Any Northern Virginia ladies on this discussion board?

Olive Garden doesn't do call ahead or reservations, so I will try to get there a little early to put us in for seating.  See ya'all tomorrow.  HUGS, Dawn

 Hey there girls,  Enjoyed meeting the new faces today and seeing the ones I know again.  Enjoyed lunch, glad you all could make it.  We'll plan for another again in a few months.

REGINA - Next time we want you there for the whole time - nice to meet you even for a short while.

KIMBERLY - Thanks again for making the trip up from Richmond.

 KATSY - We'd love to buy you lunch so that we can see your sweet face, missed you today.  Next time we want you to make it.

Here are a couple of pics from today.  HUGS to everyone, Dawn

Looks like you all had a good group! Sorry I missed you all. Hugs to all!

Hi Ladies.  I had my bilateral, skin- and nipple-sparing mx with DIEP recon last Tuesday.  Surgery was 10 hours, recovery room was 2 hours, then ICU for one day.  Came home Friday evening and have done well.  I have four drains, one for each breast, and one on each side of my abs.  Also have a Q-ball surgically attached beneath the ab skin to deliver continuous pain med.  7 incisions total - the four drains, one under each breast and the very long, hip-to-hip from the diep flap.

The incision under each breast are left wide open, with petroleum guaze over, then covered with tegaderm.  We changed that dressing last night - what a freaky experience to see a hunk of flesh shoved inside my breast skin.  But the overall outcome looks great, considering they are still very swollen and black, blue and red all over.  Better each day.  Pain is managed.  And pathology showed no breast cancer so I feel very blessed.

Hope to see you all soon.

Regina

Becky:  Thank you for your post.  I hope to make it to the next lunch gathering.

Hi ladies,

I bugged my onc. to test me for Vit. D levels.  I told her "All the ladies at the lunch were on Vit. D why haven't I been tested?"  My number was an 18 and she put me on 50,000 at 1 pill a week for 8 weeks.  Am waiting for my hernia surgery to be scheduled as I was too anemic to have it last month.

I live in Arlington and had a MX in Feb. I would love to join you all the next get together.  

Olivia 

Sorry to hear about your fatugue problem, thriceblessed.  It was rough for me last summer and fall when I was having chemo and radiation, but things seem to be better now.  Stiffness seems to be one of my biggest complaints.  Takes a long time to get moving.  I don't know how much Femara contributes to that.  My onc says the more I exercise the better it should be.

Did anyone do the Susan Komen race last weekend?  I didn't, (maybe next year) but I loved the article in the Post on Sunday about all the T-shirts.  The paper mentioned all these: 

"Yes, they're fake.  My real ones tried to kill me."

"Operation Support 2nd Base"

"Stop the War in Myraq"

"Save the Tatas" 

 "Walkers for Knockers"

I had my last Herceptin Monday and am getting my port out today.  Hurray!

Becky

Good thoughts and prayers for speedy healing, Ang.   Hugs, blessings and all good things for all, Nancy

There is a meet up in October in Williamsburg - go to Gatherings and the info is there.   Too far ahead for me to know if I will go or not, but I have never been to Williamsburg...

Hugs and good thoughts for all.    Nancy 

Hi wellsey66, and welcome.  Sorry you have to go through it all, but this is a great group of women to be in touch with.  I live in Herndon and went to the Look Good Feel Better session and the Life with Cancer Family Center.  The woman who did it was great and I enjoyed it a lot.  They do offer a lot of different classes and it's a beautiful facility.   Everyone is very welcoming. 

Sorry, I don't know anything about whatever is in Williamsburg.

Becky

PS, this is not me who made the arrangements.  It is TerryO.   

hi everyone, has anyone worked with Dr. Mark Venturi in McLean for their reconstruction?  We've heard wonderful things about him and are meeting with him soon to discuss DIEP reconstruction.

 Thanks! 

imatthew... i just asked for a PS referral from my surgeon and he gave me Dr. Mark Venturi.  I haven't made an appointment yet.  I have a gyn appointment tomorrow and thought I would ask her.  I am looking for breast reduction in the other breast since I had a lumpectomy.

I went to Dr. Edmiston twice.  My experience is that she is probably a great surgeon, but I did not like the way she treated patients.  The first visit I thought she was just having a bad day.  The second visit confirmed that in my experience, dealing with patients is her least favorite thing to do.  She hated answering my questions, as evidenced by her condescending answers.  She was extraordinarily late for both appts, which I normally wouldn't mind, except that I think it further demonstrates her lack of consideration for her patients.  I felt that if she loves what she is doing, she would also enjoy talking about it and explaining. I only asked her to explain the lymph node removal and what lymph nodes would be removed.  She was dead set that I need to have the sentinnel node test, even though we already knew I had positive nodes from a fine needle aspirate of an enlarged node. It would have just been a painful, useless procedure.  My only guess is that she wanted to show a student how to do the sentinel node testing.  I left her office and never returned.

I ended up at Johns Hopkins because they would cover both the surgery and the plastic surgery as in-plan on my insurance, and were awesome.  I did meet with a really nice surgeon that I would have used if I could get a plastic surgeon on my plan in the northern Virginia area.  She definitely seemed to thoroughly enjoy what she is doing and wanted to make sure all your questions were answered.  She does surgeries at both Reston and Loundon.  Her name is Dr. Chiantella.