Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

Peggy - the price I quoted on Amazon was for the "thinning hair" version. With any luck the product you got will do the trick

Molly, that's just what the therapist recommended last night: coconut oil. She said that it's good, but would alternate it with a specific moisturizer product. She said that her preferred non-estrogen product is hyalogen. (You didn't type it out either and just used v. I like that abbreviation. ;-) )

Moondust, bummer on the Dexascan. With all that you are doing right for your bones, don't you wonder if genetics plays a big role? I also recall reading that it is important what you did in your teens and 20s, maybe more so than what you do now. I do know that I'm not doing a lot of the things you are and haven't been other than weightbearing exercises (lifting 200 lb DH for 4 years). I don't take calcium but I do take 3000 units Vit D3. And I'm also a definite sun person. I also am taking Fosamax (with no issues from it or Arimidex other than the thinning hair which I can't totally blame on it). I will let you know if my new shampoo helps.

And that is crap about the lost everything between your MO and UCSF. I'd have been as happy as I know you are. NOT! Hopefully it can all get straightened out ASAP and get you in. Fingers crossed!

HUGS!

IamMags, Thanks for passing that along. From what little I understand, chemo hair loss is vastly different from that we get as we age (lack of estrogen? genetics?) and from our AIs (lack of estrogen? genetics?). I'm not usually into things like that comb. I just googled the Hair Max and my lower jaw hit the floor and bounced. Probably not going to happen. I would guess I'm not desperate. But interesting suggestions and it is nice to know there are a lot of options out there.

HUGS!

Peggy,

Go to Sally Beauty Supply, they have their own version Nutri-Ox which is much more reasonable.  I used it for a few months after chemo.  It made my scalp feel tingly and my hair did grow  back quite nicely.  Good Luck, MJS

melancholy, CONGRATS on your onco score!!!!!! Katz, hope yours is good!!!! I got great news today!!!! I'm HALF way through my rads!!!! I only have to do 20 with 5 of them boosts!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!

Thanks, Molly and Peggy. First I will try to get a better Dexascan score by changing my supplements. If that doesn't work I will look into something like Prolia, although I'm not 100% sold on the benefits vs side effects. I don't even know what my blood Vitamin D level is, so I need to start by finding that out.

LG, hooray for reaching the halfway point with rads!! You can see the light at the end of the tunnel now!

6 months pfc check up today ladies. All is well. I have a mammogram in three weeks to get a baseline, otherwise, he says it appears normal, the swelling is normal for post radiation and back to regular physical exercise. Got me a new script for Tamoxifen too.

Alice, my PCP explained to me that one reason I'm osteopenic (and that was pre-AI) was the meds I must take. Triamcinolone-nystatin (the ointment I was prescribed to relieve a yeast inflammation in the fold of my left breast even pre-bc) and the triamcinolone in Nasacort (which I must snort BID to keep my postnasal drip away and "ease the wheeze") leaches calcium from the bones. And proton pump inhibitors, aka PPIs (Prilosec, Nexium, Protonix, Prevacid & Dexilant), which I must take for GERD (and to prevent Barrett's esophagitis, which is pre-cancerous) inhibit the secretion of sufficient stomach acid to enable one to absorb the elemental calcium in food and calcium carbonate (TUMS, Os-Cal, Caltrate) and to a lesser extent calcium phosphate--so it doesn't get to the bones. Hence the need for Calcium citrate instead. You might ask your MO, GYN, endocrinologist or PCP whether any of your meds are keeping your bones from absorbing enough calcium.

Interesting how different surgeons & cancer centers differ in their approach to bc treatments. Was leafing through the bc patient handbook my friend was given today (I was only given a cardboard folder, handouts and a link to download more stuff from my cancer center's site), and its advice was that "very large pendulous breasts" are a contraindication for lumpectomy because of adverse effects of radiation. (I suspect, though, that it was published before any results--even pre-release "bootleg" ones such as what my RO told me--of external APBI trials in older women with small Stage IA Luminal A tumors--were known. I think it assumes whole-breast radiation, which could be problematic for a supersize breast, especially in women with lung problems and/or the left breast, with the area over the heart in the irradiation field. I am now wondering if the next surgery I should consider is neither cataract nor total hip replacement but rather bilateral reduction. (I would, of course, wait to see what size my R breast finally is once the radiation swelling and seroma totally subside--the fibrosis is just about gone, and the bulge over the incision is also barely discernible).

Also, apparently my surgeon is an outlier in that she doesn't think I need to follow up with a mammo and office visit (with her NP) until Aug., the one-year anniversary of that telltale screening mammo that started my bc ball rolling. 3-6 months is the norm. And my RO has released me permanently. Only my MO wants to see me every 6 mo.

One thing is for sure: if I do get either a local recurrence or new primary in my right breast--precluding lx because there's bound to be some overlap of radiation field with the part already irradiated--along with a mx & immediate flap recon (or prosthesis) on the right I will opt for a reduction on the left--to a DD or even a D so that I would be able to buy mx camis, bras and/or prostheses, which don't come any larger than that. Bob says he will stand by whatever decision I make--but I should work first on shedding some of my spare tire for balance and metabolic health. (Right now, it's only my rack that keeps me from seeing my toes--I'd like to make sure that my gut doesn't do the same).

My friend is going to be released tomorrow--and it looks like with only the L drain in place. The R one has stopped draining and will be pulled. Social Services. is having trouble trying to find Meals on Wheels which can deliver way out in Minooka--but she's considering trying Blue Apron or another pre-measured DIY meal delivery service. She's willing to try cooking--back when she was on Seattle Sutton, the meals were so bland she found herself jazzing them up with extra herbs, spices and veggies. Medicare will provide daily nurse visits for wound care, but she isn't sure she can get--or even wants--in-home care. She's handling her arm mobility exercises like a champ!

Peachy- thanks for sharing what you learned and thanks to Molly for the "v" abbreviation.

MollieFish good news!

Sandy, glad to hear the news on your friend.

HUGS!

Lovinggrouches - that is great news

Hey, Moondust- my doc said go with 5000iu of vit D, daily- and, sometimes, I take more....sort of depends on how much comes out of the bottle.

Fitmom, if your MO says you have to make the decision, then I would ask for a second opinion at a big university. We are not qualified to make medical decisions that will affect the entire rest of our lives! And it is not fair for a doctor to tell you that you must decide. The doctor needs to give an opinion one way or the other! If your doctor will not give you a firm opinion, then you definitely need a second opinion.

I am in a similar situation with an Onco score of 26. (Anyone who already knows my story and its details, please skip this!). At the meeting with my MO, she wanted me to decide and I said I would skip chemo. But as I moved on to radiation I changed my mind and strongly felt I needed to have chemo. It was because of all the researching I continued to do, which led me to see that PR- cancer is a much greater recurrence risk than strongly PR+ cancer. My ER% is 80, which is also lower ER than many tumors. Both of those factors influence how well the drugs like tamoxifen or arimidex will work to keep cancer from growing. I am Grade 1 with 0 nodes positive, and I still want to have chemo. After I finished radiation I met with my MO and she told me she did not want to give me chemo. She is sending me out for a second opinion before she will agree to it. When I was first diagnosed I really really did not want chemo. It was too scary. But now I know I'll make it through and it will reduce my recurrence risk. If I have a recurrence, at least I will know I did everything possible to prevent it.

Please keep us posted about what your MO says. My guess is that considering your age, grade, one positive node and PR-, your MO will recommend chemo.

Fitmom3 - Welcome to the site. This particular thread has answered so many of my questions and offered great suggestions. Certainly waiting for all the pieces of your pathology required to determine a finaltreatment plan can be hard. You have friends here who have been down the same path.