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Comments

  • honeygirl
    honeygirl Member Posts: 136
    edited January 2008

    Awww , tuxedo kittys , how sweet. Layne , just wanted to wish you luck tomorrow. My prayers are with you. Let us know as soon as you can.

    Now I'm craving ice cream! Butter pecan please...lol

  • ashaby
    ashaby Member Posts: 200
    edited January 2008

    Layne, Hope the mammo goes well. They may let you control the pressure like they did me.(By saying "OW OW OW OW" like you did for the stereo). Let us know pronto how it went.



    XXOOXX Basha

  • JapanLynn
    JapanLynn Member Posts: 211
    edited January 2008

    Good morning, girls--

    Y'all are so good, responding to everyone individually.  I'm too stiff and cranky to do that, although I did read all the posts.  Ice cream...yum.  I'm a chocolate chip girl.

    My back is killing me this morning!  I've been waking up on my back...and I never used to sleep on my back.  I'm a side sleeper, but my hips have been hurting.  Sigh...it's always something.  Also, my nails are awful looking...they seem to have stopped growing, and they're all rough and yucky, no matter how often I file the rough edges.  In the scheme of the universe, not a big deal...I'm just in the mood to b***h.

    Re: tuxedo kitties...my Oz is the most beautiful on the planet.  He looks like he has a black blanket draped over his back, and his belly is snow white.  He also has mouse ears...black over his eyes, the rest of his face white, with a little black spot on his nose.  I adopted him from a local rescue organization last Feb.--some military family just drove off and left him when they moved to a new post.  How people can do that, I have no idea.

    Layne, good luck w/ the mammo...my first since diagnosis will be in Feb., and I'm nervous about it.

    Take care, everybody...

    Lynn

  • honeygirl
    honeygirl Member Posts: 136
    edited January 2008

    hi Lynn , your cat sounds adorable. I can't understand either , how people can just up and leave a pet. There are like a member of the family. I'm so glad he has you. B***h all you want , we have the right!lol Hope your aches lesson. Good luck next month with the mammo.

  • prayrv
    prayrv Member Posts: 362
    edited January 2008

    Layne,

    I hope your mammo goes good tomorrow.  I had a mast on my left side and I was real nervous on my first mammo on my right.  Everything turned out fine. 

    Take Care,

    Trish

  • Harley44
    Harley44 Member Posts: 2,126
    edited January 2008

    Honeygirl & Lynn,

    I just LOVE tuxedo kitties!!  They have such great personalities!  My first cat was a tuxedo.  His name was Axel, and  he was really something else!  We had to call the vet to come to the house to help us to say goodbye to him, because when he was 11 years old, he was dx'd with cancer...  I still miss him!

    Now, we have two cats.  Spike is another tuxedo cat, and Thor is an all black Norwegian Forest cat.  They are both so very pretty! 

    Gotta love those cats!

    Harley

    PS  Layne, please let us know how the mammo turns out!

  • honeygirl
    honeygirl Member Posts: 136
    edited January 2008

    Oh Harley , (((((((hugs))))))))). My little girl , Edwina , aka honeygirl , was 16 yrs. old when I had to put her down last July. I held her in my arms and told her how much I loved her as she passed. I am so glad I had all those years with her. She was a calico. And then in Sept. My O/H brought home another calico , kitten , her name is Lilly. She is sooo full of it. I'm not used to having a kitten , with all their energy! But she sure makes me laugh and feel good again!

  • Harley44
    Harley44 Member Posts: 2,126
    edited January 2008

    honeygirl,

    {HUGS!}   It is SO hard when we have to say goodbye to our dear pets!  It has been 5 years since I lost Axel, but he will remain in my heart forever. 

    I believe that pets are really wonderful!  They are a member of the family, and my cats seem to know when I am feeling down, and they come to comfort me when I really need them. 

    Hugs,

    Harley

  • yellowrose
    yellowrose Member Posts: 181
    edited September 2010

    Good evening everyone,

  • honeygirl
    honeygirl Member Posts: 136
    edited January 2008

    txgrl01 , good luck to you. And yes , your right , suspicious is NOT ca again. Try not to worry about what might be. Lets see what your consult next week says. Hugs and prayers to you. Melody

  • VirginiaNJ
    VirginiaNJ Member Posts: 314
    edited January 2008

    I will also put in my hugs for those of you that have lost pets...  I only had a dog growing up...we loved him desperately.  Now, as adults, not one of us has a pet...  Guess we all figure we can't replace the perfect pet we once had...

    I work in the "food tasting" group, so I'm in big trouble when the ice cream folks come...  UGH!

    First mammo after diagnoses is harrowing.  I had mine in October.  At least they tell you right away (being a high risk).  Now I have to have a breast MRI...

    Never ending medical testing...

    :O

    Happy Friday!!

    V

  • ashaby
    ashaby Member Posts: 200
    edited January 2008

    Congrats, congrats, Layne!! Now you can be worry free at your conference.



    BRCA negative? I am not having the test cause my surgeon thinks I am to old when my cancer occurred, but if this is a recurrence, I'm doing the test. Mom Ashkenazi Jewish.



    Eat Indian food for me in DC. Do you like it? I live in the boonies.



    xxxBasha

  • ashaby
    ashaby Member Posts: 200
    edited January 2008

    Congrats, congrats, Layne!! Now you can be worry free at your conference.



    BRCA negative? I am not having the test cause my surgeon thinks I am to old when my cancer occurred, but if this is a recurrence, I'm doing the test. Mom Ashkenazi Jewish.



    Eat Indian food for me in DC. Do you like it? I live in the boonies.



    xxxBasha

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,921
    edited January 2008

    Not everywhere do you get immediate results from mammos, even if you are high risk.  Where I go, I have to wait for the report to be mailed to one of my docs, then bug the offices until one of them either calls me with the report or mails me a copy.  I was such a wreck after the 6 month mammo that I told my surgeon (she orders my mammos) that I wouldn't have any more, I couldn't stand waiting weeks to find out what they said.  From now on I will have an appointment with her the same day as the mammo---next is Monday.  Mammo at 8:20 am, see surgeon (taking my films with me) at 1:45 pm. 

  • honeygirl
    honeygirl Member Posts: 136
    edited January 2008

    Layne , Hip , Hip , HORAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Way to go girl! I know , lets get some ice cream and celebrateLaughing! I'm still craving it , from the other night. I'm really happy for you , and good luck with the training.

    Happy Friday to you and all.xxxx Melody

  • catbert4209
    catbert4209 Member Posts: 122
    edited January 2008

    Layne: Way to go!!!  Who cares how much the fillings were, I'm glad you're doing so well!!

    I figure every time I go to my dentist, he is planning on putting another kid through college simply by working on my teeth!  "Crown her with many crowns!"

    Have a wonderful day!

    Cat 

  • denny4
    denny4 Member Posts: 1
    edited January 2008

    My first time to chat. I've been on Tamoxifen for a year other than a few months on Femaura?, I've gained about ten pounds (and thats after loosing 54 lbs after having lapband done a year ago), my WORST problem is hip/pelvic bone pain. I am 49 yrs old and a nursing student and it is getting unbearable sitting in class, I am taking percocet everyday lately I hate taking pain pills so I am going to a chiropractor next week. My hair hasn't thinned but it was thicker before chemo. Anyone know what to do for the bone pain? I have even thought of discontinuing the tamoxifen.

    lots of luck

    Denise

  • honeygirl
    honeygirl Member Posts: 136
    edited January 2008

    Hi Denise. Welcome , I wish I could help with the bone pain. But mine is tolerable. There are others here who say they have bone pain , I'm sure they can help. Wow , I was thinking of going to nursing school , but I felt I was to old at 50 to start now. Its great to see someone close to my age doing it. You give me confidence that maybe I'm not to old to do it! Thanks Denise. You might want to talk to you onc if the bone pain is that unbearable. Maybe he/she can prescribe something else. I would hate to think you would have to go off the tamox. Good luck , and welcome aboard!

  • JapanLynn
    JapanLynn Member Posts: 211
    edited January 2008

    Hi, y'all--

    Something weird I want to run by the tamox. train riders...I've noticed, but just in the last couple of days, that my pee is neon yellow, no matter how much water I drink.  Anybody have the same thing?  Rather than tamox., I'm thinking it might be due to a supplement.  I'm taking a multi-vitamin, glucosamine, calcium, and magnesium.  The magnesium was added last...could that be the cause?  No huge deal, but I'd like to know. 

    I just bought a heart rate monitor, and used it today for the first time while exercising.  It's really cool...calculated calories burned, and my rate showed up on the machines without touching the sensors, just as advertised.  I'm pretty easily impressed, right?

    Hope everyone is sleeping well as I post this...off to dinner with friends.  Take care...

    Lynn

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,921
    edited January 2008

    Denny4--ask your dr to refer you to a pain clinic.  Bone pain is not well managed with narcotic medications, it responds much better to the NSAID class of drugs, and there are prescription meds in this class (indomethacin is one) that will probably do more for your bone pain.  Also--speak to your instructor(s) and explain the situation.  I am a nursing instructor and I know if I had a student in the same situation I would discuss having her change position during class as needed (standing up or changing type of chair), or arranging more frequent breaks, or whatever would be helpful.  Welcome to the wonderful world of nursing!

    JapanLynn--many supplements turn urine bright yellow, as do many combination of supplements.  Even plain old multivitamins can do it.  It's startling, but harmless.  Check your supplement ingredients and see if any of them have artificil colors in the formula, or in the capsule make up, if you take any in capsule form.  A quick way to verify--skip your supplements for 1 day.  If it's the supplements you'll see a change in color that day.  The yellow may not go away completely, but will become much lighter if the supplements are the cause. 

    Just to add insult to injury in my case, one of my dogs got loose, ran into the road, was hit and killed last September.  I still have the german shepherd, but I miss the hound very much even still. Pet ownership has it's drawbacks, doesn't it? 

  • yellowrose
    yellowrose Member Posts: 181
    edited September 2010

    J

  • VirginiaNJ
    VirginiaNJ Member Posts: 314
    edited January 2008

    NativeMainer...WEEKS to wait for mammo results??  That's HORRIBLE!!  I guess I just took if for granted that if you were high risk/had a history and they did the diagnostic mammo, they told you right then and there.  I feel so bad for you...  Even when I had my "regular" mammo's, they sent me a letter within a week.  I feel for you...

    Lanye!!  Whoo hoo on the good mammo!  I had my follow up on BOTH boobs last Oct...  Need to have an MRI, then the "bad" boob again in June.  I'm so happy for you....  Small baby steps, right??

    Lynn- your yellow pee story made me laugh...  I was thinking, nope, tamox didn't make my pee yellow.

    I don't have the bone pain either...??  Is this a common SE??  I'm also on Herceptin, so half the time I'm not sure what the SE's are from...Herceptin or Tamox...

    I'm BRCA - too...  I CRIED when I got the results because I thought FOR SURE I was positive....

    Ok, off to a family birthday party and a good dose of nieces and nephews!!

    Happy Weekend Girlies!!

    Virginia 

  • my3girls
    my3girls Member Posts: 1,291
    edited January 2008

    Helloooooooooo to my Tamox friends! It's been awhile since I have checked in. I see I missed allot.  I hope you all had a wonderful ringing in of the new year!! May 2008 prove to be a healthy year for all of us!

    Layne..congrats on your mammo! I too had my one boob..the only one I have left..haha..mammo'd the other day!  They came out and told me it all looked great!  I still meet with the surgeon in a week..but at least I know that everything was fine! What a relief!

    Ditto on the pets!  I have  my little yorkie..aka...my avatar..his name is Oliver and he is my little companion!  I don't know what I would have done without him this past year.  I have lost 3 pets in my lifetime....and it is the saddest thing to get over!  Heart wrenching!

    Wishing you all a great weekend...Ill check in later.

    Oh..Virginia...I too wonder about how this drug is working for me...cause I have very little s/e's!

    And someone talked about falling asleep at 9pm then waking up and being wakeful at 11 or so...That is me too!

    xoxo

    Lisa

  • betsy13
    betsy13 Member Posts: 18
    edited January 2008

    Hi all,

    I started on Taxmoxifin in Sept 07...was dx with dcis stage 0 grade 2 @ 46 (pre-menopausal) in Jan 07....actually 1/09/07 almost a year ago....what a ride:O.....I did acupuncture during rads, which was GREAT...had rads on toe as well b/c of basal cell recurrence.....so really nervous about fatigue as I was working 2 jobs and very long days.....I was actually "tweaked"....so when needed to start tamox I did acupuncture again...and now am @ every other week....it has definitely helped I think...as very little SE....night sweats with menses....but not hot flashes...inially sleeplessness, but my acupunturist able to help that....some constipation, but getting that under control....and some rashes also with menses....I recommend the acupuncture to everyone.....and so far anyone who has tried it be it for chemo or rads..has really seen a difference....the cancer center I go to now recommends my dr. to their patients...he is a MD, PH.D.....I also have been the "healthiest" one at work...no colds or viruses...and I work with kids:) my only other SE is uterine polyps, which I had removed, but my med. onc is still not convinced, although he is monitoring along with my Gyno....time will tell

    Betsy

    p.s.

    I am a HUGE dog fan....lots in my life....and so lots lost.....but right now 2 great dogs....standard poodle & Italian Greyhound....who work with me & the kids I see everyday....doesn't get much better than that:) 

  • 2dogsnburg
    2dogsnburg Member Posts: 5
    edited January 2008

    Betsy, to work with kids and dogs ,how wonderful!

    What do you do?

    Terry 

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,921
    edited January 2008

    txgrl--

    No need to apologize for anything you say here. This is a safe place to rant and rave when needed, and a good rant is always more cathartic with an understanding audience!!!

    What you are going through is emotionally difficult under 'normal' circumstances, after going through bc treatment it's even worse.  And your friend is correct, I remember reading in a few places that bc survivors have a high rate of PTSD.  Being diagnosed with bc is certainly a traumatic experience, and everything else we go through would be considered trauma or even torture if it were done in another setting.  Hmmmmm, instead of waterboarding, perhaps captured terrorists could be given chemo/rads . . . . .

  • VirginiaNJ
    VirginiaNJ Member Posts: 314
    edited January 2008

    Layne- Burmese food?  I've never head of that!!  Well, I've heard to the native country, but not of a Burmese food restaurant.  sounds exotic!!

    All this talk about ice cream...I had to have some last night...  Breyers light chocolate.  Not bad for a light IC, but not as good as Ben & Jerrys!!  :)

    I think I've gone a whole ENTIRE week and a half WITHOUT forgetting my tamoxifen!

    SNOOPY DANCE!!

    :)

  • VirginiaNJ
    VirginiaNJ Member Posts: 314
    edited January 2008

    Oh, and Saturday was the 1 year anniversary of my surgery, so I guess I've been cancer free for 1 year!

    even BIGGER Snoopy dance!

    :)

  • garnetann
    garnetann Member Posts: 15
    edited January 2008

    Good morning all

    I am actually feeling pretty good these days, still a little tired, but most of that is gone.  I have 2 german shorthair dogs that foofoo on me being tired and insist on going for their nightly walks. I have to admit, the walking and staying active has made me feel better than anything else.  The only SE I have had on tamoxifen (and have had since chemo) is night sweats and an occasional warm (not hot) flash during the day. They are tolorable.  I took percoset during chemo from the taxol and the neulasta but it constipated me so bad, I quit taking them as soon as I could.  The tylenol nighttime works just as well and helps me sleep. 

    I go for my followup mammo on the 18th and won't see my dr. until the 31st.  I guess I just am not that worried, my dr. told me it is rare to almost nonexistant that anything would show with your first mammogram because after surgery, chemo, and radiation, there is likely nothing there that would be big enough to show up.  He said your first mammo is more to have a new baseline mammogram to compare to future ones.  He said in 15 years, he has only seen 2 or 3 cases where something showed up. 

    I admit I am a little worried about it because my breast is still tender, but I think I will take some tylenol or something in the morning before I go in. 

    Keep you chin up and stick with a positive attitude.  I was told attitude is the most important thing we can have. 

  • ashaby
    ashaby Member Posts: 200
    edited January 2008

    Hi Tamoxipals,



    Here I am in snowy VT still awaiting my biopsy Jan. 21.No fun.

    I have very few se's on Tamox. I sleep more poorly and I get flashettes, like a flash but milder.A friend I met in radiation and I have coffee every week and he says dealing with cancer is alot like the army; lots of waiting, unanswered questions, and great camraderie among the troops.

    Layne, your words about we being your support group touched my great big heart and I second it. Without you all here to talk to, I'd feel so isolated. How many times can you tell your husband about your latest side

    effect! !!



    xxooBasha

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