Calling all Stage II Sisters!!!

Hi Betsy, Yes...I am sure it's not from the lumpectomy either...I think it may be my body's way of dealing with the stressful news. I feel fairly calm about it as this is the second time for me, but it is still stressful in an already stressful life.

Stacie, That is awesome!! I know...gosh, our minds can really play tricks...can't they?

You will do great. Chemo is crappy, but you will get through it!! I went through chemo in 2000 for my first bout of BC .... First couple of days were bad each time, then I would drag myself to dance class and teach...it actually made me feel better.  

Hang in there!! 

Dorrie

Stacie, What kind of chemo are you having?  Are you getting the Neulasta shots the day after chemo? I did and I got annoying, but not bad bone pain from the first one(lasted 1 1/2 days), barely noticed it the second one and the last 4 never had any bone pain.  I hope you are as lucky!

itsgood2Bgiddy, Sorry you have to be here, but this is a great group of ladies and much of the information you will learn here can be better than all the doctors combined.  I'm sorry to hear that your margins weren't clear, but what about discussing this with your surgeon.  I've heard a lot of times that the BS can go back and get the rest... done deal.  Negative nodes are a blessing, but since you didn't mention your dx and the rest of your stats it's hard to know why an MO would be so aggressive with you.  As for the "you have to have chemo" remark.... bullshit.  You have to do what is best for YOU.  Have you had an Oncotype test?  BRCA 1/2 test?  Without an Oncotype test you don't know if you tumor would even react to chemo.

All I have to say is 2nd opinions all around and FOR SURE speak to your surgeon.  My BS made it clear that he cut the tumor out right up to the skin so I would always have to let the MO or RO know why the pathology report was written the way it was.  And that is another thing... you can always get a 2nd opinion on your pathology report.  I had mine sent to Johns Hopkins because the pathologist kept calling my lymph nodes "possible lymph nodes" and then saying they were positive.  The word possible was part of what had me one foot in chemo and one foot out.

Good luck and enjoy the upcoming holiday with your family. Once treatment gets rolling (regardless of which type), everything changes.  I still look at a picture of me and my family from one moth before surgery and treatment and hold on to that beautiful moment when my world was just a little more peaceful :-).  I know it will be again, but all in time.

Thank you Rockym and Megadotz for the encouragement.  Especially the comments about "having to have chemo" and developing a treatment plan as the stressful part - I'd like to think it gets "better".  Sorry about the lack of Dx - learning curve.  It should all be there now.  Yes I have my tumor in for Oncotyping.  I don't think I realized the BRCA mutation was a different animal from the oncotype.  I was told oncotyping would "determine risk of recurrence".  I heard nothing about it identifying whether or not chemo is effective.  I didn't have a good first visit with Oncologist #1.  I was not aware he was going to give me the path results from my lumpectomy - I went alone to that visit as I had called the surgeons office and told them I was going and was that ok? I was assured it was "just a consultation".  So the news was a huge shock coming from him.  Then he said "have to have chemo" for either a lumpectomy or mastectomy and I pretty much shut down.  Does anyone know if a 2nd lumpectomy can be treated with just radiation?  That was Plan A.  So why would that change just because it takes twice to get clear margins?  This is the million dollar question I am following up on.

Anyhow, my surgeon is following up with Onco #1 to find out why he's being so aggressive with treatment, and speaking with Onco #2 before making the referral.   And we're waiting for Oncotype results. So I'm kind of in a holding pattern right now.  I did cancel the Oncology Nurse Chemo teaching class for now - I don't have enough info to make that decision yet.

I've read all the info from both the Oncologist's and Surgeon's offices, but find I have more questions now than ever.  The surgeon is putting me on the OR schedule the week I get back from vaca - That's not going to happen until I have alot more answers.

It turns out there is quite a sorority of breast cancer survivor sisters out there.  I got a call today from the wife of one of my husband's colleagues who went thru this 6 years ago. We had only casually met at a Christmas party once several years ago.  She was helpful and it was a good  talk.  It's also great knowing that while my hubby and hers are off to their regional headquarters for the week that my hubby is getting good counsel from hers!  I believe his advice regarding mastectomy was "Do you want to have her alive in the bed next to you or not?" LOL !

Anyway, thank you ladies!  Now does anyone know the answer t whether it's possible to have a re-excision (2nd lumpectomy) with radiation? Or is chemo plus radiation the norm?

itsgood2Bgiddy -- I'm glad the information helped and things are coming more into focus.  You mght want to take someone with you to take notes at doctor visits or see if it's OK to record the conversation.   The information is overwhelming and it's easy miss things.

If there aren't clear margins, there needs to be a re-excision to make sure that get existing cancer cells out.   Sometimes more than one re-excision is needed and it can end up as a mastectomy.

Radiation  and surgery are known as local treatments -- they go after the tumor itself.  Radiation is generally required after a lumpectomy to zap any stray cancer cells that may remain in the breast.

Wirh mastectomies, radiation might not be required, it depends on the specifics.

Hormone treatment and chemo are systemic treatments that go after any cells that may have gotten into the blood or lymph system.  The oncotype test is to see if hormone treatment will be sufficent or you will benefit  from chemo.  It comes back as numeric score and there are ranges in the middle where it's a judgement call.

Is there a nurse navigator or breast cancer guide associated with you hospital?  If so, take advantage of talking with them.  They are good focal point for questions and can help you with all sorts of things.  The main section of bco has a wealth of information and many of the sections have FAQs about the most common questions we have.

You're right about the sisterhood -- a cousin who was diagnosed seven years before me called it "the most supportive sorority that no one ever wanted to join."

We got your back.  Enjoy your vacation. 

Charles, welcome.  Chemo is more than enough initiation for anyone, now if I could only remember the secret handshake 

Cheers 

Ladies, I do not mind the "girl talk" at all. I am a husband to a great woman, a father to a terrific daughter and women play a huge role in my life. It's just that, as far as breast cancer is concerned, I never expected to become "one of the girls." 

Oh well, such is life. Carry on. Thanks for counting me in. I am honored to be part of the club. Still, to be frank, could you people come up with a better - and far less brutal - initiation rite? Chemo truly does suck. But here I am. 

Thanks for the laugh Charles - I'm already appreciating the "cancer humor"!  And thanks for saying it like it is - I so do NOT want to have chemo.   I went thru it with my Mom's pancreatic cancer = and that chemo has somewhat fewer side effects than compared to the drugs used for breast cancer. Not to mention my almost 11 year old son does not want a bald Mom, he's already a little embarrassed I'm the only Proudly-Wearing-My-Silver-Tresses Mom among his schoolmates Mom's.  Oh well, better bald than dead!  Still, I'm praying for a low Onco score.

I kinda like your mohawk here!  Glad it is all back now!

Charles, that photo is FAB!! 

This is my second round with old BC, but don't know my treatment fate yet.  First time was in 1999.  I went through the first 2 rounds of chemo and managed to keep my hair intact .... Thought, maybe, I won't lose it. HA!!   Third round....one night, while teaching dance classes, I felt like something was pulling at my neck - figured I had my ponytail too tight..so loosened it...with that came a huge handful of hair....The next couple of days proved that Chemo had won the hair battle.  So, being an old punker from way back, but never gutsy enough, at the time, to mohawk it...I had my hubby do so....I tried to insert the photo here...but couldn't seem to do it...oh technology.

Anyway...for an hour or so...I bounced around the house singing Clash songs and doing my best Joe Strummer...then I shaved the rest off.

Had a drummer friend who loved to rub my bald head for good luck. So it came in handy.

We'll see what happens this time!!

Hey...gotta find the fun moments

Cindy...it's the little things ....

After my biopsy, back in Feb, they suggested that RADS and Arimidex might be the ticket ...then, when I had the lumpectomy, they found that the tumor cell grade was 3, not 1, and the tumor was a bit larger (3.5) than suspected. Waiting on the oncotype and seeing my MO, on Monday, to find out if that will still be enough .....

I do dread the idea of chemo again.  12 years older...working full time....it will definitely zap me more I this time .... but fingers crossed.

Dorrie