Ottawa ladies?
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Ah, ok thanks
well hope the summer gang is doing well!!! summer is here, well once we get rid of the monsoon. LOL0 -
Hey here Ottawa ladies!
So nice to hear from a few familiar voices again. JoJo such a drag you had that fatigue but you know somehow it catches us in treatment or post treatment. Nasty stuff this cancer business. I'm glad that you are felling more like yourself again! Cristalle, how did you feel about passing the one year mark? Mine was uneventful but still haven't got my mammogram since it wasn't properly ordered. Some days I'm still tired..you would think 6 months after rads it would stop?
I took an epic trip in May to Africa for 5 weeks with my daughter and it was exactly what I needed..the holiday was incredible and full of lasting memories. Now I am no longer worried about recurrence. I'm thankful for that.
Them hot flashes keep coming though...!
B
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Hi ladies,
JoJo, sorry about the fatigue. Hope it's better now. Beth, I'm reassured (for me) to hear you sometimes have it too. When I mentioned it to the doctor, he said, "It's called getting old," but I think it's still a residue from all the nasty treatment. Like you, I just have days once in a while when I am tired. Glad you had your trip to Africa. We went to S. Africa about six years ago and it was so wonderful.
My diagnosis anniversary was June 24, I still continue with the Herceptin every three weeks till the end of Sept. Thankfully not too many side effects from that (maybe the fatigue is from the Herceptin?) No hot flashes for me (well just natural ones), thank God, I am not on anti-hormone med!
Things are looking up for us as my husband just (finally) found a job and his lawsuit is a sure win. No more worrying about money. That was getting old. So hopefully we will have a better year this year!
Happy Canada Day!
Alana
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Nice to hear from everyone! My mammogram is scheduled for Wednesday, July 5. I'm feeling a bit nervous about it.
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Not in Ottawa, just wanted to poke my head in and let redninrah (and anyone else) know that it's spelled "ribociclib" - it's hard not to type these names in wrong - and there's quite a bit of info if you search the name.
Hope your friend gets some answers!!
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Wow Beth! Good for you! Bonus you got to share it with your daughter. We should start a facebook private group so we can share pics as I would love to see your vacation.
Alana, that's great news for you too! How did your radiation go?
Hospital called to schedule my MRI of brain to keep tabs on the tumour they found. I'm told its a very common one that usually does nothing and lots of people walk around with one not knowing they have it. Hospital realized they forgot to send me for bloodwork first, so they couldn't book the appt until they receive the blood results. Somehow that didn't bother me as I'm in no rush for another brain MRI.
Have a great weekend!
J
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Hi I've been out of touch. Yesterday was my one-year anniversary of the end of treatment!! Plus no adjuvant therapy do I am blessed. First followup mammo was in May and I'm fine, down to one a year from now on.
We had 12 ladies last Wednesday at BCA support group. Fitness classes are resuming soon, make sure to renew your BCA membership. Still promoting the Knitted Knockers when I can.
Cheers, Cristalle
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Hi Christine,.
Nice to hear from you.
I'm happy to report that my mammogram was clear. One less thing to worry about.
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Hi Tunegirl. I hope you are well. I start my 4 shots of TC on Friday, September 22 (at the General) with Paxman (from Cold Comfort Canada). How did it go for you? How long did you continue cooling for once thmo session was over? Any other tips would be very welcome. Thanks so so much.
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Hi,
I'm in the Ottawa area and was actually scheduled for a prophylactic mastectomy (I'm BRCA1 +) and needed screening beforehand to make sure there were no surprises - and surprise you weren't quick enough. I was just diagnosed, through a biopsy, with IDC/DCIS with apocrine features last week and as I was already in the system for surgery I think I might be missing some info. Can you please explain to the potential order of things after a breast cancer diagnosis in Ottawa? At this stage all I know is it is small 0.5 mm, ER- and it's unlikely it is in the lymph nodes (no evidence on ultrasound).
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Thank you Ciaci. She seems to be doing well!
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Hi Oats21, welcome to Ottawa Ladies. This group helped me alot during my journey through treatment in 2016. Been awhile since I posted. Sorry to hear you were diagnosed with BC. Personally for me, the time between diagnosis & surgery was 2.5 wks but was told 4 wks is average time. Week prior to surgery I was booked with all the pre-op tests. I was supposed to attend a preoperative education session re the surgery & post-op care but that session happened to conflict with the MRI. In lieu, I was given a great handout book about diagnosis, surgery, & treatment options. I contacted various cancer centres/groups in Ottawa before the surgery. Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation & Breast Cancer Action Ottawa have great programs & support. Best of luck on your surgery!
Hey Ottawa Ladies...hope you are ALL doing good!
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Oats21 - I'm just over a year post surgery. I had a sentinel node biopsy along with a lumpectomy. You said that there were no suspicious nodes in your case but they may do it anyways to err on the side of caution. The procedure is done the day before or early on the day of surgery at Nuclear medicine at OGH. I can go into more detail if you do end up getting it done. Post surgery you will have to wait 10-14 days to get full pathology reports and hormone receptor status. You would then meet with an oncologist. If you are having a BMX and no lymph nodes are involved you probably wouldn't have radiation but possibly chemo depending on the grade of the tumor and whether you are triple negative.
Good luck.
Gail
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Thank you for the replies. I'm scheduled for the injection for the sentinel node biopsy on Wednesday, at the Civic. If anyone could let me know what to expect I'd appreciate it.
Thanks
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Oats21- For the SNB, a radioactive blue dye will be injected right at the edge of your nipple. It hurts but just for a second. You will wait 20 minutes then they will look to see how far it has travelled (Xray I think). It will go on like that til the dye makes it your arm pit. Then they mark it with a Sharpie. Make sure if you plan to travel that you get a note as the radioactivity stays in your body for 3 months, I think.
Good luck.
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Hi everyone,
It's been ages since I posted however life is good and my mammo and ultrasound came back clear so 15 months later it's all rosy.
Oats, is this the procedure a day or two ahead of your surgery or the day of? I had a radioactive chip placed in my breast 2 days prior and it was then lightly mammogrammed to see its exact location. This marked the tumour for easier removal ( I had a lumpectomy). The procedure was mildly uncomfortable. The chip was then removed during surgery. On the day of surgery, I had dye injected near my nipple (didn't hurt that much) and then it was checked to see where it travelled to. A quick X-ray I think it was. I had to massage my boob to help it travel to the nodes. It took me an hour but it didn't travel properly. Apparently this happens at times. During surgery another dye was injected - I think this was the blue one- which found the nodes. You pee that one out within the first couple of pees. So don't be alarmed if you pee blue after surgery. Best of luck to you!
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Hi Beth,
Good to hear from you!
Chantal
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Hello! I am in Ottawa and was diagnosed last week at 33 years old. I am waiting on surgery date and got a call back on my MRI. It has only been a week and a half but what a week and a half it has been. I will look into BCA for sure!
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Hi OttawaGal! I just read your message from September about scalp cooling. I haven't been to this forum in months, enjoying not having breast cancer on my mind so much since i was down to just Herceptin treatments and feeling well.
I had a great experience with the Paxman machine and kept about 70% of my hair. The regrowth came back curly so i have a curly 80's mullet like a rockstar now. Smoothing creme helps
You might be almost done chemo now, but i'd be happy to talk hair sometime if you like. I hope you have had an easy go of it. Certainly a wild ride. I hope you checked in with the scalp-cooling gals here for tips and commiseration. I would do it again for sure but hope i don't ever have to.
Scary sore lymph node recurrance fears rocking my boat right now. Will go for an ultrasound next week if they can fit me in. Fear is the worst part of the breast cancer experience, imo.
Best of luck to everyone
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Hi everyone I've been missing In action. Tunegrrl it would be great to see you and our Fall 2016 gang. I'm still in touch with Beth. She borrowed my Acutouch probe to deal with scar tissue. You're right about recurrence fear, it doesn't matter how minor the treatment was
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oh ToughCookie ( love that name!) it's hard to be recently diagnosed and I would think doubly hard around Christmastime. Have you received your surgery date? My tumour profile was identical to yours upon diagnosis. My MRI showed it was a bit bigger than they could see on the ultrasound so more was taken out at surgery. I would suggest you read up on Oncotype DX if your lymph nodes come back negative. I had that testing done and it was helpful in informing treatment (chemo or no chemo).
Melodie, I'm sorry to hear about your scare of lymph nodes being sore ...I hope the ultrasound yields nothing. Take good care!
Beth
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Thanks beebs! This Christmas will be a tough one for sure. My mom suddenly passed away in June and the boyfriend turned into an asshole after my diagnosis (I guess he always was), so he’s gone. 2018 is looking up! Lol. My mom was a breast cancer survivor of eight years, her death was totally unrelated to BC (and I tested negative on genetics). I have read up n Oncotype and will ask about it for sure. I have been told however that chemo is almost a guarantee due to my age alone. I’m leaning towards mastectomy (nipple sparing) with immediate recon. My surgery is either Jan 3rd or the week after. I should know for sure this Friday.
Did the MRI accurately predict your tumor size or was it smaller? Ultrasound puts mine at 1.5cm and MRI at 1.8cm. I’m hoping it is under 2cm. It sounds strange to say that but it’s funny how perspectives change after a diagnosis.
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Here's a notice of a free event Jan 30 at Maplesoft on Alta Vista Drive. Tea purchases areoptional but partially benefit Cancer Coaching, which sadly is no longer free.
I'm going and would be nice to see some of you. There are spots left but sign up soon.
Pleaee join us for a Par-tea!
We've partnered with Christine Toth from Steeped Tea to host a tea party at the Cancer Foundation on Tuesday January 30th from 11am-1pm in the Great Room and Kitchen. You will have a chance to taste test multiple teas and purchase your favourite flavour(s) if you wish! A portion of the tea sales will support Cancer Coaching offered by the Cancer Foundation.
And to complete our afternoon together and truly make it the perfect tea party, we'll be adding a bit of sweetness and style! Our Nutrition Coach Emily will join us for an exclusive nutrition demonstration to create a treat to accompany our tea, and local hat shop Chapeaux de Madeleine will be bringing her beautiful fascinators for us to try on.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Tayler Muldoon by Friday, January 26th at tmuldoon@ottawacancer.ca.
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I hope that this page isn't totally deserted. I'm sure there are a few more of us in the Ottawa area going through this right now. I hope to find more of you to share our experiences with. I have an appointment with the surgeon next week to find out more (staging, treatment options etc). Anyone else going through this now (March 2018)
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Hi BarbMac, I am going through it now in Ottawa. I’m 33 & was diagnosed end of last year. I had my surgery (nipple sparing MX with expander) Feb 1st and am meeting with medical oncology and radiation tomorrow (today technically
) to get next steps.Who is your surgeon? 0 -
Hi ToughCookie. Glad to meet you (despite the circumstances). I had my biopsy yesterday with Dr Seely and she was great. It went as well as can be expected. I had my diganostic mammo and ultrasound on Feb 22 and they said it would be 7-10 days until the Breast Health Centre contacted me with a date for biopsy. They called me on Tuesday this week (Mar 6th) and called me in for yesterday and then later on the 6th another woman called me from the Breast Health Centre to tell me my appointment with Dr Gay/Guay is booked for Friday the 16th. I'm glad it is all coming together, but the closeness of the appointments has me a bit anxious. They have all already told me that the mass they see is cancerous (not 100% until biopsy results are in obviously). I'm ready to deal with it all, but will be more settled once I know what it is that I am dealing with. I'm glad my friend has agreed to come with me next week. She is going to take notes for me so that I can just pay attention to the Dr.
I hope that your appointment today goes well and will be looking for you to update us all on your next steps. I hope we can get more locals on here talking.
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Hi BarbMac, sorry for the delay. It was a crazy day of appointments, injections of protect my ovaries during chemo, chemo "school." They have recommended Taxotere Cyclophosphamide, four rounds of chemo, starting March 22nd. I am hesitant with the stats they gave me on the benefit versus the risk. I'm 33, so they are trying to throw everything at it! I have to run out for dinner, but I will message you this evening as I had more I wanted to say.
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Have a great night at dinner and I look forward to your next response. Hmm Chemo school....sounds like a real treat. Oh I have so much to learn and Friday can't come soon enough for me.
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BarbMac, Chemo teach is really useful in preparing you for what to expect. Highly recommend it if you end up needing chemo. I went to 2 sessions, one at the Queensway and the another at the Winchester Hospital where I ended up having chemo. Good luck with your surgery!
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Thanks Bravepoint. Oh trust me, I am going to take advantage of everything that is offered to me. Classes, treatments, support etc. I'm ready to fight. Now if I can just keep my wits about me until Friday when I meet with the surgeon, I'll be great. Then maybe I can get a full nights sleep without tossing and turning pondering the uncertain.
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