Best Of
Re: So...whats for dinner?
Maggie, that is scary to be in the hospital. That's my concern…DH needs me here and ..well, we get it…
Carole, I meant, do you prefer crispy texture to curd-like-soft texture. You can make tofu do whatever you want…spicy? soft? crispy? You didn't ask me, but here I am, butting in. Sorry, LOL. I don't have a subscription to the cooking NYT. Can you just copy/paste? I'd hate for you to type it all up. Or take a screen shot and paste it?
I made frozen costco burgers in the air fryer with a dollop of duck fat on them. SOOO good.
I'm about to make a crustless quiche. The winds are howling and DH has a 4pm onco appointment. Don't want to have to prepare anything once we get back home…or worse, have no power.
wallycat
Re: 🌟Starting radiation in January 2026? You don’t have to walk this road alone.🌟
@jmjminivanmom I was diagnosed the end of July. I had my lumpectomy on August 28th. I started my radiation treatments on October 20th. They won't start the radiation until they consider the area where the surgery was healed, usually I think at least a month or two.
july31
Re: 🌟Starting radiation in January 2026? You don’t have to walk this road alone.🌟
@farmerswife72 & @cosun10 I finished my radiation treatments in November. I had 20 treatments, 16 whole breast and 4 targeted. Please keep in mind that every treatment center will handle things in a different way so this is just my experience. I hope this isn't too long but I thought you might want some details.
The first things they will do is take markings. This involves figuring out exactly where to give you the treatments and you will get an actual tattoo dot in the places they need to use for the treatments. They are tiny and you won't see them. They will also probably put stickers on you with arrows or something. Don't panic over these. If they fall off they can figure out where they were by the tattoos. I had a had a hard time with my first few treatments. My rad oncologist and the technicians were all great but I found the experience humiliating and sat in my car crying afterwards. The instructions said to take off your bra and top and put on this robe they provided and that you could put a jacket over it if you wanted. After the 3rd treatment I thought this is dumb and just changed into a hoodie and took it off for treatments. The techs didn't care and for some reason taking that little bit of control helped me. If you are comfortable without wearing a bra just come in only a hoodie. The treatment itself was not that bad. It only takes a few minutes. I was on a my stomach and couldn't see what was going on during it. Some people pray or meditate, or make a grocery list in their to try and keep still. I counted, that way I had I had a good idea how much longer it would be before the end. I only had two real issues during the treatments both times I politely asked the techs about making adjustments and they did so if you have a problem ask. The hardest part of the actual treatments for me was having to be some place every day for 4 weeks at the same time.
I had some fatigue and some skin peeling but nothing bad. My Rad Onc had proscribed some steroid cream that I used and it helped. My worse issue was around my areola and nipple. It became very tender and sore and it is still sore a month later. Because of the way my arms were positioned my shoulders and back hurt after the treatments and I finally started taking some Advil about 30 minutes before the treatment and that helped. I had some seromas that also made it uncomfortable. I got a little irritated because doctors, nurses, PAs, etc. all act like they are no big deal. They will just tell you they will eventually go away. Most of mine have but I still have a couple that can be painful.
I met with my doctor once a week during treatment and pretty much every issue I had he just said was normal so I just pushed through. I am still tender in some places both from the surgery and the treatments and it seems like every morning when I get up I spend the first half-hour massaging the areas to try and get them feeling ok. I actually started having more fatigue about two weeks after the treatment was over but again was told that was normal. I have started back doing light exercises to try and keep the stiffness down.
I wish you all the best of luck with your treatments and I wish you strength and patience.
july31
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
betrayal
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
@mara51506 - in your pocket for the next several days. Sending positive, healing thoughts your way.
@goldensrbest - sorry to hear you're in hospital and hope you jailbreak soon. The flu is no joke this year.
seeq
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
Oh poor you! We do our best to protect ourselves, but the invisible nasties still find us. Glad to hear there's some improvement in counts. Hopefully the fatigue will ease as the antibiotics kick in, although some of the stronger ones cause fatigue. I was on IV ertapenem for two weeks and had to nap every afternoon. Just give in to it and sleep as your body demands it.
So happy you and DH have finally gotten peace and solitude! I think it was a medical necessity for you. Too much of your stamina was being drained by DD and DGD. I think the hardest thing is to allow adult children to lead their own lives, even when we see them heading down what we believe is the wrong path. You and DH have been incredibly kind and generous to them, but for your own sake (and health) you need to detach.
Squeezed into a tiny corner in one of your pockets through surgery and recovery. Surrounding you with love and healing thoughts.
eleanora
Hello Everyone – New Member Here
Hi everyone,
I’m new to the forum and grateful to have found this community. I joined to learn, find support, and connect with others who share experiences and knowledge related to breast cancer. Thank you for providing such a welcoming and supportive space.
Wishing everyone strength and positivity.
lisa25
Re: All about Xeloda
@aj - Thanks for the good wishes that I have an OK time with Xeloda. They tell me they are waiting for insurance approval, etc. for now, and will let me know later when I can start. I'm also supposed to have a session with one of the pharmacists to learn all about "Xeloda things", once the drug comes in. I'm so glad to hear that you've done as well and as long as you have with this drug. It gives me hope.
I'm sorry to hear that you need Pepcid sometimes, and I'd had a feeling I'd run into the hand/foot problem very likely. Sometimes I think 90% of what I eat would be on the "high folate foods" list, so I'm going to have to make some adjustments for sure. Whether it's really a "thing" or not (per above discussions) I just don't know. I brought it up with my oncologist and told him how so many here say they do so much better when they lower the folate in their diets, but that also someone on here also said that their oncologist said there was no truth to the "rumor" about folate. My onc said that the problem is that there is no hard core scientific evidence that it's truly "a thing", but he didn't want to dismiss what so many swear is true either. I'll just have to wait and see how things go for me.
Again, I am sorry to hear that you get some reflux and have to take Pepcid. I have stomach problems occasionally and the doctors all jump right away to reflux and want me to take Pepcid, and I've avoided that so far. I have some muscle problems and maybe mild reflux from time to time, but never anything that would require regular Pepcid use, and I get kind of upset with them all just rushing to the reflux idea, before really considering other problems. I've had some repetitive motion soreness right below my breast bone, a fracture and lesions on my breastbone that seem to occasionally radiate pain to my upper abdomen, and even some soreness from stretches and exercises given by PT. If I ever complain about any of that, I'm told to take Pepcid. Well, I actually did last November, because I had more stomach pains - turned out it was from muscle and nerve problems from low magnesium, and the Pepcid I did take never helped the pain I was having, so I think I did make some sort of impression on my oncologist at least. An urgent care doctor at about the same time though, told me I needed prescription strength Pepcid and a referral to a gastroenterologist for an upper GI scoping. I declined both of her "offers" and have been fine ever since getting the low magnesium straightened out. The Xeloda issue could be different though, and I might really need some sort of antacid, unfortunately. Hopefully not.
You are such a big help with all of this, and like me, you also took Verzenio first, so have a good amount of experience with the stuff I'm dealing with. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Xeloda serves me well and I have a fairly easy and very long run with it!✌️🍀
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
@irishlove - I'm another one chiming in here with belated birthday wishes. I hope you had a wonderful day and have many, many more! (I've been kind of a mess lately both mentally and physically, so there's so much here that I would like to respond to, but just wind up not doing anything - ugh! )
@goldensrbest - So awful that you got the flu, and so bad too - even after getting the shot! Wow, I hope you don't have to stay in the hospital for too long. I guess this current flu going around, is really something and I've heard before too, that this years vaccine wasn't a good match for what we got. I am really pulling for you and in your pocket.
@mara51506 - I am so in your pocket for tomorrow! I will absolutely be thinking of and rooting for you all day long! I'm going to fit myself way down in one of those corners of your pocket, like someone else here said, as you will have a very overflowing pocket for the next while for sure. Hugs too!