Cancer again

I remember taking my wife for treatments we spoke with a nurse who had both breast removed the 1st time she was diagnosed. She was in her 40's and considered it a prudent move at her age and having seen how it can recur. They say we are all born with dormant pre-cancerous cells and that certain things trigger there growth. I hope your close friend recovers again and that she has peace among her family and friends.
 
Thanks DD, Jbradt, CWO4GUNNER, and Dixienut (I missed seeing your post earlier), for your expressions of support.

Gunner, we are all wishing that she had had a double mastectomy back when she had her first diagnosis of breast cancer in 1994. The breast specialist, (not one of the others she had before), said that the thinking has changed for the most part these days, and that lumpectomies are rarely a good decision, and in view of the prevalence of cancer in this family removing both breasts with the first incident would have been best.

The breast doctor said that even with a double mastectomy there can be some miniscule amounts of breast tissue with cancer cells that remain, cells attached to the deeper layers of the skin overlaying the breast tissue.

A new complication: Mom has had CAD (Coronary Artery Disease) for several years and had to have stents put into the arteries of her heart in 2003, and recently she has had some TIAs (Transient Ischemic Attacks) so naturally the surgeon wanted her to get her cardiologist to check her out and give his go-ahead for this surgery; he has found a fairly large area of the heart that is not getting enough blood flow, so she has to have cardiac catheterization Monday morning and probably will have to have another stent placed.

If he has to do a stent at that time, which he feels is likely, then her breast surgery will have to be delayed for at least thirty days, due to the blood thinners that are necessary for that length of time after a stent is placed in an artery.

When it rains it pours.

Thanks, guys, for your kind expressions of support.
 
UPDATE

I thought I’d post an update to this thread; I haven’t been able to be on AC except for the briefest of moments in quite a while. I’ve been busy busy, and away from home quite a bit, but things are slowing down, now.

Thanks, again, to all those who expressed words of support, comfort, and offered prayers. Your kindness was a great help. :)

I mentioned in my last post that before mom could have her surgery for breast cancer she had to be checked out and cleared by a cardiologist; at that time they discovered a huge blockage that could not be corrected by a stent so they had to do a triple bypass surgery before she could have the cancer surgery.
She had a rough time with the bypass surgery and was in the hospital for ten days.

A few weeks after she got out of the hospital she had the double mastectomy. She is recovering well from both surgeries, though she is having a significant degree of cognitive impairment that we are worried about.

They have done a PET scan and bone scan and determined that the cancer had not spread, so we believe she is cancer free, which is certainly a blessing. :) She will meet with an oncologist this next week to discuss any further treatment plans, but we are optimistic that they got all the cancer.
 
Thanks, Labby. :)
 
Glad to hear of her recovery! She's such a strong woman, you must be really blessed to have someone like her in your life.
 
Glad to hear that she made it through. It is quite amazing what people can live through. The doctor told my great grandmother she would never walk again after she shattered her hip. Now she is walking around with her cane in the air :)

My mom had cancer (I cant remember what kind though) and she was very lucky to have a doctor that personally knew the best doctor for that type of cancer. So now she is still seeing him/her every half a year or so for test after her surgery. Every month or two she sees another doctor to have more test done. They think she is fine now, but wont be sure until they run more expensive test. Last year we paid over 3 grand out of pocket in medical bills for her. But for me I think we spent like $100 for an inhaler and stuff. I had minor bronchitis, not fun especially when you are stuck running around a college campus in the cold and rain for a day and a half. (right as it was getting better too.)
 
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