2017 Diagnosed-- A Place To Share "Whats Next"
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Oh DodgersGirl, what a drag! I sure hope you have a good laptop, or a big-ass hospital TV, where you can watch some mood-lightening beach vacation shows. I also hope the new drug is taking effect and that you get sprung soon.
And Moth, geez I'm so sorry. I will be sending good thoughts radiating out to each of you in hopes things improve real soon, even if it's just increasing faith in your treatment plans and some quick benefits from the drug cocktails we all know and (don't) love.
Meanwhile it is rainy and cold here, so I'm planning a Mardi Gras party for my office to show that Spring is on its way. It's more for me than for my colleagues, honestly, but everybody has their own coping mechanism...much love to you!
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Georgia1– still in the hospital. Sigh. I believe the Welchol is helping a lot and hope I won’t need to take it for very long.
Tonight I get to sleep without an IV pushing fluids around the clock. Looking forward to that!
There is not a lot more to be done other than waiting fir the bowel to heal from rads. Painfully slow process.
No laptop.... just cell phone. I did watch an evening of Beachfront Bargain Hunt. The beach scenes were so pretty!!!
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Glad to hear there is some relief for you tonight - sleep makes everything a bit easier to take.
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Hi DodgersGirl❣️
Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a couple months ahead of you on our cancer journeys. I'll shorten a very long story and just share the basics tonight.
November 2016: Dx IDC stage II, grade 2
January 2017: Surgery: lumpectomy — declined other treatment.
September 2019: sudden onset horrible hip pain.
November 2019: Dx severe hip fracture and IDC restaged to IV with distant metastasis — bone mets only — acetabulum.
December 2019: completed 15 rounds RADs acetabulum — nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue during RAD and for several weeks after.I'm sad you've having a rough go and hope these issues get better for you very soon.
j
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ByHisGraceTwice—. Nice to “meet” you. Glad you posted here.
Hope your broken bone heals quickly.
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DodgersGirl — Hope you had a good night and are feeling better this morning. Happy Valentine’s hug to you.
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I am HOME!! Hope the meds I have keep the Big D manage
Can’t wait to sleep in my bed tonight
I am sore though. Ankles are swollen from 24/7 fluids with salt. And my left shoulder is very sore. Can hardly move my left arm. MO thinks it could be from hospital bed. Hope he is right.
Wednesday I have CT scan and nuclear bone scan. No rest for the wicked. It will be my baseline scans as I have never had a bone scan.
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WOOT!!! That's great news, DodgersGirl! Sink into that bed, and enjoy every moment. Here's hoping the fluid retention in your ankles is short-lived, and that your sore shoulder is happier in your own bed. Home, sweet home!
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Yes!! Happy to hear this, DodgersGirl! Rest well! You deserve it. Hope the scans go easy for you. Is your diet restricted still?
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DodgersGirl: so glad you're out of the hospital. Hope you're getting a good nights sleep.
I'm not sleepy, so I edited my first post and read more of this thread. I learned we also have recurring skin cancer in common.
I'd had many basal and squamous cell carcinoma growths removed through the years, but just before Christmas it was Melanoma. WoW — things moved lightening fast. When my dermatologist called on Friday with the Dx, she’d already made for me a 7 am Monday appointment with the Skin Cancer Surgeon. Not what I thought I'd be doing on December 23.
Clean margins — the surgeon took no chances. The freckle was smaller than a pencil eraser. The incision was 6" x 2" ... 23 stitches. Thankful it was Stage I.
The Melanoma growth did not appear on the PET scan I'd had two weeks earlier. It met the size parameters. Made me wonder — what else is there that didn't show?
moth: I'm sad you also have a metastasis Dx. Be kind to yourself as you absorb the enormity of this new development.
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Wow, glad your surgeon got it all out! Skin issues are hard. My son has had many moles removed and genetic testing already and he's only 20. Thankfully nothing genetic, he just needs to be diligent as one mole came back rare.
Glad you're home DG. Hopefully the ankle swelling will go down soon. I'll bet your backside is sore from wiping 8 million times this week also. Do you have to continue with the huge potassium pills at home? I'm jumping in your pocket fir your scans this week. I never had any full body scans either. I asked several times. Drs said it wasn't needed. Personally, I think something is probably there and I just don't know yet. Maybe that is ok?.? Maybe I'm better off not knowing until it bothers me.
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Legomaster225– I only had to take the potassium horse pills that one day. There was potassium in the IV fluids, too
Had a nurse tell me later that the horse pills are 20 mg. And that there is also a 10 mg dosage that I could ask for next time. Easier to swallo
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just wanted to wave hello to you all. Still recovering from the week in the hospital. Ankles are still swollen but much better than a few days ago. Shoulder still very sore. Ready for Ibrance to do its thing and lessen the pain.
Wednesday is a CT scan and my first bone scan. Hope they don’t require my arms over my head. Not sure I can do that right now.
Bed still feels wonderful at night. Hate to get out of bed in the mornings
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Waving Hello Dodgers! You “sound” a little better, hope things continue to improve.
Today is mammo day for me. 🤮 First one since my implant, kinda nervous about that.
Good luck tomorrow!
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Good luck today CPeachymom and tomorrow DG. Testing is always difficult emotionally. I'm in your pockets
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cpeachymom— hope all is well with the mammo.
I learned today that I will have one less CT scan tomorrow since I had the pelvic/abdomen CT in the hospital last week.
Will be glad when tomorrow’s 3 appointments are over
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waving back at you, DodgersGirl. Wishing you well tomorrow...
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moth
How are you doing? Been thinking about you too.
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Prayers for your MO appt today moth. Hope they can get some answers for you too
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Hi everyone, thx for thinking of me. I've been a mess. lung biopsy yesterday. darned people would not give me any ativan, just a local. I'm so tired of this. everyone looks at me and says 'oh she's fine, she doesn't need anything'. when I was in clinical as a student nurse I was handing out ativan and xanax like tick tacks because so many people had standing orders for it but somehow i don't ever look like i need them.
fwiw, the lung biopsy was not actually painful at all, just emotionally draining and long because they keep you there for hours after, doing repeat chest xrays on the hour, to make sure the lung hasn't collapsed after being stabbed. Also, I saw the mass on the CT scan computer display and it is very large
I still haven't had the bone scan (we had a stat holiday here on Monday so that made scheduling things extra difficult) and I don't think she'll have anything from the lung pathology so I'm not sure how much of a detailed plan we'll get today but her office said to keep the appointment anyway.
& I have to have a mammogram this afternoon! It feels silly to do it - we know that horse has left the barn already - but whatever. It was booked a few months ago and the MO said to keep the appt.I'm so limp. I alternate between sleeping, watching tv and playing games on my phone. It takes all my energy to get up to go pee. If people weren't here to bring me food and drive me to appointments I'd have done none of it. I would have just hidden in bed.
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Moth— so glad to hear from you!
Also glad the biopsy didn’t hurt but sorry they did not provide Ativan for you.
I had my bone scan today. It was a piece of cake. So don’t worry much about that test.
Hope you get a plan setup soon.
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moth- I’m glad it wasn’t painful, but not glad you had to go through it at all. Limp- that’s a descriptive word that says a lot. Sending strength your way. FWIW- I would absolutely be skipping that mammo! What IS IT with these doctors and mammograms?!
Dodgers- glad your testing went well. Small victories, right?
My mammo with implant sucked twice as much as a normal mammo, but all clear after extra images. Blood work and Zoladex injection Friday. It’s just a fun week!
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Cpeachy, sorry about the miserable mamm but glad it's over. Moth and Dodger's, it all sounds like too damn much and Moth, the hiding in bed thing seems perfectly reasonable and sane to me. I hope you all can catch a break somewhere, somehow.
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I'm really sorry moth Your feelings are totally understandable given what you are dealing with right now. Hopefully the biopsy will give you some news and you can work out a plan with your doctors. It's good that you have people to drive you and to make sure you eat Nice to have that support.
DG, glad your scan was easy. hope you're feeling bettter
Cpeachy, nice that mammo is over hope the zolodex goes well this week also. Do you typically have lots of side effects with it?
I'm scheduled for a reclast infusion in the 28th. Last year it wasn't too bad. Hoping for the same this time.
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cpeachymom— glad your mammo was clear. Sorry that the experience was not pleasant.
My next mammogram is next month.
I am worn out from all the appointments yesterday. Clearly being in the hospital for a week really drained my energy levels.
Had doctor’s appointment first thing. Followed by CT scan of chest. Then had injection of something for the bone scan and told to return in 3 hours.
Returned for the nuclear bone scan. It took about 20 mins. Easier than MRI and PET scan. Except— I mentioned the new soreness in my shoulder so they took individual images for that. I had to hold my arm in a certain way which hurt a bunch. They took images. Probably took 10 mins but felt like an hour. I wasn’t sure if I could tough it out or not. But did so.
These tests were to set up a baseline so we can check again in 3 months to see if Ibrance is working.
Next week is MO appointment to get test results, to have blood drawn to check numbers before starting the next cycle of Ibrance, and to get an XGEVA shot.
Big D appears to be under control. What a relief that is.
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MO called yesterday. Said bone scan showed stable results plus some shrinking mets.
My shoulder pain is due to bone mets in clavicle and humerus. Will see MO next week for full scan details. Pain in left shoulder is really interrupting my QOL as I am left handed. Hoping for pain reduction soon but skiddish about rads at the moment
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DodgersGirl: Glad to hear the Big D is under control. Of all the side effects I had that was the worst to deal with.
Moth: great to hear you have support. Hope you're feeling better soon.
CPeachy: thumbs up for the clear mammo!!!
Did you know there's two kinds of mammos? There's a diagnostic and a screening. I just found that out when they were trying to schedule my yearly in May. They said they were booked up for diagnostic until June but screening you could get in right away. Apparently after bc I'm suppose to have diagnostic.
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pink_is_my_colour— I think I am always scheduled for 3D diagnostic mammograms after dx. Still seems weird to do yearly mammograms after a metastatic BC diagnosis. Hoping whichever you end up with, the results will be clear.
Good news is that I feel better every day. Getting stronger after hospital stay. Actually sleeping more than 3 hours uninterrupted at night. It was 45 mins when first home from hospital. Swelling in legs is gone. Ankles are a bit sore but optimistic that ankle pain will continue to improve. I think I have to learn to be more patient when expecting my body to recover.
Moth— thinking of you. Hoping you are moving towards a treatment plan.
ByHisGraceTwice— checking in to see how you are doing
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DG - stable and shrinking is good news. Sorry about the shoulder pain though. Hopefully things will continue to improve.
Take care all
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So glad to hear you are doing better DodgersGirl. I sure hope the pain (or pain management) continues to improve.
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