MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

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  • pdaw
    pdaw Member Posts: 202
    edited March 2011

    Stanzi, I know exactly what you are talking about.  I had latismus dorsi Feb 18, 2010.  I had such a difficult time healing.  My oncologist told me there was some concern that some of the chemos created problems with healing.  I as on AC- and then taxol.  However was also on clinical trial for Avastin - and that's the one that created the problems.  I did not think I would ever get the bandages off. 

    Anyway, because of healing issue, Plastic S wanted me to wait a year to let the new breasts heal as much as possible.  I too, had the "pillows" as you call them - I've also heard them called dog ears.  Mine were so....hard that I could not lie down in the bed for over 8 weeks.   I got my new nipples March 4 and he did the lipo on both sides and moved the fat to my breasts.  I also had the dimpling effect.  It helped a lot, but I still feel the dimpling some.  I see him again April 13 and am anxious to see what he says about it.  He also removed some fat from my stomach and transferred it.  Be prepared - mine was outpatient surgery, but it does take a while.  Mine took about 4 hours - PS told me that injecting the fat is a very slow process.  Recovery has been good - just seemed to take a while to get my energy back.  Just to give you a clue - my PS recommended that I wear some type of sports bra that fastens in the front.  He said the front fastening type is not quite as tight as one that fastens in the back.

    I know what you mean about another surgery.  This was my 4th surgery in about 18 months.  I'm tired of recovering.  Take care and let me know if I can help answer any questions for you.

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  • heartnsoul76
    heartnsoul76 Member Posts: 1,648
    edited March 2011

    annette - I never thought about how common jealousy must be between fathers and sons. Now I can feel a little more empathy towards the guy (which is better than what I WAS feeling!)

    So glad to hear you are healing well, and I know you will have such a blast in NYC. NYC in the springtime is the best! Lucky you!

    somewhereinbetween - my MO's answers and reactions to my questions was a HUGE factor in my decision-making regarding chemo or not. I hope you can get all the input you need to make a decision you feel satisfied with.

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  • lynniea
    lynniea Member Posts: 611
    edited March 2011

    Soitme good news DR said it shrunk half inch since 1st chemo .  I will take better than growing. I thank God for it. 

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  • charmainejensenvoisine
    charmainejensenvoisine Member Posts: 369
    edited March 2011

    Sherry:

    You have probably read me on a RIF thread. I saw my Radiation Oncologist last week and brought the problem of my shoulder to his attention.  Within moments he brings up the film on computer of where on my body I was receiving radiation therapy >>>>  over the whole of my right breast and at the right side of right breast where incision was and up towards just below the right down from right underarm and he goes on to say that the radiation was so many inches from my underarm and that there is no way that the problem I am having with my shoulder/arm can be affected by radiation therapy.  Even the breast surgeon did not say a whole lot when I saw him on Monday... grrrr

    So I am going to make an appt for some time next week and approach my PCP on this.  Although I am not quite certain of how I am going to approach him about this.  I have been doing allot of reading online and aside from physio which is out being that this frozen shoulder came about in Sept/October >>>> there is a surgery that can repair the frozen shoulder also and it is called arthroscopic surgery?

    Charmaine

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  • charmainejensenvoisine
    charmainejensenvoisine Member Posts: 369
    edited March 2011

    NativeMainer:

    What I do not understand is that I have not since having the SNB been not limiting the use of my arm/shoulder, hmmm.  I was often before the frozen shoulder in the kitchen reaching up in the upper cupboards for things on a pretty much daily basis as had no choice, do not have lower cupboards.

    I organized my storage room last Summer and organized boxes on shelves and ect... so used arm allot there.

    But yes I will be making an appt with my PCP for next week and see if I can get a referral to a PT .

    Charmaine

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  • charmainejensenvoisine
    charmainejensenvoisine Member Posts: 369
    edited March 2011

    elimar:

    About the thread in 'midage' about frozen shoulder did find it but it was not really that active.

    Charmaine

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  • charmainejensenvoisine
    charmainejensenvoisine Member Posts: 369
    edited March 2011

    I am signed up for news alerts on drugs.com for Tamoxifen, and here is
    another article that just came into my inbox last night.

    http://www.drugs.com/news/tamoxifen-may-offer-long-term-heart-cancer-protection-30266.html

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  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 8,543
    edited March 2011

    charmaine - Thanks for sharing the article link.  I did read it and found it very interesting.  I have been on Tamoxifen for almost 3 months now.

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  • charmainejensenvoisine
    charmainejensenvoisine Member Posts: 369
    edited March 2011

    Jo how do you find Tamoxifen. Are you having any side-effects?

    I have been on Tamoxifen now since March 2010, and the side-effects that I am having are occasional joint pains / but more than that horrible muscle spams in my lower shins and most often in my feet.

    I also find since being on Tamoxifen I am bruising very easily.

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  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 8,543
    edited March 2011

    Charmaine - My hot flashes have been reduced to warm waves.  In the beginning, I had a queasy stomach but found out if I take it at breakfast with a small glass of milk I am okay.  My only side effect is joint pain in my toes and feet hurt.  I talked to my MO about this and he said I was describing neuropathic pains.  The pains were so bad some days, I could not walk.  I have a job where I am on my feet all day.  He gave me a script for Lyrica which seems to help alot.  I am on 75mg right now and I am going to call him today to get him to increase the dose.  He said he would do that if I needed it.  Also, I take the Lyrica at night and it does help me with sleep.  Lyrica causes drowiness and for me that is a good thing.  I  get some good sleep these days.  Other than that, I can say Tamoxifen is so much better than the two AIs I tried.

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  • NativeMainer
    NativeMainer Member Posts: 10,462
    edited March 2011

    charmaine--I thought I wasn't limiting the use of the arm/shoulder on the lumpectomy/rads side, too.  In fact, I thought I was doing the opposite out of fear of getting a frozen shoulder, but the measurements the lymphedema therapist took proved that I was using the arm/should much less than the other, to the point that I was losing muscle mass and range of motion.  It's human nature to not move parts of the body near an injured area.  If your radiation covers the entire breast area it has to include the pectoralis muscle, the one on the chest under the breast, and that muscle is involved in shoulder movement.  You can get a referral to an orthopedic surgeon to evaluate for surgery for the shoulder, but usually they won't do surgery until after physical therapy has been tried and failed.  I don't think there is any surgery that can be done on the pectoralis muscle to reverse radiation damage, and a surgeon will probably be reluctant to do surgery on it since radiated tissue doesn't heal well due to the damage the radiation does to the blood vessels and muscle tissue.  Fortunately, physical therapy is very effective on frozen shoulders, even after years.  No matter how one gets a frozen shoulder, PT is very effective at fixing it.  It does take some time, but the stretches they teach you are invaluable--I'm 4 years out from rads and have to do the stretches several times a week or my pectoralis muscle tightens up and causes lots of pain and problems.  I'll have to live with this for the rest of my life, but now that I know how to prevent frozen shoulder and the pain I feel like I've got some control. Don't ask for a PT referral, tell them that's what you want and need and keep telling them that until you get one.  Call your insurance company and ask for a case manager to help you--PT now will be al lot cheaper than extensive PT and maybe surgery later. 

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  • walker2222
    walker2222 Member Posts: 558
    edited March 2011

    charmaine - I am seeing a LE PT due to cording problems and she has given my several exersies to do that has helped tremdously with my range of motion as well.  My BS gave me the referal to the PT since I see nurse Debbie every three months for my L Dex numbers.  I am a high risk for LE and I am in the very early stages.  So you might want to talk to your BS if they can give you a referal and always check with your insurance.

    Well all I had a horrible evening, DH has been in Rochester, NY for the past three days so it has just been me and DS.  Evening started out fine, picked up my compression sleeve from the salon and tried it on felt really good.  Picked up DS from HS, he had a project to get done for today.  He was working on the computer and wham bam thank you mam we got not just one but 38 viruses on the laptop.  He was working on a Power Point and it is only on the laptop (my laptop).  Completely trashed the .exe files, of course DH out of town flying back (in snow storm) was delayed nothing he could do.  Other pc no help.  DS went to see he could work on it at a friends house, was able to barrow a laptop.  So by 7:00 he was set up, I was stressed out and DH missed connecting flight out of Chicago.  Woke up when DH got in at 2:30 this morning could not go back to sleep still stressed out, finally got to sleep at 5:00 just to wake up at 6:00.  DH called on his way to work and was taking the laptop to his IT guy to see if anything could be done.  I am sure we are going to have to wipe the hd clean and reload all the programs.  Yes will did have a protection system in place but it got infected too, not for sure what this virus was but it must of latched on something the DS was looking up for his English project.

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  • Sherryc
    Sherryc Member Posts: 5,938
    edited March 2011

    mjbmiller-computers can be so stressfull.urggggggh

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  • walker2222
    walker2222 Member Posts: 558
    edited March 2011

    Yea, my laptop is working.  Had malware infection that locked it up.  The IT guy fixed it.  He gets a $40 restaurant gift card.  Any ideas?

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  • charmainejensenvoisine
    charmainejensenvoisine Member Posts: 369
    edited March 2011

    NativeMainer:

    Thank you for your detailed message. I will try and make an appointment with my PCP for sometime next week or the week afterwards and will fill him in with what is happening with my right arm/shoulder.  I will try and get him to refer me to a PT that is covered by the Ministry of Health. (btw I am in Canada) I do not have private insurance coverage unfortunately and only have health coverage through the Ministry of Health and what that covers is also very limited.  Not all PT services are covered unfortunately and I may have to go on a waiting list to get a PT.

    But will let you all know if I can get in with a PT.

    Thanks so much, Charmaine

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited March 2011
    cjv, thanks for the latest on the Tamox.  I really do like it when good side effects are discovered.  Gets me more motivated to put myself thru' the hot flashes and night sweats.  I know, I know...preventing a recurrence should be motivation enough. 
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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited March 2011
    mbjmiller, maybe your husband's IT guy could give BC.org a hand working the bugs out of this site.  It's still acting up by not going directly to the last post read, and a few other quirky things since last weekend, like you all have previously noted.
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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited March 2011

    Charmaine, OHIP will pay for PT if it's done at the hospital and/or with a doctors prescription.

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  • 3jaysmom
    3jaysmom Member Posts: 4,266
    edited March 2011

    just reading, keeping up, and wanted you guys to know im here, and glad your all doing fairly well...      3jays

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  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 19,483
    edited March 2011

    Patoo, had an idea...She makes a post in the threads she follows so she can just scan down and find her picture and start reading from there.  I don't understand why they can't fix the problem soon because they had the code in there before.  Maybe they are just trying to slow down our posting.  No response from the PM I sent to the tech contact.

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  • Snobird
    Snobird Member Posts: 593
    edited March 2011

    Charmaine, I posted on another thread about your frozen shoulder. I too developed frozen shoulder at least 18 months after my rads. You don't need surgery you need PT. Frozen shoulder is a medical issue I don't know why it wouldn't be covered. Even if it's not, my extra PT (I went over my allowed amount because I had some for another issue prior) was $40US a session and I went 2x a week. You need to fight for this. Good Luck

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  • NativeMainer
    NativeMainer Member Posts: 10,462
    edited March 2011

    Charmaine--I agree with Snobird, fight for what you need.  You have paid for the services through your taxes, so they still work FOR YOU!  In the meantime here are some links to some exercises you do at home:

    http://www.perfect-body-toning.com/exercises-for-frozen-shoulder.html
     

    http://www.physiotherapy-treatment.com/frozen-shoulder-exercises.html    scroll down on this site to see videos of home based stretches and exercises

    http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00071      this one starts out with some medical info, but has diagrams and instructions for stretches further down the page

    Sorry these didn't come through as links, not sure how to make that happen in Firefox. 

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  • charmainejensenvoisine
    charmainejensenvoisine Member Posts: 369
    edited March 2011

    Barbe:

    Thank you so much for the heads up about a PT at a hospital or with a doctors prescription here in Ontario Canada re Ohip.

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  • heartnsoul76
    heartnsoul76 Member Posts: 1,648
    edited March 2011

    Yesterday, I had to have 12 - twelve! - vials of blood drawn to check on a problem with my adrenal gland. I had to go back today to have one more taken, but yesterday I kept saying, "Are you sure these aren't supposed to be more divided out between the 2 days?". I was just stunned as I watched her take down more and more vials. I was kind of stammering and stuttering and she caught my drift and said, "Don't worry, this doesn't add up to even a pint", but OMG! The rest of the day I felt weak, and I'm wondering if that's such a good idea for someone who had chemo 5 months ago. I'm pretty sure after chemo your blood cells do not rebuild as fast as they used to and I don't know if they ever do again.

    Speaking of the pint of blood, I know you once you've had chemo you cannot donate blood to the Red Cross anymore, nor can you be an organ donor. Would be nice if the MO mentioned these little things among the dozens of other lifetime SEs I keep learning about.

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  • lynniea
    lynniea Member Posts: 611
    edited March 2011

    Hi all God has been Good to me.  Trying to  keep busy doing cross stitch.

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  • Sherryc
    Sherryc Member Posts: 5,938
    edited March 2011

    Lynniea have your SE worked themselves out?  I know your tummy was not feeling so great.

    mjbmiller-gee Dallas has so many good places to eat just throw a dart and go with it. 

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  • lynniea
    lynniea Member Posts: 611
    edited March 2011

    For the most part Thanks for asking

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  • marlegal
    marlegal Member Posts: 2,264
    edited March 2011

    Friday.... 7 pages of talk since last weekend?  geesh kids ... how can I keep up????

    I can't pretend to read back, so I just wish everyone a really great weekend ... for me, working 30-45 hours a week still, tonight is my aaaahhhhhhh night :)  I wish all of my buddies here a few days filled with fun and light-hearted activities.  For those in treatment, I hope you're handling okay.  This too shall pass, we promise.

    I've said before, but will say again ... please PM me if there are any questions that you think I might help with based on my dx or tx cause I jsut can't keep up during the week, ok? 

    Love and hugs kids :)

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  • Eph3_12
    Eph3_12 Member Posts: 4,781
    edited March 2011

    E-I know that when the aliens took me to the mothership, they highjacked my real body (at least I'm assuming that's what happened since they obviously replaced it with a Shelly Winters replica!!!), but I never realized that they then casted my "good" body & made mannequins from it.  Must be how they fund their current excursions!  Thanks for the evidence!

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  • BarbaraA
    BarbaraA Member Posts: 7,378
    edited March 2011

    HnS, wow, that's a lot! I did not know abot the blood donation.

    Lynnie, glad you are feeling a little better.

    Mary, this thread moves pretty quick. Good to see you!

    Joni, is that what happened to me? I always thought those were just nightmares,

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