Another Newbie

mizv

Hello - today is my first day to join this discussion group. I am hoping to make new friends, find folks I can talk to about what is happening in my life and learn about what all is going on. I think I have been in denial since I was diagnosed, and haven't talked about it much with anyone except my husband. I am a 68-year old grandmother of 10 and live about 15 miles outside of Houston, Texas.

I was diagnosed in May with Stage 2 Infiltrating Duct Carcinoma of the left breast - located just under the nipple. Because of the location, my only option was a mastectomy, which I had 7/2. After being released by the surgeon, the oncologist told me the tumor was very agressive but curable, but because it had spread to an intramammary lymph node, I would need chemo. All of the cancer was removed with the breast and the lymph nodes were clear. So I had my first chemo on 8/17. I had Adriamycin, Taxotere and another drug that I can't remember the name of. He also gave me 4 kinds of anti reaction meds before he did the chemo. Then I had to go every day for 10 days for a Neupogen shot and I had more trouble from these shots than the chemo. They really made me tired, achy and I usually spent the rest of the day in the recliner. I will follow this routine for 5 more rounds, scheduled for every 3 weeks.

Anyway, I am happy to have found this discussion group and am looking forward to getting acquainted.

Valerie

DianeBC

Hi Valerie
Nice to meet you and Welcome to the board. You have quite a story. You sound like a very strong, proud Grandma. And, you sound like you are doing great. Just know that we are here to support when you are happy or when you are sad and need to vent. We understand as noone else as we all are bc survivors! So, hope to see you posting more.

Oh, I had a lumpectomy, lymph node was clear and then radiation treatments. I hated the radiation, but, miss seeing the people in the lobby, the techs, and my rads oncologist. I keep in touch with a few of the people that were in the lobby. And, I see the techs every now and then when I go see my rads oncologist, which is every 2 weeks.

Well, hope to see you posting a lot more!

Hugs, Diane ♥

Tux

DianeBC said:

Hi Valerie
Nice to meet you and Welcome to the board. You have quite a story. You sound like a very strong, proud Grandma. And, you sound like you are doing great. Just know that we are here to support when you are happy or when you are sad and need to vent. We understand as noone else as we all are bc survivors! So, hope to see you posting more.

Oh, I had a lumpectomy, lymph node was clear and then radiation treatments. I hated the radiation, but, miss seeing the people in the lobby, the techs, and my rads oncologist. I keep in touch with a few of the people that were in the lobby. And, I see the techs every now and then when I go see my rads oncologist, which is every 2 weeks.

Well, hope to see you posting a lot more!

Hugs, Diane ♥

Welcome, Valerie! I too am
Welcome, Valerie! I too am a grandma--of four great kids! One of things that has kept me going has been my wish to see them graduating & starting lives of their own.

You are always welcome on this board & I hope that your treatment goes well. Check back often & let us know how you are doing.

mlmjt1

Hi Valerie
Welcome to the boards. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but believe me we all are here for you cuz we are all going thru treatment or have been thru treatment ourselves.

I too had infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the right breast, stage 3 cuz it actually went to the nipple and mine was right under the nipple as well, fairly deep. The sentinel node in the breast was positive but 21 lymphnodes were negative. I am her2 positive. I just finished adriamycin and cytoxan, and just started taxol and herceptin actually yesterday. The herceptin I will continue with every 3 weeks for a year. The neulasta shots havent bothered me too much and so far I seem to be doing ok on the new chemo.

By the way, I am 52 and have 2 kids, 1 age 23 and another age 18 starting college in October. My husband is a reluctant gm retiree at 55 and I am a homecare nurse who plans to keep working for a long time. We have a 10 month old golden retriever puppy who is full of it and we live in Wisconsin.

Anytime you want to vent about anything, please come on board. You will find alot of support and friendship here. Ive only been on for a short while and can really sense how close everyone is and how much everyone cares about each other. It is truly a very unique place to be and I for one am glad I found it.

Hugs
Linda T

zahalene

Hi Val! (Is it ok if we call you that?)
I am a 61 year old grandmother of 2, and I lost both breasts over 23 years ago! Had the chemo, rads, tamoxifen for 7 years...and TA DA! Here I still am...buggin' all my sisters here with my bragadociousness. LOL (Glad we don't have spell check for that one!)
Seriously, it sounds like you have done all the right things to put the beast in its place (which is NOT IN YOU) and are moving on with your program to get back to living large. I have been NED (no evidence of disease) for several years, and there is LIFE after cancer and it is GOOD. It takes some work, but hey, we are strong beautiful women who don't take this crap sitting down! You're gonna be fine...and we're gonna help.
God bless.

djteach

Hi Valerie,
Welcome, I'm
Hi Valerie,

Welcome, I'm glad you're here. The chemo is usually the worst, but we are all different. Just make sure you take all of your meds for nausea before each treatment. If you happen to get nausea anyway, call you onc. immediately and tell them about it. Anything that is painful or uncomfortable, let your onc. know. They have so many more meds. that can help with the side effects of chemo. It's do-able but darn inconvenient. Please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing.

Love and gentle hugs,
Donna

butterfly343

Hi Valerie,
Welcome to the
Hi Valerie,
Welcome to the wonderful sisterhood. We are all here for each other is many ways. You will always find someone that has been through or is going through every stage of this awful diease. All you need to do is post a question and awnsers will flow in. Sorry for the reason you are here, but you have found a amazing group of women.
Julie

phoenixrising

Hi Valerie and welcome. So
Hi Valerie and welcome. So sorry you've had to join our club. I know what you mean by denial, after 3 yrs I sometimes still have problems wrapping my head around this dx.....but then again I'm a little slow Happy to hear your nodes were clear, that's wonderful news. The ladies here are wonderful and will give you tips and tricks on how to get through this. My best wishes to you...

hugs
jan

Akiss4me

Hi Valerie
So glad to meet you, though sorry for the reason. Just wanted to add my welcome. I am still waiting on one grandchild, so congrats on 10 of them! Although I am fairly young (48) I still keep hinting to my children who are 29 and 25. My daughter felt soooo bad that she presented my with a grandpuppy and said that is the closest I will get for a while! Teehee ♥ Pammy

KathiM

Welcome!
I'm with Pammy....not a grandma...oh well, still sexy over 50...lol!!!!

Welcome to the family! We are the best been there/done that around!!! I had a lumpectomy, then ACT...Adriamycin with Cytoxin, then Taxol after....radiation after that...

I'm over 3 years post-treatment, cancer free, and loving life (as you may have read from my post...ROFL!). I had stage III rectal cancer and finished treatment 6 months before starting treatment for the breast cancer...

Hugs, Kathi

aztec45

Hang Tough
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis but I am glad you found us. I have been with these fine women and men for a little over a month. They are the best support group for me I could have asked for.

How are you doing on the Adrianmycin? I hear that drug is a tough mama. I agree that the shot is worst of all. It does the same thing to me. They told me to take Claritin which helps but I also had to get some pain meds as the Tylonol did not help.

I am on Taxatere, Cytoxin, and Anastin (or something like that). They traded the Adrianmycin for the Anastin. I have 3 rounds down; 3 more to go.

Take care,

Pat

chenheart

Hello Valerie,
I am Claudia,
Hello Valerie,
I am Claudia, and I want to welcome you to the most wonderful group of women you never wanted to meet! ( well, in here anyway!)

I too like your take charge attitude, and even though up till now yu have been in denial, I am sure you have seen how many Kindred Spirits you have here on these boards. There isn't much we haven't gone though ( good and bad!) the physical as well as the emotional. Feel free to read, and of course post anytime!

Hugs,
Claudia

ppurdin

welcome
Welcome to the boards.I am fairly new since july.I am a grandmaw of 4,am 52yrs. old.And this sight has been a God scent to me as I hope it will be to you.The people here are so wonderful.Everything you go through theirs always someone to talk to and give you advice.most of them have been through the same things.keep in touch and good luck and God bless.Pat.

susie09

chenheart said:

Hello Valerie,
I am Claudia,
Hello Valerie,
I am Claudia, and I want to welcome you to the most wonderful group of women you never wanted to meet! ( well, in here anyway!)

I too like your take charge attitude, and even though up till now yu have been in denial, I am sure you have seen how many Kindred Spirits you have here on these boards. There isn't much we haven't gone though ( good and bad!) the physical as well as the emotional. Feel free to read, and of course post anytime!

Hugs,
Claudia

Hi Valerie and Welcome! You
Hi Valerie and Welcome! You will love this board as there are so many wonderful bc survivors that will help you out in anyway. Post again.

♣Susie♠

Alexis F

ppurdin said:

welcome
Welcome to the boards.I am fairly new since july.I am a grandmaw of 4,am 52yrs. old.And this sight has been a God scent to me as I hope it will be to you.The people here are so wonderful.Everything you go through theirs always someone to talk to and give you advice.most of them have been through the same things.keep in touch and good luck and God bless.Pat.

Hi Valerie and welcome!
Hi Valerie and welcome! Hopefully someday I will be a grandma too! Good luck to you!

Lex♥

MyTurnNow

Welcome, Valerie
Hi, Valerie and welcome. I am also fairly new and so happy that I found this site. There are several women that have been through the entire gamut of treatment and continue to share their experiences, support and love with all the others. I think I like that the most about this site, it really does speak volumes for the members. I, too, have only had 1 chemo treatment so far as I started on 8/13. I take my 2nd treatment this Thursday, mine is Taxotere and Cytoxin. I only have to take 4 so I'll be half way through by Thursday afternoon. Any questions you have, just post them and you'll hear back from those who know. Good luck and again, welcome!!

jnl

MyTurnNow said:

Welcome, Valerie
Hi, Valerie and welcome. I am also fairly new and so happy that I found this site. There are several women that have been through the entire gamut of treatment and continue to share their experiences, support and love with all the others. I think I like that the most about this site, it really does speak volumes for the members. I, too, have only had 1 chemo treatment so far as I started on 8/13. I take my 2nd treatment this Thursday, mine is Taxotere and Cytoxin. I only have to take 4 so I'll be half way through by Thursday afternoon. Any questions you have, just post them and you'll hear back from those who know. Good luck and again, welcome!!

Welcome Valerie. I am so
Welcome Valerie. I am so glad that I found this site as it has so much to offer all of us bc survivors. I wish you good luck with your journey.

Hugs, Leeza

mizv

jnl said:

Welcome Valerie. I am so
Welcome Valerie. I am so glad that I found this site as it has so much to offer all of us bc survivors. I wish you good luck with your journey.

Hugs, Leeza

Thank You!!!!
I just am amazed and overwhelmed at all the notes of support from you all. I feel so much better just knowing you are there and I can share what is going on in my life. I'm trying to keep my chin up and be positive during this chemo time, and I know you all are going to be helping me do that. It is just so wonderful to have someone to talk to.

I'm a little "iffy" about the 2nd treatment next Tuesday as the blood test they took last Friday shows the platelet count to be to low to do the chemo. I have to have another blood test this Friday to see if its come up enough. I don't know what the next step is if it hasn't, but seeing as how I'm trying to live one day at a time, I don't have to worry about that today.

Thank you all again - I'm gonna like it here.

Val

MyTurnNow

mizv said:

Thank You!!!!
I just am amazed and overwhelmed at all the notes of support from you all. I feel so much better just knowing you are there and I can share what is going on in my life. I'm trying to keep my chin up and be positive during this chemo time, and I know you all are going to be helping me do that. It is just so wonderful to have someone to talk to.

I'm a little "iffy" about the 2nd treatment next Tuesday as the blood test they took last Friday shows the platelet count to be to low to do the chemo. I have to have another blood test this Friday to see if its come up enough. I don't know what the next step is if it hasn't, but seeing as how I'm trying to live one day at a time, I don't have to worry about that today.

Thank you all again - I'm gonna like it here.

Val

My platelets were down a
My platelets were down a week or so ago and I needed to have a tooth pulled so I researched and discovered the following foods will help increase your platelet count. They are: salmon, berries (especially blueberries) and tomatoes. I concentrated on eating more of these and the next week my platelets were within the normal range. Good luck!!