Any 40-ish survivors?
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JulieLynn... Welcome... About the nails, I was on Taxotere and put bags of frozen peas on my nails (hands and feet) during infusion, and had no problems.. Since you have already started with the problems, I don't know if icing will reverse it, but it may be worth trying.
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Hello to all the new girls, I would name you all, but I would be afraid to leave anyone out. Happy you are joining us! I will chime in, but again I am sorry if I don't remember who said what.
Taxotere nails. Had them. My finger nails were okay, but they got a little chalky. My big toenails pretty much died half way down. They are now just coming back. They do recover and my fingernails are very strong, but I think multivits have helped. I finished TAC x6 in March. My skin was also very dry and it took about 4 months for it to really recover too. Not on Herceptin so can't give an opinion on that one.
Have not heard of the diet someone was asking about, but from what Kim says it sounds a little like the old Atkins with all protein and then adding veggies and fruit later. Did well on that one once upon a time, but not sure how good it is for your body. I was blessed not to gain any weight on chemo, but was overweight to start with. Wish I had the motivation of most of the girls on here. I have good intentions, but never follow through. I did well at the gym prior to DX, but never lost any weight, but was in the best shape I had been in years. I need to change the diet to lose weight. Hard because I am the biggest junk food junkie ever and always have been.
JulieLynn you have a very rough 2010 with losing so many family and friends! I am so sorry and then CA in 2011!
Meegan how do you like your results so far from the DIEP? Just curious as to what the future holds.
Have a great evening/day everyone!
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Welcome to the new girls!
Kiwi - a good friend of mine is at the Austrialian Open right now. She is very active with tennis here in the States and for her 40th bday decided to go to this one. Apparently she scored seats in the president's box for tomorrow and is so excited about it. I know nothing of tennis but I assume this is a big deal. She is have a great time. I am sure you will too.
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Wow Lisa. Your friend is lucky. She will have a great time. Melbourne is a fantastic city and it's hot hot hot there right now.
JulieLynn. I can't flick back a page or will lose this post but if I recall I did the same chemo as you. I did 4 x AC and 12 x Taxol. I finished 14 weeks ago.
My nails got these funny white lines on them - a bit like rings in a tree trunk. One of my big toenails died and lifted but the rest were fine. It is slowly growing back and hasn't really been painful - it just looks yucky. I also took quite a few vitamins to help with neuropathy, liver function, immune system etc.
Your chemopause question. I also had chemopause and my periods have not returned as I'm now on Tamoxifen. You are ER- so won't have Tamox, so I'm presuming everything should return to normal. I'm not 100% sure though.
I was glad to finish chemo before Christmas! Are you having to do rads as well?
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JulieLynn - Just like Kiwimum I did 4 x AC and 12 x Taxol. I finished 6 weeks ago. I iced my toenails and my fingernails and I didn't have any problems. I also had chemopause and my periods have not returned, but I began Tamoxifen 4 weeks ago. I will begin radiation this week.
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Hi there! Diagnosed at age 41, now 44. This is a sucky diagnosis. Have kids aged 21 to 8 right now. Want to live to see them all graduate high school and be married. That really carried me thru when I was first diagnosed.
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Welcome Kimberly... A lot of new gals this week... we must be popular!! I am sorry about your fight with BC... how many kids do you have? You sound like a warrior... keep positive and keep fighting!!
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Proudmom-wife - thank you! I never thought about the antinausea meds and ativan causing problems. Hopefully I can cut back on those soon and start to feel somewhat "normal" again.
Sorry to hear about all the fireplace problems! You all have me too scared to turn ours on now!
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Thanks Ralston, Mamachick, Bdavid, and Kiwimum! I have been icing so hopefully that will help from completely losing the nails. I did lose a toenail on the AC that lifted off but that has grown back normal. Luckily I do not need rads. Thank you so much for all of your input - it's so nice to have a place like this to go to!
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Welcome newbies.....
Rawlston I used to belong to a Rad group and most of the girls had to have at least been done radiation a full month before starting Tamox. I started Tamox the day of my last treatment and I notice you started before your radiation treatment. How are you feeling? Any SE's yet?
Kimberly you do sound like a warrior. Are you all done treatment?
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Welcome to all the new girls!
Kiwimum, good for you getting up at 6am, that is one of my problems, definately not a morning gal and no way can I get up early to excercise! And how exciting to go to the Australian Open - I have to say you have the coolest job by far out of this group!!!!
JulieLynn - I just finished my year of Herceptin and I actually lost weight, but seem to be the exception. My fingernails were okay, but I do lose my nail on my big toe, about 1 or 2 months after Taxol finished. My chemopause has not gone away, but the hot flashes have gotten better and since you are also ER/PR- like me, hopefully they will for you. The hot flashes seem worse for the girls that have to take Tamox.
will be back later
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Sorry, my old boss was meeting me for lunch and she came mid-post last time.
Mamachick, thanks for asking about the DIEP, I love it so far. The ab area is still a little swollen, I understand it can take 6 months for all the swelling to go down, but my tummy even now is much flatter than before! I had some issues on my cancer, previously radiated breast resulting in that breast shrinking, but I hope that can be fixed in Stage II. I'm 7 weeks out tomorrow and still not a full energy level (take naps almost every day) and trying to get some fun things and some home projects in before I go back to work!
Went to the Y program yesterday, learned a few more machines and am not as sore as last week, so that's good. It's slightly raining now so trying to psych myself up to go for a walk anyway. Unfortunately, my Y has a separate cardio gym, which we don't have access to, so I can't walk on a treadmill there like I was hoping I could. oh well...
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proudwife, hope your house is doing better (smoke), today I don't smell anything, I thought initially I might need to call one of those disaster companies. How is your son doing?
hi to all our new girls! I will need to read more later and "meet you".
Kiwimum, you must have the coolest job.
Got a hair trim today, went to someone new, yikes...she cut too much! Can't grumble to much, it was a year ago tomorrow that I had my first chemo. Thinking of all you who are in the midst of it all, and wishing speedy and side effect free treatments.
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I cannot lie - I love my job! I was promoted into this position 3 years ago and worked hard for 7 years prior to that to get it. I was determined that when I was diagnosed last year that I would work through and not relinquish my job. I've got an amazing team at work who supported me through the year and apart from a few days off here and there I did work full time.
On another note - I went out for dinner last night and ate too much. Consequently I decided to eat no carbs today to counter balance. It is 2pm and I'm STARVING!! I hate dieting!
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That is awesome that you love your job. I have a love/hate relationship with mine. It fits my personality - I love to argue. But it is exhausting being in a constant state of fighting over something. Even though it is very civil, it is all about winning. It is stressful and makes me tired sometimes. But when I win, it rocks!!
When I was diagnosed, I had been with this firm for only about 10 months. I was really worried that I did not have the longevity for them to feel any sense of loyality to me or tolerance of a lot of time off work for treatment. I told my two senior partners that I was going to try to work through treatment, but if I have to be out a lot that I thought the fair thing would be to reduce my salary proportionate to my time off. They flat out told me I was being ridiculous and to not worry about it - I would be paid full time even if not working at all. It was very nice and, of course, motivated me to try that much harder. In the end, I only missed my infusion days. I was very lucky. I have had two job offers in the last year (out of the blue - I am not looking) and have turned both down because of how they treated me with that.
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Kiwi - you seem like an incredibly strong woman - it takes great courage to work through cancer treatment and you deserve all the good things your job brings!
God, dieting - as the 2 Scottish engines on our Thomas the Tank Engine used to say ( the one with Ringo Starr narrating) -" Don't mention that worrrrdd!". Looked up the 17 Day Diet - it seems rather hardcore. Once I sort out my sleep probs.,I'll most probably have another go at Weight Watchers Pro Points.
Hi to all the new girls - of course, this is the best thread on the entire BC.org network!
Sorry - I must also give "kudos" - (is that right?) to Lisa and Profbee and anyone else here who worked through the tx.
Love to all, Sarah x
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Well said Sarah!! What a great group this is.
KiwiMum ...your job is just awesome. You should be so proud to have gone through all that you have and take care of family too.
Lisa...sounds like you have a wonderful job too and how great to have that support from them!!
I know I need to go back through and read because chemobrain keeps me from remembering what I have read.
Just wanted to tell you all ..I had my first live strong meeting at the Y and it was really great. If any of you are interested in something like that it is so worth it. I will begin some other classes next week but will meet with my group on tues. and thurs.
I hope everyone is doing well tonight/today...
Hope all of the new girls will keep on posting...so great to know you.
Oh...I do remember fingernail question....I also lost my fingernails on Taxotere..did not lose toenails..was not painful just looked funny. My nails look normal now. I did not have this great advice at the time though with icing etc.
I am thinking of you girls still in active treatment..and will gladly cheer you to the finish line...and then we will all get on with our lives
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Welcome to all the newbies! Breaks my heart you had to join us but as you can see, you have found the best group!
Kiwimum - You rock! Not only do you have the best job but are an inspiration getting up to run each morning.. I hate running!
Kim - Wanted to share that I did a Zumba class last night and survived! LOL... Tonight I went to a step class which I think tried to kill me.....Thank goodness tomorrow is Yoga night......
As for fingernails, I did not have chemo but am finding my fingernails peeling & breaking easily. Wonder if my friend Tammy has anything to do with it....
Hope everyone has a good week and hugs to everyone....
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Hi Everyone,
Odie...that is great,you are shakin' a leg and getting your exercise.
Forgot to say you too KiwiMum...and very early too. I do find if I do not exercise in the morning I will find a million excuses not to in the afternoon.
I will go back to the Y again tomorrow..I will sign up for some classes. I did get the Brazilian butt lift workout ( LOL ) ...I really did though...I will watch it here in a few minutes...I wish I had a fritter to go with it ..LOL I will let you know if it is just ridiculous.
Hope everyone is having a great day/evening
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christine47 - Thanks for asking about my son. He is doing better and is now having 1:1 sessions. In fact the whole family is doing better, hoping things continue on this path. Definitely glad we took the step for counseling.
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Can I join? I realized today that I am far closer to 40 than 30 and I'd like to hang with girls my age!
Finished dose dense AC/T in October, 3 months on tamox and so far so good!
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hi and welcome to misswim! Of course you can join our group, looks like it is quiet today, everyone is out exercising!
ProudMom, so glad your son is doing better. I don't think boys show their emotions like girls and it maybe harder for them to get help, etc. As normal as we try to keep things thru the cancer stuff, you wonder how much it effects our kids. I have several adult friends that had parents pass from cancer when they were teens, seems they have a different perspective on life and had to mature earlier.
Kmur, glad you are enjoying Livestrong. I want to know all about the Brazilian Butt lift DVD, go get an apple fritter and watch it.
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kmur - I am really liking my Living Strong program also! I'm on M and W, last week I said I would go Friday also, but was way tooo tired, we'll see about this week. I think I might wait another week for the 8 week mark, don't want to piss my PS off!
Odie - Wow, Zumba, then Step, then Yoga 3 nights in a row, you rock!
That is a big problem with excercise, when to fit it in???? After Rads I started walking and would do it at lunchtime. I cannot get up early in the morning and I get home at 7pm on a regular night and want to spend some time with the kids. But lunch is hard, because my dept. has a bad culture of people eating at their desks. Not working most times, surfing internet, whatever, but it makes it a little awkward being gone for so long (never more than an hour).
Lisa - that is great that you got such good support from a new job and it worked out for them since you are so loyal now. I got great support also, but have been there almost 15 years. Still, you never know, esp. in this climate. I however, did not work through chemo, I worked every other week. Well, I guess I did work, but took whole weeks off...
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Hi everyone,
Proudmom...that is good news..had been thinking of you too. I agree about boys. I don't know about you girls,but my son is not one to open up and freely talk. I'm just so happy to hear you are on the right track....I wish we had a book so as to know what to do for our kids.
Christine....Love the Livestrong program...I have met several really nice ladies. Will be there again tomorrow. I know this is a weird question...but how are you doing with the pain above the tailbone? Just thought about that....I am still having back issues kind of above the tailbone too. I was supposed to take a muscle relaxer and forgot..so I am taking it now. Anyway...if it does not let up I will have an MRI next week.
Oh, I forgot...I think I like the Brazilian Butt Lift workout...I like the real exercise and resistance training...I think it will not kill me like Zumba. I was shaking one way and they were shaking the other...I'm not that quick anymore!! BTW....no fritters,but I did have a chocolate chip cookie
Hope everyone is doing well
Welcome misswim...I think you should just fit right in...lots of nice girls here and one never knows where the conversation will go. Look forward to hearing from you
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Meegan...I missed your post as I was typing. The program is really nice isn't it? The first session was very good ..checking weight/blood pressure and then training on treadmill etc. Have you met some nice folks too?
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The Brazilian Butt Workout sounds great Kim. I can't wait to hear how toned your butt gets
Meegan - fitting things in is hard! It's a constant juggling act ... not to mention the mommy guilt.
Lisa - the support your company showed definitely deserves loyalty. I always find it funny that companies treat their staff poorly, then act surprised when their staff show them no loyalty and won't go above and beyond for their jobs. It's definitely a case of what goes around comes around.
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Fitting in the exercise is definitely a struggle... I used to put it on my calendar like an appointment so I wouln't come up with excuses not to do it... that was back in the day when I worked out 6 days a week.. I have gotten into a good rhythm this month... need to keep it up... went today, and my body was more tired, so I need to strike a balance.
So this 40 something group may have to kick me out... I turned 49 today... ugh.One more year til the big one.
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Hey everyone,
44 here. Just finished 2 of 6 chemo tx's. I am not icing anything but have not had nail problems yet. JulieLynn, I don't know if this will help but I just went to a Women's integrative health seminar and the Dr. who was speaking talked about a vaginal estrogen that helped make sex more comfortable and was not thought to increase risk of BC like the ingested and transdermal hormones do. You might ask your gyn.
Hugs everyone! Judy
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Happy Birthday Betsy! We're a group with a 40ish mindset - definitely won't be kicking you out!
Hi Judy. A third done is making progress. This is a great group of ladies who will cheer you on to the end0 -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETSY!!!! YAY!!! Thought I would say isn't 50 the new 40 anyway?? I think you have to stay.
Hi Judy ..welcome ...and yes you are almost done...I think for all of us here- it is great to see someone to the end!!
Not much to report..I will do my workout this morning and head over to the Y ...I will keep you all posted about my butt "liftage"....funny the workout came with a pencil so you can "measure" your progress....I wont try to explain how this is done!!
Have a great day/morning/afternoon
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