Best Of
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
@shanagirl I am so, so sorry to read your horrible experience on the way to celebrate with your family. The whole reason we fight on is to spend more time with family. Faslodex is one medicine I am thankful to have stopped. I join you thinking of all the lovely ladies here and our daily struggles. Praying for sunshine in your lives.
My son's family is here and I am loving every minute. My sweet DIL helped me plant the flower pots on my deck and that brings me joy every time I see them. The only way I can handle this visit with four grandchildren under 12 is because they take day trips hiking, etc. I cannot go, so I spend that time resting so I can enjoy their presence when they are here. The three boys love Legos so my DH bought them a large Lego set of the Space Shuttle with the 747 Boeing carrier which will take them hours to complete. This provides much needed downtime. My DD, who lives with us, bought a Foosball table for her DDs Birthday last week, so the kids also are having a lot of fun downstairs. So far they have also brought out the Monopoly game and fusion beads so there is lots of activity also playing in the sprinklers, etc. Today they are hiking the Garden of the Gods, and tomorrow they will take a long hike higher up in the mountains to the Florrisant fossil beds. We shall see after that. I wish I could go just for the car ride but as Shanagirl pointed out, even short car rides are "iffy" and I can't take that chance especially with young kids in the car. These sweet kids have only known me while sick, so I do as much as possible while at home.
Thank you all for allowing me to indulge in my joy this week. We all know tomorrow is not promised.
Blessings!
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
@threetree ah yes, I am so with you regarding the fear of each new scan especialy after being so stable for 2 years…I’m also feeling the way you do after my Faslodex injection on wednesday. It. really knocked me for a loop.. espcially having to do my PT and the sheer amount of fatique I get when that shot is also combined with my daily Verzenio pills. So I think it totally ruined Father’s day for dinner with my family. So we all had plans to have Father’s Day dinner at our SIL’s DD’s restaurant with our adult children. I got all showered and shampooed, blowdried & styled my hair, and put on my make-up, (all in between dealing with the big D trying to get ready on time for 4:30 resevations)… then DH and I walkd out the door at 4:30 and got in the car to take the 20 minute drive up the Parkway to th restaurant Neptune NJ. so were’ driving on Rt 37 to the parkway entrance and all of a sudden, as I was primping in the mirror I got a huge wave of extreeme. nausea com over me.🤢I kept swalling back the feeling and realized I was going to uncontrolably puke at that moment, so I grabbed a huge wad of tissue I always keep in my bag, put it up to my mouth and told DH pull over I’m going to throw up!!!. so he pulled over 3 lanes to get in the Shoprite parking lot just before the parkway entrance as. I started heaving into the tissue. I opened the car door and hung out forcefully puking, thankfully only liquid because the only thing in my stomach was coconut water but I had it on the front of myself, and the outside of the car door floor, plus I pissed myself as i was forcefully heaving. ☹️. Poor DH Jumped out tof the car to stand outside my door and called the kids, who really felt so bad and insisted we would get together again when I was feeling better. it was going to be a Father’s day dinner and also my oldest DD’s birthday.. I felt so bad, and really was looking forward to this. But we went home, I washed my face and changed my clothes, and made an English. muffin and iced gingerale, and sat down and and all of a sudden after eating the English Muffin, I got that wave again. and. ran to the kitchen powderroom toilet and puked my brains out again along with pissing myself😫again. I thought this really does suck, but the rest of the night I just relaxed, and the next day they went really easy on me at PT, just traction and massage and electro therapy. @threetree I really believe it was the Fasoldex treatment that caused this. I should have just stayed home and rested thefirst week.
@mara51506 I’m curiousabout the blood pool in your head. Is it a spot that continues to bleed or is it a spot that bled in the past and always showsup on your scan? the reason I ask is because I had the large brain bleed in 2005 during my Hemhorragic stroke, the area still shows up on scans like a permanent testament to the brain hemhorrage. Just wondering because that’s why my oncologist has me being treated for my neck issues at the Brain Spine Center with his colleagues. Anyway. saying. hi to everyone here, @candy-678 @chicagoan @aprilgirl1 @intolight @cookie54 @tanya_djamila and @goldensrbest keep mending my girl, and @sf-cakes ♥️sending love to you too and everyone else and @micmel 🌹thinking of you.
Re: Zoom Meet-up for Those With MBC: Place to keep chatting
Beautiful pic, KBL.
Thinking of Susan and all she’s been and currently going through.
illimae
Is It Normal for Skin Sensitivity to Appear Weeks After Radiation Ends?
Hello
I finished my radiation therapy about three weeks ago & while my skin seemed to heal well initially; I am now experiencing delayed sensitivity almost like a sunburn that wasn’t there before. 😑
The area feels warm and slightly itchy & some mild redness has reappeared. I expected side effects to gradually improve, not flare up after the treatment ended.🙄
I haven’t changed my skincare routine & I’m avoiding sun exposure. Could this be a common "late" reaction / might it signal something else, like radiation recall or lingering internal inflammation?😴 It’s hard not to worry when things feel worse after you think you're done. Checked https://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/radiation-therapy/side-effects-ReactJS Online Training guide related to this and found it quite informative.
Has anyone else experienced a delayed skin reaction weeks post-radiation? 🤔I’d love to know how long it lasted, what helped, and if your care team had any insights. Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.
Thank you!!😊
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
We are going to get a stormy day tomorrow. Gotta "make hay while the sun shines." Will be at church this afternoon helping to get ready for the rummage sale. Unless I get a ride, I won't be able to get over there tomorrow. But I also had a wild time my first hours of "sleep", so will need a nap this morning. Added: No wonder. I forgot my meds last night.
My eyes seem to be getting better. Contemplating contacts, even. I was told to give up on them before dry eyes was even a diagnosis. Will be getting preservative-free drops.
Cindy, I hope your recovery goes quickly. Dreading recovery from thumb surgery, will find out on the 24th.
I have a stinky little boy to bathe this morning, also. May end up with a damp bed.
I suspect I have spies on the ground, which is really crimping my style. But I refuse to let them win.
mcbaker
Breast cancer treatment and living alone
Hello,
I was recently diagnosed with BC. I live alone and fear everything that's going to happen to me. The unknown is scary. Does anyone live alone and going through chemo and everything that has to do with BC.
nina1948
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Surgery was completed and I was out the door by 9 AM. We went to CVS to pick up two scripts. Home at 10 I took one hydrocodone and one ondansetron- anti nausea. Exhausted but couldn’t sleep, closed my eyes for a while but waste of time.
Nurse called from surgical center to see how I was doing around 5 PM. I told her I was good, and asked about the anti nausea med. She said some people feel nauseous on hydro. I don’t have to take it, I feel fine on hydro.
I’m in a lovely Velcro shoe, picture coming. And using a walker for 5 days. The shoe I believe stays on for 4 weeks. Follow up is 7/2, and most likely 7/14-16 I’ll see them again to be released.
Just took 1 more hydro. I’m sticking to 1 every 6 hrs, vs what I could take is 2 every 4 hours. I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’ve had bunion surgery 3x. On a pain scale level, this is a cake walk.
Vacuum lines on my carpet are thanks to the robot vacuum. Haha! When we came back home my partner set it off. This is the Shark, it doesn’t map your rooms, so I call this one Willy Nilly.
I’ll report tomorrow if I still think it’s a cake walk. Fingers crossed.
cindyny
Re: I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
I read that of the other couple the man is in critical condition. This is what is passing for a president. He and everyone in his government is just place holders/vile as the day is long.
Re: Zoom Meet-up for Those With MBC: Place to keep chatting
@illimae I’m so happy and was hoping to see this great news. 💕
For those not on the meeting today, Susan wrote me this past Wednesday and sadly had been diagnosed with leptomeningeal disease. I have not been able to reach her since Thursday of last week. She had told me they had given her two weeks, so I’m not sure what is happening. My heart hurts, once again. We had a beautiful rainstorm tonight, so I’m dedicating this rainbow to Susan.
kbl
Re: Lung Nodule Incidental Finding
Update - the nodule size estimated on PET to be closer to 1 cm, flat appearance, MINIMAL uptake and in a location most likely to be an intrapulmonary lymph node. My BC team feels it is most likely that or something else benign.
But scans always seem to lead to more scans! Some diffuse uptake showed in my vaginal area which they presumed was urine contamination. I did drink a ton of water prior and had to pee twice before procedure and again right afterwards. The report recommended a clinical followup so that is what happened yesterday despite just seeing an OB/GYN 6 weeks ago with normal screening test results. I have now been visually and manually inspected again. The gynecologist said my vagina has an A+. 🤣
A 1.4 cm thyroid nodule was found so off to an u/s for that. 🙄
Pulmonologist scheduled 3 months CT followup for lung nodule. She also ordered a urine test for lung fungus and a blood test to check for lung cancer. Those results are expected to be negative but of course I will exhale completely when the results are returned in a week or so.
I have now decided to forgo scans unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. My LDL numbers were high, but nothing else indicated a need for a cardiac scan. My score was a perfect 0 for arterial calcium blockage.
And the incidental lung nodule has resulted in a cascade of followups, more scans, appointments, tests, anxieties, worry, and medical PTSD.
In fact, I spent the 12th anniversary of my initial diagnosis at the pulmonologist.
I literally have had more appointments this week and in the future from this one incidental finding than I had during my initial cancer diagnosis journey.
I am grateful for my docs - my oncologist, who dismissed me 7 years ago, expedited my PET scan. My breast surgeon was able to preview the PET report and interpret it as being "NOT very worrisome" and "good news." All my docs and the radiologists who have read my scans are doing their due diligence and leaving no stone unturned.
And, if by some chance, the lung nodule turns out to be a very small primary lung cancer, well, good, it's been found and can be removed with very good projected survival rates when this small.
But I can't help but think that this all could have been avoided by my turning down a less-than-necessary scan!
rosamond