Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part IV - GAGWTA

[Feralpeg]

disneyholic family, Hang in there! We are all pulling for you!

lmp, I couldn't have said it better! Both times I found out I had cancer, it was right before Christmas. Five years ago, I actually spent Christmas day researching burial options. I was so depressed. But, five years later, I am still here and doing fine. I honestly believe that inner strength and just a will to live, is the best defense against this beast.

In case I don't get back here before, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! You are always in my thoughts and prayers!

 

[rajak73]

Merry Christmas to everyone! Haven't updated for a while so, DW had a rough year, May had a bladder blockage that ended up being a tumor in the bladder that was removed, they said a little cancer but took enough that everyone was satisfied that it was clear, she has a check up every 6 months and the last one showed really clear so we were happy. Her last mammogram showed the DCIS had returned, how lucky that we were one of the 2 percent, DW decided she was having
a double mastectomy and be done with it. Had the mastectomy and reconstruction at the same time, (she's not really big so that helped) She looks good now, a little lopsided because the one had radiation before so the skin is tighter, but she is happy, the biopsy showed it hadn't spread anywhere and the other one showed nothing at all. Still healing but doing well. Oncologist didn't think she needed any more treatment, radiation, chemo, so we were happy with that. Got to enjoy WDW with oldest DS and family in July, so that was fun. Hope everyones new year goes great. Saw a t-shirt yesterday and told DW I thought she should get it and wear it, (she wouldn't wear it because she would be to self conscious but thought it was cute anyway.) I made her a plaque that said,....You have been given this mountain to climb, to show others it can be moved!. With a breast cancer ribbon on the side. She is considering a small tattoo on her arm of a breast cancer ribbon, I told her if she did, I would get one too, and mine would have "Your fight is my fight" along with it. I'll try to post the pic of the t-shirt and maybe to sign if I can get a pic and get it on here. Well wishing every one a Very Merry Christmas and very good New Year!!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

This thread has been quiet. I am hoping no news is good news for all

rajak - sorry your dw is going through so much. Wishing her all the best.

Beth - hope your treatments are going well

peg - hope Kendall gets to see the new specialist

well I finally made the mammo appt. I have to go the 23. I am thinking of changing places. I always could get an appointment right away. I hope the weather cooperates.

Dh is going to Massachusetts fri. Went out for ds2 bday. Glad to see him and dil. A rare occurrence. They have a miniature pinscher puppy named Poppy.

So happy we have not had snow!!

GAGWTA

 

[Dancind]

Hello everyone, hope you are all well. LMP, still traveling I see. Glad you have so much family support.
Beth, please check in now and then and let us know how you're doing.
Janet, your WDW trip sounds great! I haven't been in so long would have to start from scratch with the new Fast Pass system etc. But we hope to go in 2020 after the crowds from Star Wars settle. Can't take huge crowds anymore.
Peg, has Kendall been checked for mold allergy? My niece just found out that's her problem after being home bound and constantly at doctors for several years. She's doing much better now that she is in a "clean" environment.

My check ups have been fine, no scares lately. I'm at 7 years out and 4 years out. Mammo doctor said she would see me in a year, I'm good with that!

After visiting DD and her kitty for Christmas I bit the bullet and got another cat, a re-home. She's a sweet little thing, pretty, soft as can be, and about a year old. I'm in love.

 

[leebee]

I haven't posted in awhile but check in here regularly to see how everyone is doing. We lost my MIL on Thanksgiving; we found out in October that her breast cancer had returned due to mets to the intestine and colon. Not a common area, and although she'd been having bowel issues since June her docs at Cleveland Clinic weren't concerned. Don't know what tests they ran but nobody was even questioning a recurrence. She was hospitalized in mid-October, had surgery, ileostomy, but never really bounced back enough to be able to walk even with a walker. She was sent home to recuperate (nobody mentioned hospice or anything, she was taking Ibrance, etc.) but all her numbers (like calcium) were so out of whack, I knew we wouldn't have her for long. I thought we'd have her through summer. Turns out she was home for 3 days, then in the ER/hospitalized for 3 days, before passing away on Thanksgiving evening. We are all devastated, but at least we know she's pain free and at peace. I just miss her so much and would do anything to hear her voice one more time. It made for a rough holiday season.

 

[disneyholic family]

leebee: so very very sorry for your loss....cancer truly sucks......she's at peace, but those left behind, even though intellectually you understand your loved one is no longer suffering, that doesn't lessen that intense feeling of loss.......

rajak: sounds like your wife is doing better after a terrible year.....i do love that shirt....maybe i'll do something along those lines, but with mine referring to my very obvious lack of breasts... wonder if i'd have the courage to wear it...probably not..

dancind: good to hear you have another clear year!! woo hoo!!! i hope that's in my future too...though no mammograms for me...just ultrasounds...

luvmarypoppins: hope you have a clear report as well!!!

for any of you in the frozen tundra that is a good portion of the US (i guess), i hope things warm up soon for you!!

as for me, i'm about to start my final cycle of xeloda...
i was originally supposed to get 8 cycles (14 days on/7 days off), but my oncologist dropped me down to 6 cycles....i'm good with that!
it's a pain to be sure, but i only have 3 more weeks and then i'm done...
then another PET scan and blood tests, including blood markers and then hopefully i'm done forever....

i'm sure i already told you all this, though i've added a second half to the summer..
first in july, as a big celebration of the end of treatment, all 9 of us (DH, me, DD, DSIL, DS, DDIL, and the 3 grandkidlets) are going on a cruise on the disney magic, followed by 4 nights at disneyland paris....should be magical!!!!!

then exactly 1 week after we all return home from that, DD and I will get back on an airplane and wing it across the atlantic to attend the Dis event at WDW!!! woo hoo..
this too is in celebration of the end of treatment....DD wanted to do something just with me...so the two of us are going to the event together and leaving our hubbies at home...it's our first time attending a dis event and we're very very much looking forwards to it..

and another thing we did as a kind of spit in the face of cancer - we bought DVC ....an investment in our future vacations at WDW....cancer can go f itself as they say...

.

 

[robinb]

well I finally made the mammo appt. I have to go the 23. I am thinking of changing places. I always could get an appointment right away. I hope the weather cooperates.

The 23rd of February? I always make my mammo appointment at the 6-month before it. I think they usually take a bit of time unless it's an emergency.

My check ups have been fine, no scares lately. I'm at 7 years out and 4 years out. Mammo doctor said she would see me in a year, I'm good with that!

After visiting DD and her kitty for Christmas I bit the bullet and got another cat, a re-home. She's a sweet little thing, pretty, soft as can be, and about a year old. I'm in love.

Great! We have 2 cats and 2 dogs but I am really a cat person.

We are all devastated, but at least we know she's pain free and at peace. I just miss her so much and would do anything to hear her voice one more time. It made for a rough holiday season.

I'm so sorry! I can't believe that they sent her home unable to walk. That's terrible. {{hugs}} to you.

I saw my oncologist last week. Everything is a-okay. I'm 5 1/2 years post cancer ... yay! I think that we'll go to yearly appointments in June if all goes well.

My sister has been very sick again. She was hospitalized for over 2 weeks at a nearby hospital. She gets sick, gets hospitalized, gets out, goes into rehab, they miss something and she's sick again and into the hospital. Rinse and repeat. Each time she loses all the advances she made in rehab. We're hoping that she can get strong enough to be put on the list for a transplant but she has a long way to go .

Good news for my DD. She made honor roll at her college last semester. She was one of the last kids accepted into the school last year which is pretty selective (according to Princeton Review, they have a selectivity rating of 92 on a scale of 60-99) and I worried about her being a small, average fish in a very big, smart lake. She struggled her freshman year but bounced back with a 3.9 GPA last semester (one AB, darn it!), raising her cumulative GPA by nearly half a point. She crushed it! I think she (A) finally realized how much effort she needs to put into classes and (2) took classes that really interested her instead of boring prerequisites.

As for me, I'm shivering here in the Midwest, but remembering warm vacations. We had a very busy December - January. We went on a 10-day cruise on NCL in an outside cabin for $299 (!) each two weeks after Thanksgiving. That included the free drink package and 4 specialty meals. We did have to pay about another $400 in tips on the food/booze plans, but that was still only $100 per day for both of for our cabin and to eat and drink to our heart's content. We spent maybe another $1000 on excursions as my DH likes to scuba dive and that's expensive. We left from Puerto Rico and visited 8 islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Antigua, Barbados, St Martin, St Thomas & St Lucia) and had a blast! We played trivia every night and some mornings too and met some really super nice people, two of which are now FB friends. Then, we went to WDW for 11 days. We were at the Swan from 12/29 for NYE and then moved over to AKV-Club Level for 6 nights. I loved them both, but I think I have finally realized that the NYE crowds are too much for me. I had a MUCH better time toward the end of the trip once most of the people went home. I love the fireworks on 12/30 and NYE and can handle the crowds then with no problemo ... but the ongoing onslaught of people started to annoy me this time. We have APs and are returning for Food & Wine in October with friends. I'm planning a return to AKV Club Level in mid-late January. After the marathon and maybe even MLK Day. We're playing it by ear, but I am open to doing other things now rather than Disney. I have had a case of Disney ennui for a while and really *loved* the cruise. We may replace Disney with cruising for a while. Lastly, we went to the Cubs Convention over MLK Weekend. It was fun, but I don't think I'll be back. They offered season ticket holders (me, since 1988) special events in previous years and they really cut back ... while raising rates. Sound familiar? Anyway ... I'm home for a few months with nothing planned except a bunch of Cubs games in the summer.

 

[kittylady1972]

lmp: Great to see you here...and thanks for kicking this thread again so-to-speak. good luck on your mammo appt.

dancind: 7 years out sounds so wonderful! Congrats on the new family member...we have 4 cats and 1 puppy/dog (who is driving us crazy, she is so stubborn sometimes) and lots of fish so we are all full up at our house!

leebee: Very very sorry about your MIL. Hugs to you.

disneyholicfamily: good luck with your new protocol...and sooo jealous of your upcoming trip! That sounds amazing! What an awesome summer you will be having!

robinb: Very sorry about your sister. Hope she finds some strength to be put on a donor list. Congrats to your DD...amazing!!! Jealous of your cruise...I am so itching to do another cruise but just can't find the right one or the money for it right now. Yeah for APs and squeezing in more Disney visits. Our APs expired in December and I already miss WDW but we have decided to take 2019 off and maybe also return in 2020 after the SW craziness dies down but really that might not be until 2028!
********************

As for me, we had a wonderful family trip to Disney for Thanksgiving, our last Disney trip for a while (link to the TR in my sig). Earlier this month we took a short trip to Park City Utah to visit a friend of mine who lives and works there and 4 of us went skiing for the first time in the mid-west. It was AMAZING...loved it...nothing at all like the East Coast. We are very much low intermediate skiers but the kids did great and so did we and we also did snowmobiling. We returned home to Maryland where it was colder than it was in Utah, but not as cold then as it is now as we are in the teens currently.

We have no trips planned at all, no future trips Disney or otherwise, but we are batting around some ideas. Right now I'm focusing on paying down some bills, and I also just bought myself a new-to-me used car, a 2015 model as my daughter will soon need my 2008 vehicle on a full-time basis when she gets her license in a few months. I had my other car for 11+ years, so the car buying experience has changed a bit since I last did it, but I'm thrilled with the new vehicle with all of us bells and whistles as I didn't even have bluetooth in my old car.

Keep warm everybody dealing with these crazy cold temps, just one more reason for me to look forward to my retirement in Florida!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Beth - hoping things are going well with your treatment and your trips sound wonderful!

leebee- so sorry about your mil. Hugs and prayers for peace and comfort.

Diana - glad you had a nice visit with your dd and a good report

robinb - you trips sound great! I don't think I could handle the holiday crowds. Congrats to your dd.

kittylady - your trips sound great and retirement in Florida is a dream come true!

I had the mammogram today. The tech told me I wasn't there since 2016. She said I might need an ultrasound because she couldn't get great pictures far up on the left side?

She also asked me lots of questions input into her ipad.

Biggest news here is that da3 finally was accepted into the Family Nurse Practitioner program after 3 years of trying! There were 500- 600 applicants for 60 seats. It's a 3 year program so he will have to work part time. They still give him health insurance so that's great. He starts in August.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Dr sent me an e mail that my mammogram results were normal, good to hear. The pain I always have is the scar tissue wrapped around the nerve which they know about.

 

[snappy]

Have not posted in a while on this thread. Busy with mom’s elective surgery and downsizing her belongings.

LMP, Congrats to your son for being accepted into the NP program! Quite an accomplishment! He is a go getter!

Glad the Mammo was normal. Nerve pain stinks though.

All well in our neck of the woods. Mom is adjusted to and quite happy in her new assisted living unit. She’s closer to the places she likes to go with her rolater walker. She was too isolated in her independent unit.

My husband and I are enjoying retirement. We are never bored. Always a project going on. We just had workers in for repairs we had postponed for a few years, and then the required painting. Now time for painting the outside. My husband thinks he can do it himself. I want the handyman guys back. We shall see.

Next up: preparing tax returns for kiddos and my mom. My husband is patient. I just want to be done.

We returned a couple weeks ago from a great, relaxed WDW trip. It was nice to be away. Weather great, warm enough to swim. I especially like the quiet pool at BWV. We take things much slower than we used to. I guess we are officially old fogies now.

Gagwta!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Hope everyone is doing well.

snappy - hope your mom's surgery goes well. Prayers for her.

Peg - how is Kendall doing? Hope she got to see the specialist.

ds3 took me for blood tests and next Friday is the sono.

We puppy sat while ds3 and dil went with ds3 to a party. This puppy is still not house trained sigh.

ds3 said they now have a therapy dog visit patients on his floor. He likes it and so do the patients.

GAGWTA

 

[MIGrandma]

Hello everyone, I recently posted about our daughter being diagnosed with breast cancer and someone said I should check this thread out, couldn't find it until today.

We were actually on vacation when we got the call that she was diagnosed with it. She turned 40 in October and at her next physical (this summer I think) she was going to discuss having her first mammogram with her doctor. But February 23rd her husband found the lump (they say it happens that way quite often ) and that next Monday she went for a mammogram and got the call the next day that it was definitely cancer. She hadn't really been worried as at her mammogram they said 80% of lumps are benign cysts. So they called her and gave her the news at work. Her DH was called to come and get her, and when he got her home they called us. We immediately drove on home (the vacation part of our trip was over, we were actually driving to Peoria, Illinois for DH's 3-day school for work) as we felt we needed to be home to give her support.

She's had several tests, including a geno test to see if she has the markers for breast cancer happening again. She has another appointment with her surgeon on the 19th, and they will have the geno test back then. I think her decision so far is if it comes back negative she will just go ahead with the lumpectomy and whatever further treatment her doctor recommends, chemo or radiation, both, not sure yet.

But if she does have the markers she will probably go for a double mastectomy. She isn't sure about reconstructive surgery. Our local hospital doesn't have a plastic surgeon (no idea why, as it's a fairly large hospital) and in order to have the reconstructive surgery she would have to go to a larger city. Her surgeon was recommended to her, and she really likes her so wants her to do the surgery and she will decide later, if she wants reconstructive surgery, if it comes to the double mastectomy.

She meets with the oncologist on the 26th and her surgery is scheduled, for whichever kind, for the 27th.

She is nervous, and scared, as we all are for her. I've been trying to help her in any way I can, and got some great ideas from the thread I started last week. She had me go with them to her first appointment to meet with her surgeon, and I have told her I am happy to go along with her and her husband to any of her appointments that she wants, or I don't have to. It's totally up to her.

My mother had breast cancer when she was 67 (she passed away a year and a half ago at 80), it was small and they said she could do a lumpectomy and radiation or go ahead with a mastectomy. She chose the mastectomy. Because of her cancer I am diligent about going for my yearly mammogram and have had 21 of them so far. I wish I could have spared our daughter and taken it myself. I just feel so bad for her. But she is trying to stay positive, and busy, still working, and she has a lot of family support on both sides. Her children are 10 and 14, and are aware of what's going on too and are being helpful.

Just a hard situation to deal with, as many of you here know and have already gone through it yourselves.

We are praying God will see her through this, and if any of you can spare a prayer for her, or if you are not a believer, good thoughts would be welcomed too. Any support is appreciated, thanks.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

MIGrandma- so sorry to hear your dd is dealing with this. Everyone here is a great source of information. I admire their strength. Truly they inspire me. I have thy cancer and they let me hang here too so I can't offer too much insight. Everyone here will be of help. Wishing your dd all the best.

This thread has been quiet. Hope all are well.

Just had my 6 month cancer check up. All is well and God is good!
Dh and ds3 got back from France. Dh worked and ds went sightseeing. Now dh will go to Boston soon.
Trying to work on a disney trip. Maybe May 16-22.
GAGWTA.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

MIGrandma- so sorry to hear your dd is dealing with this. Everyone here is a great source of information. I admire their strength. Truly they inspire me. I have thy cancer and they let me hang here too so I can't offer too much insight. Everyone here will be of help. Wishing your dd all the best.

This thread has been quiet. Hope all are well.

Just had my 6 month cancer check up. All is well and God is good!
Dh and ds3 got back from France. Dh worked and ds went sightseeing. Now dh will go to Boston soon.
Trying to work on a disney trip. Maybe May 16-22.
GAGWTA.

Thanks for bumping this up, I'd missed MIGrandma's post as I was away then.
Glad things are going well for you and your family, lmp. Lucky to have had a puppy for a few days!

Hello everyone, I recently posted about our daughter being diagnosed with breast cancer and someone said I should check this thread out, couldn't find it until today.

We were actually on vacation when we got the call that she was diagnosed with it. She turned 40 in October and at her next physical (this summer I think) she was going to discuss having her first mammogram with her doctor. But February 23rd her husband found the lump (they say it happens that way quite often ) and that next Monday she went for a mammogram and got the call the next day that it was definitely cancer. She hadn't really been worried as at her mammogram they said 80% of lumps are benign cysts. So they called her and gave her the news at work. Her DH was called to come and get her, and when he got her home they called us. We immediately drove on home (the vacation part of our trip was over, we were actually driving to Peoria, Illinois for DH's 3-day school for work) as we felt we needed to be home to give her support.

She's had several tests, including a geno test to see if she has the markers for breast cancer happening again. She has another appointment with her surgeon on the 19th, and they will have the geno test back then. I think her decision so far is if it comes back negative she will just go ahead with the lumpectomy and whatever further treatment her doctor recommends, chemo or radiation, both, not sure yet.

But if she does have the markers she will probably go for a double mastectomy. She isn't sure about reconstructive surgery. Our local hospital doesn't have a plastic surgeon (no idea why, as it's a fairly large hospital) and in order to have the reconstructive surgery she would have to go to a larger city. Her surgeon was recommended to her, and she really likes her so wants her to do the surgery and she will decide later, if she wants reconstructive surgery, if it comes to the double mastectomy.

She meets with the oncologist on the 26th and her surgery is scheduled, for whichever kind, for the 27th.

She is nervous, and scared, as we all are for her. I've been trying to help her in any way I can, and got some great ideas from the thread I started last week. She had me go with them to her first appointment to meet with her surgeon, and I have told her I am happy to go along with her and her husband to any of her appointments that she wants, or I don't have to. It's totally up to her.

My mother had breast cancer when she was 67 (she passed away a year and a half ago at 80), it was small and they said she could do a lumpectomy and radiation or go ahead with a mastectomy. She chose the mastectomy. Because of her cancer I am diligent about going for my yearly mammogram and have had 21 of them so far. I wish I could have spared our daughter and taken it myself. I just feel so bad for her. But she is trying to stay positive, and busy, still working, and she has a lot of family support on both sides. Her children are 10 and 14, and are aware of what's going on too and are being helpful.

Just a hard situation to deal with, as many of you here know and have already gone through it yourselves.

We are praying God will see her through this, and if any of you can spare a prayer for her, or if you are not a believer, good thoughts would be welcomed too. Any support is appreciated, thanks.

Sorry to have missed this! I did see your other thread. Things must be moved along pretty well now - surgery over, results in, etc. What did your daughter decide to do? I was around her same age when I was diagnosed. It's such a hard time! But it sounds like she's got a ton of support and that is so important!

 

[robinb]

Oh no! I missed @MIGrandma's post too! Please come back and update us with your DD's progress {{hugs}}.

@luvmarypoppins , I'm glad things are going well for you too.

 

[snappy]

I missed the other thread too. I hope all is well.

 

[Dan Murphy]

if any of you can spare a prayer for her,

My prayers and thoughts are with your daughter, her family and you MIGrandma. Wishing her well and a full remission real soon. 's

 

[Feralpeg]

Wow! This thread has been really quiet.

MIGrandma, I also missed your post. I hope things are going well for your daughter. Our prayers are with her!

Hope everyone else is doing well. Things have been hectic here. Kendall is still trying to find an answer. They are back to thinking it is MS. They've definitely ruled out lupus. She saw an orthopedic surgeon who said that there was nothing associated with her spine that would be causing her problems. It is definitely neurological. It is difficult because she has no lesions on her brain or spine. The orthopedic surgeon told us that, although most people with MS have lesions, that does not rule it out.

The next step is a spinal tap. She has another appointment with the neurologist on April 25th. He may send her to Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

It is so hard watching her deteriorate. She is now walking with a cane. I pray constantly that they figure this out soon and that they come up with a treatment plan that will help her.

Thinking of you all!

 

[MIGrandma]

MIGrandma- so sorry to hear your dd is dealing with this. Everyone here is a great source of information. I admire their strength. Truly they inspire me. I have thy cancer and they let me hang here too so I can't offer too much insight. Everyone here will be of help. Wishing your dd all the best.

This thread has been quiet. Hope all are well.

Just had my 6 month cancer check up. All is well and God is good!
Dh and ds3 got back from France. Dh worked and ds went sightseeing. Now dh will go to Boston soon.
Trying to work on a disney trip. Maybe May 16-22.
GAGWTA.

Thank you so much. Glad you had a good check-up.

My prayers and thoughts are with your daughter, her family and you MIGrandma. Wishing her well and a full remission real soon. 's

Thanks so much, I appreciate it.

UPDATE on our daughter: Her tests have all been coming back as good as possible. She did NOT have the markers, so she chose to have a lumpectomy and that was done March 26th. She is back to work, and waiting to start radiation. They said that would start 6-weeks after her surgery, so she has awhile yet. We are meeting with her oncologist Wednesday, to see if he recommends chemo as well. She has already said she will do whatever he thinks is appropriate for her. I do hope she doesn't need chemo, but if she does so be it. God has been good, seeing her, and the whole family, through the process. I appreciate everyone's good thoughts and prayers so very much.