Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Haven't posted on awhile and not sure where to post. I am freaking out. I found another lump last night, opposite breast. My doctor doesn't see people on Fridays, so here I am at emerge hoping the ER doctor will do at the very least an ultrasound on it. God I don't want to go through this again. I haven't even started Rads yet! That's on Monday. 😭😭😭😭
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vampeyes - breathe in, breathe out....I totally understand your feeling of panic but for now just breathe. ((hug))
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Well it's a lump for sure and a mammo has been ordered. Back to the waiting game. Put Rads on hold (hope I made the right decision). I honestly at this very moment want a double mastectomy whether it's cancer or not. I haven't even finished with the first diagnosis and I may have another. Breathing and ready to start drinking.
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Don't panic, maybe it's just an after surgery healing lump. How could a tumor form that fast in two mnths? My breast is still stiff and slightly bruised from October's surgery. I wouldn't know if it had lumps or not. Just have a good drink and hopefully it won't be anything bad!
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it's the opposite breast.
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Hi everyone. Having lumpectomy on Monday. Tubular carcinoma on right side. Any advice? Ice? Anyone need anything heavier than Tylenol? Thank you!
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Peggy, are you on Fosamax? How is it for you?
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Molly, Yes, I'm on Fosamax. Have been from the start. My MO gave me no instructions on taking it so I surfed around the web, read various articles on how to take it and arrived at what I thought reasonable. I take it in the morning when I get up. I drink 8 oz of water and wait 30 minutes before eating. No laying down allowed. I have not had any problems at all with it. I find it hard to wait to eat breakfast since I want to eat the minute I get up. This all works for me. If you are considering taking it you might give my schedule a try. I've seen some articles that recommend an hour. And just water. Oh my. I wind up waiting about an hour before having coffee but I don't actually wait an hour. I eat breakfast and then have coffee (and that is my normal routine). I always have water with breakfast.
Cam8, Welcome! We're glad you found us. Ice is definitely your friend but not every minute. 20 minutes off and then let everything warm back up. I'm small breasted which makes a difference for what I recommend. I bought several Genie bras that you step into and have no underwires to wear for a few weeks. I did take a pain pill in the hospital but only regular Tylenol and then only at night. I really wasn't very uncomfortable. When you are allowed to shower, "walk" your "bad" arm up the wall, gently. If you have lymph nodes removed this will help stretch everything. Never do it to the point it hurts. Never. Plan on taking it easy for a week if you can. Even though it is outpatient surgery, it is MAJOR surgery and your body needs for you to rest to heal. Of course you can walk but nothing strenuous until your BS says it is okay. BTW, it really helps us if you fill out your profile, then go to SETTINGS on the upper right tab and make each and every item PUBLIC. Then it will show up below your posts. Most of us don't remember the particulars of each person's situation and that helps remind us. We also would love to know where you live. Often gals will have get togethers and those are great. Good luck!
HUGS!
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Vampeyes - This is my biggest fear too - know that we're all here supporting you.
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Vampeyes - both my breasts were reduced, but they are stiff in the operative areas. If they did mammograms, sonograms, and an MRI on both your breasts, I doubt seriously there could be a tumor that has grown in two/three months since your initial exam. I never heard that happening that quickly, or we would all be having mammograms done every 4 months. Hopefully it’s nothing, but it’s good you’re checking it out. Try to relax and not worry. Maybe it’s just a benign cyst
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Thanks, Peggy. I need to really think about it.
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Molly, I know not everyone has good luck with Fosamax but I have. Good luck with your decision.
HUGS!
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Vampeyes, I had the same thing happen. Good boob sprouted this huge lump that, if I tugged the skin tight, came bulging out of the surface so that it was visible! Didn't have to feel it, I could SEE it! Where did that monster come from? I was SPASTIC!
Went to doc and then waited and waited and waited some more for an appointment for a mamm. Finally I phoned the appointment making number where I was SPASTIC and got in quickly, as opposed to the 3 month wait time they were currently working with. Doc really dropped the ball there. He is no longer my doctor.
It is a cyst. A large cyst. A cyst that I have had for years. A cyst that despite them knowing about it for a long time, I have never been able to feel it, EVER, let alone SEE the damn thing. So why now would this thing come erupting to the surface like a whale coming up for air?
It does not make sense to me, this sudden change. But I have some theories I'm wondering about. I am taking tamoxifen. Some studies say tamoxifen can make dense breast tissue less dense. Maybe my boobs were too 'thick' before and the tamoxifen and slow weight loss over the past year changed my breast tissue enough that I now can feel and see this monster cyst.
I was completely freaked out and thinking no, no, no, this can't be happening again. I was pissed off but oddly, as freaked out as I was, I was not as freaked out as first time around. Because this time I knew what the process would be. It was more like, oh I guess we have to belt in for another drive through this shit show. I was heart sick, of course, but not as bewildered as before. I am hoping that it is something simple like a cyst. Fingers crossed for you.
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Oh runor thank you soooo much for that post. You really made me feel better about this. I can not wait to get these tests done. I am on the wait list so fingers crossed I get a call to go in sooner.
I think right now I am angry mostly about this.
3 months for a mammo? Dear God that's too long. I would be finding the cash and going across the border!
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vampeyes, thinking of you and hope it’s nothing BC related, try to take some deep breaths, I know that’s easier said than done.
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Vampeyes, I agree with you, waiting three months for a mammo was too long. But my doc did NOT put a rush on it, which he certainly has the ability to do so. But when I went to his office saying I had a lump the size of a can of soup sticking out of my boob he didn't even want to examine me. Didn't take my blood pressure (although I guess it was pretty obvious that it was really freaking high at that moment!) didn't ask me how I was making out on tamoxifen or how I was managing my lymphedema, what was my daily pain level. Nothing. It was the woman at the appointment place, when I told her I had just come out of cancer treatment 4 months ago and I had another lump, SHE put the rush on me. I waited 3 weeks for that appointment which is considered record time.
I left that doctor. I get mad thinking about it.
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Vampeyes, there are plenty of benign possibilities for that contralateral lump--cysts, fibrocysts, lipomas (literally, a tumor made of fat), swollen nodes from infections, etc.. So breathe deeply (hey, there's an app for that) and let us know how it goes. After our first bc experience, we all become hypervigilant about stuff we never noticed before (or never thought "cancer" when we'd encountered them on the other side of that "break in time"). It's our new normal, alas.
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Thank you ladies for all your support and posts, it really has helped me to calm down and breath, so thank you. I am so lucky this site is available to talk with others who have gone through the same situations. I am sure hoping it's nothing, last time I was positive I didn't have cancer, so this time I am going to be positive it is, then it won't be. haha
Runor where on Earth are you located? Last time I waited 2 weeks to get in for a mammo, this time 6 days and I asked to be put on the waiting list. I can't believe 3 weeks was fast!
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question...is it good for a Dr. To suggest no mammo until the breast heals from a lumpectomy..I had biopsy, surgery and roads x 15 in Nov, 2017...I have a script, For post cancer mammo, but the surgeon said not until the breast heals, not before April 2018...I, too, do not know anything, about the cancer,.
However, no cancer in the lymph nodes, am cancer free, they say.
Does this seem like a long time to wait?
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Shenandoah- my RO nurse told me 6 months after rads are complete they'll probaby do my mammo. My BS set it up 1 yr from last one. I think based on my insurance of 1 per year; which after bc must be waived. Also I think you need to heal before getting "smooshed" in a mammo.
I'm in Albany, NY. Where I had been getting my mammo takes up to 3 months to get in, its a womens center. Since BC discovered I've switched to Albany medical centers, breast center. They indicated it should never take that long; but it did at other place I won't name.
Enjoy the weekend ladies. We've got us a heat wave, 44!
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Vampeyes, I live in Canada. Our medical system is both very good and very bad, depending on how you view it. But waiting is the name of the game. Had the appointment lady not 'rushed; me, I would have waited 3 or 4 months for the mammogram.
I think it's normal to wait at least 6 months after end of rads before another mammogram. I went sooner because I had a new lump come up, so the situation required action.
Interestingly, as the tech was doing the ultrasound on my cancer boob she commented, wow, you can really see the edema in the tissues! Yes, this breast is swollen and sore all the time. I seem able to manage the armpit / side / rib lymphedema, but the breast itself and my arm continue to give me grief. I was not excited about having it crunched in the machine.
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I live in FL and my mammo is already scheduled for April - 6 months after lumpectomy. My radiation therapy starts probably in March. Seems like they will have to push it up later as I might be in the middle of radiation treatments- OUCH. No way if I’m sunburned!The appointment just arrived in the mail in November of last year. Never gave it a thought until you all mentioned 6 months after RADS.
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hi
So good yo hear from everyone..my surgery was sept. 6, 2016 rads x 15. My mammo due in April 2018.
During the radiation, not much burn...it progressively got worse over time..i found that get the spray aloe with lidocaine, it was the best. And 15,000 mg of liquid vit. E. All this was at walmart, if you are familiar..i am diabetic so my incisions had staples too. Hurt!! Constant pain and jabbing into the breast
I take 14 vitamins and herbs that up my immune system..this is very important so the immune can fight it off..the dr.s are so in to big Pharma they don't educate you that your body can and will fight.. before i was diagnosed, my body was tired..very tired..now I have more energy and feel 100% better..it helped to have surgery, but without making the immune system strong..it doesn't help..i know the vits. Work because my diabetes is good, blood pressure is good..and my psoarisis is disappearing..all the above involves an auto immune..try it.
Blessings
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Be careful that the vites and herbs you take are not excessive and don't either have estrogenic effects (or otherwise fuel tumor cells) or occupy the same enzymatic pathways and thus interfere with any anti-estrogen meds you may be taking (if your cancer was ER+). You are unfairly generalizing about doctors being "so into Big Pharma." Mine want me to reduce some of the meds I'm taking. And my PCP is skeptical of bone drug or calcium supplementation unless one is both on an AI and at least osteopenic--and the only bone drug in that case he feels is appropriate is Prolia. (He is not a believer in bisphosphonates, whether oral or I.V.). The two things he prescribes most often are weightbearing exercise (as well as strength-and-balance training) and a diet that avoids processed foods and refined carbs. My MO would prefer I took only letrozole, semiannual Prolia shots and normal vites & minerals--and wants me to lose enough weight that my anemia, BP, lipids and glucose can be controlled by diet & exercise alone. (That'd take a ton of liposuction & coolsculpting, alas).
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I do not know my treatment options yet. Here is my question. It seems a number of people start with lumpectomy and then profess to mastectomies. Is this a normal progression or are there plenty of people who have long term survival with the voice of a lumpectomy
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Question...did the impact of finding you have cancer impact your life and thoughts of the future? Am I the only one who has lost the thrill for tomorrow and dread the future of what if?
Did your anxiety.level go through the roof?
I have read where woman developed anxiety disorders ..dont know if it was the diagnosis, surgery or just finding out..
Blessings
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hi
My aunt did the lumpectomy and later in life had both breasts removed. She had lumps that were cancer and some not, with the lumpectomy. Her theory was she didn't want to deal with what if, and to me that was drastic. She was in her 50s so the breast was not important at that point...lol. her two daughters the same but they were younger and had full reconstruction.
I believe if you have breast removed, there is no further treatment involved. Maybe..no chemo, no radiation..i believe for some their reasoning is remove the breast, to prevent further problems..
Blessings
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Shenandoah- cancer diagnosis impacts your life tremendously. My thoughts have been more along the lines of doing things vs putting them off. I want to be around for a long long time, but I know anything can happen - doesn't have to be BC related. If you're having thoughts of dread that bother you, reach out to your doctor. It might help to talk to a professional. Hugs.
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Shenandoah, I think cancer changed my way of thinking but not too much in the negative. It left my wanting to live more fully than before and love my family as much as possible. BTW, understandable if your aunt did not care about reconstruction but I was 54 at diagnosis and ended up with mastectomy after lumpectomy because they could not get clean margins. I grieve the loss of my breasts. I don't look bad in clothing with my implants but I hate the way I look naked. 50's is very young and I do care about how I look.
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Hi Shenandoah,
You asked: "Did the impact of finding you have cancer impact your life and thoughts of the future? Am I the only one who has lost the thrill for tomorrow and dread the future of what if? Did your anxiety.level go through the roof? I have read where woman developed anxiety disorders ..dont know if it was the diagnosis, surgery or just finding out.."
Oh goodness, YES. I was 37 when I was diagnosed with DCIS in my right breast 15 years ago. My mother died of metastatic breast cancer, as did two of her siblings. I had a 3 year old child. It was a very difficult time. We live in a rural area, and I had to travel an hour for care. The general surgeon came to our dinky town one day a week for consults, and he was just horrible. (The hospital folks were fine--my core needle biopsy was no worse than a bee sting). When I tried to ask questions, he snapped at me, "It's not cancer!" UGH. Scared of what to do, I finally called my GYN, who got me in to see an oncologist. He was wonderful and explained all the options. At that time, radiation wasn't recommended for DCIS, so I just had close follow-up. No recurrence in right breast, but looks like it's appeared on the left side. I go in tomorrow for dx mammogram and ultrasound. (And ick, a colonoscopy the day after. Rough week). I fully expect a core needle biopsy and am okay with that.
I think that a) anxiety is a normal human reaction to anything like a worrisome mammogram or suspicious findings, b) it is absolutely okay to have anxiety (don't let anyone say, "get over it" or anything like that), and c) you sure do focus on the future. I had a toddler. I didn't know what was going to happen to me--what about my child? I read several articles that suggested the "waiting" period (i.e. after an abnormal mammogram, after a biospy, etc.) could trigger stress equivalent to PTSD (I don't know if we are allowed to post links, so Google Psychology Today: "Worry About Mammograms, Callbacks, and Biopsies." It helped me understand--this stress and fear and panic is common. I'm not alone.
I agree with Molly50--it can help to talk to someone. My insurance has a mental health hotline, and the counselor was very understanding and compassionate. Perhaps there is a place in your community that has counseling or other sources of help.
When the anxiety gets to be overwhelming, I have some coping mechanisms. I knit and watch tv. I try to breath/meditate (I'm not very good at it), In private, I have a good scream and a cry it out. I think whatever is safe and works for you is fine.
As far as treatment--I am amazed at all the different approaches and options now. I can't say what your experience will be. My biopsy was like a brief sting--not bad at all. The (lumpectomy) surgery just made me tired for a few days--had it on a Thursday, was back at work on Monday. But again, everyone is different. I healed well overall.
I hope you are doing okay. I'm pretty new here, but I've found this community very helpful thus far.
Astyanax66
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