6/8/13
I haven't been posting because I didn't have any updates which is good news! I thought about writing to everybody about my updated status but been too lazy to log on.. Sorry and thanks for those who have been asking how I am.
I am still taking Tamoxifen and will remain on it until January 2014. I have been feeling pretty good the last few months.
When you have a feeling of uncertainly you should check it out. I felt a few bumps in my right breast in a different area than I had before. I believed they were the same issue I was having in the past from the radiation but started doubting myself. I started to watch them closer and then my mind started playing tricks with me. I asked my husband if he noticed anything different. He suggested that I make an appointment with my doctor. I started thinking the bumps were bigger than the bumps in the past. I also noticed its not as round on the bottom of the breast kind of flat shape. My right breast on the bottom from time to time itches really bad. I started to put anti-itch cream on it to help. I made an appointment to see my plastic surgeon.
I went to my appointment on Wednesday June 5, 2013. I showed her the bumps. She confirmed its from the radiation and they can move and come and go. It seems like my bumps don't go away but that's how everything has gone with my medical. She thought they felt smaller from last time but I didn't. As far as the itchiness underneath the breast, its new nerves growing into the area and tend to be itchy. She said to put on cream on when needed.
When she examined underneath the right breast she noticed the skin is thinning out. This is happening since my skin's elasticity is not as strong as it should be. This was a side effect from the radiation. The implant is okay but the skin is having trouble holding up the weight of the implant. It is okay right now but she wants to see me in September for another exam. She explained if it keeps thinning out she would place some pig skin underneath the implant to make a pocket. I guess I will have too find out more about what that is. She has seen this issue before on other patients. This would hold up the implant because eventually I would be able to see my implant from the skin being too thin. She would go in from the side of the breast and insert this pocket. She would not know if she would have to remove the implant until the surgery. The procedure would be about 20 minutes but would be considered a surgery so I would need to go to the hospital. If I need it, then I will get it done but stinks because we have a large deductible for our insurance. My plastic surgeon would be covered but there's the extra cost such as anesthesia, hospital, nurses, labs, and more. We will deal with it when the time comes.
I am also updating new photos on my blog site so check them out.
Enjoy your Summer and try to relax, life is too short!!! We need to take a breath and enjoy the moments we have today.
Take Care
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
bump update
Hi,
Sorry for the delay, I've been busy with the kids sports.
I saw my Oncologist and the bumps on my right bicep arm isn't anything serious. He thought they were in an odd area and usually occur after surgery. He called them cording which normally there are several bumps in a row which I only have two. Here's some information I took off the site.
Axillary web syndrome (AWS), also known as cording, sometimes develops as a side effect of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). Both procedures involve removing just a few (SLNB) or many (ALND) of the axillary, or underarm, lymph nodes. Most people with breast cancer need to have at least one of these surgeries. Scar tissue from surgery to the chest area to remove the cancer itself also can contribute to cording.
If you want more info please see the following site:
http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/side_effects/aws
He suggest to take Motrin and watch them. If they don't go away, he would send me to a Lymphedema therapists which will message the area to break them down.
My doctor did an exam since I was there and everything was good. He spoke with me about my treatment. He mentioned how nice it is to see me but he will be releasing me soon. I only have a year left on my Tamoxifen. I will only need to see him probably one more time. I will do one more complete round of blood work and see him in about six months. That's great news! As for my treatment going forward, he explained that I will need to see one of my doctors (Oncologist, Plastic Surgeon or my Cancer Surgeon) at least once a year for an exam.
Since I have seen him my bumps have decreased in size but I still have them. They are not bothering me.
Stay warm this winter no matter where you live everybody is experiencing some strange cold weather.
Take Care and make sure everybody stays on top of their health and see the doctors when needed.
Sorry for the delay, I've been busy with the kids sports.
I saw my Oncologist and the bumps on my right bicep arm isn't anything serious. He thought they were in an odd area and usually occur after surgery. He called them cording which normally there are several bumps in a row which I only have two. Here's some information I took off the site.
Axillary web syndrome (AWS), also known as cording, sometimes develops as a side effect of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). Both procedures involve removing just a few (SLNB) or many (ALND) of the axillary, or underarm, lymph nodes. Most people with breast cancer need to have at least one of these surgeries. Scar tissue from surgery to the chest area to remove the cancer itself also can contribute to cording.
If you want more info please see the following site:
http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/side_effects/aws
He suggest to take Motrin and watch them. If they don't go away, he would send me to a Lymphedema therapists which will message the area to break them down.
My doctor did an exam since I was there and everything was good. He spoke with me about my treatment. He mentioned how nice it is to see me but he will be releasing me soon. I only have a year left on my Tamoxifen. I will only need to see him probably one more time. I will do one more complete round of blood work and see him in about six months. That's great news! As for my treatment going forward, he explained that I will need to see one of my doctors (Oncologist, Plastic Surgeon or my Cancer Surgeon) at least once a year for an exam.
Since I have seen him my bumps have decreased in size but I still have them. They are not bothering me.
Stay warm this winter no matter where you live everybody is experiencing some strange cold weather.
Take Care and make sure everybody stays on top of their health and see the doctors when needed.
Monday, January 7, 2013
4 Years Cancer FREE today!!!
Great Health and Happiness I wish for everybody in 2013!!!
Today, I am 4 years Cancer Free and many more years ahead of me! I continue to see all of my doctors who are involved with my cancer treatment. I am still taking Tamoxifen and should have only one year left to take the medication. I only have one slight side effect which is night sweats but it usually only happens in the Summer otherwise no other issues, which is great.
I had my blood work done in November and all my numbers were good. My CA-125 which measures Ovarian markers were 14. My CA 127-129 for Breast cancer markers were 19. These #s are down from 6 months ago. The reason why I still check these markers since I had the cancer removed and a hysterectomy is that you can still have cells floating around in your body.
My cholesterol was 178 which is higher than 6 months ago which was 155. I need to get back to exercising. My vitamin D was 44. My Calcium was 9.1 which 6 moths ago was 8.8. I had several other blood test and everything was normal. I will re-do my blood work in about 6 months.
I also had a Dexa Bone Density exam done. My last test was two years ago. I am considered in the normal range for my bones. My test was alittle down from 2 years ago but I am not in danger. I need to be more diligent about taking my Calcium. My Oncologist explained that its difficult to get your numbers back up but if I exercise, take vitamin D and Calcium that will help a great deal.This is the magic combo.
I found two small bumps on my right bicep under my skin last week. I believe they are fat deposits or cyst but because of my cancer history I have made an appointment with my Oncologist for Wednesday January 9. I need to be able to relax and know what they are. I text-ed my Oncologist to see if I should see him or another doctor and he said "he would see me but believes its not related to the breast". I will keep everybody updated.
Talk to everybody soon, stay warm :)
Today, I am 4 years Cancer Free and many more years ahead of me! I continue to see all of my doctors who are involved with my cancer treatment. I am still taking Tamoxifen and should have only one year left to take the medication. I only have one slight side effect which is night sweats but it usually only happens in the Summer otherwise no other issues, which is great.
I had my blood work done in November and all my numbers were good. My CA-125 which measures Ovarian markers were 14. My CA 127-129 for Breast cancer markers were 19. These #s are down from 6 months ago. The reason why I still check these markers since I had the cancer removed and a hysterectomy is that you can still have cells floating around in your body.
My cholesterol was 178 which is higher than 6 months ago which was 155. I need to get back to exercising. My vitamin D was 44. My Calcium was 9.1 which 6 moths ago was 8.8. I had several other blood test and everything was normal. I will re-do my blood work in about 6 months.
I also had a Dexa Bone Density exam done. My last test was two years ago. I am considered in the normal range for my bones. My test was alittle down from 2 years ago but I am not in danger. I need to be more diligent about taking my Calcium. My Oncologist explained that its difficult to get your numbers back up but if I exercise, take vitamin D and Calcium that will help a great deal.This is the magic combo.
I found two small bumps on my right bicep under my skin last week. I believe they are fat deposits or cyst but because of my cancer history I have made an appointment with my Oncologist for Wednesday January 9. I need to be able to relax and know what they are. I text-ed my Oncologist to see if I should see him or another doctor and he said "he would see me but believes its not related to the breast". I will keep everybody updated.
Talk to everybody soon, stay warm :)
Friday, December 28, 2012
Happy New Year
Hope everybody had a wonderful Xmas and a terrific New Year for 2013.
Everybody here is doing good just very busy. I will update my blog next year with all my test which were good.
Everybody here is doing good just very busy. I will update my blog next year with all my test which were good.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
last few weeks
Hello,
The last two weeks have been busy but it could of been a disaster. Our daily schedule has been adjusted but we have survived a few obstacles due to the weather but that make us stronger! Our hearts go out to those who have lost everything.
October 20, 21, 2012 weekend was wonderful. My birthday was on Saturday the 20th and my husband and kids gave me a new Nikon camera which all of you know I enjoy taking alot of photos. (which I need to start scrap booking again).
On Sunday the 21ST was a great day! The walk for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer through American Cancer was on. It was a beautiful weather day. The walk was along the water and the turnout was Hugh!
My team Bossom Buddies walked at 10:15 instead of 11:00. My daughter had a soccer game to attend and several of my friends had their kids activities to attend as well. Gene and AJ weren't able to attend since AJ had a hockey game around the same time. We have been lucky in the past as far as conflicts. It was a hectic morning but was amazing to support this great cause! Thank you to all who donated! It was crowed! This location for the walk alone raised $348,779.42! We will back next year!
October 29 - November 9, 2012 It was scary to know Storm Sandy was coming to our state! We pre-pared as much as we could. We had extra food, cleaned up the deck and put away all materials that could fly outside, filled our propane tank for the grill to be able to cook, washed all our clothes, and made sure we had several batteries for our flash lights.
We couldn't believe it. We lost power at 3:20 in the afternoon on Monday before the storm was really bad. Wow, in the last few years we loose power right away. As the evening approached and there was no heat and lights, it did start to get dark. We played monopoly for a few hours and made the best of the night. under lanterns We heard the noise of the wind but lucky we had little rain. Our house is surrounded by trees and we were scared of them coming down. At one point, Gene asked for the kids and I to go outside to experience how loud the wind is and to see the sky. It was cool experience but never want to have this again!We moved the kids mattress into my room to sleep.
We were very fortunate and didn't have any trees fall down except for branches, wow we were shocked. The next day we saw several large trees and power lines down around our neighborhood. We were able to get a generator by the afternoon. That was a great help to run the refrigerator, have some lights and heat! We were out of power until Friday evening. The kids didn't have school all week. It was a long week without power but we made it.
The second storm of snow came a week later. This is crazy. The weather man said in my area we will have rain and some sleet. Wow they were way off. We got 8 inches of snow! The kids were off of school again. In the 2 weeks they only went to school 3 days. They enjoyed playing in the snow from their day off. The snow was heavy and wet but didn't cause any issues on the house.
November 13, 2012 I went and had my annual 6 month blood drawn. I have an appointment next week with my Oncologist to review my medical. I will post the updates. I am feeling good and still taking my Tamoxifen.
I posted several photos so check out my website! Take Care and Happy Thanksgiving.
The last two weeks have been busy but it could of been a disaster. Our daily schedule has been adjusted but we have survived a few obstacles due to the weather but that make us stronger! Our hearts go out to those who have lost everything.
October 20, 21, 2012 weekend was wonderful. My birthday was on Saturday the 20th and my husband and kids gave me a new Nikon camera which all of you know I enjoy taking alot of photos. (which I need to start scrap booking again).
On Sunday the 21ST was a great day! The walk for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer through American Cancer was on. It was a beautiful weather day. The walk was along the water and the turnout was Hugh!
My team Bossom Buddies walked at 10:15 instead of 11:00. My daughter had a soccer game to attend and several of my friends had their kids activities to attend as well. Gene and AJ weren't able to attend since AJ had a hockey game around the same time. We have been lucky in the past as far as conflicts. It was a hectic morning but was amazing to support this great cause! Thank you to all who donated! It was crowed! This location for the walk alone raised $348,779.42! We will back next year!
October 29 - November 9, 2012 It was scary to know Storm Sandy was coming to our state! We pre-pared as much as we could. We had extra food, cleaned up the deck and put away all materials that could fly outside, filled our propane tank for the grill to be able to cook, washed all our clothes, and made sure we had several batteries for our flash lights.
We couldn't believe it. We lost power at 3:20 in the afternoon on Monday before the storm was really bad. Wow, in the last few years we loose power right away. As the evening approached and there was no heat and lights, it did start to get dark. We played monopoly for a few hours and made the best of the night. under lanterns We heard the noise of the wind but lucky we had little rain. Our house is surrounded by trees and we were scared of them coming down. At one point, Gene asked for the kids and I to go outside to experience how loud the wind is and to see the sky. It was cool experience but never want to have this again!We moved the kids mattress into my room to sleep.
We were very fortunate and didn't have any trees fall down except for branches, wow we were shocked. The next day we saw several large trees and power lines down around our neighborhood. We were able to get a generator by the afternoon. That was a great help to run the refrigerator, have some lights and heat! We were out of power until Friday evening. The kids didn't have school all week. It was a long week without power but we made it.
The second storm of snow came a week later. This is crazy. The weather man said in my area we will have rain and some sleet. Wow they were way off. We got 8 inches of snow! The kids were off of school again. In the 2 weeks they only went to school 3 days. They enjoyed playing in the snow from their day off. The snow was heavy and wet but didn't cause any issues on the house.
November 13, 2012 I went and had my annual 6 month blood drawn. I have an appointment next week with my Oncologist to review my medical. I will post the updates. I am feeling good and still taking my Tamoxifen.
I posted several photos so check out my website! Take Care and Happy Thanksgiving.
Friday, November 2, 2012
walk/power outage
Hello,
The walk went well and I will update photos and information as soon as I can.
We haven't had power since Monday October 29, 2012 in the afternoon from Storm Sandy. We were lucky and no trees fell on our house.
We were able to borrow a generator on Tuesday which is great. We run it in the mornings and nights.
Hope for power soon but could be worse like the people in NY & NJ. The kids have been out of school all week due to trees and power lines down. We wish for safe and quick recovery for all the states! Take Care
The walk went well and I will update photos and information as soon as I can.
We haven't had power since Monday October 29, 2012 in the afternoon from Storm Sandy. We were lucky and no trees fell on our house.
We were able to borrow a generator on Tuesday which is great. We run it in the mornings and nights.
Hope for power soon but could be worse like the people in NY & NJ. The kids have been out of school all week due to trees and power lines down. We wish for safe and quick recovery for all the states! Take Care
Monday, October 1, 2012
Breast Cancer awareness month
Please remember to schedule a mammogram if you haven't had one this year! October is the month to support and honor individuals who have been affected by Breast Cancer
Please support the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk: My personal link is below:
Thank you for supporting!
Please support the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk: My personal link is below:
Thank you for supporting!
Click
here to visit my PERSONAL page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=11611219&pg=personal&fr_id=47436&fl=en_US&et=YQ1CTTZvVtroAmD1gXR2BQ&s_tafId=970480
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=11611219&pg=personal&fr_id=47436&fl=en_US&et=YQ1CTTZvVtroAmD1gXR2BQ&s_tafId=970480
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