Plan to decline last chemo
Comments
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The one time when 'fat' is good!!
I think it takes awhile to adjust one's thoughts. It's like you've been on a roller coaster so long; that once it stops, your head is still spinning for quite awhile.
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Ruthbru
, it`s true! Thank you so mutch!XO
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Hope you are making plans to do some FUN things this summer!
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I am preparing to make plans
My head is still spinning, as you said, but things will calm down beginning Tuesday when I see my oncologist. Hope there are no more treatments to follow... The left breast(where the lump was) feels like a piece of wood, there is a 1cm spot of possible necrosis but the surgeon is not concerned so I hope it`s just a healing phase.
I am puzzled to how much I recently changed: things that seemed important lost significance, small facts of life became so enjoyable. I`m not sure it`s a good change but it is indisputable.
XO
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You absolutely really, really appreciate the small things; which you find out have been the most important things all along.
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Nume,
Sometimes, we just have to pull our courage up from our toes. If you can do one more, do it please. I am here as a 14 year survivor of Stage IIB TNBC because I did everything I was advised to do, on schedule, and never let that bastard kill me. I killed it well, and truly. Those were my oncologist's words. And then the world was open and just and beautiful again. Was it fun? Hell, no. But the time afterwards has been fun and wonderful and I would not have wanted to have missed a minute of it. And I'd like to see more of it!
If you can find it in yourself to kill that bastard well and truly, please do try.
Much love to you!
Yellowdoglady
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So sorry for what you had to go through. I did a lumpectomy back in 2008, so never had to deal with reconstruction, thank god. But I did have 14 lymph nodes removed, and four were cancerous. I did go on to develop lymphedema in that arm. Be aware there are excellent Certified Lymphedema Therapists out there to contact if your arm where the lymph nodes were removed swells. Don't delay on that, because the more swelling, the harder it is to preserve the little gates in the lymph system that control that. The lymphedema therapist can move the lymph out of the arm, and train you to do that yourself. And they can prescribe you an elastic sleeve that will keep your arm very normal, and draining well on its own. It's also important never to take an injection or blood draw in that arm again, and to avoid burns or cuts to it, because those things generate lymph. But you can be fine for life if you manage your lymphedema risk or reality. It's the easy part of all of this. Hugs to you.
And everyone has anxiety after being watched by hawks constantly for a year or so when they ring the bell and have those gaps in between the monitoring. It's normal. Instead of counting in days or weeks, we count in three month increments. After 5 years, it's in one year increments. I'm good with that because I know if I have an issue, I'm already on the A List. A phone call is all I need to get checked out and scanned if need be. No one is abandoning you. They are just releasing you back into your environment. XO0 -
Thank you, yellowdoglady for the Lymphedema advice and congratulations on the 14 years! It`s sooo good to learn about positive stories…
I didn`t have any problem with the arm yet but sooner or later it it will probably happen. I didn`t check in for a while because of problems with the implants: had a procedure to take off the necrosis on the left breast(where the lump was and the lymph nodes were taken out). Due to the hydrocortisone the scar didn`t heal although it`s been 3 weeks.
Some 10 days ago a pale-pink patch appeared on my right breast. Didn`t pay attention to it because it doesn`t hurt, it`s not hot, it just is… I gave up on wearing a bra thinking maybe it will disappear. Now I am scared it could be infection. 2 days ago I sent a pic to my surgeon who said I should start antibiotics and tomorrow I`m going to have it checked. Of course I started antibiotics which make me feel sick.
Almost 4 months now since my last chemo, 2 months since my surgery with reconstruction and I didn`t get to think I`m leaving it behind…
Guess I`m just having a bad day… Sorry for ranting
XO
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It's pretty hard to leave things behind when you are still dealing with reconstruction issues. Yuck!! Hope they can get all the issues under control so that you can start to feel better and be able to think about others
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