Calling all TNs

beetle:  Great news!  Complete pathological response is awesome!!  Thanks for the prayer too!!  I can use all I can get!  So far, doing well here.  Normal ups and downs with this beast, but all in all feel good.

TifJ:  Glad you are doing ok!  Doing well here.  TC #3 is next Monday, then I have only one more to go!  Excited about that.  Looking forward to Spring, hair growth, and less major stress!

CC4npg hang in there I have two more to go too! My feelings are mixed though????

Glad to be out of treatment but scared of the unknown. I stockpiled the freezer w/ Blueberries and Broccoli; which I plan on eating everyday until I get to the 3 yr. mark. 

Hey I need some type of therapy or I'll go crazy so it's my daily fusion of Blueberry/Broccoli it is!!!!!! LOLOL 

Okay....I'm rooting for Ohio too! I met some folks in the elevator of the hotel the other day who were there for the Sugar Bowl. Plus, I grew up on Michigan border...not too far from Ohio.

Janda - I'm not going to give you the long speech on 'how to get over this', but just a suggestion for your first baby step away from it...this event was All Consuming to say the least.  What new task/topic can you re-focus on?  Its like watching TV all day.  Change the channel.  Your focus will gradually shift away from the trauma and worry.  No rush, just think about it.

I have to do this every time we have a bad hurricane headed our way.  For days I am glued to the TV, who is broadcasting 24/7 updates.  I am busy taking precautions, monitoring my reactions to the intensity, and then poof*, its over.  The TV eases back into its regular schedule and I'm still there on the sofa watching intently.  It takes 1/2 a day or more to pull away from it.  Certainly NOT an accurate comparison, but you get the idea. 

You will be fine  

Janda: I'm TN and have 3 positive nodes that I know of. I am now doing my chemo (did AC and I have 3 out of 12 Taxol to go) and will have my surgery after. So far, it's going good for me. Keep the faith. But I know it's hard. I understand you completly. 

The thing I've been wondering about all the ones who have negative nodes, who write 0/4 or else: were the nodes positive before doing the chemo and then were negative after because of the chemo or were they negative to begin with?

Babs37--

Right now unless your tumor is large you don't rec'd chemo first. You either proceed w/ the lumpectomy (?) or MX.

I think TN's that will soon be changing. If chemo is administered first then the ONC can see which cocktail is actually working best; which yields a better outcome for the patient.

I like the latter you know upfront if your battle is for the best outcome.

Treatment 6 rounds of Taxotere & Cytoxin
Diagnosis: 8/30/2010, IDC, 1cm, Stage I, Grade 3, 0/1 nodes, ER-/PR-, HER2-

hi ladies..happy new year to you all. Im finally writting you guys again.. has been a while  sorry !!

I'm done with my chemo  6x and now its been 6 weeks since i've finished. Im on my 3rd day of Radiation.. I have 38 sittings... 5 days per week  gonna take me approx. 8 weeks to get done.

My hair is finally growing back.. very light ( guess my natural blond is coming back ),,,, no hair cut just yet  lol. My last 3 fingernails on both of my hands have a brown stripe going across them. My fingers and feet are still numb and bad leg pain at night. This all due to my last 3 chemo sittings with Taxotere. Im tellin ya girls..thats some nasty stuff. Im going to be so glad when all this therapy stuff is over with, but i fear the next 5 months are still gonna be a rough ride. Hey... im positive that 2011 will be good to all of us.... this is what we have to beleive.

Ill get back to ya asap... till then keep your heads up and be positive.... WE ARE SURVIVORS 

Just posting beacuse I am excited and relieved to have had my 4th and final TC treatment today! While the next week will not be entirely pleasant, it will be the last bad week and I am thrilled!  Hang in there all of you who are still in chemo- the end will be here sooner than you think

Babs37 wrote:

"The thing I've been wondering about all the ones who have negative nodes, who write 0/4 or else: were the nodes positive before doing the chemo and then were negative after because of the chemo or were they negative to begin with?"

Unless they do lymph node biopsies before and after chemo (which I don't think is commonly done), you'll never know for sure if they were negative all along or if the chemo turned them negative.

I had chemo first, so I didn't know the status of my nodes prior to chemo, with the exception of one enlarged node that they did a fine-needle aspiration biopsy on when they biopsied my tumor. It tested negative. When I had surgery, my doc took out the sentinel node as well as one close to it. They were also negative, but that was after chemo. I can't absolutely say that I had no positive nodes prior to chemo, but I did have two that were negative after chemo. 

I so hope this works and gets FDA approval.

Hello ladies!

I just had all my follow ups today (surgeon, onc, risk assessment) and I learned some things.

They took 2 nodes in the SNB and they were both clear!
They got clear margins...but one part of the margin was very small (<1mm) b/c it was so close to the skin. But...it was still clear, so I count that as a win.

They noticed IDC and DCIS in what they removed.  I'm healing nicely and I argued for them to let me start chemo straight away, they agreed to do port placement and 1st chemo on Jan 18th, all the same day.

Now the decision is whether or not I want to be in the Avastin trial. I can do DD  AC / T for the 4 months, or I can be put in the Avastin trial and do the AC every 2 wks for 4 infusions, and then weekly Taxol for 12 weeks. Depending on which arm of the Avastin trial I'm in, I could be receiving Taxol and Avastin for 12 weeks, or not.  I've been reading up on Avastin, so I know there's some controversy around the FDA yanking the breast cancer indication from Avastin...but would love to hear your thoughts / opinions. I have a few days to think about it.

I would also love input on the whole wig shopping experience....is there a place to go to get "fitted" and purchase wigs? Or is this really something you just get out of a catalog and hope for the best?

Thanks!

Heidi, I think it's six of one, a half-dozen of another. With chemo first, you don't know the original status of your lymph nodes, but you do get a good idea of how your tumor is responding to the chemo, and can change regimens if the first isn't working.