2012 sisters

Cindyl

Not all dr's use the numbing cream.  Some don't do anything to numb the area, others use lidocane. But it's over quick, and then you'll pee blue for several days.  I'm a wimp and it was tolerable.  I hated the MRI a lot more.

luvmygoats

Firestorm - I agree with Cindyl.  My BS didn't use any numbing cream and I was so new (didn't find BCO until I was on medical leave) that I did not know to ask.  It was a quick pain, intense, yes, but certainly not unbearable for the SNB nuclear med injection.  The blue dye they did in surgery.  Yes, your breast will be blue and you will pee blue, all normal.  I had 1 wire localization (wire loc for short) in the middle of the lesion. Mine was only found on mammo/sono, not palpable (able to feel it).  About the same pain/technique as the core needle biopsy.  Numbing, put in wire.  Don't know if they taped it.  Went back to cubicle to wait for surgery, about an hour later, maybe less.  Didn't look at it even though I got up to the bathroom just b4 going to surgery.  Wish I had, just nosy on my part.  I have read of a few who have the wire loc day b4 surgery.  Not what I would have wanted.  Seems I also read they did OK.

jpmomof3

Good morning ladies! Just got back from another sweaty walk.  It going to be 100 degrees here again today, yuck.  

Firestorm, it sounds like your docs dont think the oncotype would add anything to the information they need and you need to make decisions.  If your nodes are negative it sounds like they wont recommend chemo.  but your MO may have other ideas just ask about it when you see him/her.  They didnt do an oncotype on me because my nodes on biopsy were positive so there was no question that I was getting chemo. 

Lisa, so glad you had a great party.  Hope you were able to forget about BC for a little while.

 I am just planning out my two weeks before surgery.  Luckily I am going to be busy so I wont have too much time to let the worries set in.  I had to switch my usual weekend to work and have extra work hours this week.  Oh well keeps my mind occupied.  I am kind looking forward to "vacation" for a couple of weeks after the surgery. I have been working full time through all of this for fear of not having enough leave time and now I have plenty to get through the rest of this ordeal (i hope)  I havent had vacation since Christmas.  I am going to get some comfy bras for after surgery and get some shopping done. Soon my current babysitter will return to her home in Thailand and my new one will come from Paraguay so that will keep me busy entertaining her and getting her used to my crazy family and our little city.  I think I may go get a makeover at the mall too.  I am not a makeup person but I am sick of not having any eyebrows and having big dark bags under my eyes.  I hope there is enough makeup to help! 

 Best wishes to everyone and hugs to all that need them! 

CMartin

lisa2012 - So thankful you enjoyed the party, had fun, and enjoyed food!

firestorm - Regarding the needle loc, for me personally, it wasn't as intense as the biopsy emotionally but not particulary easy.  However, I had one near the chest wall which was difficult to locate, thought it was clear and when I arrived for a needle loc on the second spot the Dr. advised we would be doing both...again...So I wasn't prepared for the second one which was difficult to reach.  If yours is easily obtainable it shouldn't be bad.  They couldn't drug because you have to be able to sit or stand and move around.  Got some happy meds shortly after and all else was great.

jpmomof3 - my favorite post-surgery bra is an Underscore, front zip.  I got it a JC Penny. 

Moonflwr912

For my BMX and SNB, they didn't numb anything except for using the freeze spray, it didn't help, so it hurt, but only for a second or two for each injection. Unfortunately, there were four injections in each nipple area! LOL. then I had to wait around until the nuclear stuff moved out to the nodes. Took about three hours. Then they took me to the OR put me out, and THEN injected the blue dye. Fun stuff.

luvmygoats

Moonflower - OMG, 4 injections on each tata.  I think I had 2, maybe only one and not near the nipple.  I thunk I would have come off the gurney with that many.  No, only lidocaine for biopsy, no surface numbing.  Not that my BS didn't warn me about the pain of the inj.  And you are so right about waiting for it to move out.  I had my injection way early in the morning then BS went off for other surgeries.  I think, too, I have read about some having nuclear inj. the day b4.  My BS did my injection

MaddyMac

Happy Birthday Lisa - your party sounds lovely. And you had drink(s) and dessert too - good!



Firestorm, I had the guiding needles placed a couple of hours before surgery, and for me it was not difficult; only a bit uncomfortable, since doc injected a local. I found it easier than my core needle biopsy. They injected the blueness about 45 minutes before surgery, and it was a total non-event. Then Versed and off to dreamland. I wish you the best with all of it. Hope it's as relatively comfortable for you as it was for me.



General question: does everyone have an oncotype test? I thought so, but based on what I read just now, maybe not? Does it not determine the types of chemo drugs that will be used? I'm definately having chemo first, followed by rads. Meeting w/ my Onc on the 16th and am attempting to generate some questions.



Hope everyone is enjoying a peaceful Sunday.

RoulaG

Maddymac - I did not have an oncotest score done. Since I am Her2+, chemo is already in the cards for us. However, if you are not Her2+, I believe they do run an oncotest score to see if chemo will be beneficial to you.

Cindyl

No, not everyone has the oncotype.  My MO told me I was in a gray area for chemo.  The size of the tumor said yes, but as it was grade one and planning an lx with radiation, maybe no.  So MO asked if I had strong feelings about chemo one way or the other?  If I wanted to "throw everything at this irregardless" then we'd do chemo.  No need for the oncotype.  "was I unwilling to do chemo?" then again no reason to do the oncotype.  I was willing to be convinced either way, so we did the test.  It came out 9 and so no chemo.

luvmygoats

I didn't do the Oncotype. Very small tumor. No micro lymph or blood vessel invasion. No nodes and BS was pretty sure wouldn't find any. Sono was negative for them. My KI67 was very low. I do have my profile wrong, 90% ER positive rather than 98%. Need to fix it. I was only 1 point over into Grade 2. My MO advised at best Oncotype would put me in the gray maybe/maybe not area and I would still need to decide myself. He was neither for or against chemo. But when I decided not to do Oncotype he said he agreed. Not a question of ins. paying for it; was sure it would have. It may have been burying my head in the sand.  Only time will tell. First mammo was fine last week. Have to wait until January for non-surg. side. Bummer. I'm the major wage earner at least until the end of the year when I hope to retire very early. DH has the medical insurance  No way I could work & do chemo  Thank goodness I had rads when it was cooler. I'm in/out of hot car all day long. Know I have to tolerate AIs and so far so good; finished 1st month.

jazlaumir

Hello everyone, so I have a post surgery appt with my BS tomorrow and possibly my MO, and like MaddyMac, would like to be prepared with some questions but I have no idea what I should be prepared to ask. The only thing I've heard my BS mention so far is Tamoxifan but not sure if that is all.

I also don't know if they will plan on doing CT/Pet Scans on me since my last Pathology came back with no additional nodes affected but I really would like the scans done for peace of mind, it seems many of you were able to get this done.

Any suggestions? 

firestorm531

BS said my dye injections were going straight into the nipple *gasp*  And there will be 2 wires that will 'flank' my tumor.  My biopsies were a breeze; that doctor had numbing meds and she wasn't afraid to use them!  LOL  When she had trouble nailing one of my nodes with a needle, she injected more meds to make sure I didn't feel it.  WONDERFUL woman 

I checked out that cancermath calculator...cool little thing.  20% chance of recurrance if I opt for surgery only.  5% chance if I go for the full monty (surgery/chemo/RADS).

It must be nerves because that 20% doesn't feel like such a big number; although BS/RO stated recurrance rate was 40%.  Hmmmmm....

Meanwhile... I've been juicing every day and I feel its added balance to my sweet tooth that I have not been denying. 

MaddyMac

Yes, I am also wondering about PET scan since I had 4 positive nodes. I asked my surgeon if I should have one, and she said my MO would talk to me about that, but there was a consideration as to false positives. Anyone?



I hope my sisters in the steamy zone are cooling off, and wish you all a peaceful evening.

jazlaumir

MaddyMac: What do you mean about "false positives"?

lisa2012

Gosh, I am a nervous nellie tonight. Almost 3 weeks PFC. worried about exchange surgery (still not scheduled, don't see PS till 7/18) worried about follow-ups, hope my discolored fingernails don't fall off, will I ever be back in gear mentally and physically, all that stuff. And my darn eyes are watering like nobody's business. I just went for a 40 minute walk with the dog and it looked like I was crying the whole time. Then I start to feel like i AM crying and sad and my spirits plummet. They said 4-6 weeks after last chemo this SE should go away. I am going to a work training tomorrow morning and hope I get a dry spell in the morning.

Firestorm, what is the cancermath calculator?

MaddyMac

Oh, Lisa2012, the nervous nellies they are mean. I call mine "the black dogs" even though I have had beloved black dogs most of my life - it sounds like something I might have accidentally stolen from a book - but yeah, they slaver. Is there anything you can do to take the edge off? Favorite movie/book? Adult security blanket? (I have one of these, it's OK if you laugh at me.) Bubble bath? Nightcap? We're here, too, and I am sending good thoughts to you.



Jaz, sorry to be so vague. When I asked my surgeon if I should have a PET scan due to some positive nodes found at surgery, she passed the question along to my MO, but told me that sometimes people don't have them done because there are a "fair number" of false positive results: showing evidence of cancer that turns out not to be there. What she meant by "a fair number" I don't know. I feel like I _should_ have a PET scan, but wanted to run it by the MO (and ask for your collective experience) before I decide.

lisa2012

Maddymac, is Ativan an adult security blanket? I don't take it every day (afraid of getting dependent on it) but my heart is racing. I hate it when I start imagining the worst. A car almost turned into me today and I thought, "great, I just went through 6 mos of surgery and chemo and now I'll get killed by a car. If I'd known that was going to happen, I would have skipped treatment!!" Silly, I know. Sigh.

jazlaumir

Lisa2012:Hope you feel better soon!

MaddyMac: Thanks, that helps.  

Tazzy

Hi All - back from a great camping trip with our friends - so wonderful to do something ‘normal' again.   Even worth all the aches I feel now - and that's why I have painkillers.   DH survived admirably - we had so much fun - thanks all for the good wishes.

Pinky - check out the Calling All TN's forum - great support and friendship there.

Jpmom - you sound as if you are recovering so well - what an inspiration you are.  And would love to see you in your new earings.   Happy you can rant with us - no one understands us and what we are going through like we can share with each other.   Even the most loving sympathetic of husbands.  We're here for you.   Hope you can get some relief from your heat soon. 

Moonflwr - happy you are improving daily too.

2Fried you don't get rid of me that easy

Jaz, good luck at the doctors.

Teeball.... Hope the MIL visit is a good one.   And that's a great idea about shaving your hair - keeps you in control.

Allurbaddays heres to hoping for minimal SE's with treatment # 2.   Best of luck.  OK good to hear you are doing better.

Lisa - happy belated birthday for the 6^th.    Our emotions are a daily roller coaster.   We can only go with how we feel in the moment.  Big hugs to you.

Ramols - wishing you good luck for your surgery.   And hope you manage to find the perfect nanny.

Bev - here's to your drains coming out soon.  Sounds so uncomfortable for you. 

Lostinmo - that is horrible news for you to get.  Best of luck for tomorrow - sending big hugs and positive vibes honey.  

Luvmyfam - this is a great place for ranting eh?   My MO said chemo first as they needed to get the tumor under control due to is being large and very aggressive - which it has done and for which I am very grateful.  Sill want this crap out of me, but surgery is something I keep putting to the back of my mind every time it enters it.

I have tried to respond to you all - but Swiss Cheese Brain has decided differently.  I just read the last page of posts, came back to my document (I do in Word first) and forgot everything said - so frustrating and time consuming and I am tired from my weekend.  

Those that need to, hope you are managing to stay cool.  Sending you all positive thoughts for a brighter Monday.  

Love to all xxxx

allurbaddayswillend

Gosh there are lots of posts from the last couple days! I don't think I'll be able to keep everything straight so I will say best wishes for everyone in all our trials - there's no lack of variety in them here...

re: Ativan/Klonazepam - I have that security blanket to get sleep. I'm a bit concerned over the possibility of addiction but I brought my nearly empty bottle to my MO the other morning before chemo and asked for a refill or something similar but less addictive and he laughed a little. Apparently, the rate I use them hardly qualifies as addiction so at least there's that.

DianaNM, I think fasting on the day of chemo is a definite plus for me. anything I ate on the first day, first time of chemo, was ruined for me so I don't see any sense in eating if it doesn't feel necessary. Fasting the entire day before? I don't know. by the time I was rolling into the day after chemo and couldn't eat much anyway I was very sleepy and that could have been as much from calorie deficit as chemo SE I think. Maybe I will eat breakfast the day before next time and then fast the rest of the day. I think it benefits me for my guts to be empty and not working on anything that first day or 2, I had much less gut pain overall this time through. My fever from the Neulasta is not as bad this time but that might not have anything to do wth fasting, it could be that my body just isn't responding as strongly this time. I'd say today I don't feel as wrung out as I did last time 3 days post-chemo. So again, how much to attribute to the fasting? it's hard to say except that my guts weren't cramping as hard.

My wire loc and blue dye were done the morning of surgery. Neither was too big of a deal. I received about 5 or 6 injections of dye around my areola, not directly into the nipple or areola. I'd say it was not even as bad as a pinch.

 These first days after chemo are nasty, aren't they? I try to remind myself that it's amazing that I have access to surgery and treatment and that not everyone in the world does. I try to count my blessings.

firestorm531

If you google cancermath, its under cancermath.net.  Its interesting to see how different treatments affect the numbers.

 For those that had core need biopsies; were you swollen for weeks afterwards?  My breast is swollen and I'm getting sharp pains today.  Biopsy was done on June 14th. 

For everyone else - have a good day, remember to smile  

lostinmo

Good morning to all,

Off to meet with my BS, hopefully will get a surgery date and somekind of good news. Before I have a nervous breakdown.

Hope everyone has a good Monday 

jpmomof3

Allurbaddays, it is amazing how lousy those chemo meds make you feel but luckily it is temporary.  Just hang in there and remember it is killing the cancer.

Firestorm, yes i was swollen for a while after those biopsies.  before the biopsies i could barely feel a mass or abnormality in my breast for 3-4 weeks afterwards the mass felt huge and then it settled down. 

Good luck today Lostinmo! 

I am at work, gotta work the next 6 out of 7 days.  I had to switch my weekends to be off the weekend before my surgery.  I am looking forward to the "time off", not exactly vacation.  I will update my avatar.  the photo was taken yesterday.  My hair is growing, slowly, but growing!

Tazzy

jpmom.... its amazing how quickly your hair is growing - looking really good.  Take care of yourself working 6 out of 7.

Lostinmo... good luck today - let us know how it goes.

Tomorrow I meet with my MO and trial drug nurse (I am part of the clinical trial for denosumab) and hoping that I will have some dates for scans before my surgery. Fingers crossed as waiting for anything sucks big time.

Take care - hugs to you all xx

SusannahW

I was swollen and bruised for several weeks after the core biopsies,my bs said this is normal.

juneaubugg

Tazzy- kudos to you in your ability to catch up and not forget anyone. I'll try to remember questions here but now I'm on Valium and deloted so I can't remember $hit! I really haven't been on here since my surgery on June 26th.



Let's see... Biopsies; I felt fine before they started poking and cutting away pieces of my boobs. In fact I FELT perfectly f-ING healthy before my Dx. Ain't that a bitch!



Oncotype. No idea why/when but in my case we are waiting for that to come back later this week (I have decided to confirm I won't need chemo). Hoping for tomaxifan and on with my life. Well, after weekly fills andy exchange.



Bev- are you still on your drains? I'm two weeks out and still putting out about 40ml a day. WTF!! The drain is more uncomfortable yjen everything else at this point! I honestly just wonder how much longer....blah blah blah.



I'm depressed today. I slept for 20 hours, my house is falling apart (although DH seems to be trying) and my MIL comes to visit next Sunday. House is certainly up to standard for that!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!



Thanks ladies, I feel better (2fried where you been?)

Cindyl

Oh God to be able to sleep 20 hours.  If I could sleep, I would dream of sleeping.  Seriously, tho, juneaubugg, you are sick.  The messy house is not your fault of responsibility.  The vibe you need to give off if MIL gives you static is "if only you'd had him make his own bed and fix breakfast now and again."

We all end up doing too much and hurting ourselves in the process.

lostinmo

I've heard of sleep!

Just got back from the BS. My surgery is set for the 19th, I'll be having a MX, AND, port removal. She did say that the imaging done Friday showed a lot of nercosis inside the tumor so that made me feel better. I'll get surgery over then on to rads. But I see light at the end of the tunnel.

Tazzy- glad you had a good time camping! 

DianaPrince

Tazzy:  I went camping this past week, too, with my two boys! Hubby stayed at home because he doesn't like "peeing in the woods." My older son was thrilled when he heard an airplane go over.  "Ahhhh, civilization!" he said.  We had a good time, and the heat dissipated the first evening of our trip...down to a lovely 85.  Thank goodness!  We've had temps of >100 here!

I have my surgery tomorrow, and a lot of the replies to someone else relating to the sensations and the process were very helpful. 

One of my husband's work friends had ovarian cancer and is really into homeopathic treatments.  She talked his ear off for 45 minutes about all I should be eating/doing!  She emailed him a bunch of info, and you know what my husband did while I was camping with our boys?  He went Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck as so many have lovingly called it) and bought me all this stuff from her "recipes."  Although I'm a bit hesitant to try out these nasty-sounding concoctions, I recognized his gesture for what it was:  Trying to "do something" to make me better.  He thinks his emotional support is lacking (it's not...he has just felt that way for everything for me, including when I gave birth to the kids, when my dad died, etc.), so he was thrilled that he could do something tangible for me.  I love him!!  I wish he knew how much support he really does give me...

Had a meeting with an MO today.  She's wonderful!  Some questions about what all will be done for me tomorrow.  Apparently, I need not worry about "my team," as I did on another thread.  She said that she had already reviewed my file because I was one of the patients on the list at the tumor board meeting this morning.  The MO is wondering about some other areas ID'd on the MRI, and the BS asked her if he should biopsy those areas also during my lumpectomy.  She also became concerned when she examined me and felt how lumpy my breasts are.  I went through each lump with her to let her know if it's something that's been there for a while or not.  I have very small breasts, so you can feel all the way down to my ribs in even the "thickest" spot.  She seems like a workaholic, so I imagine she'll be reviewing my diagnostic images some time in the next 24 hours.  (She's going on vacation, and I asked her if she leaves her pager at home.  She said, "Yes, but I check reports from my home computer.  My doctor tells me I really shouldn't do that!")

websister

Tazzy - great to hear you had a good weekend camping



Juneaubug - nice to hear from you again, hope the drains settle down for you soon, they are a pain. Hope tomorrow is a better day for you



Lostinmo - glad you have a date and know what they will be doing and that the images are showing that chemo killed those cells. Hope you get some sleep soon.



Cindyl - hope you get some sleep soon also



DianePrince - wishing you the best of luck with your surgery tomorrow, glad you could get away with your boys beforehand. Your husband sounds sweet - they do so badly want to be helpful and often show this in practical ways



I'm feeling a bit of a rant coming on today also. Surgery was June 29th with scans prior. When I met with the surgeon to receive my diagnosis I asked re: estrogen/progesterone/HER2 status and he said that he didn't really want to go with what the core biopsies showed as they were small samples, wanted to wait until after surgical pathology. Well, surgery is now 10 days ago, I don't yet know what my CT and bone scans showed and I would love to have my pathology so I know what I'm looking at re: chemo. I think I said in another post that I had called the surgeon's office last Tuesday to try to set up appointments as per his discharge orders. His secretary told me I needed to wait until drains could be removed and then all appointments would be coordinated by her. She suggested I call back later Thursday, July 5th afternoon and report drain amounts and possibly set up appointments then. When I called on Thursday afternoon she sounded surprised, I told her I was on target drainage wise to have them removed early this week and could I get her to set up the appointments. She said no, call back on Monday a.m. I am trying to be patient about this so I left it until this a.m., then called her to let her know drainage between both tubes combined less than 25 ml all weekend and could we book the appointments. Her answer was that the surgeon was on vacation for 2 weeks starting today so he would see me when he got back but that I could call the Breast Health clinic myself to arrange to have the drains removed. She's lucky I wasn't in front of her!!!!! I asked about the pathology and she said it wasn't back yet but if it came back before he was back from vacation she would send it on to my GP for her to review with me. She said she was also gng to send it on to the cancer center so that their part could progress and not be delayed by the surgeon's vacation. If I didn't know better (and maybe I don't know better!) I would think that the surgeon was a avoiding me and letting the GP be the bearer of bad news.

Good news is that I have arranged to get the drains out tomorrow but boy am I ever frustrated otherwise.