It's Cancer

[Shawnee123]

You won't be driving will you? Will you make it to class? Please be careful!

[Cloud]

well, you better start planning a wonderful tattoo for that mast. scar!

[lumberjim]

stop taking pills and drinking. then...get better. butt head.

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

stop taking pills and drinking. then...get better. butt head.

What he said. Grieve briefly, then start the healing. Preferably, start the healing before you even have a surgery.

[DanaC]

The lads are giving you good advice there Bri. The pills might help get you through a few hours, but they aren't the way to beat this.

And...seriously, if you think a Mastectomy is going to cut into your sex-live you haven't fully realised how beautiful you are. I've seen your pics and you could be as flat as pancake both sides and still outsexy the rest of the Cellar.

[Cicero]

Yea...that's in the no shit category Dana....but still....it did need to be pointed out!



In fact, I'm going to the women I would screw thread right now.....you don't even have to be gay to think Bri's hot.

[OnyxCougar]

Bri, I'm very sad that you have this bitch of a thing to deal with.

But you are a strong, intelligent, compassionate woman, and I *know* that once you decide to deal with this and get that shit out of your body, you will do so completely and emerge with grace and dignity intact.

As far as losing the boob, I agree with Patrick 100%, any man worth anything won't care. It's a piece of fat hanging off your chest. But insurance will generally pay for an implant if you wanna go that route.

Sending my love and positive vibes to you.

[monster]

So, Bri,
any decision on the course of treatment? Was the tentative diagnosis correct? Is the other boob completely clear? When will the surgery be? Any sign of metastasis? Any more tests to be done? chemo? Rad therapy? Wishing you all the best -want me to mail home cooked meals? I've heard fried eggs fit nicely into those little bubble mailers.

[Trilby]

Saw the oncologist today (waited a damn hour before he came into the room!) and he said there's no Her-2 receptors on it so that is good. he said they're gonna put me in a national trial--have chemo for five months (FIVE) to shrink tumor (is 8cmX6cm so is humongous) THEN surgery and if I get one of three of the six clinical trial arms MORE chemo---seven months more. Then he said something about radiation but i think that's only if I don't pull one of the three arms of treatment that demands a year of chemo. Does this make sense? it's like this: I am in a trial and there are six possible ways it could go depending on the random choice of the trial. Three of the six possible trials require a year of chemo--five months before surgery and seven after. I may not get on that trial and then would have five months of chemo, surgery and then radiation. At any rate, they want to shrink this bad boy before they cut.

TOmorrow I get a PET scan and if it shows mets, a whole NEW plan will be put in place with NO surgery, just chemo. This week I've got scheduled a PET with a diagnostic CT, an EKG, and echocardiogram, an MRI. On Oct 1 I get my port put in. The ball is rolling.

Oh, and could I have hard boiled eggs in the mail instead of fried?

[Pie]

I have a question: why is he enrolling you in a trial? What is the standard accepted practice for this sub-type of cancer? What stage is the trial (2nd, 3rd)?

What are your other options?

After being involved in a cancer patient's therapy decisions for six years, I have more than a little skepticism of things one's oncologist just enrolls you in, without further information. What is his "tie" to the trial? Is he a sponsor, or affiliated with the trial in any way? Does he get paid for every patient he refers?

Is the trial really good news for you? Will it make a measurable difference in your outcome statistics, QoL or longterm survival? Will your insurance cover side-effects or other issues if you have to withdraw from the trial mid-stream?

Please look up your trial here, and get some answers if you can.

So very many questions. Best wishes to you.

[Trilby]

Thanks for all the food for thought, Pie.

here's what I know: It's called NSABP B-40, a randomized Phase III Trial of Neoadjuvant Therapy in Patients with Palpable and Operable Breast Cancer Evaluating the Effect on Pathologic Complete Response (pCR) of Adding Capecitabine or Gemcitabine to Docetaxel when Administered Before AC with or without Bevacizumab and Correlative Science Studies Attempting to Identify Predictors of High Likelihood for pCR with Each of the Regimens. (whew!)

The study is being conducted by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP)

The purpose is to see how breast CA's like mine respond to several different chemo combos---I will be getting the national standard for chemo treatment WITH an addition of one of five possible other meds to see if these added meds (one is capecitabine, the other is gemcitabine and three others are combos with a drug that keeps the tumor from making new blood vessels [this is the year-long chemo option]) are BETTER than the standard--which I will be getting. I will either get the straight standard treatment or standard treatment with these other meds added. Most sig. side effect of these other meds: diarrhea, red palms, red soles (of my feet). No increase in nausea, vomiting, leukopenia, etc. The added meds are meds that are used to treat breast ca that is either more aggressive than mine OR in stage IV. I'm in stage three. My tumor is also palpable which makes me eligible. There are two women in the study ahead of me who, after three cycles of chemo (of a total of 8 cycles) who can no longer palp their mass--it has shrunk that much.

The doc didn't just enroll me in it, we talked for about 1/2 hour and then I met the nurse practitioner who helps trial people thru with appointments, etc. she gave me 18 pages of info on the trial to read and then make my decision about it. 1200 women will take part in this study. My surgeon, as well as my onc., are on the tumor board. This is something in conjunction with the Bethesda Maryland National Cancer Institute.

are you sorry you asked?

because I am in the study, I will be followed very closely, get some of the drugs for free, etc.

[Pie]

Originally Posted by Brianna

Thanks for all the food for thought, Pie.
...
are you sorry you asked?

Not in the slightest. I am relieved, because you know what you are getting into!
I'm sorry if I sounded like I was second-guessing you. Go get 'em!

PS: one last question (!) -- does this mean that you have decided against surgery for now? The tumour is "operable" but it looks like chemo-only in the trial. Interesting.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Pie

The tumour is "operable" but it looks like chemo-only in the trial. Interesting.

I didn't read the trial details (I will, but later), but the gist i understood was that the trials is about which shrink it better? Beiung part of the trial doesn't rule out surgery once it's shrunk -am I mistaken? My only experience is talking to sufferers -I'm no medic-, but I understood that if surgery can be delayed while the tumors are shrunk, then the chances are that the surgery will be less serious and is more likely to be successful?

[Trilby]

Oh, yeah, the meds and treatments assoc. with the trial will be free. Because of this, I will be getting more echocardiograms, more blood and urine tests, and ore biopsies than if I didn't do the trial.

[zippyt]

I heard about this on NPR today .
It sounded promising !!


Good luck