Illinois ladies facing bc
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The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
-- e.e. cummings0 -
Morning! Happy Spring! I thought it would never get here.....Laura....any news?
WendyTY....I am so sorry for your loss. You were lucky tho....I never had a grandmother and I know how much I missed out on....all those memories you must have! Hugs....
Jackie...you did indeed have a very long day. Me...I just sat and read the last of the Harry Potter series. I am so sad that I have finished them! Today I really must do some things around here...I can write my name on the tables!
Susan...it's HOT where you are going! ooops...that didn't sound right, now did it?
Juliet....where ya been? Are you OK?
Blackjack...how are your counts?
Carol....back to work soon....enjoy your "freedom" while it lasts! Can't wait to see the quilt!
Jennifer, DonnaDio....hope you continue to feel better each day. It's a loooong process but you do get there in the end. Just not as quickly as you thought you would...but you do get there.
Rita....I too have a landscaper I call for the bigger jobs and with my one good arm and my back I decided to have them give me a quote for re-mulching all the beds and re-doing all the edges of same beds (I put mulch all around the whole house too). I will be doing this myself, a little at a time...they wanted a thousand bucks for this! Yeah....no. DH is off school next week and if we don't hop in the car and escape...he will be helping me with this little (LITTLE?) project but shhhhhhhh...don't tell him, ok?
Hope you all are doing well...hey Karin...where ya been? Check in, OK?
Off to the gym and then home to house clean, change the sheets, laundry, yard work...yada, yada, yada....
Have a wonderful day!
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Hi Ladies,
Just checking in on this beautiful FRIDAY morning!
Laura, keeping fingers crossed for great results from your scans.
Rita, things are pretty uneventful in Rock Falls area, which is fine by me! Things are finally drying out so hubby (hobby farmer) is excited about that although I hear we could have heavy rains moving in all next week. My parents LOVE to go to the gambling boat. I know they go to the Clinton one as well as the new Jumers casino.
Illinois Nancy...my step-daughter and her husband live in Mendota. She is a rad tech in LaSalle Peru but use to work at the Mendota hospital.
As for me, still working but this area is soooo depressed economically. I'm a commodity manager for a small manufacturer and business is very bad. My husband works for another manufacturer in a neighboring town and all of them are on reduced hours and/or pay. Because hubby is management, he still has to work full-time but had his pay slashed 25% and this could go on all year....yikes, I've never seen it this bad. I sure hope things turn around soon. Thank goodness he knows how to farm...that helps supplement the income. With kids in college and one still at home, we've really had to make some hard budgeting choices :-(...but it will all work out in the end I'm sure.
Everyone have a great day and weekend!
Susan
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Just checking in - worried that we haven't heard from Laura!
WendyTY - sorry about your grandmother. I agree with Wendy - be glad about the memories. My paternal grandma died when I was 4 and I barely remember her - I do still remember her smell when she would come stay with us though. My maternal grandma lived in CA so I didn't get to see her too often.
Wendy - I'm jealous of how much time you have to read. I started the Harry Potter books and really enjoyed the first one. I stopped near the end of #3. I felt like it was the same story over and over, just different bad guys. Maybe this summer I will get back into them.
Have a great day everyone!
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Quickie....just hope you all have a wonderful day. Hope I'll be home much earlier tonight and a little more coherent. See ya then.
Prayers n' hugs,
Jackie
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a litle fun quote today:
Hope for the Best. Expect the worst Life is a
play. We're unrehearsed
- Mel Brooks0 -
WendyK - Here I am
yes, Spring is here! Yippeee!! Laura - fingers crossed for good test results!
WendyTY - sorry to hear about your grandmother (hug)
Hi to everyone else that I'm not addressing individually. I thought I'd better pop by & see what's happening. Every time I log on, I spend a lot of time job searching, and then I'm too pooped to post, haha.
Had an interview on Wednesday. It seemed to go well. However, they had 20 candidates interviewing on that day alone!!! We'll see if I get called back for next level interview. Either way, at least I got my feet wet with interviewing. I haven't had to interview for a job in years. Good thing I have a couple of nice suits from my last job
I'm going to a '70's Disco Party' with my sister & her friends tomorrow night. I was pretty young in the 70's but I do know all of the Saturday Night Fever stuff... it should be fun. People dress up in disco gear, so I'm gonna try to put an outfit together.
I hope everyone is having a good Friday, and also that you have a good weekend. Take care & cheers... Juliet
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Hi Girls... Good news... no tumors or mets showed up on the bone scan or the chest x-ray! Arthritis in both knees and right hip. whew...this really scared the cra* out of me! But in the future, I really need to learn to deal with this in a more positive and healthy way. I get so freaked out! lol Thanks for your help through this. I REALLY appreciate it. As for the Sternum pain, I will just have to take anti-inflams/pain meds when the pain is bad. It will come and go - so to speak, and it may eventually go away. Hopefully it will. My heart goes out to those who don't get good results... we all can imagine how difficult that would be. So....I am going to release my pent up stress by going to the Y. I'll check back later.
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Hello to everyone, I would like to join you. I had my first AC on Tues. I get 4 of them every 2 weeks then 4 Taxetere also every 2 weeks. I live in Monee IL I am really part of Frankfort. If anyone knows where Joliet or Kankakee is I am in between. I am a special ed teachers aid. I had to stop work. I am married with 2 kids 13 and 14.
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LauraGTO
So happy to hear the good news. Even we lurkers were waiting for the results. It is a relief when anyone here gets good news. Take care!
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Hi Buddy1 and welcome to our happy little group! Very sorry that you had to join us, but glad that you found us Illinois girls and we are TOUGH! More of the gals will be around shortly to welcome you...and I think some of us are very near you as well!I see you are Her2+....Mich101, WendyTY (The Younger) and myself (Wendy the Old) are too! Mich and I are thru with Herceptin and WendyTY is nearing I believe the end of hers. If we can answer any ?'s about that...let us know!
Hugs to you!
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Laura....I LOVE good news!!!!!!!!!!!!! 0 -
Thanks for teh warm welcome. This is my first day w/o Emmend and my last day for steroids. We will see what happens. I felt a little queezy this a.m. I ate and took steroids I wasnt sure if it was heartburn So tehy said i could take a acid reducer. WOW that helped. I was trying to avoid the compazine incase it was heartburn. I feel a little clearer. I dont wasnt to make any sudden moves I get very dizzy. I guess this is normal. (I am hoping) Thanks for listening to my ramble
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Laura, such a relief! Have a restful weekend.
Buddy , nice to meet you and yes it is normal to feel rocky. I hope you feel better very soon.
Susan
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Susie Swan...The farmers around here are getting antsy, too. They want to get in those fields. You're right the economy is horrid everywhere. My son is in management also at a big plant in Lexington, KY. His salary has been reduced 10% through June at least and they're working a day for free every so often. Hopefully things will get turned around. You are lucky to have the farm for additional income.....and most of the farms in your area have such fertile soil.
Buddy1...welcome to our little corner of the world. There's always someone around here to answer questions or offer encouragement when you need it, and you'll always find a bunch of us who understand what you're going through. Come and post often. As for the nausea, I learned to take the Compazine as soon as I left the chemo room, whether I thought I needed it or not and that usually warded off the nausea. The first time I waited to take the pill until I was nauseous and it was lots tougher to get rid of it than to prevent it. Lemon drops also helped with the nausea.
Laura...........hey, hey, hey! Wonderful news! So are they just thinking that the sternum pain is caused from inflammation? Isn't it strange what we are thankful for anymore???? HUGS!
Wow Wendy...$1,000 for remulching and etc. My second landscaper came this morning to draw up a plan for me. It will be interesting to see what the designs look like when completed and how outrageous they are in price. We may be doing this ourselves, too.
Susan, enjoy your trip!
Jackie, I liked the quote today!
- Hi to everyone else. I'll be back later. Wendy's got me nervous about these landscaping prices and I'd better get busy and earn some money writing quetions this afternoon. LOL
Have a good day. At least the sun is shining here!
Rita
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Thanks for the Lemon drop tip. I will try it. I cant even think about anything sweet right now. So teh sour might be good.
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Glad you got the good news, Laura!!! Now you can take a deep breath and relax! We all understand how scary this is and how every ache and pain makes us worry.
Welcome, buddy1! This is a great group that will give you lots of support through these hard times. I had some sort of allergic reaction to Compazine and ended up in the ER - it made me feel beyond jittery - almost like I was going crazy. I ended up using Zofran for the nausea and it did the trick. I agree with Rita - I took it right away even before I felt nausea and that worked better.
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Will the side effects get stronger each time or stay the same?
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HI buddy1,
Welcome to our IL group. Glad you found us, but sorry you had to, if you know what I mean.
Side effects of chemo do tend to be cumulative, but you do learn what works to help make it doable. Do take your anti nausea drugs, because it is far easier to prevent than treat after it starts. I used compazine, and never waited to take it. I had no nausea at all during treatment. Keep hydrated with water, or something else if you can't tolerate water. I used Crystal Lite lemonade, because water tasted so terrible at the time. The adriamycin leaves a bad taste behind, and the cytoxin can make you feel as though your sinuses are full, and give you a headache. Steroids and chemo can make you feel a little "off," like dizzy. I used extra strength Maalox for the sort of heartburn like pain I always had for a few days.
I had 4 ac's, and then 12 weekly taxols. Taxol is similar to taxotere. It isn't easy, but it is very doable. Come here often and talk with us. Ladies here have so much to share, and they are all just the best!
Big hugs, and hoping you feel better soon!
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Laura, yea! Doing the happy dance for your results. I'm with Rita, strange what makes us happy these days, isn't it?
Susan, have a wonderful trip, and enjoy the sun. As I thought, I am the one breaking in the new rake!
Juliet, I'm wishing you great luck in your job search. It isn't easy out there, so I guess we have to be patient.
I'm getting roofing estimates, and we need some new windows. It is always something! Wondering if I should think about selling the house and getting a smaller, newer one. This is a 1952 ranch style, and that does make it easy to live in for a couple of seniors like us. Oh well, it is home, after all.
The economy is hitting the hospital hard....Evanston bought out Rush North Shore in January, and the first thing they did was lay off 600 people.
I'll try to come back later, and be a little cheerier!
Pat
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Smerf I want to thank you. I just hope the side effects dont double each treatment.
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buddy1,
No, not doubled, but just lasting a little longer each time. For me, ac was more difficult, and I actually started to feel a little better during the taxol txs. I realized that millions of people go through chemo each year, and many of them are children, so I told myself if they could do it, so could I! Remember our motto, IL ladies are tough!
Seriously, you can do it, and we will all be here to help.
Hugs, Pat
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Hello Everyone!
Hi buddy1 - Welcome! Sorry to see you here, but IL Gals are TOUGH! And we will get you through this! I am on Taxotere and Cytoxan, 6 tx's, the last on on 3/24!
While the effects of the chemo are cumulative, they do not double each time. Everyone's experience is different, but I have found, personally, that there is an SE each tx that will "come forward", bother you the most, and it was different each time. For example, with my 3rd tx, there were a few days where my palms of my hands and the soles of my feet itched. No rash, just itched. That is a common SE with Taxotere, but it only happened the one time. The se's that I ALWAYS have are fatigue and the feeling of a full stomach, that has been with me since day one of chemo. No better than when I started chemo, but no worse either. Yay Laura! Such a relief! I was thinking of you all day yesterday!
Juliet - 70's Disco party sounds like fun. Unfortunately (or fortunately 'cuz it was FUN ) I was there for the "real thing" "Burn Baby Burn, Disco Inferno"...just get out your funkiest polyester, and you'll be in style! Oh platform shoes too! How did we dance in those!?
WendyTY - So sorry to hear about your Grandmother. My grandparents were such a huge part of my life, and it was really tough when they went away.
Wendy - The quilt is done!
Laura, I'll be getting fabric scraps to you for the journal part soon. Probably when we see each other in person. Soon, I hope!
Well, I saw the BS on Wednesday, and she said that it would be silly to leave my port in for 2 years. She said that she will talk to my onc, and she will write an order for it's removal in June. Now that I can live with!!!!
Everyone have a good weekend. Mine will be busy in preparation for the FINAL chemo, and moving on the to next tx stage. (It feels great to be saying that) Gotta get to the store and get those things that taste good like tapioca pudding and Jello...all low-fat of course! On the 25th, I have a PET scan in preparation for rads, with the big rads appointment for measurments on 3/31. I start rads on 4/6. So you guys will not be hearing from me for a week or so, but I'll be lurking!
Edited to say: Pat, I love how you told buddy1 about how millions go through chemo each year. I did not think of it that way with chemo, that's a good way to look at the situation, and it's so unfortunately true that lots of people go through chemo. BUT that was how I got through childbirth w/o painkillers all 3 times, telling myself that millions have done this for millions of years and they survived....
Happy Spring!.....FINALLY!!!! Carol
Dx 9/18/2008, IDC, 4cm, Stage IIIa, Grade 3, 6/10 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-0 -
Happy for you, Carol. Last chemo, and getting the port out sounds good. I remember lots of tapioca, so I guess it's good that I like it. Vanilla ice cream went down easily, too! The quilt is beautiful, and quite an accomplishment.
WendyTY - So sorry about your Grandmother. Hugs to you.
Jackie, that lovely picture of your deck keeps coming to mind. If mine looked like that I'd probably never be inside come summer.
Connie, glad your little guy is better. Has he shaken off the cough yet? One of mine used to get lingering coughs, and I felt so sorry for her. It's exhausting to cough so much, and tough to go to school.
I see on the news that the Empress Casino in Joliet is on fire. Is that where some of you go?
Have to go pick up some groceries....DS is arriving tomorrow for a too short visit.
Have a nice evening.
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Yes we go there. I was worried about my sister she always goes on Firday. But she is fine. It is very close
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Thanks for the tapioca and vanilla pudding tip. I tryed it. It did seem to help.
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Omy....what a difference a few hours make. First.....what a thrill to get your news Laura. I'm very happy for you. If only we didn't go to the "worst" scenario first because it seems so hard go shake when we do that. When I get 'shook' I keep thinking....this can't happen to me....I'm practicing to be a great big pain in the rear to someone and they deserve it....so this just can't be a bad thing. So far, it's worked.....I don't know about the REAR part though.
Buddy 1....how nice to meet you. Glad you found us here. Hmmmm, you got great advice from these ladies. I had AC 4 ---- or 1 treatment every three weeks. Then switched to Taxotere for the last 4 treatments --- 1 every three weeks. Somehow I mis-interpreted how to take the nausea meds. Part of that was that I no longer remembered what it felt like to be nauseous. Except for some bad incidents in my life ( none having to do with nausea ) I have been fairly well. The last time I had nausea --- and I only had it once was my first pregnancy in 1970----so I could not remember what nausea was even like. Not to scare you....but partly due to this,,,,I got pretty urpy thru the A/C chemo. Taxotere was fine.
All of this is doable and even when it might get a little rough.....you know you are helping your medical team save your life. Something that also helped me soooo much was just telling myself...just get through the next hour....or a couple of urpy times....the next five minutes. If you look too far ahead it might seem a bit bleak, but broken down in much smaller time periods lets you WIN your goal sooner. Also, you only ( if you feel them much all ) will feel your side effects for a short while. Mine started in on a very mild level on day 2... hung around for a few days and then I could easily feel that they were backing off as my body began to rejuvenate. It's not bad and you will find the pattern and know exactly what to expect and when. We are here for you.
Actually Pat, we do live on the deck when the weather stabilizes some. We eat most of our meals there and as long as the weather holds....any one who comes....we just park outside. My kitchen door opens onto the deck so it makes it very easy and convenient. We had a deck on the other house....though it was on the front of the house and not quite as convenient. The kitchen at the house was all the way at the back of the house -- not bad, but not quite as nice as here. This is a fairly large deck here as well. That and the screen room for the pets is probably 95 % of the reason we chose this house.....and it was very late fall when we found it so had no idea that the deck and yard would be so pretty later.
Well, time to go eat. Hope you all have a great evening.
Rita I liked the quote really well too. It sounded so Mel Brooks to me.
Henson Chi, good to hear from you. Hope all is still going fine with you.
Prayers n' Hugs,
Jackie
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Thanks Jackie,
I am still on herceptin and taking Femara. I am afraid the Femara is wreaking havoc with my body, every ache and pain makes me wonder!
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Laura- just popping in to check on you - so glad you got good news!
Thinking of each of you and Happy 1st day of Spring!
Hugs to those going through tx, and welcome to Buddy1.
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Laura,
FANTASTIC NEWS!!! I'm so glad it turned out well for you. Have a great weekend.
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