Portland, Oregon area anybody?

Macho-Mouse

Hello! I am new to breast cancer, new to chemo and new to the Portland Oregon area - triple whammy. Any ladies in the area?

juliaanna

Macho-Mouse,

Welcome, but sorry you have to join us here.  I'm not in Portland, but down the road a bit.  Are you new to Oregon?  If so, welcome.  I didn't need chemo, but I'm sure someone will be along shortly that can offer you information.  Best wishes.

Macho-Mouse

Hi Julianna-I moved here shortly after my surgery at the end of December 2012. I am actually in Hillsboro, OR right outside of Portland. I don't know where anything is around here and dealing with all this, especially starting chemo, doesn't sound like a good time. Dealing with it tho. I see you're on Arimidex. My Onc wants me to start Tamoxifen after chemo. Do you know the difference between the two drugs?

juliaanna

Macho-mouse,

You are right.  Dealing with cancer and having to move is definitely not a good time.  Either one is enough to drive you crazy.  Are you going to doctors at Oregon Health Sciences (OHSU)?  Their cancer center is quite good.  I was able to put together a good team here so didn't have to travel to Portland.  There should be some articles here to describe the differences between Tamoxifen and Arimidex.  I believe some of the difference is related to whether a woman is pre or post-menopausal.  Have to checked in with the January chemo thread?  They may be able to help better with your chemo questions.  

Hope you have a good Monday!

Mermaidia

Macho-mouse....I'm in Hillsboro also - welcome!!  I was diagnosed at the end of Dec. 2012 and will start chemo in 2 days....trying not to be too anxious about it tho....

Macho-Mouse

Wow! We could be neighbors! Where are you receiving treatment? I will ping you in a private message

Anonymous

Hi ladies.  I am newly diagnosed, fairly new to the area, and near Portland (I'm in Canby).  Am meeting with a medical   oncologist tomorrow for the first time, and a surgical oncologist on April 2, so don't know where this journey will go yet...but here I am!  (Just in case you're still on the lookout for PDX area people! :-) )

juliaanna

Nyama,  Welcome but sorry you have to be here.  Please let me know if I can help you with anything.  I come up to Tigard on a regular basis.  Take care and best wishes.  Hope your appointment goes fine tomorrow.  Remember to take notes or record the visit.  Hope you have someone to go with you, it really helps.

Macho-Mouse

Hello Nyama,

I hope your appointment went well. I am currently going thru chemo 7th of 15 weekly treatments. Not sure if time is flying or dragging. It's been a whirlwind. I'm about 15 minutes west of Portland in Hillsboro. If you don't mind me asking, which medical facility/hospital do you go to?



Hey Julianna,

It's been awhile since I've been on here. Since I started chemo I've somewhat sunk into a hole... Been trying to adjust with both moving to The Portland area and chemo. Good times! As I told Nyama, I'm pretty much halfway thru chemo... I still have my hair! It's so thin... Blah. But after 7 treatments I guess that's good, right? How are you doing???

juliaanna

Macho-Mouse,

Good to see you post again.  You've had enough to deal with-it's not surprising that posting here was low on the priority list.  I'm glad you are half way through with your chemo and still have your hair.  Hope you haven't had many other side effects.  Are you going to have reconstruction at some point?  

I'm doing okay.  Been coming to grips with a lot of one year anniversaries of being on this roller coaster.  Everything happened so fast last year(or so it seemed) that I really did have a chance to process it all.  No second guessing but just trying to reconcile how I got to this point.  I only have nipples/tattooing left to do.  I've got some business and pleasure trips scheduled the next few months, so I'll probably to the finishing touches in June.

I was hoping spring had arrivedi-not just on the calendar.  We had some sun, snow, rain and hail yesterday.  I never know what to wear to work.

Take care.

Anonymous

Thank you so much for the suggestion to take someone with me, juliaanna.  I don't know why I hadn't thought of having my daughter come with me before, but it was a great comfort to have her there during the visit.  Plus, she took notes.

Macho-Mouse, I was screened through the Legacy Health Breast Center in Tualatin and my oncologists are with Compass Oncology.  While most of my treatment will be at Legacy Meridian Park, my surgery will be at Providence St. Vincent.  So far, I've been really, really happy with my healthcare team (hopefully that doesn't change!!)   

My medical oncologist probably spent close to an hour with me, talking about all the tests and pathology reports (and giving me copies), going over my health history, outlining the most likely treatment scenarios, addressing any concerns, giving me books to read, etc.  I was very happy and somewhat relieved after the visit.  She was great!  I meet the surgical oncologist on April 2, and I hope I like her just as much.  I'll probably have surgery the second week of April, but of course don't know yet if it'll be a lumpectomy or mastectomy.  I'm guessing lumpectomy because of the relatively small size, but don't know at this point.  I'll just be glad to have it done--this waiting is the pits!  Not sleeping, no appetite. Ugh.

Half-way through the chemo, Macho-Mouse!  Almost in the home stretch....I imagine it will be such a relief to have it behind you.  I see that you might then have Tamoxifen afterwards.  I'm pretty sure I'll be taking Arimidex but I don't know yet if I'll be having chemo or just the hormone therapy and radiation.  Guess it depends on whether or not it's spread.  I've been preparing myself though, looking at wigs online, reading other people's stories.  It helps me to cope if I feel prepared, although I guess nothing can ever really make you feel prepared for something like this.

Macho-Mouse

Good morning, ladies *yawn*

I really hate waking up so late... Side effect... So tired... More tired as I move along. Could be worse

Nyama - Have you selected a treatment plan or are you still looking them over? So much information. I can't tell you how much I was online looking stuff up, calling my doctors, etc. And, I'm still confused *lol* I will be on Tamoxifen after I finish with the Taxol in 8 weeks (that is, if I can last another 8 weeks on Taxol). I will take that along with Herceptin for a year. You are not HER2+ so you won't get Herceptin. After a year, I need to decide if I will unfreeze the embryos and have kids. I have yet to have kids. I'm 33... Will be 34 tomorrow So... decisions decisions... After I get thru the "will I have kids or not" decision, I will be on Tamoxifen for 5 years. That's the plan thus far

Do as Julianna said and bring someone with you when you can... Always bring your notebook and write down answers to questions. I have a folder that my gf setup with all my pathology, notes, everything. I am keeping a tidy folder with all this information just in case... GAWD forbid this nasty thing returns. I'm planning for the worst Hope for the best!! Technically, I am cancer free. I had a bilateral nipple sparing mastectomy to cut out the tumor. I decided to have both removed (cancer was just found in the right breast) so that the reconstruction would be more semetrical. I also thought... what the hell! Take em both... I am so type A that I would be stressing every year with a mammogram on the left side anyway. I am beating treated over at OHSU in Portland. They occasionally sent me to Good Sam Legacy hospital for my heart monitoring tests, which is right across the street.

Julianna - Congrats on the anniversary I know... I know... time flys except when it's dragging. Things happen so fast... You get spun around with all the questions, what to do... what to think. Then next thing you know your b00bs are gone. Let me know how the nipple tattooing goes. Have you selected somebody? As I keep telling myself... someday this will all be behind me (and you guys). Right? I just fear the return of this thing, which is why I keep telling myself I have to finish chemo. So much time wasted... I actually realize how much more time I wasted before being diagnosed. Time....

I was doing a lot of naturpathic stuff but I have since stopped. I believe I mentioned this to you Julianna.. IV nutrients, high dose vitamin C, etc. My side effects haven't necessarily increased having stopped. I actually broke out in with a skin rash all over my face... Which didn't help considering I already felt I looked so sickly. Once I stopped with the naturopathic stuff it started to clear but I have lil scars dark scars now *sigh*

I hope you ladies have a wonderful Sunday! The weather does look like it's warming up... In spite of the hale. Next week looks like it's going to be a wee bit warmer! I see 70's on the current outlook. ALL LIES! HA! One thing I've learned about the Portland area is that the weather is TRULY unpredictable! Keeps me on my toes

If you ladies want to ever get together for coffee to shoot the shite and curse this cancer, just holler!

xo

juliaanna

Macho-mouse,

In spite of everything, I hope you have a wonderful birthday.  Perhaps the sun will shine for you tomorrow. (Although it is spring break.....traditionally rainy weather in the NW).  

Peace and blessings sent your way.

Anonymous

Wishing you a Happy Birthday, Macho-Mouse!  Hope you are finding wonderful ways to spend your day.

I do have a tentative treatment plan, all dependent, of course, upon whether or not the cancer is in the nodes and what the further testing reveals.  As of now, because I had menopause a couple of years ago, my Dr. feels like the Arimidex is a better option for me than Tamoxifen, and will probably be on that for 5 years.   I'm blessed in that I've  already had my children.  I'll almost definitely also have radiation.  Now if the more in-depth studies they do show that there's a high likelihood of recurrence, or if there's been spread into the lymph nodes, then I'll also have chemo of some kind.  I also have to get a cardiologist clearance before surgery, and probably also before any treatments, because I do have a history of cardiac arrhythmias.  I'd forgotten about that but thank goodness remembered to mention it to the oncologist!  Hopefully that won't limit treatments too much--might also have to go back on heart-meds, which I'd been off of for a few years.

On top of that (the pitfalls of being someone whose job doesn't provide insurance, who makes too much for medicaid, but not quite enough to buy private insurance) there are a couple of other suspicious things that I've ignored for too long: post-menopausal spotting and an almost certain skin-cancer (small) on my scalp.  Hopefully, all of these things are unrelated, but there's a small chance.....  Anyway, it'll all get evaluated within the next month and that might change treatment plans as well.

Would love to do coffee sometime, although not sure yet when I'll be feeling up for it (same with you, I imagine).  One of these days, though!