Diagnosed with breast cancer on my 52nd birthday

wolf359

I was diagnosed with breast cancer on my 52^nd birthday in February of this year.  My wife noticed a rather large lump on my right chest. The lump was not there the day before; it was as if someone stuck a boiled egg under my skin. It was black and blue and painful. I looked at it and
said, "Where the hell did that come from?" My wife said "I know it was not
there yesterday, I would have felt it." So I scheduled an appointment with my
primary care physician, at first he thought it was an infected cyst, and he
sent me off to internal medicine. They too thought infected cyst,   and
away I went to a surgeon to schedule its removal. The surgeon needed a complete
look at it and had me get an ultrasound. The doctor did not like the look of
the ultrasound scan and had me do a mammogram and a biopsy. Three days later I received
the bad news; a cancerous tumor. It was my birthday  so I went out with my family anyway and had a great time that night and great weekend.

I had a double mastectomy to remove the tumor in late February and post reconstructive surgery.
All went well they only found a trace amount of cancer in one lymph node, the
other two where clean. Even though I am Stage III, I decided not to undergo the
Axillary dissection of the lymph; I will instead undergo Chemo and radiation therapy.

I just completed my 2^nd round of chemo last week. I'm doing my best to keep,
my spirits up, but some days are harder than others. When I went in for a weekly
blood test, I just happened to mention to the nurse that my chest felt tight and
it was a little hard to breath, I thought it may have been a reaction to the
Filgrastim I was injecting to boost my white cell count. She said no and walked
my ass to ER for an EKG, x-ray and upper body CT scan. After all was said and done
we found 2 pulmonary embolisms - blood clots- one in each lung. So they
injected me with a blood thinners to break up the clots and kept me overnight
for observation. I was not a happy.

I'm starting to find myself slipping into a slight depression throughout the day, but I will
manage to pull myself out of it.

ElaineD

Good luck with the treatment. I'm not surprised that you are finding it tough at the moment-you really had very little time to assimilate what is happening. But it will get easier, and you will cope!

misssimpson

So sorry wolf, that's alot to get through.  It takes me awhile to process and accept bad news.  In time my mood lifts and my smile returns.

Take care,

 Penny

JanetinVirginia

bump.

Sounds like you've got a good medical team - esp. that nurse who made you go to ER!  Hang in there.  When it rains, it pours -- but eventually the sun always comes out again.

steelrose

You caught the cancer, so hang in there! My Dad was diagnosed with male breast cancer in his 60's. Not enough attention is paid to the men battling this disease, although the numbers are much smaller. Pay close attention to your body as you go through chemo... so glad they found those blood clots! And depression is normal, considering all that you have been going through. Come back and let us know how you're doing!

Wishing you the best...

Rose.

NatsFan

Wolf - I had my biopsy on my 52nd birthday - some birthday presents we got, huh???  One good thing - whenever I find myself in one of those "worst birthday you've ever had" conversations, I always "win" because I have the worst story of anyone! 

My sister in law had blood clots during her chemo as well - it turned out that it was her chemo port that was causing them and they had to remove it.  She also spent a couple of days in the hospital on blood thinners and was on them for several weeks afterwards.  The good news - she got through chemo just fine and she's off the blood thinners now as well.  

Not surprising that you find you get depressed - the chemo fatigue alone is enough to make you feel like you'll never feel good again.  I found that even the smallest amount of exercise helped.  If you can get any exercise at all, even walking around the block for 15 minutes every day, it may help.  Also, there's nothing wrong with talking to your doctor about anti-depressants if it gets too bad.  The whole process including surgeries and chemo are rough on our bodies, and it's not unexpected to have our brain chemistry get a little out of whack along with everything else.

Please do let us know how you're doing.  We people with the rotten 52nd birthdays have to stick together!!

Rachel1

Hi Wolf,

Sorry you are joining us. I know what you mean about a sucky birthday. My 51st last year was like that.  Hey, if you're managing to pull yourself out of the slippery slope of depression, you are doing great in my book. This cansa stuff is not for the faint of heart!! You're doing great. You dealt with it quickly, you're in treatment, your nurse sounds awesome.  Come and vent whenever you like. This group is terrific. I'm node+ also and finished chemo in 10/10, rads 12/10.  Remember...kick cansa's ass and never look back. You will survive.

Hugs,

Rachel 

ithaca

Sorry that you're going through so much right now. I was diagnosed with breast cancer nearly 15 years ago and thankfully have done well, but definitely went through my own periods of funk.

If you're on Facebook, there's a group relating to male breast cancer which includes a variety of links to news articles and other resources:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=213636679710

Sending good thoughts, Bob

wolf359

I had a good day yesterday. I went for a short walk during the day. My daughter came over for a visit between classes. My wife and I snuggled up under a blanket and watched a really good movie. I road my stationary bike for 15 minutes. My brother called to check on me and went 15 minutes on the phone laughing about some of our childhood antics. It was almost like I was not sick at all, I felt great, had lots of energy, had a goodnight sleep. So maybe day will be good
too. If not there is always tomorrow.

steelrose

Good news, wolf! You've got a great attitude and you're very honest about your feelings. You're going to make it through this! Laughing always helps too... never lose that sense of humor. Wishing you a good day today...

All the best,

Rose.

HansieDZ

Men,hang in there!

You are much loved and we need you here!

Stay strong and fight the good fight.

Blessings always,

:)Jennifer