Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Welcome NJNancy- (sorry you have to be here but we are an abnormally great group!) Peggy is our go to gal- the only thing I would add is to be sure to ice like crazy- seriously-, and, take Colace or something like it the day of surgery and as indicated on the bottle for every day plus one day during prescription pain meds. We are here for you so ask away, rant, whatever you need or want to do. Take good care and hugs to you.
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Welcome, NJNancy--in your pocket for surgery. Also, make sure you wear shoes that you can step into & out of--you won’t feel like bending over and you might not have the range of motion to reach for shoelaces. (A long-handled shoehorn is a bonus). Also, keep a little throw pillow with you--you might want to sew or velcro a loop of fabric over the top to hold it over your shoulder between breast and armpit, to cushion your incisions. My bs’ nurse gave me something like that called a P3 (Protective Pillow Purse), made by a group called Protect the Girls (no website or FB, alas). It also has a “kangaroo” pocket holding a smaller cushion to place between your chest & the shoulder belt in the car.
Sloan, adorable new pic! Looking better & better every day. Glad for the findings so far--bet the biopsy will say scar tissue!
MLP, good call on staying home from the wedding. Keep an eye on your symptoms due to that Monday exposure. I get a TDaP booster every 5-10 yrs.
Jill, hang in there. Just when one chemo SE subsides, along comes another. GAAAAHHH!!
HH, sounds like a dream job--those little kids are so adorable!
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614- Yes I am now finished! I will see my RO in 6 weeks. Now that it is over my heart rate on my fitbit is now going back down to what it used to be. That was interesting to see how my body was reacting to the stress of treatment at night in my sleep. Did anyone else notice this while wearing a fitbit?
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My car wouldn't start on Wednesday morning, so I've been driving our giant diesel manual shift truck. I hate driving it in town. It's too big to park anywhere. When I got home on Wednesday I jump started the car, so I know it's just the battery, but I haven't had time to deal with it yet. My DH has been gone all week to Washington DC, visiting his older son, and he gets home tomorrow. We'll deal with the battery on Monday.
I'm so glad it's the weekend with a two-day break from rads! My skin is holding up well so far. But driving to town (1 hour each way) five days a week is too much like having a full time job again! I have 6 more whole-breast treatments and then 5 boosts.
My dentist wanted a release from the RO to do a crown that I need. I brought the release form today, but they gave it back unsigned and said they don't need to release me because it is not head or neck rads. I explained that the dentist won't work on me without a release and asked that they fill it out. The RO did, but I could tell he was annoyed because he didn't even read all the questions on the form - he just answered them all Yes. So now it says Yes I need prophylactic antibiotics and Yes I need to discontinue medications before treatment. I'll have to ask him to change the answers on Monday! Why can't medical professionals get along?
614, that is very annoying to not be allowed to use the comp time and then losing it. I would suggest requesting comp time and not tell them what you are taking time off for. So if you know you'll have to stay home, request comp time for those days. If they ask you why you need time off, just say it is due to personal business. They have no right to pry into your personal business! I know you won't always know in advance when you need time off, but it isn't right to deny you time you have earned! I am so sorry your son got so many illnesses at once! That is an amazing story about how your doctor persisted and found your malignancy. I'm always glad to hear a story like that!
Sloan, great new avatar!!! I hope the pathologist gets those results back pronto! It was a beautiful day for a picnic day in the park for those grade schoolers.
Molly, I'm so relieved to hear that your son is doing better! AND that your stepfather came through surgery!
1step, so sorry to hear you are having a scratchy throat and fever along with a wearing week. My BS did drawings too!
HH, I repeated your Irish joke to several people. It actually got some laughs (and a couple of groans)
I hope your new job is perfect for you.Heathet, how did the visit with the specialist go? or is it next week?
Poodles, what a (figurative) pain with the wound packing. If I had something like that, I'd probably pack it the two times because I'd actually like getting that stuff out of me and helping the healing. I guess I don't mind gross stuff too much if there is no pain. Speaking as a "farm girl", medicinal is not the worst smell to have. Hugs, and I hope you heal fast!!!
Jill, I hope you are feeling better today.
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Moondust, dang. Just not your week. Having to drive the big truck, RO being an ass. An hour's drive each way for your rads does get old quickly. I'm glad mine were 10 minutes away (bragging of course). And very lucky no SEs.
Sloan, you ARE looking good! Hope you get that path report ASAP and that it's scar tissue. Waiting sucks.
Still feeling less than 100%. My realtor sent me the HOA rules. I've never dealt with an HOA so it was eye-popping. Guess I'll learn to cope. At least the HOA dues are only $175/year so I can't complain about that.
Bummed out over Michigan State losing in the NCAAs yesterday. Now Gonzaga, located in Spokane, is my go-to team.
Hope everyone enjoys the weekend and feels good!
HUGS!
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Moondust - I saw the specialist Thursday and she spent 2 hours going over my diagnosis and treatment plan. She was wonderful and she helped to put my mind at ease. The huge lump in the side of my breast that I thought was cancer is a cyst. The cancer is actually further instead my breast and hard to feel! Thank goodness I felt that cyst or I might have delayed going in for a mammogram. Because I have implants and not a lot of breast tissue she recommended removal of the implant and all of the tissue. She said a lumpectomy would leave a huge hole in my breast and most likely damage the implant. She doesn't think I'll need radiation but that will depend on my lymph nodes. I'll also need reconstruction on the right side. That implant will be removed. I meet with the PS on Tuesday to talk about the TE procedure. I am also scheduled for genetic testing but my BS is hopeful it will be negative because of no family history. We're still waiting for my estrogen and progesterone results. I think medical records knows me by voice because I call so much but I'm being proactive!
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Heathet, sounds like you are feeling more positive now that you've met with the specialist. It appears you have a plan in place and are comfortable with it. That helps a lot. I also found my accidentally. My breast hurt at about 3 o'clock, near where I'd had a cyst removed 50 years ago. My cancer was actually at 6 o'clock. Sometimes we get lucky (though no one wants a BC diagnosis).
HUGS!
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still sick. Can barely get off the couch. Sore throat, cought, stuffy nose, aches, zero energy. Can barely read. In good news the fever is very low, so I'm not particularly worried about that, I just want to start feeling better.
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Jill, good the fever is down; bad that you still feel rotten. Just take care of yourself and get well soon!
HUGS!!
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LTF, sorry you're still feeling like crap. I think it took me the better part of two weeks to get over it the first time I had that reaction to chemo. I hope things start to turn around for you now.
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is the cold from the chemo, or is the chemo just making it harder to get rid of it??
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Jill, whatever is going around this season is wicked. My grandkids keep getting reinfected, and one of them even got pneumonia. Hubby was sick for two months, and I've seen people at work go down in an hour and have to leave and go home. Daughter in law said her neighbor laid in bed for four days, so weak he couldn't get out of bed. So hopefully you just got the nasty sickness, unrelated to chemo. Hang in there, and hoping you feel better soon. How are your white blood counts
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they checked my blood on Wednesday at the ER, all my counts were completely normal. They said unless I start developing a high fever, it is unlikely that I have low counts or bacterial infection. I feel like absolute crap, I can barely move, but my fever is quite low just over 99 ( unmedicated, I'm not even bothering with Tylenol anymore because it doesn't make feel better) so I'm not worried about that. I am on Neulasta, they said it's very effective (although it doesn't work well for some people, but since I'm already halfway through chemo if it didn't work well for me Id probably know by now).
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Totally sucks to get this crud on top of chemo. Hang in there, and I hope you start feeling better soon
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Heathet and Peggy - I'm like you two: I went in for one lump, but the cancer was an incidental finding. Scary.
LTF - (Hugs) You need some hot soup, a cuddle blanket, and a soft couch!
Moondust - I hope you would have called me if you needed help! Your story reminded me of volunteering during a fire in the Kern Canyon and having to drive an old Red Cross truck with manual transmission on the steering column or be stuck in the canyon. Good thing my dad taught me to drive his old beast! Glad you only have a couple weeks if rads left. On another subject, will it be too hot to camp in July on a road trip? I'll look at some temps. It sounds fun! I also noticed that it's only 6 hours from Spokane to Banff National Park. Hint hint.
Thank you HH, Chisandy and Peggy for noticing that I actually have a significant amout of hair now! Can you see in my avitar that I have my jammies and robe on, too? Haha
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Sloan, Spokane can be very hot in the summer (of course, when *I* was there in June it was not hot - I like hot weather). And it's dry - fires were already going in June. I don't know what to tell you. I'm sure there are cool areas to camp where you wouldn't melt. HAHA on the jammies and robe.
HUGS!
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Sloan, yes I will call you if I need help, o tribeswoman! At least my truck has the shifter on the floor, but it's still a beast! Luckily most of my drive in on Hwy 99 so I can just put it in high gear and turn on cruise control. It might be pretty hot for camping in July if you are used to air conditioning. We only have a swamp cooler so I'll be very heat-adapted by July. When do you get back from Europe? I could take a week or 10 days off from work, no problem, but it would also depend on my chemo schedule. I'd LOVE to go to Banff, and actually July would be better for that. I have a good online friend who lives near Calgary, and she just had mx and alnd last Friday (after neoadj chemo which did nothing to the tumor!
). I'd love to see her, too, and she'd show us to the best places to eat! I thought you were wearing a very fashionable scarf in your photo.Peggy, are there any HOA rules that are bothering you? Sometimes they require the weirdest things. And you can bet the neighbors will get all bent out of shape if you violate anything, even a little.
Jill, if your blood counts are good, then I think you just got hit with a nasty cold virus. Poor thing, hope you get better in a few days.
Heathet, sounds like you had a good visit with the doctor! I know what you mean about knowing your voice - I was on the phone at least once a day to get my insurance authorizations moved along when I first got diagnosed.
I hope everyone is hanging in there. If you are sad, I send you a big hug and waves of optimism. If you are not sad, I send you a big hug and a smile preserver!
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Moondust, I just gave the HOA rules a quick read last night. My current, historic neighborhood, has no rules. Nobody waters their lawns and few fertilize or do weed control - but all has to be done in new neighborhood. I was expecting the watering - hadn't thought about all the other stuff. I'll cope. Just a different way of living.
HUGS!
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There are good and bad things about HOA rules, but one of the good things is that you won't have THAT neighbor who has a yard sale every darned weekend! When I used to work in this little town near my house, I swear that the people in one of the houses had a yard sale everyday for years! I think they used to buy things at other yard sales and then put them in their yard to sell.
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Sloan, I have one of those people in the neighborhood, too. Luckily I don't have to drive by their house much. Definitely a plus to not have that eyesore.
HUGS!
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Still so sick, I think I'm going back. Fever is going back up to 38, my husband says my chest sounds congested.
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Crap, Jill! I think that's the right decision. Gotta get whatever it is under control Hugs and Prayers!
HUGS!
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Jill, there’s a lot of viral URI going around that seems to turn to bronchitis. Fever too low (and onset too gradual) to be flu, so not sure if Tamiflu would work. Best to get as much rest and possibly let the pros take care of your ADLs till you’re better. Keep us posted!
Just spoke to my south suburban friend with DCIS. When she went to Lutheran Gen. for an MRI-guided biopsy of a second suspicious area in her left breast, they didn’t do it--instead, since she’s decided to go for a umx with or w/o reconstruction, the radiologist said there’s no point--they know she has cancer in that breast and they’re taking it all. (A lx would take too much out of her already small breast and her other side would have to be reduced for symmetry--just too complicated, especially at 70). But they did see another suspicious area in the right breast, and did an US-guided core biopsy--which turned out to be a benign fibroadenoma. The game plan is to have the mx w/o a prior radioisotope injected, with the blue dye injected and the SNB performed in the OR first before they do the mx. If the nodes are negative and there's no cancer near the chest wall, sternum, clavicle or pecs, that’s it for treatment--no rads, chemo or endocrine therapy (the DCIS is hormone-receptor-negative). She hasn’t decided whether she wants reconstruction, nor whether it’d be immediate or delayed. But if she gets it, she definitely wants DIEP, not implants.
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Jill, did you get an antibiotic? My kids, grandkids, husband are passing this crud around, and four year old grandson ended up with pneumonia and an ear infection, so they put him on augmentin. I don't know what this crud is, but it is really smacking people.
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Sandy, looks like your friend has everything decided as much as it can be. Hoping for clear everything.
ItalyChick, my youngest son can't shake his bug either. It all just hangs on and on. I am still coughing a ticklish cough and stuffed nose. So thrilled. Hope all your family gets well quickly!
HUGS!
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Aw- Jill- so sorry you can't get rid of this crud! Sounds like going back and getting rechecked is a god thing as it can all change quickly and you sure do not need pneumonia! Hugs to you!
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I left. By the time I got to triage the fever was gone and I was feeling a lot better. It was SO BUSY I just couldn't stay. They couldn't find a place to isolate me.
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Good call, Jill--what’s the point of an immunocompromised patient being treated without isolation? Especially if the place is full of people with the same thing. Chicken broth and water, water and more water.....and sleep.
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Jill, VERY wise to leave the ER. You don't need anything else. So glad you are feeling better. Guess the sight of the ER scared the bug right out of you! Definitely go with the chicken soup!
HUGS!
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I have wondered why oncologists don't have urgent care or emergency staff. My oncologists office is strictly Monday through Friday which is a real pain.
Like who wants to go to emergency when already scared. Dumb
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