Information and opinions on health from Michigoose at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/508241/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/508241/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/508241/index http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/151824/stage-kind Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:25:13 -0400 Michigoose I was first diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer back in late 1997....this was a recurrence with mets to the bone, and a change from being er-/pr- to weakly positive to estrogen and strongly positive to progesterone.  I went through 9 24-hour courses of Taxol spread over a 9 month period, followed by radiation, having my ovaries removed and going on a variety of aromatase inhibitors (I did arimedex, then upped it to aromasin).... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/151824/stage-kind http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/143660/seeing Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:36:16 -0400 Michigoose I can't remember if I mentioned this here or not, but I was one of the lucky population who experienced severe blurriness of vision while receiving Abraxane (Paclitaxel protein bound with human albumen). It was bad enough that I had to give up driving .  Evenings were particularly bad, but I couldn't read signs either.   I received my last dose on July 1 (9 months after starting) and I have to say that about 2 weeks ago, I realized... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/143660/seeing http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/143085/disolvable Sun, 21 Aug 2011 11:45:35 -0400 Michigoose This is just an odditity...and I'm beginning to think that if it is strange, it will happen to me--but I wanted to share it so that if others see this show up then they might not be put into a panic mode.   In 1994, I had a lumpectomy.  In 1998 I had a stage IV recurrence and a mastectomy.  In 2010 it came back with multiple bone lesions...so after finishing chemo on July 1, I've been in high alert.    Two weeks... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/143085/disolvable http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/135016/conditions Sun, 27 Mar 2011 12:13:06 -0400 Michigoose   I was in treatment the otherday and was talking to the lady next to me who was experiencing peripheral neuropathy.  I described what mine was like (no tingling, just numbness as well as tenderness in my fingers and numbness in my feet..seems contradictory--but that's what it is) and said that it was a common side effect of the Taxenes.    She was on Avastin, which is an entirely different drug.  I suggested that she... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/135016/conditions http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/124849/paclitaxil Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:56:20 -0500 Michigoose Three weeks ago, I started weekly infusions of Abraxane (Paclitaxil protein-bound).  I read all the manufacturer's listings of side-effects, talked with my oncologist, and did some other research, so I was pretty clear on what was listed.   Last week, I started getting small nose bleeds, really broken capilaries in my nose which, well, sorry to be gross, made for some very colorful Kleenex.  I also had heart burn for three days,... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/124849/paclitaxil http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/123490/cosmos Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:22:32 -0400 Michigoose Since moving to Ohio five years ago, sometimes it seems like the cosmos is against me.  Not only did I suffer having a major university hospital lose all my scans, and then two weeks ago have incorrect dosages administered, plus myriad other little problems, but today, I got another slap in the face.  Last Tuesday, my oncologist called me and told me that my tumor markers were up and I needed to start on Abraxane, which I could start... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/123490/cosmos http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/122955/treatment Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:55:01 -0400 Michigoose I just had an "interesting" experience that I hope you all can learn from.  On Friday, I went in for a Faslodex injection.  After waiting around, getting the shot and coming home (after a little shopping and having lunch), I got a telephone call from the treatment nurse saying she had accidently only given me half the dose my oncologist wanted me to have.    It seems that recent research has indicated that what had been... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/122955/treatment http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/93720/differently Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:47:31 -0500 Michigoose Getting through breast cancer is hard.  It's scary.  I tend to look at things in a little different way than most people do, and I think it helped me and it might just be a tool to add to your arsenal of weapons in this fight as well.   After the tears, I sat back and realized that this was just another passage...a new page , or a path which I hadn't traveled before.  It was...an adventure!  There was a little bit of... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/93720/differently http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/80257/dissection Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:48:35 -0400 Michigoose Yesterday, I was stunned to discover that a spider (I assume) bit me on the back side of my arm pit.   I only happend to catch a glance of the red, angry welt which is about 1 1/4" long and quite raised as I was getting ready to go to bed and had walked past a mirror.    I was horrified that this was so big and I wasn't aware of it.  Why? Because of my axillary dissection, my tricep and the area on my side hasn't any... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/80257/dissection http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/79434/exploring Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:49:44 -0400 Michigoose Having cancer is an eye-opening experience, it is also somewhat personal one in that there are many choices which must be made that only we, the person in treatment, can make.  What is right for one person, may not be right for another.   For instance, I chose not to have reconstruction surgery.  Others have.  I just couldn't face the additional surgeries.  So, while my friend Kathy had reconstruction and it was the... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/508241/79434/exploring