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Old 11-30-2014, 08:40 PM   #19
rhondalea
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Somerset, NJ
Posts: 487
Re: No Travel Required - KRAS-Variant Mutation and Breast Cancer

What's weird is that you would think heterozygotes would have some protection from low iron, but at least in my case, that's not the case at all. I've had intermittent anemia for most of my life, and with it comes very low ferritin, followed by restless legs. Given the alternative, it's just as well, I suppose--hemachromatosis can lead to some pretty dreadful ailments if untreated--but you'd think that the gene variants could have at least tried to arrange themselves with a little more utility.

I was just recently looking over some of the porphyria templates at Livewello (a third-party site where the 23andMe raw data can be analyzed). I don't think I'll ever figure out what this anemia business is all about--seems to be related to my thyroid--but I've certainly ruled all the more obvious explanations. I almost wish I'd been born 50-100 years later, because I'd really like to be around when our genes become less a mystery and more a guidebook for lifestyle.
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2/6/09 Core needle biopsy: negative; Mammos through 2010: no change
3/30/11 Pea-sized lump in left breast at site of prior biopsy; mammo negative, sonogram not so much
4/14/11 Core needle biopsy: negative for cancer
5/18/11 Excisional biopsy 1.2 cm tumor, LVI, positive margin; ER+60%,PR+20%,HER2/CEP17 5
6/15/11 BMX: Left DCIS & LH; Right ADH; SNB: 2/3 nodes: 1.4 cm and 1 mm; ALND L1&2: 0/10; Stage IIa, Grade 3
7/14/11 CT/Bone scans NED; MUGA 66%
7/19/11 Biweekly dd AC w/Neulasta; done 8/30/11
9/13/11 Transfusion (Hemoglobin 8.6); MUGA 64%
9/20/11 Start Taxol + Herceptin; Taxol done 12/6/2011; continue Herceptin until 9/4/2012
12/27/11 Radiation - 6 weeks; 2/27/2012 - DONE! Yayyyy!
2/29/12 Start Tamoxifen 20 mg/day; continue until 2/28/17
5/16/12 Start five-years Metformin trial
6/19/12 MUGA 61%
8/21/12 Brain MRI NED (head still hurts, brain still fogged)
9/4/12 Herceptin done!
9/6/12 Port out!
7/11/13 Aricept 5mg for cognitive impairment; increased to 10mg as of 8/23/13; back to 5mg 12/2013
5/2014 Add Namenda 7mg
9/2014 Stop Aricept and Namenda; Neuropsychological evaluation
10/24/14 Start cognitive rehabilitation therapy
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