Calling all TNs

tracie23

kymn, Hang in there it is an emotional journey but you are going to be just fine.

Sugar77

Kymn - I also live in Canada (Ontario). I did not "qualify" for the genetic testing because I didn't not fit the criteria.  I have no family history plus I'm older than 35, which I recall was the cutoff age without a history. Last year, Luah on this thread sent me a link with the criteria. If I can dig it up, I will send to you as a private message. 

Hi everyone!  I hope you are all having a good evening.

Titan

OMG..you guys are busy!

Suze..good luck to you and hopefully they do just find a brain!  

Michelle..hope your first chemo went well! 

Luah..I think our kids are the same age...my daughter handled it all pretty well...my son..well..I'm not sure how he handled it and I'm still not...I never could get him to visit me during my chemos..my daughter came with me once..we ended up sharing a room with another mom and daughter..and dare I say..we had fun..we talked the whole time..I think it did my daughter good..my parents came once also..I think that they were relieved once they saw that yes..I did have drugs going into my IV but I was talking, eating and watching TV..

Ok..Canadian ladies..my son is going to be in Windsor on Friday and Saturday (spring break) for him..keep an eye on him for me..ok??/

Titan

Kymn..good choice...let us know what your treatments will be..we will be with you..

And hey unclezwife...you have been around awhile haven't you?  Good to "hear" from you..I remember (which is surprising) your posts from a year or so ago.

Do you guys remember Janice?  I wonder what happened to her...

Sugar77

Titan - sure I'll keep an eye on him...but it'll have to be at a distance because I live outside Toronto, which is almost three hours away. lol

Titan

Sugar..that's ok...I told him that I have mothers looking after him everywhere he goes..ha ha..I think he is a little nervous..good stuff.

MBJ

Titan:  Awwww-your baby is growing up!!!

Titan

We just told him to not get arrested...I'm glad I only have to worry (alot) for 2 days...he's a good kid..and he is so excited...we didn't let him take a senior trip after high school but I'm finding that now..we really don't have alot of say in what he does..guess he is growing up...

I miss it now that my kids aren't little anymore..it's a HUGE adjustment.

MBJ

Titan:  I can't imagine but it sounds like you are lucky to have such great children!  Congratulations for doing such a great job!

LRM216

Kymn: 

Hang in there, Kymn and know that you made the correct choice.  None of us wanted chemo, but with what we all have, it would have been too frightening not to go that route. 

Suze:  Good luck with the MRI and the surgery - and know that I am wishing you all the best.  God, you've been through the wringer waiting on all this - it's all so unfair.

Andrea:  Been there done that too.  Right after my very first A/C I developed febrile neutropenia and cellulitis (which was horrible!) in my surgical breast.  A tiny little bit of lingering scab fell off leaving a tiny bit of "raw" healing skin which three different docs cleared me for the chemo with it - and whammo!  Spent 6 days in isolation on iv antibiotics and for 6 wks following that every morning to the infusion center for an infusion of different antibiotics due to the breast.  Gawd - it was a horror and delayed my second A/C for two weeks.  Yours should be a lot easier, I'm hoping.  Hang in there, it's for your best what they are doing. 

To everyone else - hope all is well in everyone's little corner of the world!

mitymuffin

Suze,  I know you will be relieved to have the MRI and surgery behind you. I hope it goes as quickly and easily as possible.

minxie

Suze - hope everything is ok with your MRI. I had a similar experience this summer, constant headaches, particularly behind my ears, then dizziness, loss of balance, then leg tingling... I was convinced I had a tumor in my brain. When I told the symptoms to my oncologist he must have thought so too because he ordered a brain MRI. The results were perfectly clear - I have a brain and it was fine.

After that the symptoms dissapated some. I honestly think they were symptoms of panic attacks, now that I'm being treated for PTSD.  I never would have though my mind could do that to me, but it did. Not saying that's the case with you necessarily - but headaches can be from so many different things. Best of luck to you!

kelben

kymn I am 62 and am having BRCA test done, they are making allowances due to TNeg status.  I live in Ontario, Canada

Sugar77

kelben - interesting they are making allowances for you. I'm also from Ontario and I've pushed and asked all my doctors and I've been told over and over again that I don't qualify. I was 45 when I was diagnosed.  Good for you to get it done.

MonikaV

Kymn, Hang in there.March 18th will be a year I had my first chemo, I feel healthy and energetic. Believe!!!!! You will be ok. (((((HUGS)))))

Luah

Kymn:  I'm not sure what protocol exists in Alberta for BRCA testing. It is available in Ontario (and for no charge) if you match certain criteria: family history of BC and/or ovarian cancer or being of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. I have a sister diagnosed post-menopause and an aunt diagnosed in her 80s and some Jewish ancestry somewhere - I don't think I technically fit the criteria, but they stretched it a bit given my TN status. I asked for results prior to start of my rads, because if it had come back positive, I likely would have opted for double Mx instead.

Titan: Yes, it's so hard to know how young men are taking things. Both my sons tend to bottle their feelings. Usually I went to chemo alone, but on one occasion I was waiting for hours, and called my husband at the office in angry tears - "they shouldn't make people with cancer wait here so long!" - he called my son at home after school and told him to get over to the hospital pronto to cheer me up. (we live a 15-minute walk away). I will NEVER forget the way my heart lifted when I looked up from my chemo chair and saw my lovely 17 yo son in front of me! All my stress and hurt dissolved. I kept a journal about him all during his childhood (a gift for his 18th birthday) and that day was a highlight.

beccad

I posted this in the starting chemo in oct 2010 thread also.

 Alrighty ladies, here are the finalized plans for my surgery.  BMX with immediate TEs, on Monday, overnight stay and home on Tuesday.  I will then followup with the PS and probably the BS the next week.  The PS says that they will satrt with 100 cc in the TEs and fill between 60-100 ccs every week until Rads start or I am happy with the size then we will stop.  Fills or recon will be after any tissue damage from rads has healed.

Anonymous

I agree about sons bottling things up. Both my sons were extremely supportive but, get on the subject of recurrence or going Stage 4, and they just did not want to hear it. So, denial works for care-givers too.

lrr4993

Aw, Titan, your post about your son showing up at chemo almost made me cry.  Boys are the sweetest. I don't have children, but have a nephew and niece that live nearby.  I adore them both, but my nephew is my favorite. 

Fighter_34

Kymn & Suze you guys rock! Now go and kick some cancer butt!!! We are right here for you guys!!

LJ-painting #4

I can't wait to have teenagers!!! Getting everyone ready this morning was a NIGHTMARE! Oh the crying and complainting from little people!

 My legs you guys feel like I have ran a marathon but I haven't. Oh the sore muscles from TAXOTERE when will it ease away??? Calling the nurse today to report it again and ask for suggestions.

Suze35

MRI was all clear!!!! Yay!!! It was so hard to walk around with those symptoms and believe it could be anything else. Now I have no idea why I am having them, except it isn't brain mets !



THANK YOU ALL for your support and kind words. It really helped calm me down. Now I am just sending up positive thoughts for a good path report after Monday .



Titan - I used to live close to Windsor in Lansing MI. It sounds like youve done a great job raising him, and he'll have a blast without going too crazy.



Fighter - are you still on chemo, or having residual pain from the Taxotere? I had Taxol and didn't suffer too much, so I'm sorry I can't help you - but I hope you feel better soon.



Becca - good luck with your surgery! I think we now go on the same day.

Babs37

Suze35- YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy for your good news. Good luck on monday with surgery.

Take care ((((HUGS))))

beccad

Suze- With our dx's being so close I would not doubt that we are scheduled the same day or very close.  I think that some of my early stuff went so fast, but part of that has to do with me working in a hospital, too.  I just would not let anybody rest until I had that pathology report.  I must have bothered the Radiologist everyday until I actually had the path report from medical records 10 minutes before he called me.  I was on the phone that afternoon with a BS's office and had an appt. with her for early the next week.  From Oct 1 to Oct 15 I had seen the BS, MOnc and a general surgeon (for the port).  My Bday was on the 24th, port insertion on the 25th, 1st chemo on the 26th.  October was a blur of appts.  I Dr. appts that month than I usually have in a year.  I am ready to get to the spot whrere I don't see every one of them, all of the time. 

Oh, btw, my PET Scan only showed 1 of the lymph nodes "lighting up", and the breast mass had shrunk by over half!  I may have posted that part before.  I am still blaming reposts on chemo-brain.

Beccad

Lynn18

Suze35:  Congrats on your good news via your MRI!  I hope both you and Beccad sail through surgery and recover quickly.  I shared my surgery date with MonikaV.

Monika:  So glad to hear you are feeling healthy and energetic.  I think we are all a pretty resilient group of women.  What a difference a few months make.  

Laurajane:  Number 1 is my favorite, but I love all the paintings.

Suze35

Becca - that is great news about the PET! I haven't had any pre-surgery scans as my BS said it doesn't change course of action. A little nerve-wracking, but I understand her reasoning.

Fighter_34

Suze finished chemo on Feb. the 3rd, however still dealing w/ lingering issues. Oh the joy...

Great news!!

Luah

Suze35:  So very happy for you. Enjoy your weekend!!

dlcw

Hi All -

First - Suze35 I was so happy to see that your MRI was clear!  I can't imagine the relief that must have brought you....

Beccad - great news about your PET - hope the surgery goes smoothly.

 I had an upsetting day yesterday - was the last dose of my Cycle 4 of the trial and my onc added an U/S because we did not feel any additional shrinkage from Cycle 3 to 4.  The results were not conclusive in any way as far as measuring shrinkage.  Apparently, my original U/S had two shots of the main area - one of the tumor and one of some 'satellite' tumor, but on different screens.  The U/S they got yesterday had one shot of the whole area.  They were unable to tell if the area now is the initial tumor and satellites shrunken into a smaller area, or if it's just that the satellites are gone and initial tumor is about the same size.  She did reiterate over and over that on clinical exams, it's softer, less dominant, etc.  and that the U/S can't differentiate between scar tissue/healing tissue and cancer.  So, I went in hoping for some reassurance and left wondering if all it's been doing is keeping it in check but not killing it......MRI has been ordered for next Tuesday so that should be a better indication of activity and they have a good initial MRI that they can compare to.  So, now I'm trying to focus on NOT obessing about it and waiting to see what it says.  Two more rounds to go (6 weeks) of the trial then I'll have the lump and SNB and get some real info but it would have been nice to get a boost of optimism yesterday.

My daughter has her dance recital this weekend (2 shows sat and sun) so that will help keep me busy and focused on life as opposed to focused on cancer.  Trying to hang in there and stay positive.  Hope you all have a good weekend!

dlcw

TifJ

Suze and Beccad- Great news for you both!! Best wishes on your surgeries and a speedy recovery!!

laurajane

Hi everyone, I submitted #2 and #4. The art show is tomorrow. I've now been asked by two more people to have my own show one up in Indy and one down here in Bloomington. I am really excited.

Speaking of sons, Titan, I think my son holds a lot in too! He did go to chemo with me a few times, he actually wanted to cut school to go with me. It just melted my heart. My daughter wanted to go also but it didn't work out because of my grandson.  

Suze- I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. I am now so happy to hear the good news.

dlcw- I'll be thinking of you next Tuesday I hope the results are good news for you.

On a different note. It is really amazing how my way of thinking about life has changed. I am really focusing on the positive now and realizing how much bull s**t I've tolerated during my chemo and all the BC crap. I am finding it easier to rid myself of the negativity of others. Hmmm? In particuliar my so called long distance boyfriend. I feel stronger now than I have in a long, long time.

I wish all of you a fabulous week-end.