Radiation December 2018
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DDT Sorry you have this new thing crop up. Uuuug!! Waiting! By ‘do something ‘ about the ovaries I assume surgery is being considered? I hope you have something to keep you busy this weekend.
Pebbles, love your new furry friend.
Dani, I don’t even know what to say, I’m checking back to see if you have any news from your MRI You never need to apologize for sounding dismal!
Everyone, Get those colonoscopies! If I hadn’t, I would likely be dealing with colon cancer as they found and removed 3 large precancerous polyps.
Do any of you have any idea why one might have pain in ribs and the tissue between the ribs? I breezed through rads and surgery so I can’t understand why I have this pain on my bc side. Very tender. I may post this question elsewhere but thought I’d start here. Also clean mammo and bs checkup.
Wishing you all a relaxing weekend.💚
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Cherryi3- Thanks so much. Yes, waiting is so frustrating. Especially since, if it's bad news, I just don't want to face it. If it's good, I wish I knew right now. Ugh. But, the "something" is probably surgery.
My GYN did refer to removing my ovaries as an option. Before I had the ultrasound (that showed how crazy things really are) my oncologist told me that he would confer with my GYN to see if ovary suppression might work for me. He said Lupron injections may work, but he hated to throw me into menopause. I think that now I'm going to have to do something to stop them. It's just a question of what they recommend. I'm really leaning towards surgery now. I don't want to continue to be afraid of cancer. But, we'll see.
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Cherryi3- One more thing: yes! I had the rib pain too! It got so bad that I had a chest xray. But, it didn't show anything. In my case, my doctor said it was probably chostiocondritis. It's painful. But, mine has definitely eased up.
My goodness, I've been wordy today! Have a great weekend, everyone!!
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DDT, Thanks for responding on that rib pain. I have never heard of costochondritis or seen it in the forums. After googling, it certainly seems likely that that’s what’s going on. Who would I consult for this issue? BS, onc or rads onc?or primary care? I’ll watch it for a couple more weeks. Maybe do nothing
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Cherryi3- I'm glad I could help! Personally, I called my nurse navigator, because I was worried it may be a fractured rib and I didn't know which doctor to call. It really did hurt that badly. She told me people get "twinges" after radiation, but she still got me a referral for a chest xray. I wanted to yell through the phone "this is PAIN, not a twinge." But, I managed to stay calm.
I did not have a broken rib. After that, I had an appointment already with my wonderful primary care doctor. He is the one that made the costochondritis diagnosis. All of this to say. . .you may just want to start with primary care. But, I wouldn't hesitate to speak up to the other doctors when you have follow up appointments. That pain is no joke. I hope you get some answers and relief soon!
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Cherryi3 yes it sounds exactly like costochondritis. I have had the same thing although it is becoming less with time. My oncologist said it is so common after bc treatment it is considered 'normal'. I am glad you got help with the anxiety. I developed quite severe anxiety after going through my treatment, for some unknown reason I didn't even connect that the anxiety and BC were most likely related! I didn't want to take medication, just went through it and worked out my own strategies, so I'm a lot less anxious than I was.
Purplecat... it's lovely that you gave some encouragement to those about to go through it. Those things we hear (or read) from people who've 'been there' are always the most reassuring.
DDT I do hope you can distract yourself over the weekend, and don't worry too much.0 -
Hello friends! I had a clear MRI, and the results from my biopsy was BENIGN! So the plan moving forward it to do another mammo in 6 months to see if there are any changes in the group of calcifications that are behind my nipple. They only biopsied the ones that were deep in the breast, and another US on the lump in the foob that remained unchanged. My BS also wants to alternate MRI and Mammo every 6 months. I have already decided that if they want to biopsy these other calcifications at the next mammo I am going to pursue getting a mastectomy on that side. I simply cannot do that anxiety again. Thank you all so much for checking in about my results, sorry I was slow to respond on this thread. I really appreciate you all and this community has made such a difference for me.
Purplecat- So glad you got good news at your mammo and were able to do a happy dance! So sweet of you to encourage the other patient that was waiting. I am sure that made a difference for her. How are things going with your fatigue? I definitely feel better when I get up and exercise, but it is just so hard some days. Glad you were able to get away and enjoy some hiking, sounds awesome. I really feel like mine is no doubt coming from the tamoxifen.
Pebbles- YAY for cancer free results, so very happy for you!! It would be so cool for us to have a get together down the road.
DeeDeeT- Great news for you on your results from the mammo and colonoscopy:) I have yet to schedule mine but I know I need to. I am so sorry you are having to go through this testing for your ovaries. Waiting the weekend really does suck. I am sending all the good thoughts your way for benign results. I hope you can find some distraction while you wait, but I know how hard that can be.
Cherryi3- Uggg I am sorry you are dealing with rib pain I really hope that it starts to resolve! It is nice to hear that the meds are making a difference for your anxiety. The effexor my MO started me on helped a bit with mine, but I plan on asking my BS about acupuncture, she mentioned she refers peolpe for hot flashes, but I have heard it can help with anxiety too.
Wishing everyone a good weekend, it has turned chilly here in Indiana today but the sun is shining bright. It feels like a perfect fall day:)
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That's fantastic news Dani444! Very happy for you.
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Dani - I'm so relieved for you and happy! So, today is good. Enjoy it!
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PebblesV-love the pups. Great end to a day.
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Dani444, great news!
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Hi, everyone!! With Thanksgivivg coming up here in the States, I wanted to come on here and tell you all how thankful I am to have been able to share this journey with such a supportive group of ladies. Thank you for taking the time to come on here and share your ups and downs. It helped me so much know I was not alone. I would never wish anyone to go through this, but I am very thankful you shared your experiences here. Much love to each of you!!
I did get my results back from my crazy gyn visit. It doesn't look like I have ovarian cancer or uterine cancer. Yet. But. . .I have so much craziness going on that I would either need to be monitored until it got so crazy they knew for sure it was cancer and then I would need to have emergency surgery, or I could just go ahead and schedule a hysterectomy and oophorectomy. So, I'm opting for the surgery now. I met with the surgeon this week and we're going to schedule it as soon as she has an opening.
She believes the problems that are causing me to need surgery are actually all a reaction to Tamoxifen. But, it's really bad.
My hope is that once I get past this surgery, I will be done with major issues that have come from BC.
Dani444-- I am SO happy you had a good result!!!
Pebbles--Always enjoy the puppy pictures!! So adorable!
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DeeDeeT- I agree it helps so much to know I am not alone. I am thankful as well to have all of you and this community to lean on. It made such a difference during treatment, and continues during survivorship. For those that celebrate I truly hope you have a holiday filled with happiness and love.
Wishing you the best on your upcoming surgery. Sounds like your docs are taking great care of you. Sending you all the good thoughts for a smooth recovery!
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DeeDeeT it is shocking that Tamoxifen can cause such devastating effects, I hope your surgery goes well so you can look forward to being healthy in future.
I agree it is a wonderful place to feel we can just talk about our issues with BC or just about our daily lives, something about our shared experience of having and dealing with cancer makes it easier to talk freely.
We don't do Thanksgiving here in Australia, but I wish you all a wonderful holiday and enjoy the time you spend with your families and friends.0 -
Thinking of everyone this holiday season and thankful for all of YOU. Couldn’t have gotten through this so well without being able to post, share and commiserate with all of you and know I’m not alone in this.
Dee- sending the best for a successful smooth surgery. My cousin just had a hysterectomy and she’s fine, but give yourself time to rest and recover.
Dee, Dani, Jules, Worry, Purplecat, LibraryGirl, Spoonie, Wised and others... more pup pics! Finley has joined our paw family and is a handful, but gets away with it on account of being cute.
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Hi Pebbles and all,
Love that Finley gets away with mischief due to cuteness! Thanks for the latest picture.
I had part one of my one year appointments yesterday with a clear mammogram. I am so grateful and relieved. My surgeon said he would see me one more time, a year from now, and then be done with me. I saw the counselor again as well. She is recommending that I see someone on a regular basis and she is upping my Zoloft Rx a bit. My husband is very ill (now recommended for palliative care) and I am sad, worried and stressed. Part two appointments will happen at the end of the month and will include another Zometa infusion for bones and an appointment with my MO. I plan to ask for a little vacation from Letrozole to see if I can reset my body and get rid of some side effects. After the 6 month point the SEs seemed to intensify. Once again I need an afternoon rest or nap several days a week (3 out of 4 this week) and I now have joint pain and stiffness in my fingers. The other SEs-leg cramps, dry eyes, hot flashes, etc, are more tolerable and less frequent.
I am sending hopeful and caring thoughts and prayers to everyone.
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Hello December 2018 buddies, just hopping on to say hello and Happy Holidays to all. I haven't been checking in much; seems like the cancer episode is receding into the past and I'm back to living my life without thinking about it much until some sort of reminder comes up. Two customers at work have mentioned in passing that they're undergoing or recently underwent breast cancer treatments, and although it's certainly not information I'd volunteer to every customer, I have decided to disclose in these circumstances because it was so very reassuring to me last year to see how many women had gotten through this and were doing just fine. I've had some discomfort and tightness lately, but it actually did NOT occur to me immediately to connect it to the surgeries, radiation, and nerve damage and I was actually relieved to realize that was probably the cause. Tamoxifen side effects come and go, with the hot flashes correlated to my cycle and the muscle cramps correlated to cold weather. In short, life seems to have returned to normal and I'm so thankful to be bustling through normal December activities instead of doing radiation every day. Daily gratitude for what I have and for every moment I don't have to think about cancer ... that's the cancer side effect I hope will linger for the long term.
Thoughts and prayers to all!
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Purplecat: So glad you are feeling well and Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope everyone else is doing well.
I have to say I have been doing pretty well. I actually quit taking Tamoxifen, the side effects for me were awful. I have been trying to take care of other health things, like going to the dermatologist (long over due) especially as much time as I use to spend in the sun. Well, one of the spots they removed did come back as melanoma, so I will be going to a Mohs Surgeon on the 20th. Yea me! I don't feel quite as anxious or nervous about this, it's just scary hearing the cancer word again. Everything so far seems to be healing well. I still get those little twinges of pain here and there but overall feeling pretty good. Hope everyone else is good and hope everyone has a great year!
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DeeBB--Oh no! So sorry to hear that you had to hear about cancer again. Best wishes for a quick and easy surgery. My heart goes out to you that you have to go through this. Much love!!
LPLlibrarygirl- Congratulations on a clear mammogram! It is a great feeling to get good news, isn't it? I am so, so sad to hear about your husband's illness. You both are in my thoughts.
Thank you all for your kind words and wishes about my surgery. There was a long waiting list since it was the end of the year and everyone seemed to be trying to get in medical procedures before their deductibles restarted. So, I am not scheduled until the end of February. At this point, I am starting to look forward to it! I just want to move on.
Wishing you all a (belated) Happy New Year!! May we be blessed with better health in 2020!
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DeeDeeT - Best of luck on your surgery, you'll be in my thoughts.
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Hello everyone! Just wanted to hop on and say today is my one year anniversary of the end of rads. Also what I am considering my NED anniversary. As far as any lingering SE’s from rads I still get some muscle tightness from time to time and have to stretch it out. I have some redness that settled in and it appears it is here to stay. Also ended up with some odd texture of my skin in my cleavage. I feel grateful to be a year out but some of my family wanted a celebration for today. I had to tone it down to just going out for a nice dinner. I wish I could convey to them that it doesn’t feel “over” to me. I am struggling with tamoxifen and have already had one biopsy on my good side, and have a follow up mammo on Valentine’s Day for some other calcifications they are watching. I just feel like I am still adjusting to this new me.
I do see my RO in April and he would like for me to have a CT of the chest. He said if I was not comfortable having it it was fine but that is what he prefers. I will probably go ahead and get it. I will see him directly after and will get the results that day. Thank you for listening, and know how grateful I feel for having the support of everyone here. This community makes a huge difference while going through treatment and after. Much love and best wishes to you.
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Dani, just realized your mammo must have been yesterday. I hope it went OK. Can totally relate to what you said about people trying to celebrate with you that it's over, and feeling like with one thing and another it will never be over. It's so helpful to have an online community of people who understand, even if I don't check in as much.
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My last radiation treatment was January 2019. I still seem to be having side effects, just curious if anyone else is as well. I still have fatigue, not so much tire but weak feeling. This last month, every time I take a shower I get red blotches all up and down my arms, I just noticed this happening the last few weeks. They go away after a while but it's very strange. Don't know if it's a side effect or something else crazy going on
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I do feel more tired than I used to, and can't stay up nearly as late as I could even 3 years ago, but whether that's radiation, tamoxifen, or just aging is hard to say. I also find myself hyperaware of every little symptom and have had the same concerns about skin blotchiness after showers sometimes. Might just be something I've never noticed before, or maybe the tamoxifen is making my capillaries behave differently, or who knows? As for radiation side effects, there's still tightness and stiffness on that side, although I do have full range of motion with the arm. I wasn't very good at doing the prescribed exercises, so that's probably a factor.
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Purplecat- my mammogram and US were clear! I was so nervous it was going to lead to another biopsy. I had a great discussion with my BS and I am 90% sure I want to move forward with a prophylactic MX on my left. I just don’t think I can mentally do every 6 months imaging. I agree that it is so helpful to have this community!
DeeBB- I am sorry you are dealing with fatigue. I still have fatigue but I believe mine might be from tamoxifen. It became profound after starting the med. I have some weeks better than others but it gets frustrating to feel this way.
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So glad to hear, Dani! What a relief! And I agree: prophylactic mastectomy sounds preferable to constant anxiety and biopsies. I'd forgotten how horrible and stressful and dark it feels to be on that roller coaster of testing and waiting for results and finding out more tests are needed until I was tossed right back onto it with an ovarian cyst. It wasn't any easier than the initial breast cancer diagnostic process and in some ways was even worse. Even though the cyst is likely to be benign I am planning to push hard for oophorectomy, because mental health is also an important thing!
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Dani444, so glad the mammo and US was all clear. Yes, every 6 months is a little nerve racking. It feels like I hold my breath the whole time I'm there, at least they let me know the results right then and don't have to wait a week or so.
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Dani - so glad your results were clear! Completely agree with you re: not wanting to go through that every 6 months. I think the testing and waiting for results was the hardest part for me emotionally. Glad you’re in the clear.
Purplecat - I find I get fatigued more easily from walking uphill but I can also still swim 100 laps just fine so I don’t know whether to blame tamoxifen or recent weight gain. I’ve decided I’m just going to get back into a mode of working out and eating healthier and see if I’m still fatigued or not. If I am then probably tamoxifen... if not it was the lifestyle.
DeeDee - I think the surgery is coming up? Wishing you well and sending good thoughts for it all to go smoothly!
DeeBB - my friend had melanoma at the same time I was going through bc treatment and they just did surgery to remove it. Even though his was technically more aggressive, he didn’t have to do radiation or chemo or tamoxifen or any of the plethora of things we are asked to do to fight breast cancer. Anyways I’m only bringing that up as I think (hope) it will be like that for you where it’s just a surgery and then check ups and nothing else needed.
LPlibrarygirl - congrats on your clear mammogram too!
As for me, I need to find a balance and focus on health again. I still take 10mg tamoxifen daily and think I’m OK on it. But I gained back a lot of weight I’d lost initially which worries me that it’s getting back to where I was when the cancer first hit so going to try and reverse it and just hope that the tamoxifen is being effective. I did have a completely clear mammogram in October so have resumed normalcy a little... and we have a new pup Finley!
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No more tamoxifen for me. I am recovering from having my ovaries and tubes removed earlier this week, and a bonus D&C. I seem to have posted a lot of details in a lot of earlier threads all over the forum in my anxiety-fueled attempt to find out if anyone else has ever had my combination of symptoms (high estrogen level, ovarian cysts, thickened lining) and didn’t have any new gyno cancers. At this point I seem to be in the clear unless something comes back in any surgical pathology reports, but my surgeon said everything looked good, and I think they generally know what to look for. So now I’m just grumpy about how long it’s taking to recover and am trying to look on the bright side: I get to enjoy a break from tamoxifen before I get put on Femara or something, and be glad for no more periods, birth control, cysts, or threat of ovarian cancer for me.
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You have been through a lot. I had a D&C last Feb for post menopausal bleeding. I was thrown into chemopause at 40 and hadn’t had any bleeding for almost 8 years. It was crazy scary. My D&C pathology was clean so I was so relieved but then my ovaries “woke back up” as my MO says, in July. Actually had 3 periods before they got them shut down with zolodex. The testing and anxiety seems to never end. Rest up and enjoy your break from Tamoxifen.
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