Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Comments
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munnybunny: Hang in there...hopefullly it will get better. I just hate the waiting while the infusions go in. I don't do chemo but do vitamin infusions, and they take a long time as well!
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munny.....I'm sorry to hear Murphy's Law got in the way. I had to have blood tests each and every time I had chemo......whether it was the A/C or Taxotere chemo. Your description is so night on.....that of getting the Adriamycin inserted slowly into the already dripping Cytoxin. It is quite a production. I had all 8 rounds of my chemo's going into the vein but the last three times were a little difficult......as my veins wanted to roll. Were I to have to do any more chemo I would have to have a port.
And yes.....the benadryl usually goes in first to lesson or obliterate some of the possible side effects that could come.......just making it as easy for you as possible. The only thing you can do is do what your body says......and if it is sleep....then good for you. I think a lot of people often sleep through a lot of their "infusions". I think I was way too UP all the time. I'm naturally curious.....and was like anyone with a new experience........scared, upset, wondering if my body would do anything I wouldn't want to have happen. I had very deceptive visions of possibilities....none of which happened.....but there is nothing like that first time. Hopefully, they will go easier. I hope your se's stay minimal.....but stay in good contact with your mo's office and don't be shy about asking for help with anything that goes on with you.
Hugs, Jackie
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thanks jackie (illinoislady)
the nurse was good with adrimyacin. on the second syringe...she had to have me dangle my arm down because they couldnt get blood back in the tube...but then it worked and all went well...i had to pee immediately after that...then she did the cytoxin and then i sat there
soooo next treatment i get the port..before the treatment at the hospital and then go directly to treatment. My MO suggested they do vein in right arm (side of lympectomy) MO said they should be able to do it that way but nurses...said port. nurse told me we are nurses...she is oncologist and probably been too long since she did IV's. even though sentinental node was done they dont like to do it in the arm of side of surgery.
feeling good today so far drinking my brains out and peeing
thanks again
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Hi Munny....it is good to drink and pee and flush out as much of the chemo as will come out. I am absolutely for not using the node removal/lumpectomy side for anything......this is so likely to 'cause' lymphedema flare-ups. The LE problem is one that no one ( like cancer prevention ) can really predict. Some people do everything by the book and still get a little.....while others forget their sleeve's while flying or doing lots of repetitive work ( I'm guilty of that one ) and they don't have the issue rear its ugly head. So.......if anything.....my motto is....ere on the side of caution as often as you can.
Don't let anyone take blood pressure or take blood or give you injections in that arm.....and some time in the future....you can be fitted professionally for a sleeve. I had my Nurse Navigator take my measurements.....and she had me get on the Jobst web-site and I ordered a sleeve she recommended....off the shelf so to speak. It was around $50.00 I think but knowing I had it and could do things with some degree of possible protection from Le was as they say priceless.
I hope your day goes well. Thinking of you.
Hugs, Jackie who is off to work in 15 mins. See you all after 8 p.m. tonight.
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munny, I had a port put in a day before my first chemo. I am glad I did it made it so much easier, one stick and that was it everytime I went in. I still have it, was done with Chemo Dec. 1, just waiting for a little while. Will probably have it removed in the near future. Hang in there, you will feel bad for a few days and then it slowly gets better, then it is time for the next round.Eat what you want and what you crave.
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thanks mommarch
i asked this on another forum...want to try to get as much info as possible
got a couple questions....
does n e one know if it is better to get hair cut short after the first tx....then go to beauty shop when that starts to do and get it buzzed????
a friend told me after she got it buzzed she ...at one point could draw like smiles in the fuzzbuzz and it came out...and she wore a satin nite hat as it irritated her at one point when it was buzzed and started falling out.
also, do u have to put a cream on your head after it comes out...if so...what kind
know i will have more ?? later
and another question....is it ok to go out and get in the sun during this process...i go out for fifteen for vitamin d...
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Pretty tierd this evening. Hubby and I went out again and collected 115 cactus stalks for broom handles and walking sticks. He took them down and I drove and loaded. No mishaps this time. We then drove the last 15 miles to the nearest town and had lunch. I told him I was cheap help. There is such solitude in the desert in early morning. Going to the Broom shop tomorrow to help sew brooms and shellac handles, glad I feel up to it again. Warm here and still no rain, they say a 30% chance on Mon. We shall see. I go to my Onc on Monday. Everyone take care and have a good weekend.
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glad to hear that your hubby didnt get any prickles this time...hee hee titter titter
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munny, I started loosing my hair about 2 weeks after my first chemo. My head hurt and was sore. I had my daughter cut it short all over my head until I saw the Dr. I had some sore places on my scalp. It was going to be a couple of weeks before I went back so I used alavera gel and it worked wonders. Sores were all cleared up when I went in. After my second chemo I bought electric hair clippers and had my daughter take all my hair off. After all the hair was off my scalp it felt so much better. I bought the knit turbins in several different colors from the American Cancer Society store. I am still wearing them until I get enough hair to have it shaped. The silk night cap is a good idea. My daughter made me a silk pillow case and that is great. My ONC told me to stay out of the sun. I think that is good advice, I would get a supplement and take it if he says it is OK. I have taken calcium with D for a long time.
Be kind to yourself and pamper yourself. If you are like me you have taken care of your family all your adult life and now it is time for them to take care of you. If you feel like crying go ahead it helps. Hugs
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Mommarch, your excursions into the desert are so interesting! Do you and your dh own the broom shop? Deserts have a lot of beauty in their own way, don't they?
Munny, sending you soothing vibes after your first chemo. Your account of the occasion was so clear that I could visualize it. We bc women have so much courage and endurance. I admire us!
Today the sun was out and the humidity was up. I put in a full day shopping and came home with purchases.
Tomorrow I plan to get my mother out of the house and take her grocery shopping.
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thanks carole and mommarch...so many phases of this it is overwhelming...i read all the papers they gave me at 1st tx and wheww my eyeballs are tired!!!
after the tx of adriamyacin...i had to pee and when i did she told me dont worry if it is reddish...it was...and i have been drinking my brains out put my pee isnt reddish again...should i be concerned...like i mentioned never thought i would be talking about my pee
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munny....you probably got rid of the excess the first time. We do get to talk about strange things. Later, you may notice your urine being somewhat smelly. You are getting great advice from these ladies. Do eat and enjoy what you can or crave.....but if you have a lot of nausea.....you'll likely do better on white foods....mashed potatoes, egg whites cooked w/o the yolk, white toast......they all tend to be easy to digest so are not so hard on the tummy. Bananas are good too.....and if you like soda, try Ginger-ale. That is a good soother.
We had some dandy storms around us.....the lady I work for is disabled and cannot get to her basement anymore......so I found a hallway for us if we needed it, but thank goodness everything went around us.
Glad I have a couple days off......I'm feeling like I need it. Don't know why this week seemed so long.
Hope all goes well and you have a quiet Friday night.
Hugs, Jackie
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I gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience
in which I must stop and look fear in the face.
I say to myself, I've lived through this
and can take the next thing that comes along.
- Eleanor Roosevelt0 -
Munny, Jackie and everyone else, I hope you all have an enjoyable Saturday. The sun is shining brightly and the temp. is supposed to rise into the 80's. My mother decided she would prefer for me to do the grocery shopping so I'll take the groceries to her house. Then we'll wash and set her hair so she'll look nice for church tomorrow.
DH left early to play in a men's golf tournament. I can't imagine it will be much fun with the course conditions after all the rain. South Louisiana is flat, which doesn't make for the greatest drainage.
Now I must get my overweight body out to our little "gymn" and do some exercise.
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carole...thanks...
kinda overcast here in akron ohio....beautiful day yesterday...
i went for a short walk when I went to the mailbox, as I think I should move around a bit. Hubbie went to take his car in for an update on some computer stuff on car that Ford sent.
getting my hair cut shorter on thursday and having this woman style my wig I got on TLCWIG
plus i bought three hats earlier...which i really like the looks of them.
dont know how hot a wig will be in this great weather.
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Happy Saturday --- Happy Spring. Storms yesterday which were ok for us here....though problems about 30 miles southeast of us. We will have intermittent rain again today. It is typical of Spring weather here......soon ( it's already fairly scraggly in places ) we will need to get out the tractor and start mowing. Dh does that and I take the walking mower for all the places the tractor can't reach. It's good for the waist-line. My only problem is that Dh thinks it's my job for life and I don't think so.......
Carole...can I say I am nearly jealous. Love hearing about your Mom. I've said that before, I know but I vicariously revisit the special times I had with my Mom who has been gone for 14 yrs. now. So I step into your shoes for just a little while so I can run Mom's vacuum, do some laundry and otherwise share life with her. Love is just another word for Mom.
Jennifer....hope you are getting through things all right.
Planning a slow morning this morning and later going to a quarter auction for Habitat for Humanity here. I always enjoy those auctions so much. We don't get a huge turn-out.....which is good so you have lots of opportunity to "win" the prizes. Usually things from Avon, Mische purses, Southern Home, Mary Kay, etc....restaurant gift certificates. If you ever get a chance to go to a quarter auction....you'd probably enjoy it.
Brief desc. When you go in you buy a paddle with a number.....all the numbers used are placed in a bowl. The donated items are designated as 1 quarter....two, three or four.....and there is a container on the table where you are sitting......if you choose to bid on the item being auctioned....you drop in that many quarters....when all bidding is done, you hold up your paddle and a number is picked from the bowl.....they are picked until a "match" is found with someone's paddle. You get something....you donate to H for H and you have fun doing it.
Hope you all have the greatest Saturday....
Hugs, Jackie
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Hi Gals....I love so much reading about what you all are doing.....Sorry Munny, about your problems with chemo, but you sound like you are doing pretty good! And they are right, about the sun.....don't do it, especially if your hair is thinning, or gone. Just take more vit. D....
Ask your Onco about what you could use on your head if anything.... And do they talk about "cold-caps?"
Depending on what you are taking, you could have an allergic reaction to the sun, also....and I broke out in hives once! I have seen a lot of women around here, without any hair! I think if it IS hot, they just go without anything....Like men..... They shave their heads, whether their hair is thinning or not, I think..... Or even a "short" styled wig would be less hot?
Man, I used to style wigs and hair pieces with those huge barrel curls, etc. And I wore them Summer AND Winter, Ha!
Mommarch, that sounds like fun, being out in the dessert looking for the cacti.....
And then going to lunch! You posted pictures once, or a web-site of the brooms you make....Could you do it again? We went to the Mile-Hi Farmers Market today! Met DBIL, and SIL....so walked around with them. I bought some fresh Shea-butter, and have mixed it with the cream I had made, out of cocoa butter, tea-tree salve, solid coconut oil, and a few other things..... I REALLY like how it feels on my arms, & face! It stays awhile, before it sinks completely in.
I think I'll start my tomato seeds tomorrow! It HAS been beautiful out lately.... Have a great week-end!
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The blossoms of my new White Orchid.....
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Beautiful! My DIL and DS gave me one for Xmas and it's still blooming. I love orchids.
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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend,
one human soul whom we can trust utterly,
who knows the best and worst of us,
and who loves us in spite of all our faults.
- Charles Kingsley0 -
Happy Sunday everyone! It's a beautiful day here in S. Florida...if you like 86 degree plus weather that is! The heat and humidity is coming early this year..normally it doesn't begin in earnest until May, but I guess we are following in the footsteps of the rest of the country.
I have an interesting day ahead...my first golf game in two years! We'll be playing with a client and wife of my boyfriend who are coming up from Miami. My boyfriend is a scratch golfer and I am what you call a hack! I only pray that these people are not the ultra competitive type that hate playing with people like me. If they are...oh well...it's going to be their problem and the boyfriends because this was imposed on me with no prior warning. I will make the best of it and be a good soldier as always. With a little luck, I might even hit the ball down the fairway. What I usually do to speed up the game is to hit from the boyfriend's lie each time unless I happen to be doing really well. Hopefully I have some muscle memory left in me...kinda like riding a bike or skiing...you never forget completely, just get a little rusty. Wish me luck!
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What a day, what a day !!!!! It warmed, the sun came out and it was very nice. I put a roast in my crock-pot so we could do lots of other things. Of course, the usual running when Dh has a day off. He doesn't have to do much.....but staying home all day long is difficult for him. I could never leave the house for days if it worked out that way.
Back home and we started cleaning the yard and my side rock garden. It was quite bad as I didn't get to do it last yr....so two yrs. worth this time. Then.....raking out leaves that fell after our last before the snows clean-up. Then we decided to go ahead and bring out the deck furniture. And that is when the fun began......I tripped backwards and down I went. No fun when you are 65. Then.....later on I stumbled over a rock in my rock garden and backwards and down I went again......I decided I'd better leave that and do something else.......I got through two falls in the same day with nothing broken....didn't want to push my luck. Bet I'll be sore tomorrow.. Sigh !!!! All in a day's work as they say.
Otherwise....great day. I so love Spring....though it is nearly as much work as Fall in some ways. I hope you all had a really fantastic Sunday. Hope the golf game went good Kaara.
See you all in the morning.
Hugs, Jackie
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Jackie! You certainly are lucky that you didn't break something. It's a good sign that you have great bones to be able to survive two falls without a serious injury. Better take a couple of advil or tylenol before going to bed tonight.
Hopefully you didn't do like me when I fell last year and try to catch yourself with your arm outstretched. I didn't get hurt, but messed up my shoulder when I did that. I didn't notice it for several days until the soreness kicked in. That's why I haven't played golf in so long. Anyway, the game went better than expected and the weather cooperated...overcast and breezy...saved by the cloud cover! The other couple only wanted to play nine holes...yea!!
I'm good and tired tonight so going to bed.
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Carol, yes we own the broom shop, he makes brooms as they did back in the 1800's. 100% natural broom corn. You can take a look at www.davismtbrooms.com He has a great time with it and it keeps the wolves off the door.0
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The good man is the friend of all living things.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi0 -
Hi all,
Saw my ONC today. Blood work etc. is fine, had my port flushed, they are going to call my surgeons office and let them know it is OK to take out the port when I can get to it in the near future. I am a little miffed at him though, I am having terrible pain in my big toe on my right foot, it feels like an electric shock, it comes and goes, it is not red or swollen. He told me he had no idea and left it at that. I guess I will call my family Dr. I feel like it may be neuropathy from chemo. Talk at you all soon.
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A mind at peace, a mind centered
and not focused on harming others,
is stronger than any physical force in the universe.
- Wayne Dyer0 -
Good morning everyone.
Mommarch....I think strange pains are something you get after chemo......I still get a few, but they don't seem to last long.......and yours sound much longer. I've gotten them in my leg and chest mainly. Hope you can find out for sure since they do hang on.
Nippy outside this morning but we are going up to 80.....so our Spring/Summer is still hanging on just fine. I'll have to get back out to the yard and finish my side rock garden for sure.
Hope you all have a fantastic day.
Hugs, Jackie
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i have had one treaetment of a/c and this is day 5 and i cant believe how tired i feel and i took a zantac for my stomach. today when i drank a sip of milk it tasted horrible.
whenu go for 2nd treatment do they give u a higher dose of this stuff or is it the same as first one....not looking forward to any of it
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MunnyBunni - wish I knew something. A thread on chemo might have a ready answer.
Mommarch - I do know pains that are ongoing esp in one place need checked. I am going in for area near ribs to be checked on Thursday, disconcerting.
Jackie - will think of you in your rock garden. You are also in Midwest, Illinois, we are in NW Indiana. Trees have all flowered, even the lilacs have leaves and buds! I have been told by more than a few farmers that we are going to pay for this as always,one said 55 degrees all of August and rain, but that would not bother me one bit, except that I know it could kill most harvests.
Speaking of 55, made it to 55. Like I said in Feb., most women in my family are gone before they are in mid-60s except my grandmother. I am planning to kick the odds against me, I look like her more : )
Today I will write, do dishes leftover from my bd party, yes, left for me.... hhhmmmmm..... and begin my new book, Cancer 50 Essential Things to Do by Anderson. And we are looking at what may end up being our new home. Very thrilled at the opp.
Later, have made this a fav thread to read so will be back sooner.
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