Feb 23, 2009 03:20PM samedaynurseJan wrote:

Thanks for the explanation Jo.....it all made a great deal of sense , when I had my surgery, my surgeon told me that if my sentinel *nodes* showed any carcinoma of any kind that she would proceed with a complete axillary dissection right then and there and that it would add another hour to my surgery.....as it was my family waited 45minutes for the sentinel reports to be finalized.....I too had a good sized area of tissue removed in hoping for clean margins first time around and also got them, you also need a certain sized cavity for the Mammosite insertion to be *good* I would think the amount of fluid you had collect post op did have something to do with that number of nodes.

How long I can take Arimidex is on the top of my list of questions when I see the Oncologist next month....I am 98% Estrogen positive and I would like to continue on it for as long as its safe and for as long as it works, although I say that now while I am SE free , I do however know people who have sailed through 3-4 years already with minimal SE and Im hoping that will be me. Have you made any dietary changes or eliminations in an effort to reduce and estrogen increase ??? Do you do specific supplements ?

Its all this big circle of events that you have to try to stay in control of but sometimes you wonder....get well....fight every day to stay well....sooooooooo that you can work and keep your health insurance and not find the whole thing so stressful that it ultimately affects your health again *whew*

I didnt even know that people were allowed to stay on Arimidex beyond 5 years.....thats very interesting to me.....

I dont usually have this kind of time to devote to posting.....but Im enjoying it today :)

jan

Feb 23, 2009 03:47PM kmccraw423 wrote:

Bump

Feb 23, 2009 04:45PM crazy4carrots wrote:

Jo and Jan:  I agree completely!  We post-meno ladies do have some different concerns, chief among them (I think) would be what the lack of estrogen is doing to us, now and in the long run.  Osteoporosis, high cholesterol, bp and diabetes concerns for example.  I sure don't want bc to return, but I also worry about the long-term effects of AI's; my onc says that, for  the forseeable future, I should remain on Femara. I do want to hear what the rest of you are doing, and how you're handling everything.

Let's either keep this thread going, or else start a new forum for Post-Menopausal BC.

Cheers,

Linda

Feb 23, 2009 05:14PM anondenet wrote:

I had cold flashes. I don't know if that was post meno stuff or low thyroid.

My grandmother was diagnosed at 70 and would not let them operate. She had a boyfriend and didn't want to lose a breast for him. So she did nothing. Refusing treatment may have been more common in her generation when mastectomies were automatic.

In later years, I visited her in the nursing home where she developed dementia and died of a stroke at 86. We can only guess that the the tumor was slow-growing or no growing. I don't know if us older ones are less likely to have aggressive disease.

Feb 23, 2009 05:32PM mzmiller99 wrote:

I so agree about the many other forums!  I bet we'll have a plethora of seasoned women joining us. 

 I'm looking thru the forums wondering if there are any young, single, African-American, gay men, with LCIS, who have just had surgery and are waiting for results.  Hmmm, guess I'll just say good night!