Starting Chemo May 2008

RanD

Hope everything is OK and that your not struggling to breath.

Sunny today. I like the veteran stories. I want more. I like the purple otter cake. Otter, happy, happy, happy birthday to you. We February birthday babies are tough and vulnerable --we are strong but delicate. We have great capacity in our hearts for others and we also don't know when to stop and take care of ourselves. We laugh easily but sometimes not often enough. Does that sound like you? Okay, I made it up but happy birthday anyway. Packing for skiing. My intention is to be on top of a hill on the one-year anniversary of my 800-foot fall. It's going to happen. It's going to happen in Colorado -- my home -- and it's going to be great. I am sending hugs to those going through particularly rough times right now. I am glad you went to the funeral of your nephew -- it is good to witness. And I am thinking of you, Randie, and not sending a card this week cause I'll be gone. Will try to check in. Love you all.

Hi,

 I had Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy, so they only took two nodes, but I work as a gardener, and if I do too much with the bad arm, I have some ache, so I feel for those of you with problems, from Lymphodema. 

Has anyone heard of Zometa?  Please forgive me if this has been covered, I don't follow, this site everyday.  There was an artical, on Feb.13th, in the NYT, calling it a landmark bone drug, being used, on BC HER-. 

Thanks

Otter -  I know you will be busy with the boat. Although we never had a boat of our own our friend had a 33 foot cabin cruiser. We spent almost an entire summer on it. I know the work involved when taking it out of the water and the bottom job. Have a great birthday anyway.

Karin - I'm glad you are back, no apologies needed.  And you brought otter cake!  You always bring surprises to the group.  I hope your posts coax Rock out from hiding.

Sorry Otter, I'm probably a little late with the birthday wishes, but will sing in your honor tomorrow.

Julie

ranD

Been reading, but no real chance to post since the arm issue. 

Otter - Happy, happy birthday!!  And listening to you describe your arm issues, well, I'm becoming more convinced now.  I think I might need to call one of the onc's for a referral to an LE/PT.  Along with the eye appointment I also need to make.  And the dentist appointment for the tooth that's starting to become an issue.  Crap.  Let's go back to the Happy Birthday part!!  There, that's better. 

Eddie - Have a marvelous time skiing!  I have only tried twice and I'm terrible.  My Katie does NOT get her athletic ability from me...lol.  No falling down, either.

Angels - Good luck with the port removal.  Sounds like it should be a piece of cake - purple Otter cake?

Karin - I agree with Julie, no apology necessary.  Explanations are fine, but no need to be sorry.  We feel the love!  And I'm with you about missing Rock. 

Jan - I have only heard the name, Zometa.  Don't know anything.  Have you tried looking at chemocare.com?

RanD - I echo the thoughts of everyone else.  Thinking of you daily...

Nothing terribly exciting here.  I've had five days off because of state holidays which has been lovely.  We've gotten some much needed rain.  I think I will take the girls to a movie today...

To the tune of Happy Birthday

     Happy birthday to you

     Happy birthday to Otter

     You've helped so many women

     become so much smarter!

Hope you are having a great birthday on the boat with your feet up and your bottom (boat) down and purple frosting on your fingers!

Julie

Cheering for Gracie on completion of rads.

Celebrating with Angels on port removal.

I am now portless!!!

Thanks all for your well wishes,

Gracie, Linda was right.....nothing to it.   The needle for the local no different than getting poked in the port for chemo. They did take me into a surgery room after the local had taken effect, draped me up , washed the area and in he went with the scapel in hand. I really thought I would feel the initial cut but nothing just some tugging when he was pulling it out. He said mine was a little more stuck than others he's done so just took a few minutes longer.  He did say I would have to postpone my mamo for another month until this heals properlly.   The only down side is i can't get the steri strips wet for 8 days...so much for showers...i'm really not a bath person.  Maybe I'll get some fancy bubble bath and take advantage.     Just have a very dull ache as the local wears off.

Have to head out to moms as she is having her first home care visit tonight and want to be there for that...then looking forward to plopping down in front of the tv.

Have a good evening ladies.   

Julie,

You know Otter's the expert when it comes to tests. I don't think I had that one yet.

Gracie....Yeah, no more rads. Glad to hear you're done.

Angels, how sweet ot is to be port free. I have mine until summer, maybe longer, herceptin ya know.

Hey girls! S-o-o-o DAT tonight. I've had 6/6 lessons on today (5yo - 11yo) plus yard duty then a staff meeting. Would someone please explain how I did this LAST year??? Must have been the dex. Too tired to write, except to say "Yay!", "Boo!", "A-w-w-w-w-" and, don't worry about port-out biz. It's a kind of rite of passageWhen I had mine out, they rolled me over and cut a suspicious spot off my back! The two-for-one deal. Julie, got some mail today! XXXXXX and XXXXXXto y'all. (Especially RanD).

Julie~ not sure what those tests are for. I'm STILL learning the terminology for this crap. Try not to worry too much. It seems that we are all having those "odd" tests going on right now.

Kerry~ have you tried taking b-12 in the mornings? I try to remember to take 2 500mg each morning and it really helps with energy. Then again little ones suck the energy out of everything don't they?

Karin~ I'm with ya. I also love my job. It does have its days. But working for my gf's hubby makes me a tad spoiled. I do love the fact that we are working in 3d more now. I love a good challenge.... most days lol.

Angels~ did you give you anything to make you loopy at least? Hope you are doing good this morning and not too sore.

I hope everyone is having a nice easy day today. Spring is just around the corner. The sun is stay up just a tad longer I noticed this week. I have the urges to get things spring cleaned and sparkly. Most of my urges at the moment are leaning towards painting the house though. I have 2 more rooms and a hallway that have still yet to be painted since we moved in this place..... 4 years ago. But in my defense, it was freshly painted by the last people when we moved in, just everything was duck white..... gag. I'm off to work a tad and then off to have lunch with hubby today. I hoping for greek food yum!

My homework assignment about CA 27.29 (caution:  TMI): 

Julie, you probably know 2 of the 3 acronyms for the tests that were done, but here they are anyway:  CBC = "complete blood count"; and CMP = "complete metabolic profile" (i.e., serum chemistry tests).

Here's some info about CA 27.29 from the American Assoc. of Family Practitioners:  http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030915/1075.html

"Cancer antigen (CA) 27.29 is a monoclonal antibody to a glycoprotein (MUC1) that is present on the apical surface of normal epithelial cells.  CA 27.29 is highly associated with breast cancer, although levels are elevated in several other malignancies.  CA 27.29 also can be found in patients with benign disorders of the breast, liver, and kidney, and in patients with ovarian cysts. However, CA 27.29 levels higher than 100 units per mL are rare in benign conditions.  [Note: the AAFP site says "normal values" of CA 27.29 are less than 38 units per ml.]

"Because of superior sensitivity and specificity, CA 27.29 has supplanted CA 15-3 as the preferred tumor marker in breast cancer.  The CA 27.29 level is elevated in approximately one third of women with early-stage breast cancer (stage I or II) and in two thirds of women with late-stage disease (stage III or IV). CA 27.29 lacks predictive value in the earliest stages of breast cancer and thus has no role in screening or for diagnosing the malignancy.

"Disagreement exists about the ability of CA 27.29 to detect asymptomatic recurrence after curative treatment. One trial in patients at high risk for recurrence of breast cancer (stage II or III) found that CA 27.29 was highly specific and sensitive in detecting preclinical metastasis. The average time from initial evaluation of CA 27.29 to onset of symptoms was five months. Because CA 27.29 testing may lead to prompt imaging of probable sites of metastasis, it may be possible to decrease morbidity through earlier institution of therapy."

OTOH, This is from the ASCO (Amer. Soc. Clin. Oncology) 2007 guidelines on the use of tumor markers: http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/full/25/33/5287 

"Present data are insufficient to recommend CA 15-3 or CA 27.29 for screening, diagnosis, and staging.  ... While it is likely that serum tumor markers CA 15-3 and CA 27.29 have prognostic value, their role in the management of early-stage breast cancer is unclear.  It has yet to be determined that MUC-1-based serum markers are helpful in making treatment decisions in this setting.  Therefore, the Update Committee did not recommend their measurement at diagnosis.

"... Present data do not support the use of CA 15-3 and CA 27.29 for monitoring patients for recurrence after primary breast cancer therapy. There is no change from the guidelines published in 2000. ... Several well-designed studies have shown that an increase in CA 15-3 or CA 27.29 after primary and/or adjuvant therapy can predict recurrence an average of 5 to 6 months before other symptoms or tests. While additional studies have been published since the last ASCO guideline that address the value of these serum markers at detecting recurrence, there are no prospective randomized clinical trials to demonstrate whether detection and treatment of occult or asymptomatic metastases using tumor markers impact on the most significant outcomes (disease-free survival, overall survival, quality of life, toxicity, or cost-effectiveness). Although the assay was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the US FDA does not require tests to show clinical benefit if that is not part of the manufacturer's indication. Given the limited evidence, and until clinical benefit is established, present data are insufficient to recommend routine use of CA 15.3 or CA 27.29 for this application."

The ASCO guidelines do support the use of CA 15.3 and/or CA 27.29 in metastatic BC:  " ... in conjunction with diagnostic imaging, history, and physicial examination ... for monitoring patients with metastatic disease during active therapy ... ".

Sorry--my translator is down today (not enough coffee), so the best I could do was just cut-and-paste from the websites.

Hugs...  (I'm getting really worried about ranD--has anyone tried to call her lately?)...

otter 

Yeah, but I thought one reason she took a break was because of (or coincident with) the discovery of the fluid in her lungs, and the possibility that it was due to lung mets...

RanD's last post was Feb. 11th, when she said she had a fever of 100.8 and needed to go to the ER for lab work. Her last log-in to the boards was Feb. 12th.  I guess that wasn't so long ago--it was just last Thursday. I hope you're right--maybe she is napping a lot and trying to recharge her batteries.

RanD, can you feel us thinking about you and sending you hugs?  {{{{{{RanD}}}}}} 

otter