Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

Sloan: I'm in Dallas (East). 1step: I was born in Houston and all of my family (mom's side) lives there. I don't visit often. That long boring drive is a beating. ChiSandy: It is so frustrating that you have had to deal with so many issues with gloves and sleeves not fitting and now being stage 1. (hugs)

MLP - Awesome news!!!

Well, I saw my BS tonight, he's so happy I chose to do Chemo, I have a 3 month reprieve for mammos and u/s YAY!!!!!! then he'll give me his professional opinion based on that for mx or bmx. If I chose to do mx it wouldnt be til end of the year or early next year, its not urgent. Was soooo nice to hear him say go away and forget about things,keep healing and get over Chemo!!!! Feeling great!!! 7 weeks post chemo and I have eyelashes YAY!!!! I wore mascara today OMG!!! it was huge!!! A lovely balance coming with 3 days of work for 6 weeks and I'll be back on top of my game and hopefully putting it all behind me.

JCLC - Oh and eyebrows!!! are back LOL Im fair, so you cant really tell but my hair is growing fast now too. So exciting!!!

1step- let us know how you make out today with your mo. I meet with mine tomorrow for my first post op appt and so curious as to treatment.

Mel- great news! You must be so happy that you have a plan... And eyelashes;)

Molly/HH and anyone else- Monday starts our 3 day reboot! I might use Vega instead of Shakology(not sure I can get it in time). Vega protein powder can be found at whole foods and is vegan, all natural and made from plant proteins.

The 3 day reboot can help you clean up any bad habits. And people can lose a quick 5 pounds. Here's what a typical day looks like...

My friend did it differently and I'll get her meal plan later today. She made veggies sautéed in a little olive oil for dinner. She also had veggies and hummus for a dinner too.

1Step- in your pocket today. Hope it works for you and Sloan to get together in TX end of the month!

Sandy- SO sorry about the changes in your LE - this is the place for kvetching...kvetch as much as you need. I did have to laugh at your current "comfort food" choices. Oh my!

Oh, Peggy- colds are so dumb! Feel better soon!

Mlp- your juice recipe sounds good! I'm in for the reboot- Molly? no coffee- that is just sad. When not drinking almond milk, I was putting the Shakeo in coffee. Oh well. May alt apples and oranges for the fruit choices. Will see what you post from your other friend. Thanks for getting us going on this!I see the MO on the 11th and can imagine will have lost at least a few lbs- even just getting rid of some extra fluid will make me feel good!

Sloan- you are all motivating me on the FitBit steps.

Mel- yay for eyelashes and for working part-time for 6 weeks to get your strength built up and to enjoy wearing mascara

JcLc- how are you feeling?

MLP, i will do the 3 day cleanse too. Will do your vegan version :

MLP, my BS didnt automatically put in for my Oncotype. The MO did but only after I met with her and requested it, which pissed me off since it really delayed things. So ask for it tomorrow. Even if thye are pushing chemo (which mine was). Does T13 mean tumor size 13mm. You siad it was 1.3 cm which is 13mm?

mairew- my bs didn't order it either. But she emailed my mo while I was on the phone with her last night to ask if she wants it done(mo). Why ask now? The waiting in all of this is enough already! And if I have to wait longer than planned to start treatment I'll lose my mind!

But... I did some research and found that the validity of the test in pre- menopausal women is less certain. I had a hysterectomy with ovaries still intact. But am I still pre-meno?

I also read that oncotype is always ordered for post-menopausal women and that it's not generally ordered for high % ER positive, T1a tumors.

Hmmmm.

just received my path report via email and although neg nodes(she actually took 6), I have extensive LVI in multiple foci and blocks. That's a buzz kill. Maybe I should have gotten a mx? Also high nuclear grade and calcification a in two dcis biopsies.

Anyone else with extensive LVI? What did you do? What did you have for treatment?

From what I am reading, LVI present has a high rate of reoccurrence and adds to the risk of mets.

Lanena- like I said above in my note to MLP, you could alway do chemo with the idea of quitting if SEs get bad. Someone posted that their MO said you get your biggest bang for your buck in the 1st chemo, then the second, then third, etc. One doc -my second opinion- asked me, "Would you have any regrets if u didn't do chemo and the cancer came back?" That helped me with my decision. I'm glad I did 3 it in hindsight.

Thanks Sloan. I know the decision will be mine to make, and the question your MO asked you is definitely one to consider.

Mel--yay for eyelashes! I lost about half of mine, right at the outer corner of each eye. And most of my eyebrows. Eyebrow pencil takes care of that. I'm 5wks PFC and I can see a lot of short eyebrow growth. I'll probably have to wax them in the next couple weeks. Also, I noticed a lot of fuzzy stuff on my cheeks. Yikes! Shaved that mess right off.

Lanena, my Oncotype came back at 23, right square in the middle of intermediate. My MO recommended chemo due to that and my tumor's PR- status. It hasn't be all that bad. No vomiting, at least. I lost most of my hair (no shaving my legs!), had a lot of fatigue (but only missed about 5-6 days of work, at most), and some taste changes that lasted about 10 days each time. The fatigue was the worst of it because it also caused some concentration problems. So, no flying a 747 or performing brain surgery. I did have to go to the ER twice due to fever, but only had to stay once (infection, which was treated with IV antibiotics, fluids, and rest.)

Talk to your MO about it and see what he/she says. If you aren't reassured, get a second opinion. A lot of us have. I did. My first MO was flippant and silly, all but patted me on the head. He gave me a script for Arimidex and told me to come back in 6 months! The second MO took one look at my medical records and terrible family history of cancer and immediately put me on chemo. I'm going for a BMX tomorrow and full hyst sometime this summer, in fact. I'll do anything to reduce my chances of recurrence (and I am extremely vulnerable to that due to some gene mutations--foo!)

Mustlovepoodles: thanks for the insight. I will be discussing the results and implications further with my MO and second opinion MO. I want to be as informed as possible before I make a decision. And everyone's opionion on this forum is very valuable - thanks!

Good luck tomorrow, Poodles! In your pocket!

HUGS!

LaNena my oncotype score was also in the lower range of the intermediate level. I had already had surgery and had my sentinel lymph node come back positive so we were already planning on chemo and my MO basically used the score to guide us as to what chemotherapy we were doing and I ended up doing the longer of the options because I was in the intermediate level.

I think Sloan gave some good advice on beginning and seeing how you do with SE. Other than the obvious hair loss and fatigue I did pretty well.