July 2020 chemo club
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AnnaTheBrave...Oh how wonderful for you!!! 👏👏👏👏👏I had a 1 mm dcis left too so glad to hear about the recurrence rate. I have my pathology report and will go over next week with my surgeon. My nails too are acting up but I don't think they will fall off.
Melbo...As far as hair, I never shaved mine bald so I have some stragglers that continue to grow. Looks pretty fuzzy and sparse but praying in a few weeks I see progress.
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Iamloved and AnnaTheBrave, I am excited to read about your pCR! That’s fantastic! 🥳🎊🎉👍🏻
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Great news ladies!
My dad was just asking me yesterday how the doctors can tell if the chemo is working for me. I had to explain to him that since I had my surgery prior to chemo, we're really just hoping to kill any remaining cancer cells hanging out there. No real measurable way to tell which is so weird. I'm so happy for you ladies that are able to see the impact chemo has had on your tumors!
My last infusion is Monday 12/14. So far I've been able to avoid any real neuropathy and main side effect has been fatigue. The fatigue seems to have gotten worse lately. My nails have also become sore over the last few days. Sounds like I'm not alone. Really hoping not to lose them!
I've been more emotional than I normally would be. I feel rather short-tempered and overwhelmed - not like me at all. Hoping to get out of this funk soon!
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Port came out with no problems today. The procedure was done in a regular exam room and was mostly painless. It did feel a little strange as he was tugging and pulling to get everything loose, but completely painless. Now my chest is a little sore, but even that is mild compared to the pain I was in from the blood clot itself
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Melbo, I am glad to read the port has been removed and I hope the area heals quickly. That sounds like a frightening experience.
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Brittonkb, sorry to read you are feeling fatigued, overwhelmed, short-tempered and emotional. It looks as if you received your diagnosis more than seven months ago so that can take a toll on the body-mentally and physically. It's a lot to experience. Be kind to yourself. I will be cheering for you here on Monday when you have your last infusion!
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So jealous of all of your pCRs! And early surgery dates. My tumor has shrunk by about 50% - so not great in my mind. But my breast surgeon says that it's A+ and is still planning for a lumpectomy with rads in early January. I'm now thinking I should push for a double mx. Anyone else have to make the decision between a lumpectomy and mastectomy?
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Susiemommy...I could have gone with a mastectomy but they still would have wanted to do radiation. So I opted for the lumpectomy with the breast reduction. If I get a recurrence I can get the mastectomy then. Probably a negative way to think but decided to do the least damage. Now 10 days out from surgery and no issues and very little discomfort. Tough choice though.
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Susie, wishing you a great outcome with your surgery and radiation in January.
I had a 50% reduction in tumor size, too, and I was disappointed it wasn't more but the surgeon said the breast MRI showed decreased enhancement so the size alone isn't an indication of pCR. We will know after surgery. (I am excited about everyone’s pCRs!)
I wondered, too, about mastectomy vs. lumpectomy. Recurrence rates and survival rates are almost the same for lumpectomy and radiation or mastectomy. I wanted a mastectomy to avoid radiation, but the surgeon said not to make the decision based on that because many women still need radiation after a mastectomy.
Whatever you decide, wishing you the best possible outcome with a quick recovery!
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I am getting a lumpectomy and bilateral reconstructive/reduction on 21 December. I wanted to go with the least invasive option first and like Iamloved I figured I could get a mastectomy later if the cancer came back. All of my doctors have also told me that recurrence rates for my cancer are virtually the same for lumpectomy and radiation or mastectomy.
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hi ladies!
So great to hear everyone’s PCR! susiemommie and shar20-will both of you move to the Kadcyla medication?
I had my bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction on 12/1. I am doing and feeling great. I was off pain medication after 2 days and moving around good. I received my pathology report and was almost a PCR. I had 1mm left of IDC and .3 lett if DCIS. I started off with 1.8 of IDC and 7x4 cm of DCIS. My MO is recommending the continued plan and not to move to Kadcyla. I was a mess hearing this news in the office since I had a small residual but it seems like it’s good news. She did offer the Kadcyla if I want to be overly aggressive with treatment. I will think about it.
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Nottoday, I do not know whether or not I will be having Kadcyla.
I am glad that you are feeling great since your mastectomy. That sounds like a tough decision to make, regarding the Kadcyla. I thought the measurements in your post counted as a pCR, but I do not know much about it. I hope your MO had useful information to help with your decision. Wishing you the best as you continue to heal and recover.
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I posted this on the triple positive board but I’ll add over here too. As I mentioned here, I had 3mm of DCIS remaining, and DCIS is considered a pCR but my onco is stil considering Kadcyla for me—she wants to talk to a friend who’s a BC researcher to get a second opinion—but she said that her consideration was due to my relatively young age. The more I think about it, the more I’d prefer to switch to Kadcyla but I’m not sure if it can be justified to insurance.
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AnnaTheBrave, if your oncologist recommends Kadcyla, I hope it all works out well for you and the insurance company covers it. That would be great!
Brittonkb, I don't know whether or not I will get here to the site on Monday so all the best to you with your last infusion tomorrow! I am ringing an early bell for you! 🔔🎊🎉🥳🙏🏼
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Thanks Shar! I'm definitely excited for this phase to be over with!
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Officially done with Chemo!!! Ding Ding Ding
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Woohoo!!! Congrats BrittonKB
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that’s awesome!!! It’s such a good feeling. I hope your side effects for this cycles are minimal
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brittonkb...🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔Congratulations!
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So I met with my plastic surgeon's office and my breast surgeon's office at Mayo. Cancer FREE! Complete pathological response. The 1% activity in my report was from the dcsi cells that were in the tumor bed. I meet with oncology later today for further instructions like continuing Herceptin but could not get a better Christmas gift! ❤
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congrats! That’s awesome news.
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Such GREAT news!! So happy for you!
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Such great news for everyone!!!
I’m getting ready to have surgery Friday. I live 2 hours away, so we are traveling tomorrow...I won’t get my surgery time until sometime tomorrow, I’m scheduled at 2:00, with the blue injections at 9am Friday, but that could all change.
I’m ready to get this over with, the sooner I get that pathology report, the sooner I can move onto the next step!
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Annathebrave, I had 20mm DCIS remained in the tumor bed and is still considered as PCR. I will only continue with radiotherapy and Herceptin.
Mtspacekace, all the best for the surgery and pathology results!
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Finished chemo today! Yes! Side effects have been minimal through it all, thank goodness. My BMX is January 21st. Also at the same time is an oophorectomy. The doctor wanted to do a hysterectomy for preventative uterine and cervical cancers. My BRCA2 results don't even mention a risk of those, so am 99.9999 percent sure I'll only do the oophorectomy. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this? Thank you.
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Dubhain...🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔👏👏👏👏👏
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Dubhain, congrats!!!!
I had an oopherectomy a couple months before my mastectomy, and wish I'd gotten the complete hysterectomy done then. I don't want another surgery, but want it out. The gyn onc had said he would do the oopherectomy with mastectomy, but I wanted it done earlier, and as it turned out that was a lucky choice as covid would have shut down that part of surgery (would have been elective). He would not, however, do the hysterectomy with mastectomy as the potential to seed implants with bacteria was, according to him, too high. Even though I did not have implants, In retrospect, I think in my circumstances with limited help, healing from both complete hysterectomy and mastectomy at the same time would have been too much for me. Sure wish I'd gotten it done earlier with the ooph though. The ooph healing, by the way, was a piece of cake. That I could have done with mastectomy. The hardest part was making myself not climb ladders and reorganize cabinets and such.
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Almost 2 months since my last chemo and NOW my eyelashes are falling out? Wth!!!🤬
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Iamloved, yeah that happened to me too. Or at least that's when I first noticed how straggly they were and realized I'd lost them. It was about the time when my hair started growing back. And They were last to start growing back. Just maybe a week ago I finally saw tiny baby lashes poking through. The good news is they grow much faster than my hair, and in about a weeks time I have actual fringe on both lower lids and one upper. The other is taking it’s sweet time it seems, but if I look close, I can see they are trying on that lid too.
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oh goody! I thought since I still had lashes and most of my eyebrows 5 weeks later I would get to keep them. But apparently that’s not necessarily true.
I had my surgery yesterday. None of it was as bad as I thought it would be. Today I am in some pain, especially if I move in particular ways, but my husband is a rockstar caregiver and I don’t have to do much — he even strips the drains for me.Plus we have awesome friends who’s brought us food and gave us a generous grub hub gift card so we don’t have to do much to feed ourselves.
They said 3-4 days for pathology results — hopefully the holidays don’t delay that until next week because I would like to know sooner rather than later, even if it’s bad news.
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