A place to greet and meet newbies to stage III
I am be wrong, but I thought MAYBE we needed a place for newly dx stage III people to post their concerns, fears, questions or simple to say "Hi I am joining the group"! I know we have so many wise, caring, gracious stage III sisters and men that would be willing to welcome newbies as well as comfort, answer questions and give hope!
Stage III can be a difficult stage, but it is not without hope for the future. We know how overwhelming, lonely and frightening this time can be...we want to be there for you!! I want to personally thank the stage III sisters and men for the encouragement and hope I have receive from all of you and to welcome all of our newbies!
Comments
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I think this is great. Thanks for posting!
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Hi, hopefour,
This is such a great idea. I know when I was Dx, this was the first thing I searched for. The newbies need to know, they are not alone.Love and Blessings
Sharon
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Thanks, I saw some newbies posting on the "survivor..five years and out" thread. I wanted to respond to them by offering encouragement, but didn't want to take away from the importance of the survivor stories...so I thought this might be the answer...maybe not!!
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Bump to catch the newbies.
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Hope, I think it is a good idea. maybe we could get the thread pinned, so it is always at the top.
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I'm a stage IIIa newbie. Had surgery in February and started chemo Monday. Glad to find others
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Hi Sanders, and welcome! I am stage 3 ILC as well, but I had more nodes than you, neener, neener
What kind of poison did they serve you on Monday, and more importantly, how are you doing?
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Hello sandersmomma,
Welcome. When you feel up to it, tell us a little bit about yourself. All of my (world wind) info is in my signature at the bottom. Just know in your heart that, this too shall pass.
Love and Blessings
Sharon
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Thank you Sharon and Momine. I'm Janel ((Sanders momma). I am doing dose dense AC T. So I had the AC Monday and Neulasta yesterday. I was doing really well then crashed today. Sleeping on and off and very nauseous. I'm the third generation, but youngest and most advanced diagnosis. I am 44 and have a 6 year old. Thank you for welcoming me.
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Hi, my name is Michele. I have been doing a lot of lurking around in the different forums. Everyone ( for the most part) seem very nice and welcoming.
My bmx is scheduled for April 1st...wanting them gone!!! Very scared though. I did join the flat & fabulous group on Facebook. Have found it to be very informative as well.
Sandersmomma, I am 45 and did the same dose dense chemo that you are doing. It seemed the worst the day after the nuelasta.
Michele0 -
Michelle2013 are you doing any reconstruction with it? I had my surgery Feb 27 and had my tissue expanders put in. Recovery was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I was super scared, cried on the gurney going into the OR. I opted to go home the next day, which was a good choice. I have a small house and lots of support, so it was good to get in my own bed. So I guess that's 4 weeks today. Other than the fact I still don't have full range of motion I am really good.
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Hi girls,
I remember those chemo days. its only been little over year since I finished. I never thought I'd get to the top of that chemo mountain. It seemed so big. I only looked at one week at a time. I can do anything now.
How do you eat a elephant? one bite at a time (who really wants to eat a elephant)
My breasts tried to kill me, I got rid of them. I am so over having real breasts. ones made of my baby fat are much better
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Hi everyone....I am Rachel and a newbie.I am 40 married with 3 kids, 2 boys 19 and 15, and a girl 14 who is a cancer survivor herself. I had my first chemo on the 18th and awaiting my second. I am trying to figure out what is worse the chemo or the neulasta....I crashed the first week eventhough I was working. Had the chemo Mon and had to leave work on Fri. I am hoping this Monday's chemo/neulasta goes better as far as crashing. This Mon I felt so much better until today when I had a stabbing pain in my spine and radiating agony down my legs etc. I could not lie down sit or walk this morning. I was told it can still be from the neulasta. I also have RA so I think it adds to it. I think this was a great idea! I have found so much information....improving with my navigating skills
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Ladies, I am not a newbie - finished active treatment in October, 2012, but I was Stage IIIa, triple positive. Had a silent heart attack because of Herceptin and had to quit that drug.
I have written a blog on every aspect of my journey, especially getting through chemo. I help women all over the world get through. If I can ever be of any help, do not hestitate to contact me! You sure learn a lot on the way!
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Sandersmomma-In January they found a blood clot in my lung, so after 4 days in the hospital I was put on lovenox injections twice a day....yuck. I had a pet scan in October and my thyroid lit up. So after seeing an ENT my biopsy showed cancer. I tested positive for the BRCA 2 gene mutation. Soooo my breast come off April 1 then my thyroid hopefully at the end of April. 6 weeks of rads, then a hysterectomy. My ps said no recon
for a year. This should give me enough time to figure out what size. Just trying to be positive.
Raehyg-I know all about the bone pain. It truly is awful. I felt like I had spasms in my spine. Told my onc nurse about it and she said she was hoping I did not have this. Think it's one of the worst side effects of a/c.
Sorry sometimes I tend to ramble:)0 -
Hello ladies, my name is Sylvia and i have 43 years old, with two beautiful children, a son of just 10 years and a daughter with 20 years old. My diagnosis was in September. I often come to this forum and has been very helpful in the dark days, thank you very much for all the wonderful stories. Being in a stage IIIC has been very hard for me and i'm scared to death. I just finished the twelve weeks of taxol and had the first AC last week, I hope to be many years here.
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Welcome everyone. Stage III seems so hard, but things will improve. There are lots of us still around years later.
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Not a newbie at all, but thought I would stop by and say HI and tell you that as hard as this journey is, it is doable.!!! I am 7 years from Dx....life does go on....when I was Dx, my youngest was turning 8....she just turned 15!!! and is taking drivers ed!!! I've seen my oldest DD graduate college and get married...my son go to college and travel...he's now in Israel for 5 months and my youngest DD finish elementary and middle school, have her bat mitzvah and now in grade 9.....There is life after breast cancer......
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Thanks for your words Karen, what I want most in this world is see my children grow and the light at the end of the tunnel. I need to believe that i can survive this and especially feel that other women are in the same boat. At first it was depressing but I had to stand up for my children, they need me much.
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hi, my name is aisha i,m stage 3c with 16 nodes posititve we have 3 lovely boys, 17, 14, and 10 i just finish my treatment i,m taking now tamoxifene and zoladex injections i see that all of u had like 3 chemo me i had weekly taxol with cyclo every 3 weeks, my question is there a day when ur not scared of this monster, thanks aisha
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Hi aisha1,
Fear is a normal part of the process. You wouldn't be human if you weren't afraid. Your body and your mind has just went thru hell and back. As you regain your strength and start to occupy your mind with the thing you used to do, the fear will not be all consuming. I remember when I had my mastectomy back in 2011, I thought I could not live without my breast. As time went on I accepted my body for what it was. Time, Time, Time heals all. Just remember you survived the worse, it can only get better from here.
Love and Blessing
Sharon
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Dear fellow travellers
I was diagnosed with stage 3A in July 2012...have had my usual treatnent with 3FEC and 3 Docetaxel which inadverently landed me in the hospital with severe neutropenia.I have read on the net that more the lymph nodes involved worse the prognosis...why is it so...i keep thinking what it eventually entails...unfortunately cant discuss this with family...i feel life has brought me to a stage wherein i find myself countering it all alone...some test i am sure i have been put through...find lot of solace from being here... don't want to bow down before i have completed my mission in life.
Love you all and thanks for being there0 -
Hi Richa and welcome. It can be hard to talk to those nearest to you about the issues you encounter when you have cancer.
The number of lymph nodes in some crude way shows how far the cancer has managed ot grow before being stopped, and that is presumably why it is linked to prognosis.
However, after reading on this site for a year or so, I am more and more convinced that it is very difficult to predict how any individual patient will fare. In other words, I do not find it very useful to get overly hung up on stats. The bottom line is that averages do not apply to individuals. My particular prognosis may be that I have a 20% risk of recurrence. But if I actually get recurrence, for me personally, that is 100% and if I dont, that is 0.
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I don't believe the nodes thing as so many negative node people progress and positivos dont
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When i was done with tx. I feel apart. I cried and cried. Tears stopped eventually. I picked myself up
I developed my own game plan of how this bitch is never coming back. Exercise is one of mybig things. I think its the most beneficial. I have to get my time increased at gym. Am still working on that.
Read some books and become your own cancer specialist
I like Dr Blocks Life over cancer
And Anticancer0 -
hi, sharon i hope that with time i will learn to forget the bad times i pray everynight that good will give me strenght and cure me and everyone thanks aisha
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someone kind of irritated me. was talking to another survivor. not sure of her stage. asking about her MO and if he did tumor markers etc or helped with supplements. she said she didn't want BC to define her so she didn't do all that stuff. do easy for a earlier stage to say. they have no idea how it is for doc to say there is 40% this shit can come back.
BC has defined me. I am struggling to put it behind me, but its hard.
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Richa, I am sorry youare not finding family support. Many times they do not understand because cancer is just a word to them and they are just clueless. I hope you can find the support here to get you through this. The lymph nodes make the diagnosis worse because it has spread and can spread more quickly to other areas in the body. I hope this helps.
Rachel
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Fredntan-I completely get what you say about cancer defining you. If cancer is a disease and there is no cure, how can it not define us?? Is it denial???
I get so much strength from reading the forums.
Michele0 -
I totally agree, this is a terrible disease and very difficult to handle mentally. I think of the word cancer many times a day, i have even confused the words on the billboards and read "cancer" everywhere!. "I'm sure I have post-traumatic stress". It is also very hard to talk about it with our family, only those who have had cancer can understand. My mother who was a fenomal woman, had two primary cancers, one in each breast, she passed away eight years ago of a heart attack. He survived 33 years to his first diagnosis and 10 the second (there is always hope). So until now that I have this terrible disease I can understand how she really felt and how lonely he was.
More lymph nodes involved, worst prognosis? certainly, i had 14 (scared), but as said Momine, this disease is not predictable and i have read wonderful stories of women who do very well for many years and i hope do my best, and I hope with all my heart and all my faith that we can be together for many years in this forum.0
