penny364

thanks for writing on my wall. waiting impatiently for braca test results glad you are doing well

Thanks Penny, for your advice. It's great to find so many people in the "exact" same boat as I am. Take care!

Dear Penny:

Just want to thank you again and let you know how much you have helped me.

I made my decision and have informed my surgeon that I am going with a Mastectomy, no reconstruction. This is the only option that gives me peace. Surgery is Sept 4!

Time to process, accept and move forward

Melissa

Penny

I feel like I have met the one person that may get allmy issues and concerns, and same perpective I have. I have been on full disability for 7 years now, because of the chronic pain, nerve damage, etc that has been the result of 6 neck surgeries leaving me fused from c3/4 to c6/7..I have had every ptocedure and treatment possible before they finally said there was nothing left and they implanted the pump to give me pain meds 24/7.

Last October it was time to replace the pump, should have been easy peasy, but BAM I got an infection and spent the next 8 months in H..new pump put back in in May..I was just getting back to my "normal" and now this !

I don't have any fight in me, nor do I want to endure rafiation which will only leave me more fatigued than I am. I'm not vain about my looks to even think twice about removing my breast. And if they can't tell me the day of surgery if I have clean margins, and I have to go back !! When my gut is already telling me ...otherwise...ugh..NO!

So, I really want to thank you for sharing. I read your postsvand I felt like, yep..she gets it.

ohhh..and I to have Medicare plus a Supplemental F plan, which may now finally pay for it's cost !

Thank you kind woman... may you stay healthy!

Welcome to the site. I am sure that you will find this a friendly place to come when you need someone to talk to. We are all in the same boat when it comes to emotions and feelings about our health. Just know that no question is to silly to ask and if you need to vent because you are having a bad day, we are here for you. I hope you find this site as helpful to you as it has been for me.

Hi Penny364, I too live in Lakewood Co and had DCIS, am age 60, stage 1 HER2 - ER+ but PR was inconclusive! We should talk! Or get together if you want My phone number is blocked on this site but just look up evelyn burris in the phone book or on line.

Sorry, they took off my phone number. Look it up on line, Evelyn Burris, Lakewood Colorado 80226.

Hi Penny364, live in Lakewood and am 60 years old and had DCIS stage 0! You can call me if you wish, 303-935-6697. Been there done that! Thoughts and prayers, Lynn

I just came from the therapy pool, and had to tell you that your scrubbies plan works like a charm! It was hilarious! Totally comfortable, looked very natural. My friends cracked up. No aerobics for this arthritic gal, just some gentle exercising. Amazing what I can do in water that I can't in the gym. Anyway, thanks so much for the tip! Hope all is well with you!

Thanks Penny for answering my question. It took me awhile to figure out how to find you again on this site! I also didn't need chemo or radiation. I am currently living with tissue expanders that irritate my skin between them. I have surgery in two days to have the overies and tubes removed and prolapse repaired. So my t.e.'s need to stay in longer! ug! Hopefully I can get them done in November. So glad you are feeling better. I can't wait to be there so I can tell others it's ok too! Thanks for being here for us! Lynn

Bless, O God,
all who struggle with cancer.
Empower them with hope
for each and every day.
Provide them with loving
and tender care, laughter,
and the support of love.
Grant them
courage when they are afraid,
comfort when they are in pain,
and your blessing
when all else seems hopeless,
that in their fight with illness
they may continue to praise you
and glorify your name.
May God heal me,
body and soul.
May my pain cease,
May my strength increase,
May my fears be released,
May blessings, love,
and joy surround me.
Amen.
Blessings CELLKILLER

I used to wonder why women would choose masectomy if not needed but having gone thru all this, I think I would choose that route to avoid all this stuff you have to go thru-if there is ever a next time i'm not doing it-I will be old enough it will be my time to go anyway

Hi Penny, yes it is driving me crazy in the fact that when I wake up in the morning it is not red, but as the day goes on and I move around the reddness increases! I am not sure it is a rash. Go this Friday to be checked again! I decided to try reconstruction so that later I wouldn't say "I wish I had done that". So far it is working, but if later it doesn't I'm fine to have them removed! I like not wearing a bra and being smaller! Thanks for posting! Lynn

Hi, penny364. I'm catching up on some digests. On Thursday you posted a question about having drains removed. Were they removed on Friday? If so, how did it go? Just checking in - hoping you are doing okay. (I did not have drains.)

I am now seven weeks out from a single mastectomy. I promise you that it will get easier to look in the mirror, but there are still times when it hits me hard too.
Everyone says I am a "trooper" but I cry in the shower a lot.
Sometimes we just have to cry over that loss....but then try to remember that the surgery is what saved your life. Stay strong, you will have better days!

penny i know exactly what you are saying, i am 55 yrs old, was diagnosed last feb with breast cancer in my left breast, had a mastectomy, went thru 4 rounds off red devil chemo and 10 rounds od taxol then went thru 33 rounds of radiation. after radiation was completed i got a massive absess under my left armpit and had to have surgery to drain it and that was the week of thanksgiving last year. they left the would open and my husband had to clean and pack it every night for me. after 3 months the doctor saw it wasn't going to heal because it was in my radiation area and the skin was dead form all of it. he had to do skin graphs for over 4 months and when it was almost healed this march, i went for a mammogram and found out i had cancer in my right breast. i was so upset and furious because i told my surgeon that i wanted him to remove both the first time and he refused to do so. the doctors were also wanting my ovaries removed because i have a gene that mutates and they can't distinguish why. so as a precaution i told the doctors if i have to have my ovaries removed then do it when you remove my other breast. this time was so much harder to swallow than the first time, i guess because i wasn't prepared for it. the doctors had just told me that i didn't have any cancer in my body the week before. so i had my surgeries and within 2 weeks i got a blood clot in my lung and pneumonia and had to go back in the hospital for another week. i totally understand about not wanting to go through anymore than you have to. as much as i have went through there is no way that i am considering reconstruction in the near future and maybe never. good luck on your surgery and i pray that God will bring you through your journey like He has me. i know that it has been long and hard but i also know that God is good and has been the one to lean on. God bless

Hi Penny,

First of all I am sooo sorry that you will be undergoing a masectomy I feel like such a baby whining about losing a breast when you will be going through this yourself so I am sorry. I am trying so hard to deal with the loss of my breast.The joke when I was growing up was that when I had my open heart surgery at 11 yrs old when they had me open they must have put something in cause within about 4 months I went from being a flat chested 11 yr old to having a chest of 38D lol. Why are you having to have the masectomy, is it by choice or do you have to have it done if I may ask? I pray to GOD to help me get through this and I know he hears my prayers and most importantly he answers them for me cause I have found this group and a few others. Reconstruction for me is not and option at all. First of all I am absolutely TERRIFIED of needles so thats a no brainer then also add the fact that since I had radiation 13 yrs ago and the surgeon had to remove so much tissue theres really nothing that can be done. I have good days and bad days but its still so hard. I thank you for your words of encouragement though, they really do help me so much. I look forward to following your journey and will be here when you need words of encouragement yourself. Thanks again for your encouraging words.

Hi Penny I wounld do it again. If I new then at first Dx what I know now I would have had it done in 08 along with an hysterectomy I dnt get any good info or none at all it was crazy. they would say Debbie it's up to you with out giving me any education. since it's come back 3 times I am upset wth my org Dr's. Just get you're body ready vit,healthy food get ready to Fight Like A Girl!!!!

penny, if i was to do it,, i'd do the transflap,, it's where they take the lower body area and make boobs,, my daubhter maria(tiaria30) had it done last june '12.. her surgery was a long day, some are some not. look into both proceedures, do what's best for you. maria did not want muscle taken from her back so she choose the lower abdomin area for boobs, she is really pleased, but it is painful, and you do walk like an old lady,, but not for long, have a person with you to do things for you,, you need the rest. any questions we'd be glad to talk, tiaria30 or me. good luck, what hospital are you going to? we are in tpa, fl area.

Are your doctors willing to do a double mastectomy, even though the other breast is OK at this time? I' ve had those same thoughts. I don't want to go through it all again either, and I know I will constantly worry about DCIS in the remaining breast.You make me grateful that I said no to the lumpectomy and went right for the mastectomy, because I very easily could have ended up in your identical circumstance. Good luck to you--I will be following your posts!

Welcome to the site. You will find that this site if full of caring, loving people who have or are going through the same journey. No question is too silly or stupid to ask so don't be afraid to ask them. I love to answer questions people ask, if I have an answer that will help them. I like to help anyway I can even if it is only through prayer and good thoughts for that person and their family. Hang in there, you have found a great place to come and sound off when you need to.

Good luck. I wish you well. If you need to chat, I am here

Wow so sorry about your ankles! So far so good, for me. I am on anastrozone for 5 years. Also make sure you use aquaphor cream on your skin. It is very good --Also can get it at Walgreens (walgreen brand for cheaper}--You can hardly tell I had an operation + radiation. I wish you all the Luck + God bless you +keep in touch (also I go bk to Doc next month--Think she wants to give me shots for my bones--May not accept, because when you see the side effects of this stuff it scares me}

I hope all goes well for you w/the testing. Best of luck.

I am also ER and PR positive. I am on tamoxifen, 1 pill a day for the next 5 years.

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