Anyone starting Chemo in Feb?
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Hi all. Leah, shit...what to say. Go for the biopsy and get the questions answered ASAP. Golden Eyes had her lung biopsy a few weeks ago ... it wasn't BC. I'm sure she wouldn't mind talking to you about the process. Let me know if you want to get in touch with her...I know her from outside of BCO.
I was going to post a newsy update...chemo, lunch with Hillary, congrats to Melanie on the BRCA results....but I've lost my motivation.
Hugs.
Twilah
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(((Leah)))
I so wish I had some words of wisdom. Obviously, it's ultimately your decision, but I think Twink is on to something. It may help you to make a decision if you talk to Twink's friend.
Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Carynn
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Dear Leah, I just want to let you know I am thinking of you and sending hugs your way. I have no words of wisdom, wish I did. But I sincerely want the best for you. Hoping and praying that the lung spot is unrelated to BC. Love, Sammie Kay P.S. Our grandson was born today at 4:30 pm. I am keeping the two granddaughters and am very, very tired. Sorry this is short, they are calling for me to come and lay down with them. They are both a little emotional about their Mom being in the hospital overnight. The baby is adorable and mom and baby are fine. I will write more later. Just really bummed about Leah's news. I hate BC!!!
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Leah, sweet leah, don't jump to bad conclusions too soon... It may be nothing related. And I am not sure that the grade of the initial tumor is such a factor as far as reoccurrences go. If you could connect with a BC sister with similar experience, that might be helpful. When are you supposed to see your medical team to follow up the lung scan? Did your onc ever talked to you about Avastin? I am going to bed with you in my thoughts and I keep my fingers crossed for a false alarm... Big hugs to you ((((Leah)))))
Catherine
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Oh Leah, gentle hugs ...
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Leah; I don't know what to say except that I am so sorry about this latest news. You are in my thoughts...
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Thinking of Leah and praying for the best!
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(((((LEAH)))) Prayers being said for you.
MELANIE>OMG Congrats congrats on the good news!!!
SAMMIEKAY>congrats on the newest grandchild!
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Dang it Leah! I'm going with Catherine and the false alarm theory. With all our histories, I think the ruling out of BC is routine. Hang in there honey, we are here for you.
Melanie, great news on the BRCA testing. Looks like you had a grand time and the pics are great! grandma? You? No way!
SammieKay congrats to you on the grandbaby.
OK, like Twink, I don't feel much like posting nice right now.
I have hubby and my 3 broads going with me to surgery on Monday. I only have Leah's number and she has her own shit to deal with Monday so if anyone wants my friend Mary to call from my cell phone I can had you to her list of folks to call. But really, I have to assume everything will be OK. My docs have been IGNORING this boob the whole time!
Hey Phyl, are they doing a SNB on you before you proph RM?
Marsha
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MARSHA>praying your surgery goes well, will be thinking of you. Haven't seen you on the boards much lately but I have a feeling you are trying to get your life in order before you have to take it easy again.
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OK, here's my news. My oncologist just called me about the results of my MRI and chest X-ray. He and the radiation oncologist very carefully went over the results. My chest X-ray is clear. My right breast (which had the tiny focus of LCIS) is clear. However, my left breast, which had the lumpectomy and radiation, is not, but they are not sure what they are seeing. Here's the caveat -- they don't normally do MRIs this close to finishing radiation. They are not sure whether what they are seeing is residual radiation damage or residual cancer. So, I get another MRI in three months.
I see the radiation oncologist next week for my post-rads checkup. I'll get some more information from him. I see my medical oncologist after Thanksgiving, at which time he'll schedule the MRI for December.
Once I've digested this information some more, I might phone my oncologist to talk some more about what it all means. Twink -- I may be joining you on the post-chemo chemo. Marsha -- I may be joining you on the bilaterals.
Hugs to all,
Hillary0 -
Gee Whiz Leah, Holding your hand for as long as it takes. Here's hoping they find a way to give you some definitive answers soon. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Hillary, dang it - you'd better hook up with us bilaterals. Maybe you'd be able to sleep better
Marsha - the plan at this time is no SNB unless the mammo shows something Monday. He's thinking if there ever was anything, it's probably been killed so no sense dealing with that node crap if it's not necessary. I'll be holding your hand Monday too. Are you doing the drive-thru or will you be in overnight?
Hugs to all!
Phyl
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Thanks, guys. I have gone to the "dark place" and come back. I think I am going to just wait for the re-scan that is already scheduled for 11/19. I think I have been through so much in the past 120 days- breast surgery, 33 rads, RFA surgery,- that I could very well just be inflamed in that area and maybe my body just needs a rest and healing. If it is still there in November, then I will deal with it then. By the time I get home from Italy, it will only be 4 weeks to the scan. Nothing too bad can happen in that time. PET/CT scans pick up everything, but there a lot of false-positives (which includes inflamed tissue as well as malignancy). So I think, unless someone convinces me otherwise, to wait for the next scan. Does this sound reasonable?
BTW, don't know if you saw that you request an email be sent to you when you have a PM. Log in to this site, tt is on MY HOME.
From My Home, navigate to My Preferences and check the "Send me an email notification when I receive a Private Message" box. Works great!
Thanks all for your support. I know this is my life now, but I am just not used to the huge emotional swings yet!
Love.
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Good afternoon everyone! Marsha – Sending you hugs and wishes for a speedy recovery and a clean, clear pathology. It’s so nice of you to offer to give us a call! I’m going to give your friend’s dialing finger a break and say she doesn’t need to call, but will you please put me on your list of people that you email as soon as you’re upright and functioning? Pretty please?
Hillary – Obviously, I’m not a Dr., but it seems we hear that a lot about unclear test results right after rads. So, I would be of the camp to wait for the next MRI before stressing. Did you request an MRI that soon after rads? I’m being slightly nosy as I met with both the BS and Med Onc this week and MRI’s and scans were a big topic at both visits (more on that later). So I was just curious as to whose request the MRI was. Anyway, I think you have a good game plan. Let it digest, then call the Onc for info. Hugs to ya! Leah – I’m glad that you are back from the dark place. I think you could be on to something about residual radiation effects, like I just said to Hillary – we do seem to hear a lot about unclear results on tests done right after radiation. I am crossing my fingers, toes and any other crossable appendages that your results in November will be clear. Ok girls, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m more than ready to hear about Twink’s and Hillary’s lunch. Are there pictures? Please do tell!
So, Tuesday I met with the BS for a follow up. My skin looks really good and you really can’t tell that I’ve had rads already! I have some very slight peeling, but that’s it. So the BS was able to get a really good look. She and I are very pleased with the results.
I was a bit surprised that she said she was ordering a mammo in Dec, which is 6 months from my surgery. I thought the Med Onc took care of that. Anyway, I asked her about an MRI and long story short is that what she looks for is seen clearly in a mammo. So, I was a little disappointed, but decided to go with the flow and see what the mammo shows. So, today I met with the Med Onc. Bloodwork, et al was all great. I expected my counts to be down. I posted on Gina’s board that this week has been really bad with fatigue. Today is better, but yesterday and the day before when I got out of bed, I felt like I’d been up all night (you know Phyl and Leah, like when you pull an all nighter for work ) The feeling got worse instead of better as the day wore on. At one point I honestly thought I’d need to leave work sick, but I did stick it out. Anyway, after talking with the Med Onc, it’s likely an effect from rads combined with the fatigue that RA can produce. My Rad Onc did say that it could take up to 18 months before I felt “normal.” Anway, so the Med Onc says that she’ll order a mammo in Dec., and I told her that the BS had already done that. I also started in about preferring an MRI. We had a nice chat (again) about her feelings about scans. Bottom line, she doesn’t generally order them after tx unless something during her conversation with me, or the exam or bloodwork warrant it. (Big conversation here about insurance companies) But, fab Dr that she is, she told me she would order me any Pet/CT/MRI that my heart desired if it would make me feel better/more comfortable. So, I told her that I would like a breast MRI in December, and a CT or PET in a year. She said no problem…:) Nothing else to tell. Wishing everyone a nice relaxing evening. Big hugs to you all.Carynn
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I have to apologize that have not been around. I shall explain in a moment
First, Leah, big hugs to you ((((((Leah))))) Good to hear you have mentally worked though some of it. We are here for you.
Hilary, Hmmm hard to wait around for these things. My onc also said it takes ~6 months for the edema and swelling from rads to resolve. I can still feel it in the tumor area.
Melanie, Congrats on the BRCA!! Good news!!
Sammiekay, Congrats on the grandbaby. Sounds like you have your hands full.
Marsha, I will be thinking of you on Monday and sending you positive thoughts all the way to Florida!! I think you will do well the second time around.
I have been busy lately with work and darn doctors. But then it looks like others have too and did a better job at staying in touch.
1. Work. not sure I can do this stressful job anymore. My priorities have changed but not for my employer. But it is hard to change jobs with insurance and children at home. I think about it a lot and will figure out what to do eventually.
2. The neuropathy in my hands and feet is still bad and I have trouble walking. By Friday I look and feel like I am an 85 yr old. To put it bluntly it pisses me off some times. I am switching back to the first medicine and trying to exercise as much as I can. Can't afford the current one.
3. We all continue to face ongoing health issues. I was having pain in my chest. Thought maybe it was due to the chemo and heart damage. They ended up doing all kinds of heart tests. One showed possible heart damage but could be skewed due to radiation-one has to wonder why they did it when they know I just finished rads one month ago. And I had a stress test that was thankfully normal.
4. I use to have a really low BP. Now thanks to all this I have now been put on BP medication. So far it is working, I just spend half my day having to pee.
5. On my last CT scan it showed that my thyroid was enlarged and last week they did an ultrasound. I have two nodules on my thyroid that were not there before. After going to the ENT the plan is to wait 6 months and see what happens. Sound familiar!! Funny (not ha ha funny) the ENT said why did they only take out four of your lymph nodes if the SNB and one other was positive. Oh yes, the million dollar question.
6. Every time I take the Arimidex I puked my guts up. Sound familiar! What is wrong with me?? They told me to stop it for a month and said it could not be causing the vomiting. But I stopped and started it three times with the same thing. But I am actually afraid not to take it.
BTW my follow up is a mammogram in 3 months. Onc said that is still the definitive diagnositic aide. Didn't matter when I told him it missed my cancer. Afraid I could not talk him into a MRI
MY secretpal has been amazing with all kinds of things. And I think she is having a tough time right now which amazes me. She is an amazing person!!! HInt hint
I on the other hand have stunk with my pal. Since she knows who I am I hope she understands!!!
Catherine, We could use one of your calming stories of plants, food, books, France.......
Karen0 -
Oh, Leah....I read about your troubles this morning, but as I was in a hurry as usual and the news made me feel a bit blue, I could not respond. I am sending positive thoughts your way, and hugs (((((Leah)))))) I am glad you are able to work thru the dark moments, though. We all love you.
I had my Herceptin yesterday and what should have been an hour and a half visit turned into 4 hours. They could not draw blood from the famous port. So they sent me to medical outpatient services for TPA (clot busting drugs infused into the port) After the infusion I had to sit and wait for an hour for the medicine to work. Then back to the chemo room. So I never made it back to work yesterday afternoon.
My BS also ordered my mammogram for Nov...only 2 1/2 months after rads. She wants to see it at my check up in November. The Rad onc was surprised...he doesn't usually order them that soon after rads. He was going to talk to my BS. I see him next week.
I do not seem to have swelling in the radiated breast. But, unless it is my imagination, the other side is getting bigger. Or maybe it is the unevenness of my bras. I am seeing a Plastic surgeon on Oct 11 to see what can be done about that.
Marsha, I am holding you in my thoughts too...I am sure you will do fine on Monday. At least this time you know what to expect. I just feel in my gut that your pathology will be fine.
I need to get on the ball and do something for my secret pal too. I have just been so busy all of sudden at work. And the kids are keeping me busy. Tonite I worked until 6, stopped at the grocery store. Came home and made pasta salad and peanut butter tandy cakes. The volleyball team is hosting their annual tournament tomorrow. So we are manning a concession stand for the teams, coaches, refs and families. It is our only fundraiser for the girls, so we always do well, but a lot of work. It will go from 9 in the morning until about 7 pm. About 15 teams. But it is a lot of fun. Wish our girls luck!
Sammie Kay....congratulations on the new grandbaby! I can just feel the soft downy hair ....what joy!
Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend.
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Carynn, there is hope...I felt more my normal self within about 2-3 months after rads. But then too I didn't do the chemo fully like the rest of you gals!
HUGS to those of you going through medical problems right now.
LEAH>good for you, with that attitude you should fully enjoy your trip to Italy. Hope to see some fabulous pics from there. You are probably right in what is really going on with your medical stuff.
TERRY>my bs ordered a mammo 6 months out. I would think your breasts would be too tender to handle it so soon after rads. She didn't say anything about a MRI yet even though it was a MRI that caught my worse cancer the mammo didn't catch.
MARSHA>will be thinking of you and praying for you Monday
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Good morning ladies, hope everyone is having a good weekend. Had my pre-op testing done yesterday in Orlando. A couple of the broads rode down with me and we had lunch at a cute little place downtown. Monday is turning into a party of sorts looks like. Hubby, and my 3 broads are all going. We are gonna spend the night at my friends house who lives just outside of Orlando after they release me from the drive-thru surgery. hahaha Guess I'll have fries with that mastectomy!
Hey Terry so good to see you around. You sound busy and that is great. I remeber those 4 hour chemo visits well. Yuck Have fun at the volleyball tournament and hope your team wins!
Karen, I had a feeling you were really busy with the kids. God so sorry to hear about the lingering SE's and the vomiting from the AI. Can you try a different one? It really pisses me off when the docs say Oh No that didn't have anything to do with rads or chemo. I mean come on, how do they know what individual things might happen to each of us after having poison put in our bodies and radiation to our chests??? I always want to scream I AM AN INDIVIDUAL, not a statistic!
Hillary, try not to panic. I know that is easier said than done, and I do believe the docs assume the worse, that is their jobs. Rule out bad stuff first. I am thinking of you.
Leah, you sounded so much better on the phone yesterday. Love you girlfriend. You go to Italy and have a grand time. We'll deal with this with you when you get back.
For those who have had bilaterals. What is the "standard" follow-up treatment? I have a 3 month F/U visit with the onc on the 10th. He ordered CA153, liver stuff and a CBC for before the visit. My rad onc told me scans would probably not be done unless I have symptoms of something. I absolutely DO NOT want to live from scan to scan and am hoping this bilat takes care of that crap. Rad onc said I had a 1% chance of a recur since I did the full monty, mast, chemo, rads. With the bilateral my survival rate jumped up to 95%. I guess the remaining 5% is mets?
Hi Catherine, dinner sounded lovely. Sure hope you make it to Florida in Feb so we get a taste of your cooking. Still can't wait to stick my fork in your souffle and watch it go poof. I think Leah is a good cook too I'll be happy to let you gals rule the kitchen!
Love you all! Marsha
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Hi all! Marsha, you were in my thoughts today. Hillary and I both mentioned your name at lunch with much warmth. I'm sending you my very personal best twinkly wishes that all goes smoothly for you tomorrow. As for f/u...I've read the standard, and there's not much to it. My BS and onc have agreed to MRIs...not sure how often. My first one is scheduled for December but since I restarted chemo and will now be doing rads, I think that'll have to be delayed for a few months. Leah, you're on my mind too...shhhh...you're name was mentioned at lunch today too. We got together with a few of the Philly BCO women...
Here's today's shot of Hillary and I:
A shot of the entire group:
Well, that was a fun way to spend Saturday. Not too much of a drive for me and Hillary and I went for a quick breeze through Lord & Taylor afterwards. How great is that!?! I bought the top that she picked out... a beautiful little extravagance. I think I have a shopping addiction
.This last carbo was yucky...I felt like crap yesterday, not so great today but better. My joints are soooo sore and, for the first time since I started chemo, I took a compazine to quell the nausea. Shame on me for not taking the steroids I guess. One more to go.... gawd, I can't wait.
Peaceful weekend to all. I wish you could've been there today.
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Hello, dearest ladies... I have been thinking a lot about you ALL who have been posting about the anxieties you are going through (again
) right now... Marsha, I will be with you in thoughts for your surgery. Don't forget the stretching exercises relatively soon after (you should be given a booklet about those... If I remember well, I was told to start as soon as a week or 2 after surgery). Follow-up? I am not sure: I had markers done twice since the end of chemo (last chemo was May 22), no x-rays so far, no scans, only heart echography/doppler (for the Avastin study, every 3 months). I must say that I am not too bothered by the medical side of it now (I see the onc every 6 weeks until the end of the Avastin which will be Dec. 11). I had an incredible phone call from the insurance company about a 500 dollar bill they decided they would not pay in the end (for surgery assistant since jan. 10...)... because they were giving me the 3000$ deductible (would not go back to correct their "over"adjustments)... isn't that nice? I told the lady that would cover the numerous hours I spent with them on the phone to signal all the errors in my file, first because they were not paying, then because they were overpaying my bills... I got all the checks I paid back from the providers... Now, my insurance year restart on the 1st of October, and this is back to square one... as far as the deductible is concerned... still, totally unexpected and gladly accepted
.Twink, Hillary, Janet... thanks for the pictures, they allow us to share those moments important to you. San Diego looks pretty nice...
Terry, hello friend... hope you can rest some tomorrow...
Melanie, glad the test is negative... big relief for you and your daughter.
Leah, the departure approaches... make sure to check the weather on-line to pack the right stuff... Fall can be unpredictable... Prepare for a blog when you are back... so we can live your trip, too...
We are just starting exploring Colorado with the van (see picture below). We went yesterday for 6 hours in the mountains... it was cloudy but dramatic with the aspen colors (no mapples here, though, unfortunately, so no rich reds...) I am posting just a few pictures of happy traveling dogs...
The week has been uneventful... enjoyed ken Burns' series "The War" on PBS, and "The empire of the Sun" (Spielberg) through Netflix (not cheerful, but truly interesting)... I've been biking my heart off, feeling so good in the still warm breeze, my nose up in the air, just enjoying the exhilarating feeling of freedom a bike gives you (we have ideal conditions here for that). I gave Peter the biking virus and he bikes to the train station that then takes him to the campus (15min biking one way).
Carynn, I like your avatar on NoSurrender's site, you look really good. I am glad you're not in too much pain from your RA.
I certainly feel a 100 years old, too, in the morning and if i sit too long... I believe the Abraxane effects are not all gone (finger tips, taste buds, feet...)... still feeling a bit strange and achy... but not enough to take anything on top of the Tamoxifen (except for aspirin, 325mg, every other day).
Well, a big Hi to all, Alyson I enjoy the symphony music, very nice CD... Tink, do you come here still to read the posts? How are you and Aubree doing?
Big hugs all around, and especially tight ones to Marsha, Leah, and Twink who still have a lot on their plate... Wishing you all a restful and gentle Sunday...
Catherine
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Hello
I am sorry to be such an infrequent contributor here. I have checked in every now and again - keeping up with you all has been a bit beyond me but I am sorry, Leah, to hear of your recent scare and hope it all works out. Marsha - I had both boobs off, and am glad of it. Cancer was only in one, but the fact it wasn't found on my regular mammograms and on u/s, it was only when I felt a lump and a node lit up (ie way too late) that it was found, even after I had had a ductectomy for nipple discharge. Sooo...I wasn't taking any chances. My surgeon is like yours - not likely to order scans unless I have symptoms. He reckons even if you pick up a small spot early, your prognosis is no worse than if you pick up a slightly larger spot later, so you may as well have the peace of mind not knowing about it.
Personally, I can't quite feel at ease with that approach, but I am doing my best just to get on with life. Work is insanely busy, spring is underway, summer is coming, so why do I want to worry about bc?
AND - I finished rads on Friday night - only slight burning above my collar bone and on the side of my neck, and a slight exit burn on the back of my shoulder.
Leah, I hope your team finds they are just being over-cautious, and it's just a rads burn on your lung. Will be keeping my fingers crossed for you.
I love reading the progress in all of your lives. I will probably keep being an infrequent visitor. But wish those of you still doing treatment and with surgery and more tests coming, all the best.
Belindaxxx
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Good morning everyone!
Karen – It was so good to hear from you! I’m sorry to hear that you are having trouble with the meds. Sending lot of healing energy your way and hoping that everything is fine with your thyroid. The waiting will suck, but try to look at it as the time needed to give your body the time it needs to heal. Don’t be a stranger we all missed you!
Terry – Love your avatar! It is so good to put a face with the name! We are a good-looking bunch, eh? My BS ordered a mammo also, but it’s 3 months after. When I whined about wanting an MRI instead, she explained that what she’s looking for is seen well in a mammo, so I couldn’t talk her into an MRI either (but my Onc agreed, so I’ll be having both. )
Hi Jan! Hope all is well with you. How’s that Marine doing?
Marsha – How you holdin’ up girlfriend? Sounds like you have everything all set for Monday. I hope you know that there will be all kinds of virtual hand holding going on. Wishing you the speediest of recoveries!
Twink – Thanks so much for posting the pix. You two look beautiful! I’m jealous! Wish we weren’t all so far away. I am sorry to hear that the last chemo was a challenge. Helping you with the countdown to the very last one!
Catherine – The pix look wonderful and it looks like you and DH are having a great time with the van. Do keep us posted of your travels. Thanks for the compliment on the avatar. The Enbrel does seem to still be working, not to many issues with the RA although I do think it’s a contributing factor to all the fatigue. But overall, I feel almost normal again!
Belinda – So nice to hear from you! Big congrats on finishing rads. I thought it would never end, but halleluiah it does! Do check in, we all miss hearing from you!
Well, DH is getting ready to leave for FL for his Air Force reunion next week. He has such a great time there, and we’ve made life long friendships with some of the people there. I’m a little sad not to be going this year, but I think it will do him good to get away. He was such a rock during tx, it’s definitely time for him to kick up his heels!
We had fun last nite. I’m very into all things NASA and I saw a piece on the news last month about a new documentary being released called in the Shadow of the Moon. If you haven’t heard of it, it contains new interviews with many of the Apollo astronauts, and new footage. I’ve been waiting impatiently for it to come out, and we finally got to see it. I highly recommend it. Check out their website if you’re interested.
Wishing you all a great day. (((Hugs)))
Carynn0 -
Enjoyed the pics from everyone! CATHERINE>the dogs look content in in van. What stunning yellow trees.
TWINK>did you find you all could talk freely about breast cancer at your Philly meet? It was kinda nice to be able to do so with the CA girls.
Marine son must be busy and happy, had only one letter from him since seeng him and it was the address to his new barracks and platoon. Sounds like they moved him there the day after he completed the 3 mile run.
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Loved all the pics, must get DDs to help me tomorrow get some pictures on, have been taking some lately.
Bigs hugs and prayers to Leah and Marsha.
Had my port out last Monday. They had terrible trouble finding a vein in my arm so now I am all bruised on my hand and right up the inside of my arm. It seems to be healing OK. It took me a couple of days to get over the anaesthetic, was very tired.
Have been making real progress on the house. The hallway is all relined and is now being painted. We decided to replace most of the skirting boards so have gone for traditional deep ones. Also have had to replace all the architraves round the doors as we discovered that the 1950s replacements had borer in them.
It is a terrible day here after a beautiful weekend, we have had a thunder storm rumbling around for a couple of hours. Both cats have gone loopy, they don't like the thunder and aren't happy about the schaffolding that is in the hall.
Must start to think about some dinner, having lasagna tonight.
Hugs to all
Alyson
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Hi all,
Wow, we are back from our trip to the Valley and tired. We had a wonderful time, seeing some friends from high school that we hadn't seen for 49 years and spending time with those that I see about every 2 years. We have frequent reunions of late. Guess we all realize how precious our last few years are.
Marsha, I willbe holding you close to my heart as you go through your surgery . I has the bilateral after the lumpectomy that was supposed to be one cm ductal turned out to be 4.5 cm lobular. Anyway, the onc at MD Anderson doesn't recommend scans or blood work for markers. The philosophy being if there is something there, the treatment of choice for mets for me(estrogen pos) would be the AIs. As he told me, if I have mets, I am incurable and it becomes a chronic illness that they keep after with medications like Arimidex, tamoxifen etc. I know this is true, as my SIL has mets to lungs and is doing fine after 9 years. She was on Tamoxifen for 5 years and 4 years on Arimidex. That has kept the tumors in her lungs inactive.
I am enjoying life and not worrying too much. I do realize I am much older that most of you and that makes a big difference.
I am having se from Arimidex(at least I assume that is it). I am, like many others, seem to stiffen up after sitting for any length of time and having stiff joints. I also am having edema in my feet and especially my right foot. This concerns me some, as I know some heart conditions cause right leg edema. I am taking 800 mg of motrin twice a day. That may be the culprit, but it sure makes my joint pain more tolerable.
Some exciting news about work is that the head of the Dept. of Surgery called and offered me a PR job(at the same salary as working in PACU). It will be much easier on me physically and a lot of fun. Liaison between patient's families and the OR and the Docs. Also, phone contact with post-op patients. I will job share with another nurse, so it will still be part-time. I am not interested in working full-time.
I am celebrating with those who have good news and praying with those who have questionable test results.
Have a wonderful week and anyone who gets the first news on Marsha, please post here. I will be checking often.
Catherine, I love the pup pics. Know you are loving the van. What fun.
Loved the pics of Hillary and Twink. And all your bc friends in PA.
At the reunion, a friend with lung cancer and I took our wigs off and took a picture together. I will try to post it. I have a new camera and am going to learn to download and upload pics if it kills me.
Love to all, special hugs to all. Sammie Kay
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Sammie Kay, congratulations for the new PR job, sounds interesting... Good for you to keep in touch with your HS friends... I never went to these reunions (would mean I have to go to Cherbourg, Normandy... a bit far). Glad to read that you are feeling reasonably well.
Thinking of you, Marsha, and hoping to hear about you "drive through" surgery... how were the fries? Don't forget your Senokot or equivalent... with the pain killers.
Busy day here, after a gardening-walking-biking week-end. Yesterday was rhubarb sharing time with a nice neighboor of ours, I dug up a plant, and cut the good stems for her from the remaining plants I have; I ended up turning over most of the bed and adding compost plus mulch... it was sunny and warm... lovely exercise...
I wished the dogs quit eating the mulch and compost...
It's grey today, but very mild, and I will continue feeding the roses, etc. with the rest of the compost pile... Tons of house chores to do... keep putting them off...
A short while ago I edited an article (translated from English into French) for a new client. I learnt today that it was part of their effort to get the Journal of Clinical Oncology as an account... and sounds like they did: they sent me a mail to thank me for the edit, asking me wether I could join the team for 10 articles every 2.5 months... interesting... we'll see how it goes...
Well, it is already 2pm... time to convert thoughts into action...
Hugs to all,
Catherine
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Good afternoon, all.
SammieKay- I have to tell you, at a few points during the last months, I craved a newborn baby to hold. And just to smell the top of their heads and their neck... ooooh. You are so lucky. Please give your grandchild a snuggle for me!
Catherine- your vanagon reminds me of the 60's. My daughter lives in Burlington, VT, where a lot of the older VW vans still live. There are even mechanics who can fix them! And your pups look content!
Hilary and Twink, You look so fine! What a great group. I bet you could talk just about anything with a group like that.
Twink, I went to Munich last year for vacation. One of the more reasonably priced vacations (food and lodging is quite reasonable, and you definitely don't need a car for anything). Have some nice pix that I might have to get to you. Your Heidelberg pix were quite nice!
And now, what did the onc man say? I now know the meeting of apogee (the top of the roller coaster before the descent?). When I got there, he had gotten my CA27.29 tumor marker result, plus he had looked at the scan itself with some radiology guys at Mass General. So, he said that the spot was hot, but it had no distinct shape. It also was not there one month ago, which is awfully fast for a tumor to show up. Also the tumor marker was down (from 39 (normal) in June to 22 now. If it had gone up, he would have been more concerned. So he is content to wait for the next scan. He said it is too indeterminate to get excited about.
I was kind of happy about that. As you all know, I had already decided to wait and see, and I did about 4 more hours of research this weekend on false-positives, and a bronchial inflammation would certainly count. If it is still there in late November, then I will have to have a biopsy. But I am betting it will be gone.
While I was in chemo, I had a PAP smear which came back abnormal for the first time in my life. I refused to get excited, and told them we would redo it when I was done with chemo. Just got the retest results- perfectly normal. It made sense to me that I should not have had a test like that when the WBC was so out of whack. I also had seen an article in passing that suggested it wasn't good to test during chemo. So I am sure happy that I won't be dealing with cervical biopsies on top of everything else!!!!!
Ok, so what will I do differently in the next scan period? Don't know yet, but I officially can't take these ups and downs. Hopefully, there won't be so many once I stop torturing my body with all these procedures! It is interesting that so many of us are getting "indeterminate results" so soon after rads.
It is 5 p.m. EST time here, and haven't heard from Mary, Marsha's friend, yet. I was the designated callee as of Saturday night, so if she called anyone else, they should be reporting in soon. I haven't heard anything as of yet.
Love to all.
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Good morning all...
A quick post before leaving for work.
Cyber hugs to (((((Marsha))))) Hope you are doing well this morning.
Leah....sounds like you really did your research. So happy the tumor markers are down. And you are probably right....we have been torturing our bodies and they need time to heal. Who knows what damage the chemo has done. Please enjoy your vacation and relax.
Sammie Kay Congrats on your new job. Change is good. And your body won't take such a beating. Good luck! How is the grandbaby?
I wonder how Tink and Aubrey are doing? Speaking of babies.
Well...got to run...have a conference call this morning early.
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Hi Leah, Marsha, Hillary, SammieKay, Karen and all,
Well, Life is a rollercoaster:)
Leah... Sorry to hear you are going through a little uncertainty right now, but it sounds like your attitude is good and that's half the battle. I know I rollercoaster at times freeking out about things and try to bring myself back to reality, it is tough. But your latest update indicates that the doctors are second guessing themselves, which is good. Enjoy your trip and get the scan when you get back after a beautiful trip to Europe.
Marsha... I hope that everything goes well for you and will be looking forward to your posting letting us know everything went fine.
Hillary... It seems to be a common thread, when you read this forum, that radiation seems to leave behind residue that ignites concern, to later disappear. So it most likely is the case here.
After Chemo my ovaries where so enlarged they thought I had a problem there too. Two scans later, no problem. We just don't know the full extent of the affects of these meds. So stay as positive as you always seem to.
SammieKay... Thanks for your postives words. It is always good to hear about someone elses success story.
Catherine... Thanks for the beautiful photo's, great colors in the trees. Everything looked so peaceful and relaxed.
Thanks to everyone for sharing their photo's with us. It is nice to see the smiling faces.
On the subject of testing. I was like most of you, it seems, the mamogram did not find my cancer. I found it for them and then through ultrasound and biopsy they confirmed it. Having no real confidence in Mammo's now, I asked my BS if I could forego it and just do MRI. She basically answered the same as yours,saying do the mammo first and them MRI later so that she has a 6 month picture going between the two. So I just had my followup mammo and it looks good. MRI sched for March 08.
I don't write often, but it seems when I do, I go on and on and on.....:)
Best wishes to all of you and my prayers are with you as you go through the not so good and the good times.
Cheers for now,
Gel.
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Leah; "Apogee"...what an appropriate word for what so many of us have been through these last many months. I don't know that I have heard the word in context before. Thanks for adding to my vocabulary. Everything your doc said sounds so reasonable. I too was relieved when my tumor markers finally took a downward turn after finishing chemo. I know they are not supposed to be totally reliable. But, there has to be reasons for their rise and fall.
Gel; It's always nice to hear from you.
Catherine; Rhubard...there was a time that it was favorite here in the south. Lately, I rarely hear of anyone growing it or cooking with it. It has been so many years since I tried a slice of rhubard pie. I can't even remember if I liked it or not. The vanagon pics look like so much fun. You will such good times! Where's the peace sign??? LOL
Sammie; I agree with Leah. What a sweet smell that a precious newborn has. It just melts me.
Twink and Hillary; How wonderful that you are making the time to get to know each other. It looks like a fun group!
Carynn; What a long Sunday! Those rain delays are killer. I hated the way they ended that.
Jan, Terry, Phyl...gosh...who did I miss? Thinking of everyone!
I am thinking of Marsha again today. I hope Leah will have some news soon. She'll be at a B n B party in a few days, I'm sure!
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