Calling all TNs

JAN69

Watching the national news:  Wow, that Issac is a monster!  I'm sending my heart-felt good wishes to all my Southern Sisters.  Please stay safe.  Jan

Cocker_Spaniel

Hope - I am so sorry to hear of your test results.  Sending a hand to hold you seems so inadequate but I am sending you the biggest biggest  hug with lots of love. This chemo will kick cancers arse I know it will.  Just hang in there girl. Annie 

kathyrnn

Hope, I am so sorry for your horrible new, but I'm so glad you came to share it with us. Like I said before we're here for the good, the bad and the ugly, and your news is ugly. I'm praying they find a combo that works for you. ((strengthing hug))

CatWhispurrer

Hope - OMG, holy shit and f*ing cancer.   Sending you big hugs to help you stay strong and get the best drugs to kick FC!   ((((((HOPE))))))

OBXK

Hope - sorry for your horrible news. How are you feeling? Big hugs.

Titan

Oh crap Hope...praying that the new chemos work for you....ya know I was creeping on the stage 4 thread awhile ago..and while there are not alot of us tn's on there...there is this one lady....tn stage 4 for quite awhile and she is NED...soo..it can and does happen and hope it does for you..love you!

Bak...here we go...thank heavens for clean scans....wonderful news

the ups and downs of this thread..wow...happy, then sad to laughing my arse off...we NEED each other...

Wrenwood47

HELP-Tried to change my avatar after deleting my previous one and it will not load. I keep getting an error message "is not included in the list". So I tried to just put my old picture back and I got the same message. Does anyone know how to fix? I am faceless

Cocker_Spaniel

Titan - you are so right. We do need each other for all the bad and good times and the laughs are what gets us through. None of us can leave this thread because we are truly sisters and understand and love each other through everything.   Annie     

NavyMom

Oh, Hope.....So sad to hear your news.  Praying hard that this next chemo is the magic potion you need right now.  Truly hoping that you can feel the love from all of us.

Bak, so glad to know that your scans were good.  Enjoy your dance with NED even though DH is being a big poop.

DorMac

Hope - I am so very sorry to hear your latest news. Like your other "sisters" on here, I am sending big {{{HUGS}}} to you! With us holding your hand, kick that FC to the curb.

Doreen 

christina1961

Hope, I'm so sorry to hear this.  Sending you hugs and I hope this chemo combination works for you.  There is a lot of information and personal experiences with chemos on the tnbcfoundation.org site in the recurrence section if you haven't already checked it out.  I believe there may be someone who has received this same combination with good results.  She has liver and lung mets 

Bak, I'm so glad your scans were good! 

Lovelyface, thanks for checking in!  I hope you get some answers and solutions to your eye issues. 

bak94

Hope-I am so glad you stopped by to let us know what is going on. I am sorry you have to go through all this. Of course, one can only imagine, until it happens to them, how it really feels to get news like that. My heart aches for you, but also has hope for the chemo getting in there and doing its job. I felt relief to get my scan results today, but still there was a deeper sadness. A sadness for those that get bad news, or those that may get bad news in the future. There has to be a bigger picture about why this crap happens. In the end there has to be some incredible reward for those that suffer so much in this life.

Life for me today was a major emotional rollercoaster. So much happened and not all good. I am sure the prednisone I had to take before the scan did not help with anything! I have to take it because I have a problem with the contrast. So, I have to share a funny part of the day. I was waiting for the results of my scan and my mo went down to talk with the guy that reads the scan and to look at the scans himself. After what seemed like eternity he comes back and said all is fine. He said he asked the scan guy to find something, anything, different on the scan. The scan doc says, well, she has gained some weight since her last scan! OMG!!! How embarrassing!!! And sooooo funny at the same time!

Thank you all for the good wishes and hand holding, I needed it today! I looked all over for inmate, I know I will run into to you at some point!

And sorry for all the typos in my posts! I was using my phone. And apologies for being so self absorbed, I get that way when I get into my little tizzies, or big tizzies. Oh, and hubby and I moved past whatever happened earlier, I think we both had our heads spinning. I got so mad I swear I sounded like an evil witch when I yelled at him, and then he got louder! We were in the car and I am sure people in the cars next to us could hear everything!

DorisMarie

Hi..Isaac..wet..a wee bit windy..schools all closed today due to road flooding..even our small town has a hwy closed...looks like more of the same today..all day..

went to rads doc for check up..yep..boob still there..come back in 3 months...but did get enuf nerve up to ask about recurence rate for me..he says 25 or 30 %..so that is 70..75% it won't..right?

happy dance for the good reports..and thankful I feel good enuf to dance..I did notice my taxotere was infused way slower this last tx..could that have made the diff in my se's?

Hugs to Hope and all that need an extra boost...

best wishes to all.. 

borntosurvive

bak:  SO glad you got the all clear.  Awesome news.  I am glad you and your DH could move past it.  Sometimes emotions run really high.  I know in this house there are days my DH is super great and other days I'd like to put him on the curb for pick up. 

Hope:  (((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))) I don't know what to say.  Just know we're here for you and I wish you all the best as you move forward and past this beast.  Stay strong!!!! 

Any thoughts on mammo after BMX?  I have been sent for my first mammo follow up at the year point (November) but I had a BMX.  I have heard some conflicting info about having them done after a BMX.  They're looking to make sure there is nothing in the scars and/or any remaining tissue left over.  Has anyone had a mammo on their MX side?  Just looking at myself and wondering how this is even possible to do.  I do have a bit of extra skin on each side but kinda giggling at the thought of how they'll do this.  

TifJ

Hope I am so sorry. I just feel sick when one us gets this news. I hope the Carbo/Gemzar will help. Sending you a giant hug!

NavyMom

Born, I have never heard of having a mammo after bmx.  Seems to me an MRI would be a better choice, as it would also be able to check for possible implant rupture/leakage at the same time as looking at scars.  But of course, an MRI usually needs insurance approval because it $$$.  And sometimes the almighty dollar speaks.  Let us know how it goes...Always ready to learn something new about how various docs manage this crap.

borntosurvive

Thanks Navy Mom:  I don't have implants or anything so I don't have to worry about rupture etc.  Also I live in Canada so tests are all covered and I don't pay anything.  I will see how the mammo goes, I am thinking they may just do an ultrasound or both.  It's just a yearly follow up thing so I will keep you posted on what happens.  It's not until November but I was just thinking that I don't see many ppl here talking about mammo post BMX. 

Hope60

Hi ladies - thank you all so much for your resonses and warm wishes.  I can't tell you how much it means to me to know I'm not alone in this.

Bak- congrats on the clean scans!!!

Babs37

born- I had right mx and since had 2 mammos on my left boob only. I get an mri once a year to check the other side.

browerl

I am sitting in my comfy recliner getting my weed kill for the 3rd time finally, I can at least say I am half way done with chemo!

BernieEllen

It was the first day after Christmas vacation in a 3rd grade class. The teacher told the class that each student could tell the class 1 thing they got for Christmas. So, the teacher calls on a girl to come up to the front of the class and tell everyone 1 thing she got. "My daddy got me a Bow-Wow," she said. The teacher tells the class that they are old enough to know the correct words for things without using nicknames. The teacher tells the girl to try again. The girl thinks real hard ........ "My dad got me a dog," she said. She sat down and a boy got up and said, "I got a choo-choo!" The teacher scolded him and told him to try again. The boy thought hard and said, "I got an electric train!!" That boy sits down and a really shy kid gets up and sadly says, "I got a book" The teacher feels bad for the kid and she asks, "What was the title of the book??" The boy thinks very hard. The class waits as the boy is thinking. Finally, the boys face brightened and he said, "Winnie The Sh*t!!

Mumtobe

Hi Ladies,

I have a question. Going in for my 4th neoadjuvent AC treatment tomorrow but since last night I have noticed a slight swelling (not a lump) in the curve of my armpit. This part of the armpit is slightly more enlarged anyway (I felt my other armpit and my husbands to be sure) but its a little tender aswell. The swelling itself isn't tender, it's my skin but it feels like it's chaffed against my bra/clothes (which are constantly feeling too small due to my ever expanding baby bump). I'm absolutely going to get doctor to check it tomorrow but I'm wondering has anybody else had this?

C x

Lovelyface

Hope, babyheart, sweetie, we were the same - diagnosed around the same time, with similar diagnosis and I think I have already said this before.  We are the same stage IIA, mine was grade 2, yours was 3, I was diagnosed in July and you in June of 2010.  My tumor was larger than yours.  Yours was a very mild diagnosis compared to many others, so how is this possible?  I just feel like pulling all my hairs out of my head and screaming. And it has been 2 years after your first diagnosis, I would like to think that you and I and many others would be out of danger by now.  I know they say 5 years.  My Oncologist had told me that the mark when it comes back is at 1 year 9 months, so when I passed that, I was thrilled.

Well, ladies, there is no rhyme or reason to this horrible monster.  But we will get it some day.  We may not be here, but one fine day, this disease will become history on the face of the earth.

I, on the other hand, am in a dark place.  I am not sure if any one of you have ever taken this route.  I have tried to put a huge mental block in my mind as regards this disease.  I am in a stage, where I don't want to go for any tests, don't want to hear about it, don't check myself....... this is really bad.  I need to shake myself out of this mode.  I have begun to think that if it comes back and is there.... let it grow or whatever, and then I will die from it.  I think I had heard of people not wanting to face reality, and I think that is what is happening to me.  I have been feeling a tiny something in my left breast, and I am just letting it go for now. It has been there for sometime, but I continue to just wait.  Not sure what I am waiting for.  I am not sure what has happened to me psychologically, but I have become numb, just can't deal with it. It is just too much to handle, so this is the way I am handling it, by letting it go, not facing it.

This disease sure is a monster who has invaded all our lives to a great extent.

Ladies, let's each work on our issues today. We all have plenty to deal with. If it is not the recurrence, or the spread, then it is the mental or psychological issues we have to deal with.

Tazzy

lovely... please, however hard it is, go get yourself checked out... just for peace of mind.   Sending biggest hugs your way and to every lady that needs a hug, feel my arms around you all.  Fuck this cancer !

kathyrnn

Hope - I do have a question for you, and I'm asking it because I want to know how proactive we have to be with our doctors. I went back in the thread to check when your initial symptoms started, which was July 11th.

WTF rationelle did they use to wait almost 6 weeks before giving you a PET Scan? It would seem to me , that as soon as they discovered the brain mets, they should have done one immediately!



Lovely, I know you've been through a lot, but "the head in sand approach" doesn't work well with this disease. Maybe it's time to discuss your feelings with a therapist? (i'm thinking about it for myself too) (Hug)

Luah

I've been off for a couple of days, so much news to catch up on. 

First the bad (and ugly): Dearest Hope, I am so sorry for what you're facing. Your name captures everything we are feeling for you. As nightmarish as things must seem right now, we're all here for you... and looking forward to that combo kicking FC's butt. 

Now the good: Bak, what a relief. So happy for you.

So true that we need each other through the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the thick and thin. Who else in the the world really gets what we go through?    

bak94

Oh Lovely, I thnk that all the time. I just want to forget all the tests and move on, and what will be will be. Just live until some horrible symptom shows up that you can't ignore. So my doc called me today and said my tumor markers are good, they are at 34. He just left a message, as I missed the call. Well, even though that number is just under the normal range of 38, my markers are moving in an upward direction:(   They were high when first diagnosed and went something llike this-59,61,58, all before chemo and then after chemo 58, 38, 34, 32, 29, 31 and now back to 34 ( i think that is what they were, going from memory, not my report). So they hit a low and started creeping back up! I was thinking of calling the doc back but I am sure he would say it is still in normal level so don't worry yet. Uggh, it is always something, plus they are still trying to get my insurance to pay for a bone scan.

Also, Lovely, I wonder if the scans or docs sometimes miss something. In my case my tumor was not huge, something like 2.5 cm and I had no positive auxillary nodes, but further testing, like the pet/ct and chest mri revealed positive internal mammary nodes. If further testing had not been done, I would have been a stage 2, not 3c or 4, and I would not have gotten the appropriate treatment. I have read reports where they think that some of the early recurrences are because spread to the mammary nodes was missed, and therefore not addressed. So I do think scanning with what seems to be early disease is so important, as it might be furhter along than thought. I know there is much debate about this and many early stage do not get all the scans.

Not sure how we can start a list, any ideas? People could pm me the info and I could make a private list but I don't know how to share it other than sending an email to someone! I dont like my screen name here to be introduced to facebook because I don't want them to find me here and read some of my rants that are for my bc friends only! I am sure most of you feel the same way so we could address each other by are real names on facebook:) Let me know you ideas!

kathyrnn

BAK - now I'm completely confused about staging. I had 2 tumors , the second deeper one was an internal mammary node, but they fluffed it off like it wasn't important.



I'm in , I'll PM you my info. Where is the group on FB? Will take me a while to learn your real names. My chemo addled brain can only handle one nene per person, lol

browerl

Did anyone else watch and cry like a baby with Robin Roberts good by show on GMA today?  I was in the chemo chair getting my 3rd treatment and just cried like a baby.  I told the nurse I was fine I was not crying for me this time just Robin.  She is so strong and open about what is going on with her cancer, what an inspiration for everyone.

TifJ

Good afternoon ladies. It was 2 years ago today that I received the phone call we have all had.."Yes, you have cancer". Today, I am doing well, working and enjoying life, but there will always be that dark cloud, called "what if" hanging out behind me. Everyone keeps telling me to put it behind me, only you ladies understand that that is impossible.

I work in a special education classroom and the ladies i work with made today so special. I received a dozen roses, Dove chocolates and coupons for a bag of chocolate every month for the rest of the school year!! I treated them all to lunch as a thank you!

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Fighter, my diagnosis buddy!!