Breast lumps

Woops, I missed this post, sorry.
Have you gone in for your venous line yet? I'm curious as to which kind your doctor and you decided on. To answer your question-the PICC does hang out of your arm. It is capped off at the exterior end and either sutured in place or secured with a special butterfly type dressing. Showering may be a challange in keeping the dressing dry.

Hi Dianne/Bathy, I'm still knitting along of an evening and thinking of you. Hope you and your daughter have had/are having a good visit.

Hi you all,
I've been running (literally) around having a second opinion and thank god I did. I just didn't like the guy here in town. Plus he sent my medical history - his version - to my specialist and he had so many errors on it I thought we were talking about another person. I mean, this guy even had the tumor size way off! He also claimed he'd done a physical exam and chest x-ray on me and had not, which was concerning to the breast cancer specialist. I've got two great women docs now. One is a breast cancer specialist in Vancouver and the other has been recommended by her to start me on treatments at a location more accessible for me than Vancouver. Looks like I will be getting Taxotere, Carboplatin and -Herceptin (for the her2 positive) every 3 weeks starting either this week or next. I feel better than I did when the first oncologist wanted to start me on chemo, barely a month after surgery. I have full range of motion again with both arms, have been out hiking with hubby and dogs in our beautiful cool rainy autumnal weather on the raincoast of BC.

I also think I don't want a PICC line. I don't mind needle sticks and I like to take showers!

My daughter is coming up again for T. Giving even tho we already had Turkey Day here in Canada in Oct. Hope I still have some hair left so I don't scare her.

Anyway I can't stress enough the importance of getting a second opinion, even a third for medical issues.

Thank you all so much for being here. I'm so scared that it's beyond fear.

Bathy

Hi Bathsheba thanks for calling in and giving us an update. Looks like you're heading in the right direction with your new Doctors. Great to hear your daughter will be with you soon, just wear a jazzy baseball cap, she won't notice a few hairs missing. Only natural to be feeling scared, keep on believing Bathy, you will get there. Best wishes to the three of you. (((Dianne)))

She won't worry about the hair, trust me.

Good to read you've got better doctors. Fear is natural but you're moving in a very good direction.

Hugs!

Sounds like a plan! Good for you for going with your instincts. There was something not connecting right with the other doc. I'm glad you've got a team you can trust now.

Hair, shmair -- it'll grow back.

HUGS!

Hi Dutchy,
Miss the games! I'll have to check and see how many pages the three letter word game has now. Hey, don't they make baseball caps with fake hair attached?
I'm trying to keep on believing, thanks for the positive words and kindness. If I could run away I would but wherever I go, there I am......
Hope your weather is better than ours. We're getting into the rainy season here. Was hoping to do some mushroom picking but it's too wet. Almost beer drinking time in Aussie, eh Dutchy? Anything blooming yet?
Dianne
Bathy

Hey Jespah and JPB, thanks for the upbeat words! I think the other doc is unable to connect with much of anything. A real dufus. I will be starting chemo sometime next week; either Tues, Wednes or Thurs. so please send some good vibes my way next week as I sit in The Chair. I know I have to think more positively about it....can't figure out how to do that at present. I think I'd rather have each and every toenail/fingernail pulled out one by one than go through this. I mean, really.

Dianne
Bathy

Late night hugs, girl...

RH

They do. There are places to get fitted -- I'm not sure exactly of all the mechanics of it in terms of how to get to such places but I bet they're in the phone book like any other service. Just look up chemo wigs or the like, or call a hairdresser and ask where you might find one, or even ask the staff at chemo as they may know.

Bring a book or knitting or the like to chemo. You may find that even if you are right on time for your appointment that you have a lot of waiting ahead of you. Something light that you don't have to really get into, like short stories, could work. Crosswords or Sudoku are good, too.

Bathy, I'm glad about the new docs, for sure. Will be thinking of you - meantime sending good vibes.

Thanks osso and jespah for the advice and good vibes. I can always use that!

I have a little canvas bag to bring to chemo, and I have some favorite CD's to listen to with my headset as well as some Mark Twain stories to re-read - also my sis in law sent me the book Wicked.

The cap with wig attached sounds great but nobody in my teeny town will have such a thing. Might have to scout around Vancouver a bit when I'm feeling up to it.

I'll be thinking of my friends here at a2k too. You are a wonderful bunch!

Dianne
Bathy

Hi Dianne, looks like you're well prepared for the road ahead, wishing you peace of mind and happier days to come, we're thinking of you too.
Your friend from down under. (((((vibes to Bathy)))))

Thinking of & praying for you, (((Bathy)))!

Hi Danny from down under,
Thanks for the good vibes-I need them. I guess I'm as prepared as anyone could be. It all begins Nov. 6 on an every 3 week basis for about 5 months, then about 11 treatments with just Herceptin after that. Lordy I wish I could be anywhere else but in The Chair! I'll try & remember the light at the end of the tunnel ISN'T a train,
((((HUGS)))) back to you
Dianne

You're a sweetie! Prayers are an amazing thing - I appreciate that you're doing that for me.
Dianne
Bathy

Hey Dianne...

Thinking of you and sending you all the posivibes we can muster. You are doing incredibly well hun - keep the humour inside you and try to take each day as it comes.

How's hubby and daughter coping?

Take very good care and will be sending healing thoughts from this side of the pond.

Iz xx

Hey Dianne.... hows goes it? x

Hi Bathy thinking of you also, how did things go on the 6th?

I was thinking of you yesterday as I was explaining my growing collection of knitted shapes to my best friend.

One week of treatment just about done with. Good eh.