Seven Years

MmeJ

Last week I hit the seven-year mark from diagnosis. Now on Letrozole which is really starting to screw with my wrists, hands, ankles and feet (already in bad shape before dx) but I'm game to stay on it until I just can't stand it any more.

And again I ask, as I now seem to do every year: Am I NED? No one knows. My oncologist follows NCCN guidelines, so for him no symptoms = no scans. But during the next year I think I'll find a "reason" for a scan. He (although I love him dearly) won't authorize a scan for psychological/emotional reasons.

I've had the same employer since dx (although not the same job or department) and am job-hunting. For many reasons, I want to work somewhere else, but one that's high on the list is to work at a place where no one knows my story.

lkc

congrats on your big milestone from another Stage IIIC er. This is a biggie.

TectonicShift

Anonymous

Congrats! Good luck on the job hunt!

MmeJ

Thanks to all of you!

lkc, when I first started reading here several years ago, I was looking especially for posts from IIIc members because there aren't that many of us, and ... well, I think you know. Although our profiles are different I felt great encouragement that you were already five+ years out by then, and I'm so glad to see you're in double digits now.

TectonicShift, I always appreciate the content of your posts and really admire your writing style.

SerenitySTAT, your posts are chock full of life, no matter the topic!

7of9

Thanks for the post and good luck finding a new employer/better situation for yourself. I am 1 1/2 yrs out from recurrence 10-/14 nodes in axillary sac, complete hysterectomy. Arimidex makes me so achy and I have so much scar tissue from radiation - I am getting reconstruction to the radiated implant next month. Tentative steps forward - with BC in the rear-view mirror. Now and forever...or for a long long long time.

MmeJ

Thank you, 7of9. Are you a fan of all the Star Treks, or just some?

You have really been through the wringer, and twice.

As I have been reading over the years, I am always struck by the geographic differences in treatments we receive, even with the same/very similar dx. Where I live, they would not do radiation to an implant - they said I had to have the rads first and recover sufficiently from that before they would do the TE swap. I had hoped to have the immediate implant at time of mastectomy.

I hope this next (and may it be the last) round will go well for you and that they can do some things for you with the scar tissue. You already know all the exercises, I suspect.

7of9

MmJ

The first go around I had no nodes (um, missed something?? - yes they did certainly) clear margins so no rads. So I had TE and then exchange. It was nearly 3 years later when I caught my armpit swelling and they found 10/14 nodes - so I had radiation last spring. After surgery. They did chemo after rads as my surgeon was convinced she got it all and nothing was found elsewhere (that showed up on any scans anyway!). I too wonder what it would be like to make a clean start..but my health plan here is too good so I'm stuck.

Yes, I am a Trekkie! Most people probably look at my profile name and think 7 of 9 nodes I guess. I used to love Voyager but the reboot Movies are pretty good (the first 2 anyway).

YATCOMW

Seven years is a big deal......congratulations.....and good luck on the job hunt....

Jacqueline

tangandchris

congrats on 7 years!!

I started a nee job a month ago and no one knows my history. It's an odd feeling actually, there's a huge chunk of my life experience that I don't talk about. Sometimes I want to blurt it out. It's odd too when something about cancer is brought up about someone else.

I am also afraid of getting let go because of insurance issues. I know it's illegal, but still concerned.

Idk, still figuring it out.

Didn't mean to highjack lol

MmeJ

Thank you, Jacqueline. Your posts, too, were so reassuring when I first arrived here.

7of9, I must be more of a Trekkie than I realized because it never occurred to me that your screen name might reflect # of positive nodes! An amusing and kind of dark twist on this weird planet on which we have found ourselves. I've seen only the first of the reboot movies; thought it was OK. I never much cared for the Scotty character but I really liked him in this movie. And it is finally clear that Kirk, who I've never, ever liked, was, even as a kid, an ***hole. :-) I'm old enough to have watched TOS in prime time (although I was just 6, 7, 8 years old).

Yeah, tangandchris, I can relate to the great health plan and that is one of the reasons I've stayed with my employer as long as I have. There's no good time to get a cancer dx, of course, but I'm "glad" it happened while I worked for my current employer. At other times in my life it would have been a terrible financial hardship, to the point of a lifetime of debt at minimum. I am sure it is weird to not have the continuity but eventually you (and I) will probably find one or two new colleagues to get to know and maybe share some of our info. I don't think you're hijacking, we're all just gabbing with each other.

Madicyn

Congratulations! I too am IIIC and 7 years out. I'm also followed by an onc that doesn't do routine scans. I have on occasion asked for a scan--most recently a bone scan. It's stressful to do, but when it came back clear I was so relieved. I'm continuing on Anastrozole. No plans to stop. There is something about taking that little pill every night. Now on to living our lives to the fullest!

sugarplum

And congrats from me, too! I had a couple of nuclear bone scans early on, but nothing recent (however, onc just recommended a nuclear stress test for my heart due to my 10+ years on Arimidex - I should be getting that w/in the next few weeks). Now gearing up for surgery on my other hip in October - never thought I'd live long enough to need both of them replaced!

All the best to all of us - Julie

SSInUK

all congrats. Thanks for posting

MmeJ

Madicyn, wow. You are just a couple of months further out than I am. Splendid! And thank you for your note.

I was able, around the second year post-active treatment, to persuade my primary care doc to order a bone density scan so there would be a baseline, since the instant and permanent menopause from chemo had me all flipped out about that on a day that I happened to have an appointment with her. Last year I insisted on a second one before agreeing to go on the Femara, to which my oncologist agreed. Now I just need to remember to whine for one every other year. :-) I see you are from Wisconsin? Are you in ... Madison? Many, many happy weekends there in my younger days. At least I think they were happy - I'm not sure I remember all that well! My first taste of Greek food, and of deep dish pizza. I know now that was mostly because of the Chicago transplants, but it was very exotic to me at the time.

Sugarplum, 11 years for you. Now, that's impressive! The 10+ years on anti-hormonals ... we still don't quite know what the long-term effects of long-term use might be, so you're a real pioneer. Since you also had adriamycin, looking at your heart at this point is probably a good idea. I'll try to remember that going forward, too. I hope your hip surgery goes well.

SSinUK, thank you for your congrats. Goodness, you've really been through the wringer, with two rounds of treatment. Enough, already!

If there are other IIIc people reading: As you can see, it's a tough road. But some of us are still bumping along. Yay, us!