My prayers and positive thoughts go out to you and your family. I don't always post but am here every day to check on things. Over time I've gotten several hints and suggestions and ideas from you both. We'll all look foreward to your updates. Good luck.

I'm glad your mother checked her breasts! Hopefully she will have a great outcome...there have been wonderful strides made in this area of medicine of late. We'll all be rooting for her, and she will be in our hearts!

Mary

Susan, I will be keeping you both in my prayers. I hope everything goes well for your mom. Colleen

Please take care of each other. I have enjoyed your many posts and useful information. Look forward to having you both back when this situation is handled. Prayers for you both.

Thanks so much for all of your kind words. We both appreciate it a lot.
Susan

Susan,
Did you get my email?? Thank you for letting us know,so that i won't go posting MIA's again.LOL Seriously though,will add your mom,you and all your family to my prayer list.Keep positive thought,that's half the battle.Please keep us posted.
Kathi

Susan, I am a "newbie" on this forum but please know that you, your mother and family are in my prayers during this very stressful time. Thank goodness she checks her breasts...lots of us don't.

God bless,
Leona

Since this is a sewing forum, you'll have to smile at how I found this critter. It wasn't bathing or any kind of self exam.......I was brushing threads off me after clipping jump threads on embroidery.

I have been seen from every 4 weeks to 6 months & all points in between since 2003 for these fluid filled cysts. I have had them since back into the 80s with the last around 93. The halt came after one doctor heard about leaving the needle in & emptying the syringe & putting it back on the needle & inflating the cyst sac with air. It worked about 10 years compare to months. He said the air filled sac would not refill, any more would be newly formed ones. I knew their feel to touch & how they felt when needing aspiration. My GYN has this jiggly boob with the BAD things in it for patients to feel & she had went over it with me in comparison to mine. I have lost count of the aspirations & sonograms I have had in addition to hands on exams by the GYN, the surgeon & the sonar guy. My last mammogram was June 26th & was negative. My last sonogram prior to finding this was the last of Dec. & I still had several fluid filled cysts but too tiny to aspirate. Believe me, I have had so much medical attention & my own self exams, that this has really blown us all away. When the surgeon walked into the room this time, he asked if I needed aspirations again. I told him probably but my reason for being there was because I found something different & it felt like the things in the Show & Tell booby.

One thing I had been told was fluid filled cysts got painful the fuller they got & "bad" things seldom ever hurt. From the time I found it, I was getting mixed signals about whether it really hurt or not. This made me feel like I was hollering "Wolf" out of line or just going crazy. Well the sonar guy answered that point in about 5 seconds. He said I had a fluid filled cyst almost touching it. So I was really having it hurts & it doesn't hurt sensations. If you have fluid filled cysts, heat from the sun can make them tingle to down right hurt depending upon the size. I was mowing grass in a black shirt & the sun would hit me every other lap & I'd get the itchy tingle. I would think that I was going to get down there & feel like a fool for hollering "Wolf".

All I have to say is you are responsible for your care & no matter how many people feel around on you or how many techinical devices are used on you,& how often, go with your GUT. This is called Infiltrated ductal carcinoma. There are some places that call it Infiltrated or Invasive. What it means is it is no longer contained within the duct, it has involved surrounding tissues. If it is still in the duct, it is not as serious & the cure rate is right at 100%. The doctor says the cells are active 2-3 years before a mammogram or sonar will pick it up or there is anything to feel. This is not deep, remember I felt it brushing threads off, so how did it hide from all of us in so many ways until it managed to get outside the duct. I don't know now if that means it is very agressive or what. I can't figure out how I missed it on my last bath prior to brushing off my clothes, much less other times.

I am just glad I didn't give in to time frames, results from procedures & feeling foolish & that I paid attention to what ever is in us that prods us in the right direction.

October is breast cancer awareness month & there is a movie coming on Mon night about this very issue..."Why I wore lipstick to my masectomy". Let's all watch it. It may save a life...possibly your own or that of someone you love.

I hope the outcome is positive for you with a fast recovery.

We don't cry wolf, we are too attuned to our bodies and changes, we know when something is wrong, and sometimes doctors have a hearing problem...they don't listen to what you are telling them that creates half the problems because you are trying to get something taken care of.

Joan, my prayers are with you, "Our God supplies every need" thank you for the explaination, tell Susan to keep us informed, I feel you are a friend, we have been on this forum more a bunch of years,
Susan, I know this is hard on you, but you are a good daughter, you will be a strong support for Joan. Prayers and more prayers go up! Rene

Stitchintime, I didn't have a problem with the doctor listening. It was really the opposite. The sonogram guy was my first contact & he left the room & went to the doctor. The nurses kept coming in about attempts to get my mammogram records & who I called & when I sent a release. Then the doctor talked to them on the 3rd call. Both the sonar & doctor came out with "Yes, this is diffeent". When I went back after the arrival of my films, the sonogram guy was the fisrt contact again & when the doctor came in, he had 3 nurses on his heels. The attentiviness of everyone has been with such speed & concern that MY head is spinning.

My wolf hollering was just my unbelief that something surfaced so far from left field with the care I have had the past few years.

I know what you are referring to though in some doctors but this whole staff had developed enough of a bond that my concern was seen as genuine. One, I am calm natured & didn't go in freaking out. I just simply stated "Something different is in here".

Kathi,
We did get your email. Things have been so crazy, I thought I responded back to you. Again, thanks to everyone for prayers and words of encouragement.
Susan

Oh wow. Thank you for sharing. I'm off to go check... I'll be sure to pray for you.

Mother's Mastectomy will be next Thurs. the 2nd of Nov. I'll keep you posted with more details.
Susan

((((((((((Joan))))))))))
and prayers, Kathy G in MI

Prayers have gone up for both of you, with more to follow.

May God keep His hands on you until all is well.

Suzi

Still praying,and hoping things are going well.
Kathi

I am hanging in there but my allergies are acting up & I am coughing awful. I am afraid I'll get there Thurs & get sent home to dread the BIG day again.

I do appreciate all the thoughts & prayers. I can feel them in a calmness & the tears have stopped. It's no longer a pity party & just getting down to the business at hand.

Today Susan & I were discussing something & I told her not to worry about it because I'd be able to walk when I got home....then later my foot slips on the stairs & I almost fall. Kinda twisted my knee though but morning will tell if I am stiff or not. We had to laugh about the POSITIVE statement I had boasted about shortly before.

Susan, I'm also a newbie here, but I wanted to wish you all the best. And applaud you for taking the bull by the horns. I had a friend last year die at the age of 22 from breast cancer because she didn't take it seriously. Her daughter turned 2 the day before her funeral. It could have been treated but she did nothing, thinking she was invincible because of her age.

Regarding the post about the 'test boobies' a co-worker came back from the GYN with one of those and we were all AMAZED at how you couldn't even feel the lumps when you did the circles, but when you 'pressed' you could. So easy to miss something. Be assured that you are blessed that it was found.

Good luck & God's speed to you both.

Again,
Thank you all so much. Mother didn't mention that they told her at her pre-op that she may be in the hospital from Thurs-Sunday, just depends on the lymph nodes. We have to be there at 6am. I've been trying to figure out if my portable machine and the serger would fit on one of those bedside tables, LOL. The hum of the machine use to lull me to sleep as a child and it's still a comforting sound, so Mother might enjoy that too!!! Don't know how the rest of the hospital would feel about it!
Thanks for the continued prayers,
Susan

I hope that the surgery went well. Let us know how your Mom is doing when you get a chance. Colleen