my sister

Survivor73
Survivor73 Member Posts: 135
in Breast Cancer #1
So, I've been on this board for a while now...but unfortunately today, I have been told that my sister has bc. I don't know what kind, she has the report but can't read it...I will take a look as soon as i can.

She had a fnb 2 weeks ago and went on vacation (preplanned) a week later without getting her results. She got them the day she came home.

My family history is just getting crazy.

I am the youngest of 9 kids...my oldest sis has had melanoma. the next one down has had thy ca...the next one down has had thy ca and bc...the next one down is the one that was just diagnosed with bc - and she has a thyroid nodule - so she has also decided since her diagnosis to get her thyroid removed...the next one down had thyroid nodules, had it removed and it wasn't cancer...go figure. The next one down (brother) has thyroid nodules and is looking into it...the next two brothers are all clear so far and then there is me...thy ca with 1 reoccurance and bc this year.

I'm off to genetic testing next week...I really want to know what my kids can do now to avoid this in the future...if they can at all.

Wow, this just keeps going on and doesn't seem to end...

I have 6 more rads to get through, then surgery in July for thy ca, then likely RAI (radiaiton for thyroid), then have to deal with a couple of very large cysts on my ovaries...possibly surgery.

Now I have to watch my sister go through the treatment for this awful disease...

I just can't believe it...

Sorry to go on and on...just overwhelmed at the moment...

Take care all...

Comments

  • deeb111
    deeb111 Member Posts: 141 Member
    #2
    wow thats enough to
    wow thats enough to overwhelm u im sorry i hope things start looking up for u and u can only control what is in our reach some things we just have to trust will work out for the best and i wish this for u i will be saying a prayer for u and ur family
  • gagee
    gagee Member Posts: 332
    #3
    my thoughts and Prayers are with you
    So sorry to hear so much from one family. You will get the strength to go through this. I honestly don't know what to say except I will think of you and your family and if it's okay I will add you to my prayers.
    Diana
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #4
    gagee said:

    my thoughts and Prayers are with you
    So sorry to hear so much from one family. You will get the strength to go through this. I honestly don't know what to say except I will think of you and your family and if it's okay I will add you to my prayers.
    Diana

    I'm so sorry to read this
    I'm so sorry to read this about your sister. Prayers for her, you and your family.


    Hugs, Jan
  • mollyz
    mollyz Member Posts: 756 Member
    #5
    So Sorry
    I am so sorry to hear that about your sister she must be besides her self,that is overwhelming news,thats good that your going to get tested.keep us posted MollyZ
  • Lynn Smith
    Lynn Smith Member Posts: 1,264 Member
    #6
    mollyz said:

    So Sorry
    I am so sorry to hear that about your sister she must be besides her self,that is overwhelming news,thats good that your going to get tested.keep us posted MollyZ

    Prayers your way
    Thoughts and Prayers to you and your sister.The thyroid cancer in your family is unreal.Don't think I know of anyone whose had that many in one family to have one certain cancer.

    Sounds like you will just be getting over rads for bc then you need chemo for thryroid.Unreal.Oh and then you want to follow your sister and be by her side through her journey.You have alot to deal with.

    Keep us informed.

    Lynn Smith
  • laughs_a_lot
    laughs_a_lot Member Posts: 1,368 Member
    #7
    wowser
    So sorry to hear you got such bad news. I am glad you are going for genetic testing. The other thought that crossed my mind as I read this was. "Did they all grow up near Love Canal or something?" Those kind of statistics are mind boggling. I will put you on my prayer list.
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #8
    Lynn Smith said:

    Prayers your way
    Thoughts and Prayers to you and your sister.The thyroid cancer in your family is unreal.Don't think I know of anyone whose had that many in one family to have one certain cancer.

    Sounds like you will just be getting over rads for bc then you need chemo for thryroid.Unreal.Oh and then you want to follow your sister and be by her side through her journey.You have alot to deal with.

    Keep us informed.

    Lynn Smith

    Sending positive thoughts,
    Sending positive thoughts, strength, cyber hugs and prayers for your sister.


    Sue :)
  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 9,079 Member
    #9
    laughs_a_lot said:

    wowser
    So sorry to hear you got such bad news. I am glad you are going for genetic testing. The other thought that crossed my mind as I read this was. "Did they all grow up near Love Canal or something?" Those kind of statistics are mind boggling. I will put you on my prayer list.

    laughs alot .. said it so well .. Mind
    blowing at your family stats!!! I am so very sorry - and will pray for you, as well as your sister.

    Please keep us updated.

    Strength, Courage and Hope.

    Vicki Sam
  • poplolly
    poplolly Member Posts: 346
    #10
    Survivor
    My heart goes out
    Survivor

    My heart goes out to you. What a lot to have to deal with. The best of us get overwhelmed at times. It's good to vent and this is a great place to do that. It sounds like the genetic testing is a good way to go for your kids. Already they will understand the importance of vigilance in terms of their health as they get older. I hear of people to shun check-ups, etc--but maybe that's the one positive thing we do for our kids right off--Keep you chin up...you don't have to do any fancy swimming; sometimes dog-paddling is enough.
  • Noel
    Noel Member Posts: 3,095 Member
    #11
    VickiSam said:

    laughs alot .. said it so well .. Mind
    blowing at your family stats!!! I am so very sorry - and will pray for you, as well as your sister.

    Please keep us updated.

    Strength, Courage and Hope.

    Vicki Sam

    Praying for your family.

    Praying for your family.
  • Survivor73
    Survivor73 Member Posts: 135
    #12
    poplolly said:

    Survivor
    My heart goes out
    Survivor

    My heart goes out to you. What a lot to have to deal with. The best of us get overwhelmed at times. It's good to vent and this is a great place to do that. It sounds like the genetic testing is a good way to go for your kids. Already they will understand the importance of vigilance in terms of their health as they get older. I hear of people to shun check-ups, etc--but maybe that's the one positive thing we do for our kids right off--Keep you chin up...you don't have to do any fancy swimming; sometimes dog-paddling is enough.

    Love canal
    I had to laugh when I heard the comment about the love canal...when I told my husband about my sister, the first words out of his mouth were what did your Mom feed you when you were little??

    Both of my parents are cancer free and in their 80's and fairly healthy...we have figured that the mixture of the two has caused the increase in cancer. There is definately history in each of their families too. Mom has one sis who died (approx age 45?) of brain cancer, another who has had breast, cervical & just diagnosed with malinoma - which likely has spread but since she's 80's, they are not treating it, just monitoring. So far, no change. Then, my Dad has a brother with colon cancer, and a sis who passed (at 50?) from breast cancer that had spread to the bone.

    So, put the families together and this is what you get...I'm really curious of what the genetic testing will show. I'm also wondering if the decision of only having a lumpectomy was a good idea...I was not given the option of masectomy - don't know why not, never asked the surgeon.

    Anyway, I think my family is doing so well since we are so aware of our bodies and make sure we push for answers when we have questions. We mostly have the same GP, so she is familiar with everyone's history which is helpful. Unfortunately she is now retiring...I am worried that my new GP (hubby's Dr) will look at me like I'm crazy when I ask for extra testing...I guess time will tell.

    Thanks for all your support everyone...I'm actually feeling a little better today than I have for the past few weeks...maybe the break from rads, I don't know...we'll see if it lasts next week.

    Take care all.
  • Survivor73
    Survivor73 Member Posts: 135
    #13
    poplolly said:

    Survivor
    My heart goes out
    Survivor

    My heart goes out to you. What a lot to have to deal with. The best of us get overwhelmed at times. It's good to vent and this is a great place to do that. It sounds like the genetic testing is a good way to go for your kids. Already they will understand the importance of vigilance in terms of their health as they get older. I hear of people to shun check-ups, etc--but maybe that's the one positive thing we do for our kids right off--Keep you chin up...you don't have to do any fancy swimming; sometimes dog-paddling is enough.

    Love canal
    I had to laugh when I heard the comment about the love canal...when I told my husband about my sister, the first words out of his mouth were what did your Mom feed you when you were little??

    Both of my parents are cancer free and in their 80's and fairly healthy...we have figured that the mixture of the two has caused the increase in cancer. There is definately history in each of their families too. Mom has one sis who died (approx age 45?) of brain cancer, another who has had breast, cervical & just diagnosed with malinoma - which likely has spread but since she's 80's, they are not treating it, just monitoring. So far, no change. Then, my Dad has a brother with colon cancer, and a sis who passed (at 50?) from breast cancer that had spread to the bone.

    So, put the families together and this is what you get...I'm really curious of what the genetic testing will show. I'm also wondering if the decision of only having a lumpectomy was a good idea...I was not given the option of masectomy - don't know why not, never asked the surgeon.

    Anyway, I think my family is doing so well since we are so aware of our bodies and make sure we push for answers when we have questions. We mostly have the same GP, so she is familiar with everyone's history which is helpful. Unfortunately she is now retiring...I am worried that my new GP (hubby's Dr) will look at me like I'm crazy when I ask for extra testing...I guess time will tell.

    Thanks for all your support everyone...I'm actually feeling a little better today than I have for the past few weeks...maybe the break from rads, I don't know...we'll see if it lasts next week.

    Take care all.
  • butterflylvr
    butterflylvr Member Posts: 944
    #14
    Survivor73 said:

    Love canal
    I had to laugh when I heard the comment about the love canal...when I told my husband about my sister, the first words out of his mouth were what did your Mom feed you when you were little??

    Both of my parents are cancer free and in their 80's and fairly healthy...we have figured that the mixture of the two has caused the increase in cancer. There is definately history in each of their families too. Mom has one sis who died (approx age 45?) of brain cancer, another who has had breast, cervical & just diagnosed with malinoma - which likely has spread but since she's 80's, they are not treating it, just monitoring. So far, no change. Then, my Dad has a brother with colon cancer, and a sis who passed (at 50?) from breast cancer that had spread to the bone.

    So, put the families together and this is what you get...I'm really curious of what the genetic testing will show. I'm also wondering if the decision of only having a lumpectomy was a good idea...I was not given the option of masectomy - don't know why not, never asked the surgeon.

    Anyway, I think my family is doing so well since we are so aware of our bodies and make sure we push for answers when we have questions. We mostly have the same GP, so she is familiar with everyone's history which is helpful. Unfortunately she is now retiring...I am worried that my new GP (hubby's Dr) will look at me like I'm crazy when I ask for extra testing...I guess time will tell.

    Thanks for all your support everyone...I'm actually feeling a little better today than I have for the past few weeks...maybe the break from rads, I don't know...we'll see if it lasts next week.

    Take care all.

    Wow...
    All I can do is comfort you with my loving {{{HUG}}}. That is just way too crazy... I have two sisters and now I worry about both of them. I can only hope they learned from me and get those yearly Mammograms. You are doing the right thing in getting genetically tested. Your kids will need that information and hopefully that nasty "C" gene will have been diluted for the next generation.

    Lorrie
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #15
    Survivor73 said:

    Love canal
    I had to laugh when I heard the comment about the love canal...when I told my husband about my sister, the first words out of his mouth were what did your Mom feed you when you were little??

    Both of my parents are cancer free and in their 80's and fairly healthy...we have figured that the mixture of the two has caused the increase in cancer. There is definately history in each of their families too. Mom has one sis who died (approx age 45?) of brain cancer, another who has had breast, cervical & just diagnosed with malinoma - which likely has spread but since she's 80's, they are not treating it, just monitoring. So far, no change. Then, my Dad has a brother with colon cancer, and a sis who passed (at 50?) from breast cancer that had spread to the bone.

    So, put the families together and this is what you get...I'm really curious of what the genetic testing will show. I'm also wondering if the decision of only having a lumpectomy was a good idea...I was not given the option of masectomy - don't know why not, never asked the surgeon.

    Anyway, I think my family is doing so well since we are so aware of our bodies and make sure we push for answers when we have questions. We mostly have the same GP, so she is familiar with everyone's history which is helpful. Unfortunately she is now retiring...I am worried that my new GP (hubby's Dr) will look at me like I'm crazy when I ask for extra testing...I guess time will tell.

    Thanks for all your support everyone...I'm actually feeling a little better today than I have for the past few weeks...maybe the break from rads, I don't know...we'll see if it lasts next week.

    Take care all.

    Glad that you are feeling
    Glad that you are feeling somewhat better! Hoping it will last!


    Hugs, Jan
  • cahjah75
    cahjah75 Member Posts: 2,631
    #16
    I can so relate
    to your family. My grandmother died from bc at age 62. Her oldest daughter (my aunt) had bc with single mastectomy at age 68 (she's 91 now). My mother (the youngest of 6) has not had any cancer but 3 of her 4 daughters have bc. I'm the oldest and the third with bc. Each of the 4 of us have had a daughter and we are afraid for them. My daughter has 2 daughters. She will be going for her first mammo this summer as she turns 35.

    My husband is the 3rd child of 8 and cancer has stricken 3 of his siblings who have passed away and one who is still with us. None were bc but other types. My son has 2 boys and 2 girls and I pray that there is a cure before my grandchildren are old enough to be dx.

    I had the BRACA gene testing done and it was negative. My counselor told me the results just show that my gene hasn't been discovered yet. I am so sorry for you and your sister. I know my sisters felt helpless when I was dx and my mom was devastated that 3 of her daughters had bc. BTW, my youngest sister had a suspicious mammo in Jan and will have a repeat in June. All we can do is be a friend, be a "sister".
    {{hugs}} Char

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