Stage 2 Sisters Club
Comments
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When I was doing radiation, I would visualize I was sun bathing on a dock (we used to go to the lake each summer when I was young), the machine was a cloud going over the sun. I'd pretend that I was back then & think about what I'd do the rest of the day. Would the cute boys in the cabin next door invite us to take us sailing? Would my dad & brother catch enough fish for a fish fry? Would we have a campfire? etc. etc. If you can put your mind someplace else, it helps.....
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hey all..just to report back..had my unilateral mx on tuesday. The PS put TE's in. Overall I'm doing well..just dealing with typical pain and discomfort. Percoset helps but I am switching it off with ibuprofen because it dries me out and because I'm constipated
My sentinel node biopsy was clear..I'm ecstatic about that!
Overall feeling ok.
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Good news Swg! I felt much better when I could switch to ibuprofen.It was enough for me. Rest up and maybe be do some online shopping therapy
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SWG hoping for continued recovery. Hugz to you.
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Jay, I should start middle of December, I’m waiting for the call to setup my appointments. My problem was I can’t breathe enough to hit the mark. I guess I’m short of air. 😂😂😂
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Gentle hugs, swg, and sending good thoughts for continued healing...by the way, stool softeners really helped me when on narcotics after my recent knee replacement surgery (for my lx all I needed was tylenol and ibuprofen). You can buy them OTC (or send someone to buy them for you, of course)...
Octogirl
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Hi swg
So glad you communicated with us. I'm assuming you're at home. How many nights were you in the hospital? Glad to hear your mascectomy was a success. What you're feeling is normal. I went through the pain, however I HATED the percocet!!!! After three days, I told my PS to change it. She gave me tramadol, which is not as strong, and Valium for a muscle relaxer. That worked for me. That is great news you were node negative. Of course, that should be a big factor for you, and your onco to make the best treatment decisions. Hormone therapy will be your best friend. I hope you get lots of rest, and let people help.0 -
I get SO, SO, SO deadly constipated from opiods that I declined them after my hysterectomy this summer and stuck to prescription tylenol in the hospital and extra strength when I got home. Colace is a good stool softener (according to the nurses), although nothing helps me when I've taken pain killers......I guess I never have to worry about becoming a drug addict anyway!).
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PauletteK
So, radiation starts in a few weeks. The breathing is hard to master at first, but once you start, and get into that routine everyday, you'll be fine. Will you be getting "bolus", what I call the "spa treatment"? Those towels the techs put on you, I think. I found it soothing. Are you working
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Hey ruthbru
I liked how you made the best of radiation by visualizing sunbathing. And boys back in the day, that's funny. It is true that putting your mind elsewhere helps. I compared my experience to laying in a tanning bed, which I loved to do. Of course, those days are over. I'm already looking forward to spring, and summer next year to start swimming again, as I could not this past summer. Oh, yeah, have to get through Christmas, and the winter first. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Glad you're back on the forum.0 -
I now get a spray tan in the summer, because I still like a little color (jiggly brown arms look better than jiggly white ones, IMO
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ruthbru, you are a HOOT!
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I loved my radiation team so much it was easy to go every day. I felt that same lonely feeling at first but then made friends with the machine and the odd noises in the room. Time passed quickly and then I was finished. Ruth, your idea of going somewhere in your head is fantastic. Have you ladies joined the radiation therapy threads? That really helped me to have others to share with.
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Hey Molly50
I'm so glad radiation is working for you. If you read some of previous posts, I actually in a weird way liked radiation. The techs, and bolus, "spa treatments" made it fun. Are they using bolus on you? I'll have to check out some of these other threads. I'm assuming not yet, but have you had any skin issues?0 -
Hi ruthbru
Do you feel like you get a nice color from the spray tans? Never tried it. The tanning beds were my babies. lol. That is so true, my flab looks better tanned. How is the weather in ND? Any snow? My ex in laws live used to live in Minnesota, then moved out way in the country in Wisconsin to retire. The first time I saw a "true" white Christmas at 25 years old, was in the twin cites. It was beautiful. Every house, and buildings looked like a postcard. I thought people decorated much better than in the us in the south. I miss those days of going up there. Could never live there. Way too much cold.❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
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I screwed that sentence up, I thought people decorated much better than we do in the South. Maybe it's the snow
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swg
Thinking of you, and hope each day is getting better post surgery
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Jay, yes the snow makes decorations look nicer.....but you are right about the long, cold winters........now that DH & I are retired, we take a couple trips south during them, but I could never actually live where it is really, really hot.....so to each his/her own. Spray tans have vastly improved, and with the one's I get, you just have to stay away from water/sweating etc. for 2 hours for them to set (it used to be 8 hours). The only down side is that they only last about 2 weeks.
P.S. we have not yet had a drop of snow, the temperature has been about 20 degrees above normal and wehave been running around in sweatshirts, so we have been more like a North Carolina late fall (my sister used to live in the Raleigh area). Starting tomorrow, the weather is turning back to 'average', so the party is soon over!
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Hey swg congratulations on no nodes. You must be so relieved. I just had my auxiliary lymph node dissection last Wednesday and it is healing nicely. I don't get the pathology back for a couple weeks so I'm a little anxious about that. My Sentinel node biopsy had one positive with focal extranodal extension. That's why I had to have the lymph node dissection boo. So hoping that the chemo worked or that I had no nodes positive other than the one. The waiting is the hardest part. As regard to laxatives I find Restoralax or laxaday works better with narcotics than Colace. They are osmotic laxatives which pulll water into the stool to soften them up. I'm on Tylenol threes which I'm only taking twice a day right now and then they've got me on gabapentin three times a day which makes me so sleepy. I slept into noon today! I still have a drain in. The amount of fluid coming out now is decreasing daily. But not having much to be able to do through the day is so boring. I'm thinking of going for a walk with my husband and maybe picking up some cedar to make a little planter to hang on my front deck but we'll see. Very glad to have this forum to talk to people in the same boat and truly understand what we're going through.
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Jay, I haven’t started my radiation so I won’t know any spa treatment yet. I decided I’m going to retire after BC, I haven’t told the owner formally but the accounting department knew I won’t be back. My husband doesn’t want me to go back to work, I think I worked long enough for this lifetime.
Tpralph- I know dealing with the drain is not fun, but you should able to take it out soon. Then you will be back to normal self.
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Hi everybody! Thanks for your kind wishes. The weekend was a struggle. I was starting to experience extreme discomfort and pain from the drain. I'd stopped taking the Percs because of the constipation (which finally ended up letting up, end of the week!), but I took one last night because I was so uncomfortable.
OMG THE ITCHING
I started worrying about anaphlyactic shock, I was itching so much! I am never taking that crap again!!
What's draining is so light now--my PS said he'd see me this afternoon. I'm hoping he'll just take it out.
My BS called this morning with the pathology report. My original tumor was smaller than the MRI suggested, but bigger than the original biopsy showed..go figure. Final size was 1.7cm, and the 2nd tumor was 9mm.
Biopsy pathologies were accurate--still ER+/PR+ and HE2-.
When looking at the recurrence risk, given my stats, on the calculators, I'm not seeing a huge benefit from Tamoxifen, tbh. I'm reading this book now, written by 2 doctors, called "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer." I'm looking into more natural ways to put the damper on my estrogen growth. Turns out Progesterone actually puts the breaks on estrogen growth, and my tumors were high progesterone (95 pct) which is probably why they were slow growing.
My BS put in for the oncotype test, so we'll see what that says, but honestly, I'm more into changing my lifestyle and looking into natural ways to prevent recurrence if Tamoxifen with all its side effects is only gonna cut recurrence a small percent and give me like, a year, of additional survival time.
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Swg awesome news. Now a stage 1! No positive nodes as well. So great! Too bad about the rash.
I would think the tamoxifen would work very well on you being er-positive in both your tumors. Please discuss it with your oncologist before making any decisions of going just natural. Some of the things we read online or not accurate at all and it's always best to talk with a health professional who knows what the research says then you can truly make a well-informed decision. I know some people here read the articles on the website the truth about cancer unfortunately that website has poor information. There's no real research to back up anything they're saying. Friend of mine gave me the video from there and a book and again I looked at the footnotes and where they were getting information but any research that was done it was very very small groups wasn't validated and I think a lot of it just was untrue. So be careful where you get your information from the internet and do your own research . Be critical and make sure it's validated. Unfortunately no one really seems to know how to treat cancer and it still is a crap shoot. So we just base treatment on the better evidence of specific research
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I had my port out 2 weeks ago. I still have a little bump where the port was. Is that normal? Will it eventually go away?
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OCDAmy - Is your bump on the neck or the chest? When my port was removed, the surgeon left a staple in there on the chest area. I think it was supposed to dissolve. Anyway - It lit up like a Christmas tree on my next mri or cat scan - don't remember which. I had to go back to that surgeon and she removed the staple and the growth around it in her office. SOOO, I have a scar on a scar now but there is no bump. It could be just scar tissue too. Just ask the doc. Good luck sweetie.
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I had a dissolvable stitch that didn't dissolve after I had my port removed. It stayed tender and irritated until I finally went in and complained until they poked around. I think the surgeon was really surprised because he accidentally made the comment, "What the hell?" as he pulled out a LONG string.
SWG, you can always try Tamoxifin and quit if you have horrible SEs. Most people do NOT. You just don't hear about them because they are, quite naturally, just out living their lives.The best thing is if you can take an anti-hormonal AND make life-style changes as needed. Together they will be your best insurance policy against recurrence.
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Ruthbru, those are exactly the words you want to hear your surgeon mumbling as the pull something out of your body right?!? Glad they fixed it for you though.
Swg, I know everyone is different but I have not had bad side effects from the tamoxifen. At least that I know of. I don't really have hot flashes. My knees ache a bit when I first get up but that started during chemo and again not too bad. I had one tumor 23er/10pr and another 100er/73pr. I'm hoping the tamoxifen works to keep me away from recurrence. I'm sure your doctor will help guide your decision and future treatment. Hope your oncotyping comes out low and that you're healing up well0 -
I was glad there was something there, because I believe he thought I was just being a pain in the ass......
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Hi swg
So glad to hear from you. Great news!!!!! Stage 1, no positive lymph nodes. You got a great diagnosis. What you are going through with the drain tubes is normal. I won't lie, you'll have much relief when they come out. As far as taking hormone therapy, I have to agree with the ladies. I've been on it since April, with little side effects. As you know, for our kind of cancer, hormone therapy helps prevent distant reoccurance. I'll admit, I have hot flashes at times, and moodiness.( I had that on my periods). Overall, tamoxifen is agreeing with me. I'm sure you, and your onco will decide your best treatment plan. Do you know when you get the results of your onco test?
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OCDAmy
I can't remember, but have you started radiation
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Jay, yes have had 5 of 28 so far. How nice of you to ask. No issues yet, have gotten into the rhythm of the treatments now. It's just a hassle having to do this every day and still work. Luckily next week they are able to fit me in the mornings so I don't have to miss any work hours.
Maybe this is just scar tissue I am feeling. It is where the port was sitting in my chest, not the neck. Almost feels like it is still there just not so large. I guess I will wait a few more weeks and then ask my MO or PS about it.
Wondering if anyone else has had bladder control issues after chemo?
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