Angi

Health Interests

Breast Cancer,  Recurrent Breast Cancer,  Breast Reconstruction,  Mastectomy,  Chemotherapy,  Chronic Pain,  Fibromyalgia,  Degenerative Bone Disease,  Anxiety,  Panic Attacks,  Stress,  Adult Acne,  Radiation

Drugs I am Taking

Opana IR,  Opana ER,  Xanax,  Lyrica

About Me

Hi, my name is Angi. I'm 34 and up until March I was a Breast Cancer Survivor. I was originally diagnosed with Stage IIa, Grade 3 IDC at 31. I was the first in my family to have cancer. At that time I had a mastectomy, went through chemo and started on my 5 year course of Femara. I attempted breast reconstruction that same year, but the attempt failed. Since that time I have moved from Nevada to New Orleans, and I now have a wonderful plastic surgeon who literally saved my life. In July 2007 I chose to undergo another mastectomy for the sake of my sanity - at which time I also had immediate reconstruction. Shortly after one breast failed due to dying tissue, just like the previous time only the other breast this time. After finally getting that whole area cleared of dead tissue, my surgeon put in another tissue expander and I had no problems other than what was used was going to end up being too small for what I wanted, as I had no foundation to build my new breast upon. In Feb. 2008 my surgeon swapped out my existing expanders for larger ones and discovered that I had suspicious looking scar tissue near where my original tumor had been found. He removed it and sent the biopsy in to pathology. It came back positive, and they labeled me as having Recurrent Breast Cancer. So now I am no longer a "survivor" I'm now a 2peater. After learning the cancer returned in March I have had an additional surgery to remove more of my chest wall as I did not have clear margins the first time around. Currently (as of June 8th), I'm readying myself for a summer chock full of treatment. This week I start 7 weeks of daily radiation, which will then be followed up with a good dose of chemo (not sure how much, how long, or what type yet.) I'm pretty confident going into this and not at all worried about this whole cancer thing, as I see it as a "been there, done that" kinda thing. I know what I have to do, and it doesn't scare me cause I've been through it all before (well, all but radiation, but still no worries). Once my treatment is finished, and I'm once again a "survivor" I'm sure I will be rx'd some new meds as Femara failed me the first time around, and I'll also be completing the rest of my breast reconstruction, which means more saline injections(currently on hold till radiation is done) then surgery to replace the expanders with implants and to also move some tissue from another area to help me achieve the big perfect breast of my dreams. I can't wait till it's all over and done with! On a personal note, I'm a SAHM of nearly 4 years, who loves scrapbooking, photography and blogging. Prior to quitting my job and being diagnosed with cancer, I had been an Accountant, but now I enjoy sleeping in, and "missing" all that rush hour traffic! Recently I've partnered with HC/MBCN to help answer all your breast cancer questions. So please, if you have any click on the purple "ask" link button and submit your questions - either myself or one of the many other experts here will help you with any issues you might be having. I keep a personal blog (Cancer is NOT a DEATH sentence) which chronicles my journey from 2005 to present day - but be forewarned that it DOES contain STRONG LANGUAGE. You can find it at: http://scrapaddictnv2.blogspot.com/ Thanks for stopping by and getting to know me! Angi