Sunday, April 12, 2009
HELLO ALL OF YOU WONDERFUL SURVIVORS. I CAME ACROSS THIS VERY USEFUL HOTLINE NUMBER FOR MY FRIEND WHO WAS RECENTLY TOLD SHE HAS INFLAMMATORY BREAST CANCER. THE NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION IS BREAT CANCER NETWORK OF STRENGTH, FORMALLY Y-ME. IT WAS FEATURED ON THE OPRAH SHOW ONCE BEFORE. EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO ANSWERS THE PHONE (DOESN'T MATTER WHAT TIME OF DAY OR NIGHT IT IS). THEY HAVE SURVIVED CANCER. IT IS SOMETHING ABOUT TALKING TO A LIVE CARING PERSON WHO KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH. ALONG WITH THIS WEBSITE AND OTHER RESOURCES I HOPE THIS HELPS. THE PHONE NUMBER IS 1800-221-2141
Thanks for the phone number. I've heard good things about Y-me. I didn't realize they had changed their name.
I hope your friend is doing well and getting the help she needs.
Hello Phyllis, Thanks for the note. My friend is scheduled to see someone a the breast cancer center, here in cincinnati, she appears to be holding up. but she is still in denial somewhat. What I don't understand if the IBC is so aggressive, why is there such delay in her starting treatment. How long did it take for you to start treatment once your biopsy confirmed that you had cancer
I had a bunch of delays. It took about ten days to get to the biopsy because the hospital wanted a stress test before they'd give me anesthesia due to a border-line heart issue. As far as I'm concerned, that was an unnecessary delay, but I suppose if I'd died on the operating table from an undiagnosed heart condition, my family would have blamed the doctors for not checking out my heart. Then another ten days before I got my final biopsy report because the pathologists sent the slides out for a second opinion (That was an excellent delay because it gave us more accurate info.) Then about another 12 days while they scheduled staging tests to see if the cancer had spread beyond my breast and to see if my heart was strong enough for one of the chemos they planned to give me. There is a lot of "hurry up and wait" in cancer treatment. When the delay is about getting more accurate information through some additional tests, it's OK. It's better to delay treatment than have the wrong treatment.
Phyllis Thanks again for your response