Back for another scan. Is it or isn’t it
My 2nd round of blood test and a bone scan tomorrow the time has certainly dragged since the question first reared it’s ugly head mets or arthritis or both. Have to wait a full week for results. Going to be the longest week will post the results when I get them. In the meantime I’ll keep amusing myself with Friday funnies and night howls during the long night I’ve been experiencing wish I was clever with advise or uplifting comments
Recurrence Predictor Test
Hi all, This just came up in my Facebook feed and it sounds like an amazing development, that hopefully isn't too far away - scientists at Cambridge and Stanford Universities have developed a tool that can more accurately predict the return of breast cancer cancer within two decades of remission. The researchers explain that there are 11 types of breast cancer and all of them have a different risk of returning or relapsing. The test would soon determine who would need to worry the least about their cancer returning and who would have a high risk of getting a relapse of their cancers. The tool could help guide treatment options and hopefully reduce recurrence rates. The full article is here: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20190318/Breast-cancer-relapse-predictor-may-soon-be-a-reality.aspx?fbclid=IwAR2_w0AzjcrVi53zcdkJBIX9AhSkPcU-eTByH9pqdjkNF40LtD07G0IwnMA
Trying to remember the whole one step at a time mantra
The last few weeks I have had to tell myself to take a breath and take one step at a time. My 50th birthday was a complete bust. Ended up in an ambulance with a trip to hospital and not from anything fun. Missed out on having any bubbly, due to severe stomach pain after a few weeks of having problems swallowing foods and liquids - something I had initially put down to reflux. But the pain was unbearable, worse than childbirth. So tests, tests, and more tests and lots of pain meds. Then biopsies of the duodenum (small intestine) after CT scan picked up significant thickening in sections 1, 3 and 4. Problems with the procedure meant the doctor could only get biopsy from section 1 of the duodenum. So now MRI, Barium swallow and other tests this Friday and next Monday. Gastro doc suggested that having HER2 positive breast cancer meant there was an increased risk of bowel cancer. Has anyone else heard this? Fingers crossed the thickening is something like inflammatory bowel disease instead of the big C. On the upside, I've lost 4.5 kgs in 2 weeks. Pathology from the first sample won't be ready until Friday, so now I'm playing the waiting game while enjoying a liquid only diet. Forgot how horrible the waiting game is. Hope everyone is doing ok. Nadine
Suspicious Bone Lesions
After having diep flap reconstruction in Feb 2019 my plastic surgeon sent me for an abdominal CT scan to check a few things out. This appointment was in August 2020. Had the scan. The report also sent to my GP (who is wonderful). The last line on the report commented on suspicious areas on my spine. He then contacted the oncology department at Monash. No one could explain. Got sent for a Bone Scan which showed nothing. This was followed by a PET scan. End result is blood tests are all fine, no lymph nodes affected, other organs fine, no breast area concerns BUT have multiple tiny lesions scattered on my bones - shoulder, spine, pelvis. After the oncologist had consultations with other colleagues I have been given no answers. I am now waiting for an appointment for a bone biopsy by the lesions are so small it will be difficult. Waiting, waiting, waiting for that appointment. Cant say I am optimistic. By the way, still have not heard from the plastic surgeon.Unsure of how far to push my doctor for reassurance
Hi all After being unwell for a while and quite a few tests (abdo and pelvis ultrasound, abdo and pelvis CT, abdo and pelvis MRI, endoscopy, bloods), today I was diagnosed with Achalasia which is a disease of the lower oesophagus sphincter. Achalasia is a rare disease (1 in 100,000). There have been a small number of cases (also rare) of breast cancer metastasis to the oesophagus presenting as Achalasia and I can't help but worry about that given my BC history. I asked my specialist if we can definitively rule out oesophageal cancer as a cause of my Achalasia. The tests I have had so far have all focussed on the abdo and pelvis region as this was where I felt all the pain. His response was that breast cancer metastasis to the oesophagus is extremely rare and the endoscopy didn't show anything, but he will ask the radiologist to review my scans to see if they did in fact capture the oesophagus. I guess I should be comforted by this, but I'm not. I just want some reassurance that nothing has been missed and that I am not one of the rarer ones that may have oesophageal metastasis presenting as Achalasia. I don't know how far I should push my specialist and whether I should request another MRI or CT of the oesophagus or go back and see my onc regarding my fears. As an aside I have already had numerous CT scans during my lifetime. Am I being overly paranoid? Regardless of the cause of the Achalasia, I need surgery as it is not possible for me to eat any solid foods and I can only drink about 2 cups of water a day which is why I have lost 7 kgs in 4weeks (and not in the good way). I will have to have yearly endoscopies going forward because a diagnosis of Achalasia means I have a 30 fold increase in the risk for developing oesophageal cancer in the future if it wasn't the cause of Achalasia in the first place. Any advice as to how I can be reassured would be appreciated. I would also welcome any information from anyone diagnosed with Achalasia or oesophageal metastasis. The surgery that has been suggested is a Heller Myotomy with a Nissen Fundoplication. Thanks in advance. Nadine
Testing question
My 44 year old daughter has been treated at Wesley Brisbane for cysts in her breasts for years. Now they have found something suspicious in her breast and want to do MRI. She’s had them before but this one needs to be done at a particular time of the month, and she’s had her uterus removed so no periods. They said if it’s not the right time, they will repeat it. She can no longer afford all this. She rang breastscreen and they said all they can do is book a mammogram for October, which is twelve months since her last one ( when Wesley found this lump). Her GP said she needs the MRI but can’t order a bulk billed one. Does anyone know where she goes from here. Neither of us want her to wait till October. She will pay for one MRI if needed but can’t do much more than one.
Wasn't sure whether to laugh or run.
I'm afraid this will be a somewhat convoluted post, but here goes. I've been on Warfarin (blood thinner) for over twenty years now, which means either weekly or fortnightly blood tests. Needless to say, even before catching a ride on Stephen King's Cancer Bus, my veins are somewhat buggered. After having a bilateral mastectomy in 2017, with total node clearance on the left and sentinel node on the right, my left arm is now out of bounds for blood tests. I went in to my usual pathology rooms to get my bloods taken, to find both of the usual ladies absent...one lady day off and the other off sick. A casual Dracula's Bride took me through and I extended my right arm so she could take a look. She wasn't impressed by the shitty veins on offer and started sussing out my left arm. I told her that the left side was not to be used and pointed out the usually used, very scarred veins on the right side. She wasn't having a bar of it, and her eyes kept swiveling to the other one (much like my five year old grandson's eyes as they fix on Granny's bag just before I leave...he knows full well there be sweeties hiding there). I explained to her that I'd had a total axillary clearance on the left side and therefor that arm was off limits. She had no idea what I was referring to and asked me to explain what the significance of the axillary clearance was and indeed, where exactly the axilla is. I explained that these were a bunch of lymph nodes, much like a bunch of grapes, situated in the armpit. She then patted my hand and said...."Ooooh never mind dearie...I won't be poking the needle into your armpit....I'll do it here....on your wrist." Between the patronising patting...the "dearie" and the sheer ignorance, I think I should receive a gold star for not slapping her. I did leave and returned today for my regular lady to do the job. Sheeshh....
Season Finale to "Scan day Freaking sux"
A lot of you will know my ongoing soap opera with the elusive eliptical thingy appearing on my MRI's. So after what seemed like an eternal three months after the excisional biopsy I went for the follow up scan. Another two weeks of waiting between scan and results due to limited clinic times....thank you COVID! Interestingly enough I had no jitters. I had pretty much made up my mind that if that thing was still there and did not look like swiss cheese at least, that it really wanted to be there and I was not going to worry about it unless I got a definite yes it's nasty. Anyhooooo.....IT'S GONE and pathology benign! I would have hugged madame BS if I had been allowed to. She's a very good shot considering she was pretty much flying blind. Who woulda thought something as disgustingly named as fat necrosis would be so welcome! Ya bloody hoo. End of chapter. Lotsa luv to all xoxoxoxo
Oncology day
Just home after visiting my oncologist. Previously I had scans and a biopsy on a lump I found in my neck. My oncologist said I dont have any good news which I wasn't really expecting. Apparently the lump was in my lymph gland and is the same type of cancer as my breast cancer. So I'm changing chemo again. This time it will be IV Caelyx once every 4 weeks . Have to keep an eye on the lump, that it doesn't get any bigger or I may have to have radiation therapy to shrink it. I will also loose my hair again, which will be the 4th time, but that doesn't worry me any more. One good thing that she agreed with, was that I can go and see my daughter and her family in Tassie before Christmas. Can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit more down there and I will be off.
