Illinois ladies facing bc

Lago-read your review, well said.  It's amazing how many dysfunctional doc offices are out there-frightening. Your dinner sounds delish. 

Lago,

 I will have to fix that.  It only went to my lymph nodes, no where else.  THANK GOD! :-)  Thanks for pointing that out.  Going into surgery they thought 2 or 3 nodes, but it turned out to be 4, which took me from a stage 2b to 3a. :-(  Yes, this is definitely all new.  I had my first treatment Friday and today was the first day I felt "normal."  The first 2 days weren't that bad, but then I was fighting the worst headache I had ever experienced.  It finally let up today and motrin has done the trick.  I keep reminding myself that it could be  A LOT worse! 

tpot3 2b-3a IMA not a huge difference. I was one node away from being a 3a. BS pretty much thought I would be. Be sure to drink plenty of water! That might also help with the headache. If you have any energy try to exercise even if it's a short walk. I know after my 4th TX I stopped (dead of winter and I was so stiff). I wish I hadn't. I think I got stiffer because I wasn't moving around enough.

How many tx are you getting? Did you get any other SE?

So glad Rita stated things the way she did.  I too won't get to Chicago often....at all, but I do like to get the notices as it helps me watch out for ( so hopefully ) the pictures that usually accompany a gathering.  It is always but always a huge inspiration to me ( back here and somewhat alone in my part of the woods ) that so many people are living a wonderful life again.  That life goes on and that you can in fact, live so much of the time rather effortlessly.  I have found that after diagnosis and txs. many of the things that used to GET to me fairly good are pesky annoyances now. 

Still it is nice to see smiling, flowing faces.....it reinforces my reality.

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday. 

Hugs, Jackie

camillegal here are a couple of links from very reliable sources that should help you understand:

This link is the most straight forward and easiest to understand: linky  
This link has more detail than you probably don't want to deal with right now, or maybe ever: linky 

*If you have distant mets from the start (another part of the body like liver, bones, lung etc.) then you stage IV regardless of how big your tumor, how high your grade and how many nodes.

RoulaG Tough decision that we have all pondered.  You've chosen the option I went for for pretty much the same reason:  drive the risk down as much as possible and not have to deal with radiation therapy. 

Most folks seem to opt for TEs or immediate implants and those folks can speak to the pros/cons there.  Some of us (me included) opted for free tissue reconstruction.  Micro-surgery plastic surgeons are harder to come by but there is a relative wealth of them at various hospitals in Chicago and nearby suburbs, including the western ones.  I can give you details of my free tissue and my impressions of how it compares with the implant route in a PM, if you wish.  Any decent plastics guy can speak knowledgably about the differences and his/her direct experiences of the differences, but I strongly recommend you get that comparison list from a plastic surgeon who does both kinds:  implant and free tissue.  Otherwise, you'll get distorted feedback.  Both methods will allow you to adjust the size and shape of your new breasts while a free tissue will also give you a "nip and tuck" at the place the tissue is taken from.

One step closer to NED and done!

Lynn:  You are 1/3 done--yeah!  Hope your S/E's are minimal!  

Lynn--

Yeah, the hypersensitive scalp does calm down, probably pretty soon. You may have read somewhere on these boards that you can use a lint roller (the kind with tape) to remove hairs that are about to fall out. I did that twice a day for about a week and it kept a lot of little hairs from falling down my back an driving me crazy. It also seemed to make my scalp more comfortable. I also wore a knit cap for sleeping.

Sometime soon after the hair started falling out, I used a man's electric shaver to shorten the buzz cut and that made my scalp more comfortable, too. Every morning I wash my scalp with baby shampoo (using a washcloth or doing it in the shower). I only had a couple of rough nights with the prickly scalp; I might have had fewer if I had used the lint roller and/or shaver sooner.

 I liked your lemmings description. Our sense of humor helps us deal with all the wierdness,

Hugs to you and your patchy scalp from me and mine.

Oh hair falling out---Hmmmm The first handful I got out--my hair was cut and shaved imediately- My dgtr cam over and it was done--I didn't wait for piece by piece just took it all the way as fast as I could, Fine with me LOL

zhi Grace----I used dark Nail polishe. zlol

Happy Saturday to all....Well I survived my first week back to school. It has been a challenge this week with all the new changes we have. New teachers, new programs, new kids...aarrggg. But it will get done. Looking forward to Labor Day off:)

Welcome to all the new ladies here who are in tx. You are starting a long journey with many twist and turns to it , but you will do fine. Just remember to be kind to yourself, rest and come here often for comfort. Just remember that there is life after bc txs. Hang in here...

Just to let everyone know old /new girls that I am having the Annual Holiday Party on Saturday Nov. 3. So Mark your calenders. Place TBA. If you would like an invite please email /pm Lago your email address. The holiday party is a get together for all to celebrate new friendships and life. We have lots of fun and laughter and we also eat too. So mark your calenders if you would like to join us. Evites will be coming soon.

Just wanted to stop by and say hi to all of you. I don't come on very often now as I am back in school and training for the Chicago Marathon. Life is crazy busy for me now, but I think of all you. Life is good when you get back to a new normal.

Enjoy this wonderful warm weather. I am loving it.

Have a great day..Remember to be happy...be healthy and enjoy your life.

BJ

Can't wait for the party!  I'm putting it on the calendar right now.

On a less fun note-I have two friends who were recently hospitalized at Rush (1 for Lymphoma, 1 for hip replacement) and both had their identities stolen.  One found someone had filed for and received his tax refund.  Just a reminder to keep an eye on your what's going on with your personal/financial info.  We have to give out a lot of information when dealing with hospitals, but we have no control over who gets their hands on it.  One way to monitor what's going on is to check your credit reports.  You can get a free credit report once a year from each of the three credit agencies (Experian, Transunion and Equirfax).  Spread those 3 freebies out over the course of the year and you can do a pretty good job of monitoring activity.  Sorry for the lengthy post, but it may save someone from getting ripped off.

Enjoy the weekend! 

OH TBA Now I know what it means. OK

Grace..I finished my chemo on May 25 and my nails are still dark..I also wore dark polish to hide it and I used Sally Hansen hard as nails to try and make them stronger and to help prevent the risk of losing them.

Hope everyone has a beautiful weekend. I'm at 15 on my 28 days of rads and am really just a little tired..No problems YET..

Terry

Hi everyone!

I have been reading this thread for quite a while but have never introduced myself. I think I might have responded to a couple of posts months ago but cannot recall if I only did so in a private message. I feel as if I know many of you from reading so many of your posts and hope that you will come to know me. I am in an active group that all started chemotherapy in February and often find myself not keeping up with that thread - so although I've posted on other threads, I haven't joined another thread (eg. summer rads).

My name is Diana. My husband and I and our three sons live in Gurnee, IL. This is our 9th year here in IL following a move from CO. Our three sons are in college and living on campus ... so we are experiencing a bit of the empty nest right now. I say 'a bit' because our youngest sons are living on campus at Trinity International University which is just down the highway in Deerfield. My husband works there as the Planned Giving Director. Our oldest son is a senior at Colorado Christian University - but is in LA right now in a semester program with LA Film Studies. 

I went for a routine mammogram in November last year and was called in for a repeat mammogram, which was followed by an ultrasound and then a core needle biopsy - all on the same day. That was the Monday before Thanksgiving and the day before Thanksgiving my husband and I went to hear the results of the pathology. Actually came out of the closet that morning saying to my husband "Just what do you wear to hear someone tell you that you have breast cancer?" I met with a breast surgeon the following week and had a breast MRI which revealed another area of tumor presentation. My signature below shows all the relevant details that followed in shorthand. I'm pretty wordy usually so I'll just to defer to that :-) 

I am having radiation therapy now and have completed 15/28 treatments thus far with an end date of 9/13. Then I'm slated for Tamoxifen. I will also have some additional tweaking to my reconstructed breast some time this Fall after some time passes when rads conclude. My team of surgeons and oncologists are all at Advocate Lutheran General in Park Ridge. 

Look forward to getting to know you!

Diana