Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part IV - GAGWTA

[CherylDan]

Wanted to pop in and wish all you ladies a Happy New Year! and a very belated Merry Christmas.......sorry I've been MIA.

Peg, sorry to hear you are dealing with this again. I hope you get answers/treatment plan soon......waiting is so hard.

PatsMom...also sorry to hear you are dealing with so much right now. Sounds like some WDW therapy is definately in order! I hope you continue to get stronger each day, and have a great time with your grandson.

Snappy, best wishes to you with your new diet! You sound very dedicated, seems like that is half the battle.

Smiley, how's the remodeling going? And you also have a California trip coming up?

LMP, sounds like you are keeping really busy! Have fun at your son's game....and hey, maybe you will bring the good luck they need to win!

Things have been crazy busy around here the past month, but all in a good way. I have been making the most of the holidays, for sure! We leave for LasVegas in about 6 hours, pretty sure I should get to sleep soon.....so thankful we are getting to take this trip!

GAGWTA!!!

 

[ols386]

Peg...best wishes.

Hope everything goes well with your surgery.

 

[snappy]

Godspeed to you, Cheryl! Enjoy your Vegas adventure!


Hello 2013!!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Peg - thinking of you and the hoping the surgeon visit goes well.

Sha - you are always so busy. Sounds like you will have a busy year!

ols - happy new year!

Cheryl - hope you are enjoying your trip. Cant wait to hear all about it.

Laurie - I would love watching the fish too. I can spend lots of time at the Living Seas in Epcot watching the fish swim by, love the manatees too!

Well yest. was a crazy day. Van broke down, tried to get it towed, what a nightmare. Ds2 stayed home and had the guy come. We have roadside assistance from the dealer but what a hassle. Later dh and ds took it to have it check out at pep boys, nothing wrong with it. One emergency key wouldnt work. In the meantime ds3 and I went to see ds1 coach the basketball game.

All was going well with 4 minutes left. They were losing by 20 but they were playing the section champs but it was fun to watch, then it happened...boy on our team goes down. He breaks his ankle! Had to wait for the ambulance to come.etc. So now ds has lost his 2nd best player for the season. Such is life. Felt bad for the boy. We all prayed for him silently etc. Ds called later and said he is just having a cast. Hmm, last year the one boy broke his leg when another player fell on him.

We might go to NJ tomm. to see my aunt and then on sun. I might see my bff. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding. I need to call her since this is so last minute.

GAGWTA.

 

[Feralpeg]

Well, it's been an interesting few days. I went to the plastic surgeon on Friday. He gave me a copy of the pathology report and set up an appointment for me with a general surgeon. I will see the general surgeon on Tuesday. The tumor is large. It is probably about 4 inches by 4 inches and about an inch thick. The problem is that I have no tissue left to cover the area once the tumor is removed. Not sure how they'll handle that. He said they may want to try to shrink it prior to surgery. They will be setting up a battery of tests to see if it has spread. Praying it is localized.

The doctor said that this is not the original cancer I had 29 years ago. Unfortunately, I am just one of those lucky people to get cancer twice in my lifetime. Even after a mastectomy, there is still breast tissue. This cancer just happened in the tissue left and the scar area of my prior surgery. I wish I had realized sooner what it was. It was really hard to tell since I had the scar and silicone problem. So, still waiting to see what I'm facing. Hope to have a good idea by the end of the week.

To make things even more fun, Kendall had surgery on Thursday. She had a lump removed from the back of her head. They thought it was a cyst, but it turned out to be a schwannoma. It was a benign tumor covering a nerve on her head. Fortunately, they are almost always benign. They can return. Hoping this one won't.

Hoping the rest of you are starting the new year with a little less drama than my family. It's going to be an interesting year!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Peg - My heart and prayers go out to you and Kendall too. You certainly do have too much on your plate right now.

Wishing you all the best with the surgeon tomm. Hope that you like him/her and that you can get a good plan in place that you are comfortable with.

Hope Kendall is not in too much pain and healing.

I am sure your head is spinning with all this at once. Hang in there sweetie!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Pats Mom - enjoy your trip! I hope you will have great weather and a wonderful time with your family and grandson!

Thinking about minniejeannie - she hasnt posted in a while.

Had a busy week end. We went to NJ to see my aunt and uncle. Ds 1 was pretty upset about my uncles alzheimers. He took him to the bathroom twice at the restaurant because my aunt said he might go out the front door by mistake etc. He didnt know who I was but that was ok. It was good seeing them.

I also saw my best friend who was a bridesmaid in our wedding. I havent seen her in over 10 years since my mom died. It was a nice visit with her and her new husband. We met them years ago in disney too. Her dad just died so the holidays were hard on her. I am glad we saw her. She couldnt believe how grown up the ds were.

Might have a meeting tomm. I have to see.

GAGWTA

 

[snappy]

As MaryAnn said, good luck tomorrow with the appointment with the surgeon, Peg. I hope you can get some specifics soon. Hoping this thing is localized.

It seems amazing that this could be an unrelated cancer in the remnants of the breast. I am sorry it did not come to late earlier, but I can see where you would not know because of all the trouble you had with the silicone nightmare.

Although I am pleased with my free tram breast, I have wondered about the wisdom of not getting a mammogram on that side each year. I guess anything that would crop up would be hidden by the transplanted tissue anyway. My surgeon was very thorough when he did the mastectomy- My chest was very concave after he was done., and it required a lot of transplanted tissue to fill up that hole. I had the impression he tried to remove every bit of breast tissue but intellectually I know better.

I wish you had better news. And what timing for your daughter's tumor, benign or not. Sometimes it is just too much.

Will the shrinkage involve radiation do you think, or perhaps chemo?

Let us know how tomorrow goes. Sure will be thinking of you.

 

[Feralpeg]

I met with the general surgeon yesterday and I feel much better about the situation. I will have surgery next week. I'm not sure what day yet. The area to be removed is about 4 inches by 2 1/2 inches. They will either take tissue from my abdomen (think reverse tummy tuck) or do a graft from my thigh to cover the area.

After my surgery, I will see an oncologist. The good news is that the surgeon told me that this type of cancer rarely spreads. It is almost always localized growth. Thank goodness! I'm not out of the woods yet. There is still that chance, but the odds are better than I thought they would be.

I will have a PET scan to make sure that there has been no spread and they will probably want to do localized radiation just to be sure this won't come back, but it is much better news than I was expecting.

Kendall is doing well following the removal of the tumor on her head. She goes back next week to have the stitches out. She's had a little bit of vertigo due to the fact that the tumor was around a nerve, but not too bad.

Things are looking up a bit!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Patsmom

lmp, sorry to hear about your son's broken ankle. How is nursing school going?

Peg, sounds like relatively "good news". I remember when I was deciding my surgical options, they told me that with mastectomy, the chance of having a recurrence would be 2.5% per year, cumulatively and 1% per year in the other breast (new); and with lumpectomy it is 5% per year, cumulatively, and 1% in the other breast. It was sobering hearing the sugeon say that if I lived 20 yrs, it was virtually certain I'd get another cancer in the cancer breast (since I chose lumpectomy). It'll be 10 this year. I figure at some point, it's going to happen. Not something I like to think about, but am always prepared for each time I have a clinical exam or testing. Right now someone either has their "hands on me" (my primary care or my oncologist) or I have testing (mammogram or MRI - if they approve it this year ) every 3 months. (It's kind of a PIA getting those appointments to line up! And I'm the world's worst with that sort of stuff.) But it is reassuring knowing that if something is found, it will be caught early. At that point, I will have a double mast. The reason I didn't choose that the first time is because I was working, had two young children, knew I had to get chemo and radiation, and had to conserve my sick time to last me most of the year as I needed it. Being such a big surgery it would have added a lot more time to use. I have no regrets, even looking at the numbers. Mastectomy wouldn't have guaranteed no recurrence or new cancer, just lessened the odds by 2.5% per year in the cancer breast. I thought a lot about what that 2.5% difference meant. But I digress. Being such a long term survivor, a recurrence in the area, or new cancer, whichever it is, wouldn't be unheard of. I'm glad they think it's straightforward.

My cousin was diagnosed not too long ago. She had a double mast and a few months later started the reconstruction process. When she showed up for the surgical consult, they found an unusual area that they thought was probably scar tissue, but low and behold it was another cancer, ie new. The first time she got out of chemo but the second time she elected to have it. They did radiation also. I guess you never know what's going to happen. She's doing well now, though. As a side note, interestingly enough, it was her case and another cousin's recurrence (after mastectomy, 8 yrs later) that bought me my MRI last year after the insurance co. had denied it. My family history had "changed enough" to warrant it, so we appealed again and won that time. Not sure what's going to happen this year.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Updates on me. My MIL has been ill since just after Thanksgiving. She was hospitalized for weeks, then in rehab. We got her home for a few hours XMas eve, which was really emotional for her. She is now home with hospice. It's been a labor of love for her husband and kids, but everyone's rallied around her and worked together to do what needs to be done. It's been hard for my DH and his siblings seeing his mom this way. And of course, the grandchildren - but fortunately they're all teens or older now, so they understand more, and have also been great about visiting and helping out. So proud of all of them.

Most of us have had the flu, including MIL, courtesy of the rehab, which had an outbreak. (Actually, it's everywhere around here. The mayor of Boston just declared a health state of emergency because of it. I'm sure it's everywhere else, too.) Thankfully mine occurred on a stretch I was already off from work, and because I'd had a flu shot I think symptoms were lessened. But DH had it really bad, he scared me a few times. He wound up on antibiotics and after two weeks is finally feeling better.

Getting though the holidays was tough. We didn't know at one point if MIL was going to make it, so all of our XMas plans were put on hold. She rallied, though, and we were able to do a thrown-together XMas celebration, and it was really special even though it was haphazard because we knew it would probably be her last. It was sad missing all the things she used to do this year. And of course, I shed some tears just doing laundry. She always bought my DH socks for Christmas, and I'd always a little cause they'd be mismatched with his other socks (and I'm OCD about socks). So there I was in my laundry room folding his old, worn out socks, teary and feeling so for ever thinking that way. (Why do we do that? Wait until it's too late to really appreciate what we have? ) She did manage to write out some cards for us and the kids and it was so nice seeing her handwriting on them, knowing it was a huge effort to do that when it would have been just as easy for FIL to do it. I can see in MIL's eyes she knows she's dying. It's sometimes hard for me to keep my own emotions in check. I really couldn't have asked for a better MIL for the past 31 years.

My 87 yr old mother fell on the ice this week, but she's ok. It's always something, isn't it? Over the past year her walking has gotten really bad, but she still refuses to use a cane or any aids. I had to do all of her shopping this year but I kept in mind not to complain about it, cause I'm lucky she's here for me to help out when I can.

Kids are good. DD has her first boyfriend, and he's a sweetheart. That's been interesting! DS did fall ball, then had late fall practices outdoors for 2013 and is now inside. He's doing some pitching lessons and had his first high school practice as well. He also got a little job which is great. DD is still babysitting and is thinking about applying for a job as well. They'll be driving soon. School and social lives are going well for both so we're good there. Work is going well for me. It's been busy, but it always is in the winter. I took on some extra project work but it's been fun and allows me to do some different things besides patient care. Sorry I've been MIA, but I try to keep up.

 

[ZellyB]

Hello, all,
I saw the link to this thread on another thread and thought I would take a quick moment to introduce myself. I'll try to find the time to read through all of this and learn more about all of you.

I'm 48 and was diagnosed back in early November with stage II invasive DCIS. Had a bilateral mastectomy on November 20th. I had two positive lymph nodes, but no sign of metastisis. I start chemo on the 17th of this month.

I mostly have posted lately in the WISH forum as I'm running my first marathon at WDW this Sunday. Thankfully, my surgical recovery has been good enough to allow me to do it and my oncologist felt I could delay starting the chemo until my return. I've spent so many months preparing for it, I hated to give up on it unless I absolutely had to.

It has certainly been a whirlwind since my diagnosis and I still sometimes think I might wake up and find out the whole thing is a bad dream, but I'm trying to focus on just taking the next step and hoping to look back on all of it years from now as a survivor. Looking forward to reading more about all of you.

 

[Feralpeg]

Pea-n-Me,

ZellyB, Good luck in your marathon! Welcome!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Welcome, Zelly. Glad you found us. Two of my nodes were positive, too - and as I mentioned above, this year will be my 10th from diagnosis and apparently I'm doing fine so far. I know when I was first diagnosed, I found it very reassuring to hear others with positive nodes were doing ok (like Dan Murphy's wife, who had 11 nodes positive and is still to this day doing well, it must be close to 20 years later! He posted about it when we first started the thread back in 2005 and stops in to say hi now and then).

 

[Dan Murphy]

Just wanted to stop by here, one of my favorite group of ladies on the dis, to wish you all a very Healthy and Prosperous New Year. Wishes of continued good health for everyone in remission; wishes of better health for everyone working their way to remission. You will get there.

Marie is at year 15 since her diagnosis back in '98, and doing fine. You all are wonderful role models. Love you all. God bless.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Speak of the devil...

 

[snappy]

Oh my, that was great! Hi Dan!

Glad you found us, Zelly! A marathon at WDW, how fun is that? Good luck and post pictures!

Helpful posts, Linda, for both Peg and Zelly.

Sorry to hear about your MIL. How special your family is! I am especially impressed with the teens! she sounds surrounded by love. How nice to have everyone near and not spread out over the country.

Sorry about the flu and other issues, being sick at the holidays just stinks!

My MIL is fading too, but with dementia. It is really hard for her not to recognize our kids who she babysat for years in her home. She looks good, and is using her walker. Her memory was decimated by Katrina and being displaced from her home and all her belongings.

DD17 handled it really well, MIL just kept comparing DD17's red hair to her mother and repeating a conversation she had when she was young with the aunt who raised her about her mother's red hair and fiery disposition. I think she repeated it 10 times, no kidding.

GAGWTA!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Speak of the devil...

That is too funny, Linda. I had a window with this thread open for about 20 minutes or so before I made my post. The last post, I thought, was from Peggy. I did not even look after I actually posted that you posted there, Linda, mentioning Marie. And then I completed my post, after you, LOL. How strange. A bit of Twilight Zone, eh?


Hi to snappy, and my best to Zelly, Peggy and everyone.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

That is too funny, Linda. I had a window with this thread open for about 20 minutes or so before I made my post. The last post, I thought, was from Peggy. I did not even look after I actually posted that you posted there, Linda, mentioning Marie. And then I completed my post, after you, LOL. How strange. A bit of Twilight Zone, eh?

Synchronicity!

 

[Feralpeg]

That is too funny, Linda. I had a window with this thread open for about 20 minutes or so before I made my post. The last post, I thought, was from Peggy. I did not even look after I actually posted that you posted there, Linda, mentioning Marie. And then I completed my post, after you, LOL. How strange. A bit of Twilight Zone, eh?


Hi to snappy, and my best to Zelly, Peggy and everyone.

Thanks, Dan! Always great to hear from you!