August 2010...anyone starting chemo besides me?!
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Good luck on Tues, Lizzy. I will be thinking of you. My son runs for regional champ for 5km on Tuesday so I will be there cheering him on!
Yep, that 100 year old finished the marathon in 8 something hours. When they showed him on the news, he looked great.
Hope everyone has a great Halloween!!0 -
Omaz: I really should be more clear as not everyone speaks "weight training!" In any case, the 2 links below will illustrate what I am talking about. The first one has standard plates as low as 1lb and the second link is a very inexpensive bar kit. Both are standard. When weight training there is "olympic" which is widely, widely used. The other is "standard" and those are thinner bars and, of course, they require standard plates. Standard is perfectly fine for you plus for about $40 you can get all the bars, clips and plates you will probably ever need.
I am just sending these links for reference so you know what I am talking about. BTW, at these prices I found on Amazon, you can totally skip Craigs List! The only reason why I suggested CL is b/c an EZ bar, for instance, by itself, and Olympic, can cost $50+ but b/c I found these very reasonable standard options for you, it is a reasonable way of picking up a few weights.
http://www.amazon.com/Body-Solid-Standard-Iron-Weight-Plates/dp/B003EUVHRI
http://www.amazon.com/Apex-Standard-Hollow-Bar-Kit/dp/B000ASDXOM/ref=pd_sim_sg_2
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Lizzy It's not standard, and it would be highly unlikely you'd need a transfusion for the surgery you're having. I remember the surgeons would mention it for patients who had Ovarian or cervical ca b/c sometimes they are having large abdominal surgeries - but it has to be a certain amount of time before surgery so you aren't going into surgery depleted. It must just be on the checklist they have, I wouldn't worry about it.
Carolyn
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Hi Everyone! Hope everyone is doing well, and enjoying the last vestiges of outdoor weather. I am dreading the winter, which is fast approaching.
Omaz: Great to hear about your friend! I am sure it will be a long road back for her, but I am keeping her in my prayers that she will get back to normal as quickly as possible. I agree with you on the personal trainer. I thought about getting one to help target my upper arms and stomach, but they are so expensive. In the end, I decided to just stick with my routine and try to research specific exercises I can do for those areas on my own. I am going to order that book Lizzy recommended, I bet that will help alot.
Rachel: It is tough to juggle our lives as mothers, wives, and employees under normal circumstances. When you are jumping back in after having your body decimated by chemo, you can only expect that it will be hard. Hang in there, it will get better. Just do what you can and delegate the rest to someone else, or let it go undone if possible. Just make sure you get adequate rest. I am sure you will be back to normal soon.
Lizzy: SOOOO Glad that your surgery date has finally come. Here's to new boobs!!! Thanks for the tip on that book, I am going to order it. I need some toning on my upper arms (you know they are a little flabby, kindof like little elephant ears) and my abs are still a mushy (although I do have those obliques that I thought may have been a cancerous mass, LOL), anyway maybe I can find some exercises in the book to do for those areas. As for the spooky corn maze, that is just the normal....rip the kids off its halloween!
Ginger: It is great that you got to sewing class. Don't worry about the tears, like Lizzy said, I am not one to cry, but I will tear up at the oddest times too. IDK, must be some side effect of the trauma we have been through. Being out in the world can only help you though. And a fancy new sewing machine...thats great!
Tex: Good luck on the nursing exams. It is so great that you have taken the opportunity to better yourself through education and give back to others through a career in healthcare.
Carolyn: Hope you enjoyed your soccer games. It was a lovely weekend here weatherwise. And, I absolutely LOVE watching the kids play soccer! How is Aidan doing with the other kids, has the school made any adjustments to help him? I hope so.
I hope everyone had a great weekend! Talk to you soon.
Debbi
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Hi all, just wanted to say hello and quickly check and see if everyone is doing ok, looks like you all are. Hi Gingerbrew, glad you're good.
Lizzy: will be praying for you Tuesday.
Rachel: I know what you mean on the job. I thought I had arrived when I became a manager. I won't go back to that again, that's for sure! Too much BS and drama for me trying to satisfy everyone.
Everyone have a good week.
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Guys, I know my posts can be long and you all probably either don't read them OR skim them but, and so all the positive vibes are coming to me on the right day, LIZZY IS HAVING SURGERY ON THURSDAY!!!!!!!
Thanks to everyone for the positive thoughts as I definitely need them....5 hours is a long surgery....
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Thursday it is !!! What all are they going to do?
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lizzy positive vibes sent. I didn't realize the surgery was so long -know they are taking the te out, are they doing more? (sorry if you've already said, chemobrain here) . Aidan had a great soccer game:-)
Debbi - thanks for asking, Aidan's doing well. We've been talking to him about what to do if someone isn't nice and so far things have been good. The ST started a social skills group (though the bullies could use it more than him) and the lunch aides are supposed to help steer him towards playmates.
Carolyn
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Update - We went to visit my friend in rehab now and she is walking again with a walker. Her eylids are functioning and she looks very good. I think another week in rehab and they may let her go home. She is very determined!
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Omaz: that is the scariest thing I have heard in years and I am glad she is doing so much better. It is still petrifying. Several years ago my neighbors went to FL and when they got back, their daughter slept and slept and slept. Finally, after 20 hours of this, they took her to Yale and they found a tic was on her scalp, sucking the blood out of her head and it had reached about the size of a half dollar by the time it was found. In any case, after about 6 weeks in Yale she was transferred to a rehab where she had to learn her name again and how to walk, talk etc... She wound up in rehab for nearly 6 months. She did recover but that is the last time, until the story of your friend, that I knew of something so disturbing.
Again, so glad she is doing better.
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Cktpry: now I understand why you thought a transfusion would be highly unlikely!!! You thought I was just having the TE removed!!! You must have thought I had vacated my senses!0
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Good day, warriors-
So, I am trying to keep busy before surgery...and some would argue my new avatar is a more accurate representation of my true character!!!!!!! Yes, I tried on my witch hat and wig because, drains or not, I will be giving out treats and scaring kids!
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Lizzy: Love the new avatar!!! Definitely more of a good witch of the North?? looking gal, not those ugly sisters from the east and west! Good luck with your surgery on Thursday, please let us know how you are doing as soon as you are able. We will all be with you in our thoughts. I am sooo happy you will finally be getting the surgery done with, so hopefully you can get back to a more normal life. It has been a very long road for you my friend.
Carolyn: Those sound like some positive steps. I give you a ton of credit Carolyn, dealing with everything you have to with your children. Your stories are often heart breaking and you are amazing at dealing with these difficult situations!
Omaz: Great news about your friend! That determination will get her far. It is still so scary though how quickly something like that can come on and disable you so completely.
Rachel: Good luck to your son tomorrow!!!
Okay, so I have to vent just a little bit here. Seems that the Tamoxifen has caused my uterine lining to thicken, a known side effect of Tamoxifen. Anyway however, they must biopsy it, because uterine thickening is also a sign of endometrial or uterine cancer...and we all know that once you have breast cancer, everything is biopsied! So today I went for my endometrial biopsy.....OMG....that was horrible! Definitely a new form of torture invented by a man I am sure, in which they suck your insides out using a vaccum cleaning type suction machine!!!! And it feels like they are sucking your insides out! Luckily it was quick, and luckily my onco is talking about switching me to Arimidex, because I don't ever want to do that again! Okay, venting is done and I am feeling better. Thanks guys!
Good night all,
Debbi
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Debbi - How did they know your lining thickened??
Lizzy - Love the avatar. I was going to go paw through my daughter's halloween stuff and see if I can be a witch too!
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Lizzy...Good luck on Thursday. Not sure why I thought Tuesday...I will blame on chemo brain....not sure how long I can use that excuse. My rad hyst with oopherectomy was about 7 hours long as it was robotic davinci and some part malfunctioned...that being said, I didn't need a a transfusion but had to sign everything in advance just incase. I think they try their best to avoid the tranfusion. I'm guessing it all depends how your body reacts to the surgery.
Debbi--Sorry to hear about the biopsy.....I know a little of how horrible and uncomfortable those type of biopsies can be as I had a few when I was first diagnosed with cervical cancer. Like you said, those procedures must have been invented by a man! Hopefully you are resting easy tonight. Thanks for the good wishes for my son..he runs for the regionals for cross country tomorrow. I volunteered to be parent driver--first time, my son's school had someone in the regionals under Grade 7 level EVER! I will be there to cheer him on. Hopefully the rain holds off or it will be a messy ride back!
So..I am officially back at work fulltime today...feels like I have been back full time for a while but "officially" today is the day. Just need to remember to keep my hours in line and keep good work/life balance.
My son is dressing as the Monopoly man for Halloween so we are off to the dollar store to get some fun money and some paper to make fake monopoly cards that he will hand out. My oldest is going out as a clown. Oh...and forgot to mention, my oldest (he turns 12 this weekend) is heading out on Friday night for fun skate (true Canadians)....with a girl who invited him...don't think I'm ready to hear this yet...we have to drop him off and then he will call us to pick him up. Eeek...not sure I'm ready for these tween years!
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Lizzy: I will be praying for you on Thursday! You don't mind if I pray for you on Tuesday too, do you
Rachel: Good luck with your son. The bad thing is girls these days are sooooo aggresive. My stepsons got calls from girls constantly. My mother would have killed me if I'd chased after boys like that! Not that I begrudge the girls going after what they want, but it still doesn't hurt to make the man do the pursuing. They need to learn to lay off a little. I guess I'm old fashioned.
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Lady---you are so true...from what I have heard, overhear (!) and when I am talking to fellow parents of the tween ages...girls seem to be much more aggressive. Boys seem a bit more "muddling" through at this age....kind of like girls but not enough to go after them...girls...writing notes, coming up to him in schoolyard...facebook...eeekkk. I keep my ears open but also don't want to be overprotective. Luckily, my oldest is real sensible...my youngest...another story
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Good evening warriors-
Sptmm: OMG on the uterine biopsy. I know tamox can lead to endometrial cancer through a thickening of the uterus but I had no idea that was going on with you. I guess I am happy to hear that the "vacuum" did not take anything else with it!! I think your description of that event sounds perfectly accurate also and, on that note, not something I want to have done! How did they find out you were having thickening? Just wondering. I glad that is over with for you. I know, everything from here on out will require a biopsy. Please let us know as soon as you get results. I am so nervous about that "boob itch" that is now moving toward my underarm...I have to go to the onc tomorrow for my 3 month which is now a 4 month and will mention this stuff.
As for the witch business, a guy I was engaged to used to call me Sesperalda and my cat Esmeralda! Needless to say, I had to turn him into a toad and clearly the wedding plans ended!!!
Rachel: you have birthday weekends back-to-back! That is a lot and the *date!* Ugh....gadzooks...but what can you do?! We are only animals and this is our process!!!! How exciting....I hope he has a good time! She asked him out....I love it! The other day in the package store (so sad...!) I was chatting with this guy who I thought was kind of cute and then I realized where it was going and I quickly had to get away from him!! All I could think was I am not dating as I have no freakin' boobs! The point to this story: I miss the first dates and fun...bc is a drag on that note!
I hope you scored some good deals at the dollar store! Perhaps a calendar to keep track of those work hours? I hope your stamina builds and you get more comfortable with it. Best of luck on that.
Lady: you can pray for me every day, woman! I need it! I am starting to feel stomach sick and I am concerned it is nerves! Why is it no matter how many times we have it we never get used to surgery?! I just hope I start feeling better!
Well, I am going to go do some laundry and put my bed rest pillow outside to air it out overnight. I was happy to put it away in a closet after a few months after the bmx...here we go again...drains and just about sleeping sitting up!
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((Debbi)) I had that biopsy too, shortly after starting tamoxifen and it was terrible. . I assisted with tons of them when I was at MSK and always thought I hope I never need one of these so I dreaded getting it. Vent away -if i need another one I want to be put out!
Omaz so glad to hear your frined is doing better!
Lizzy What are you having done on Thursday (besides the te)?
Carolyn
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Ckptry: I sent you a PM about my surgery. It is a little personal and I don't want to put it all out here on the WWW!0
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Calamtykel - How are you doing?0
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Can you all tell I have some time here?! There is my awful hair! All 5" of it...I will be switching back to my witch wig photo quite quick so enjoy as this will be gone before you know it!0
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I missed it!
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Me too! Boo. (c:
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Shared my story http://www.bretmichaels.com/2010/news_files/news.
Also my friend has a breast cancer page on facebook she is trying to get 1000 likes this month, if you have time go to riding pink and like that page
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I missed it too!
Lizzy as Glinda? How could she scare kids as Glinda? I will admit that Glinda's gown is scary in and of itself.
Lizzy, I didn't cry because I was overwhelmed by the technology, it was being out among 16 or so women that I didn't know. My husband has been in the software business since 1979 and I have learned lots from him and some classes in grad school, albeit sometimes painfully. I also took a semester of photoshop where I did realize one would need lots of practice and instruction to gain any mastery of the tool. I do confess though that when super marketsd began using check cashing machines and cards in the 70's I avoided those stores for a couple years because I had no clue.
There is a software package that I want to get that I am a bit leery of because it costs a good bit and it would involve manipulating embroidery designs rather than just using canned designs. I wouldn't want to waste our money. I do think that technology comes much more easily to my childrens generation. When my husband first programmed it was on punch tape. He still has his first high school program he ever wrote. One of his former bosses was talking about back when they had to hardwire in programs. Yikes! I already said a prayer for you for today for peace of mind, when you will have surgery on thursday I will switch my prayer around a bit.
I wound up have a total hysterectomy because taking unopposed estrogen caused a thickening of my uterus. Doc DID NOT take a biopsy like yours did, he found the thickening through a vaginal ultrasound. Rushed me to surgery within just a couple days. Turned out I was still producing estrogen myself and did not have cancer. (The Doc however had a previous patient who did have cancer that spead extremely rapidly and he said he was afraid I would have the same thing.) So I turned out to have such drastic surgery years before I would have had menopause and therefore took a high level of Premarin for about 15 years altogether until just a year or so before I got breast cancer. I still think I gave myself breast cancer with the Premarin. I think you had good Docs to give you proper biopsies.
This has gotten long.
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Good day, warriors-
I hope you are all doing well today.
Hair pic: sorry, girls, I took the photo close to try to "showcase" the disaster it is becoming and I was not too successful. After I switched avatars last night I realized you all can't really see the way it is growing to the sky! I have reposted it but will switching back to my witch photo later! In any case, I am filled with nervous energy so I will probably put some on "flickr" later. Will let you all know.
CALAMTYKEL AND WHERRIA: FOR THE RECORD, YOUR PRESENCE IS MISSED!!!!!!
Ginger: I am sorry, I should have been more clear. I seriously did not think you were crying about the technologically advanced sewing machine (!) but rather just crying about something that perhaps you might not have found yourself crying about in the past. That was all I meant. I cry about weird things and very infrequently since all this started. Honestly, when I cried about the young couple Ellen helped, it was the first time I had cried in a long, long time and I was like hmmm...I think I am officially weird! I am glad you made it through the class just the same
Estrogen is a devil. I have 2 close friends in the medical field, one is female, and she totally believes estrogen, however beneficial in some ways, is very much the culprit for being a catalyst for female cancers. It is very possible that any upsetting of those levels years ago, through synthetic means, could have certainly driven the bc bus. I am just glad we all caught it "in time."
Thanks for the prayers, I need them! Don't worry about length of posts.
Tex: I hope studies are going well. Miss you
Iowa: I will have some FB people (I am not on it) *like* your friend's page.
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AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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fluffy fluffy - I was called a Q-tip just yesterday morning! I wet my hair in the morning and comb it down flat with a side part. It stays sortof that way through most of the day if I don't mess with it.
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Lizzy - hoping only good things for you on Thursday! Take care of yourself!!
Debbi - Yes, on the endo biopsy. Had one a couple of months ago due to a very very long period I had. It was definitely NOT fun - had I needed to "schedule" it, I'm sure I never would have gotten it done, but he did it on the spot so I didn't have time to think - just to decide "yes, do it now".I hope your doctor gave you an anesthetic - I'm sorry to say that a nurse at the cancer center told me she had one done about a year ago and that it was far worse than childbirth! He gave me a shot up there, which yes, did hurt, but it definitely helped with the pain of the procedure! I was appalled that any doctor would expect a woman to endure that with no pain relief!
My results were fine - but hope to not need another one of those anytime soon. Sorry about the tamoxifen thing - I think the thickening is pretty common from what I've heard; and I'm glad they caught yours!
been busy here with school and selling and hoping to have a garage sale this weekend!
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