Why was I stronger DURING treatment than I am now?
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Julieho,
I have nodules and went through the fine needle aspiration, with my husband along. I closed my eyes before the endo got out the needle, etc. it wasn't bad at all, especially in comparison with the breast biopsies I went through. My husband said it was good I closed my eyes. I would ask to get the aspiration done just for peace of mind. Mine were benign but I'm still being monitored regularly.
A friend of mine had thyroid cancer, had her thyroid removed and has gone on to have children and a wonderful life. Just has to take thyroid hormones which I already do, but not to the extent that she does. She never even thinks about it and that is worst case scenario. I never heard BC mentioned as mets to thyroid. Again,you deserve peace of mind.
Hugs,
Peggy
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Peggy,
Thanks for getting back to me and thank you for telling me your experience with the FNA. I am actually not very worried about metastatic cancers in general, not sure why but, I do feel like even though the lump they had found on my MRI 7 months before they found it again on my mammogram was cancer I still think we found it early, treated it both surgically and oncologically very aggressively, and I didn't have any lymph involvement.
What I freak out about on a fairly regular basis, is my Mom's having had 5 different, separate and new cancers over the course of her 15 year life with cancer. Each of her cancers were NEW cancers, not metastasis until eventually at age 65 she got sarcoma which had metastisized and she died from that.
The gene mutation they found further "freaks" me out about my maternal family side cancer predisposition. Three maternal cousins, one died of breast, one of colon, one has survived colon and myself - survived breast cancer. My Mom and her two sisters all had multiple cancers and all died of them. Not early in life, it seems to hit my family exactly when I was diagnosed, around age 52 with the exception of my maternal cousin who 30 years ago died of breast cancer at age 26.
I think I will ask for the FNA - it doesn't sound like there are a lot of potential dangers to doing it and I believe it would put my mind at "some ease" to know this is not cancerous.
Thanks again. Did you ask for a local or a mild sedative for the FNA? I saw on another board that some people said it was very painful and even hurt afterwards. I am pretty strong but after having 4 reconstructive surgeries due to two severe post surgical infections I am a bit shy of anything more that hurts.
Hope you are doing well Peggy. You ladies are the BEST.
Julieho
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Holeinone - At my first MO check up post radiation, I complained about a pain in my back behind my shoulder blade. She was not concerned but ordered a CT scan just to make sure it was nothing.
It turned out that I had a couple of nodes left (the BS took out 17 when I had my lumpectomy after chemo) that were enlarged. PET scan did not show any cancer. My BS, MO and I decided to get them out anyway and then have them biopsied. Biopsy was negative, they were just huge and causing deferred pain to my shoulder blade.
If they are radiating that area and if there happens to be a few cancerous cells lurking around, the radiation will help kill the little beasties. How much longer do you have for Rads?
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kslanksy,
I still have 13 more radiation treatments, completed 20. I am feeling a little better about it, as it did not change at all before & after chemo. So, I would assume if it was cancerous it would of shrunk during he chemo regimen.
I guess I should ask my RO exactly where this is, I just assumed it was in the axillary area. Glad to hear that yours were inflamed & b9. Thanks for asking & sharing your info...always helps to know others have been there.
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Julie -
I had a thyroid nodule light up on a pet scan a year ago. My mo said we'd deal with it after I was done w/breast cancer treatment. I had a FNA - not bad at all. 3 biopsies were taken & all came back as atypical cells with unknown significance. Had 2nd opinion - same results. They said they cannot tell 100% if it is cancer until it is removed. They have to see if the cells have invaded the capillary wall & that can only be seen, after removal. There was a 20% chance it was cancer. I went with their recommendations and had 1/2 of my thyroid removed. Pathology came back - no cancer. At least I now have peace of mind.
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Holeinone - I had chemo before my surgery. There was still a some evidence of cancer when they biopsied the tissue that they removed (my LNs and the area where the original tumor was).
I had 33 rounds of rads too. Take care and don't forget to lotion up!
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Timbuktu, will keep you in my prayers. If you decide to not be on this board we will miss your comments, but we all understand you have to do what's best for you mentally and physically. Wishing you all the best. Keep us posted on your status. Praying...
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Headed to the Oncologist at 1:30. My six month appointment is next month but because one of my lymph nodes is swollen and having back pain in my spine area I made the appointment for today. I really want to cancel maybe I'm just paranoid, with all my sister went through, I don't want to hear anything bad. I also don't want to be the person who freaks out at every little thing. Will post after my appointment.
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Donna-I had my thyroid removed 12 years ago and have been on thyroid meds ever since. Are you taking thyroid meds?
Then was dx with bc last year and just came through treatment - it's so hard to deal with the aftermath of bc.
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Dlia,hopes,wishes, thoughts for you for everything being all right. it IS hard to go, isn't it? it's better once you get there, but i still hate it....and don't beat yourself up about worrying, it is entirely normal for us! love
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Really feeling anxious... Is there a day coming that you actually feel like your old self?
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...i was actually beginning to feel like my ol self, about two weeks ago, was taking a tamox break, since december 20th. energy, desire to do stuff, libido returning,so i know that i can feel better, but i know that they are going to want me back on something. god wouldnt it be great to feel like our old selves?
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I'm not taking any meds besides my bp medication and vitamins every now and then. But I still don't feel like myself. I'm even afraid sometimes to say how I feel...
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....as long as you are not feeling suicidal, all feelings are allowed! whhats going on? please do not be afraid to share here, or pm me? i am sending my invisible warrior healer angel to wrap her wings around you, with her sword to keep the baddies away.
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Dila, I am new to this thread, & I am still doing daily radiation. Two weeks ago, I fell apart. I was so stoic all thru chemo, sick as a dog, but never teary. I got on some meds, one week later I feel so much better, and am looking forward to getting back to my life again. I have also accepted the fact, that certain aspects of that will be different.
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No I'm not suicidal... I know that what I experience I need to share with my doctors but fear of hearing something bad sets in and I keep it to myself and I don't think my husband can handle it. I went to the oncologist this afternoon and she wants to do an MRI on my brain and spine. The fear comes from seeing one of my sisters that had bc with me pass away after it had spread to her liver, lungs, spine and brain...
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Kathec, thanks for the warriors...lol
Holeinone, I fell apart just once the day they told me I was going to have to do chemo. They had kept telling me I was only going to have to do radiation and then they hit me with chemo.
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The holding it in is really not working for me that's why I need the support group to get support and support those who are going through who understand how I feel.
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yes, I agree, chemo was torture, for me anyway. I knew before the lumpectomy I would be doing chemo, I had no idea until after the surgery how many nodes were involved. Still scares the crap out of me! I am so sorry that your sister died from this horrific disease, of course that makes your anxiety worse.
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Thanks it was 3 of us that had it at the same time. The sister that passed away had Her2 also but the other sister had estrogen and she stopped taking tamoxifen.
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dlia, just do everything they ask you to do, and you can see women on here, even stage four living very well. totall get your fears, i am waiting myself for the results of a biopsy i had yesterday. couldnt be a recurrance, yet could it? i just finished chemo a year ago, and herceptin, even tho i was equivocal, in november. did rads, and now what? so i do understand your fear, im trying not to worry all day long! jst a little while. what have you done so far? yeah, i dont want it in my brain, either.
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please take your vitamin d, it toughens the blood brain barrier, so that bc cells cant get there as easy.
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Thanks for sharing that about the vitamin D.. I'm suppose to be doing Calcium with D, Folic, Biotin and B6 but I hate taking medicine. I'm faithful with my bp meds but don't regularly take the vitamins but will get back on track now. I've had a lumpectomy, chemo (TCH - Taxotere, Cytoxan and Herceptin), double mastectomy, implants, fat grafting. Now I have lymphedema and fat necrosis... smh. They scheduled to do the mri on my brain and spine for Saturday morning.
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Kathec, Did the Carboplatin make you have neuropathy? They were suppose to give it to me but when I switched to the oncologist on my side of town they gave me Cytoxan because they said carboplatin causes neuropathy.
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Dlia, I have neuropathy but I thought it was from my Taxotere. I believe it is the Taxane group of drugs that cause neuropathy but I am not sure. I had Carboplatin and of course, I am still receiving Herceptin. The weird thing is that I did not have a problem until after my final Taxotere/Carboplatin treatment. I truly felt much worse after I was done. I lost my eye lashes AFTER I was done. My feet/toes became terribly numb after I was done. I felt as though I got weaker and much more fatigued after I was done. It's been a year since my diagnosis and I am about to get my one year check up with bilateral mammogram and MRI. I am hopeful for a N.E.D. diagnosis!!!!! And I can't wait to get my port removed (two more Herceptin treatments)
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b6 will supposedly keep you from getting neuropathy. i dont know if cytoxan will give less neuropathy than carboplatin, it just seems carb is the designer chemo of the moment. i thought the taxotere or the taxol part of the coctail was the one that caused that anyway, but dont want you to not trust your doctors, just cause i dont trust mine! i actually dont know if its neuropathy that i have, i only know that it hurts to stand on my right heel, and it feels inflamed.biotin will help your nails from becoming so brittle, and is good for hair too, and i suspect bone and teeth. so if you are getting herceptin, that is a good thing, and they will monitor your heart, but it will kill agressive cancer beasties. it always only made me cold. i have lymphedema too, yay, huh? but what is fat necrosis. i just found out accidentally that my biopsy yesterday was not cancer, but nodes, and i suspect it is fat necrosis from radiation,too. but so they had to poke 7 holes in two nodes, to find that out. let me know how your mri on brain and spine turn out?
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Donna2012 - thank you so much for your post about your experience with thyroid nodules. I saw my oncologist today. She is the best. She spent over an hour with me, and I am a year out of treatment…just reviewing all the post chemo crap I have been dealing with. She is so supportive and so wants me to physically feel better and really is kind and gentle about my FEAR, my constant FEAR of more cancer.
She just took one look at the ultrasound report and said - "we will order an FNA, I know you will worry and there is no point in having you wait four months worrying about it, we will just do it". We also talked a lot about my fear not being so much related to a reoccurance but rather having a "new" cancer. My mom have 5 separate and new cancers, not metastasis, until her very last cancer, which was a sarcoma that had metastasized to her liver and she died from that. But, for 15 years every two to three years they kept finding new cancers on my Mom, and two of her sisters had the same and three of my maternal cousins have had multiple cancers. And of course they found the gene mutation that they really don't even fully understand but know if means I have some type of genetic familial cancer.
Yikes, I am rambling. Anyway, I wanted to welcome Dila, Heloine and Kathyc and just tell you what a great board this is and what an amazing group of women are here. They have helped me cope with the feelings and just accept them rather than judge them.
Timbuktu, I am hoping we hear from you and find out how NY went, what the docs said and how you are holding up. Please let us know and know that I am sending much love your way.
Take care everyone,
Julieho
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Thank you Janet M! Your post a couple of weeks ago was wonderful and uplifting. You described what recovery is like so well! I have spent the past couple of weeks trying very hard to rebuild some of my life. I think we are going to start the process of buying a new house. I don't want to be here anymore - it feels more and more like a prison to me and not like a home., and this will give me something productive to do.
Timbuktu - I hope the doctors give you good news! Sending you strength and hugs!
Anyway, yesterday I received the results from my blood work. Looks lie I am severely Vit. D deficient and my thyroid levels are low. So now I need to make another appt with my GP to see if they want to further test the thyroid. I was confused as to why my ONC isn't dealing with that as it seems to be a direct result of the Tamoxifen. Hopefully the 50,000 IU of vit. D will help with this darn fatigue. I'm also wondering if the low thyroid could have anything to do with the 30lbs I have put on. Hmmmm.
As far as neuropathy goes I was told it was the Taxotere as well. I still don't have all the feeling back in my fingers and toes and was told it may never come back. I still have 5 more Herceptin to go - seems like forever.
On a brighter note - I have enough hair now so it looks more like a style and less like an affliction! Yay!!!! What an enormous emotional burden that has been! I think I shall post a photo now!
Thank you all for the love and support!
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Timbuktu: Thinking about you and holdin' the circle tight with love and support.
Good to hear from you Rabbit!Julieho: I had a FNB on my walnut sized thyroid nodule right after my mastectomy. Benign. Felt wierd; not painful. Yes, I was told that thyroid cancer is very slow growing. I get blood tests done every six months or so.
Hello everyone - and welcome to the newbies who have safely landed in a supportive place. A place where true understanding lives.
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Welcome to all the new ladies on here. You won't find a better group. We support eachother through it all. I truly feel a need to come here and can assure you that things get better eventually. It just takes a lot of time and patience. It doesn't make sense that things are tough after you are done with active treatment, but it truly is when the real work starts. It's when we process everything we went through (I guess because while we were getting through it, we were just trying to get to the end game)! You will all get there, but be good to yourselves until you do.
iluv2scrub...you are in the home stretch! Yeah!
Flutterbykiss...love the photo. Your hair looks great. It is remarkable how much difference a little hair can make after you have lost it! I was almost embarassed to admit how difficult it was to lose my hair. I felt like it was vain of me, but it's not. It's a part of who we are and it's tough to lose it.
Purl...good to hear from you, too. I'm with you in that circle. Hope you are well.
Timbuktu...thinking of you, praying and sending good vibes from the circle.
Julieho...I like your onc! Sounds like a true healer. You are entitled to get some answers after the experiences you have had with loved ones. I'm glad your onc. recognized that.
Love to all,
Rabbit
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