MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Hi Eph! Will you always be night shift,, or is that while you are training on the new job? Sorry about the liver tests,, maybe they will be better off the statins.Have we flipped the page yet??
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Thanks, ladies. And best of luckiness tomorrow, Loral. Do share your results when you get them.
Sorry to hear of your wayward liver, Eph. (Makes me wonder how my "tub o' lard" fatty liver is these days?) I don't want to bring this up, but I think you have read the same reports that I have about night shift workers having a higher incidence of BC. Will you be able to switch to days in the future?
I free-associated "birds of a feather" flocking together in the picture currently at the top. I don't have to tell you all what that ominous pink cloud is...
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Yikes,, that "pink cloud" is only 2 months away,,,,,0 -
I have some swelling on my right side below my scar and it never occured to me until reading these posts, but now I wonder if it might be Truncal LE. I guess I will ask my MO when I see him in a few weeks. I started my chemo on July 13th and I am not having as easy a time with this one. I am doing Carbo/Taxotere with a shot of Neulasta. I have had major back spasms the weekend after my treatments. It is so bad that my body shakes with each one. I had to go in for fluid, so I told the nurse and she said it was probably the Neulasta. I think there is an alternative, but if not I'm not having the shot again! It is 3 days of hell! There are intestinal issues also. I don't know which one is responsible but I am not liking that either! I have 4 more chemo treatments, so I will be dealing with this until Nov. I need to go to my ENT because my throat is so sore I can barely swallow. The nurse told me to gargle with salt water, but that is not going to fix this. I probably have thrush again. I'm so tired.
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just as well keep passing the bottle this way. Cheer to those with good results and good luck to you Loral.
Doggies are too cute.
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good luck tomorrow, Loral!KJSUN: oh no! Not damn LE! Is there a qualified LE therapist in your area? Doctors don't always "see" LE,,, you may want to get an RX to go see a therapist and have that person take a look-see. My BS gave me the brush off. Had to get an RX from my MO. So sorry about the back spasms. That is just awful. Neupogen is the alternate, but it has to be given more often, which is why they like the Neulasta. It might be worth a try to see if the side effects are easier on you, though. Ask for some Magic Mouthwash or viscous Lidocaine for sore throat. Nystatin swish and swallow if you have thrush. Salt water,,, what the heck?? like you just have a cold?? Geeez. Call MO's office and tell them you need something stat. You need to be able to swallow. ((hugs))
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KJSUN - hope you're on some of the current cycle of chemo threads here. There are always such good ideas. For example, be sure you take Claritin the day before Neulasta and for several days after. Have them do the Neulasta shot in your belly instead of your arm. Make sure the fluid is warmed before the shot. Neulasta usually caused joint pain. Haven't heard of back spasms. I went in for fluid between every treatment. It was mainly due to Big D from taxotere. And I just couldn't hydrate enough. Sorry you have to go through this.
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Congrats on the clear mammo, El!
MinusTwo--motivation is my problem, too.
KJSUN--don't be surprised if your MO has never heard of Truncal LE, many docs have not, think LE only occurs in the arm, or they don't believe in LE at all.You may want to locate a Physical Therapist or Occupational Therapist trained in LE management and get a referral for an evaluation.So sorry about the spasms and throat pain and GIissues.I would call the MO today, not wait for the ENT.Not being able to swallow will create a big problem if not treated ASAP.
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NativeMainer: you are correct. My MO didn't see my truncal LE. His PA measured my arms, deemed my affected arm which is the non-dominant one, bigger than the other, and thus gave me RX to go to PT. But I pushed for it. If I had not, I doubt it would have come up, cuz the arm difference was/is very slight,, it's the truncal that's an issue for me.KJSUN: if you get any flack about the LE, just tell them you want to go to PT for an eval. You can look at stepupspeakout.org to help you find a qualified LE therapist in your area. And Please come over to the lymphedema forum if you have questions. Binney and Carol and others over there are really really knowledgeable on this subject and have been big helps to me.
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http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Finding_a_Qualified_Lymphedema_Therapist.htm
KJSUN: here's a link to the site. There is lots of info on here. Really helpful. Keep us posted.
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KJSUN- Not having been through your treatment regimen I can't offer helpful suggestions to alleviate some of your SEs. But your post touched me and made me just want to scream F*!K Cancer! I'm so sorry you are facing an uphill battle right now. Hugs and wishes for strength as you get through your treatments and beyond, again...
Eph- I was so happy for you when you got your new job, but ugh, working nights, especially at our age, is not good! Your circadian rhythm must be on a tilt-o-whirl! Hoping that you apparently have super powers to not be affected by it, or that you are able to transition to days soon.
Re aches and pains, just when I was thinking I was impervious to them, my shoulder has been acting up. I had surgery about six years ago for a torn rotator cuff. Except when he got in there, the surgeon said it wasn't torn. So he figured he might as well do some cleaning and cut out some scar tissue (never good when men try to multitask). Turns out I had frozen shoulder...1 1/2 years later, my shoulder seemed good as new. Fast forward to three months ago, I stained our deck and have had pain ever since. X-rays show mild arthritis, and I was instructed to do some at home pt. It seems to help alleviate the 'minor but always there' pain, but now I'm thinking that I may never be pain free again and that this might be my new normal. It's hell getting old! BC took my self perception down a notch, and now this! BC opened the door to tests (bone density, liver status, etc.) that show exactly how "normal" I am. Not that long ago doctors often commented on how healthy I was. I don't get that comment much anymore.
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Me too, Sane woman. I had a job working at a big museum here, doing build-outs and hanging lighting, tons of painting, moving heavy objects, long days of sheer physical labor, and my boss, who was a woman 15 years younger than me, said she never met such a strong woman. It was something I was very proud of. And I had excellent balance, too, I was one of those people that would scamper right up and stand on the top of the ladder, even the 15 foot ones, and then I could reach and stand on one foot there, without thinking twice. No more. My balance is shot, I lean when i am standing! I turned forty-leven (thats what I told my boss) when I worked there, I took a six month break, what I thought was a break anyway, and was diagnosed when I was forty-twelve. In a few weeks, I will be fifty-six, and things are a little better, but I know I can never do that kind of work again. Before treatment, I knew the day would come when I would begin to phase out from that kind of work, but I never expected that it would happen, all at once.
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Adding a post for today. Two pages - 10 days. Ran errands before noon since our temps have been 101-104 recently. Found some lovely Garnacha wine (Grenache in French but this is from Spain). It iis prefect for this hot weather - very few tannins, not cured in oak, cherries & blackberries. I'm taking the recommendation I read to drink one glass of red wine every day very seriously. Isn't it interesting which scientific studies we determine we're going to follow. If I have to have permanent LE and neuropathy, I'm going to enjoy some wine!!
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Glad those with Neulasta knowledge chimed in. Around the time my white cells started tanking was the time I said "enough chemo" cause I was near the end anyway, so I never got up-close-and-personal with the Neulasta myself.
Good call, glennie19. Magic Mouthwash! Yes, I had that but was already forgetting about it. Nystatin too. I had different mouth issues, but that stuff did help a bit so it is worth a try KJSUN. I hope you get some relief pronto.
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I
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don't really
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mind working nights.
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I can totally relate
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to the aches & pains
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though. My left shoulder will
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never be the same. Only 80 more!!!!
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Eph - way to go!!!
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Glennie--I've got a "well duh" thought in my head.The difference in arm measurements when someone has early, still treatable LE IS small.That's when you want to catch it and treat it, cuz it never gets smaller, but treatment can keep it where it is.What do they want to do, not treat LE until it's huge, constantly painful and interfering with everyday life?Glad you advocated for yourself.
Binnie was a huge help to me when I was going through rads and LE treatment.She is a wonder!
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That's how I felt, NativeMainer,,, "do you want to wait until my arm is really noticeable?" And it was more my chest, but no one paid attention to that,, but I "won" on the arm, for what it's worth. And since my BS left unwanted excess skin, it makes it even harder to notice the truncal LE. Which is the skin and which is the swelling? Only my therapist knows for sure,,, HA!BS didn't even want to give me a RX for a sleeve (before all this started) for flying, when I wanted to be proactive about prevention. *I only took 6 nodes* Yeah, whatever.
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I am still so mad at my fucking bs, that bitch. Really, she was. I don't have her anymore, but she refused to let me see leist, until my arm was over 2cms too big in a couple of places. I would bend my arm at the elbow, and show her the back of my forearms. On the regular one, you could see my bony ole self, sharp elbows and everything. The affected arm, the bones were buried in fluid filled flesh. Not a pretty sight, and my arm will never be smaller than that again. Yeah, if the mods don't like me cursing her, I am sorry, but really that's how strongly I hate her. I don't hate easily, either.
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Eph! Cracked me up! I think I will call you a mischeiveous ELPH!!!
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Thank you, thank you very muuch! (My nod to Elvis. Anniversary of his death is this weekend I believe.)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj0Rz-uP4Mk
wonder what the gals in "Orange is the New Black" would think of him?
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HUBBA HUBBA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBmAPYkPeYU
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Oh yes, I can see why my Mother & her friends were horrified about the sexy moves. Couldn't see it then tho.
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