Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
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Hi All,
Hope everybody doing is fine.
Sylvia - Thank you for the tips on how to get ahead of things. I am constantly checking myself everyday.
Mary - You are right about taking nap. I am also doing that almost everyday. In the morning, I send my DS to school by bus. After sending him I will walk back and do my grocery shopping then take stairs instead of the lift to reach home. It is my daily dose of walking under the sun and myform of exercise as well. I have been doing it since July.
Marias- sending you healing thoughts as you go through your treatment.
Pam - love the photos you posted. It looks like an interesting place to visit.
Best regards,
Lou
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Hello Mary,
It is nice to see you back in action on the thread. I shall answer in more detail tomorrow.
I think I am over my bug and Raymond is too. I shall continue taking my echinacea tincture by Vogel until I have finished it.
We are getting the news about the terrible shooting in Las Vegas.
There was a terrorist killing in Marseilles over the weekend, two women stabbed to death. There was a terrorist attack in Canada about five people involved. There has been less publicity here about that.
Here in the UK there was another terrorist attack and we are told it was between two opposing Muslim sects.
What a world we are living in!
Talk again sometime tomorrow.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi Mary,
Thank you for your encouraging words. I am nervous about the biopsy but they did mention twilight.I dont like not being able to eat or drink(I especially like tea in the morning). If I had a PET instead of a CT they would know more about the status of the nodule. I did have one nodule in February that wasn't cancerous and it grew a mm. There is also another nodule. I am trying to remain positive. It is nice to be back to work but I am upset that I have to take a day off for the biopsy(since NYC is over 2 hours from my house) and a day for the second opinion in Boston. We are going to have some fun in Boston with my daughter, her husband and my grandchildren.
I enjoy seeing everyone's pictures and took a long time to come back on because I just needed to process everything.
Love,
Rhonda
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howdy
Had a bad weekend with my mind going into overdrive but Doing ok! stillhaving lots of aches and pains in all my joints particularly hip back and lower leg but I know taxol can cause joint pain which panic me no end! Need to breathe and take one day at a time. After seeing the sadness in Vegas I need to put it in perspective
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Hello Mary,
The thread is really quiet this week as far as posts go. The views keep going up but the posts do not. It would be nice if some of the "lurkers" participated and gave to the thread.
I have looked at the Chris Woollams latest email but do not think I shall go into the details this time. When I can find the time I shall probably have a look at number 4, Does a parasite lie behind your illness and even a cancer? I shall then click on the more detailed information entitled Parasites, chronic illness and cancer.
I am no doctor but I do like to think things out and I am tending to think that chronic illnesses and cancer are somehow connected to gum disease, a badly functioning gut and sick microbiome, over or under functioning glands such as thyroid and parathyroid and perhaps any gland. I think all of this could be causing inflammation in the body and eventually tumours.
This week I have been buying the Daily Mail as they are doing a detailed series of articles about Alzheimer's and dementia. I have found it very interesting and it is based on a book that is coming out today, I think. It is the same things that keep coming out as a possible cause. We have been through them on the thread with reference to our breast cancers. They are bad food and I shall gradually post the list of good foods and the list of those to avoid. Another factor is exercise and how important it is to keep physically active and to avoid long periods of just sitting. Yesterday it was all about stress and what it does to your body. I think today is all about lack of sleep and poor quality sleep. If you can find it on line it should be well worth reading. I shall find the name of the book and post it a bit later on when I have time to go back through all the cuttings I have kept from the papers this week. These articles are in a section entitled Your Health.
I have just noticed that the Moderators have started a new thread. It is all about body fat and the connection with breast cancer.
Thank you for posting the information about the second annual conference of The Truth about Cancer. I do not have time to watch it but I was wondering whether you will be watching it and might be able to give us a few details about anything new.
I hope all is well with you.
I do hope Rhonda and Marias are getting through this week alright. They are both going through a lot.
I have been wondering how adagio is getting on in India.
I am trying to make up my mind whether to have a flu vaccine. I have not had one since 2005 and had it then on the advice of the hospital when I was diagnosed.
I agree with you about the terrible shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Do you think we shall ever know the truth about it? What do you think about gun control etc.?
All the nonsense continues here in the UK. I think we should walk away from the EU and not be dictated to by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. The powers that be here do not want Brexit.
That is all for today. I hope to hear from you soon.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Kath,
I was sorry to read that you had had a bad weekend. I do not know what to say as we cannot stop our minds wandering all over the place. You do have to give yourself plenty of time to recover from treatment and it could be years rather than months. The best thing with your various aches and pains is to get checked out to rule out other causes. Joint pain in the hip and lower leg could just be arthritis. You need to know whether the pain is joint or whether it is nerve pain. Nerve pain is very difficult to treat.
We all have to try to count our blessings. One of them is that we are alive. I was reading recently about how much more difficult cancers of the blood, such as leukaemias are much more difficult to treat than others, and I think it is the same for lymphomas.
Keep looking forward and value each day.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Marias and Rhonda,
I am just popping in to say we in the group are thinking of you.
Marias, I hope you are taking advantage of your week away from radiotherapy.
Best wishes to everyone.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mary,
I am trying to locate the section Survivors around the world stories, so that I can put it on our thread again. I think it is a good idea to do this. Do you have any idea how to find this?
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello to all. So happy for all the good results on mammo's etc. I too don't receive any tumor markers or follow up scans. Had my six month Oncology visit. All is well. I am scheduled for my mammogram with ultrasound in December. Next month will be 2 years out from diagnosis. I'm feeling better each day.
Have a great time all who are traveling. For those still in treatment, hang on we are here for you. For those finishing up, soon it will be further in your rear view mirror. Remember you can't drive if you constantly look behind you.
Val
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Hello Kath
I too have hip pain after taxol. It is made worse by my knee injury for which i get cortisone shots. I'm due for one, and ofcourse the hip pain is worsening. After being checked out, it is arthritis. Basically means, no cure. Movement and meds help; You are right. After Vegas and other tradgedies due to disasters, I put my pains in perspecive. Though sometimes at night, I worry.
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Hi Sylvia and all,
I did not get good results from my biopsy.They still need to check receptor status but are going to start me
On Xeloda.I am sitting at school and was by myself when I got the news. I want to run away.I feel so heartbroken.
Rhonda
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Hello Rhonda,
I was so sorry to read that you did not get good results from your biopsy. Are you able to say what these results were? What exactly is happening about your receptor status that they still need to check? With all the tools that they have I do not quite understand what is happening. I do know that cancer cells seem to mutate all the time so that they could be quite mixed. I would think it is important for you to know this. I do know that back in 2005 when I was diagnosed I was just told that I was not hormonal and therefore the prognosis was not good. There was no mention of negative receptor status nor indeed of triple negative. We were really in the dark ages here. I was the one that asked for individual receptor status etc. The team said the prognosis was not good because they could not give me the anti-hormonal medication, tamoxifen. With hindsight, they should have said that the standard treatment, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, was the same for everyone regardless of receptor status and that these worked well for TNBC.
When I was diagnosed I was coming up for 63 and no one at the hospital said that TNBC usually affected younger women. My oncologist did say that my cancer did not necessarily start off as TNBC because cancer cells mutate all the time, and it might have started off as something else. This did not help much, nor did saying that i should not have breast cancer!!!
I can understand how you are feeling but do not give up. You will get through whatever you have to and you must keep telling yourself that. We are all here for you.
I do hope that the Xeloda will help.
Sending you fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Sylvia,
I don’t have results from receptor tests yet.They know it is breast cancer.I will know that soon.Thank you for your encouraging words.I am going to Dana Farber in Boston for a second opinion.
Love,
Rhonda
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Hi, Sylvia
I am not quite sure what you are referring to when you say, Survivor Stories from Around the World. Was it the thread started by Moderators that we all contributed to? Was that the one called "Looking for Members' Stories"? I just clicked on that and saw Marias post there from Jan. '17 when she found her cancer, I do not think I had seen it before. Sorry, you will have to jog my memory some more.
I will respond later to your other post!
Mary
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Rhonda,
I am so sorry you are heartbroken over your news! Since you just had a liver biopsy, I am surmising that they found something there, and they think it is from your primary BC? But are checking if it is also the TNBC? I have heard good things about the Xeloda. I certainly understand how you feel, as Sylvia said, we are all here for you and hoping for better news as things go along. A second opinion is a smart thing to do, and you are going to a really good place for it.
Thinking of you, love, Mary
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Hello Mary,
Just a quick word for now, as I am about to go out. No, I am not referring to Looking for Members stories. I know that thread is one of the four that appears on thew general heading TNBC that includes all the relevant threads to it.
This is something elsewhere that the Moderators invited me to post on and I think you were there as was Hanieh. It is Survivors' stories from around the world. I contacted the Moderators and this is the link they gave me:
http://www.breastcancer.org/community/acknowledging/world/sylviaexmouthuk
Talk soon.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Val,
It was nice to hear from you and I was glad to know that you have had your six month oncology visit and that all is well. I do hope all will go well when you have your mammogram with ultrasound in December. Be sure to let us know how you get on.
You are doing so well and I can hardly believe that next month it will be two years since you were diagnosed.
It is good to know that you are feeling better each day and it is good that you have put it on the thread to help to motivate others.
Keep up the good work.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Rhonda,
Please let us know how you get on with the second opinion at Dana Farber in Boston. I think it is such a good idea to get second opinions.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mary,
I do hope all is going well with you. Have you settled down now back in your home or do you have some trips planned?
Are you following the cancer videos?
I am still trying to catch up with everything and I have lot of things to post and I shall try to do them gradually.
I have been reading the excerpts in the Daily Mail to a book entitled The Alzheimer's Solution by Dr Dean and Dr Ayesha Sherzai. I am reading it because so much of what the book advises you to do to prevent it, I think applies to breast cancer, other cancers and other chronic diseases. It is really all about lifestyle.
That is all for this evening. It has been a very busy week and I hope to catch up on my reading during the weekend.
Keep in touch.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi, Sylvia
I was reading the second-to-last post you sent me, and I think you left out one thing. I think stress is also a denominator in developing cancer and other illnesses.
I was trying to find the articles on Alzheimer's and dementia in the Daily Mail, I went to UK Daily Mail and saw a lot of things, but not that. So not sure what I did wrong. I had several aunts and uncles on my dad's side of the family who developed that, so it worries me and my siblings. My dad died at 68 so didn't really live long enough to get it, although I have a friend whose husband has early-onset dementia, she has changed many things in their lives to make things easier for him.
I clicked on the link in your last post and there you were! You have the whole page, I don't remember seeing that before, it's very good. I think where I posted my story was in a different place
I have not been watching this year's event of TTAC yet, it should have started yesterday evening. Usually it all gets replayed for quite a while, so I hope to be able to see most of it sometime. Last year we who attended got DVDs of the entire symposium, it will be nice to watch that and see the speakers I didn't see because they were in different rooms. I loaned them to a friend and have not got them back yet.
I think I am okay, I find I have been very busy lately and I find that if I do quite a bit of physical stuff such as running around, and lifting and bending and generally working at things I get quite painful by evening. I think it must be a combination of the neuropathy in my feet and legs, and arthritis in the knees and back, and the injured shoulder. I quit working at things yesterday about 4 and had to just sit down until I got up and fixed myself something to eat. Then I sit in recliner and try not to think about how things ache. When I wake up in the morning most of the burning pain has subsided, unless I do it again! It does bother my sleep, too, if I have been very active during the day. But I do enjoy the outdoor work and taking care of things and I don't want to stop, it's a problem I guess I will deal with until I can't.
I find myself thinking of Marias and Rhonda often during the day, hoping they are getting better, and getting better news.
I got a flu shot yesterday, my arm still hurts. I always wonder whether or not to do it, but when my husband was so ill the docs insisted on it, so I am rather used to it. I had Influenza A in 2013 and it wasn't fun but it wasn't too bad, my doc said the fact that I had the shot made it milder. I am wondering whether to get a shingles vaccine. Since I am already bothered all over by neuropathy, I am not sure what would happen if I got the shingles disease, since it affects the nerve endings and can leave a person with bad pain for a long time or permanently.
I don't have any trips planned right now, but my sis-in-law and I have tentative plans to go to Germany in the spring. She is leaning towards a river cruise, I am not sure yet how I want to do it. She is going to Ireland in December, I am not joining that one.
I will answer your question later about the shooting in Las Vegas and my opinion of guns generally, and gun control. I hope they get answers to our questions about that shooter, it seems very mysterious, although mysterious is too nice a word. ISIS is taking credit for it, for whatever that is worth.
We will talk again soon! Love, Mary
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Greetings to all you wonderful ladies and thank you for sharing your experience and information. I have finished my 4 cycles of A.C and start Taxol on Monday next 9th Oct17......which I'm really scared of, having read about the various reactions experienced by some people. I had a Port done 3 weeks ago as my veins kept collapsing and I was relieved at the easy assess for my last cycle. I have some mild peripheral neuropathy in the the soles of my feet, a burning sensation which varies in intensity but I can live with it. What is more of a concern is that I seem to have continuous infections for the past 3 weeks. I am indulging in a 'LITTLE SELF PITY' and have let the tears roll on occasions. That I expect isn't all bad......life gets so busy with the diagnoses, surgery, recovery and then Chemo. I felt that it was all happening too fast, leaving me feeling out of control etc etc and I like to be in control! There was a bad chest / throat infection doing the rounds and of course I caught that 3 weeks ago.. Last week I got a urinary tract infection, again antibiotics and that seem to be addressed now. What's really worrying and annoying me is that I continue to have such a bad cough. I asked the Doctor to check it out 2 weeks age prior to my last Chemo. He heard my chest wheezing, said it was viral and I was well enough for Chemo that day as my bloods were ok. I felt he was dismissive of me. I have felt like discontinuing my Chemo but I am going one day at a time. I know I am having a RANT here, as I couldn't sleep because of my coughing, so please just ignore me. I will post after my 1st Taxol to let you all know how it went. Galway 2017
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Hello Mary,
I have just been reading your last post and have looked back to the second to last post I sent you and it is just a quick post with nothing of consequence in it. I have looked back to the last long post I sent you and it is about my thoughts on gum disease, gut problems, gland problems and breast cancer. I did not mention stress in that particular post but I have mentioned it often as a cause of cancer ever since I started this thread. I certainly think it contributes to the development of cancer of all kinds and I certainly think it played an important part in my own breast cancer.
In that post I also mentioned about the series of articles in the Daily Mail, starting on Saturday September 30th and ending on Friday October 6th. The articles were based on a book by Dr Dean and Dr Ayesha Sherzai entitled The Alzheimer's Solution: A Revolutionary Guide To How You Can Prevent And Reverse Memory Loss that was published this week. These articles in the paper were adapted by Louise Atkinson. Stress came into those articles.
On Saturday September 30th the articles were advertised for the following week and there was a free booklet in the paper entitled Your Personal Plan to Beat Alzheimer's. I am not a regular buyer of the Mail, so I missed that booklet but later phoned in for a copy, which I now have.
As for the articles, which appeared as special four page pullouts each day, I now have them in front of me.
Daily Mail Monday October 2nd 2017. The Alzheimer's Solution – How to eat to beat dementia.
Tuesday October 3rd 2017. The Alzheimer's Solution – Warning: Sitting down could give you dementia.... but the good news is you CAN protect yourself and here's how.
Wednesday October 4th. The Alzheimer's Solution: How stress can shrink your brain – the damage can start in childhood.
Thursday October 5th. The Alzheimer's Solution. Why a good night's sleep is your best defence against dementia.
Friday October 6th. The Alzheimer's Solution. Why your BRAIN wants to be challenged.
It has all been very interesting reading for me because everything that has come up with reference to dementia we have discussed on the thread with reference to breast cancer risks. We all know the importance of a healthy diet and we all know the foods we should avoid. What I like about these articles is that there are nice illustrations dotted here and there. On the one about food, pages 2 and 3 have a big colourful spread entitled 20 Foods that will nourish your brain and another one entitled And the ones you need to avoid. There are also some recipes.
I shall try at some time to list the healthy foods and the unhealthy ones.
Each day the main title is followed by pages 2 and 3 with more details and page 4 interesting recipes.
The article on October 4th about stress has the following titles.
Meditation is not just for hippies, it can rejuvenate your brain.
Even tidying the house can help.
Medicine works best when it is PERSONAL.
On the last page – more recipes.
On October 5th the middle pages have a title It is not how long you sleep...it is the quality.
On October 6th the middle pages have How dancing can help stave off dementia...not to mention learning the piano and even singing karaoke.
There is also the title Why friends are good for your mind.
You will remember that on this thread with reference to breast cancer, we have discussed the importance of physical activity as well as mental activity.
You will see, Mary, why all these articles got my attention. Eating healthily, exercise, avoiding stress, getting good sleep and having a completely darkened room, keeping mentally active.
I think if we could score high on all of this we could probably avoid a lot of chronic illness.
I do hope you will be able to find something online. There was a special reduced price offer on the book, but I think that has gone. There may be a reduced price online.
I have not finished going through your post, but I shall do some more later.
I cannot fathom out what is going on with the thread I posted on about Survivors around the World. When I clicked on the link and tried to go further, I found shortened comments from people, including me. I definitely saw, sometime ago now, a post by Hanieh with a photograph, so I thought she had been invited as well. I thought you were on there with a photograph. Raymond suggests you try the link, but cut out my name.
Talk again later.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Galway,
It was nice to see you back on the thread. I need to take a break, so I shall post later.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mary,
Just a quick post to say that Raymond found a link to these articles on Mail Online. He put in the search box Ayesha Sherzai and all the articles were there. I hope this works for you.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?sel=site&searchPhrase=Ayesha+Sherzai
Good luck.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Galway,
Thank you for bringing us up to date with your treatment. It was good to know that you have finished your four cycles of AC. I shall be thinking of you next Monday October 9th and hoping that all will go well. Do not be afraid and do not concentrate your mind on what other patients went through with Taxol. We are all different and we all start our treatment in different states of health. Just tell yourself you are going to get through this.
I was interested to know that you had a port installed three weeks ago, because of collapsing veins. I know that this can often happen.
Unfortunately it is now well known that the taxane drugs, docetaxel (Taxotere) and paclitaxel (Taxol) can cause neuropathy in the hands and/or feet. I went through three months of Taxotere on a cycle every three weeks and had virtually no problems, but I did develop neuropathy in the feet and I still have it over twelve years since diagnosis. It is a numbness and a feeling of very dry soles of the feet, even though they are not and are well moisturised. The oncologist, the GP and two different podiatrists have all told me it will not go away. It does not bother me that much and most of the time I forget about it. From time to time I get the podiatrist to test me with a kind of prod that she puts all over my feet while I keep my eyes closed. I do not feel anything. Some patients on here have said that vitamin B helps. I do take vitamin B complex but cannot really say that it helps. You can live with neuropathy and you say that you can.
I was sorry to read that you have been having continuous infections for the past three weeks. You have to remember that chemotherapy weakens your immune system and makes it unable to work properly and carry out its normal work of keeping infections at bay. When I was diagnosed I was told to get a flu injection, get a pneumonia injection, to have a ny dental work done because you cannot have it done during chemotherapy for fear of infection. I was also told to stay away from crowds such as in a supermarket or on public transport and to stay away from anyone who was unwell and likely to pass something on to me. I did not go to the surgery either, the District Nurse came to take blood the day before my chemotherapy and this was sent to the hospital. I managed to get through all my sessions and never had problems with the blood tests and so did not have any chemotherapy sessions cancelled. Chemotherapy can affect red and white blood cells and these can cause serious problems.
Do not worry if you feel very emotional and have a cry. It is better to do this rather than bottle everything up. A cancer journey is very long and keeps a patient very busy, so we can get to feeling that everything is too much, but somehow we journey on.
I can understand that the pace of the journey can make you feel out of control. You are not really out of control and you should be making the decisions about what is happening to you. It is your body and you decide what you will do and what you will not do. I also like to be in control of what concerns me and I always said no if that is what I felt.
I do hope you are feeling a lot better. I can understand that you are concerned about a bad cough and if that were me I would be mentioning it to my oncologist. It could be something left over from the infection, but I would want it checked out. It could be you are not drinking enough fluids. It is very important to drink lots of water to keep hydrated. It could be the antibiotics have caused the cough and they will have affected your gut. If that were me I would be taking some plain non-dairy yoghurt with a live culture in it. This will help with any problems with the gut.
It could be that your doctor does not have good patient communication. I do hope you will not stop your chemotherapy. Keep looking forward. You have already done half the journey.
You can rant here as much as you like. You certainly need to have a good night's sleep as this will help your immune system. Why not take some honey to ease the cough?
Wishing you all the very best for Monday. Please let us know how you get on.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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hello how are you. I'm getting better but I'm still to tired.
I want to share with you this picture that is in my room. I like so much because I grew up in front of the sea. But is your city?
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Hi, Galway
It's nice to see you back to check in, sorry you are having problems with chemo. Sylvia has given you very good counsel, as she always does. I did not have quite as easy a time with it as she did, but I got through it too.
I had my port put in before chemo started so my veins didn't have to take the frequent infusions. It stayed in for 2 years. I got neuropathy too, it has stayed with me and bothers me more some days than others. I am living with it, and not taking medication for it. For many people, the neuropathy goes away after treatment.
The infections are probably because of your low white blood cells, they are the "defense" of your body against infection, and unfortunately are one of the things that chemo attacks. Your doctor is probably thinking that the viral infection that is causing your coughing will go away as your blood builds back up, but I agree with Sylvia, you should talk to him about it and tell him how concerned you are and add in the fact that you can't sleep because of it! I can't stand it when the docs are dismissive, and seem uncaring while we are going through all this stress on our bodies.
I hope things go smoothly tomorrow, and I'm glad you are going to report on your experience.
Talk to you again soon, Mary
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Hello Marias,
I was so happy to find that you had posted on the thread. I have been thinking of you a lot and hoping you were getting through the week alright.
I do like your picture very much and I understand why you love the sea so much.
I am not sure whether I have understood your question. I was born in London so I was not born near the sea, but we did use to go to the seaside sometimes during the summer. For the past 16 years I have lived in Exmouth and I am a 5 minute walk from the sea. I am on the third floor which is the top floor of the apartment complex and when I walk down the stairs I can see the sea from the windows.
How have you been this week? Mary, others in the group and I have all been thinking of you.
I do hope you will cope with the coming week. Just be positive and concentrate your thoughts on everything that makes life worth living and give thanks for everything that makes you happy.
Tell us more about Colombia. I see bits of it on the television and everything looks so colourful and the people are always smiling.
Abrazos.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mary,
I still have a part of your last post to read again and make comments. I hope you have had a good weekend.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Happy Sunday Everyone,
Mary, I think it's fascinating that your grandparents practiced, what they call "nose-to-tail" cooking. These days it's a trendy movement, which you probably already know, to get back to the common sense basics that we left behind. I always loved reading about how self-sufficient people used to be, especially when they did something similar in the Little House on the Prairie book series. There's also the appealing idea to be less removed from our food sources than we are. Where I live, we are as removed as we can be, but it wasn't always this way. My Dad had to learn not to get attached to the rabbits that were kept in the back yard, because they were on the menu. I try to eat less meat these days, but I can't say that I could take part in even fishing.
I am not hopeful that I'll be successful with my "no gifts" request. People get so offended, and yes, they do make it all about what they want. I think it's irrational. As far as needing time to heal, as you and Sylvia have mentioned, I do think it's odd that the doctors don't seem to really acknowledge the time it really takes. As you said, they are focused on the fact that you are improving when the treatment ends. It's so good that we have each other here, so we understand the actual time frames.
Sylvia, I have noticed the "superfood" hype. I sometimes try these things, but I agree, there's not much point in running after every new one. It seems like it's much more important to try to eat locally sourced and as minimally processed as possible. It's even better when you prepare most of it yourself. I try, but I have to balance doing that with getting enough rest.
I'm sure there is a lot of junk on the BBC, but just imagine the state of the TV offerings in the US! We all know that less is better of any standard of TV that we're getting, I suppose.
Lou, I saw a show about Singapore recently, and thought of your beautiful photos of the light sculptures there.
Val, Although it's no comfort to you, the fact that your pains are arthritis is helpful when we wonder what is wrong with us. Sometimes it's just normal aches and pains, that hopefully movement and stretching will improve. I agree about keeping things in perspective when we look at all of the terrible news events lately.
Marias, I am wishing you more improvement and strength this week. Please let us know how it's going.
Galway, There is no need to ever worry about venting here. I can tell you that Taxol was no picnic for me, but it was less intense in general than A/C. As someone told me, "the only way out is through." Keep going. You'll be through one day.
Rhonda, I'm so sorry to hear about your biopsy news. I'm wondering if it's a good thing that they caught this early. I've read a little on the Xeloda board, and their comments are relatively positive. You are never alone with all of these strong, smart women by your side.
Sending love and positive thoughts,
Pam
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