Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

justmaximom15

Peachy, that sounds like a wonderful trip!! I'm looking forward to taking my youngest to New Orleans later this month, I can already taste the beignets!

Molly50

Welcome back, Peachy. I am so glad you got to have a real family vacay. Peggy, that must have been a shock of reality. Is it exciting or does it add to your grief?

Sloan15

I went in for a 2nd opinion regarding taking 40 mg/ day of Tamoxifen. The new MO was surprised at the dosage and recommended I stop taking Tamoxifen as start taking anastrozole. He's canceling the scans the other MO ordered, and we'll watch the CEA (which was up to 5.2) and get a CA 27-29 test.

I'm changing to this new MO because I thought I was being over-treated at the old one (40 mg and more scans), but I'm scared about elevated markers and no scans.

Peachy2

justmaximom, my boy would eat beignets for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I'd let him. Universal Studios' Mardi Gras celebration was still in full swing, though the beignet stand was closed. He just had to settle for one of Homer Simpson's favorite donuts.

PontiacPeggy

Molly, it doesn't add to my grief, but I've felt a bit melancholic off and on. Then #2 son called that he and DIL had been looking at some of the houses I'd like to see when I go visit him. That was exciting. A bit schizophrenic

HUGS!

Sloan15

Yay on the house selling sign going up and new home scouting, Peggy!

PontiacPeggy

Sloan, glad you like your new MO. And trust him. That is so important. I'm quite surprised at all the tests they seem to want to run on you regularly. Most of us don't have so many. Just mammograms and dexascans every couple years. If you're in menopause then I'm surprised you were started on Tamoxifen. Another one of those: everybody's treatment schedule is different things. BTW, I've done just fine on Anastrozole.

It is all very exciting with the selling and buying and scary.

HUGS!

mustlovepoodles

LOL, I'm doing the BC-chemo-BMX-don't feel like eating much-diet. I definitely can afford to lose the weight. Maybe this will motivate me to lose another 20-lbs after i get this breast healed.

Speaking of which, this wound vac is amazing! Today I went in for the routine dressing change and the measurements were fantastic. 1-1/4" long x1" wide x 1/4" deep. Thats down from 3-1/2" x 3" x 2" in one week! And the NP alluded to the possibility that it may heal fully in another 1-2 weeks now, without having to go back to the OR to bring the edges together. At this rate i will surely be done with this thing by the time i go to San Diego March 30.

Molly50

Sloan, your new MO sounds much more reasonable. Peggy, schizophrenic is a good description. That is my daily life, ha ha.

PontiacPeggy

Poodles, That's terrific about the vacuum. You have to be relieved!

Molly, my life has been that way for the past few months. Lots of highs and lows and in between. Life is crazy.

HUGS!

mustlovepoodles

Peachy, i love NOLA. i grew up on the Gulf Coast and we used to go over there on the weekends. Happiest day of my life was when i perfected my authentic red beans & rice.

Wow, Peggy! Things are moving rapidly. I'm impressed that you got your house ready so fast. DH & I were talking seriously today about moving to western WA. We'll have a lot to do to get ready for that, but I figure sometime in the next year or so we'll be ready to go. Gotta get Number 1 Son outta the house first (or maybe this will do the job!)

PontiacPeggy

Poodles, then we'd be on opposite sides of the state since I'll be in Spokane. And yes, there is a whole lot to do to get ready to sell. Remember: keep only the things that "spark joy." Good luck.

HUGS!

Molly50

Poodles, great news that the wound vac is working so well.

MLP3

Peachy- your son and dh are adorable! So happy that you had a nice trip.

Sloan- I like this new mo. And Peggy is right... Tamoxifan for pre-menopausal women.

Poodles- great job on the wound healing! That must be such a nice relief.

I walked/hiked a total of 8.5 miles sat and sun and today... I'm exhausted today! Plus, I stayed up until midnight to watch the oscars. So happy for Leo;) I figured I'd listen to my body and rest today. especially being 13 days out of my first chemo and at a low immune point... I think.

Does the immune system drop heading mid-point in the cycle, then gradually pick back up heading into the next one? I'm every three weeks with no shots in between. Or is it a few days between treatments that its lowest? Say... Days 9,10,11?

Molly50

Peachy, what a great pic of your DH and DS. That donut makes me hungry!

mustlovepoodles

my MO said that the lowest points for me would be days 7 through about day12-13, and that was pretty much right. I always got very anemic during that second week. Then come day 14 and I was back in the game, for the most part. I always got my best work done in week 3.

mustlovepoodles

rats! Supposed to have an MRI tomorrow but I just realized I have this trusty wound vac attached. D'oh! Cancelled that!

Kaneli

Hi RLM and Lovestofly,

I just met with my breast surgeon and I was told that I'm a good candidate for the 5 Day targeted radiation therapy. I went ahead and scheduled my lumpectomy for March 22. and my 5 day radiation therapy that following week. Did either of you do it or did you go with the full breast reds for 6 weeks? I am curious how the 5 day targeted rads worked out for you.Thanks!

LovesToFly

I definitely haven't done rads yet, I'm still in the middle of chemotherapy! Good luck.

Poodles I'm glad to hear that you're having some progress on that silly wound!

I had a busy day at work, I will have to read more and catch up.

Saw my oncologist today, and we talked a lot about docetaxel, which I will be doing next. I'm really freaking out about is the steroids, it is double the dose I am taking now, and I will be taking thrm morning and evening instead of just morning for three days. Seems like a very high dose, I'm worried about insomnia and I'm also very worried about when I come off the steroids. Right now I come off of 4 mg, and the two days after are brutal-so weak and tired and depressed. I can't imagine what it will be like coming off after three days of 16 mg! I'm really freaking out.

HappyHammer

Peachy- so glad you and your fam had a great time together- out from under the BC cloud...good times and memory-making! 17,000 steps is no small feat- get it? Feat? Sorry! DH and DS are presh!

Poodles- yay for the pants letting you know it was time to go shopping...perfect timing, too- right before a season change. Glad the vac is WORKING!!!

LTFly- It must be so hard to change up chemo drugs mid stream. I did have steroids the whole time- same amount- but it was all !V during infusions. Hoping you will not have any more issues when you switch. Sending you hugs!

HappyHammer

LTFly-thinking of you as you move to Taxotere- that one is a bad girl....you may want to go ahead and paint finger and toe nails a dark color- they say it helps. I had some issues with the big T but had infusions with the other drugs every 3 weeks so that added to it all. Just wish someone had told me to look at proactive things to do to deal with Taxotere.....also, all my steroids were IV during the every 3 week infusions...I think that was god- having the steroids along with IV Benedryl must have offset one another once we got the Benedreyl down to a manageable amt...so sleep was never an issue. Hugs!

LovesToFly

thanks!! Yes it is disconcerting to switch half way, just when I feel like I've got a handle on what I'm on! Thanks for the polish tip. I will likely ice my hands and feet as well!

mustlovepoodles

LTF, I had 4 rounds of Taxotere and Cytoxan. I handled it pretty well. I did lose most of my hair, but it's growing back. Didn't lose any nails, and I didn't fool with icing or anything. I did stop getting my gel nails, since that entails a lot of scraping and digging around. I just stuck to normal manicures (I am completely OCD about my nails. I bit my nails until I was 57. The minute my polish comes off I have the almost uncontrollable urge to bite my nails, even after 2 years.)

Also, I had to take the Decadron 4mg twice a day and I didn't find it too awful. Of course, I had insomnia, but my MO gave me a prescription for a sleeping pill which helped tremendously. I took the Decadron the day before and the day after chemo, and they gave me steroids during the chemo. About day 3 after chemo I would crash, so I just made sure to fix my work schedule such that my crash didn't interfere with anything. I usually felt really, really fatigued from day 3 to day 10-11, but how much of that was from stopping the steroid and how much was just normal chemo fatigue is hard to tell.

Best of luck to you. I hope it goes well.

ChiSandy

I didn’t do the 33-treatment whole-breast protocol but I didn’t do the 5 day (twice a day) internal-catheter one either. I did the accelerated partial-breast: 16 double-strength zaps aimed at the tumor cavity area. And I was told to wait till my incision healed before starting. (Perhaps they’re implanting the catheters during your lumpectomy so that you can start sooner). I know Shirley Yaw aka (Waterstreet--she put her full name in her sig line) down in TX had the 5-day internal catheter protocol. I got swelling and fibrosis, but no irritation, broken skin or fatigue. My LE therapist also does scar massage to break up the fibrosis (and I also wear a Swell Spot in my sleep bra and use triamcinolone ointment to encourage the scarring to soften). Hopefully, that’ll also accelerate the process of resorbing the seroma in my tumor cavity and my breast settling into its smaller “new normal.” If my next mammo is clear for both breasts, I may discuss reduction of the other one for symmetry--but I also don’t mind stuffing a wedge pad into my bra for appearance’s sake. (And I have just too much going on next fall and early winter--two or three music conferences, the Bar Assn. show, my duo’s annual holiday concert, and Bob & I are planning a trip to Amsterdam & Barcelona for Christmas week. So I’m not gonna do anything elective to mess with that--fate is capricious and random enough to arbitrarily and suddenly throw non-elective medical roadblocks up as it is).

Peggy, have you thought of the old Italian superstition of burying a statue of St. Joseph upside down in the backyard? Supposedly it increases the chances of the house selling sooner.

I LOVE New Orleans! Been at least 7 times, most recently last August (between ultrasound & biopsy) for the Cutting Edge CLE course in entertainment law (part of the Cutting Edge Music Conference) and a gig at Neutral Ground Coffeehouse. Neutral Ground has already invited me back, and the conference director says he’ll give me at least one showcase (maybe at the House of Blues). I’ve been to Jazz & Heritage Festival three times, but never to Mardi Gras--somehow, the thought of drunken millennials upchucking in the streets just doesn’t appeal to me. We already have that in the Wrigleyville ‘hood every St. Pat’s Day--notorious in the media as “The Yuck of the Irish.” Last year instead of staying in the Quarter (Maison Dupuy, Royal Sonesta, Omni Royal Orleans good, Hotel St. Marie meh), I stayed in the Warehouse District a block west of the CBD and east of Emeril’s--the hotel, formerly the mediocre Ambassador, was renovated by a Portland hotel group and renamed The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery. Very hipster-chic: lots of exposed brick & beams, USB ports at every power outlet, free secure wi-fi, a full-service espresso bar and patisserie, art gallery, Top-Chef-runner-up helmed restaurant with an award-winning wine & cocktail bar, and in the lobby in what had been a cigarette machine--an art vending machine! I left there only under protest.

Sloan, good call on getting another MO, or at least being assertive as to your Tamoxifen dosage. I will add my voice to those inquiring why you wouldn’t have been prescribed an AI instead.

Speaking of Ai, I’m taking my first dose of “real” Femara tonight. Ran out of the Roxane generic letrozole, and hadn’t realized that the little independent drugstore-and-Kosher-deli closes its pharmacy counter at 6 pm. Haven’t heard back from NovartisUK about whether the shipment I got from England is genuine, and Google still comes up dry when searching for “counterfeit Femara,” so I will take the first of my 90 pills tonight. If I can get to the drugstore before it starts or after it stops snowing tomorrow or Wed. I’l pick up the letrozole. If on Femara I notice side effects I’m unwilling to tolerate, I’ll go back to the generic.

614

Welcome Spideroo and Kaneli. Kaneli - I don't know the answer to your rad question.  I had whole breast rads.

Dear LTF:  Congrats about things working out with your union rep.  I'm glad.  Good luck with the new chemo regimen.  At least, you are half way finished.

Dear Sloan:  I'm glad that you like your new MO.  I am on anastrazole and I feel fine.

Dear Poodles:  Congrats about losing weight and about the fact that the vacuum contraption is working.  Yay.

Dear Peachy:  Welcome back.  I'm glad that you had fun on your vacation and your son is happy.  Nice pic.

Dear HH:  I'm glad that you are finished with tx and feeling well.

Dear JustMaxiMom:  Have fun on your upcoming vacation to LA.

Dear MLP:  Keep up with your walking.  Good for you.

Dear Peggy:  You made me laugh so hard that you will have to "keep your house clean".

I just accepted the job as Guidance Director for next year for job security. 

PontiacPeggy

Sandy, yes, I have heard of burying St Joseph. Many, many years ago I had a St Francis statue for my patio. He died and is long gone. I'll think about St Joseph.

614, glad I made you laugh. I really am cleaning impaired. I actually did clean house when I was first married but kids and work and, finally, lack of interest, changed that. I do like a clean house - I just don't want to have to do it

HUGS!

Italychick

LTF, taxotere is a bitch, but doable. Stay ahead of symptoms. Round 5 got my gut, and Pepcid A/C was my best friend. I took a foot basin and bucket and ice, and I immersed my hands and feet in ice water. An emergency room nurse told me that ice water is more effective for burns, so I figured why not. After round 5 got neuropathy in fingertips (think having the end of your fingers feel like you touched a hot griddle). But now everything is resolved, and I never lost any nails, they just got really ridged looking. Mouth spray (Biotene) was good, I kept it in my purse and liberally sprayed it all the time. Oh, and also suck on ice during infusions. The burning gut and the feeling that my legs were encased in concrete were my worst symptoms. No nausea ever, so that was a relief. But I kept small amounts of food in my gut at all times. Worked better than large meals.

The steroids made me a maniac, I cleaned everything. Then after crashed. Somebody somewhere posted that instead of two on the last day you have to take it, they took one, then one the next day. As for the steroids, just suck it up, they help you get through the chemo better even if it doesn't feel like it. I hated them, I feel your anguish over them.

Lotion your hands and feet constantly. I coated my feet in aquphor and puts socks on. I also used magnesium to keep poop regular so I could avoid taking more drugs

You can do this!

mustlovepoodles

ChiSAndy, if you want to see Mardi Gras, you should go to Mobile, AL. That's where the first Mardi Gras took place and their parades are much more family oriented. No boob flashing. Sure, there's some drinking, but for the most part everyone behaves themselves. There's lots of families with little kids down along the parade routes. Heck, my 81yo mother went down there for 5 parades with one of the adult grandkids this year. You can't believe how much stuff the revelers threw to her--beads, moon pies, candy, beads, stuffed animals, beads... And she uses a rollater, so she's rather frail, but she had a blast! The local Krispy Kreme ran a special this year: turn in 12-lbs of beads, get a dozen donuts. Mother got 3 dozen this year.

I grew up in Mobile County and we used to have two days out of school for Mardi Gras Monday AND Tuesday. Our HS band used to march in all the parades. Back in the day, they paid the bands $50 per parade. Over a 2 year period we were able to make enough money to buy 70 band uniforms to replace our jeans & T-shirts. Yeah, baby! Those were the days.

Molly50

Kaneli, maybe if you check with the winter rads thread someone who had the same radiation therapy will answer. I had 28 whole breast plus 5 boosts.

ayr1016

poodles: Yay for buying new clothes. I love getting new things to wear.

peachy: Sounds like a wonderful trip.

Sloan: Glad you like your new MO.

Peggy: One more step towards your new home. Exciting!