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results of surgery

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MsMary

MsMary

Thu, May 07, 2009

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The results for the lymph nodes came back neg, good so I should have listened when the ladies recommend to have a second opinion from my doctor and not have them all removed, this would of prevented the numbness in my right arm but I am happy for that news.  Waiting to see the chemo doc to see what will be the next step.  He got all the cancer around the tumor out but my ER/PR/HER-2/NEU were all positive, not sure of what that means but I will be meeting with him and the chemo doc in two weeks.  Going to La to see my daughter graduate from college.  Thanks again for your advice.  This is a great website.

Mary

5/ 7/09 8:02pm

Hi Mary. Great to hear that your surgery went well. It's very good news that the lymph nodes were negative (better prognosis for you!), but don't you wish they could put them back? I had some fun teasing my surgeon about this and he had the grace to look uncomfortable. Hopefully, your numbness will get better with time.

 

Given your hormone and Her2 status, I would imagine that you will receive Taxol, Herceptin and Tamoxifen - a triple whammy, three means of killing off the cancer and guarding against recurrence. If the doctors mention Taxol (paclitaxel), ask about receiving it weekly if you can work it into your schedule. It seems to be the most effective way to take it and it does lessen side effects. I had this regimen for my second lot of chemo and the hair that had started to regrow towards the end of my first lot of chemo didn't fall out again. My understanding is that alopecia is unlikely with weekly Taxol. Do be on the lookout for peripheral neuropathy - numbness and tingling in the fingers and toes. I also found that my toenails were affected by Taxol. If you do develop peripheral neuropathy, the doctors can reduce the dose to minimise the effects.

 

Three months of chemo is challenging - and fatiguing - but it's not too bad.

 

Good luck with the rest of your treatment and keep us up to date.

 

Sue

Anonymous
Angela
5/ 8/09 3:50am

Hi Mandary - there is a couple good sites out there that will tell you how to read your path report and what those numbers mean PR+, ER+, - it will explain every section of the post surgical path as well.   Hopefully you ask at each appointment for your recordes and copies of any lab or blood test reports they did on you.  You can then find out a lot, alot, alot of information on the web just knowing those values.  I don't think i can attach a document here otherwise i would as i totally broke down my entire path report and figured out exactly what it all meant.  I was ER and PR + 98% so my homones were and are out of whack.  No more food that is not organic for me - -my hormones are not in sync thus lowered immune system and ta da - cancer is there.   So i am correcting my hormone's thru food as HRT just cause more cancer and i'm refusing any PET or any other Oncotype testing as they are invasive and just put more radiation into your body - that i do not want, unless i know i have to have it.   My doc says no - i've had a double mastectomy and just wed they went in and removed an tumor they found during the first surgery - but didnt' get a clear margin on that.  The articles tell you what all that means too.   Just google "how to read your path report" and it will give you some pdf docs on it.  Otherwise you can email me and i'll send to you.  Good luck and be your own advocate as i've found if i didn't they would have already done CT scans and radiation - - without really knowing if there is still cancer there......so protect yourself with knowledge - - it's the best way to make choices - - do not leave it up to your doc as they are always in the money game - at least the oncologists are with their drugs and radioactive testing.  None of which I need.   I started eating organic foods as best i can, eat plenty of broccolli (if you're not a smoke), get tomato sauce heated, lots of carrots, rasbperries, onions, garlic and of course you can take selenium, magnesium, calcium and just get your Vit D from 15min of sunshie daily.  Vit E you may take as a supplent.  But just about everything can pretty much come from your foods - - some do wart off cancers.    So learn, learn and learn more specially about yourpath report and blood work - - it will tell you a lot more than what you might expect from a doctor.  Example, i am borderline anemic but never heard any doc tell me that - - i just disected my lab work prior to my surgery so now iknow how to correct.   Good luck and knowledge is power.  Drugs as a last resort....

5/ 8/09 1:23pm

Thank you for the advice.  What about meats, is beef bad for you, if you eat too much of it.

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