here's what scares me...

Hey Taleena
Yeah, they will
Hey Taleena
Yeah, they will try to save the breast with a lumpectomy if they can. If the margins around the cancer are clean and you don't have lymphnode involvement then that will be all the surgery you need. But sometimes the margins aren't clean and there is lymphnode involvement as was the case with me, so I had to go back for a mastectomy. But until they get in there they don't know...and you want the lumpectomy if you can have it. Then you would probably have to have radiation but not chemo.So good luck.

taleena said:

and hell... it all scares
and hell... it all scares me!!

~T

And that's OK
Because we're all scared! You are facing the unknown and surgery and things _you_don't_want_to_do. It's OK, we understand. I've had a biopsy, lumpectomy and radiation. Hopefully I have rid myself of the beast but there are no guarantees. You are beginning your journey and we, your sisters in pink, are here to support you.

Maureen

Scary Stuff
Taleena you have every right to be scared and to feel like a wuss, each one of us has been there. It is the unknown how you could possibly not be afraid. I have dealt with bc three times and each time I was scared and felt wuss like. The key is you grab yourself by the bootstrap (maybe bra straps in our cases) and you do what must be done to continue on. The stage usually does not come till after the surgery and lab results come in, yes more torturous waiting. Try to keep yourself busy so you don't dwell on it too much, I know easier said then done. Come in here and vent we will do our best to lift you up. Trust me you are stronger then you know, we all are!



RE

Taleena, it is a roller coaster ride
Taleena, I know that you are scared. We all were and still are at times. That is part of this process. But, just know that you have us here to support you and to be here for you, to laugh with, to cry with, to vent with. You have friends here, you have sisters!

chenheart said:

Strength In Numbers
All of our names could be interchanged with yours~ not only did we not want to be strong, we didn't even know we would have to be until the Beast paid us a visit! That is the beauty of this place... we realize that right now you really believe that you, being scared and worried think that you are the only one feeling that way! That somehow you are surrounded by amazing, almost Super-human women who have somehow escaped the fear and have risen above it all!! Well, we are indeed amazing, but it's only because we got here right before you did, and we surrounded ourselves with the scared women who preceeded us!

However and wherever your journey takes you~ we hold your hand and protect your heart~ you are NOT different from us, as of your initial posting you are one of us!

To my sister-warriors who have heard this analogy before, I trust they will forgive me:

We are all on a roller-coaster ride, the seatbelt is broken, there is oil on the tracks, and to top it off, it's starting to rain!!! So you know what we do? We hold on to each other for dear life! We may scream and be more afraid than we ever have been, but by holding on, we make it off of the roller coaster alive. Bruised, definately afraid of coasters, but ALIVE!!!! There is Life after Breast Cancer; and you will sooner than you think be encouraging others.

Hugs,
Claudia

Analogy...
Claudia, That is the first time I heard that analogy, so thanks for sharing it and putting alittle more perspective on an already bad situation to help make it more endurable. Don't ever stop using that one....everyone should hear it (even if it's more than once!) Pammy

chenheart said:

Strength In Numbers
All of our names could be interchanged with yours~ not only did we not want to be strong, we didn't even know we would have to be until the Beast paid us a visit! That is the beauty of this place... we realize that right now you really believe that you, being scared and worried think that you are the only one feeling that way! That somehow you are surrounded by amazing, almost Super-human women who have somehow escaped the fear and have risen above it all!! Well, we are indeed amazing, but it's only because we got here right before you did, and we surrounded ourselves with the scared women who preceeded us!

However and wherever your journey takes you~ we hold your hand and protect your heart~ you are NOT different from us, as of your initial posting you are one of us!

To my sister-warriors who have heard this analogy before, I trust they will forgive me:

We are all on a roller-coaster ride, the seatbelt is broken, there is oil on the tracks, and to top it off, it's starting to rain!!! So you know what we do? We hold on to each other for dear life! We may scream and be more afraid than we ever have been, but by holding on, we make it off of the roller coaster alive. Bruised, definately afraid of coasters, but ALIVE!!!! There is Life after Breast Cancer; and you will sooner than you think be encouraging others.

Hugs,
Claudia

Claudia
Wow, I never liked roller coaster, they make me sick. With your help I will learn to ride. Thank you

TALEENA
HANG ON GIRL!!!!!! YOU'LL GET THROUGH IT! Sadly, but warmly, I welcome you to the "sisterhood." It's a "sucky sisterhood" to belong to but a sisterhood nonetheless..... I just went through the lumpectomy and senitel node biopsy on May 20. Feel really good, sore in the armpit but good......I was amazed at the small amount of pain that was involved......more just a discomfort and soreness, especially the armpit area from the node biopsy. My surgery was at 1:00 PM and I was home on the couch by 4:15! I was lucky, the surgeon only had to take 3 nodes....and they all came back negative! My tumor was removed with free and clear margins.....if it helps, my surgeon said that unless it is in more than one quad of the breast and nodes, that a lumpectomy provides the same survival rate as a mastectomy. I have a consult with the oncologist and surgeon again on Wednesday. I am hoping for just radiation, since there was no node involvement.....but if they say chemo I will suck it up and do it......what ever it takes, even if it means running down my street buck naked..........not a pretty visual, trust me!

If I can help in any way what so ever, about what to expect before, during and after your lumpectomy, let me know......God bless......we're stronger than we know!
Nan

Taleena,
I've just caught up
Taleena,

I've just caught up with some of your other posts, and first, I'd like to express my sympathies on the loss of your father, and your brother. It must be so-o-o difficult keeping a positive attitude, with the things that you've had to deal with recently. Your emotions have to be in overdrive. And, the experience that you had as a child makes everything even more confusing.

Please don't let anyone tell you that you would choose a lumpectomy over mastectomy because you or vain or weak. When I was first diagnosed, the lumpectomy with radiation was recommended by my surgeon (recognizing that a mastectomy might be needed if the tests indicated that the cancer was more involved than expected). In my instance, the breast was conserved quite well, and with time, I forgot to think about the fact that I had survived cancer.

My experience with the lumpectomy and radiation was quite different from my recent experience with the mastectomy and reconstruction. With the lumpectomy and radiation life was much more normal: even though I had to go to radiation each day for several weeks, I only missed about a week of work total for the surgeries (my biopsy and sentinel lymph node surgeries were done at separate times), and I left work about an hour or two early each day for radiation. The reduced workday helped to delay the exhaustion that many people feel. With the mastectomy, I expect to return to work eight weeks after surgery, so physically, it’s been much more difficult, with slower overall healing, this time.

Joyce