Sept 2012 chemo

Amy I am so glad you made your decision on what type of procedure you will have. Wen I found out about my cancer I told my PS and surgeon take them out and if you save my nipples great and if not I will have new ones put in. That was Aug 2nd . I have expanders and have had a total of 200 cc put in and once I am done radItion I will continue . One of my expanders has been hurting me , have an appointment Monday with PS . I think I just over did it lfting things when we moved into our new house .



Praying my WBC is good tomorrow for my last chemo . Then off to starting rads. So looking forward to being done with everything

JoJo I am praying for a speedy recover for you, glad you are home.



Forever wow that is not a nice way to bring in 2013. I am sure glad they finally figured out what is wrong and you are feeling better. I guess your hair finally said enough is enough. I can imagine the relief of getting home and shaving it off.



Cherioo I hope the WBC are good and you get that last round of chemo....ring the bell!!

I have finished 4/16 rounds of radiation. I was nervous at first but now everything is good. It really is so easy and fast.



Toastiecat awwww your nails look sore, does the doc think you will lose them? I hope you get relief soon. I had problems about a month after chemo with the fingertips being so dry and splitting and sore but they are fine now...it lasted about 3 weeks.



Cindi are you getting Taxol tomorrow...how many more?



I hope everyone has a very nice Wednesday, Take Care

dakota212, if I remember correctly that's exactly why I'm doing rads, because I only had the lumpectomy and the Drs couldn't guarantee me that I could avoid rads even with a mastectomy. I guess they would have known during surgery but I went with this plan because it is well acepted procedure for my size, grade, age, and all.

damiana, wow! nice to run into someone being all "silver lining" about their treatment. awesome.

jojo, I missed that update somehow - I'm so glad it went well yesterday and that you're now home safe and sound.

forever, :-0  what an awful week but glad you are home!

Toastie, ooooooowwwwwwwww…ow ow ow ow ow ow.

Amy, the anticipation is worse then the surgery. I remember like it was yesterday. It was not bad at all. Actually the only thing that bothered me was the drains . It was more of an annoyance . I believe because I new i would have no boobs for awhile and with the support of my love and children I did fine. You will do great. I wish I had this group back then. The pain was very minimal for me . I just had discomfort on my right side from the lymph nodes being taken out but that was it .... Don't be nervous you will do great. You have done your research and you made the best decision. The one thing I did do before surgery was sit with my PS pick the breast I wanted and made him show me the surgeries that he has done . The before and after. I knew then I was ready to go.



I will ring that bell tomorrow .

kidsandlabs and Cheerio - congratulations on last chemo!!

Congrats Kidsandlabs...ring that bell!!

Forever changed...Wow! You poor thing. What an ordeal for you! I've never heard of a flu swab like that. I'm glad your doing better now and I hope you can continue on with treatment as planned. Rest rest and rest!!

Hopex and Amy please do not be scared or worry . As god is our father the pain is not bad at all. You both will do great . Make sure that you wear a shirt that buttons in the front. Ask your PS for the pouch that you can put your drains in while you shower . I had four drains and they were in for a week only . If you are having the expanders it takes a couple weeks to get use to them . Please email me with any questions you have . I don't want you guys freaking out about this at all . I spent one night in hospital and went home and rested . I was out and about in a week

jojo2372- I iced the lumpectomy breast after surgery.  It helped with the swelling and also numbed the area so there was minimal pain.  I used a med. size zip loc bag filled with some ice and put that ice bag in another zip loc bag to avoid the leakage of water from the melting ice.  I then put the doubled ice bag into a U shaped fleece travel heck pillow cover ( I took the piillow out).  By having it in the travel pillow case, I was able to positive the ice as I needed it and also I was able to avoid the direct contact of the ice bag to my skin ( that ice bag was brrrr cold on my skin.)  You may want to chat with your breast surgeon's nurse about the swelling and to make sure it's okay to ice.  Hope this helps!!!!  Wishing you a speedy recovery from your surgery.

Hopex3: re:flu swab, I know! All of a sudden this stick is up my nose and my right eye starts watering like mad. The nurse smiled and said she knew when the swab was far enough when the eye started watering.



I am meeting with my surgeon to finalize details on my bmx today. I am unsure about putting te's in right away because I'll be doing radiation after surgery. Does anyone know effect of radiation on tissue expanders?

Foreverchanged.... Radiatin can drastically shrink your skin. The best advise I heard was to have the TEs put in pre rads, ask to be fully expanded before rads starts.This will also save you time, money, and going under twice. Once the rads are done you will have a few month waiting period before your exchange to perm implants this allows time for the skin to heal.



Ask your BS if you can be fully expanded first. Then ask your PS how long after the full expantion before your exchange. Mine told me 3 to six months. Are you using alloderm for the breast hammock reconstruction? I am and my PS said the longer you leave in the TEs the better looking result you will have for a breast droop making them look more natural it gives it time to make a better ,pocket for the final implant.



My PS said even with putting the TEs in during mastectomy the total reconstruction will be 6 to 12 months

I always look so serious in my pictures.  It is funny because in real life I am not serious at all.  I am kind of a goof ball. 

Terri,  I start Radiation 7 weeks 5 days about March 21.  Keep us posted on all.  It's a long  tough road we tread.

Amy, it's funny you mention Biotin, I just started taking it. Maybe I should have been taking it all along!

My nails always have issues, so I sort of figured this would happen. Yet another way in wich cancer is just so much fun.

I just wanted to chime in regarding the surgery...you ladies will do fine! The first couple of days after the surgery are tough, but you get exponentially better every day. I had a BMX, and here are my tips: I found front zip bras the cheapeast at JC Penney...around $15. Buy a range of sizes of those, and see what fits and return the rest. I used to be a 34 DD, but thought I'd be flat after surgery. Not so! I needed a 38 D to be comfortable in the sports bra because of the TEs and swelling. Also, target makes these hot/cold packs that have like a sling attached that I found very useful (used them cold).

Use one of those pill organizer boxes -- rx bottles were impossible for me to open. Also having a short bathrobe to wear was good, otherwise I would need help getting dressed, going to the bathroom, etc.

Take all your meds, at least for the first few days, especially the ones for constipation. You can decide when to stop taking the heavy duty pain killers...I think I stopped around day 4 or 5. You will have drains most likely, to reduce swelling. The drains are so annoying, but a necessary evil. I had mine in for 3 weeks, but most people have them in for shorter amounts of time. I had residual nausea from the anaesthesia, so I ate a lot of those ginger hard candies and ginger tea. 

If you're a side sleeper normally, a prenatal pillow will help you be able to sleep on your side after about 1 - 2 weeks.

Cherioo and Kids- congrats!

Amy- I want to second everything you said about getting TEs completely filled before radiation...I had my bmx on July 25 and I will have my last fill on Jan 18 and start rads on Jan 28th. My PS gave me the same timeline as far as exchange...at least 3 months after rads...but I have heard the longer you leave the TES the better the results. BTW- great pic! 

Forever-geez tough start to the year, wishing you a speedy recovery!

Jojo- sending you lots of healing thoughts!

Mariposa-my vote is to let it go...i think some people have no clue how to deal with cancer, it freaks them out...I have to say one of the positive things for me about this whole experience is I feel like I am better equipped to respond to someone who is going through an illness or a tough time, not that I was insensitive before, I just have a better idea of what to say and do...and I am not afraid to do it. I think a lot of times people are just fearful of reaching out, they dont want to bother you or say the wrong thing or it just scares them...but I don't think there is an intention to hurt you...so I say go to lunch, get out, hopefully laugh, it's way better than being angry...that's just my rambling opinion P.S.-potty training is going much better, small miracles! 

So I had my last chemo a week ago and it's been kind of hard mentally and physically. I just want to snap my fingers be done with all the SEs...I went for a walk yesterday and had a mini break down, I was like a 90 year old woman shuffling down the block...I couldn't believe my body that once climbed mountains and ran races, could barely make it down the street....ugh...this is a lesson in patience for me, I have to believe I will get stronger and I will get better. The SEs for this last one have definitely been the toughest, I am grateful that I don't have to go back and do it again, but I just want to put the fast forward button on! Neuropathy has kicked in, nails are super gross, legs and back and sore....please those of you who have been done longer...tell me it gets better. Feels good to vent, back to carefully examining my head for sprouts.