New member of the "club" no one wants to belong to....

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Mama G
Mama G Member Posts: 762
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
WEll, I finally found the place I've been searching for. Where women in our "boat" can go online and learn from each other's experiences with this dreadful disease, moan and groan, and rejoice with each other when good things happen.
My story... I'm 59, diagnosed with stage 2 bc on July 1, 2009, mastectomy, 4 evil a/c treatments, and 2 out of 12 taxol under my belt and working as a 5th grade science/writing teacher in Florida. Hoping and praying, like all of you on here that this WORKS!
Radiation starts after the taxol and not sure what else after that. I was only 5% positive and my sister is triple negative, so that scares me as she is in the battle for her life right now in California. Any advice, help, words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated.
God bless,
Lorraine

Comments

  • Tux
    Tux Member Posts: 544
    #2
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    Welcome to this website!
    Welcome to this website! You will find lots of support & info here. Hugs & prayers sent your way...
  • newbiefromcananda
    newbiefromcananda Member Posts: 234
    #3
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    Tux said:

    Welcome to this website!
    Welcome to this website! You will find lots of support & info here. Hugs & prayers sent your way...

    you will be good !! great
    you will be good !! great advice on her and someone to talk too all the time...good luck to yo .....Lisa
  • Reikigemgirl
    Reikigemgirl Member Posts: 278
    #4
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    Welcome.....
    and god bless both you and your sister.

    Love and light,
    Vicki
  • lanie940
    lanie940 Member Posts: 490 Member
    #5
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    Reikigemgirl said:

    Welcome.....
    and god bless both you and your sister.

    Love and light,
    Vicki

    Hey Vicki, how are you?
    Hey Vicki, how are you? Haven't heard from you in awhile. I'll e-mail you!
  • lanie940
    lanie940 Member Posts: 490 Member
    #6
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    God bless you and wish you
    God bless you and wish you well. My cousin is in a battle for her life also and lives in California. I had a lumpectomy on July 30th. I was diagnosed in July also. I have 10 RADs left to go. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a funny tase in their mouth from RADS?
  • Goldenguru
    Goldenguru Member Posts: 23
    #7
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    Hi Lorraine!
    Our stories
    Hi Lorraine!

    Our stories couldn't be more similar. Me? Stage 2 - double mast in August. Finished the 4 evil a/c treatments. And will have taxol #3 tomorrow.

    Advice? One day at a time. Cry when I need too - but not for too long. I think I went through a significant depression - but allowed myself to get on some meds for that too.

    It's a tough journey. At least we have others to journey with.

    Welcome to you.
  • e_hope
    e_hope Member Posts: 370
    #8
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    Welcome to our family...
    You
    Welcome to our family...

    You will find lots of great support and info here...

    I too am stage 2 ...had the double mastectomy... I finished up all my treatments Nov 2 chemo and radiation... best day of my life.. I am also triple negative.. and if you are only 5% positive for estrogen you will also be treated as a triple negative bc also, at least that is what my oncologist has explained it to me, because there is not enough estrogen driving the tumor to warrant taking estrogen blockers

    As for the triple negative diagnosis.. I just try not to worry about it.. none of us know where we will fall on that survival static curve.. so why not believe we will be on the far right of the curve.. it's how I get through the day. I have 3 very small children so I have no plans to believe anything else..

    you will find such peace finding this place.. it will help you through your good and dark days..
  • ppurdin
    ppurdin Member Posts: 1,181 Member
    #9
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    Welcome
    You will find the boards very helpful.The most caring and understanding people.Because they either are their or have been.Keep us in touch how you are doing.Love and Prayers.(Pat).
  • Sunrae
    Sunrae Member Posts: 808
    #10
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    ppurdin said:

    Welcome
    You will find the boards very helpful.The most caring and understanding people.Because they either are their or have been.Keep us in touch how you are doing.Love and Prayers.(Pat).

    Hi Lorraine
    I would like to welcome you here too. There are a great bunch of strong courageous women on board that will be able to share a good bit of knowledge and experiences with you as well as love, support and anything else you need. I'm stage 2 but estrogen positive so I'm on estrogen inhibitors to reduce my tumors. My onc told me last week that the tumors are shrinking and I'm to get with my surgeon soon to schedule surgery. Best wished to you and your sister. Both of you are in my prayers.
  • Eil4186
    Eil4186 Member Posts: 949
    #11
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    God bless you an your
    God bless you an your sister. You will be ok. We are here for you.
  • Mama G
    Mama G Member Posts: 762
    #12
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    Eil4186 said:

    God bless you an your
    God bless you an your sister. You will be ok. We are here for you.

    Thanks everyone!
    I appreciate the kind words. I forgot to add that i had 8 of 9 lymph nodes with cancer.
    Can someone explain that to me? Do they take out all the cancerous nodes PLUS one? some people have more clear ones removed, too. What's the deal with that?
  • mlmjt1
    mlmjt1 Member Posts: 537
    #13
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    Hi Mama G
    Well, as far as I am concerned, getting thru the A/C is a HUGE accomplishment...that stuff is NASTY!! Taxol is so much easier but none of it is a piece of cake.

    I have 2 pieces of advice for you...#1 is to exercise every day...walk daily about 2 miles per day and stretch...if you can do yoga that would be great. It will truly help your energy level and with what you are going thru along with your job, you need as much energy as you can get. #2 is to pray often and thank God for life...because in spite of all you are going thru, life is good.

    Praying for you!!!

    Hugs
    Linda t from wisconsin
  • Asterix1234
    Asterix1234 Member Posts: 6
    #14
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    Mama G said:

    Thanks everyone!
    I appreciate the kind words. I forgot to add that i had 8 of 9 lymph nodes with cancer.
    Can someone explain that to me? Do they take out all the cancerous nodes PLUS one? some people have more clear ones removed, too. What's the deal with that?

    Nodes
    I do not claim to be any kind of an authority of any of this stuff as I too am a newbee to both the disease and posting, but how I understood it....nodes are like the sewer system for the body, they are in the groin, chest, underarm etc. and drain the bad stuff away..with cancer; it can 'strand' to the nodes and thus spread to other body parts. Zero nodes is key... they kinda grab a chunk of 'stuff' from under the arm during surgery and do a cold biopsy on it, there are 3 levels of nodes and an axilia. I had 3 sentinal nodes removed during mastectomy and all came back clear. 4 weeks later path. comes back 3 out of 3 positive, one cancer, two metastic so I went back for a ASND (Axilia sentinal node dissection) this time they got 8 of them and only one came back positive for cancer. I should note that I was injected with a blue tracer dye prior to mastectomy in the hopes of hi-lighting positive nodes during surgery. It is my thought and belief that regardless of whether you are 'nody' and they take out 50 or you are like me and have only a few...it does not matter after 3 to 4 come back positive, you go up a grade. Hope I have helped. All the best to you all ((hugs and baby steps))
  • MyTurnNow
    MyTurnNow Member Posts: 2,686 Member
    #15
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    Hi, Mama G, just wanted to
    Hi, Mama G, just wanted to take a minute and welcome you to this amazing group. You have come to the right place for support, knowledge, and just plain good old fashioned caring. Ask any questions you have and one of us has been there and can provide the details of our experience.
  • Mama G
    Mama G Member Posts: 762
    #16
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    MyTurnNow said:

    Hi, Mama G, just wanted to
    Hi, Mama G, just wanted to take a minute and welcome you to this amazing group. You have come to the right place for support, knowledge, and just plain good old fashioned caring. Ask any questions you have and one of us has been there and can provide the details of our experience.

    Thank you for the advice and explanations
    Ilove coming here now and checking what's going on in our wacky world...
    It's a big help to know there's lots of wonderful women out there going through the same thing as me, been through it and are surviving, or are just beginning their journey.
    God bless all of you! and may He keep you safe in His loving arms.

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