2017 Diagnosed-- A Place To Share "Whats Next"
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Tpralph— checking in to see how you are doing. If I remember correctly, you had a doc visit scheduled for the 17 th. Been keeping you in my thoughts, hoping all is well!!
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oceanbum, hope things are going smoothly for you; we have just been away for five wonderfully peaceful and calming days, and now we are home again and back into life. I've resolved to take an hour to myself every day, no matter what is going on or needs to be done, and selfishly do something just for me.
Dodgersgirll, how are you doing after the colonoscopy; sure hope you get a good report on those polyps.
pink_is_my_colour, how scary to be told your medication had to be recalled because of an ingredient. How long have you been taking it? I have been thinking about how to let my body detox by stopping some of my meds for a day or two. I want to try intermittent fasting and I feel I can keep my sugar under control just by being careful what I eat and constant checking sugar. My A1Cs are good. The Insulin especially drives me crazy; there isn't a night that I don't wake up with a pounding headache, so I don;t get enough sleep. My doctor would never agree to this, but I have found that by trying things out on my own and keeping a record of results before I say anything, I have actually gotten her to agree to lower a couple of my meds.
EnRoo,I am glad you have a programme to help you. Wish we had Y.
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53Nancy- your 5 day break sounds heavenly!!
Colonoscopy found 2 very small polyps (which were removed, of course). Dr was so sure all was ok and expected that I wouldn’t have to schedule another colonoscopy for 10 years. However, biopsies diagnosed them both as tubular adinomas which can become cancerous (mine were not) so I get to return in 5 years. No cancer is the good news. Doing this again in 5 years, no big deal in comparison to treatments this last year.
Hope all continues to go well for you!!
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DodgersGirl, SO glad those polyps weren't cancerous, and I do think five years is better than 10 to have it redone; 10 years is so far out! I hope things will settle down for you and you can turn your attention to other things. Have a great day and week and month and year!
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53nancy: I've been taking the med for high blood pressure for a year. When they first recalled this drug they said it was only the one lot but now they're questioning how long this drug has been contaminated. I guess there's a worldwide shortage now for blood pressure medications. There's a class action lawsuit against the five companies involved. What a mess! I'm now on a new drug. I know what you mean about taking the drugs though. My A1C was high after the chemo and radiation. My doctor wanted to increase the dosage but I said no I'd like to try getting it down with diet and exercise. When I went back last month it was down enough to stay on my old dosage. It takes awhile before our bodies return back to normal if ever from the chemo and radiation.I expect some things will never return back to normal but for the most part things are going good for me.
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I guess what's next for me is getting to a new normal in my mind and feeling good about it. This morning I didn't feel so good. I'll be honest I was not devastated when I found that lump. Somehow at that time I did not fear death, nor did I fear losing my breasts as my sister did in 2014. I do think I will die from another cause. I was a candidate for a LX so that's the route I chose. I have LCIS in the other breast-I check them both for any changes especially when I have aches and pains. I don't know if it's from exercise or if it's in my head worrying about something that I can't really do a damn thing about. Sure, I can eat right, quit smoking, but that only lower my odds maybe 1% or even less. I am having just annoying itching and small rash probably still effects of the radiation. The Arimidex is going well but if I sit too long things begin to ache---I had aches before so I am glad I was aware of the SE of this. Moving is helping me greatly, but what about those days when you just want to sit? The aches come, and then all the C thoughts come back. I hate this part. I feel like a huge cry baby for posting this considering everyone else has been through so much more, but after reading some I immediately started to feel better this morning, so thank you for all these inspiring posts!! I do just want to get through this year with nothing more and get to a place where I won't worry about anything UNLESS and UNTIL it happens! Living life, without obsessing over things you can't control.
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ctmbsikia— I think that transitioning from active treatments to monthly hormone pills (if hormone positive) or to fully being done (if hormone negative) is another hard step we all take.
It does seem to get easier as time passes. I find as I return to my life instead of just walking thru all the active treatments, old parts of my life are returning. For example, yesterday we ran errands (all non medical), had a nice lunch with hubby, and saw a movie. With all my hair back, I don’t stand out in public anymore and can feel that anonymity that existed before cancer.
Feel free to vent here or share here as needed.
I sure have learned what’s important in life and don’t sweat the small stuff.
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Dodger that's wonderful getting your hair back and being out and it not including a stop at a medical bldg.!
My daughter and I were away 2 weeks ago and we did call it a cancer vacation. We did a massage and a facial and I was totally relaxed for 5 days. I was just a little shocked that I was feeling how I was mentally/emotionally this morning while achy, I should have known all I had to do was get moving!!! I do think it is a transition from being treated. Now I'm doing follow ups with one doctor, or another 1 appt. every month until 2019, hopefully by then the anxiety about my breasts will be more spread out and that will be better!!
Thanks
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So nice!
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ctmbsikia— such a beautiful photo. I feel like I could reach out and touch the sky.
Hoping for a real vacation this fall. Fingers crossed
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ctmbsikia: The anxiety does lessen as time goes on. For the past twenty years every time I passed by the cancer clinic I was always so glad and hopeful that I would never have to grace the entrance to that place. Then last year I entered that building too many times. Yesterday I had to go and pick up my medication and it felt good to walk through the halls knowing that my treatments were done and that I'm starting to feel normal again. I felt a sense of lightness instead of the dread I had last year when I needed to go there for appointments or treatments. Only three months ago I had to return for my first follow-up appointment and mammogram. I felt anxious about entering the building again. I still think about the "what ifs" but not as often as before. Some days I have to remind myself to be patient because it hasn't even been a year since the last chemo. It takes times to heal.
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Hello everyone!! Just popped in to see how everyone is doing.
53nancy - I'm doing well, thank you for asking. Your 5 days away sound wonderful!! My hubby and I are planning a few days away in Aug and again in Oct. I'm so looking forward to it. The last couple of years have obviously been stressful. So we need some time to just be "us" again and not patients.
DodgersGirl - I feel exactly the same way as you. I now have enough hair to have a short hairstyle. I don't feel like I standout as a cancer patient anymore. I feel like I can blend back into society again!! It's a good feeling!!
ctmbsikia - such a beautiful photo!! We are going to the Smokey Mountains in September for our family vacation. We didn't get a vacation last year due to my diagnosis, treatments & surgery. So I am really looking forward to it this year!!
I'm approaching my 1 year mark since my last chemo!! This Saturday will be that day!! We are going to the Ohio State Fair and seeing a Styx & Cheap Trick concert!! What a difference a year makes!! Last year I was having my last treatment & ringing the bell. This year I'm spending the day at the fair & then seeing 2 bands from my high school days!! I'm so excited I can't stand it!!
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Oceanbum—. Your treatment dates were pretty similar in 2017. My last chemo was 8/16/17 which is 2 weeks from now yet I hadn’t thought about it until your email.
We are planning a vacation later this year. Hope I am up for it. Just doing a full day of errands/chores really wears me out right now. Yuck.
Styx and Cheap Trick sounds great. In 2016 Dennis DeYoung performed at EPCOT. It was great. Of course I had to sing all the songs!!
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Wow, DodgersGirl. I was just looking at your dates. Our dates are VERY close. I've always been such a "anniversary date" person. I've thought about each and every one when they have come up.
I'm so excited about this concert!! I'm giddy like a school girl!! Lol I remember my hubby getting the Paradise Theatre 8-track when we were in high school. We played it all the way to the state basketball championship and all the way home. This was about a 3 hour trip each way!!
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Oceanbum- I thought about the 1yr anniversary of DX, of starting AC, of starting Taxol. But the Aug end of chemo just wasn’t in my thoughts. I suspect it is because on 8/5 of last year, hubby had a heart attack followed by open heart surgery so that is where my dates were focused on.
Glad you posted. I sure want to celebrate being a year out of active treatment
Loved “The Best of Times” and “Too much time on my hands
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My hubby had a heart attack Feb 15th. He had 80% blockage in the front artery. They did the heart cath & put in a stint. He was in ICU for 2 1/2 days.
I hope your hubby is doing well!!
I love "Too Much Time on My Hands" & "Renegade". My daughters played "Renegade" in their high school marching band. It was my favorite of their shows & their favorite song all the years they marched. They chose it as their Senior favorite. She told me I HAVE to video it for her!!
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Oceanbum & Dodgersgirl - I was just checking in since it's been a while since I've visited this thread and my husband also suffered a mild heart attack at work in July last year... the day before my birthday. He ended up getting a stent put in as well. This happened on day 5 after my 1st infusion so I was in no shape to drive to the hospital to be with him. Luckily he had friends and coworkers that visited with him and kept me posted.
About 3 months ago he was feeling chest pains. He underwent anither procedure to check the stent and it was all clear thank God. He just has to take it easy. But he's not one to sit still so I have to remind him that we both need to take the time to rest.
I haven't caught up with everyone on here, but I hope everyine is doing well. I got my port out about a month ago, and a clear mammo a few weeks before that.i also haven't had any major side effects with Tamoxifen... So life is slowly getting back to normal.
Is there anyone here that has to do an ultrasound as part of their regular screening? I'm thinking about requesting one since the mammo doesn't always find cancer especially in those of us with dense tissue.
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sunnyjay—. I don’t have an answer to your question. Hope someone else does.
One year ago today was dh’s open heart surgery. So much to go thru in 2017.
Life moves on though. We were sure ready to kick 2017 to the curb and embrace a new year!
Glad your hubby and you are doing well!!
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sunnyjay, regarding the dense breasts -
In the last months I've had to have a bunch of imaging on my supposedly healthy breast (which showed something 'suspicious' & I ended up needing a biopsy yesterday) but the thing is - I had 3 different radiology techs tell me to push my doctor to send me for MRIs. I'm still mulling this as I do not like the idea of false positives but when I mentioned this one of my techs, she promptly said "in your case & with your history, false positive is better than missing it"(fwiw, the thing they biopsied showed on mammo but did not show at all on the ultrasound)
You might be interested in this website if you aren't already familiar with it https://www.areyoudense.org/
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sunnyjay- I asked my BS for an ultrasound to go with my upcoming mammo because of “extremely dense breasts” and she said better to do a screening mri because ultrasound is only good when they know where to look.
I had my mri last Monday and got the “all clear” on Saturday. 😊
Moth- hope you’re recovering well from your biopsy. Fingers crossed for good results!
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moth—. Hope your biopsy results are benign
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I've had a lot of experience with ultrasounds, mammos and mris. I have dense large breasts. It's my understanding you can have an MRI if your doctor orders one. So ask him. The hospital where you get the MRI should pre-approved with your insurance. You have to get an IV for a breast MRI and when I had mine they would never use my port for it.
Then if there's something suspicious on the MRI, they will ultrasound that specific area. But the breast is too much area to ultrasound the whole area looking for something that might or might not be there.
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Oh, and Sunny, you said you just had a mammogram recently? Sometimes the insurance won't approve an MRI so soon unless there's a reason for it. If it's just a screening, ask your doc. if in around six months or a year, however your screening time frames are being managed, you could have an MRI instead of the mammogram or in addition to the mammogram.
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Dodgersgirl - yes, life goes on! 2018 has been a year of recovery for both of us and embracing a new normal. My current frustration: bad hair days... haha I don't know how to style short, wavy hair. I've had straight longer hair most of my life and hate having to use styling products just to get it to look presentable. But at least my hair is growing back, and for that I am grateful!
moth & cpeachymom - thank you both for your input! I don't see my MO for another 2 months so I'll put that on my list of things to discuss. I think an MRI would be better since that is how DCIS was discovered, in addition to the IDC that was revealed through the ultrasound. If my BS didn't order the MRI, he would've only done a lumpectomy for the IDC tumor and I would probably still have DCIS lingering in that breast!
moth - hope the biopsy is clear!
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one year ago today was my last IV Taxol Chemo. Fingernails weirdness is almost all grown out. Hair is starting to touch my shirts in back. I am sleeping all night thru.
Hoping everyone is doing well
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Congrats Dodgers Girl!! Doesn't it feel good to be able to say that? My fingernail weirdness is almost grown out, too. One more stubborn nail to go!! Lol My hair is cut in an actual haircut!! One that I like!! I'm not sleeping thru the night, though. But it's more the dogs getting me up than anything!! They got used to that middle of the night bathroom break and don't want to give it up!! Lol
My last Chemo was a year ago Aug 4 so I'm just a little ahead of you. I finished up my Herceptin treatments in May. I saw my plastic surgeon & my breast surgeon today. They both said "See you in a year!!" That felt so good!! I still see the oncologist in November and I start survivorship appointments later this month. But I feel things slowly beginning to get back to "normal"!!
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Yay, Dodgersgirl! You have been such a friend to me and to all of us really -- wishing you the very best!
Moth, thinking of you and hope all goes well. And I do hope everyone finds some reason to celebrate this summer. I was diagnosed Labor Day last year so am determined to enjoy myself. We went to Maine to visit a friend two weeks ago (heaven!) and next Friday I will see my sister and brother in Dallas.
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Georgia1– so nice to hear from you!! Your vacation sounds really nice!! I am hoping to take a vacation this fall.
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Hey 2017 peeps - I feel like such a straggler in this group since my stuff just started in Dec 2017... At this point it looks like I'm going to finish treatments Sep 10, 2018, almost exactly 9 months later. It's like a weird pregnancy - birthing a healthy me, I guess LOL
My biopsy on the right breast came back negative - yay! Thx for the good wishes, Georgia0 -
moth, that’s great news!! Congrats
Sept 10th is right around the corner. You have this!!
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