Another newbie...So glad I found you guys

mrs gadget

Well, July 15 was my day of doom. After a routine mammogram I found out that I had an enlarged lymph node. It was biopsied and then I got the news that I had breast cancer :>(

After a visit to the breast surgeon I started to feel a little better and accept that this is going to be the new normal for a little while. They can't seem to find the originating tumor in my breast, so I am set up for an MRI and will then begin chemo for a few months prior to surgery. I am 46 years old...

My question to you guys is how did this affect your normal day to day living. Do you continue to work and lead normal lives even with this little inconvenience that we are all dealing with????

Marcia527

I wasn't working at the time
I wasn't working at the time of treatment. It did disrupt normal life while going thru treatment. Now it's not the problem. I was diagnosed in 2003.

2Floridiansisters

Hi mrs gadget
Welcome to the club, sorry that you have to join. My day of doom was May 14th, I am a housewife and my life hasn't really changed much at all. I'll be honest with you though, my cancer diagnoses made me fall apart, all I did was cry and then I cried myself to sleep at night. Of course I had already lost a sister to breast cancer so I automatically thought I was going to die, but no I'm fine and I will survive all this and so will you.

I am in the middle of receiving chemo right now to shrink my 4.5 cm tumor, it's working and now I need to make a decision on lumpectomy or mastectomy, I'm doing this in my head as we speak. My instinct is telling me to do the double mastectomy with reconstruction.

Good luck to you!

AMomNETN

New Normal
Mrs. Gadget,
You will have a new normal. Some will be what it was but some will not be. I was able to work some during my treatment. I'm a teacher so I had some leeway. I had treatment on a Fri. but by Tues. I was wiped out. I'd usually take the rest of the week off. A lot depends on how you react to the chemo. Everyone is different. Some people are extremely sick during treatment but others are not. I haven't been sick from treatment but it just wipes me out that 1st week then I improve. I just finished my last treatment was July 16th. Just listen to your body it will tell you what you need. Do it and don't worry. I hope this helps a little.

Janie

MNLynn

Welcome . . .
although I'm sure that you, like all of us, wish we weren't here!

My journey was a little different . . . I started out with surgery (worked up to the day before that), then was off from work to recover from that. I didn't have chemo - so others here can tell you how that affected their day-to-day living. I did have radiation - and worked during most of that. I had to drive quite far for my treatments, so I worked mornings and headed up for my rads in the afternoons - then I could just head straight home from there and rest.

I guess the emotional part of if all made the everyday things harder to deal with for me than the rest of all of this. I wasn't looking forward to returning to work after my surgeries, but I actually think it was one of the best things I did - helped get my mind on other things - while I was home I was researching cancer online 24/7 - I needed that information, but it didn't give my mind a break from it all.

Hope things go well for you. We are here for you - we'll support you and be there for you!

Sending warm thoughts & prayers your way . . .

♥ Lynn ♥

mwallace1325

Welcome to the site and
Welcome to the site and so sorry you have to be here. My journey was lumpectomy (two days off from work for that) then 4 rounds AC (every three weeks). I did these on Thursday, taking off that whole day cause I treated myself to a mani/pedi with a friend. Worked Friday and crashed and burned on Sat and Sundays. Then I did 12 weeks of taxol, only taking off the mornings for treatment. After chemo was done I did 35 daily rounds of radiation. These were early enough in the morning that I was able to work through with no time off for that.
I was very lucky. My blood counts were always right on and side effects were minimal (but really a pain in the a$$). I was very tired all the time (that's cumulative), digestion issues, watery eyes (which were really dry, who'd a thought). Check with your onc to see if you should stay out of the sun -- I didn't and had a horrible ugly purple rash for a while.
You'll learn to lead a "new" normal life. Be good to yourself, drink enough water to drown a battle ship. Others on the site have mentioned an organization that will come in and clean your house for you. Accept help from friends and family and when someone offers to "do something to help" don't be afraid to take them up on it. I had a friend who paid her cleaning lady to do my house -- what an awesome gift that was.
You don't mention a husband/partner or children. If they're there, take your husband/partner or someone with you to appointments with a notepad. You'll never remember all your questions or everything your docs are telling you. Call them whenever you have questions, or issues. That's what they're there for.
Reassure your children and according to my 17 and 14 year old granddaughters (who we have custody of) it's helpful to give them as much information as you can when you talk to them.
Sorry this is long winded. Good luck, prayers and hugs are going out to you. Feel free to come here any time. Everyone on this site is truly awesome and will get you through this.

marge

Jean 0609

Welcome Mrs Gadget
Sorry for your diagnosis, but glad that you found us. As you will read, your journey ahead will be like a roller coaster with some ups and some downs. Everyone is different, therefore, there is no way to tell how things are going to be for you. Make sure to read here often and ask lots of questions. I love all my CSN sistas! Hugs :>) Jean

Rague

Greetings
I have been a "stay at home wife" sice the boys were old enough to no longer be a 'stay at home Mom'. So I didn't have to deal with going to a job.

The A/C (4 doses every 2 weeks) wasn't bad for me. I did get tired for 2 days starting the second day after infusion but not exhausted - resting/napping helped. (I even drove my first PowderPuff Mud Bog 2 weeks and 3 days after the first infusion - bragging, i did good- came in 3rd out of 10 all of whom were driving modified trucks and I was driving Son's stock Scout II that hadn't been run in 4 years.) Hair left, taste left, appetite left and eyes and nose ran like they had a spigot turned on. Never had any nausea. Pretty much continued doing what I normally do/did - kept riding, kept giving riding lessons to some friend's girls, just kept on keepin' on.

I had mod/ rad. mast. 2 weeks after last A/C and then started 12 weekly Taxol 3 weeks after surgery. Taxol was bad. I was utterly and completely exhausted with it - there is no way I could have worked if I had a job. I have a lot of problems with SAD (seasonal Affective Disorder) and I started the Taxol last Nov 12 so I'm sure that going into winter didn't help any either. With it, Hubby and Son had to take over doing a lot of stuff - primarily the horses. The good thing though was that the week after the last dose I starting feeling so much better and it kept getting better through rads which started one week after.

Remember that we are each so unique that none react exactly the same even to the same treatments. The type and size of your cancer will come into play as to the appropriate protocol for treating it.

Thoughts and prayers!

Susan

Menda

Rague said:

Greetings
I have been a "stay at home wife" sice the boys were old enough to no longer be a 'stay at home Mom'. So I didn't have to deal with going to a job.

The A/C (4 doses every 2 weeks) wasn't bad for me. I did get tired for 2 days starting the second day after infusion but not exhausted - resting/napping helped. (I even drove my first PowderPuff Mud Bog 2 weeks and 3 days after the first infusion - bragging, i did good- came in 3rd out of 10 all of whom were driving modified trucks and I was driving Son's stock Scout II that hadn't been run in 4 years.) Hair left, taste left, appetite left and eyes and nose ran like they had a spigot turned on. Never had any nausea. Pretty much continued doing what I normally do/did - kept riding, kept giving riding lessons to some friend's girls, just kept on keepin' on.

I had mod/ rad. mast. 2 weeks after last A/C and then started 12 weekly Taxol 3 weeks after surgery. Taxol was bad. I was utterly and completely exhausted with it - there is no way I could have worked if I had a job. I have a lot of problems with SAD (seasonal Affective Disorder) and I started the Taxol last Nov 12 so I'm sure that going into winter didn't help any either. With it, Hubby and Son had to take over doing a lot of stuff - primarily the horses. The good thing though was that the week after the last dose I starting feeling so much better and it kept getting better through rads which started one week after.

Remember that we are each so unique that none react exactly the same even to the same treatments. The type and size of your cancer will come into play as to the appropriate protocol for treating it.

Thoughts and prayers!

Susan

I glad you found us
First welcome. I do not have bc, I did have a propholactic (still can't spell that) double mastectomy 2 weeks ago. I am returning to work on Monday just for desk duty. This site has helped me in sooo many ways. These women have taken away some fears, answered my stupid questions with love. They have held my hand and wiped away tears all through cyberspace. I am sorry you are here..... Welcome.

Hubby

Sorry you need to be here
So sorry you have a reason to be here. I'm here because of my wife. One repeating theme on this board is that everyone reacts differently to these chemo cocktails, so you can plan based on what everyone else is going through, then have totally different side effects. My wife is doing chemo now (ac-t), and has up days and down days, both emotionally and physically. She is really doing better than she thinks she is. So far, she has had a "chemo-crash" on the fourth day (day 1 being the treatment day) that lasted two days after the first round and four after the second. She is a teacher aide, so she is off for the summer, but she would have missed a few days if she had to be at work. We are hopeful that round 3's crash won't be as bad as round 2's.

What chemo you are going to do and how close the treatments are to each other (typically either two or three weeks apart, but sometimes weekly) will have a big impact on your side effects.

Good Luck; hugs

Bob

Snowkitty

Rague said:

Greetings
I have been a "stay at home wife" sice the boys were old enough to no longer be a 'stay at home Mom'. So I didn't have to deal with going to a job.

The A/C (4 doses every 2 weeks) wasn't bad for me. I did get tired for 2 days starting the second day after infusion but not exhausted - resting/napping helped. (I even drove my first PowderPuff Mud Bog 2 weeks and 3 days after the first infusion - bragging, i did good- came in 3rd out of 10 all of whom were driving modified trucks and I was driving Son's stock Scout II that hadn't been run in 4 years.) Hair left, taste left, appetite left and eyes and nose ran like they had a spigot turned on. Never had any nausea. Pretty much continued doing what I normally do/did - kept riding, kept giving riding lessons to some friend's girls, just kept on keepin' on.

I had mod/ rad. mast. 2 weeks after last A/C and then started 12 weekly Taxol 3 weeks after surgery. Taxol was bad. I was utterly and completely exhausted with it - there is no way I could have worked if I had a job. I have a lot of problems with SAD (seasonal Affective Disorder) and I started the Taxol last Nov 12 so I'm sure that going into winter didn't help any either. With it, Hubby and Son had to take over doing a lot of stuff - primarily the horses. The good thing though was that the week after the last dose I starting feeling so much better and it kept getting better through rads which started one week after.

Remember that we are each so unique that none react exactly the same even to the same treatments. The type and size of your cancer will come into play as to the appropriate protocol for treating it.

Thoughts and prayers!

Susan

Welcome Mrs Gadget
Having had a lumpectomy, doing chemo now (2 out of 4) rads later, the hardest part is the invasiveness on my time and the waiting. It seems every week off to the doctors. Really pissing me off. Little bit of the sickies 3 or 4 days after chemo. Remember to take your anti-nausea meds after chemo even if you feel fine. I didn't and paid for it big time.

Take care
Cindy

sparkle1

Welcome to the site. I'm
Welcome to the site. I'm also a Newbie. Just found the site this week and already I'm receiving so much love and support and can't get enough of reading the posts.

I have my third of four chemo treatments next week, then off to 5 1/2 week of rads. So far I have not had many complications, except the weight gain and losing my hair. I was unemployed when I was first diagnosed in May but I recently (2 weeks ago) found a job and things are going well. Stay connected and let's get through this together.

heidijez

so sorry you had to join us, but welcome
i was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in mid december 2009, started chemo the following week. continued to work all through first course of chemo except for second biopsy surgery - took a couple of days off because i had a bad infection at surgical site. finished chemo on april 1. went for second opinion (my surgeon and oncologist could not agree on my treatment) was scheduled for mastectomy on may 27 - however radiation oncologist ordered some followup scans - including a pet scan which showed that the first chemo (taxotere and cytoxan) did not work and cancer had spread. on june 11 i started new chemo - adriamycin and cytoxan. so far so good. no nausea, but plenty of fatigue and of course, hair loss, sores in mouth, yucky taste, tingling lips! not a walk in the park but certainly doable.

we are all unique and react differently to our chemo cocktails. hopefully you will be one of the ones like me that it doesn't disrupt your life too much. not sure what will happen when i get to my surgery, but i will cross that bridge when i get to it.

good luck to you! remember to check back here often - this is a wonderful caring and sharing community of women who are traveling or have traveled down the same road!

mrs gadget

heidijez said:

so sorry you had to join us, but welcome
i was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in mid december 2009, started chemo the following week. continued to work all through first course of chemo except for second biopsy surgery - took a couple of days off because i had a bad infection at surgical site. finished chemo on april 1. went for second opinion (my surgeon and oncologist could not agree on my treatment) was scheduled for mastectomy on may 27 - however radiation oncologist ordered some followup scans - including a pet scan which showed that the first chemo (taxotere and cytoxan) did not work and cancer had spread. on june 11 i started new chemo - adriamycin and cytoxan. so far so good. no nausea, but plenty of fatigue and of course, hair loss, sores in mouth, yucky taste, tingling lips! not a walk in the park but certainly doable.

we are all unique and react differently to our chemo cocktails. hopefully you will be one of the ones like me that it doesn't disrupt your life too much. not sure what will happen when i get to my surgery, but i will cross that bridge when i get to it.

good luck to you! remember to check back here often - this is a wonderful caring and sharing community of women who are traveling or have traveled down the same road!

Let me introduce myself...and thanks to all of you
Well, for the good and the bad of it, many teachers were laid off here in Southern California...I just got my teaching credential but have no hope of finding a job until the budget crisis here is solved.

The plan right now is to substitute teach so that I can have the flexibility to earn some money while working my way thru this stuff.

As far as my lifestyle goes, I have 2 kids (daughter 23, son 17). My husband is just slowly making his way back to work after recovering from his stem cell transplant. He is taking my cancer diagnosis way harder then I am. The way I look at it, we took another one for the team!!

I have two dogs whom I love to walk with...We do about 2 miles a day and I am planning to walk a half marathon at Disneyland in September provided the chemo doesn't hold me down too much...

Right now it looks like I am facing about 4 to 6 months of chemo prior to surgery and then will need to make the big decision whether to have a lumpectomy or a mastectomy.

This site has already been a great comfort to me and I plan to chime in as much as possible so that all of us can sleep at night...Thank you all for being there!!

aisling8

mrs gadget said:

Let me introduce myself...and thanks to all of you
Well, for the good and the bad of it, many teachers were laid off here in Southern California...I just got my teaching credential but have no hope of finding a job until the budget crisis here is solved.

The plan right now is to substitute teach so that I can have the flexibility to earn some money while working my way thru this stuff.

As far as my lifestyle goes, I have 2 kids (daughter 23, son 17). My husband is just slowly making his way back to work after recovering from his stem cell transplant. He is taking my cancer diagnosis way harder then I am. The way I look at it, we took another one for the team!!

I have two dogs whom I love to walk with...We do about 2 miles a day and I am planning to walk a half marathon at Disneyland in September provided the chemo doesn't hold me down too much...

Right now it looks like I am facing about 4 to 6 months of chemo prior to surgery and then will need to make the big decision whether to have a lumpectomy or a mastectomy.

This site has already been a great comfort to me and I plan to chime in as much as possible so that all of us can sleep at night...Thank you all for being there!!

welcome
Sorry you're here, but I'm sure you'll find answers and comfort and cheerleading when you need it.

I, too, am Southern California -- north San Diego County. If you're up to it, we're planning a get-together sometime hopefully in late August to finally all meet each other.

Take care,
Victoria

Heatherbelle

mrs gadget said:

Let me introduce myself...and thanks to all of you
Well, for the good and the bad of it, many teachers were laid off here in Southern California...I just got my teaching credential but have no hope of finding a job until the budget crisis here is solved.

The plan right now is to substitute teach so that I can have the flexibility to earn some money while working my way thru this stuff.

As far as my lifestyle goes, I have 2 kids (daughter 23, son 17). My husband is just slowly making his way back to work after recovering from his stem cell transplant. He is taking my cancer diagnosis way harder then I am. The way I look at it, we took another one for the team!!

I have two dogs whom I love to walk with...We do about 2 miles a day and I am planning to walk a half marathon at Disneyland in September provided the chemo doesn't hold me down too much...

Right now it looks like I am facing about 4 to 6 months of chemo prior to surgery and then will need to make the big decision whether to have a lumpectomy or a mastectomy.

This site has already been a great comfort to me and I plan to chime in as much as possible so that all of us can sleep at night...Thank you all for being there!!

Hi
Hi & Welcome -so sorry you have to be here -but very glad you have found this wonderful site. I am a stay at home mom (34 yrs old) to a 9 year old and 20 month old! It has changed things up a bit. Thankfully, my husband is self employed, so he is very flexible with his hours. I had my surgery last Thursday (double mastectomy + reconstruction) -and have had plenty of helpers come stay with me during the days that he has to work. I'm still not allowed to life anything over 5 lbs -including the baby so I've needed help. I was diagnosed with IDC in my right breast and chose to go ahead & have both breasts removed because that would give me the best results cosmetically (which is very important to me!) Thankfully I had no lymph node involvement. Best wishes and please ask away! This site has been such a valuable resource for me, for information, venting, sisterhood & support.
*hugs*
Heather

survives

Heatherbelle said:

Hi
Hi & Welcome -so sorry you have to be here -but very glad you have found this wonderful site. I am a stay at home mom (34 yrs old) to a 9 year old and 20 month old! It has changed things up a bit. Thankfully, my husband is self employed, so he is very flexible with his hours. I had my surgery last Thursday (double mastectomy + reconstruction) -and have had plenty of helpers come stay with me during the days that he has to work. I'm still not allowed to life anything over 5 lbs -including the baby so I've needed help. I was diagnosed with IDC in my right breast and chose to go ahead & have both breasts removed because that would give me the best results cosmetically (which is very important to me!) Thankfully I had no lymph node involvement. Best wishes and please ask away! This site has been such a valuable resource for me, for information, venting, sisterhood & support.
*hugs*
Heather

As so many have said,
As so many have said, "Hello, and welcome!" Not where any of us wants to be, but then, we don't get to choose our paths sometimes. New to this board, but not to cancer. I was at the end of the school year, planning on retiring and coming back as part time, which is what I did. What I didn't plan was a summer of doctor visits, but it worked out in the end, and I retired two years after "retiring" the first time. So, it really cause a major problem, but it did cause a few bumps!

Wishing you well with your treatments, and hope you will be able to use the certificate soon.

survives

Tux

Welcome, Mrs. Gadget--I
Welcome, Mrs. Gadget--I continued with my regular workouts as long as I possibly could, but had to take time off when things got rough. (I had some side effects--gangrene in tooth & soft tissue damage from rads.) I was dx in July 2009, so it has been a year. I was a half marathoner before bc & thought I would never be able to do one again, but I am now training for one (or two) in the fall. My goal during treatment was to be able to get back to 5Ks & I have done one a month for the last few months. It really kept me going.

I am a teacher & my school was great in giving me time off when needed. We have had so many budget cuts that I am lucky to have a job! I think your plan of subbing is a good one.
But I hope eventually you will havge a class of your own. Trust me, bc was really changed my attitude towards students; I don't sweat the small stuff. Actually, hardly anything bothers me anymore.

Good luck & keep us posted! Hugs...

missrenee

Sad you're here--glad you found us!
You will get the best support ever on this board. Everyone is so helpful and knowledgeable about this miserable disease. I have had so many concerns and questions answered. Just know that we are all in this together and we're all here for each other.

Blessings on your journey,
Renee

lolad

welcome
Im glad you found us. I wasnt working either when i was diagnosed. I had just been laid off. Chemo made me real tired. Make sure to take the nausea meds they give you and do so religiously. Drink lots of water as well. I wish you luck. Let us know how you are.

Laura