Class of 2010

LINDAGARSIDE

I agree...you are not crazy at all.  It is weird though how we get happy over arthritis or cysts or something minor.  Last year having a cyst would have driven me bonkers.  Today...not so much.

GP...I am going to get two nursing bras: one in honour of you and one in honour of your mom's memory.  I think it's the least I can do. 

I start my radiation soon...and still not sure if I'm going to be in the group for a week (with rads only to cancer site twice a day) or the once a day group to the full breast, for 6 weeks.  Not sure if they are going to be giving me "boosts" or not.  As long as they kill the enemy cells...that's all I care, right!

Michele...YEA...for the lymph glands shrinking...and the lesion is a cyst.  Only one small little tiny thing left to kick and you're almost there!  Back to the waiting game, eh?

Oh, BTW, I haven't had any side effects from the tomoxifen at all to speak of.  At least not yet anyway!

Talk to you later gang!

etk02038

Katie...with that menu, you made me feel guilty about serving my family
hamburger helper last night!

Elen....sorry about the chemo, I hope it's not too difficult. Good luck with
the cat and puppy. Animals can get so jealous!

Jeannie...so funny about the bras. I start radiation on the 23rd. I never
even had a nursing bra when I was nursing maybe it's time?

Michele...glad to hear they are "only" cysts. Good luck with the ultasound
next week. It must be very stressful with all those tests and the waiting.

I had my tattoos Wed and all they do to line me up. I am good to go on the 23rd...it's about time! 

Have a good day all. 

KatieMom

The med onc told me that she saw a cyst on my liver on the MRI from Nov.  I about freaked out but she said it was just a cyst and not to worry.  Does anyone know how she could tell that from an MRI, of my breasts?  She siad the MRI just often showed a bit of the upper abdomen so I get that, but how can you tell if it's a cyst or a lesion or an anything else?  IF it is a cyst, does it just stay there?  Paranoia with the waiting is starting to drive me loopy, can you tell?  Of course I had a rocking headache yesterday so was sure I have mets to the brain...  sigh. and sigh again.  

I got blood drawn yesterday for the BRCAs.  Two weeks until that result... 2 more on the oncotype.

So maybe a Tres Leches cake for dessert?  I make a good one. 

Katie the Waitie  

Lynbob

Hello Ladies {hugs}

I found this discussion board Jan 9 four days before my bilateral mastectomy. I just now feel like I can take a breath and look around. I had been on the January Mastectomy group (awesome group of girls who helped me through the surgery). I am happy to find you ladies with the similar diagnosis.

A little about me, I am 48, a single mom to an 11 year old daughter and a 13 year old autistic son. I don't have family (all deceased) but I do have a small core group of close friends who have helped me through the BC jungle.

My cancer was small and caught early. My oncologist didn't push me when I didn't want chemo. I chose mastectomy to avoid radiation. It was ER+ but  I was not sure if I had been through menopause (had hysterectomy with 1 ovary removed 2002). So I chose to not do Tamoxifen because of the possible side effects.  My current dilemma: my OB/Gyn ordered a transvaginal ultrasound and FSH blood work to check out what the lone ovary is up to. And I have not been through menopause and the ovary looks suspicious and enlarged. Poop!  The nurse would not give me any further info saying the doctor wants to see me in her office and discuss it with me in person. Oh yay :-/  So I go today at 2:15.

Anywho, it is nice to be here with you all, thanks for letting me be part of the group  

Ezscriiibe

Katie: I asked about the cysts, and they said they are just pockets of fluid. Apparently they can tell that from the MRI detail. I asked if they eventually go away and was told most likely no, but they just sort of "hang out" there, not getting any bigger, not getting any smaller, just fluid locked in a pocket of cells.

I also asked how you get them and they said they just happen. Nothing really "causes" them.

I am hoping the smaller one is a cyst, too.  But won't know that til next week.

Tres leches cake sounds like something my diabetes would LOVE! Well, ONE bite won't hurt, eh?

KatieMom

Lynbob - nice to meet you.  We are very friendly here and welcome you with open arms and compromised breasts.  I sympathize on the got to see the doctor in person thing.  I can't really figure out what I want.  Do I want them to give me bad news over the phone?  Do I want to wait any longer to get the bad news when they have an available appt?  I guess I just don't really want the bad news.  Good luck today.  Just picture the doctor sitting in his underwear and all of us circled around you wearing pink and laughing at him.  He's probably a very good guy.. just have to get the laugh in there in times of yuck.

So my across the street neighbor and friend, age 36 ish, got called back on her mammo and was panicked.  I calmed her, but she was beside herself.  She went for the bigger mammo and ultra sound and they found nothing, all clear.  Good.  I didn't know this until I called her hubby yesterday on an unrelated subject, but I asked how she was holding up (the appt was scheduled for next week).  Apparently she got in earlier to get this all clear and had been celebrating for the last two nights.  He said over and over, that they just didn't know what they would do if there was a problem, that they had really dodged a HUGE bullet, that they were really freaking out about  her chances of survival... on and on.  He knows my situation.  I didn't say anything, just showed my joy at her good results.  sigh...

Ezscriiibe

Lynbob, so sorry you had to join  us, but very glad you found us!

I'm 54 and have had just a single ovary since I was 27 (I had uterine cancer). 

I went through menopause with the poor lil thing in my 40s. It was very gradual and I didn't really get a LOT of side effects from the menopause. The hot flashes were more like I was warm most of the time; they didn't really come and go, and weren't that intense except at night. Then I DID start the "tinkle when you laugh or cough" thing (plus when I had to pee, I had to get there right away) but didn't really connect that to menopause until I finally relented and saw a urologist about it.

Vesicare and about a month of an external hormone cream applied nightly took care of that in a snap!

But I am ER+ and am seriously considering getting the poor over-worked little lady removed and laying her to rest. It's one more estrogen factory, as minor as it is, that I won't have to worry about.

If you are not going to take any estrogren supressing medications, I don't know that I'd want it sticking around. Even though your tumor was small, once cancer cell is even smaller. If there IS one still there lurking, and you won't really know unitl it starts to grow and get nasty, then it would seem to be in one's best interest to eliminate whatever fuel it's going to rely on. 

Even after my chemo and radiation is done, and my ovary is plucked, I will also take the estrogen supressing medication. I'm in this for the long haul. I want the very last medical exam before I ultimately die of old age to have read NED (no evidence of disease).

KatieMom

MIchele - Thanks for the cyst info.

Katie 

Lynbob

Thanks for all the welcomes girlies   Michele, thanks for your post. I am feeling like I want the ovary gone. Is there a reason to keep it and take the Tamoxifen or does removing the ovary alleviate the need for Tamoxifen. My head hurts from pondering all this and trying to make the best decision for myself. When I was first diagnosed, a volunteer from the American Cancer Society contacted me. She had BC 18 years ago. The one thing she said that stood out for me was there is no one single right decision. No one can tell you what to do because ultimately you are the one who has to live with the decision and face yourself in the morning.

LINDAGARSIDE

Hi Lynbob...and welcome to our group.  I have a similar diagnosis as you but am 58 years old.  I had a hysterectomy many years ago but my ovaries were left in tact.  I had an ultra sound done the other day for my pelvis area and do you know what?  The technitian could only find one ovary!  The other one had actually shrivelled up so small she couldn't see it.  She said that is quite common after menopause.  I am on tamoxifen now as even though I'm past producing very much estrogen...clearly I was still producing enough to feed a cancer.  The new strategy is to starve the sucker to death (even though I've had the tumor removed..some of it's hungry cells might be lingering around...like Michele said) and not give it a bit of food at all.  (Sounds so cruel, doesn't it?)  My cancer was "well differentiated" which means low grade and slow growing...and certainly that is because my estrogen levels are low and my age...but as I said...not so much so that my little tiny tumor didn't manage to find something to munch on. Good luck with your decision...and you are right about the need to make your own decisions.  We all must and we all do...it's just hard isn't it?  But, we all have the same goal in common and with that in mind we lovingly share information with each other.

Katie! I love what you (aka Katie the Waitie) said "comprimsed breasts"...isn't that a hoot?  I am going to use that for the next few days for sure.  Hope you don't mind, Katie.  I just want to say that it sounds to me like you've got a cyst going on.  I'm also going to say that my younger sister was diagnosed with liver cancer (a tumor on the end of her liver the size of a small orange).  She had surgery to remove it 7 years ago and is still NED.  She didn't even take chemo or radiation.  Mind you, her cancer was not breast cancer.  It actually started in the little ducts that join the liver and gall bladder.  I'm sorry your neighbor acted so insensitively.  That must of hurt.  I winced myself and he wasn't even talking to me.

Let's keep up the good fight, pink peeps.  I see the enemy retreating...he has no food...no weapons and is shrivelling up like a dried prune.

irish47

Hi to all,

Ellen, am right behind you, I start my radiation on 24th March! Am in next Friday and the following Monday for the preplanning and the simmulation.

Lynbob, hi and welcome to the club you never wanted to join..  I too have a 13 year old son, not with autism but with many autistic traits due to a chromosomal abnormality.

Too funny bout the nursing bras!  But actually very convenient with the front opening, think I will buy some too.

All that food talk is making me hungry but luckily am off shortly for a celebration meal, our younger daughter turned 18 yesterday.  And yes, wine will be consumed!!

Cora

etk02038

Hi Lynbob..welcome to the group.I will be pondering the Tamoxifen decision also after radiation. Tamoxifen or ovaries out...oh boy what a choice.

Cora, Happy birthday to your daughter!  I will be consuming wine also...just because it's pizza nite!

Off tomorrow morning with my 2 sisters for a girls night away. No hubbies, kids or pets!!!

KatieMom

So if my ovaries come out, I could avoid tamoxifen?

Katie 

LINDAGARSIDE

Hi Katie.  I've not heard of that before.  Look at me...hardly any estrogen being created (one ovary has totally shrivelled to nothing and the other probably hasn't been working much for years) yet I'm on tamoxifen.  I think the ovaries come out (or are strategically planned to come out) if/when there is estrogen (due to age and premenopausal?) being created and the cancer is strongly ER/PR positive.  There are other hormone blockers as well...and I'm probably going to switch to one of them after a few years.

I certainly could be wrong though...anyone else want to chip in here?  LOL.  We're self taught experts all of a sudden, aren't we?? 

Pattyfish

Jeannie, I am sad for you.  Losing a mom is never easy for us daughters.  I am happy that her passing was peaceful and that you were able to be with her.  You are in my thoughts.

Pat

Ezscriiibe

Ladies, your body produces estrogen in other glands besides the ovaries.

If your ovaries are gone, or if you are post-menopausal, there is an alternative estrogen supressor that is sometimes recommeded. I can't think of the name of it right now, but I think it starts with an "A"??

Anyway, your adrenal glands (I think) produce estrogen, too, so simply removing the ovaries isn't quite enough if your cancer is ER+.

I wish I could give you guys more concrete information, but I must be in full chemo brain right now. Just keep in mind that our bodies produce estrogen in more ways than one.'

After my chemo, I will be getting radiation, then I will be on an estrogen supressor for (I think) 5 years. But I don't think it's tamoxifen.

elen

EZ .. might be easier to do a menu and everyone fix the same dishes from the same recipes on the same day ..

Of course, with my cooking skills, you would all be eating goulash, hamburger mess number 123 or spaghetti.... or salad .. we eat lots of salad.. LOL

Some news on the horizon ...

I was planning on getting married this summer but that was BC.  In my mind if I EVER got married again - it would be on the beach - and I would have hair .. LOL.  We have moved our plans up to April 1.  April Fools Day is quite appropriate for two people who have been dating/living together for seven years don't you think? 

tic

If your ovaries are out  you can go with  an  AI- to eliminate any estrogen produced by your adrenal glands- (the last estrogen hold-out)- at least that's the way it was explained to me. 

Lynbob

I wonder why some oncologists push for estrogen suppressor and others don't. Mine didn't. It is so confusing. Looks like I will be having more surgery in June   Doctor ordered a CA-125 for a baseline and will check again in June but said the size of the ovary warrants removal.... ugh

Enough about me, hope you are all doing well. Hugs for all of you {{hugs}}

Teka

Lynbob,

Lucky You, a fantastic Doctor keeping track of ovary!

artsymom

Hi All,

I guess this is likely the page that I should be on too now with my surgery coming up Wednesday. Praying for a little 'luck of the Irish' with me.  I am half Irish so that and the doctors wearing green should be a good thing!  

Wanted to share my profile picture with you all.  My son is 12 and wanted to help his mom out in the way he knew how.  He had beautiful golden locks but he didn't care he "really wanted to do this."  

We had a wonderful hair dresser who helped us out and almost cried when we left.  She couldn't believe a 12 year old would do that.  You should have seen the looks from people when we went for dinner afterwards.  When we told them the story he was seen in a whole new light.  

I am so blessed with family support and the love of my children.  I hope and pray that everyone finds support in all around them.  In the day to day blessings and in the support of family friends and the amazing support of the ladies of this web site.

Teka

artsymom,

What a picture!   Good luck with surgery.   I'll keep You in My thoughts.

Lynbob

Your son rocks!  Awww, I love that pic

LINDAGARSIDE

My daughter is a barber...I'd like to show her this picture.  Do I have your permission artsymom?  Thanks!

Aren't kids wonderful at times?  Aren't kids awful at times?  LOL.  I was just thinking about when my kids were little...and then when they were teens.  Oh my goodness...the girls did give me a run for my money when they were 13 or 14.  It seemed to happen around when they grew breasts.  See...that is the problem with life...those darn boobies!!  ARGHHHHHHHHHH.  LOL.

KatieMom

You are funny, Linda, and Lynbob, your child is a gem.  I will wait with great anticipation for the dreaded boobies to grow on mine....  ACK.

Ezscriiibe

Wow! I just had the most interesting experience with my Nekkid Head (chemo bald) down in Nashville at the SEC tournament. I've been pretty much going commando and not paying too much attention to it. I've noticed most people do one of two things: they either make eye-contact then glance away very quickly, or they make eye-contact and smile extra wide and nod and mouth "how are you" . . . Like I said, I've gotten quite used to just not paying attention to it.

Well, we had a great afternoon, our team, University of Kentucky, beat Tennessee (by a LOT) to advance to the final and so we celebrated by going to PF Chang's. Not sure if everyone has been there, but it's a fairly upscale Chinese Bistro. I always get the Oolong Tea-mariented Sea Bass when I go, and my husband usually gets the duck. I guess a meal for two runs about $50 or $60, if you get dessert (which we did! New York Cheesecake).

Well, at the end of the meal, our server came to the table and told us that they were very pleased we came tonight and that they valued our patronage and the dinner was on the house.

My husband and I didn't even understand him at first. We were like, "whaa?" Then he repeated it and gushed over us and thanked us for coming.

The restaurant was full of both Kentucky and Tennessee fans, but the only thing we could figure is that we were the only table with the bald lady!

How nice was THAT!?

So, I especially recommend PF Chang's to everyone now!! 

Lynbob

Michele, how awesome. I may have to make the 2 hour trip to Nashville to try out the restaurant. However, no bald head here Do they have PF Chang's in Louisville?  Go Cats!

Dublin4

Artsymom,

LOVE the picture.  You will find your kids to be amazing.  Much luck of he irish from one irish girl to another!

algreach

Add me to the class. I was diagnosed Mar 9th with multifocal / multicentric IDC. I have a family history of BC (mother, sister) and I'm strangely calm about it all. I'm a 50 yr old single mom and self-employed, so I do worry about the impact all of this is going to have, but I'm lucky to have great family support.The hardest part so far was telling my 15 yr old daughter that I had BC. My mom, my dad, and my older brother all died of cancer (him @42), so she's terrified to even hear the word. It went better than I expected--mostly because my sister is NED three years.

I'm waiting on a surgery date (expected to be early April) for a MX and SNB. Scheduled for staging tests next week and keeping my fingers crossed for good news.

Ezscriiibe

Lynbob, yes, they have a PF Chang's in Louisville. It's at the corner of Hurstbourne Lane and Shelbyville Road.

Algreach, so sorry you had to join us, but so happy you found our group. This board is an oasis for me and many others. I'm sure it will be for you as well.

Don't be surprised by the feelings you will get in the next few weeks and months. I know I'm still going up and down like a roller coaster.  The hardest part is the waiting, for test results, for surgeries, for nailing down treatment plans. It gets a little better once you have a direction and know more about what is going on "inside" and what the plans are. 

Hugs to you and I will keep you in my thoughts and heart.