August 2010...anyone starting chemo besides me?!
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Hi all,
I just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year. I went to check up on Kel because I hadn't seen any posts from her. What a shame. I'm not on much because Lizzy's quick draw temper hurt my feelings too at one point, so I just decided it was in my best interest to move on. There's enough drama in real life. Wishing you all the best of happiness and health. Please pm me if you ever need help.
Carolyn
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Good evening, warriors!
I just had some strawberries that were actually not bad for January! I hope everyone is doing well this evening and enjoying your lives!
Iowa: that is a lovely pic of your dd roller skating! Looks like everyone was having a good time! Speaking of hips, I was just on the phone with an old friend who is about 15 years older than me and he told me he has had 3 hip replacements! I had no idea! Getting old, getting old! As for the weather, would you ever consider moving to FL for winter? That is what bunches of people from the northeast do. I say this as I had to lay out yet another $400 in home heating oil today!
Felisa: I am so glad you are doing well! It is such music to my ears that you are doing so wonderfully! There were some rough days but that is the way it was for all of us at one point or another. Better times, woman, better times are here
You are entirely welcome for the support. I was worried about you on more than one occasion so I am just glad you have come along and the hardest part is behind you now. Good times and good stuff!Sptmm: I would be beside myself with upset over 4 lbs because that has to easily be 10% of your total body weight now!!!!!!!! Yes, I was enthralled that Reuters exonerated us of trim responsibilities with their wonderful report!!
Tex: hope you are doing well and being back on chemo. Soon you too shall be off and moving on with Felisa! Perhaps you too can sing the "Laverne and Shirley" theme together in celebration of leaving chemo behind!
That is all, that is all! I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and in the interim I will be trolling Twitter for more good news for us! Trolling Twitter!!!
Happy trails-
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just to keep everyone posted my nurse came by and measured my wound its 2 cm, she said she cant believe how quick its healing.
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Great news Felisa!!!!!! Now rest and heal!
Ginger
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Ohh yes Lizzy poor DH I'm sure gets tired of my talking about when we move to Fl. He has 5 years left for the city then he can retire at 58 and we can move to Fl or somewhere warmer and get new jobs lol I have many years of training and experience work with elderly and I enjoy it very much I figure I will just help some poor ole soul that needs help in their home and as far as I can tell there is lots of help needed in that area. Seam crazy to have life planned out so far in advance? I am very much a planner : ). Its a balmy 30 today.
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Good evening, warriors!
I hope you all are doing well! I have been busily trolling Twitter ardently searching for more good news for us…stay tuned!
Felis: one of these days you will really start to feel like you turned a corner and now it is all pretty much uphill from here
You have made it through the hardest part so you should feel pretty proud of yourself! Also, if you think “everyone” makes it b/c they have to, not true. A lot of people leave chemo, don’t go back, don’t take their meds etc… so you need to remember you stuck it out, did the right things and you are going to be much better off for it. Good times ahead, woman!Iowa: we totally have that in common as I love, love, love working with the elderly! I have done it for years on a volunteer basis and once I did companion work part-time. I really love it and in talking w/my GP about going into nursing (when I was considering it) he brought up the “blood and guts” point and, as thing would turn out, I am not cut out for that. He mentioned occupational therapy and I looked into it but it is educationally a complete retooling and a 6 year degree at that. I did also look into occupational therapy assistant classes and those are only 1-2 years depending and you can work exclusively with the elderly helping them make their at-home life easier. You might want to check into it, take the classes in Iowa and then take your education to FL. There are literally tons of OTA jobs in FL. Also I had clients that were retirees in Vegas and her dh got a job driving one of those tourist buses and he absolutely loved it! If you all move to a to touristy area in FL perhaps your dh could drive the tourist bus (always fiercely entertaining!) and you could do OT work!
BTW, totally not crazy to have life planned out that far in advance. Also there are incredible real estate deals to be found now all over FL and I actually heard about some good deals in Port Richie over the holidays. More to this point, planning ahead esp in this RE market is never a bad idea.
Cable drama: they were supposed to be here 5 days ago as I have always been wireless but no wireless plans are unlimited except Clearwire and I hear good and bad about them. In any case, I am in the kitchen tonight and hear a vehicle coming up my driveway. I go out and it is the cable co! I told him I cancelled as they were supposed to be here 5 days ago. He then tells me if I did let him in it was going to generate a $100 charge for a “failed” self-install?!?! I am like you all never went to the pole so how could it be a failed self-install?! Am I supposed to do the pole work also?! I just walked back in the house and as I am walking away and he is playing with his phone he said “do you want me to leave?!” Yes, yes, I would like you to leave! I packed that equipment up when they failed to get here Sat and it is going back to their office in the morning!
Well I have made my favorite seafood bisque this evening and am going to watch what I hope will turn out to be some entertaining tv tonight!
Night, girls-
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Happy belated new years to everyone. We arrived back from Mexico at 2am today -- kids went to school at lunch time and we now have to catch up with laundry and groceries. The vacation was great--exactly what I needed after a few months of busy work. Weather was great. I will try to post a picture.
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hey sisters im off to the dr to see if this wound vac can come off. i still have to do radiation though.
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Good evening, warriors!
I hope you all are doing well! I was just coming on to say I had surgery today and I hope this will be my last one for a little while and sure enough I looked down and saw that my t-shirt was wet...wet with my blood! One of the incisions is bleeding quite a bit. Waiting for on-call to get back and I hope I am not on my way back to the hospital
Felisa: I hope you got rid of the wound vac! Rads will be so incredibly easy compared to chemo, a total piece of cake! Speaking of cake, you should have a little "done with chemo" party for yourself
Rachel: I hope you had a great time! Mexico is so nice and relaxing. It is always a good time. I just so love to get to the equator during Jan/Feb. Feb is my worst month for being tired of the cold and ready for spring. In my past life (!) I did a week to 10 days in Feb.
Good times, I have to go tend to my wounds now!
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no i still have it, he had to reopen my wound because the home health nurse didnt pack it right it was healing with a hole still in the center she didnt go deep enough. im in pain
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Oh Felisa, I am sorry to hear this. Lizzy has extensive experience with wound issues and may be able to give you helpful advice. For now, it is one day at a time. Try to do something you enjoy every single day. Maybe watching a tv show or sitting on the front steps and watching the world go by, just something that feels good to you.
Hugs Ginger
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Felis--sorry to hear you are still dealing with wound healing.
Lizzy--I cannot believe how much you have had to deal with since your surgeries etc. 2013 can only bring good things for the rest of the year
Hope everyone is well. Coming back to work this week was a little difficult--two days in and I feel like I never left. I am heading out to see Les Miz tomorrow with friends so am looking forward to ladies only movie night
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Felisa: the wound vac is the greatest thing in the world as it serves to expodite healing that would take significantly longer without it. You are almost there, hang on!!
Rachel: thank you! Yes, it has been a lot of surgeries and a lot of crap, this entire road. I hope you are enjoying Le Mis and having a nice girl's night out! I totally can remember what it was like to come back from vaca so rested and relaxed only to be thrown right back into that corporate stress ball. After a few days you totally feel like you never left. When I worked in Manhattan I did not, at that time, realize that the preponderance of people I knew were alcoholics. They drank every night after work, on the trains home etc... It is the pressure and the stress. In any case, a girl's night out and Le Mis should fix you up again!
Well I did not have to go back to the hospital as the bleeding slowed! Good times!
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Happy Friday Everyone!
Carolyn: Happy New Year to you too, we have missed you! How are the kids doing with their schooling?
Felis: Sorry to hear about the wound vac, I know you really wanted that off. Hope you are feeling better soon.
Rachel: Glad to hear you had a nice time, warm and sunny will cure all ills!
Liz: WHAT? Surgery? Are you okay. I just logged on for the first time in days and you are bleeding while typing??? I notice the post is two days old so I hope you are okay and not back in the hospital!!
Everything going okay here. I am scheduled for DIEP Stage 2 on February 20. I asked the PS yesterday exactly what Stage 2 was and felt like I was launched into this really surreal place, where he was pointing at my breasts and talking about "modifying the lines as they come down from your chest wall with a little fat grafting, giving you a little fullness in this area, and perking them up a bit with a little lift"....LOL I kind of felt like a sculpture or something...Anyway the main purpose of Stage 2 is nipples, but apparently my PS would like to do a little fine tuning too. But he has done an amazing job so far, so I figure I can't go wrong so I will let him fine tune. Soon, my body will be 50 but my boobs will be 30. Too bad nobody sees them but me and the docs, and they all look the same in clothes with the right bra...LOL!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Debbi
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Hi Ladies, weekend has arrived
I was so ready for it, not that I have any plans but at least the last 3 days have been warmer and melting the snow and it even rained. Is it to early for spring fever? Was also glad the week ended because the little ones I take care of were getting on my nerves. I don't say that very often but being cooped up is getting to us. Hope you all have a great weekend.felisaragland42 sorry to hear its not healing. Do you like to eat fresh pineapple? I read somewhere that it is good to eat for healing. When I had surgeries I kid you not I'd eat 2 whole pineapples the week before and as soon as I got home I'd eat one a week. When I went go for the follow ups they were literally amazed by how well and fast I healed and I'd say it was the pineapple and they'd just look at me like I was crazy and that was true for mastectomies and DIEP. So if you like try it sure can't hurt.
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SOrry bee nbusy with the kids being on school break, then my eldest is a tech in the school play so she spent most the holiday at school working on that, this play (by the bog of cats) has an open curtain ste change so they (the techs) are dressed like waiters and have to do that change in front of an audiance... then this BIG history project she's doing. I feel bad she is busier than i am!!!!!!
Doing well here.
Felisa- i would second the pineapple thing, seems to have worked for iowa!
Iowa- Really pineapples- i would never have known that! i love pineapples, fresh are a pain as they are messy to cut, jices going everywhere and all....
Lizzy- sucks about the cable... how did it go when you returned the equiptment???
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Good day, warriors!
It has been so warm here and now is foggy all day today. The cost of nice weather!
Sptmm: I can’t believe you marched right by the comment I made about your 4lbs and how I would be deeply concerned if I put that much on as, in your case, that is 10% of your body weight now! Yeah, when I was typing I noticed that there was blood on my forearm and then was just waiting for the on-call. Thankfully I did not have to go back but I woke up this morning and it was bleeding again but it must have just been the way I slept. I had a stubborn keloid (and I never keloid) where the port was and my PS was kind enough to help me with that even though it had nothing to do with her. They cut that out, cut out a mass in my lower abdomen that went off to pathology even though it is considered scar tissue and they did a key part of your DIEP 2 surgery coming up! It was all done under local which made me happy. I did not want to general.
Iowa: I was just talking to my friend about how I love pineapple! Another friend gave me some contraption from Pampered Chef which was supposed to ease the coring process = did not! Made a mess. I just picked up another pineapple yesterday! Good to know it helps w/healing!
Tex: I just dropped the equipment off. They did not try to talk me into keeping it.
That is all, that is all! Have a good weekend, girls-
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Lizzy- Yeah those contraptions NEVER work! I put cilantro in nearly all my dishes, so i bought this "herb cutter" it basically looks like 6 mini pizza rollers attached together, you roll it over the cilantro and presto! Diced cilantro, UM NO! it all got caught in the wheel mechanism was a pain to clean and it didnt cut the cliantro but brusied it somethin awful! LOL
Hopefully they dont charge ya anyways!
i desperatly want a nap but its not to be LOL i cant wait for tomorrow! i just popped in real quick to say hello!
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Good evening, warriors!
I hope everyone is well. Unfortunately one of my incisions from surgery opened while I was sleeping and I woke up to blood everywhere. All over my sheets, my clothes, my bedding, my mattress. Seriously, I could not believe it. It looked like a crime scene. It was the middle of the night so I was thankful I was able to stop it with pressure as I def did not want to go to the ER in the mid of the night. One thing after another. Went to surgeon, patched it up and am hoping it just does not open again.
Tex: Hope you got some naps! Yeah, these gadgets are overpriced junk. I really try not to buy anything when it comes to kitchen gadgets. The Pampered Chef garlic press is the best, however!
Ginger: on migraines, do yourself a favor and look up "pseudotumor cerebri." Our old friend Tamoxifen, and my old friend Levothyroxine, can both cause this. Menopause is a big cause also
Felisa: I hope you are doing just fabulous! I was thinking of you yesterday when I was at Yale. There was a woman next to me discussing her dismay with her wound vac!
Iowa: as I try to heal this wound that popped open and forced me to donate all that blood to the universe, there I was buying pineapples tonight! Just got through eating a bunch and now I have that sort of "raw/irritated" feeling from pineapple in my mouth but who cares if it helps! It sure was good going down also!
Well, I hope everyone is doing well. I am going to do some filing and then am hitting the hay early. I am so tired between this head thing and the headaches and the fact that I have to sleep in one position, not moving, surround by pillows in hopes I don't cause that wound to open again.
Night, all-
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Lizzy that sounds scary glad yougot it taken care of!!!!!
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Lizzy--sorry to hear about the incisions. I had something similar after my partial mastecomy--it opened in the night and I was covered in blood and some fluid--went to ER and they re-stitched me up. I tried to look back to see why you had this surgery--forgive me for forgetting but was wondering? It's crazy that you are still dealing with things -- you would think that there would be a great break by now. I know for me, after 2010 being the hell year--my last couple of years have been completely uneventful (which is GREAT). I am heading back into my checkups over the next month or so. I am having some rib pains again but I am guessing it is some sort of phantom pains that seem to come once I know my appointments are near--wonders of the human body.
Hope everyone is doing well. It has gone from a balmy +10 last weekend to -14 today (celcius) with the windchill it is even worse. I have been walking each day at work with a colleague but chickened out today as it was too cold and didn't want the ear-aches.
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Good evening, warriors!
I am feeling so optimistic about this year! I know, on the heels of my last post, would seem odd but if I can just get past this next round of testing unscathed, I think I might have a Rachel 2011!
Rachel: I had a mass in my lower abdomen that had to be removed and shippped to path. It is all but guaranteed that is scar tissue. I had a keloid on my chest where the port was that hurt, hurt, hurt. I am not a "keloider" either. That was cut out and sent to path. I hope it never comes back, although it may! Nipples were the final part of that surgery last week. The reason the bleeding was so bad is because it was from my breast and I have *no* feeling there. I was really under the impression I was getting up to go to the bathroom! I had no idea until I looked down at my arm in the bathroom. What a mess. The body is amazing, however, and I think "it" woke me up b/c I had been bleeding for who knows how long.
How was girls night out? Did you like Les Mis?
Watching Aziz Ansari on Netflix and all this laughing is keeping my mind off this other crap!!!
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Wow Lizzie--you have really experienced much of what can be thrown at you!
Les Miz was good--very loooonnnnnngggg. My butt started aching around 2hour mark. I don't think it registered that there would be no spoken word and it was all singing...some of the singing was a little off...but overall it was good. $12.00 for a movie--if it wasn't a girls night out (which was the best part)--I wouldn't pay that much to watch a movie that most likely you can get on line within the next couple of months or so.
It is FREEZZZZING here--I go for a walk every day and last couple of days--hmmm..decided to stay in the warm in the office! I'm a baby that way--you would think as a Canadian--I would be used to it (minus 20 too cold for me!)
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12 bucks! Okay so you'll never hear me complain. My niece's theater group was going to see that, but not sure what happened- it sorta fell through. I didnt realise there would be no spoken parts, but it is a musical so i guess LOL, although i liked Chicago but i am pretty sure there were spoken parts in there...
Thinking of you Lizzy! Hope you're doing better this weekend.
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Good day, warriors!
Just watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and what I found most interesting is what both fat and average size people are eating. That guy spoke to people of all sizes who had one thing in common: they were/are on a steady diet of Coca Cola and anything fried/fast food. It was just odd to see how some people can eat crap all day and have it not affect them outwardly and how with others, it shows in their weight. In any case it seemed appropriate to watch it today b/c I decided today was the day to perfect the Dr. Oz "green" drink and also make it a few times so I get really good at it! I really had no idea when I turned it on it was all about him fasting his way through losing 100 lbs. It was a good movie. I did finally perfect the Oz green drink by adding twice the amount of lime and *coconut!!* That coconut gives it a nice kick as does a banana! He swears by it and I have to say, it is super healthy and pretty tasty = not too shabby!
Rachel: years and years ago I saw Les Miserable on Broadway. I am just not a big musicals person. I liked "Tony and Tina's Wedding," "Wicked," "Jelly's Last Jam," and more recently "Billy Elliot" but I am just not loving musicals. I love repertory theater but I am also a little tired of seeing "The Crucible!" The perennial classic, "A Chorus Line," I saw when I was in high school. I am just glad you had a nice girl's night out! It is so healthy to do that every now and again. My friend from Ireland was in NYC a few weeks back and he saw Les Mis and he,too, complained about the length of the film! That was enough for me to skip seeing it in theaters!
Rach, I think everyone would be a baby relative to walking outside in 20 below weather! I whine when it is below 30! What always amazes me is there I am with my Russian Ushanka and sure enough, some teenager walks by in cargo shorts! How is it that they can wear shorts in 20 degree weather?!
Tex: I am doing ok. Aside from cooking all day I am also letting air get at my wounds. I hope this helps as my surgeon is on vaca next week and I don't want to have problems.
I so love the now not-so-new Rihanna song "Stay" but am a bit dismayed as I am sure it is an ode to that thing she is obsessed with, Chris Brown! She is unusually talented. Unbelievable.
I blew off NYC plans tonight b/c I am just too cold! Of course from friend's apt, to cab, to restaurant, to club, to friend's apt and perhaps to train would not have to deal with the weather too much but then again, I am an excuse factory these days!!
Hoping a good weekend is your's for the enjoying!
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Hello ladies checking in to let you all know my update. I had to have an emergency surgery friday my wound was healing on the outside before the inside also i had an infection he had to reopen my wound clean me out again. so im feeling under the weather right now.
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Felisa: I was wondering about you! I am glad you are doing well. I sort of wondered where you were and was rather hoping you were feeling so great that you were out living it up! It is so sad that you and I have had such a battle with the surgical byproducts of this disease. We could easily start our own site called "and you thought your breast cancer battle was bad!" Sadly I have never told my full story on this site meaning there have been things I have been through/am going through that I did not ever reveal. You were meant to come to this site so we could support each other and hobble to what will hopefully be a successful finish line! Hang in there and understand that if you do the right things, eat all the protein you can and like Iowa said, get some pineapple that may assist w/wound healing, you will be heading toward better days
I hope you are doing better today. 0 -
if my breast would stop hurting and all this was over with i would be fine. right now im going through it.
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Hi Everyone, I have been keeping myself busy. My newest hobby- beading yes I love making braclets.I will post some of the beauties one of these days.
I hope those of you with wounds to heal are eating that fresh pineapple. Yes Lizzy sometimes it does do funny things to your mouth, try not to eat it all at once. I do that too because it taste so good!!
Weather extremes here 55 last Fri. hubby took him motorcycle for a ride....today frigid high on 1 -10 overnight. Yes Fl. is calling my name
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Lizzy- i loved that movie but do not think i can committ to a juice only diet at this time
i bought a juicer though- used it maybe 4 times before it got shoved in a cupboard- the hassle to clean the thing is what got me!Felisa- SOrry to hear that! Glad your back on the mend though!
SUe- or maybe south texas
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