Dawn and Joan M - How are you?

[Faith in Him]

Just wondering how you are doing? Please check in when you can.


Tonya

[Mary Jo]

Thanks Tonya for asking about them...I am wondering too.

Mary Jo

[Mary Anne in TX]

and good luck on your tests tomorrow, Tonya!!!

[Jackie07]

Tonya,

Good luck on your test. [Thanks, MA]

I just sent Dawn and Joan an e-mail about this thread. Hopefully we'll hear from them soon.

[MJo]

I know that Joan M is healthy and busy. I expect she will post soon.

[Joan M]

Hi everyone,

Tonya, thanks for asking, and yes I have been very busy.

Things have been both good and bad. I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first, which is related to my stage iv cancer.

There's no sign of cancer lately, which is a good thing. The bad stuff relates to the thoracic surgery, and I'm very upset about it because I feel like I'm literally unraveling at the seams and the thoracic surgeon is very evasive on questioning.

I've never felt physically the same since the surgery, and I have constant pain and discomfort in the rib cage and back, a pulling sensation. And my rib cage on the surgery side sticks out much further than on the opposite side. I've just gotten used to it. It's now become part of life.

But besides that, about two weeks ago I noticed a bump about the size of half a hard ball in the middle of my shoulder blade, which turned out to be fluid accumulation. The thoracic surgeon who did the "emergency" surgery in July (who I do not trust, along with his staff) withdrew 50 cc of fluid, which tested negative for cancer, bacteria and fungus. And I'm grateful for that. As far as he's concerned, the issue is resolved unless it happens again, and I don't like his attitude.

The CT scan report said that fluid accumulation between the posterior chest wall and pleural space had deeply penetrated to the latissimus dorsi mucle. It also suggested a possible "communication" between those two spaces, which is basically a hole (even though there was no actual sign of that), and that attention should be given to follow-up. Since I'm due for regular scans in early March that will be the follow-up.

I've had a lot more discomfort since the bump, and I'm feeling more out of breathe going up stairs and doing tasks, probably due to the fluid accumulation putting pressure in the area. The surgeon said the body will absorb the extra water.

The area of the lung where the surgery was done looks fine, and the fluid accumulation is on the other side of the chest wall, so not in the lung cavity.

The surgeon was very evasive on questioning. I've yet to find out the bigger implications of this, other than the fact that he'd have to go in there again to fix it if it happens again.

I've been watching the reduced bump, which may have gotten a little bigger, but it's hard to tell just yet.

I had a brain MRI in October which showed increased enhancement over the June scan in the area of the surgery and radiation. The report said it was probably due to postradiation changes (that is, necrosis), but regrowth could not be ruled out. I've spoken to both the radiation oncologist and neuro-oncologist, which both say we'll just have to wait it out. And I'm not good at that.

But the good news is that there's no confirmation of any cancer anywhere, even though that's always a waiting game, anyway.

Also, I've been volunteering one day a week answering the SHARE hotline and happy to be helping out.

Since photography is my hobby I've been taking classes lately. It's good because it keeps my mind occupied and helps me to stop worrying.

I'm adjusting to not working any more. I was due to return to work in early September after recuperating from the thoracic surgery in July, but along with my oncologist, decided to call it a day. My job was very stressful and demanding, and several of my co-workers have been let go since then. It's been an adjustment emotionally. I went through a very hard time with that and I think I'm finally starting to emerge.

xoxo

Joan

[chrisy]

Joan, what a lot of crap to be dealing with.

I think tho that once you complete your transition to lady of leisure (albeit filling a lot of that extra time with medical stuff) it will be a positive thing to be free of the work stress. That way you can focus on (relieving) the other stress.

Photography is such a wonderful hobby - I've recently gotten into it and even though I'm not very good, I find it really makes me take a better, and slower, look at the world around me. So many wondrous things, including people. Maybe you can make that a second, more enjoyable career.

In the meantime, focus on getting yourself healthy. I might be confused about the thoracic surgeon - is there one or two? It is so important to trust our medical partners...and if you can dump the untrustworthy one with the attitude problem you might be better off!

Take care,
Chris

[schoolteacher]

Joan,

Glad to hear from you.

Amelia

[Ceesun]

Joan, Been wondering how you are doing...welcome to the world of retirement. It is an adjustment, but I think you will be pleased. xo Ceesun

[Faith in Him]

Joan,

I relieved to learn that you are busy. I hope you can get some relief from the pain you are experiencing.

Tonya

[Darlene Denise]

Hey Joan; Good to hear from you. You have always been so kind to check in on me from time to time when you noticed my absence. I was hoping you were so busy not working and enjoying your reduced stress days, that there was little time to check in.

My Jan brain scan has an issue that I have to wait and see too. I scan again in March. Please pm me and let me know how things go for you and I'll do the same.

Sending my best well wishes...Darlene

[Jackie07]

Just got an e-mail from Dawn. She has an infusion today and will post on the Board later.

"...please let Faith in Him know Im doing fine and have been lurking in the background. Also I hope everything went well with Saint on Monday."

[dawn]

Hi Guys,

Thank you so much for checking in. I've been really busy also. School is back on after Christmas and activities have started up also with my kids. So, Thank God, that keeps me really busy.
I've finally come to terms I think with my Stage iv dx and I'm dealing with it quite well, I think. I take a few ativan with me everywhere just in case a "feeling" comes over me. My onc, has been a "Godsend". Returning my frantic calls, in the beginning and trying to give me some consolation. He even stopped his appts, one day when I popped in, just to assure me "this is not the end, only the beginning of hopefully putting this in it's place for good". How can you not love a doctor like that? My son has "Aspergers Syndrome" when he was in for his appt last week, my 5 year old daughter(who loves my onc) wanted to see him. So we called down to his office(in the same hospital) to say hi and he wanted her to come down to see him. She was so very excited and he was genuinely happy to see her and also to see I was doing so much better. I'm very lucky, between my doctors, my husband, kids, brother and 3 sisters and now the wonderful friends I've found here and on the BCO site. Im starting to realize I should be thankful and not mope and drip but take advantage of not being sick(fingers crossed) and enjoy what I have. Hey, I think the optomistic Dawn is coming back again. Today I had my 3rd ARedia infusion. SE aren't bad I find Im achy for a couple of days, a little tired today, the night of the infusion I get cold chills but then that is just about it. Thankful again!!! No real SE with Aromasin, or none that I find. Next Thursday, I have my CT Scan to check on things, then I go see my onc on the 22nd. Hopefully an NED result, or Stable would be good too. But if there's other news, well Im going to have to deal with that, when the time comes, but I've come to the conclusion that Im not going to waste precious time with people I love and care for, in a state of panic and depression. Things will be as they are meant to be. There's other news also. Im considering going back to college to do a course in Early Childhood Education. Tomorrow morning I have to do an Entrance Exam. I read somewhere that you need to start living for today. So yup, I m looking to change careers from Accounting to Student Assistant. Not only because it's something different, it will give me the opportunity to spend more time with my children and also learn some valuable skills to help me with my son. So why not.

Anyway, I'll keep you updated on whats going on and thank you so much for checking in.

Faith-In-Him I check in daily on Prayers for Saint to see how things are going. Hope all is well

Dawn

[Faith in Him]

So glad to hear things are looking up. You have a wonderful onc.

Tonya