Any 40-ish survivors?
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o2bhealthy and 37 antiques - thanks for the understanding. It really does seem like so much right now.
Lisa - I agree, I need to see the dentist also, but haven't had the heart to try to schedule another dr appts!
I did hurt by back a few weeks ago, so I'm seeing the chiro tomorrow. I have Herceptin in the pm and decided to take the morning to try to get some things done. So first the chiro, then to the medical supply store to try to buy a LE glove, then to buy a strapless bra and spanx for the wedding. Hopefully I can fit it all in.
Are you ladies still seeing your PCP too? I have not seen mine since my dx, she doesn't even know I have bc! Again, just too much, plus I wanted to change PCP's anyways.
Beth - welcome. I go out to LI a lot as my parents still live there, in the Stony Brook area.
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Readingmama I live just a few minutes from Stonybrook in Lake Grove!
I know what you all mean about the dentist (or any other appt) I am months overdue on the dentist and an eye appt and haven't managed to schedule either one because of Herceptin infusions, Rads, etc. Can't stand the thought of one more Dr. in the picture right now even for a routine issue but I know I need to take of these things sooner or later!
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I didn't go to the dentist during chemo or right after it was done-was advised against it because of my low white blood cell counts. So I finally just went about a month ago. Root canal-yay me.
My PCP is the one I went to when I found the original lump-she ordered the ultrasound and mammogram. I just went to see her about two months ago after being bedridden for a week with the flu-I forced her to give me antibiotics since my immune system was so compromised. So it had been over a year since I had seen her-she let me know my oncologist's office sends her a fax of my progress. I thought that was great.
Man, if I have the same pain in my hand on Femara I'm going to cut it off. It hurts so bad when I wake up. I've started using ultra-strength Ben Gay on it and putting on a wrist/hand brace. Now that I'm babysitting my 3 month old nephew 3 days a week, my whole left arm is permanently locked up (I'm right handed, so I hold him with my left arm/hand.) And he likes to be held a lot! I'm introducing him to "tummy time" so I can get a break. Lol
Everyone have a terrific rest of your day!
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So how are everyone's teeth anyway? As long as we hit the topic of the dentist...I went last year and ended up having 2 rebuilt and five more pulled, and I need two more pulled now. Does everyone seem to be having issues like this after chemo, or am I just really lucky?
I'm with you, I would hate to schedule another doctor appointment, even if it is just the dentist!
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I had a wisdom tooth break in half, and two new cavities...My first day of chemo they were looking at me for a study - some kind of med that would have been a shot every three months for calcium and vitamin D. One of the requirements was that they had to look at my teeth! That's how I knew I broke the wisdom tooth after chemo.
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Three new cavities and one tooth broke for me too... I made sure to see the dentist just before chemo because I had been warned in advance about dental appointments being a no no on chemo due to compromised immune system.
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Ladies... you are all so brave... I am lucky to be apart of this group... you are strong women! I come here at night just to get myself into perspective. My new boobs hurt.... my back aches... my scars sore...and then I come here and know that everyone has their own aches/pains.... Have a good day all:)
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((((MWS)))) sorry you are having a rough day!!
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Hi Everyone,
Me too with the dentist. My counts were low also (still are) but I did just recently go to the dentist. I also have a cavity. I don't know about all of you,but chemo was harder on the soft parts of my mouth. My gums were so very sore and swollen. At the end I do think I had some infection and I ran a bit of a fever . Was put on antibiotics. I guess time will tell how my poor teeth will hold up.
PS I never liked going to the dentist anyhow!!
Mws- Hope you will feel better. The surgery pains do get easier to handle with some time.
Have a wonderful day,
Kim
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Kim~ My blood pressure was higher going to the dentist than my first visit with MO!!!!!
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Meegan-Just had my yearly exam at my PCP today. Wow! did it ever take a long time to catch up in her records! I've had so many tests, I forgot about some of them! It was nice to get there though, so that I have someone monitoring everyone else's work :-)
Here is my daily exercise for Monday--- 20 minutes moderate biking, 4 hours housework
Tuesday---30 minutes Pilates, 25 minutes moderate walking
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Hi Gina- That makes me smile...I'm so right there with you!!
Susanhg- When I read the part about forgetting tests etc. It made me think about just how scary my forgetfulness is these days. I recently had an appt. with my ONC at his main office (where I had chemo how many times and office visits) . I forgot what floor he was on and rode the elevator up and down before I got to the correct floor...I sometimes wonder what I will be like when I'm a little old lady...no teeth, no memory...I just hope everyone will be patient with me... Thank you for saying that so I could chuckle at my own self!!
Kim
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So, last week I finished radiation and had an immediate appt with PS to re-expand (they took out 300 cc prior on the right side prior to radiation so the rad plan would work). He put in 180cc last week and I had no problem. This week - 120cc, and I'm sitting here with a heating pad on my chest. Hurts almost as much as the mastectomy...but I had really good drugs for that!! Hoping tomorrow is better!
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slg2130 - please be very careful with using a heating pad, one of the women on my recon thread last year got burned and lost her implant due to the infection. We still do not have full feeling bad in our foob's and sometimes are not aware of injury. Please be safe and I am so sorry you are hurting. Have you asked your PS for muscle relaxers to help?
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Hello ladies, I am here, I am alive , I am crawling out of the chemo pit . someone grab my hand .....Thanks
.Ok so still in a bit of fog, you know weepy, fur on my tongue, lovely taste of metal for every meal but over all this has to be the best one for me so far. I only had a few moments of dry heaving.they gave me a new medicine, that breaks down the food in your body really quickly and moves it through your system so you dont get nauseated but on the flip side my bum really really hurts oh my the diareha usually I struggle with the constipation but now I have the opposite . I tell ya what I better loose some weight with this procedure. Ok just wanted to pop in and say quick hi to you all.
Hope your all having a SE free weekend
Hugs Kymn
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Oh Kymn, I'm giving you a virtual boost out of chemo Hell ((((((hugs))))) I can't forget those days/weeks/months of that overall shitty feeling, so I completely sympathize. Hang in there
. And hugs to all of my 40-ish sisters who are dealing with side effects.
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Kymn, glad this one has been abit easier on you. Grabbing your hand and pulling you out! I think you just have one more to go? You can and will do it, then on to recovery and feeling better.
I finally got my prescription for Tamoxifen today, actually excited to get started, I know that sounds crazy, but I am so strongly er/pr++++, I have made up my mind it will help. Lets hope the SEs are minimal or none.
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SLG: Thought I'd echo what Michelle said about using a heating pad. My PS said you should only use ice and then for short periods because we just can't tell when we are getting too much heat or cold.
As for the dentist, mine keeps sending me reminder cards to make an appt. I just don't feel up to that right now. I already have 8 doctor appts this month.
Went for US of uterus last Thursday which turned out clean. PET scan was Monday. YUCK!! Hated my "breakfast" and the IV. Tomorrow I have a fill at the PS and then Thursday I have a CT of the brain. Praying they turn out clean also. HUGS to all of you!!
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mom2one,
Oh, I hate PET scans. I will also be praying they are normal for you. I did the ovary/uterus ultrasound stuff last week on Thursday too. They thought something was up on my left ovary from the PET, turns out everything was ok. Sounds like a busy week for you, keep us posted.
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Susan - you win on the exercise front. I have not done a damn thing. I have been buried this week. I have got to find time to better take care of myself. Tomorrow. . . Sigh.
Kim (kmur) - you dance like the wind?! That is funny. I am trying to imagine what that looks like. Poor guy. You have give him credit for trying.
I think the corniest line I have ever heard was "Are you trying to hypnotize me with those eyes.". Awful! But he was really hot, so it worked.. I miss my 20s. LOL.0 -
can I chime in on the dentist thing, my filing just fell out about an hour ago and am going on xeloda tomorrow, have to find a dentist that will take my health women medicad insurance...will talk to the oncol. tomorrow. When I had BC the first time and did chemo and rads I lost 4 teeth during the 6 months I was in treatment....
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Excercise? Isn't that laundry and vacuuming? No matter, weight is disappearing at a rapid rate from me, I don't know where or why, but that's ok. Maybe it's just water from a lot of tea?
Are PET scans really so bad? I've never had one. I think I've had every other blasted thing under the sun. Had a CT scan this morning, but now I am in more pain than before. I think the massive drink of scan juice has finally settled where they wanted an image, too bad the scan was 12 hours ago. Oh well, maybe just a reaction from the injection. DH says he will turn out all the lights tonight and peek under the covers to see if I'm glowing.
Very happy I am not the only one with dental issues! I went to a place (chain dental office, bad idea) last year and they said it would be over $9000.00 to get dentures and $7500.00 to repair them. Umm...that's just ridiculous!
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37antiques - my DS had a CT Scan when he was in emergency and ended up having his appendix out...no one told us that explosive diarrhea can be a side effect of the junk they make you drink...it hit my DS about 5 hours after his surgery 12 hours after drinking it. Just an FYI, hopefully you won't have to experience anything like that. Poor kid was 13, still groogy from surgery and hooked up to IV, BP, O2 monitor AND his legs had those compression wraps on that gently squeeze your legs to avoid clots, he was so embarrassed.
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sig... I am so with you on the stretching pain... hang in there... take something for it... but I agree with other ladies.. no heat or ice.... massage helps a little from the top down is what the dr reccomended... I had my last fill almost 3 weeks ago.... and stretching and gravity still going... time and patience.... and those are hard for me:)
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Hi Ladies - thanks for the warning on the heating pad. Funny thing, though - I still have quite a bit of feeling across my chest (despite the BMX) - enough that when the PS does the expansion, the needle hurts going in. His comment was "Wow, I rarely see that." Hmmm. At any rate, the heating pad really worked on the muscle - had it on medium, and I was holding it against my chest with my arm, so I really could feel the intensity on the arm. Advil also helped. Feeling better tonight as I can actually take a deep breath!
Kymn - glad you're crawling out. Hope things get better for you soon!
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Kim- my memory is so bad , it is embarrassing! I definitely feel like a little old lady in more ways than one!
Lisa-You can do it! Maybe set aside a time in the day that will always be there. Maybe as soon as you wake up?
Sue-Housework definitely counts! I actually get a better workout doing house work since my house has three floors plus the basement.
Kymn-hope things get better ASAP! wish I could give you a "real" hug. Here's one anyway ((hug))
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Beth - right near! My parents actually live in Setauket and my brother & his wife are in Port Jefferson.
Okay, I will admit it, I haven't been to the dentist before bc in over a year. probably over two years. Terrible I know. All excuses, but I find a dentist I like and they leave my plan. I find another dentist near work and work moves us across the river to NJ. Now back to NYC and need to go. But at this point it will have to wait some more...
Also, my eyes are definately getting worse, but I also thought I would wait a little while in case its a chemo effect and they start to get better again?
I'm sure my PCP has not received copies of any of my tests. I tried to get copies of everything sent to by Gyn, but faded a little in following up on that.
So my MO yesterday and she is going to start me on an anti-depressant for a little while. While I'm hesitant, I think I will try it, esp. while I'm on Herceptin as I really think Herceptin is giving me some depression.
Susan HG - congrats on your excercise! I have a plan in my head, just haven't started it yet! Tomorrow going to Phili with 5th grade class trip, so I'm sure that will involve plenty of walking! And I walked a fair bit yesterday shopping, I'm counting that too!
For those having PET scans, are they for specific reasons, I mean like persistent pain or as a normal course? I never had a PET scan in the first place, they do a body scan at my center, but since they didn't find anything the first time, my MO said they do not do another after chemo/trmt, only if there was persistent and/or intense pain somewhere.
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After I finished with my radiation, I had a tooth break in half. Made an appointment and on the way there, a lady in my neighbor hood backed out of her driving and hit my car and total it. We were going on vacation the following week so I had to wait another two weeks. In the mean time a filling came out another tooth. Yeah I have bad luck. Got the dentist bill paid off and yep I was drinking Mt. Dew and another filling fell out. I feel bad because I skipped out on my appointment this spring. My Dentist was so good to me the last time. He met me on a Friday night and filled that tooth. I never got a bill for it either. So yes chemo and radiation have effects on our teeth. I was warned and told to use the pro health toothpaste and to use some rinse but I have forgotten what it was. Darn Chemo brain.
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Hi Slg2130- Hope you are feeling better. I remember the fill ups and feeling like I could hardly take a breath. I did have muscle relaxers and that did help .
Susanhg- Mon. 40 min treadmill- Tues 40 min. treadmill /sit ups
Kymn- I really look forward to the post that says "I'm done" I really remember that awful taste. It was so hard to eat sometimes but I will tell you it really gets so much better. The biggest problem with that (if you want to call it a problem) is that almost everything tastes better. I bet in one day I ate 6 homemade oatmeal cookies and they were the best things I had eaten in forever. Now I'm tryin' to work off all that post chemo food!!!
37 antiques, Me too I'v had just about every scan I can think of. Not a PET though. I will have to ask about this. Me too Meegan- The ONC says he will not do regular scans unless I have symptoms. Not sure how I feel about that. Gosh- I really wish after all we have been through and all the money we have put into the health care industry that us cancer patients could get a free card to have nice teeth and working eyes. Have we not invested enough. I know this will never happen except in my ideal world ....
Kittydog- Holy Cow all that in one day. At least your dentist is nice. Mine wanted to charge to put this little bits of antibiotic on the inside of my gums but didn't tell me until after doing so...
Readingmama- I will be thinking of you and hope you will feel better with the antidepressant. I really hope one day we will not need all the meds we are on...
Lisa- I miss my 20's too
Prayers and good wishes to each of you (once again I'm windy)
Kim
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Hey girls, checking in-at midnight, while I'm watching some stupid movie.
Kymn-I hope you're feeling better and better each day. Just one more to go!
Well I'm glad to know if wasn't only me that ended up with tooth problems from the chemo! Dang, we've all had some crazy issues.
My exercise consisted of lifting a 15lb pound baby up and down and over my head, and getting up and down off of the floor a million times...kinda like squats? Well that's what I'm going with!
Last night I had to take two Percoset to deal with the pain in my hand and arm. Then I was over on my Arimidex board and a lot of those ladies started getting relief after being on it for 6 months. So it's a dilema...do I suffer for another 3 months and hope the pain lessens, or have the Onc switch me to something else? Ugh. Oh, and there are the sleep issues...or lack of sleep, if you're wondering why I'm up watching TV and playing on the computer.
I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow! Chins up, ladies!
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