I am six months out of chemo and still have some neuropathy in my hands and feet. Also I have experienced leg and joint pain that started during chemo. My right leg is still painful which has limited me from walking as an exercise. I limp a little but it has gotten better over time. I am taking Tramadol and Advil for the pain. I am optimistic this will continue to get better with time. Hang in there and talk to your doctor.
My Goodwill
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cbutinski started following
Question: Leg pain due to Chemo?
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cbutinski asked a questionBreast Cancer
Leg pain due to Chemo?
9 answers-
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Miriam
over 7 years agoI am six months out of chemo and still have some neuropathy in my hands and feet. Also I have experienced leg and joint pain that started during chemo. My right leg is still painful which has limited me from walking as an exercise. I limp a little but it has gotten better over time. I am taking Tramadol and Advil for the pain. I am optimistic this will continue to get better with time. Hang in there and talk to your doctor.
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cbutinski started following
Question: How's the new hair doing?
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cbutinski asked a questionBreast Cancer
How's the new hair doing?
9 answers-
princess123
almost 8 years agoGo ahead and color your hair. It will make you feel better. If the cancer come back you will lose it again. Or you could get hit by a bus and none of this could happen.
Just do whatever makes you feel good about yourself. Mine has more salt than pepper now that enough is back I look like a little boy with a buzz cut. I have never seen my hair like this because I always colored it. -
SueRae1
almost 8 years agoDo what makes you feel good about yourself. It took me some time to realize that for me hair and hair color was not important. I have (had) thin straight hair (but you can not believe how much hair I had) which I had buzzed right after treatment started - it was about 40% white(silver). I wish I could say the fear would go away, but it doesn't, we just learn to put in prescriptive and live life to the fullest, survival is a gift- and remember the old saw "looking good is the best revenge"
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CarrieD
almost 8 years agoHi, you have received some good advice here. If changing your hair makes you happy, do it NOW!!! Don’t let this experience control you. You control you!!! I’ve had to deal with this monster at the age of 31, 36 and then again after 18 years. Have fun, today, tomorrow or forever!!! I know it is hard, but we can do it!!!
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cbutinski asked a questionBreast Cancer
Are you happy with your reconstruction surgery?
10 answers-
RMR
almost 8 years agoI had a similar experience as you did. I was diagnosed April 2011 had bilateral mastectomy with expanders May 2011. Had infection in left breast around June 2011 and had to have the expander removed. Started chemo in july and finished in Sept 2011. Had left expander put in in Oct 2011. I was also pretty large before BC and chose to go a bit smaller. I had a lot of extra skin and since my expanders were already at a B cup I did not need to many fills to get to the C cup I ended up with. My Implants were put in Feb 2012. Left side did not heal well and skin was not holding up well so I had some surgery to fix that (with an implant sling for extra support) in May 2012. I just had what should be my last reconstructive surgery, nipple reconstruction (to which I added a tummy tuck) on Aug 20th. Its been a long process and I am tired with having surgeries about every three months. However, I feel like I have done everything to put myself back together - better than before. My response to BC was F*** U**** you are not going to beat me, I am coming out of this better than before.
I agree with one of the existing posts. If you have insurance it should cover the reconstructive surgeries. The only think not covered would be the "cosmetic stuff", like my tummy tuck (which I knew about in advance and saved up for), I think I am supposed to pay something for the implant sling, but have not been billed yet. My PS agreed ahead of time to work with my insurance (which I think he is regretting). One of the things I learned through this process is that revisionary surguer is not uncommon. As far as your extra skin is concerned, perhaps talk to your PS - maybe he or she can use that extra skin for reconstruction. I do not see how the size of your reconstructed breast would change the cost. Is just choosing the size of the implant right? So talk to your PS - try and get the size you want. Your PS should be able to take care of the extra skin at implant surgery too. If you are not getting satisfaction from your current PS, perhaps its time for a second opinion and a change in surgeons? You have been through XXX and deserve to have the best possible reconstruction so that you can also say F** U** to BC and come our of this on top!!
Hang in there - good luck to you.
Here's to survivorship.
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mariet615
almost 8 years agoI wish I had never begun reconstruction--I had a quack of a plastic surgeon who did a terrible job of it, and had to go through an additional 6 surgeries to correct what he did. No one asked if I wanted reconstruction--I was told, as a 'young' cancer patient (49 at the time) that it was part of the procedure. Now, 3 years and 10 surgeries later, the right implant is constricted with scar tissue, so that it feels squeezed, and both feel as if the nerves are on fire. I wish someone had been honest with me about the possible difficulties, but the surgeons I dealt with kept saying "well, it's different for everybody". It stinks. I would have them removed, but that's 'elective', which means my insurance won't pay for it.
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jenniferk
almost 8 years agoI had bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction April 2010. My body just kept making fluid and my drains were in for a month. I was ok with everything right after surgery but expanders kept causing problems. Right after reconstruction my breasts were large enough. My plastic told me that my chest wall muscle was very thick. Since my muscle was so thick he was able to expand me with 75cc during surgery. My surgeon (not plastic surgeon)was shocked at how large I was right after surgery. These new breasts were fine for awhile. They did not sag or flop even if I did jumping jacks. Then the expanders started to get wrinkles in them. Plastic said the only fix was to increase the fluid in them to smooth out the wrinkle. Every week we had to add more fluid to the expanders. My firm breast were now so large that they were hanging down to my waist in a support bra. My plastic surgeon thought he had a sense of humor and actually started calling me Dolly Parton. Then the real problems started. My breast started to grow without fluid being put in and I was running a fever. My plastic was in Houston and I was in Oklahoma. I called him daily for a week and his office finally returned my call. Receptionist told me he would definately call that day because he was leaving for a 2 week vacation. Never got the call. I found a great plastic surgeon in Oklahoma. Saw him Tuesday afternoon and had both expanders removed Wednesday morning do to infection. He couldnt believe how huge the expanders were. He said they were so large that my muscle that had started at 3/4 in thick had been stretched to being paper thin. He said it was so thin that the expanders were about to tear through and you could see through it. It was great to have the expanders out. They were so uncomfortable. I actually hated them. I could see that I had lumps there to take the place of a breast but they were hard as a rock and had no feeling. I didnt feel like they were me. Wish I would have never had reconstruction. I just go flat now. I figure I've spent a good deal of my life in a bra and now I don't need one. Its great not having your bra dig in to your back fat and causing rolls. They are still there but not wearing a bra helps to hide them.
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