Dis Breast Cancer Survivors - GAGWTA!

[NHAnn]

Just a quick GAGWTA.........

I'm back from a long 36 hours in Boston...my mom had her surgery this morning and it all went well, though it's been more difficult in a different way dealing with this and helping my father cope.

Laurabelle and Linda...welcome back

I have a very busy next 3 days at work and I hope to get back to Boston maybe Wed evening as well.
Then Friday I have my first post-treatment mamm and see the surgeon next Tuesday. Glad I'll be busy and preoccupied leading up to that!!

 

[snappy]

I had a rough weekend. Saturday afternoon my mom, sister and her husband, and DH and I tried to convince my brother to get counseling and therapy for his gambling addiction. He would not even listen to us, just closed the door to his room. He decided to go to his friend's house in New Mexico after he was unsuccessful getting work either here or in New Orleans (also could not find a place to live in New Orleans). He has no money, what little he did earn since Jan 30 when he arrived from Costa Rica he lost playing poker. Great way to provide for his girlfriend and future kid, huh?

My sister thinks he has underlying mental problems (he also has a substance and alcohol problem). Since he won't go to counseling, or even see a doctor, and since he cannot support himself, she feels he should be committed. After he is evaluated maybe he could take some meds to get on the right track. As belligerent as he was when we just tried to get to listen, I think doing something without his consent would really be a circus.

He just yelled at us and told us he needed a bus ticket to New Mexico, or a car. Mom has always enabled him in the past, she is trying to stop.

He ended up leaving on DH's bike to go to the interestate and hitch hike. It was storming when he left. What a scene.

We have lost a lotta sleep in the last few weeks over this. I am afraid we won't hear from him for a long time (his typical pattern in Costa Rica too unless he needed money.) I am not sure how Mom will hold up.

I came down with an unreal upper respiratory allergy attack Sunday am that I could not control. I finally spaced out last night on Benedryl. My claritin generic totally let me down. I kind of think the stress did it. Much better today though. I just am trying not to think about it. We were talking about it non stop for so long. It is too much. I could not go to GamAnon with Mom tonight, DD15 is still on her ski trip, DS17 is working, I had no one to stay with DD10.

Say a prayer for Jim, please. We are hoping he gets to New Mexico in one piece.

 

[snappy]

Linda, are you back? How was your cruise?

 

[NHAnn]

snappy....I'm sorry. I understand those scenes and the heartache all too well with a brother and ex-h with substance addictions. Keeping your family in my thoughts and prayers. Wishing you strength and resilience, physically and spiritually.

 

[snappy]

Thanks for the uplifting words, Ann. It's my mom I am most concerned about.
This is the first time she has told him no, and if he. . . she will feel horrible. Even though we know his lifestyle could kill him if she continues to bail him out. She is 75 and was widowed in 1998. This episode is putting miles on her quickly. Thank goodness she has made lots of friends here. None of this stuff about my brother is secret, so she has a lot of her senior friends praying for him. And they go to mass ALOT!!! I loved it when they were all praying for me before my surgery. I know God is listening to these gals, they are a bunch of angels.

I am sorry, I missed your post about YOUR mom's surgery today. Have they definitively diagnosed her? Hope your dad is taking care of himself. Wasn't it him who lost a wallet recently? It is really easy to become distracted when you are under stress. I am back to writing stuff down so I can remember what I need to do each day. Scary, but you have to do whatever works.

GAGWTA!!!

 

[Pixiedust34]

(((Snappy))), I hope all goes OK with your family. It's hard not to let the stress affect you when there are big issues. I hope that you find some peace.

Ann, I'm glad the surgery went OK.

I did like the dr. I saw yesterday. She was very nice, and seems to know her stuff. Her speciality is breast and lymph node surgery. The cancer section of the hospital I am using is relatively new and I'm thinking that's a good sign because everything should be up-to-date with current research.

My prayers are that you each have a peaceful day with good health!

 

[NHAnn]

snappy....7 rs ago we almost lost my mom-she has a "brain bleed" and ended up in surgery to clip TWO anuerysyms. She had a stroke during the surgery and many mnay weeks of comatose or semi comatose status with many complications such as meningitis, pneumonia....She has made a remarkable recovery --though in a nursing home. A year or so ago she began to build up a scabby spot above her left temple at the site of one of the entries for the original surgery. I believe the diagnosis is osteomyelitis but I got way too frightened when I googled it . Basically what they did yesterday was remove some of the tissue and scrape the bone. The neurosurgeon (chief of the dept at Mass General) was very pleased that they did not have to actually remove bone. A plastic surgeon was present and did some sort of skin flap. Apparently these are tricky situations and if the infection returns they may be looking at further ,more extensive neoro and plastic surgery to actually remove some bone. But at the moment we're all pleased that this procedure went so well.

Good morning and GAGWTA!!!!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

GAGWTA! Man, this is rough coming home to 14 degree weather, LOL. Still have "sea legs" a bit, feels like I'm still on the ship swaying.

Sorry to hear of the issues some of you are having with family members, prayers for all who need them. Ann, I'm so glad you traveled from NH to go to MGH. Laura, glad you had a nice trip with your sistas.

They saw the lump in my mammogram and felt it today. I had 2 people examine me. Very thoroughly. My lymph node was the only lumpy spot.

Pixiedust, in an earlier post you said your mammogram was ok. Did they in fact see a spot on your mamm as well as the lumpy node under your arm? What type of biopsy are they talking about?

Lisa loves Pooh, the benefit of doing breast self exams (BSE) is that you get to know what is normal for you, so if you do find something out of the ordinary, you know it. Nursing skews things a bit I suppose, but if you found something unusual it is always best to follow up on it. More than likely it is nothing to worry about. But the fact that it's there should qualify you for further testing if your doc determines it is unusual in a nursing mother. (If you don't like what your midwife/gyn/pcp is telling you, you can see a breast surgeon, who specializes in issues of the breast). Let us know how you make out.

 

[snappy]

Welcome back, Linda.

I had that sea leg feeling after the short cruise I went on last spring. It was a very wierd feeling. I thought it was due to the rough seas we had for the majority of the cruise. Was your cruise smooth?

Ann, your mother's story is amazing. I did not realize she has been in a nursing home. I guess it will have to be an ongoing thing, at least the surgery went well. Sometimes it is the little victories. . .

We passed this year on Mardi Gras. Saturday we were dealing with Jim, and it was really stormy anyway. Sunday DH and I were just bushed, and I could not stop sneezing. We hated to pass up going, DH's niece always has a big open house/party with lots of good food the Sunday before Mardi Gras as the double she owns is one block from the uptown parade route. There will always be next year.

MIL told me over the weekend that Claudette is actually going to go back to work this week, part time. We were estactic that she is up to this. Another victory. She works as a bookkeeper for an antiques dealer in the French Quarter. It is amazing she has a job to go back to. Gotta keep that insurance in force. She has been driving short distances.

Claudette's house still is a work in progress. The walls are not completely up. The cabinets and flooring are on order and the appliances will be ordered soon. Claudette and MIL have bought no furniture except mattresses so their half of the double is rather sparse. They just did not want to deal with moving more than absolutely necessary when the house is finally finished. MIL's flood insurance check still has not arrived. DH has a lady who works for FEMA now calling him each week and letting him know the status of the claim. Ridiculous that it has taken this long but since they have decided not to repair it (no one in MIL's Lakeview area is),
it is not like they are needing the money to pay for restoration.

Kids out here for Mardi Gras. DH has to work, as does DS17, I plan to just work in the yard. Beautiful day. I hate to tell you all up in the north, but it will go up to 75 here today. All my azalias are in full bloom, as are all the weeds. I put some bird seed out yesterday, and I just saw a male cardinal. I guess spring is officially here in Louisiana.
Happy Mardi Gras everyone!!!

 

[laurabelle]

~~~***GAGWTA sistas***~~~

Kelly- I'm in MD too (I can't remember now if I told you that before...) What hospital/doc are you seeing?

((((((((((((((Laurie))))))))))))))
You and your family have been through so much...Great news about Claudette though, I know how much you all need that!
I'm praying for all of you, esp. your mom and Jim.

Linda- I'm glad you had a wonderful trip! It's hard when reality hits you, especially with 14 degree temps!

Beth- That is so cool!

Ann- I'm so glad your mom's surgery went well. I know what you mean about the distractions. Looking forward to a good report for you!

I don't feel too bad, but things aren't normal yet either. Since travelling and being away is't the normal routine, I figured I'd give it this week at home before I call my doc.

I have a friend who was recently sick and she has three lumps she found. Her lymph nodes are very reactive and it's probably from the infection. It did not show up on mamm. or ultrasound. He wanted to do a follow up in 2 months, and she was comfortable with that, but her family is freaking out so I told her to ask for an MRI, as this might show what the mamm didn't since she is young. I am trying to keep her calm, but I do know of a couple of people who's lumps didn't show up and they were cancerous.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

** Took a while to figure out how best to do my trip report. I'm posting it here and will repost on the cruise board too. **

OK, so my trip was great!

We spent the first few days at Pop Century then did the Disney Magic 7 night cruise.

At Epcot we were chosen as Family of the Day to open Soarin! That was probably the highlight of my trip!! Our group got to ride Soarin by ourselves at opening for the day. Didn't matter that hoardes of people were rushing up the hill after the rope drop, the Soarin CM said to us, "don't worry, nobody's getting on that ride before you are", LOL.

Cruise was awesome, as usual. Weather was perfect and sailing was smooth. We really can't get enough of the DCL, just something really special about it - all Disney plus, 24/7. It was nice to have a whole week on the ship. It seemed like we had so much time but it of course the week flew by. Seems you always think it will be relaxing but in fact there is so much to see and do on the ship there's not a lot of time to relax - and you hate to miss anything!! Since we cruised last they added a huge outdoor movie screen up on Deck 9 - one chilly night we dressed in warm pjs and sweatshirts, grabbed some pilows, blankets and snacks and watched Finding Nemo wrapped cozily together on a row of deck chairs out under the stars and Mickey stacks out on the high seas - gotta love it!

Met some nice Dis-ers including DD8's pen pal and her family. It was really fun watching the excitement of the friends we were traveling with who were on their first cruise. My friend who has two boys and my DD got their hair braided together (funny thing is she's a teacher in my kids' school so this week DD and her have been doing the "secret wave" to eachother when they pass in the hallways, braids still in their hair). Dressing up was nice, got some beautiful shots of our family, one of which I'm bringing to be framed today. Pirate night was really fun, got some cute shots of pirate DS8 sleeping in the chair in the midst of all the action, he'd had a long day of fun on on the beach at St Martin, poor baby. I spent a small fortune on pictures but honestly they always come out so nice I don't need to do any anywhere else.

The amount of food on the ship is just unbelievable. Of course, DH and I were trying to stay healthy, but our server sabotaged our efforts night after night. I'd say (holding my already full belly) "no dessert", and instead of a big plate of "NOTHING" - presto - I'd have a big dessert in front of me. My favorite dessert was a warm banana chocolate walnut cake with vanilla ice cream. OMG, out of this world (I know it's a stretch but I'd even venture to say that I enjoyed it more than the chocolate souffle at Palo this time). He also brought extra dishes to our table to sample at every meal - uugghh! So we tried to have a healthy breakfast (room service or Topsider's) and lunch (salad, wraps and fruit at Scoops were a favorite), and just accepted the fact we were going to be stuffed at dinner every night. Palo, of course, was fantastic as always. Our friends liked the brunch better than the dinner (they prefer very basic food), but we enjoyed them both equally.

Our favorite day on the ship was St Martin day. We found a nice spot on a local beach near a water trampoline (for the kids) and shopping (for the ladies). We rented jet skis which was pretty fun even though it was my first time driving one. Castaway Cay looked as beautiful as ever, sometimes think how nice it would be to live there. At Sea days on the ship were busy, but we found lots of nooks to hide out in and plenty of activities to keep us occupied most of the time. The staff on the ship were wonderful, especially our room steward who had a young son of his own at home and always seemed to have a special hello for my son, saying hello to him by name every time we saw him around the ship. We brought bags of M&Ms to give out to favorite staff, the kids enjoyed doing that here and there as well as the last night in the kids club.

We stayed in an inside cabin, Cat 11 (one bath, LOL, see tag) though our friends were directly across the hall in a Cat 6. Had lots of luggage since it felt like we needed to bring everything but the kitchen sink on this trip. Managed to squeeze it all in but had to move out some of the furniture to accomodate all of our shoes which we stuffed under the desk (no steamer trunk). It was just a huge pile of shoes, unbelievable, really. DH kept joking it looked like something out of a bad thrift shop.

All in all, a great trip. Can't wait for the next one!

** (I'll have to post a picture of the shoes at some point, I'm sure you ladies will appreciate it). **

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Hey Ladies - Just stopping by to let you know that I went to the 3-day Reunion last week and SIGNED up to walk another 60 miles for Breast Cancer Awareness!!

Last year at this time - you guys were the only ones that I knew that were affected by Breast Cancer.

Well we just received a call today from my Grandmother to tell us that my Aunt has Breast Cancer.

She will go in for Surgery on the 14th and have 6 weeks of Chemo.

So if you wonderful ladies can keep her in your thoughts that would be wonderful.

She is a strong women so I hope she will fight this and win.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Well we just received a call today from my Grandmother to tell us that my Aunt has Breast Cancer.

I would have to call that a God Wink. Well wishes and prayers to her.

 

[laurabelle]

A friend of mine was interviewed on ABC 7 news in Los Angeles and mentioned Sisters in Survivorship, the online group for young surviors I founded, and they put a link to us on their site... pretty cool huh!?!

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=health&id=3936223

 

[Pixiedust34]

Linda, what a great trip report! It must have been awesome to open Soarin. I just love that ride!

Mom2Ashli, my thoughts are with your aunt. May she be cancer-free when her treatments are done!

Laura, I'm going to Franklin Square, which is outside of Baltimore. I'm seeing Dr. Fernandez. Are you familiar with her?

My mammogram was OK in that all of my breast tissue appears to be healthy, but that lump in my lymph node did appear in the mammogram. They showed it to me yesterday--it looks kind of like a white mass on the film. They are pretty sure it's not originating from breast tissue, though we don't know where it's coming from. I'm praying that it's just an infection and that this second round of antibiotics will make a difference. After I get the sonogram tomorrow, then the doctor will have a better view of it and will decide whether or not I might need a biopsy. If she does a biopsy, she said that she will remove just a part of the lymph node for testing. I'll hopefully get the sonogram results on Monday. They said "3 business days," meaning I'll have to wait over the weekend to see what's up.

Tiggerroo, did you get your test results back?

GAGWTA!

 

[snappy]

Linda, that trip report totally wowed me. I see you have a trip on the Wonder planned for next year, you lucky duck. Are you like Merry, much prefering the Disney cruises over WDW trip? Being family of the day at EPCOT and having that first ride on Soarin' sounds very hard to beat.

Loved the shoe story, especially the part about a bad thrift shop. I gotta say though watching Finding Nemo on the deck gave me goosebumps.

I will have to say from the sounds of it the Disney cruise line sounds like it has everything over Carnival. I was even disappointed in the pictures, although we bought em all anyway.

Laura, neat that your group received the press it did. I bet you end up with new members from the exposure.


Sorry about your aunt, Mom2Ashli. I'll say a prayer for her, what is her first name?

I am hoping you bypass the lymph node biopsy, Kelly. How long will you be on antibiotic #2?

 

[laurabelle]

~~~***GAGWTA sistas***~~~

Mom2Ashli- Thank you for signing on to do the 3 day again!!! My sil is going to do one in Seattle and each day she is walking for one specific person and I'm honored to be the survivor for day 3! I am so sorry to hear about your aunt...I'll be praying for her.

Linda- It sounds like such a special time... I went to the Atlantis resort with my sister and her best friend (a girls only post chemo trip!) and we had, um, shoe issues too! The maid lined them all up one day and my sister took a pic with her panoramic view...actually it took two shots to get it all in!

Kelly- Dr. Fernandez has a good reputation...

 

[NHAnn]

Mom2A--thanks again for all your support...and many prayers for your aunt.

Linda....sounds like such a great trip!!! I always admire your writing style...and a trip description is much more enjoyable and fun than medical stuff (though you know that is always appreciated too!!)

GAGWTA!!

 

[snappy]

Cinderella (DD15) is back from her ski trip, and she seems to have met Prince Charming on the bus trip coming back home (28 hours). I got home from picking her up about 8 pm. He was on the phone calling her before 9 pm. She had not even taken her duffel bag out of the car. Ok so DH had to get it out of the car this morning cuz it was way too heavy for me to lift, and DD is still out cold.

He is a junior from another Catholic school in town. She has not been interested in anyone in almost a year. Hope he is a nice kid. I am going to have to check him out.

 

[NHAnn]

snappy....aw, young love


Mamm in the morning for me (early @ 7:30) ...wish me luck
I asked DH to come with me...he thought I just wanted him to go to the surgeon with me next Tuesday for the f/u...but I bribed him with a stop for breakfast before heading to work