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pikachufannumber1 · Sep 17, 2008, 06:26 PM

My mom was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer! She is going to get a... double mastectomy I think and she has to have Chemo! How long will she be sick from the Chemo? Is it possible to die while getting a mastectomy or during Chemo? How long does it take an aggressive cancer cell to spread? Please someone tell me these things.

Thanks.

KISS · Sep 17, 2008, 06:37 PM

Cancer is rated in stages (Stage I,II,III and IV) and that's the first thing you need to know. This book is fantastic. Hanging Out with Lab Coats: Hope, Humor & Help for Cancer Patients and their Caregivers by Wendi Fox Pedicone ... Fox Press "Hanging out with Labcoats". Considering, I knew the author personally before she passed away and was on a select list that got email updates of her journey. It's also available at Amazon.com.

pikachufannumber1 · Sep 17, 2008, 06:44 PM

Well when she first told me she siad it was in a zero stage, but then I overheard her talking to my grandma I think and said it was stage 1!!

jjwoodhull · Sep 17, 2008, 06:48 PM

Stage 1 means they caught it early - which is very good news. Chemo will make her sick and tired. So the best thing you can do is help out around the house when you can, keep a positive attitude when you're with her and pray for her.

J_9 · Sep 17, 2008, 06:55 PM

Oh, sweetheart, I am sorry you and your mom are going through this. But, I want to let you know that breast cancer is survivable. How do I know? I am a breast cancer survivor. I had breast cancer 12 years ago. I had a double mastectomy (bilateral radical mastectomy), I was only 32. I also went through chemo.

Chemo is much different now than it was 12 years ago. However, I NEVER got sick. I lost some hair, but not all. I didn't have to shave my legs for 6 months... LOL

So, my dear pikachufannumber1, you see, breast cancer is not always deadly. In all actuality it made me a stronger person.

The important thing with this is to keep a sense of humor. Laughter is a cure believe it or not. Don't ever give up on your mom, and don't let her give up on herself.

I don't know your age, my daughter was only 3 at the time, but always be there to support her. Let her cry, but make her laugh.

My thoughts and prayers are with you as you go through this trying time. But remember NEVER give up.

J_9 · Sep 17, 2008, 07:27 PM

pikachufannumber1 agrees: okies... I just... have a vision of me being at school and they call me up to the office and tell me she's dead and I run out screaming and yelling "no" and yeah... just very sad and her surgery is next week so it has time to get worse!!

Honey, if she has Stage I, then one week won't make it any worse. It doesn't multiply quite that fast.

I want you to know that you should be proud that she chose a mastectomy over a lumpectomy. The survival rates are so much higher with a mastectomy.

I know it's scary, and I know you are afraid... but with Stage I, a mastectomy, and chemo, your mom will probably be just fine... just like me.

Out of curiosity, how old are you?

pikachufannumber1 · Sep 17, 2008, 07:33 PM

I know, but it was stage zero when she told me a few weeks ago and now it's stage one!! I'm just afraid...
I am 14.

J_9 · Sep 17, 2008, 07:41 PM

It's okay to be afraid, that's normal and natural. But, typically Stage I means that it has not spread. The medical term for that is metastisized. Which means it is only in the breast, usually in the milk ducts. Stage I is the easiest to cure and not everyone has to have Chemo, but most of us choose do do chemo just to make sure it is all gone.

pikachufannumber1 · Sep 17, 2008, 07:44 PM

Ok, but what if it spreads in the next week to stage 2 or 3? Then what?

J_9 · Sep 17, 2008, 07:45 PM

I had mine for 3 years before it spread to a stage 3, it won't spread that far that fast.

pikachufannumber1 · Sep 17, 2008, 08:00 PM

Ok...