For all the node positive, Stage 2 ladies

I had 3 positive lymph nodes with level 1/level 2 axillary node dissection.  I have truncal and left arm lymphedema and wear a compression bra, sleeve and gauntlet.  I am scheduled to start whole breast radiation in a few weeks.  Has any one else had axillary node dissection and radiation?  I am just wondering if I will experience additional issues with the lymphedema.  Thank you!

Shadylady, yes, I had Axillary node dissection and rads.   No problems.   I had some mild lymphedema since surgery - it flared up slightly during rads and decreased shortly thereafter (a few weeks).

Athenia----YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO OPTS FOR SURGERY.I am with you 100%.I AM NOT INTO PAIN.I LIKE TO WAKE UP AND ITS ALL OVER. bc is hard enuf.and it suks.

yes we are.no one else posted anything about it.HEY I GO TO SLEEP TO HAVE A TOOTH PULLED. yes im a chicken.

Welcome, Ladyinbama, congratulations on your quit! I went cold turkey and paid dearly, but I would do it again. Today is my 18-month anniversary and it does feel wonderful and free.

Setting a date in the future worked for me - I think it is a great tip.

Also, despite all the obvious reasons WHY one should stop smoking, it is a testament to the power of addiction that I often lost track of exactly why I had stopped. And I thought I had a brain.... I wrote down my reasons to quit on a piece of paper and had to refer to it more times than I care to recall. The number one reason that worked fo me was that it was cancer TREATMENT. Since we all know that cancer treatment is horrendous, it made the horrendousness of quitting more bearable. Good luck, Real, and keep us all posted! BTW, I found th American Lung Association's tutorial very useful and they have a great number of online resources. Go to: http://www.lungusa.org/stop-smoking/

Misfit, that book is a great motivational talk but I personally didn't think it had useful tips. People vary - we are all differently motivated. I found the book How to Stop Smoking and Stay Stopped for Good by Gillian Riley helpful because it drums the following thought into your head which, in a twisted way, is rather empowering:

I can always go back to smoking if I want to. I am free to do so at any time. I will make the CHOICE to not smoke, just for now.

This helped me because in previous attempts I had felt so trapped by the inability to smoke. I never saw it as a choice, but rather as a sentence.

One thing I avoided like the plague:

--People who smoke (easy - no one in my family smokes)

--Quitters who fall off the wagon.

I found www.whyquit.com helpful - it insists that quitting cold turkey is the only way. I don't know. I did quit cold turkey after initially using the patch because I was hospitalized half way through my quit. However, it might not work for others.

A final note about nicotine patches:

--I used to smoke in my apartment, so when I made an attempt to quit many  years ago, the nicotine patch helped because I was inhaling my own second-hand nicotine anyway. However, I eventually fell off the wagon, but then stopped smoking in my apartment and only did so outdoors. This meant I had on-and-off access to nicotine and could do without it for some periods.  So when I initially quit successfully and used nicotine patches, they were an ill-advised nightmare, because I was actually infusing myself with nicotine 24 hours a day and got really agitated. This is only my experience, but I recommend thinking twice about patches if you are someone who does not smoke where you eat, sleep, etc....

Misfit, I generally shy away from the self-help culture - smoking was the exception, oddly enough.... I needed the platitudes.

So I was wondering - stage II has a whiff of a death sentence. You are neither going to die nor NOT going to die. It might be confusing and difficult for family to understand. In my experience, it really brings to the foreground how well family members understood you to begin with and I was wondering how I would rate my family throughout all this. I don't not love them but, excluding my mother who has been wonderful, I am gong to say a three.

Anyone else?

Hi Athena,

Pardon my french but I am scared shitless. You and I have similar BC. I don't know how old you are but I am only 34. I just recently got married and I have no children.  I completely know what you are talking about with node positive. I mean, do I buy a house with my husband...will I be alive long enough pay the morgage? I am not supposed to think about the future (BC therapyst said that) but I just can't help it.  I wish there was somethng that can ease my mind about being node positive. Thanks for your thoughts.

Hi Ladies, I was node positive, and I am six years from diagnosis.  I was really afraid of the nodes, especially since everyone else I knew ended up being a Stage I, but so far it's worked out pretty well!