Illinois ladies facing bc
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Marina -- I'm so sorry you are dealing with this, not fair. Hang in there.
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Well.. I'm all set for tomorrow.. Daycare is taking Gabs an extra day, and my DH will drop me off at the Hospital. My BIL will get me from there and take me home.. I will get a chance to rest.. I'm not optimistic of results of biopsy other than hoping perhaps this thing is ER or PR+ and then there are many more new treatment options.. The growth is not super fast so I'm happy with that.. At the least the vaccine may be making this thing less aggressive.. and time is our biggest ally in this fight!!!
Talked to Daycare and they said they will do their best to take Gabs full time if I need treatment.. but of course I'm worried about my immune system and germs.. though I'm thinking I may continue on some of my supplements and increase juicing which I have really stopped doing due to lack of time.. Nanny sure was useful... I just feel that Gabs need the socialization.. All you teachers I welcome an opinion.. please PM me!!!
will see how I feel as far as lunch.. Laura will drive me.. just want to see if i'm up for it...
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I wish I could make the trip this Friday....hopefully soon. Although by the next lunch bunch get together I will probably be hairless!
Anyone else being told 1-3 inches of rain an hour is coming their way? Yikes....0 -
Good luck Mak! I'm sending you all the positive thoughts and prayers I can!!!!
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makmak - I am sending hugs and good thoughts your way
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Hi ladies...I am officially joining you in a few weeks. We are moving from metro Detroit to greater Chicagoland - west suburbs. I am super sad at leaving here...our family and friends are here. I am moving the week of 8/15 as my son will start kindergarten on the 24th. Anyone on the west side?
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Mdg....Which western Burb are you going to be in?? I'm about 45 min. straight west of downtown......in Geneva.
I have family up in the "D" as we all call it.... Atleast it's not too crazy of a drive back and forth. Welcome!!!!0 -
makmak....I'm sending hugs your way, along with positive vibes and I'll be thinking about you tomorrow.
Welcome Mdg...I'm so sorry that you have to leave your family and friends. There are many fine ladies on this thread who will help you in any way that we can.
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mdg - I am in the west - Aurora. DH and I lived in Farmington Hills for a year back in the 90's. Sorry you are leaving your family - that is tough.
More hugs to Mak. I love your spirit - even in the hardest of times you keep your focus and try to look at the positive. And I agree with you on time. Just keep hanging in there!
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Adey, link
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Morning...made it back home! I guess we never lost power during all those storms...I am shocked! All my petunias in my boxes tho are dead...but I expected that.
Mdg...I'm in South Elgin! Moving away from family on top of everything else is tough. If you need help with doctors our this way, mine are all out of Delnor Hosp in Geneva. Just PM me...
Mak...hugs! Just waiting to hear...
Waving at you WendyTY!
Be back later...0 -
Goodness is the only investment that never fails.
- Henry David Thoreau0 -
WendyK....u know I can practically see Delnor from the front door of my work right??
Or you can come do your weather report on location in my yard?
Just sayin.... :0)
Everyone have a great day!!!
Thinking of you Mak!!!
I'm cutting about 8 inches off my hair today..... I need a Xanax0 -
Conniehar I love your new avatar...what a great picture.
Adey I loved the body painting---what a great way to hopefully return your sense of self.
Lago thanks for the LIKE button....if it were on here for real I'd be using it everyday I bet.
Wendyk welcome home to you. Glad you enjoyed but we missed you.
Mak-Mak positive vibes and huge hope coming your way, for a good outcome tomorrow
WendyTY {{{{{{big hugs to you}}}}}}
Hate hearing that you are all being drenched....I'd take some of it if I could. We are once again going to boil over today. Wondering just when the heat wave will let up. I have too many things to do so hoping for a little reprieve.
See you all later.
Hugs, Jackie
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Hi all:
Kinda drippy here. DD is coming over and we were going to the Botanic Gardens but I am not sure that is a plan with the weather.
I started to explain yesterday but got the news from Makmak. . I am unable to do lunch tomorrow. Too much going on here with weddings, out of town guests coming soon and the rest. I need to get focused and get some things in order.
Will talk later.
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Don't post often but ready daily. So I too will chime in send my best wishes to Makmak!!
Wendyk - something you said yesterday surprised me...
But I didn't and I had rads so if the beast comes back they will both be off and if I cannot do expanders on the rad side (only a 50-50 chance of that working ) I will be just fine boob-less.
Totally unaware of this! Similar situation for me - very small tumor so lumpectomy & rads. I have been having issues lately & have been concerned that it may be back. I always thought if it did rear it's ugly head again it would be BMX and just assumed I'd be able to get "foobs". Are you saying that's not possible?0 -
Makmak... ((((hugs)))) to you today going through the biopsy. Hope you get results soon so you can move on in whatever direction it takes you.
Connie... luv the new avatar too. mdg... welcome to Illinois and this wonderful group of very supportive ladies. Zap... sounds like you have a very busy weekend coming up. Madismommy... so sorry you have other "plans" on Friday. We will see you soon. JSandstrom..... I had rads and reconstruction with absolutely no problems. If you ever have to face the BMX, I would highly recommend that you find an excellent BS and then a PS who is very experienced with rad patients.
I have a 91-year old spinster aunt nearing the end of her life here on earth. She is in a nursing home back in Sioux Falls. Having had no children of her own, us cousins have always been her "children" and we are still trying to pay her back for all that babysitting she did for us growing up. I may have to leave this weekend to take my turn by her side, but still hope to make lunch on Friday.
Still raining out my way. We got another two inches yesterday. Got my fingers crossed that we don't lose power as the sump pump is getting a workout!
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JSandstrom & WedyK You can do implants but as you know there can be more complications. The skin may not stretch or stretch enough to get the size you want, increased chance of capsular contraction (which may not be a serious case and in many cases can be resolved with surgery), or you can take skin from the back to replace the skin that has been radiated. I have also read that fat grafting in the case of rads can reduce capsular contraction but that was only one study. I would really discuss this with your PS as well as getting a 2nd opinion from another PS. There are also other reconstruction options. This is not my PS but her site lists all the options in detain: linky
Also when they say 50% failure that doesn't mean that 50% of the time it doesn't work. It means 50% of the time it fails and therefore more surgery is required to fix the issue. Not sure what the true "implant won't work" rate is.
My chances of having rads was very high. BS said I probably would so I did some research before hand.
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Rads destroys the elasticity of your skin, so trying to pop in expanders is a 50-50 proposition. Some skin will stretch, some just doesn't. Remember...I was talking about having radiation with a lumpectomy and then trying for expanders much, much later. They are doing marvelous things with these types of surgery tho and there are other procedures you can choose but those are just not for me at this age (58). A good PS will tell you your odds on your skin. I did ask my rad onc some years ago and he felt that my skin was pretty good so maybe I would be at 65/35 for it working. Doing rads with expanders in place is something totally different.
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Lago...we posted at the same time...
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Hi everyone!
I'm so sorry I can't make the lunch tomorrow. I have my consult with the new P.S. that I rescheduled from last week to tomorrow and I don't want to switch it again. I have a a new-ish friend and fellow b.c. survivor who wanted to come with me to our gatherng too. We'll just have to make the next one.
Mak - Let me add to the chorus of "Cancer Sucks!" But, clearly you are a hell of a fighter with a lot of people in your corner. Tell us more about this laser treatment you are considering, it sounds interesting.
Adey - That video is very heartening. Amazing artwork, but all I can think of is how I'd likely break into a huge rash from all that paint on my skin!
mdg - I'm in the western 'burbs too. You'll have to join us at one of our gatherings once you get settled. Welcome!
WendyTY - ((((Hugs to you)))).
HulaWendy - Welcome back.
A bit of venting, if you don't mind...
I'm getting some cold feet here about my decision to have the prophylactic mast on my remaining "goob" (good boob
). As everyone has been saying, the decision about lumpectomy vs. mast. vs. bilat. mast. is a very personal one. Lumpectomy was recommended as an option for me at the time, but it's not one I was ever comfortable with. But, now I find that I wish I had done the bilateral mast, then I wouldn't be dealing with all these follow-ups and biopsies! I made the right decision at the time for me then, and now that I'm 6 years out, I think it's time for me to take one more big surgical step and be DONE with all this monitoring. Yes, I know this doesn't change my long-term survivor numbers, but my b.s. and onc. are both supportive of this. But, the idea of going through all that again is starting to freak me out. And, I've had muscle issues with my whole right shoulder/scapula/arm area ever since my mast, despite several rounds of physical therapy. I can't imagine having these issues on both sides of my body. Of course, part of me wonders if my years on the AI and the associated joint pains are a part of why that side can't ever heal properly. I'm done with AI's in Jan, so my fingers are all crossed that my right side will miraculously start feeling normal again. My job being so right arm intensive is also a huge factor, I'm sure.
I also have some major scarring issues. All my recon incisions are badly scarred, but oddly, my mast. scar is almost invisible. One of my biopsies was actually on one of my keloids on my goob! It lit up on MRI, but thankfully, was negative on biopsy. The biopsy I had, just last month, has already started to scar and it's just a teeny little poke!
The other issue - to spare the nipple, or not to spare the nipple. That is the question...(the Bard is rolling in his grave right now).
Okay, venting helps.
I'll see what this new P.S. thinks tomorrow. My last P.S. did a good job, but he's just too far away and doesn't work out of the same hospital that my b.s. does. And I'm not changing my b.s. Gotta get ready for work now. I do love half days!
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Rene, venting does help. I was going to send this as a pm, but I think we could all benefit from this. I had the lumpectomy and then later thought I would do a mastectomy. My breasst are big and I wish they were much smaller. I made an appointment with the BS about three years after the ordeal and told her I was considering mastectomy just to be done with it I thought she would just say go for it. In fact, she said that I would need to see a counselor and that she would need reassurance that indeed this is what I want and that I was totally aware of what I was doing and what I would face. Surgery, if I decided to do it, would have to be six months later. I actually think her response is quite a good one. Even though we are responsible for our bodies and should be the one determining our futures, she may have a point that we need someone to guide us through the decision-making WHEN cancer is not present. Now you have had the biopsies and that would freak me out and move me in the direction to do the mastectomy, yet discussing options with a professional might help sort through the decision-making. Again, only WHEN cancer is not present. Now about the nipple. My breast looks like a football. I have a five inch scar across where my nipple once was. It looks very odd when I am naked. If I were young, as you are, I probably would have had a cool nipple! I chose against it, simply because I hate hospitals, surgeries, the whole thing. I am very modest about it as I know it looks funny, so when I am at the pool, I hurry to dress so no one sees my funny footballish breast! So for what it is worth. Good luck with your decision-making.
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Thanks for the clarification on the TE after rads. Hopefully I won't have to worry about it but I have info to reference now at least!!
Hope you all stay cool & dry today.
JennPS - Madismommy...very few people spell our name the way we do - can't even get my husband of 22 years to do it (thinks the extra "n" is not worth the effort).
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I can't wait to do lunch with you ladies! Maybe next time. Ditto on the clarification on the TE after rads. Knowledge is Power! And I want to say thanks again for all you brave ladies willing to share your stories with the rest of us; so we can make informed, personal decisions. You have all helped me so much.
Mak...hugs being sent...
Mdg...welcome! I live south of Chicago
Lago...I ordered 'The Emperor...on amazon; along with 'Sarah's Key' and a book of poems by Mary Oliver!
I hope the people in the northern burbs don't get hit more excessive rain. The southern Chicagoland areas did not flood. Us farmers here in Elwood are enjoying the 2 inches we got. We were really starting to worry about the corn crop, but we received some wonderful rains.
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Jenn... It is funny that most people spell Jenn with only one N.....I always say "there's TWO n's in Jennifer so why would I only use one?" LOL. I see you're in Fox River Grv....I hope these horrible rains didn't cause you any hassle!!!! It seems the more northern burbs got a lot more rain than us??
Rene...good luck with your decision making!!! And you made me smile with the word "goob". I kinda wish I still had mine so I could use foob AND goob daily!! But just 2 foobs for me! And they have been so uncomfortable the last 2 days....like the TE's are moving around, very annoying!
My hair turned out cute, I'm not too traumatized....and he put a pink extension in there for fun....the salon gives so much to breast cancer for each extension sold. I've never had any pink streaks before, my daughter will love it!0 -
Jenn - you sound just like me...I say exactly the same thing about the N's!! Last night's storm was pretty vicious and we have a lot of old trees in our backyard so I was worried about what I was going to wake up to but fortunately we dodged a bullet yet again (other than a ton of rain - ~8.5 inches in less than a week - we haven't had any issues with the last 3 storms).
Would love to see the new hair - a pink streak sounds like fun. ;-)
Jenn
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About the hair, I've actually thought about going next week to a beauty college/school and telling them to 'have at it'. Mine is between chin and upper shoulder length. In fact one of the first things I did after the diagnosis was to cancel my hair appt.
Your daughter is going to love the pink streak!
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Jenn, I'll have to take a new pic....my hair was 1/2 way down my back (my avatar pic is from April, taken about an hour after I was diagnosed) and now it's between my chin and shoulders....I wanted to cut it before wig shopping next week and match my wig to it..... Plus, I didn't think mentally I could go from a foot and 1/2 long right to a buzz cut....so, I'll have this cut for about a month...
This rain is crazy!!!! They just said galena, il had 13 inches in 12 hrs.... That's a lot of rain, my goodness!!! My aunt and uncle live there...I'm assuming they are fine or I think I would have heard?0 -
For those who are attending tomorrow's LUNCH BUNCH...
I printed enough coupons for everyone!
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