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Feb 25, 2009 07:10AM
Snowbird
wrote:
Hello again! Glad to see so many additions to the thread! It makes for great middle of the night, insomniac reading... another great benefit of being PM!
Mzmiller, thanks for the good wishes. I am so ready to get this behind me and bury it so deep in the memory bank that when the dementia starts it'll be the first thing to go... I might have that backwards!?!?!
SameDay, yes I am a snowbird from Central Wisconsin. My DH and I spend summers there. We're both retired now and after a lifetime in the upper midwest, my first request was to never again see another snowflake! I was actually diagnosed up there, but chose to get treatment down here because I just knew I'd recuperate better where I can replenish my Vitamin D by beachwalking in winter vs. watching the snow fly and the temperature drop into below zero territory. I chose to do chemo because my Oncotype score was 26 (17% chance of recurrence). To me, that meant that it might do me some good and I wanted to be as aggressive as I could possibly be. My onc, a gorgeous fresh face from Moffitt in Tampa suggested that, since I was still YOUNG (flattery, oh what a nice surprise!), it was worth treating with 4 rounds of T/C which he said is newer, "better" (?) and more easily tolerated. Four rounds didn't sound quite so scary to me and I was anxious to start so I could FINISH, which I'm just about to do. He felt that, even tho I had a mastectomy (former smoker, wanted to avoid needing radiation), my grade was "angry" and chemo, along with the AI would reduce my chance of recurrence to well below 10% and that my immune system could take over the job from there. He said "we all have cancer" and normally, our immune systems take care of it, so that made me feel better. His advice to pamper the immune system? Eat right (we do), and exercise (I haven't so much). I guess that'll have to change... I'm a member of the belly fat club too... Hope that's not TMI!
Meanwhile, everyone have a great day today, whatever you do! Cheers,
Gayle.
DX 10/15/2008, ILC, 2cm, Stage IIa, Grade 2, 0/3 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- OncotypDX=26(17%) BiLat DIEP (1-delayed, 1-immediate) 12/8/09, Stage 2 10/22/10 w/Craigie/Charleston COURAGE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF FEAR, IT'S ACTING IN SPITE OF IT!