African American Women & Triple Negative Status
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Hey Ladies!
Encouraging words Rogam. We know Whose report we shall believe!
Linda, Patoo, Mina, JourneyNC-Good to see you on the boards!
Recorded last night's BIA 2. Read the article Mina mentioned-60% of BC in Ghana is TNBC. I'm going to try to catch CNN tonight per Journey and look at the BIA special this weekend!
Patoo- I know what you mean. I've had to cut back on time spent on the site. Gotta clean tonight.
My friend/kids' godmother is coming this weekend with the intent to aid me in cleaning anything I haven't gotten around to since startin chemo/trying to work--talk about motivation!!!!
God Bless All!
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Hello All,
The time on Thurs for BIA2 was 8pm est. I got home from shopping just in time. I got depressed on the prospects of TNBC and what it entails. How I'm overcoming my "fears" is focusing on believing with CERTAINTY I and we will overcome this monster that has invaded our body.
Most importantly, I hope many more "Doctors" make a difference as Dr. Lisa Newman is and has. This is a definate prospect for advocacy for me where I live in the South.
Peacy and Lot's O' Love!
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Hi JournyeNC,
I watched BIA2, I too hope many more Doctors make a difference like Dr. Lisa Newman. I thought she was a "special lady", even before the CA.
I would have to say, some of the other agendas were not what I was looking for from this program, but I did not have an agenda in my mind either, I guess just rather different.
Take care.
Linda C.
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Linda,
I have to agree with you on the other agendas and also not sure of having anything in mind.
Lot's of Care today!
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To Everyone,
We are strong women who will overcome this beast.
BIA1 and 2 was very good. Lisa Newman is to be applauded.
Avon Army of Women is looking for AA women to participate in their study. Phone interview takes about 45 minutes. If I remember correctly it is a study on treatment decisions by AA and Hispanic women.
ROGAM - keep fighting that enemy. I am heading to Mobile in a few days for a family event and hope that the weather holds up.
Pink hugs,
Wanda
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Just want to chime in here to say HI to all my sisters.
Prayers going up for each of you.
Blessings.
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On To Phase 2!!!
Well folks, I (we) made it!!! Chemo is OVER! I had my last Neulasta shot today at 1:30pm and that officially marked the end of the first phase of treatment!As you know, Days 3-5 post-chemo are my roughest days. I'm into Day 3 as I type and I'm starting to feel it. Fatigue, hiccups, hot flashes that cause my glasses to steam up, uncontrollable eye-twitching and eye-tearing (thanks to the Taxotere), and a furry tongue causing everything to taste bad (thanks to the Carboplatin). I let myself get a little too hungry today so I attempted to quell some queasiness with a German Chocolate Cake Ice-Cream Concoction from ColdStone Creamery. It didn't quite work as intended but I'm smiling. LOL!!! I'm taking my LAST STEROID in a few minutes and hopefully in a few days my consumption will resemble that of a normal human being's! *smile* *hiccup*
My Mom returned home safely from her Caribbean cruise last night and reported she had a wonderful, relaxing, and enjoyable time! As with most 1st time cruisers, she's ready and planning her next one!
Although chemo has ended, I will still go in for infusions of Herceptin every 3 weeks until next April. Herceptin can cause heart damage, so tomorrow morning I will go in to get a MUGA scan so that we have a baseline of my heart function prior to this series of Herceptin-only treatments.
I will spend the rest of this week "down in the country" in Virginia relaxing with family and friends!
I have to thank each and every one of you for hanging in for this journey so far! It has been therapeutic and beneficial to know that at 5:15pm on March 20th, 2009 I was not set out on a raft to navigate the Sea of Breast Cancer alone! I could not have made it this far without your prayers, support, acts of kindness, encouragement, and tolerance of my not-so-at-my-best moments.
I don't know what Phase 2 will bring. It's surgery and recovery. From most reports, it's a breeze compared to chemo.
I simply know that I can face the future with confidence and faith in the God we serve, the Ultimate Physician who has already declared my healing and manifested it in Phase 1 with the shrinking of "those tumors who no longer need a name!"
Amen!!!
Alaina
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Hello patoo, BlessedOne2, Alainia,
It makes my lil heart glad to look on here and see the "posts'.
BlessedOne--Thanks for the "pink hugs" (I like that).
Patoo--Thanks for the "Prayers'(Always).
Alainia--Yeahhhhh, Mission accomplished!!! Moving on forward and don't look back!! I like your attitude of "who is in charge of it all"!! Our God Almighty--- AMEN!!!
That is what we are here for, to help each other along this journey, Yep, support, prayers, listen, and reflect and I know I learn from all of you too, at one time or another.
Herceptin, for me was a much easier form of Chemo to take, even though it has it side effects too, none are nice, but after having Taxotere, Herceptin was the easier of the two--that is only my opinion, for me.
Keep us posted, so we can walk on with each other!!
Stay Blessed All!!
Linda C.
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Linda, what were your Herceptin-only side effects?
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Hi Alaina,
I see I misspelled your name in the above post, I'm sorry.
My side effects--I had on my first infusion (really bad teeth-chattering)chills and a fever of 101, but it went away in a few hours, and not those reactions on the rest of the infusions. I had a stuffy nose all the time, and also it seemed when ever I ate, I had a runny nose(embarrassing) I carried a lot of tissues, this was going on the whole time I was on Herceptin.
The lowest my values were on my MUGA was 53%--it used to be if values got to 50% the Dr could give a break from the med, or take you off. I was Blessed that this never happened.
I never had hair loss and this always made me happy--I don't think it is one med that causes hair loss. I figured I could deal with anything else, not that I have'nt had to deal with the hair loss, because I have---this was a plus.
Hope all goes well for you.
Linda C.
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Hi Linda, Alaina, BlessedOne2, everybody else!!!
Alaina, Yea, happy you made it through Phase 1 and prayers going up that all future tx's will come and go with minimal se's. As our Stephanie, TripleNeg, signs "God is able".
Blessings all.
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Hey All!
Alaina- My aunt received Herceptin with no SEs that she was aware of! She just completed her 2 yr mammogram which was clear! She had me thinking chemo would be a piece of cake...but like you-I'd prefer Coldstone (mudpie mojo to be exact). Good luck and God Bless! I can't wait to be on the other side of chemo!
I get tx #4 of 6 TAC tomorrow. Counting down. Hope to take a mini-vacation between chemo and rads. (unpaid leave unfortunately so it'll be brief!)
BIA2 was interesting. Dr. Newman is inspiring as was the TNBC survivor. I'm happy that Dr. Newman is doing tthe work she's doing.
Wish I had more sick leave and vacation days....tired of coming home after work too tired to truly enjoy and play with the kids AND do the other things I need to do. So I cook or help was the dishes and do stuff with the family. Prioritizing has meant that all but the most essential of the household chores (and nagging to have others help) have taken a backseat to be done....whenever (which will definitely be BEFORE hosting the entire extended family -my dad, stepmom and their 9 siblings and all their children and grandkids for Thanksgiving but maybe not until then!)
What things are you doing differently and how have your priorities changed since your dx? What things have you started to do that you didn't take the time for previously? Any trips/traveling or changes in your activities? Just curious. Looking forward to hearing your answers!
God Is!
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So happy to see regular activity on this thread.
Indomitable1 - Can you get more sick time under the Federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which asks your employer to allow intermittent time off as needed? That way you can take days when you are just too pooped from tx and your job is safe. Might be worth looking into if you haven't.
For the household chores - the dust and clutter will just occur again. Don't fret over it because it's not going to kill anyone. Your kids are more important; housework can wait. If others won't help let them live in it. Don't even think about entertaining until you have the strength to do it. Take care of yourself FIRST. I have learned to not sweat the small stuff; put it all into perspective; Let Go and let God.
I really can't speak on changes that I had to make because I was blessed to have it easy with no chemo only rads and now Arimidex. I can't even imagine what life is like under chemo. You sisters going through that are my heroes.
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Pattoo- Thanks for the words of encouragement. My only admonishments to the kids currently is to keep their junk in their rooms-not in the common living areas!
And I was approved for FMLA. Thanks for the suggestion, but I want to get paid! I probably should have interspersed my sick days with FMLA days (at least 1-2 FMLA days per tx). The first 3 treatments I took Friday, Mon, Tues off after Thurs treatment. Had to leave early the Wednesday after the last tx- so from now on I'll be taking that Wednesday off too at least a full 4 days each tx. Thank God for no complications!!!
As far as you not making significant life changes, I notice all the prayers and words of encouragement you give on Various threads/topics. You are letting God use you to encourage the rest of us during this. I have a feeling this experience has "enlarged your territory" and ministry of prayer and encouragement.
I'm hoping to go to Niagara Falls after chemo/before rads. Have never seen it and always wanted to.
And am really looking forward to the Thanksgiving w/family. They do it every year. I've only been able to go 2-3x secondary to my work schedule and the location varies each year. So, this way, I won't have to travel or miss chemo and will be able to minister to my wonderfully crazy family members! And did I mention?!? My aunts will be doing all the cooking (this time I'll be paying attention and writing down the recipes that they do in their heads). The kids will be doing all the dishes and putting away. Yes, I have plenty to be thankful for and want to spend as much time as possible with family 'cause we all live so far apart.
Come on ladies-keep it coming!! (sorry for the incredibly long post-can you tell I'm on a laptop during chemo?)
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Niagara Falls are amazing. Took my kids several years ago and absolutely loved it.
If your "wonderfully crazy family" is anything like mine then we better never let the 2 families get together or it will be total bedlam (but fun). We call ourselves dysFUNctional because there's nary a serious bone in the bloodline. LOL I'm impressed that you have it all planned out so far ahead of time as to who will do what.
Blessings.
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Patoo- We might change our Niagara Falls plan and go to the to the GA mountains instead. Some of our dear friends asked to join us on the celebratory trip. I may have to plan the Falls on my own w/the kids. Doing it at Christmas would be crazy...wouldn't it (as we have no big overcoats).
And yes, our families sound alot alike.....And as far as having it all planned out, they did the planning last Thanksgiving (while I was with my husband's family!)! Again, it's OK 'cause they're on autopilot when it comes to the food preparation. And they know that if it's a gene, I didn't inherit it!
iLinda-how are you?
God Bless!
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Are those the 'Great Rocky' mountains, or something close to that name? I've wanted to go to the mountains in NC - they may run down into GA. I understand they are magnificent. We do a family vacation in the summer and I've been trying to get them to go to the mountains for years but they are all beach bums so it's usually a week on the beach VA or south (this year it was Jacksonville Beach FL).
Canada - I don't venture anywhere north of NY after Aug 15th. During the summer you can do Maid of the Mist which takes you through the Falls and if you do that when it's cold you will go back home in the form of an icicle because you get wet on that boat and even on the walking tour. I can't even imagine they offer those tours in cold weather.
HUGS to all my AA sisters!
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Patoo-Oh OK! I guess I may have to try the Falls next summer. Ha! Ha! I usually don't go beyond NC at Thanksgiving.
And I'm not sure which mountains I'm speaking of....all I know was that we went summer before last and had a great time. It was near the GA/TN/NC border in northern GA. We rented a 5 BR "cabin" with another family and played games/hiked/hot-tubbed/swam and fun was had by all (kids aged 6-16) and the parents. We opted out of anything that said white water and rafting! Good luck with convincing your family but it was so much fun maybe you can do it on your own.
God Bless!
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Hello Indomitable1,
I am dong fine for an old lady
, Thanks for asking.Patoo--Hello to you too.
The vacations to the Mountains sounds wonderful--I love the Mountains!!
I want to go anywhere there are Palm Trees and Mountains. Here in Kansas there are a lot of trees, some nice lakes and a lot of flat lands, it can be pretty boring riding from city to city in this neck of the woods.
I am just happy to know that ya are enjoying life!!! We could all be around with our heads hung down--We ain't even going there!!
Stay Blessed---To all of you on this Thread!! Alainia, JourneyNC, BlessedOne2,. TripleNeg
Linda C
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Good to hear from you Linda!
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Hello All,
Just peeking in to say Heyyyy! Feeling better these days. Got 1, ONE, UNO more chemo session next Wednesday. This would be number 4. Then weeks later I do Rads. Not sure what to expect of 6wks everyday. I think I'll celebrate by releasing balloons so I can let this go to NEVER go through this again. I'm claiming it!
Peach and Health
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Journey-what a great idea!!!! I love the symbolism. I can imagine your excitement about getting this phase over and done with! Prayerfully you'll have minimal side effects.
I still have 2 more 2 go....hopefully will stay on schedule as I've got a cellulitis near my port site. Seems to be responding to antibiotics (oral ones! thank God). I don't want to prolong this process not one hot second.
God Bless All and Whoo Hoo! for Journey!
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Indomitable1, Thanks for your support and encouragement. You've got the mindset, therefore, your process will NOT be prolonged! Keeping the Good Faith we are riding on...
Peace and Health
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Hello My Sisters,
I rejoice in believing that you are all feeling well today! Had the 2nd tx of AC last Wednesday with a little more fatigue and dry mouth than the last time. But I'm not complaining. I got to go to Mobile, AL a couple of weeks ago for a family reunion. Oh but the breeze from Mobile Bay. It was a great trip.
Pink hugs to everyone! (Wanda)
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Hello Everyone,
Good to see you all on the boards
Everyone seems like they are"moving right along on this journey" and this makes my heart glad!!
The support and encouragement to each other is so great, and this is what carries us along--I Love It!!
OK it is "Linda" now----I got some glands under my jaws that have not gone down, we been watching, some days they are bigger then others--I saw the Dr. for my check up yesterday--well they appeared larger than they have been--he says we need to do CT Scans--see what it shows as it could be related to Breast Cancer
, UGH--I feel more frustrated than anything--I have been 8 months off of Chemo and flying high!!! I don't have"a feel of doom"--I know there is a God that has all things in control--I don't want to think of nothing--Dr. said if something shows up, then the Radiologist would do a "fine needle biopsy" and see what that would say--if there is something, he thinks of Rads---If I have to, I will do what is necessary to"move on" I'm ain't tired yet!!! Just letting ya know what is up with me and I will certainly keep ya posted. I go tomorrow for my scans. Was going to get My new prostheses today and got a 'speeding ticket", my Bad, but I sure was Mad!! I have not had a speeding ticket in 21 years--before then I had enough for all of ya--now--don't ask me why
OK, I ask that ya keep me in prayer, as we do for each other, always.
Take care and Stay Blessed!!
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Hello Everyone,
Good to see you all on the boards
Everyone seems like they are"moving right along on this journey" and this makes my heart glad!!
The support and encouragement to each other is so great, and this is what carries us along--I Love It!!
OK it is "Linda" now----I got some glands under my jaws that have not gone down, we been watching, some days they are bigger then others--I saw the Dr. for my check up yesterday--well they appeared larger than they have been--he says we need to do CT Scans--see what it shows as it could be related to Breast Cancer
, UGH--I feel more frustrated than anything--I have been 8 months off of Chemo and flying high!!! I don't have"a feel of doom"--I know there is a God that has all things in control--I don't want to think of nothing--Dr. said if something shows up, then the Radiologist would do a "fine needle biopsy" and see what that would say--if there is something, he thinks of Rads---If I have to, I will do what is necessary to"move on" I'm ain't tired yet!!! Just letting ya know what is up with me and I will certainly keep ya posted. I go tomorrow for my scans. Was going to get My new prostheses today and got a 'speeding ticket", my Bad, but I sure was Mad!! I have not had a speeding ticket in 21 years--before then I had enough for all of ya--now--don't ask me whyOK, I ask that ya keep me in prayer, as we do for each other, always.
Take care and Stay Blessed!!
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Hey Ladies,
JourneyNC- thanks for the encouragement. Your countdown continues......less than a week to go til finished!
BlessedOne2- Glad you had a good trip! Hang in there......you're halfway done with AC.
ILinda- Know that you have been in my prayers and will remain there. You had never updated us previously. Despite the fact that you've been doing this so long, it doesn't get easier I'm sure. Do know that as TripleNeg would say-"God Is Able" and keep on keepin' on 'cause you've come this far by faith. I pray for your strength, peace and chronic adenoiditis or such!
By the way, ladies, TripleNeg needs our prayers, too. We know what to do!
God Bless!
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Alaina, We're praying for you, too. Hopefully this team leading up to surgery has allowed you to recover, regain strength and get true rest. God bless!
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Hey all. Glad to see everyone still around. Will pump up the prayers for everyone. Our God is an awesome and faithful God.. Hold on, sisters.
Blessings.
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I have TripleNeg on my mind. I'm Praying for you TripleNeg. I'm Spiritually holding your hand.
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