MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Janis - here I am. I'm fine. I hope your skin heals quickly.You've been through more than enough pain during your radiation. Now that I'm boobless, I have no problem going topless (at least at home). I get too hot and whoosh the top comes off and gets tossed.
I had a really fun afternoon with some BCO gals at Pickety Place in NH. Check it out online. It was once a private home and the model for the house in the Little Red Riding Hood book. I too had a chance to see and touch the Treveling Pants. All of the women who have signed them are stage IV. Most of them under 40. It was very moving to be able to read the messages and signatures and touch all the courage contained in those pants. You can get a pin replica of the pants at Stage4travelingpants. com
Lynda
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Janis hate to hear how your rads are going. Mine were bad at the end and i ended up going topless around my house. My husband was traveling so I was home alone. I called my mother and told her no unanouced visits untill further notice. It really does help. I used regenecare which is prescription lidocaine. Once that was on and I was numb feeling then I could take a bath or put my creams on. Otherwise it was way too painful. But the good news is it will be over soon.
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You gals are all really close to the mystery pic! But Trish was the first to answer with pumpkins. Here is the real picture!
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Love the pics Jo and Sherry!!! thanks for posting
Been nuts around here.. My daughter just turned 16 Sat and managed to turn it into a week long event.. I think I must of heard " But mom its my bday week a hundred times lol... but she said it was her best bday ever, so that did my heart good!
janis I am so sorry that your biopsy went the way it did , You have been through so much, gentle hugs to you!!!
Going back in 2 weeks for a nipple tatoo touch up then I am hoping to be all finished... fingers crossed
Good night ladies
Maria
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Thanks for the pics Jo and Sherry. Wish I could have been there! Best wishes and ((Hugs)) for all those doing treatments this week. Janis, hang in there it will soon be done. Keep the boob and underarm greased well, it will heal. Kitty0
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I still apply Fruit of the Earth 100% Aloe Vera clear lotion on the Rads side. I know for me it has helped with the healing & continues to help. IMHO anyway.
I have my 6-mo MO check-up tomorrow morning, will see the NP instead of the Onc. I prefer her anyway, so when they called last week to change the appt time by 15 minutes & to see NP instead, I was pleased. Hoping bloodwork is good........
Since I had to have a repeat PAP last year, that puts me later for my annual ob-gyn appt & that is when I schedule my mamm, soooo, I will have the Onc's office do that for me. Not that I'm in any rush to have that done !!
As I said on another thread, LOVE the pictures!
Hugs!
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Seeing the PS for follow up this afternoon and then simulation for rads. Rads to start tomorrow unless PS tells me no. I might as well get started and get it over with.
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Uggh....more teen trouble. Yesterday my daughter, husband and son all helped to shave my head. My 15 yr old did most of the cutting and evidently it upset her more than I thought. I guess. My son couldn't sleep and woke me at 3:30 all worked up and anxious because he was still awake. After trying to help him calm down, I finally decided we should just both go down and turn on the tv. Well, over an hour later, at 5:15, my daughter walks in the house saying, "I know I'm in trouble." She proceeds to tell me that she couldn't sleep, was upset about shaving my head and getting hot in her room so she decided to go for a walk in our neighborhood...at 3 AM!! Then sat in the backyard for awhile and then the basement hoping I would just go back to bed. I am soooo hating this cancer and what it is doing to our family. My kids should feel safe and secure, not stressed and alone. I know it wasn't her fault that her boyfriend had lied last week about his age, and she did come to me as soon as she found out the truth, but it still clouds last night and makes me wonder if there is more going on than I think. She has never given me reason to question her but still...this just scares me. Bothers me too that neither could sleep after yesterday. I don't really care what I have to go through to beat this cancer, but I guess I just naively thought that I could keep it from affecting my kids like this. SOOOO MAD!!!
M
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Do love the pictures of the get together!! So nice to see the smiles on your faces! Valjean good luck on your check-up today!! Funny how we live in 3 or 6 month increments .. . Janis, I remeber the last two weeks of rads were not very fun, and then just like a good steak, I kept cooking for a good week after it was all over. It helped to keep it lubed OFTEN, drink lots of liquids. I would put a wet washcloth in the frig and then lay on my bed topless with the cloth on my chest. Actually, put another one in there so you can rotate out the cold cloth. i never got the prescription, but I did get the itchy red rash that hurt like a MF. I used miaderm,calendula and aquafor and just rotated as often as I could.
I am so excited--I just realized that I have not ONE doctors appt or test this month! The first month I have been doctor free since last May when this whole thing started. What a great way to celebrate Pinktober!!!
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way to go claire! right now i have a clear calender too, its strange whats makes us smile these days!
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lwarstler so sorry that this is effecting you kids so much. I think they willl be fine as long as you continue to communicate with them. I have three grown boys and they don't ask alot of questions. My DIL's do and I share with them so I know they go back and talk to my son's. My son's are funny they don't want to talk about my breast, it makes them uncomfortable. My oldest granddaughter is 16 and her other grandmother has cancer and no body tells her anything. When I found out I had cancer I called her and told her and assured her I was going to be OK. She said "Mimi keep calling me cause I want to know and no body ever tells me anything about my other grandma." She said she was old enough to understand and did not want to be kept in the dark. So I have honored her wishes and keep her updated. This disease does effect the entire family. You will find your way with your kids on this just like you have for everything else in their lives. I'll be praying for you
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lsarstler - Your story brought tears to my eyes. I hate this disease - it has a deep impact on all of those in our lives.
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IWARSTLER.. I sent you a pm.
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Oh my goodness Lee Ann!
There's a part of me - and I don't know your kids but I remember my teenage years - that wonders if the reason your son couldn't sleep at 3:30 am was because he was freaked out because he knew your daughter had left the house. The hair cutting may just have been the reason he gave you. Is that a normal, permitted thing? Going for a walk alone in the wee hours of the morning? If that's all it was, there'd be no reason not to just come on in, because obviously everyone else was having trouble sleeping too, right? Not trying to worry you. Just thinking about how sometimes teenagers (and girls into their early 20's) feel like they can't be honest about getting back together with someone after everyone was supportive of their break-up. I had that happen a few times - a friend would find out something about her boyfriend, and then decide to break up with him and tell me all about it. Then, she'd reconsider, but feel kind of stupid because she just told me they were done. So she'd lie about seeing him... I did it myself: my first boyfriend at 15 was a very smart and manipulative guy. My parents said I couldn't see him, and I agreed. And then I still got rides home from school from him, only he'd drop me a few blocks away and I'd wait until the bus got there and THEN walk home. Oh, the brain of a 15 year old.
We never think this through when we're having babies: one day we'll have these teenage people that are pretty much going to be able to do whatever they want to do, and it's going to freak us out.
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Claire.....Huge congratulations to you on your doctor free month! That has to feel great. Tomorrow I go for my consult for my Colonoscopy. Lovely! Do you remember your procedure at all? If not then I'll go!
This burn is about to send me nuts. The pain is pretty bad and the peeling is repetitive. I don't know how many layers of skin I have shed so far. Not bleeding thank goodness, but I do get the oozing. Claire I am using all of the above plus lidocaine. I have some of those wet soak pads left (samples) and will do the washcloth when i run out. Thanks hon!
lwarstler I so feel your pain. I didn't have girls but boys have their own issues too. I so hope everything is okay. I do believe the best thing you can do is keep the lines of communication open always. Your daughter really needs to know she can talk to you about anything. I am sure she already does, but remind her now and then. I am so sorry you are having to deal with so much all at once. This is a tough time for your family. Big healing hugs to all of you.
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Saying a prayer for you Lee Ann...and for your children.0
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Janis.. oh so sorry gentle hugs to you.!!!!
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I'm saying a prayer for you Janis. I was so blessed to have gotten through rads with limited burns and I feel so bad for all of you that have had to suffer more.0
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Good Luck to all having check ups, follow-ups, and starting treatment this week. Will await all the good news on getting the "all clear" and kay, you've been reading rads tips for the last couple weeks around here so you know what to do. I have also heard that a 10:1 water/vinegar rinse on a washcloth is very soothing.
cmblastic & juliet62, I'm with you. Calendar free from B/C docs this month, which IS a great way to celebrate Pinktober. We all know how the breast centers get real heavy on the pinkness this time of year.
Not counting the corporate money-making aspect of Pinktober, I think a lot of the "awareness backlash" is pretty normal from women who have or have had B/C. Like how much more aware can WE get? Check that off our lists, move on to prevention and cure. Still, before I had B/C, I did not mind the awareness angle and I'm still o.k. with it, but now we know that is only the tip of the B/C iceberg.
lwarstler, It's not always easy to fathom the mind of a teen. They might not want to talk about your B/C since that only makes it more real, but keep them in the loop with short summaries of what is going on with you. (I tell mine when I go for a mammo. They always ask how it went. If I say "all clear" then they can tune out for another 6 mos.) With your girl, just keep your parental antennas out. She's innocent until proven guilty of still seeing the older guy. If she was out to meet him, it's going to happen again. Stay watchful.
prayrv, Big winner of Mystery Pic! Have one ready for us next Sat.
p.s. janis & rads ladies: about one in three women will have more than just a slight skin reaction to their treatment. You can do all the right things with the lotions, etc., and still be the one in three. As nasty as it gets, it will heal up so you will not be able to tell. I know it is painful to sleep on, so the suggestion to sleep in a recliner, if you can, was a good one.
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First , thank you to everyone for their support. I have been a crying mess this morning, completely wracked with guilt about a disease I couldn't do anything about anyway. I also do now know that she was definitely not with the older boyfriend as his mother just called and he was in the hospital recovering from a surgery where his father punched him in the face and broke a vessel in his cheek. He has been unconscious and has no phone, so my daughter doesn't know. His mother didn't know he didn't tell us his real age and found out after this argument with the dad that started over the breakup between the boy and my daughter. It doesn't mean she wasn't meeting up with any other umpteen kids in the neighborhood but she does do strange things when she gets really anxious.
I took her to the doctor this am and she gave her something to help with her anxiety. She gave her a lecture about safety but also talked to her about all the pressure between the break up, AP classes and my cancer. My DD seemed to almost sigh with relief at someone talking about how hard it all is for her. I think maybe she needs more people to give her permission to struggle with all this. I still think all this stinks and that kids shouldn't have to deal with this, but at least now I think I might know how to help them a little. Instead of trying to pretend everything is fine, I am going to try to open up opportunities for them to talk about how unfair or stressful this is.
She also gave me a good lecture about not carrying guilt, but I think that is going to be hard. I just feel like I am supposed to be the one they can count on and now they can't cause I'm the one causing the problem. I know the cancer is the cause but I still just feel so terrible. I may give her the info for this site and let her get on the caregiver threads....I'll have to think about it though because there is info that could scare her if she starts poking around too much.
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Lee Ann glad you took her to the doctor and the doctor talked to her. Sometimes they just need permission to feel and if they cry and get angry thats OK because at least it is not bottled up inside.
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hugs leeann and family, will be with you janis for your appointment,, ps slept through my colonoscospy and egd
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(((((((((Lee Ann))))))))) My son had taken it harder then my daughter, but he has gotten way better. Its something that comes with time. Just as I have had to come to terms will all of this they had to as well. I went from being the mover and shacker to the blob on the couch. They were having a time with it and I had to take a step back and see that this was as much a part of them as it was a part of me. Even though I am the one going thru it physicaly they still see what it done to me. Thanks for your post because I have to remember that sometimes as well. Its good to see that you took her in to see the doc. Sometimes as moms it looks like we dont know anything and someone else can say the very same thing and they are listening to their every word. I pray that your family will continue to talk to one another in these coming months.
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Coleen, My son is with Wakeland HS and we got 1st in AA Class and best general dynamics or what ever they call it. Were are so proud of them, they were the ones that changed into gold uniforms. There were so many, what was your program? I am sure saw it there were so many awsome band out there, some I did not understand at all. My DS is a euphonum player, they call the marching horn a bartoine. I just see it as a trumpet on steroids. Since they did not make the top ten they got to give an ancore presintation at the end of finals as the judges tallied up the scores. Each of the band members got a metal, we got 13th overall out of the 32 bands. Last year we were at 21. The year before (2009) they were in the top 10 so gota take the good with the bad.
We need to meet up some time. I'll pm you.
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Good news! I'm good for another 6 months!! Bloodwork normal & exam good.
A little less stress for now, waiting on mamm appt date. Then here it comes again....
((( Lee Ann ))) (((Janis)))
My BEST to everyone. To those beginning Rads or other tx, hang in there, you'll make it. Remember to come here for a hug, we're with you all the way.
Packing to leave Wed for a few days in northern MI to play with my Grandchildren & enjoy the fall colors. Supposed to be sunny & in the 70's, perfect weather. I so need this break...
Back tonight & maybe tomorrow.
Hugs!
♥
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valjean so glad you got a good report. Have fun with the grandkids
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Yay valjean! I hope you have a great time with the grandkids!!0
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Elimar-once again I love your topper photo! You speak to me, girl!!
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Thanks, Eph!
valjean, Great to get that anxiety out of the way so you can really enjoy the visit.
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Congratulations Valjean!
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