Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part III - GAGWTA!

[Pea-n-Me]

You're welcome. Hope it was helpful info. A site you may want to use as a reference is www.breastcancer.org.

FYI I edited the first sentence of my second to last paragraph for clariflcation.

 

[honugirl]

Hi sistas!!

Nothing too much new. I did survive another amazing ride with ds17. Hmm, I guess the word I would use to describe my experience is "erratic" and as always thank God I am alive!! Boy this boy needs practice. Just not with me!!

Maybe you should hire some sort of unsuspecting college student to teach your son to drive?

A week from tomm. will be ds19 surgery and then dh is trying to make an apt. at the cardiologist. O.K. they want to see his ekg and a referral from Dr. Bozo, um, I mean our pcp. I will let him take care of this.

Good luck with all that!

Lisa - Wow I would never let a resident scope me. I think I would be too scared if the camera went the wrong way etc., or could it?? Thank heavens they dont have an ent resident program at the hosp. I think they are trying to re establish it though. I always see the pictures on the tv screen. He only prints them when he wants I think.

Thinking of you all. GTAGWTA

I don't think the camera can really go the wrong way. They go up through the nose, so it's pretty hard to make a wrong turn, I'm assuming... It doesn't really bother me much that they do it, they have to learn on someone. I just wish they'd give me some good drugs before they did it! All I get is some Afrin and lidocaine sprayed up my nose. The least they could do for my trouble is the twilight sleep stuff...

I wish I could see the TV screen. That would be so cool! But they way they have to put my head, all I get to see is a nice, plain white ceiling. Why they couldn't put some sort of half naked guy poster up there, I'll never know...

If everyone could think about my family on Friday, I'd appreciate it. 11 years ago my dad had triple bypass surgery. It worked great. Now he's having problems with one of the grafts. They're going to do the cardiac cathiterization and try to put a stent in. If that doesn't work, they're going to have to do bypass surgery all over again. I'm pretty nervous. I hope it goes well... I need him healthy. We have tickets to Larry the Cable guy next month.

 

[Aliceacc]

Honu, make plans to meet your special guy in Chicago. It's a GREAT city; you'll have a blast!

I hope dad is OK. Keeping my fingers crossed that the stent does its job.

did I tell you guys that I went to TODAY's appointment yesterday??? I don't know what I was thinking... I KNOW he does surgery on Wednesdays! (He's operated on me 3 times in the last year, all on Wednesdays!!!) So I'll get back in the car and drive to Great Neck (20 minutes on the LIE) again today! Upside: it was gorgeous out, the tunes on the radio were good, and no one said "mommy" that whole time.

13 days till Disney!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good afternoon sistas

Linda - welcome back. I loved the story about your suitcases on the roof, but felt sorry all your hard work went down the drain. Whats the old saying, when it rains, it pours? Hope you had a great trip. How are things going with your brother?

Alice - hope your visit goes well today. Sorry for the weather today, hmm, actually I met the news 12 weather guy. We were friends with one of the reporters a long time ago. He was at a birthday party that we were at.

Candy - are all those familys you are going with on your trip your relatves? Or just friends?

Lisa - Do you go to OSHU - Portland? Because the dr. who left here is there now, ent. Her name is Dr. Maisie Shindo and she is prety famous. You can google her. I know the poster JessicaR had her operate on her I think. My dr. (surgeon) now took her place. When I get scoped I get to sit in the chair, so I guess the camera goes down and not up etc. Your poster comment made me Will say prayers for your dads surgery tomm.

Well dh dropped a bomb on me last night. He said his old boss in another dept. wants him back. and he said he would offer him anything he wanted $$. The job wouldnt be as challenging as the one he has now , but now he is so unhappy with his bosses and the one boss already said the job will last for about 2 years where he is in this dept. now and he has threatened to send dh to siberia a few times, which is possible. Gheesh. So he will have lunch with his old boss to talk. They treat dh like the prized pig at the fair I think. We both dont actually care about the money, can you believe it. I told him to just do whatever makes him happy since he is there a major part of the day and the only thing I would really go for is lifetime medical before retirement or something like that. What good would money be anyway if your ins. co. wont cover you because of pre existing, like the lovely cancer now etc. Right now dh is too young to qualify for that if anything happened to him etc. He also say, I have like 15 days vacation I have to use, do you want to go anywhere? Huh? You look like you are feeling better.

GTAGWTA. Thinking of you all.

 

[Candy30]

OMGITS- I know you are in a hard place. I wonder if you try and just talk with her and express your worries. Like take her to lunch and tell her how much you care about her and are only looking to keep her with you. She may accept it easier and may listen more.

HONU- We are at a teaching hospital here. I think its great that you are willing to let them work on you. I do sometimes but if its something I am nervous about.....NOOOOOO Way! I will be thinking about you, your family,and your father.

PNM- Oh no!! about your clothes. It's hilarious that the dirty ones were inside. Welcome back!!!

LMP- Poor thing having to ride in terror. I already told my husband that he would have to teach my son or he is going to driving school. Wow on your husbands job offer! Don't you want to go to Disney!!!!!

I am working on final payments with Disney and trying to make arrangements, research on things and working on our T shirts. I have been working hard on these. I really have to give it to the DISigners on this board. It is hard work. I did a request that I don't think anyone wants to spend the time on and after working on it myself.....I understand why. LMP 3 out of the 4 famililes are blood family. The other should be family and were born to a different Momma . I am getting so excited. I really could use a vacation. The car payment is denting my wallet. I am so glad that my son is going to have his own spending money. How much do you think we should take? My daughter is saving her money and I am matching what she saves. She is 12. So really I only have to worry about me and my husband. How much do you think we should budget a day? We are on the Dining plan too. Any suggestions?

GAGWTA!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good afternoon ladies

Lisa - Praying for your dad. Hope all is well with him.

Alice - hope your surgeons visit went well. Sunny, hot day today, yippee!!

Laura - hope you are lurking sista! Miss you!!

Boys at the beach, one boy teaching swimming lessons, one boy lifeguarding = too many towels to wash for me, lol!!

Well looks like dh is wanting to head back to his old boss since yest. the new boss yelled at him and both the other boss, told him, I dont care what you think about anything and then also told dh that he wants to buy him a "commuter" ticket to england since dh will have to check on stuff at a place at least 1 day a week, add to that flying back and forth 2 days = 3 days, so not too much to see of him. Life is interesting around here to say the least.

Please pray for Alyssa . She is having bad stomach pains and they have ruled out the anti rejection drugs.

GTAGWTA. Have a great week end

 

[Candy30]

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. Hugs to everyone!

 

[laurabelle]

~~~***GAGWTA sistas***~~~
Hello from your long lost sista!

Linda- Thank you so much for starting our 3rd(can you believe it?!?) home here!

Maryann- Thank you so much for the sweet, thoughtful card!

I had an amazing vacation in CO and Siesta Key FL! We went to Rocky MT Natl. Park and saw moose, elk, big horned sheep...you name it, everything but bear! We had an awesome visit with my hubby's side of the family, as always. Siesta Key is without a doubt the best beach I have ever been to. The best sand anywhere. The gulf is so warm, calm, and FUN compared to freezing and eating sand in the Atlantic! We are planning to go back for a month next summer. We did drive over to Disney just for the day, did not set foot in the parks and had a blast! We went to DTD, shopping in WOD and of course the kids made treats at Goofy's (tradition since they opened, they always make the same treats, different toppings) We ate lunch at Pop, my dd's favorite mac & cheese and tie dye cheesecake. Rode the Epcot monorail twice, then around the resorts and got off at CR and Poly and knocked around. Then we went to the Beach Club and got No Way Jose sundaes at the counter and watched 3 kitchen sinks be prepared and consumed! We planned to walk around the Boardwalk after that but it was late afternoon and you know what that means...we got rained out, so drove back to the beach.

Unfortunately, my UC is flaring very, very badly. I have been on 60mg Prednisone (highest dose) since 7/6 and it's not working. I had a scope last Thur and my GI doc said it looks "horrible". He apologized, said he felt terrible for not having me do the surgery in April, but my colon looked healthy then...but obviously it was not really. My entire colon has to be removed, but I really need to gain some sort of remission first and start to taper down from the prednisone otherwise it complicates healing and increases risk of infection. He wanted to admit me to do IV steroids, but I begged him to stay home. I have another week to show improvement. I need to have 3 days with nothing yucky and so far I haven't had one. I'm really wiped out, and trying to replicate being in the hospital (without the yucky food) pretty much just laying around the house.

I hope all of you are doing well. I know I can't possibly catch up here and don't know how much energy I'll have to post...maybe you can write a little update in response and let me know how you are.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good afternoon sistas!

Welcome back sista Laura - boy we sure did miss you!! Glad to hear you had a great vacation and your disney part sounded great too. So sorry to hear abot all the problems you are having. I pray things will go well and that you will be able to have the procedures that need to get done. Dont you just love it when doctors use wods to describe you, like in your case"horrible". So far this year I have been called things like "impressive". "full of surprises" gross" "goopy" "never saw anything like this in my 16 years of surgery" and now my latest the other week "it was really a mess in there". So dont feel bad sista!! I'm with ya on this one!!

Laura - Now for your benefit - my brief synopsis, (O.K. all you other ladies can skip this unless you want to read about my so called life again) most of it medically, sadly to say. June 10th I had a 1 day proedure to debride my ever draining wound. It didnt work, so July 10th I had more surgery and this time he took out the old graft which was the bad infection too and then he put in an alloderm graft. I spent 3 days in the hosp. and never saw the surgeon, hmm. I had a bad anesthesia reaction, that kind of scared me with the really low blood pressure for all of the night. Now the surgeon thinks its healing properly. This thurs. 7/30 ds 19 will be going in for 2 hours of laprascopic surgery with my ent. He is having all his nasal polyps removed, deviated septum fixed and some sinus thing fixed by his L cheek. So pray for him. Tomm. is my blood test and then next werk I see the surgeon 8/4 and 8/6 I see the endo to do the blood test results to see if the cancer has come back etc. Ds 17 had to do cpr on a guy at the pool, sadly he died. My dh is having job troubles and may transfer to his old dept. I said just make sure we have medical insurance!! etc. Thats enough of me.

Yup, this smart sista has pre booked her aopointment for the blood test at Quest tomm. Now I get to mosey on in and hear everyone else yapping and complaining because they didnt make an appt. Lucky me

GTAGWTA and blessings to you all.

 

[Sha]

Welcome back Laura... am sorry that the UC is at it again. Will include you in prayers... along with all of you ladies!

LMP will include your son too and prayers for Alyssa

I talked to Miss Lee the other day. Turns out she was joking with my mom when she said she needed me to call. The chemo she gets is evidently very constipating. We talked for a bit... still fiesty... and appreciates the prayers. She see her surgeon in a couple weeks and may have surgery at the end of August.

Had a rough week last week... lost a church member/family friend from a massive heart attack. He was at Hospice for a few days before he passed. I just have to hope that the information I didnt know is what the situation was. Having a medical degree sometimes is not a good thing. (meaning, that I hope the EEG showed no brain function even though his eyes would open). Yesterday was a birthday for someone special, who isnt in my life... and did really well, until the end of the day. And tomorrow mom may have a hard time, as its the anniversary of her father's passing. First person I saw leave this world.

Continued prayers for you ladies! And your families and medical teams.
hugs and pixie dust!

 

[honugirl]

Honu, make plans to meet your special guy in Chicago. It's a GREAT city; you'll have a blast!

I hope dad is OK. Keeping my fingers crossed that the stent does its job.

Chicago would be nice! Yup, it definitely would. Maybe in the Spring. I'd actually like to go back over to NYC to see the 9th Ave food fest so I that may be the next time we see each other. I'm just too tired to go anywhere outside the vicinity of my home. I'm really exhausted these days. But the fair is coming up, so I guess I'll go there for a bit.

Good afternoon sistas

Lisa - Do you go to OSHU - Portland? Because the dr. who left here is there now, ent. Her name is Dr. Maisie Shindo and she is prety famous. You can google her. I know the poster JessicaR had her operate on her I think. My dr. (surgeon) now took her place. When I get scoped I get to sit in the chair, so I guess the camera goes down and not up etc. Your poster comment made me Will say prayers for your dads surgery tomm.

Yup, I go to OHSU in Portland.

Dad's surgery went great. He's off in the RV today going camping for a week.

I'm at home trying to get stuff done. Fun.

 

[golfgal]

I spent the afternoon with my cousin. Her cancer is ductal (I have to look that up). She was having a REALLY bad day so I am glad I stopped--I happened to be in her area unexpectedly. She lived with us growing up and is more like a big sister. She really misses my Dad, which was the closest thing she had to a Dad, so I emailed him to see if he could come visit (they live in St. Louis, we are in the Minneapolis area). He is going to drive up and we will surprise her with a visit (she LOVES stuff like that).

I didn't know what to say partially because I have no experience and partially because she is still kind of loopy on pain meds and was rambling. I was just glad I could be there for her.

She has some bone scans and some other tests this week to check out her ovaries and uterus to make sure the cancer hasn't spread there yet. She kept saying "this doesn't HAPPEN to us" which makes it hard. She is the FIRST person on either side of the family to have cancer.

 

[NHAnn]

Hello all...having limited computer access and then trouble posting when I do get here but need/want to check in!!

Laurabelle....so sorry about the UC flare but glad you had a nice vaca. My thoughts and good wishes always with you.

Sha

golfgal..sorry your cousin is going through this. It takes some time to get into fighting mode once the initial shock wears off.

Thinking of you all each day!

GAGWTA!!!!

 

[Aliceacc]

Hi guys, just a quick drive-by.

I'm feeling great, prep for next week's WDW trip is keeping me busy!

Hope everyone is feeling well!!

 

[snappy]

I am just popping in as well. DD19 is back from her European adventure. Her pictures are spectacular (my new best word)!! It is great having her back.

Could it be that absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Hope that does not apply to DD19 and her BF??

Laura, I am so sorry about your UC crisis. You were doing so much better or so we thought in the spring. I am sorry, dear. I hate that surgery seems the best rout now. I hope the meds stablize things so you can go forward.

We are here for you. Gosh have we missed you and your happy smilie posts.

I am glad the vacations were so wonderful. Beach trips are so relaxing. I really can't believe you guys were all around the world but not in the parks. Although when I am at the Baordwalk I feel like I could just chill there.

Work=busy.

I am not calling any bingo games but I sure am saddles with trying to project our net profits. I just hope they don't spend the money before we actually see it.

Alwasy a concern, but hey, what do you expect from a conservative accountant?

Alice, isn't getting ready for a trip fun? I thinkt he anticipation is one of my favorite things about a trip

 

[Candy30]

Hi again everyone!

Laura- I am glad you had such a nice vacation and your drive/walk by of Disney. Sorry you are not feeling well. I hope the steroids kick in so you can go through the surgery with "flying colors"! (That is a prettier way to describe your ailments)

LMP-Glad your first in line for your blood test. Will be praying for your son and your upcoming surgeries.

Honu- Glad you dad came through great it sounds like. Take it one day at a time. Rest when you need to.

Sha- for you. It's hard when you are missing someone you apparently loved so much.

Alice-YAY! you trip is around the corner. Mine is still a 2 months away. But planning is the most excited part of it. Enjoy yourself and let me know if you do a trip report!!!!

Snappy-I am glad you have your baby back home. I would have been biting my nails the whole time.

NHAnn-Great to see ya.

Golfgal- I hope all goes well with your cousin. I know she will be so happy when your family brings her that surprise visit.

I had that irriating pain/pulling with my port again. I went up to the Cancer center and they flushed it for me. The nurse said that it could be my bodies little indicator. Whenever I get that feeling that it is time for it to be flushed. Have a good day everyone! GAGWTA

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Hi sistas!!

golfgal - your cousin is blessed to have someone as caring as you. Hope the visit goes well.

Laurie - Glad your dd is back and had a great trip

Sha - sorry your heart had to endure all those things lately

Alice - Pack me in your suitcase sista!! O.K. just write a nice trip and dining report so I can imagine I am there.

Laura - One day at a time sista. Hope your family is helping you too. Hope to day was a good day for you.

Lisa - Wow, that is great that your dad is already on the road again. Hope you are feeling ok too.

Candy - Sorry to hear about your port problem, but heah, at least it wasnt a starboard problem, o.k. that is my little cancer joke, especially since alice and I live on a big ole island surrounded by water, hmm,nothing like a little boating term cancer joke. Dont take me the wrong way o.k. I want you to feel better real fast.

I had alot of pain last night and took a percocet. I cant figure out where the pain is exactly,just around the surgical site, so I hope that my body is not rejecting that new graft. My body does not like foreign objects. well I go back to the surgeon next tues. Lucked out at the blood test, no one was there. After I left like a dozen people came in a once, perfect timing for me. Then I stopped off to pick up a med and saw my neighbor. She asked how I was. I guess I look pathetic these days. etc.

Hugs to Linda, Ann, Melissa and everyone else. GTAGWTA. Blessings to you all.

 

[honugirl]

GAGWTA everyone!

Thanks for the well wishes for my dad, he's off and running. They're down at the Oregon Coast camping in the RV with a bunch of friends.

I on the other hand are having somewhat of a meltdown and trying to find help is impossible. I called someone at OHSU who has a special teen/young adult support group thinking I could go there, but since I'm not under one of their oncologist I can't go and I can't use any of the other social work services. I tried to explain to them that I'm in the same position as these people, I have the same needs, I'm grieving over the same losses, it's a perfectly appropriate place for me to fit into, heck, I'm even agonizing over some of the same treatments. But I'm shut out. It makes me feel so alone. I feel like I don't count or I don't matter. There's not many people out there that are going to understand the decisions I'm going to make in the next couple of months. Makes me so mad that instead of looking at it from a perspective of here's someone with a tumor, yeah, it's not spreading currently, but it's still destroying her body, lets let her in and make her feel welcome, they say, you're not our problem. It's just made me cry all day. It's not my fault I got stuck with the crappy tumor that the neuros don't want, the endos don't know enough about, and the oncologists don't care about.

 

[snappy]

I spent the afternoon with my cousin. Her cancer is ductal (I have to look that up). She was having a REALLY bad day so I am glad I stopped--I happened to be in her area unexpectedly. She lived with us growing up and is more like a big sister. She really misses my Dad, which was the closest thing she had to a Dad, so I emailed him to see if he could come visit (they live in St. Louis, we are in the Minneapolis area). He is going to drive up and we will surprise her with a visit (she LOVES stuff like that).

I didn't know what to say partially because I have no experience and partially because she is still kind of loopy on pain meds and was rambling. I was just glad I could be there for her.

She has some bone scans and some other tests this week to check out her ovaries and uterus to make sure the cancer hasn't spread there yet. She kept saying "this doesn't HAPPEN to us" which makes it hard. She is the FIRST person on either side of the family to have cancer.

Ductal cancer is confined to the milk ducts which means it has not invade tissue outside of the ducts.

If you are going to get cancer, they say it the best one to get as in it won't kille youas it has not spread. However, it tends to meander its way thoughout different areas or quadrants of the breast since the ducts do that.

Mine was this way and the surgery to make sure you get it all needs to be the modfified mastectomy.

It seemed strange to me that the "best kind of cancer if you have to get it" would many times mean the most drastic surgery to make sure all of the tumor is removed. But it is all about living and with reconstruction, you can actually improve on parts of your body.

It is easy for someone else to say but your friend is actually lucky with the ductal type.

It is also referred to as DCIS or ductal carcinoma in situ.

Do you know if it was discovered via mammogram?

 

[snappy]

LMP, sorry about the pain. When will y ou receive the results of your blood test?

Honugirl, what kind of support group excludes interested people based on which doctor is following them?

That is just wrong.

I am sure there are not endless numbers of groups for your age group. Shame on the facillatator of that group. i wish I could straighten him/her out.

Is there someone you can email about being excluded. i would like that in writing, and them I would make that public knowledge.

No m'am that does not cut it in my book.