October 2014 Surgery Sisters

I had my thanksgiving celebration today (Friday). Decided to walk hubby through the process instead of buying pre-made. Everything was perfect.

Pain meds (even over the counter) have been making me ill lately so I've been going cold turkey (haha) since my last fill on Tuesday. Prior fills were easy but this one kept me up most of the night.

Everything went well, all the guests arrived, 30 minutes till chow time when my 13 yr old son tipped his birthday present dune buggy and broke his arm.

A quick trip to the emergency room while everyone else ate...This will be one we won't forget!

We did make it back in time for pie.

Hope your son heals quickly, horsemom.

Confession: I have never seen "A Christmas Story." OK, your turn.

is that the movie with the leg lamp and shooting your eye with a red Ryder bb gun? I've never seen it either but I guess it's time!!

FYI- my son has broken this arm 3 times, once every 3 years, on some kind of a holiday. Sigh.

It's funny but I have never liked that movie, but I'm so picky when it comes to comedy! I love Christmas vacation, it's my all time favorite. That a the old black and white a Christmas carol.

Hi everyone! Broken arms don't sound fun, sorry Horsemom! You must live where the weather is nice - dune buggy style!

Hopeful, that's such awesome news about how well the femara is working!! I hope this is the first of many happy news recounts from you. What's next for you? It's encouraging for all of us who are now popping those types of pills...they work!! Hooray!!

I go back to work on Monday. Sigh..I sure have enjoyed my time at home but it will be good to get back to my normal life. I'm being fitted for prosthetics on Wednesday and plan to call the PS soon. More surgery doesn't sound fun, but ho

Hi, Hummingbird - Are you getting that cold, Arctic front that's moving in this weekend? My birds are really emptying the feeders as the temperature plummets. I'm sweating out yet another forecast of freezing rain, this time just before a business trip leaving Monday. Bah humbug!

Yes, I'm really, really gratified by the demonstrated response to Femara. It's SO helpful to know exactly how my tumor's responding to it. I won't meet with my BS until the 8th, due to above mentioned travel. However, based on earlier discussion, it's likely that I'll be looking at another few months of neoad. treatment before surgery followed by radiation. I am hoping for path. complete response by the time we do surgery and, based on this preliminary info, that doesn't seem to be out of the question.

And yes, I think anyone who's on AIs should be encouraged by the demonstrable response. Granted, I'm 100% and 88% ER/PR, so darn well should have responded, but I think it does speak to what the AIs can do for all of us who are ER+.

I hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend and will be ready to face the workaday world again. Just DO NOT overdo it as you plunge back in. I'm sure there will be a bit of culture shock as well as the physical adjustments - but I'm sure it will also feel great to get that part of your normal life back again.

Enjoy the weekend - thanks for your note. I'll be thinking of you on Wed. with your fitting.

Fourminor I'm pretty partial to the Grinch as well, along with Charlie Brown's Christmas. Both of those still have the capacity to bring a mist to my eyes. Many years our family will watch one or the other together on Christmas Eve - and the youngest of us is 50!

Are you going to San Antonio? That must be a very stimulating event, I would think. I'll look forward to hearing the latest, esp. on the SOFT trials.

Here's to keeping the birds happy - a small but very gratifying gesture. I'm waiting right now for the hummingbird to vacate its perch on the feeder so I can refill it!

Hummingbird, I don't like "A Christmas Story" either. The kid is cute. The restaurant scene is hideous.

Dear Revelle - I think I know a little bit of how you feel. Frankly, I feel strongly that it's your turn for some good news but since you're still waiting on that, please come hang out and vent, express the anxiety and fear, and collect a hug or two or three.

This stage of collecting the bits of data (the tea leaves) that will give us some idea of what we're facing (and waiting for the reports on the tea leaves) is so awful. And then when someone else gets good news you're so happy for them but wistful, too, because you're afraid your news won't be anywhere near as good, and you feel like you'll die of anxiety by the time you get the reports and make sense of them anyway, right? And then you sort of hate the weekends because you KNOW you won't get any answers over the weekend...

You'll be in my heart this coming week. In the meantime, (((((Hugs)))))). PLEASE don't worry about bringing anyone down. We're here for the ups and the downs.

Revelle - ((((hugs)))) all week long. Consume as needed. No limit on refills.

That would be so much fun to do, Sandra. Do you think San Antonio can handle it?

Fourminor  yes Breast MRI, and Bone scan next week. I hope they give me a date Monday for surgery so it will be a big week for me. I'm scared to know were I am, scared to not know. It is an interesting place to be, I have done lots of research and have all my pathology reports. I have 2 unfavorable and 2 favorable and one in the middle on pathology so far but will see how that changes after surgery as sometimes it does. Because I have been with all of you while you were going through surgery I am not worried about that part. Just don't want them to find it outside the breast! Still need to determine if this is a local or distant reoccurrence or a secondary primary after 20 yrs.

Dear Robyn:

Yes, that's a pretty sobering story to hear and similar thoughts go through my head whenever I read of someone who was dx. at stage II (our stage) and then had a recurrence that took their life. Much as I try to avoid these stories, we've all, I expect, known someone whose story followed that arc. It's easy to get caught up in the decisions about treatment, then getting through treatment, getting on with life, etc., and I think that helps shield us, psychologically, from the realities of our situation. Every once in a while, reality breaks through and we realize just how scary all this is and that yes, it really does apply to ME.

In your case, I think you have the advantage of being very, very familiar with the ins and outs of your case, of treatment protocols and trials. You are treating the cancer both intelligently and aggressively. You also have access to very fine care and, from the sound of it, a team who will guide you with great care and insight. You have a strong faith, loving family and community support and are otherwise (I am guessing) very fit and healthy. All of those factors are in your favor. I choose to believe that you will do well and I hope - and pray - that this is the case. It's o.k. to be realistic but don't forget to be realistic in a more optimistic way as well.

I think that herceptin shows a lot of promise and I'm glad to know you're on it, even though the year-long infusions will certainly run your life for that year.

Hang in there - I doubt God is ready to furlough you just yet! ((((Hugs)))))

Akitagirl, I was 45 at dx and I have had the same thoughts. It's hard not too.

Akita Girl and everyone else, please do not hang on to stats of people who were diagnosed and treated, in the terms of medicine, generations ago. I am stage 4, HER2+ and there is no reason to believe I will not live 30 more years. Had I been diagnosed just 4 years ago, I would have been given 4 months. So if another lady only made it 5 years and 1 month, that may have been 4 1/2 years longer than a lady before her. They make advances all the time, because of the trials and studies.

I went through, screw the 401K, it was planned for a 30 year retirement, now who knows 10 years, so what am I squirreling away for? It took a few weeks for me to get past that. But we have to choose to live and be happy and screw you, little bastard intruder, or we may as well not take any medicine at all.