Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Just made the appointment for my first diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound post-surgery and post-radiation. I'm sure it will be fine but can't help but feel a little anxious!
MJ
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Hi Cindy. I had an Oncotype score of 18, and stats similar to yours, and both MOs I met with recommended no chemo. I had no family history, but an perfectly comfortable with Tamoxifen only.
Dance, my nipple got quite sore at the end of radiation but is now fine three weeks out. I thought it would never return to normal!
SweetP, congrats and good luck! Tylenol and ice packs work wonders.
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TapperMom, we all get a bit anxious when it comes times for that mammogram. I have been getting the 3D mammograms. No ultrasounds. But they did do an MRI after my first mammo. Not since. We may KNOW that we are fine but our guts seems to disagree. Good luck!
HUGS!
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Tapper - I have an MO visit on 1/12 and 1st post surgery/rads diagnostic mammogram on 1/17 - along with 1st BS visit since week after surgery (met with his Phys Assistant before this, in mid-July). Not anxious about seeing the Docs, but am anxious about the mammo as still have breast pain.
Georgia1 and Cindy - My Oncotype was 25 and BS did not recommend chemo, just Aromatase Inhibitor (post-menopausal). Hope this was the right way to go, but I guess only time may tell.
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Celiac, Don't second guess your decision to forego chemo. You made it with the best information you had at the time. Second guessing is the quickest way to insanity. How annoying to still have breast pain. Do mention it to all your docs. One might have a good suggestion for dealing with it. Good luck!
HUGS!
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Celia, sounds like you made the right choice to me. Both of my MOs said they only consider chemo at 26 and above with my stats, which are similar to yours. Anti-hormone medications work really well if you are ER+.
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I met with my MO today. I'm posting 3 places... We reviewed my Oncotype score of 19. She believes I'd only get a 3-4% benefit from chemo, and left it up to me. I'm not willing to take on the side effects of chemo for 3-4%. So I've chosen no chemo.
Thank you ladies for posting your scores, your decisions, and for the PM's sent. I was almost in my drivewsy when I started crying, happy tears. What a relief to finally speak with her and get that decision behind me. I see her again on 2/6, when she'll prescribe an AI.
Wishing all of you a GREAT DAY! HUGS
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CindyNY Glad you got answers and know your path now!
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Good call, Cindy--3-4% reduction in risk (actually, that's 3-4 percent of the risk itself, not a 3-4 point reduction) may translate to no more than a few months. And what would those extra months be like?
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Hi all,
A bit concerned and need some feedback. At my last oncology appointment I was told my tumor markers were elevated by 12 points and was sent for a CAT and brain MRI. No evidence of cancer, but was referred for an ultrasound of my thyroid due to a lesion. My labs related to thyroid function are all fine. The ultrasound resulted in a recommendation for a ultrasound biopsy. My onco referred me to an ENT for consult ( which is scheduled for the end of January), but when I saw my PCP she was alarmed that the biopsy wasn't ordered immediately as the size and structure (with both systic and solid mass with blood flow to the solid) is beyond the parameters of a wait. I have read that radiation exposure is one of the most commonly listed causes of thyroid cancer, and since I had whole breast left radiation, and it is the left lobe of my thyroid, I am feeling a bit panicked. I am not assuming it is cancer, but since I have hade two types of cancer already, I am on high alert. I also just had a complete hysterectomy in November to keep my estrogen levels down to be proactive, and am really just frayed by all my medical drama. Any thoughts?
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Variable, I had a thyroid cancer scare last year and had my entire left lobe removed (it eventually turned out benign but the repeat biopsies kept coming out inconclusive so they needed to take it out & have the pathologist look at the whole tumors; I still have several other masses in my right lobe which we now just keep an eye on) so I learned a fair bit about thyroid lesions.
Thyroid lesions tend to be overwhelmingly benign, and even if not, they're very rarely aggressive at all. I was told point blank that if you're going to get cancer, thyroid was the one to get as its odds of spreading or causing life threatening illness were so darned low. So be reassured that it's probably nothing, and even if it is something, it's likely very easily treated. My thyroid surgery was easy and I've had no complications from it.
My one advice would be to get a referral now to an endocrinologist because you want a specialist to monitor thyroid levels if you have weird lesions or end up needing surgery. My endo runs quite a bit more elaborate function tests than the gp was ordering & I think she's better at interpreting what those results mean.
((hugs)), try to not let your mind run. They'll figure out what it is & deal with it as needed.0 -
Thanks Moth! So will I need an ENT/Otolaryngologist and an Endocrinologist?
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Good news all,
I had my lumpectomy last Thursday and the results are back. Two hours after I conked out, I woke up without any tubes...with the exception of a leaking (poorly connected) saline drip in my hand. "Why does my hand feel wet?", I asked..."just a side effect of the anesthesia?". Nope, was truly a leak. Monday, I got the call, totally negative! They took the sentinel node, the clips and a bit out of my breast. All looks great. Also, no swelling as yet in my arm. Friday the 12th (in the morning), I get to see my surgeon for a post op exam. They put tape of some kind over the incisions (about 2 & 1/2 " long each). They handed me a prescription for Norco that I didn't fill. Fortunately, I only felt the need to take two doses of extra strength Tylenol followed by one Aleve.
I think that the most painful part of surgery was when the anesthesiologist said that he was injecting "something" at which point it felt like my hand, wrist and part of my arm was on fire, then he says, "it may hurt". Really???!@! Shortly after that I woke up in recovery. So I woke up at 5, got wheeled out and into a private room and was released at about 6:40. I was still a teensy bit woosy so they got me to the curb in a wheelchair.
Final thoughts; I'm tired of wearing surgical type bras so I took it off tonight. We'll see if I have to put it back on. I've been working since yesterday and the worst part is being on my feet for the shift. I thought that my upper half would be feeling it, but it turned out to be my legs and feet. Odd.
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sweetp - congrats on a successful surgery!
Variable - I would think so just because the monitoring of the hormones is a totally separate thing. I didn't have an ENT. My team was a general surgeon who has a specialty in head/neck surgery (& is conducting thyroid research), and the endocrinologist.
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My endocrinologist has been following my thyroid nodules for at least 10 years. I do have an ENT, but she just takes care of my vertigo and hearing tests.
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You wonder if the conclusions of this study are valid. We've been told soy isn't bad for us. Now perhaps it is. Very discouraging. Estrogen-foods-study
HUGS!
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my surgery was Sept. 2017.
My worst pain was the dye in the breast while I was awake...right before the surgery
The anesthetics were inserted at the 3..6 , 9 and 12 position around the nip.
It was the most painful thing that was done..I wanted to kick him...
After surgery, they gave me a breathing treatment...
I had 15 stitches, and staples to close the incision.
I am diabetic was the reason...but healed beautifully
During radiation x 15, one treatment I had was strange...it felt that I was being electrocuted with a bolt of lightening.... with a beam in the middle of my back...the tech said if I ever needed help to wiggle my toes...I did
Later I explained the feeling..no comment..
Has anyone had this sensation..
Blessings
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SweetP, congrats--the neoadjuvant chemo/herceptin worked wonders!
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PontiacPegg - That estrogen food study you posted is very upsetting to me. I finished my RADs end of December and just started taking Anastrozole because I'm ER+/PR+. I was told nothing by my MO about what to eat/not to eat. I began eating healthier this year and exercising more thinking I was doing all the right things. I have oatmeal with nuts almost every morning now to see this study saying cereal and nuts mimic estrogen and may have made my RAD trmt less effective. Is there a list somewhere with foods we should be eating? Thanks so much
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Ellyn, I'd hold back on taking that food study to heart yet because it is not what large scale studies are showing to date about phytoestrogens (plant based estrogens)
See Hamer & Warner who published a lit review in CMAJ 2017 "Soy products have not been found to increase breast cancer recurrence41 and may actually reduce it.44,45" http://www.cmaj.ca/content/189/7/E268.full?sid=0be...
I think this groups provides very good up to date evidence based recommendations http://www.aicr.org/
for another evidence based source of dietary recommendations specifically for breast cancer http://foodforbreastcancer.com/One study on its own is not enough to make any decisions really. It needs replication, larger data sets, longer analysis of confounding variables. If it's really true, the new recommendations will come out but it's just as likely that this will be discarded as an outlier based on some faulty premise or not considering confounding variables....or that in vitro results don't equal results in actual living humans....
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Ellyn, I'm skeptical of this study's conclusions. I wouldn't change what you are doing because of it. I think more controlled studies are needed to see if the conclusions are valid. I put it here because it is interesting. Maybe it is just demonizing foods that will later become saintly as so many have. It is very hard to believe that all those foods are diminishing our medications effectiveness
Hugs!
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Thanks ladies. I guess I got a teensy upset because here I am taking meds to get rid of estrogen and my MO said nothing about foods to avoid that could also help. My followup appt next month should be interesting haha!! Anyway, I didn't even think about researching foods that will reduce estrogen/progesterone. I'm sure everything in moderation is fine, but I just found this article (thanks moth for this site) and I will definitely print it out and try to eat more of these items. Thanks again
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Moth - ditto on your research. These studies go back and forth, so then it makes you feel that no one knows the true answer. Soy is in everything just about. I find the same frustration with heart disease causes. The research is vague and not conclusive. Not enough good studies.
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The study also was on women taking a combo of palbociclib (Ibrance) and letrozole. Ibrance is scary-expensive and almost no insurers will cover it--and certainly not for non-Stage IV patients. There are co-pay coupons for it, but you can't use them with Medicare or any Federally-subsidized insurance program. Medicare Part D plans relegate it to a "specialty" tier that covers, at best, 2/3 of the cost (even when you've climbed out of the "donut hole" into the "catastrophic coverage" phase). Paying only 1/3 is doable, right? Not when the price is $9000 (yes, tnine housand) a month--you're still on the hook for three grand a month, or $36K/year. There is no generic--it's a "biologic" or recombinant-DNA drug--and thus far no biosimilars either (and biosimilars are controversial).
Look, everything except leaves, berries & water have their own hazards when it comes to ER+ bc. So going keto, low-carb, Ornish, whatever would not be protective. Just don't have oatmeal with nuts every day. A little variety and a lot of moderation until conclusively proven otherwise.
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Sandy, thank you for chiming in! I was sure you would be able to calm the fears we all have. This study didn't inspire confidence in it for me, but it was a gut reaction. You provided some rationality. I wonder if some of these "researchers" realize the damage studies do when they aren't well done and then the "results", which may or may not prove true, are released? I thought it should be presented just as a talking point, not as something we should actively pursue in our lives.
HUGS!!
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And I may check UCSD Scripps, but I'd venture a guess that all the women in the combo drug trial had advanced, and mostly metastatic, ER+ bc. A drug like Ibrance would not be tested on Stage I, II or DCIS patients. It's too costly, with not-insignificant side effects.
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Hi, there ladies. Just a quick pop in here. Had a long holiday weekend in Clearwater Beach, FL & returned on 1/16 - met up with my sister & friends. Not very warm, but way warmer than here! Managed to sit on the beach with a blanket on Monday & absorb the sounds of the ocean. Hotel room faced the beach, so we had a lovely ocean view. Good for the soul. Had my 1st post-surgery mammo yesterday and all clear! Surgical breast a bit tender, but overall, mammo not as bad as imagined. Bye for now.
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Here's a sunset and beach photo of where I was in FL.
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Great news on your clear mammo, Celia! I have my first one (with an ultrasound) next week. Feeling a bit nervous, which I suppose is normal.
I grew up by the ocean on the East Coast - there’s nothing like the sound of the waves to soothe your soul. I miss the beach terribly and love it when I can can a little fix! Glad you were able to enjoy your weekend getaway.
MJ
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Dh and I are scheduled to go to the beach (Florida) in March. I can't wait to hear the ocean. I grew up in California, and it is just in my blood. There is nothing quite as soothing as the sound of the surf. I think at this point I just want to hear something powerful and bigger than me to help me remember that my small troubles aren't bigger than the forces of the universe.
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