June 2017 Surgery Group
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excellent news illimae!! I felt some pulling with the second one and it was long also but honestly because you've dealt with it for so long, you aren't going to feel it and will most likely run out of the office in celebration!
Good luck!
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Illimae --you are amazing that you tolerated this for so long ! The drain removal isnt going to hurt at all, its going to be a blessed relief! If you are nervous take a dose of your pain med of choice an hour before your appt ( i took tylenol ahead of time, but i didnt feel any pain !)
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Thanks for the encouragement! And I tolerate a lot by nature, I think it's he key to my happiness, lol. Things could always be worse.
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Got my drain out, happy dance!
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Woooohooooo congrats
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yay!! Woohoo!!! Drains out and ready to party!
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I'm so excited for you Illimae! Freedom!
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so happy for you Illimae. Boy do you have grit!,
Wonderful news teaspoons.
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I got my 2 out and 2 more to go so far no infection and scars look pretty good. Did anyone get their port in your arm?
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popping in to say hi ... and Illimae, I'm so happy for you getting that last drain out!!!!
For you gals that went through chemo before surgery, do you recall how long it took for your hair to "finish" falling out on your head??? Mine was buzzed super short and starting really coming out at day 16. I'm now at Day 22 and it's still patchy, painful and coming out in the shower. (And in dinner.... so now I'm wearing hats even at home
. I just want it gone now!!! (I echo what others have said... joining the chemo group has been super helpful! I'm in the July group.
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Thanks everyone, I am super excited!
Mucki, I've heard of ports in the arm but don't know the reason for choosing one location over another, mine is in my chest.
Jenruns, I buzzed mine too but it never completely fell out, my guess is that around 30% remained. I'm a blonde so it blended in with my head. I keep my eyebrows and lashes until the last few weeks, then suddenly gone.
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Awesome news, illimae!! Celebration time
FL Buckeye93 - thanks for the input about osteoarthritis. I will have to mention it. I'm not sure what drug I will be taking after chemo, since I'm on the cusp of menopause - no period since February. But I'm also BRCA2 positive and will have to get my ovaries out at some point anyway.
I feel much better today. A little queasy this morning but overall pretty good. I sent an email yesterday that I wanted to meet with a pain management specialist, and they scheduled an appointment for me today. They are wonderful about coordinating care and getting scheduled ASAP. Met with him today and he was wonderful. He specializes in cancer pain management, and spent an hour an a half with me, talking about all of the different treatment options. He believes in Post mx pain syndrome and said he would not give up. So it was a huge relief to find another awesome doctor!!
Been pretty emotional today for some reason - lots of weeping. My baby daughter will be heading off to college for the first time in a couple of weeks. She has been my personal cook, driver, shopper and Netflix mate. I'm just so sad but trying to hide it from her because I don't want her to worry or change her plans. I want her to move forward with her life. It just stinks!! Thanks for letting me vent.
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Hang in there teaspoons. Sending them off is emotional even without the cancer hanging over you. It's ok to be emotional.
Congrats Illimae!!! It's been a long draining road for you!👍🏼
Jenruns. I still had very sparse hair on the back of my head throughout. It started growing back around week 6 of taxol. It had come back mostly grey or salt and pepper. It is extremly short but I dont wear my scarf at home anymore and have just started going out a bit in public without it if I'm hot. It's no not pretty but I I really don't care anymore. I'm 8 weeks out.
I tried to wear a very soft training type bra today and lasted about a half hour. It was so uncomfortable after going so long without a bra. Guess it will take time to get back into that. Although RO said better to go bra less anyway. Maybe I'll try again in September. Lol
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Lego, you're 8 weeks out from completing chemo? If so, you have a lot of hair. I finished Abraxane on 5/29 and this is all I have to show for it so far.
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My last chemo was June 8th. It started growing back while I was still getting taxol though. I am (was) blonde though. Like toe head blonde as a child. Not sure what I think about the grey. I'm sure yours will start growing in quick. I just use baby wash on my hair and body. Not sure if that matters though. So are you feeling like a free woman without your drains???
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Lego, I'm blonde too but it's coming back dark, I don't mind, I get what I get. And yes, I'm loving being drain free, I slept great last night!
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lego yoru have amazing hair! Thats a lot of hair for eight weeks out from chemo. Great pixie style
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iIllimae - Congratulations on your drain removal
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Illimae - wow - your eye color is so pretty! I'm so glad you slept last night!
Legomaster -I like how you're wearing it tousled.
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Thanks all. I am grateful for what I have, even if it is very different . I don't really know any other way to do it other that tousled for now. SBKH.
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Illimae --you have beautiful eyes! ---beautiful eyes to match your inner beautiful attitude!
A
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Thanks ladies for the compliments, that isn't even a very good pic of eye color. Honestly, it is my most commented on asset but I never get tired of hearing it, lol.
And I feel such a sense of accomplishment having the drain out that I almost feel like I should be crowned the winner of something. I'll take my bow now, thank you all.
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you ladies are all beautiful and brave. It is wonderful to see you all advancing in the fight and winning. Love to you all.
Still a waiting game for me. Trying to learn about ER+ and PR-. Apparently it is different. Trying to figure out if chemo is safe for a 70 yo early stage diabetic. It is amazing how much they just leave up to you . Waiting for the Mamaprint.
Hugs to you al
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Susan, I too am ER+/PR-, which typically means they'll want is supressed by tamoxifen or an AI. As for chemo, the taxanes are widely used, usually taxotere or taxol but there is a 3rd option, Abraxane. It has the same ingredient as the other two but instead of being mixed with a chemical solvent, it's mixed with albumin (human protein). It's considered by many to be a kinder chemo and works very well. It's more expensive and insurance wouldn't cover it until I tried and failed the other two first but there are option. Good luck with all the choices before you
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Hi June Warriors! Lots happening here!
Had my 3rd weekly chemo Friday. Few body aches this afternoon but so far so good. Think I'm going to join the July chemo group. Still have hair, but day 16 - JenRuns, hope it doesn't come out today. Got a wig, 3 hats & a head cover just in case. Wig for school & the others for whenever. My brother bought me a hat that says "bad hair day"on it. Got to laugh & have some fun with this!
SBKH - Diet. MO said no refined sugar - it causes inflammation especially in the lungs & provides a place for bc to reoccur. Everything else like illimae said. Walking/exercising is tough & I'm pushing through it a couple of days a week.
Teaspoons - my bone density scan in March showed some bone loss. My Vit D level was also very low - 17 - before starting chemo so the MO said for me to have my endocrinologist to keep up with both of them during chemo as it would cause me to lose more bone mass.
Legomaster & S12Clear - reaching for the stars feels great! & Illimae - getting the last drain out is the best part of all of this!! Think my last one stayed in so long because I did all the exercises they told me to. But now, I can reach for the stars, too - even with my right arm with the lymph node dissection.
On venting - think that is a great part of this group - the freedom to vent & be understood. My daughter is a teacher & getting married Nov. 4th. She was with me at the hospital & for a week after, but now she needs to have a happy fall & enjoy the time leading up to the wedding. Not that I will keep it all from her, but if I have some really bad days, probably won't tell her. BTW, my future son's mom died last summer from cervical cancer so they've been down this road.
Idon'thavetimeforthis - have you made a decision about implants/flaps? My TE's are fully expanded - not totally comfortable, but like that I fit my clothes with no bra. But will have to have radiation & know that it can damage the one breast so I'd either have to have them taken out & go without, have an implant on one & a flap on the other or do both with the back flaps. Doe's anyone have any suggestion or thoughts? I know I'm not doing the stomach flap - too much for me.
Everyone, please take care & have a great week,
Karen
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ourray/Karen - wow you are amazing for keeping up with all this! I agree about the venting. Totally helpful. Thanks for the info on the sugar. For years I've lived on sugar - like most of my diet is sugar. My mom is an internal medicine doc and lives on sugar and she says she doesn't believe sugar causes problems - but she has fatty liver and autoimmune disease so she's probably wrong. I can't seem to quit it. I ate a LOT of cake today. Every day I get up and want to quit and then I forget. And then I'm like oh my gosh, I've eaten sugar for a month after getting a breast removed - what is wrong with me? In the meantime, I'm considering getting the other one removed prophylactically. It's had several biopsies already and I think I just need to be done with this. I didn't quite understand it was an option to have both removed because my surgeon kept saying "mastectomy" and I thought she meant unilateral and just found out she meant bi-lateral. So when I found that out I was like, "great - let's do the other one." and then she questioned my mental stability for not having understood I could do both upfront and wondered what was wrong that I could have been so confused. And now I'm too embarrassed to ask her further about it. She also brought up that I might want plastic surgery for an implant for the one removed and made it sound like if I was doing that - then she'd consider doing the right side at that time. Like I'm mental for not wanting implants. But I was less than an A cup, so flat is just fine with me. This whole week has been so upsetting due do that. I'm a very practical, analytical person and it hurt my feelings a lot to have her questioning me like that. Thanks for letting me vent!
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SBKH --you are the patient and its the doctors job to explain!!! Do not be upset!!! When you hve a problem in one breast and the doctor says mastectomy, its logical to assume that it means mastectomy of that breast --and thats what you took away. Are you a mind reader to assume that when she says mastectomy she means bilateral ?? The doctor needs to be crystal clear
My doctors always said mastectomy and i took it to mean that it referred to just unilateral and said i wanted mastectomy. Then they assumed that it meant bilateral ( probably because so many women choose bilateral ). It got so that i went around telling all of them that I only wanted one breast gone!
Its the surgeons job to make these things clear ---she does this all the time. You are not the expert she is ---you logically assumed that mastectomy referred to the breast with the diagnosis .
Please vent, but dont you be embarrassed !!!
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SBKH, I like sugar too but I wasn't told to eliminate it completely just greatly reduce. Instead of sugar in coffee, stevia was recommended (the tastetakes getting used to) and instead of Honey Nut Cheerios for when I'm in a hurry, I bought the less sugar regular cheerios and add honey myself. Little things like that can help reduce what you take in and make you more mindful.
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Hi Ladies. I just got back from a glorious weekend in the mountains again. What a retreat.
So I guess my MO makes his calls on Sunday evening so there it was. It seems my Mamaprint came back high risk. So looks like I am now in the chemo group. So my problem is my increasingly uncontrolled diabetes. The way I knew I had blood sugar problems was the terrible pain in my feet and legs. So even the early stages I was developing neuropathy. I am on a strict no sugar low carb diet and after 1 and one half years it slowly cleared up. Lately my numbers are creeping up( since diagnosis) and add the Arimidex and it is back in full force. So I told him I was terrified of more and permanent neuropathy if I took taxotere. He agreed and wants me to take CMF. When I was practicing pharmacy back in the 70's I used to prepare these drugs for people. Interestingly this is an old protocol that Sloan Kettering has started using again. I hope it works for me.
I so agee about needing to watch the sugar. I am sure that a high glycemic load is not good for our bodies at this time. Just saying.
I am praying daily for all,of,us. Hang in there and thank you ladies who are already doing or have done chemo. Your courage is inspiring and helps me to face this new bend in the road
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Hi Again
SBKH it is not you. Our shared surgical office is fast and furious. They are excellent surgeons but the patient education part is clear as mud. I may be back with you after chemo as I too don't want to do this again, ever.
Illimae, thanks for the info on Abraxan. I'm going to mention it to my MO this week when I see him.
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