ILC - The Odd One Out?

I too was under a tremendous amount of stress at about the time I think it started growing and when it was found.  I still have a lot of stress in my life.  I don't know how to get rid of it.  Suggestions?

Hi Mary, 

I know this sounds pretty lame, but after my diagnosis and once my treatment started, I knew  I absolutely had to put ME first.  No choice.  I developed a mantra that was so relaxing, especially when there were things vying for my attention while I was taking care of ME.  Me first. Me first. Me first. Me first.  I said it over and over.  It made me happy and relaxed.  My active treatment is over and I still use my mantra when I am exercising every day.  Yesterday, I told an employee who was trying to get me to do his job......"you are not going to leave that problem in my office.  You are smart.  I know you can handle this" 

My stress came from being an over achiever, so this works for me.  Stress is different for every person.  I didn't do this to reduce stress...it just happened and I don't want to go back.  Ultimately one has to make time for their physical and mental health and I think that means you have to pamper yourself. 

Good luck with your stress reduction.

Katarina, my docs track tumor markers. They told me from the get-go that the TMs are quite unreliable, but they still prefer to have this extra tool, imperfect as it may be.

Katarina, my onc doesn't track tumor markers. She says that they can be false and increase patient stress. But I do understand why an onc would want to do them. Different methods of surveillance I guess.

I was better at avoiding stress closer to dx. I am creeping back into my old ways. Not good. Lots to do with kids, family and work right now.  Everyone is seeing that I am taking everything on again and they are reloading tasks and I am once again accepting. Time for a reset:)

Ah, short temper, lots of stress...yes. That was me, and I didn't realize how toxic it could be because i thought I was being successful in managing all of it! Ha!  University professor, husband living on the other side of the country for 7 years (commuter marriage--then he went to Iraq for a year....I had fibroid surgery  in 2009 and a very serious life-threatening condition--pheochromocytoma surgery. 2007..geez.  When I look back I wonder why I didn't stroke out from all that!

I'm uncomfortable blaming myself for stress and then getting cancer because of it. I was also exposed to nuclear fallout as a 3 year old.

Hollander, you cracked me up when you said that about it was cool you had something young in you in your 40s (dense breasts).  I felt the SAME way.  

I'm scared to drink now, but I do have the occasional or two glass of wine. Unfortunately I have never enjoyed red wine--upsets my stomach--too acidic?  

Anyway, glad to read these posts.

Music67, how cool! You do not "sound" Chinese in English. I could not guess what your native tongue was.

Re: the density, I was secretly happy inside when I realized it meant more breast tissue and not more fat!!!!!  I was quite sure when I first heard of my density after my diagnosis that it was going to be somehow related to fat/overweight, etc.  

whilst on the subject of surveys -I  did one of my own analyzing all the stage IV posters Dx etc 

It was quiet enlightening bearing in mind that ILC accounts for 10-15% of all BC  out of all the posts (150 or so )  I checked the ratio of ILC to IDC/IBC  is only 5-6% of stage IV posters 

Hopefully Food for thought in a +ve way for this thread  ))

Nocompromises, thanks for doing that!  Cheered me up the day before yet another major snowstorm.

Very interesting, no compromises! Perhaps a little off topic for this thread, but did you happen to note the prevalence of triple negative diagnoses among the stage 4 people? 

I recently read a book that came out in 2013 by Patricia Prijatel (published by Oxford University Press=good credentials) in which she tries to give TNBC sufferers hope for recovery. Trouble is, all her "success stories" of long term survivors seem to be the women that had no lymph nodes affected and, presumably as a result, no metastases.

diagnosed at age 40 my very first mammogram

vlrph - 

I noted  everything from BC type to Dx date to recurrence, initial size and  stage ( about half were already stage 4), aggressiveness, nodes, Tx and yes TNB 

I really only wanted to focus here on the positive ILC aspect on this thread but on looking back at my notes where a TNB diagnosis was mentioned - there weren't nearly as many as I had expected - maybe only 5-10% again  versus 10-20% of BC population - so on the face of it - pretty good 

There were some definate standouts that did seem to be worse prognosis indicators to me but I wouldn't want to disclose them on here because 

A) I am no statistician and my little survey is in no way accurate or significant - or large enough 

I feel it would be inappropriate, grossly offensive and cruel to say I think a Dx of X will be highly likely to make you a stage IV eventually

C) we probably all know/suspect  them anyway  

but yes I could see some possible patterns 

I am new to the boards but am very interested in any info on ILC as there is very little on the internet.  I was diagnosed about two months before my 50th birthday, premenopausal.  I am 5' 3'' 127 lbs, eat healthy, exercise regularly, nonsmoker, drink occasionally.  My ILC has a pleomorphic variance with very high Ki-67 of over 90%.  About a year before my diagnosis, I was diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis that no one can specify but it's most likely RA not fully developed.  I was taking Enbrel, Arava and Plaquenil at the time of my diagnosis which I can't help but think is significant but none of the docs think it's related. I had been on bc pills for about 27 years at time of diagnosis.

What is the risk factor in high density breasts? The fact that they make it hard to see a problem in a mammogram? Or is there something more than that?

Wildflower - I took low dose 6-MP, as an immunomodulator, for almost 2 years before my BC diagnosis.  I had been off of it for about 9 months when I was diagnosed. The BC grew out of an area of LCIS. The ILC was, also, pleomorphic. I definitely think that the 6-MP contributed to the growth of ILC. I often wondered if it would have remained LCIS if I wasn't taking 6-MP. My doctors all say that we'll never know if there was a cause and effect relationshiip.

Do you know the ER, PR and Her2 status of the tumor? I can't tell from your post how long that you have ago you were diagnosed but I hope that you have a treatment plan in place that you're comfortable with.