Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part IV - GAGWTA

[Pea-n-Me]

Last week for me was a little hairy. My 85 yr old mom who lives with me fell in the middle of the night and wouldn't call me. I found her on floor at 5am the next day. She has broken cheek and nose. Her face looks like that of a prizefighter. Needless to say she was in hospital and we just transferred her to a nursing home/assisted living. She needs to recup a bit before I bring her back home. All she wants to do is come home. She is also a breast cancer survivor..20 years for her with no recurrence. YEAH
She is a trooper and I know she will be fine. Meanwhile my knee and ankle blew up like a balloon. I waited 2 days then went to orthopedic. I was hoping my lymphdema did not spread to leg.. Does anyone know if it can do that? My son just left for 3 weeks in Army training and I fear he will be deployed in September. On happy note, my granddaughter will be 3 yrs old this Saturday and we are planning a little party for her at my YMCA. Always good to have something pleasant to look forward too

Oh wow. Sorry to hear about your mother. Mine, around the same age, lives with me and I always fear this happening. (Have seen it lots in the hospital, sometimes people lay there for days. ) She is rather unsteady at times but when I bought her a cane, she nearly threw it at me. Sending best wishes for both of you. I'm not sure about the swelling in your leg - where was your lymphedema before? It would generally swell the whole extremity, not just a knee and ankle. Hope you get some answers.

GAGWTA

PS special for Lisa.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

minniejeanie - sorry to hear about your moms fall. I know falls in the elderly are scary. My grandma lived with us, she was about 89. She fell and wedged herself between the bed and corner and her walker was tangled up too. I didnt even want to touch her. I called my dh at work and told him to come home to help. Glad she only weiged like 95 lb.

I hope your mom heals and can come home soon. Also have a great b day for your dgd.

Linda - how was your vacation?

well I texted Candy. She sends her love to everyone and she misses everyone too. Please pray for her family. They are having some difficult times right now and could really use our prayers.

GAGWTA

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good morning sistas, another stormy day on tap. I think its more thunder here and just some rain. Dh lifeguard hours are far and few these days for his shifts.

Well I am

Ds20 got the call yesterday that he got the scholarship. We are beyond excited and happy. Of course there are things that go with it like 10 hours of community service a semester (he can do that at church as always since he does it anyway), has to attend 3 cultural college events during the year, keep a min. 3.0 and has to represent the school in pr and advertising as requested I think. Hmm, ds the poster child.

I because once Laurabelle made a comment about being a poster child etc.

They are sending him a letter. I think the scholarship is up to $5000 a year for the next 2 years. I hope he gets the full amount. That would be such a blessing as he still needs all the books,uniforms, supplies aka stethescope etc. and gas for driving to the clinicals etc. The scholarship is only for tuition and books, you cant make money on it. They keep the rest and take it back etc. and I think you can only order the books through the campus book store. My ds are used to going to half. com etc.

Part of that was also an essay and he shared some about my cancer story in it.

Still looking at food and wine stuff. Looks like the Swan is available after Oct25? I am leaning more towards the Swan. We like it there anyway and the BC even with an ap discount would be so expensive for a few days etc.

Next week ds20 is also doing a blood drive at our church. It was in a local paper today too. So we shall see.

Lisa - thinking of you sista.

PatsMom - I hope you are doing well and didnt go to that hosp. where the Hep C scare is. hat even made the news down here in NY. Also thought of you since my friends nephew is starting his bladder cancer treatments. He is young with a 3 year old I think.

GAGWTA. Have a great week end everyone.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Congratulations to your son, lmp! I'm so glad something positive came out of your cancer experience! My vacation was nice but not long enough!

 

[snappy]

Awesome news, MaryAnn! Please congratulate your son for me.

Linda, are your computer issues resolved? Did you leave town for your vacation?

DD16 is in NYC-arrived around 3 pm, I will get there around 5:30 tomorrow. Can't wait.

Wishing everyone well!

 

[Sha]

Congrats to your son Maryann! And best of luck!

sending you a either a PM

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Linda, are your computer issues resolved? Did you leave town for your vacation?

Knock on wood, I'm hoping they are. I can't even tell you how many hours I spent with tech support. (We pay for it as part of our cable/internet package.) I had a couple of malware that nobody could get off. No where, no how. (I can usually get them of myself but these ones seemed to mess up the security and malware systems themselves.) Finally, just this past week, I got one guy that figured it out and I think they are finally gone. What's amazing is that we probably had about 20 people involved in the whole repair effort, if not more. What a pain!

Have a good time in NYC, Laurie! We had a nice local vacation, very relaxing despite having 5 teenagers with us! I have never shopped so much in my life for food.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good afternoon ladies

Sha - answered your pm. You are a sweetie!

Linda - hope your computer issues are resolved. And 2 words - stay out of the water - the ocean that is! Wow heard about the great white shark attack on the cape, scary!

Laurie - hope you are having a good time despite this rainy weather we are having

smiley - cant wait to see your pics

Lisa and Pats Mom - Thinking of you both and sending you my prayers

minnijeannie - hope your mom is healing and your trip turns out well

Cheryl - any relief from the heat wave?

Well today is a busy one. Ds has the blood drive. He really didnt ask me to do anything, which is pretty disappointing, but what can you do.

Dh leaves today for 10 days. I did all his laundry and he wil run home to get the suitcase after giving blood.

Now dh tells me after New Years he has a new project and might have to go to...India His boss has already went to set up the project. He told dh sleep at a hotel near the airport because where he was closer to the project he said things were crawling around the room!! OMG!!

I think I need some vacation therapy and better book the food and wine soon.

Ds22 appt. has been rescheduled again. Now its suppose to be when dh is in Greece. Wonderful. If it does not get rescheduled I will have to take care of it. Also some paperwork we have to go get straightened out.

I will have to look into scheduling the bone scan soon.

GAGWTA. Blessings to everyone.

 

[ols386]

Had my biopsy today (left side).

It went a lot better than what I expected. Had never had one before, so it was new for me.

Won't get results until I go back to my family doc on Monday (Aug. 6).

Radiologist/Doctor showed me my mammogram images and where the calcification was. There were several calcifications on the image, but they only did biopsy on that one spot. He said 9 out of 10 of them are benign, hope mine will be.

I had to lay on this table, face down, then they raised the table, and did the work underneath the table. Gave me a numbing injection, and I felt no pain. I could only feel pressure when the needle was in there. They did a stereostetic/ vacuum biopsy (I think that's what it was called).

Thanks for your support.

 

[minijeanie]

quick note;

hope everyone is doing well

I am headed to Punta Cana tomorrow with 6 friends How lucky am I?
Unfortunately looking like huge storm heading that way. Just hope we make it into airport and then will just wing it.

With 6 great friends so know no matter what we will have a blast
Catch up with you guys next week

Have a good one... Caio

 

[ols386]

Is there a typical # of tissue samples they remove during a stereotactic-vacuum breast biopsy????

When you have a cluster of micro-calcifications, how many calcifications are typically in a cluster? When doing the biopsy, do they take a sample from EACH calcification? Or just a certain number for the entire cluster?

Just questions I was thinking about and can't really find anything specific on Google.

 

[snappy]

I wanted to respond but I don't think I have any real answers for you. My stereotactic core needle biopsy was circa 2004, so my experience might be different. I had 2 areas that were of concern, upper outer and right under the aureole, both on the left side. Multiple samples were taken from each location. But it was hard to tell how many they actually "got" as there was difficulty obtaining samples from the aureole area since it was close to the skin surface. The radiologist told me that location was difficult. It took a long time, at least it seemed so, and there was a lot of discussion between the doctors and nurses which unnerved me at the time. I did not get the sense that they try to obtain samples from around the perimeter of the suspicious area since that is difficult to accomplish if you have ductal carcinoma in situ as the lesion snakes around the ductal system.

Rather I think they scatter the samples, depending on the size and location and the judgment of the radiologist.

Getting clear margins is more done with a surgical biopsy which is more invasive, or if you are diagnosed, with the removal of the affected area during a lumpectomy.

Rather than google, I encourage you to call and talk to the doctor's office, clinic or hospital. I received my results the next day.

Are you putting ice on the area? How do you feel today? I am glad the procedure was not too painful. I will never forget Ann's story of using a bag of frozen peas after her biopsy/lumpectomy. Good story!

Nice to have a laugh now and then with this stuff!

Let us know how you do, please. We care!

 

[snappy]

I am back from NYC, had a great trip. I am in awe of this city. I think I may have found my new Disney as my sister has teased me.

I will have to post later when I have more time. I am glad we went, DD16 did everything possible and I spent time with my brother, having several meals with him as well as visiting him at his office and apartment and playing with his dogs. DD22 stayed with us as well throughout though she did go to work Monday-Wednesday, and we had dinner with her boyfriend and their parents in the city one nights, and with just her boyfriend another night. We went and had lunch with her near her Brooklyn office in Dumbo which is a neighborhood actually called "down under the Manhattan bridge overpass". Great meals, great museum visits, great shopping (bought a lot of things for DD22 for her work wardrobe on clearance sale at Lord and Taylor which was just a block from the hotel), visited the Hi line area, many neighborhoods, had great meals, even hopped a ride in a Maserati which was the hotel house car to the Metropolitan museum of art, the only way to arrive in style!

I thought the ride would be a hard act to follow but the Met totally blew me away. I literally was spellbound by the galleries on the 2nd floor with the unending number of French Impressionists paintings. They were displayed to best advantage in beautiful high ceiling rooms with great lighting. I cannot wait to go back there.

The weather was mostly in the 70's, such a break from our weather. It did rain a little the day we were leaving but the hotel supplies umbrellas so it did not stop me.

I can't say enough about this trip, although it was expensive I feel much better about where DD22 is working. DUMBO is a great quaint, safe area.

All is good. I will try and post more later, but suffice it to say I have many pictures of an unbelievably luxurious suite with astounding views of the skyline, Fifth Avenue and the Empire State. I made a good choice.

Back to reality here. Oh my, school starts Wednesday and all hell breaks out with traffic. C'est la vie.

 

[ols386]

I wanted to respond but I don't think I have any real answers for you. My stereotactic core needle biopsy was circa 2004, so my experience might be different. I had 2 areas that were of concern, upper outer and right under the aureole, both on the left side. Multiple samples were taken from each location. But it was hard to tell how many they actually "got" as there was difficulty obtaining samples from the aureole area since it was close to the skin surface. The radiologist told me that location was difficult. It took a long time, at least it seemed so, and there was a lot of discussion between the doctors and nurses which unnerved me at the time. I did not get the sense that they try to obtain samples from around the perimeter of the suspicious area since that is difficult to accomplish if you have ductal carcinoma in situ as the lesion snakes around the ductal system.

Rather I think they scatter the samples, depending on the size and location and the judgment of the radiologist.

Getting clear margins is more done with a surgical biopsy which is more invasive, or if you are diagnosed, with the removal of the affected area during a lumpectomy.

Rather than google, I encourage you to call and talk to the doctor's office, clinic or hospital. I received my results the next day.

Are you putting ice on the area? How do you feel today? I am glad the procedure was not too painful. I will never forget Ann's story of using a bag of frozen peas after her biopsy/lumpectomy. Good story!

Nice to have a laugh now and then with this stuff!

Let us know how you do, please. We care!

I had the biopsy done two days ago and have had very very little pain. Mainly just a little tenderness since. I thought the biopsy procedure was a piece of cake. The dr. and two nurses were absolutely amazing, and showered me with kindness and support

They took 6 tissue samples, and showed them to me, when the tissues were on the slide. They looked like little worms, lol.

The Dr. said that 9 out of 10 are benign. I wouldn't think he would say that if he thought they looked suspicious, considering that he does these procedures everyday. I find myself playing these mind games with myself, looking for hints of reassurance. The real test will be the results of the biopsy.

I will find out the results on Monday when I go back to my family doc for F.U.

Thanks, Snappy.

 

[snappy]

Ah yes, I understand about the mind games. It is really hard not to research stuff on the web. I did that too, between the suspicious mammograms and seeing a surgeon and scheduling the biopsy, it was weeks of being on the edge. I felt strangely calm after my results as at least i knew what I faced.

Knowledge as I have said here before is power.

The statistics are definitely in your favor. How long did the procedure take? You sound like someone with basically a positive outlook on what matters.

I have to tip my hat to you.

 

[Sha]

Hi ladies... quick stop by and hope to get a photo up as I posting... Did the Painting with a Twist fundraiser last night. Had small turn out but a lot of fun and some good cake. Sad thing is, we have a lot of cake left over. Sent some to a neighbors and my niece's BF is coming to get a tata

This is 3 generations with my niece, mom and I. We raised $112.50

I have to work some today... see R at the end of the week so please pray for good weather for both of us. Ernesto and any others do not need to interrupt it.

 

[snappy]

Sha, I love it.

Keeping a watchful eye on the tropics here too.

Finalized our food and Wine plans with reservation at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and plane tickets. Great news: DH decided to join us!

Can't wait!

 

[Dancind]

Snappy, when are you going to F&W? We just booked a last minute trip for 6 nights starting Oct. 31. Southwest had a really good sale!

This is good, starting a walking program.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Love the pics, Sha!

 

[ols386]

Ah yes, I understand about the mind games. It is really hard not to research stuff on the web. I did that too, between the suspicious mammograms and seeing a surgeon and scheduling the biopsy, it was weeks of being on the edge. I felt strangely calm after my results as at least i knew what I faced.

Knowledge as I have said here before is power.

The statistics are definitely in your favor. How long did the procedure take? You sound like someone with basically a positive outlook on what matters.

I have to tip my hat to you.

The actual procedure only took a few minutes.

What takes the longest is, when you first get there the nurse asks a bunch of questions, then the dr. comes in and explains everything, showed me the mammogram image (which looks like an x-ray film), they get you positioned, and then they do the procedure.

I could see the image of the calcifications on the x-ray thingy. There were several areas where there were OTHER calcifications, but only one area was biopsied (that particular area of calcifications was circled). In my eyes, the biopsied area of calcifications looked just like all the others.

The other thing is, that I didn't have a mammogram in 2011. Last one I had was 2010.
Really stupid on my part not to have one last year. Will NEVER do that again.

I'm trying to have a positive outlook, even if it turns out to be malignant, it's probably in the very early stages, which is also in my favor.

Thanks Snappy! Your input is most helpful. I'll let you know my results tomorrow when I find out what they are.