Terrified! new to cancer ,new to group

britchick356

i had a well differeniated,ductal carcinoma metasis to 1 auxillary node,tubular properties.sentinel node clear. estrogen receptor positive. lumpectomy and 6 nodes out 12/12/00. still have to face radiation and 9 months of a port-a-cath,chemo and no hair.
i am a single mom with teenage daughter and no support. SOMEBODY please talk to me!

lucy

You need to have lots of faith in God and he will help you through this time of your life. My Dr. told me to keep a "positive attitude" and that is what I do every day of my life now. I had a masectomy in May and 4 treatments of Adryamicin and Cytoxan - lost all my hair within three weeks after my first treatment. The treatments were, as I call "tolerable" - as I did not like the taste of any food I ate. But, I did eat because I did not want to get my body "down". After my treatments were over - within a month or so, food once again tastes real good to me. My hair is slowly growing back in and I am now planning to go down south for the rest of the winter, as my husband and I are both retired. The treatments will make you tired, and remember to get lots of rest- your body needs it. Look ahead and plan for your future. My prayers will be with you.
Love, Lucy

tiger

lucy said:

You need to have lots of faith in God and he will help you through this time of your life. My Dr. told me to keep a "positive attitude" and that is what I do every day of my life now. I had a masectomy in May and 4 treatments of Adryamicin and Cytoxan - lost all my hair within three weeks after my first treatment. The treatments were, as I call "tolerable" - as I did not like the taste of any food I ate. But, I did eat because I did not want to get my body "down". After my treatments were over - within a month or so, food once again tastes real good to me. My hair is slowly growing back in and I am now planning to go down south for the rest of the winter, as my husband and I are both retired. The treatments will make you tired, and remember to get lots of rest- your body needs it. Look ahead and plan for your future. My prayers will be with you.
Love, Lucy

Hi, Tiger here. The first thing you have to do is take this cancer by the horns and talk to it, tell it you dont want it anymore, that you are stronger than it is and you can and will beat it. I have been visualizing for the past month and it is working. you will feel more in control over what is going on. Dont let "statistics" scare you, we are not all the same, we are fighters and we will win. I have stage IV breast mets to the liver, I was given one year to live, that was last january.But I have been kicking cancer **** since!! I did seven rounds of A/C and then six rounds of taxol, with Herceptin once a week. It is working. I am 31 years old with a husband of 11 years and two sons, 9 and 3 1/2, so there is no way I am giving up this fight. Finding this site is the best thing that happened to me, the ladies on here care, and know exactly what we are going through, it is fine to have friends to talk to, but unless they have walked this road, they just cannot offer the same kind of support you can get on here. Now I tend to get on here and ramble one, but it is awesome therapy, and leaves you feeling so much better. I dont think there is one of us on here that is too shy to answer any question you may have,we are here to help and support and lean on when you are tired. You will come to know and love us like your own family, only we have an even more special bond. Dont let this cancer thing scare you, at least we are still alive, breathing and able to enjoy a sunny day and smell the flowers, together we will fight this and together we will win, then together we will celebrate.
Stay in touch and chin up baby,you can do it!!!!
Hugs from Tiger xoxox

maggie

Hey! Welcome to the group, I'm Maggie. I was diagnosed at the age of 30. I had a mastec. chemo, radition and I lost my hair. It is hard news to accepted, but you have to FIGHT this with everything you have. Don't give up! The ladies here are wonderful, we all have gone through, or going thru treatments know. Feel free to ask anything on here. I will remember you and your daughter in my prayers. Take care, love Maggie

mjdp2

Our diagnosis are very similar, Had lumpectomy for 3cm ductal carcinoma, (1/12 nodes involved), chemo (Adryamycin/Cytoxan and Taxol) for moderately differentiated cells, then 6 1/2 weeks radiation, and now on Tamoxifen(was Estrogen receptor positive). Treatment ended 1/99 and followups are now every 4 months. As I look back the first 30 days after diagnosis were the scariest. Did alot of crying but then realized that there are tons of survivors and support groups around. Info from internet gave me empowerment and enabled me to make the right treatment decisions. If you have time, read the current postings pertaining to your stage of treatment and ask any us of here for help ANYTIME. We are here for you. God Bless. Margaret

pamtriggs

Hi Pam here. Well you have probably guessed by now that we all LOVE to talk on this site. I echo the advice you have been given. Find out all you can about your situation & ask, ask ask. Some onco's don't like it but press on anyway. Discuss your treatments with us here. Someone else will be going/have gone through the same & will offer heaps of advice. Most of all NEVER, NEVER give up. Read some of the inspiring posts from some of the ladies who have written messages here. They will be an inspiration. No matter what your religious belief is PRAY to whatever highr power you believe in. It really helps. I wish you all the luck in the world & look forward to keeping in touch. Love & hugs. Pam

jane38

tiger said:

Hi, Tiger here. The first thing you have to do is take this cancer by the horns and talk to it, tell it you dont want it anymore, that you are stronger than it is and you can and will beat it. I have been visualizing for the past month and it is working. you will feel more in control over what is going on. Dont let "statistics" scare you, we are not all the same, we are fighters and we will win. I have stage IV breast mets to the liver, I was given one year to live, that was last january.But I have been kicking cancer **** since!! I did seven rounds of A/C and then six rounds of taxol, with Herceptin once a week. It is working. I am 31 years old with a husband of 11 years and two sons, 9 and 3 1/2, so there is no way I am giving up this fight. Finding this site is the best thing that happened to me, the ladies on here care, and know exactly what we are going through, it is fine to have friends to talk to, but unless they have walked this road, they just cannot offer the same kind of support you can get on here. Now I tend to get on here and ramble one, but it is awesome therapy, and leaves you feeling so much better. I dont think there is one of us on here that is too shy to answer any question you may have,we are here to help and support and lean on when you are tired. You will come to know and love us like your own family, only we have an even more special bond. Dont let this cancer thing scare you, at least we are still alive, breathing and able to enjoy a sunny day and smell the flowers, together we will fight this and together we will win, then together we will celebrate.
Stay in touch and chin up baby,you can do it!!!!
Hugs from Tiger xoxox

Hi. Isn't Tiger an absolute marvel? I'm Jane, 62 years old, 22 months out from diagnosis and still cancer-free. I was diagnosed with stage 3-A with 5/10 lymph nodes positive. There was no way something like cancer was going to do me in. I immediately put myself in FIGHT MODE and that's what I did from March 1999 through December 1999. I had mastectomy, lymph node dissection, Port-A-Cath insertion, four cycles of CAF, four cycles of Taxotere, and six weeks of radiation. Kicked butt! We do know how you feel, we do know the doubts that will come into your mind now and again, we do know how afraid and alone you will feel sometimes. We've been there, done that. If there is anyway that we can help you in this fight, just put the word out. We're here 24/7. We'll answer your questions, we'll give you advice even if you don't want it, we'll kick your butt whenever you get to feeling too sorry for yourself, and we will heap tons of praise on you for a job well-done whenever you pass another hurdle. We will be your best friends. Just give us a chance. Love, Jane

sueholm

jane38 said:

Hi. Isn't Tiger an absolute marvel? I'm Jane, 62 years old, 22 months out from diagnosis and still cancer-free. I was diagnosed with stage 3-A with 5/10 lymph nodes positive. There was no way something like cancer was going to do me in. I immediately put myself in FIGHT MODE and that's what I did from March 1999 through December 1999. I had mastectomy, lymph node dissection, Port-A-Cath insertion, four cycles of CAF, four cycles of Taxotere, and six weeks of radiation. Kicked butt! We do know how you feel, we do know the doubts that will come into your mind now and again, we do know how afraid and alone you will feel sometimes. We've been there, done that. If there is anyway that we can help you in this fight, just put the word out. We're here 24/7. We'll answer your questions, we'll give you advice even if you don't want it, we'll kick your butt whenever you get to feeling too sorry for yourself, and we will heap tons of praise on you for a job well-done whenever you pass another hurdle. We will be your best friends. Just give us a chance. Love, Jane

Hi britchick. I take it by your name, that you are in england. I used to be, but now live in Canada, My sister lives in the Durham area, and I visit there often. I have read the other posts before mine, and reiterate all that has been said. But i note you have a teenage daughter. My advice is not to shut her out of this.She will be a great support to you if you let her be. And its not your decision, if she wants to be, or not to be, so don't make it for her! The terror will abate. More and more, breast cancer can be considered a chronic disease, rather than a fatal one. And there are good things to come out of it. I wont tell you what they are, or it would ruin the surprise! As they say in AA....Keep coming back! love susan

judyd

Hi, my name is Judy. I was had a biopsy in Oct. 2000 & was disagnosed in Nov. I had a mastectomy in Dec. My type of cancer is tubular carcinoma. My results showed no cancer in nodes or in tissue. Great news. I am going to be starting on Tamoxifen. There is a lot I still don't understand about this and a lot I have not had to deal with. Reading from all the people on this site will help you. It will give you knowledge that you need. More than that it will give you someone to comfort you & understand what you are going through. The people on here are so supportive of each other. The first part of all this is the hardest. Keep a positive attitude no matter how hard that is. I will keep you in my prayers. Prayer has been key to me through all of this. I wish you the best. Judy

britchick356

maggie said:

Hey! Welcome to the group, I'm Maggie. I was diagnosed at the age of 30. I had a mastec. chemo, radition and I lost my hair. It is hard news to accepted, but you have to FIGHT this with everything you have. Don't give up! The ladies here are wonderful, we all have gone through, or going thru treatments know. Feel free to ask anything on here. I will remember you and your daughter in my prayers. Take care, love Maggie

thanx for every answer. it really made me feel great to have so many total strangers respond. your collective wisdom will get me thru this journey thru the unknown. please stay in touch there are so many things i donot know and don`t know what to ask about! hugs to you all, cj

britchick356

Port-cath anyone?
another part of my journey requires a port-a-cath according to my doc. is my bod going to look like a mine field after the lumpectomy, radiation mapping and port-a-cath?

tekgal

Hi ~ We are all hear for you. Support from other women who have been there will help you tremendously. There is NO question that hasn't been asked, and all of us have "been there" at some point. So any time you are scared, worried, anxious .... post it to this site so we can help you. We are all members of the same club now, and we are all here to help you. Love, Jody

maggie

britchick356 said:

Port-cath anyone?
another part of my journey requires a port-a-cath according to my doc. is my bod going to look like a mine field after the lumpectomy, radiation mapping and port-a-cath?

Hey CJ! It's Maggie. I had some type of shunt put in my upper right chest, so I could get my chemo and have my blood drawed out of. It was a hassle to keep clean and flushed all the time, but it beat having to stuck every week. Take care, Maggie

debw

britchick356 said:

Port-cath anyone?
another part of my journey requires a port-a-cath according to my doc. is my bod going to look like a mine field after the lumpectomy, radiation mapping and port-a-cath?

Deb here. I had a port-a-cath in for 8 months. It now sits on top of my frig in a little cup.
My chest does look a bit traveled. But having it was very useful and took the terror out of having the chemo. I would have another put in if I ever had to go another round. Best of Luck

tekgal

britchick356 said:

Port-cath anyone?
another part of my journey requires a port-a-cath according to my doc. is my bod going to look like a mine field after the lumpectomy, radiation mapping and port-a-cath?

Hi! Jody here, who also had one of those put in my chest. It was LIFESAVER as I hate needles! The scar is very faded now after 6 months. I am very glad I had it in. The only problem I had was I am small-framed and it did stick out from my chest. If I would bump it, it would smart a bit! But definately worth it! GOOD LUCK! Luv, J

cherdaetwyler

britchick356 said:

Port-cath anyone?
another part of my journey requires a port-a-cath according to my doc. is my bod going to look like a mine field after the lumpectomy, radiation mapping and port-a-cath?

Hi, again, as you can see the dog isn't in yet.
My port incision is only 2 inches long. It makes life so much easier (even with the
infection I picked up in the surgery facility)...
and it stops all chances of edema from needle pricks in affected arms, etc.

my incision for the port is like a plastic surgery one, healing very narrow and
clean

I will never regret pushing for a surgeon who would implant it when my first
surgeon wouldn't...

it is great.

cher

grita

Hi britchick356,
I understand what you are going through. It seems as if the world has fallen apart. What lies ahead is frightening because we do not know tomorrow. Be of good cheer! How can I you may well ask?
A postive attitude will be good. When you feel down try to help yourself to get up again. Remember, the sun shines brightly every morning even on cloudy days. Only then, we are not able to see it!
Take courage. Cancer does give us some difficulties and is always a big fright. I have lived 18 years after breast cancer ... I try to be of help to others where I can.
A joyful heart is good medicine. Even this is challenging for me!
I pray that you will find the right help both for yourself and your daughter.
All the best.
grita