Got Cancer? AGAIN????

Hi Diane, that really is crummy you've had c come back and had to go thru a left mastectomy.
We've fought it off before so we'll just do it again.
It certainly is a shock to hear it's back.
Best wishes

Well ....

I DO have cancer again for the 3rd time, but not Breast... this is NEW cancer I am told, I have stage 1 Lung Cancer.. BIG shock... I thought it was stage IV Breast, But I guess its better to have the Lung Cancer, instead of stage IV breast. I am scheduled for Lung surgery in 2 weeks..... I dont know anything about LUng Cancer, I never smoked..Dr thinks its from 2nd hand smoke from my parents, My Mom died from lung cancer in 1993, she always smoked around me. closed car. in the house. She had an ashtray in every room. She smoked about 3-4 packs a day.....I will always keep you ladies in my prayers and in my thoughts, DONT GIVE UP

first dx i was 39  stage 1 no node involvment triple negative tumor

had lumpectomy and radiation

10 YEARS LATER !  thought i was in the clear after 5

redx same breast this time stage 3b * (and thats with yearly mammos and sonos! ) mammo did not pick it up both times due to dense breasts- should have been doing MRI  

had adjunct chemo and dbl mast and reconstruction- NED for 1 yr

never dreamed of having bc  nevermind having it twice  it was quite a shock since i had perfect mammo and sono the year before - i believe it was there at that point but becos of dense breast tissue would only have been picked up by mri

well now dont have to worry about dense breast tissue since i have NO breast tissue but very happy with my reconstruction and i loved all my drs at memorial sloan kettering in nyc 

I had DCIS in 1998, age 56, mastectomy with A(bad) saline implant reconstruction after three lumpectomies did not result in clear margins, no other treatment.  Then in 2004 I had a second primary IDC in the other breast, 1.4 cm, node-negative, Pr+, at age 62.  I  had lumpectomy, radiation, turned down chemo with consent of my oncologist, and am on year 4 of Arimidex.  I had the usual aches and pains, carpal tunnel, dry skin everywhere, thinning hair, short-term memory loss... but nothing I can't live with and so far am doing fine.  I take Fosamax and extra Vitamin D and calcium, and my bone scans are normal.  I still have checkups with all my different specialists every 4 or 6 months, so there's someone poking at my breasts every few months, and a mammogram twice a year.  I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far so good.  I wish everyone well -- haven't posted for years, but I still read, usually in the middle of the night when I wake up and the Demons are lurking.

1999  age 41...lcis in left breast

2000 age 42.... benign lump.. started tamoxifin (left breast)

2001 age 43.....idc....very small.. lumpectomy/w rads...doc takes me off tam.  said maybe it caused my cancer, as a small cancer should not have broken through

2007.... age 49... dcis and small microinvasion...(left breast)..  bilateral mast... no other meds

Yes, it is back again!  So, here goes the saga.

Nov 1998 we had just spent a year planning our daughter's wedding.  They married Sat., Jan 3 and Monday I had a lumpectomy, followed with chemo, and rad, and Tamox.  Spring 2006 my annual mamo showed something suspicous on the right breast.  All I could feel was the scar tissue.  Sure enough, it came back in the very same spot.  I said, fine.  Take them both off.  June 2006 one surgeon took them off and the ps came in to begin the recon.  I was going to have the tissue expanders.  I was excited when I could eventually go in for the injections.  After 2 weeks, of expanding, the right breast burst at the seam and liquid ran everywhere!  Naturally it was a Sat.  We called my ps.  He said to meet him at his office.  Well he was afraid the previous rads would have done too much damage to the tissue to hold the expander.  The following Tue he took the right expander out.  After a fashion he said Plan B would be to put in the implant plus my own tissue on the rt.  After 5 hours of surgery it was done.  It was recommended that I do chemo - I did one session and thought I would have to get better to die!  No vomitting, but abdominal cramps were beyond description!!  Two weeks of them!  After that I said no more!  I believe it was the nasty beast Taxol.  I finished all recon surgery July 2007.  I am not 100% pleased but considering what the ps had to work with on the rt side, it's better than nothing!  Several months ago I noticed a itchy rash along my bra line.  My reg dr said "oh it's dermitis" and gave me a cream.  After 2 weeks it was still the same I did as she suggested and resorted to a dermatologist.  We are baaaack!!!!!  By this time there were bumps all across both breasts and was starting to move to the back on the rt side.  My onc said no surgery.  He said rads and Arimidex.  I have finished the rads, have the ct scan of the chest this Friday.  My chest looked like a road map!  I had 4 areas for rads every day for 20 days!  I am exhausted!  My onc said the only way he would recommend chemo is if it moves to another area.  In the past 10 years it has (thankfully??) stayed in the one area.  I have been SO depressed!  Have cried my eyes out!  The year of recon surgery sent me into a horrible depression.  They say the anesthetic is what does it.  I ended up at a Psych's office - still on 300 mg of Effexor/day.  And still on Ambien at night so I can sleep.  I wonder if I will ever get rid of the Ambien.  It has been very difficult...I had no idea there were so many others who had bc return like mine.  Thank you all so much for being here, I am ready to cry again this time for thankfullness!

Linda,

Arizona

Hi Ladies!

I was dx with 1st go round in Aug 05 her/er ++ stage 3.  I did TAC for 12 weeks and radiation for 6 weeks.  Chose not to take tamoxifen.  I was dx with recurrence on Apr 25.  I started chemo on May 1...phase III study of Avastin/taxol...3 weeks on, 1 week off indefinately.  I have multifocal mets to right lung, both hips, both femurs, groin, sacrum, and spine...lovely huh?  I was 34 when I was dx the 1st time and 37 now.  I haven't had the best attitude, esp since I had to lose my hair AGAIN, but if last time is any indication, I will start fighting just as soon as I get over being FURIOUS.  This site is great and I think it is helping, esp seeing that other people have had to do all this bull over again, so maybe I can too.  You are all in my prayers...take care.

Ali

Hello Ladies,

I was first diagnosed in August of 2001.  I had an area of (right breast) microcalsifications that was watched every 6 months X 4 years  with mammograms. In 2001, a second area appeared an my mammogram and the doctor ordered biopsy.  My biopsy was on a wed and late Fri afternoon my doc called me to say the lab could not tell if it was cancer yet or not.  So it was sent to larger lab in New York.  New York had the same conclusion, did not say it was B9 or cancer.

After talking to my doctor, the radiologist and my surgeon, I decided to have a mastectomy with reconstruction.  Ionly had the one surgery and since it was so early I did not have to have rads or chemo, I only missed two weeks of work and everything went so smoothly.  I woke up from surgery and a nice little round implant.

Piece of cake.  Wish they could all be that way.

This go around, I had my yaerly mammogram on March 19,and before I left the room the rdiologist sent me over for US,Ten minutes to 5 the US doctor came in and said it does not look good and he was calling my doctor to order a biopsy.  My doctor called my surgeon the next morning to set up an appointment for the following week to discuss the biopsy.  I walked in to the exam room adn my surgeon was standing there looking at my mammogram films  and before I could sit down e said: "it doesn't look good, I don't like it".  My dh and I just looked at each other and I said OK now what?.  Surgeon said he wanted to do a biopsy and I asked when and he said right now.   After to biopsy he said he would know the results in 48 hours, he called me the next afternoon and said I have cancer.  He asked if I wanted  to have the surgery and reconstruction at the same time as before and I said sure.  The only problem with that is my ps does not do total reconstruction any more and gave up his priviledges at the three local hospitals b/c he opened his own surgery center.  The only PS in that county takes medicare or $5,000. up front.

Long story short, I ended up  going to a Women's Center at the advice of the office manager in my surgeon's office.  I say the  newmsurgeon the next day, the PS the followigmMonday, had my surgery on April 19, 08, IDC, 2 cm, StageIIb, Grade2, 2/11 nodes, HER-Neu-  The path report showed an unclean margin and my second surgery was May 16.  No cake here this time.  Anyhow I am schedued to A/C once bi-weeklyfor 4 months and Taxol weekly for 12 weeks.  Now as soon as the drain from my surgery is out I can begin the chemo journey.

Anyhow HUGS to everyone and we  will beat this monster.

Sandy

Yes I was on this site in 2005 had a lumpectomey chemo and rads and now its shown its ugley head in the same breast, having chem (taxol) at moment. On the third session and its been a killer, extensive joint pain and sickness so I am feeling very down at the moment.

Two years ago I told the recon surgeon "I was going to be one of the lucky ones that didn't get IT again" when asked if I wanted to have both breasts removed.  I figured with a 70% chance of it NOT coming back, why remove a healthy breast.  It was not to be.

My first journey with cancer started with thyroid cancer when I was 22 and a newlywed.  I had total body scans for 10 years and felt blessed when nothing ever showed up.

In Feb. 2006 the mammogram showed a large lump filled w/cancer.  Needle biopsy confirmed it.  What was really weird was that it was a lump I had had my whole life.  As I had gone thru menopause, lumps disappeared.  This one had not gone yet.  Dr. said it was very unusual for a lump to fill with DCIS.  Initial area started at 4cm.  After the lumpectomy (actual partial mastectomy by the time she was done) area ended up st 9cm.  Even then, 3 margins were not clean.  Surgeon said I probably would not be happy after wider excision and then rads so I went with mast & immediate recon using SIEA, done by Dr. Allen in Charleston, SC.  Recovery for me was very quick.  Course, this was my 18th & 19th surgeries since 1971.

I'm a pro.  Ha, ha.  Had BRAC testing and was negative.

2007 mamogram was clear.  2008 was not.  DCIS is now in the left breast.  I am now waiting to hear from the Plastic Surgeon who now does the perforator flap surgeries here in MI to see if I will be able to have recon surgery using tissue from my thigh.  She trained with Dr. Allen and he has developed this new method.  I should know Friday.

Can't use implants because of RA.  Because of the RA, I really didn't want to go the route of lumpectomy and rads, especially since it is my left side.

I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone how devastated I felt when they said cancer again.  It doesn't matter that it is "only DCIS" - I'm still losing my other breast and having another surgery.  This will be 22 and 23.

It seems that one minute I'm OK and then the next I'm in tears.  No sense to it, just pure emotion.  I'ts not fair, but then as I tell my son, life's not fair; you just do the best you can every day.

I am so thankful for this site, I wish I would have found it 2 years ago.  Only someone who has gone thru or is going thru bc knows what it is like.  The sisters writing on these boards do.  God bless you all.

Sunkist in MI

currently going through second bout 1st in 2004 had AC and Radiation now 2nd mastectomy and about to commence chemo Taxotere and cyclophosphamide.  Would dearly love to find someone who has been there, currently there and experience with this chemo regime

Well done No Surrender I admire your tenacity and determination.  Must admit to finding it harder to accept this time round.  Developed massive infection and have been having dressings done every second day for the past two months just to get the op site healed.  Supposed to start chemo next week.....If the wound is healed.  Lets hope two times is the final time.  Best of luck.

P

Hi Staci,

 Did they doctors recommend mastectomy or did you ask for it?

2003..... right breast, lumpectomy, chemo, rads and tamoxifen

lets fast forward to present 5 years later

2008..advanced breast cancer to pelvis in bones, right lung and right breast again near scar line...Lupron injection, Femara pill and Zoledronic Acid iv