MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

janinnj

Kay-Glad you rads went better.

Sherry- My thought and prayers are with your Dad.

Madpeacock-Welcome. Take your time making your decision on which treatment path to take.  Get all the inforamation you can and be comfortable with your choice.

elimar86861

That is one beautiful cake!  I am so jealous that I did not cyber bake it myself!!! 

barnyardkitty

  Hi ya'll, I'm new here and waiting for answers myself. I really like what I have read in this forum. 49 and still not use to the "middle-age" tag, lol If this goes positive it won't be my first rodeo. '92 cervical cancer with full hysto in '95. My sister died 2 years ago Sept.13 from complications from lung cancer. My Aunt died from brain cancer and grandmother from lung/bladder cancer and a few other relatives from cancer. I've got to make some quick decissions about how I want to play these cards I've been dealt. My boobs served me well feeding my kids and if they need to go now, then oh well. My kids are grown and they are telling me just get rid of them both now so we will be done and won't have to worry about anymore biopsies down the road. Just not sure if my insurance will pay for recon. My job says I can't come back to work until I can lift the 50 pounds again. Been 4 days and I'm still bleeding from the Core Biop.                  

tinkertude

welcome madpeacock!

claire great cake

Kay glad this appt went better, sorry about the LE.. hugs to you!

orangemat

Welcome madpeacock and barnyardkitty. I'm just a day older than the two of you here.

LovesChristmas-Barb

Welcome barnyardkitty...I'm sorry you have to join us but I hope that we can all help. Hopefully, that biopsy will stop bleeding soon!

lwarstler

Hi Barnyard and welcome. Sorry you need to deal with this Those core biopsies are rough! It seems to me with that with both your and your family's history you may want to get see about genetic testing. That could really help you make some decisions.  It is rough that insurance has to determine so much of what we decide. Most seem to cover recon for breast cancer, but I know every one of them are different. 

SAB

Rant time.  I was reading commentary on Steve Jobs passing (one of my heroes) and someone had the gall to say that he died because cancer research money was being "siphoned off" for breast cancer.  Can you believe that misogynistic crap!  

Paula66

Hi barnyard and welcome to the club no one wanted to be in. 

SAB its crazy when people dont get it.  Im not one to go around shouting from the rooftop during Pinktober but IMO more $$$ have been raised because its so out there.  It has nothing to do with the dollars being taken away.  I never see other cancers being marketed the way BC is. If this person would step back and start campaigning like crazy and put focus on it and make people more aware. Also I do feel sorry for him and his family.  He had mountains of money to pay for cancer treatment, but the thing about it is cancer doesnt care how rich or poor you are.   

barnyardkitty

I'm on my other half's insurance plan and he said that a wife of someone he works with had a total removal and the insurance wouldn't pay for recon. I looked today on the National Cancer site and found the new federal law that mandates they have to pay for recon if they cover full mast. We may have to play that card and if it works out then she can go back if she still wants it. I think she was a lot younger than me. But the fact that I would be having a total before an answer is in might make a difference. She said that with it being on the chest wall, she will have to take muscle from my armpit and lymps and tissue just to get to where the cluster is to take it out. That's more than half my boob right there.If they have to take that much then to me it makes more since to just take it all and then rebuild. That's where ya'lls advise comes in. I have talked to my cousin that is an RN and she's glad I'm thinking down that road. Surgury will be in 2 weeks. I don't have long to decide.

Iwarstler- not sure if they cover that, CS says most insurance won't cover it and it runs about $2000.

jo1955

Welcom barnyardkitty - So sorry you are having to deal with all this crap. If you can, take your time and decide on a treatment plan.  I have to agree with Lee Ann that genetic testing is in order with your family history.  Come often and let us know how things are going.  Just jump in at any time.

SAB - Just when you think you have heard from all the morons - along comes another one.  Steve Jobs fought a heroic battle with pancreatic cancer - that is one nasty bugger and survival rate is low.  I know this from experience - my mother had it and from dx to her passing was 6 months of pure hell. 

LovesChristmas-Barb

My brother died from pancreatic cancer too....very nasty and only three months from diagnosis till his death...very sad indeed.

jo1955

My mother passed from pancreatic cancer on their 44th wedding anniversary.  Now that really sucks!

LovesChristmas-Barb

That does stink Jo....

elimar86861

Welcome, barnyardkitty!  Ask your breast surgeon for a referral to a Plastic Surgeon and try to get in for a consult before your surgery, so you will know your best options for reconstruction.  If the BS and PS work together on this, they can agree on an approach to give you the best cosmetic outcome.  Take a look in the Forum Index on this site and check out some of the topics in Reconstruction if you'd like.

NativeMainer

Barnyardkitty--by federal law if the insurance company covers the mastectomy they MUST cover reconstruction and any surgery needed on the other breast to acheive symmetry. I had a mastectomy due to complications of radiation, then has a mast on the other side and bilateral reconstruction.  No promblems with insurance at all, even though I went out of state. 

SAB

Yes, pancreatic cancer is truly terrible, and I'm sor sorry to hear of your losses.  Steve Jobs had a rare form that progressed more slowly, and he was able to make it 7 years, but I'm sure you all know how unusual that is.  I want to make it clear that the person who said that comment was just a blog commenter.  But he still got under my skin.  The force of all of us women working together over so many years to fundraise was just dismissed by this cretin as though we were "taking" money from others.

SAB

Oh, and Barnyard Kitty, many insurance companies will review your family history to determine if they will pay for genetic testing.  I'm Ashkenazic Jewish with cancer in my immediate family and they did cover BRCA. 

barnyardkitty

Thanks for the info, I just talked to my daughter and filled her in on what I'm finding out. She reminded me of a couple years ago when she was wanting a tummy tuck from having her son. I told her that would not be something that I would  do or a boob job. Her comment was that if sometime in the future if I were to get breast cancer then I could get both the boob job and a tummy tuck then no one would be able to tell if I was my oldest son's girlfriend or mother, lol. We all laughted it off because my son's soldiers all thought I was one of his "ladies" on line when they were in Iraq. Her theory is that as long as we have our life then the body can be rebuilt. God's little bonus to handling more than we should have been put through. I've cried twice through this and my kids haven't cried at all, their response was there was nothing to cry about, we can handle this! They are 28,25,and 21.

Anonymous

Hi girls,

I don't want to hijack this thread but I do want to jump in for just a moment to make you aware of something.

Women between the ages of 40 and 60 and DES exposed have a much higher chance of getting breast cancer than women who were not DES exposed. The drug was given in the 1940's to 1970's to women who miscarried or had problems staying pregnant. DES, diethystilbestrol, is a synthetic estrogen and causes havoc to the reproductive tract. Now the information is out there regarding our risk for breast cancer. The info is becoming more available as this group of women age and experience hormone changes due to menopause.  If you are on this board then likely you have breast cancer. If you suspect your mother may have taken the drug please go to the DES Action website for more info. There is a huge lawsuit going on right now in Boston, MA and they are asking any women who think they may have been exposed to contact the law firm of Aaron Levine in Washington, DC. I am one of the DES Daughters represented in the case against the drug companies. If you want more info, please either contact me or the above mentioned.

Thank you for letting me have your attention for a moment! Back to the subject.....

tucktertwo

jo1955

tuckertwo - Thanks for sharing that info.  Please jump in anytime.

reesie

Well welcome to all the newbies. This is a great place to get answers or just vent.



Congrats Janis.



I'm glad you had a better experience last night Kay.



Unfortunately there's no way for me to find out about DES and my Mom because she's too far gone with Alzheimers. But I would say since I was born 11 months after her marriage and she had 5 kids that wasn't an issue with her.

YaYa5

reesie, where you been, girl?  i've missed you!

LovesChristmas-Barb

I was always happy because my mother refused the DES when she became pregnant with me after suffering a miscarriage. She wasn't comfortable taking it. Of course, I have the dern old cancer anyway....but some women have had it much worse than I.

nancygv55

Welcome newbies!  I was a newbie just a couple of weeks ago but have felt welcomed since the first time I posted.  Everyone here is willing to lend either a listening ear or good advice with some humor and fun thrown in.  Kay, I didn't really say you had to put your problems into perspective but that you had already done so by noticing the young boy in the wheelchair.  Perspective is a fluid thing and so you can be discouraged, mad, sad, whatever you want and need to be and that is your perspective.  That said, I do try to remember how good I have it even when I am irritated by something related to BC...and I truly have no reason to complain whatsoever.  But I do. Sometimes.

Anonymous

Thanks for sharing. Often, DES exposure causes the vagina to exhibit a particular pattern that is what the doctors call 'mosiac'. If you are unsure of your exposure that is one way to possibly verify whether your mother took DES or not.

 I hope you can share this info with your friends as well. We need to get the word out there for women!

tuckertwo

reesie

I?e been here Jo. Ia'm beginniing to feel invisible though since everyone keeps looking for me even though I post lol. I'll probaby post more after the 18th cause I'll be home after surgery for two weeks. Finally getting the bmx and ooph.

Paula66

Ressie were they able to set it up for the same day?  I hope so.  Im sure it would suck if you had to do one surgry then turn around to do another on.

elimar86861

Yeah, Reesie, did you get the 2 for 1 surgery special? 

Wow, wouldn't it be great if they slashed treatment prices during Pinktober?  I'd like to get a pink flyer about that!

reesie

Yeah that's why it's the 18th instead of the 11th. I had alresdy decided to forgo the ooph and just keep getting the Lupron and wait for natural meno if I couldn't do both together. I'm excited and nervous.



Funny what gets me excited these days.