Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part II -GAGWTA!

[snappy]

Sha, this was my SIL, Claudette. She developed an infection there. They have had her in the hospital with heavy IV antibiotics until surgery.

She had a fairly bad heart atacck in 1995, not sure when she received the pacemaker but it has been years.

Heart issues run in DH's family, especially the smokers. Luckily DH is allergic to cigarette smoke and avoids it like the plague, along with bananas and lots of other things.

He still has blockages, albeit in control apparently with meds an exercise (when he has time). He is working late hours again and I hate it.

Went shopping with DD13 for a nice semi formal dress for the snow ball tomorrow. She is so cooperative compared to DD18 at this ge. It was actually a pleasure to shop with her. She shied away from the dresses that were inappropriate. We have to shop in juniors due to her height and size cause we need either the small size 1 or 2 depending on fit. We ended up with three dresses of varying shades of blue, all but one on sale and that one was only $79. She is so sweet, I think she totally gets that her sweet nature yields major dividends. DH can deny her nothing.

Now on to shoes tonight.

OK and this is only 7th grade.

Poor dear, she has a dinosaur for a mom.

 

[Sha]

Laurie.. sorry, I was multitasking as I typed that. The prayers for you and mom was with the brother issue. Reminds me of my oldest sister.

 

[AlleyKat]

Hi everyone!

If any of you have had DIEP surgery and care to share their experiences, good and/or bad, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[Aliceacc]

Allelulia!!!!

I'm not pregnant.

With all the radiation I've had in the past 5 weeks, not to mention a CT scan (and maybe the MRI, I forget.) I was terrified. (and that's not to mention the fact that I'm 50 and Downs Syndrome would be a definite issue.)

Thanks to all who kept me in their prayers.

I really was terrified for this baby.

 

[Sha]

Allelulia!!!!

I'm not pregnant.

With all the radiation I've had in the past 5 weeks, not to mention a CT scan (and maybe the MRI, I forget.) I was terrified. (and that's not to mention the fact that I'm 50 and Downs Syndrome would be a definite issue.)

Thanks to all who kept me in their prayers.

I really was terrified for this baby.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Aliceacc - I am glad you can cross that off your list of worries!

 

[NHAnn]

Laurabelle Keeping you and DH close in my heart. Glad you have a Dx, but it certainly does suck as you so succinctly put it! Since he is young and generally fit and healthy, that points to successful surgery and speedy recovery, right. Hang in there sista!

AlleyKat --I have not had mast or reconstructive surgery but some ladies on here have (not sure of type)....I know they will have info for you!In the meantime have you checked out www.breastcancer.org ? A great user friendly site with a wealth of info and resources.

Alice!!

snappy, your DD sounds like a sweetie, and I know that apple doesn't fall far from the tree!!

To everyone I neglected to mention.. I am thinking of you all and your families and wishing you well...

GAGWTA!!!

 

[snappy]

Hi everyone!

If any of you have had DIEP surgery and care to share their experiences, good and/or bad, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

No DIEP doctors in my town but one of my cousins had DIEP back in October in New ORleans.

She is her late 50's and is an RN. She has a friend who was a breast surgeon and she strongly recommended the DIEP to my cousin as the abdominal muscles are not comprised with DIEP as they are with the tram, less chance of hernia.

It is a far longer surgery than other types of reconstruction.

My cousin's recovery was very difficult (she is quite thin and I am sure that did not help).

She is thrilled with the results.

I had free tram, my plastic surgeon does a lot of them and he is quite efficient with it. He was done in just 3 hours (it was a delayed reconstruction so he had to reopen the mastectomy site).

Not sure if anyone else currently on thread had DIEP. One of our former posters, MinnieM3 had DIEP in South Carolina. She was extremely happy with her results. Sadly, she is no longer among us.

PM me if you want me to check with my cousin and see if she would be willing to share her experience via email.

You can also pm if you want to hear about my tram but I am not sure how much benefit that would be to you. I am just offering because I don't mind.

One thing you probably already know is that for DIEP you want a doctor who has done a boatload of these. I believe more doctors are trianed in the procedure than were back in 2006 when I had my free tram but still none in my town.

Not sure if i would go out of town or state for the surgery, although many do exactly that. There is a site called facingourrisk.org which is designed essentially for women who carry the BRAC 1 or 2 genes and elect prophalactic double mastectomies and immediate reconstruction. Are there doctors in your area doing DIEP?

A number of the ladies on facingourrisk.org when I last was on the site had travel for the surgery, many to New ORleans to a different set of doctors than my cousin used last year.

 

[snappy]

Laurabelle Keeping you and DH close in my heart. Glad you have a Dx, but it certainly does suck as you so succinctly put it! Since he is young and generally fit and healthy, that points to successful surgery and speedy recovery, right. Hang in there sista!

AlleyKat --I have not had mast or reconstructive surgery but some ladies on here have (not sure of type)....I know they will have info for you!In the meantime have you checked out www.breastcancer.org ? A great user friendly site with a wealth of info and resources.

Alice!!

snappy, your DD sounds like a sweetie, and I know that apple doesn't fall far from the tree!!

To everyone I neglected to mention.. I am thinking of you all and your families and wishing you well...

GAGWTA!!!

OK, Ann, you are a sweetie, you made my day. I struggled all day today churning out W-2's and such and was feeling sorry for myself.

Between quirks in the software and the disclosure from the softward support guy that oh so sorry we don't have a report to generate the W-3 form (a summary that the social security administration requires), I am beyond frustrated.

However, determined as I am, I spent the last hour os so trying to format a W-3 on excel to fit in these random cells the IRS concocted. I have a few choice words for my software company and the IRS and what they can do with their stinking forms.

I need a glass of wine tonight.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

GTAGWTA Good Afternoon Ladies!!

Alice - Glad you have 1 less thing to worry about

Laura - Wishing your dh all the best with his surgery.

Melissa- Hope your dd is feeling better. I had to have 1 of those. I broke a bone by ny knee, Got to take it off for a shower only and loosened it to go to the bathroom. Hope it wont have to stay on your dd long.

Laurie - your dd sounds like a real sweet . Must be fun doing "girlie" things. I dont know what that is like with the 3 ds.

Well we celebrated the one ds b day a little early since dh is gone to california now. We sat next to them and he invited 4 friends plus the 2 other ds. Big bill but worth every penny, I cried seeing how happy he was. Dh said, oh I knew you would do that. Emo me for sure!!

The lung tests went well yest. The tech actually told me everything looked good. but scared me saying they are seeing alot of thyroid cancer patients and they think its enviornmental around here, since alice and I are from LI we know all about this.. I did tell them I had a lot of xrays when I had back surgery as a teen too. and now for my latest update in the cancer coaster of my life. I think I will call this one...A Dime A Dozen, and you might ask...what does this mean??
Well I went to see the pulmonary dr. today, very nice guy. He said my tests were normal and they were signing the pre op clearance Also told me about some post op stuff which I freaked out about, mainly dealing with tubes, breathing etc, swelling, etc. The bp was good too, something like 138/88 since the endo uped the morning pills to 2 instead of 1. Then the endo comes in, she said she might do that. She wanted the bp number to check. Well she talks to the pulmon. about me. She said then, oh yes, the latest biopsy says you have papiliarry cancer. I said what, do you mean the mon. biopsy, she said yes. I said PRAISE GOD!!! Hmm, I dont want to say anything, but why is the surgeon not telling me any of this? I know yest. he operates all day long and he did tell us he would tell us befoe the surgery what the results were. So now this cancer is like a dime a dozen, I have gone in a few days from extremely rare to a dime a dozen!! God is really answering prayers. Yest. ds17 came home and said his teacher was praying and crying and told ds I never cry, but I know God is telling me your mom is healed. (He goes to a religious school, but this is not our religion). I am trying to have another ds text him and worse, I cant tell me dh because he is on the airplane.
Thanks for listening to my little saga here.

Blessings to you all. You are the best, thank you for all your prayers, concerns and encouragement. Now for some more research. Of course, driving the surgeon crazy with all my questions.

 

[MerryPoppins]

LMP, I'm glad they finally have identified it. Great news! And I still think you're one in a million, even if your cancer is a dime a dozen.

Laurie, your daughter sounds like a keeper.

Laura, I'm glad they've gotten to the bottom of your DH's issues. I'm sure he'll do great. I have a young, healthy friend who has a pacemaker. You'd never pick him out as someone who would need it. But he's had it for years and does just fine.

Great news Aliceacc, I'm sure that's a burden removed from your shoulders.

I'm sure I left some of you out, so GAGWTA and hugs.

DD is doing better. She says it's not as sore today. Still hurts to stand on it, but it's calming down a little. That's good news. Maybe by the middle of next week, she'll feel good enough that we can skip the tests. And with the weekend here, she can take it easy for a couple of days.

And here's a quote for today:

"Friends are like angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

That's why I love it here. We lift each other up, and that's what friendship is all about.

 

[lookingforward]

Hi everyone! I am so sorry I have been out of touch as I am finishing up a graduate class I took an incomplete in last term. I have been so swamped with work too, I had to design a two hour training powerpoint for the officers that I will be giving over the next six months to small classes. As we say in boca "OY VEY"! I will catch up soon!

I am so happy that I am going to disney next weekend. YEA! Can't wait to get away, three nights, and I am even going to get to meet snappy! YEA! I wish I was meeting you all.

I wanted to share something with all of you but I forgot last time. I went to disney in November and was recouping from reconstruction surgery, etc. When I drove in to the parks in my car I simply asked for "medical" parking. The folks at disney could not have been nicer and we were allowed to park right behind the handicapped spots in "medical" parking. It made the walk to and from the entrance 2/3 shorter, which was great. I simply told them I was a cancer patient recovering from surgery, although they said no explanations were necessary. They were awesome and it helped with my exhaustion level. DISNEY ROCKS!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

GTAGWTA Good Morning Ladies

Hope you all had a good week end and things are going well with everyone.

I am killing time waiting for the one ds to wake up so he can go with me to the grocery store. He has off today as its midterm week.

Still waiting to hear from the surgeon to confirm things. I didnt call him but I might tomm. as I know I will get the np for sure and she wont be that busy as he is in surgery all day.

Was reading a cb thread about synthroid vs. generic etc. Also about calcium stuff which I know mine is awful the gp said. I guess I will ask the endo about this after surgery.

Called dh in california since he didnt bother to call me yest. which he said he would do every day, so much for emotional support across the country.
Me - You didnt call me, I am calling you, what are you doing?
DH - Oh I am sorry, what is new?
Me - Well I still have cancer
DH - Well I am eating salmon right now at Fishermans Wharf

OK - I am getting a little irritated. I tell him to call tomm.
Ds1 has a game tonight. I will have to see if I am up to it. Ds3 wants to go to the movies and see Mall Cop. Hm, nice little pre surgical diversion. Popcorn makes me sick if I eat too much.

 

[laurabelle]

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

Just a quickie update. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. Hubby is scheduled for surgery a week from Wed. on Feb 4th.

Maryann-

AlleyKat- I didn't have a DIEP but a friend of mine has a website you might want to check out. Lots of info on this type of recon. www.facingourrisk.org

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

GAGWTA, Ladies!

Thinking of your girls and hoping everyone is well!

 

[MerryPoppins]

I'm in the middle of a horrible ice storm. It's like glass out there and there have been so many wrecks. DH has been on his way home for about 2 hours and it usually takes him about 20 minutes to commute. We still have to pick up DD from school this afternoon. DS's afternoon classes were called due to weather. Laurie, is this headed your way?

I'm thinking of all of you. Read everything, so GAGWTA to all. If I disappear, it just means we've lost power for a while. Cross your fingers for me.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Stay safe, Melissa! I hope DH is home soon!
They are trying to decide how bad we are going to get hit by the ice. Last night they said it would be bad Tues PM into Wed AM, then this morning they said it may be worse than that.

 

[annrae]

Hi Laura: So sorry to hear about your DH and I know the surgery will go well. I was dx with SVT and had an ablation done in November. It really has helped a great deal but I'm still on meds because it was not a perfect "cure." I probably will need to have a repeat of the ablation at some point probably in another chamber of the heart. I will be thinking of you and your DH.

Laurie - I hope your SIL is doing well and your Mom also. Your DD sounds like a sweet girl - I remember when my DD was 14 she walked two paces ahead of me at the mall!!!

Melissa and anyone who is in the tract of the ice storm - stay safe and warm - ice storms are worst than snow storms anyday.

Ann - I hope everything is going well with you. I saw the photos of Avery and his two sisters - so cute.

Hugs to all of you. Barbara

 

[laurabelle]

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

Melissa- My husband's mom and sister live in Tulsa. I spoke with her over the weekend and she told me about the weather you all had coming. It's coming here, actually it just started snowing and they've closed schools. I hope you don't lose power, that's bad enough in the summer. Hope your dd is feeling better.

Barbara-I'm glad things have worked out for you. Yes, this is kind of a 1/2 fix, and it sounds like it will be a life long issue. I am so grateful that FINALLY he has a dx. They think beta blockers will be next. One step at a time. I have heard lots of positive stories about pacemakers and we both feel optimistic about the surgery. Hopefully that alone will make him feel better.

Elizabeth- Is the birthday party still on? I just noticed your new scrolling tag!

 

[snappy]

Laura, Claudette's pacemaker has been a God send for many years. She only rain into trouble when the old one was changed out for the new one in October.

The pacemaker has been moved to a different location and she is home now.

Good luck to you r husband on his surgery.

Thinking of you luvmarypoppins.

Merry, stay safe. Hope your DH got home safely.

GAGWTA!