kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Wow this thread has really taken off, but love to hear all the positive responses and support here! Now for my own input I guess.
I know you mentioned in Israel they have the shot over the injection...I actually CHOSE to have the neulasta shot myself, returning every day since it was convenient for me and the thought of something attached to my arm and scheduled to just go off the next day at some point...no thank you.
Sounds like your medical team is on top of everything for you and here's hoping the chemo does it's thing for sure so you can get to surgery and beyond as soon as possible.
I also did genetic testing and have the ATM gene mutation. That just means I was at higher risk for having breast cancer at an early age (I was 45 at diagnosis) and have a slightly than normal risk for pancreatic cancer as well. I've spoken to genetic counselors and other doctor's at Johns Hopkins here about my treatment and so far we feel that everything I've done for my breast cancer ER/PR+ but HER2- was the best course. I also have a strong family history of cancer. Grandmothers on both sides died from it...paternal was melanoma (as was one paternal uncle), had a paternal aunt with breast cancer (still living, diagnosed in her 70s and still alive and in her 80s) and one with stomach cancer (deceased in her 80s after a very short battle). My own mother had breast cancer at around age 60, was almost 5 years clear from it after treatments, and then got lung cancer (she was non-smoker) in 2012. She died almost a year ago after a battle with that, so the last 10 years of her life was up and down battles with cancer. Her own mother died in her 60s from colon cancer, most of my mom's maternal aunts and uncles had various forms of cancer and died from them. So yes it is strong in my family as well. I wonder if there is a mutation also that hasn't been discovered but I've felt for a long time that I was destined for a cancer diagnosis, so mine didn't surprise me at all...just surprised me that I was diagnosed so early since most of my relatives were in their 50s, 60s and older when diagnosed.
Good luck to you and definitely keep us informed. I'm with you about your mom, and having to take care of her when you will be going through so much might be very tough.
i don't know about the nodes....they see one lymph node that looks enlarged, but in the biopsy, i think the guy missed the lymph node and just got the fatty tissue around it (which was also positive for the cancer - so the cancer is spread beyond the tumor for sure...)...
the tumor itself is somewhere in the vicinity of 4 to 5 cm.....so i guess they consider it pretty big..
and with a lot of involvement in the surrounding tissue....
they did a pet scan which came up negative....so that's good...
hopefully, the cancer will react as it's supposed to ..
i was tested a number of years ago for BRCA....or maybe just the particular mutation my sister has on the BRCA2 gene...
but i was negative for her mutation (assuming they tested correctly)..
on sunday they're going to do a broader gene study....my cousin recently tested positive for mutations on the ATM and BRIP1 genes....so maybe i have those...
hopefully they'll do a more complete study on sunday than they did the last time...
and yes, we have a very strong history of cancer in the family....
my sister's BRCA2 mutation is from my dad's side...
but the vast majority of the cancer is on my mom's side....until now they weren't able to find a mutation on that side of the family, but that doesn't mean there isn't one...they just weren't able to test for it yet....but perhaps the ones they found in my cousin will turn out to be THE mutations on my mom's side and then they'll finally be able to test everyone...which will be a great relief for all....
I know you mentioned in Israel they have the shot over the injection...I actually CHOSE to have the neulasta shot myself, returning every day since it was convenient for me and the thought of something attached to my arm and scheduled to just go off the next day at some point...no thank you.
Sounds like your medical team is on top of everything for you and here's hoping the chemo does it's thing for sure so you can get to surgery and beyond as soon as possible.
I also did genetic testing and have the ATM gene mutation. That just means I was at higher risk for having breast cancer at an early age (I was 45 at diagnosis) and have a slightly than normal risk for pancreatic cancer as well. I've spoken to genetic counselors and other doctor's at Johns Hopkins here about my treatment and so far we feel that everything I've done for my breast cancer ER/PR+ but HER2- was the best course. I also have a strong family history of cancer. Grandmothers on both sides died from it...paternal was melanoma (as was one paternal uncle), had a paternal aunt with breast cancer (still living, diagnosed in her 70s and still alive and in her 80s) and one with stomach cancer (deceased in her 80s after a very short battle). My own mother had breast cancer at around age 60, was almost 5 years clear from it after treatments, and then got lung cancer (she was non-smoker) in 2012. She died almost a year ago after a battle with that, so the last 10 years of her life was up and down battles with cancer. Her own mother died in her 60s from colon cancer, most of my mom's maternal aunts and uncles had various forms of cancer and died from them. So yes it is strong in my family as well. I wonder if there is a mutation also that hasn't been discovered but I've felt for a long time that I was destined for a cancer diagnosis, so mine didn't surprise me at all...just surprised me that I was diagnosed so early since most of my relatives were in their 50s, 60s and older when diagnosed.
Good luck to you and definitely keep us informed. I'm with you about your mom, and having to take care of her when you will be going through so much might be very tough.