Off topic from fashion.......

[pacruise804]

Glad to hear your appointment went well and that recovery seems normal.  Yay for great customer service 🙂 Hoping being back at work will take your mind off any lingering discomfort.

[Lois R]

Thanks....oh, I TOOK A SHOWER TOO!!!!!!!

[purduemom1]

Hi Lois,

So glad to hear that everything is going well. I know you must be relieved now and that shower must have felt soooo good! 

 

Take care and keep us posted as you continue to recover. 

Sharon

[cruise kitty]

So glad that I found this thread again, &  good to hear that things are going well Lois.   Sending good thoughts your way :)

[purduemom1]

Hi Lois, how are you feeling now that a few more days have passed. Hope progress is going well and you will have a good week end.

Sharon

[Lois R]

Hi Sharon, you are so kind for asking.  I am sore and today especially tired but that is probably because of working

3 days in a row after being off. No timeframe on this part of the healing process. I will be relaxing this weekend.

 

My sister brought up a good point---the pathology report came back all clear so now I have to wonder if there was

ever cancer there to begin with?....I will call the Dr next week to make sure I know all the correct information.

[purduemom1]

3 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi Sharon, you are so kind for asking.  I am sore and today especially tired but that is probably because of working

3 days in a row after being off. No timeframe on this part of the healing process. I will be relaxing this weekend.

 

My sister brought up a good point---the pathology report came back all clear so now I have to wonder if there was

ever cancer there to begin with?....I will call the Dr next week to make sure I know all the correct information.

 

Hi Lois,

Yes, I imagine that working a full day while still recovering from surgery would tire one out. Good that you have the weekend to relax.

 

Gosh that is an interesting question about the cancer and the pathology report.  I have not had to deal with this kind of thing so I don’t understand just what a report indicates.  I  hope your doctor can explain it all so you know exactly where you stand. It’s good to ask questions and discuss your concerns. After all, nowadays we are always encouraged to take charge of our health and gathering information is necessary to accomplish this.

 

Wishing you an enjoyable week end, hard to believe that we are finishing up the first week in December already!

Sharon

 

 

[awhfy]

Lois, the pathology report coming out clear usually means that the margins are clear. No cancer escaped outside of the margins. That’s excellent news. The likelihood of there not being cancer inside the margins is slim to none. Glad you’re starting to feel better. Don’t do too much. Melody

Edited December 7, 2019 by awhfy

[lbjen]

Usually it means clear margins, that basically means they cut an extra area around the tumor, in addition to the tumor (or cells possibly in this case) to make sure they got it all. If all of the additional material comes out clear on testing, they call it clear margins. Sometimes they don’t get clear margins (could be because of where the tumor is located) and that’s where radiation or chemo come in, or additional surgery. 
 

They may also remove some of your lymph nodes to check for signs of cancer cells having spread, when those come back without any cells it’s called clear too. 
 

 

[Lois R]

Hi girls....oh, he did tell me he was going to cut an extra area....and it must have been that area that is part of the

pathology report.  Thank you for that information

[cruise kitty]

25 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi girls....oh, he did tell me he was going to cut an extra area....and it must have been that area that is part of the

pathology report.  Thank you for that information

 

I'm no medical expert, but clear sounds good to me :)    Hope you have a nice healing weekend.  

[Lois R]

Sounds good for sure

 

The healing process? THAT is going to be a lengthy process (from what I am experiencing). I will just have to slow things down.....Getting out of the shower, getting dressed, etc......that whole process is now

at a slower pace. If I try to go at a normal pace, it makes the area hurt so why do something that

will cause me to have more pain?

[pacruise804]

Slowing your pace sounds good.  I know sometimes it is good to push through the pain and not moving at all can make things stiffer, but as long as you are moving some - even if slower - it doesn't sound like that should be an issue.

[Lois R]

Do any of you know about scar tissue while healing? When I got out of the shower this morning and  carefully dried off it seems I felt a sort of hard spot near the area that was cut. First time I had felt something and thought it was weird. I called the Dr this morning about it and will go see him tomorrow. Hoping that is all it is..

 

[awhfy]

5 hours ago, Lois R said:

Do any of you know about scar tissue while healing? When I got out of the shower this morning and  carefully dried off it seems I felt a sort of hard spot near the area that was cut. First time I had felt something and thought it was weird. I called the Dr this morning about it and will go see him tomorrow. Hoping that is all it is..

 

Seems a bit early for scar tissue to form. He may tell you it’s a keloid (rated scar tissue). Does he have you rubbing vitamin E (gel not lotion) or Vaseline into the scar?

[Lois R]

49 minutes ago, awhfy said:

Seems a bit early for scar tissue to form. He may tell you it’s a keloid (rated scar tissue). Does he have you rubbing vitamin E (gel not lotion) or Vaseline into the scar?

Hi, nope...not rubbing anything...…..I have a 9:30 appt with him tomorrow morning so will find out more then.....

I certainly hope it is nothing serious.

[purduemom1]

Hi Lois, sounds like you are doing the right thing by going to have your doctor check things out. I’m sorry I don’t have any experience with this and I hope it isn’t anything to worry about.

Sharon

[cruzisme]

Lois, thinking of you. Hope all goes well.

[cruise kitty]

Hope everything went ok for you today, Lois.  :)

[Lois R]

Hi girls, he said to massage the area---without any lotions or anything. So, I will do that and he also prescribed

a new anti biotic. He did not seem alarmed and did tell me sometimes after surgery  the area can feel hard.

The whole thing with breast tissue...….maybe my body is just taking its time to heal up. Hoping over the next

few days everything starts to go back to normal. 

Thank you all for the kind words and positive thoughts.

[purduemom1]

Hi Lois, so glad this isn’t anything serious. Gosh it sure seems that healing up when one is a bit older just doesn’t come easy. 🤕

Sharon

[Lois R]

10 hours ago, purduemom1 said:

Hi Lois, so glad this isn’t anything serious. Gosh it sure seems that healing up when one is a bit older just doesn’t come easy. 🤕

Sharon

Hi Sharon, I was thinking the same thing

[Lois R]

Hi girls, have some more health news. 

 I met an Oncologist today (my Dr is not one)….this Dr works in the same building as my Dr and both

suggest radiation.  They told me it can decrease the chances of the cancer returning by 50% so I really do need to

do it. It will be after my cruise next month. It will be every day for 4-5 weeks......not sure of all the details yet. I have

a consultation with the Dr on Jan 2nd to discuss it all. He told me it is only about 5 minutes per day. And not on the

weekends.   So that is more information..….**** just so it makes more sense, I see a Hematologist and

the 2 Dr's work in the same place. 

And one great thing, I will not have to worry about missing any work.....did I mention I am retiring on Dec 31st?

[cruise kitty]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi girls, have some more health news. 

 I met an Oncologist today (my Dr is not one)….this Dr works in the same building as my Dr and both

suggest radiation.  They told me it can decrease the chances of the cancer returning by 50% so I really do need to

do it. It will be after my cruise next month. It will be every day for 4-5 weeks......not sure of all the details yet. I have

a consultation with the Dr on Jan 2nd to discuss it all. He told me it is only about 5 minutes per day. And not on the

weekends.   So that is more information..….**** just so it makes more sense, I see a Hematologist and

the 2 Dr's work in the same place. 

And one great thing, I will not have to worry about missing any work.....did I mention I am retiring on Dec 31st?

 

Hi Lois,  thanks for giving us all the update,  nice that you have a cruise coming up, I'm sure you need it :)

 

My mom went thru a similar situation to yours about 5 years ago....   ductal carcinoma in sutu.  She opted to have the lumpectomy followed up by about 6 weeks of radiation.   Of course she's a good bit older than you, but she definitely said the radiation was very simple compared to the pain from the surgery recovery, not to mention the biopsy,   just to give you some reassurance.  The treatments tired her out a bit, but she continued to work full time throughout them.     

 

Happy holidays to you & best wishes for your continued recovery.  :)

[purduemom1]

Hi Lois, I had been wondering how you were doing so glad you updated us.  A friend of mine also had radiation following a lumpectomy and has been cancer free since 2002. She also experienced tiredness and some sun burn like redness at the radiation site. They gave her cream for that. That was 17 years ago so perhaps it’s different now. 

 

The next 2 weeks will pass quickly and you will have your cruises to look forward to after you become a “lady of leisure”. Well actually no such thing because you will find so many ways to stay busy that you will be asking yourself how you ever had time to work! 

Sharon