OT but need help!

[baratron]

What country do you & your mom live in? Do you have anything like our Macmillan nurses there? Someone who can give physical & emotional support to your mom and the whole family?

Don't underestimate the emotional support that you will need - you have to support your mother, but that takes some of your energy away from the people you usually look after. Make sure you have friends or family that are willing to keep talking, and are willing to listen while you rant & scream about how unfair it is. One of the great things about the internet is its easy access to information, and another is that no matter what time of day you log on, there's probably someone around. 

When you are able to, find out as much as you can about the cancer. Is it one of those breast cancers that is hereditary? They have gene tests for many of those now (they look for something called the BRCA1 & 2 genes, which are implicated in breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men), and if one of those is showing up, it is worth asking whether you & other close blood family members should get tested. Having those genes does not guarantee that you will get cancer, but raises the possibility from a small percentage up to maybe 50% - so it is useful to keep self-examining and get professionally screened more frequently than usual. Also, recent innovations in cancer treatment specifically target & try to "turn off" the faulty genes - your mom may be able to get into a clinical trial for a new drug.

I have a vested interest in cancer research. My mum had a particularly nasty form of uterine cancer, and it seems to be hereditary as her aunt had the same thing, but there is no test for the genes yet. Also, it doesn't normally show up until the age of 70+ by which time it's too late - my mum was lucky that she told her doctors about her aunt early on, and they caught it for her at 56. So I am walking around wondering every so often whether I'll get hit by it as well. It doesn't bother me most of the time, just when I'm stressed & insecure.

[HRH Posie]

I'm sorry to hear that SJ however just to reiterate, breast cancer treatment has greatly improved over the last few years.  My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer just before I was born in the mid 70's and she's still going strong.  Keep your chin up, and I'm sure things will work out for you and your mother

[J. M. Pescado]

I have a vested interest in cancer research. My mum had a particularly nasty form of uterine cancer, and it seems to be hereditary as her aunt had the same thing, but there is no test for the genes yet. Also, it doesn't normally show up until the age of 70+ by which time it's too late - my mum was lucky that she told her doctors about her aunt early on, and they caught it for her at 56. So I am walking around wondering every so often whether I'll get hit by it as well. It doesn't bother me most of the time, just when I'm stressed & insecure.

If it doesn't show up until then, it's not a serious problem. Just have the offending organ removed after it's gone past its sell-by date.

[ZephyrZodiac]

The problem with that. JM, is that by the time some cancers are diagnosed, they've already started to infiltrate other parts of the body, like the lymphatic system!  Then it's much harder to treat!

[witch]

Well, it's pretty hard to have it MORE than once, I suppose, given that you'll be out of breasts after the second one.

Heh, I had both my breasts chopped off first time, why dick around I thought. Means I can shoot arrows from either side. 

Actually it's like other posters have mentioned, it's the lymph system that is crucial, they often remove lymph nodes under the arm if they suspect it has got to that stage. Breast cancer can also spread to the brain, reproductive organs, liver or lungs. It is still known as breast cancer in that case.

Interestingly when I did chemotherapy the nurses told me that women getting breast cancer are getting younger. They used to see only elderly women, now it's women in their forties. I reckon the crap we put in the ground and in the air, plus the entire electromagnetic spectrum of crap zinging everywhere, has affected our bodies. Humans haven't evolved enough to cope with all the toxins we have introduced to our planet. New Zealand has a clean green image to the rest of the world but we hide the secret that we are not so clean as we would have you believe.

PS Hey SJ, PM me if you wish. RSVP ASAP

[SJActress]

Thank you all again, for your kind words, e-mails, and offers...I feel like I've been politely spammed!
Kidding.  I am very grateful to all of you...even JM in some sick, twisted way. 

No news yet...I'll keep you posted when I find something out.  Hang tight, or ten, or whatever!

[LK]

Hang ten?  I don't think surfing is going to be beneficial for someone with cancer.

[SJActress]

roflmao!

Nice one, LK!

[Oddysey]

Actually it's like other posters have mentioned, it's the lymph system that is crucial, they often remove lymph nodes under the arm if they suspect it has got to that stage. Breast cancer can also spread to the brain, reproductive organs, liver or lungs. It is still known as breast cancer in that case.

Interestingly when I did chemotherapy the nurses told me that women getting breast cancer are getting younger. They used to see only elderly women, now it's women in their forties. I reckon the crap we put in the ground and in the air, plus the entire electromagnetic spectrum of crap zinging everywhere, has affected our bodies. Humans haven't evolved enough to cope with all the toxins we have introduced to our planet. New Zealand has a clean green image to the rest of the world but we hide the secret that we are not so clean as we would have you believe.

Yep. The nastiest cancers--lung, breast, melanoma--are nasty because they have a tendency to spread everywhere, as well as growing like crazy and basically eating whatever internal organ they happen to be near. Not fun. But you catch 'em early, and you have a pretty good shot at knocking them off, because we have a better understanding now of what they do and how they do it.

I'll never understand why some people think that environmentalism is altruistic. It's self-interest. We aren't going to "kill the earth" because the biosphere is very robust, but the state that we like and can survive in is hair-trigger delicate, so we have to worry about killing ourselves.

Check out Home of the Archon. Very interesting site in general, but there's a link down at the bottom, "Bright Catharsis" that if you click on leads to another page that has a bunch more links, some of which will refer to "Of CT Scans and Kings." Very well written story of being a cancer patient and dealing with the medical system of Halifax.

[J. M. Pescado]

I'll never understand why some people think that environmentalism is altruistic. It's self-interest. We aren't going to "kill the earth" because the biosphere is very robust, but the state that we like and can survive in is hair-trigger delicate, so we have to worry about killing ourselves.

The world has certainly survived larger extinctions and more mass-destruction than humans have yet to inflict. Besides, you know the saying: Earth first: We'll log and strip-mine the other planets later!

[veilchen]

Too true. Makes it kind of scary to think about the time the dinosaur ruled the earth and the mammal was a small furry creature that lived mostly in hiding, lest they become breakfast.

And then...poof, the reptiles were gone, and the mammals rose to power (well not quite as simple as that, but you get the picture )

[bluecatvon]

hugs! i know little of breast cancer but depending on what the other posters had said, i'm sure everything's gonna be alright!