Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part III - GAGWTA!

[MinnieTink]

Hey everybody! It's been a while since I have checked in. I hope everyone is on the mend and keeping their chins up.

Today was my mom's last radiation treatment! It is a day of relief for all, especially her! The joy is, however, tempered by the fact that today we also await biopsy results for my dad. He had a follow up biopsy for his bladder ca. The dr said he would call him today, yet, here we are at 5:45 pm and no call.

Anyway that is the update. I hope the joys of the season can still be felt through the stress we all have! God Bless.

 

[wdw4us2]

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. There has been a lot going on here - unfortunately, none of it good.

I wasn't able to go to the memorial Mass for my friend because I was having "digestive" issues. I finally felt well enough to go to some of the Celebration of Life gathering. That morning, we received more bad news. A close friend of DD's brother was killed while away at college. He and a friend were taking a short cut over a railroad bridge and the bridge went up while they were on it. He fell and hit his head on one of the bridge supports. He was instantly brain dead and the family took him off life support after the organ harvesting. I have known this young man since he was born. You couldn't find a kinder, funnier, sweeter person anywhere. I have also known his parents since I was 12. It's just so senseless. We are going to the memorial Mass at 1:30 pm today. There is a Celebration of Life gathering at my son's high school tomorrow because Kyle was a State Champion soccer player. I expect there will be about a thousand people there.

I still haven't heard a thing from the doctor at UM. I finally had my local oncologist contact him to get the pathology report and the surgical notes. As I feared, I have more cancer. Evidently, there were four surgeons working on me during the almost seven hour surgery. They took out all the rest of my female parts, appendix, omentum and 39 lymph nodes and some other stuff I can't remember. Twenty of the lymph nodes were positive. The good news - the surgeon said they got everything and the pathology shows that it's not metastatic breast cancer. I will be starting the intraperotoneal chemo early next month. While I'm not looking forward to it, at least I know what I'm in for.

My recovery has been going well except for the digestive issues I mentioned earlier. I am walking about a mile and half every day and my time is improving each day. My stomach muscles are still a little tight, but they're getting better especially when I walk.

I've been busy trying to get everything ready so my kids can have a decent Christmas, but it's been hard since I tire much easier than I'm used to. We're about halfway through with decorating and I only have a few presents I still need to get. I will get DD to help me with the wrapping.

Well, I need to go get ready for church. Have a good weekend everyone.

 

[PatsMom]

Good afternoon everyone,

Hope everyone is doing as well as they can and busy getting ready for the holidays. I have a cystoscopy scheduled for this Thursday that will determine whether I am celebrating this Christmas or prepping for more surgery. I have not told my family I am going. If the news is good - no recurrence - I'll tell them all so we can celebrate. If the news is bad I will wait until after Christmas on Saturday. No point in stressing everyone out for the holiday.

Best wishes to all.

Linda

 

[MerryPoppins]

Usual pre-holiday crazies at my house. Should all settle soon. I look forward to the end of next week. You are all in my prayers.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good late evening ladies

Lisa - double hugs. My thoughts and prayers are with you sista. I am so sorry that you will have to go through another bump in the road and have this new chemo. I know you have a lot of faith, strength and determination and you sure are a fighter. Wow, 7 hours of surgery. My lst one was 6 and then 2 more and then 3 more when I was dying all in 14 hours. It sounds like they are treating you agressively and that is what you want to kick the crap out of the cancer!! I know you will fight tough for sure!! Sorry about your dds friends brother. I will say a prayer for the family

PatsMom - I pray you will get a favorable report and wishing you a wonderful holiday season.

MinnieTink - wishing your mom and dad all the best. You are a sweet daughter to care about them so much.

I am so tired. I really think I need the B12 shot. Maybe tues. I can get one of the ds to take me. I did some cooking for church sun, l load of wash and then ds20 took me to cvs to pick up a med, shopped a little there and then went to target. I was pooped!! Thank goodness both stores had carts to hold onto. My stomach has been hurting on and off. I will be happy when I see the surgeon on the 28th. Tomm. is the blood drive after we eat at church and then one ds was talking of shopping. Oldest ds best friend (guy) is moving to Mass. He will be so sad I am sure. The good bye party is tonight.

GTAGWTA.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

A special for Lisa.

And a for everyone else.

Keeping you all in my prayers.

GAGWTA

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good afternoon ladies

Sha - how was your week end trip? Did you just watch the cp or did you do the pkg. with the meal? Hope you had a great time.

Laurie - I am sure you are getting ready for your incoming household of college students! Is the other young man still with you too?

Linda - I guess we will have to know in advance that the Phillies will win the world series.

Melissa - how is your dd

Lisa and KJ - How are you both??

Well the blood drive went well. They didnt take ds20 as he had a cold. 12 other people also got rejected. I got to talk to one of the moms whos dd used to bowl on a team with the ds. She now told me she works in peds at the hosp, just clerical. I told her if I am in again, I will tell them to send you over to visit me. Ds19 got 28 donations (they double them for the alex machine for platelets), 3 guys from our church did that as well as ds19 and ds22. So he will get a $250 college scholarship. He is very happy and exhausted. He told the blood center nurses he was doing this in honor of me Today is last finals for the ds. I will ask how the food drive went later. He only took half the stuff. The girl with the other half couldnt come. So this might be ongoing again. I wrapped 15 presents so far. I dont enjoy this at all. I just have gift cards to buy mostly for ds20.

GTAGWTA. Enjoy the day sistas.

 

[Sha]

Hi everyone...

Lisa.... HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a nice weekend LMP. My sister joined mom and I on Saturday morning and we did lunch at San Angel Inn as part of the CLP package. Was nice. Not a place I had eaten before. We did get mom a little drunk on Margaritas and then unfortunately, got a little sick. She is a trooper though! She laughed it off when we told her no more tequilla for her. We enjoyed hearing Thomas Gibson read. Well spoken. Then we headed over to DHS to see the Osbourne lights and then to the MK for the dreamlights on the castle. We saw the castle disappear. Couldnt even see all of the fireworks by the time it got to the Genie part.

Hope to get to the photos soon enough but work has gotten busy as we have taken on something else in our regular working routine, so that is keeping us busier which I like. Have to finish some shopping and do some baking... and mail out late Christmas cards.

 

[snappy]

Sending good thoughts your way, Lisa.
Cheryl, love your positive attitude. Hang in there.
Patsmom/Linda, hope you receive good news from the last test.
MaryAnn/LMP, hope you pace yourself and don't overdo the next few days. Try and delegate!

We had a busy weekend in New Orleans. My close friend Cindy's son Jake graduated from LSU Friday with a 4.0. Friends and family converged on her house on the west bank of New Orleans in Algiers Point for a party Saturday.

It was awesome. Since we knew we would have a long day, I booked Saturday night for DH. DD15, and I at the Roosevelt downtown, which is now a Waldorf Astoria hotel. Got a nice little $19 upgrade to a luxury suite. W.A invested $150 million post Katrina to renovate the common areas and the rooms. Very plush everything, but still the high ceilings and quaintness of a historic grand hotel from the 1930's.

I liked the Waldorf in Orlando more in some ways but the experience in the middle of a big city and a true resort is obviously going to be different.

We did indeed indulge ourselves, and chilled on Sunday and watched the Saints almost win Sunday, lol.

DD20 and DS22 attended the graduation party as well, as well as so many of the friends and coworkers and their families I have known for going on 30 years.

It was an emotional deal for me.

DD is home today but working in New Orleans again tonight. She should be here then through Christmas, then back to work for a day, then back until New Years. At least she has a job! Someone quit and she is picking up more shifts since she does not have to travel far.

DD15's exams ended Friday and it has been non stop since. Yesterday we went to a nice little shop and bought two dresses for dances coming up. No mall! Yes!

I got a shock went I went to work for a little while yesterday-the Windows side of my Apple will not come up. Our IT guy is en route to Michigan. Payroll will be especially tricky with no access to my software. Maybe we can give out IOU's?

I was supposed to take off time this week and next, now all bets are off. i am still planning on cooking for Christmas but I have to say I am nerve wracked. I was thinking about the computer problem when I went to sleep and it woke me up worrying.

Could have been worse, at least I have a week to try and get the IT guy to respond (he is pretty good doing things remotely). It could have happened on the day before or day of payroll, so I guess I can consider myself lucky.

Hope everyone is enjoying the season.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good morning ladies

Laurie - It sounds like you had a great time at the graduation and at the hotel. Why do problems happen at the time that is the most inapppropriate?? I know you will pull it off sista!

Well I hope you are all hanging in there. I know things get rushy. Sometimes I like to just be quiet and listen to the christmas music. I think I will put something on when wrapping the presents today. Maybe the candelight processional?

Ds19 is devestated.. Some other lady callled him from the blood drive and said he didnt get the scholarship as he needed 30? She said you missed it by 2!They also had told him the turned away people count and now they dont?? At the end of the drive they told him congratulations, you got it etc. Needless to say he wont be ever doing another blood drive. I hope he still will continue to donate blood in the future. Needless to say this whole experience was not ended on a good note for him. He was drowning himself in the huge family bag of carmel corn I bought from Disney

Apparently dh is home as I see the nice suitcase full of dirty clothes for me. I assume he went to work.

Hopefully one of the ds will take me for the B12 shot today. Then I will be really going for the holidays

GTAGWTA. Blessings to you all always.

 

[loganpaulsmom]

Hi ladies.. I was going through the updated threads and came across you all.. WOW.. I just read a tiny portion and can't believe all that you have gone through.. So many survivors and warriors out there.. I too have recently gone through cancer.. Here is my story if you don't mind me sharing..

First off my name is Christine and I live right outside the Boston area.. I have been married for almost 11 years and I have the BEST son in the world, Logan. He is 3 weeks shy of turning 5..
I am basically a stay at home mom although I work part time as a bartender and waitress at a restaurant in my home town..
I had been having hip pain for a couple of months on and off.. I just always blamed it on the kind of job that I did.. But, it got to the point where over the counter meds weren't helping anymore and my mom came over one day and I just broke down and said please take me to the ER.. So we did.. 12 hours later and pretty much every test done from blood, to 4 kinds of ultrasounds, 3 X-rays and a Catscan and basically they tell me they saw something on my gallbladder but they don't know what it is..
So a week later I was meeting with a surgeon to have an MRI.. MRI came back abnormal and I was told surgery would be imminent. A laproscopic day surgery.. NO BIG DEAL.. and don't worry about Cancer, it is SO rare, but even more rare in woman and even more rare in a woman your age..
So, I had the surgery, Aug. 30th.. They performed a freeze test on it and it came back normal.. SO, I was out of the hospital and on my way to recovery.. 4 days later, I developed a fever, which was NOT like me at all.. So, off to the ER I went again.. After initial blood test I was told it looked like I was bleeding internally but they wanted to wait for confirmation.. 8 hour later I was getting the first of 2 blood transfusions.. A Cat Scan followed and I indeed had a major bleed so i had emergency surgery to repair it.. I was again home the next day and on the road to recovery when I got the news from the original surgreon that the gallbladder had come back positive for stage 1 B gallbladder cancer and that my next step would be a pre-emtive aggressive treatment. I was referred to one of the first surgeons in the country to perform a liver transplant. and within a week I was meeting with him and told that he would go in and take part of my liver and all of the lymph nodes around where my gallbladder was and test.. so Sept. 20th was my 4.5 hour surgery.. The one complication that I had was my epidural DID NOT work and I was in indescribable pain.. I was in the hospital for 6 days.. All of this went on in the span of 3 weeks. I have now been recovering for 3 months and I am happy to say that for now I am cancer free.. I did not have to go through any more treatment and I know for sure, I am so lucky for that.. I also believe that i had an angel on my shoulder. I believe that the phycicians assistant that I orignally saw in the ER saved my life.. In my state I have been told there are so few cases of gallbladder cancer.. And I was the youngest person that my doctor had ever seen with it.. Most of the time when its found the patient had only a couple of months because it has already spread..
I went through alot and never thought that I was strong.. But, I am strong and I believe in " what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger"..
I feel a litte silly writing my story as so many of you have gone through so much worse than me.. But, it helps in the healing to go be able to talk to others who have had similar experiences..
I wish you all health and peace this holiday and for years to come.. thanks for letting me share my story.

 

[wdw4us2]

Christine - Welcome to the thread and thanks for sharing your story with us. You are young and strong - keep us informed of your continued progress!

Laurie - I'm glad you had such a good time at the graduation. I'm anxious to be able to travel again, but it probably won't be until next Summer.

Still busy with Christmas preparations. Only have a few more things to get done before Saturday. DH is taking me out to dinner tomorrow night to a restaurant I have been asking him to take me to for 6 months. I told him he'd better make reservations before the end of the year or it would be another 6 months before I'd be able to go! DD and DS are taking their old babysitter out to lunch today. She watched them from the time they were four months old until I stopped working back in 2001. She's like a Grandmother to them.

I'm hoping it warms up here again. I am not a fan of the cold!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good morning ladies

Christine - welcome and thank you for sharing your survivor story with us. Wishing you all the best.

Lisa -I hope your dinner last night was wonderful. Sometimes you just need that you and me time away from the kids. (Thats why we went to disney!)

Well ds19 took me for the B12 shot yesterday. The office manager/nurse says - whats your name again? Honestly I have gone there over 20 years. Everyone writes bad reviews about her on the internet when they rate the office staff etc.

Dh is home. He goes and buys the boys the $400 rosetta stone stuff in mandarin chinese. Hmm, I did give him a lecture about saving money before he went on this trip. What I would like to say right now would get me banned from the dis!!. Then dh got a flat tire on the way home from work and the tire is shredded, so $$$, and then he found out at work that our wonderful president is gonna freeze his raises for the next 2 to 3 years, NO raise. He was scheduled to get a big one as his job is based on performance. They are also asking for vpluntary lay offs. Merry Christmas to us from Uncle Sam. Oh well at least he has a job. Grocery shopping, present wrapping and more cards for me today.

GTAGWTA. Blessings to you all always.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Merry Almost Christmas ladies

I am today. Just got the best christmas present (not for me). Ds who is officially 23 today, aother, said at work yesterday they told him they are going to make him a job offer to be a permanent employee. What an answer to pray that is, PTL!!, God is soo good!!

Ds19 is going to make ds23 cake. Its his tradition. It will be a christmas tree shape maybe.

We might go out to dinner tonight as a family, we will see.

I got a christmas card from our friends who rented our house when we moved to Texas. They said their middle dd ran in the Disney Marathon and their oldest dd worked the summer in Florida being a guide for international students and she loved taking them to Disney World best. One of their family pictures is by the Pooh ride, too cute.

GTAGWTA. Blessings to you all always.

 

[snappy]

Sorry I have been MIA.

Welcome, Christine.

Thanks for sharing your story. What a nightmare you have been through. Congrats for coming over to the other side.

I have been more at work than I wanted to this week, trying to get my computer fixed. I brought gumbo in (from the jambalaya shop here and better than their jambalaya) for my co-workers along with a box of candy cane decorated red velvet small finger cakes. If I had to be in the office at least we were happy.

Computer is still not able to access my Windows programs, I am dreading next week.

I am enjoying my kids though. DD20 and I worked out Wednesday and went out to eat the last two nights. A bit of shopping but not much.

Today DD20 and I helped my mom make her oyster dressing. DD20 wrote down the recipe. We then headed home and made merliton (Italian squash) with shrimp, oyster patties mixture for the oyster patties tomorrow. We have yet to make the artichoke balls but my feet gave out, so I am going to rest before midnight mass.

Our church just put in this amazing organ (the old style bellows type from the middle ages) that took years to be constructed in Canada and months to install. It will be lovely tonight.

DD20 wanted an Iphone 4 for Christmas so she got one and guess what so did I yesterday. I shocked myself. My sister and my brother in NYC both have them as well so we are going to be face talking a lot.

I have alot to learn about it but hopefully they all will help me through it.

DH after an extended study bought a Canan Rebel T-2 DSLR camera with another mega lens. He is having fun with it. We have some great pictures of the eclipse. I have yet to pick up the camera but DD20 an DD15 both are intrigued.

With the iphone 4 I am supposedly going to be able to take pictures and immediately email like my sister did when they were in Disney in November. Ah, modern technology. I am being dragged along!

Merry Christmas all!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Warmest wishes to all the GAGWTA Gang!!

 

[NHAnn]

To all my "old" and new friends here...I am wishing you all the blessings of the season!!

 

[MerryPoppins]

DH recently got me a Canon Rebel for our anniversary and I love it. DD's MRI went well...results next week. Her face is good at the moment.

 

[MerryPoppins]

Welcome C. Glad you found us. I'm a 9 year bc survivor. The DIS hates my posts so can't say much.

 

[MerryPoppins]

Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope you're all with your family and having the best holiday ever.