Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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And, just damn. And damn again.
I was set for a quiet few weeks, feeling really good after two lots of surgery, rads sometime in the future but no one in any hurry, next appointment with the oncologist in November, nothing much happening. So a chance to recharge my batteries and get acquainted with my Tamoxifen.
And on day three, some unexplained vaginal bleeding, which is one of the post menopause red flags.
I decided not to go to my GP till after the DH's birthday because he has had enough to worry about recently. But now I have been, and have an appointment with a gynecologist for hysteroscopy and biopsies, and a whole new circus of invasive procedures. And I am so tired of stripping off for all and sundry.
I cannot believe this is endometrial cancer, but my GP thinks it is probably coincidental that I had just started Tamoxifen, I haven't had any side effects. So it could be just polyps or just nothing at all, but we have to investigate, rule out all the nasties. One in ten roughly, turn out to be cancer, so the odds sound fine. But I remember that on my recall letter after the mammogram.
So I'm trying to be philosophical, and wondering whether I had better start looking at the moles on my back and whatever else is waiting to bite me.
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Dizzy, so sorry. When is your appt? Hugs!
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B"H
Dizzybee - i don't have any personal experience with this issue, but I just couldn't not write - my heart goes out to you and I am just so sure it is NOTHING but too am so sure it must be hell when something new shows up because we (and even our doctors) immedietly suspect the very worst.....
So you are in all of our prayers surely..... it soooo sounds like nothing,,,,, but you deserved those quiet weeks you were so looking forward to....
you raise here two of the hard aspects of BC - the worry each time even the smallest medical things pops up, and being worn down by "stripping off for all and sundry"..... so so true, so overwhelming and probably things we do not share with others.....
along with family and friends - we are all here praying for you and sharing your tears and fears and ......
definate big big hugs!
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Dizzybee, Crap! That really sucks. Those peaceful weeks ahead sure look like they are gone. I'm glad you're not delaying finding out what's going on. Hoping that it is nothing major. But ThereIsNoDespair is right - when something new crops up, we all go to those dark places we try to avoid - it's almost impossible not to. Prayers are with you. In your pocket for all your appointments and tests. Stripping is no fun but answers are worth it.
HUGS!
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Dizzybee, I join the others with so many hugs, prayers, and good thoughts. In my little vent I posted, I acknowledged that every little twinge or issue will make us worry forever. It seems odd that it's coincidental to starting Tamoxifen. I hope you're able to get answers quickly. I'm sure you're right back to that horrific waiting stage. Sending you a big hug.
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Dizzy,
Mayo Clinic Online's Drug information provided by: Micromedex
Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur:
Less common or rare
- Anxiety
- blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin and mucous membranes
- blurred vision
- cataracts in the eyes or other eye problems
- change in vaginal discharge
- chest pain
- chills
- confusion
- cough
- dizziness
- fainting
- fast heartbeat
- fever
- hoarseness
- lightheadedness
- lower back or side pain
- pain or feeling of pressure in the pelvis
- pain or swelling in the legs
- pain, redness, or swelling in your arm or leg
- painful or difficult urination
- rapid shallow breathing
- shortness of breath or trouble with breathing
- skin rash or itching over the entire body
- sweating
- weakness or sleepiness
- wheezing
- vaginal bleeding
- yellow eyes or skin
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Elizabeth - did you get Herceptin/Perjeta with your Taxol as well? If so - any SEs from any of it so far? While I still have one more AC to do - I think I am getting anxious and nervous about starting Taxol with the Herceptin and Perjeta more!
Tatatootsie - I just had a meeting with genetics today to get further genetic testing (my BRCA1/2 were thankfully negative). They want to test me due to a distant relative with pancreatic cancer. My parents both died of cancer too - but not the type that causes genetic concern...or so they think now anyway. I spit my saliva into a tube and should know the results in a month or so...
Dizzy - shortly after my BC diagnosis, I had to get an endometrial biopsy (not fun btw) to rule out things due to oddities I was having. Turns out all was negative-so try and keep your thoughts positive!
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KD, hopefully your next rounds of chemo will be blissfully uneventful!
HUGS!
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Dizzy, hopefully it is not related to cancer or the tamoxifen. Hugs to Elizabeth and KD during your chemo!!
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TTTT, I live in Marietta, GA, but I grew up in LA--Lower Alabama. On the Gulf Coast. And I went to college at Livingston University (now called UWA)
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kdtheatre, thanks for the info about your biopsy. I'm sure this is nothing, and not connected to the Tamoxifen either. I'm just mad at the whole circus which will have to happen in order to get the all clear. I was so tempted to wait and see if anything else happened because I knew it's an automatic urgent referral once you're fully post menopause. There's no way I can have hit this jackpot twice in four months. But I didn't feel entitled to make this decision without telling my husband, and that conversation went the way you'd expect.
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I don't know anything about this dizzybee but sending you a virtual hug. I hope it gets sorted for you as soon as possible
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In your pocket, Dizzybee—hope it's just a side effect of Tamox. or a benign polyp (sometimes even a hemorrhoid can bleed so profusely that it appears, when wiping, to be coming from the vagina). And if it's the Tamox, that perhaps you can try raloxifene or one of the AIs successfully.
One thing that my first year on the bc "journey" has taught me is that no matter how early your cancer is caught and removed, no matter how mild the treatments, and no matter how low the risk of recurrence (if ever), your body has changed forever. You can never get your old, intact one back—externally or internally. And it will continue to change as you age.
And aging has taught me that eventually there is no such thing as a perfect, no-repercussions treatment…for anything. There comes a point in your life when you have to acknowledge that you can't fix one thing without breaking another. Cancer requires drug treatments. Drugs have side effects. The drugs to treat the side effects have side effects. Some of those latter drugs cancel each other out (e.g., statins raise your blood sugar and a1c, while metformin or other anti-diabetic drugs raise your LDLs).
You can't have your cake and wear a size 0 bikini too (how's that for an updated metaphor?).
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does anybody know what the dollar amount as for the BCO TEXT2Give is? The instructions are you text the word GIVE to (215) 352-4550 but it doesn't say how much that donates. Has anyone else done at this year? Do you know what the amount is? Thanks!
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Traci, I always send a check to BCO. That gives me a nice paper trail. And that check is so worth it!
HUGS!
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Hi Everyone... I got my bone density results today... and my bones are 'weak'... so lots of calcium and Vitamin D.. I started using Almond Milk and saw it has 45% calcium... so something good... I always thought my bones were strong, never really broke anything til after my DH passed and then my wrist, guess I thought they would always be ok... As Sandy said... No such thing as perfect.. gets kinda depressing when you realize it's not going to go back to before...
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Judy, not only that, but it points out that we're getting older even if we don't feel that way. I take Fosamax to protect my bones from my Arimidex and so far no change. I still have osteopenia but it hasn't progressed evidently. At least you now have a baseline.
HUGS!
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Thanks Peggy.. just felt like another hit upside the head... But will get through it..
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Traci, I just got a reply on BCO's FB page. When you text that number they will ask you for the amount.
Judy, no kidding. Like you didn't have enough on your plate
HUGS!
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Thanks Peggy! I'm on it.
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You're welcome, Traci!
HUGS!
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ChiSandy said it well. We won't ever be the same as we once were prior to bc. Medications do have side effects, especially hormonally based meds. I realized today, what a journey my bc has been and how I have become a stronger person because of it. I don't have the same fears as I had before bc, it somehow "toughens you up." We are lucky that we have insurance without pre-existing conditions and riders, and that certain areas of insurance are mandated, such as making sure a women with a mastectomy can have her breasts re-created to match.
My fears that I have overcome:
1. having breast cancer
2. having surgery on my breast
3. recovering from breast surgery
4. taking doxycycline for 10 days after surgery
5. waiting on test results
6. using radiation treatment to eradicate all wild and crazy cells
7. walking into a cancer treatment center for radiation (before, when I saw the center, I feared what was behind closed doors.)
I do have other fears to overcome, but this forum has helped me to fortify my resolve and prepare for whatever comes.
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Michelle, I too first shuddered going up to Evanston Hospital three years ago for heart tests after a dizzy spell (when previously I’d only needed to visit friends who were having babies or were in-patients, or have my annual mammos at its Center For Breast Health). After a seemingly endless trek from the parking garage to the lobby and then along the corridor, en route to Nuclear Cardiology I saw the sign saying “Radiation Oncology” and then the one leading to the Kellogg Cancer Center. I used to think, “oh, those poor people, what they must go through, burned and poisoned, there but for the grace, kinahurra, knock wood…” Eventually, I ran out of wood.
Not so afraid any more. Radiation Oncology isn’t a grim lead-lined (or at least not so you can see the lead) dungeon filled with those in various stages of being burned. And the Kellogg Cancer Center is actually quite pretty inside—a tall sunny atrium lobby, cascading plants, pleasant waiting areas, friendly receptionists. Even the chemo suite, where I got my Zometa infusion, had little individual roomettes. Kellogg is the place where you go to endure treatments, it’s true. But it’s also where you go to get as well as you can get, and even learn how to do mindfulness, meditation, tai chi, and healthful eating.
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B"H
THANK YOU Michelle and ChiSandy... all so true. just wanted to say "thanks"
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Leslie and Elizabeth - standing corrected, I looked into the DAP-EPS (Diagnostic Assessment Program - Electronic Pathway Solution, i.e. patient portal) in Ontario cancer centres and it turns out only 5 of the 14 have it, mine included. I assumed it was standard in all Ontario centres, but no - perhaps they're in the works. They do make it very convenient, having all the info you need in one place.
These are the regional centres that do have it, just FYI: Thunder Bay, Waterloo-Wellington, Kingston, Hamilton-Niagara-Haldimand-Brant, and Erie-St. Clair. https://patient.dap-eps.ca/DAPEPSWorks.aspx
Elizabeth, hope you're doing well post-treatment.
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You girls up in Canada are lucky to have such good programming on your tv networks. I have been watching "Heartland" over the last several days on Netflix, and I really like it. I never knew that it existed. It reminds me of McLeod's Daughters which is an Australian program.
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KD- Just wanted to say that I had Herceptin for a year and 6 rounds of Perjeta with Taxotere and Carbo. Don't think I really had SE's with the Herceptin- other than it seemed to slow regrowth of hair. The Perjeta caused some significant "Big D" for about a week or so after each round. This was fairly well controlled with meds. How have you been feeling? Sending hugs to you as you begin this next step in treatment.
Dizzy- SO sorry you are having to deal with this additional issue. It is so scary and yet...odds are in your favor that it is ok. The waiting is a bear! Will be in your pocket and sending hugs and prayers your way.
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Michelle, yes, Heartland has been around for about ten years, I think. Very good "family" show. My girls were avid watchers years ago when their main extracurricular activity was equestrian riding. Girls and horses
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Just wanted to check in with you ladies--my hysterectomy was on Wed and I had a horrific 24 hours post-op. Vomiting and nausea like you would not believe. Of course, my mother was very upset and worried because I sounded so bad on the phone--she lives about 450 miles away and can no longer drive this far. DH was so upset, because I was very disoriented and couldn't stop vomiting, despite all the nausea meds. DH even stayed overnight, which he never does because he needs oxygen when he sleeps. Neither of us slept much in the hospital, because of the vomiting. I finally just gave up on the pain meds because I felt like that was making things worse. My doctor came in yesterday morning and happily remarked, "Oh, you're not even having much pain!" I told her not to mistake my not taking pain medicine to an absence of pain. I was in plenty of pain, but I was afraid to take anything else because of all the vomiting. So she put me on Toradol and I did much better. Stopped vomiting and started eating and keeping fluids down, so they let me go home yesterday evening. At least we were both able to sleep in our own little bed last night.
Today has been much better. I'm taking Percocet every 6 hours, so I'm a little loopy but not too awful. DH has been great about getting me pain medicine and fluids. I managed to eat a half peanut butter & jelly sandwich and some Diet Coke around 3pm. I'm not really walking around too much yet. A friend is having dinner delivered at 6:30pm. I wash I could get a shower and wash my hair, but that will have to wait until tomorrow, when I can take my dressing off.
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Oh, Poodles, sorry for what you’ve had to go through! Is there any way you can wash your hair in the kitchen sink with a sprayer, or standing over the tub with a handheld shower? Meanwhile, as far as showering, if you are afraid that a sponge-bath would get your dressing wet, cleansing wipes (Wet Ones, makeup remover, or even moist toilet wipes) might be a decent, albeit not very eco-friendly, stopgap.
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