Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Peggy, you've made me want some Boy Scout popcorn now. I bought some from a cutie pie at Kroger about a month ago, but we ate it all up!
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Poodles, HAHAHA!!!
HUGS!
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Dara, I would love a So Cal get together! We might be able to get Sloan and Octogirl to join in.
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dear Dara,
Yes, I would like to meet with you all. I still need advice on selecting a place to have radiation.
Is your RO in LA area.
There is an article on here that refers to Vit d can cause BC
I wish I would have been smarter to know as we age Vit d is processed in our body the same as when we are younger.
I always was a big milk drinker and sun worshipper so never thought I would be deficient.
I hope you are doing well
Positive
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dear Molly,
I am in to meet.
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Has anyone research the cannibalize oil pills???? I don't know if they have anything for BC but I do know they take the component out that makes you high. So it is not smoking weed, it is taking a pill.
Regarding Chemo, my mom had colon cancer at 75 luckily it was contained and they took out a piece of her colon. They put her on Chemo and she took a few treatments and I told her doctors it wasn't worth the risk for preventive at age 75. She stopped and my Mom passed away at 90 with no cancer.
This is a tough decision. Has anyone researched what Suzanne Sommers did. At this point I do not need Chemo and I know it would be a tough decision. To be honest, I dislike all of this, but I know I have guardin Angels all of you and there is a reason for everything.
Positive
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dear all,
Simple silly questions after a lympecotomy. Should I be putting any cream on my breast. Did you all take Vit c and zinc pills after surgery and if do for how long.
Somehow I am feeling I should be doing something.
I don't have a sports bar. I am relatively small breasted and at home go braless.
My breast just feels a little heavy and still swollen.
My surgery was October 10,
I really don't recall my doc telling me what to do after surgery except ice and gave me a prescription for pain pills didn't take them at all
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I'm horrible about posting as much as I should or could, but I am always up for a meetup!
Hugs!
Octogirl
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Woot! I just got off the phone with Cigna, in regards to the enormous hospital and doctor bills I've received. I basically poured my heart out to the customer service rep. We have fantastic insurance which pays for everything once we've met our deductibles and out-of-pocket. I may have posted before that there is one hospital system that has been sending huge bills to me--they are refusing to accept the fee that they previously negotiated with Cigna. Two of my bills are in collections, as a result of these hospitals/doctors not accepting the negotiated rate. Well, the CSR jumped right on it--they aren't allowed to balance bill when they have already negotiated a price. She has emailed Cigna's escalation management team and says that they should resolve this within 10 days. I hope she's right, because the total is nearly $100,000.
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Poodles, that sounds fantastic. Fingers crossed that it all works out right. I can't believe that those bills were already sent to collection. Make sure that your records are cleared up once all this is corrected. You don't need to have that blemish on your credit report when it is soooo damned false.
HUGS!
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Positive, My Cancer Center is City of Hope in Duarte where I've gone for my surgery, MO, and chemo. Since rads is 5 days a week though, I'm going to try one of their satellite centers in Corona, CA. I'll see how my consult goes on Wednesday as to if I feel the same as I did about the home hospital. I just couldn't believe the treatment (exceptional) as well as the attitude, not just toward me but also toward each other. My surgeon was the head of BC surgery there and it just set the tone for a great (if you can use that descriptor for bc!) experience.
Perhaps we can see where everyone is and then find someplace centrally located.
I did take vitamin C, biotin, and multi-vitamins after surgery, and then had to stop everything when I started chemo. Usually, MOs don't want you taking any antioxidants. I'm now back taking D3 and my MO said I could start back up with biotin 3 wks after chemo. I also had a set of stretching exercises I needed to do about 3 times a day, and couldn't lift anything over 10 lbs for about a month. I had to meet with a LE therapist before surgery so she could go over everything with me. My DIL came with us so she could "enforce" the rules. :-)
I believe the cannibus oil is supposed to help with nausea. My sister had gotten some of the pills from her dr., but my nausea has been minimal. They gave me compazine and zofran to take orally, plus I always got an IV with anti-nausea meds with my chemo. Chemo has really come so far, and I was surprised that it wasn't much worse.
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Alice, prayers that it's nothing. I have my first post BC mammogram Nov 8, so trying to mentally prepare myself for it.
Poodles, wonderful news about insurance!! Hope they get it sorted out quickly!
KD, I'm sorry you are having such a bad time that you want to quit chemo. As others have said, consult with your team to make the best decision so you have no regrets later. Hugs!
Had a great time on the quilt bus trip but was exhausted when I got home. Left early Thursday and returned late Saturday. Got to meet Jenny Doan from Missouri Star Quilt Co ( she does their YouTube video tutorials)
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Sloan - I haven't been on here lately and just saw your note aboutyour dad and husband. Cellulitis truly sucks...my DB had a bout with it and it was wicked. So glad your husband is OK now, but no doubt it was terrifying.
Dara - congrats on finishing chemo. May you have a speedy recovery and the chance to get back to doing all of the things you love!
Traci - so sorry to hear about your mom's diagnosis. This disease is truly relentless. Prayers that she is able to establish her treatment plan soon. HUGS to you both.
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I will Google it....Sylvite. I want to know more about this stone. I have a beautiful collection so far of some "not so
common" gemstones.
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Alice - Yippee for getting rid of that port! Your hair looked pretty much like a pixie when we were together a couple of weeks ago...so betting it looks like a fantastic fashion statement by now. What's with those eyelashes anyway? Mine have always been sparse and I'm green with envy every time I see a kid with super long ones. May the grow-in accelerate for you! Let us know about the biopsy. Assuming the radiologist is right and holding a good thought for you
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Positive2strong, I had my radiation at City of Hope satellite in South Pasadena. My RO was awesome and I loved my rads team. I can't recommend them enough.
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lovely picture Trish. Glad you had a good time.
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Positive, your questions and concerns are not silly at all. My mom had colon cancer at age 88, had a right
anterior resection, but no chemo at that age. She lived 4 more years and died at 92 from suspected ovarian
cancer; I wonder if it was mets from the colon, however, most surgeons would not try to force a patient to have
chemo or radiation at her age at the time because the results would have been only incremental and she would
not have wanted it; my sister, who had power of attorney and was her will executor, declined an autopsy. And I
can understand that, but if she died from mets from colon cancer, or if it was an initial occurrence of ovarian, we will
never know now; my grandmother (her mother) had a very large ovarian tumor, contained, that was found on
autopsy because she died suddenly at home and autopsy revealed a berry aneurysm....but she had ovarian
cancer; autopsy slides confirmed it. The cannabinoids or cannabidiol are a waste of time and money; I tried them
for months on end for my migraine headaches and it was futile, even after 4 months. They got my money. The
chemical that makes you "high" is not really that much different than a pain-killer. The only difference is that one
has been FDA approved and the other has not! I do not use recreational marijuana or drugs, but when I have
my surgery on 11/01/16, I do not want to suffer in silence....my doctors will give me meds for comfort.
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positive2strong-do you still have the corset thing they gave you at surgery? They even gave me a Medi-bra to wear that strapped my girls in there pretty good. If you are still feeling swelling, I wouldn't let them run free...keep them together & tight to minimize movement (is what my BS told me).
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Wow, my body is really telling me to feed it protein. Six more rads tx after today, 2 regular and 4 boosts. I can't sleep at night unless I eat some type of meat. It seems for about 12 hours after rads, my body tells me to eat. It does not help that I am on my cycle right now.
My skin is holding up pretty well and I am slathering on the calendula salve. So rest, lots of water and protein. Just counting down the days.0 -
I'm back from my post surgery appt with the surgeon. I'm frustrated and confused. All the path isn't back, but I'll try to update my sig with what I have. I'm back at work, so can't really type it all out until tonight. It all just seems to bring up more options/questions than definitive answers. This sucks.
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B"H
Michelle - hey! you are almost there! Yea!!!!! i know what you mean - i thought i was supposed to be losing weight, but instead my body does seem to be DEMANDING food! are you drinking the gallon of liquid we are supposed to be drinking? i didn't realise we were supposed to be drinking sooo much, seems pretty impossible....
love your jewlery...
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TTTT, definitely take the pain meds you get for post-surgery comfort. You will heal better. Listen to your body. I'm not a fan of cannabis (and it is legal here) but whatever floats your boat. It might work for someone.
Leslie, what results have not come back? If it is your Oncotype results then that is not surprising. That has to be sent out to the company. The rest of the path report is likely done "in-house." It is frustrating to have so many questions unanswered.
Take care, dear sisters in BC,
HUGS!
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B"H
Leslie - you got this! All of here can attest that that is one of the hartdest times - we think that the surgery is the big step, only to learn they can't really tell you anything until the path report is in... and so we wait, so sure that then we will "KNOW".... but so often what comes back fromt he PATH raises more questions instead of giving definate answers we were so waiting for.... it will be okay! Like Peggy writes, the ONCO takes a longer time, and sometimes other things show up.... this part is definately the hardest, when you are already to get to it and you realise more tests have to be done or whatever until the treatments do begin. But they will begin, and its SO important to get all the info so that the chosen treatment is really the best for you..... it indeed sucks.... but believe me, you will survive this extra waiting time just as you survived waiting for ther original DX etc. we are all wishing you the very very best!
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Ok, tried to add stuff to my diagnosis so it shows in my sig but I must have messed it up somehow. Will have to look again when I get home.
Original lump is 1.8 IDC. Clean margins. Stage 1, Grade 3. 3 nodes taken, all negative. All good.
Found DCIS, NOS 0.5mm away from skin of nipple. Anterior laterial margin.
ER/PR/HR2 not back yet.
Oncotype not even ordered yet because the surgeon can't, the oncologist has to, and she's just put in the request today for me to get an appointment with the main oncologist, and the radiation oncologist. So oncotype won't be sent out until I see the oncologist, which will be another 2 weeks.
I also asked her to send the request for gene testing in. I'll at least go and do the counselling and decide.
before surgery the MS was all about the lumpectomy, right choice, easier recovery, etc. Today she's all about well, the radiation should get the DCIS, but if you do the radiation and then have a mastetcomy, reconstruction is harder, and you will lose the nipple either way. If I decide to do the mastectomy before radiation, I'll avoid radiation. Will still need the oncotype to decide if I need chemo. Either way I think. Also she said something about if I do the mastecomy now, the reconstruction and everything is all covered since they found the DCIS so close to the skin, but if I do the gene testing and it's negative and then decide to do the mastectomy, the reconstruction can't happen because they won't cover it because I tested negative so therefore it wasn't required......
I'm just very frustrated. I feel like I made a mistake and that I'm compounding it regardless of what I do/what choices I make.
I'll try to figure out the sig line stuff again when I get home.
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Leslie, your dx sounds almost identical to mine. I can sure empathize with both the confusion and frustration. I really didn't consider a mastectomy even after my path came back. I had to wait for my onco and then a second test, Prosigna. Just weigh all your odds, ask a bazillion questions, and then make the best decision you can for the best outcome. Then don't let anyone make you defend that decision nor second guess yourself. Every cancer is so different and we all react differently to some degree. This is such a personal decision, and one only you and your team can make. Hang in there, we're all here for you! Also feel free to PM me anytime and I can fill in some of the gaps that I experienced.
Michelle, I'd read on a site for radiation that our bodies need a minimum of 60 oz of protein when going through rads, plus the 100 oz of water. That's quite a bit of protein, but I guess it is needed to repair the tissue that is radiated. I had switched to a lot more vegetable, so I guess I'll try increasing things like quinoa and legumes. Chewing meat has just not been appetizing to me since chemo. Soups sound better also as the meat can be small and tender. Any special recipes you found really appetizing? I remember you work with a dietician.
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Dara, it is very challenging to get that much protein. Basically, I have to make sure to have protein at every meal and snack. I love fish, but we are advised to only have 12 ozs per week because of mercury poisoning - and I like salmon. I eat lactose free yogurt, have coconut milk on my cereal, and big on fruits and veggies. We live near a market that prepares wonderful food for carryout. They always have several choices of protein and I have begun to rely on them for dinner. At 1am, before I am able to fall asleep, I had to have protein - so last night I ate my lunch for today. #THE_STRUGGLE_IS_HARD
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And now I got a phone call an hour ago...I have an oncologist appt tomorrow. So maybe I'll understand what's going on better then. Surprising I got in so quick though...surgeon said it would be 2 weeks. They said they just had an opening. I'm not even sure if it's the medical oncologist or the radiology oncologist. I just said yes when they said they have an appt time.
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Thanks Dara. I really wish someone could just tell me what to do and what's the right thing to do. My brain is overloaded.
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I've added today's info under a new Dx...how come it's not showing in my signature area? What did I screw up?
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