A place to greet and meet newbies to stage III
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Many thanks for your quick replies and advice , Holeinone and kathec ... I'll check my history (didn't know I could do that!) and will also check all of the stage three forums. Is this discussion for those who have been diagnosed as stage III fairly recently - like within the past year or so? Seems like you're a very supportive group - I was diagnosed in November 0f 2012 and completed Herceptin about two months ago. I am in a clinical trial for Her2 low. I appreciate your help - I've only recently started to read Stage III forums ...
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martha- my path report was grade 3, "occasional large and bizarre forms", i had to love it when some of my very cells are bizzare!, but i tested equivocal by both tests for her2, but they wanted to give it to me, since my nodes were growing "legs" and were not as indolent as the tumor itself.
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Martha, this is a link to the thread "why was I stronger during treatment than I am now?"
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/7/topic/786554?page=73#post_4028411
If the link doesn't work, just go to the "search" tab on the left side and search keywords "stronger" and "before".
My MO does yearly PET scans for the first 5 years, and I had one last week. All looks good. In October I'll be three years out from diagnosis, and for the more recently diagnosed, please believe me that you WILL feel better, there IS the other side of this big speed bump, and you DO get used to being someone who HAD breast cancer. I can't remember when BC stopped being at the top of my thoughts, 24/7, but it really happened. Joy happens.
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Martha,
I think this thread is for all newbies & oldies to communicate. I am not aware of any restrictions.
I also read & post on that other thread, I do not know how to do links...
Sbelizabeth, congrats on the good scans.
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yeah, i dont know how to do links yet, either, for another thread on here, guess i better go learn! i did pm her about the name of that thread, i had accdently deleted it from my faves, too! thanks, sbelizabeth! is that san bernadino, or santa barbara? if santa barbara, i should call you up, next time i go! i loooooove santa barbara!
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You can post links with the little chain looking thing above where you type. The first box is for your link/web address..the second box you get to name it! It is next to the picture box that looks like a landscape.
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thanks robin! i saw the little chain link thingy, but i just wasn't certain how much of the URL i would have to include, so i was just reluctant to even try! i will get brave enough one day to try, i can always delete! THX!
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kathec, I live in Simi Valley (Ventura County) and I'm in Santa Barbara a fair amount for work.
But the "sb" part of sbelizabeth stands for "strong, brave." It's how I want to see myself. And "elizabeth" is just the name I used for my dolls when I was little--I thought the name was so beautiful, elegant, and queenly, that no real person besides maybe the queen should have that name!
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sbelizabeth, thank you for the link and I enjoyed the story of your username. During the past eighteen months I've read many quotes about courage and bravery - fascinating to read so many different descriptions/definitions of those two words. kathec, good to know that this thread is for oldies as well .. although I think I'm a medium-newbie at this point! I've read quite a few posts here and I look forward to meeting all of you. (I wish that I could save a post in draft from while I reread previous posts. Is that possible?) Anyway, it's so reassuring to come to the Stage III forum ... thank you for sharing your experiences ...
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Hello,
I am new to the community. April 4th i was diagnosed with stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer. I have one lymphnode showing abnormalities. I am currently undergoing chemo and will be undergoing a masectomy in september. Followed by an elective masectomy down the road. Not sure exactly what to say. Hello everyone. Any information or help is greatly appreciated.
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Hi lisa84, and welcome to our wonderful community!
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Hi lisa84, I haven't been on the boards in ages. But I realized my chemo started 4 years ago this week. These cancerversaries often send me back to the boards. You may want to look to see if there is a board for women who started chemo the same month as you have. Sharing the same experience as you go through it is amazingly helpful. Other than that I would suggest you drink lots and lots of water during chemo, rest as much as you can and ask your doctor's and nurses lots of questions. I know in my heart you will be well
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Hi Lisa84,
Welcome and sorry that you had to join here but this forum has been very helpful.
I am undergoing chemo right now too, on FEC-D treatment (just had my second round on Thursday).
As JFV mentioned drinking water and being hydrated during the treatments is very important. Exercise, even if it is just walking helps. Rest when you need to.
I am finding chemo a bit harder than the surgery (I had unilateral mastectomy with axillary lymph nodes dissection) as I didn't have much pain from the incision itself. There's surgery boards for each month and you might find joining the one for September helpful.
Stay positive and strong!!! Hugs!!
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Hi everyone, I'm not a newbie to breast cancer but I am a newbie to breastcancer.org. A friend directed me to bc.o and I wanted to check it out.
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Skipper - welcome. There are lots of great thread based on your diagnosis, treatment, age or interests.
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JFV,
Please tell me how you kept yourself strong. We have a similar diagnosis. I am finished with chemo, started Tamoxifen a couple of weeks ago, and I will be having my 5th of 27 rad treatments today (23 regular, and 4 boosts). I am so afraid of what it will do to my skin. I have an olive skin tone, so I hope rads spare me a bit. My tissue expanders hurt so bad that some days I feel as if I am going to go out of my mind. The doctor at my radiologists office feels that putting my arms over my head during radiation is probably making the pain worse. He suggested I take Aleve, but it did not help. I am going to be going back to work June 25th, and I don't know how I will handle work and the pain.
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Cannoli,
We also have similar dx. For me, rads were pretty easy. My arms & shoulders were sore the first 2 weeks from being in that position. I am kinda fair, but my skin held up better than I expected. The final 5 boosts burnt the nipple area, so that was sore & then itchy.
I hit the wall during rads, emotionally. Chemo was so intense & I became so weak & sick. But, 4 months later living life & very active.
I am sure the tissue expanders have to be uncomfortable & painful. My lumpectomy was easy. Most ladies with lobular choose a mastectomy, which I understand. My surgeon & PCP were pro lumpectomy. I went with it. I got my port taken out last week.
When will you have surgery for the implants?
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Holeinone,
Thank you for the reply. My plastic surgeon said that I need to wait at least 6 months after radiation to have my permanent implants put in. If all looks good after radiation, I am going to try to talk her into having it done before then.
I am glad that rads went well for you. What did you use on your skin during rads? I am going back to work June 25th, with 2 weeks of rads still to go after the 25th, so I hope I do not have any trouble with my skin. I am so very tired of being home all of the time. I've been fortunate that my job has allowed me to work part-time from home during treatment, but I miss the human interaction, and they need me back at work. My husband is gone most of the day, and it gets very lonely at home by myself.
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Cannoli1,
I used pure aloe with no alcohol after each tx than at night I would use Aquaphor . I have fair skin and my skin held up very nicely, no break downs or open areas I only had a little redness by my collar bone. good luck , you can do it.
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If you guys get any kind of blisters from the rads, get those expensive gel plasters ASAP. It cleared mine up in a few days.
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hi, I'm a new stage 3er. I had a huge 10 cm tumor that was taken out and now am undergoing chemo, with more surgery in future. Just wanted to meet some fellow stage 3ers. I'm 42 with 2 young kids.
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dancingdiva,
hello and welcome to the stage iii`s. I hope you are doing ok and tolerating chemo. It can be a rough ride, but just hang on in there. I do hope your children are coping and I do hope you are coping with young children and that you have lots of help and support when you need it.
we are an open and friendly bunch on here. If you have any questions please do ask away, usually there will be someone on hand to help.
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Hi dancingdiva - Welcome and I echo what wintersocks said.
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it'll be 2 wks on wed and so far the worst SE is my face breaking out in cysts , even my head and ears. Other then that, my breast, underarm feel like crap from surgery. And surgery was june2nd!! I have a 7cm hematoma still in there and the ANLd....well it's an ANLD. If all goes well, I will be getting a mastectomy on both anyways.
Anyways, very grateful to meet fellow 3ers. Doesn't make me feel so alone.
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Hello, everyone, I have a question.
I have cancer soup in both breasts and after 5 months of treatment, I will undergo a radical BMX with no reconstruction on Tuesday. Because my health history raised "red flags" and I'm so weak from treatment, my surgeon said after surgery I'll be admitted to the ICU where a the critical care team will monitor my progress. Truthfully, the news added a more stress. No one I know who has undergone a BMX has been been sent straight to ICU. Has anyone had that experience?
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Hi Cannoli 1, I am so sorry I did not check this board sooner and responded quicker. You must be heading to the end of your treatment which is wonderful. The quick answer to your question is you DO NOT have to be strong. You can cry and scream and be as frightened and cowardly as you want. Cancer and cancer treatments suck. You have every right to be miserable. I thought about death and yelled at God a lot through out treatment. I found that there was no good reason to be strong. My treatments and recoveries were fairly uneventful. But, I still felt awful. Your body will need a few months to recover from treatment. I went back to work during radiiation and it helped me mentally. The other thing that helped me was realizing stage 3 is a weird blessing because every treatment is thrown at you. That cancer has been hunted down and killed ! I also found that survival statistics for stage 3 are better than commonly posted. A recent study showed 98 percent of women treated with dose dense ACT are still alive after five years. Why 5 years is a magic number I don't know. But, those are great numbers. Finally, I continued to freak out after treatment. If I just allowed myself a few hours to freak out I would then calm down. Slowly, time heals you mentally and physically. Dancing diva, what is an ANLD ? I was 48 at diagnosis with one kid in middle school and one in high school. Hematomas take their sweet time absorbing into your body. Glenfea, I think your doctor wants to make sure your underlying health issues are watched in ICU after your surgery. I have been told a mastectomy is fairly easy surgery. I think you just have a very responsible surgeon. Hang in there everyone
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jfv, i think she might have meant a Axillary Lymph Node Dissection.
Glennfae, i think they just want to see how you do, probably because of your past health history, as you said. not knowing what that is, would be my best guess. sorry you are here, but glad that you found BCO, anyway, and i wish you the best of luck, all week long!
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Glennfae, take it to mean that they are looking out for you.
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Thank you for responding, Katchec and Momine. A lifetime of serve asthma has damaged me lungs and I have pneumonia every few months, but the doctor said that was the least of her concerns. They have put off surgery several times, and it became clear to me and family members who accompanied me on my visits that something was making the surgeon reluctant to do surgery. I kept asking questions and was finally told by the surgeon that she was "unsure about the outcome". Still not one word about numerous "red flags" and being admitted to the ICU until 48 hours before my surgery. Several relatives who are nurses and work at the KU Bloch Cancer Breast Cancer Center are worried because the ICU thing was left unsaid until the final hours. I'm trying to believe the doctor wants to ensure I receive the best care. She told me I may be in the ICU for 10 days which, as far I know is unusual. That is the reason I asked if anyone has had that experience. Guess I'm totally freaked out for nothing.
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glenfae, I had a friend who had surgery after treatment - she was in the hospital for at least five days, I'm not sure about ICU. She was very rundown from chemo, I think she got an infection. I am sure, as others said, your doctor wants to be extra careful and wants you monitored.
You could get a second opinion....
this all sucks. big time.
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