Australian Sisters
Comments
-
Hi aussie ladies! My name is Kathryn, and I am in Brisbane.
I have been on a roller coaster ride for the last couple of months, It is still a bit unreal, except I started chemo last Thursday, and that has well and truly made it real. With a big thud.
I don't mean to just jump in the middle of the convo, but been reading for a while and wanted to say hi.
0 -
Hey Kathryn :-)
Happy anniversary Chrissie :-)
Jenn0 -
Hi Kathryn. Sorry youve joined us but happy youve found us. I, Suzie and Racy all live in and around Brisbane too. Which hospital, Dr, onc etc are you seeing (if you dont mind telling lol). Did you get dx with dcis and then they found the idc during the biopsy? we look to be similiar stages but you are pr+ as well while I was only about 9% pr+ and from memory 100%er+
It is such a rollercoaster from the first call back from Breastscreen Qld to the 1st treatment of chemo hey. Id imagine now that its a week later your nausea wil have subsided or certainly be less than the first few days (or at least I sure hope so). Did you receive Neuclasta the day after chemo? Sincerely hope you are feeling reasonably well and that if you have any questions or concerns you let us know here or by pm so we can help. We have a good bunch of women here and I look forward to getting to chatting and getting to know you better.
Im 45, I thnk Suzie is a couple of years older than me and not sure but believe Racy is around my age as well - but this is from memory and after a few years on Arimidex my memory isnt that great
0 -
Midnight the cake was delicious! I filled it with a chocolate cream and topped it with a caramel cream........sounds sweet but isn't .........and the cake just melted in our mouths. It was good enough for both DH and GS to come back for seconds.....lol......and that was after eating a big meal!
Yes some gynys have a way of making the whole exercise a little less stressfull but others I think just add to the stress.....anyway, it's all over and done with for another year. I'm with you when you say......Thank Goodness!!!!......lol
Love n hugs. Chrissy
0 -
Welcome Kathryn - Who is your onc and where are you having the treatment. I had Daivd Grimes and went to HOCA at Chermside. I'm not revealing my age except to say I'm turning ?0 this year
- you can guess from my username Sue
0 -
Hi Kathryn welcome. I'm sorry I missed your post, didn't mean to ignore you.
Yes chemo sure does reinforce the reality of a BC dx. Hope you aren't having too many SE's.
Keep on posting as we are always around.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Hi Kathryn welcome. I'm sorry I missed your post, didn't mean to ignore you.
Yes chemo sure does reinforce the reality of a BC dx. Hope you aren't having too many SE's.
Keep on posting as we are always around.
Love n hugs. Chrissy0 -
Hello Kathryn from me way over here in WA - Welcome and I'm 51 years young - oh my, make that nearly 52.
Midnight, that Dr was insensitive. Like my mother used to say 'if you can't say something nice, don't say anything'. That would have been appropriate in this case. Anyway, good news that it doesn't seem to be anything too serious for you.
Melp, sounds like you might have that job. Good for you. Fingers are still crossed for you Trisha.
Well I found out a bit more about the car rally. It is going to be such fun. My SIL and I co-drivers in the same car and we have decided to call ourselves the Precious Princesses. We are going to deck the car out in terribly tacky fluro tulle netting and throw in a couple of old barbie dolls and she and I will get those metallic wigs (blue and pink) and we are going to wear our $2 tiaras that we bought to watch the royal wedding last year. Never thought they'd get so much use! This is the inaugral event over here, they have it every year in NSW which is much bigger, but we have about 15 cars - all silly ones of course and we go through little towns and stop off at schools etc along the way. The weather guy from our local WIN tv station is a participant and is going to be doing his weather broadcast on-route everynight. Really great exposure. I'm also going to be the un-official photographer. They will have a professional one there, but I can get lots of candid happy snaps.
Chrissy, save me some of that cake won't you? xxxx
0 -
Happy anniversary Chrissy. The cake sounds delicious. I love chocolate and caramel.
Kathryn, welcome. I am in Brisbane too and had my treatment at the Wesley. What chemo are you having and how many treatments? Sorry we are bombarding you with all these questions!
You will probably have the dreaded hair loss starting about day 14. So sorry.
This is a great group of ladies and the site is the best you will find.
We are here for you as we have all been on the same rollercoaster and understand the ups and downs.
You can send me a personal message anytime if I can help in any way.
0 -
Welcome Kathryn. I'm in Canberra and you've found a great bunch of girls here. You can use this site to ask questions, vent, cry and celebrate - we'll always be here to help.
Kate - I'm jealous - sounds like you are going to have so much fun. I haven't heard back yet about the job - she did say on Monday that they were hoping to short list by yesterday, but I didn't hear, so that means they are either running late or I didn't get to the next stage. Oh well - I'll hear when I hear I guess.
Midnight - I would have asked the dr what he meant by that comment, but I agree he's very insensitive. Good news that it's all clear for you though.
Chrissy - chocolate cake - do you know how long it's been since I've had chocolate cake??? Glad it was yummy lol
Jenn - sounds like the new nurse hadn't looked at your file - if she had she wouldn't have thought you were a newbie.
Have a great day everyone
Trish
xoxo
0 -
Lyndal1966: I had BC 8 yrs ago when I was living in Perth. I also had the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis done and while I can't remember exactly what I was deficient in (or had too much of), I found it to be a really interesting way of discerning exactly what your imbalances are. I took what they suggested and in fact, it was at their suggestion that I went ahead with chemotherapy because I had made up my mind not to. All of my natural therapists thought I should do chemo, and pair it with natural medicine, so that's what I did. My oncologist was surprised to see me after 4 months and he was even more surprised when he saw how I sailed through 6 mo of chemotherapy with very few side effects. So I definitely recommend using integrative medicine - it's the best of both worlds I think.
I noticed some discussion of stress and its effect - I would totally agree that quite a few months of unresolved stress led up to my BC DX. But on the bright side, it made me learn meditation and healthy ways of dealing with stress and for that I'm truly grateful. I'm a more balanced person these days.
Thanks for letting me post here - I'm an Aussie citizen but still a Yank living in Colorado (and missing Australia intensely). If I come around now and again, it makes me feel a little less far away.
0 -
Trish it's been so long since we've had chocolate cake also but I still managed to make one....lol.....wasn't sure for a while as the last one I made was for GS's birthday cake last year. We did enjoy it and there is enough left for us to have it as dessert again tonight.
Marnie I'm sure we won't mind if you pop in.
Yesterday was a beautiful clear winters day but the tables have turned once more and it seems like the temp has dropped another ten degrees......Brrrrrrrr. I lit the fire as soon as I got up this morning and I think it will be just a quiet sit by the fire in front of the tele veg day.......hahahahaha!
Love n hugs all! Chrissy
0 -
Hi mclark, all with a connection to oz or nz welcome here
. Interesting to hear that you came through chemo with minimal s/e's. Also fascinating to hear the naturopaths recommended chemo. I've only seen mine twice now and havent had the guts to ask if she would have done chemo if she had been in my position as yet lol. Wonder if there is stats on whether a % of naturopaths have had BC, cause that would be a very very interesting stat to know. Im the first to admit Ive lived a very unhealthy life with my choice of food and lack of exercise and smoking for so long with no end in sight 
.Tried to make my first protein shake this morning, failed miserably Fairly sure they arent supposed to be lumpy sludge
. Feeling a bit disheartened now so will try again tomorrow. 0 -
Lyndal do you have a blender? or even better a rocket? Cheap as Chips have the Rockets for about $20 and they are fabulous for making all sorts of shakes beside other things. You are right, a protien shake is not supposed to lok like sludge........lol.
Good luck tomorrow!
Love n hugs. Chrissy
0 -
Marnie you are welcome to drop in here when you feel like it. I'm not sure how I'd go living in another country - I'd miss Oz too much.
Lyndal - what does a protein shake have in it? Sludge makes me think of some horrible things lol
Chrissy - we had rain yesterday and last night, and it's actually warmed up here - but apparently it's all going to hell over the next couple of days lol. Enjoy your day by the fire - that sounds like a lovely way to spend the day :-)
Trish
xoxo
0 -
chrissy, DH says yummy to the cake, but you can leave the caramel off his please, cheeky sod. lol, it would be abit wasted by the time it got here lol. He is gone down to get a heap of stuff in levin, which is about an hour s/w from us. it is a bleak day. typical friday 13th. he was born on a friday 13th too, his mum was a professional music teacher and was in the middle of a music lesson of a young boy and DH decided he would start the ball rolling and make his way into this world, very inconveniently for his mum at the time. 50 years ago today. she must of liked sweet stuff as he has a very sweet tooth. chocaholic. have a happy day everybody.
0 -
Im not sure what the important information is, but the jar says its pea protein isolate. vanilla flavored and it actually does taste really nice, its just I couldnt get past the lumps haha. I wont give the brand name so I dont upset the mods. But the blurb says its extracted from golden peas and has the most potent and balanced amino acid profile of any plant based protein and the highest bio-availability (no idea what that means). All natural alkaline, with no artificial colourings or additives 90 cals per serve and Im gonna try to have one for breakfast each day as currently I dont have anything. The naturopath says that if I cant eat the proper foods in the proper quantities to get all the protein I should have per day, substituting a meal a day with this will ensure my body still gets what it needs. Seeing as they dont want me having milk cause of the excess calcium in my tissue, plus Ive heard that soy milk isnt a good thing with BC, so Im diluting it with unsweetened almond milk ( a UDL) which I had never heard of before, but that is actually pretty good as well.
It says you can cook with it and has free recipes but I havent looked at them yet as my main problem is I dont cook at home, due to laziness, hating my kitchen and cooking junk food all day at work.
Baby steps for me
. When I met with the naturopath the second time and she found that after the first week I hadnt been drinking this stuff she gave me to help my liver, I told her you cant expect me to change the habits of a lifetime in a week haha. She took it pretty well but I am trying to make myself take that horrible stuff. its only 8mls a day but dang it leaves a horrible aftertaste.Edited to say, it was sludge cause it said to use 3 heaped desertspoons in 200ml of the almond milk. My idea of a heapsed spoon must be different from normal peoples, cause mine looked like thick pancake batter with lumps lol. I added more milk and couldnt get rid of the lumps.
0 -
Lynda, my sister makes these shakes for loosing weight purposes and she has this alovera juice she puts in the evening one,, she says it don't taste good, but helping her with her joints as rhumeitiod( however you spell it) arthritis, she sent me lotion when i was having rads to help the burning from the rads as i skin issues aftewards. but she swears by this alovera stuff she consumes.
0 -
Hi everyone especially newcomers Melp and Kathryn
Glad to hear you are more than halfway through rads and the travelling Kylie
Sounds as though you are on a definite pathway now Jenn and have made all the hard decisions
Good luck with your supplements Lyndal
I'm a sceptic when it comes to attributing cause of BC to stress but each to her own! Sorry - hope we can have different viewpoints here and still be friends. Not to say I don't suffer from stress.
I've been staying away or lurking here at BCO. I have been rather anxious and sort of convinced myself I had secondaries in my sacrum as I had sacral pain, radiating down my legs and numbness in my feet and toes. Because of my history of depression all medicos probably think I am a fruit cake and tend to downplay any symptoms. Anyway I had severe insomnia and have now been commenced on mirtazapine ( Avanza) which is an antidepressant which helps with sleep. At least I'm sleeping a little better.
I sort of ruminate on the size and grade of my tumour and can't believe I escaped without spread and then worry that I didn't have chemo and that it has spread through the blood. Anyway I must stop this. The sacral pain and tingling seems to have eased ( I did apply the 2 week rule and had it for about 3 weeks).
Anyway thanks for listening to my woes. I feel guilty when I think of the situations others are in. Hope you don't mind
How are you going Trish? Has the vet job come to anything? Sounds great.
And suzy it must be nice up there now
And chrissy -hope you have a nice relax after the grandchildren have gone
and Kate I hear mention of a trip. That's good you've got a house/dog-sitter
Hope I haven't left anyone out
Gerri
0 -
hi ladies!
well i didnt get the job. feeling really dejected at the moment. i got my first job ever from the kind offer of my uncle who has a business that he needed help in. was there for 7 years up until june 2011. I feel so worthless in job wise like i cant get a job just on my merits and the experience ive had. I dont know how much longer i can keep searching before i totally give up. the lack of money doesnt help either.
i seriously feel like curling up into a ball right now im so frustrated.
0 -
Sorry you didn't get the job melp
I'm sure you will find something.What sort of position are you looking for? Sorry I haven't read all the thread. Have you been back to work since your treatment?
It's normal to feel disappointed and down after a setback like this so just spoil yourself until you have the energy to look again.
Gerri
0 -
Melp, go and have a good cry, it helps the fustration, i feel better when i have had a cry. things do get to you, i was like that yesterday. feeling like the last rose of summer, but seemed to get over it. Hope things improove for you and that you find a good job and we all here when you need us. take care, and big hugs to you. xx
0 -
And Mel, please dont put yourself down. It is really really difficult to find jobs here in Australia at the moment. Retail is in a shocking state with very few poeple being hired. I get resumes handed to me daily from people desparate to get a job, any job!!
Ive just hired two ladies as casuals about 6 weeks ago and am giving them only about 3-5 hours each a week so I can train them up for when I need them which is in September. Those ladies regularly thank me for giving them a job each time I see them, even though the hours are so small at the moment. One of them is coming back from raising her children and cant work fulltime but needs something as her husband lost his job and had to go to a much less paying job. The other just hasnt been getting enough hours at her other job to pay the bills. Times are tough as we all know and despite the govt saying we are not in recession I reckon we are and have been for a few years now.
One of my staff's daughters has been trying to find a job for 18 months and has finally been given a 3 month trial at a local rsl club. Ive seen her apply for so many jobs and getting through to interviews only to find someone else is given the job. BigW called her in for a 3rd interview (at the 3rd I personally would think its a formaillity and she has the job), but no it was down to 2 and the other girl got the job.
Can only suggest to absolutely flood your resume at any job that you feel you can physically manage at the present time and the odds are that one will eventually be yours. Try the online job sites, go to any business's webpage that is in your area and look to see if they are recruiting. Maybe go to a personal placement agency and see if they have anything on their books for you. But dont give up and dont feel bad about yourself, cause it really is horrendously tough out there in the job market at the moment. If and when cost of living starts matchng better with wages, and when house prices start to go up, more jobs will be around I hope.
In the meantime if your physically up to it, maybe see if you can volunteer a few hours a week somewhere so that it helps make you feel better about yourself and to give you confidence in yourself again after being isolated for so long. Not sure what you hve in Adelaide, but here in Brisbane we have the Kim Walters Foundation and BC ladies visit the wards for lumpecyomy and masectomy at the Wesley Hospital and possibly other hospitals to talk to newbies after their ops about life with BC and give us a material prophalactic (or however its spelt). They direct us to the various information we need and really do a valuable job on our behalf.
Anyway good luck, hope you find something really soon, but please feel better about yourself in the meantime.
Hiya Gerri, glad to hear from you again. Of course we are all friends whether we agree with every single thing or not. Hope you stay pain free and can get sufficient help to stop the anxiety.
0 -
Hi Gerri, welcome back! Here is a good place to let it all out as we know and understand where you are coming from. Sure hope those new meds do the job of settling you down and allowing you to sleep more. It is so important that you get the sleep you need.
Oh Mel I'm so sorry you missed out on the job but please don't put yourself down as the job market is extremely tough at the moment. Keep at it, something will turn up sooner or later.
Finally the thermometer is showing the temperature has reach 10 degrees! It's been hovering between 8 and 9 all day and it is now late in the afternoon and the emp is about to drop again..........I sure hope it gets a little warmer tomorrow......lol.
Have a good night all!
Love n hugs. Chrissy
0 -
Gerri great to hear from you. I'm sorry you've been worrying though. I hope you feel more on top of things soon ((((hugs))))
Mel, I'm sorry you missed out on the job, but it's great you got an interview! That's not easy to get these days. As Lyndal said it's really hard to find work these days. If you would like help with your resume pm me and I'll give you my email address and we can see if it can be improved. I've hired a lot of people in my time, so have a feel for what should be in it and what shouldn't be. I can also help you with interview techniques if you would like too. Anyway, offer is there if you feel up to it.
Trish
xox0 -
Lyndal, you are so kind hiring those ladies. And Trish, so kind for offering to help Mel with her job seeking.
Chrissy, what was the story I saw about a hail storm in the Barossa Valley? Are you near the Barossa?
Lyndal, Chrissy and Trish, and anyone else whose BC was diagnosed a while ago, have you gotten over the emotional pain of the experience and all the treatments, side effects etc? I am a well adjusted person normally and not much bothers me but I still find it very painful and traumatic to think of everything associated with my experience. I really doubt that I will ever accept it and what it took from my life, even if I never have to face it again, hopefully.
What is your experience?
0 -
I would still enjoy meeting up with everyone, maybe later in the year, in Sydney? What does everyone think?
Last proposal was not good timing for me as I had just returned from holidays and had birthday parties in the family the same weekend. Would like to book ahead for cheap airfares. Brisbane to Sydney specials are $99 one way with Qantas. I don't know how much from Perth and Adelaide to Sydney but advance bookings from Brisbane to those places are just over $200 one way.
0 -
Racy, That storm passed right over the top of me but it dropped its bundle over the Barossa. I am about and hours drive from there, but only 1/2 hour from the Clare Valley.
I think there was talk about getting together later in the year in Brisbane........correct me if I'm wrong. I agree though on getting the plan going so we can look for specials on flights where ever it is.
Racy as you know I'm stage IV. The original Dx was hard to hear and I will admit I was numb mentally and it took some time to even be able to think reasonably let alone sanely.......my thoughts were as everyones is........fear of loss of life was foremost on my mind. It took a while but as I say, I found my peace which allows me the strength to do what I need to do. I don't think about it very often at all, I just do what I need to do.
Hope you can get passed the trauma soon.
Love n hugs. Chrissy
0 -
Im sorry Racy, I wont be much help. I didnt have any emotional pain from the dx. I do remember feeling relief that it was caught early and I was frantic to get the boob off asap to the extent my family and I rallied around and went to a private BS and Wesley Hospital to avoid what would have been several weeks delay for the free op at the PA hospital (due to xmas and their staff initially misreading my pathology and not catagorizing my op as anything remotely urgent. They did fix that mistake, but as I already had the operating room booked with my private BS, I went ahead with the Wesley).
I was traumatised by all the stuff with my ex and marriage breakup and living with what in hindsight was mild depression so the whole dx and masectomy was hardly a blip on my radar. Ive never cried about the BC to this day. I have thought about it and realised the odds of ever feeling I could expose my one boobed body to a new man at some stage in the future is extremely unlikely, but then being able to actually trust a new man in my life is also extremely unlikely even without the masectomy.
I did have one very bad time during the first bout of chemo when I had my head over a bowl non stop for 5 days when I was swearing I wasnt going to do the rest of chemo cause I couldnt stand feeling that bad for so long, but coincidentally a friend called out of the blue and by the time we hung up, i was feeling better emotionally and never went back to that bad place again.
The s/e's of arimidex have sucked, a combination of the arimidex itself and the successful job its doing in blocking the hormones and aging my body to that of a 70 year old. But they have been improving over the last year finally and Im hoping the naturopath stuff will help to improve them further.
Today, if I had to do chemo again, I would in an instant, hopefully incorporating some of the tips that Ive garnered from BCO ladies and would be hoping the s/e's wouldnt be as bad the second time around. I do get scared about mets now and then, but I think thats our new normal and we just have to get on with believing the BC isnt coming back until or unless it one day does. Thinking about it, worrying etc isnt going to change whatever our futures hold so its just wasted emotional pain and time that we dont get back to relive. Hope that makes sense lol.
To summarise, in my case I grew up with my mum telling me the following whenever life was getting me down and I have retained it to this day. She would say "Lyndal, if thats the worst thing that ever happens to you, you will be doing okay".
Do remember that in my case I was recently separated after a year of utter hell and devestation, I didn't have young children or even adult children to worry about and had a fairly supportive family overall to help with driving me around and coming with me to treatments. Mum would come over on the days I was really sick and bring a small balanced meal to ensure I ate something. We moved the bed into the lounge room and I basically lived there on my own for the duration other than family visits.
If I had had young children to fret about, i think it would have all hit home much harder, but at the time other than wanting the damn BC out of me via surgery, I didnt particularly care whether I lived or died. Very much had the attitude that what will be will be and worrying about it wont change the outcome.
0 -
Lyndal, where did you get to be such a great writer? You write really well!
0
