Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part II -GAGWTA!

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Although the lymphedema might have been preventable in her case, I will say some survivors suffer from it for no apparent reason, years later, even if they are careful. Not much to cheer you I know.

It is a lifelong risk thing.

Even with the sentinel node surgery only, you can end up with the swelling.

I remember reading to take precautions but to live your life within reason.

It is judgement calls.

I can see both sides of it.
The thing is, I called Mom's oncologist the first part of NOVEMBER to tell them she was not taking the swelling seriously and that they needed to talk to her about it. They addressed it with her. It took until the end of December for it to get so bad that Mom decided it was worth treating. They TOLD her she needed to keep the arm wrapped and elevated and do the exercises, but she refused. Now it is really bad because she disregarded the care instructions. To some degree it might not have been preventable, but by acting on it in a more timely manner she could have prevented it from getting this bad. That's what frustrates me.

 

[snappy]

I agree, it sounds frustrating.

I think you are much like me, determined to take the course that yields the best results even if it takes effort.

Not to say I am not stubborn.

I think I am making our kids crazy right now. They don't really follow the majority of my suggestions. VEry hardheaded and more likely to do the opposite.

I think they want to send me to Disney PERMANENTLY!!.

DH made a comment about his boss saying after many late nights, when DH snapped and several people in one day at work, that DH should take a vacation. Then he (the boss/owner) said, wait, you just went on one in October!!

I was ready to book him a flight with us. He would only have to take off 3 days but it sounds like it could not fall at a worse time.

Although that seemed to be the story in NOvember and De cember when he was working so many hours and could not take off even one vacation day for the holidays.

Hopefully he will be able to make up for it in May when we go for 10 days.

I am sick of him losing vacation days each year, not like he gets that many, this is the first year he gets 3 weeks.

I need to get over all of this and just be glad he and I have a job.

Luvmarypoppins, your boss sounds heartless indeed. Are you a long time employee? Maybe with the economy the powers that be feel employees are more expendable?

 

[MerryPoppins]

LMP, my thoughts and prayers remain with you. Hopefully, this'll all work out and things can proceed. Waiting is the worst.

JSG, some people just have to learn the hard way. Sounds like your mother is one of these people. At least she's not so hard-headed that she's still unwilling to do what needs to be done now. Maybe next time, she'll remember and will do what she's supposed to do.

I've got a lot on my plate today. My mom and her boyfriend are coming over for the National Championship game tonight. We're just ordering pizza, but I thought I might fix cookies or a cake. And I need to do a little picking up and finish the laundry. Can't wait for the game.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Learning the hard way seems to be the story of her life.
It's not like I was making up the part about lymphedema being serious, but that's how she seemed to take it. I didn't get to speak to her very long yesterday because she was at WalMart and couldn't find her car in the parking lot. I need to call her back today and see how things are going. Hopefully she is not still wandering the aisles of the parking lot.

 

[laurabelle]

Well the ct scan is today.

I have a feeling there is also something else wrong since the np said oh on monday the endo will be doing "lots" more blood tests. I am hoping she is only thinking thyroid which they said I have had none of. I have to call the ins. co as they want me to do it at the hosp. and I dont think my ins. covers that, only the stupid quest place, sigh, sigh.

I wrote on my other thread, now dh boss is saying stuff like" well, I can see this is going to be taking up a great amount of your time, maybe we should get someone else to do your job, wth?. This guy has no compassion or heart and neither does the bigger boss. He just fired a guy who he said was never around, and his wife is battleling breast cancer too. I know he did have some other issues too. My poor dh is getting slammed as he is suppose to be in California in 2 weeks, right at expected next surgery. I already told him as soon as I am out to go and the 3 ds can work in shifts to take care of me. I really dont want someone else, even someone from church, I am the kind of person who likes to be quiet after surgery, not have any visitors etc.

his type of cancer has so many strange things that can happen , I guess I am just having to see where this goes. The web md article guy was saying this too. I am glad I have alot of faith, it helps alot.

Blessings to you all and thanks for letting me vent to all the sisters here,

My endo. dr. recently did a lot of tests that no one else had done before and some of them were for certain cancers. She is very thorough. I think anyone with cancer should be followed by an endocrinologist as well. I know this is incredibly frustrating, but it's also good to leave no stone unturned. I (obviously) don't know what all this means, but I would hope this streamline your treatment, and knock the block off this beast!

I totally know what you mean about being left alone to recover. I'm sure your boys will rally and protect you.

My hubby started a new job about 6 months prior to my cancer dx. His new job would not allow him to take the time off that he needed beyond my initial surgeries. Word got back to his former employer, not only about my dx, but his job situation, and they offered him his old job back with all his benefits including all the time off he needed. I am praying for compassion, blessing and favor to be shown to your husband as well.

 

[laurabelle]

Laurie- I hope you write us a little Trip Report...I could use one! Maybe you can kidnap your hubby...

Elizabeth- I'm sorry your mom is having a hard time. Cipro always works well for me. I guess she needed a little extra something to take this seriously. Yeah, ugh.

Maureen- Have fun watching the game!

Busy weekend coming here too...good busy, fun happy life is good busy!

 

[MerryPoppins]

I don't remember if I was posting on this thread when my DH lost his job a few years ago? Probably before this thread began. He had trouble finding something, so he finally took a job working for FAA (with a significant pay cut). He figured that job plus the money he got when his old job ended, would hold us over until he found something else. And he didn't feel guilty about looking, because FAA said this was a temporary job. If they liked him, they might make it permanant in two years. When he was offered the job at the air force base, they would only consider his current pay when they offered him a job, so we've been making much less than we were used to for the last few years. Each year when he gets a raise, we celebrate that we are closer to his old salary.

Well, he just got word that this year he not only got a raise, but a special award raise as well. We've finally come back to where we were before he lost his job. Of course, that's not considering the cost of living changes since then, but we're pretty happy. Just in time, since DD graduates from high school in May, so we'll have two in college.

That was long-winded, but I just wanted to do the happy dance with somebody.

 

[snappy]

Love love love good news, Merry!!

Thanks for sharing !!

Please tell your DH congrats for me!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Laura - Yep. Mom dropped the ball on this one. I am thinking she was "shot" several weeks back and has been "bleeding" ever since, but she just now has elected to notice.

Melissa - Yay for DH!

I got a call today from my favorite nanny recruiter. She said she knew I wasn't looking for a job, but she was wondering if any of my friends with similar resumes were looking. Apparently the economy really hasn't hurt nanny placements, which blows me away!
I LOVE my job, but it is always in the back of my mind that if one of my bosses was unemployed that I would be let go. I figured looking for another job right now would be an exercise in futility, but she said there ARE jobs and some of them are really good. Bizarre!

 

[NHAnn]

.

I think I am making our kids crazy right now. They don't really follow the majority of my suggestions. Very hardheaded and more likely to do the opposite.

I think they want to send me to Disney PERMANENTLY!!.

Oh I sooooo feel your pain, and I would love if they DID send me to Disney permanently!
DD never came home last night...I noticed at my 5 a.m. bathroom trip. Course I never got back to sleep. Called her at 8 and was told she "didn't want to call and wake us when it got late and her plans changed" . "Review of ground rules" discussion is pending here. Even at age 22.

Relatively low airfares and a light work load in late Jan/early Feb make planning a getaway tempting....DH and I had also talked about a few days ont he gulf coast(to catch some Red Sox spring training) and a couple day s at WDW in late Feb/early March ....but the air is signifigantly higher then and the workload heavier.....aaaccck...what to do.........

luvmaryp: keeping you in my thoughts and prayers

Melissa---sorry about the outcome of the game. DH stayed up late and watched the whole thing, I went to bed

jsg: hope the treatment can get your mom's swelling under control

I'm heading to visit my dad today before yet another snowstorm forecast for tonight/tomorrow.

Next week I have my annual mammo Tues and annual appt with surgeon Thurs ...so that perrenial underlying anxiety is surfacing and making me edgy...

GAGWTA ladies!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

GAGWTA, Ladies!!

Mom's insurance has approved her radiation with the new machine, so she will start radiation on Tuesday afternoon. She is continuing with daily treatments for the lymphedema as well.

She was asking if anyone knows of a way for her to keep her bandages from sliding off of her fingers? I can't really even visualize what she is talking about. I told her I would ask here. She said there is a lymphedema support group she might try to attend. I think that would be tremendously beneficial to her because she hasn't has ANY counseling or psych support at all. She could really use the companionship of a group.

I hope you are all doing well! I am jealous of all these upcoming trips! Seems like August will never get here!

 

[snappy]

JSK, I am happy that your mom's insurance is working out. I can't help with the kind of bandage your mom described. I do think a support group would benefit her.

Good to hear that there are positions in your field. Accounting is another one that seems to always have osmething open. However, where I am working now is about 90% dependent on state and federal grants. Our state is cutting way back so I am worried about next year.

I hope I can just make it to age 59 and a half, when I can start taking out some $ from my IRA without penalty.

I have no plans to leave much for posterity. I hope my mom does the same.

Ann, I hear Orlando is warm this time of year, especially the last week in January.

We feel your pain with the upcoming mammogram. I can't think of much else that strikes as much fear in the heart of woman.

On another sad note (this has got me on edge), two things happened in the last two days that make me worry about my kiddos.

On Thursday, DS20's last day at work before returning to college in New Orleans,during the am, an accident happened on the floor where he was working. He is working for an electrical firm at a big commercial construction site where multiple contractors are all engaged. Anyway a man's head was caught when the elevator was moving. Not sure of the exact details, but it sounds like the elevator was being used to move materials up and he was in the wrong place and the wrong time. DS did not see it happened since he was around the corner working but they all ran to the elevator when they heard the commotion, so he saw the man being worked on to revive him.

Needless to say, my son was very shaken. He saw that the man was breathing after he received CPR, but he bled out apparently. The owner of the electrical contractor (he is our nextdoor neighbor) called me a little while latter to check on DS since DS's foreman called him about what happened and told him how upset DS was. The owner told me injured man was almost decapitated so I can understand DS's being so affected.

What worries me is that DS said the noise level at the jobsite is horrendous, and the injured man might not have heard the elevator moving. Our neighbor told me the guy was standing on the top of the elevator, so I am not sure what really happend. What worries me is I know how sleepy DS is when he gets to work at 6:30 am. He will not resume work until the end of the semester so I don't have to worry right now, but I am sure you see where my concern lies.

Also yesterday, we heard that a 21 year old college student who DS went to school with throughout middle school and high school was killed in an auto accident on his way home from work Friday morning, after closing at 1:30 am.

I've had a "stern" talk to both teens about driving when impaired FOR ANY REASON.

I guess it has all hit too close to home because I can't shake off the worry.

Sad weekend in Baton Rouge.

Y'all stay safe in the winter storm.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Laurie - I am sorry to hear about your son's co-worker and his former classmate! How sad. Hopefully the kids will take your lecture to heart and remember what can happen!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Elizabeth - just wondering if the new machine you are talking about is the Rapid Arc. I have been researching this and see there is one about 40 min. from me. I read it takes like 45 seconds compared to regular 4 minutes and it is probably much better for me as it has precise accuracy and will have less chance of damaging my eyes, etc. since mine is in my neck.

 

[MerryPoppins]

Hi ladies.

We had a 12th Night dinner and show at church tonight. My DD was part of the entertainment. We enjoyed ourselves. It was a wonderful night and the proceeds went to Food for Friends (a local group that feeds the hungry).

I hear that many in the nation are getting snow and freezing rain. It's cool and dry here. We were in the 70's yesterday and I saw two girls after school in shorts and sleeveless t-shirts riding their scooters. LOL!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Elizabeth - just wondering if the new machine you are talking about is the Rapid Arc. I have been researching this and see there is one about 40 min. from me. I read it takes like 45 seconds compared to regular 4 minutes and it is probably much better for me as it has precise accuracy and will have less chance of damaging my eyes, etc. since mine is in my neck.

I think she called it "IMRT". I may have the letters in the wrong order.
I Googled it when she first told me about it. The info I read does not list breast cancer as a common use, but because of the way Mom's tumor was they think to avoid damaging her lungs that this is the way to go. The accuracy is supposed to be much better with this than with the other type of machine.

Initially she thought she would have fewer doses with this kind of radiation, but they are still telling her 6 weeks.

 

[snappy]

Luvmarypoppins, I like the sound of 45 seconds vs. 4 minutes. I think that technology would be worth driving further. I am ignorant on the radiology stuff, all I know is that the new machines are so expensive, only some clinics have the latest at any given time.

I think it is great that you are researching the options.

Sounds like a lot of fun, Merry. How does the Twelfth night work, and what part did your daughter have? I bet it involved singing!!!

I guess we have moved on from Christmas. All the outside lights and decorations in the neighborhood are put up as of this weekend.

We go on to celebrate Mardi Gras time here. Someone in our office picked up the first king cake of the season this week. I will have say that the New Orleans king cakes are better.

No wonder we are the most unhealthy state in the country per an article in Parade magazine this morning.

Tulane move back day is today oh joy. And something is wrong with DS's car door. . . it won't close so he has it ducktaped. So we have another task for the day. It is a good thing DD18 and DS20 are both in college in New Orleans.

I think I may be able to talk DH in taking us all out to lunch while in town.

GAGWTA!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

jsg, is your mother's BC on the left? Left sided radiation "catches" more of the heart, so less, or more precise, is a great thing.

Laurie, that was very scary for your son to see. What a horrible accident. BTW, what is King Cake?

Ann, how are you holding up up North? We have white out conditions here right now. I am tired of this snow and cold already. OT but did you see the Travel Channel special on Samantha Brown going home to Portsmouth/Newcastle? Neat. Before DH and I had kids, we used to spend every NYE in Portsmouth (then shop the outlet sales on NYD - my how things have changed, LOL - how did you like my pictures, btw?) I have to get up there again sometime.

Merry, I'm glad about your husband's job. It's nice when things work out, isn't it?

lmp, holding good thoughts for your upcoming testing.

 

[NHAnn]

Ann, how are you holding up up North? We have white out conditions here right now. I am tired of this snow and cold already. OT but did you see the Travel Channel special on Samantha Brown going home to Portsmouth/Newcastle? Neat. Before DH and I had kids, we used to spend every NYE in Portsmouth (then shop the outlet sales on NYD - my how things have changed, LOL - how did you like my pictures, btw?) I have to get up there again sometime.

Snow tapered off mid-morning here. We got about 6-7 inches, most fell between 11 lastnight and early this morning. Good timing for me as we went over to UNH for the hockey game last night and it was just starting to spit little flakes as we got home. And I learned how to use the snowblower this morning, I'd been telling DH I need to learn "just in case" . Other storms (weekdays)the timing hasn't been right for me to be available to actually do snow blowing. I need to write the starting it up instructions down though, or I'll forget, choke thing, throttle thing, elect start, remove cord, etc. The actual controls once it's running I think I'm OK with. I did the whole (200 foot) driveway andthe turnaround near the garage.
I too am VERY tired of winter already as well.
I LOVED your pics Linda!!! I'm usually the first one in the ocean when we go to York ME or GLoucester MA beaches, or my sisters at Rye NH, noone likes the frigid Atlanticbut me....even in summer LOL!! I'm not sure I could do that NYD dip but I bet it's a blast to be there LOL
DH watched the Samantha Brown thing, we did not know she was from there til he saw that!

I'm off to the grocery store now that my driveway's clear, I can only hope the roads, parking lots are...........


GAGWTA!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Linda - It is on the right, but I think since her cancer is in the milk gland instead of the milk duct that it is probably almost flush against the chest wall. They are trying to avoid lung damage, from what I understand.