[Karen Wheel]

Thanks - but I'm not new... and changing doctors in Italy is well, not easy to do. The doctors who were poo-pooing and saying it was a exaggeration of the ultrasound were the chemo "team" doctors - they just monitor how the chemo and Herceptin are going (the cure as they call it here in Italy) so my main Oncologist is good - and I do trust her - but she didn't think there was anything there back in November when she did an exam... now even the doctor who did the ultrasound could "feel" the spot and spent 30 minutes with me doing mostly the breast that I had surgery on .... she is the one the other doctors are saying is exaggerating. I don't think she was. I think there was enough for her to take 30 minutes to try to see if she could find something on the test. And she wrote it up - sad thing is I don't read that great in Italian, so I'm not sure if it seems good or bad -but it caused a reaction with the chemo squad. :-) And, well, in the defense of the chemo squad --- they don't see me as "sick" .... I look great, I didn't lose my hair because of the low grade chemo I chose and they don't live inside my body or feel the headaches I have been fighting (and lack of any sort of good sleep) from the Herceptin for a year. They see a healthy woman in what they think is a state of exaggeration .... so, after seeing how many of my fellow patients look there at the day hospital .... I can understand why they think I'm a bit crazy (other than the fact I'm American!)... :-)

I'm just curious if others who have had a 1/4 mastectomy or similar size lumpectomy have pain still after a year - and localized pain in one particular area that won't seem to let up --- and have spots that they worry about???

Thanks again --- Karen