Any Baltimore Ladies?

Welcome, BooBee!  (Still chuckling at your screen name!)  I'd be nervous, too, if my daughter were moving across the country.  And congrats to future SIL for being drafted by the Ravens! 

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say please do join our group!  And if I don't speak for everyone, somebody will correct me quickly, I'm sure.  ;-)

Ladies, I haven't been able to attend the get-togethers because of JOB and definitely won't make the May event.  Here's hoping for June...  :-(  I have lots of news to share, so hope to see you all soon!

Susan

I hope to be there. May 12th is my birthday!!!

BooBee,

First welcome!  Second, you are going to have some BEAUTIFUL grandchildren!  What a gorgeous couple!  As far as a place to live, I am in Olney MD which is about 40 minutes southwest of Baltimore.  I'm sure they could find someplace closer in to where he'll be practicing, but don't know the Baltimore real estate market.  Lots of new places going up at the Inner Harbor which is just beautiful.  Same for the baby doc.  Obviously she's going to want someone close to where she lives!  Congratulations to him (what's his last name so we can cheer him on at games???) and your daughter for this great opportunity.  I know it will be tough being so far away, but there's lots to do out here when you come to visit.  DC is only about 45 minutes south of Baltimore, so there's lots to chose from!

I haven't been able to get to any dinners yet myself, but this site is SOO awesome!  I hope I'll be able to make this month, but not quite sure on that week yet.  I'll let you all know if I can make it.

Love,

Sharon

We could still try to get together while you're here!  Just let us know and we can try and set something up even if it's just a couple of us. 

And it's driving me crazy----what's your "real" name???

Sharon :::)))

Gotcha Renee, and I LOVE the profile pic---how awesome!

Hi MRDRN,

Sorry you had to find us, but glad you're here.  These ladies are just awesome and will answer any questions you might have!

So, from what you posted, you have a pretty good scenario in BC speak.  Small tumor, and ER/PR+ is good for treatment options!  What have the docs told you so far?  Have you gotten a preliminary HER2 status?  Also I'm not sure if anyone has told you yet, but you will get ANOTHER, FINAL pathology report after surgery.  Sometimes things can change slightly once they actually get their hands on things. 

Where in MD are you?  I'm in Olney south of Baltimore, north of DC.

Take care,

Sharon

MRDRN,  I had/have all my treatments at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, MD.  That may be a bit of a hike for you, but they are an INCREDIBLE hospital, one of the BEST for breast cancer, and they are worth the drive if you're willing to do it!  They have valet parking which will only cost you $1 - $6 per visit.  If you want to park your own car, it's plentiful and the garage is connected to the hospital.  So you don't have to worry about the normal headaches/expenses of trying to park in downtown Baltimore.

It may seem like something trivial, but I really appreciated being able to drive up to the front door of the hospital, go directly to my appointments, and have my car safely parked by a valet. 

The staff at Mercy are wonderful and compassionate, and competent and thorough and just AMAZING!  If I had to be sick anywhere, I'm glad it was there!

PM me if you want to know more about the care there.  Or hopefully we can talk in person at the next event!

Alaina

Dr. Chang is doing my DIEP Flap procedure in August, and I can barely wait!

During my first consult with him, he gave me a disk with hundreds of photos of his "work"  OMG!

All I can think is a FLAT TUMMY and a set of perky B-cups!  My friends have already said I will be incorrigible after that!  LOL!!!

*tee-hee-hee* :-)

Hi MRDRN,

I think they do both on occasion.  It is a very long surgery though, and I'm not sure if the added dbl mx would add more chance of complications??? Definitely something to ask the surgeon.  I had my surgery at Hopkins and am planning on having DIEP later with Dr. Michelle Manahan.  She did a great job on my mx surgery.  My only problem going there now is the general chaos and wait time.  I had to wait 2 hours once for a 5 minute appointment with her.  Also I had some real problems with my BC surgeon there.  If you want to PM me (or any other ladies considering JH) for more info I'd be happy to share.  Have you found out your preliminary HER2 status yet, or the Grade of tumor?  Those would be important factors about waiting.  If it's a more aggressive tumor the sooner the better!

Take care,

Sharon

I had my Mx done at Mercy, but only the left side.

My breast surgeon (who is the magnificent Dr. Bedi!) didn't want me to go through the stress of a bilateral because I was having so much trouble recovering from chemo.  I did 6 rounds of chemo before surgery and my red blood cells were tanking horribly.  She was right.  Recovery was MUCH easier having only done one side vs. both.

She said I could always get the right side prophylactically removed at reconstruction, which is exactly what I'm going to do.  I want a matched set!  :-)

So Dr. Bedi will come in and remove my right breast, and then Dr. Chang will take over with the DIEP Flap procedure on both sides.

MRDNR.....This is the website I told you about in one of our PM's.  http://www.facingourrisk.org/

I found it to be the best resource available when we were researching DH's family's BRCA mutation.  I still can't believe he dodged the bullet.  One of five siblings.

Two of his four sisters had a Bi-mas.  One had BC and the other was preventative.

It's looking like I'll be there for three weeks in September.  DD"s Dr here is telling her that there's an issue with the placenta possibly forcing her to have a C-section.  My kids tell me I have "research ODC" so it's killing me that she didn't get all the details from the DR.

MRDNR....I'll be thinking about you all day.

Have a good week ladies.

I didn't have much time to choose a hospital.  It was a Monday, mid-morning, and I had just had my mammogram (along with extra pictures of the left breast), and sonogram of the lymphnode under my left arm.  The radiologist had just told me that he was concerned, and that I should get to a breast center right away to get a biopsy done.  He also told me not to go home, but to go back upstairs, as my Primary Care Physician wanted to see me.  He had already routed my mammo and sono slides up to her.

I went back to her office, and she told me I had a choice of 4 hospitals; Hopkins, Mercy, GBMC, and University of MD.  She had already called all 4 on my behalf and told me that GBMC could see me on Friday, and Mercy could see me on Wednesday.  She was not able to secure appointments at Hopkins or MD. 

At that point, she recommended I go with the hospital that could see me the soonest (Mercy), but to choose carefully, because she felt wherever I chose, I would be going there quite a bit for the next 5 years, so I should be comfortable with my choice.  At that point, I cried.  No one was telling me I had breast cancer (just pics at this point, no biopsy, no pathology reports), but everyone was "telling me I had breast cancer."  *sigh*

My choice at that point became emotional.  My grandmother (who raised me) died at GBMC (complications from ovarian cancer we didn't know she had).  And while I do not blame them for her death, I know that I could not stand to be going there on a weekly basis for a year or more.

I've never liked Hopkins...and I'll just leave it at that.

Univ. of MD is a teaching hospital, and I knew I didn't want to be poked and prodded by interns and residents still learning what to do.

The website for Mercy has a quote from one of its founding sisters, Catherine McAuley, "In the care of the sick, great tenderness above all things."  That coupled with the fact that they could see me faster than the others sealed the deal.  I knew Mercy was exactly where I needed to be.

I have never regretted my decision.  And I will tell anyone who will listen, Mercy is the best hospital for breast cancer in the State of MD!

At my T6 Party (ta-ta-to-the-ta-ta's), I had a Silent Auction that raised over $1000 for the Outpatient Chemo Center at Mercy (to provide games and other activities for patients and their supporters to use during the long hours in the chemo suite).  Since then, I've been asked to sit on the Advisory Board of the Preventive Research Center at Mercy, and I'm enjoying serving in that capacity.

I tell them all the time, I wish I never had to discover how wonderful Mercy Hospital is, but I'm so glad I did!  It's not a perfect hospital, but I've never been anywhere that gets as close to perfect as they do. 

Alaina

Jaimieh........She does have placenta previa. 

Thanks for the info.  Looks like the team will set him up, initially, with a place to live so they'll have some time to look around.