Exchange City
Comments
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Hi ladies!
To everyone feeling bone and joint pain, that is definately a side effect of menopause/pre and post!! Estrogen depletion will make you have pains where you never used to have pains! Especially for you all on tamox or an AL. Dose up on a good quality omega 3 fish oil with high EPA and DHA content. Deborah, are you taking Vit D3 for your deficiency?
L
ox
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Laura....I'm right along with you girlfriend! I do not intend to be kicking up any heels in Vegas, I'll tell you right now. The most I am going to kick up is a bed slipper.
Karen: No, I am right along with you. I am too afraid to go off the Tamoxifen. I just would like to find something I can take - holistically - which might ease the SE's of the drug. My history of bc is so strong - even though the drug impacts my sleep, I would really not be able to sleep if I did not AT LEAST do Tamoxifen.
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Lorraine - I am on 50,000 units of Vit D, once a week for twelve weeks! A prescription dose. But you are right about bone pain with menopause! Oh my goodness I totally forgot about that. I do not feel any bone pain now, but I sure did twelve years ago when I first went through the dreaded "M".
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Deborah! So glad to see you are on a high dose of Vit D! I take 3,500 mg per day, my vit D level was at 53 in April I am trying to get it to 75 or 80ish, its one of the most protective things you can do for BC!
Meno sucks for many reasons, but I think the bone/joint pain is horrid! I have to say all of my supplements and exercise are helping greatly!
we SHALL get through it! 0 -
Lorraine--which fish oil do you use? The one I was using before all of this turns out to have soy in it, and I haven't gone back to taking any yet. I know you have this stuff down, so I would appreciate a suggestion.
Deborah--it is tough, most of the SE of Tamoxifen don't bother me, but maybe I'm not aware of them, I wish I were sleeping better without hot flashes, I'm a little stiff, not in pain, but my vision has really changed. Maybe Laura is right and we are all having chemo/meno/tamoxo/surgical pause emotions at the same time. Kind of like when women live together their periods sync up, well, maybe we are all so close, the power of our collective "pauses" are syncing up!
Karen
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KEW, I use LifeTime Omega 3 - 950 mg - EPA/DHA, each softgel has 1,360mg of fish oil total, I take 3 a day, sorry! didn't mean to hijack the thread!
For anyone having issues with tamox, there are some good supplements that can compliment the use of tamox and alleviate some the side effects, come on over to the alternative/complimentary thread for ideas.
L
ox
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Lorraine, Kathie and Deborah- What a great picture! How fun to get together with one another. It is great to post such fabulouso results out here.
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Laura... Deb & I still want u : - )
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I'm trying to get to the pix forum to you u beautiful ladies but it's not working for me right now : (
if the pix is posted here I missed it
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Laura...I'm on Neurontin 4 times a day....when I remember the 4th dose...LOL and I take Ibuprofen along with it for the bone/nerve pain. Seems to work the best with an occasional percocet for the break thru pain...some days I feel like a friggin addict even tho I look great. I'm very happy I went with what I had thanks to some good ole' motherly boob advice from Deborah...hee hee.
I just hate to know you are in pain....betcha Vegas will cheer you up!!! Wahoooo!!!
Like I said...misery loves company and I have been on this pain roller coaster since Dec...poor Dani and Lorraine having to listen to my ouch blah blah blah....my support...so really u wanna join the PM bandwagon...the bison and grits are being served...LOL
xxoo Kathie....PS....I knew that was Sandy too....LOL
Kathie
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Hi everyone,
Well I saw my PS for my pre op appt. I have surgery in 2 weeks. He will either use 650 or 700 cc implants. My family doctor put me on predisone for 6 days for inflamed sinus's and PS wasn't too thrilled but said that he can work around it, I will need some shot ? during surgery.
Im anxious for the day to get here.
Teresa
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Yeah Kathie,, this is what i was just prescribed yesterday. Twice a day though... w'ell see.. I will start it tonight.
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Good Luck Teresa! Just in time for Vegas huh?
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Hi ladies!
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, been very busy, but I always catch up on the reading.
Kew, I'm so sorry you're going through this. My prayers are with you. I also have had a rapid vision loss since chemo, my onc said to get it checked by an opthamologist.
Laura, What a strong person you are!!! I have bone pain from my Arimidex, but when I get going, it goes away. Zometa IV every two months for osteopenia, not fair! I'm only 46!! Darn chemo and BC!!! I hope you get good results and peace of mind.
Deb, Kathie, and Lorraine, great pics!!
Hope everyone has a great, pain free week!!!
Deen
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Kathie, Lorraine and Deborah:
You look great! What sets you have! I am almost glad I'm not going to Vegas. Who would want to compete with those? Especially since mine won't be in yet. JUDY
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Deborah, Kathie & Lorraine - FABULOUS, JUST FABULOUS ! What great photos, and the girls must have been the best looking in the whole place - CONGRATS, you are all so beautiful....
Laura: Sorry for your pain and that you have to go through more tests. You're probably right about it being from the rads but I guess the doctors don't want that little rumor spreading around that rads cause bone pain so they're not buying into it. Keep the faith and hang in there....
Think I'll get my Vitamin D level tested also. I'm taking 2000mg a day - maybe it's not enough. I'm also going to start taking Omega 3. I'm told because of the bloodwork taken every 4 weeks that I'm on the cusp of being in menopause - wonderful, NOT! It's really hard to not think the worst when you start having pains that were never there before. My eyesight is worse and I definitely have more aches and pains than before not to mention the B@$%&tchyness!
Terri
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Deborah, Kathie & Lorraine - FABULOUS, JUST FABULOUS ! What great photos, and the girls must have been the best looking in the whole place - CONGRATS, you are all so beautiful....
Laura: Sorry for your pain and that you have to go through more tests. You're probably right about it being from the rads but I guess the doctors don't want that little rumor spreading around that rads cause bone pain so they're not buying into it. Keep the faith and hang in there....
Think I'll get my Vitamin D level tested also. I'm taking 2000mg a day - maybe it's not enough. I'm also going to start taking Omega 3. I'm told because of the bloodwork taken every 4 weeks that I'm on the cusp of being in menopause - wonderful, NOT! It's really hard to not think the worst when you start having pains that were never there before. My eyesight is worse and I definitely have more aches and pains than before not to mention the B@$%&tchyness!
Terri
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Hi ladies!
Checking in after yesterday's exchange. I was not a happy camper yesterday...3 hour surgery, must have done some nipping and tucking...and am all wrapped up in tape and a surgical bra with 2 drains....quite sore, massive headache last night and did not get a full night's sleep. But today is a new day...and I am feeling better already! NEXT!
I ended up with textured implants instead of smooth after all since my PS said he thought the smooth were moving around too much in my capsule, even though he was doing the capsulectomy. I just was too groggy to think to ask him what size went in! I guess I will know soon enough.
I must say, I was very open to going much smaller than my real boobs. I was a 38DD before surgery, and wanted to be so much smaller...HOWEVER...after seeing that picture of our 3 divas, I think for the first time in my life, I have boob envy! HA! You gals look terrific!I think you getting together is such a great opportunity! Good for you for making it happen!
That having been said... I have to confess that I am really just a prude...I was so glad to hear Kathie's son is in med school!! I could not really wrap that picture around my head...3 girls and a son in a restaurant single stall bathroom taking pictures of naked foobs?? Maybe it was the anesthesia....should I go back and read that post again?
God Bless!
Angel
PS..Holding Laura up in prayer...
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Angel- Congrats on being in the next stage of healing. Glad you are doing better today.
Laura- Extra prayers are with you girl. I agree that i's probably just pain from rads. My sister has that, too
Deborah, Kathie, and Lorraine- Vavoomba! Wow you girls are all beautiful and look fabulous. I think I would look like a prepubescent girl next to you guys. How wonderful that you could all meet.
Went out to dinner with my husband an 3 of my kids last night. He made a toast to me and said he was so proud of me and that he was glad I was done with bc. We got in a big fight when I got home. I don't feel done. I still feel like I am mourning the loss of my breasts and now I have these new hamburger buns to get used to. How ungrateful do I sound? It really is a roller coaster ride, isn't it? And, no one really understands it unless you've gone through it. Don't get me wrong. I am happy to be where I am, but I miss the old me and need to adjust to the new me.
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Denise,
I think I know what you are saying. I had my exchange yesterday, and already I am sensing from 1 or 2 friends/family that they are glad I am done with this cancer thing.....Hmmmm
I don't want to be a drag around people, amd I know I am much more fortunate than many of the brave women on this site who have had a lot more to go through than I have...and I am anxious myself "to get on with my life". But I like you, I don't feel "done".
I am promising myself that I willtry not to belabor my health tissues or worries with my family and friends. I know who was supportive and I also have learned what kind of support I can expect from my husband and family. It hasn't always been what I needed, but I do believe most do what they can or know how to do. This has not always been easy to accept.
Guess that is why I check in here so much! You gals get it! But then, most of you could never live with me either!
We will learn alot about ourselves and our loved ones during this journey. I look forward to the time when perhaps I too can say, "I am done with cancer!" I am just not there yet....
God Bless!
Angel
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Angel - Everyone.....I just want to dispell any notion that Kathie's son Sam was in the stall with us while we looked at each other's reconstruction results! No - Sam just took photos of us outside the restaurant - fully clothed!!! It was embarassing enough for the three of us to be together in that bathroom stall, laughing, talking about nipples and cleavage and then exiting that bathroom to see a long line of people waiting to get in. They all just gaped at us as we paraded out of the stall at the same time. I have no idea how much they heard or what they thought was going on....[dem are sum good drugs you are on Angel!]
4greatkids - The SECOND I read that your husband toasted he was glad you were "done with bc"....I thought...Uh oh....this is not going to go over well...and sho 'nuff, it did not! .Well hunny bunny, we all know exactly how you were feeling and how it certainly does not feel like we are "done yet." I know it is a defense mechanism for husbands to say something like this. It is almost as if they are programmed to become Stepford Husbands about this point in our recovery. They so very much want it to be over and who can blame them? It is like there is now some aspect of our life that we cannot share with them and I think it can take a toll on relationships. I think we need to give them some blips of "normal" at every opportunity - to fuel them...to keep them from feeling so helpless and to make them feel they are still connected to us. We went to a party the other night and someone came up to me and said, "You look wonderful Deborah and isn't it great that you are CURED and that the cancer is GONE? " She could have stopped at "Deborah"....I mean, I would not think of saying that last part to anyone who had breast cancer - even BEFORE I was diagnosed! But then I found out that my husband is the one who told her that I was "cured" and my cancer is "gone." That was Saturday night and I have not said anything to him....I know it would not bode well....and I realize that he was voicing to this friend his fervent hope that I am and that it is. So I just let it go. I am getting it off my chest right now with you all though, and I feel so much better!!!
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Oh Deborah...thanks for the clarification...I did not think the drugs were THAT good....but whew!!!
And your comments about your husband and that party...wow....
I know I can keep my mouth shut, too
I know I can keep my mouth shut, too
I know I can keep my mouth shut, too.
I hope I can keep my mouth shut, too.
No....
I KNOW I can keep my mouth shut too!
God Bless!
Angel
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I do feel like I spend 99% of my life "acting" as if nothing happened. I know that I am healing physically and that I am cancer free. But, there's a large 1% of me that is really, really sad, mad and scared. I need to heal emotionally. I feel a long way from being done. Deborah, i know what you mean about giving him blips of normal. He's a wonderful husband, and great dad and he deserves that. But, I can't help feeling that everyday when he asks me how I am, he just wantes to hear me say, "I'm good." Maybe he is just scared too, and that's how he deals with it.
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Everything is A-OK with the nipps...went for my 2 wk post-op and told my PS my concerns and he told me not to worry that they were healing just fine. They do look better today then they did over the weekend. What a relief to hear those words.....Showed them to a friend today and she was thrilled that they now look like boobs.....she said that they have personality now... LOL
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Denise and Deborah - Let me add a big AMEN! It must be " dh schmuck week" or something! Not that they're aren't TRULY wonderful guys, but jeez! Mine hasn't said exactly those things - but I'm pretty sure he's thinking them...... A couple mornings ago I woke up and my TEs were really bugging me. I merely asked, " what do you think's going on? Could they still be stretching?" (which seemed to be a perfectely reasonable question considering he's a doc, albeit a pediatrician lol). Anyway, he just said in a rather frustrated voice, " How am I supposed to know?" - like he was definitely OVER this whole situation and my complaining and emotionality. I've decided to just be quiet for the next five weeks. Think it'll work? Doubtful......
((((Laura)))) Keep your spirits up, girl! I'll say an extra prayer for you...
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Linda - love it - personality! So glad they're healing well...
Deborah - you are most definitely not alone with the tamoxifen issue! I haven't been able to hold my coffee cup with my left hand since starting it, and don't get me started on sleeping! My dh has given up asking me how I sleep 'cause my answer is never "good!"
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Val....LOL...you must admit "how am I supposed to know" is a pretty good answer and I think we should all use that answer a little more often ourselves!
Question from DH: Pick any three
A. What time will dinner be ready? B. Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty? C. Does this mole in the middle of my forehead look odd to you?
Answer for any of the above:
"How am I supposed to know?"
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Karen...I buy Fish Oil capsules from Costco [right next to the Hoodia display] and I just looked on the bottle and indeed it contains soy. Well, I have to confess that I don't take them - my dog does - two capsules daily. But maybe HE should not have soy either....I'll buy the kind Lorraine buys....she is 'in the know" about such things.....
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okay...I don't take fish oil....should I? I've tried a few supplements that were recommended in our "Bosom Buddies" group here in town (hilarious name, huh?), but didn't notice much of a difference. I'm willing to try anything if i can get a good night's sleep....... Guess I'll check out the alternative thread. The soy thing is a pain......no chocolate chunk ice cream......no Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal..... at least one of those was healthy!
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Val: I have finally found my way over to the Alternatives forums. I am checking out whatever it takes to [safely] feel better...Omega 3's [vis a vis fish oil capsules] are supposed to be excellent for us...0
