MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

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  • Dianarose
    Dianarose Member Posts: 2,407
    edited October 2016

    Doc at Lahey said surgery would be far to dangerous. Said chemo like the other doc did yesterday. I have an appointment with a breast cancer oncologist Wednesday morning. Having all my records sent to her. She is associated with our big hospital here. I need to have all my doctors in the same area especially when something happens on the dam weekends which it always does. I am mentally toast! My stomach bothers me most. I can feel it moving like contractions to rid the food. Will be so happy if that resolves. I have a high pain tolerance so I would say it's very uncomfortable verses painful plus I know it's not normal.

    Loral- thanks for all your research. If there comes a time that I do need surgery I would definitely go to one of them

  • Loral
    Loral Member Posts: 932
    edited October 2016

    Diana..I hope you get the answers you need from the breast cancer oncologist on Wednesday..Good Luck!

  • Eph3_12
    Eph3_12 Member Posts: 4,781
    edited October 2016

    E-beautiful picture.

    Dianarose-how sad I am for you and anxious on your behalf. Please keep posting to let us know what is happening. I am a pray-er so know that I am~

    To the new gal, sorry I didn't write down your name and I can't scroll back pages when I am in the reply section. I hope that you will review threads for people getting ready to undergo treatments in the same time frame as you, plus check this thread out too. There is some pretty funny stuff back in the day. Laughter helps so much, in so many situations.

  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited October 2016

    Wow Elimar - great picture in the header. Thanks.

  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2016

    MT, I put that pic up because it is supposed to be Maine (or some New England place, at least) because I am thinking of Dianarose. As usual, it is just an image I found online. You don't want to see the actual trees I am forced to view each day. They aren't pretty colors. They have ugly Fall webworms on them and look disgusting. Nature's great but why does it have to have so many nasty bugs?

  • Dianarose
    Dianarose Member Posts: 2,407
    edited October 2016

    El- it's beautiful here right now

  • Dianarose
    Dianarose Member Posts: 2,407
    edited October 2016

    imageOur neighborhood

  • Dianarose
    Dianarose Member Posts: 2,407
    edited October 2016

    where did everyone go? Having fun I hope 🤗

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited October 2016

    Waiting for updates from you!!! Holding our breaths...how are you doing?

  • Dianarose
    Dianarose Member Posts: 2,407
    edited October 2016

    Been trying to wrap my head around everything. Monday I go in for my port and once that's in they will flip me over and change out the naphostomy tube. Wednesday I start chemo, Taxol. Still need to see a gynecologist oncologist for the vaginal lumps. Got my hair cut even shorter today in a pixie. My tumor marker was 175.1 which is the highest since I've had them done

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited October 2016

    I've seen here on BCO tumour markers in the 3,000 range! Hang in there, sweetie...

  • Lita57
    Lita57 Member Posts: 2,437
    edited October 2016

    Because of my mets to both bone and multiple organs, mine are way up in the high thousands. My MO won't even measure them anymore. She said it's pointless and it will just depress me. She prefers to go by what my scans say.

    Take care, Lita


  • Dianarose
    Dianarose Member Posts: 2,407
    edited October 2016

    wow, those are high markers! Sorry😓 Went and bought a wig today. Red and curly like my own hair.

    Is anyone on Letrozole? I have been on it for three weeks and have such bad body aches.

    Hope everyone is having a great weekend

  • Eph3_12
    Eph3_12 Member Posts: 4,781
    edited October 2016

    Dianarose, I was on Letrozole for 5 yrs. I had bad aches and pains for the 1st couple months and then it evened out some. I would have flares, but for the most part, I sailed through it. Not that I'd want to do it again, mind you. Good luck my friend.

    I have battened down the hatches here at home. Waiting for the storm of the century to hit although I think northern Oregon and southern Washington will be hammered more than us (sorry E~just want you all to know I am safe!

  • Lita57
    Lita57 Member Posts: 2,437
    edited October 2016

    Dianarose and Eph...MO will probably put me on Letrozole or one of the other AI's eventually. Not looking forward to the aches and pains cuz I already got plenty of those already. If she puts me on 'em in December, I'll ask her to wait until AFTER the holidays. I'd like to be able to put up a tree this year. Couldn't do it last year because of home remodeling, and couldn't do it the year before because my former company relocated and I was working lots of OT, and the year before that we got a new rescue dog.......so this year I AM getting a Christmas tree. No more excuses!

    Lita


  • Lita57
    Lita57 Member Posts: 2,437
    edited October 2016

    Here's the picture they took of me at Washington Hospital's Think Pink event on Thurs., 10/13. Not a bad pic considering I was really feeling like crap...

    image

    Have a great weekend,

    Lita


  • biscuits
    biscuits Member Posts: 3,304
    edited October 2016

    You would never know that you were feeling poorly...with that smile, you look beautiful! What a great picture

  • Lita57
    Lita57 Member Posts: 2,437
    edited October 2016
  • Eph3_12
    Eph3_12 Member Posts: 4,781
    edited October 2016

    Very nice Lita.

    Not everyone suffers on Letrozole so don't go into it being frightened. I was scared; I had been reading on a Femara forum and the people who posted there were mostly folks that were having major trouble. Those of us who were just sort of riding the curve didn't post as much, but I did some, because I wanted people coming on to know it wasn't all terrible, horrible, awful! I think grandma used to say, "Don't borrow trouble"..never really knew what that meant when I was a kid, but I do now!

  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2016

    Lita57, I agree with biscuits...hard to tell you feel crappy when you look so pretty with your pink boa and million dollar smile.

    Dianarose, Hope you can adjust to the Letrozole like Eph did. Don't forget to get yourself a cute hat or two (for those days when you "flip your wig.")

    Sorry, there was just no way I could pass that one up but, seriously, with Winter coming a soft, warm hat would also come in handy and I have been seeing some cool looking ones lately.

  • Eph3_12
    Eph3_12 Member Posts: 4,781
    edited October 2016

    "Winter is coming!"

  • NativeMainer
    NativeMainer Member Posts: 10,462
    edited October 2016

    Wow, Lita! Great pic!


  • sheila888
    sheila888 Member Posts: 25,634
    edited October 2016

    Femara after 1st diagnosis = No side effects

    Letrazole (generic femara) after second diagnosis

    i'm on it for almost 6 months = No SE


  • Lita57
    Lita57 Member Posts: 2,437
    edited October 2016
  • Dianarose
    Dianarose Member Posts: 2,407
    edited October 2016

    Lita- stunning ❤️️

    Eph- hate winter 🌬

  • Eph3_12
    Eph3_12 Member Posts: 4,781
    edited October 2016

    I was quoting "Game of Thrones". Winter is my least favorite also!

  • Lita57
    Lita57 Member Posts: 2,437
    edited October 2016

    An old friend of mine just wrote me back and said she didn't have any SEs on Tamoxifen or Arimidex...so I'm keeping my fingers crossed .

    Lita


  • Dianarose
    Dianarose Member Posts: 2,407
    edited October 2016

    For those who have had ports do they hurt and do you have to flush them out every day

  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited October 2016

    DianaRose - I LOVED my port and didn't want to get it removed even after chemo was over. It was a snap going in. Someone had told me to draw a line w/magic marker on my chest outlining my bra strap so the surgeon wouldn't put it right under that. Hooray. It didn't show with my clothes and never gave me a minute of trouble. The port was installed, they left the "dangles" overnight and I started chemo the next day. The protocol at my med center is to flush every 6-8 weeks, so of course no flushing was necessary while I was in chemo every 3 weeks. I wanted to keep it for blood draws due to lymphadema and for all the contrast medium that goes in for CT & PET scans & MRIs. I had my port installed February 2013, finished chemo December 2013 & finished Herceptin in the spring of 2014. I just finally had the port removed July 2016. Be sure you get a 'smart port' or 'power port' so they can use it for everything.

    If they are talking about a pic line for you, I believe those do have to be flushed & cleaned every day.

    Edited to add - a port is installed with general anesthesia, where I believe a Pic Line can be installed with a local - but not sure.

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited October 2016

    For anyone with AI pains, take Loratidine - the active ingredient in Claritin. I get mine in Walmart and just take the daily dose on the box.

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