EXHAUSTION!

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  • Harley44
    Harley44 Member Posts: 5,446
    edited October 2007

    Barb,


    Congratulations on finishing the chemo!!!  YEA!! 

    YOU DID AEROBICS FOR 40 MINUTES ON THE DAY YOU GOT YOUR LAST CHEMO?  WOW!  I felt a little tired, but went out to dinner with some friends after my last tx.  But, the days following my last tx, I was EXHAUSTED!!  I am only just now starting to feel more energy, I guess it started Thursday...  It has been on & off.

    My ps changed the surgery on me.  Instead of putting in the all in one expander & implants, he is just going to shove A FULL SALINE IMPLANT into my chest!!  I am NOT happy about that!!!

    Good luck with the rads.  When do you start rads??


    I have to see my onc's nurse on Nov 12th, and I guess I'll have to start the Tamoxifen &/or Arimidex the following week, but I DON'T WANT TO take either one...  too many se's, especially hot flashes and night sweats!  I thought I was getting rid of them, but these drugs will cause them...

    Good Luck! 

    Harley

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  • Barbeqrn
    Barbeqrn Member Posts: 200
    edited October 2007

    Harley,



    Posted on another thread but need your advise. I just saw a woman today during rounds, morbidly obese(which I am not), smoker (I never have) , ws diagnosed with Breast Ca about 5.5 yrs ago , she did lumpectomy/radiation and 5 yrs of Arimedex. Now she is admitted with bilateral pneumonia and pleural effusions...which turns out to be from metastatic breast CA. I feel like throwing up....I feel scared again.

    I have been searching the webs about subcutaneous mastectomy, which they basically slurp out your breast but leave skin and nipples and then insert an implant. have you heard of this? what do you think? I am worried about recurrance in the other breast etc....



    I feel soooooooo good though, that chemo is over....I swear, I have been taking a flashlight to my head to see if there are any hair sprouts ! I have not lost all hair, I just look aobut 90 yrs old in the head dept!



    Why did your ps change the type of surgery? How many ccs is he going to use? I am sure you are going to look FANTASTIC afterwards!!!!!!!!!



    Are you going with the Tamoxifen or Arimidex???? I heard T has more side effects....



    Write soon!!!!! Barb





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  • Harley44
    Harley44 Member Posts: 5,446
    edited October 2007

    Barb,

    Sorry I didn't see your post, since people had stopped responding to my post.

    Sorry, but I forgot... have you had your surgery yet, and are you getting lumpectomy or mast.?  I don't know too much about that type of surgery, but I also didn't know that my ps could just put the filled saline implants into my chest and badda bing badda boom!  He's finished!  He said that he may need to do "some tweaking".  For him, it is TWEAKING!, for me, it is ANOTHER SURGERY!!  I asked him flat out... will I have ONE surgery or TWO?  He said that it depends on whether or not I like the size, etc  of the ones he puts in.  Well,  DUH!  I don't know what size I want, so how the Heck is he gonna know what size to put in?  I left a message for him and he's supposed to call me back later in the day today. 

    I understand that you are scared...  so am I, to be honest.  My general surgeon, who did the mast., is the one who INSISTED that I get chemo.  He had a patient who came in with bc mets to the lungs while I was there...  I went to the window in the office to talk to one of the nurses about my health insurance, and I was standing next to this woman... she was maybe 65.  She was complaining that the tape was itching...  He really flipped out, when he saw us together!!  I guess, he was thinking "THAT COULD BE ME IN 20 YEARS!" 

    I went to my wig shop, which is for bc patients, and they sell wigs AND prosthesis and bras there, too.  The people who own it are husband and wife... he does the hair, she does the bras and prosthesis.  Anyway, she let me try on the prosthesis, and we decided there that the size C cup looked really nice!  It didn't look too big and overpowering, like I thought it would.  So maybe I'll get that size...  but all the sizes seem to vary, so I will have to give the measurements to my ps and see what he says.  I HATE CHANGES to his surgery, but he said that he changed the surgery because the ALL IN ONE expander & implants leak.  So, I guess it is for the best.  I don't want to have to have another surgery...

    Maybe that surgery you are thinking about would be skin sparing, nipple sparing, and I have heard about that. 

    Remember, that woman you saw was OVERWEIGHT/OBESE, and A SMOKER!!!  So, try to remember that...  my surgeon gave me some advice that seems to help me whenever I start to feel really scared about the WHAT IF?  and that was.... "You can't compare yourself to other women..."  Your situation is very different.

    Let me know how you are doing...  When is your surgery?  Have you scheduled it yet?  My surgery is on Nov. 7th, so I have to get this straight with my ps...  I am ONLY going to have ONE surgery...  He better get it right the FIRST TIME!!

    Good Luck!

    Hugs

    Harley

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  • Barbeqrn
    Barbeqrn Member Posts: 200
    edited October 2007

    Harley,





    Yes, I had the lumpectomy back in April and the surgeon just said "I will schedule your lumpectomy" and never, ever spoke to me about alternatives. I was in shock so I went with it and now I am wondering if I should have, yes, skin sparing and nipple sparing surgery bilaterally to prevent further percentages of recurrence in the other breast etc. Tell me all you know about the above surgery and if you talk to your surgeon ask him if he has ever seen anyone with that procedure and how it looks!



    As far as size goes. Your surgeon should be able to show you the actually implants and various sizes if they use the same kind as for augmentation....do they? Do they use silicone or saline? You should bring a bra or two and shove an implant in , put your shirt down and take a look. In



    my experience, most women wish they would have gone a "little bigger" after augmentation, after the swelling etc goes down. Remember they will look very high and perky until they settle in a couple of months, so don't panic.!!!!!!!!!!!! I think you shoiuld make this an "exciting time" and don't let any MD rain or your parade. I just wish I could be chatting with you about augmentation without BC! It would be so much more fun!



    I ocassional will buy a magizine called Oxygen, a weight lifting health mag. Around March or April, they had a girl on the cover, long hair, short hair cut , very cute, with an amazing figure. Anyway, it turns out she had to give up being a profession cheerleader in Houston at the age of 24ish because of breast cancer! She then decided to lift weight etc.. Unfortunately, she had recurrence, and had to have bilateral mast. in which she desribed as "I had to have surgery to remove most of my breast tissue". She had implants placed. I guess what I am telling you is she looks Absolutely Amazing and her size is , in my humble opinion, perfect. If you got on line maybe you could pull up the cover and take a look.



    I know we are in our 40's but why not have breasts that look like they are 20!!??? Are you going to have a nipple put on? Tatoo? I know this is all personal, and I apologize if it is too much so! Reason why I am asking is just because of the posibilitity I may now consider more surgery and I am trying to get personal info!!!!!!!!



    Take care! Barb

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  • Harley44
    Harley44 Member Posts: 5,446
    edited October 2007

    Barb,

    Sorry, but I don't really know too much about these different types of reconst. surgery.  I do know that my surgeons BOTH said that there is no way that you can use the nipple from the breast that had bc, so I don't know HOW they would do that. 

    Why do you want to have more surgery?  Are you not comfortable with having the lumpectomy?  Is this in terms of the fear of recurrence?  That is one reason why I had both breasts removed.  My surgeon said that it would be easier for the reconstruction, and he DID take about a third of my breast when he did the biopsy, just taking the fatty, fibrous tissue, which was not cancerous.  The bc was only .8cm. 

    My PS finally called back, AFTER I called and talked to one of the nurses there.  This woman has been kind of rude to me on other occasions.  Anyway, he seemed to be a little upset with me for having so many questions.  He told me that he will put in empty implants, and using a "sizer", he will fill the implants with saline, as much as he can, to make them  look "good".  If I don't like them, he will try to make adjustments, either in his office or in surgery.  He "thinks" he can do it in his office.  We'll see...

    My ps is using SALINE, but I have been told by BOTH my surgeons that silicone IS back on the market, and you CAN get it, if you want.  I read that it is still questionable, but some women are getting it.  Also, the bag the saline is in (the implant) is made out of silicone...

    No, he didn't say that he could SHOW me an implant.  But, I told him that I want to be a C cup, and he said that he usually "shoots for a C", but if it isn't quite right, he will add more to it later.

    The sad part is, even though my breasts were small before, I still would NEVER have gone for breast augmentation.  I always felt that WHATEVER I was born with, is just fine...  I NEVER in my life would have dreamt that I would be getting breast "augmentation" now.

    It is good to know that when this is all over, I can have my breasts back, maybe even better than before.


    My ps took my nipple from my healthy breast, and he attached it to my leg, at the groin area.  It IS SO DISGUSTING!!  He will make it into TWO nipples, when he is finished with the reconstruction.  The nipple on my leg is not the usual size... it has morphed into a large thing and it looks like a BIG MOLE!!  

    I don't know if I will be getting the aureola done, because my ps said that he doesn't do tattoos, and it needs to be tattoo'd on.  I Have NO idea where to find a MEDICAL TATTOO ARTIST, so maybe I will have to skip that part....  wrong, because if I had to lose my breasts to bc, then they need to put them back together and FINISH it!!!

    I figure that SOMETHING good needs to come from this bc dx!!  So yes, it will be nice to have some bigger breasts!  I have been looking at these cute little leather halter tops at the "Jammin' Leather" shop, and I told my dh, "Look, maybe I can wear these, when I get my breasts back!"

    Good Luck with your decision.  I guess in your case, you will just be getting breast augmentation, since you still have your breasts?

    Best wishes,

    Harley

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  • Barbeqrn
    Barbeqrn Member Posts: 200
    edited October 2007

    Harley,



    I googled "subcutaneous mastectomy photos" and found that the procedure essentially takes your inner breast tissue out and leaves the skin and nipple intact. It is not for everyone , as it leaves some breast tissue behind with the nipple. They then place an implant in and close you up. So no, it is not breast augmentation, it is actually a mastectomy procedure. I wouldn't consider augmentation post breast CA anyway! Your ps sounds like a "jerk", he should be able to answer your questions without a problem. He should be able to show you implants too. I did an internship with a ps and know what the implants look like. The silicone are available and they cause less skin ripple so they look very natural. They are softer as well. We have medical tatoo artists down here...come on to Tampa for a visit!



    I have been doing alot of research...it seems that mastectomy would reduce a risk of local recurrence slightly but not mortality/overall survival. I need to see some clear cut numbers!!!!! My tumor was 0.8 as well and the surgeon got clear margins easily. It was really high under my arm so my breast is incision free.



    I had no idea they did the nipple by grafting it on the thigh....that is wierd but it logically seems like it would be the best thing for realistic results. If you don't mind, how much do you weigh, as my friend who had augmentation was around 120 and they put in 400cc with great looking results....It lookeds good on her and she is about 5'4.



    I hate all this stuff don't you? Is your surgery Nov 7th still?



    Take care and feel free to private message me anytime! Barb

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  • Harley44
    Harley44 Member Posts: 5,446
    edited October 2007

    Barb,


    I sent you a pm...

    My surgery is on Nov. 7th...

    Have you decided to have a bi-lateral mast., and reconstruction? 

    Hope to hear from you soon!

    Harley

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  • Barbeqrn
    Barbeqrn Member Posts: 200
    edited October 2007

    Harly,



    I sent you a pm too!

    Take care! Barb

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  • jeffntate
    jeffntate Member Posts: 49
    edited October 2007

    The advice my wife was given was specifically to NOT take a multivitamin with either Iron or Copper.  If you do some research you will find out that both potentiate the adriamycin (A in the AC) and contribute to cellular damage in the heart muscles.  She was also told by the Professor of medical oncology to take vitamins only (no minerals) and to take the ones with 100% and no extras to avoid getting too much antioxidants that can decrease the effectiveness (tumor killing property) of the adriamycin.  Taking this is no different than eating a well balanced meal, so it's OK to take the one a day type vitamins.  When in doubt, ask before doing anything with supplements while in chemotherapy, and do your own research.  You'll be amazed what you will find with google.  Use the term doxorubicin rather than AC or Adriamycin and you will find more of the information the oncologists are reading.

    Jeff 

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