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Praying the Lord hear your request, may
it be granted in his name.

Sending prayers for your sister-in-law and requesting similar prayers for my mother-in-law who is also getting a mastectomy on the 23rd of this month.

Thank you rpayne. She should be in the operating room now. Will let you know what happens.

God be with you both and your family.

Prayers for your mother-in-law, karen.
The news of my sister-in-law isn't good. The doctor found cancer in her lymph nodes. Hopefully all of it was caught, tho, and she will be on radiation and chemo for a year.
Cancer is such a terrible thing. The treatment is so miserable and there is a constant chance of a resurgence even afte years of remission. It's like living on a tightrope.

Pixi, just read your posts about your SIL. I was lucky - they caught my breast cancer early and although it did go to the lymph nodes, those were removed. I had radiation (which was worse than the surgery) and have NO CANCER in my body today. My type of cancer did not call for chemo. I pray your SIL may be as lucky. (Buy her a tube of hydrocortisone; it really helps with the itching from the raditation burns, even more than the creams they'll give her.)

Thanks aknan. That's encouraging. Her sister has been keeping me posted so I won't be talking to her directly. Too many phone calls is not good for recovery. I was told she was to come home today but is having trouble sleeping because of needing to be all wrapped in bandages and needing two drains. Sounds pretty grewsome. At least she's alive and home.

I hate drains; they're just UGH. I had relief by wearing mine (3 of them! ) pinned to a lanyard between my breasts. At night, I wore a tighter t-shirt with the lanyard and that helped stabilze the weight so I could sleep. Also found that a pillow propped against my side gave support, as I couldn't turn over; it let me kind of half-turn and get comfortable. Prayers for her continued healing.

Thanks aknan. Sorry to hear you had to endure that also.

Good news about my sister-in-law. She was up and emailing with the family so she is doing much better. Thank you for those prayers. I will tell you when she starts chemo. She may need more then.

She will need our prayers for many months as she heals. Keeping that line open!

I didn't read about your sister-in-law until it was over. Sorry to hear that she is having problems. Will be praying for her that she gets well. KARENBUGLET, Hope your mother-in-law had a good outcome.

Aknan, Sorry you had to go through all that. I didn't know radiation was so painful and you had to do so much to be comfortable. Glad you are ok.

Thank you Becky. I am going to call her this week to see how she is and what is in store. I'll update you all. Thank you for your prayers.

My S-I-L emailed me. The drain is out but the incision is still leaking. She will start chemo on the 22 if the incision heals completely. She is very tired...said it was hard to answer the email.

An update on my mother-in-law. She had the mastectomy and the doctor was cautiously optimistic that the cancer hadn't gone into her lymph nodes. On Friday we took her to have the drain removed and found out that the lymph nodes were affected after all. They are doing a bone scan this coming Friday to make sure the cancer hasn't gone there (I think). They are only allowing one person to go in with her for all of her appointments, so my husband has gone with her. I'm not sure I am getting all the information straight. Anyway, they are saying she will need 3-4 weeks of radiation 5 days per week and something to block estrogen as this type of cancer feeds off of that. Thanks for your prayers.

Karen, this sounds like the type of breast cancer I had - and HAD is the operative word here. It's driven by estrogen, so after the radiation to kill any cancer cells still remaining, she'll get a pill to take daily, probably for 5 years. The bone scan is routine with breast cancer to be sure nothing is affecting the production of red blood cells or spreading in the bone - and it will also discover any osteoporosis as a bonus.
This is a very good outlook for her. Blessings and prayers for all of you.

Thank you for the reply aknan, you've eased my mind. I will tell my husband when he comes home from work. Blessings.

Karen, radiation is essentially burning through layers of tissue; it's very focused and no blisters form. However, after a few treatments, the skin begins to itch like crazy. The treatment center will give her cream to use religiously on the ares, but I found nothing helped stop the itching like hydrocortisone cream. Immediate relief. I was working full time during all of this and without that, I'm pretty sure I would have embarrassed myself or a client with my scratching! BTW, the treatment leaves dark red scarring and a change in skin texture; this never goes away, but it's a small price to pay for renewed health.

I was away visiting my brother. When I got back one of my relatives told me my S-i-L has begun the rest of her cancer tratment which means her incision finally stopped oozing and healed. That, at least, is good news. I haven't spoken to my S-i-L directly as the one time I called she said she was really exhausted so I went back to getting news from other relatives.

Thanks for the update on your SIL, pixi. Sounds like she is slowly healing. Prayers keeping on...

Thank you Aknan. She sent a note that she was feeling better just in time for the next round of chemo. I guess that's the "normal" experience for people getting chemo.

I haven't posted anything about my Mother-in-law because we didn't know anything definite.

A couple weeks ago she had a PET scan and last Friday she got the results from that. Unfortunately it seems the cancer has spread from her lymph nodes as well. The scan revealed two additional pockets of cancer in her body (I don't know where). The doctor said it was an aggressive, fast moving cancer. She will undergo chemo and radiation at the same time and will begin taking an estrogen blocking pill. She and my husband were in a bit of shock at the news and he is not sure he even heard all the information. I wish they would allow him to record the conversation like the Moffet Cancer doctors did.

What is concerning to me is that they aren't going to start treatment until January 13th. I would think if it is aggressive they would want to start as soon as possible. (Again, they only allow one person to accompany her on her visits, so I am extra in the dark.) They haven't even started the pill yet.

Remarkably my mother-in-law (Julia) is still in good spirits. Any and all prayers are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Breast cancers can be especially aggresive in spreading to other parts of the body. That's why you take so many diffferent scans and tests prior to and after treatment. Most medical centers won't start a series of treatments over the holidays, particularly when they are as complicated as those your MIL will be taking. My prayers to all of you.

Prayers for your mother-in-law, Karen.

Sending healing and comforting prayers for you and family. It is a tough time to deal with all this but may you have strength and endurance during this waiting period.

I can finally give another update on my Mother-in-law. Last Friday she had her final radiation treatment. After her chemo, the pet scan revealed that the cancer was gone, praise God. The 5 weeks of daily radiation following chemo was necessary to keep it from coming back. Reading back over responses I was reminded of an estrogen blocking pill. There was never any mention of that again. I think I will follow up on that. Thanks again everyone for your prayers.

That's wonderful news, Karen.

Karen, it's usual to be on an estrogen blocker for 5 years - one little pill daily. Please do check it out for your MIL. So glad things have gone well so far!