MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Eli I hope the liver and lung stuff turns out to be nothing.  You have enough on your plate as it is.  And I agree with Marlegal we want to be your support here.

Jewell-ADH is a pre-courser to cancer.  I had it and had it removed and 14 years later ended up with bc.  A year later the other breast had some of the other stuff that you mention( which also puts you at higher risk for bc) and at that point I decided to go for the BMX with reconstruction.  I do not want to have to deal with BC again and wanted to lower my odds as much as possible.  Don't be surprised if they want to put you on tamoxifen as a preventive, they sometimes suggest that although they have no way to know if it is fueled by estrogen or not.

Beckers I have a break a few times because of surgery.  My MO has never been worried about the short breaks as long as I get back on the program.

Blackcat not sure what the answer is maybe someone else knows.

I got the call from the PS office today and they schedule me for my revision surgery on Nov 30th.  I go tomorrow for my pre-op.  although I get the good looking PS not the robot.  Should I be jealous or Eli?  I am suppose to be alot more sore this time around.  My exchange was actually pretty easy.

Elimar, blech! How incredibly annoying. I have to tell you though that the robot surgery is brilliant. They did my hyster and 2 hours of adhesions clean-up with a robot.

Elimar--The business of not eating or drinking after midnight before surgery is part laziness and part "that's the way we've always done it."  The stomach will be empty after about 6 hours of not eating or drinking, but rather than figure out what is 6 to 8 hours before surgery time and telling someone to stop eating and drinking then, they just say midnight for everyone.  The extended time means that people scheduled for afternoon procedures are more dehydrated, which makes it harder to start IV's and increases the risk of complications and  can slow healing and recovery, but it's more convenient for the anesthesia people to just say nothing after midnight.  That is why I always insist on the first or second time slot of the day.  I may have to get up earlier, but it limits the suffering, dehydration and cuts the number of sticks to get an IV started in half.  On the other hand, I wish they would put me out with gas and start the IV after, but no one will do that--"It's to dangerous for adults."  funny, it's the standard for children, but too dangerous for adults.  Doesn't make sense to me, except that it takes longer to put someone to sleep with gas than with IV medications. 

Dianarose--chemo induced neuropathy may or may not go away over time.  No way to tell except to wait and see what happens. 

Jewellmb--hyperplasia is a pre-cancerous condition, similar to colon polyps.  I had a lump removed that was atypical intraductal hyperplasia in my 20's, and got mammos every year after until I had them both removed.  You are now at high risk for developing bc, but tamoxifen can help prevent it, and some women with similar findings opt for mastectomy.  The onc appointment is for information for you to consider. 

I understand these questions must seem so trivial and self centered compared to the issues with which all of you are dealing.  I was just searching and somehow found a link to this thread and it sounded like someone here might be able to address some of my concerns. 

Eph3 12 - Thank you for the response - are there questions I should ask the oncologist that I simply am unaware of at this point? The surgeon did mention possible tamoxifen and some drug I have never heard of  raloxifen??? I can't remember - was just trying to concentrate on the big picture when he was giving me the report. Thanks again for any suggestions -

elimar - Thank you for your response -  what kind of monitoring might I expect?  The surgeon mentioned doing an MRI.  I have never had luck with mammos - always sent to ultrasound (10 years plus)  even this past time the ultrasound was "clear" but the surgeon said he would recommend the surgery anyway.  Thank you for any monitoring info you might be able to provide.

Sherry C - Thank you for your response - so there is no test available to determine if the problem is estrogen driven?  I read up on ADH and what I read says only 20% turns into bc so 80% are fine???? So if I take tamoxifen and whatever the other drug is, it might help but it might all be for nothing??  I know stats are only numbers and if you fall into the 20% , the 80% isn't all that important - how do I best determine my odds for being in the 20% or the 80%?  Thanks for any direction you can provide.

NativeMainer - Thank you for your response -will the oncologist be able to tell me where I am on the "sliding scale" of normal to bc?  How will I best be able to make a decison about optimal choices for treatment - what questions do I need to ask and what information do I need to make such a decision?  Thank you for any information you might provide.

Elimar, about being there at 6:00.am.  Everyone will be fresh and lovely after the weekend off!

Life just plain sucks sometimes E.  So sorry!

So sorry Elimar - praying you will have a few peaceful, blessed and relaxing days this weekend.

Jewell - I've seen a couple of studies they've done on using the anti-estrogen drugs prophylactic-ally for women at high risk for breast cancer, not sure if it's a standard of treatment anywhere though.  One of the studies, I believe, was done in Canada with Exemestane/Aromasin. I also think that a study was done with Tamox also.  You can do a google search and find them - if you can't I'll see if I can find them later.

I'm sorry, E ..........

Carla ~ This site is so slow today, it looks like I ignored your post; it took forever for my couple of words to show up.

This is a wonderful group of ladies, they are my rock. I hope you find that as well. I also saw my Onc before my surgery just to get aquainted & to receive additional information about what comes after the surgery, i.e. possible hormonal therapy. As you can see by my signature below, I had a lumpectomy followed by Rads & am now almost through 4 years of 5 on the AI Aromasin. It was helpful to have my DH (dear husband) with me to hear some things I may have missed. It can be quite overwhelming & takes awhile to get ones head wrapped around it. If you think you may forget something, have a list of questions with you.

We will be with you on Dec 4th, "in your pocket", as we say here. Please keep us posted. We care & are here for you.

Eli - Hugs to you. Very hard to say goodbye to a faithful companion.

Carla -  welcome.  I chose bilateral MX with TE and have not regretted it a bit. I am almost six weeks out from surgery and doing great.  I also met with the Oncologist ahead of time. Gave me a chance to feel comfortable with her before actually talking definate treatments post surgery.  I find the waiting is the worst part of all of this. Waiting for results, waiting for surgery, waiting for treatment discussions. Once you get going it calms down. Best wishes to you! 

Not much time to write...cooking/baking, etc. but ....

Eli - you said "I hope it hasn't been too much" ... about your current "issues" ... are you kidding me? Please girl, we all can say as much as we want here, and you of all people, whether you want the title or not, are hte queen of being able to take over the room! I know you don't want the limelight and all that, but we want to share with you, we want you to share with us, and no way in hell could you ever tell us too much, okay? You've made this room such an open forum and that's wonderful. But for now, dump on us ... scream in here ... divert if need be when need be. If you've taught us anything, it's that opening ourselves up in here, where we can be safe and get support, is the key to everything. I love you.

Jewellmb--no question is trivial to the person who needs the info.  And this is a time to not be worrying about what anyone else thinks, not to mention that all of us have been in the searching for info spot and know what it's like.  The oncologist will be able to give you info about the risks of your specific situation.  The onc will also give you info about what choices are available to you for monitoring and/or prevention.  Take someone with you to this appointment, or tape record it.  Don't plan on making any choices at that appointment.  You have time to think things through and ask questions and do research.  What you might want to find out is (1) out of 100 women in your situation how many would be diagnosed with bc in 5 yrs and 10 yrs without any treatment.  This is your baseline risk level.  (2) how much would each option available to you change the number out of 100 who are diagnosed with bc in 5 yrs and 10 yrs.  (3) what are the side effects of each option, both temporary and permanent, and how many out of 100 women experience each of those side effects.  With this info you'll get a better idea of how much risk you may have and how much help a treatment may be, which makes it easier to choose an option.  Remember, too, that you can always start with monitoring and add in a preventive treatment a little later, you do have time to do that.  Keep coming back here and we'll help you process all the info. 

Elimar--Yeah for the 6 am slot!  You may be home by lunch time!  Good luck to you!

Jewellmb--yes there is a blood test that can be done to determine if you are pre or post menopausal.    If you are post-menopausal you can take one of the aromatase inhibitors (arimidex, femara, I forget the other 2 just at the moment), but I think tamoxifen is one that has been tested for prevention of bc in high risk situations.  The weight thing comes from the fact that after menopause the only source of estrogen in the body is the cholesterol that is converted to estrogen by the aromatase enzyme. This happens in fat cells, so women with more fat cells generate more estrogen this way. 

Oh, elimar, I am so sorry for your loss.  So hard to lose a pet.  Praying for you and your furbaby.

Happy Thanksgiving, Middles!