MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Thank you all.  It has helped today!  Some days are good and then there are days like today

Welcome Kay - This is a great place to be for support and good information. Sorry you have to be here with us.  This is a great place to hang out.  I can't help you with your situation but I know someone else wiill chime in.

kay... a tram flap is when they take muscle and tissue from your stomach and move it up the diep flap only takes tissue, fat and the blodd vessels there is usually no muscle involvment

goodnight Jo!!!!

love the squirrel, Leisaparis!  dawney, waiting to hear news... 3jays

I think you're right elimar, surgeons recommend the surgery they're most experienced at doing. That's why researching all options is important. I was willing to go for the 1st thing recommended. I mean lets face it you've been dx w/ bc and your scared. Then I met some extraordinary women on this site......and I found there were choices.

Pioneered by Dr. Robert Allen the DIEP FLAP (Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Flap) is microsurgical breast reconstruction using living tissue from your abdomen. There are other procedures, the S-GAP, I-GAP & SIEA, as well. 

For me it's like having had a tummy tuck and breast reconstruction. I went in for surgery with two breasts and woke up with two breasts....I never really felt like a mastectomy patient. Yes, there's recup time, drains and incisions, but I was truly amazed at the results. Now, 4 years out, at 49, the circular scar has faded, the girls are perky and my stomach is flat!    

dx 2006 IDC stage ll.......survivor!!!  : )

Intraductal cancer stage II (some nodes involved? or is it size). What would be 2 inches? do you know?

Thank you for letting me know of your diagnosis.

BirdyRobin - Welcome but so sorry you have to be here with us.  Let us know what you find out on Friday.  The waiting is the hardest part - it really sucks.

Birdy, sometimes DCIS can surround a smaller area of IDC. If you have 2 inches of IDC that would be pretty big! Also, what they try to measure while it's still inside you and what it is when it finally comes out can be two different measurements for sure! Good luck!

Hey everybody! I got back from the beach Tuesday night, but I've been effing around with taxes ever since. Finally, I think I've got it all together! Gave it to my accountant last night. He was not very happy with me.  He said he won't be able to do them before the 18th, and I said, "You won't?". He's a REAL uptight kind of guy, so he replied, "Do you know what today is?". I innocently replied, "Yes, it's April 13th." Later, my son, who was sitting across the table from me, said I answered what day it was like the man was seriously asking me if I knew the date. "Oh, yeah! It's April 13th!". I'm still laughing about that, especially when I know it caused the guy to get his panties in a wad! So, anyway, after all that, I'm going to have to file an extension AND pay the man double his usual price. I've been using him for 10 years, but f*** 'em. I'm going to find someone who can be nice - I really dread contacting this guy every year. He just snaps off questions to me and I don't know the terminology or what he's asking for. Taxes and insurance are my two black holes!

Speaking of insurance, I've gotten to where I don't even open the envelopes from my insurance company or the hospital. They just freak me out. But that ended up costing me. About 3 weeks ago, I made myself deal with mail in a box that I marked "urgent". Lately, when I've opened up envelopes from the hospital, they said I owed $22,000. So, I file that in the blacked out part of my brain. Damn! I can't deal with this crap! Then I found an envelope from the hospital which was actually a check for $880 - expired, of course. So, I had to figure out a way to get my $880 check re-issued while at the same time dodging the $22,000 bill. I knew it was a bogus bill, that I would just have to call my insurance company, but I wanted THEM to settle it between themselves. In the meantime, I wanted my $880! So, I tried calling 2 different numbers, but ended up getting the same lady. The first call she said, yes they will re-issue my check (still waiting), and the second call she said I had a zero balance. Ends up my insurance company and my hospital and all my associated doctors were in negotiations, so the insurance company was not paying until they settled everything. In the meantime, I had gotten notices from Aetna saying, starting March 31st, your surgeon, your MO, your RO, and everyone else that knows you really well, will not be participating in your plan. See how they freak you out for no good reason? THAT'S why I don't even open their envelopes! I can't take their damn stress, I've got enough of that!

Elimar and Barbe - well, I guess it's called a beach house since it's on the beach, but technically a realtor would call it a "Gulf-front beach house" because it is the Gulf of Mexico, not an ocean. Sometimes they say "Gulf-view" or "ocean-view", but that's sneaky - it's not on the beach, but you can see it from your balcony. There are other misleading terms, too - you've just got to be very specific when you're making a reservation.

Boy, I'm tired - the yard man said he would be here 2 1/2 hours ago, so I got up 3 hours ago with not much sleep, and I'm still waiting......sigh.....back from a few days of peace and quiet to extreme chaos (I haven't even mentioned half of it!). I want to go back to the water - got to be the Gulf/ocean. I don't like lakes - too many bugs and snakes and the bottom feels yucky!

HnS welcome back! Glad you had a good time. Love the panhandle beaches.

Wow! I missed16 pages please update me by PM if I missed something I should know...Will try and read this weekend as DH and DS are camping.

I am 3/4's done with Chemo, had my second Taxol today 2 more to go.  Finding taxol much easier on me that EC no nausea of headaches, I'l take the muscle and joint pain - I was dealing with that before BC so nothing new

Work is getting so busy I am involved with so many projects and even when I have given the lead to someone else I need to be in the meetings, working late to keep even with missing 2 days every 2 weeks. DH keeps reminding me to take it easy but I think since I am feeling better it is harder and it is definitely a distraction.

Went to Chicago last weekend to see DS in a club fencing tournament. It was my first time to see him fence live - he only started last year.It was fun and I think I am starting to understand it a bit. he does Sabre.  It was 86 there on Sunday, it was way too hot for the wig, really hoping to have enough hair to go without by the time it does that consistently this Summer, although it is convenient to be able to have someone else drop hair at salon for wash and style!  I just had to pick up and try on for final adjustments.

Getting through security was fun, I travel a lot for work and never have problems going through security, but after trying to get through the screening several times I had to get patted down. luckily my sister was with me and could watch my stuff but they lost my watch for about 20 minutes. They were helpful and did find it but it was frustrating.  I was ready to pull the cancer card but kept my wig on and held it together....In the end I figured that my pants had zippers on the pockets - last time I wear them flying.  The old way of using the hand wand if you failed the detector would have picked that up instantly. I also realized I need to work on upper body strength between surgery and chemo I could not lift my carry on to the overhead rack- embarrassing.

My Vitamin D levels are increasing ONC said I can move from my weekly 50,000 unit dose to 2,000 daily.

Hope everyone is doing OK. Hugs to all, I will post when I do some back reading to see what everyone has been up to.

I was telling my sister as she was my chemo date today, how much I love this group since we talk about everything not just BC and you are all so supportive, thanks for always being there, even when I cannot be on the boards.

HUGS

Jean.