The Living Life Hang Out

Stacie

Vjm do you feel your treatment has been good in Canada? A Canadian friend of mine blamed the wait for a CT Scan for her Mom's death. She said her cancer was over 90% curable if found early but she waited 6 mos for a scan. Maybe that was unusual. I hope you are getting superb care up there. Ours is expensive. I've paid $9300 out of pocket.

spicedlife

I have taken ambien for about 8 years and except for the breast cancer it has always worked like a charm.  No hangover the next day, able to be up early and do workout and devotion time.  Now during this cancer nothing has really worked, I have got to learn a different way to deal......I will

Lezza13

jennyrd:  Sorry ambien iis not working for you. Stopped for me after my dx.  I tried Lumestra is another choice of a sleeping pill but did not work for me either.   I am taking restoril which works much better than the ambien did.   One day I hope to stop the Restoril and go back to my 3mg of Melatonin I used to take.  Wishng you more better sleep in the future.

kjiberty

Jenny and Lezza:  Same here with the ambien.  It would be nice to get more than 4 hours sleep in a night.

Stacie

Ambien gets me 6 hours but I can't taper off yet. I tried and every hot flash woke me up. But worse I had multiple nightmares..bad ones about cancer. I am sticking with my Ambien until after RADS. Then I will decide a long term plan for sleep.

Lezza13

Stacie:  Stay with your ambien!  Whatever will help get you through with RADS.  What ever is good  and works for you is what is important now!

kjiberty: Have you tried the Midnight version of melatonin yet?  There are lots of versions less expensive out there to try of melatonin. I am stuck on restoril because it helps me sleep through the night most nights.

kjiberty

Leeza:  No I haven't had a chance to buy it yet.  I have been swamped at work, and haven't had a chance to buy it.  

vjm

Hi Stacie - in response to my tx in Canada, yes I have had excellent and timely care for my breast cancer including scans. I am fortunate to live 10 mins away from our Cancer Agency and the staff there have been excellent. Today is start my Tamoxifen day (provided for free from the agency). Going to think lots of positive thoughts for everyone on this journey today and take care during this full moon.

Stacie

That's great vjm.  We may visit teh Alberta area when I am done with RADS.

Lezza13

kjiberty:  you'll get it one day!  I've tried lots of other brands too that work just as well. 

vjm- good luck with Tamox.  It has been fine for me so far and I have been taking it for over a week now.  Hope it does well for you too.

Stacie-  Hope your rads are going okay.

LisaG65

hey all,

i finished my 6 rounds of TCH july 17th. I had bilateral on wednesday aug 8th, had them take right uneffected breast as well. no reconstruction. took 4 nodes in sentinal. 4 drain tubes. I have been pain killer free since 5 am on thursday 8/9. was home at 7 pm on 8/9. i used some ice for the first day, but have been fine ever since. the pain was tolerable. i started taking arnica montana pellets the week before and ever since. I recommend you look it up and see if it is for you. I have had a nurse visit my home and change my dressings. I have been sleeping pretty good, hard to sleep upright, as i am a side sleeper. got the call today that my nodes and margins were clear!!!

kjiberty

Lisa:  Congrats on doing so well and being relatively painfree!  Also, congrats on the clear margins!

Stacie

Oh Lisa that is great news about the nodes and margins.

Melrosemelrose

Congrats Lisa.... now just rest and recover from your surgery!!!!

onvacation

woohoo Lisa!

LisaG65

i am now wondering breast surgeon suggests RADS even though my margins are clear, i dont want rads, i got a script for tamoxafen, and also asked for a break from everything, my onc gave me 3 weeks then i am back on herceptin, but wants me to start tamoxofen yesterday. i wonder what could happen if i just did nothing, any input, i dont want rads. i dont want to put any more stuff in my body, i kinda feel like what ever is going to happen will happen, regardless of all of this meds. or the meds could cause other issues. any input is welcome thank you

Stacie

My doctor put my stats into a computer program and showed me exactly how much additional % 10 year survival I would get from surgery, chemo, RADS, and Hormone TX.  I decided to do all as combined it brings my recurrence down to a single digit.  My stats are different than yours so you would need to find out about your personal case.  I have Googled up breast cancer treatment calculators but I can only find them with surgery, chemo, and hormone therapy options not RADs.  http://www.lifemath.net/cancer/index.html

LisaG65

thank you

slak

I finished rads about 4 weeks ago after lumpectomy on left side and chemo TCx4, but ended up having a biopsy on righty today.  Last time was biopsy with ultrasound due to a finding of architectural distortion, this time biopsy with mammo due to calcs.  I cannot believe that I was not even done a month and I may be dealing with this again.  I am back to being emotional.  Now sort of wishing I had done a BMX first time around.  However, I have learned so much that I realize I would not have made the right reconstruction choice had I done it then, so maybe my path is the right one.   Please keep your fingers crossed that this one is benign!

dancetrancer

Oh slak - fingers and toes crossed that this is benign!!!!  I just went through 2 scares myself - found 2 lumps, even though I had a BMX.  Turns out they were fat necrosis.  So, I know how it feels to get hit with this again, it is like reliving a nightmare.  Hugs and hoping for benign results! 

onvacation

Slak - sending positive vibes your way!

Melrosemelrose

Slak- Sending you lots and lots of HUGS and positive calming and healing prayers, thoughts and energy your way!!!!  Hoping for benign results on righty. 

kjiberty

Slak:  Hang in there, girl!  Sending hugs and prayers your way!

Stacie

My thoughts are with you too Slak.

Summer51

Slak,

When I was done with chemo, they made me go for a bi-lateral MRI (5/31/12), just to be sure.  Apparently they saw something in my original MRI (December 2011) and never addressed it untill I saw a RO at Memorial Sloan Kettering who had lots of questions about it.  I was furious that this wasn't addressed before I started chemo...

It turns out all is ok, but reading your post brought me back to May.  I hope and pray everything is perfectly fine.  You are strong and will get through this too, whatever it is.

 Hugs and prayers for you,

Diane

slak

Thanks for the support ladies!  This is the longest 72 hrs ever.  Everytime the phone rings I jump.  Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.

C-squared

slak~ I can't even begin to imagine what you are going through.  Stay strong in faith and confident that whatever it is, you are surrounded by love and care!

slak

Benign, benign!!!  What a relief!  I can't tell you how stressful it was waiting.  A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Now maybe I can concentrate on growing my hair : )   I hope all you ladies are having stress-free days!

C-squared

Great news Slak!!!!!

Husker123

Awesome Slak!