Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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I understand Sloan, things changed with this diagnosis and my kids were great. I know the time for everyone to move out is coming and I am not sure how I will handle it. Especially my grandson not being here everyday. Heck even my son's GF gives me someone to talk to.
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HI All, re the MRI. I PUSHED for it. My surgeon said she didn't need it. But she finally relented. I was concerned it was in my pectoral muscle (my lump was high) and wanted to know ahead of surgery but she said treatment plan would not change. Anyway...STILL needed a 2nd surgery since she did not get clear margins so UGH..maybe it was just a waste of time and money for me???
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I had an MRI prior to surgery. It did change my diagnosis as it identified two enlarged lymph nodes in a deep spot that wasn't seen in the ultra sound. Biopsy of one lymph node showed cancer. I was very upset but would rather be informed. Also identified a benign papilloma about 2cm from the cancer, it too was removed at surgery. Because of the known node involvement and a few other factors, I had neo-adjuvant chemo. It worked out for me as I had a complete pathological response and avoided an axillary node dissection. I had a lumpectomy to remove the tumor bed, a reduction, lift and oncoplasty.
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Hi all! Michelle and Poodles sending strength and love to get you thru this difficult time. Body image is so hard on us gals. I faired quite well in my lumpectomy so I don't have much to add in that area. Although it's not so pretty right now during the rads! but I know that is temporary. I did however have horrible body image after breastfeeding my second son. I had lost most of my breast tissue and was left with flat skin pockets that weren't symmetrical. It really ate at my self esteem. I'm small framed and with flat boobs looked like a little girl. Every time I put a dress on suit for work I'd cry. So when my son was 5 I had augmentation surgery and saline implants. A lot of people judge me when they find out I have implants but it made me feel whole again and it wasn't anyone else's business! A lot of words to say hang in there. You only have so much control right now. But you do have future options and hopefully you can feel good about your body again - whether you opt for surgery or just decide to cut yourself a break and accept your post bc bod. Xxoo
Poodles, congrats on all your good news and I'm glad you enjoyed your mountain trip!
Hi and happy hump day to everyone else. And thanks to all for the suggestions to help the rad rash/pain. Fresh refrigerated aloe and cortisone along with the Aquafor has really made it more tolerable! Saw MO today and he called in Rx for Tamoxifen to start after Rads...0 -
Beebazboob, you're so right. Your implants were your decision and they made you happy. And that's all that counts. Good for you!
HUGS!
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Just checking in briefly to say the cataract surgery went well, but I am still in pain and instructed not to do close reading--including the computer. So I will wish everyone well for now and be more specific once I get the go-ahead to resume my online activities. (I can’t even read my e-mails without using a magnifying glass, since you can’t zoom in on them like you can Web pages). Vision in right eye very blurry due to post-op swelling and a Niagara of tears--but due to the new lens being clear, colors are so saturated and bright that it hurts for now. Still doing everything left-eyed. Have even earlier appt. for tomorrow, so off to bed now.
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Glad your surgery went well, Sandy. Love and Hugs!!
HUGS!
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I was searching for information on my shoulder blade muscle pull on here, and ended up in the beyond section. The worst stages where people die. I felt so sorry for them after reading through a section. I must not go looking in places that are upsetting to me. Lumpectomy lounge or bust. (no pun) I just cannot emotionally take reading the other forums.
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Michelle, right after my diagnosis I made the mistake of googling "images of lumpectomies." It scared the crap out of me!!! I then vowed to myself I would only go to trusted cancer websites and only to forums applicable to my diagnosis. All of this is overwhelming enough! I also only read the chapters in the Breast Book that involved my diagnosis.
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Peggy, HUGS to you
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michelle, I'm sorry that you drifted to depressing lounge. No sense going to a place that isn't relevant to you.
BEEBAZBOOB, I read every single page of The Breast Book. I needed that information but I didn't dwell on parts that weren't pertinent to me.
HUGS!
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Sandy, glad your surgery went well. Hope you heal quickly so you can get back to your normal activities.
Sloan, a big hug to you as you deal with this. I don't like change either.
Beeb, glad you're getting relief from rads se. And as far as tomoxifen is concerned, remember everyone is different. You may not experience all the se you read about. I haven't and I've been on it almost 8 weeks.
re MRI. I have dense breast tissue & have what I call lumpy bumpies, especially one place on right side. My PCP always said it was just fibrous tissue. When diagnosed with BC, I told my BS about the area on right side (BC side - different spot), she felt it too and suggested MRI. MRI detected area of concern in a totally different area, so I had to have another biopsy (using the MRI for the procedure - that was a treat!). Which caused more stress in waiting for results. The area turned out to be fibrous tissue, huge relief. But I got a level of comfort that nothing showed up on the left side. Also, I did not get clean margins first lx even though having MRI & I have an Onco BS. I think you have to go with what your BS recommends & what makes you comfortable with your decision.
Sending positive energy & hugs to you all!
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Aw, Sloan, completely understand. Of course, we want our children to be independent but then, that means we get left behind. Bittersweet times. Poodles is right, though. It WILL be ok! Yay for good reports! I did have to laugh at the reference to keeping up with Moondust...haha.
Sandy- glad your surgery went well. Sending healing mercies your way. Hugs!
Thinking I may be getting shingles again..small rash on same side as last time...itching and hot...like last time. Checking on it this afternoon. Ugh. Am hoping it's not as I have just gotten back into daily exercise and hitting my 10,000 step daily goal this week.
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Sandy -- So glad all went well. I have the beginning of one, so I may be in your shoes in a few years.
Good luck to all with your treatments this week and hope you have a great weekend.
I did get the go ahead to have my treatment on Friday, so that one will be #3. My MO stayed with the 480 dose of Nupregen and has increased the number of injections from 7 to 10.
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HH, lordy I hope you aren't getting shingles again
Fingers and toes crossed).ElizabethAM, glad you are getting your scheduled chemo tomorrow. You mentioned increasing the injects from 7 to 10. Of what?
HUGS!
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HH, praying it isn't shingles but if it is I hope it is early and the antiviral meds work fast!
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Peggy, I take injections of Neupogen
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Elizabeth, and they give it in a number of injections? I didn't know that. I guess I assumed one and done. Are they spaced out over a day or done all at once?
HUGS!
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Mary, hope it isn’t shingles again but if it is, that you can knock it out with anti-virals. Sloan, I hear you about the empty-nest thing. Funny--by the time I was Gordy’s age we’d been married 11 years, had moved here after 7 years in Seattle, and were already trying to conceive for the first time. Yet I feel he’s still my baby and I’m not ready for him to “launch.” He commuted to college, and didn’t even go to sleep-away camp as a kid.
My eye is much better today. Surgeon says to use the shield only for sleep or in the shower--no shampooing for awhile except by my hairdresser (who has the right shampoos that won't strip the keratin out of my hair). I had my follow-up today and was able to keep my eye open while riding in the car (the special shades fit over the shield). And the pain pretty much stopped when he applied a lidocaine drop. (Too bad I can't use it all the time, since it can destroy the cornea if used more than once in a blue moon). I can also start using the NSAID, steroid & antibiotic drops, which helped pretty quickly too. Turns out the pain was from a small sub-corneal hemorrhage and a couple of tiny blisters on my cornea (it figures--I get blisters on my feet all the time, and I'm a seroma-former) which should resolve with the steroid & NSAID drops. Therefore, no contact lenses, ever. (Probably explains why I had such trouble with even soft lenses 30+ yrs. ago). My acuity (sharpness) in the "new" eye isn't there yet (have to wait till the swelling goes down and I do still look like hell)--but the lens is much clearer and everything looks more vivid and 3-D. By comparison, the acuity in the left eye is still a little sharper (which is why I can type this) but everything out of that eye looks like it has a yellowish haze, like smog, over it. Guess you could say the right eye is blurry but the left eye is foggy. It'll be 3 more weeks till the swelling is down enough to refract that eye for reading correction--right now it's at about 20/80 (had been 20/40 before the cataract ripened), same as the left. And there is no astigmatism--I just put on a pair of drugstore readers and a square grid looks square, not like a rhombus or trapezoid.
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I started Zoladex today. The shot was uneventful, I guess now I wait and see how I tolerate being thrown into menopause. I haven't gotten my period since halfway through chemo, so hopefully my body has already adjusted it won't be that big a change.0
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Sandy, glad your eye is much better today. Won't off the shelf glasses be nice? And inexpensive? Take care of those eyes!
I don't recall having much of a problem when the kids left to go off to college. They'd gone to sleepover camps. I was happy that they were launching themselves into adulthood. My youngest lived at home while he did his student teaching (1 semester). But once they left home at 18, they didn't come back to live. I had a hard time not having the kids come home for any holidays. They were too far away (or in the Navy). We couldn't travel to be with either one for holidays either. The youngest hasn't been home for the major holidays since he got married. The oldest has been with me for a couple of Thanksgivings and one Christmas. That's why it is so special having them all here for Christmas this year. Plus the youngest (since he lives in Spokane) for Thanksgiving. Makes me all weepy/happy!
HUGS!
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I’m gonna miss regular glasses, since they cover my undereye circles better than any concealer on the market, and the right pair of frames can hide the fact that I’m not even wearing mascara. (I have to go w/o eye makeup for a week--a challenge since we have a hospital Black Tie Gala From Hell this Sat. night. We’re Uber-ing it to & cabbing it home from Navy Pier, where it’s being held, because the booze will be flowing and neither of us should be behind the wheel, Bob because he will freely indulge, me because it’ll be a bit too early in my healing to drive at night. Besides, one of us needs to give the cabbie coherent directions home). Meanwhile, my nails are chipping like crazy (they keep growing in with longitudinal splits that crack even the gel overlays. So I’m gonna have to let my jewelry do the talking. Sigh.
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Sandy - glad the surgery went well. Anxious for you to be able to enjoy the results
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Thanks ladies. Yeah, that empty nest thing.... I don't mind change, but I like to see it coming for a few miles before it happens. I guess I envisioned us talking about him moving out, me thinking about how it was coming eventually, talking about a place, getting dishes and bedding etc. Instead I felt like an afterthought when said, "Oh, and I'm moving out." Sniff. I guess there comes a time when they really are independent and talking things over with a parent is an after thought.
Sandy, I'm glad your eye is doing better. I'm struggling with dry eyesI. The doc put plugs in the tear drains, and that seems to be working. But, ez compared to what you went through!
LTF - Nice segment on your blog this week!
HH - Hoping it's not shingles! Oh, and I was doing some catch up reading from a while back, and we were not in NC with my dad. My dad was born in SC, but he lives in California now. If I were going to NC, I'd be sure to get a coffee with you!
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Peggy, yes at least that is how I am getting them. I will be taking them for 10 days after my session starting on day 2. My pharmacist is able to get the pre-filled syringes which make it so easy to do. A visiting nurse was supposed to give them to me, but she taught me how to do it and now I do it myself.
Sandy, so glad things are getting better.
Loves, fingers crossed for no SE's.
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Hi all. I guess I missed yesterday because a lot has happened here that I don' recall. (Or maybe I should just blame it on chemo-brain!)
Sandy, so glad the surgery is over and you're recovering. I can empathize as right now I seem to have some SE with my eyes where they water like crazy and also have a bazillion tiny twitches at the lid edges. Crazy. I remember when my DH had the cataract surgery. He healed quickly, but you just have to take it very easy on your eyes.
Mary, I can't tell you how sorry I am if you have shingles again. Did you get the vaccine after the first time? My DH had them a year ago and as soon as he was well, his dr said to get the vaccine. I hope you get control of them super fast and they aren't too painful.
Sloan, it is hard to see the shift in our children. One day they come to us with everything, and then as you say, they're totally independent. Then, it seems the roles shift again and they are more like the parents. It's the natural course, but not easy when we're living it.
Elizabeth, I know what you mean about being careful with the threads. I don't mind hearing about the challenges we are all going through, but I need a balance. I think what's best about this thread is that there's a mixture of ages, careers, experiences, and even treatments and diagnosis. I've had some fun just popping in and reading the What's for Dinner forum. Unfortunately, I'm just not into cooking so their dinners always sound so much better than mine!
Good luck, Jill! I'll think good thoughts for no SEs!
Re MRI, my BS just ordered one for me prior to surgery. I was glad because they did find an enlarged node on the other side which they needed to explore. The MRI picked it up, but then an US right before surgery found it to be fine. I guess each test pinpoints certain things.
Hi Molly, Peggy, Moondust, Beeb, Trish, and all others here. Hope you all had smiles at some point in your day! Dara
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Thanks, y'all...so they aren't sure WHAT it is...not skin mets..well, damn, that never crossed my mind...good to know....not an infection and they do not think Shingles....am to watch and apply hydrocortisone...we shall see. No new bumps...that is great!
Hugs to all...
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Atopic dermatitis (eczema)?
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HH, gee nothing like coming up with a mystery condition. How nice it isn't skin mets (which I'm sure never even crossed your mind - it wouldn't have mine either) - and how crappy to know there is such a thing. Hope the cortisone is helping.
HUGS!
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Awww. Both my boys came to dinner tonight. They sensed I was struggling with the empty nest.
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