Re: Re: from Cealy

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Good Grief, whooping cough on top of everything else, eh? I bet you're tired!

I'm really hoping that your thyroid problem just disappears and when you go to

the doctor he says " what nodule? " ....I still wonder about it after what was

stated on the after-effects sheet they gave me at the radiation center I told

you about. I hope you're still not waking up gagging. The fears that come with

being diagnosed with cancer are enough to cause those 3am wake up calls, you

don't need anything else!

I am so excited to be on treatment 24 today! I'm a bit nervous about the

boosters but I'm tickled to know my underarm will get to start healing the day

after tomorrow! Glad to hear from you that it doesn't take long.

My baby sister called me last night (she's 40, I'm 53) and told me her doc

called and said her mammogram showed a mass and they want to take a better look

at it by doing a cone mammogram. Surely she's alright..... She simply must

be......This has been such a wierd year - it was the first one without my dad

who died Oct. '05, my niece was diagnosed with lymphoma in Feb '06, a good

friend was diagnosed with breast cancer in June, my niece almost died the

beginning of July while I was helping take care of one of my dearest friends

while she was dying from ovarian cancer and lukemia. Then I found my lump in

August. Sounds sort of like a soap opera don't you think? Here's to the new

year! May it be a good one for us all! Peace and love, Cealy

mitchellst@...> wrote:

Thanks, Cealy, for all your kind words - and to the rest of the group

for your tremendous support.

I have been pretty sick the last 10 days but finally went to the doc-in-a-box on

Saturday and got some antibiotics. They seem to be helping, or the virus has run

its course, whatever. I'm just grateful to be feeling better.

Cealy, the skin burning healed really quick. 4-5 days and it was gone. Of course

I was a fanatic about putting the cream on 4 times a day, but it really didn't

take long.

I asked the doc about the pain that suddenly reoccured last weekend for 3 days,

and she said that it was swelling and nerve irritation from the radiation, and

that it would go away - except for occasional stabbing pains that " last forever "

but are not supposed to be constant. I can tell she is right about the swelling

because when I rock my son, I can feel the fluid moving back and forth inside

the lumpectomy cavity.

I just think that for some of us, the healing takes longer than the doctor's

anticipate. Every body is so different.

Also, it appears that my daughter and I may have whooping cough. (My other cause

for complaint. We are waiting for test results. So we were both quarantined

for a week. Not that I was going anywhere anyway, coughing so hard I nearly

passed out. Not to mention the peeing in the pants and gagging during the

coughing fits. My my. I am so thankful for vaccinations, so that not everyone

has to go through that. And yes, I do have all mine up-to-date (and so does my

daughter), but apparently the pertussis (whooping cough) part can wear off

faster than some of the others. Plus of course radiation didn't help either - I

think it just wore me down.

As far as the thyroid nodule, I met with the only thyroid dr in town (very

arrogant!) and he said that he doesn't biopsy ones so small, no matter what the

patient's history. OK with me. My oncologist had told me in detail about the

biopsy and due to the position and size of the nodule, it is riskier than

waiting 6 months to do another ultrasound and see if it is growing. Especially

with the whooping cough, waiting seemed to be the best option.

So now I am planning on either going to cancer center in Columbus, OH, and

getting a thyroid/endocrinologist there in 6 months, or possibly Moffet in FL.

It will probably be in Columbus as I already have plans to go there for a family

reunion.

Other than being extremely emotional and tired, I'm much better than last week.

Thanks for the concern! It really is hard to talk to other people about bc

and treatments unless they've been through it - it's so hard emotionally.