Calling all TNs

Jazzy - My MO told me to take  B 12 and Niacin.  Jan

Jazzy, I was told to take glutamine by my onco's PA.. little did I know I was allergic.. I spent the worst 8 days of my life swollen, covered in hives and itching beyond control. I have a few pics I took to remind me of how bad it was. I can honestly say it WAS worse than chemo.

Love the cat.

Thanks for the smile Cocker! Meow

Painting - I still have "chemo brain" episodes, but I think you are celebrating your 32nd anniversary. Am I right? Congratulations! My DH and I will be celebrating our 39th next May.

Belleast - "Hair blowing in the wind", I seem to remember that feeling. Right now, I am happy that mine has grown long enough that it lays down. Unfortunately, it is growing in the wrong colour (is white a colour or a lack of colour?). It was brunette with blonde highlights (courtesy of my hairdresser) before the chemo!

Inmate - Really glad to hear that you are breathing better and the skin mets are improving. I hope you get your appetite back and the headaches go away real soon! {{{HUGS}}}

Cocker - love the cat.

I don't want to even remember the date I got my dx. I will celebrate my cancerversary on the anniversary of my last tx (June 19).

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Doreen 

The groom looked pretty feeble and the feeling was that the wedding night might kill him, because his bride was a healthy, vivacious young woman.

But lo and behold, the next morning, the bride came down the main staircase slowly, step by step, hanging onto the banister for dear life.

She finally managed to get to the counter of the little shop in the hotel. The clerk looked really concerned, "Whatever happened to you, honey? You look like you've been wrestling an alligator!"

The bride groaned, hung on to the counter and managed to speak, "Ohhh God! He told me he'd been saving up for 75 years and I thought he meant his money!!"

Painting-your works are always very pretty!! I wish I was artisitc. I can put on makeup very well. I so want my kids in the arts as well. My son will be playing the cello this year. We are very excited!!

Bak94-Fingers crossed as well for you and all our other sisters fighting including myself.

Bell- I know that feeling HAIR HAIR and MORE HAIR.

Inmate- sending comforting thoughts your way. Enough is enough.

Minxie-I know the process is long it took a year and a half for me, but I am pleased with the results. Patience. They want things to healing and take shape before attempting to start the process. I have a suggestion if you don't mind, see if they can position your surgery line under your implant it will give you a clearer more rounded smooth breast. Things are still settling out and softening up, but I am still in shock of how natural they look and feel. You can PM with any questions. I have had nipple reconstruction as well as tattooing.

Tazzy- HI!!!!!

Smiles to everyone we DESERVE IT!!!!

Thanks LRM ... very interesting study.

Ladies, I'm going to vent here a bit and if you're not in the mood please skip over.  All over these boards I come across threads where women say they chose Mx because they wanted to do everything they could to wipe out their cancers and stop them from coming back.... as if those of us who choose Lx are somehow inviting a recurrence. Brower and others, I know you don't mean this, but please understand how it comes across.

I'm really weary that years and years after Lx plus rads was proven to be equivalent to Mx, we are still seeing the same arguments. (It's very interesting to me that Lx appears to be a far more common choice in Canada, where we have single-payer publicly funded medicine.)  Fine if women choose Mx for psychological or emotional reasons, or because their docs recommend it on the basis on multi-quadrant or widespread disease, DCIS or cosmetic reasons - I understand all that and respect it. But could we please not propagate the notion here that recurrence can be avoided by Mx? Because there is no compelling evidence that that is the case! At best, there are some conflicting studies. Here's one, for the record, that suggests quite the opposite for TNs:  http://www.curetoday.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/news.showNewsArticle/id/5/news_id/3191

Rant over. Sigh.  

Thanks for the encouraging words guys... I gues what steams me is I'VE DONE THIS ALL BEFORE. I had BMX/recon in 2009, after my chemo. I can't fricking believe that this has happened to me twice, that I have to go through this bullsh!t twice, and now thanks to rads, I have the date pushed out even further.

Luah... Guess I'm proof that a MX won't necessarily keep the cancer away. But I'd still have done it. I am of a certain personality type that could not function if I still had breasts after a BC diagnosis. I know you're all not like me.  Please don't feel that we're feeling superior to you lumpectomy folks - I've had 2 lumpectomies now and a BMX and they're all tough personal choices with no guarantees.

Sorry to be such a crank today. This delayed recon news threw me for a loop. Right after I heard I had to go to an important meeting. I was in my car, covered in sweat and tears, took the wrong way down the highway... and slept for 4 hours when it was all over. 

I, too, did LX and rads and still it came back.  Then I had a BMX, chemo and rads, and yet again it came back.  It is most definitely a crapshoot.  And I can't help but wonder if it would have recurred at all, had I elected to have a BMX the first time around.   But "what if's" get you nowhere, so I try not to think about the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" scenarios.

Minxie - I hear you and feel your pain.  When I had my BMX, I wanted DIEP recon but was told I didn't have enough fat.  So the PS did TEs.  Then when I went to the PS at Dana Farber, I was told that yes, indeed, I could have DIEP.  And my RO insisted that my left TE be removed prior to radiation.  So I had that surgery and told them to take both of the TEs out because I was going to have DIEP in July.  But wait a minute, I have mets as of May so DIEP was cancelled and now I don't know if I'll ever be able to have any type of reconstruction.   Yup, I feel your pain and it totally sucks. 

That study that Linda posted is interesting and may explain why someone like me has a recurrence while others do fine.

No one really knows, at least not right now.  Hopefully, some day, we will get real answers.

Luah I agree.  I too had a LX and my Dr's have told me that with chemo and rads it is just as good as a MX.  I feel like I made a good choice and I don't regret my decision.  It may or may not come back but as of right now I am NED!!!  I feel very confident with my decision and feel like it has saved me from having to have more and more surgeries.

Luah - Your post makes a very good point, especially for our newbies.  I'm one who is having a healthy breast removed at my own request.  I understand completely that it will not prevent getting cancer in it.  I'm doing it because I am so very uncomfortable wearing my prosthesis.  Running around with one breast dangling is not a good option.  My bc breast had tumors "all over the place" and could not be saved.  So there was not choice for me and at age 68 I really didn't care.  I do understand your "rant."  I think our culture of "if it's bad, get rid of it" plays a big role, and the medical field needs to put stronger emphasis on preservation.

LRM - Thanks for the study article.  It's very hopeful for our daughters and granddaughters.

Annie and Bernie -  Thanks for the laughs.  Keep them coming.

Kathryn - See there.......Momma said you shouldn't go.  Maybe you'll listen to her next time.  Hee hee

DorMac you got it right.....took me a pause to figure it out.

Bernie Ellen great laughs from you.

LRM216 thanks for the great article. This is such a wonderful resource.

Christina 19 ...I guess 2 heads can be better than one...who knows.

Tazzy...congrats it gets easier from here.

Kathryn...oh so sorry... sounds like oyu only get to lose your money to the medical system this time.