BC Dx and Hodgkin's Disease Radiation Treatment

I am here!! My initial diagnosis of Hodgkin's Disease was in 1991 when i was 15. I was diagnosed with BC at the age of 31. I was also told the mantle radiation is the culprit. I have not had any other issues except thyroid nodules which i had biopsied years ago. I will be having them looked at again when i finish chemo in less than a month.

i am having a much better time with chemo this round than when i was younger. i expected it to be worse for some reason. I had the ABVD combo at 15; now i'm having TC.

i'm really surprised you didn't have chemo. i kinda felt like chemo was the more important part of treatment. funny that the radiation is what is causing these secondary cancers. you are right about the adriamycin - said you should probably only have it once in a lifetime. is it bad that i question only having 4 chemos instead of 6? is it bad that i would do the 6 if they offered it?

hope you figure out your thyroid issues figured out. my nodules don't cause any effects.

i'm glad there are others like us too. wish they would find us.

hope i didn't sound judgemental in my last post - didn't mean to! you're right - 25 years of no Hodgkin's so it definitely worked! i knew that infertility was a possibility with me, but i just didn't really think about it. got pregnant on the first try!! he's my miracle!

Nadine and Reeny I also had Hodgkins Disease and now Breast Cancer. I had Hd in 1990 at 19 years old. I had my spleen removed as part of may staging which was stage 1 then mantle radiation. It is now 19 years later I am 38, married and have 3 kids age 7,9,and 11. Two years ago I developed an underactive thyroid and now in April BC. I just had a bilateral mastecomy and will start chemo in a few weeks. I still can't believe this is happening!

I'm here too!  I haven't logged on much this spring because life got too busy but it's slowing down now. 

 I was diagnosed Stage IIB/IIIA HD in 1991 at age 22.  I didn't have radiation, but had ABVD/MOPP chemo.  My spleen was removed (they took my appendix, too, while they were in there.  Did that happen to you Jen?  I was a little put-out with that since it hadn't come up in discussions.)

We were also concerned about sterility from the chemo; I'm now 41, and my children are 7, 11, and 13 so it wasn't an issue after all.

Nice to meet all of you!

Michele

OMG!  I am so happy to find you girls!!!  I, too, had Hodgkin's.  I was 28.  They said I had it for at least 2 years before it was found.  After careful consideration of all the facts, my husband and I decided that radiation only was the 'safest' way to go due to the horrible side effects of the ABVD combo.  Did have the lap w/spleen removal, too.  Had 50 treatments.  Stage IIIa.  We just celebrated my 20 year cancer-free anniversary in Oct.  Was a happy day!  Have had a lot of other illnesses thru the years.  Was dx with BC on Apr 13rh.  Just had bi-lateral mastectomy on May 6th.  Figured it was going to get the right breast, too.  Tough decision.  VERY angry!  Thought I did my 'cancer' time.  Didn't feel it was necessary to get it again.  My thyroid is virtually non-existent.  Can't be found on an ultrasound.  As a side note - my oldest son was diagnosed with Hd 6 years after me.  Only chemo for him...

Yes - my son is also in extended remission.  15 years this Aug.  Thanx for asking!  The docs were stumped with both him and I getting HD because it doesn't happen that way!  There is no medical documentation of a mother and son getting it.  Anyway - I've been reading a bunch of stuff about rad w/HD and bc.  Seems if you're under 30, the risk of getting bc is 40%.  Great, huh?  I knew that I'd have a higher risk because I was told that with the rad it can cause secondary malignancies but I thought  - well, if something happens in 20 years I'll deal with it then and there will probably be better cures.  Did I jinx myself?  LOL.  It seems that 15-20 years is the magic amount of time for the bc to appear.  Not fair to be cured of one to get another.  Good thing my rad onc was vigilant with my mammos and this year demanded an mri from the ins co.  That's where the cancer was found first.  Nothing on the US and only one spot (I had 2 in one breast) on the mammo.  Scary to have to relive the whole cancer thing again.  But, we apparently are strong!!!

I'll keep you in my prayers for the rest of your treatments.  I have had numerous biopsies of skin done and so far - so good.  No cancer.  I see the dermatologist 1x a year for a complete check-up and have her remove anything I don't like.  I see her inbetween if there's something i have a question about.  What kind of skin cancer did you have?

I, too, am very fair.  My kids call me Casper!  I have light blue eyes and was a platinum blond as a kid.  (Am still 'blond'!)  How is your thyroid?  Mine died about 3 months after the rads ended.  I've been on Synthroid for 20 years.  I'm getting an ultrasound in a few weeks to check it out again.  We are such high-maintenance girls!  It seems that I'm one of the oldest ones here.  I'm 49 - will be 50 Aug 26th.  Scary!!!  Ironically, after all my HD treatments and surgeries, I turned 30 on the next birthday! And, 21 years to the month with the BC dx.  Weird. 

Happy Birthday! What a great birthday gift to end your chemo!  I hope everything settles down for you. Good luck with MRI.  One step at a time.  My thyroid shrunk so much after the rad.  The doc said better to be small than big because then it's a potential problem.  She also said if my thyroid becomes cancerous - no big deal!  They can remove it or kill it.  Another body part gone!  Are you going to go on Tamoxifen after your treatments?  I have to.  Don't want to because it's messing with my hormones.  Increases the risk of uterine and endometrial cancers.  Gynie says - no problem!  If the uterus develops cancer, they can remove it.  There goes another body part!  I have Polycystic Ovary Disease so I'm at a higher risk for that anyway.  I guess I should just have a super surgery and just remove all unecessary body parts!

Ipunni - Can you tell me what TC is?  I'm a stage 1 also but I don't need chemo.  Doc said it would cause more harm than good for me.  I've been lucky in that sense but I also chose bilateral masectomies 'cause I figured if it showed up in one, the chances are great for it to show up in the other.  All my docs, PA's and nurses all agree it was caused by the radiation 20 years ago.  Apparently. there aren't that many of us out there due to HD being so rare (less than 1% of all cancers).  What a group we belong to!

Happy 4th!!!

Hi

I just found this group and have a lot in common with you all - except for my age.  However, I still think of myself as young so I'm going to crash the party.  I had HD Stage 1A in 1986 treated with full mantle and abdominal radiation as well as a staging lap - and had my gall bladder removed as well!  I was 36 at the time and the mother of 2 young adopted children.  Then I had my treatment side effect - who is now 20 years old and in college!  My personal opinion was that it was the prednisone I was taking for problems with my lungs from the radiation

Fast forward to today - quite literally as I found out within the last hour that I have ductal carcinoma in the right breast.  My next steps will be planned out over the next few days but my most immediate concern is telling my children and my mother about this.

Thanks for listening.

Karen