2010 Sisters

I was 5 years out in...was it May or June? I never in the wide world thought I'd forget that exact date, but I have!! My oncologist and I discussed quitting anastrozole or continuing, and she gave me pretty much the same info I've read here, and said it was my decision. So I'm stopping to see how I feel off it, but am so surprised to find I'm nervous about quitting! Took the last one today, and I'll see her again in October. Still on a twice a year schedule with her, but now mammos only once a year, which is nice. They always freak me out a bit. Always diagnostic mammos and usually followed by ultrasound. Such a relief to walk out of there free for another year!!

@BarbaraA, I am really sorry to read your news! Not fair, but it sounds as if the outlook is still good. Yay! Smack that thing down. Your spunk and positive attitude will go a long way!!

Congrats on your 5 year mark lago, but my gosh yours was a rough journey! You put me to shame with your dates. Awesome=recalling those precise dates. Tough=that there are so many dates to remember. You did it and are on the other side, but isn't it great you didn't know the exact journey from the get go? Bit by bit is easier to take. I too knew before my biopsy. The look on the radiologist's face when he told me after that ultrasound not to delay getting it seen to left zero doubt in my mind what this was.

I'm having second thoughts about not taking my anastrozole in the morning. <Insert chicken emoticon>!!

Just joining in the "checking in". Over the 5 yr. hump BUT have to tack on another 5 yrs of Tamoxifen due the Grade 3 aggressiveness + high Onoctype DX breast score. It's all in God's hands.....He will not take anyone of us one minute sooner or later than what is in his plan.

It is with great sorrow that I must tell you that Amy Jo (Elisimo) passed today at 11. My heart is broken.

checking in on behalf of my wife, 5 years NED today.

Yay imatthew!

Last Saturday I was in NYC to meet mumorange (from Australia) and survivorwoman (lives in NYC) to celebrate 5 years. I'll update this post in a few days with photos. We had an amazing time! We celebrated life.

Hi Sherryc from one Texan to another. Sorry about the se with Tamo. I am entering my sixth year while trying to ignore the minor se but have run into a huge one as of late. My hair is starting to fall out again. :-( Everytime I run the sweeper I have to clean the beater bar & get a small handful of MY hair. It is so depressing. At this rate, by the time I finish 10yrs. I will be bald again. The list is not as active as in the beginning but if anyone has any suggestion or input I would really appreciate hearing it. Wondering if Evening Primrose Oil (without estrogen) or Saw Palmetto would help. Biotin 5000mcg didn't seem to do a thing for me in the beginning after chemo.

Hope you are enjoying the grandkids and the nice MILD weather.

Hey Lago!!!......glad to know you are still around & active on the boards. I have a couple that I have sent via email but rarely post. I like your short hair....it really looks good on you. Yes, 10yrs for me since mine was a grade 3. It's a real bummer. After Herceptin my hair grew back in but in different stages/kinds. Never did get what I had before and a whole lot less. I tried the Minoxidil but couldn't stand the way it made my hair feel.......yucky but then maybe I just didn't do it correctly.

How have you been doing?? My breast surgeon screwed up my second mastectomy so I never got recon. :-( Oh well, at my age it doesn't matter anymore. I am going to go to my PCP to have a full thyroid panel done to see if that is the cause of this excessive hair loss. So much has happened since we last touched base. Good to hear from you. Hope all is well.

HI Norma Jean--I ended up having to stop the Aromosin. AFter about 3 months one night I got in the bath tub and could not get out. Had to get on my hands and knees an crawl out. I ended up having my ovaries removed and stopping all meds. I take a DIM supplement which I was taking one a day now a take two a day. GYNO said it was a good thing I had my ovaries removed. One was completely encapsulated in scar tissue and he really wondered why I had not already had problems with pain, the other one looked great. So now I am no longer on any meds. Kinda scary since they wanted 10 years out of me but my quality of life just meant more to me. In my heart of heats I really feel I will never have breast cancer again so I am really good with stopping meds

Lago I really like your short hair too. I went shorter a couple of years ago and love it.

Lago....yes I realize everything you said is correct but this wan't a gradual thing. Sharing your mother's point of view was hilarious, that must be where you got your sense of humor.

Sherry, I'm sorry you had to suffer with the Aromasin. Honestly, I feel my quality of life is in the toilet. BUT, with a positive ER and HERS2 along with a Grade 3 I'm not comfortable discontinuing just yet. What is DIM supplement & what is it's purpose? My bio doesn't reflect it but when I had the second mastectomy I also had a hysterectomy, of course as Lago eluded to, the same BS screwed up (I believe intentionally) and I came out with a simple mastectomy instead of another skin sparing like the effect breast was done. Now it's just water under the bridge. I guess that's why this hair thing is driving me nuts.........at least leave me something.

Norma Jean it is a supplement that is like taking lot's of crucifix vegetables. It is suppose to help convert bad estrogen into good estrogen. My gyno really believes in in, and I figure it can't hurt anything by taking it.

Norma Jean I order mine from Allstarhealth.com that is the cheapest I could find. I get the one made by Olympian Labs, Inc. DIM-150mg. I take one in the AM and one in the PM. My husband also takes them. He gets testosterone replacment and his doctor told him that a certain amount of testoterone will turn into estrogen and that in men the bad estrogen causes man boobs so this will help turn the estrogen into good estrogen. Same concept for us bad estrogen causes breast cancer good estrogen helps fight breast cancer. I was taking one a day when I was on tamoxifen and then on Aromosin but when I got off of those and had my ovaries removed my gyno wanted me to take two a day.

Checking in after a long absence.  I am a surviving 2010 Sister.  My problem is living with the long term effects of chemo.  

Barbara it is good to hear from you I have not been on here in years either but this message popped up in my email. I have thought about you often. Glad you are doing well fighting this cancer. Hugs to you. I did take my meds for 4 1/2 years but the side effects were just too bad they wanted me to take it for 10 years. So my onco and gyno decided 4 1/2 was long enough (I needed my quality of life back) and took my ovaries out. So far so good. Have had way less hot flashes than with the drugs.

I know what you mean. When I was going through my surgeries in 2013 and my last in 2015 I got on some of the surgical threads. I thought I could be of assistance with some of what I had been through. I had some real challenges with my reconstruction and wrote praises about my doctor. I was accused of working for my doctor because I was too far out from diagnoses. I told them how mean I thought they were and I that I would not return to the thread. I actually believed my surgeon was amazing because he was able to deal with some real challenges and make it come out good. You are right they have too much time on their hands. I have moved to a small town in west Texas to be closer to my son and family (grandkids) and I work 4 days a week at a oil well service company and am busy doing ministry work. I don't have time for hate. LOL