Hi y'all! I'm 32 with a host of horrible physical & mental problems that all started with a breast cancer diagnosis at age 28 while 20 weeks pregnant. I did chemo while pregnant, delivered a healthy baby girl. I did more chemo afterwards & got PN from chemo. My brain never covered from the chemo-brain or preggo-brain.

I had a bilateral radical mastectomy with implant/expander reconstruction & began having intense pain/heaviness in my chest and collar bones. I went from dr to dr trying to find someone who'd figure out what was wrong with me. I had 2 more reconstruction surgeries in the hopes of 'curing' the increasing pain to no avail. The last reconstruction used abdominal fat to reconstruct my breasts & left me with a huge sensitive scar 2/3s of the way around my waist.

In between I had both my ovaries & tubes removed (I'm a BRCA1 mutant) & almost bled to death on the table so I had transfusions. After that surgery I had an abscess form on my uterus where the tube was removed & had to have an emergency hysterectomy. Now added to my chemo-brain & mommy-brain I also have menopause-brain.

With menopause I got terrible hot flashes that give rise to panic attacks. I also suffer from anxiety that I'll have another cancer diagnosis or something else wrong with me. I'm 5th generation (that we know of) with breast/ovarian cancer, but only the 2nd to survive. I guess I'm probably depressed too because I used to be an avid horseman, but now I can hardly groom a horse, much less care for one and exercise one. I used to be fairly athletic but also nerdy (I love to read and I love science). Between my inability to physically do things and my brain's lack of clarity, I can't enjoy the things i used to because I simply can't do the things I used to do. I lost my job in January and that was a severe blow to my self-confidence, self-worth, and identity.

It is theorized that during my mastectomy and the placement of my expanders, my brachial plexus was damaged somehow. I went from dr to dr (including a quack pill-pushing pain management dr) trying to alleviate the pain, burning, tingling, numbness, coldness, and loss of control of my left arm. One dr finally ordered vascular studies that showed impairment on both sides, but much worse on the left. An EMG again showed impairment on both sides, but worse on the left. I did PT for over a year. In the middle of PT, since I wasn't improving, I had a first rib resection done. Following more PT, I was basically told I knew all they could teach me, so I no longer went to PT.

In January of 2013, a little less than 4 years after my diagnosis, I was fired from my job with the main complaint being that my attendance was poor. I had FMLA intermittent leave, but my bosses were no longer empathetic. Even after being forced to submit to an exam by their own dr (who agreed with my dr about my condition), they gave me the bum rush out the door on trumped up charges. I didn't fight them any longer bc they were the state police & I was just a civilian laboratory analyst. However, I had completed almost 9 years with only commendations from law enforcement, attorneys, and co-workers. Upon my return to work and intermittent FMLA leave, I became a pariah and even my co-worker friends were harassed for being friendly with me.

My husband has disability due to a chronic low back problem and severe anxiety. We have 2 children (boy/5 & girl/3). With my job loss and his fixed income, we are constantly in the red, so I'm trying to file for disability myself.

My TOS makes driving nearly impossible on bad flare-up days. Sometimes my flare ups make sense (I did something to my arm the day before), but it seems like more often they are random and/or associated with weather patterns. In addition to the 'normal' symptoms with TOS, I get killer migraines. I don't experience vision problems with my migraines, but I do suffer from nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, stiff neck, eye pain, and sinus pain. Sometimes the pain from the migraines & TOS combined knock me out of the land of the living for several days.

I have an adverse reaction (suicidal/homicidal ideation) to Neurontin & Lyrica. I currently take amitriptyline, hydrocodone, and cyclobenziprine in addition to a daily multivitamin. I also have asthma, so sometimes I use my inhaler (albuterol) & my migraine problems decrease slightly. OTC pain relievers and anti-inflammatories don't touch the pain of my TOS or migraines typically. I also know I'm at minimum heterozygous for a mutation in the MTHFR gene. I've tried a few different b-complex vitamins OTC, but never noticed much difference.

Between having all the above symptoms plus 2 very active & healthy (Thank God) children, I'm constantly exhausted. My chronic insomnia (life-long issue for me) only feeds my exhaustion. I recently filed for SSI disability, & go to their doctor/Chiro for an assessment on Saturday (8/10/13). I also have a forced appointment with a psychiatrist/psychologist later this month to assess my anxiety problems. I tend to put a positive spin on my condition(s) with others (even my husband and mother complain that they don't know what's going on for real with me & how much I'm flaking being ok). I'm terrified that I'll blow the assessments by de-emphasizing my problems with these new doctors.

Sorry this was so long, but as you can see I had a lot to say. I look forward to 'meeting' y'all and hopefully giving support to others as I get support from others too.
Thanks,
Erika