August 2010...anyone starting chemo besides me?!
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Rachel, I read all three of them, they are rather gripping!
Debbi
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oh yeah sweeny i have been wrong about guys i thought i'd marry- i bet i have a better chance as i have a males name LOL!!!!
debbi so glad to you doing that run! yeah its nice to stick it to cancer!!!! oh no we just had an 8track player in our car.... my reasoning behind not going to CTCA right away is that i would be getting rid of my local dr, any time i would need a scan or follow up appointment i would have to fly up to OK, while summer is about to hit its not a big deal, but thinking of the long term i have 2 kids in school and its not always feasable for me to go. sometimes i have a hard time NOW just making it to my appointments and back before they get out of school... it is def there in my mind to go, just have to weigh my options thouroghly... oh and feel free to give advice, thats what were here for!!!!! sharing and caring with one another!!!!!
lady i love the candle idea! thats so nice
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oh yeah my first tx went well hardly any side effects, this is so mild, just some sleepiness which had me sleeping all day and then now awake too ealry in the morning!
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Glad the treat,ment went smoothly. Texas, do you have anyone who can take care of the kids for you before nd after svchool on days you have treatment?
How about a school mates mom? Ask the office secretary to direct you, they know everything about everybody. How about a mom from Sunday school class, How about asking for help from a local church. You really need help and it shouldn't matter that you are not a member, if that is the case. If I was there I would watch your kids for you. How far is SanAntonio? I have an old friend that lives there.
Love Ginger
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Great news Tex that the transfusion was easy and that you're feeling good. I have my fingers crossed that continues for you.:)
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ginger- right now my husband doesnt work on sundays so he is home monday (he works nights) and so its working out. i would just be worried if i needed to leave town for a few days and he has to work.... we only have one person that i would concider to watch the kids and she actually is babysitting for us thur and friday- lets see how it goes!!! thanks!
sweeny- thanks!
okay now am i just imagining things or are the boards different???? lol
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Good day, warriors!!
I ****LOVE**** the new look of this site!!!!!!! Beautiful improvements! I just love it! What a great change.
Sptmm: congrats on the Revolon run! My friend in NY did it as well. She is only a year since dx. I just could not work it in. Actually, I did not know about it until you mentioned it and then she contacted me seemingly w/in hours of you mentioning it! She told me of all the details but I just could not do it this year.
On that damn thyroid, I am on 175 mcgs of synthroid as it is and when Dr. Oz suggested we "tap" the thyroid while humming as a holistic approach to its under activity, I did that and this is when I noticed it getting "bigger." This means that the Dr. Oz holistic approach must work but, in some way, waking up my thyroid with that tapping enlarged it. I stopped doing the tapping. I have way, way too much to think about with surgery coming up, the mass in my chest feels like it is getting bigger and I don't need anything compromising my throat space heading into this. I will explore "tapping" when I am surgery-free....if ever!!!!!!!
Sweeney: we ALL wanted to marry George Michaels!!!!!!! OMG...his smile was clearly sponsored by General Electric! So handsome but such is the case with a lot, not all, but a lot of homosexual men. I guess I kind of suspected he was gay but who knew?! Who knew?! OMG... I just saw a friend at the mall and she and I were reminiscing about how one day she called me and said "Liz, I just saw Tracy Chapped-lips (Chapman) downtown on a moped by the library!!!!!" It was just hysterical! Such were my teenage years. I drove my high school a few days back and nothing has changed. A lot of good memories there. I grew up in a small town in CT where nothing ever changes and the town looks as bucolic and serene as ever. It was a good place to grow up and also a place where kids can still walk around by themselves and it is just a safe place. I do feel old, however, especially when my friend told me her dd is graduating from our old HS heading to Dartmouth in August!!!!!! Geesh...the years, they are a flyin!!
Off to run errands...
Later, gators!0 -
Tex: I am very happy the first tx went well and you are done. It would be nice to have someone to help you with the kids but so many people get "up in your business" and sometimes this is just not good. I really wish there was a "pink brigade," of volunteers, coast-to-coast, to help as only a bc patient knows what another is going through. Perhaps it is something I should organize. I am going to think about this!
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Lizzy that is a brilliant idea. I am not kidding when I say could be the Canadian counterpart to that idea...
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all i know is that the board says i have 1 favorite topics- well it started off with 2 and i checked both of them now its only saying one... i am not sure if that means i need to respond or what LOL
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nope responding didnt help! lol i do not know hy the big red one is bothering me!
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Big red one.... you funny!
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Hi guys!
Tex: I totally understand your reasoning. Glad to hear that the treatment went well and you are feeling okay, hope that continues for you. How many rounds do you get? As for the board, it is not you, they changed something. It took my 10 minutes to find this thread. And then when I went to reply, I clicked where I usually do, only they changed it to "report this post" so I almost reported your last post...LOL. Good thing I realized what happened before I did.
Lizzy: Next year on the Revlon, we will run it together. Hopefully by then you will be totally done and have great new boobs! It was an amazing time! And the first time I ever got to go to Central Park, always wanted to go but never got to.
On the "pink brigade", here on Long Island we have a wonderful network of local coalitions that provide all sorts of support, all done by survivors. It really helps. I don't know why they don't have them nationwide.
Have a great day everyone! Got to hit the gym.
Debbi
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Sptmm: yes, next year, you are on! I would love to do that. As for CT, I never really investigated nor did I hear anyone in my cancer travesls talking about how wonderful "this" or "that" was so wonderful, I can only imagine it does not exist! It should be as ubiquitous as are bc patients. I am going to work on this.
Sweeney: I will definitely take you up on being the Canadian counterpart. I am already looking into it. I will keep you posted. I know there are tons and tons of women out there who need help, assistance, support, caring and understanding as only another woman who has had bc can appreciate. As far as I am concerned, the ACS here in CT was abysmally off-putting. I called "once" for a ride to Neulasta as I am 40 minutes from the hospital and this was before I started chemo as I did not know if I would be wicked sick the next day, trying to get back to the hospital. They were very much like I really don't think we can help you!!!!!!!!! Wow...much love right back at ya!!! We need a group of "just us" bc girls.
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crazy, I just clicked on my profile and it has 62 articles recommended for me. the first says 'obesity, smoking and drinking and secondary cancers'. what???!! none of the above. I'm officially annoyed.
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Ckptry: don't get nervous!!! We all have those same articles!! They are not directed at anyone in particular but rather at the disease at large! So funny!
I meant to tell you all I got my eyes checked again and the prescription has changed since chemo. This was my second check-up since chemo ended. Anyone else? I have also lost yet another pair of sunglasses!
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My eyes have always been perfect. About five months after chemo I started squinting a lot while reading. The change was pretty rapid. I now have reading glasses and my eye doctor, of course, said "..there's no reason chemo should have any effect on your eyesight.." Sorry, I don't buy it. As far as I"m concerned the two are linked.
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sweeny i remember that- i also post-chemo need reading glasses- it def cant be my age (under 30) well anyways i solved that problem- Books on CD lol, i very rarely use them...
Still have the big red one, even though i dont have any new topics- i am gonna see if i have any suggestions... i read a thread that had people with a lot of problems lol...
its new there will def be kinks that need to be worked out!
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i also had 62 articles- i think everyone prob got that because only 9 of them did i feel was beneficial to read- i saved to do that later.
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okay so i went to the treatment link and updated everything like my mx and chemo ect... and then it suggested more articles... so its somehow linked to what we've added to our profiles...
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I need to get new glasses too. I had an eye exam and got new glasses just before I began chemo. I can tell my eye glasses are not strong enough because I can not read the fine print on a tyleno bottle any longer.
I think a readily available volunteer helper resource would be tremendous. If I had, had a volunteer driver to radiation I would not have missed the appointments that I did. I would not have wanted to put out a volunteer. Silly sounding but true. I know there are volunteers here or there. but where. As bold as I can seem I felt too messed up to call anyone.
Laters Ginger
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Good day, warriors!
I totally forgot to finish my eyeglasses story! In addition to *losing* sunglasses, I am also misplacing my reading glasses regularly. I am so very sad to report I had to buy a "librarian" cord to go around my neck when I picked up my latest pair! Oh boy....the wheels are coming off the cart fast now!
On the new look of the site, were you all surprised when it said there are 112K members? I really thought we had to be in the 1/2 mil plus range by now. I thought that number was a wee bit low.
Tex: I think we all get a "generic" run on articles ie: those that apply to all us bc gals (and boys!) and then after we complete our profile in more detail, we will get more targeted articles. I really love the new layout and the improvements to the site.
BTW, that was an innovative response to your eyes and post-chemo debilitation: books on CD!!! Good answer!!!
Ginger: I really think it is imperative I do start to organize a national, or perhaps continental (Sweeney!) volunteer group. I know there must be hundreds of thousands of women around this country who would be willing to help out a fellow bc sister in need.
I have been vacillating whether to limit volunteers to just bc women or open it up? I really would prefer it just be bc women. Let me know what you all think.
Sweeney: I seriously think these docs ardently try to compartmentalize cancer like it affects nothing else! It is such a ridiculous joke. For example, when I discussed with one of my "doctors" recently about bc spreading to necrotic tissue in the pocket, I was told that bc would *not* spread to that "kind" of tissue?! WT and a you know the 3rd letter I want to use!!
You walk away from some of these meetings wondering when cancer became so non-invasive, innocuous and that which does not affect eyes, other tissue etc.... They are all FULL OF IT as bc and chemo affect all our systems and there is no disputing that. Let me tell you, it is not healthcare Xmas either! This disease and its txs save lives but they do affect other systems and not in a beneficial way. The best thing that happened is I have been able to grow new and healthier hair in the middle of my life! I know it grows and we cut and we keep growing it new but we all really started over, from scratch! It has got be a bit healthier than others!!! I know, I am grasping here!
Well, girls, I am hopeful any residual delitirious effects of chemo are going to be a catalyst for good stuff going forward! Please, deities, hear our wishes!!!
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Great video from the humour thread.....
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i also think it would be nice is someone would voulnteer childcare services... i approached the ACS about that and they said they havent had very many ppl ask about that and i should suggest it to the powers that be....
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I had another thought on childcare Texas. How about the spouse of another police officer? Just a thought.
Lizzy, I would find out what sort of volunteers already exist. The ACS does have some but I think it is regional or local and I have no idea of the numbers.
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Count me in on the failing eyes post chemo. I had perfect eyesight before and now need reading glasses. The eye doctor said that chemo drugs accelerate the aging process. So, what happened to my eyesight would have happened anyway, its natural, but chemo caused it to happen ten years earlier. My oncologist is the same way however, swears that none of these issues that I have now...that I never had before....are from chemo! Yeah right.
Debbi
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Ginger: I could care less about the ACS and their local chapters. I personally think they suck and they failed all of us. I don't hear a single one of us raving about anything we received from them/support etc... I am all about the bigger picture and I want you, in Washington, to jump onto the site I am creating and request help from a volunteer in Topeka who has bc. You know, every day, and sadly, thousands of women join us in this fight. As far as I am concerned if the ACS and its local chapters have not gotten it together yet, I will leave them in the dust!!!!!
Tex: take care of yourself and keep your chin up, woman! I find it very, very hard to believe that *few* asked the ACS about childcare?! Seriously. I know the ACS does a lot of stuff behind the scenes etc.. but on balance, women in this fight need help *now* not after the R&D dollars kick in. I sincerely believe there is a place for this and it is needed.
Sptmm: Deb, sorry I would have read your post but I can't find my glasses!!! Mrs. Magoo!!! Joking...yeah, I know, nothing has anything to do with chemo! Gallons of poison blowing through our system = no big deal! No side effects...so dreamy-the whole thing!
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It annoys me to no end that when we mention side effects we are often dimissed. My feet are numb, I fall over because of this. My hands are less numb, but still numb. I can't see well enough through my glasses, two of my toe nails are still trying to grow in properly, I have skin under my breasts that is unhealthy and moist if I do not attend to it all the time. My hair is now straight after 66 years of curly. All my hair did not come back in. More hair is on my face. My stomach sticks out. My sleep is weirder than ever. I feel old.
Yes I am grateful to be alive but stop minimizing the side effects people, please.
Ginger
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<>Agreed. ACS. IMO they are one big, huge money sucking machine in bed with the FDA and the drug companies. I have a friend who can no longer afford her BC meds as they will cost her $400 a month. She's paying thousands of dollars in medical insurance but it won't cover the cost of her prescriptions. The oncologlist is trying to get her into a "program" but so far, no such luck.What the heck is wrong in this country with all the pink sh*t everywhere - so we can be made "aware" that we have BC and then we're made "aware" that we cannot afford to take care of it! How about taking some of those billions used to plaster the world in pink every October -yes BILLIONS that are raised for "awareness" and actually help people who need it? UGH. You all know my thoughts on it already!I agree, the ACS = epic fail! Hope everyone is doing okay - I'm so so--taking my DD to the doctor in a bit - she's 15 and she's been sleeping for days. I guess they will do bloodwork...my guess is lyme since she's had it before.
I'm doing okay - My tendon seems to be all better--- just hoping it stays that way so I can run again someday!0 -
On eyes: Did you all who are having eye problems do Taxotere? It definitely causes eye problems. I had to see an opthamologist (sp?) when I was on it. He said he'd seen lots of eye issues it caused.
Lizzy: I so relate to losing things. Just this week, I've lost one of the handsets to my telephone and my iPod. I can't exercise without my iPod, so I've already replaced it; I'm sure the old one will show up now!
I was soooo confused when I signed on and the site was different. I thought, gee, it hasn't been THAT long since I checked in has it? Tex, it also had deleted this thread from my favorites, so maybe they just had some glitches with the new program. I had to hunt you girls down again and add you as favorites!
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