October 2014 Surgery Sisters

Hopeful; I hope you were able to get to your biopsy today and that the therapy has done it's job!

We have about 8 inches of snow here, snow day for the kids - hooray! Remember how exciting snow days were when we were kids?! Simple life pleasures. It's beautiful looking out the window but I'm thankful I don't have to drive in it.

Have a wonderful day!

Hi, Hummingbird - thanks for asking. No, I was not able to keep my appt. today due to 1/2" of ice on all the streets between here and the highway. Even the nurse navigator advised not trying to make it over there. I am SO disappointed and frustrated, I could just spit nails!

Can't reschedule until 11/24 and then get results/meet w/surgeon on 12/2, so everything's pushed wayyy out. The particularly frustrating aspects are that a) I would have been able to get to an afternoon appt., as the ice is starting to break up and b) I've had this appt. scheduled for a full month - but that doesn't translate into any priority in rescheduling.

I know it's not the end of the world but it is really aggravating. And, of course, if this approach hasn't worked, it means looking at surgery sooner rather than later, probably in December.

Enjoy your snow day, Hummingbird, from the comfort of the indoors. I need to thaw the birdbaths (without losing my footing on the ice) and refill the suet feeder. Fortunately, the hummer feeder didn't freeze this time. And yes, snow days were great as a child. Now I would be happy to donate mine to someone a few years younger!

Ohhhh SCmom, I'm so sorry!! That's it? Just suspend him? Was the other kid(s) suspended as well? Did they get to explain the situation? We are warriors but when it comes to our kids, we wear our hearts on our sleeves, don't we? Poor kid, he has a lot to deal with. Does he have another adult he can trust to talk to? Or, will he talk to you? 12 is such a hard age anyway, my heart goes out to you and him. Just be there, mom, it's all you can do. Sorry!!

SCMom- this must be really stressful for you but here are some thoughts for you. That boy of yours loves you and is worried. The counselor obviously has their nose in a book of how you deal with this. I know how hard it is, my daughter won't talk about me having cancer again. My grandsons lost their other grandma to breast cancer 6 months ago they are 8. So for some time they asked are you feeling ok grandma, I would say yes. We would pass a cemetery and they would say that's were grandma is I told them her sprit is with god. What I began to understand is their world is smaller than ours so they think differently. Nobody knows the right way to deal with this, I still have to work through my twin grandsons and daughter so I understand. What I do believe is that reassuring is the best way to go. You are strong, even with weak moments, maybe talking to him from the point of reassurance, even if you need it more, and that you are strong that may reassure him things are ok. I know this is difficult, supporting family while trying to work through this, WHAT CAN I SAY, you all know what that is about. I know your plate is full but talking to him about being strong may reassure him. Just a suggestion, tell the counselor she's not working and check into a support group for kids with moms having cancer at your hospital. I hope that helps, you have helped me so much just want to give it back. I want to let you know my heart goes out to you,  Revelle  PS hummingbird… you are so caring and supportive.

All i know is I picked up some Melatonin/Valerian pills and signed up for a meditation class.

Its not fun being in my head right now.

I am just as dizzy as I was deciding uni or bilateral.

Just noticed this little side benefit: No more décolletage wrinkles in the morning!

SCMOM-so sorry your son is having some difficulties. I work in a high school and have been very open when students ask about my new hair style and have had fun with a couple of wigs. Like adults, some students just don't know how to react, or immediately associate cancer with death. I think it's great to show students I'm making the best of the situation and try to make them more comfortable. I have not gone to school without a wig though. I may need to soon-with some hair that has grown back, the wig doesn't hold on as well as it did on the bare skin.

Eventhough I took a letter from my dr. about the magnet in my TE for security-and TSA-precheck- they were giving me a thorough pat down. It lit up like fireworks on the full body scan! I had a scarf around my neck and they wanted it off. The TSA woman was 'helping' to take it off and my wig came off too-I should have just travelled without it. I was fine- laughed about it and just popped it back on. Their faces were great!

I had on a vneck T under my sweater and the woman could feel the front zipper on the wonderful vest bra I am told to wear 24/7. She kept saying 'something is in there'- Finally right there I just pulled down my vneck and showed her the zipper! Then she felt bad for giving me a hard time- Better they are thorough in this day and age- I was just being very impatient-

Laura-sorry to hear about the drain-seems like forever!

Hopeful-Ughhh sorry you have to wait so long and worry over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Fourminor- know the feeling- 2 days back last week -then took a vacation day to see my DH and daughter in NC. A full week this week! I didn't want to be out past two weeks-but during the third week I didn't want to go back- I was much less motivated when I returned. Have to say, the TE is a lot less comfortable than I expected and hopefully it will feel more comfortable with time. It's not the stretching, but actually feeling the edges and it rubbing on my sternum when I twist.

Well- I'm tired from my fun weekend and need to get up early-Let's hope for a great week for all! Each day does get better-

Slavich, glad you had a WONDERFUL weekend! You handled TSA wonderfully also! Humor is the only way to go....even if it is at the expense of their faces! I'm chuckling imagining them.

As for your TEs, it does get better. Each fill takes pressure of ribs and sternum. I only have one or two more to go on the left side. The most discomfort I have now is phantom pain. Some pinching sensations sometimes around the edges. The biggest thing is they are hard because their job is to stretch the skin and muscle, so they don't give like a normal boob or implant. The more full they get, the more side boob, so sleeping on my sides is a bit challenging. Some women leave them in a long time because they are sick of surgery.....not me, as soon as I can get these out and a normal implant, I'm going to!

Slavrich - Good to hear from you. Yes, the waiting really is frustrating and disappointing, as I was really looking forward to getting some answers (such as, will I have to have chemo - that's kind of a big one, for me) and to have it delayed so long is hard to accept. I was in a real funk on Friday/Saturday but have crawled back out of that black hole. Thank for understanding.

Your report on the situation at TSA is useful info; thanks for sharing it in detail. I deal with TSA a lot and while some of them are great, some just don't seem to hear what they're being told about a situation. I've never had issues, but I've seen more than a few arise while standing in line at TSA.

I hope you enjoyed your long weekend - I'll bet it felt good to have both a change of scenery AND time with your husband and daughter. I hope this week goes quickly for you and then the holiday week will give you a bit of a breather again. Take care.

Hi, Hummingbirdlover - I haven't done the Oncotype yet, as I'm doing neoadjuvant Femara on a trial, then either chemo or 4 more months of Femara before surgery.

Obviously, I am hoping that my body's had a strong response to Femara and will thus be able to avoid chemo. That's why I was so bitterly disappointed that my repeat biopsies had to be rescheduled and with a fairly long wait.

Given that I had one node that was positive on biopsy and that my proliferation rate was fairly high originally (Ki-67 was 43 >30%) my surgeon and MO felt my Oncotype would probably be intermediate at best. If I respond strongly to Femara, that should come down a lot, given that my ER was 100% and PR was 88%. BS says it NEEDs to come down to below 10% to consider giving chemo a pass.

Like you, I do NOT want to be in a position of having to make a decision about this. I would do almost anything to avoid chemo but at the same time, I do not want to ever face a recurrence. I'm NOT good at making decisions, especially tough ones, so I am praying long and hard for a very strong response to the Femara.

BS is also hopeful that the malignant node will show a pathologically complete response and, in that case, we can consider a more conservative approach to the remaining nodes. As you can see, there's a lot riding on this trial.

I'm very glad that your MO made a recommendation that it sounds like you're comfortable with. I hope you do as well with tamoxifen as other women I've known who are on it. In addition to the baby aspirin you might read up on the effects of Vit.D3 on cancer recurrence and risk and ask your MO or pcp about it. Three of my specialists have stressed its importance to me and I take that to heart.

If your most aggressive tumor was 17, do you know the scores on the other two?

At any rate, I hope you're pleased and comfortable with the outcome of your visit today. At this point, it sounds as though you can focus all your energies on healing and rebuilding your strength and getting your life back in order to support your continued health. I'll bet that feels great, although maybe a little strange after the past few months of riding the roller coaster?

Thanks for your good wishes and prayers. I really appreciate them a lot. I think of you when I tend my hummer feeders and send prayers from Oregon to Idaho for you.

No worries, HBL - there are so many stories here to keep in mind, aren't there?

I was supposed to have the follow up biopsies last Friday a.m., then meet with BS this coming Friday.

Enter the ice storm that left us unable to go anywhere until mid-day Friday. Had to reschedule and can't get in until the 24th, then see BS on 12/2. Part of me is pretty ticked that they kept saying, oh, you'll be able to to get here, don't worry - not telling me that so many had already rescheduled that this week's schedule was completely full. So, despite having had this appt. on the books for a full month, I go to the back of the line. At the same time, I realize there are a lot of women who rescheduled who are having their first biopsy and need answers at least as much as I do, so I'm swallowing my ire but I'm kind of fed up with waiting for answers, you know?

It's great that your MO was so upbeat and supportive - that had to have been a very, very nice pre-birthday gift. Savor it!

If you've been on D3 therapy in the past it may be that you (like me) really need to work to keep it up. I try - hard - to do so but it's a constant battle. Having discovered that mushrooms are a good source of D, they are my new snack food. More than one friend/co-worker/family member has rolled their eyes over this.

Thanks for all your positive thoughts. Have a lovely, memorable birthday tomorrow!!

Dear Hummingbirdlover -

A very happy birthday to you! I hope you're enjoying your day and that it's filled with delightful surprises. Here's to a happy, healthy, fulfilling new year!

Thank you so much for your supportive note. I was smiling as I read it, as yes, I'm doing lots of visualization and self-talk. I imagine all of us do, and some of it's got to be pretty amusing, looked at objectively. For example, I picture the cancer cells as slugs and the Femara as the equivalent of sprinkling salt on slugs, causing them to shrivel up and die. It works better for me than some of the rather violent imagery I've seen suggested elsewhere.

As for the cancer possibly having been there a long time - wouldn't it be fascinating to know just when (and how) it started? I look at photos taken when we were on vacation this spring and I think 'who would think this woman's got cancer?' I still can't quite get my mind around that.

At any rate, thank you so much for caring and cheering me on. Now, back to your birthday indulgences. I'm sending warm thoughts and bouquets of warm wishes.

I had my drains in for about 22 days but I had an sGAP flap. That being said, I was able to shower after all my surgeries with drains. My drs. Encouraged it. I'm not sure why you Dr. Would say not to shower.

went for a fill today. My PS is in the fast lane. He does 100 in each TE every week till he gets to where he wants. I have 500cc implants that he will overfill to 600 next wk. (I'm at 3wks post op today) THEN I have to live with them for 3 MONTHS before I can get squishes!!

I've read most get transfers in 4-6 wks...but months! They don't hurt, but I'm bummed.

Yes I'm complaining...I have so much to b thankful for, and I am. I find myself crying for so many of you...again, I'm so sorry for my insensitivity ... Dagnabit!

hopeful- things are going very well. I'm at 5 weeks now and feel pretty much like my old self. Flaps are really hard in stage one. Long recovery time and I think I am doing better than most. I'm still nursing my open wound but it is almost healed, I'm thinking by the 6 week mark it will be totally closed. Overall I could go back to work next week but it's Thanksgiving week so I'm just going to stay off. Overall it was a lot but I would do it again in a min. Now on to stage two. My PS wants to see me in March and we will come up with a stage two plan. It will be much easier. Thanks for asking.

thank you. Nope I'm not doing thanksgiving. Going to my moms!