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Thinking of you asitshouldbe and sending good vibes your way! I just found out my node(s) are negative so for now I'm just left with a gnarly scar on my arm where they removed a malignant melanoma.
Glad to hear that, both hubby and daughter have scars, our daughter on her arm and hubby on his face from the same thing, and like you, that is all of the melanoma they have left. In both cases the cancer had not spread. Take care and good news.
So glad that the surgery went well. I hope you have a smooth recovery with as little discomfort as possible. I hate to hear about the nodes, but remember that their job is to catch bad things like cancer cells, and they were working to keep those cells out of the rest of your body. My mother was diagnosed at stage IIb, had positive nodes...she is a 10+ year survivor and doing perfectly fine.
Take it easy and keep us posted on your recovery.
I saw the oncologist today, this wasn't part of the treatment plan but I needed a clear answer. This whole situation has me irritated with my breast surgeon. When I met with him last Monday he never said anything about the micropapilary features, what he said was you have the most common type and it's completely curable. When he called me this Monday I asked if i had invasive or in situ, he read the report as if for the first time, pointing out the extra note from pathology about the micropapilary feature. When I questined him about it he didn't have much for answers except it was rare.
I asked deadly rare or four leaf clover rare, he said "don't get hung up on those words" ..yea, ok, tell me i have something rare, a week later and think I'll let that fly by me.
Not happening.... I had him send the biopsy slides out for a second opinion and went to get a real opinion from a cancer specialist. My surgery has been moved up to 6/3, this cancer is a more aggressive sub type and that we shouldn't wait.
If I had this information last Monday, I would have had surgery this week, he thought it was more important to send me to a genetic counselor. Checking for the BCRA gene was more important than removing an aggressive cancer to him.
Yesterday I received a call from lab that does the test, getting an ok to do the test since my insurance only pays for 80%. They are going to start my test NEXT Monday, my blood was drawn LAST Tuesday, I was told the test takes 14 days. I don't have 14 days from next Monday, the oncologist and I agreed to get the surgery done now and if the test comes back positive and I can monitor the other breast and have the other one done in a year when my body has had time to heal. The oncologist called the surgeon today and said we should move it up.
The surgeon called me today, almost in a pissy mood, he asked "did you get my message I left earlier" I said no and then he said in a snotty tone "I must have called when you were at the oncologists office" i told him I needed another opinion.
If his pride or ego is hurt because I needed another opinion, he can **** off! This is my body and if you don't tell me everything upfront, don't expect me to trust your opinion, ever.
You handled this so logically. Congratulations. You have been your own best support person.
My feelings of frustration and anger are so intense I can hardly stand it. Before surgery I was led to believe that I was probably stage 0 because there was only the lump detected and nothing was felt under my arm. After surgery I was told that I have stage 3. I wish they had not said I was probably stage 0 they should have said they didn't know and leave it at that. I wasn't mentally prepared at all, I was led to think that a mastectomy was all that I needed, the only thing I worried about for two weeks was if I should have a lumpectomy or mastectomy, chemo never entered my mind. Now, all I can think about is the chemo and the side effects and if this didn't kill me will the chemo do it.
I'm also mad at myself, so mad, my doctor put me on an estrogen patch after my hysterectomy a few years ago. I have had breast tenderness since being on the patch but that is a side effect, I spoke to my doctor about it a few times and she said it was normal.
My left breast has always been a trouble maker, when I breast fed the left side always hurt, when I had my monthly cycle my left side was always was more tender, my left side was bigger, my left side had been check for lumps several years ago and was told it was nothing. So for the last two years when my left side was more tender and felt a little more swollen I thought nothing of it except my left side was being it's normal pain in the butt. I went in for my mammogram in September and my left side hurt like heck when they squished it, I had been having soreness even back then but I thought if there was something in the breast the mammogram would see it. When I got a normal result I figured I would have to just put up with the tenderness, it wasn't a constant tenderness, but it was there quite a bit. The one thing I didn't do was have a doctor appointment where a manual breast check up would have probably found it. I did not do routine self breast exams either. I've had some people say the cancer had to have been there in September but then I have others say that it could have started after the mammogram and the estrogen patch fueled the fire.
Either way, I wish my breast was never a trouble maker because I would not have ignored all the symptoms I had, if this would have been my right breast I would have had it checked out because the right side has never hurt, rarely been tender and has never been the trouble maker.
The problem with trouble makers is that you get so used to the trouble that don't think twice when it acts up, until it's too late.
My feelings of frustration and anger are so intense I can hardly stand it. Before surgery I was led to believe that I was probably stage 0 because there was only the lump detected and nothing was felt under my arm. After surgery I was told that I have stage 3. I wish they had not said I was probably stage 0 they should have said they didn't know and leave it at that. I wasn't mentally prepared at all, I was led to think that a mastectomy was all that I needed, the only thing I worried about for two weeks was if I should have a lumpectomy or mastectomy, chemo never entered my mind. Now, all I can think about is the chemo and the side effects and if this didn't kill me will the chemo do it.
I'm also mad at myself, so mad, my doctor put me on an estrogen patch after my hysterectomy a few years ago. I have had breast tenderness since being on the patch but that is a side effect, I spoke to my doctor about it a few times and she said it was normal.
My left breast has always been a trouble maker, when I breast fed the left side always hurt, when I had my monthly cycle my left side was always was more tender, my left side was bigger, my left side had been check for lumps several years ago and was told it was nothing. So for the last two years when my left side was more tender and felt a little more swollen I thought nothing of it except my left side was being it's normal pain in the butt. I went in for my mammogram in September and my left side hurt like heck when they squished it, I had been having soreness even back then but I thought if there was something in the breast the mammogram would see it. When I got a normal result I figured I would have to just put up with the tenderness, it wasn't a constant tenderness, but it was there quite a bit. The one thing I didn't do was have a doctor appointment where a manual breast check up would have probably found it. I did not do routine self breast exams either. I've had some people say the cancer had to have been there in September but then I have others say that it could have started after the mammogram and the estrogen patch fueled the fire.
Either way, I wish my breast was never a trouble maker because I would not have ignored all the symptoms I had, if this would have been my right breast I would have had it checked out because the right side has never hurt, rarely been tender and has never been the trouble maker.
The problem with trouble makers is that you get so used to the trouble that don't think twice when it acts up, until it's too late.
my dtr had a similar story minus the breast feeding-----was told some tenderness was normal occasionally and not to worry as she was young and had no familial risk factors other than a paternal aunt----her first mammogram proved otherwise
my left breast hurts often and I about passed out from the pain during my yearly mammogram a couple weeks ago when they did the left breast. I've always,always been told pain in the breast was ok and that if it were cancer there would be no pain
Having said that..............I'm so sorry you're going through this asitshouldbe. You will be in the thoughts and prayers of so many..
I need to decide on a treatment plan by this week, my options are 4 rounds of doxorubicin with cyclophosphamide then 4 rounds of taxol and I would need a port installed. The other option is a trial using taxotere with cyclophosphamide 6 rounds through IV wouldn't need a port. The first one is more aggressive and can cause heart damage and other cancers but it has more data. The second one doesn't come with the heart damage risk but there isn't enough data to show the long term results.
I like the second option but my doctor wants me to go with the first choice, she said 8 nodes is a serious situation and there is more data showing the long term survival rates. I have had all the cancer removed so I think the second option should be ok. The port can cause septicemia, on another breast cancer forum I've been on, a lady posted how her brother in law passed away a few days ago, not from his cancer but his port became infected overnight, he had his chemo treatment went home the next day he was feeling really ill, he was brought to the hospital where he died the next day.
I'm trying to get as much information as possible from others who have been through this but when you hear things like this it scares the heck out of me.
I have been crying non stop lately, if I didn't have young kids I would take what is dealt and deal with it. My youngest turned 7 on the 8th and all I can think of is that she isn't going to have a mom and that I wont be here for her as she grows up, that's what is tearing me up, my mind is on a non stop real of why me, why did my nodes have to be positive why couldn't it turn out the way the dr. thought, they thought 0 nodes would be involved. I would be feeling a whole lot different right now, the only thing I'd have to worry about would be to finish this reconstruction. This whole last year has been hard, my husband worked away from and was only home 5 days a month I was so lonely and depressed this last year. I am a stay at home mom who went back to school part time and I don't have any other family besides my husband and kids. It's been a tough year, then my husband was laid off the day before easter and we have been struggling with money. Then I got diagnosed a month later. What the heck, can anything else happen?
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I need to decide on a treatment plan by this week, my options are 4 rounds of doxorubicin with cyclophosphamide then 4 rounds of taxol and I would need a port installed. The other option is a trial using taxotere with cyclophosphamide 6 rounds through IV wouldn't need a port. The first one is more aggressive and can cause heart damage and other cancers but it has more data. The second one doesn't come with the heart damage risk but there isn't enough data to show the long term results.
