Prognosis Chemoschmosis

IamHope

Every step of this nightmare experience have been preceded with the words: "There's a 95% chance that this is nothing/will not happen". I have realized that I most probably fall in the OTHER percentage side... the 5% side that is.
5/17 of the lymph nodes showed cancer
The tumer was larger than thought, just under 5cm
HER2 neu positive
Vascular invasive

I'm googling all these things to figure out what it means, I am dumbfounded by all the cancer speak. The different cancers, the difference in prognosis, the difference in treatment medicines... aai. What big words you have grandma.

Chemo scheduled for 14 Aug, followed by radiation (but I don't have boobs anymore!) followed by hormone treatment for 5 years.

Treatment will be refered to as CAF Chemo - cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, Fluorouracil (5 FU)

What the????

This used to be my body. This used to be my life, where I knew where things fitted and what things meant. Now? My Goodness.

tgf

I know what you mean
I understand totally when you talk about all of the medical talk, diagnosis jargon etc. I asked the for a copy of my pathology report and it might as well have been in a foreign language. Well ... actually it WAS a foreign language. I had no earthly idea what any of it meant. I tried googling what few words I did understand and I just got more confused. I gave up. I've just decided that I MUST trust that my doctors DO understand all of that gobbly-**** and they know what is best for me.

I'm doing what I can to stay on top of all of this and educate myself but sometimes it's just plain overwhelming and the more I try to figure things out the more scared I get.

Thank goodness I do make lists of questions when I visit the doctors and I don't leave until they have answered every one of them in simple words that I understand.

As you said "this used to be my body" ... but I sometimes feel like a car going in for check-ups and repairs... with a lot of different mechanics working on different parts trying to keep the whole thing running.

hugs.
teena

P.S. I may be naive ... or just plain stupid ... but why in the world was I censored when I wrote gobbly--g-o-o-k? I swear ... I almost wish the censors would give us a list of the "nasty" words we can't use. I have a feeling most of them are words I've never heard of.

fauxma

tgf said:

I know what you mean
I understand totally when you talk about all of the medical talk, diagnosis jargon etc. I asked the for a copy of my pathology report and it might as well have been in a foreign language. Well ... actually it WAS a foreign language. I had no earthly idea what any of it meant. I tried googling what few words I did understand and I just got more confused. I gave up. I've just decided that I MUST trust that my doctors DO understand all of that gobbly-**** and they know what is best for me.

I'm doing what I can to stay on top of all of this and educate myself but sometimes it's just plain overwhelming and the more I try to figure things out the more scared I get.

Thank goodness I do make lists of questions when I visit the doctors and I don't leave until they have answered every one of them in simple words that I understand.

As you said "this used to be my body" ... but I sometimes feel like a car going in for check-ups and repairs... with a lot of different mechanics working on different parts trying to keep the whole thing running.

hugs.
teena

P.S. I may be naive ... or just plain stupid ... but why in the world was I censored when I wrote gobbly--g-o-o-k? I swear ... I almost wish the censors would give us a list of the "nasty" words we can't use. I have a feeling most of them are words I've never heard of.

You typed G O O K which is
You typed G O O K which is slang for a person of Asia ethnicity. The word is actually GOOP which wouldn't have been censored. There are weird words that get censored and others that don't. I swear I saw the word **** and it was not censored. Go figure. And G-I-F is censored. Is that because it is a trademark or is it naughty and if it is what is it? Enquiring minds want to know. Well, I do.
Stef

chenheart

fauxma said:

You typed G O O K which is
You typed G O O K which is slang for a person of Asia ethnicity. The word is actually GOOP which wouldn't have been censored. There are weird words that get censored and others that don't. I swear I saw the word **** and it was not censored. Go figure. And G-I-F is censored. Is that because it is a trademark or is it naughty and if it is what is it? Enquiring minds want to know. Well, I do.
Stef

As G O O K is the "N-word"
As G O O K is the "N-word" for those of Asian ethnicity, you are indeed correct as to why it would be censored. G I F on the other hand, are those images embedded which we USED to be able to post here, but can't anymore! At the conference call this morning, Greta suggested we put a . between the letters and that it should post. So I am going to try!

Hmmmmm, by No Means, is Cancer a g.ift, but the people who I have met here will be not just part of my present, but my tomorrow as well! We shall see~ unless of course, I misunderstood how to make the offending 3 letter word show up! Which is always possible!

This is a test! LOL

Hugs,
Claudia

chenheart

Yes, statistics are funny,
Yes, statistics are funny, aren't they?? My Dr said that Statistics don't count when OUR names are on them, of course!

A kind word of advice while your brain, heart are reeling from cancer diagnosis/tratment information? Be very, very selective about Googling anything cancer related! There is so much mis-information, and generally we humans gravitate to every possible "what if" and "OMG, I'm gonna die" horror story out there! Stay with TRUSTED sites, such as the ACS.

I had a 3cm tumor, 3 of 15 positive nodes,and was ER+. I had surgery, chemo, radiation, and anti estrogen meds for 5 years. March will mark 7 years post diagnosis. See? Stats don't really matter! Getting well and living is what does!

Hugs,
Claudia

Marcia527

I always hope for the best
I always hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Usually things turn out ok. My tumors were 6cm and 3cm and another smaller one. I was sure my time was up. I had chemo first to shrink the tumors and then surgery. I was diagnosed as stage 3a and even after the first 4 cycles of chemo had two lymph nodes infected. So I had to have 4 more cycles of chemo after surgery and then radiation. This was in 2003. My surgeon told me not to read about other people's treatments because I was different. At some point you have to release control over to your doctors and let them do their job. Good luck with chemo and remember that some day you will be looking back and it will be over.

IamHope

Hope
Like all of us here, I came to this site with all of my experiences, all of my life, all of my personality - cancer or not. I did not choose the nick "IamHope" lightly. No matter what this cancer throws at me, I have been through something worse, and I have come out on the other side. I have been a person that triumphed over other challenges.

This is just a new challenge. Yes, right now I am down, very down. Right now I am feeling despair, fear, anger, frustration - all of these anti-hope feelings. But I have earned the name "Hope" in my past, and I will find it again.

I guess what I am trying to say is thank you for listening. I need to speak here, so many people hear me speak every where else, I do not want to disappoint them with this weakness.

chenheart

IamHope said:

Hope
Like all of us here, I came to this site with all of my experiences, all of my life, all of my personality - cancer or not. I did not choose the nick "IamHope" lightly. No matter what this cancer throws at me, I have been through something worse, and I have come out on the other side. I have been a person that triumphed over other challenges.

This is just a new challenge. Yes, right now I am down, very down. Right now I am feeling despair, fear, anger, frustration - all of these anti-hope feelings. But I have earned the name "Hope" in my past, and I will find it again.

I guess what I am trying to say is thank you for listening. I need to speak here, so many people hear me speak every where else, I do not want to disappoint them with this weakness.

I loved everything you had
I loved everything you had to say~ except for the very last word. You are In No Way weak~ you are human, fighting a potentially life-threatening disease with all the dignity, courage and HOPE you can muster. Nothing weak about that, at all. Quite the contrary.

You will of course come through this victoriously; please keep posting and keep us apprised of your treatment and journey. We walk with you!

Hugs,
Claudia

Kat11

IamHope said:

Hope
Like all of us here, I came to this site with all of my experiences, all of my life, all of my personality - cancer or not. I did not choose the nick "IamHope" lightly. No matter what this cancer throws at me, I have been through something worse, and I have come out on the other side. I have been a person that triumphed over other challenges.

This is just a new challenge. Yes, right now I am down, very down. Right now I am feeling despair, fear, anger, frustration - all of these anti-hope feelings. But I have earned the name "Hope" in my past, and I will find it again.

I guess what I am trying to say is thank you for listening. I need to speak here, so many people hear me speak every where else, I do not want to disappoint them with this weakness.

Hope
No weakness here. I would not call it weak, Scared maybe,frustration, fear whatever, but don't call yourself weak. When your ready, you will do what it takes. We will always be here to listen, thats whats its all about. Hugs

phoenixrising

chenheart said:

As G O O K is the "N-word"
As G O O K is the "N-word" for those of Asian ethnicity, you are indeed correct as to why it would be censored. G I F on the other hand, are those images embedded which we USED to be able to post here, but can't anymore! At the conference call this morning, Greta suggested we put a . between the letters and that it should post. So I am going to try!

Hmmmmm, by No Means, is Cancer a g.ift, but the people who I have met here will be not just part of my present, but my tomorrow as well! We shall see~ unless of course, I misunderstood how to make the offending 3 letter word show up! Which is always possible!

This is a test! LOL

Hugs,
Claudia

sorry

sorry

jnl

chenheart said:

As G O O K is the "N-word"
As G O O K is the "N-word" for those of Asian ethnicity, you are indeed correct as to why it would be censored. G I F on the other hand, are those images embedded which we USED to be able to post here, but can't anymore! At the conference call this morning, Greta suggested we put a . between the letters and that it should post. So I am going to try!

Hmmmmm, by No Means, is Cancer a g.ift, but the people who I have met here will be not just part of my present, but my tomorrow as well! We shall see~ unless of course, I misunderstood how to make the offending 3 letter word show up! Which is always possible!

This is a test! LOL

Hugs,
Claudia

I just type g i f t put a
I just type g i f t put a space between the letters

I think it works

lol