MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Hi HomeMom.

It's amazing what surviving boobies will do for their 15 minutes of fame! Two hrs., extra pics, and a US, too? What a diva! Vicariously enjoying your good news.

Elimar- just saw your 50's cake 1 in 8. Bwhahaha! I just LOVE it!

Congrats Homemom!!!

Those surviving boobies do become divas when they are not part of a pair anymore! HAHAHAHA, loved that Deborah.

Hi KJSun, and welcome to the party. As you can see by the picture at the top, there is cake! We are here for you to vent and rant and hopefully laugh along with us. I see you are a FL girl too,, I'm at the upper end of the state where the Gators live!  UGH on this being your second time around. Yup, I have Fibro,, and truncal LE which a lot of doctors just cannot wrap their minds around. Fortunately after years of having fibro, I'm used to having my condition dismissed and rant right back. **it is not all in my mind**  Let us know how we can help.

glennie19 and elimar,

Bless you both for your quick responses. I've been feeling quite lonely and the area I live in does not seem to have support groups with us young gals in them. The cake is just an added bonus! I see I am not alone in the FM department. Just can't catch a break can we? I have Sjogrens, which is an autoimmune disease, a bit like Lupus and a Mast cell disease, my cells release chemicals when they shouldn't in response to an injury, or if they just feel like it! I also deal with peripheral edema, no one knows why except that it is an inflammatory response. That started about 12-15 years ago. Sometimes it feels like a never ending list. Chemo was pretty good for me, great for my skin! Aren't things funny? I hope whatever they use next is something easy to tolerate. It has been a busy 2 years and none of my family live anywhere near FL, so I really rely on my DH for support. I can't believe it took me until now to find this website and forum! I have learned quite a few things just in the last week from all of you wonderful, supportive people.

I am counting down the days until surgery, nine now, and wonder if I need to ask one of my doctors for something to help me sleep. I take Clonazepam 1MG but I am barely getting 4-5 hours sleep a night. Did either of you need something to help you sleep? I don't know if I am forcing myself to stay awake or my mind just can't stop going round and round. Good news, I picked up two post surgical camis so I can be more comfortable afterwards, now to find a few loose button up tops.

glennie19, just looked up Truncal Lymphedema, I had never heard of it before. I'm so sorry you have that to deal with in addition to the FM. How do you stand the summers here in FL? I am miserable almost year round. Not originally from the sunshine state. Born and raised in Seattle WA. My husband is checking out northern FL because the climate would be easier for me.

Well, I feel better and I hope I haven't dumped too much on you all at once. Thanks again to you both.

KJSUN--check out Goodwill or other second hand stores for inexpensive button front tops, I even found a couple of hospital johnnies that were comfy in bed.Another thing I found really helpful to have a little notebook and some pens so I could write down when I took pain pills, and other notes as my memory was horrible for a while.I get anesthesia brain big time, with the least amount of anesthesia.You may not have that problem, but knowing for sure when you took your last pain med is a very helpful thing when you are hurting and just want to take another pill.

Dianarose--so NOT FAIR!I swear the treatment is sometimes worse than the disease.

Hello ladies, Glad to find this group. Smack dap in the middle of the middle lol.

I am trying to make the choice  of doing more surgery to remove the remaining breast. Sigh. I had to do three biopsies already since June of last year. So far no cancer, but having a hard time dealing with stress of waiting for results. The thought of more surgery is a bit scary, but then peace of mind is also great.

If you could give your thought about why you did both this would help.

Thank you.

Hi Quilty,,,, Welcome to the middie gang,,,

3 biopsies in less than a year and the waiting for results would make me nuts!  I could totally understand have the MX for peace of mind,, and less pain and suffering!  If I were in your shoes,, I would probably strongly consider doing that.

Quilty, I hate needles, like really major needle phobia. My breasts were also always very painful, so mammos were frightening as well.

When I was first DXed, I was told I needed an MX on the "sick" breast. I asked about BMX, but the surgeon refused. When I asked about follow-up, I was told that I would be monitored closely - which meant mammo, U/S or MRI every 3-6 months and "if we see something, we can just biopsy it." A quick google revealed that people end up in situations like yours very often, and that after numerous biopsies you end up with scar tissue, which in turn can look like cancer on mammo and lead to even more biopsies.

In addition I had ILC, which is an elusive and sneaky bugger, so even with all the above there was no particular guarantee that they would be able to see any actual cancers developing.

So, I found a different surgeon who was willing to do a BMX. I miss my "on buttons" and there are days having even one of them left would be nice, but on balance I truly have no regrets, especially since we found extensive LCIS and other fun stuff (various pre-cancerous conditions) in the supposedly healthy breast once they did the path after surgery. It had not shown on ANY imaging, so obviously I made a good call there.

There are also some upsides to flatness. I can run now. Before it was always painful because of the breasts. I can adjust my bust-size as I see fit from pancake to Ds (although I usually just wear absolutely minimal foobs, which are silicone bra liners designed to bumb you up a size). It is also, according to my surgeon, much easier to detect a recurrence without a bunch of silicone and extra scars in the way.

excellent idea to go away and come home in a month. FL is lovely right now,,, not hot at all!

Thank ladies. I will wait for my May mammogram and then decide. I am 90% sure I will go for the mastectomy. It will be a 4-5 month wait but it will be worth it. I will let you know what happens. 

Thank you again

Happy 6th, Eph!

Congrats Eph...

hahahahaha,,, love the cartoon,, and what you did to hubby.