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August 2011 Surgery Group

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Comments

  • joan811
    joan811 Member Posts: 1,980
    edited November 2011
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    Profbee,
    You have verbalized what we all think about....how many years...what happens after we make the 5 year mark....none of us knows.  So we do all we can to kill the BC and go on living. 
    I am relieved that my kids are about "grown" (youngest a senior in college).  As I started the Arimidex, I just felt that I may be changed - and that i wouldn't know the woman I would have been if I didn't have BC or have to take the drug.  That said, I am overwhelmingly grateful for the availability of effective treatments that we have in 2011.  And I still feel like "me" and that's usually good.
    GG - you make me smile with your musings about tatoos, reconstruction and found cleavage Smile
    The good news is that you truly do have choices today that may not have been available a few years ago.  Follow your heart.
    Best wishes,
    Joan
  • dogeyed
    dogeyed Member Posts: 84
    edited November 2011
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    JOANIE, your thoughts ground me.  I didn't know you were taking Arimidex, I THINK that is the pill the doc has prescribed for me, haven't picked it up yet.  Seems like the stats do indeed point to those hormone drugs really improving survival.  And you're right, it is amazing that we live in a time where so many more women who get cancer are living on and on, cancer-free.  I focus on that notion, I try so hard to hang onto positive energy.  Actually, I'm trying to hang onto ANY energy I have!  GG 

  • joan811
    joan811 Member Posts: 1,980
    edited November 2011
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    GG - The Arimidex isn't too bad...the problem is, I never know what is causing what.  I had nausea and aches last week, and it turned out to be a bug.  When I took steroids, the aches from Arimidex went away.  Now the aches are back...very random, too.  The symptoms started immediately for me, but nothing is unbearable.  At least I feel like I am doing something....I didn't do chemo and I feel very vulnerable.  So, with Arimidex and 30 days of rads, I hope my BC insurance policy will be paid up for awhile.
    God bless....and don't worry.  You will do OK.
    Joan
  • bobeena
    bobeena Member Posts: 46
    edited November 2011
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    Joan811, I hear you when you say that you feel vulnerable not having chemo. I did not get chemo, rads, or tamoxifen. My mind often drifts to "what ifs" when aches and pains happen, or when I think about long term goals - that seems very common among us. I now see my diet and exercise as my daily medication. Something I can control to stay healthy and cancer free.

    It has been 1 year now since I was told those 3 words that we have all unfortunately heard on this board. So much about my life and me have changed. I thought I would be upset about this day coming, but it has turned out to be just another day - a non event. I guess my focus is to the future, being done reconstruction (hopefully with a nice full B) and just moving ahead to whatever may come.

    Sending my warmest thoughts to you all.

  • joan811
    joan811 Member Posts: 1,980
    edited November 2011
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    Bobeena, I wish you well, and am very happy to hear you are posting that one year milestone - cancer free.  Is your reconstruction done or still to come?  I admire your commitment to a healthy lifestyle.   Stay well!
    Joan
  • NancyJill
    NancyJill Member Posts: 127
    edited December 2011
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    Hi--just checking in. I'm feeling good. Navelbine is a breeze for chemo! About 8 more weeks to go, then rads. No significant hair regrowth yet. Had a good Thanksgiving. Glad so many are doing well!

  • joan811
    joan811 Member Posts: 1,980
    edited December 2011
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    I knew you'd do well, Nancyjill!  Glad to hear it.  Your hair will come back, and it will be beautiful.
    I am in my first week of rads.  My anxiety has reallly come under control since my allergies are going away. 
    Here's to December, the end of a tough year for all of us....and the promise of a happier, healthier year to come. 
    A wish for each of you...
    Holiday Wreath
    Love & hugs,

    Joan

  • dogeyed
    dogeyed Member Posts: 84
    edited December 2011
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    My hair is now officially..... one inch long!!  I look ridiculous, tho, it's just TOO short, especially when I was used to a mop of it waist-long.  One thing, tho, the color at first seemed sort of dark, and then it mellowed out to the blonde, brown, white blend, BUT it's very thick!  My hair has always been quite fine and thin, baby hair, and now it's like some sort of blanket on my head!  Seems like it was about two months after my last chemo that it began to grow in.  I was one of those people who had chemo first for five months, THEN surgery, followed by rads.  A picture taken of me in the hospital after surgery, I still didn't have hair even tho it was a month after chemo, and I just cannot recall when it began to "show," but it wasn't long after the surgery.  Just saying all this for others to measure by, I recall reading others who wondered when it would come back.  Which I can say my surgical wound is totally healed, but I cannot stand the dog ear I have under my arm, rumply fat, I hope it will go away if I ever lose my 30 pounds or so of excess weight.  Oh, and JOANIE, I LOVE the pretty animations you are putting on here!  You are quite bright when it comes to that sort of thing.  Until next time, always sisters to you all, Gail

  • NancyJill
    NancyJill Member Posts: 127
    edited December 2011
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    Joan: Thanks for the pretty wreath! How was the first rads? I am interested.  dogeyed: congrats on getting some hair. Waiting for mine. Bobeena: congrats on getting through the first year!
  • joan811
    joan811 Member Posts: 1,980
    edited December 2011
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    Gail,  The pix are easy....a fun distraction, too!  I'll explain sometime when it isn't so late....
    Nancyjill - I had rad tx #6 today.  I was a mess going into the planning sessions ( long appointments) but on my start day, my allergies lifted and I could breathe.  My treatments last at most 15 minutes - I get positioned (easy in my case - face down) and then I get 2 zaps of about 10 to 12 seconds then the machine rotates and I get 2 more.  All the time I lie still with iPod in ear.  It is getting easier.  No pain...but I am very tired.  I got my first little skin blister today and I thought it was too soon; but I am sensitive to sun, so I guess it makes sense.
    How is the chemo going?  I hope you are doing OK.  My colleague at work had her first chemo 12/1.  I saw her tonight,  She feels sick all the time but she came to work tonight.  She has a wrist band wtih a button to push to alleviate her nausea while she eats and drinks.  She said it works.
    I had news of two young ladies who are my aquainences who have brain cancer. The cancer monster does not rest.
    Wishing everyone a good week, and a speedy recovery from treatment.
    Hugs to all,

    Joan

  • NancyJill
    NancyJill Member Posts: 127
    edited December 2011
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    Doing fine. Navelbine is relatively easy, with Herceptin.  Rads for me in Feb? Good luck Joan!

  • dogeyed
    dogeyed Member Posts: 84
    edited December 2011
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    Happy Holidays surgery girls.  And thanks again to LAWYER for setting up the dates and all.  My port was put on the same side as my boob removal, and it was removed a few weeks ago, still a little sore a few inches below it, but the incision looks rather good, except for my chubby dog ear under my arm.  Hope the New Year finds us free of this hateful thing, filled with good normal stuff instead.  GG

  • profbee
    profbee Member Posts: 304
    edited December 2011
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    Yes, happy holidays, friends!  I just had my exchange surgery on Monday (the 19th), and I'm really beginning to wish that my dear son didn't have a week off for Christmas!  LOL.  Really, I feel fine, just a bit sore.  I guess it looks fine.  The flat front of it is a bit disconcerting as is the giant scars across--it's so not a boob job--but I'm getting used to it.  

     Here's to kicking 2011 to the curb!

  • Eema
    Eema Member Posts: 403
    edited December 2011
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    Hi Ladies!



    What a long path since my BMX in August! I had my hyst/ooph in oct and exchange in Nov. to make things fun, Righty broke, and now I have to have more surgery before I earn my nips. I'm going back to work Jan 6, and I don't feel ready. After scheduling an easy return, my boss made it more challenging for me to be successful, thinking, hey, the cancer is gone, get off your lazy ass and start working. I hope I don't crash by Feb.



    Hope you all are doing well! Happy Festivus to all! Goodbye 2011, you were NOT my favorite year!

  • FLwarrior
    FLwarrior Member Posts: 614
    edited December 2011
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    WARM GREETINGS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all the August 2011 Surgery ladies!  Here is to a NEW year that will be much better than 2011!

  • bobeena
    bobeena Member Posts: 46
    edited December 2011
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    I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season filled with loving family and friends! I will echo the sentiment of good riddance to 2011, which was a year of loss (my mom, my breasts, and dog) and look forward to the New Year with hope and optimism!

  • dogeyed
    dogeyed Member Posts: 84
    edited December 2011
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    BOBEENA, oh dear one, I am SO dumbstruck to hear about your mom and your dog!  Good grief!  Enough is enough for you!  You know, while I did not lose my mom, which would pretty much do me in, we did lose two of our dogs within months of each other, the first the day before my surgery, so you all know what THAT might be like since we're all surgery people, and then the other one around Thanksgiving after rads.  So, I at least I KNOW just how horrible losing your dog was for you.  Husband and I are STILL having some problems with it.  

    But losing your Mom, wow, that's just too much.  My mother, I did not lose her, but HER mother had cancer when my mother was in her late 20s, and so when I had my cancer, she woke up with nightmares for a few nights, and she said she yelled out, "Mama!"  She said she hadn't said her name like that in more than 50 years.  So, that is sort of a metaphor for just how insidious and shattering cancer can be.  I just did not know you had lost your mom, or I would have said something much sooner to you. 

    God bless you, Bobeena, with your losses this year, and I agree, let us look to the New Year with hope and optimism!!!  Thank you for sharing, this is the place to let emotions go, I'm sure none of us can really know what the person next to us is going thru, and I send prayers up for your broken heart.  Always, GG

  • joan811
    joan811 Member Posts: 1,980
    edited December 2011
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    Hmm I answered several posts last night, but poof! they did not get published.
    So glad to hear from the group I first joined in August.  You ladies will always be the most special to me.  Your honest and courage always inspire me.
    I hope we can all check in at the 6 month point in February!
    Meanwhile, I am doing Rads 22 of 30 tomorrow.  It's going along fine.
    Hugs and prayers for all.
    Joan
  • Eema
    Eema Member Posts: 403
    edited December 2011
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    Happy New Year to my August surgery sisters. Hope this is all just a memory in 2012! Xoxox



    Eema

  • profbee
    profbee Member Posts: 304
    edited December 2011
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    Thanks for helping me get through my toughest year yet, women.  Here's to celebrating better things together in 2012!

  • bobeena
    bobeena Member Posts: 46
    edited January 2012
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    Thanks dogeyed. I found this holiday to be a bit difficult at times, with more than a couple tears shed in private. Everyone told me the first year would be hard. They were right. I am trying to focus on how the events of this year have shown me that I am a strong person, physically, mentally and emotionally. I can navigate the obstacles that life throws at me.

    Joan, almost done!

    Even though I know changing the year will not really stop life changing (for the bad or good), there will be something satisfying in not having to write 2011 every day!

    Here's to a happier 2012 for all the August ladies! Cheers!

  • FLwarrior
    FLwarrior Member Posts: 614
    edited January 2012
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    I am wishing each of you a Very Happy and Hopeful New Year!!!  I appreciate all of the ladies here and thank you all for being so supportive!!!

    As for me I can't wait for the stroke of midnight to say GOOD RIDDANCE to 2 thousand eleven...AND HELLO TWENTY TWELVE!!!!!!!!! This past year has been by far the worst year of my life and I am so ready to put it behind me!!!  I am going to begin the new year with a new job that I am starting on Jan 3rd!  What a relief!!!  I am SO ready to get back to work!  I hope a "new normal" is just around the corner!

    A Big Thanks, Big Hugs and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

  • rockym
    rockym Member Posts: 357
    edited January 2012
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    Hi August Ladies!  It seems like so long ago when I was hanging out here.  I've healed well on the outside, but still working on the inside :-).  I had TCx4 and it took a toll on me AFTER it was finished.  RADS start next week.  I can't wait to say good-bye to 2011.

    HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!

  • joan811
    joan811 Member Posts: 1,980
    edited January 2012
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    August Ladies, so great to hear from you.
    Rocky, I have only 6 rads to go (no chemo) and I can say that I was filled with anxiety and now I barely remember those 24 treatments I've had.  I used an iPod and turned it up in one ear and it really helped me pass the minutes.  It will go fast for you.
    I have today off from Rads...a 6 hour drive home from a wonderful visit in DC with daughter, SIL & sweet grandsons.
    Let's keep in touch in 2012 and celebrate a better year together.  January - February will be 6 months for many who were diagnosed last summer.
    Love, prayers and hugs for all of you who helped me SO MUCH through the worst of times.
    Joan
  • blondelawyer
    blondelawyer Member Posts: 104
    edited January 2012
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    How's recovery going for everyone? I have pretty good range of motion on the cancer side, but my whole arm still aches sometimes. I've thought that it was due to swelling, but I'm not sure. I'm going to talk to my PT tomorrow. I've also had some pain in my chest muscle where they took part out and radiated. I finished rads at the end of Nov. and will start back on chemo in a couple of weeks.

  • dogeyed
    dogeyed Member Posts: 84
    edited January 2012
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    Hey there Blonde Lawyer!

    I love your new "look," what a sweet face you have!  I cannot do a thing with my one-inch hairs.  I brush it straight up off my head, I look like a cartoon character.  When I try to smooth it down, it curly-ques all over the place, and I even think I have... horrors... a couple bald spots???  Ye gads.  So, I'm doing the comb-over, no product so a little lotion up there, good as new.  Recovery, while my operation side is still a little sitff, it took me six weeks after rads to feel like a regular person.  Sooooo, what do I do?  I start taking the dang hormone-blocking drug and now I feel like I've been kicked around, falling down, feeling downright UPSET.  But anyway, sounds like you will be hitting chemo again at just the right time, you will just be getting over your rads, like I did, so you'll be as ready as yer gonna get for the chemo again.  I hope your hair stays on this time.  I guess they'll switch up the chems somewhat this time.  Don't be shy about asking for pain meds.  I'm glad you checked in!

    GG

  • joan811
    joan811 Member Posts: 1,980
    edited January 2012
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    Hi Blonde,
    SO GOOD to see you here!  You have had a darned tough path to follow...Wishing you strength and well-being for your next round. 
    Hi GG,
    Good to see you here, too!  Hope you are doing OK.  That's a "bad hair day" if I ever heard one....I hope that soon your hair will soften and flow as before chemo.
    When I took the hormone suppressor, I felt overwhelmed with symptoms at first (aches aches aches and mood swings...) and then strangely, it leveled off.  I stopped it recently and will re-start after I get my heart checked out.  I really want to take it, but I am not really looking forward to that again.
    Two rad boost to go...finish Tuesday ... skin is holding up well.
    Thoughts and prayers to all.

    Joan

  • dogeyed
    dogeyed Member Posts: 84
    edited January 2012
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    Hi to you, too, JOANIE.  LOVE your picture, so YOU.  You remind me of my fav girlfriend in college, she was so intelligent, first in her freshman class, but she COULD NOT parallel park her car in town.  Funny lady, she was.  You look like her, lots of sophistication, but this wonderful flavor of "So what!?"

    So, SURGERY LADIES, mine was August 2nd, 2011, and I have looked at my incision from mastectomy, and it is all healed up, very smooth.  But it kind of looks like a gash, sort of settled downward and also pulled tight under the arm.  I'm fine with the look.  But I have a "dog ear" of considerable size under the arm, somehow it's sticking out abnormally far and looks strange and feels strange against my under-arm.  Sometimes it's hard to sleep on that side unless I settle just right.  I suppose when I have more money and the will, I'll have a plastic surgeon fix it, I don't know.  Anybody else have that swelling bulge under the arm? 

    And as for any pain, I only have it in one spot, right smack in the middle of the whole thing, and I don't know what it is.  It's been sore if I push there since the beginning.  I think it must be perhaps the way they sewed me up, or perhaps a little nerve was damaged there.  Cancer doc said he thought it had to do with radiation changes, and it DID pull up tight.  Anyhow, that's the only other thing.

    Well, there is one other, unrelated to the breast surgery was the chemo port surgery, taking it out.  They stitched up the hole where it was, and these are dissolving stitches.  But the lady doc left one piece of thread sticking straight out of my skin, it was about 1/4 inch.  Drove me crazy.  So, I trimmed it down a little, but I can still feel it.  And I'm wondering how can that stitch dissolve if it's sticking out?  So, didn't know if anyone else had a tip on how to rid myself of the thing or not?  Well, that's it on the surgery front.  Hope all of you are managing with any reconstructions, or rads like JOANIE had, or any of my nonreconstruction strangeness or "shark bite" as I like to call it.  GG 

  • joan811
    joan811 Member Posts: 1,980
    edited January 2012
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    Hi Gail - Dog Cool
    I am still trying to find a photo with my eyes showin'
    Hey, I CAN parallel park.  but I haven't been first in anything since 6th grade.
    So, when you are feeling good some day, can you trek back to the surgeon and ask what they intend to do about your "ear" and rogue thread?  You deserve much much better. 
    You've come such a long way.
    I hope the August ladies will show up for a 6 month reunion in February.  That' 11 days from now.
    Thoughts and hugs to all

    Joan

  • profbee
    profbee Member Posts: 304
    edited January 2012
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    Hey pals!  

    I had a stitch too!  The doc pulled it and cut it...but I can still feel a tiny bit of it too...blerg.  If I catch it with a tweezer it just pulls.  Annoying.  I can't feel it from the inside, but I can feel it if my hand goes over it.  I'm not really all that bothered by it at the moment since I have to wear this damn bra 24/7 anyway.  arrgh.

     Count me in for Tamoxifin making me CRAZY!  I'm getting so angry so easily.  BUT...I just booked a trip for us to Disney!  Woooo hooooo!!!! 

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