TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
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hey Debiann, I'll have some ice cream on that brownie with you!
Almost there, you aren't licked yet!
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Agent99 yes cancer can travel to the body though other channels other than the nodes. It's more common though through the nodes. My onc told me that it does travel other ways the last time I met with her (and she was making sure I didn't quit the hormone therapy). I mean look at me I'm stage IIB yet have no nodes. Having a larger tumor puts you at greater risk too even if you don't have node involvement.
Rozem 3 years!!!!
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Add some hot fudge on top and its a date Agent 99!
You are right when you posted that the general public doesn't know that much about what a bc dx means, like how many different types there are, the variety of treatments, and progonosis & outcomes. Sometimes I feel the need to educate people, but then decide blissful ignorance is good. Even with my mom & kids, all I say is they caught it early, everything will be fine. There is a good chance it will be so why worry them.The only people I've talked to about the dark side like Her2+ , risk of mets, ect. is the DH and my best friend of 40 years. She, btw, lost her mom to bc many years ago because she found a lump but didn't tell anyone for a long, long time. Its good that today most people at least know to get a manmogram.
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debiann I find most people think after 5 years is up you're cured. They don't really understand the Komen slogan "for the cure" means there is no cure. Most people when they think of chemo and other treatment think hair loss and puking which end once you're done with treatment. They don't know about all the permanent damage that can happen. So many to list I'm not even going to get started. They don't even know we are taking ESD or EBD for 5-10 years and how some of those SE are serious (bone loss, heart issues, cholesterol, endometrial cancer, etc )
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good morning all!
Today is round 3/6 taxol at 2 pm. Yesterday I had my bloodwork and triage. I explained how my side effects though not bad are increasing. Aches, pains in muscles and joints, increased fatigue, continued flirting with constipation although I am keeping things moving, some abdominal aches and tingly tongue. She told me that the aches and fatigues will probably increase throughout treatment although she does not suspect that it will get as intense as it was with taxotere
Ugh!
I've been on short term disability since my surgery in March and this ends sept 17 so now it's time to submit paperwork for long term disability. Funny how the thought of returning to work stresses me right out.
I don't think I can handle my job until all treatment is completed. I remember all of the stress and pressure which I used to thrive in. Right now it's hard to get out of bed in the morning and stay focused on things. Being off allows me to do things at my own pace - stress free - and focus on me
I think back to when this started. I chatted with my onc and told him that I wanted to continue working. I'm glad that he explained to me why I shouldn't.
You all continue to be inspirations.
Have a great day!!
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lago Congrats on the new gig!!!!- and I completely agree, so much collateral damage from treatments yet most (including my close friends and family) have the attitude -you're done, you're all good , whats your problem? ha! if it were that easy! they don't get that we will always have that fear of it coming back, getting a new cancer, a multitude of treatment related issues etc etc. I try to explain what my worries are and how I don't feel the same but I think everyone is just plain tired of hearing me bitch (see my post on chemo brain) oh well that's why we have each other
)))FBN there is no way I could have worked during rx - BC chemos are really brutal
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Yes lago, I now understand so much better what my mo said to me the first day we met, that bc is a "chonic condition" or in other words your life will never be the same again. I try not to think about the AIs because I'm not there yet, but they certainly do not sound pleasant. I haven't told the DH anything about this part of tx, waiting for the right time to say this nightmare doesn't end with chemo and surgery.
Ironically, my pit bull Chancee fell ill about the same time as my dx. She also has a chronic condition, inflammatory bowel disease. She was so sick, skeletal looking and weak. The high dose steroids made her goofy and although she ate, her body was losing so much protein she was literally starving to death. Amazingly, her spirits were high, she still wanted to play and run!(although this wasn't allowed) Dogs appear to have an incredible tolerance for illness, wish I could stop whinning and be more like her. Currently she's out of the woods, gaining weight and getting closer to normal, but never again completely normal. With diet and meds her condition can be maintained, but she'll have new restrictions in her life which make me sad because there is no way to explain this to her. She is used to getting treats and table food, but no more. So hard to look in those sweet eyes and not share. She can no longer roam our property hunting mice (better mouser than any cat), and she can't chew on tree roots, her favorite past time. Despite all the precautions, her condition could recur again at any time. Of course she is a dog and doesn't know, so she just wags her tail and enjoys life as much as she can everyday. I try to learn this "live in the present and enjoy life" philosophy from her, but not quite there yet, still a worrier. Maybe I need a good chewy toy,lol.
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somebody somewhere here on BCO made a link to you tube, i don't know how to do it, about an ad campaign. it was really funny, called "be more dog". hilarious! but true dogs have so much enthusiasm and joy for each new day, or, even if you are only out for a minute and come back in, they are happy to see you all over again!
as for me, i am so sick of this chronic condition, but i can't keep away from bCO. i am getting to the point of femara is now messing with my joints in my hands and my feet mostly, but all the others to a lesser degree, i just really don't know if i can continue. i am starting to feel like, i would rather be more active and energetic, and then if it comes back (or at least makes itself evident) then i will take the FESD. you know the word i added to lago's.
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Omg these be more dog videos are so funny, thanks for mentioning them kathec. "CARPE DEIM"=seize the frisbee, lol. "Be more dog" really needs to be my new mantra, this should be easy considering I have 4 of them.
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HHaa hahahahaHa! would credit the original poster if i could remember! glad you liked them. if you like sarcastic cats, steve83 does these great videos of his snarky cat, sylvester, on you tube. can someone tell me how to make a link? ive clicked on it, but then im stuck.
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I have been told the cancer-free clock starts from the last day of active treatment.So, does that mean I have to wait until after my last Herceptin to start the clock or did it start after my last chemo (I had not rads)?
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OneTexasDay
My NED clock started on surgery day according to my doctors.
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Ashla, that is even better!0 -
kathec
I hear you on the AI frustration front. Apparently some 30% of women stop them because of side effects.
Don't know if you noticed my post from a few days ago.
Just saw my MO and had an elaborate .. I thought well reasoned...argument ready for dropping anastrozole.
But.... He ... and the fact that I still have some bones left ...talked me down from from the ledge.
Apparently my tumor was ... At least partly ... 60/70 estrogen positive. Btw... He said doctors like to see that!
Other than the fact that this forum is just teeming with wonderful courageous ladies...we must come here because no one else can possibly understand this .And ...a few who might....are probably dealing with their own trouble and woe and do n't want to hear about it
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sitting in the chair for the first time all by myself. First the steroid, then Zantac, then Benadryl then taxol. Woo hoo!!!!
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FBN, ok, how do you do it??? stay that positive, i mean? you do inspire this suddenly grouchy and whiny woman, but i still cant be that positive, but i am very happy for you that you are, keep it up!
Ashla, it is true, my bones did take a hit too. All those years of hard work and strength, and i feel like such a weakling, a bone deep weakness. it scares me a little to think of what i culd break. i just found out last week, have a wedge fracture in my spine, and spondylosis. it was fine before tx, as i had the same chest xray 2 weeks before bc was dxed, from the same imaging center, which is different from my tx place. so i know my bones already took the hit, and i am full on osteoporotic now, in hips and spine. was barely osteopoenic before. but i will stop whining. i will just go out and scream!
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nah kathec
You have every right and plenty of reason to "whine" as you call it. Also to question the cost & benefits of treatment.
For me ... At least... According to my MO ...the AI is very important . Two years now...3 to go..
Gonna keep plugging along a few months at a time... Then reassess...
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My mo says 10 years of AI for me. Aaaarrrggggggg! I keep telling myself there will be some new development, drug, cure, whatever before then so it won't really be that long. Always the optimist!
Looking good FBN, you get the smile of the day award! Btw, you were talking about work earlier, what do you do?
Just sent the DH to the store in search of food I can eat. Each round the list of things I can't tolerate grows longer. What I could eat in previous rounds now turns my stomach. Among other oddities, he'll be bringing me a pumpkin pie, lol.
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Ashla, i know you can do it. i am just not sure i want to. i do see so many st lV women doing it. i am so tempted to only do it if it comes back, is all. and enjoy my body now, for all it's worth without pain for as long as i can.
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mmmm pumpkin pie! i hope there's one out there to be bought for you!
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kathec
Hear ya... Thinking the same thoughts....
pumpkin pies too:)
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Kathec I've struggled with the same thoughts about enjoying life now and dealing with mets when/if they happen, knowing there is a chance that they will never happen, surgery may have been enough to take care of the whole problem. Obviously I'm not much of a gambler, cause here I sit all chemoed up, but I think the AI will be even harder to deal with if they cause me bad se because they are taken for such a long time.
He better find pie!
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Kathec and ashla, I'll join you. Thinking the same thing. I'm taking it for now, just a month or 2 at a time.
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Back in the winter, I think there was a discussion on here about getting the shingles vaccine and my little voice told me I should check into it and get it. Well, I didn't listen to my little voice and instead reasoned that I wasn't 60 yet and insurance probably wouldn't cover it. But I put it on my list to talk to my MO about in September. Well, weekend before last I thought I got a bunch of bug bites on my back behind my armpit, but they were just not getting better, very itchy and painful. So today I went to see my PCP to see what was going on. She took one look at them and said "you have shingles". I almost cried. Really? So now I am on Valtrex and Gapapentin. She said it was probably due to the chemo and the fact that my bloodwork is still a mess. Thank you BC and chemo for the gifts you keep giving me!
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Has anyone taken Tamoxifen? There is a thread where women have listed joint pain as a SE. I didn't think that would be a SE since it allows your body to produce estrogen. I have been preparing myself to hear around the 7-10 yr mark that I'll have to take something for 15 yrs!! They keep saying chronic which means to me forever!
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Aww Bren....
So sorry to hear that .
I did get the vaccine and insurance did not pay for it...$200 .. Looking like money well spent now...
Hope you get a mild case. Sounds like you got it early and my understanding is that if you start the antivirals early it might be less odious !
Don't think there is one thing about me that is the same post chemo.
But I can draw and paint now
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Ah bren so sorry about the shingles. We do seem to think of it as something older people get, but my friend got it when she was 42. I've thought about getting the vaccine too, but my insurance won't cover yet. I hope your case is mild.
You were right Kathec, no pumpkin pie to be found, he bought apple instead.
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Bren, That just sucks. simply sucks. I hope the antivirals were taken quickly enough. all over again, cancer, the gift that never... well you know.. i just can't get past this today, and i have already been for a walk, and talked to two good women on the phone today.
insult to injury! no pumpin pie?!?
Ashla, I think im gonna go pick up a pencil...
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Sorry to hear about your shingles, Bren. For what its worth - my mother-in-law got the shingles vaccine and a few months later got the shingles. hopefully the anti-viral will help.
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Been busy. Got 4 pages behind. So, I'll post each page comments.
Fluff that is a lot to go through! Congrats to your daughter on the engagement and I hope she's going to be fine.
Football hang in there. You made it this far and you can see the end! Hugs
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