What am I in for?

[JudyB]

Other things come into account when deciding on whether or not to have radiotherapy. I only had one lymph node out of 13 that were affected but still had rads because my tumour was so big and they were concerned the cancer would come back in my chest wall.

[Babysaurs]

Finally some better news!
Found out yesterday that I had 2 nodes removed with the sentinal biopsy (they were right next to each other), both had cancer. They then removed 12 nodes fro under my arm and out of those 12 only 1 had cancer!
I was so worried it was going to be way more.
My dc said the magic no was 4 that normally required further treatment. I didnt ask what that ment at the time as i was too relieved about results, but does that mean i may not need rads?
Would it hurt to have it anyway though?

[ruth1]

Carolyn, be kind to yourself and rest. Its tough treatment.

[chrismelb]

The 'new normal' babysuars. So great u have community support, use it.

[CarolynLee]

Thinking of you - rest up and be kind to yourself.

In hindsight I should have rested more after my 2 surgeries instead of going back to work as soon as I could. Had my first chemo Tuesday and feel totally wiped out - can't seem to budge the headaches I weren't expecting. Loved drinking water - now find it hard to swallow.

So rest as much as you can to get the strength to start the chemo - glad you have hubby's support.

I live alone and I'm doing ok with that as have a strong support group bringing me food etc, so I do feel like I'm not alone on this journey.

[JudyB]

As a guide and purely a guide I had my mastectomy in September 2009 and finished treatment in April 2010 (excluding hormone treatment which I am still on.) That was for mastectomy, chemo (3 x FEC then 3 x Taxotere every three weeks) and radiotherapy (6 weeks.) This will seem so daunting but you just do it and you do just plod along. There will be a lot of good days in there, weeks even so don't despair. Some people breeze through the chemo and same with the radiotherapy, others struggle. I worked through all my treatment taking a week to ten days off for each chemotherapy infusion. You can do this. Most people say that a cancer diagnosis takes a year out of your life and I guess that is pretty accurate if you include all the build up to the surgery and then time at the end to recuperate and start to feel more 'normal'.

[Babysaurs]

Second surgery done and 2 nights in hospital. Home today and I'm tired just want to cry. Bit over it all and I'm only 2.5 weeks into this.
Pathology results said grade 3 medullary cancer in right and grade 3 ductal circorma on the left side. We were always more worried about the right lump as it was 3.1cm when all along the left side one was the nastier one even though it's smaller.
I forgot to ask if they found any other cancers in the rest of the tissue but I assume not.
2 different cancers one in each breast at the same time is real sh%#@ty odds, I never wanted a double mastectomy but I had no hope of keeping them, they were clearly hell bent on trying to kill me:(
No more surgeries until recon in about a year, worry about that then.
Oncology appt is in 1.5 weeks to see how chemo will work. Looks like 6 mths of chemo though not sure if that's normal or not?
I'm sure my doc will call me before I see her in 2.5 weeks with results of left node clearance.
Docs not sure about rads yet, but she's meeting with team Friday to discuss my treatment but she's saying cos I'm so young they are likely to give me the works. I'm ok with that if I have to do this I want to do it all right the first time so I don't have to again.
I've got about 4 weeks to recover from surgery until chemo starts so until then I'm going to pretend like I'm just normal again if that's at all possible......

[Janette]

I'm sorry to hear more surgery. I think it's wonderful that they can do it so quickly and that you can recover from both surgeries concurrently. Better than dragging it out imo.

Your friends and community seem wonderful and the parcel so kind and generous. I hope next Tuesday's surgery is easy.

[CarolynLee]

Wow that's not long before another surgery - mine for the axillary nodes was 3 weeks after the mx. I'm 5 weeks post second op.

Not meaning to sound gloomy, but I found the second op recovery more challenging - that's when I got the seromas. I would encourage you to do the exercises they give, even though it is painful.

I've had 2 drains out and didn't feel a thing, once by the dr and once by the breast care nurse - not sure why yours would have hurt - though a nurse friend did tell me it would hurt.

How wonderful for your kids getting that parcel - hope it really brightened their day.

So glad someone made you dinner - I remember saying take every dinner, offer of help that is extended to you - gardening, ironing, whatever and conserve your energy for you family.

All the best for next week xx

[jezza]

Lovely to read that your friends are rallying around. Mine did that too with lots of invites to the kids for play dates which was much appreciated. They loved it and gave us time for appointments etc which don't always fit in with school hours.

I had an an axillary clearance at the time of my mastectomy. This was a long time ago (23 years!) as they didn't do the sentinel node biopsy in those days. Luckily I had quite a good recovery although you are numb under the arm which is a bit of a shock at first.

It is a long road but you'll get through it. It sounds like you have lots of support. People really do surprise you at a time like this, hopefully mostly in good ways!

Enjoy being at home.

jezza xx

[Babysaurs]

Home now which is nice. Unfortunately just as we were leaving yesterday one of my doctors caught up with me and wanted to talk in private, never a good sign! So we went back to my room and straight out i said its bad news isnt it? We were waiting on final pathology from the double mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy.
The one on the right which we were most concerned about as that lump was closer to the armpit and larger then the other was preliminary tested while i was under and came back clear, i was still told there was a 20% chance it could still come back as cancer once it had been cut up properly, but it came back clear.
It is the left sentinel node that has come back as cancerous:(
So that means im back to hospital on Tuesday for axilerial clearance surgery on the left side:( Urgh i really didn't want to go through another surgery:(I wont even be recovered from this one by then. Just seems to be one thing after another with this journey:( Bit over feeling like a pin cushion etc.
I don't want more drains as they were not fun to have removed yesterday!
Haven't told the kids i have to go back yet, at least this stay wont be for as long i guess.
I did want to share with you what has happened at home while ive been away though as its great to be reminded of the wonderful people out there:)
I was in a group on fb for US holiday plans for our holiday and i told them how we had to cancel our holiday, at the time it was easier to tell strangers then anyone else. Anyway one of the ladies on there who was in US at the time sent us a parcel for the kids with lollies an Disney t shirts in their for the kids in hopes to cheer them up from missing our Disney holiday. What a beautiful thing to do!
Yesterday when we got home Craig told me that some of the school mums had got together and formed some sort of roster to cook meals for us for a while! They told him Thursday night when he was at the school bbq thing. So last night one of the mums dropped around some garlic bread and a yummy pasta dish for us! I was so shocked it made me cry. It is hard living in a small community where everyone knows everyone business, but the good thing in this instance at least is that they are all here to support and help us in anyway they can.
Hubby and i are quickly realizing that this is not something we can get through on our own and it means a lot to know the community is there to support us too:)

[jezza]

Yes I was shocked at some of the personal questions that people asked and I didn't know how to reply to some. After a while I developed a few techniques that put people in their place quite nicely and I think made a few of them a bit embarrassed that they'd asked ....lol...even a "I don't feel like talking about that right now" stops them. If you try to answer them they just want more and more details!

I had a double mastectomy and a friend came around for details and proceeded to tell me of her SIL (I think it was) who had the same recon as I was planning and how it had all gone wrong. She advised me not to go ahead with it! I have told this story before on here as it's pretty ironic. A couple of years later she had a double mastectomy and decided on that same recon! She even rang me for advice....never mentioned her SIL and neither did I ...I thought it might upset her because of what she was going through.

Well actually I KNEW it would upset her.

You don't need to tell anyone anything that you don't want to.

It's wonderful to get home after a hospital stay....big relief to put that surgery behind you,

jezza xx

[Babysaurs]

Yeah can wait to go home now.
Kids are doing ok because we live 1.5 hrs away from Adelaide we haven't seen them since Sunday night. Have spoken to them on the phone though. I was supposed to go home yesterday but no one though I was ready yet and I really don't think I was either.
Hubby went home last night for a couple hours to see them and they were very excited to see him and happy to know if be home today. They've been coping pretty well really. My 8 yr olds whole class knows his mum is is and he's sad sometime so they are all supporting him which is great.
There was this school bbq thing in last night that hubby went to, as that's were kids where and he ofciurse got bombarded with question about me. After and hour or so it was too much for him and he had to leave.
I know they all mean well but I don't understand why they think they have the right to ask personal questions about my surgery. It's none of Thiet business that I've had a double mastectomy and they only people that know ATM are my parents and hubby I'm not wanting anyone else to know ATM it's none of their business.

[CarolynLee]

Have been wondering how you are going, so good to hear from you.

Being home will be good. How are your kids coping?

Thinking of you xx

[The new girl]

rest up now you don't need more surgery......Rosa