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Laurie,

There are so many women who post here in your shoes and have been doing so well for so long... I have always felt this is the place to go to get the best advice...

I had a pediatric port... it was barely noticeable (no bulge). I had it removed after my 2nd year of tx... I am not a small person either-- (150 lbs)
I never had the discomfort from seatbelts rubbing against it, nor did it "show" when I wore clothes with a bit of cleavage. I guess this sounds rather silly- but for some reason I did not care about my hairless head; I cared more about my port protuding and it making me feel like a cancer patient.

Hang in there-- you will do great.

Warmly--

MTS

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Thanks everyone for your encouragement and advice!

I am leaving for chemo in a little while and I will be bringing some ice packs along.

Yes, Mary Jo, I celebrated my five years on 3/21. I had my last onc appointment then, and he told me I didn't need to come see him anymore. While he said he would never tell me that my chance of a recurrence was zero, he said it was pretty close to that.

My family and I went to Hawaii to celebrate and I went on living, thinking this cancer thing was all in the past.

To say that this last week has been a shock is an understatement. I keep thinking it is a bad dream that I am going to wake up from.

I have a good friend, who has a great sense of humor, and she told me yesterday that she thinks I should tell my onc that he needs to refund me for my trip to Hawaii!

Hopefully, I will be getting a power port on Friday. I then have my brain mri, pet scan and muga scan all next week.

I will keep you updated.

Laurie

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Hello Laurie. I'm so sorry you are having to do battle again. Sounds like you now have a plan and that's so very important. I'm praying for your port insertion and good scans, and then for your strength and fortitude to do your treatment. Please know that your HER2 family is surrounding you with love and support.

Barb A.

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Dear Laurie.

Good luck you deserve it.

Janie

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Laurie, I am so sorry you have to fight again. I just wanted to send you courage and hugs. Michka

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Laurie,
I am very sorry to hear your news. I did have taxotere and yes it is doable. I did not ice my fingers or toes and did not have any issues with my nails. Did have the aches and muscle tenderness and I would take advil.
Also needed the shot to boost the white cells back up.
But for the most part what not as bad as I thought it would. The steriod portion was not easy as I found it wired me up.

Sending you much love and prayers for the taxotere to kick those nasty cells to the curb and do it fast.

Hugs,
jean

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I am just speechless that you were asked what kind of a PORT you want? Trying to think of a nice way to put it, but are they &*%$!! kidding you? What next? What kind of scalpel shall we use? Do you prefer clear or white thread for stitches? Wow - we have enough pressure researching our own chemo regimes. Why aren't our doctors advising us what is the best port to use and why that is so? Wishing you all the best, of course, and please take things one day at a time. Cliche but it works. Hugs, Flori

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Hi Laurie, I hardly ever post here anymore but, I feel if I don't share my story to encourage others I will be wasting my experience. I had liver mets, but just one it was caught a 3 cm, this made me eligible for a re-section which I had along with taxol/herceptin, this was dx'd in March of '04!! I had a 4 kids 10 & under with a grim prognosis of 16% 5 yr survival, although during a routine ct scan for the liver 6mos later they found bone mets, but I am still doing well and Lord willing..I will see my oldest graduate high school and turn 40 next year!
I wish you all the best...Try not to let fear rule your life..

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Laurie,

I know the feeling of learning that your breast cancer has spread. It's what we fear the most.

Is it possible to have the liver lesion surgically removed, or treated with radiofrequency ablation (that's radio waves, not radiation), or cryoablation (freezing the tumor)?

Oncologists rarely mention these procedures, but several women on this board have had them.

I had a lung wedge resection when my bc first occurred. There was one small tumor in my lung. The tumor recurred a year later, and I had an RFA. In my case, and a rare event, a fungus grew in the cavity caused my the RFA and I ended up having to have another lung surgery. But, and that's a big but, there was only a fungal ball in the cavity and no cancer according to the pathology report. So, I've been cancer-free since October 2008.

Just a thought on how you might proceed.

Joan

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Laurie I'm so sorry to read this news - but you sound strong, and with the help of the wonderful women on this board - I believe you'll fight this beast back into a corner very soon! I'll be praying for you!

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Thank you for all of the help and encouragement.

I have considered cyberknife or other treatments, but right now the tumor is 11 cm, so chemo , I think is the only option.

the good news is after having my first chemo, my pain in my back and when breathing is gone. I am taking that as a good sign. I will have herceptin on wed. then a pet scan on thur. I am hoping for even a little shrinkage of the liver tumor ( and of course NED everywhere else)

I used the ice bags on my feet and hands during the taxotere, but I have a question. It took 1 hour and 15 minutes for the infusion. Do you need to keep the ice on the whole time? It was freezing! I tried to tolerate it as long as I could, then would take small breaks, then put it back on.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

Laurie