Canadians in British Columbia

wrenn

So sorry to hear that you were diagnosed with breast cancer Goldieone but glad you found breast cancer.org. It is a very good place for support and for information. I have heard great things about Noelle Davis so you will be in good hands. I'm not sure if you have heard about Inspire Health in Vancouver but it is also a great source for support. Membership is free. You can see what they offer on their website. They are on W. 8th near Hemlock if you are right in Vancouver. I hope you will check in here with updates or just to vent. Take care of yourself.

Wendy3

Hallo ladies took me a bit but I found you fellow Canucks some of you I know from other threads hi Dee.

So I was diagnosed in June of this year I have my home in Enderby close to Salmon Arm. However as of July 1 I live in Vancouver. I had been misdiagnosed by too many medical professionals in the interior . My family doctor a surgeon another family doctor(because I have always believed in second opinions) an oncologist in Salmon Arm and a radiologist in Salmon Arm. It's a cyst don't worry it will go alway after menopause. Now stage four I have kind of lost faith in our free healthcare.

Goldieone1 Dr. Noelle Davis is amazing she is who I was initially referred to and she probably saved me a lot of pain. At the beginning they thought I was only stage two and the plan was to operate and chemo and radiation. After the bone mets were found it changed everything. No surgery and she got me on Tamoxefin my oncologist Dr. Chia was a nightmare. As a stage two patient he was interested in treating me as a stage four he lost all interest. All water under the bridge.

I hope all you ladies had a lovely Thankgiving

marianelizabeth

Welcome Wendy and Goldie! We are thankful for this thread as it is helpful to have "sisters" in the same province. There used to be a great Canadian thread but it got deleted in error and we were told by the moderators that it would be too costly to bring back up.

Wendy, I am sorry to hear that you were misdiagnosed~~Tamoxifen only at this point? Who is your MO now? Assuming you are at the Vancouver BCCA?

Goldie, please keep us posted as you go through the next steps that so many of us have.

To all of my BC~~BC sisters, I got back from yet another trek, this one in Bhutan just a few days ago. It was so challenging and as a leader, even more so with rain, remote paths (we saw no one other than a yak herder and his two yaks for our 5 days until coming down) high altitude etc. that I forgot about breast cancer for the first time. Thus it was a resounding success!

I know we have our 3rd annual potluck at my house on Nov. 21 and look forward to seeing old friends and new.

Much love to you all,

Marian

mikarae

Thought I'd say "hello" and introduce myself. I am also from British Columbia. Seems like most of you are from the coast. I live in the Okanagan. I envy the support available in Vancouver but am fortunate to have a great oncology team here. I was diagnosed as Stage lV from the beginning early in 2014. The oncologist and surgeon had not anticipated that I had bone mets and I was advised to have a bilateral mastectomy prior to a bone scan. Putting the horse before the cart. In hindsight, I am happy that the primary was removed and without the prophylactic mastectomy of my right breast we would have never known about the 2 small malignant tumours that went undetected by ultrasound and mammogram. I have not had reconstruction but consider it at times. I am HER2+ and have targeted treatment every three weeks by infusion. Lots of side effects but effective. Originally, I had 6 tumours in my breasts, 12 spots in my bones, a chest wall and armpit full of cancer filled lymph nodes. Currently, I have only one tiny spot in my spine that may or may not be cancer. Obviously, I am hoping to remain like this forever but...

That is a brief summary of my story. Very grateful to have the support of this site.

With love,

Karen

Ossa

So Sad to see so many new ladies on here. Glad you found this thread though. As Marian said there used to be a Canadian thread where we had support from right across this beautiful country. Welcome home Marian you are a true inspiration for us all Look forward to the potluck 

Wendy3

hallo Karen I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis but things change as you are seeing I do hope it stays this way and you are NED soon. I moved from the ok ananda we still have our house there..I miss the sunshine.

Yes I'm in Vancouver and my MO is BCCA and some private as well. I'm only on Tamoxefin nothing else. Is that not normal I'm still pretty new to all this.

mikarae

Hi Wendy3!

Yes, the sunshine is nice. Especially right now in the Fall.

If you are on Tamoxifen you must be ER+, PR+, both or triple positive. If you look at the Bone Mets thread you will see that most women with hormone receptive cancer are on a hormone therapy. Bone mets can also be treated with a bone strengthening treatment such as Aredia. I do not have a hormone receptive cancer so I am far from being in the know but the women in the Bone Mets thread would be.

Hope you are happy with your new MO. Trusting your oncology team is extremely important.

Thank you for the greeting! ~Karen

Wendy3

Karen yes I am Er+PR+ and Her - so lots of hormone therapies available I guess. Tamoxifin is working pretty well for me right now the tumor has shrunk down two centimetres already from four and a half. I'm secretly hoping that it just packs up and leavestaking all of it with it. One can dream right?

mikarae

Wendy3 - Sounds like Tamoxifen is doing well for you. That's great. Hopes & dreams are two things that inspire us to move forward. Hold on tight to your dreams and never lose hope. Karen

Goldieone1

Thank you ladies for the warm welcome. I feel like I'm walking on clouds or like I'm watching a movie about another person which is not me. I still am in shock. I guess I need a little time to really absorb all this and believe that this is really happening to me. I will be checking here regularly to ask questions or get some support from all of you. Thank you again.

Wendy3

Marian I would love to get to know some woman in person , I would love to come to your Potluck let me know if I can cook something specific ie dessert salad ....wine?

Wendy

BeachLife

Goodiesone1: I am sosorry that you also ended up joining the "Breast Cancer Club", esp. before the Thanksgiving long weekend! But thankfully your tumor was detected, you have amazing support and a good surgeon. The mammogram failed to find my tumor, my surgeon also was not very informative or communicative. I had two lumpectomies, the 2nd was re excision/ revision of a positive margin. It has been such a learning experience, I wish I had learned before making decisions. Hope you have a lot of positive thoughts and a smoother journey.

Goldieone1

Thank you BeachLife for your kind words. I had today the appointment with the surgeon. She told me that, yes I will need a lumpectomy, but that it is a small lump (contrary to what I was told originally that it was a large one) and that it was good that it was detected early. I only have Grade 1 cancer, so basically after the lumpectomy is done and I recover then I will go for radiation. I think that has been the best case scenario that I could have had.

It is really sad that the mammogram failed to find your tumor. How did you know you had go for a lumpectomy then? I'm still so ignorant about this issue and I trying to learn as much as I can.

Thanks again everybody for all the support.

BeachLife

Doldieone1: I felt the lump (turned out to be a 1.8 cm tumor) 4 months after my screening mammogram. I even asked the lady who performed the mammo if what I suspected was a lump. She touched the area and said no. Since the result came back "normal", I did not think about it again.

The person who broke my biopsy result/cancer diagnosis to me turned out to be my surgeon. I was also suggested to have a lumpectomy plus radiation. I only learned later that there is a chance of positive margin (% depending on which stats to look at), in which case re-excision is needed. That was what happened in my case tthough the second surgery was simpler. To decide on lumpectomy vs mastectomy was not easy going into the second surgery, the former means more extensive surgery w/reconstruction, while the latter would mean no radiation. Something I also learned later that left breast radiation carries more risk to the heart that the right side, esp when the tumor is in the lower part. Several of my friends have done radiation after mastectomy on the left side and told me they are fine after RT so far though.

Best of luck to you!Hope your treatment is uncomplicated.

Annecy

Hello everyone!

I haven't been on the site for a while.....I feel extremely sad to see so many ladies joining the BC club. Please know that we are here for you !

Welcome home Marian- so glad to hear that your trip was uneventful & you made it safely back home. It's so nice of you to host the 3rd annual potluck on Nov.21. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend this year as my daughter's wedding shower is on the same day. I am just recovering from my last surgery (stage 2 breast reconstruction) I will be in touch soon.

Goldieone1

Thanks BeachLife for telling me your story. It is scary when you get the diagnosis and talking to people like you has helped me a bit. My surgery has now been set for November 10, so hopefully everything goes well.

Take care you all!!

BeachLife

Goldieone1 That's pretty fast. Hope it goes well for you! If you are taking supplements, breast cancer patients normally need vitamins B, C, D among other things. Take care!

marianelizabeth

wendy3 sorry I did not respond earlier but I am looking forward to meeting you. Election kind of got in my way for the past week.

Annecy I was trying to find your # on my phone and sorry about the reunion but great to hear about the shower. How did the surgery go? My trip was hardly uneventful though yes I did get home safely! It was one of the hardest treks of my life!

Goldieone, are you going for a lumpectomy revision on Nov. 10? I find it hard sometimes going up and back to see the previous posts so sorry if I missed something!

BeachLife, am also confused as to what is next for you? Maybe both you and Goldieone could post your pathology and procedures? It has been a while since I added to mine but I think it is under your profile.

She, if you check here, I can't fine your # on my cell phone as I think Rogers deletes history after a while so call me again~~my number is in the PM

Also, the potluck for old and new BCO sisters is still on~~November 21 at my house in Vancouver at noon. PM me for address etc. and I will try to find the list from last year to email everyone from then.

marianelizabeth

I did finally write a new post on my blog and reading it myself after posting, for me the big positive was that after 3 years, I am actually forgetting "anniversaries". I remembered that my wedding anniversary was Oct. 15 but forgot it was also the day for my first chemo 3 years ago. Wow.

BeachLife

Marianlisa Thank you for mentioning me. My next treatment includes radiation and Tamoxifen. I have put both off for a little while due to concern about side effects (tumor left side 5 clock). Really want to know how others handle similar situations.

Kimmer33

Hi Ladies

Unfortunately, I won't be attending this lovely lunch in November, as it will be right after my 4th AC treatment. Maybe next year!

Beachlife, from what I understand, the recommendation is at least one positive node gets radiation - I just met with my radiation oncologist this week, and that is what he said. 5 years ago, this was not standard of care, which then was 4 nodes positive and less did not get radiation - some studies have come back and they say now there are great benefits to all with at least one positive node to receive radiation.

So I don't know your situation, if you have nodes positive, but please consider it. My Rad Onc gave me an actual cross section of a CT scan of a woman's body showing the "mapping" of the radiation waves and how they would potentially affect heart, lungs, ribs, etc. He was confident that due to my strong and healthy lung/heart, etc. that there would be only minimal risk and the benefits far outweight the risks. He also said that any affects from radiation won't show up for 20 years at least. I again, don't know your situation, but something to think about.

Have a great weekend!

Kim

BeachLife

Kimmer33: Thank you very much for the very helpful info, it is greatly appreciated, esp. I can see that based on yr DX, you have more BC to deal with now than me. My sentinel node is negative, and there is no lymph-vascular invasion found on the path report. 9 out of 10 chance I do not need RT; no need for RT if I have a mastectomy (I only had a lumpectomy). I am more concerned abou distant recurrence, which is higher based on my oncoType (Really appreciate the test so I do not need to worry about chemo!). Some women I know had mastectomy or lumpectomy followed by RT (some plus chemo), most are doing well w/o obvious s/e, one coughs; one (2mm DCIS, 2 lumpectomies + radiation) has a new stage IV lung cancer (with brain mat) many years later, another (don't know her DX, 2 lumpectomies, then mastectomy + reconstruction +chemo, RT) has stage IV mat (bone, lung, etc. ) 4 years later even on hormone treatment. There are also women I know who do well but for one reason or another w/o completing all standard recommended treatments, but they really changed their life style, stopped working long hours, let go of emotional baggages, got active (dance seems to be a very good activity), eat healthy, all the things we are supposed do do, but got pushed aside in our modern life of stress. With each choice, you gain something, and lose something else, there is no win-win in cancer treatment, just have to weigh and balance, which is easier said than done.

I wish you the best of luck in yr journey!

Kimmer33

Hey Beachlife

Good thing you don't need to worry about it then, with negative nodes. Lucky!

My oncotype came back super low, 9, but still decided with chemo because of that stupid positive node. So I do already have a low-risk of recurrence, and will hold onto that forever.

I do believe after all the reading I've done, that altering what you eat (eliminating those darned sugars & processed food especially) can really help prevent recurrence, as well as exercise, exercise, exercise, which is something I really have to work on.

All the best!

Kim

Goldieone1

Hi Marian,

On November 9 I go for Sentinel Node Biopsy and on November 10 I go for the Lumpectomy. I guess I will have to wait about 14 days for the results. The waiting will be worst I guess. I was told by my surgeon that I will go then for radiation but I guess we will find out more after the results come in.

But one step at a time.

marianelizabeth

Goldieone, I had the sentinel node biopsy done at the same time as my lumpectomy~~with the dye injected at St. Paul's a few hours prior to my lumpectomy which was at Mt. St. Joseph's Hospital. Where are your procedures being done and if you don't mind saying, who is your breast surgeon? You may have said earlier but just catching up here. The waiting game I called it each time and indeed that is hard. Try to stay active and busy even though that is easier said than done! I had to wait for pathology too before the next steps. As you say, one step at a time.

Wendy3

Kimmer33 I agree Excerise exercise exercise. I still have my lovely Tumour  they will not be removing it so I notice a huge difference after working out at the gym in the morning in just the way it feels. Also no sugar for me no omega 6 oils ( canola, safflower, vegetable) no pork no beef no red meat of any kind. No processed sausage. Diet completely changed over the last few months. 

marianelizabeth

wendy3, I think I forgot to respond to your post about the get-together potluck~~I think that is a better name than reunion as it may be that for some but we hope to welcome new sisters too and anyone from BC too with BC!

Just bring anything you like~~that seems to have worked well in the past. Send me a PM and I will give you address etc.

Kimmer33

wendy3, why arent they removing the tumour? What stage are you, i am not able to see your profile...

Kim

Wendy3

Kimmer33

I'm stage four because a bone met was detected on my rib and C2. They told me at the Bc cancer agency Dr. Chia who I have since changed to another doctor as well as Dr. Noelle Davies they want to use the tumour as a marker to see if treatment is working. Wow that was a sentence anyway I feel right from the onset I have had some of the worst care imaginable. My blind trust in doctors is gone forever.

Wendy

wrenn

hi Wendy, i wasn't crazy about Chia either. I am not getting further treatment either so i get that but i am curious ( you may have mentioned it somewherehere already) but are you refusing to have the tumour removed or is Davis refusing to remove it?