Not a good way to start off the month...

[OpenThirdEye]

I got a call from my Mom this morning...which I found a bit odd. She told me that she just had confirmed that she has breast cancer.

She's going to surgeon on Monday for further consultation, etc. Right now they're saying 6 weeks of radiation at least and that her cancer is a 2 on a scale of 1-4.

Does anybody have any pearls of wisdom when it comes to breast cancer or a loved one with breast cancer? I know it sounds wierd, but is there anything I can do to help? Anything I should look out for?

I officially hate the month of August. :/

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Sorry to hear that.

Two aunts (father's side) had breast cancer. One died of it and the other survived.

Hope your mom's case comes out okay, ie early stage.

 

[robphelan]

very sorry to hear about that.

i remember clearly when I was told my mom had breast cancer. it was advanced and had already spread to her lymph nodes.

after chemo/radiation, it went into submission for about 4 years. we thought we were in the clear. but unfortunately, it returned.

the only thing I can offer is to help keep her spirits up.

 

[OpenThirdEye]

Thanks for the words of encouragement! She's doing pretty well as of right now. Luckily, I only live about 3 hours away so I can try and visit her as often as possible!

 

[Mermaidman]

Be there for her emotionally.

 

[NanoStuff]

No sweat, breast cancer is one thing biotechnology has got cornered. With all those damned donation beggars that come to your house every Saturday morning it's the least you can expect

Do you know if there's lymph node involvement, or if the cancer is hormone receptive? Those are two substantial prognostic factors. Also you should ask if it expresses HER2/neu protein.

 

[Mxylplyx]

Best of luck to you and your family.

My wife recently had a scare when she found blood coming out of one of her nipples in the shower. Went to the OB, and the OB found what she believed was a palpable mass, which when corellated with unilateral nipple bleeding is almost 60% breast cancer. Luckily after further scans, they found nothing.

I promised myself and god that once the ordeal was over with, I would make a donation to a charity that does breast cancer research, or funds mammograms. Does anyone know of a good charity not eaten up with overhead?

 

[GrantMeThePower]

I dont have any knowledge or tips for you, but i just want to wish you and your family the best. Those times are so hard on everyone, so try to love and be there for her (and your pops) as much as you can.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
Does anyone know of a good charity not eaten up with overhead?

Donating to cancer-specific therapies is a bad idea. Drug companies put a vast amount of their own dollars into it. It's like donating to Intel to make better processors. It's tragic that so many people get sucked into the puppy face look of those house crawlers and effectively throw away so much monetary potential. The only person benefiting there is the rich-bitch charity organizer, most of your cash is paying for his estate mortgage.

Anyways, if you really want to donate to an institute that will actually use your money for cancer research, donate directly to a research facility, not a charity. This goes for anything, not just cancer. Charity is the ultimate scam.

http://www.broad.mit.edu/info/contribute.html

 

[Mxylplyx]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
Does anyone know of a good charity not eaten up with overhead?

Donating to cancer-specific therapies is a bad idea. Drug companies put a vast amount of their own dollars into it. It's like donating to Intel to make better processors. It's tragic that so many people get sucked into the puppy face look of those house crawlers and effectively throw away so much monetary potential. The only person benefiting there is the rich-bitch charity organizer, most of your cash is paying for his estate mortgage.

Anyways, if you really want to donate to an institute that will actually use your money for cancer research, donate directly to a research facility, not a charity. This goes for anything, not just cancer. Charity is the ultimate scam.

http://www.broad.mit.edu/info/contribute.html

I think I would prefer organizations that provide medical services to people that cant afford it. After going through that episode with my wife, I hate the thought of someone having such worrisome symptoms, and not being able to do anything about it because they dont have insurance. It's actually made me, as a conservative, more amiable to universal healthcare.

 

[NanoStuff]

Suit yourself. Keep in mind that research and development has a small fraction of the clinical budget, any dollar sent there would end up doing more.

 

[hypn0tik]

Best of luck to your mother and your family. Just be there for her whenever you can and whenever she needs you.

 

[Q]

I'm so sorry man, my grandmother had it as well, though she passed away long before I was born. She lived quite a while with it though after some help, I think like 8 years. They couldn't get rid of it but she still did well.

^^I guess that isn't the best thing to say but back then medicine wasn't like it is now

 

[MrWizzard]

I am sorry. Take hope in that it is much more survivable with today?s technology and treatments. Especially if you catch it early.

 

[Blieb]

:heart:

Good luck man ... be strong and keep a positive outlook ...

 

[DougK62]

Science is really kicking breast cancer's ass. I'm sure she'll be just fine.