djankord1 (@djankord1)

I was diagnosed with two different cancers in my left breast in April of 2013. I felt the cancer in my nipple and knew something was wrong. I decided to have bilateral mastectomies on July 15, 2013. The 4th day, my husband took me home and within a half hour had left to go golfing. I couldn’t even open a pill bottle! I should not have been surprised because he was never there when I was sick. I got lucky and didn’t have to have chemo or radiation. I didn’t think I would ever set foot in the Cancer Institute again. Low and behold, just 3-1/2 years later my back pain got so bad that I went to Urgent Care and from there to another doctor because they didn’t know what was wrong. I found out my back is pretty much full of cancer, the clavicle, ribs spine, pelvis and some in my femur. I wish someone would have told me to watch for back pain!! So that was February of this year. I have had two rounds of radiation and was hospitalized for 3 days in May to try to get my pain under control. This was the most horrendous pain I have ever had! I was almost screaming and sobbing at the same time. I hated that my son and Mom and Dad had to see me like that. After radiation, my pain was gone for 2 months. It came back and has steadily increased, even though my CT was good in October. It seems that my morphine and Flexeril aren’t doing anything for my pain now. I have been very depressed today. I go through this about every 3 weeks. I feel like I have nothing to live for. The world goes on around me and I sit in my apartment. I have heard many times, but what about your kids? I have the best kids in the world and they will live without me. I just don’t want to end up like a few friends who laid in bed dying while their family watched in terrible pain.

I was told that I could have two lumpectomies on my left breast because I had two different kinds of cancer in that breast. I decided to have bilateral mastectomies because I would not have a nipple on the left breast and I felt it would look hideous. My lymph nodes were clear and they told me to return once a year for a checkup and then have a MRI in five years. But to my surprise, 3-1/2 years later my back was full of cancer! Just remember, if you have any back pain whatsoever, I would have the doctor do another MRI or CT scan to check for cancer.

Hi, I was diagnosed with two different types of cancer in my left breast in May of 2013. I decided to have a bilateral mastectomy so that I didn’t have to worry about getting cancer in my right breast. My lymph nodes were clear, so no chemo or radiation. I felt such relief and never thought I would have to worry about cancer again. I blame myself now for not being smart enough to stay informed about breast cancer and the fact that even though they told me I was cancer-free, the cancer could return. I feel that every woman should have a PET scan performed one year after having any type of lumpectomy or mastectomy done. My doctor told me I would have a MRI done five years after my mastectomy. It wasn’t even four years later that I started having severe back pain. Low and behold, my back is full of cancer. If only someone had told me to watch for signs and if only I had been more aware! I am not afraid to die, I just don’t want my family watching me die on a bed during my last days. My ex-husband’s aunt went through that and was bed ridden her last two years. Horrible!

It seems like a horrible nightmare to me. I just found out in March of this year that my back is full of cancer now. I keep thinking, I am only 54 and after finally divorcing my ******* husband, I found a man who genuinely cares about me and treats me like a queen. How can this be? What did I do to deserve this? But I know many of you are thinking the same thing. I have a 28-year-old son and a 26-year-old daughter. My daughter has a 6-year-old beautiful little girl. They all mean the world to me and I keep thinking that I hope they will be able to cope with life when I am not here to help them. I know they will, but I also know how nice it is to be able to call my mother and ask her opinion or her advice, or what went in that recipe. I just have to remember that I will be right beside them, even if they don’t realize it. I am hoping I have a few years left to be with them. Deb

Hi, I just turned 54 in January. In July of 2013, I had a bilateral mastectomy. I felt a lump on my nipple and went in for that. The doctors also found another small cancer in the same breast. I decided to have both breasts removed and the gel packs placed so I at least had bumps. The lymph nodes showed no cancer, so I did not have chemo or radiation. I thought I was the luckiest woman and that I would never have to worry about cancer again. None of the doctors told me that it could metastasize into my back and to watch for back pain. I had a checkup after a year and the doctor just looked at my breasts and said I was good to go. She told me I should have a MRI in five years. Little did I know that the cancer was going rampant in my back. In February of this year, I went to the doctor with severe back pain. After 4 MRIs, a PET scan, sacral bone biopsy, etc….my back is full of cancer. I think every woman should have a MRI one year after any type of breast cancer. I definitely would have had that done if I had any idea that this could happen. Maybe I am blaming the healthcare profession, and I should have been the one to dig deeper into the whole metastases thing, but since they said I was cancer free and didn’t need chemo or radiation, I just went on with life, very unhappily though. I decided to divorce my ***** husband after 31 years of a worthless marriage and that whole thing has been SOOOO stressful. I almost feel like the stress may have caused my cancer recurrence. What do you think?
Deb

Hi, I was diagnosed with breast cancer in May of 2013 and had a bilateral mastectomy done. I did not have to have chemo or radiation because my lymph nodes were clear. In February of this year, my back began to ache and got worse and worse. After x-rays, a CT scan, a MRI, a bone biopsy and a PET scan, I was told that my breast cancer metastasized to my spine, ribs, pelvis and collar bone. I had five days of radiation to the T11 area because I had a compression fracture in that area. I was taking oxycodone and ibuprofen for my pain, but the pain worsened and the doctor put me on morphine with oxycodone for breakthrough pain. I started letrizole and Ibrance on April 22nd. My pain continued to get worse and I ended up in the emergency room on May 5th. Another MRI showed the cancer spreading quickly in my pelvis. My morphine dose was raised and now I also take Flexeril and ibuprofen with it. My son feels strongly that I go to Colorado and see a physician who would put me on CBD. Has anyone else tried this marijuana oil for their cancer?
Deb