August 2010...anyone starting chemo besides me?!
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Lizzy - Second Lady's suggestion to 'get your butt' to the doctor!
On the no good deed goes unpunished, when I delivered my daughter I tore and had a bunch of stitches down there. About 5 days after the delivery my mother in law fainted in my living room and I tried to catch her as she plummeted head first out of the lazy boy. Tore a bunch of stitches out that they 'said' they didn't need to repair. I should have insisted! Mother in law was fine, but I did call 911 and they took her in for observation.
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Lizzy What about a trip to the ER at Yale. We got 26" here in Nj but the roads are starting to clear up. I don't want to scare you, but it doesn't sound like something they should evaluate over the phone and your immune sytem is probably knocked down from the chemo . It sounds like they should draw some cultures and do bloodwork to see which antibiotic would work best. If not can you at least have someone stay with you in case you feel badly again and need someone to take you in. Hope you feel better soon!
Carolyn
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LIZZYMACK1 I am so sorry that you are dealing with implant problems and recurrent infections. You're care is being handled at a highly rated facility but I'm surprised that the oncall doc suggested that you take Tylenol at home with a fever of 103 on chemo! I hope that the roads are cleared soon so that you can get to the doctor. I agree with everyone else that fever and chemo should not be played with. If your temperature goes above 101 again, please go to your doctor or to the emergency room!0
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Toomuch: I am not familiar with you but Yale did not tell me to stay home with 103 temp! When I spoke with the on-call he told me to monitor my temps but, at that time, it was only 100.6. In continuing to monitor my temps over the next 7 hours, that is when it went over 103. I should have been more clear. It is an excellent facility and there is only so much anyone can do over the phone.
Ckptry: You are correct! They want me in the ER so they can culture it to find out what kind of bacteria it is so they can get it under control, complete my last chemo, then move on to dealing with post-chemo dealings. I guess I am going to have to go to the ER tonight...I am so not wanting to do this. They are going to admit me. I just want to stay at home in my bed! My BS did notice it was red last week also. Not sure why we did not deal with it then but so be it. What's done is done.
Waiting for the plow to release me from my driveway!
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Lizzy - Sending you lots of healing thoughts and vibes. I hope it can be taken care of relatively easitly. That is just terrible timing for the snow.
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Hang in there Lizzy, maybe they can just give you some antibiotics and send you home. Do they have wi-fi?0
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Well ladies, we have been without power since about 9 am. There I was, playing Wii Fit with the kids- chasing the little kitty cat on the screen and running in place and everything shuts down. It's like......19 degrees out when this happens and there goes the heat, lights, water, INTERNET~! DH started a fire in the basement woodstove which we rarely use since it really doesn't warm the house very well, but would have kept the pipes from freezing. I took my 12 yr old and we hit Walmart. On the way out the driveway we could see a "road closed" sign down the street.....not a good thing!
Nothing much happening at walmart, except for heat and flushable toilets...... Bought a few clearance items and left.
Came home and went down a different road and came out in the middle of the road closure mess. I asked the road guy what was going on - and he showed me a tree that had fallen down, taking the wires with it.
I got home and told DH that there was no way we'd be back up any time soon as the wire was still in the road and there weren't any line trucks there fixing it! Helped drag in wood for the stove and decided to take down the tree (Christmas tree, not the one with the wires in the road!
since keeping busy kept me warm.Suddenly the lights all come back on. And everybody screams - it's like Christmas now - just being able to use the "old" things that use electricity!
Meanwhile the house was about 55 degrees so now that's warming up well - we must have been out about 6 1/2 hours that seemed like an eternity. I was going to get things packed up to stay at my mom's if it continued until after dark! br!!!I started my tamox today. This sucks. Feel like I'm waiting for SE's. I have a headache - now I'm wondering if it's from that, etc., etc. etc. Don't know what to think about all of this.............
Tomorrow we're off to my mom's for another Christmas with aunts and uncles. The kids already got all their presents from grandma and we got ours, and this will just be a white elephant things - so I have to dig up those gifts. Good opportunity to get rid of cookbooks, scented candles and such that I have around here but don't use!
We only got about 4" of snow with blizzard winds. But east of us got hit REAL bad! So glad we didn't! Had enough trauma today with the power being out and being freezing!.
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Wishing you a speed recovery Lizzy. I am glad you will be under medical supervision, that really is the best thing when you are on chemo. Those infections can get bad really quick when you are immunosuppressed. Hope you are feeling better real soon.
Debbi
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Picture - I finally went to motor vehicles and got my new picture for my license. I have just a finge of white-gray hair for a front hair line, my face was red from a poorly timed hot flash and very round from the weight and steroids, plus barely visible eyebrows and dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. My daughter suggested I go back next year and have them take another one!0
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I still have my IL license. I can't imagine a photo now.
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Omaz: I just got a new license last October after I got married, Oct. 2009; then I lost it about a month ago. So I had to go get a new one with my fat face and a wig. Awful reminder of this crap! Thank goodness it expires in 2011. Maybe I'll have a little bit of hair by the summer when I have to renew it.
The only time I've had my license out in the past 6 months is at doctor's offices or the hospital. Seems like they would have called me and said they had my license!
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Lizzy: Good luck. If they admit you, I hope you won't have to stay as long as I did.0
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Lady - My new one lasts until 2023!0
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LizzyMack1 I know that Yale is a highly rated place for care that's why I said I was surprised. I'm so glad that I misunderstood your post. Still sorry that you're going through this again and in the middle of a storm. Hopefully by now you've been plowed out and have made it to the ER. I hope that you have a quick recovery and that this is the last you see of the infection.0
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Cal--I also started Tamoxifen (started on 25th--was supposed to start on 24th but forgot). I am taking in AM with my breakfast--hopefully get into a schedule so I remember. I also have had a headache--not sure if it is actually due to Tamoxifen or maybe after reading about all the SE--now have wished it upon myself! Hopefully it is not anything to do with Tamoxifen because I can't imagine having a headache everyday.
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Lisa - how are the ankles and did you have a fun weekend trip?0
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Rachel - oddly, I posted on facebook that I was beginning tamox today and a friend who just got done with BC - she had BC a few months before me so I'm behind her - surgery, chemo, more surgery, then MORE surgery due to her implant getting messed up. So she just started tamox today also- it was delayed due to all the surgeries! How funny that we both started it the same day! I'm afraid to visit the tamoxifen board -- just don't wanna see those SE's.......at"least" it's not chemo..... But when I weighed myself in Wii Fit tonight I was 2lb heavier than I was yesterday and it "reprimanded" me. What the heck!? So I'm thinking-- was it the tamox??? or did I just have heavier clothes on.....
My headache feels better now. I took a long bath - I think it was just stress and running around. I'm so happy to have power back - want to get the kiddos in bed and make some popcorn and play solitaire on the computer. My favorite ME time at the end of the day!
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Lizzy i hope you are on the road to recovery and that your last tx won't be postponed. Calam I hope you can get some rest! Ladyinbama - i procrastinated calling about my eyes and now they are not teary but the left one is blurry. I am just so weary dealing with home and car insurance issues. Also my BS office will not get back to me to schedule port removal and/or gall bladder surgery and I am just so done with that surgeon! I want her to take out the port then I will probabaly try to find another surgeon for the gall bladder and put it off for a few months/year. My port area REALLY hurts and I just want this thing OUT!! Of course the snow and cold don't help either but at least the power hasn't gone out!
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Lizzy I hope you are resting now and have the treatment you need to get better.
Does anyone know why my Doc says to keep the port for a year? It isn't bothering me except for accidentally poking it from time to time. I do have a swollen lymph node on the port side, but it is above my collar bone. I always wonder of that is from the port.
We might have some flurries tomorrow, I look forward to that. All I can see from our house is green, green, green, and very tall green. I think I am actually missing the wild weather changes in the midwest. We would sit on the porch and watch storms rolling in, sort of exciting watching nature at work.
Ginger
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Ginger I know they just used to use that time frame in case someone needed additonal treatment. I have to leave mine in anyway for herceptin, although it seems to have settled right on my tissue expander so I'm wondering if they'll have to move it when I have the exchange surgery. Anyway, I see my onc on Thursday so if I can remember I'll ask her what they recommend. I hate my port but I've had awful veins even before chemo so I'd be in trouble without it.
Carolyn
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Omaz - My ankles are finally back to normal! Thanks for asking. The onc put me on a diuretic, which helped immediately (I lost 6 pounds in the first 7 days), but my ankles were still somewhat swollen until this past weekend, and now they are completely back to normal. I'm still taking the diuretic. Onc was concerned that it was related to my neuropathy/diabetes/heart, because my calves were swollen too. I don't know how long I will have to be on it, but it does feel good to have my body back. I am now only 2 pounds above where I was when I started chemo (as opposed to 12 pounds 3 weeks ago). Are you still puffy?
We had a great Christmas in Reno - the train was fun and relaxing and we completely broke even. Started with $600 and ended with $580. Se we felt successful! :-)
Hope everyone is well and warm. I'm looking forward to hearing from Lizzy about how she is doing!
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Lisa - Glad to hear that! I am also anxious to hear from Lizzy.
I am doing pretty good. My muscles are still sore, achy and stiff, still have swelling as well but it seems to improve each day. I most notice my thighs when I am going uphill, they hurt, but at least I CAN go uphill now!! I am about 10 pounds over where I started chemo, I think some is fluid and some is true weight, but I am watching it now and hopefully will start going back down soon. I am actually looking forward to getting started with rads, I am hopeful to some degree since you and others have posted a positive experience. Take care!
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Wii Fit can be a bit rude LOL, once i was playing on my daughters profile and it told me told me to step on, then when "oh!" like i wieghed a ton LOL
Our weight can vary slightly in just a day, so 2 pounds could be due to that. (and your diffrent clothes)
Lizzy dont forget your laptop! They may keep you in for a few days.... I am praying for a speedy recovery
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Lizzy has been admitted for a day or two. I'm sure she'll update you all soon.
Ginger-- I have pretty much the same diagnosis and I hope to get mine out next month. My last tx is 1/04/11. A year... yikes! I hope not to hear that.
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Thanks for the update Adey.0
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Thanks Adey for the update in Lizzy.
I am going to ask my Onc if I can get mine out pretty soon. The risk of infection and havoing to go back for flushes is not something I am interested in dealing with.
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Good evening chemosabes and radicals!
I am being detained....at a really great hospital! I am so glad to be here and no longer home wondering if this is spreading and being a medicine cabinet scientist. What a time for a monster storm. I did not dare get on this board last night and admit to you all that I was still home but my plow people arrived at like 7 last night and my temp was under 100 so I decided to wait until today. It was soo cold last night, I did not want to leave my bed. I have a pretty bad infection in that breast so they are going to give me IV antibiotics until cleared.
Texas: Did not forget the netbook! How are you doing these days?
Omaz: You and Kel are in the post-chemo olympics it seems! Seriously, though, with the kind of exercising so many of you who have finished are doing, it gives the rest of us inspiration. I am sure that 10 lbs will be gone in no time....maybe 20!
Adey: thanks for updating the thread. I appreciate it. Your last tx is Friday, right? I am so glad you are finishing.
Ginger: I hate getting the port flushed...it makes me sick but then again everything does these days. I think that 1 year is kind of antiquated nowadays. They seem to remove them more quickly as I think, like Kel said, for muscle and infections issues, they want them out pretty quick,
In any case, have to get the port accessed now..will post more in a bit !
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Calam: Glad you got your electricity back on. Ours blinked a couple of times, but luckily never went out. And we got plowed pretty quickly so we were able to get out of the house by midday yesterday. Roads were pretty bad, but at least we could drive to the hill to sleigh ride, just to get everyone out of the house...they were getting on each other's nerves.
Texas: I hope you had a snappy little comeback for that rude Wii Fit!
Zenith: I hope your breast surgeon called you today. I didn't have to get a port, and I am very thankful for that. I can only imagine how maddening it is to be done and want it out, and not be able to get a date for removing it.
Omaz: My thighs still burn with the slightest of activity. I have learned to just ignore it. My onco told me that the muscle pain and weakness could last several months. That and the numbness in my fingers and toes. Chemo....the gift that keeps on giving.
Lizzy: Glad to hear you are safely in the hospital. I am sure you will be well taken care of . Usually those IV antibiotics work fast, so hopefully you will be feeling better in a day or two.
Thankfully the cardiologist cleared me today for the D&C tomorrow. My appointment was cancelled yesterday because of that same winter storm. Buried us under about a foot and a half of snow. My EKG is definitely abnormal and has definitely changed since I started treatment, but they ruled out major structural abnormalities and pericarditis, so since D&C is a minor procedure he cleared me. I have to go back for more testing in a couple of weeks.
Well, I am going to shower and get to bed, I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. I just hope the D&C works. I am getting really tired of the constant spotting/bleeding that I have had since August.
Good night everyone,
Debbi
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Holy Cow! Gone to family for 5 days and all sorts of things happen here. LIZZY- I am so glad to hear you are okay and being taken care of. Suck up all that good IV antibiotica- it'll do the trick! But I'm so sorry you have to be there in the first place- I'll be thinking of you lots.
I started tamxifen last week and so far no SE at all. Does anyone know how long SE should take to kick in? Rachel, I'm sorry to hear about your headache. I had that too for a bit, but then I got my period for the first time in 7 months. So I blamed it on that.
Lisa- I kept meaning to ask you this....is your hair coming back in now? You mentioned that you weren't seeing much growth. Still?
Texas- so glad you were in your new apt for Xmas and that is way too funny about your 3 yr old opening his presents on his own. It killed my four year old not to tell everyone in the house exactly what they were getting.:)
And one more time- big hug out to you Lizzy!
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Lizzy! Glad to hear from youre being seen by DR (not that we dont do a good job ourselves sometimes but we didnt go to school for 10 yrs to learn it lol)
Funny story- my cell broke and i havent been able to make or recive calls or texts since the day before xmas, it was the holidays so i didnt think much of it, most ppl have DH's number if they needed me but one of my good friends (since we were in middle school) was trying to get ahold of me she, she couldnt and got worried. She still lives back home in washington and so she looked up the hospital near me and called to see if i had been admitted, she knows my husband is a cop but not what department, she was calling around here asking for my husband (she called the city police but hubby is a sheriff with the county) she even was msging my friends on fb (of course i havent been on FB for 2 months so there werent updates on there or anything) asking if they heard from me ect... i finally got the message and called her last night. Of course she had assumed the worst. I feel so bad my friend spent part of her xmas holiday thinking i died... But i gave her my husbands phone number so if she ever cant get ahold of me she can him!
Just makes me realise that she is a GREAT friend, and truly cares!
Debbi- Good luck tomorrow! Hopefully the d and c works cuz spotting and bleeding for 4 months SUCKS (depo used to do tat o me)
Sweeny- glad to see ya, how'd the visiting with family go?
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