Canadians in British Columbia

hi everyone, popping back in after a break .

Tazzy ,how wonderful of you to help out taking evacuees in. I hope the fires are out sooner than later, the province does seem to be burning right now. Hope you and your friend are also feeling better from the car accident, how awful....glad you are okay.

Dutchgirl, sorry to hear you lost your house , that must of been so hard. It is nice to hear about your neighbours, and what a big help they were.it is nice when life gives us a hard time , the people that step forward to help. 

Hoping we are all getting moments this summer to relax and enjoy ! Hugs to all.

Hey all! I just found this thread and wanted to drop-in and say hello.  I am in the south surrey/White Rock area.  Iwas diagnosed  in May (after a painful month of tests and waiting), surgery 2 weeks later and am now on chemo.  I go to the cancer clinic in Surrey.  It seems all my June chemo sisters who are American are receiving dose dense chemo which I have read is more effective, so wondering if we don't get the best tx in Canada.  

Anyways, I was excited to see a thread of ppl close to home.  I'm a 41 yr old mother of 3. Shout out to my British Columbia sisters!

CanuckMom, I too had dense and I don't believe it has anything to do with lesser treatment in Canada but rather with the pathology more for each of us. My BC at first was thought to be no big deal but once I had the lumpectomy, it was a totally different story and my MO preferred the chemo get into me as fast as possible. Dose dense usually means a fast spiralling of WBC etc. and so we get Neupogen shots (actually do it ourselves) several times each cycle to boost the immune system. In the US they use another derivative so it is just one injection but it is very expensive (pharmaceuticals!) and FairPharmacare in BC does not pay for that drug, only Neupogen. If you are familiar with FairPharmacare (most of us only found out about it when Neuopgen came into the picture) they pay for the drug at a point depending on your income tax situation. Also there is/was the Victory Program which co paid much of the cost. I think Neupogen was about $2800 per cycle but I never paid anything like that. My MO said the majority of us go with the 3 week cycle and not dose dense more often than not because of the cost. BTW, the other drug can be covered if you have an extended health benefits plan which I did not. 

I did see in your pathology that your sentinel nodes were negative and they may have had a bearing on what your MO has prescribed. But I would have that discussion with her/him. 

Marie, keep us posted after your appt. next week. Glad you are staying off the checking of your BW! I am passing all the 2 year anniversary marks and all is well physically though it seems as though the past week has had me spiralling down~~I suspect it is the anniversaries. I am doing the short course triathlon at UBC with two of my kids on Sunday and that is the actually anniversary of the diagnosis so am hoping once I finish the tri and that day is over, that I can get back to feeling good in all ways!

Hi Ladies

Back from a three week trip home to Norway, Great trip, got to see most of my family. Hot weather (not normal) 30+ degrees every day.

Looong trip home as we had some delays. In Amsterdam they could not remove the gate from the plane, Took 45 mins to manage to remove it, Then landing in Montreal they could not attach gate so after an hour on the plane busses on hydraulic lifts were brought in to get us off plane, By this time we were running late for our connecting flight to Vancouver. Rushed to get through customs and security, Arrived at gate 10 mins before plane was scheduled to leave only to find boarding had not started yet, found out we needed to get another plane as there were safety issues with our scheduled plane. Waited two hours for a new plane to come. Finally we made it to Vancouver at midnight three hours late.

Welcome canuckmom.

Hope you all continue to have a great summer

Pt. Grey Triathlon today with my daughter Mary and son Andy~~short course and they did it slow with me. I won first place in my age category! Beautiful day and exactly two years from diagnosis~~great way to celebrate and we had sushi after and cold beer is next.

Good morning ladies!

It had been a looooong time since I have posted, I've checked in from time to time but I have a lot if catching up to do! A lot has changed, Hazel is almost 2!!!  I'll post a whole bundle of stuff later. 

I just have a question. When does the 'survivor' part of this journey start? The DX? After surgery? After treatment? I was asked how long I had been a survivor, but I didn't know how to answer. What do you use as your date/anniversary?

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer!!

Mir. 

Marian, you never cease to amaze me!  Congratulations on your great run.  You are an inspiration, and such a good role model for your adult children.

I have always wondered about the whole "cancerversary" thing, and I have read and it has been suggested to me that it is the date of diagnosis.  I go with that, because it is the only date that I can remember from the whole experience. 

OSSA be careful and think about what revisions the PS suggests.  I'm going on 4 years of reconstruction and revisions and I could probably go on for many more years.

Every time I go in for a follow up the PS says he can tweak it a bit more - but at some point it has to stop.  

I will never have perfect breasts - never had them to begin with - but these guys are artists and see all the slight flaws that they can "fix".

I see my PS again in August and he has already started rumbling (at last 2 post op follow ups from surgery in Feb) that one more fat graft should do the trick.  If so, it will be my third fat grafting!  

Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate all that he has done for me (and that he is conservative in his approach) but the time is coming for me to decide when I've had enough.

Hello ladies,  I haven't been posting for a long time.  May I join you on this British Columbia forum as our journey continues ?  I have 4 treatments (Herceptin) left .   I'm  experiencing more muscle,  bone & joint pain lately.. I'm not sure if the SEs are from Herceptin or letrozole.  I'm trying to stay active but I find it extremely difficult.  Anyone else on  letrozole, how are you coping? 

Mariam- Congratulations on your recent triathlon!  YOU are a great inspiration.  

Enjoy BC Day weekend! 

went to se my PS today  he is going to try fatgrafting first as it is the least invasive. I have had one session of fat grafting however it all reabsorbed, PS said he will do more this time also some lipo where I have scartissue  If I am not happy with that he will then take out my current implant and put a tissue expander in to expand some more. He did said that he thinks I will need some major surgery in the future as the skin on my lower foob is very thin. He said he can see that become a problem for me, but we will cross that bridge when we get there

Marian. I am back with the PS who did my mastectomy as well as recon. No one is willing to take on another PS's "problems" Any PS my doctor has contacted said they only take new mastectomy/recon do not fix "issues"

Gardengirl.   I'm on tamox too... have been for almost 2 years and really, in all honesty I do not suffer too many side effects.   In fact none that bad that we would consider coming off it.   hot flashes / achy hips and one new one is cramp in my feet.   It doesn't last long and not every day (thank goodness) but I am seeing my MO next Thursday so will ask her. 

Hope everyone is enjoying a nice weekend.

Ossa I have had fat grafting 2 times and it has helped a lot with the look and feel of my foob.

Like you I had very thin skin on the lower part of my foob.  It was so thin that I could see a bluish gray underneath - alloderm tissue - showing through.

The last time I had fatgrafting (Feb 27) I had extra lipo (free) and a tummy tuck (not so free).

I see my PS again tomorrow for a 6 month follow up and I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say.  At my 3 month last visit he mentioned 1 more fat grafting - if so I'll get my love handles lipo'd as a donor site!

I hope you get some added benefits to your fat grafting too!

Marie

hi Tazzy,   thanks for the info and I am glad to hear you have had two years with not too many side effects. My onc thinks I should be ok ...since I already have most of the side effects that  we complain about. I do find the arthritis in all my joints the hardest.... But from chemo .The hot flashes I have all the time , but used to them. I picked up my bottle, but think I will start this weekend.  Wondering what time do you take tamoxifen at? On the hormone groups I see there is a lot of talk about different times . 

Thanks so much for the info,and hope it goes well next week at your MO and the cramps in your feet go away for you. 

Interesting - I take my tamox in the mornings (with my vitamins) so will ask my MO tomorrow when I see her.    Weird how after this time the SE's show up.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer wherever you are.  

My Outlaws arrive Friday for a month... Thank goodness I love them to bits.   Busy time ahead.

Hugs and love to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxx