whatever they told me to do because apparently I was being treated at a top BC hospital -
if i had researched i would have definitely had surgery first -for my personality I think this would have been better -plus all the stories i read of all the residual left and how it impacts long term outcomes have me scared sh**less
anyway - fast forward 16wks after all my chemo - they cannot detect any tumor anymore- only scar tissue - gone after the 2nd round of chemo
i know i should feel greatful but i am so anxious about surgery tues i can barely get through the day - I know pathology is everything, docs are optimistic that i have a very good chance of pCR
anyway - some words of encouragements from you lovely 3plus ladies would be great!!!
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rozem - it is totally normal to be scared prior to a surgery - who isn't - so don't feel like the lone ranger! If you were storng enough to get through chemo you can handle this surgery, really you can. Have any of your docs given you some Xanax? This might be a good time to either get some, or take it if you have some. pcr is wonderful - let's hope for that until further notified! Maybe because you were grade 3 - fast growing - the chemo did its job and took all those suckers out - yay for that! Those of us that did adjuvent just have to hope for the best, whereas neoadjuvent does get the benefit of seeing actual results and knowing that the chemo was doing its job. Know that we are all in your pocket on the day of surgery, rooting for everything to go smoothly and your path to indicate nothing but success!
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Roze,
A friend of mine did chemo first and when they went in to excise the spot, there was NOTHING there, not a single cancer cell was left...
I pray it is the same for you!!
Hang in there. This is scary stuff. I think what makes it scary is all the time we have to contemplate it. I've gone bungee jumping a couple times...the first time, there was no line and as soon as I was up, tied up, and let it fly....it was FUN! Exhilarating.
The second time I went, I had to wait for an hour before the actual jump...just standing there thinking about it made it so much worse...by the time I strapped in, I was SHAKING and wondering wt??
I think surgery can be like that. No matter how many we go through, whether it is our very first or our sixth, the anticipation, all the time to think about the what "ifs" makes it scary.
I don't know if you are the type of person who "thinks" more when she's got free time...that's me...so I make sure the week before any operation I book ... heck I OVER book my schedule so I stay busy morning till night and then fall into bed.
That works for me....but we're all wired different.
Hang in there and don't let cancer steal anymore of your life!
((Mucho hugs to you))
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thank you for your quick reply's and words of encouragement - TonLee you are so right about cancer not stealing any more of my life
i hate to admit it but there are days i ignore my kids because I am surfing the net/doing more research, days I feel like staying in bed because I just can't face the world - I am hoping once I am out of active treatment I can "engage" again
one thing I have learned is that Oncology seems to be a crapshoot - I see so many similar diagnosis- yet the treatment plans are all over the board - who knows, I guess you just have to hope and pray that its the right one for you
thanks again ladies and I will post my post-surgery results when I can
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rozem, TonLee and SpecialK are spot-on. It is normal to be scared before a surgery!! You are going to be ok. I had a girlfriend have chemo first and then the surgery much like you and she is doing great! It's wonderful that they cannot detect your tumor anymore.
FYI, I am also grade 3 and my oncologist (whom I greatly respect) tells my husband and I that these are very receptive to chemo.
We will be thinking about you on Tuesday and sending good thoughts that everything goes smoothly! Try to get out and play with your kids this weekend - let them take this off your mind, if only for a few days.
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rozem-I agree with all the other women. I was so freaked out, I sent myself into a panic disorder and had to start taking an anti-anxiety pill. I literally spent 20 hours a day on the computer doing research, and then was convinced life as I knew it was over, our friends would disappear, etc. My heart was pounding, I couldn't eat, dropped weight like crazy, cried at everything, and my usually normal blood pressure went up.
Forty-eight hours after I started Cymbalta, I was a new woman.
I also schedule myself like crazy the week before surgery, otherwise I start double checking my decisions.
Go see Joyful Noise. We saw it Friday and it is a cute movie with uplifting music.0 -
Rosem: I had 6 weeks before surgery so by the time surgery came around I was relieved to finally get this 6.5cm tumor out. I'm not saying I wasn't scared (that life as I know it would be gone) but there was a sense of relief too. Most women, including myself will say the anticipation is way worse. It wasnt as bad as most of us thought. You will be you again. My fear is I would feel different and I supposed I do but to be honest I can't remember what my old breast felt like. I'm almost 1year 5 months from surgery.
Good luck with your surgery and I hope you are in as much pain/discomfort as I was… I never took any meds, no pain pump, no tylenol, no narcotics. I was just very sore but very bearable.
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Lol Lago. You are so right about the ntiipation. He teality was way less. I had people lined up to stay with me the first two weeks during the day. After two days I called them all and told them to just drop by with lunch.
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BTW Fluff give me a bit more warning next time. I'm really disapointed we didn't meet.0
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thanks ladies
i am more nervous about what they will find then the actual surgery - i want no surprises! docs are reassuring me that based on my response they do not expect to find much residual disease but i won't believe till I see it!
btw - I had a lumpectomy for a benign growth in the EXACT same spot 14 years ago...i always wonder if there is some sort of connection between that and the cancer that showed up, weird
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Rozem--try to stay patient (it's hard) until the final pathology comes in after surgery, and an MO evaluates the results. I learned the hard way the surgeon was not the best person to believe about what the final path said. She was just wrong (but what a great surgeon)! I believe in utilizing anti-anxiety medication as needed to help. It helps keep our bodies from over-reacting. I found that waiting difficult, but not as bad as waiting for my initial biopsy.
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Rozem, good luck with your surgery. Hope everything goes great. I had my surgery first and I envy you because the surgery was so much easier for me than this chemo is proving to be. Just try to relax while waiting for the pathology report, that is hard I know. We are all pulling for you. Hugs! Judy
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Well I'm off in a couple of hours to have my very last Herceptin infusion YAY!!! Can you tell I'm excited? lol
Will have the port removed in just over 2 weeks. I know it's a bit of a risk to have it taken out so early, but I really don't want to go back to the chemo ward every six weeks to have it flushed. So - I'm being very, very positive and it's being removed.
A very happy and relieved
Trish0 -
Congratulations Trish!!!0
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Congrats Trish!
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