Canadians in British Columbia

ok stay tuned.... maybe I’ll create another thread and see if we can get more,

Any suggestions on where to meet? Maybe a Saturday or Sunday brunch

with any calendar luck I could be there but not on a weekend. I am in Vancouver October 14-18

ladies,

Does anyone know about bonus entitlement while on long term disability leave? I started LTD mid year, wondering whether it would make any difference in when I return to work when it comes to bonus entitlement for 2018. I.e. would there be advantages to return to work before the year end.

Thanks for any tips and suggestions

P.S. how long did you ladies have between finishing radiation and return to work?

Thanks

Anyone in the Vancouver area have a good recommendation for mastectomy bras or stores that sell them? I need a size that seems to be hard to get 34F. My local specialist shop will order the sizes I need, but it seems there is only one style of bra they can order for me and the wait is extremely long. Anyone know a local shop that has good selection, or an online shop

Hi all;

I've been trying to reintegrate into life: spending time w my boys, trying to get through my piles admin and mail I avoided while recovering. I set a date of Oct 1st to begin work. I thought that would give me lots of time to restore my energy. Funny thing though - I've been exhausted and I don't understand why. Exhausted, irritated. I think some of it is the tamoxifen?

I've been on tamoxifen since July. I've developed recent pain in my L hip, have bone scan sked'd in early Oct. Got myself a little whipped up about it last night - I'm sure it's SE from tamoxifen or something else...but was thrown into a bit of angst last night.

I would love to meet up! Look forward to it.

Very best to you all,

P

PS: the women at Nightingale were great - I didn't realize you need an appointment though...

I too love the idea of meeting up this fall. For any of you thinking about going back to work after chemo and radiation, my advice is to give yourself lots of time to recover. I thought I would bounce back quickly and was surprised at how little energy I had. I finished chemo and rads in April 2014 and thought I would be ready to got back to work in the fall. Nope. I went back in March 2015 and should have waited until May. Also if you can do a return transition and a work hardening program, do it. What you think you can do and what you actually can do are two different things. When you go back to work, people will expect you to be back to “normal”....they won’t see how much effort and energy it takes for you to get through the day.

Moth, I am so impressed with your determination to get this done. You sound good so I guess you are managing it all. I start to panic about not having ready made meals and I am rarely further than my recliner so it's silly. I love that your school has backup meals for you. I am sure you will do well.

Glad rads are done and sounds like energy not bad.

I will try to do the get together but I have social phobia. Most don't believe that since I am so combative online. I do want to meet you women and will play it by ear.

Enjoy this perfect weather everyone. xo

NVDobie - I'm not going to be taking tamoxifen; I'm so weakly ER+ that most of the consensus is that there is no evidence it would do any good so in consult with the MO, we decided against it.

BUT, while we were considering it my MO said we'd need a baseline bone scan. It's called a DEXA scan, super easy, fast, and very low xray radiation. So low that the tech doesn't leave the room and you don't get garbed in lead aprons.

Honestly, I'd get your MO or GP to order it. Chemo can cause osteoporosis - cyclophosphamide for sure, not certain about the other ones. For sure you qualify for it as a breast cancer patient and esp if taking hormonal therapy.

Hi, moth

Thanks for the tip. Will ask my MO at next appointment. Tamoxifen is said to be bone friendly, MO actually said it may make my chemo induced rheumatism better.

I am on the alert for other more serious side effect from Tamoxifen tho. So will do ultrasound every 6 months to check on Uterus and ovary.

A friend of mine is taking Prolia to treat the bone loss from AI. it is not covered by MSP, some insurance coveres 50%. its an injection every 6 months. But Prolia does have its own risk, although rare, some side effect is severe. And once you stop, the bone declines again.

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/120/topic...

here is an thread on Prolia.

moth

Are you open to complementary therapy? Have you heard of Moxibustion ? One of the benefits is boost WBC. Less invasive than Acupuncture

I do it at home myself throughout the treatments, still doing it now as part of maintence routine.

Also maybe check out dry Logan fruit and dry Chinese dates both are food items you can find at Chinese supermarket but also widely used as Medicinal purposes.Both help in boosting blood creation.

I am an student of Chinese medicine at night. :-)

Hello everyone, I went to see my PS today. I'm getting a BMX with reconstruction later this month. PS wants me to make a decision on tissue expander vs direct to implant by Friday! I'm doing some research now but thought I'd see if anyone local has had to make that decision and can offer any insights. Thank you!

Hi Van2018;

I had a R MX with a TE placement on May 1st at MSJ. I've been waiting for a second surgery date, none yet. (My original PS moved in Aug to the Maritimes because he couldn't afford to buy a house!).

I am pleased with the team I had, my healing has been great - just waiting on a 2nd stage surgery date. I guess that's the drawback: it extends the process physically and psychologically. The TE is fine, some discomfort.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions.

NVDobie - I have clips. They're just little markers left to indicate the edges of where the surgeon operated. I don't think all surgeons do it but mine did. I have clips on the lumpectomy site and in my R breast, after they did the stereotactic biopsy, they placed a clip in as a marker as well so in future we know where they were looking at wonky tissue. They're non reactive, safe to have MRI after etc.

hth!

Hi, moth, runor

Thanks for sharing the info on clips. Surgeon didnt mention anything. Maybe she should given she did put some foreign body in to my boobs. Well. Not much i could now.

I read up on line, it sounds like a old school approach and supposedly can be useful for guiding radiation locations.

Hope everyone is doing well.