Starting Chemo March 2015

Mo- so very sorry about your fall! Very scary. Glad everything checked out though and hope the bruises heal soon. Both the ones you can see and the ones on your ego!

Amber- yay to a clean house! That's great! Sending you a hug right now. 💞 Hope each day is a tiny step in the right direction.

Bekah- so glad you are coming to the end of this long year+ of tx. I will be thinking of you on the 28th. Be well.

Phalia, I agree with Katy. My nausea usually hit on day 5-6. Be sure to take your meds at the first sign of trouble. I used sublingual Zofran and an extra infusion of Emend to help. (Those puke meds can cause constipation, so I'd recommend having something on hand to take like Senekot. Don't let yourself go more than 48 hours without a BM.) Finally, the steroids can cause insomnia. You can ask your MO for something if you aren't getting quality sleep.

Carrie, my sternum hurts still post-exchange, but PT thinks mine is due to soft tissue damage from rads. You may want to consider a PT consult. I'm amazed at what a difference it has made for me. I've been using kinesiotape and Rock Tapeto help with the pain and to apply a gentle stretch. You may want to ask your surgeon if you are allowed to try that. (Here's a pic of my taping. It's one long piece that splits into 3 little parts at the top and bottom.)

Final Herceptin today! MO quoted a 20% chance or recurrence, stated about 90% happen within the five years and about 85% within three years. He stated counting time out from last chemo which would be July. Even though 20% sounded high at least I can focus on getting three years then five years without recurrence. After that he is stating we could call it a "cure"  Has anyone else been given similar stats? Mine was Stage 2A 75%HERpos and 5%PR, 20%ER  He also agreed the benefit of taking the Arimidex probably wouldn't outweigh the risks to my bones and other SE. That made me feel ok about my decision.

Sending good wishes to all of you who are struggling. It would be so nice if we could be in the same literal community. I'm not very articulate in giving inspirational posts but I do love to help people and would if I could:)

DD, I'm not very good and eloquent at writing uplifting messages either. I do enjoy our group and reading here helps me keep my sanity.

At my last Herceptin I asked my MO what my chance od recurrence was and he told me that I was "90-95% cured". I don't remember my ER/PR percentages exactly. I think ER was around 35-40% and I'mstrongly HER2+++.

Did you find out more about Mona Lisa procedure?

DD, so far I asked my PCP and she's never heard of it. She told me not to do anything until she looks into it. I really don't think she was planning on looking into it.

I also asked my urologist, he hasn't heard of it either and said he couldn't imagine how burning one's vagina could be good.

I'll ask my gynecologist next time I see him, but I suspect I'll get a similar answer.

Congrats Diane!! I can't wait to be done with all of this! So if you have a 20% chance of reoccurrence then you have an 80% chance that the cancer will NOT reoccur. I like those odds a little better!!

Congratulations Diane!

I'm trying to stay out of a bad place. I'm getting nervous about Friday's surgery and I've got a weird feeling on my implant side & I wish I had just had them both off and didn't do the recon. I don't want to have to be worrying and palpating. I want all of it to go away.

I feel for you, Eileen. You will get through this.

I will be thinking of you, Eileen.

Thinking of you Eileen...in your pocket too!

PB

A little spring cheer for my sistas!

Happy Birthday Sloth! What is this, 25th?! Here's to a great year and good times.

BB-I've been thinking about the whole laser therapy for the vaginal wall and remembering when I got laser treatment for my eyes back in 1999. It wasn't covered by insurance and now it's common place. Maybe this will be the same?? My GYN went from "never heard of it" to two months later stating she wouldn't rule it out and she had one patient having positive results. The money is the risky part for me and I'm sure many women. I've had to just accept the "intimate" side of my life is pretty well over..just want to be more comfortable. Sounds depressing but I've come to terms with it mostly. Keep me posted if you learn anything new.

Carrie-I'm with you on the 80% chance of no recurrence! Sounds so much better that way and I think I can handle anything that comes my way after the experiences of this past year:)

Katy-Can count on you for comfort visualizations!!

Eileen-I've got my fingers and toes crossed for you..keep us posted. You've got this!

Thank you ladies for sharing in my happiness for finishing Herceptin and a helleva year! You are the silver lining to this sucky year. Nobody understand like you ladies do.

Early Birthday wishes Linda! Wishing you a wonderful year ahead. Your strength and humor has helped me more than I can fully express. Thank you. xo