Afr American Women With BC

Horray! The thread was moved!

Hello ladies,

I am a 38 year old mother of a 12yr old son and a 15yr old daughter.  I was dx on October 8 and had a left masectomy on October 25.  I start my first chemo on the 28th of November.  I am quite anxious of beginning chemo.  So far bc hasn't really hit me.  I think I am still numb to the fact that Me who'd of thought.  I saw my self standing next to my husband in my bedroom mirror for the first time since my surgery and I cracked.  He did everything in his power to incourage me to stay strong.  After all we have been together since we were 14yrs old.  He was the first to see my boobs and the last to see one go. He has been very supportive since the very beginning of this whole thing started in October.  I worry too about my 15 year old daughter who is very vulutuous up there.  I don't want to worry her but I do want her to be informed of the possibilities.  She has already shown signs of having most of the health conditions that I already have.  There is no history of bc in my family.  My mother and my sisters have been tested recently.  However my mom and sister have found that they have been having boils and cyst on their breast.  Should that be a concern?  Also one of the questions I really need answers to asap is what are some things i need to start doing now to prepare me for chemo?  I already plan to go get my hair cut this week and to start looking for wigs.  What are some other things I can do?  Thank you guys for all of your wisdom and support.  Thank you felicia for your email and your sincerity in this matter for our peoples.

Love you all

continue to be a blessing

sabrina

Sabrina, This whole thing stinks - but you already know that. You've already gotten some good advice about giving yourself time to adjust and avoiding stress; I just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you...



I didn't learn about this until after my diagnosis, but having a history of benign breast changes (cysts, fibroadenomas) increases the risk for developing BC. I've always had lumpy breast and had my first biopsy when I was only 16. 21 years and nine biopsies later, my BC was found. But just because you have bc and your daughter has cysts doesn't mean she'll get bc, too, but it does mean she'll have to be more vigillant with her breasts and know what is normal for her and what isn't. She also needs to know that if she ever hears "But you're too young to get bc!" she needs to find a new physician with a quickness...



Email me if you'd like to chat...

Hello All,

I started getting mammograms at age 34 due to  prolactin leakage.  In 2004, at age 40, I was diagnosed with er/pr neg, her2neu pos, DCIS in my right breast.  At 1.2 cm, I had a partial  mastectomy AKA lumpectomy with 2 re-excisions and an MRI.  I followed that up with 6 weeks of radiation.  The cancer was grade 4 comedo type w/necrosis.

In 2007, I was diagnosed with a recurrence of Stage 0 DCIS (same make up) in the same breast.  I had a mastectomy and opted for a prophy on the opposite breast.  The plan was to follow up with DIEP reconstruction.  Unfortunately, my reconstruction failed due to excessive clotting.

This disease can be persistent but I am glad we are here to support one another.

D

I did not have BRCA and I do not have a history of BC in my family that I know of. 

Not sure if you remember me but you gave me the tip about bringing bottled water with me to the hospital.

D

Felicia,

No, I did not do the BRCA. All my female relatives are being very diligent about mammos and self exams.

I like your new avatar.

Cherryl

Sabrina...Be thankful that you have a husband by your side that is supportive and caring.

I think the most important thing to do to prepare for chemo is to drink plenty of water prior, during and after chemo. You may not feel like drinking after your treatment, but it is imperative that you do. Hydrating yourself is important. I always loved water, but it was so hard FOR ME to drink it during treatment. Just tell your husband to watch your water intake and for him to MAKE YOU drink even if you don't feel like it.

Getting your hair cut is a good idea. My hair cut was done by my sister after my 2nd treatment and I was able to just "brush" away hair about 3 or 4 days after that. Funny...hair was not my issue, just trying to be strong for my family and son was so hard for me. I was never able to just cry in front of family because I knew I had to be "strong" for them.

I am just saying Sabrina...since you have a caring husband, allow yourself to shed the tears if you need to...and remember you have "us" if you need to talk.

Take care.

Chantal...hope everything is going well with you. Let us know how you are doing.

Hi Benita,

I had such terrible bone and muscle pains, I thought I would go out of my mind. I didn't sleep well at all. Like I said, I did not last long on femera and told my onc I couldn't do it. She said it was my call,l so I flushed those suckers down the drain and got my life back. I hope your s/e lessen soon. Take care.

Cherryl

I am so glad I logged back on tonight to see this section.  I am also a black woman and I have had a recurrence recently and have been scared.  Have a strong family history and with the holidays coming up I have been pretending to be happy.  I have reconnected with some folks that are in the same situation as many of us and they are coming thru thing relatively well. I look forward to visiting this site even more and this group more as well. There has been much talk about African American women having a more aggressive form of breast cancer than our white counter parts and nothing is really being done about it.

Also if anyone knows of any great support groups in the West Los Angeles area please post it here. I would like to see if this would help.

Much love and bless you all..Janstar

Hey Janstar,

May God bless and keep you.I am in NY but if you ever need to talk we are all here for each other. I am praying for your strength.

Benita

I found your comments very informative. I was diagnoised with metatisis breast cancer in early o7.My first diagnoised was in o5. It was all clear for 6months then I developed some hip pain that my family doc diagonised it as bursidus. . YET at my scheduled appointment with my onc, doc. I was told I had bone, liver, lung brain cancer. It has been 11months that i have been battling. Believe me when I use that term I don't use it lightly. I'm trying hard not to give in yet I feel as if i am loosing. I am blessed to have a strong family that supports me in anyway they can. I'm also blessed to have a fighter mentality. Yet I have grown tired and I am finding it hard to keep my spirits up. Could use a word of encourgement from those who understand the war I feel that we are in.

Hugs to you both.  Your experiences have given me some perspective. 

D

Hi, Ivy. Welcome to the club nobody wants to belong to. Sorry you had to find us but glad you did :-)



Your surgery was so recent, it isn't surprising that things seem to be happening so fast. I think anyone here would tell you that they spent much of the time between diagnosis and the end of treatment in a fog. Hard to wrap your head around the idea that this beast reared its ugly head and interrupted your life, I know...



Support systems are so very necessary when you've been through something so demanding and devistating as a bc diagnosis. Be it a real, live support group for people with bc, these very boards or whatever else you need, use whatever resources you can to help you cope and get a handle on this thing. There's no shame in seeking professional help or even asking your doc for anti-anxiety meds if you or h/she think(s) you need them.



Will you be needing any additional treatment (rads, anti-hormonal therapy like tamoxifen or arimidex)? Are you planning/undergoing reconstruction? I'm not being nosey, but since so many of us here have been where you are, perhaps we can help make getting to your "new normal" a little easier. There's such a wealth of knowledge here and so many wonderful people willing to share it...



BTW, I was diagnosed with DCIS (w/micro invasion) in 9/04 and had a bilteral two months later. I had expanders placed, but the radiation that followed caused one implant to fail. I had an IGAP (breast reconstruction using tissue from the bottom of my butt) last June and finally finished with my tattoos last month - three and a half years since my bc journey began. It took a while before I even let my hubby-to-be see my chest in any type of daylight after everything was complete...



Know that you are not alone, Ivy! Hope you continue to heal and feel better! Keep looking up, my dear :-)

Hello Ivy,

I hope each day you will feel better "as we can".

My stance is--feel what you feel right now---I had all kind of head games I played in my head to withstand.   I felt like I went through all the Phases they say people go through when someone dies, Denial, Anger,--way down the line--maybe Acceptance, there are them days I still wonder why.

It is something to go through too--for a husbands' acceptance--feelings run crazy about that too--My husband insisted that I not stay at the hospital for more time, that he would take care of me and he did.  He drained them tubes and done them dressings 2 times a day.  I did not know that he could have, would have, never thought about none of this--then 3 weeks later I had to have the other breast removed as they found CA tumor, and he took off from work to take care of me again.  He was a Supervisor in Earth Mover Tires--this

 was way out of his career!!!  I fought hard not to shut him out .  One of the nurses told me later, that some husbands feel helpless at this time and to let  him do whatever he can to be a part of this too--Yep it took work for me to be taken care of and try to feel all of what was before.  Time---that all Time for all this!!

Things have a way of working out in time--take your time--it is about you now. 

Take care and let us know how you are doing.

Hello Trumpet84 ,

Hope all is going well for you!!

Linda C