Sonoma County sisters out there?

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mircann
mircann Member Posts: 45
edited April 2015 in IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)

Hi,

I am newly diagnosed invasive cancer and DCIS in left breast and have surgery in 4 days. Was wondering if there are any newly diagnosed or survivors out there from Sonoma county , California. Im having a hard time connecting with a mentor and the support groups are at bad times for me..love to talk with anyone close by! If theres women out there "hi" and lets talk and support each othe! :;)

Ann

 

 

 

 


 

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  • Meadow
    Meadow Member Posts: 2,007
    edited April 2015

    mircann, I am not in that part of the country, but I am bumping your question to the top of the active threads where more people may see it. I hope you get responses from some "neighbors" soon. Welcome to BCO, it has been a wonderful place for me, I hope you find it that way too. Good luck with your upcoming surgery, there should be a thread here for women who were diagnosed the same month and surgery the same month, I encourage you to join it. I joined my chemo group, Sept 2013, and we all became a real sisterhood, and can support each other as no one else as we went thru it together! Have you had a chance to explore around the website? There is a wealth of information and support here. My best to you of course, Meadow

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  • GaGa60
    GaGa60 Member Posts: 4
    edited April 2015

    I live in Marin County Tiburon, my twin sister lives in Petaluma. I had my bilateral mastectomy's on February 24 and immediate reconstructive surgery with tissue expander's done at the same time. At Marin General Hospital. I found that the recovery from the mastectomies was really not as bad as a lot of the things that I had read I was thinking that I wouldn't be able to get out of bed without assistance or move my arms and I found that none of that was really true. I was told not to raise my arms up so I tried not to do that although I was able to move my arms without much pain and I did make sure that I exercise them so that I did not have any stiffness in either arm. I found that I could use both my arms shoulders within two weeks and really did not have any stiffness. Once my tissue expander's were starting to be filled this is when I started to have some problems . I have to say that anybody who tells you that this is just a little bit of discomfort is not been truthful I have found them to be quite a bit of discomfort and they're constantly poking my skin and at night trying to find a comfortable position to sleep has not been easy. There is not a moment of the day that I'm not feeling these expanders and the discomfort that they cause me however I have read and I am hopeful that once expansionist done in the permanent implants are put in all the discomfort goes away. I feel like every time solution is put in the expanders had it feels like it is expanding my armpits but I have read that this is quite common. All in all it hasn't been horrible, and actually after the first two weeks I was really pretty much back to my normal routine and did not have a lot of discomfort from just the mastectomies . If you would like to contact me it started dialogue I would be most happy to do that, good luck to you God bless gaga

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  • Meadow
    Meadow Member Posts: 2,007
    edited April 2015

    Gaga, I am so glad recovery is going so well for you. Makes me very happy. I hope you too find this website to be a wonderful resource. As I suggested to Mircann, I hope you look up threads that pertain to you and your chemo group, if that applies, and your surgery month group, if there isnt one you can start one and be the first, others will join. Hugs to you


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  • mircann
    mircann Member Posts: 45
    edited April 2015

    Hi Ga Ga,

    Did you know Sonoma and Marin county have the highest breast cancer rates in the whole state?...If I ever knew that I never would of moved here :- O     I have been stunned that I got this as I have no family on either mom or dads family that have it...ugh

    But now that I got it..gotta deal with it...what stage are you? do you have to do chemo or radiation? Im still waiting for my surgery pathology report so I don't have a trx plan yet. Im postponing reconstruction as I could barely deal with the shock of the diagnosis, so I had no patience or wear- with- all to start meeting with a plastic surgeon about what I wanted my breast to look like once it was gone...

    So Im still not even sure what I want, Im thinking a flap as Id rather have my own skin, but Im hoping my MD can take my inner thigh for this...but then can they take some off the other one so they still match lol...? I heard there is such a thing TUG...but the ordeal of how long the surgery and recovery is wow..so long.  I heard 8 hour surgery and 4-6 wks recovery time. How long was your recovery after your reconstruction surgery?
    Meadow- Thanks for bumping up my thread!

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  • Suladog
    Suladog Member Posts: 952
    edited April 2015

    hi there, I'm in the town of Sonoma. Just finished my 12 wks of taxol and herceptin. Now I'm just on herceptin once every three weeks for the next 9 mos. I had triple negative BC 25 yrs ago in my 30's chemo etc given a poor prognosis , yet here I am.

    This time around I'm Her2+ and ER positive. I have a very small tumor only 7 mm, no nodal involvement. The only thing that has me nervous this time around is doing hormonal therapy as I hear nothing but horror stories on these boards. I keep telling myself that can't be what happens to everyone, my sis in law has had no problems with it, but I have to say it worries me.

    I had all my surgery etc done at UCSF, I'm doing my treatments in Santa Rosa w/ my oncologist who works with UCSF as it's easier and faster to get there from Sonoma.

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  • Meadow
    Meadow Member Posts: 2,007
    edited April 2015

    you are welcome!


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