Ladies in their 40s
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blue - such great news that it is not cancer! I do not know about papillomas, but I heard it mentioned on other threads, I believe under "benign conditions" threads.
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yay...blue!!! I am so happy to hear this. such a wonderful news!!!
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im learning bits and pieces here and there about it....im leaning towards removal of it for my peace of mind.
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Hello ladies!
Thought I'd check in - some great info here! I am 48 and diagnosed with IDC Stage 2a last month. Currently waiting on Oncotype results to see if chemo is recommended - should here this week or next. The whole thing is still so surreal to me since I am very healthy and active and have no family history at all (of any type of cancer). I just want to throw everything at this to try to ensure that it nevers come back!!!!
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dfroberts,
Waiting is the hardest part. The oncho test will be a great help in you deciding what to do.
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dfroberts, sorry you've had to join. Your circumstances are very similar to mine. My maiden name is Roberts, also. Ha. Hope your oncotype comes back low! I'll be sending positive thoughts and prayers.
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So nice to find this thread with ladies in similar life situations. I was diagnosed in July 2012 at age 40 with synchronous bilateral breast cancer. I had 4 tumors, 2 in each breast, which the doctors said arose independently. Had bilateral mastectomy in Aug 2012 followed by chemo. Had many infections and hospitalizations during tx. In Nov 2012 was hospitalized with febrile neutropenia and pneumonia for 8 days. Missed my daughter's 12th birthday and Thanksgiving and later found out my liver and kidneys and started to shut down. Had full hysterectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy in July 2013. Then in September 2013 was hospitalized for a staph infection in my left chest at the site of one of my mastectomies. Spent 9 days in hospital, had 2 debridement surgeries, and then 2 months on homecare with a hole in my chest and a wound vac. My oncologist became afraid to treat me because I had so many complications. I am currently having throbbing bone pain, especially at night and am looking for a new oncologist. My daughter was 11 at my diagnosis and is a cancer survivor herself, having had Burkitt's Lymphoma at age 4 1/2. She underwent 9 rounds of high dose chemo and multiple surgeries. She is now 13, is 9 years in remission and a competitive tennis player. She has been through so much in her life already and has to deal with me being sick all the time. I am very worried, as I am sure many of you are about your own children, about her future. I want to be her to see her grow up and help her along the way. She is a great kid and does not deserve to have to go through all this. My husband and soul mate has been supportive and great through all of this too, but I think we are all nearing our breaking points.
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Wow Tennis Mom....How are things now? I also had febrile neutropenia (15 days in hospital). Age 40 at dx. So happy to hear that your daughter is doing well.
Michelle
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TennisMom,
I am so sorry for all you had to go through. It is wonderful that your daughter is now in remission, but so sorry she had to endure cancer treatment at such a young age. Our hope and wish for all of us is to see our children grow up and be there for them for the important moments in their lives.
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wow tennisMom if someone has endoured a lot it certainly has been you. I do hope your journey is coming to a peak soon. Glad your daughter is in the clear. Kids have a way of being able to handle a lot. It's too bad that she has to see you go through this, however if anyone would understand what your going through it will be her. Hugs to you and your family.
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Thank you for all your nice comments!This was my first post and it really does help to feel less alone.
Michelle - 15 days is a long time to be in the hospital! Wow. It is funny we were diagnosed at the same age. I have been having bone pain for the past 2 months and will be having some tests to determine the cause. How are you doing now?
Do you all do any tests or scans for regular followup other than blood tests or only if you have symptoms?
YoungTurkNY - So true. How old are your children? I hope that we will all be around long enough to watch our children grow up and give them a good start in life.
GoneIn40 - Yes, kids are resilient, but it would be nice if they didn't have to deal with such serious issues while so young. Do you have children? If so, how are they coping? Are you all finished with chemo? How are you doing? I know it took me several months to feel myself again.
Thanks again for replying to my post. Nice to meet you all.
Jennifer
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Tennis mom, I am so sorry to hear about what you are going through. My thoughts are with you and hope the bone pain is easily resolved for you once you find out what is causing it. I am happy to hear your daughter is doing so well. I have a five year old and a three year old and I couldn't imagine them having to go through something like that. I am going through radiation now so I don't know what kind of follow up tests I'll have once all treatments are complete. I am also curious to hear what tests others have on a regular basis.
Hope you all have a nice weekend!!
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Lina999. Your children are so young. Those are such fun ages! I am so sorry you have to go through treatment during this time. Are you fully recovered from your surgery? My current doctors only do blood tests (regular, no tumor markers) and will not do any scans unless symptoms. They don't do mammograms since I have nothing left on my chest. I have read on this site of some ladies having regular scans. I think it may depend on what your insurance allows in addition to what your oncologist wants or orders. In my case, I am at high risk for recurrence/mets and would feel more confident if I could have a pet scan once a year.
Thank you for writing and best wishes for a speedy recovery and great summer with your kids.
Jennifer
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Tennis Mom, I had to have antibiotics administered through IV every 8 hours. Instead of sending me home (and having to go back to the hospital during the night for one of the daily IV's), they kept me in. I had my own room with a big window....pretty "relaxing" time for a mom with a 3 and 5 year old (at the time)....gotta look at the silver lining!
I finished chemo on Sept 15, 2012 and had weird aches and pains until just a few months ago. Still have some strange aches in my spine but they are showing up less and less frequently. I blame it all on the treatments .Are you having a bone scan or blood tests?
I am doing great now. I still think about BC everyday but not in the same way. Now, I think "wow...I can't believe that happened...." and the thought kind of just dissipates...My 7 years old asked me just the other day if I remembered not having any hair....he then became teary. I just hope those thoughts fade for them too.
Keep us updated!
Michelle
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jenn I do have children. Three girls as a matter of fact,27 25 19. My children being so much older have not had that bad of effect except for them coming to my last treatment. Call me strange but, my kids were sheltered from my treatments. I did not want them dwelling on me. I am a very strong woman and didn't want them taking any time off from work to take me to treatments. I managed to go with my sister every treatment and my DH. I didn't want to berdan them with the grief of the cancer clinic. Each to their own I know. What works for one might be the right choice for others. Don't get me wrong my kids helped me in different ways. Cleaned when I couldn't. Cooked when I didn't feel like it. And so on. I left it up to them. Being adults and one in school I felt it was important to concentrate on themselves while I focused on myself getting what I needed to do to get better. My father died of cancer so they are not oblivious to it. I'm sorry that your daughter had to deal with this disease twice , but I do hope that this is the start of a new journey for you and your family. Here's hoping they discover what your bone pain is all about soon. Hugs. Debi
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Hi Michele - I can't imagine having 2 toddlers during tx! So glad to hear you are doing great now. I did have a bone scan last week. It does not look like typical bone mets which is good, but it could be (rarely) diffuse mets, mets in bone marrow, or an endocrine disorder (more common). The scan shows tracer uptake on front and back of my skull, my spine, both tibias, and both feet. It is symmetric and looks just like a scan I saw in a paper on hyperparathroidism (HPT). Interestingly, there is a thread here on this topic and in the literature there are correlations between HPT and breast cancer. Also my bloodwork came back abnormal. My ALP increased 53 pts since Feb and in the high range now. My potassium is low and a few other things. My doctor said to followup with my oncologist, but I need to find a new one first. I havn't seen one in over a year. And based on what I have read, I want to see an endocrinologist too. Since bone scans are sensitive, but not specific or diagnostic, I need to have more tests done. I hope you continue to do well and enjoy your little ones. They grow up so fast.
Debi - I tried to shelter my daughter as much as I could too. She ended up practically living with some close friends and their family during my tx. I wanted to protect and let her live more carefree childhood, but she ended up worrying a lot anyway. Thank you for your support and comments. Warm hugs to you too.
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Hi everyone. This is my first post to this board. I've been all over in different topics since I was diagnosed in December 2012. I just happened to come across this one tonight.
I'm 42 and was 41 at diagnosis. It was shocking to say the least as I'm sure it was with all of you. I have 2 boys, one of which is now 16 and the youngest is 12. I too kept them sheltered from it all. I didn't want them to have to worry. During chemo, my husband would take them off on the weekends while I passed out for hours. I drug myself to work everyday just like always and never let them see me without a wig or hat. I just couldn't stand the thought of them seeing me look sick and have that image seared into their heads.
I too think about breast cancer every day still. Not as often each day, but still every single day. I always think about the one positive node that wouldn't show up on any of the scans but yet, it had a 4mm macromet. I'm sure the chemo and radiation did their jobs but still...I think of recurrence often. I had to have a full hysterectomy and oophyrectomy 5 weeks ago. I was on edge waiting for the biopsy results from that. I was so worried it was cancer but it was all benign. Just a bunch of fibroids bad endometriosis. Now, I have my 6 month follow up mammogram next week and I'm starting to get a little anxious about it. I think it will always be this way. I think we will always feel uneasy when it comes to health issues that arise or tests or procedures because you just never know.
~Lori
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LW,
Welcome to the thread.
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I was diagnosed August 2013 at 41 years old with breast cancer and February 2014 with thyroid cancer. I am a single mother of 4 and 6 years old kids. I have pmps and lymphodema in my arms. My thyroid was removed four weeks ago and I need radiation for it. Overall it's been a very tough journey. I need Lexapro and Lunestra to sleep otherwise I am too anxious to relax. I hope that as time passes things will improve for me so I can be the best I can for my kids.
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Beatrice - it sounds like you've really had a rough time with no real break. Was your thyroid cancer considered a separate occurrence or was it your bc that had metastasized? I haven't slept without a sleep aid in a long time. It's actually klonipin and does wonders for anxiety, if people can make it through without drugs, that's great but I couldn't. Taking the edge off just a bit does help cope. I hope things start to smooth out for you soon.
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Hi Lori. Looks like you were diagnosed 5 months after I was. How was your mammogram? Hope all is clear and you are recovering from your hysterectomy. I had mine last July. It took quote a while for the hot flashes and things to calm dowm. My doctor prescribed Effexor and that really helped.
Hi Beatrice. I hope you are feeling better. I think it takes several months for the body and mind to calm down after surgery, chemo, etc. I didn't really feel ok until about 6 months after completing chemo. And to have another cancer so close to your first diagnosis --- within the same year and having two small kids. That is a lot to deal with. But, it does get better as time passes. One day you realize that you are not thinking about it as often and are able to do some of the things with your kids that you just didn't have energy for....
Hang in there!
Jennifer
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Hi Jennifer. My mammogram is this Thursday so the anxiety is still building. All is well after the hysterectomy, so far just a few hot flashes mainly at night. If I can get part his mammogram with a thumbs up, I'll be feeling pretty good. I get so anxious the weeke before!
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Hi Lori,
Any news on your mammogram? Just thinking about you and hoping things are ok. Take care. Jennifer
PS - I have an MRI on my spine this coming Saturday to find out what is causing my lower back pain.
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I am having a hard time with the nightly hot flashes. The lack of sleep makes me grouchy and that is so not me. Help! How long does chemo pause give hot flashes?
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I just realized that was my pre-chemo pic. Life can change so quickly,
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Hi, clear mammogram in June and I felt a lump in January 2014. Core needle biopsy found 2.8 cm tumor of triple negative invasive DCI with accompanying DCIS in left b. Ultrasound showed the second lump. You can imagine with my extremely dense breasts that I'm no longer a fan of the mammogram for me.
Four rounds AC done and just had number 10 of taxol with third dose of carboplatin. Two transfusions equalling 4 units of blood, port infected once and one delay due to low platelets. During chemo I've made it to my boot camp at least three days a week.
Surgery is the next chapter for me. Two lumps will most likely lead to at least a simple mastectomy but I'm leaning toward a double because of the nature of the cancer and honestly, I'm turning 50 in December and think a matched pair would be nice. I will have lots of questions for the doctors, including recurrence in the other breast.
Forgot to mention, married 21 years and sending my oldest son off to college in August while I'm recovering from some kind of surgery. My younger boy is starting high school next month.
Nice to meet all of you!
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Hey Goldie, Im with you. How much longer do I have to endure these blasted hot flashes. They are awful. Its been 2 years since I had my bmx so I guess its been about 1 and a half years since I started chemo and was put in chemopause. Im 44 now and look like Im 60 and will be sweating perfusely by 9am at work. lol Good Luck0 -
membee, I am 44 also. Do you sleep through the night? The flashes wake me every hour. I should be super skinny becuase I sweat and sweat. Not sleeping is working on me.
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Goldie, I just turned 43 and have been getting hot flashes for about a month now (they started around round 3 of TCH chemo). I have had trouble sleeping through the night even before I started chemo, so I'm not sure I can blame that on night sweats. Taking Melatonin does nothing for me. Two Percocet usually can put me out, but that's not a great solution for regular sleeping. Tylenol PM and similar meds also help. My next step is to try an over the counter sleep aid.
My MO said there are drugs we can try to reduce the hot flashes, but only if it becomes really problematic. She mentioned a low dose version of meds usually given for blood pressure and for depression that can sometimes help with hot flashes. You may want to ask your oncologist about these.
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When I was going thru hot flashes, my MO wanted to give me anti-depressants to help with them, but I didn't want what he was offering, so the next drug on the table was gabapentin or something like that, its really an anti-siezure med, but it works great on the hot flashes and didn't have any other SE that I was aware of. Worth talking to your dr about. I went from waking up several times a night with soaking wet sheets to waking once just over heating but not sweeting yet
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