Calling all ladies in their 20's

My oncologist told me that 1% of chemo patients get infections from chemo and a small percentage can die from the infection.  Its a risk but its rare.  Considering most of the people with cancer are significantly older than us and have weak immune systems.  Its a side effect I am aware of, but not as concerned with as something else.  THats why we are supposed to take our temps all the time and be very observent of everyone else being sick.

wat are the side effects of radiation? do u know that there is a new technique of doing radiation during surgery? i can send u the link if u want

kk11: My hair is also about an inch. Also, I found out today that I do not have to take Tamoxifen, and I only have 5 Herceptin treatments left! 

I just wanted to give y'all a quick update. Have a great day!

Hi ladies sorry I havent wrote in awhile been with out a computer!! Hope everyone is doing well just wanted to say that I started my chemo today and so far I am doing really well, matter of fact when I got done I was hyper as all get out lol!! Now I am calming down but I am still doing good and I am thanking God for that!! Sjensen,it is very hard to look in a mirror for a little while but know that it does get easier as time goes on but you will have good days and bad just remember you are allowed to get upset just dont allow it to hold you down to long!! I had a double mystectomy Jan 11th and after a couple of weeks it was easier for me to look at myself and not just cry though I dont like it for me its easier to make a joke and then go on. I will pray for you as I do all of you!!

You ladies are absolutely incredible!

I'm hoping I could maybe get some advice... 

Like some ladies in previous entries I have been diagnosed with fibrcystic breasts. 2 years ago I found a lump, after much persuasion I decided to get it checked out. I went to the normal student clinic and they didn't even exam me because of my age (I'm 20). They said not to worry about it. After getting engaged my fiance encouraged me to go see someone else. I went to my gyno and she was concerned. We got a biopsy of one of the 4 lumps in my left breast. Gratefully it was benign.

 However, since then some of my other ones have gotten a little bigger and new ones have been found. Most girls have breast pain during their period and thats about it. I have very intense breast pain everyday of the year. It gets so bad I sleep with heaters on my breast or icepacks to numb the pain. I can barely give hugs without them being incredibly sore. 

 But, since the last biopsy and ultrasound only proved to be extremely expensive and benign I'm VERY hesitant to go in at all. I know I have several lumps in both my breasts now but, I feel like this is probably just how fibrocystic breasts are, and if they are all like the first tumor and all benign there is no point of going in or even considering surgery. Chronic breast pain is not usually a sign of breast cancer. But, the pain is increasing bringing me to tears often, but I don't want to waste money on something unsubstantial. If I ever did get them removed, due to the size, I would have to remove 2/3 of my breasts..leading to reconstruction. Which if benign doesn't make sense to do but...

 Idk what should I do?

  Yay for bed.  I have a now 19 mo old and its hard to just go to bed so I have to divy out my energy during the day wisely   When I have help though I definately enjoy going to bed and sleeping in!  D is not appreciative of mommy's need to nap  

Chelsi:  I also have no help for you.  It might be better to post in the not diagnosed but worried forums.  Some of the ladies may not be as young but you'll prolly get more eyes lookin at your posts

Hello girls!

Just popping in to say hi, wow I had lots of reading to do to catch up! Welcome to all the newbies!  Im 2.5 years out since cancer diagnosed, and 2 years on tamoxifen.  Im doing fantastic! No complaints whatsoever, BRCA negative & busy planning my wedding for 6 weeks time!!!!!  EEK!!  

its funny, Im thinking about cancer less and less these days, in fact, some days I might not think of it at all, until I take my nightly pill of tamixifen.  I have extremely light periods, approx 1 every 5 or 6 months, then only lasting 1 - 2 days.  My onc said I can take a break from the tamoxifen any time now to try to conceive.  Its definitely something we will do, might wait for another 6 - 12 months though & enjoy our time as newly married!!!

best of luck to all those undergoing treatments, it will soon seem like a distant memory xx

MissRC - Did they tell you why you don't need to take Tamoxifen? My oncologist is so PRO Tamoxifen that he even has a friend of mine (who was diagnosed as Triple Negative) taking it. I've been on it for 4 months now, but if I didn't have to take it, I probably wouldn't either (or I'd do it for only 1 to 2 years total).

Rosaa - Taxotere is similar to Taxol. It's of course different for everyone, but most people I've talked to do find Taxol/Taxotere to be less uncomfortable than FEC or AC. That's not to say it's a cake walk (though I've heard for some "lucky" people it was), but hopefully it holds true for you too that it's a bit easier.

Nanna - So are you P53 positive? I also had that test done and fortunately I was negative. Haven't heard of PALB2. What is that one?

Treadsoftly - Welcome back! And congrats on the upcoming wedding! How awesome that your oncologist is on board with you stopping Tamoxifen any time now to have a baby. I wish my Tamoxifen would be on board with that. Right now it looks like I'll have to go against his advice because I'm not waiting another 5 years!

Amanda - How are you doing this week? The steroids can make you a bit crazy and then the crash comes. Hope it wasn't too bad for you.

Chelsi - Not sure either what you should do. I know it's expensive to have biopsies and ultrasounds, but your peace of mind is so much more important. I hope you get the other lumps checked out.

MMM - I hope you can send your daughter with family for a few hours every now and then so you can take a nap! Or can you have your husband take over some responsibilities once a week so you can sleep in? Your health is important and sleep is part of staying healthy!

AFM - I've had a headache for the last few days and I've got lower back pain and abdominal cramping. It's too early for my period..and it's lasted too long for it to be ovulation pain. I'm trying not to worry about it until after I see my oncologist again, which is in 2 weeks, but it's not easy considering my history (Gestational Trophoblastic Disease and then Cancer).

Oh, and I'm gearing up to go to New Orleans for the Young Women's Breast Cancer conference that's from the 24th-26th of February. I'm going with 4 other girls from my local young women's support group and I'm excited! I'll let you all know what I think and what I find out. I know some of you wanted to go this year but can't.

kk i have to say that this week has been blah!! I have not felt good at all, my head has been killing me and the more days pass the more that hurts its as if my whole body is hurting now and I have no clue how to stop it!! I really hope all of it passes soon, however I dont want to complain to much cause I think I have had it better then I could have asked for! I hope things go good with your fertility specialist and that everything turns out ok!! Have fun and be careful on your way to New Orleans!! As for everyone else I hope that you are doing well my prayers are with all of you!

Hey girls,

I´m done with week 1 of radiation and on Tamoxifen and Zoladex since Friday.

It´s ok, nothing in comparison to chemo. I don´t recognize any special SEs (maybe they need more time to develop :-/ ) The hot flashes at night are still there but I had them also during chemo, so it´s nothing new to me and I can deal with it.

But the needle of the Zoladex shot is really big and it hurts! And I will get this shot every month and I´m not looking forward for the next one. My gyn said I was very brave, because she also does not like Zoladex. I don´t want to scare anyone. In case of things like shots I´m actually a big baby and my gyn knows that ;-)

kk: Have fun in New Orleans!

And best wishes to all the girls who are going through chemo now.

Amanda - Are you ER or PR +? Since you've had a hysterectomy (I assume with the removal of the ovaries as well), they likely would not put you on Tamoxifen but rather an Aromatase Inhibitor. Are they giving you all 3 chemos at once? Usually the AC goes together and Taxol is by itself. Thanks for your kind words about the kids thing. I hope everyone here is blessed with having the # of chldren they wanted before all of this happened.

 moonflower - How come you're still getting Zoladex shots after chemo? Or is it that they wanted to do both because you're extremely ER/PR +? I did want to mention that my hot flashes improved after chemo (it took a little while) and I think it coincided with my getting my period back because I don't have them much at all anymore, even though I'm on Tamoxifen. Thank goodness because I was waking up in full sweat quite often towards the end of chemo!

Amanda - I hope you can get the test so you can have peace of mind. My grandmother also had bc, but not until her late 70s. My mom has 3 cousins (all sisters) who had it in their 40s, so I was also tested for BRCA and p53 because of my young age and tested negative. It's nice to know I don't have the mutated gene, but then I look for other explanations. As for the hot flashes, I think it's the Taxol or Taxotere. It should start to get better once you're done with treatment. How many cycles do you have and how often? I had 4 cycles (dose dense) of AC every 2 weeks, followed by 4 cycles (dose dense) of Taxol every 2 weeks, so a total of 16 weeks. I already had 9 weeks of chemo before that for a molar pregnancy, so it all adds up to nearly 6 months of chemo in less than a year.....but I know there are others who have had even more, so I'm just happy to be done with it!