A place to greet and meet newbies to stage III
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genny, I hope everything gets sorted out. All this extra stuff to deal with is stressful, u just want everything to work out and be easy. I had to cancel a vacation because of treatment and they keep asking questions, it's driving me nuts. And my std will be ending soon and then will have to deal with whether I am eligible for ltd at work( I started a new job 1 week b4 dx so I've only worked there for 3 wks..... Beautiful luck) I know filling out all those papers and such will be much fun( not!!!!)
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Lolis, why u giving up coffee btw? Zero, zilch, not even a cup every once and while? I know it's acidic.. Green tea is better for you though, I have to start once this is over.
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dancingdiva, when you're ready to start green tea, let me know. I am a tea fanatic and happy to make suggestions if you want them. Btw, loose leaf tea is way better than anything you'll get in a tea bag. It's usually better quality and fresher. I didn't like green tea until I tried good loose leaf.
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Oooh, me, me! 2Tabbies, tell me about good green tea. What flavor? Where to buy? How to make? I love the idea of green tea, I just don't like the teabags.
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sbelizabeth, I will do all that when I'm at my computer where it's easier to type. It may be a long post!
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i did find one brand of teabag green tea that i like, its called "two leaves and a bud" and i do buy it when it's on sale, wonderful sun tea can be made from it too, not bitter in the least. it's a jasmine green tea, and its fragrance is heavenly. when it gets so hot, it is so refreshing, i probably keep a glass going all day!
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DD - I read that reducing caffeine helps with the hot flashes. Between Tamoxifen and no periods I feel like I am going into menopause.... no success in giving it up yet as lately I feel too tired in the morning
I like the matcha green tea from costco.
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For all who are interested in green tea, here's my spiel. You may be sorry you asked! First a little tea primer. All true tea comes from the same plant Camellia sinensis. Anything else that's steeped in hot water to produce a beverage is more properly called a tisane not tea. The difference between green, oolong, and black teas is in the processing. Green tea is minimally processed. The leaves are not allowed to oxidize after picking. (You'll often hear the term ferment rather than oxidize, but technically it's oxidation not fermentation.) Black tea is fully oxidized. Oolong is somewhere in between anywhere from nearly green to nearly black. White tea is a green tea, but just the buds are used instead of more mature leaves.
As I mentioned, I prefer loose leaf tea. It's usually fresher and of higher quality that tea bags. The leaves in tea bags are also usually chopped up into little pieces. This increases their surface area and allows them to go stale faster. You can find some tea bags with whole leaf tea. The Two Leaves and a Bud that kathec mentioned looks like it might be whole leaf tea. These tend to be more expensive than just buying it loose though. Speaking of price, a lot of people balk at the price of higher quality teas which can ranger from $3 an ounce on up. It might sound like a lot, but tea doesn't weigh much, and you don't need much to brew a cup. The actual cost usually works out to way less than a dollar a cup often around 25 cents. Compare that to the $3 and $4 lattes we buy without even blinking.
Regarding flavors, I tend to go for unflavored tea, but will occasionally drink some of the more traditional flavored (or scented) teas. I love jasmine scented tea. The Japanese to a cherry scented tea that's lovely. Occasionally, I'll get one of the fruit flavored ones for iced tea.
Equipment: You can go fancy or basic. Beware though! Teaware is as addicting as tea! Do NOT use a tea ball. They don't have enough room in them to allow the water to circulate around the leaves. I commonly use a basket style infuser like this. It's a simple way of brewing one cup at a time. You can also get fillable tea bags. You can steep it loose in a teapot. Some teapots have a strainer built into the spout so you don't need a separate strainer. Otherwise, use a small strainer to filter out the leaves as you pour. Here are a couple of styles of pots that I like:
Beehouse teapot - comes with a basket infuser
If you want to go really basic, steep the the tea in a pyrex measuring cup and pour into your cup or mug through a strainer.
Preparation: Green tea wants a lower water temperature than oolong or black. Around 160-190 degrees F is good. If you don't have a thermometer, look for tiny bubbles starting to form in the water. Place about a teaspoon of the leaves into your pot or infuser for each 5-6 ounce cup of tea. If the leaves are really fluffy use more. You might have to experiment with the amount. The package may give you guidelines. The best way to do it is to weigh it. I have a little tea scale that can be set to ounces, grams or "cup weight." I use that with a new tea until I know how leaf much to use. Rinse the leaves and cup/pot with some of the hot water. This warms everything up and rinses away any dust, etc. on the leaves. After draining off the rinse water, fill your cup or pot with the hot water and let steep for 2-3 minutes. Again, you may have to experiment, and the package may give you guidelines. With a good quality green tea, you can steep the leaves a second and possibly even a third time. I told you it was a bargain!
Which teas to choose? I prefer Chinese green teas, but there are also some great ones from Japan. I haven't found many Indian green teas that I like, but I love some of their black teas. You might also check out a "green" or "jade" oolong. These are oolongs that are only slightly oxidized so are almost green. Some of them smell and taste like flowers even though they have not been scented. If you're lucky, you might have a tea shop near you that sells good quality loose leaf tea. Some better grocery stores have it. If you happen to have a Wegman's supermarket near you, they have a great bulk tea section. Here are some of my favorite web sites to buy tea.
Silk Road Teas - I love their Green Mist. Many others to choose from also.
Sensational Teas - Very pearl jasmine and Pi Lo Chun. Tell Mary that Amy sent you!
Upton Tea - huge selection
Finger Lakes Tea Company - found this place this summer. Go for a visit and tasting if you're in upstate NY.
Tea From Taiwan - excellent oolongs
Den's Tea - Excellent Japanese teas. I love their green kukicha. It's made from the twigs rather than leaves of the tea bush. It's supposed to be lower in caffeine. There's also a roasted version, but I like the green.
Enjoy!
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2Tabbies - fantastic descriptions & info. I'll be printing this out to put in my recipe file. Thanks
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wow, thanks tabbies!
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did any of u get tested for androgen receptors? And does anyone know anything about this? Hard to find info on this
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You are all quite welcome on the tea info. Let me know if you have any questions.
dancingdiva, I can't help you on the androgen receptors. I didn't get tested for that unless they called it something else.
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2tabbies, I also loved reading your tea info. I have always been a tea drinker, but lazy, so buy bagged tea. I will step out of my box & start trying fresh loose tea.
Dancing diva, I have read about them, it's kinda complex, I do not think that is something they normally test. Someone will chime with more knowledge. My MO does not test tumor markers either.
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Thanks, 2Tabbies! I'll be printing and saving your post!
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Glad to be of service, holeinone and sbelizabeth!
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tabbies, do u buy online or is there a store where these are carried?
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Dancingdiva, mostly I buy online at the sites I listed in my post above.
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Hi all! Newbie here. Headed in for my second surgery next week(lump to mas). My question... did anyone receive additional "Bad News" after their PET? I had the MUGA scan today and the PET this Thursday. I am more worried about that and any thing else. Please see my stats.
Thanks.
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Janier - Am I reading right - you're going back into surgery 18 days after your first surgery? Are you not doing chemo before surgery? I thought that was the usual protocol for stage III. I expect you'd just as soon know if there's something in the other breast before having to do surgery all over a third time, and a PET should alert you to that. Good luck. Please check back in and let us know.
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I did not get additional bad news. I had LX followed by MX. My margins were clean but too small and I did not have enough breast left to get a larger margin without taking the rest of the breast.
My stats are similar to yours. My pet scan came back clean, but it is honestly the most anxiety producing scan I have had. I have had 2 at this point. With extranodal extension and lymph-vascular invasion, the pet scan scares the bejeezus out of me.
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Janiner,
Welcome & sorry you needed to look for us. I was so shocked that the surgeon wanted me to get a PET scan after the lumpectomy, I was still in a daze that I wasn't stage 1. I told him NO, he said yes, it's necessary. I am sure you are having these same horrific emotions. My PET scan showed an inflamed node in my breast, they said from the surgery. I obsessed over it, all during treatment. I had an ultra sound after radiation, it looked normal. What I did not know then was, that your treatment plan could be much different.
On your stats it says mets, I assume you mean the nodes were cancerous. Are you getting a mastectomy because of margins, or just to get it done?
The roller coaster of dx & treatment is scary stuff. Posting on BCO helps, we all "get it".
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My original dx after biopsy and u/s was IIb, grade 2 IDC. I didn't find the PET scan to be scary, but after the bmx, it was upgraded to IIIb, the lump that was measured at 3.8 cm on u/s turned out to be 5.8 cm when removed, and invasive into the chest muscle, some of which was also removed. I had elected to have bilateral for several reasons, although the surgeon said she could do a lumpectomy, she could never have gotten clear margins and it would have had to be a mastectomy in the end. As it turned out, there were pre-cancerous cells in the right breast as well, and my oncologist told me yesterday that the right breast, had it been left, would almost certainly become cancerous in a fairly short time. So I'm glad I went with my gut on that. Also, there is a node that lit up behind my sternum, which they could not remove without splitting the chest, so they left it, and that is the reason I have been moved to Stage IIIc now. I'm being presented to the radiation board as a good candidate for proton therapy, partly because of that node, and partly because with my tumor being on the left, proton is much more heart-sparing. I had my last chemo yesterday.
So I guess that node behind the sternum was the bad news after the PET, but to be honest, it didn't really register until I met with the radiation oncologist a few weeks ago.
Best of luck, and do check back here and let us know how it turns out.
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Hi, Janiner, I can't answer your question on the PET scan because I didn't have one, but I remember sweating through a CT and a bone scan. I hope you don't get any more bad news and that you find this board helpful.
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janiner - I forgot to mention, I am always incapable of staying still anytime & even grind my teeth in the daytime. So I can't lie still for the hour required after the media is put in my veins & before the scan. I take one Xanax 30 min to 1 hour before my appointment and I can float through w/no problem. This is the only time I take drugs except for vitamins - one Xanax before MRI and one before PET/CT. Oh, and in case they didn't tell you, the protocol at my center is fasting for 5 hours before - water only. I didn't know the first time.
I actually like the PET better than most of the others. Maybe it's the Xanax - LOL. We'll be here when you're done.
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The important thing about the prep is to keep the sugar out of your system because the dye they use binds to sugar molecules and if you have consumed sugar it can give erroneous readings. But follow the protocols they give you closely and you should fly through it.
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Thanks to all of you for your responses. The reason for the quick turn around from Lump to Mastectomy surgery is because the margins came back too large. So the mastectomy is the only option. They want to start chemo 3 weeks after surgery, but if my drain is still in they will wait until it's been removed.
Surgeon told me to "put the left breast on the back burner and let's just take care of the right breast "the bad boob". However, today I am wondering why? shouldn't I just do both? I am 46 years old with children, marriage and a career. I don't want to do this again. I called and left a message with the dr. asking the same. Waiting for a return call.
Bone scan (PET) tomorrow. I will take advice and pop a Xanax to muddle through. Heck I took one last night just to make the brain stop spinning for awhile.
I am so glad I found the website and all of you. I already am starting to feel like I have a bit of control again! Blessings to you all!
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Hi dancingdiva, you asked about androgen receptors. My MO told me they may do it for metastatic disease if there is no response to usual hormonal treatment anymore but they don't do it as first line of treatment.
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Good luck Janiner. Thanks Muska
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Janiner - let us know how the PET goes. I choose double mastectomy & was very glad since the "other" breast had cancer too found during the surgery. It's a very individual choice but I'm soooo glad I did both at once. When you see the PET results you'll have more tools to help w/your decision.
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Hi TwoTabbies,
What do you think of Teavana.com as a shop? There isn't any place to buy green tea directly in my tiny town.
Thanks for the great post!
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