Newbie to this site (not to cancer)

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thaskett
thaskett Member Posts: 4
edited June 2014 in Young With Breast Cancer

Hello,

 I don't see an "introductions" forum here, but wanted to introduce myself! Smile I'm Tamara; I'm 31 years old, from the state of Washington. I was diagnosed with Stage IIB invasive ductal carcinoma (grade 1, ER+, PR and Her-2 negative) on 11/10/06. However, I first found my lump in April, 2005; when I went to get it looked at, my doctor said I was "too young" for cancer.

By the time I was finally diagnosed, my lump was pretty huge (I heard everything from 4.5 to 9 centimeters!) so I went through neoadjuvant chemo from 12/06 to 5/07 (A/C, then Taxol). The tumor did shrink considerably, so I had a lumpectomy in June of 2007 -- followed that up with three more months of chemo (Viorelbine, Methotrexate, and 5 F-U) -- then rads. I finally finished "active" treatment in December of 2007. I started Tamoxifen, and was NED for a year ....

...but in December of 2008, some lesions showed up on a CT scan, and on 12/19/08 I was diagnosed with mets to the spine and pelvis.

My then-oncologist, for some reason began my mets treatment with radiation -- which didn't do much except considerably lower my blood count and give me pneumonia (my counts have been low pretty much ever since then, almost two years ago).

Otherwise, though, I've been doing pretty well the past two years! I've had some depression issues, and lymphedema -- however, my pelvic "met" no longer shows up on scans. The spine "met" still does; but it hasn't changed, and I haven't had any other progression. So, basically, as of 6/10, I'm somewhere between Stable Mabel and NED! My next set of scans are scheduled for next month, so I hope the pattern holds...

Meanwhile, I've been on Zometa, Lupron and Femara since March of 2009 and they seem to be working fine -- no major side effects.

So that's my cancer experience. I've been posting semi-regularly at another board since being diagnosed with mets, and I've met a few wonderful friends there. However, in general, I haven't really felt comfortable posting there since last August.

I'm still in touch with the friends I made at the other board via Facebook, but I miss having a community/place to ask questions, to learn, share my experiences, vent, etc. I hope to get to know my survivor sisters here (especially -- but not limited to! -- younger women).

I guess that's all... thanks for reading! :Smile

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  • ebann
    ebann Member Posts: 3,026
    edited January 2011

    thasket: Thanks for the introduction. I began my journey the first time in 2008 when I was dx w/ IBC. I did a year of chemo and had a mx in 9/2008. continued chemo cause it spread to my chest cavity and began radiation 31 treatments. The tumor they removed was 12.5cm. The size of a softball. I was NED in 3/2009, had the DIEP surgery 11/2009. Now I was dx again w/ mets to my bones in my spine, hips, pelvis, tailbone, tibia, & femurs. I did radiation first for 10 days. It did help the pain. Now I am doing chemo for 6 months. I cannot take preventive medications, I was also dx as a TNBC. Right now I am having issues with my wbc staying low and postponing my treatments. I am not what you probably consider young. When I was dx I was 44 and now I am 47. Wish you your best on your journey. You can PM me anytime.

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