Lets get to know each other :)

My name is Amy and I frequently change my name- I was pinkribbonAmy for a while and then Obama4President.

I'm currently single, I'll be 45. I was dx in Sept 01, had a bilateral mastectomy w/o reconstruction. Then I  had 4 treatments of A/C followed by 12 weeks of Taxol and Herceptin. I had no node involvement. I was er/pr negative and was +3 herceptin. I was grade 3. I've had a few recurrence scares, but knock on wood so far so good. One scare lasted 6 long weeks after I lit up the PET scan. I had my thymus removed and surprised everyone when it was cancer free. I also had a hysterectomy and  had my ovaries removed at the same time.

I don't have human children, but I do have 4 of the best cats in the world who fight for lap space and room in the bed. They want to be on the bed even when ..... I've had  GFs with me and we're.... busy LOL.

Sky, do you think your sex issues are physical or emotional? Maybe your oncologist has an idea or gynocologist has some ideas, because this seems to be a common complaint if this is physical with the changes in hormone levels. If it's emotional (like you don't feel attractive) your oncologist might have a social worker on staff you can talk to or a few sessions of therapy might do the trick. Sometimes just spooning is a way to have some of the closeness without the sex. I wasn't with someone at the time, but my battery operated friend got her usual workout .

Have you talked to your partner about this? Open communication is really helpful, in my experience. If she loves you, I doubt she'd leave over this side effect of treatment,

Well, I'll chime in here...

I'm 48 (49 next month), dx in September 08, lumpectomy 9/08, started chemo in November 08. I had 3X FEC, then 3X Taxotere--finished Feb 18. I started 35 rads this week.

I started this journey with a partner, but we broke up a few weeks ago. The cancer didn't cause the breakup, but I do think it was a catalyst. My ex-partner is a bc survivor herself (lumpectomy and radiation, before we were together), and I think my dx came a little too close to home for her. Plus we hadn't been together very long (6 months) when I was dx, so we didn't have a very firm foundation to our relationship. So I'm trying to come to terms with that--I wasn't ready to end the relationship, although I knew it would be ending within a few months anyway. Both of our lives are/were in a placve of change, and those changes would make it very difficult if not impossible, to stay together anyway. We were in a monogamous relationship, not a committed one. We still care about each other and remain friends, but it's difficult for me to get used to the change--for her too, although not as much since she was emotionally detaching already.

Wow, sorry, didn't mean to hijack this--now you know more about me than you may want to!

Other stuff to know--I have two cats (mother and daughter), a twenty-year-old son from a heterosexual marriage, and identify as bi. My hair is just starting to grow back in--white/grey peach fuzz--and I'm debating going commando (or maybe baseball cap) to the women's potluck on Saturday...

Can I also say that I cannot WAIT for treatment to be over? I'm tired of dr's appointments and having to think about this every day--not that I won't think about it all the time after treatment is over, but you know what I mean. All the SEs that are still hanging in there from chemo, the SE prevention for rads, the nagging thought in the back of my head--"did we get it all?"--the ongoing need for folow-up and wondering if I'll be able to get it... 

Enough of me... Good to meet you all!

Martha

Glad to hear you're almost done with tx martha. Drs. appts get really old after a while. I say go commando. I did when I was in chemo, except when it was cold and then I wore a hat.  Being bald was strangely liberating.

A 28 lb cat????????????? Wow---  I have a cat that is so jealous, he'd eat all day if I let him.,

My name is Karen.  I'm 52, live in Michigan.  I had DCIS diagnosed 12/03.  Following, my partner was diagnosed with Stage 3C IDC 3/04.  We were both good following treatment, but her cancer is back as bone/soft tissue METS as of last month, so we're re-starting the battle.  Looks like we're in for the long haul this time. 

 Glad to know all of you, but would prefer to not have the opportunity to participate in this 'club'.

Karen

LOL--It means that here, too. But I meant without my hat, without so much coverage...just another way of extending the meaning: i.e., without something you usually wear, in order to be/appear tougher/stronger/a mean lean fighting machine!

Martha

The drains were the worst part of my entire cancer experience. I passed out when they removed the first one only to be awaken by smelling salts, first time for me. I felt so much better after they came out.  Good lucky with the juice Dee,

Dee I'm amazed that you have so much feeling in your chest after a bilateral.  I'm still numb after 7.5 years. I can totally relate to the scariness under the arms after surgery. Great news though, after chemo my hair grew in much much less under the pits, I have about 1/3 as much as I did before (which is still too much).

Random thought of the day---- I just love Barney Franks.... (I was just reading huff post).

Dee,

I'd tell you what my dx was if I new what it meant!:)

Deb

Hi,

This is what I know from my first pathology report:

Infiltrating ductal carcinoma with the following features:

     Tubule formation : Poor (score 3 of 3)

      Nuclear grade: Marked nuclear pleomorphism (score 3 of 3)

     Mitotic index: Low (score 1 of 3)

Bloom/Richardson score (Nottingham modification): 7 of 9

-Ductal carcinoma in-situ with solid pattern, high nuclear grade, necrosis and focal calcifications.

-Vascular invasion is not identified.

WOW!  Do you understand any of this?  I'm still trying to decifer it.  I do now understand that it is, at this point, not life threatening.  Very grateful for that. 

Deb

 Deb- if you had to get breast cancer DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) is the "best" kind to have, some oncologists call it stage 0.  I don't see anything that suggest IDC (invasive/infultrating ductal carcenoma-- which means that it spread to the tissue outside the lump), DCIS rarely spreads and if you get a mastectomy, rarely needs chemo or rads unless it was close to the breast bone.

Ugh Martha, I'm sorry to hear you have lymphodema .  Martha be very careful about coloring the first time. My 2 inch hair fell out when I tried to do that.

Dee- you will feel so much better monday. How many drains did you have all together? I just had two, one where each breast used to be, if I could figure out how to post pictures here, I'd show you.