Monday club lol

I am not in this limbo at present. But soooooo get it! I wish you the best of luck tomorrow and I am glad that your husband is going to call the doctor. Take good care and hoping for good news for you!!!! Hugs and blessings!

I go tomorrow at 1:15 to see surgeon and then immediately after to see plastic surgeon. I have NO IDEA what happens tomorrow! lol.

They said it was cancer Thursday. I had my meltdown. My girls- my sweet girls is all I could think about. My youngest, Will be one in December. So pity party already happened. Stopped crying or imagining things early Saturday and have been on auto drive since.

I'm guessing we find out what surgery they suggest? Then we must have to do several test before the surgery date. But nothing is real until after that surgery and the results from that! At least to me, everything else is prep for the big result. Wait wait wait. But that could be great because we might have time to get several opinions! Best of luck tomorrow for whatever is going to happen? I am still not sure. Bringing a list of questions from the internet.

Redreading I am feeling the same as you are. The Dr told me from the films and ultrasound that I have Stage 1 cancer. It is 1cm, I am having a lumpectomy Tuesday. I don't seem to have any feelings about it yet. I can feel it coming and like you just don't know when. When the DR told me I was just releaved to know . I will do what I need to. Then after the surgery when I know everything and what comes next then I will probably fall apart and have my cry. I will say a prayer for all of us facing the uncertainty at this time.

I can so relate to what you are feeling! I cried a little when my doc told me it was malignant, but then that was it. No more tears, no fear, no anxiety, I feel numb about the whole situation. My poor hubby has had more of a reaction than me.

ok here was my results:

3 tumors 1cm .8 cm and .6cm.

ER and PR positive

Grade- intermediate? Not sure what that means.

Stage- none given said after surgery.

And for that- Double mascetomy this Wednesday. Reconstruction with expander as well. Double is elective bc it is only in the right. I said get them both. Worked out great because my sister is coming to get my girls and take them during Thanksgiving break. By the time they get back, I should feel way better.

They are taking lymph nodes too bc the underarm one is a little swollen! Fingers crossed it is just swollen and not cancer sick. It has happened all so fast I can't even wrap my brain around it all. Last week on this day, I had my biopsy. Now, I am planning a major surgery!

Just keep swimming!!

Wow, it's weird how all over the place our experiences are. I'm still confused but I got the feeling that it's very small and I have ILC with possibly LC in situ as well? He said we're def looking at chemo, might could do a lumpectomy but we'll have to have an MRI first and there was no labwork to see about hormones, which I kind of expected, since I'm still premenopausal at 54. When I looked at the mammo, I could see a white spot with all these tentacles coming out of it and figured there was no way we could just do a lumpectomy but he said it's a distinct possibility. So crossing my fingers. Oh and what is that test where they test your lymph nodes to see which ones most likely for BC to have jumped to? They'll do that too and only pull those nodes. He mentioned pain with that one. . . Anyway, I feel a bit better. Guess I'll stop planning my funeral.

Hi RedReading, and Juneping, another Uniboober here! There are lots of us around on these boards!

Don't rule out the Pink concert, just play it by ear. You may be surprised by how you feel.

My surgery was a few days before Christmas and I surprised myself, I had no problem entertaining visitors. I even went to a shopping Mall on my way home from the Hospital, with my drain in a shoulder bag

Good luck with it all, I wish you a speedy recovery!

pipers_dream

i am an architect....planning to get my license this coming year. not anymore...

Ariom

what's a pink concert?

juneping, Redreading said that she stood in line to get "Pink" concert tickets, but that the concert is just 4 days after her surgery. I was just saying that she may still be able to go, to play it by ear.

Jodi, Happy Birthday! Maybe we'll appreciate those b-days a lot more from now on. So you're a teacher too--I haven't told my high school kids yet but I suppose I will be soon b/c they need to know why I've been taking off work more lately. I hear you on the fears--all but losing weight b/c I really would like to do that. I know not everyone gets sick--my aunt never did and said that having a cold is more miserable. I don't mind the hair as much as my boobs--my hair will grow back. I do understand your fears about your kids and your family, but please, do let them take care of mom some too--it will help them build empathy. You don't have to be the narcissistic queen (and it doesn't sound like you are at all) but let them do you some services.

juneping, I hate it for you that this BC has derailed your plans to take the architect test. Can you do that next year? Is it just too much stress? I'm glad you have a great job though--maybe this will all work out for the best after all--it's hard to say how from here but it may be so. Crossing my fingers for you.

I think my biggest fears center around relationships. I am in the very earliest phases of beginning a relationship with a wonderful man who just happens to live 4-1/2 hours away so mainly we've been emailing, texting, and talking on the phone and I've told him what's going on and he's been very supportive but I guess I'm worried that the treatment will age me something fierce and esp the hormonal stuff and he won't even recognize me when he sees me again. I keep looking around though at attractive women who've been thru this already and I gain some confidence. So, gearing up for, I hate to say the fight, but maybe I'll say the challenge.

Ariom, thanks for coming in and adding your wisdom to all our fears. We shall overcome--with your help and the other kind ladies who are helping us.

Juneping, I am so glad you have a great and understanding boss. There is much in our lives still to have gratitude for and it helps to hold on to that.

I told my students today and I was touched by how much they care about me--I feel there is not one who doesn't and maybe that's the joy of teaching special ed--you have a chance to build a closer relationship with them. My senior boy said, "Well, we're all like a family in here and just like a family we'll help you get through. I love that kid! And the rest of them too.

Hi all

Red- I had to jump in as I am a needle-phobe myself. In the spirit of full disclosure I am a nurse so I guess I can "dish it out" but can't take it" hahahah

Biopsy went a lot like yours- local really did not work (another story-ugh) held onto the table for dear life.

I had a needle localization- before my surgery sounds like you are having that? It was just the local anesthetic that really "stung"- I did not feel pain when the wires went in. I got a little light-headed and had to stop and lay down not knowing the wires were already in!! I think I was either holding my breath or hyperventilating or something just worrying.

I went right to nuclear medicine for that injection and I think the local anesthetic from the needle localization and wire placement was still going strong because I did not feel it at ALL- I lost a lot of sleep reading about nipple injections and mine was on the side where my original core bx was.

See if you can schedule your wire placement and your nuc med injection close together to keep all that local anesthetic numbing you up.

Hi to all newly diagnosed. I got my diagnosis in July. Most of you have not included information about what kind of breast cancer you have. You can get a copy of the report from your doctor and you should ask for it if they didn't give it to you. There is a huge difference in treatment depending on what kind of cancer you have and you have options. Sometimes women hear the word cancer and assume the worst. Breast cancer is treatable and there are plenty of women who have lived long lives after diagnosis. Women may assume their doctors will tell them everything they need to know without having to ask. FALSE. Several of the threads I participate in on this forum concentrate on things they DID'NT know and wish they did.

Once you know your diagnosis - kind of breast cancer and grade (intermediate is grade 2 by the way) - read all the basic permanent info on this forum and look on the MD Anderson, Mayo Clinic, and Johns Hopkins websites. They have up to date accurate information you can trust. LOTS of information on the internet is old, out of date, or proven wrong. Stick with reputable cancer websites. Make notes, even if you don't quite understand. Those will be things to ask your doctor. Don't be surprised if you hear opposing opinions. Doctors don't always agree on treatments.

The breast cancer nurse navigator told me that the usual treatment for my kind of cancer was lumpectomy and radiation. I knew nothing about breast cancer and decided to get smarter about it REAL quick. I had three days from the diagnosis until I met with the breast surgeon, radiologist, and oncologist. As I read everything I could find and wrote pages of notes, I put a question mark in the margin if I didn't understand a word or a concept. Then later I looked those up and researched until I understood better. I got a notebook and dividers and put in my notes plus copies of articles I'd read. If it was something I wanted to ask my doctor about, I put a sticky "flag" on the page. That way I could maximize the time I had with each doctor. By the time of my appointment, I knew enough to understand what the doctors were likely to tell me. I knew that I didn't want a lumpectomy and radiation and was prepared to tell the doctors why.

The breast surgeon started off by telling me that my cancer was an aggressive kind but not yet invasive. They had caught it early! My decision was that I wanted a mastectomy and in fact wanted a double mastectomy even though the cancer was in only one breast. I could not live the rest of my life worrying if the surgeon got all the cancer in the lumpectomy, wondering if it would come back in that breast or whether I would get cancer in the other breast too. My breast surgeon agreed with my decision. (It's a good thing I opted for the double mastectomy because after the surgery the pathology report on the "good" breast showed it had cancer too.) The surgeon told me about immediate reconstruction. The doctor said after he performed the mastectomy, the plastic surgeon would take over and put in implants. Wonderful! No dragging it out for months with tissue expanders. Instead I would have one surgery and wake up with new breasts. One and Done!

The oncologist confirmed that as long my lymph nodes were clear and there were no surprises, by having a mastectomy I would NOT have to have radiation, chemo, or hormone therapy for 5 years. My decision was the right one for me. Other women with the same diagnosis might make a different decision and theirs will be right for them. If I were a lot younger maybe I might have made a different choice. If I had a different kind of cancer or if it hadn't been found so soon, I might not have had as many options.

The important thing is that you get educated so you know about your kind of cancer, know what options you might have and what questions to ask. If you are educated, you will know if it's time to get a second opinion or change doctors altogether. Some women report doctors who don't seem to care. Fortunately I had doctors who supported me and made me feel I was a part of the decision making process, not just another set of boobs.

P.S. Although the BMX (bilateral mastectomy) on Aug. 23rd went fine and I did wake up with perky new breasts, I developed an infection (there are germs in hospitals!) and ended up having one of the implants taken out & a tissue expander (TE) put in on September 6th. A few weeks later I began getting saline fills every week for 6 weeks. So right now I have one nice implant that has never given me an ounce of trouble and one fat full TE. Surgery to exchange the TE for a permanent implant is Dec. 6th.