Bad news week...

[Madam Bijoux]

Saying prayers for your family.

 

[Stephanie]

I''m so sorry that you had to receive all this news at once. Praying that some wonderful news comes your way soon.

 

[LegacyGirl]

I''m going to keep your family in my thoughts and prayers. I hope thing start looking up.

 

[isaku5]

(((((BIG HUGS)))) for you and enormous healing vibes for your family.

I''m so so sorry for everyone in your family dealing with the heartbreak of bad news!

Is there someone you can lean on as it sounds like others will understandably be looking to you for help and support.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 4/10/2008 6:28:32 PM
Author: Pandora II

Thanks Fire Goddess - is oncology your speciality?

No, it''s not. But being a scientist, I researched it in depth after my mom''s diagnosis and discussed things at length with my mother''s oncologist so that we could speak to each other in clinical terms. I didn''t want the patient speech, I wanted the doctor to doctor speech. It was also my way of determining how good her doctor was, as I read a lot of scientific papers and wanted to make sure he was up on the current literature, which he was. That put my mind somewhat more at ease.

From what I understood from my dad (he''s a doctor) it''s something that in 50% of cases just sits there, but in the other 50% can potentially turn into something nasty. So they''re just playing safe.

Yes, the in situ diagnosis is a small cancerous mass that has not invaded any nearby tissue. Sometimes it can just sit there, other times it can invade nearby tissue and then you start with the stage I to stage IV situations. In situ cancer is stage 0.

I was quite surprised that she has to do radio. and then take tamoxifen (if it''s hormonal) or this new trial drug. Is that normal?

Sometimes they want to be extra cautious and do radiation on the area to make sure that they didn''t ''leave any material'' behind. It''s the conservative course of action. Tamoxifen is an estrogen antagonist and works to decrease any possibility of recurrence if the cancer turns out to be estrogen dependent. If the tamoxifen is present, the estrogen can''t act to ''feed'' the cancer cells. For women post-menopause, in some cases aromatase inhibitors work better than tamoxifen does. My mom is on an aromatase inhibitor for this reason(works in the same manner as tamoxifen, to block estrogen). This is a course of action if the cancer cells are tested and come back as ER/PR positive (ER/PR = estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor).

I don''t know all the details on my cousin - it must have looked bad on the scan as they didn''t bother doing a biopsy, just went straight for a mastectomy. I don''t think the histology is back yet.

When things have settled down, I''m going to put her in touch with a friend of mine who is her age. She has a terrible family history of breast cancer and opted for a double mastectomy when she was 22. She is and EXPERT on clothes for post-mastectomy and always looks fabulous. She''s great fun, very australian and just the best person you could talk to if you were feeling down.

It''s a bit of a shock as we have absolutely no history of cancer amongst my blood relations at all.

After my mom''s diagnosis I was put in touch with a genetic counselor to determine whether there was any genetic basis to be concerned. She ended up telling me that I was not high risk, but I did get a mammogram to have a baseline picture anyway, even though I don''t actually need to have one for like, 8 more years.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts everyone.

 

[Angel7]

Pandora I am so sorry for the horrible week you are having. Try to hang in there. I''ll say a little prayer for you and your family.

 

[risingsun]

Pandora~my mother died from metatastic breast cancer. It was diagnosed in the latter stages. In situ is good news, if there can be good news in this situation. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family...

 

[Pandora II]

Thanks so much for all your kind wishes.

I went down to see my parents this weekend and do some wedding stuff.

My mother is doing fine, but just feels that on top of her MS, the back problems and the slipped discs in her neck plus a couple of other things that it''s just not fair. She''s worried everyone thinks she''s a hypochondriac!

I think I''ve managed to convince her that being diagnosed with things you didn''t know you had is not hypochondria.

All in all she was good - right up to the huge row we had with the co-ordinator/witch at my venue, who upset me so much I almost wanted to call the whole thing off. My Dad is furious and is going to write to her and the owner of the venue about her attitude and the situation.

My mother was pretty upset over it all too, just what we didn''t need!

Anyhow, I was very relieved to get down here to see her and talk everything through.

Thanks so much Fire Goddess - I hope your mother is doing well

 

[diamondfan]

I hope for good outcomes for each and every one of your family members. Thinking of you...

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Pandora,

I''m so sorry to hear about this news. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.

 

[Catmom]

Oh Pandora, that''s so much for one family to have to handle in such a short period. My thoughts go out to you and your family that things progress positively for everyone. Please make sure to take care of yourself!

 

[Diamond*Dana]

I will keep your family in my thoughts and prayers.