Illinois ladies facing bc
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Living in the moment means letting go of the past and not
waiting for the future. It means living your life consciously,
aware that each moment you breathe is a gift.
Oprah Winfrey0 -
Hoping everyone has a bright, and beautiful Saturday. Looking good here even if we do get some rain later.
Blessings
Jackie
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It costs you nothing to make another happy -
and you gain your true self through the act of spreading joy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie0 -
Oh Laurie- are you taking before and after pics?
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Hello lovely Illinois Ladies. This is Moonflwr912 from the north inviting anyone who would like to meet some Wisconsin friends to a Campout the last week in July. It's at a house in Central WI and all are welcome. There is a thread on the get together board as well. PM me for details.
Much love
Monica
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Hi Moon! Nice to see you hear neighbor
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Hi Lago. Thought I'd drop on and let everyone we are trying again. I had 3 people accept the last time but two canceled the week of. Real good reasons like DH hospitalized, ect! LOL but the one who showed had a good time. So hoping for a few more this time. We have lots of beds and a lot of trails. Very low key but we do have WIFI! LOL
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"Today is a brand new day. A fresh start. Replace any negativity with positivity. Think happy thoughts. Exercise. Drink lots of water. Fill your body with fuel. Healthy is happy. Inspire yourself. Create. Laugh. Play. Love. Learn. Give someone a compliment. Make a new friend. Do a random act of kindness. It creates good karma. Take chances and finally start living life to its fullest. But no matter what's thrown at you today, smile and remember, tomorrow's always a fresh new start."
-- Author Unknown
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IT'S DONE!!!
I buzzed my hair yesterday. What a relief!!! I wouldn't have said it Sat night at my own personal pity party!!
I wore the wig to work, could it have been any windier today? Seriously???
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Lakegirl, you have just crossed another milestone in this journey. I think that most have a pity party when it comes to the shaving or final loss of the hair. So when is your next infusion?
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Rita...hopefully Friday, never thought I would say that about chemo...I have a sinus infection...there is no doubt. I'm going to get the Z-pak now. That should do the trick. I really sound worse than I feel.
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Lakegirl, let's hope that it's a "go" for Friday. Then you can mark another one off your calendar! Z-PACKS always knock my sinus infections pretty fast. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! You will be very susceptible to everything for the rest of the treatments.
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Giving love, attention, and respect to the individuals who share our lives and to the people who cross our paths by chance will smooth our own passage day by day. The effects of our goodness will often be felt quickly. A smile elicits a smile. Kind thoughts bless us as well as the receiver. Life events do come full circle.
unattributed0 -
Thanks Illinois Lady--your words hit the spot today.
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A part of us wants
life, wants to make the commitment to live, and is willing to trust our
intuition and follow it from moment to moment. There is also a part of us that doesn’t
trust this inclination. “I can’t do
this, it’s too much, too intense. I
don’t want to surrender.” When we
distrust this inclination we experience only effort and struggle. When we surrender to life the flow of
energy increases, and we feel the passion of being alive.
Shakti
Gawain
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Good morning ladies! Hope you all slept through the noisy night! Lakegirl-the buzzing is a huge step, but it makes you feel in control of something, unlike all the other stuff that is thrown at you now. You will get used to it and I found going "topless" around the house was very comfortable, but sometimes it was chilly, it is surprising how much heat you lose through your head.
Saw my oncologist yesterday for 3 month check up-everything okay, he is giving me a month vacation from the Femara to see if my SEs lesson and then I will move onto Aromasin and see how that one works for me. I feel like I'm 85 most of the time. I asked him about the "chemo brain" and he gave me a handout from the ACS that described me perfectly-glad to know it isn't just old age at least I have an excuse that I plan on using as long as possible
Hope everyone has a peaceful day!
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MimiL55 I too am switching from Anastrozole (Generic Arimidex) to Exemestane (Generic Aromasin). I too have been on a break. Will be picking up today.
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Lago-hopefully we will both benefit from our breaks and do better on the Aromasin...fingers crossed! I am tired of feeling like I'm 85, bad enough my hair is really gray now, I don't need to walk like an old lady also ha ha!
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Mimi the stiffness wasn't great but my biggest issues: depression, sleep issues (probably from the depression) back and neck pain so bad that it hurt to stand up straight. I had been on it 3+ years and it finally came to a head this year. I have my hair colored. No need to look at all that gray.
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Lago and Mimi- did you start feeling bad right away, or did it take a while? I just pray I can get to 3 years like you did Lago--haven't swallowed one yet, but plan to try them starting maybe Monday.
I
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Mimi....You are so right!!! I go commando at home...after wearing it all day at work...I just want the damn thing off!!!
I never thought I would be able to do that...but, it is rather liberating!!! And, the whole getting ready for work in the AM, WOO HOO!!!
I have even ordered a wig stand so I can put one in my car and have one at home!!! That way if I'm too hot, off it goes!!! It is itchy, my poor princess sensitive skin is crying out, "Let it go, let it go..."
Guess what we have been listening to and watching non-stop at my house!!!
Hope everyone is having a good day. Next treatment is Friday, hears to minimal SE's like last time!!!
Also, thanks for listening to my drivel about my hair...
Janice
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Also, since I started wearing the wig on Monday...have gotten several compliments on my new hair style...they have no clue!!! That made my day!!!
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readhead I was a bit stiff the first year but that's about it. Then it got a little better but then a different kind of stiffness set in, still very doable. It was year 3 that I think I started to get funky with depression (gradually) and back/neck pain.
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Lakegirl-hoping you have an easy treatment on Friday with minimal SEs. And getting ready in the morning, piece of cake LOL. You have made it through one huge hurdle now and you can feel like the warrior that you are! We will listen to your "drivel" anytime, this is great place to whine, we all "get it"...
Lago, Readhead-I have pre-existing arthritis in my back and hips with both knees replaced so it is hard to tell what is from the drug and what is arthur, I just know I hurt like heck! As far as depression issues-good so far, but then I take Effexor for my migraine vertigo issues so that has probably helped with that and the hot flashes-I have them, but they aren't unbearable. I am learning to like the gray a bit, looks like highlights around my face, but these curls-seriously, my hair is naturally wavy but now I have corkscrews, who knows how long it really is
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Magnesium and calcium supplements helped with my stiffness and joint pain while on the Arimidex. I think that is what got me through the 5 years. :-) It is always good to try something different if you are having problems with one of the AI's. The worst that can happen would be that you'd develop the same side effects or have different ones that are more bearable.Then again, there might be a drastic difference and you never know until you try.
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Y'all,
For aches and pains I strongly suggest Ruth's potion of golden raisins soaked in gin. I can no longer take NSAIDs due to nausea. After two years of hearing about this I decided to give it a try. Hey, if it's all in my mind, who cares, but my pain is gone in my muscles, tendons, hip and foot. Much better than whatever NSAIDs were doing. Still have other pain from swollen joints that may be related to rheumatoid arthritis, but that's another direction.
As for depression. There are drugs that help, and many different effective ones. For some of us staying on AIs is really important and research coming out of the ASCO conference is indicating that anyone with high ER+ and intermediate or high Oncotype scores should probably stay on the drugs longer than 5 years. Anyone HER 2+ like lago would likely have a high Oncotype score, though these tumors are not tested. Very difficult choices for some of us. I want so badly to be done in 5 years, but it looks like I'm a candidate for lifetime AI use.
I'm on Aromasin. I've dealt with depression all my life. Maybe I'm avoiding depression on an AI because I'm on the right depression med for me. Depression is a horrible SE/disease, but treatable. Anyone wanting to go off AIs completely due to depression, there are good treatment options. I'd suggest trying one or more first. It took my third med to find one that worked.
Hang in there. We are worth it.
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Doxie my onc more than hinted at the 10 years. I was only 30%ER positive but she said it doesn't work that way. Hmmm. Her main argument was the tumor size. With an anti-depressant comes another doctor and possibly more SE. Not up for that right now. I still need to get through Prolia too. Not sure when that's going to happen.
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lago,
Pointing at the tumor size is an odd perspective. If cancer is aggressive and can grow large quickly, then isn't size somewhat about how quickly it was found? I first felt my tumor 5 mo after my mammogram; it had been too small to show on film. If it had been growing under my dense breast tissue instead of immediately under the areola skin, I wouldn't have known it was there until my next mammogram. No way I could have felt it. Upon discovery it would have been much larger, but no different in type of BC. Yours too would have been caught much earlier if it had been right below the surface of your skin. Though maybe her point is that, so large, it had more time to spread cells.
PCPs treat more depressions than Psychiatrists, who handle the more difficult depressions/psychiatric illnesses. If you have trouble on Aromasin, your PCP should be able to prescribe something. I've been so stable for years on my current med, that my Psych Dr. is sending me back to my NCP for med management. Not even a PCP.
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Thanks Doxie. The theory with bigger tumors is there are more cells that could break off and move through the blood stream (not though the lymph nodes). Even the stats show that larger tumors put you at a higher stage and more likely to recur than a smaller tumor. I get that. Also HER2+ is know to spread even though the nodes might be negative more often than tumors that are not. Granted she didn't mention this but that's what I have read.
Yes I had very dense tissue and my tumor was in the posterior region. Never felt it, no one did but I did have a dense area.
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I don't like gin, (my first legal drink was gin & tonic-thought it tasted like aftershave) but how much gin to how much raisin? Woke up with greatly reduced pain, but longer I am up, more it is coming back. And then how many do I eat?
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