Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part II -GAGWTA!

[snappy]

Thanks for posting that link, Laura. It does not apply to me, but it is very interesting reading.

There were many points that apply across the board, including dietary and alcoholic beverage lifestyle choices.

Very, very intersting.

Laurie

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Excellent link, Laura, though the information in there did make my head spin a bit (I'm triple neg). It's a great example of how treatment is very unique to each patient.

I thought these were noteworthy statements:

It is important to recognize that for any woman with an invasive breast cancer, the greatest risk is not the risk of a secondary breast cancer tumor but rather the risk of a distant metastasis of her first breast cancer. So while continuing imaging of the breast is important, that is likely to be determined by whether or not she has had appropriate therapy to prevent a systemic recurrence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I always begin my breast cancer consults with my patients by stating to them that no woman ever died of breast cancer in her breast; women die of breast cancer as a result of cancer cells spreading outside the breast and lodging in other organs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recommendations for after triple-negative treatment?
Question from KathyK: What are the most important recommendations you can make that patients can follow after treatment for triple-negative breast cancer? Aren't there any things we can do to help ourselves?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Answer —Beth DuPree, M.D., F.A.C.S.: I think that you can refer to the first question regarding diet and exercise and the overall benefit of reducing the risk of a recurrent cancer. Another factor at the completion of treatment, which I always find very difficult for patients, is to go on and live their life. Once the chemotherapy or radiation or treatment is completed, it is often very difficult to stop focusing on the treatment of the cancer, and to begin living their life once again. With the completion of chemotherapy and the surgical therapy for the cancer, you need to be able to get to a place where you can realize you've done everything you can from a medical standpoint to beat the cancer. At that point focus on living each day to the fullest and making the lifestyle changes to promote a healthier lifestyle overall to reduce the risk of a recurrent cancer.

 

[snappy]

For a woman who has already had breast cancer, such as the case you describe, there is no striking reason to believe that that would need to be imaged in a different way than the normal breast cancer patient. It is important to recognize that for any woman with an invasive breast cancer, the greatest risk is not the risk of a secondary breast cancer tumor but rather the risk of a distant metastasis of her first breast cancer. So while continuing imaging of the breast is important, that is likely to be determined by whether or not she has had appropriate therapy to prevent a systemic recurrence.

This excerpt struck me as well, Linda. I have been troubled by why some survivors have mammograms only after treatment and others have MRI's.


I guess I was thinking it was due to insurance constraints, but I think in addition to insurance balking at covering the cost of MRI's of the breast, the true risk for us IBC gals is the cancer appearing elsewhere.

Not sure if this makes me feel better or not, but as I think info is power, well, keep the info coming!!!

I have been too tired to do the gym thing since Monday. I'll try and be a good girl today.

I think my sense of taste may be returning, still waiting on the sense of smell. DH tells me I am lucky, he can still smell essence of skunk on Snappy around her head where we avoided cleaning as much.

Not using candles around here for awhile, what is the use?

I had a meltdown last night, it was DS20's actual birthday, so I made his favorite veal dish (my MIL's recipe). I had just finished sauteeing the veal and went to watch a snatch of Out of Africa that DD18 and her boyfriend were watching in the other room, and Naj jumped up at the counter, pulled down the veal where it was draining on paper towels. I had no clue what was going on (the dish remained intact on the counter) until I walked back into the kitchen.

Naj is on my SHi* list, DS had chicken nuggets for his birthday dinner instead of pan fried veal.

We are taking her for obedience training classes starting tonight. I am ready to relegate her to being solely an outside dog. Too harsh?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Naj jumped up at the counter, pulled down the veal where it was draining on paper towels

Uh oh Have had that happen on occasion too.

For a woman who has already had breast cancer, such as the case you describe, there is no striking reason to believe that that would need to be imaged in a different way than the normal breast cancer patient. It is important to recognize that for any woman with an invasive breast cancer, the greatest risk is not the risk of a secondary breast cancer tumor but rather the risk of a distant metastasis of her first breast cancer. So while continuing imaging of the breast is important, that is likely to be determined by whether or not she has had appropriate therapy to prevent a systemic recurrence.

This excerpt struck me as well, Linda. I have been troubled by why some survivors have mammograms only after treatment and others have MRI's.

I thought this was interesting, too, especially the bolded part, which, I believe speaks to this whole thing we've discussed recently about whether or not to have chemo based on node status. I understand there's new thoughts on tumor predictors of recurrence risk, etc, but the general thought had always been that invasive cancer puts you at risk for distant metastasis, and chemo is the way you fight it.

As for the MRIs, I think it's a matter of catching any type of breast recurrence very early, because don't forget, a breast recurrence can also be invasive and also cause the problems of potential mets as well.

 

[snappy]

I have Cheryl, Maureen, Dawn and JSK's mom all on my mind this morning.

Ann, how is sweet little Avery doing?

I am seriously considering a mental health day either today or tomorrow, probably tomorrow. I already have my annual GYN visit and a haircut tomorrow, thinking about adding a massage. I just need a decadent day where I am not washing clothes, grocery shopping or cleaning up chewed up veal splattered paper towels off the floor.

I may start with a soak in my tub.

GAGWTA ladies!!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think that's a good idea, Laurie.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I have Cheryl, Maureen, Dawn and JSK's mom all on my mind this morning.

Ann, how is sweet little Avery doing?

I am seriously considering a mental health day either today or tomorrow, probably tomorrow. I already have my annual GYN visit and a haircut tomorrow, thinking about adding a massage. I just need a decadent day where I am not washing clothes, grocery shopping or cleaning up chewed up veal splattered paper towels off the floor.

I may start with a soak in my tub.

GAGWTA ladies!!

Thanks for the good thoughts for Mom!

I am so sorry the naughty dog ruined your special dinner! I think a mental health day sounds fabulous!

We have naughty cats. I am big into the Christmas tree. A few years ago I went out and bought a huge, pre-lit, musical tree at Dillard's. It was not cheap. Three years ago (when the tree was only a year old) our cat Aurora chewed through every single one of the wires for the lights. Bless his heart, DH spent HOURS with the electrical tape trying to fix my tree. He did manage to fix it. Two years ago we put the tree up and Aurora IMMEDIATELY went for the wires. We took the tree back down - never put a single ornament on it. We went to Target and bought a cheap tree and cheap light strings and used that. It wasn't as glorious as the other tree, but it was OK. Last year we didn't even attempt to put a tree up because Arabella is even worse than Aurora. The two of them would have leveled my tree, broken the ornaments, and chewed up the wires in seconds flat. I don't know if we'll try to have a tree this year or not.

Hope everyone is having a good day! The weekend is coming!

 

[MerryPoppins]

Our vet told me to rub Tabasco sauce on wires. Doesn't work for all cats. I guess some have a taste for peppers? But it might be worth a try.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Our vet told me to rub Tabasco sauce on wires. Doesn't work for all cats. I guess some have a taste for peppers? But it might be worth a try.

We thought about buying some of that "Bitter Apple" spray that is supposed to stop pets from chewing. I just don't know if anything would overpower their taste for electrical wiring! Stupid cats.

When Aurora was a kitten we had a case of Pepsi on the kitchen floor. She bit through one of the cans, Pepsi sprayed all over, HUGE mess. For awhile if we came near her with a Pepsi can she would run, but she is over that now. Which is a shame, because we could have strung Pepsi cans along the bottom branches of the tree.

I finally replaced my purse because Aurora gnawed the strap to pieces. Now I have to hide my purse so she can't chew up the new one.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

I have Cheryl, Maureen, Dawn and JSK's mom all on my mind this morning.

Thanks! Sorry about the veal! We had dogs when I was growing up (can't anymore bc of DH and DS and their asthma) and had things like that happen all the time.

Went into the city and had an expansion today. DH drove me in, as I have been nauseous and "vomitous" (my new made up word for chemo) in the morning since my infusion last Tues. I was able to drive myself back home so DH could go to work. One more expansion to go! This means that I have less than 2 weeks to decide whether I want saline or silicone...my PS will show me each, etc. The nurse told me that getting saline means never needing an MRI again. She says silicone means going once a year for an MRI. She says that some women make their decision based on that. Interesting.

I expect to have a tentative date set for the exchange in 2 weeks. My PS is going on vacation for three weeks starting 8/11, so regardless of how "vomitous" I may feel the week after next, I must see her for the last fill before she leaves.

Hope everyone is feeling well.

 

[Sha]

Hi Ladies! wanted to let you know mom's PET scan and markers are all negative. Thanks for all the prayers. She has her next appt in 6 month and if all is well, is fired per the MD (meaning clear 5 years)

on another note... I have client who had an expander put in when she had her mastectomy and wanted to know if it was painful? If it felt like a shingle inside of the chest/breast area??? I have never had a client with one so I have no idea.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

I have client who had an expander put in when she had her mastectomy and wanted to know if it was painful? If it felt like a shingle inside of the chest/breast area??? I have never had a client with one so I have no idea.

I have expanders and they have been fine. Not like a shingle. As they get filled up, the shape they take on is pretty amusing. I am carrying high and now, at 840 ccs, they definitely look more like the real thing, but are still kind of "boxy" looking. I have been fortunate up to this point (knock on wood) and have not had much discomfort with them. I am able to sleep on my side without pain. I mentioned earlier that I had a fill today. I am feeling a little tight now but that usually subsides after 24 hours. I was large chested to begin with, so perhaps this is why the stretching of the skin is not bothersome to me. I have heard that some women experience discomfort, and more often than not, they were small breasted prior to mastectomy.

 

[Sha]

I have expanders and they have been fine. Not like a shingle. As they get filled up, the shape they take on is pretty amusing. I am carrying high and now, at 840 ccs, they definitely look more like the real thing, but are still kind of "boxy" looking. I have been fortunate up to this point (knock on wood) and have not had much discomfort with them. I am able to sleep on my side without pain. I mentioned earlier that I had a fill today. I am feeling a little tight now but that usually subsides after 24 hours. I was large chested to begin with, so perhaps this is why the stretching of the skin is not bothersome to me. I have heard that some women experience discomfort, and more often than not, they were small breasted prior to mastectomy.

She is a week post op and still has a drain... might be the two of them next to each other But again, she had both procedures done at the same surgery.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

duplicate

 

[DeeCeeSW]

She is a week post op and still has a drain... might be the two of them next to each other But again, she had both procedures done at the same surgery.

I also had both procedures at once (immediate reconstruction). The drains are uncomfortable. She will feel better once they are taken out. Honestly, each woman's experience (with all of these procedures, etc.) is different.

 

[Sha]

I also had both procedures at once (immediate reconstruction). The drains are uncomfortable. She will feel better once they are taken out. Honestly, each woman's experience (with all of these procedures, etc.) is different.

Will tell her that that may be the case about it being the drain. We talked earlier today and I did say each person varies. But it helps to have that added info since I am unfamiliar with the expanders in my experience.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We are having tornadoes here in New England. We had one in this area yesterday (small) and they had a bad one up in NH today. Thinking of Ann.

 

[CherylDan]

Just back from my CT scans. As expected, I wont know anything until Monday. The scans went fine, the most notable thing was the IV contrast stuff - it felt very warm for a second, and then it felt like I wet my pants! They assured me that the feeling was normal, and that I was still dry. Very strange.

Everybody with bad weather, stay safe!

Linda...how is your hip doing? Have you seen your new onc. yet?

Sha...glad to hear your mom is doing well!

Dawn....hope your "vomitous" feeling subsides soon!

Snappy....sorry to hear about your dinner - although probably not nearly as sorry as your DS must have been!

GAGWTA!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Thanks! Sorry about the veal! We had dogs when I was growing up (can't anymore bc of DH and DS and their asthma) and had things like that happen all the time.

Went into the city and had an expansion today. DH drove me in, as I have been nauseous and "vomitous" (my new made up word for chemo) in the morning since my infusion last Tues. I was able to drive myself back home so DH could go to work. One more expansion to go! This means that I have less than 2 weeks to decide whether I want saline or silicone...my PS will show me each, etc. The nurse told me that getting saline means never needing an MRI again. She says silicone means going once a year for an MRI. She says that some women make their decision based on that. Interesting.

I expect to have a tentative date set for the exchange in 2 weeks. My PS is going on vacation for three weeks starting 8/11, so regardless of how "vomitous" I may feel the week after next, I must see her for the last fill before she leaves.

Hope everyone is feeling well.

Ugh! I am so sorry you are feeling vomitous! I hope the queasies go away soon!

Hi Ladies! wanted to let you know mom's PET scan and markers are all negative. Thanks for all the prayers. She has her next appt in 6 month and if all is well, is fired per the MD (meaning clear 5 years)

on another note... I have client who had an expander put in when she had her mastectomy and wanted to know if it was painful? If it felt like a shingle inside of the chest/breast area??? I have never had a client with one so I have no idea.

Great news for your mom!!

 

[NHAnn]

GAGWTA--

been a rough weather day in NH, thanks for thinking of me. The worst of it for us here in Concord was intermittent torrential rain, some thunder, and some minor street flooding, so we are OK. The devasted areas are less than 20 miles northeast of here though. Horrific damage, so random and tornadic activity is so rare here anyway, One death in a house collapse, but a lot of other homes damaged, downed trees resulting in road closures and power outages.

Avery is hanging in there snappy, thanks for asking. Medically, things are on pretty much on track, they are monitoring some headaches and dizziness but are not worried. Kind of like us ladies....every little ache, pain or "normal" virus has you wondering if something serious is going on. DIL has accepted a new FT position (she has a M.Ed with focus on Special Ed, had downshifted to part time with her 3rd pregnancy and had only recently returned to work last winter after Avery stabilized.) She started a FT Student Services Director job a few weeks ago and methinks Avery is having a wee bit o' trouble adjusting to the fact that the household schedule does not solely revolve around him...hopefully when first grade starts in September he will be busier and distracted and no choice in the matter

Cheryl, I have been holding you close in my heart these days
You did give me a laugh about the CT scan.....I had my very first one about 18 months ago whenI had a spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung). (Never had one for the breast cancer). I remember the techs telling me how I was going to feel a "flush" and that some people think they wet their pants I was glad they prepared me because it is an odd sensation!!

This thread has been moving so fast, I feel bad that I can't respond to eveything....please know, ALL of you that I am thinking of you and your loved ones.............
stay strong and have faith!