August 2010...anyone starting chemo besides me?!
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Good day, warriors!
We are having the strangest storms ever and all of the sudden the sky turns dark gray, my phone starts buzzing and I know we are in for another whopper of a thunderstorm which nowadays includes tornado and flash flood warnings. This is indeed very weird for this part of the country.
Rachel: wow, I was at my sister's last night and we watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics (or most of it!) and the delegation from Canada was 277 athletes strong! Quite a group!
I love the Olympics and will be watching it in its entirety. It is such an awesome display of athleticism on the parts of the planets very best.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! I hope you have a lovely day with your family. Birthdays sure me more to us all now!
Rachel, that is a good point about the death of estrogen being tantamount to bone pains b/c ain't that the truth! Some days I am so ached out.
Sptmm: I hope these storms don't knock out our Olympic viewing abilities!!!! I like handball, volleyball, relay swimming, and gymnastics. Those are my favs but I will watch it all. I just think it is very exciting!
I hope that soup comes out good. Let me know.
To be honest, on all the aches and pains, I don't even talk to them about it. I just live with it. They will test the ___ out of us and never really come up with a definitive answer. I figure if it gets really bad, my body is def trying to tell me something and I will go subject myself to mo scans! I am just at the point now where I am in the final stretch and I really just want to put this mess behind me for a while.
Deb, what a shame you had your big family reunion today!!!!! You poor thing! Geesh, feel so bad for you. I think LI just got some crazy storms as CT is getting right now. Perhaps there is an indoor facility/some cover where you are. I hope it is fun just the same!
Tex: that stinks that you had to cut your trip short. The weather is berserk this summer, however. I know even here 90s and constantly very humid is pretty odd. The whole summer has been weird and filled with life-threatening storms...like twice a week now!
I know what is up with the dizzy spells. This morning I got up fast and it happened again. Who knows? I am not going crazy about it.On Ming Tsai, first time I ever saw him was on Oz. Ok, now I understand he was a big shot before he deigned to make an appearance on Arthur!
Timothea, thank you so much for being the only one here to own up to your secret desires for Kim Jong Un! I was trying to be a catalyst to help all the ladies here to let go lusting after that hot man! I know, it is all so much to deal with! Speaking of hot men, TX better fatten that luscious Matthew McConaughey back up when he is through doing the movie about the Dallas guy who had aids, left the country, smuggled in holistic meds and subsequently sold them to largely homosexual men afflicted with aids in the Dallas area circa late 80s. He got so skinny to play that role, he looks gross! He needs 30 lbs at least! I mean, he is no Kim Jong Un but hot nonetheless!
Thank you so much for the hamster wheel analogy b/c, yes, we all are running on that b....!!!
Sweeney: May there be no bear attacks! Some idiot in CT took his dog on some remote walking path along a reservoir in W Hartford. If you live in W Hartford, you know full well there are bears off the beaten track around the reservoir. Of course, he most likely took the path so he did not have to leash his dog. Sure enough a bear came out and tried to eat his dog and was stopped by this guy pulling a gun and shooting the bear. His dog later died at the vet and for a few days the state was considering charging him for the shooting etc... What are you doing carrying a gun at the peaceable reservoir? Jerks. I think it is time to arm the bears!
Ginger: you are a permanent and special part of our group and come and go as you very well please
You are always in my thoughts and I look forward to periodic updates and, of course, should you get scared about this crappy disease and all its spookiness, come on back! We are here!Now back to the Olympic-watching for me!
Good day girls!
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Debbi- We are actually looking at getting a pop up trailer, they have the A/C units on the roof- with small kids it'd be nice not having to spend over an hr setting up camp cuz of the many distractions kids give
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This is an interesting article about fasting and cancer - read to the middle part where they talk about the mechanism
http://www.jpost.com/health/article.aspx?id=257355
Longo and collaborators at the National Institute on Aging studied one type of breast cancer in detail to try to understand the effects of fasting.
While normal cells deprived of nutrients enter a dormant state similar to hibernation, the researchers saw that the cancer cells tried to make new proteins and took other steps to keep growing and dividing.
The result, Longo said, was a "cascade of events" that led to the creation of damaging free radical molecules, which broke down the cancer cells' own DNA and caused their destruction.
"The cell is, in fact, committing cellular suicide. What we're seeing is that the cancer cell tries to compensate for the lack of all these things missing in the blood after fasting. It may be trying to replace them, but it can't," Longo said.
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Tex: that would be great if you could get a pop-up trailer. My friends had one growing up although the most use it got was when there father would go out there to hide from their mother!! It was so funny! He spent so much time in that thing although I am unsure it ever saw the road!
Olympics: whaaaaaa!!! This is wicked exciting! I love it!
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Great swim! We are watching NBC, is there a better place to watch?
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Omaz: I think NBC is it. I have a lot of sports channels and I am not finding it on any other. I believe it is an exclusive deal and NBC got it this year.0
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Hey all -
Had my visit with the gyn this afternoon. Haven't been to this one in 13 years. Just went back to her since my one up here retired - she's about an hour away but I figured rather drive the hour and know she's a decent doctor. Oddly her new receptionist was the OLD receptionist at my kids old pediatrician in a whole different town. She's only been there two weeks. Go figure - she went to high school with my husband. Bizarre - of all the doctors offices she could have landed in! It was nice to catch up.
So she dug and felt around and did all those jolly things and asked if I had any questions. I asked about the wild hot flashes and then the ovulating that comes on with a bang, and hurts like the dickens sometimes - and the sporadic periods -and she said "all normal" as far as having had chemo and perimenopause.
She said chemo takes your ovaries, twists them around, stomps on them and kicks them and beats em up and they they try to recover and its not easy. Sometimes they don't - sometimes they do.
But she did say this and it left me wondering why - 'IF you are ER+ PR+ you MUST NOT - MUST NOT GET PREGNANT." I wondered why - I mean, I certainly am planning NOT to, but don't some women go on to have babies after a BC diagnosis?> And doesn't progesterone OPPOSE estrogen? After all - tamoxifen and all of those things are estrogen blockers and not progesterone.
I'm confused.
Anyhow, a moot point for me - but at least that's done - just waiting for the pap results. I get my repeat bloodwork THursday.
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Kel- i know that when you're pregnant your hormone levels JUMP. My gyno has a theory on my cancer due to some recent developements basically it boils down to my pregnancies jump starting my tumor's developing due to the fact that when pregnant estrogen is so high and i have ER+ bc...
and some women do go on to have babies, i dont know how mnay of them are er+ or pr+ though
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The breast surgeon was happy with everything - he said I go to yearly mammograms now. Gosh.
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omaz- i am going to look into that fasting thing. maybe it will help with this current chemo i am on???? or at least help me lose weight
funny i saw my PCP today, the first time since april and he says to me as he walks in the room "oh, youve gained some weight" lol
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Tex - I don't know about the fasting - I thought it was interesting though. I would think it's some kind of balance between enough good nutrition to help healthy cells and enough lack of nutrition to send any cancer cells packing.0
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I have a friend who did the juice fast - it was from the program - "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". I don't know a lot about it - I think I'd starve on a juice fast! It's a 60 day fast too! -:O
There is a whole website and video, etc.
Tex - makes sense that hormones going nuts could trigger it. After I posted that I read online that now they say that there is really no difference in women who go on to have babies after their diagnosis, as far as being at risk for recurrence.
By the way, I have Factor V which is a blood clotting disorder - hereditary. Never knew I Had it until the tamoxifen incident. Well, I mentioned it to the gyn today and she asked me how many babies I had - four - and how many pregnancies - four. She looked up from the computer and said "WHEW _ -you really dodged some bullets there on the factor V!" Come to find out, I was supposed to be at a high risk for miscarriage and blood clots. Thanking the Lord that he had his hands on my four babies!
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Cal - I saw Fat, Sick and nearly dead. How did your friend do on the fast?
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Wow i teared up just watching the trailer- Its on NETFLIX so I will watch it later tonight...
I have been meaning to buy a juicer for like ever now, the good ones are really expensive. I may just do it soon. It'd prob be eaiser once the kids start school that way I would only be making 1 meal for them (less likely to be tempted to munch on something during the day)
Kel- i have a freind that has a rare clotting disorder as well which apparently is also hereditary, she actually is an alcoholic and didnt know she had this until she got sober, its caused so many problems for her. Then about a month or so after she found out about it her mom was dx'd with it. Her mom isnt doing too well though, she is a MUCH older woman. Sad to say my friend is drinking again...
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Tex-- I have an Omega 4000 and it's lasted more than `10 years for me and still works fine. YOu can get them reasonably, I think, on Ebay - mine's an older model and is fine.
Well, I had a bad reaction to shiitake mushrooms this morning! I don't know what's going on but I tossed some into my omelet - I've never cooked with them before. Within about 10 minutes of eating it, I suddenly got really flushed - all my skin felt flushed, like a hot flash without the heat. My scalp and face felt "tight" and it was just a wierd "buzzed' feeling! It didn't go away, so I ran to the bathroom and made myself "toss the cookies" (or mushrooms) so to speak.
I've had the head tightness when I've eaten straw mushrooms at chinese restaurants for years, but never like this! I have to say it was scary - not sure if it was because it was just too much at once or what! I felt better immediately!
I'm kind of freaked out I have to say!
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Cal--I had a similar reaction to mushrooms while on one of those "barefoot" cruises to the caribben with a work conference. Reading your message was so eerily similar to mine. Long story short--they said I was allergic to mushrooms, sulfa (which I understand is high in certain mushrooms). I never had the reaction again--and although I don't eat mushrooms whole or anything like that---I don't pick them out of food or anything. So strange. I am supposed to carry around one of those epi-pens.
Well....I know that we are all probably heading into our checkups etc. Mine is particularly worrying--still living with aches/pains in lower back and ribs. Have had this for almost the two years since diagnosis--nothing ever found. I now am getting some additional discomfort in my non-bc breast. Again--this is similar to my last checkup--and nothing was found. Honestly ... either I am crazy (always am option), there is something wrong or my body just knows when my scans are coming?!
I had heading to my GP tomorrow for checkup--bloodwork etc. I will relay all my concerns to her. I don't see my onco until September 7th and have my scans in a couple of weeks. I could probably push them sooner but am suffering from "head in sand" disease
I keep saying to myself---do I really have that much bad luck that this damn cancer would come back again -- especially after going through cancer twice. Blah. I will keep you all posted. I have checked out a couple of those threads that are "back pain/mets" threads and really need to stay away from those and keep positive outlook. I'll stick to this thread
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Rachel, just in case you don't know I want to tell you that a second allergic reaction is expected to be much worse than the first. That is why you were told to carry an epi pen. I think there are so many types of mushrooms that maybe you haven't run into the same ones again. Back to minding my own business.
My friend picked some mushrooms in the forest in Canada when camping with his family. Thank goodness only he and his father ate them. They halucinated and vomited for the night through. Initially I gather it was sort of funny, his Dad was reading and said the words looked all funny, dancing around the page. Soon it wasn't funny, just imagine hallucinating while vomiting. Ugh
Laters Ginger
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Thanks for the suggestion Kel- i checked them out, running about the smae priced as other juicers so not sure which i'll go with- if yours has lasted 10+ yrs thats an incredible buy!
Mushrooms- thats interesting, all 3 of y'all stories LOL Ginger- my dad used to pick those mushrooms that grow on the sides of trees up in WA growing up, not sure if they are edible or what LOL and you're right the 2nd reaction is supposed to be worse i had an allergic reaction to a type of antibiotic and was told NEVER to take that family of antibiotics again- so i havent. Funny one of my current drs told me in one of our conversations that the only way to truly tell if you're allergic is to be exposed to it again but that can be potentially fatal- thus the carrying an epi pen and/or avoiding it!
Yum i am thinking of these portabella burgers i made- substitue the burger with a portabella cap, so delish...
Oh funny story- growing up to make a few bucks we'd pick mushrooms- and not the legal kind, they would grow wild in the public park behind my house, there were 2 types.... No wonder there are a lot of liberals up in the NW
rachel- your body def must know its time for scans and just starts acting up!
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Rachel - I know it's scary but if you've had that for two years and they never found anything, that's really a good sign! I know - every ache and pain sends you spinning. I hate it!
Yeah, and now the tumor marker crap that I'm dealing with.By the way, after the mushroom incident, I'm pushing off the bloodwork until next week. I don't want anything screwing it up! My tummy hurts from making myself throw up and I don't want any muscle inflammation throwing those numbers upward.
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<------- Hey - that's my hair, by the way!
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Good idea about postponing blood work
OMG YOUR HAIR IS SO LONG!!!! YOU'VE GOT 2 OR 3 INCHES ON ME!!!!Okay so i came on here to gripe! i took the kids outside to play cuz the suns going down, and 2 little boys that live here came by and played with my kids, they went (my son as well as these boys) into his room and brought out toys- no problem there, then it was time clean up so we could go in and WOOSH they 2 boys left and me and my kids (mostly me) are stuck picking up this mess! A tee ball set, a few of the large tonka cars, jump ropes, a bowling ball set. why dont people teach their children to be more mannerly. You play with it YOU pick it up. Next time they come over i am gonna say "No, sorry last time you left a mess and didnt help to clean up" Oh and last time another little boy (i mean all under 5 here) intentionally threw one of our frisbees on the roof! Talk about "back in my day that wasnt acceptable!"
okay gripe over i can get to makin dinner!
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Wow long hair! Nice!
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Nice hair Cal !! It looks thick and wavy.0
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Cal..Great hair...how did you get it to grow so fast!
Ginger....Yep...I do carry epi-pen...because my reaction was bad the first time...swelling into the throat...they said to keep it always....I have never used it yet (not a bad thing). Funny enough, the dye that they use for lymph node surgery includes something with sulfa so before my surgery...they had to pump me up with medicine to avoid allergic reaction....go figure of all the things to be allergic to!0 -
Tex - yeah, that used to bug me when my kids would have a play date, they'd ALL tear apart the room and then the friends would just leave! Yeah, if they come back, just tell them that THIS time, they have to help clean up, or they won't be able to come back - I'd give them another chance. Little kids can be totally clueless -chances are they just didn't "think"!
You know, I was doing okay as far as my markers and now I'm a wreck. It's bad to read stuff online, isn't it?! At this point I feel like I just want the scans - I can't afford them, I don't want the radiation but honesty I just want to know what's going on so that I can either move on, or deal with it mentally.
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Cal---I agree with you...the scans will put your mind at ease. I am in same boat....aches/pains continued on now for longer than it should. I had my visit with my GP today and she ordered a round of bloodwork....she did feel around in the areas where I am complaining. She feels that it may be due to Tamox/Menopause/Weight gain. I gained alot of weight over the past two years. It has bugged me but obviously not enough to do something about it...My Doc is adamant that we start getting moving on it as she feels it will help with everything. So no more excuses---I need to get moving! That being said, I am still getting the scans as I know that my mind will not rest until I know for sure what is going on. Bloodwork this Friday so fasting tomorrow night. Blah.
My kids are at fencing/archery camp this week--so far, no injuries! I keep joking with our friends that we are training the kids for any future "Hunger Games"! My boys are so athletic...they love trying new sports. Not sure where they got that from...I need to follow their example!
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LOL rachel that is funny- i havent seen hunger games but i have seen the previews with the girl shooting an arrow
Kel- its tough not being able to afford things that are needed. honestly there have been a few occations that i've had to push back a chemo a few days til we came up with gas money... weekly trips are killin my pocket book!
Oh totally watched the fat sick and dying movie. def 100% gonna do that fasting thing- looks yummy! starting Aug 27th! (day my kids go back to school!)
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just popping in to say hi. Wow kel your hair IS long! Mine is about just below my chin, but layers . i did have 2 trims b/c it grew in "monk" style:-) Tex, hope you are feeling well. Rachel, Aidan wants me to sign him up for fencing and archery after watching the olympics:-) He did archery at cub scout camp and liked it. Debbie - I am so in awe of your commitment to working out - great job! Sweeney, ginger, liz, omaz hope everyone is well and enjoying summer. 90's seem to be the norm for us this summer, but as long as it's not to humid I'll take it.
I'm excited -dh is taking the day off tomorrow and we're going to the beach. I have a concussion - long story but I ran into an open kitchen cabinet. All is fine , I just need to rest it (not happening with the kids) and avoid injuring it again. My kids have big beautiful bowling ball heads, so I think getting hit during a hug is my biggest risk. It is harder to be patient when you've had a headache for a week so I'm glad dh will be home for 3 days to tag team with me.
Carolyn
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Hi girls,
Just wanted to say hello, check on everyone, and let you all know I got a good report from the onc this week. I had clear CT scans and good bloodwork, woo hoo! I don't have to go back until November, and he said we could probably knock my appts. down to every six months (unless I have a problem, of course). Great news!!! I'm so tired of going to the onc!
Joint pain ... ditto. They changed me from Arimidex to Aromasin, and it seems to have helped a little. I'm thinking of trying accupunture.
I had a root canal this morning (yuk, first one I've ever had), so my tooth pain has made me forget about my joint pain for the last 3 days
The USA has finally pulled ahead of China in the overall medal count. Woo hoo!
PS I posted a new avatar. I don't know if you can see it very well, but it's me with hair after my first hair cut/color in 2 years!!
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Hi Lady - You look great! I like the hair cut. so good to hear that the scans were clear - !!0
