September 2013 Chemo Group

7 down, 23 to go!  They fixed the table.  :-)

Icing My Radiated Ta-Ta's...  (former Ta-Ta's?)

Art,
So glad you were able to get the surgery moved up.  Your wife is fortunate to have such a strong and capable advocate.  I hope she de-lurks soon too.  :-)

Betterday,
Amused by your musings about entertaining yourself. 

Simplelife,
Did you get your drains out?  That would be really quick, if you did.  One of mine was in for almost 4 weeks.

Kbee,
Glad you had little hair to acquire new friends at the hoarders.  Uggh.

Intensity, Knightzoo.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Treatment

gotcha. My best friend has worked in radiation therapy for over 20 years. She would be shaking her head at me! She was a radiation therapist, then a dosemetrist (they do the computer programming for the therapy) and now she works for a radiation software company Raysearch. 

KBee,

Strongly suggest seeing a lymphedema physical therapist.  Mine is fantastic!  While my left arm isn't swollen, it has had some 'cording' issues and limited my range of motion with pain.  Over the past three weeks, she has been able to fix that and finally was able to snap (literally) three or four of the cords today.  What a relief!  Feel 1000% better.

Great news, Better Day. I'm so glad your results were better than you expected!

Thanks, KnightZoo. I'm scheduled for Friday and it is fast approaching, whether I like it or not.

Good luck tomorrow, hockeymommy. I had a complete hysterectomy several years ago and the recuperation was quite easy. Of course, at the time, I was having heavy periods every two weeks for several months (tmi, I'm sure), so I was ready to rip the equipment out myself, if I had to

I am a little bummer. Saw the PS surgeon yesterday & he says he can't/won't do a TE on the cancer side because of future rads. My surgeon seemed to think it was a possibility so I was happy but now...I am disappointed. Yet not surprised.

So I went in there yesterday (in another snow storm) with one plan in my head and came out with it all changed. Which has been how this entire journey has gone. Always a glitch, always some news that is a bit unnerving or discouraging. Another bump in the road!

Looks like BMX with TE in *good* side. Then after healing & rads etc he will do a Dorsi Flap. And exchange with gummie. So I will be lopsided for about 3 months.   Still no surgery date, but likely March15-20)

Please any one of you gals who's had this Flap procedure, or are going to have it, tell me more!? Thanks.

today is final full breast rad tomorrow begins the five boosts. I'm so glad because my armpit finally decided to get red and rashy this week, until now my skin has been flawless. Thank you Josgirl for saying boosts are easier...man they really need to get off the armpit spot, it's right where my node scar is and where my arm rubs back and forth. Rads have been nothing compared to chemo. Just getting annoyed at the 50 mile drive every day. In other news hair growing like crazy and enough I colored it last Friday with a light brown temporary 12 shampoo out kinda product ..looks much better than pure white. Also have enough eyelashes to wear mascara again, geeepus I sound so vain with all you girls still recovering from surgery. Hang in there tough September sisters. 

YAY!!! Congrats Mercedes! You look great!

 I kinda feel let down, my last was 2 weeks ago & it was just another infusion since I will still be there through Nov for Herceptin.

 I don't have a surgery date yet either but they say in about a month. So we may be surgery sisters! And rad sisters!

great news better day. Just out of curiosity, what was your MRI? Nat's post chemo MRI showed 4.6cm even though no doctors can feel a lump.

OH MY!!!!!!!!!!! Hubby just admitted to me he would rather me have a BMX with NO recon.  I explained the Flap procedure to him last night after I saw the PS he knew I was confused & really unsure since I thought I was getting two expanders. And the PS telling me all this surprised & disappointed me. Then he tells me today he thinks it's all too much. He doesn't want me to go through it all. But of course it is up to me....sigh...

8 down, 22 to go.

Irritating Malignancies Receiving Torture.

lighthouse - one thing to keep in mind is that your implants will not look as large as your expanders.  By its nature, the expander has a hard back that allows the gradually added saline to push forward to stretch both the pectoral muscle and skin to eventually accommodate the implant.  When you have exchange surgery the soft implant will not project forward as much as the expander since it is soft all over.  I am fairly petite - 5'2" and usually about 120-125 lbs.  I was a size 4 top prior to BMX.  My TE were 550cc, but I was overfilled slightly.  I have a 600cc implant on the left (my problem side, responsible for all that surgery you see in my sig line) and 650cc on the right.  My natural breasts were a generous B, small C, and now visually I look like a full C cup, but in an underwire bra I wear a 34DD, in order for the wire to get all the way around the implant.  I still fit into most of my previous size 4 tops.  The reason I mention this is to warn you that you need to consider that your implants will look smaller than your expanders do prior to exchange.  There is a thread by whippetmom, Breast Implants 101, and if you supply her the info requested in the header, she will offer some insights about sizing.  She was spot on with her recommendation to me based on the eventual size I wanted to be.

lighthouse - I have far less experience with flap (autologous) procedure outcomes, only that what I have seen personally on others (yes, all of BC ladies flash each other when we get together, lol!) is that there is the possibility of slightly more ptosis, or droop, with the finished product since it is not encased in a specific rounded or anatomical shape like an implant is.  The upside it that this is often a more natural look - implants can look a bit "fake" and mine were definitely improved by fat grafting.  Using your own tissue functions the same way as an implant though in terms of not having the hard backing of the expander to achieve projection.

Hi ladies, I'll try to briefly pass on a bit of my experience. I was dx in 2005, had bilat mx, TEs, followed by implants.  Unfortunately had a recurrence in 2012 and had to have radiation.  What I learned through that experience is that radiation often causes capsular contracture when you have implants(body trying to fight foreign object).  That is currently where I am in my process and let me tell you it can become painful.  My guess is rads over TE isn't concerning for a physician if he plans for flaps to be done. Any contracture would be removed with the TE removal. Therefore, it doesn't surprise me at all that a doctor would suggest flaps rather than implants for someone planning on having rads.  

Art, my post chemo MRI showed a 2.3 cm mass and I could definitely feel it. My original MRI measured 3.6. Also, I've had three false positives from MRIs for other suspicious areas. Not a big fan of MRIs. I hope that Nat's is similarly deceiving.  Very happy to read that you got her an earlier surgery date.  

Simplelife, congrats on getting drains out and for destroying that tumor. Clickchick, good luck today. LHL, hope the kids are on the mend soon.  VintageGal, good luck on your decision.  Through this whole process I was surprised at how many decisions are left to us. I often wished someone would just tell me what to do.  I know you'll make the right one for you, and good on your hubby for being so supportive. Kbeee, I didn't see your new hair pic. Did you post it already?  KJ, I love your IMRT posts. You have a great sense of humor, which I'm sure has served you well throughout this process. Knightzoo, how is your recovery going? Mercedes, congrats on finishing chemo!

As for me, I am officially done with treatment, for better or worse.  My surgeon called last night after they discussed my case in conference. It was unanimous. No rads (which I knew from my SLNB results) and no more chemo.  It is going to take some time to wrap my head around that. For now, I will just focus on recovering from surgery.