Starting chemo February 2020

Wow, SE, glad they didn't tell me it could flip! I would have been worrying about it all the time! As if we don't have anything else to worry about!

Mine came with the rubber bracelet and a wallet card. So I just now put the wallet card in my cloth bag with all of the handouts the doctors and nurses have given me. Shall I wait five years to get rid of it? 😂 Who am I kidding, I'm such a hoarder of paperwork, I'm up to my eyeballs.

Fab4mom, I still have one drain. I think the other 2 drains were taken out a bit too early. Since I had reduction, after the 2 drains for the breasts were removed, I started leaking fluid between my sutures for my breasts! So the drains are gone but I have to wear gauze pads due to the leakage. The one drain I still have for my axilla surgery leaks a small amount and it also hurts where it is stitched but nothing that tylenol can't take care of. Normally, I would be wanting to get this drain out ASAP but since I have some experience with removing the drain too early, I'm going to be patient. Still, it's been under 30ml for 3 days now so it will probably be taken out any day now. Sorry you are having a rough time, Drains suck. Sending hugs!

Best of Luck Hray!

Sweettalker- congrats on getting your port removed!

Dysonsphere- glad to hear you’re feeling better. I had one drain removed too early and had fluid build up that they had to aspirate out on one side. Yay for eyebrows and eyelashes! And I agree, it feels good to get another thing “checked off” on my stupid cancer list (for me it’s finishing rads), but then there’s just something up next and my family and friends just don’t get that just because that ended doesn’t mean I’m done with treatment and happily moving forward. I’ve still got a decade of hormone therapy ahead of me! I’m happy to have a community here that gets it.

Fab4Mom- bummer to have to cancel plans, especially when you’ve been looking forward to it so much. We went camping in WI back in June and to be honest I had anxiety the whole weekend because no one was wearing masks inside anywhere or attempting to maintain any sort of distance at the (very packed) campground. I agree that you could probably be safe at a cabin, but I get that now the hospital would prob make you wait since WI is now on the “no go” list where you’re at. This is all so hard!

Scattered- I hope you get your surgery date soon!!

Hray- Wishing you all the best on your surgery! Will be praying for clear margins, easy recovery, and a great path report!

I’m out of surgery and feeling great. The only thing that hurts is where I got my port out. But she’s pretty sure she got all the cancer out. Won’t know for sure until path report comes back but they only had to take ONE lymph node! I was so happy about that!!

hhray - I’m glad that your surgery went well and just one node! Rest up and recover now

SE - love your angry bird face. I think your eyebrows look fine. Somehow so far I haven’t lost eyebrows or lashes. I’ve heard some people on my chemo lose them after chemo, but I’m holding out hope this is one thing I avoid.

Dysonsphere - drains definitely suck, I’m sorry to hear you had suture leaking, that sounds miserable too.

Ajminn - yes, I’ve heard WI is pretty bad about distancing. We live about 30 minutes from the IL/WI border, and in June it was really bad. Once their numbers started growing, I’ve heard that there are many more masks now.

I got my drain out today. I’m so relieved. It’s so sore, the doctor said it looked really irritated, but hopefully now that it’s out, I’ll feel a lot better.

I also went in for my regular dental cleaning, and everything looked great. No cavities. I was worried because I heard chemo can damage teeth.

Hray - great news and hopefully only more good news to come!

Fab4mom - My eyebrows thinned a little but I can already see some new stubble coming in - and I feel like my eyelashes got stubby but I never lost them. So, I'm with you - I'm thinking we got lucky on that front. I had a dream my armpit hair was growing back in and I was like, "aw... dang".

Scattered - I feel like I would know if my port flipped because the three dots by the entry are very apparent on my skin. I can see them, and I can feel them. I think mine is tied in, no one ever mentioned the possibility of it flipping (just as well - didn't need to worry about that!)

Still 2 more weeks til my surgery... I've gotten a bit used to feeling normal and now I'm not looking forward to needing people to help me again. Plus they moved 1st day of school to the day after my surgery. Gonna be an awkward week.

really sore today. My boob hurts and my abs hurt I’m assuming from surgery. Hoping it gets better over the next few days. How long did everyone’s pathology report take to come back?

hhray - I think you’ll be sore for at least a week,that’s really normal. My pathology took 3-4 days.

I went to OT appt yesterday to measure my arms. Since the Lympha procedure I had done is investigational, I will be monitored and measures for five years to see if I develop lymphedema and how well this procedure works. She also thought I could use some range of motion therapy, so I’m starting twice a week with an OT to keep my chest and shoulders moving.

In the afternoon, I went to my radiation oncologist. She kind of freaked me out with how blunt she was about my cancer. She said I had a large tumor that had attached to my skin and we need radiation to make sure that no cancer is hiding in my third level nodes or skin. She was a warm, wonderful woman, and I appreciate the honesty, but it put me back in that fearful mode. I think I knew it all along that I had such an aggressive tumor, but my other doctors don’t really paint it so honestly anyway, I’ll start rads in about 2-3 weeks. I’ll go next week for my planning.

I feel like everything I need to do is on the long side of the time frame. Surgery was 6 weeks after chemo. Radiation will be 6 weeks after lymph node dissection. Then after that I’ll be starting 10 months of Kadcyla infusions. I have such mixed feelings, I want things to get moving, but once all the treatment is done, I’m sure I’ll be wishing I was doing more of something to keep the cancer from recurring.

@Fab4Mom - did they say why they didn't want to do Kadcyla and Rads at the same time? It seems a lot of people are doing it (me included)

ajminn completed radiation. I start mine next week.

I completed Radiation (25 + 5 boosters) June 22nd. There are some radiation discussion groups here at Breastcancer.org that are valuable to compare side effects, treatment plans, etc. Very supportive people. (Like all of you!) Best Wishes