I'm back!

jane38
jane38 Member Posts: 123
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hello all of you oldtimers and you newbies. I know, I have been away a long time. But it took that long for me to get better. My depression is well under control, my thyroid is finally at normal levels, my strength is returning and I feel great. There is only one hitch. I found a mass on Sunday last on the chest wall, right above where the original tumor was. It did not receive any radiation or surgery. Dr. Kleinman, my surgeon, said it might be a lymph node. Anyway, I'm scheduled for excision of it on July 2nd. But I have already been visualizing - knights dressed in white with white lancets and on white horses chasing after all the bugaboos. I also have some friends and relatives who have already started prayer circles. So, I know I will be okay. I'm just concerned about all of you. How are you? What have you been doing?
Please fill me in on all the scoop. I'm back to stay. Love you guys, Jane

Comments

  • gottod
    gottod Member Posts: 37
    #2
    hi, your name has been reassuring as i have come to think of all of us as friends, but i don't know much about you!! sorry!!
    tell me you story,

    so sorry to hear you have a recurrance, is this the first??

    your depression is common and happy tohear it's under control, talking with friends is so much help for me at least,

    and your prayerful style means alot to a lot of people, it is well needed in this areana of cancer
    good luck and keep us and me informed.
    thanks donna g.
  • cruf
    cruf Member Posts: 908
    #3
    Hi Jane!Welcome back!!!Sure did miss you. So glad you're feeling so much better. Time heals all!!! Sorry about your new inconvience! Will start praying for you immed. I'm sure things will turn out OK! Lots of new ladies on line. Pam enters once in a while. Tiger hasn't been on much but I keep in touch with her and she's OK! Haven't heard from Wendy,Sue ,Catherine. Cher comes in once in a while too! I'm doing well. Just had another revision(hopefully my last!) of my reconstructed breast. Working toward perfection although will settle for what I presently have! Hoping for the best for you. Keep in touch! HUGS!!! Cathy
  • nancys
    nancys Member Posts: 323
    #4
    Oh Jane...so GLAD to see you back and sounding so strong. Good to get those white knights busy again, just as a precaution. How did you discover the mass on your chest wall? Lots of new ladies here, as you have seen..Some of the "old" ones do not post anymore but I feel they may read in from time to time. I keep in touch with Vinnie and Murphy and Tiger by email and have met more wonderful women here on the site.Jane, I am finished with Cancer!!!! Having the port-a-cath removed on July 3rd. I put it off, dreading the surgical thing, and when I finally called to set it up, found out that my surgeon removes it in her office (after numbing it up.) Will be more comfortable with that gone. SO GOOD TO SEE YOU BACK. Love to you, Nancy
  • jane38
    jane38 Member Posts: 123
    #5
    nancys said:

    Oh Jane...so GLAD to see you back and sounding so strong. Good to get those white knights busy again, just as a precaution. How did you discover the mass on your chest wall? Lots of new ladies here, as you have seen..Some of the "old" ones do not post anymore but I feel they may read in from time to time. I keep in touch with Vinnie and Murphy and Tiger by email and have met more wonderful women here on the site.Jane, I am finished with Cancer!!!! Having the port-a-cath removed on July 3rd. I put it off, dreading the surgical thing, and when I finally called to set it up, found out that my surgeon removes it in her office (after numbing it up.) Will be more comfortable with that gone. SO GOOD TO SEE YOU BACK. Love to you, Nancy

    Congratulations Nancy. Getting rid of the Port-A-Cath is a really big step. It makes you feel like it's really over. Have you had reconstruction or did you need it? I have one more operation to go that way, the nipple-areola reconstruction on the right. Trying to get it set up, but with the flood and all in Houston, it's kinda hard. All the outlying hospitals are taking the Medical Centers overflow and the Medical Center hospitals are not doing very much if anything. Hermann Hospital is totally closed for at least a month. Methodist evacuated all their patients two days after the flood at the request of their doctors. So I don't know when they will be ready to start getting patients again. And that's were I go for my plastic surgery. I found the lump just by feeling. I guess I am so paranoid about the cancer returning that subconsciously I am feeling my breasts and chest and belly every night when I go to bed. It's not intentional, but as it turns out, it is a good thing. So we'll see. Now the whole area under the TRAM flap is very sore, so maybe I pulled a muscle or something. Don't know. Will find out on the 2nd. When your Port-A-Cath is removed, be prepared for a lot of tugging. At least that's true for me when I had it done. Doesn't hurt at all, but there is a lot of tugging. It is so good to hear from you and it is so good to be back. Love you. Jane
  • cruf
    cruf Member Posts: 908
    #6
    jane38 said:

    Congratulations Nancy. Getting rid of the Port-A-Cath is a really big step. It makes you feel like it's really over. Have you had reconstruction or did you need it? I have one more operation to go that way, the nipple-areola reconstruction on the right. Trying to get it set up, but with the flood and all in Houston, it's kinda hard. All the outlying hospitals are taking the Medical Centers overflow and the Medical Center hospitals are not doing very much if anything. Hermann Hospital is totally closed for at least a month. Methodist evacuated all their patients two days after the flood at the request of their doctors. So I don't know when they will be ready to start getting patients again. And that's were I go for my plastic surgery. I found the lump just by feeling. I guess I am so paranoid about the cancer returning that subconsciously I am feeling my breasts and chest and belly every night when I go to bed. It's not intentional, but as it turns out, it is a good thing. So we'll see. Now the whole area under the TRAM flap is very sore, so maybe I pulled a muscle or something. Don't know. Will find out on the 2nd. When your Port-A-Cath is removed, be prepared for a lot of tugging. At least that's true for me when I had it done. Doesn't hurt at all, but there is a lot of tugging. It is so good to hear from you and it is so good to be back. Love you. Jane

    Hi Jane. I had the nipple and aerola recon. in Feb. and revision again June8. The nipple remains big but should shrink(according to the Plastic Surgeon) Those surgeries were a breeze compaired to the Tramflap! I also have alot of discomfort under the Tramflap. The MD says it will take a long time to calm down! Do what you feel comfortable doing. Don't over stretch! I've been playing tennis but quite uncomfortable some days. Glad to have you back. Good luck on the 2nd. HUGS!!!!! Cathy
  • luckyj
    luckyj Member Posts: 25
    #7
    Dear Jane, I'm a "newbie". It's good to know that the "oldtimers" haven't strayed far. Welcome back! I'm coming up on 1 1/2 years since my diagnoses and 1 year since the completion of chemo A/C and radiation. I feel great except my thyroid is continually out of whack. I've been on synthroid for 10 years with basically the same dose. It's been off the charts since January (hyper) and still is with a lower dose. No one has connected my thyroid problem with breast cancer. I'm going to see a new doc about it but in the meantime, I'm especially interested in your thyroid story. I'll think of you on July 2. Love, Luckyj
  • jane38
    jane38 Member Posts: 123
    #8
    luckyj said:

    Dear Jane, I'm a "newbie". It's good to know that the "oldtimers" haven't strayed far. Welcome back! I'm coming up on 1 1/2 years since my diagnoses and 1 year since the completion of chemo A/C and radiation. I feel great except my thyroid is continually out of whack. I've been on synthroid for 10 years with basically the same dose. It's been off the charts since January (hyper) and still is with a lower dose. No one has connected my thyroid problem with breast cancer. I'm going to see a new doc about it but in the meantime, I'm especially interested in your thyroid story. I'll think of you on July 2. Love, Luckyj

    Hello Lucky. I, personally, think there may be a correlation between thyroid dysfunction and cancer, especially breast cancer. After all, it does produce a hormone. I checked Medline's web site and found only one study that was done in the Netherlands regarding this topic. I also asked Dr. Susan Love about it. She said there was no basis. I have always been in the low normal range on my TSH test until October 1998 when it finally went below normal. My doctor put me on Levoxyl and she also put me on Premarin, which I had never taken hormones before. In February 1999 I discovered the huge lump in my left breast that had not been there before. The rest is history. Mastectomy, lymph node dissection with 5/10 positive, chemo with Cytoxan, Adriamycin and 5-FU for four cycles then four cycles of Taxotere followed by six weeks of radiation. During the chemo my TSH kept elevating and my dosages of Levoxy kept being increased. I'm still not sure it's totally in control because it would run the same level for 2-3 months and go bonkers again. So, we'll see what happens this time. My TSH is at the 2.5 level, which is rather high for most people, but I feel good at this level. So, maybe of enough of us complain to our doctors about thyroid dysfunction and breast cancer, some valid studies will be done and in 10-15 years we will know for sure if there is a correlation. So glad to hear from you. As you can tell, I am rather wordy. This is basically the only contact I get with the outside world as I work at home as an editor for a medical transcription company. I am two years out from my diagnosis on March 23, 1999. I'm convinced this mass on the chest wall is just lymph nodes. Thanks for your thoughts. I do need them. Jane

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