MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
Comments
-
Joanne, I can say the Hail Mary in French! 4 yrs in a Catholic high school with the same nun as teacher all 4yrs! I loved it and sorry I forgot so much of it. Oh - and I can say "ou est le salle de bain s'il vous plait?" which is something I'd definitely need to know if ever I travelled to France
Eli, glad they have a plan and hope the dose next week has wayyyy less oral side effects.
0 -
Jeez Mar, I haven't had to recite that since grade 7 as penance a dozen times...Lol, the nuns & I never hit it off...err they kept hitting moi..went to Non-catholic school in grade 8 and never looked back..a different world and you didnt get the strap there...always had a problem with the damn rules, sigh. I'm francophone but we lived in English neighborhoods, English friends etc. had too much religion shoved at me, most of my friends feel the same way as well. Sale de Bain...surely I'd wet myself...pee pee is universal!
I had a lot of travel plans for 2013 with my granddaughter which included France....my grandmother was from Le Havre, all that's gone down the gutter now...
Last week we were booked for disneyworld, lunch with Cinderella, Mickey's Christmas, we were staying onsite at the Boardwalk Inn....crap...now I have a date with chemo....will I ever stop being pissed off? Katie, (10) when I finally had to tell her that we had to cancel was consoling me...I'm so grateful for my family, it's just that I want more. I'm being a party pooper now, sorry
I'm acting/feeling bi-polar now, hopefully I'll have some mania energy to clean my house or cook....naw, I'll wait, I'm sure it'll pass lol!0 -
You're funny Eli! I'd rather laugh than cry, although I can do both but then I have to pee lol.
0 -
Eli - glad they are giving the mouth sores a break. And glad the little dictator has been deposed. And when he comes back he'll be weaker - muahaha!
My eye doctor is very dismissive when I mention (repeatedly) that I'm on Tamoxifen. I DO have watery and blurry eyes, and he says it's just regular aging. I've never worn glasses in my life - I think it's related to either the chemo (Taxotere) or the Tamoxifen. So the stents help stop the watering, is that right? Marlegal, glad to know the watery eyes quit after you finished Tamoxifen.
Joanne - sorry the travel plans have been delayed, but how sweet of your granddaughter to console YOU! Hopefully after all your treatments are over you can reward yourself with that trip. I took years of French in high school and college and only remember a couple of phrases. I guess use it or lose it! I'd LOVE to go to France.
My son is getting ready to graduate from college and his school is offering the best tour package to Europe I've ever seen. I wonder if they need chauffeurs, haha. He would LOVE that....
0 -
Oh, thank goodness you will get some relief, E. It's just too dang bad you had to suffer so in order for them to realize your dose has been too high. Do they have anything waiting in the wings for you when things don't "slide" as easily further down the road? Good grief, that'd be a whole new problem.
0 -
While on chemo I lived on homemade soups.(hugs)won't taste the same but it will help you keep your energy up.
0 -
Eli~ before things stop sliding by you completely... I kept a bag of prunes in my fridge and ate a couple each day. Probably should have eaten more once in awhile, but hind sight is... Since eating solids is out of the question right now, perhaps you can pick up some of the plum/prune baby food. That would give you some nutrition and provide a natural way to become oblivious once more.
0 -
I also thought that you were already having mouth issues from the CT before the chemo, right? Maybe that is why you became one of the 4-6% (see I can do math) who got the whole shebang!
0 -
I got a cold sore for the first time as an adult. I almost died. Seriously!!! They had NO idea what the problem was!! My mouth was destroyed!! I had to see a periodontist for two years due to "architectural changes" on my tongue! I lost weight daily and I couldn't even put a straw in my mouth. I was starting to have seizures when one doc finally figured it out. He gave me Ativan and told me to come back the next morning. If I wasn't better he was going to hospitalize me. My tongue was thick and pus-y. It was gross. Anyway, the Ativan helped the swelling in my tongue go down and then he had to build my system back up. I got a "Topical Anaesthetic" to freeze my mouth, then liquid morphine to take away the pain, then I could use a straw to drink liquids. It took a long time to get better. When all was said and done, that reaction was to the Herpes Simplex 1 - a simple cold sore!!! (We'd NEVER had cold sores as children! MY kids brought it home from daycare.)
The point of my story was the topical anaesthetic and the liquid morphine. It was necessary to allow me to ingest liquids again. Otherwise, it's down to an IV and we all know you get sicker IN a hospital than out of one!!
Elimar, you are still almost at the top of my prayer list!
0 -
Barbe - amazing that a cold sore could do all that to you! We never had cold sores as kids, either. I still don't think I've had one, but my son got one when he was in the marching band because the kids all shared the same bottle of spitty water - ugh
I'm doing the prep today for my colonoscopy tomorrow. So far not so bad, except every time I walk into the kitchen for something I immediately think, "I'm hungry." I'm afraid I'm going to subconsciously eat something! Then I was fixing some chicken broth using Knorr concentrated stock so I was looking at the recipes on the back, and saw one using wine instead of water. That made me wonder if you can drink wine on this day of liquid fasting.... haha, not that I would but it doesn't say you can't.
0 -
Yesterday, I had my second surgery for revision...it was pretty easy and have had no pain meds so far..I am not having much pain and feel I should bounce back quickly.
Lisa0 -
How are you Eli?
0 -
Heartnsoul, I know you are now past this, but when I did my prep, I stayed away from the kitchen as much as possible. Spent most of the day in my bedroom watching movies (so as not to be tempted by food commercials) I did go into the kitchen on occasion but it helped to stay out.
0 -
Kd6blk, Hopefully you are completed now and can start looking at all this in the rearview mirror. The no pain part sounds good!
hns76, Good Luck to you this afternoon. You'll be amazed at how efficient those aliens are. We want you to be our third to join the Ten Year Club.
Me? I am still hurting BAD. The lips might be a tiny bit better but the back of tongue and sides of throat seem more involved. I've lost about 6 lbs. but still managing to stay hydrated. I know they can hydrate me in one of the clinics, but I need calories. Barbe, I hope I don't need to be hospitalized to get nutrition because I think you are right. I would be entering a petri dish of bacterial and viral contaminants. Will try to "lidocaine up" and force down some pureed cottage cheese w/ a splash of apple juice or something. I was able to get about 10 oz. of milk in this morning, with liberal application of lidocaine.
Diet yesterday: 1/2 Boost drink (felt queasy), 6 oz. leftover caramel milkshake (stinging), 8 oz. cream of celery soup (p.m.--like ground glass going down.)
Yes, Meece, my mouth was already blistery from peeling after my allergic reaction to the CT contrast dye. The nurse said that is most likely why I got so bad in one week, instead of this happening maybe three weeks in. Other than my mouth, the whole rest of my g.i. lining doesn't seem to be bad, so I do wonder if the dosage wouldn't have been o.k. without the darn CT stuff. But now, I would like them to cut my dosage just a tiny bit, just to try and prevent an outbreak of this magnitude from happening again. A lower dosage may impact my shrinkage response, but if I break out in sores again and have to stop the chemo again, that would not be good either. The rads are still shrinking my tumor mass, but the chemo makes it more effective, plus I do fear I could have micros in circulation somewhere, so I want that chemo.
0 -
Oh, Eli~ I pray that your mouth and throat heal and that you will be able to resume your cancer-killing regime soon.
0 -
Elimar...hehehehe on the picture!! Love it!
Hope to see that your mouth is improving soon...can't imagine the pain and discomfort.
To all the rest of you lovely ladies, I hope your day is sunny and bright!
0 -
One week of chemo and I dyslexically screwed up my Mayan calendar joke. I was thinking 12-12-12 was "the end," but it's 12-21-12. Still funny, but duh!
0 -
Don't worry, I think lots of people thought it was today because of the 12-12-12!
0 -
Just flying through ~
Main goal >>
Check on E ~~.
I just don't know what to say there, gal. This is soooo pis*y.
0 -
elimar, if you are like me (and I think you are) you WILL get calories down you even if it kills you!!! I am the kind of "sick" patient that will immediately have a bowl of chicken soup (or something) after throwing up with the flu. You get a LOT sicker without an intake of liquids and calories. Have you tried luke-warm (room temperature stuff) and/or Gravol (motion sickness meds)?? I ate yoghurt, soups through straws and a milkshake or two. ANY calories is good calories at this point as your body needs them to fight the disease. You go girlfriend!!!
0 -
Eli, if the Magic Mouthwash isn't working maybe the doctor can prescribe something in addition to it. It almost sounds too severe for the MM alone. It sounds crazy, but I might get a wide syringe and shoot some room temp chicken broth, milkshakes, yogurt, etc. down your throat and bypass your mouth altogether. I know swallowing would hurt, too, though. I'm sorry you're going through this.
Well, I had my colonoscopy and they found a polyp... so I'm a member of the 3-year club. I don't really mind, but I'll probably feel differently 2 years and 364 days from now. I'm so glad I got this over with - the polyp was 1.1 cm so I'm glad I didn't wait.
Meece, every time I went into the kitchen I saw this container of nuts, dried fruits and chocolate I just bought for myself (you know, when you're Christmas shopping for other people). And I would think, Oh I'll have that. Next time, I'll make sure I don't have anything tempting in my house!
0 -
Hi there just got my first chemo today I am getting tired again i rested earlier but omg the hot flashes are terrible i was up a lot last night with them hope they stop for all of us and soon!!
0 -
Oh Eli - I do hope that your mouth will heal quickly for you. Sending healing vibes, good thoughts and lots of prayers.
momto7- hang in there. Remember that the chemo is to help you get rid of any little cancer boogers hanging around. I like Eli's reference to it "being a good day to kill some cancer"
((hugs)) to all!
0 -
Eli~ I thought you were just ramping up the suspense about the Mayan calendar. That's a good story, stick with it.
Momto7, take advantage of the time you get to rest. Your body needs it. I got Benedryl with each of my chemos and I was more than willing to rest the entire remainder of the day.
0 -
momto7, (Saw your news over on the chemo thread.) Well, you've taken the first step and that is one of the hardest, going into the unknown. You will get to know your "pattern" as to which days it will hit you hardest and it seems that once the unknown becomes the known, you can kind of plan your way thru' the cycle of days. One thing we know is that if all these other women can make it through, we will too.
Barbe, You are right about the "lukewarm" as any other temp adds to the stinging. Below is what I forced in yesterday. Can't use straw. Pretty pathetic.
6-8 oz. milk, 4 oz. milk/apple juice, 1/2 banana w/ 4 oz. milk, 1/4 cup cottage cheese w/ 2 oz. milk & 1 green been (stick blender liquidy.) All stingy.
hns76, You are close to right about technique. No syringe, but whatever I drink, I tip my head back so that I barely have to use my sore encrusted back of mouth to swallow. This morning my DH (and this is the absolute first time he has ever gotten that designation!!!) made me a cooked egg drink (think of unset custard) which went down pretty good using that technique. Or, it could just be that I have popped more Vicodin in the last 24 hrs. than previously. Yesterday was probably my worst day as the sores are so widespread now, and all were feeling like razorblades and ground glass. Today might be the day I turn the corner.
I am happy for you, hns76, that you got rid of something so potentially harmful. What I mean is I am always happy when someone gets the 10-year interval, but when something is actually found in there it is even more important that you went in to get rid of it. My one colonoscopy, I did have a single 3mm polyp (not counting what probably got missed) and they gave me a 5-year interval. I think if they find multiple polyps or anything above 1 cm it goes to 3-year. Similar to our breast tumors, that 1 centimeter mark seems like a dividing line as in how to proceed.
Have to say that I really enjoyed most of that benefit concert for "Sandy" victims last night, when I was Viked out. Did anyone else watch?
0 -
elimar, apple juice would be WAY TOO ACID-Y!!! That could be part of your sting....!!
0 -
Yes, good day to kill some cancer, I can hardly wait...I think
0 -
Barbe, Yes, the apple juice alone, but I used only a splash (like 1 oz. in the milk.) Yesterday it was all stingy, but I can't do milk, milk, milk, so I put little bits of other stuff in there. The lidocaine is stingy til it kicks in. The steroid rinse is stingy. The most soothing is just a baking soda rinse, which I use after just about everything.
The story of your deadly cold sore was so extreme. I wonder why it took on those proportions? Was it from having a weak immune sustem? I don't remember every having a cold sore, although I get cracked lips in winter. The liquid morphine sounds good. I think I will have to get a refill of the Vicodin. I have a tendency to undermedicate and suffer thru' and I have to quit doing that.
0 -
by all means quit under-medicating.
Washington/Colorado sisters-find some jambajane & send it to E discreetly (maybe hidden under the top layer of chocolates)
0 -
Eli, you might try this recipe a friend gave me. The avocados boost the calorie/good fat
Diane's vegan chocolate pudding
3 ripe avocados
1/3-1/2 cup cocoa (1/2 cup is really rich)
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup soy or rice milk (I like the coconut almond blend)
Pinch salt
Put liquids and avocados in the food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Add the cocoa powder and mix well. Top w/ almond slivers (optional)
Refrigerate for 30+ minutes
Without the almonds, it should go down smoothly!0
