MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

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  • samsue
    samsue Member Posts: 757
    edited November 2011

    Marilyn, There is a thread called "abbreviations for newbie's" started sometime ago plus the monitors have a list also.

  • orangemat
    orangemat Member Posts: 645
    edited November 2011

    The D means "dear", as in "dear husband" and "dear daughter". And yes, LE is lymphedema (took me a while to figure that one as well, seeing that it's one word).

    This is the moderator thread with BCO's abbreviations

  • marilyn113
    marilyn113 Member Posts: 118
    edited November 2011

    I'll checkout the thread.  Thanks.

  • marthah
    marthah Member Posts: 322
    edited November 2011

    Marilyn, I usually think "darling" when I use the D, but it can also mean "damn" if we happen to be irritated with the family member in question!  Yell

    It's all about the context!!! Laughing

  • Paula66
    Paula66 Member Posts: 1,728
    edited November 2011

    LOL marthah that was my hubby last night the little stinker.  I was so ticked at him by the time supper rolled around I wanted to wrap the eletric skillet cord around his neck.  He was so very lucky I didnt, lol.

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

    I bumped the abbreviation thread this morning so it will be closer to the top of the active topics.

  • marilyn113
    marilyn113 Member Posts: 118
    edited November 2011

    Marthah, too funny!

    Got my HER2 results today...negative.  Woo Hoo!!!

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

    marilyn - Congrats on the negative results.

  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited November 2011
    marilyn, Excellent news.  If your nodes are clear, it will be unlikely that you will have to do the chemo.  There are some rare surprises where a high Oncotype score reveals a higher than expected number regarding recurrence.  You and your doc can decide about that.
  • marthah
    marthah Member Posts: 322
    edited November 2011

    Congrats, Marilyn!!! ^5!

    Every little bit helps, doesn't it? 

    I was one of the rare cases Eli mentioned. But what can I say? I'm special that way! Kiss I had 2 negative nodes and clean margins on my lumpectomy, but my Oncotype score was 31, meaning at 22ish% RR. Probably because my E+ status is like 95%...assuming that's off the charts? It's funny...estrogen used to be BFF! Yell wth...

  • LovesChristmas-Barb
    LovesChristmas-Barb Member Posts: 706
    edited November 2011

    Yay Marilyn! Good news indeed.

    My E+ status was 95% too and my oncotype was 10 so I don't know how relative that is.

  • marthah
    marthah Member Posts: 322
    edited November 2011

    Barb, great point. It's not really something I've researched, so I can't say one way or another either.

    Hey gang, I finished my rads today. Woot! Next stop, Tamox Train! 

  • LovesChristmas-Barb
    LovesChristmas-Barb Member Posts: 706
    edited November 2011

    Congratulations marthah on finishing rads!! Happy dance! Just in time for Thanksgiving. =)

  • marthah
    marthah Member Posts: 322
    edited November 2011

    Barb,

    Considering I got my dx on April Fool's Day, I think there's a certain poetic justice in finishing at Thanksgiving. Innocent

  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited November 2011

    marthah,  What I am saying is that high ER+ percentages usually confer LOWER OncoDx scores, but there are always execptions.  Also, a tumor of 3cm is usually suspected to have LVI, or some kind of greater potential of spread, and usually does get chemo, so marilyn113 is different in that respect because of her small tumor.

    So, how did your skin do?  Did you get boosts or not?  Need to do some happy dancing now!!!!

                                                

                                           

  • juliet62
    juliet62 Member Posts: 3,412
    edited November 2011

    cogratulations marthah

  • marthah
    marthah Member Posts: 322
    edited November 2011

    eli,

    LVI = lymphatic/vascular invasion? That would explain it in my case as that was present based on the pathology from my lumpectomy. I did not know that high ER status typically meant low Oncotype score. Still learning something new every day! Laughing

    My skin held up fabulously, thanks for asking. No open wound or anything. Starting to get a little flaking, and the RN indicated that's a sign of healing already. I had 26 WBR's and 5 boosts. Along with the sim for the boosts, I had the added benefit of a US with each boost -- the clinic uses an image- and optic-guided stereotactic radiation delivery system...really state of the art stuff. And I used Miaderm -- not what the clinic gave me, but after all the reading here and some online research, I opted for it and have been very pleased with the results! 

  • Kay_G
    Kay_G Member Posts: 3,345
    edited November 2011

    Congrats on finishing rads, Marthah! It's a great feeling, isn't it? I finished 11 days ago and my skin is about half way back to normal color.

  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited November 2011

    Even tho' I did not blister, I still have a very, very light shadow of my rads rectangle, and this is two years later.  I either have the slowest cell turnover rate, or those rays really penetrated to my bottommost layer of skin; or both.  Luckily, I was "baked to a delicate crunch" and not "fried to a crackly crunch."

  • Kay_G
    Kay_G Member Posts: 3,345
    edited November 2011

    Haha! Good analogy. My RO told me it was likely that I will always have a small difference in skin tone where I had the rads. I am not close to only being a small difference yet though, but glad I am pink instead of bright red.

  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited November 2011

    The other analogy is "original recipe" as compared to "extra-crispy!"

    Of course that is when your RO dresses in all white and his staff refers to him as "The Colonel."

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

    Marthah - Congrats on finishing rads - what a great feeling.

     I did turn red but my skin is "back to normal".  No signs I had rads and that has been almost a year ago.  Tomorrow would have been my last reg tx and the week after Thanksgiving I did the boosts.  

  • Hauntie
    Hauntie Member Posts: 483
    edited November 2011

    Congrats on finishing rads marthah. 

    I still have an area of discoloration on my skin from rads. Almost like a permenant light tan. And my rads were 16 1/2 years ago.

  • Ceeztheday
    Ceeztheday Member Posts: 403
    edited November 2011

    Marthah...hooray! Congrats! It's a great feeling to be done, done, done.

  • Ceeztheday
    Ceeztheday Member Posts: 403
    edited November 2011

    Hi everyone. I saw this article and I thought that it might interest some of you...



    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/health/cancer-by-any-other-name-would-not-be-as-terrifying.html?_r=2

  • marthah
    marthah Member Posts: 322
    edited November 2011

    Hey thanks, gang, for the well-wishes on finishing rads! As I said earlier, either on this thread or another, there's a certain poetic just finishing all the tx's during Thanksgiving week when I got the dx news on April Fool's Day. Oy...

    Ceez, very interesting op ed piece. Thanks for posting. I <3 the NYT...always good stuff.

    Posting will be sporadic for me over the next few days...2 holiday dinners, friends over for chili, trip to babysit the twin DGS's (age 2 and 1/2) and my DD is having arthroscopic knee surgery on Monday. Whew!

    "Normal" feels pretty good.Laughing

  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited November 2011

    Ceez,  Looking for opinions?  I gots 'em.  The DCIS label is an oxymoron.  The "C" carcinoma, implies implies it meets the invasive criterion for a cancer.  The "IS" in situ, states that it is not invasive.  It probably should have another name.  I think the reason it's just lumped in with cancer is that, so far, it has received much the same or similar treatment as a very small invasive B/C would get.  I think it should.

    DCIS by any other name should still be removed, until there is a foolproof way to know that it will NOT turn into something invasive.  I can only imagine if they left DCIS in my boob and 6 mos. later told me, you have IDC now (or heaven forbid, you have mets now!)   You would be reading a headline about a woman going berserk at a cancer center.  Has DCIS become so predictable that there is no danger attached to it?   We aren't talking about fibroadenoma or a cyst here; and it still carries more danger than ADH or microcalcifications. I would not like to play "wait and see' with DCIS.

    Early detection was the whole idea.  If they are lucky enough to spot DCIS before it has the chance to become invasive, isn't that the objective?  Not to let it become something deadly? So, early detection, by design, will involve surgical removal of non-cancer lumps, until the Dx gets so refined that we can separate deadly from non-deadly with imaging or blood work alone.

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

    Marthah congrats on finishing rads.  I finished this past Jan and I still have a square tan.  It has faded but I don't think it is ever going away.

    I decided to get another opinion on reconstruction which lead me to a 3rd opinion.  So glad I did it as I have leaned alot.  Have now decided on PS #3 who actually is a partner of PS #1 and totally disagreed with his partner which suprised the heck out of me.  I will not have it done until March because of my work schedule but now feel like I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited November 2011

    I have a question: I notice everyone is talking about oncotype score?? I guess the TN leaves this test out.. from what I read

  • Ceeztheday
    Ceeztheday Member Posts: 403
    edited November 2011

    elimar- I agree and you stated the case very well.

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