August 2010...anyone starting chemo besides me?!
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Calamtykel: you are singing to the choir! The joint aches are unbelievable and I am fully prepared to fight this. I was telling my GP today that the joint aches are like so much worse than ever.
Texas: congratulations! Only 9 rads to go...and that long daily ride will be over also! Man, with these gas prices, I don't know how you do it....I can just see you on a Vespa! Well I have not spoken to my brother about the gas prices in TX but in CT we are at 3.99 for regular and I saw 4.14 for super today! It is crazy. In any case, glad you are about to put rads behind you..yay!
Sptmm: best of luck on your results tomorrow. I hope everything is fine. As I suspected, back to scan country for me. I have to get an MRI of my head. I am actually looking forward to this because that headache that was seemingly starting in the center of my brain and shooting toward the top of my head, and that which woke me up, scared the "s" out of me! I can't wait to get this MRI! Looking very forward to it... ! In any case, I was thinking of you knowing you have your appt tomorrow. I was also thinking of you because I was at GNC today!
Goodnight, all-
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BTW: there was a report tonight on the news that apparently they have isolated a gene in women's breast milk that they can conclusively say causes breast cancer. I guess those at high risk (BRCAs probably) will have their milk tested and if this gene is found, they will start treating them preemptively. I thought that was very good news and wanted to share it!0
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That is good news lizzy!
Today it was 3.62 for gas- which for us is expenisve! Funny cuz i pass no less than 3 refineries on my way to radiation- maybe i should just steal the gas!!!
I remember in 2002 when i first moved to TX gas was 99 cents a gallon- it cost me less than 15 bucks to fill up my ford explorer!
I WISH I HAD A VESPA lol- it have to fill up every other day and it gets more expensive each time! last time was $53- i have had to skimp on food purchases cuz of the outrageous gas prices, i also postponed my herceptin to thur cuz i have to drive 3 hrs to san antonio then the extra hr to corpus for rad... but i have court on thursdayand thought i'd kill 2 birds with one stone! (and save me a ton of $)
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btw my cell phone is ticking me off- for some reason they didnt take the automatic payment out like they normally do and they shut it off tonight- so i hop on line and pay, they said service will be restored in 30 minutes- its now been 2 freakin hours!!!!!
and of course my phone is not working so it isnt like i can call them or anything! grrr
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Hi all,
I'm behind on posts with the kids off, but they're at my mom's today so I'll try to catch up later:-)
Debbie I'm sending prayers and positive vibes and hope the onc has nothing but good news today. Lizzy I've been thinking of you too - I'm sorry you have to have an MRI. Hopefully the headaches are a side effect of the tamoxifen or chemopause. (btw lol on the vision insurance comment, I figured most people would know not to say that to anyone, it's like the are you expecting thing, so I'm thinking the source wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer)
Carolyn
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lisa I just saw your post about the tamox vs ooph arimidex.. My onc said tamoxifen is better studied in premenopausal women and she would prefer that over the lupron/arimidex but if I can't tolerate the tamoxifen we'll switch. I'm glad you are doing okay on it. I am so glad the herceptin is relatively easy to do.
I just called MSK to make an appointment with a psychiatrist who specializes in treating women with breast cancer. I am hoping she can help me make a decision about the hormonal therapy. I feel so much better off it but I want to protect myself while hopefully avoiding daily panic attacks! The secretary said she is booked and has to review each case on an individual basis so hopefully I sound like a hard case, lol. Actually she said she does try to see women who are struggling with treatment decisions like surgery. Just sad to think they are backed up because so many women are struggling with this crappy disease
Carolyn
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Texas -- oral "progesterone" like birth control is a different animal from the topical kind found in progesterone cream (which is a natural, plant based kind of thing.) I can't remember what the oral kind is, but yes, it can trigger BC, as can the oral estrogen replacement therapy they give women in menopause!
I've been dealing with everyday life crap. I screwed up our taxes for the year 2010-- I didn't register the right way (Um, because it was june when I did it and I got diagnosed in june.....and I was in a fog-
So I messed up and am now fixing it retroactively. they don't make it easy! Met with the accountant last night, talked to his sales tax professional this morning and hoping that now we're back on the right track. I was almost sobbing on the phone today- I just pray we don't get penalties or anything now because of my oversight! He seemed to think that we would be penalized but hoepfully it won't be too much since we are being proactive in declaring it. We got there last night and my husband had different numbers than I had for my custom dolls so now I have to redo all that and get that to the accountant....:( We must have looked like the most disorganized couple! I just want it all to be correct but it's frustrating. Cat got neutered today - kids to the dentist, my 12 year old needs braces now, trying to schedule the bloodwork that my osteopathic doctor wants done....tried to go yesterday but they said I need to fast, which is different from what the nutritionst said, so I have to see him tomorrow and see what he really does want, etc etc. and this tax thing looming over my head. I feel like I did when I I had - like this dark cloud is hanging over me.
But my oncologist said something once when I was so upset about my port complications. She said "At least it's not cancer.........." So yeah. I'll take the everyday aggravation; the financial problems and all that.......I just think once we finish with BC that there should be a prize at the end and that prize should be sunshine and roses for a long long long time!
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thanks for the clarity Calamity
ahhh tax nightmare! Ihope you dont get penalized either!!!!Oh yeah so i get ahold of my cell company and even though it said service will be restored in 30 mins it can take UP TO 24 hrs! its now be 18 freakin hours and no phone! i was worried that the school might try to call or something!
dang cricket phones!
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Cal--My 11 year old just got braces this past January--good times!! He has already had them tightened once and had to take rest of day off school. My insurance and my husband's covers a good portion of the cost which was good. You have a lot going on....makes my day seem relatively boring! My oldest was home sick today with hopefully, some sort of 24 hour bug.
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My kids are covered under the state insurance since NJ's insurance is ridiculous; and as long as we can find an ortho in network, they should cover it since it's a necessity (he has an underbite.) I'm hoping they will!
I remember how bad braces hurt. It was awful at first, but then it got better. I used to hate it when a wire popped in the back and stabbed into my cheek! I'm sorry he has to go through this.....but I guess it is what it is!
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I got good news today; no cancer was found in the omentum they took out last week!!! So, while I'm still classified as Stage 3, in my heart and mind, I feel like I'm more like Stage 1-1/2 since what they found was microscopic and confined to one little area. I still will do more chemo: carboplatin and taxol, 6 treatments, 1 every 3 weeks. The onc said if I'm not "tolerating" it, we may just do 4. But I was really pumped when we left. I don't have to go back for 3 weeks. My onc said "just go home and heal" and we'd talk in 3 weeks. Thanks to all you wonderful ladies for your prayers and good vibrations!
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WOOOO HOOOO LADYINBAMA!!!!! So very glad to hear this news!:)
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YAYY!!!!! So very GLAD to hear it Lady!!!
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woohoo is right!!!!!! So glad to hear this Lady!!!
Debbi, let us know how your appointment went when you get a chance.
Carolyn
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Hi guys!! I am swamped with work right now, but I just wanted to stop in and thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes...it worked!! My appointment today was rescheduled by the doctor, but I got the results and there was no evidence of cancer spread to the bone. There is a cyst there and the recommendation was for a CT of the hip and pelvis, but I will worry about that when I meet with the doctor next Tuesday. For now, I am just soooo relieved that it is not cancer!!
Lady: Fantastic news!!!!!!
Red Letter Day today...good news all around. Thanks everyone.
Lizzy: Good luck with your MRI, may you join us in Good News Land soon!
I will catch up with everyone else in a day or two, lots of work to do.
Debbi
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SPTMM62- Reading your good news makes this a great day! WOOO HOOOO X 2!!!!!!!
Honestly, I am so pleased to hear the very best news from the both of you. When I say, "I'm thinking of you guys" it's not just words. Anyway, just know that I'm so happy to hear these great results!0 -
Sptmm: GOOD NEWS! YAY! I am so glad things went well for you. The MRI is precautionary. I hope it is nothing. My sister also mentioned that if I had been reading more, which I am, it could be ocular. We shall see!
Lady: GOOD NEWS! YAY! That is wonderful! I hope you are celebrating tonight
Tex: I got my first car when I was 16 and gas was .89 in 1986. In 2001 I was living in Stamford, working in NYC, and I clearly remember going to fill up my little sports car and gas was $4.25+ per gallon! I cannot believe that just 2 years later, the gas in TX was priced, by CT standards, circa 1986! That is crazy. I know, when I look at the national average of gas prices somewhere it must be wicked low and it is never here!
Tax season is the hour of my discontent.....! I will forever connect my bc dx w/ April 15th as I was confirmed on 4/17....I am glad I did not find out around Christmas etc..
Tired...night all-
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GREAT NEWS YOU GUYS!!! really made my day
Lizzy- lol yeah i hate complaining when i KNOW others pay a lot more, but still its expensive all around! I wonder what it is now 10 yrs later in stamford?!?!?!?!
Okay so no freaking phone! 25 hrs later and it still doenst work- now they say for me to come into the store... i wanna drive my car through their store LOL- i just get a knot in my stomach when my hubby is at work and i cant get ahold of him, makes me restless and that leads to irritablity LOL
Well i have a kiler headache i am gonna take some script pain meds to knock it out and me too!
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Tex: I have spent my entire working life in the financial industry and in telecom therefore I know stocks, bonds and phones! Who is your carrier? There is nothing they can do in the store except sell you a new phone. For instance, on Verizon if you dial *228 and press send then select option 1 that is supposed to "wake" your phone up and reconnect it to the network. For those of you reading who use *228 to update your PRL, that is option #2. On ATT, I think their code is #002# and Sprint is *2 I believe. They should be able to get that phone working for you over the phone. When any carrier shuts you off they usually give you a code so when your service is restored, you can reprogram your phone.
You can tell I am into telecom....I totally forget to remind you to do the most basic thing....pop the battery, wait 15 seconds and put it back in. That should do it. If you have not popped the battery, that is exactly why your phone is not working. If you are with one of the major carriers you can invariably request an online chat with customer service if you need help.
Let me know if you need anything else ...I would send you my # but what good is that?!
I hope this helps-
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Texas: I hope Lizzy's tips work for you. That must be very hard, especially with your husband being a police officer. You must get very worried. I hope Lizzy's tips work, if not sometimes you have to be a B*TCH and scream and yell!
That comment about not being able to call them made me laugh. Funny story...We were having trouble with our cable over the past couple of weeks. I have internet, cable, and phone through the same company. So, in trying to fix the cable one day, they accidentally disconnected my phone (land line). I called them from my cell phone to report the problem and demand someone fix it immediately. At the end of the conversation the guy asks if the technician can reach my at my home number....DUHH....no, you disconnected it!! Boy was he embarrassed when I pointed out the obvious!
Anyway, that headache is probably stress, hope you had a good nights sleep and feel better this morning.
On taxes....I owe and don't have any money to pay. Hopefully they will accept a note???? LOL. I am just going to take my chances.
Debbi
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Awesome lady!
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Hooray Debbi, glad you got good news too!
I got for my post op with my PS today. I'm not having any problems, just sore on the side where he did some lipo. I've got to go later for my nipples. He didn't do them last week, but the reason escapes me at the moment.
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Yayayayayayayay! Good news for Lady and Debbi! I am so thrilled for you both. Lady I agree with your assessment that you are stage 1 1/2 because it sounds like it had only just barely begun to go anywhere outside the ovaries. It really does seem like it was caught super early and while I'm sorry you have to go through more chemo, hopefully that will kill off anything that might be remaining and you will have many happy, healthy years ahead of you!
Lizzy Hopefully you will get good news from your MRI too, when is it scheduled? Your sister's point about it possibly being ocular is a good one, have you had your eyes checked recently? I don't wear glasses (yet) but both my parents do so I suspect I may end up with them eventually. I get my eyes checked once a year and my appt just happens to be next week, so I guess I'll see if chemo caused any changes to my eyes.
Texas I hope you get your phone sorted out but if I hear any news reports of a woman in Texas driving her car through a store I will know it was you!
Today I had rad #8 of 34. I saw my rad onc yesterday and she said she can see my skin is starting to get pink but I still don't see a difference. She said she knows what she is looking for and that it is pretty normal to start getting pink during the second week. Friday morning I get a double dose of fun - first I go see my med onc and get my every 3-week Herceptin then over to my rads appt! I am so looking forward to the future when I won't have a million doctor's appointments!
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Congrats to both Lady and Debbi--so happy to hear this news!
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Oops, missed that... BIG congrats Debbi!
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Great news Bama!! It was fate that caught this early.libraylil
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Good day, girls-
JSW: I, too, was thinking my sister had a good point. Chemo affects the eyes and I have not had mine checked in just about 1 year. Last night, however, I got out of bed to turn up the fan (what's new?!) and as I was walking toward the fan I felt quite faint. I just reached the fan, turned it up and when I attempted to make it back to my bed, I fell into my bed and almost passed out. Everything in my line of vision was going up and down and I was completely weak. I have never had problems like this in my life. WOE IS ME!
So how did the bathroom paint job come out? How is the packing going? Moving is such a drag but it is nice to get to another locale and have a fresh start also.
Herceptin and rads in the same day?! This is very, very unfortunate! Best of luck to you as you are just about at the 25% done mark for rads.
Sptmm: Comcast sux! They are the worst! Wasn't it Comcast where the 75 y/o lady went and took a hammer to one of the trucks?! I think it was Comcast....could have just as easily been Cox, however!
As for the IRS, good luck. This economy that the government can't seem to get moving and get jobs going makes for less people to collect from which means the ones that owe (present company included) will get extra, extra attention! Good times!
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Lady- awesome news! I'm so happy for you. I just heard from a friend of mine today in the UK - they found something on her ovaries back in January and it's taken her this long to be able to see a specialist. The specialist is unhappy with the scans and tests and she will remove her ovaries but not for three more months - in July.
I'm scared for my friend - I think it's inexcusable that anybody should have to wait that long; her mom passed away from the same kind of cancer and she had BC a few years back also. I'm so glad you were able to get this taken care of rapidly and that the news is really good!Lizzy - I had the same kind of visual disturbances on tamoxifen. It was scary - I thought I was losing my eyesight at one point. I couldn't read much of the time and had the same kind of spacey feeling. My oncologlist told me I had nothing to worry about with eyesight and tamoxifen but another friend later described the same feeling to me and had the same eye issues that I had. They have resolved now that I stopped it....but it could just be that your body needs to adapt to the medication - maybe try backing off of it for a few days and then starting up with 1/2 a dose and building up. I've heard of women who do that and it works.
well, I had a horrendous blood draw today. I went to a Quest lab and the tech was completely incompetent! I always have blood drawn from my hand because for me, it's much less painful and I have good veins there.
She took a look at my hand and said she wouldn't be able to get six vials from it. I asked why - they have done it several times at the cancer center from my hand and have gotten six vials easily! I knew we were off on the wrong foot - she was questioning her own ability! She put the rubber band on and then proceeded to get her supplies together...leaving the band on until my hand was purple.Then she tries to get a vein. No go. Dig and prod - finally gets one vial. She says "It's going too slow. " Says me "maybe because the rubber band is still on.' (Um, cutting off the whole blood supply??? ) She says "no, that's not it." So she goes to switch the vials and, fumbles and accidentally yanks the needle out - blood spurts everywhere including my brand new pants! -:O
So then she tries to get it from another spot in my hand. No go. Then she says "I can take it from your wrist (the back of my wrist) but it's going to be extremely painful. " WTH!? WHO with a NEEDLE EVER says that??!!! Meanwhile I'm sitting there freaking now -- I'm thinking, what do I do?? Do I leave and start all over again someplace else? Surely anything could be better than this torture! Never mind that I've had my blood drawn 100 times over the past year and nobody's had these issues since I stopped chemo.
So now I'm about ready to collect my crap and get out of there, -she tries once more and that's it. Then she calls another tech. Guess what. This dude took one look, slapped my wrist, put the band on, got a vein on the back of my wrist - the one she couldn't get - in 2 seconds completely painlessly, and in 43 seconds, gets six vials. and I"m on my way.
I came home and put in a ripping complaint with Quest. This woman should NOT be dealing with needles! I am so angry that I could have had an easy and painless experience and instead had to deal with a woman who didn't seem to know what she was doing from the start.
I never complain about employees - I figure they're people with jobs, mortgages and kids, but in this case, if it will get her extra training or something so that she's not tormenting kids, elderly patients and everyone in between, then it will have served its purpose!
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Thanks Lizzy- I had done that quite a few times actually LOL and it didnt work... the store was able to help they opened my line under "flex pay" and forwarded my complaint to someone in the tech dept. I have cricket wireless btw- it was over 36 hours of no phone! Drove me insane!
My headache still wont go away! I took tylenol 3s last night, then some ib profin this am and afternoon and still a whopping headache.... it may be stess related as i have small claims court tomorrow after my herceptin infusion.... blah lol ALso i had played wii yesterday and it made me nauseous- maybe my eyes are going bad.. who knows!
Debbie let me know if that note idea works LOL- maybe an old fashioned IOU!
jsw19- funny you mentioned that htey can see "invisable" changes lol when my dr looked at me early on he saw stuff that i swear wasnt there!!!!
kel- thats sounds AWFUL!!!! that happened to my daughter when she was 2 and i damn near slapped the gal doing the blood draw- No matter the persons age you DO NOT need to fish around in there with the needle! Mind you my daughter at the time wasnt afraid of needles whatsoever, she had actually thanked the nurse that did her flu shot- Now she cries when its time for any needles cuz that incompotent tech!
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OMG Calam that is horrible!! I am glad you complained, I understand people need their jobs, but incompetence should not be tolerated in the medical profession.
Lizzy: Sorry to hear about your incident last night, that is very scary. I know I have been having dizzy spells since I finished rads. Doc says that are panic attacks, but they are really minor so I just tolerate them. As for the eyesight, I have been told directly that chemo causes the acceleration of the aging process of the eyes, so your vision is worse when you finish than when you started. The eye doctor also said that Tamox does cause blurry vision in some people. Hopefully the problem is as simple as that, but its a good thing you are getting it checked out. You need to have peace of mind.
As for the government and my taxes, my ex-husband owes me $120,000 in child support and the government has had the case for years. He has a bank account, a car, a credit card, and a business, etc. And those idiots can't seem to collect the money....so you know what, I think I will take my chances, in my mind they are not very good at collecting, LOL.
JSW: Bummer on chemo and rads the same day. How's the packing going?
Okay, have to get back to work now. Have a great night everyone!
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