TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

Pbrain - I had something similar - my brother was dx with bowel cancer a month after my dx and my father died a week after my mx. I didn't do much grieving at the time either - too much going on.

My brother is fine now, and we got sooo close during that time.

princessrn, did you follow a specific protocol on the 10-day smoothie plan?  I would be thrilled to lose 12 pounds but I'm not sure if I could hang in there for 10 days.  I do make a smoothie every morning for breakfast but I haven't ever made a true green smoothie. 

----

re: grieving - my dad died of a pretty rare form of biliary cancer in August 2007 (diagnosed in June 2007) and by the first part of October of the same year my husband was having health problems and landed in the hospital on Halloween.  He was diagnosed with a pretty rare autoimmune disease (dermatomyositis - CPK at 69,000 at its highest).  He spent a month in the hospital, almost unheard of these days.  

I felt like (and still feel like) I never had time to really grieve/assimilate my father's death because this other illness was so unexpected and serious.  On the other hand, so was my dad's...

After my husband finally got home (he had to relearn how to walk again) I had this almost manic period of trying to get in control of everything, i.e. emptying out two storage units we had on my own and anything else I could crawl on top of to try to declare victory.  I started feeling so irritable about everything.  Very hard to describe but I've felt similar feelings since going through BC and my mom being diagnosed with Alzheimer's during the same time window.  I still have feelings/thoughts such as "wait a minute, did that really just happen to me/us?" (meaning, the C word and her Alzheimer's diagnosis).  Maybe our brains go into autopilot when necessary (during the heat of the moment/diagnosis/treatment).  

Also, regarding weight loss - one of the few "diets" that's ever worked for me is The 17-Day Diet.  I lost about 25 pounds and really changed my way of eating, although I've not been as true to cleaner eating since going through chemo.  Dr. Attai (my 2nd opinion breast surgeon) said the weight loss probably saved my life because I lost so much volume in my breasts and that's how I saw the tumor.  

SpecialK, I remembered the bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) and your brother but I can't recall who had the dermatomyositis in your family.  Am I correct in remembering you were adopted?  Was your brother adopted as well?  As I sit here and wrack my brain I'm thinking your mom had the dermatomyositis. 

During my last MO appointment I mentioned the cholangiocarcinoma and he asked a few questions about ethnic background.  I'm not sure if that's why he ran some of those more obscure tests.  My father's health issues over the years sure do sound reminiscent of hemochromatosis.

I guess when it rains it pours or - upon us all a little rain must fall (thank you, Led Zeppelin :-)

LeeA - brother dx'ed with bile duct cancer, had 60 days.  Mom had dermatomyositis, for 25 years, dx'ed at the age I am now. Dad dx'ed with stage IV lung CA at the age of 82 after 7 years as a non-smoker, did two separate multi-infusion cycles of Taxol six months apart - knowing that he tried so hard at that age humbles me, he had 12 months.  You mentioned your DH being hospitalized for a month - when my mom was first dx'ed in the late 70's she was in the hospital for 6 months! You are right, that would not happen now, but she was frequently hospitalized for 6-8 weeks at a time, usually several times a year, for the last 10 years of her life.  Both my brother and I were adopted - my onc was relieved about that when we discussed all the family cancer!  The interesting thing is that we were downwinders (Santa Susana Field 1959) - I don't think it is a coincidence that my brother and I were dx'ed with different cancers at basically the same age, he was four years older than me.  On our suburban cul-de-sac of 10 houses, there is breast, bile duct, liver, lung, stomach, melanoma (in a teenager), and blood cancer in the houses of the original residents who moved in a couple of months after that accident.  And those are the ones I know about - a number of folks moved away - in two houses - ours and one other, there were multiple types.

kathec - sorry about your brother - bile duct cancer is a cruel one.

kathec, I, too, am sorry about your brother.  It's a rare tumor yet three of us on this thread have a family member who has had it.  

My father lived to be 80 years old.  He had diabetes so I don't know if there was a connection or not.  By the time they found the tumor it was almost softball sized, which seems amazingly large but I'm almost certain that's the word my mom used after meeting with the doctor (he didn't go to the doctor for the diagnosis). 

LeeA, you were posting while i was still pecking!

Posting while pecking!  :-) 

kathec, have there been any other incidences of cancer with your siblings?  

I googled hemochromatosis and cholangiocarcinoma the other day and got so many hits I just closed the tab.  I tried it again just now to confirm how many:  7.8 million.  

I have a feeling my doctor is looking at hemochromatosis based on the blood tests he ordered but I don't know for certain.  Hemochromatosis is hereditary and can cause all kinds of problems (too much iron in the organs).  

kathec, it looks like our lumps showed up around the same time.  I first saw/felt mine in April 2012 (still living in the Los Angeles area) and I see you were diagnosed in June 2012.  I wasn't officially diagnosed until October because I procrastinated (yes, very stupid on my part).  

I've said this before on this thread but the week that the Fukushima plume was supposed to hit the Los Angeles area I was out and about in the rain.  The plume was predicted to arrive on a Friday but this light rain fell two days before, on a Wednesday.  All this was in March of 2011.  I got caught out in the rain without an umbrella and within a few days I developed a very strange sore throat and what felt like swollen glands (reminded me of having swollen glands as a kid).  A few months later I read an article about the plume arriving two days early (Wednesday - the same day I was out in the rain).  Probably just a coincidence but I can't help but wonder what other toxic crap was in the air that day (other than the usual crap, that is). 

On the other hand, I've not read about any increases in breast cancer incidences in the Fukushima province so who knows.

Hemochromatosis is actually more common than you think - I was surprised by its prevalence.

LeeA -  I was in college when my mom was diagnosed but it took a while for them to figure out what she was sick with.  She had progressive weakness, but it was not until she had a crisis - slid down onto the floor and could not get back up - that she was hospitalized and they did the proper labs.  It still took three weeks until they figured it completely out.

The deal with Santa Susana is that it was not publicized - we had no idea until much later.  My brother and I were both 54 at diagnosis, my dad was 82.  I think that goes to having exposure as very young children while he was already an adult.  We were diagnosed within a ten year span, but both my dad and brother were diagnosed and died with a seven year span.

Wow! This is NOT the thread to have "fall off " your favorites. I see I was not the only one to have that happen. 

By the time I finished catching up....6 pages....I feel as if I have just run a marathon.  I have absolutely no idea how to address everyone, because it was too much to process at one time.

Former CT girl here. Lived all over the state until I moved to AZ 4 years ago. Funny how that is the part I remember from all the posts. 

Cycling...my BS asked about that and why tamoxifen. My MO still feels it is the med for me to take. The 2 petscans and 2 vaginal US, show the ovaries are still cycling even with chemo and hot flashes. The changes in pictures from one scan to another show cyst growth and then no cysts...regularly. I had a hyst in '99 at age 35 and kept the ovaries. Who knew? Oh to be the great seer of future events...LOL. I have discussed the Tamoxifen not being as effective with ILC info I have seen on this site.  Just one article <---link My MO feels there is not enough documentation to switch me at this point. Yet this was written in 2008, I believe, should be more info since then. I know I have seen more. May need to print out and then discuss with MO. 

Pbrain - I was a "late bloomer" too in the grieving process. It came on hard so many months into treatment I felt weird about it. Almost as if it shouldn't be happening and I was "allowing" it in. Wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pull out of the "funk" as it was pretty deep and dark where I landed. I am slowly surfacing and realizing it was just a delayed, perfectly "normal" <---used very lightly, reaction. It just hit me later than many others. Hope you are feeling a little brighter. 

Pbrain I had my crash time too. The further out you get the better it gets but it takes time.

Robin it's so hard to answer everyone on this thread even if you do keep up. Sometimes a <<<wave>>> is all you can do 

momx I took Tamoifen after radiation...They gave me all treatments first then Tamoifen!! I begged for mine sooner but he wouldnt give me it!! Yea well

My MO did the DNA testing on me for hemochromatosis.  My ferritin was pretty high.  That is the stored form of iron...I had a ton of ferritin and no red blood cells, but I think that was because I was low on folate.  Anyway, my test came out positive for hemochromatosis in one gene and negative in the other.  That makes me a heterozygote, so I have to watch iron supplementation (I take Men's multivitamins because they usually don't contain iron).

My Dad had hemochromatosis, so I knew I would have one faulty gene, but luckily my Mom gave me a good one.

Interesting about the radioactive iodine, but also odd.  Iodine is only taken up by the thyroid (that is why they can do the thyroid ablation with I-125, no other tissue absorbs it).  Were there lots of hypothyroid people on your cul de sac, Special?  It wouldn't suprise me...

ang. Tired here too. I think its meno amd hormone therapy.  Im tired all the time.  And in pain, stiff and achey. I just had a bone scan that was all clear so i guess its normal ( for me anyway)