Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part IV - GAGWTA

Good news on two fronts! I got the results back from my biopsy. The cancer is exactly the same as the past two times. I will start taking Ibrance and a hormone treatment. I will take the Ibrance for 21 days followed by 7 days off. The oncologist said this would go on for six months. She says I should be in remission by then. I will take the hormone treatment for the rest of my life. The side effects are much less extreme than the IV chemo. The biggest issue is low blood cell counts. They will monitor me closely for this.

I am a bit concerned over the possible cost. Without insurance, 21 pills of Ibrance costs $13,200. Crazy! I have both medicare and a supplement plan, so I'm hoping the copay isn't insane. There are plans to help if needed. I just hope I don't have to go that route. I am waiting for the call from the specialty pharmacy. Hope to start treatment by the second week of October.

The other good news is about Kendall. As you know, we've been tossed back and forth between doctors. First, they thought it was fibromyalgia. When she started having tremors, the rheumatologist tossed out fibromyalgia. The rheumatologist said it definitely wasn't lupus and sent us to a neurologist to test for MS. The neurologist ruled out MS and told us to see another rheumatologist. The new rheumatologist ran every test known to medical science. Guess what! It's lupus! The other rheumatologist insisted it wasn't lupus based on one test. Crazy! Anyway, the doctor is doing additional blood work, but Kendall will begin treatment for lupus the middle of November.

Needless to say, my faith in the medical world is not great, but I am really hoping the treatment gives Kendall some relief. It's about time she caught a break.

So, all in all, things are going better than expected for us. To celebrate, Kendall and I are going to MNSSHP tonight! Boo to You!!!

Prayers going out for you! I am also a breast cancer survivor. So, sending virtual hugs your way. Happy the news came back good> have fun at the party!!!
 
That does sound like good news Peg! All except the price of the Ibrance! Youch.

Have a good time at the party. I'd be curious to hear how crowded it is.
 
Hello again! Peg, having a proper diagnosis and plan of attack is half the battle! I pray for both of you that treatment will go well and help! Your positive outlook will help so much, and celebrating at DW is exactly the right attitude and thing to do! :) We have a trip to Disneyland planned for february, it will be our youngest grand daughers 5th birthday so that will be a lot of fun! excited to see the new star wars land and by then both new rides will be open. Dear daughter is finally going back to work in 2 weeks, she has been out sick for 2 months now! my back is in bad shape, surgery is in my future, but for now I finally have something to manage the pain, so I can sleep again! having proper rest is half the battle!! I see the plastic surgeon for a consult on the 16th, finally ready to do something about my lopsided scarred up chest! lol I have been really trying to behave myself with eating and have managed to lose 15 pounds since the start of summer. I hoped it would help with my back but unfortunately made no difference. Is it rediculous I am already looking forward to Christmas? lol.... we have thanksgiving here in Canada next weekend.
 
This thread has been quiet. Hope everyone is doing well.
Peg - hope your treatment is going well and for Kendall too
smiley - glad to see you post and hope your consult went well
Had my 6 month check up. All is well. PTL!! My endo is moving to the new hospital bldg. In Ds2 town and only working 1 or 2 days and Sat. We took a sat. Visit so we can visit ds and dil.
Planning a wdw trip hopefully Nov. 20-25 at the Swan with dh and ds3. He has some days off.
GAGWTA.
 


Hi, ladies! LMP, so happy to hear your 6 month check up went well!

I am in month two of my treatment. So far, things have gone pretty well. In the beginning, I felt like I had a sinus infection. My eyes were extremely light sensitive and watered non-stop. That has gotten much better. I have days I feel worse than others, but that's just life. On my last checkup, the doctor said my white count is low, but not dangerously so. The treatment this time is so much easier than last time!

The doctor told me to avoid crowds as we are seeing the start of cold and flu season. I decided not to renew my Disney AP at the end of October. No sense in paying when I can't use it. Seems really odd since I've had an AP for so many years. I'm glad Kendall and I did the Halloween party just before I started treatment.

Kendall sees the rheumatologist on November 19th. The doctor ran another huge series of tests. Based on the results, she will outline a plan of treatment for Kendall.

Since I'm a bit house bound, I started my holiday decorating. The trees are up and decorated! I tend to Christmas shop year round, so that is pretty much set. Since I have nothing better to do, I've started watching the Hallmark Channel (much to Kendall's dismay). lol! Sappy romance is not her thing!

Hope this finds the rest of you doing well. Enjoy the holiday season! Always thinking of you!
 
Hi, ladies! LMP, so happy to hear your 6 month check up went well!

I am in month two of my treatment. So far, things have gone pretty well. In the beginning, I felt like I had a sinus infection. My eyes were extremely light sensitive and watered non-stop. That has gotten much better. I have days I feel worse than others, but that's just life. On my last checkup, the doctor said my white count is low, but not dangerously so. The treatment this time is so much easier than last time!

The doctor told me to avoid crowds as we are seeing the start of cold and flu season. I decided not to renew my Disney AP at the end of October. No sense in paying when I can't use it. Seems really odd since I've had an AP for so many years. I'm glad Kendall and I did the Halloween party just before I started treatment.

Kendall sees the rheumatologist on November 19th. The doctor ran another huge series of tests. Based on the results, she will outline a plan of treatment for Kendall.

Since I'm a bit house bound, I started my holiday decorating. The trees are up and decorated! I tend to Christmas shop year round, so that is pretty much set. Since I have nothing better to do, I've started watching the Hallmark Channel (much to Kendall's dismay). lol! Sappy romance is not her thing!

Hope this finds the rest of you doing well. Enjoy the holiday season! Always thinking of you!

glad to hear the treatment is going ok...
and i hope that medicare is indeed covering it!
as for hallmark, i'm right there with you.....sap totally works for me!!!

.
 
Hi, ladies! LMP, so happy to hear your 6 month check up went well!

I am in month two of my treatment. So far, things have gone pretty well. In the beginning, I felt like I had a sinus infection. My eyes were extremely light sensitive and watered non-stop. That has gotten much better. I have days I feel worse than others, but that's just life. On my last checkup, the doctor said my white count is low, but not dangerously so. The treatment this time is so much easier than last time!

The doctor told me to avoid crowds as we are seeing the start of cold and flu season. I decided not to renew my Disney AP at the end of October. No sense in paying when I can't use it. Seems really odd since I've had an AP for so many years. I'm glad Kendall and I did the Halloween party just before I started treatment.

Kendall sees the rheumatologist on November 19th. The doctor ran another huge series of tests. Based on the results, she will outline a plan of treatment for Kendall.

Since I'm a bit house bound, I started my holiday decorating. The trees are up and decorated! I tend to Christmas shop year round, so that is pretty much set. Since I have nothing better to do, I've started watching the Hallmark Channel (much to Kendall's dismay). lol! Sappy romance is not her thing!

Hope this finds the rest of you doing well. Enjoy the holiday season! Always thinking of you!
So glad its going easier for you!! I am putting up our tree today, and have Christmas shopping pretty much done too! I am also binging on Hallmark channel Christmas movies, I love them!! Lol We have our big family Disneyland trip coming in February so I have been micro managing that as well. If you are like me, and it sounds like you are!!! Lol... you will be on the road to Disney a few days after you are done treatment! Such a perfect place to recuperate :)
LMP... yay for good results! My consult went well, but sadly, unless I want to go through extreme surgery there isnt anything that can be done to the surgical side. I am just not willing to go through a huge surgery and very ling recovery, with high risk of complications, so I will just be getting a reduction done on my non surgery side so things match up better. Right now I am a full 3 cup sizes different. Its good I started out with too much to begin with! Lol I could get the call anyday to go, I am hoping it is after Christmas, in early january so I am fully healed by the end of february! In the meantime I have been power walking every day, and being really good with my food choices, and have lost 18 pounds! I told hubby I can probably fit into my wedding dress by our anniversary in December! I hope Snappy comes by soon with details of her California trip!
GAGWTA
 


Feralpeg, glad you are being careful germwise and avoiding WDW. In 1994 my husband came down with strep pneumonia a few days after our first trip as a family taking our older 2 kids at age 5 and age 3. Our youngest wasn’t born yet! I took him to the doctor and he told us to drive straight to the hospital. Thank goodness the IV antibiotic helped, But he was in the hospital for almost a week.

We are watching the outlander series on Netflix. We started with season 1 and season 5 is the current one I think. Something to watch to kill time if you are housebound and like elaborate period pieces. Has some blood and intimate scenes but with the beautiful sets and costumes it’s high quality.

LMP glad you got good news from your Checkup. The Christmas decorations should be all up for your stay at the Swan. I hope y’all enjoy.

Congrats on your weight loss, Smilieface! That’s a real achievement. I am on a low card diet myself. Lost some, feeling a lot less aches and pains. Bonus is my husband is losing too, from eating right and regular trips to the gym.

We had to postpone our California coast trip. My sister had surgery to have a nerve stimulator implanted in her back in October and the surgery was much more involved than she imagined. She can’t twist or bend, is still feeling dizzy, shaky, and nauseated. We are hoping she will recover soon from the surgical pain and get some relief from the device. We have a WDW/universal trip planned for early December since I want to do the Pacific coast when it’s warmer and more likely to be dry. I’ll update you with the details once we figured it all out.

GAGWTA!
 
Feralpeg, glad you are being careful germwise and avoiding WDW. In 1994 my husband came down with strep pneumonia a few days after our first trip as a family taking our older 2 kids at age 5 and age 3. Our youngest wasn’t born yet! I took him to the doctor and he told us to drive straight to the hospital. Thank goodness the IV antibiotic helped, But he was in the hospital for almost a week.

We are watching the outlander series on Netflix. We started with season 1 and season 5 is the current one I think. Something to watch to kill time if you are housebound and like elaborate period pieces. Has some blood and intimate scenes but with the beautiful sets and costumes it’s high quality.

LMP glad you got good news from your Checkup. The Christmas decorations should be all up for your stay at the Swan. I hope y’all enjoy.

Congrats on your weight loss, Smilieface! That’s a real achievement. I am on a low card diet myself. Lost some, feeling a lot less aches and pains. Bonus is my husband is losing too, from eating right and regular trips to the gym.

We had to postpone our California coast trip. My sister had surgery to have a nerve stimulator implanted in her back in October and the surgery was much more involved than she imagined. She can’t twist or bend, is still feeling dizzy, shaky, and nauseated. We are hoping she will recover soon from the surgical pain and get some relief from the device. We have a WDW/universal trip planned for early December since I want to do the Pacific coast when it’s warmer and more likely to be dry. I’ll update you with the details once we figured it all out.

GAGWTA!
spring, any time from the end of february, and fall are perfect times to go! Summer brings too much fog for the pacific coast drive. it starts to get really hot by may so don't leave it too long! January is the month they get the most rain. If you go in April into may the jacaranda trees will be blooming :)
I sure hope your sister recovers soon! that is scarey!
I am keeping a close eye on carbs and fat, no sugar, as little processed food as possible, lot's of fresh salads, and yes my hubby is losing too! lol I started out by putting food on his plate, then thinking "I want to be about half his size, so I will put half as much food on my plate" the weight started coming off so easily, I decided to make an effort to be as healthy as I can be. And I want to be able to keep up with the grand kids in disneyland in february so I decided to start walking. The new medications our new doctor has put me on, for my osteoarthritis/degenerating vertabra, mean that I can walk again without pain! and with the drug for my stomache my esophagus spasms have completely stopped so I have not had to take any hydromorphone for pain in 2 months! I am on an anti anxiety med as well. I feel like I have my life back again and am so much happier. I was never any good at taking prescriptions, but I was in so much pain, my quality of life had gotten so bad, I finally asked for help and actually took what I was told!
 
Nice to hear from people, I agree, this thread has been quiet! :grouphug:

Glad you finally got around to watching Outlander, Snappy! :lovestruc

My kids are winding down with their last year of college, thankfully. Hard to believe since they were just six years old when we started this thread! God has been good to me!

Mom has been ill this year and I've been caring for her at home. It's been a long and difficult year, but my DH and kids have been really helpful. We were able to bring Mom to Disney with us twice (her first time in FL) two years running when we went down for DS's college spring baseball, and she was happy to go on many rides and to character breakfasts, Flower and Garden festival, boat and monorail rdes, Boma breakfasts, Biergarten enjoying the polkas, trying beignets, etc. So glad we got to do that. We always asked her to go over the years but she never wanted to. Finally there was little choice as even with her staying with a relative DS's freshman year she fell while we were away, so it was just easier to take her with us and continue to care for her the way we did at home. (Remained pretty mobile with a walker and wheelchair until relatively recently.) So, yes, two sort of working vacations :p but happy she could come, finally. She was actually overcome with emotion on Small World, saying that is how she pictured heaven (always loved dolls). Soarin also made her teary as she exited the ride as she just couldn't believe there was technology like that! But all good tears. Remembering her in your prayers would be much appreciated! She's a sweet lady and the nurses always love her, she says the cutest things and compliments everyone all the time. Even on my worst days I go in in the morning and she stares at me and tells me how beautiful I am:duck:reminding me that a mother's love really never does fade or die, does it.
 
spring, any time from the end of february, and fall are perfect times to go! Summer brings too much fog for the pacific coast drive. it starts to get really hot by may so don't leave it too long! January is the month they get the most rain. If you go in April into may the jacaranda trees will be blooming :)
I sure hope your sister recovers soon! that is scarey!
I am keeping a close eye on carbs and fat, no sugar, as little processed food as possible, lot's of fresh salads, and yes my hubby is losing too! lol I started out by putting food on his plate, then thinking "I want to be about half his size, so I will put half as much food on my plate" the weight started coming off so easily, I decided to make an effort to be as healthy as I can be. And I want to be able to keep up with the grand kids in disneyland in february so I decided to start walking. The new medications our new doctor has put me on, for my osteoarthritis/degenerating vertabra, mean that I can walk again without pain! and with the drug for my stomache my esophagus spasms have completely stopped so I have not had to take any hydromorphone for pain in 2 months! I am on an anti anxiety med as well. I feel like I have my life back again and am so much happier. I was never any good at taking prescriptions, but I was in so much pain, my quality of life had gotten so bad, I finally asked for help and actually took what I was told!

Thanks for your advice about spring and fall for the California trip. My husband has never been to California. He’s very interested and now that he’s retired, we don’t have to schedule travel around work deadlines anymore. I am going to figure the best time frame and at least take a stab at planning it. 2020 is the year!

Re your weight loss success: I find I have less cravings when I eat less carbs. May be psychological but it works. I drank too much beer and ate too much on our Utah trip. It’s hard to diet when you traveling with friends and not at home for weeks. No alcohol period in the diet I have been on for 5 weeks and we haven’t gone out to dinner either. A new grocery store called Sprouts opened here this year with a ton of fresh and organic veggies and greens, and they have fresh salmon that turns over quick so appears to always be fresh. We are going to stay in a club level studio at the Gran Destino Tower for a few days in both December and January. I will indulge in their Spanish wines, and I love having a cocktail or beer on my balcony at the Boardwalk too. I have figured out to mostly eat salads and plainly cooked proteins.

February is a great time for Disney, I love going to WDW during February. It may be my favorite time due to weather and slightly less crowds. What a good plan to begin a program so far ahead to walk to prepare for that trip! Glad the doctors have prescribed the right medicines to improve your quality of life. You sound great!!!!

Pea, it’s amazing your two are in last year of college. The years roll by, I can’t believe I am the age I am half the time. Had a few aha moments this year with messing up my right knee slipping on a pile of oak leaves getting on a bus in New Orleans in April headed to the French Quarter festival. I was in denial until it flared during our hiking in Utah, so after 6 weeks of PT I have strengthened my muscles around my knee. It doesn’t require surgery or anything but I expect it to be my Achilles heel in the future. I also needed laser surgery on both eyes as I developed secondary cataracts and couldn’t read the newspaper or books for months before I saw the eye doctor. It’s taken a while for the floaters to go away. I am aggravated at myself for waiting so long. I thought I just needed new glasses! The doctor said I couldn’t have passed an eye test, so I know I waited far too long.

Pea, I loved your stories about your mom’s impressions of WDW rides during the trips when she went with your family. Great memories! In many ways WDW is a good place for seniors as many things are so accessible. And your mom is right, your are beautiful, on the outside but especially on the inside. You have encouraged so many here on this thread since 2005. It’s so nice to have this thread and regulars that post here or pop in once in a while. I treasure it.
 
Nice to hear from people, I agree, this thread has been quiet! :grouphug:

Glad you finally got around to watching Outlander, Snappy! :lovestruc

My kids are winding down with their last year of college, thankfully. Hard to believe since they were just six years old when we started this thread! God has been good to me!

Mom has been ill this year and I've been caring for her at home. It's been a long and difficult year, but my DH and kids have been really helpful. We were able to bring Mom to Disney with us twice (her first time in FL) two years running when we went down for DS's college spring baseball, and she was happy to go on many rides and to character breakfasts, Flower and Garden festival, boat and monorail rdes, Boma breakfasts, Biergarten enjoying the polkas, trying beignets, etc. So glad we got to do that. We always asked her to go over the years but she never wanted to. Finally there was little choice as even with her staying with a relative DS's freshman year she fell while we were away, so it was just easier to take her with us and continue to care for her the way we did at home. (Remained pretty mobile with a walker and wheelchair until relatively recently.) So, yes, two sort of working vacations :p but happy she could come, finally. She was actually overcome with emotion on Small World, saying that is how she pictured heaven (always loved dolls). Soarin also made her teary as she exited the ride as she just couldn't believe there was technology like that! But all good tears. Remembering her in your prayers would be much appreciated! She's a sweet lady and the nurses always love her, she says the cutest things and compliments everyone all the time. Even on my worst days I go in in the morning and she stares at me and tells me how beautiful I am:duck:reminding me that a mother's love really never does fade or die, does it.
That made me cry! But happy cry for you and your mom! I miss my mom so much! Give her an extra hug from me! We got to take my mom to Hawaii before she passed. It was a lifetime dream come true for her and i cherish those memories. The only time ai got to go to Disnyland with her was when I was about 11. I wish I had more pictures from that trip. We drove from here in BC Canada all the way down the coast to California and DL. Thats when my love of that roadtrip was born.
Snappy, isnt it funny how different we all are! I read about genetically inherited eating based on heritage. Things like how the rate of diabetes skyrocketed for north american indian people because of the change in diet that came with the settlers. And heart disease in Japanese people. For me with my heritage, carbs are mandatory! Lol! I could live on perogies alone! And the white wine, Grüner Veltliner, which is a lot like sauvignon blanc, from Austria.
 
I wonder if anyone has gone through this, my initial mammogram came back suspicious, there was a lesion that wasn't there last year. So I go for 3D mammo and ultrasound. 3D mammo shows suspicious legion, ultrasound says benign. Doctor wants me to get biopsy because of mammo. Get the results today, benign (yay), but says she now wants me to get an MRI because she didn't like the way the distortion looked like.

I don't get it, if the biospy came back clean why isn't that enough. I get the feeling she thought it was going to come back cancerous. Why else send me to get MRI? I have very dense breasts, in fact she had to go around 3 times to get enough of a sample. She keeps saying she just wants to make sure, but why isn't biopsy enough. So any input from others who may have gone through this I would greatly appreciate it.
 
I wonder if anyone has gone through this, my initial mammogram came back suspicious, there was a lesion that wasn't there last year. So I go for 3D mammo and ultrasound. 3D mammo shows suspicious legion, ultrasound says benign. Doctor wants me to get biopsy because of mammo. Get the results today, benign (yay), but says she now wants me to get an MRI because she didn't like the way the distortion looked like.

I don't get it, if the biospy came back clean why isn't that enough. I get the feeling she thought it was going to come back cancerous. Why else send me to get MRI? I have very dense breasts, in fact she had to go around 3 times to get enough of a sample. She keeps saying she just wants to make sure, but why isn't biopsy enough. So any input from others who may have gone through this I would greatly appreciate it.
Welcome. It sounds like she just really wants to be sure, and that's a good thing since early detection saves a lot of problems down the road. Plus I think they worry about their own liability if they miss something somehow. And I'm sure they've seen a lot of weird or unusual situation where perhaps more could've been done, but wasn't. Their experience counts for a lot. That's why we pick them, right?

If you had a needle core biopsy, even if she got some samples from various spots, she might think there's more tissue she wants to "rule out" as having cancer. Yes, I had that happen before. I had a negative needle core but was then sent for an excisional biopsy because my surgeon was concerned about a "false negative". When we went in for the excisional, the radiologist couldn't find any spot at all. My surgeon came in and offered to "take the spot out anyway", which I declined as I felt at that point it was overkill, as did the radiologist. I had just finished up breast cancer treatment so even thought it was all a pain, I appreciated how aggressive she was being about it.
 
Mom has been ill this year and I've been caring for her at home. It's been a long and difficult year, but my DH and kids have been really helpful. We were able to bring Mom to Disney with us twice (her first time in FL) two years running when we went down for DS's college spring baseball, and she was happy to go on many rides and to character breakfasts, Flower and Garden festival, boat and monorail rdes, Boma breakfasts, Biergarten enjoying the polkas, trying beignets, etc. So glad we got to do that. We always asked her to go over the years but she never wanted to. Finally there was little choice as even with her staying with a relative DS's freshman year she fell while we were away, so it was just easier to take her with us and continue to care for her the way we did at home. (Remained pretty mobile with a walker and wheelchair until relatively recently.) So, yes, two sort of working vacations :p but happy she could come, finally. She was actually overcome with emotion on Small World, saying that is how she pictured heaven (always loved dolls). Soarin also made her teary as she exited the ride as she just couldn't believe there was technology like that! But all good tears. Remembering her in your prayers would be much appreciated! She's a sweet lady and the nurses always love her, she says the cutest things and compliments everyone all the time. Even on my worst days I go in in the morning and she stares at me and tells me how beautiful I am:duck:reminding me that a mother's love really never does fade or die, does it.
:cloud9:
And your mom is right, your are beautiful, on the outside but especially on the inside. You have encouraged so many here on this thread since 2005. It’s so nice to have this thread and regulars that post here or pop in once in a while. I treasure it.
For sure, snappy.
 
Welcome. It sounds like she just really wants to be sure, and that's a good thing since early detection saves a lot of problems down the road. Plus I think they worry about their own liability if they miss something somehow. And I'm sure they've seen a lot of weird or unusual situation where perhaps more could've been done, but wasn't. Their experience counts for a lot. That's why we pick them, right?

If you had a needle core biopsy, even if she got some samples from various spots, she might think there's more tissue she wants to "rule out" as having cancer. Yes, I had that happen before. I had a negative needle core but was then sent for an excisional biopsy because my surgeon was concerned about a "false negative". When we went in for the excisional, the radiologist couldn't find any spot at all. My surgeon came in and offered to "take the spot out anyway", which I declined as I felt at that point it was overkill, as did the radiologist. I had just finished up breast cancer treatment so even thought it was all a pain, I appreciated how aggressive she was being about it.

Thank you. I just want to know either way, it's just frustrating. I just hope my insurance will cover an MRI since my biopsy results came back benign. Insurance may feel I don't need it, ugh.
 
Thank you. I just want to know either way, it's just frustrating. I just hope my insurance will cover an MRI since my biopsy results came back benign. Insurance may feel I don't need it, ugh.
I think they will likely cover it in this case. Let us know how you make out, ok?
 

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