Stage 2 Sisters Club
Comments
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Prunes, tons of water and moving around as much as possible can help with constipation. Colace (over the counter stool softener) is often recommended (but I'd ask the doctor before using it).
I talked to my dentist before chemo and she recommended Biotene toothpaste and mouthwash (both can be bought at most any drugstore, grocery store, Walmart etc.). I really liked the mouthwash and it did help me.
Change of taste you can't do much about. Eat what you can (surprisingly I craved really spicy Mexican food, the hotter the better).
Find some quiet activities to do with your kids. Watching movies, watching them play video games etc. (turn off the lights so you can nod in and out if you need to).
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Hope99
Although I didn't have chemo, I've had constipation issues for many years. I do know all to well what that feels like. These ladies who have been though chemo are giving good advice. I would drink a HUGE glass of prune juice followed with a large glass of water. Worked every time. Ladies, I was wondering, that stuff that you drink the night before a colonoscopy, I think it's magnesium citrate. Is that safe to drink during chemo? I know that works as well. Hope, I hope each day gets better for you
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PauletteK
I did do radiation because of the positive lymph node, and to help bring down my chances of a local reoccurance. I put all my info in my profile, but I'm not sure why some of it didn't show up. I also chose reconstruction at the same time as my mascectomy. I still have my aggravating tissue expander in. Had to wait six months after treatments were over. My exchange will be in February, thank god. Oh, does anyone know if there is a forum that solely talks about reconstruction, and what to expect? Thanks
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Grandma3x
Thank you again for responding. I ask a lot of questions. I see my MO on Monday, the 18th. I've already started writing down questions. I wish I could fully understand my pathology report, but I don't. Too much medical jargon.
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Jay, if you go to 'All Topics' and scroll down, there is a category called 'Tests, Treatments, Side Effects'; among many forums listed there you will find the Reconstruction section.
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Jay, I have been reading a thread called "Exchange City" that has been helpful.
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Jaymeb, exchange city is a great thread.
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Hope99 my doctor started me on chemo fist to shrink the mass i had & to pretty much stop any growing/spreading of possible cancer. Mine was a bit different i did not have breast involvement, my mass was under my arm (axilla). They started me on FEC D which i actually started on my birthday so happy birthday to me. There are quit a few people that i have met that have started chemo before surgery with positive lymph nodes. My surgeon removed 14 lymph nodes & out of those 8 tested positive. I know it can be very stressful & hard but you need to stay positive & trust what your doctors are doing. It will get easier, it may not seem that way but it will. With respects to the constipation i would suggest you buy Senokot, you can pick it up at any local pharmacy or warlmart or wherever its very common. Also drink alot of water, eat fruits & veggies as well. With respects to your mouth i found that anytime i ate something (meal or snack) i would brush my teeth after. I know it was tedious but luckily i did not suffer any mouth issues. I just started radiation today, have 21 sessions in all & there does not seem to be any presence of cancer anywhere so im feeling a bit blessed & extremely grateful. You will be okay Hope99 just stay strong & positive.
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thanks for responding ladies, I appreciate that by save any single word in my documents to read it every time.
HELLO PVC,
how many chemo cycles you did? 6 or 8? you started by chemo then surgery, why the chemo not reduced the number of positive nodes that contained cancer cells? many people in this board and doctor also told me the chemo reduce the nodes under arm and mass by kill cancer cells and make the surgery more easier. 8 nodes are too much after chemo. can you clarify this point please? because I'm afraid and tired from my first Infusion
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I'm grade 2 stage 2 just had a lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy on 11-4-17. Found out on 11-22-17 at my post Ob appt that 1 of my lymph nodes tested positive for cancer. I start chemo and radiation treatments in Jan 2018. Am so scared 😦 mostly of the unknown I guess
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Hope99, everyone's cancer journey is different. Mine had no breast involvement at all, they actually did not know where the primary source was until i had surgery & did a pathology report on both the mass/tumor they removed & the nodes. I had 6 sessions of chemo every 3 weeks. They did not do surgery on me prior to chemo because they wanted to shrink the mass as much as they could for surgery. After my 1st dosage i could feel it getting soft & by the 6 it shrank quit a bit. With respects to the nodes again everyone's cancer journey is different i have met people that have more positive nodes than i did & they also did 6 sessions & did surgery after chemo. Could i have had more positive nodes that the chemo killed, i don't know & at this this point it does not help me to second guess my doctor. I understand your scared but looking at everyone's journey is not going to help you with your anxiety & fear, you need to trust what your doctors are doing if not then i would suggest you get another opinion for your peace of mind. If your in Canada FEC D is very standard here. I feel confident that what my doctors did for me was the best solution. I started radiation today & was told there is no presence of cancer in my body which makes me feel very blessed. Does this mean i am cancer free well it means that i will go on the journey we all go on & hope that i stay NED for many more wonderful years to come. Am i scared of what the future holds of course i am but i am not going to live in fear, i have had cancer take enough from me to live in fear of the what if's.
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worriedme77, you will feel better when you start chemo, I wasted 8 weeks until I start my treatment plan, what is your protocol ?
PVM, thank you for respond, I hope you'll be NED for ever, I hear a lot of journeys with no recurrences if you follow-up your body regularly. for my side, my doctor told me how many nodes according to the auxiliary biopsy, I haven't any ideas how he know that! so I feel scary to start chemo and leave my tumour inside my body, my doctor told me its better to start chemo first then do surgery to minimize and kill cancer cells in nodes and tumour. so I agree, this is my only solution.
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I’m not sure yet I meet with the chemo docs Jan 4th and I’m supppose to start 6 weeks of radiation in Jan too
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Welcome worriedme77 & super sorry you have to join this club
I know how scared you must feel about the unknown but it will get easier once you start your treatment plan. This is a great place to talk to people whom have gone through the dreaded C word & are still going through it & everyone is super helpful. Maybe you may also want to join into a chemo group for the start of 2018 & that way you can talk/share things with people that are doing chemo the same time as you. Stay positive & strong you will be okay through this journey.Hope99 you also will be okay through this hard difficult journey. Stay strong & positive, chemo will get better once you know what to expect, the first one is always the hardest as you don't know what to expect/feel but it does get better. There are alot of people that start their journey with chemo 1st before surgery & you honestly have to trust the journey you are given. You will get stronger as your journey continues you will see.
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Another reason why we need better treatments.
UCLA study finds link between breast cancer treatments and cellular markers of aging
UCLA RESEARCH ALERT
POST DATE:December 12, 2017 11:00 AM
FACULTYPatricia Ganz, Judith E. Carroll
A new study has found that women who had received chemotherapy and/or radiation to treat breast cancer were more likely to have high levels of DNA damage and reduced activity of an enzyme involved in chromosome healing, compared to women who underwent surgery alone. The results suggest that some breast cancer survivors may be more vulnerable to biological changes associated with accelerated aging because of their prior treatment.
BACKGROUND
Advances in cancer screening and treatment have resulted in a growing number of cancer survivors in the United States. In many ways, cancer survivors appear "older" than people of similar age without a history of cancer. These "late effects" of cancer treatment are suspected to be the result of accelerated aging at the biological level.Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are highly effective treatments for cancer, but can also be toxic to healthy immune cells. Like other kinds of cells, immune cells accumulate damage to DNA as they age, which can impact their ability to divide in response to pathogens. When the cell stops dividing it enters a state referred to as cellular senescence. Senescent cells are a key player in the aging process. They often have shortened telomeres, a marker of the cells age, and low telomerase activity, an enzyme that protects chromosomal ends.
Little is known about whether prior exposure to these treatments is related to these "markers" of cellular aging that can appear years later in breast cancer survivors. The study examined whether past exposure to chemotherapy and/or radiation is related to these markers, including DNA damage, telomerase activity and telomere length in breast cancer survivors following treatment. In addition, the researchers analyzed DNA damage and lower telomerase activity in association with elevations in inflammatory activity, which is another known indicator of biological aging.
METHOD
The UCLA team assessed 94 women, at three to six years after completion of primary treatment for breast cancer. The researchers discovered that those who had been exposed to chemotherapy and/or radiation showed elevated levels of DNA damage in blood cells, and lower telomerase enzymatic activity, compared to women who had previously received surgery alone. They found no differences in telomere length between the two groups of women, however. The results also showed longer-term increases in DNA damage and reductions in telomerase activity that coincide with higher levels of inflammatory activation.IMPACT
The potential for long-term impact of radiation and chemotherapy on the health and quality of life for cancer survivors is of increasing concern, especially as they are surviving much longer. In particular, these treatments may have a lasting effect on the rate of aging in various tissues in the body. These biological findings in breast cancer survivors who have received chemotherapy and/or radiation suggest that they may be at greater risk for accelerated aging than those who received surgery alone. Research focused on understanding the biology of treatment effects on aging pathways may lead to the development of future strategies to prevent these changes in cancer survivors.AUTHORS
The senior author is Robert Schiestl at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. The co-first authors are Dr. Judith Carroll at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Dr. Zorica Scuric at the Fielding School. Other authors are Drs. Julienne Bower, Sam Ramos-Perlberg, Laura Petersen, Stephanie Esquivel, Matt Hogan, Aaron Chapman, Michael Irwin, Elizabeth Breen and Patricia Ganz at UCLA. Carroll, Schiestl, Bower, Irwin and Ganz are members of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.JOURNAL
The research is published online in NPJ Breast Cancer, a part of the Nature Partner Journals series.FUNDING
The research was supported by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute and the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology.
DISCLOSURE
Dr. Patricia Ganz is a member of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation Scientific Advisory Board.0 -
Treatments certainly are tough and yes, there needs to be better/easier ones; but if I hadn't done them, I, personally, would have had less than a 50% chance of being around to age. You can't do anything about DNA damage, of course, but you can make lifestyle choices that will slow down the aging process (and reduce recurrence risk too). A healthy diet, keeping at a normal weight, lots and lots of exercise, doing interesting things, developing a good support network of family and friends, having an engaging hobby, learning something new, hanging around with kids, having a pet...... I take a baby aspirin every day, which has been shown to reduce the inflammation the article talks about (get an okay from your doctor if that is something you might want to pursue).
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Thanks ruthbru, that’s very helpful
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The study is very miserable marijen . but this is the only solution that we have to stay a life. this study done with 94 women only ( millions of ladies have cancer around the world) , the hope is we can say the study is limited. I do not read anything related to the chemotherapy treatment and how many cycles and how much dose the patients taken . this is important factors to know if that damage happens in low or high dose, did those women care enough about their general health ? Ages? a lot of questions with no answers in this study . Also this study shows 7% damage in DNA damage ( surgery only), but its increase to 28% in chemotherapy. why the cells are damage in surgery? as we know, surgery not effects the other cells in our body .
this study publish in Nature, this magazine is famous around the world, we are unlucky women, cancer defects our life.
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Half way through rads today! I have had the trifecta of treatments thrown at me so far and still have hormone therapy and exchange surgery to come. I really hope this is all worth it. When I hear women getting diagnosed with a tiny tumor, no nodes, lumpectomy and a few weeks of rads, I am so envious. I know that sounds bad but I truly don't think I can handle much more if this does not work.
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OCDamy, why you feel envious? you still stage 2, this stage is early-stages in BC. why you think its not work? did the doctor told you bad things?
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Hope, I had a large tumor and 2 positive nodes so I think I will always be worried about mets, maybe that passes with time. The docs have been only positive which helps. I am envious because I wish I could have had less treatments.
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Ocdamy, as I know 4 cm is not big, I know many patients +6 cm with more than 5 nodes and they completed their treatments. I think you started with chemo due to this issue (nodes involved and tumour size). you have positive receptors and negative HER2 which means you should respond well with chemo and the chances of recurrence is lower than other. how many chemo cycles you took and what the doctor told you abour result? did he told you something about mets?
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Amy stay strong & positive sending you positive healing vibes only. It's okay to feel envious I get like that too sometimes thinking why me & see everyone around not having to worry about getting LE because of all the lymoh nodes taken or hearing the words you have BC your too young, cancer does not discriminate. The only reason mine was caught was because my nerves in my arm hurt. They believe I had my tumor for 2 years. All of us fellow warriors are fighting a battle & our journeys have brought us together, they may be different but we all have the same fears & hope of beating this beast. I have met a young girl no lymph node involvement & minor lump now she is stage IV. It is okay to be angry for getting cancer & that should make you fight so much more. You have so much to live for & so many wonderful years ahead. We all do. Cancer has taken so much from us don't let it take your strenght. Stay strong & I'm sending you s bug hug.
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hugs OCDAmy. You sound tired and down so I'm sending you virtual tea (or beverage of your choice) and what else would you like? a footrub? gentle backrub? head massage? some gentle healing touch sent your way.
One thing that strikes me reading the stories of people's treatments is that it's a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes things happen so fast but there's always another thing and another thing behind it so I guess we have to pace ourselves and it's ok to stop at the side for a second for a breather and a huddle & pep talk with our support team.0 -
OCDAmy: I use to think the same as you about the cancer. Why me! Why couldn't I have had a small lump with no node involvement. The way I look at it now, is that, I got the chemo to help destroy any lingering cancer cells that may have broken away from the original tumours. The radiation, as my RO explained, is a way to cleanse the area to make sure that all cancer cells are gone. Just because you have cancer in your lymph nodes doesn't mean that others with no node involvement aren't at risk as well. Cancer can also go through the blood vessels. I followed a blog by another woman who had no node involvement and a small tumour but ended up with mets before her chemo was finished. We never really know what's ahead of us. I think cancer is a wake up call to live our lives as best we can each and every day. My Mo said chemo is insurance that it won't come back. There's no guarantee but it does reduce your chances. I know a gal who had cancer thirty five years ago and has been cancer free ever since. A close friend had cancer in her 30's and the prognosis at that time was that she would be dead within a few years. She had her surgery and went about with her life. Her cancer came back 15 years later, she had a mastectomy and is still going strong at 67.
When you had your diagnosis, did they give you a bone scan or CT scan to see if your cancer had spread?
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You are all so very kind, I guess I did need a pick-me-up today as I was feeling sorry for myself. It started with a cousin telling me his wife was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and was asking for some advice. Then he calls to tell me she is having a lumpectomy and rads and that is it. I thought, well then she ain't stage 3, she has an easy road ahead unlike me. I was immediately angry at myself for not being more sympathetic because of course it is devastating to her, not matter the stage. I am a worrier, always have been but am trying not to think that way constantly because I can't continue my life that way. The 2 positive nodes have scared me since the moment the radiologist with the ultrasound thing started moving it into my armpit and looked very serious. The biopsy said 1 node but it ended up being two.
I did have a CT before surgery and it was clear. I understand after rads we just go into "wait and see" mode since my MO doesn't do regular scans. Did anyone find this part difficult? I imagine every little pain is going to set me to worrying again.
Again, thanks for the encouragement.
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I agree with @pink_is_my_colour, usually, according to my doctor and readings, it takes too much time to spread into our body, that's why its rare to diagnose someone with Stage VI from the beginning, so that it's usually not big issues, especially if you did CT scan, bone scan, ultrasound and mamogramming to check all your body and confirm you're clear with no mets. it's easily to detect Mets through this test and also the tumour marker (blood test to measure CA 15.3, CA 125 and CEA ) can initially forcaste if the mets are traveling in your blood or not. all these test should be done before starting your treatment plan. I'm fear like you but at the end we can't do more than reading, asking and waiting. WATING kills you every night because you don't know what the future holds but you shall to fight this feeling. you already in treatment process dear.
HUGS
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Amy: I was apprehensive when they told me I won't be going back for more follow-up visits. I felt pretty lost at that point. Thinking what do I do now. I won't being seeing an MO again according to the RO. From this point on I'll be seeing the RO for mamograms only. I guess I just move on with life. When I had all my scans and biopsies done the indication was that there was no evidence of cancer in any lymph nodes. The surgeon said he doubted that he'd find any and yet, after the lumpectomy, there it was in two of the six. I thought it was a death sentence but the surgeon said no. You're entitled to feel sorry for yourself. We all do. We pick ourselves up, dust off and keep going. Sometimes we need a hand to help us up and that's okay to accept. The past is the past. We can't change it.
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Pink you should be seeing your mo for at least the next 5 years. Who's going to order the letrozole? I'm going to be seeing my Mo for the next 5 years. She's ordered tamoxifen and actually I'm going to be seeing her again in January. The last time I saw her was when I finish my chemo in October. From what I understand I'm going to see her every 3 months for the first year and then every 6 months after that
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Pink I was wondering the same thing too as Tpralph, i should be done my treatment (RADS) by mid January. I have an appointment with my MO in March as well as she had scheduled tests & scans for me. I too will be seeing her every 3 months at first. With respects to my BS I have an appointment scheduled with him around the same time too. I am not sure if I will be seeing him often or not. I also have an appointment scheduled with my RO in April. Ladies seems like hospital visits are so in our future but as long as were are healthy & okay I don't mind seeing all the doctors & doing all the tests. I hope it gets easier for us as time goes on & we get to live & enjoy our lives.
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