Radiation recovery
Comments
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Hi Gigil,
Such a sweet post. You are an Angel. It bring tears to my eyes thinking about how nice the bc sisters have been to me. Thank you for letting me know about the patient with lung nodules, and about you niece who isn't having a problem with nausea it makes me feel so much better.The trip to Chicago will lighten my heart. I want to have fun with my children and grandchildren and not think about my illness. Then I will come home and try to kick cancer in the butt. Having lots of friends on this site is such a blessing for me. Having you all in my pocket with cake balls and wine means everything to me. It is so wonderful to have your support and the other bc sisters support. It also brings tears to my eyes knowing that so many of you have issues, but take your time to send me supportive messages, HOW NICE IS THAT. If you all don't mind I won't join a bladder cancer support group. I want to stay on this site where I feel the love from all my bc sisters. A special thank you to you Gigil, because you've always been so sweet to me. and I so much appreciate it. Hugs, Kate
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Kate I know what a blow this has been to you, and I understand being scared. I think you just have to go into this like you did with the BC. Determined to kick it to the curb and not let it win. You have more inner strength than you know, and this too you will handle with your head held high. It is perfectly okay though to have a good long cry, so don't feel weak if you shed some tears. It is healthy! You can be strong and still are allowed to be human. That is not a sign of weakness. I am glad you are going to see your family and I know how much joy that will give you. I hope you can get the trip scheduled soon and have that to look forward to. Then return refreshed and ready to fight. Nobody likes chemo but this too you can get through. You have seen all the love and support you have here, it is amazing how kind and generous of spirit our BC sistas are. Just focus on your wonderful trip and then know you are beginning treatment to rid your body of this cancer. Stomp it out Kate.....you have the fire within! Hugs to you!
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Hi Hanis,
Thank you so much for your encouragement. I am resilient and a fighter and I will fight this like I did breast cancer. I did cry last night, but today I feel strong again. My daughter is scheduling my trip, and I should know when I am going within the next couple of days. The type of chemo I am going to have doesn't sound too bad becayse I won't lose my hair. However I will be concerned with nausea, vomiting, or tiredness if I experience that. I am overwhelmed with the love and support I have received from my bc sisters here. Their generosity and love is so wonderful. Thanks so very much fior your support. Hugs, Kate
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Kate - You stay right here with us. There is no need to join another support group when you know everyone here. Cancer is cancer. I am so sorry about the bladder cancer. My dad had it for 10 years and he was fine Kate. What killed him was an infection from something else and he was 94. Tell you what. If I can get to LA next year like I want we will have a celebrate lunch at Venice at my favorite place right on the beach. How bout it?
Thyroid biopsy update. THAT SUCKED. OUCH!!! It is over and I made it through. He said I will be bruised and sore and my neck is a mess from tipping my head back so long but I am fine. Time for some cake!!! I will have results by next week. Not going to think about it till then. By the way I do like my endocronologist. Maybe he can find me a good PCP because mine has to go.
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By the way I still can not figure out how to do the avitar. I get some note that says it is not familiar. I know very little about photos etc so I will ask my friend next month to help me. He knows computers very well. Till then I am olive complexion with med length dark curly hair.
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Bunkie I am really happy that your biopsy is over. When I had mine they were unable to hit the nodules so I ended up having my right thyroid removed. No cancer, and nodules in the thyroid are so common very few are cancerous. I am sure you will have a good outcome. You deserve some cake. I have some carrot cake, will that do?
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Good Morning!
Kate - you are so resilient and a fierce warrior! Luv your confident spirit and know that being with family soon will strengthen you even more:). Bet D & GK are eager to see you:). If Dr says chemo won't impact hair we'll claim that...and pray no SEs.
Not sure if you journal or log your appointments, but I have found that it helps me remember and document care. Hopefully you have. It certainly helped with DHs care and insurance never questioned when pressed because I had backup...cya.
I don't know about the rest of the pocket buds but my tiniest carry on is packed...Luv Chicago! Road trip! Enjoy your time we got you surrounded in love!
Bunkie10 - it's Wednesday put your hand in your pocket squeeze yap that's us(((hugs)))! Didn't think we'd forget a Dr appt...
Ok PB we need to design some fierce warrior hats...got 3 weeks who can make the fiercest GRRR...Kicking c's butt!
(((Hugs)))
Cindy0 -
Hi Bunkie,So glad your biopsy is over. I will pray for benign results. I would love to meet you for lunch when you come to California Hugs, Kate
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Hi Cincy,
I will carry you all in my pocket on my plane ride to Chicago. It is my home town, and I love Chicago. Great people, great architecture, great museums, fabulous restaurants and shopping. Unfortunately I won't want to document my chemo treatments. I just want to get in there get it done and not have to think about it again. At most I will be having 18 treatments. The best possible scenario is 12 treatments. I will have treatments once a week for 3 weeks and have the 4th week off. This woll fo on for either 4 or 6 months. Thank you for surrounding me in love. I feel it. you are so sweet to me.
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Hi Kate
Yea Chicago! And it's warming up for spring time
If you proceed with lawsuit you will need documentation. Just wondered about your paper trail...your attorney will ask and need to make your case. Thought you might want to pull it together prior to appt and fun trip.0 -
Hey Bunkie10 - you were brave today! Ouch is right. Sending B9 thoughts your way.
Cake yes cake...Janis we need cake balls for Bunkie! Did you see the sparkle gold star on your forehead....yap that's why everyone was smiling at you this morning...and you thought it was the dark curly hair...ha!
(((Hugs)))
Cindy0 -
RMlulu...consider cake balls done. i will make a variety this time. One chocolate based for sure, I know some of you must like chocolate. Lemon of course for the non chocolate lovers!
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Thanks so much for the info Cindy Hugs, Kate. From the few calls I have made I can see that it is going to be grueling to find a good malpractice attorney in Los Angeles. Does anyone know a good malpractice attorney in Los Angeles Hygs Kate
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Bunkie I've been worried about your thyroid biopsy. those definitely do hurt! I'm so glad that's done and finished with for you. I do think it will most likely be b9 since so many are. But....we're still going to wait right with you to get the final news on that! Janis...how about something really really decadent for Bunkie like a 7 layer chocolate torte? Or a mousse infused cake ball? Or a lemon curd topping over anything?
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Kate....I'm with everyone else and hope to be able to help you along thru all this trauma. It is certainly very difficult, and I for one can sympathize, but can't truly comprehend the horror of it all. I'm just very sorry you're having to deal with it all. I'm sure you'll get thru this, as you must, and it will certainly be hard, and we're going to try to help you any way we can.
That said, and please don't take this the wrong way, but please think clearly and thoughtfully about going thru a malpractice suit at this time. As April said, you've got time. Make notes, and document what you now recall happening, but please, think about this a bit. For example, you originally said (if I remember correctly) that you had a ct scan a year (or 18 months) ago and were fine, had a chest x-ray 6 months ago, and now had the yearly follow-up ct scan which is what found all these nodules/masses. that sounds to me like your Dr. was running appropriate tests, and that at least 1 year ago, you were clear. Your lungs were clear 6 months ago.....if I remember your post correctly. I know you're upset, I know this is a tremendous ordeal to face, but I truly, in my heart of hearts, believe that you need to concentrate on the hand you've been dealt, and not mess with trying to deal with a malpractice suit. Those are tough at the best of times. Heck, even your Urologyst who ran that cystoscopy didn't find anything....... I'm afraid my dear, that these tumors are just fast growing awful things that you need to concentrate on getting rid of! The bladder mass is gone. the chemo may well take care of the lung mass your Dr. thinks. If it's in your lymph system, the chemo, as I understand it, would take care of that too. So, instead of worrying about what might have been, worry, right now, about getting yourself thru all this....... Then, if necessary, and after you've consulted more doctors, you can think whether malpractice is the appropriate road to take.
I do love you Kate, and hope you can take this "cold water" caution in the spirit in which it was intended...out of care, and concern for you and your current well being......not on what could, or could not for that matter, have been.
Peggy (aka Mostly Sew)
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Justjanis - Yup Carrot Cake will do fine. I order organic gingerbread from Whole Foods in Ca still. I have a friend that ships it and I freeze it till I want a piece. I took out a really big piece after that biopsy and just ate it all.
Thanks everyone for the pocket party. Each time he went in he kept saying....I am sorry to have to do this. I can handle a Dr like that. Got big ole bandage on my throat that reminds me of the time I tried to hide a hickey. Haha. At age 16..... like nobody could figure that one out. Thought you would all like a laugh.
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Bunkie10 glad you are through that biopsy. The rads knocked my thyroid for a loop. I have always been hypothyroid, but it was almost non-existent after rads. My PCP kept increasing my dosage of synthroid until it was back in normal range. It took about a year. I know I had a goiter when it was low. I could feel it. It has gone down now. They say they can closely target the rads, but you hear about so many thyroid glands being knocked out, at least temporarily. Hoping for and betting on B9 results for you. GiGi
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Bunkie! So glad that is over with! Now it is time for that party and cake balls. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers every day until you get the results.
Kate, Sew is right. Malpractice is a VERY grueling process and most attorneys will require you to bring the burden of proof before they even look at taking it. You have time for this is all I was trying to say (and Sew too) cause there is a statute of limitations from the time of the harm (not sure what date they will go by) so take your time and worry more about your health right now instead of the upset that a lawsuit will cause you (a tremendous amount of pressure comes with that) so you can get well. Then, fight this if you feel strongly you have a case.
If the doctor proves he gave you the appropriate tests for your complaint, he will prevail even if he was dead wrong and should have treated you further. My daughter is an attorney who specializes in very big lawsuits like this (not your typical malpractice but big high profile negligence cases) but she is in Boston MA and does not practice in CA. If you want, I can ask her for a couple of names of good ones as her firm is the oldest litigation firm in Boston and knows lawyers all over the country. They recommended someone for a friend of mine here in CT and he won him a big case against a huge company for wrongful death (their truck killed his wife in a car accident) so I know they know people everywhere. BUT, right now, worry about getting well!!!!
Ok, Gigi, you truly are a sweetheart.
Janis, you are getting me fatter by the day but how could I not adore someone who baked me a cake that looked like that birthday cake? xoxo
Sew aka Peggy, FWIW, your advice to Kate is spot on imho.
RMlulu aka Cindy, you are amazing! You are everywhere making people feel better! xo
Gotta hit the kitchen...dinner! Pasta tonight. Had sauce in the freezer so it was a no-brainer for me today. What a day! All the crazies were out in force at work. My clients are mostly wonderful, but today, I had two froot loops in a row! One guy got PO'd at me cause I could not "get him" a job. I told him I help him to fix his resume, do better at interviews and give him job leads, but only HE can get the job! He thought I would just hand him a job...sheesh. If I could do that, I would have handed one to my husband who is also out of work!
OK, tonight I may add a glass of wine to the menu! Hugs to all!
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Hi Mostly sew you are confused about which Dr. treated me for what. My medical oncologist ordered the ct scan chest exray etc. He is not the one that I discuused that my stools have changed etc. That was my family practioner who just kept saying you hads a colonoscopy you are fine. When I told him I felt a blockage, along with shapes of stools changing along with having trouble releasing a bowel movement all he said was you had a colonoscopy you are fine. Unfortunately I only discussed this with my family practioner and not my medical oncologist. I discussed this with him for at least 12 months. He never ordered one test. He never recommended a urologist. He only kept saying you are fine you had a colonoscopy. You are wrong about my urologist not finding anything when he did my cystocopy. After that test he told me i would need a biopsy under general anesthsia. As for the bladder tumor coming out, bladder tumors grow right back. I am persuing this with attorneys today. For 18months this man could have suggested a urologist and I would have been diagnosed at stage o or stage 1, and not at stage 4. I am hotly angry that my life will be shortened by his incompetence and he needs to pay for it. On the list of symptoms at my urologists office one of the symptoms is has the shape of your stools changed. My urologist was shocked that my family practioner never suggested a urologist. I am not starting chemo till I come back from Chicago. So it is now that I have time to interview attorney's. Peggy Sew I know you meant well, so I hope you are not taking this the wrong way, but you had my medical facts wrong Hugs, Kate
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Wow Kate, that does put this in perspective and why you want to pursue it so quickly. I am only thinking of your health and that maybe waiting until after chemo would help you not to be stressed during an already stressful time. But, with that being said, perhaps this will give you the fight that you need in some ways too.
Would you like me to ask my daughter if they know anyone in your area of California? I am not sure exactly where you are located, but I am sure they can tell me a name or two. Unless you have already retained an attorney of course. Either way, you sound like you do have a case against your GP to me although I am not an attorney. Since you told him numerous times that something was wrong and he did not act on it, I would say that I would do the exact same thing. Huge hugs...let me know if you want that referral! xoxo
Edit: Just sent you a PM
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Hi Everyone,
I am so happy to tell you I am leaving for Chicago Wednesday April 17 and returning Sunday the 21st. OMG I am so happy to be going to see my family. I am waiting for an answer from my Dr. to see if I can start chemo Tues. April 23rd.
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Hi everyone,
I have a question for anyone who can answer. When I met my oncologist last week after my radiation was over, I asked him how will he monitor me as far as recurrence? What I meant was what tests will he do on me since he wants to see me in 3 months. He told me that he will exam my breast area (I had BMX) and a general check up by listening to the heart and lung and check the neck for enlarged lymph node. He explained to me that I should report any pain or any problem that does not go away in two weeks to him. Then he will order more tests. This means that by the time I start having pain in any area, it is already too late and it is stage 4. He said he might not even order blood work every time I see him. Is this normal? What type of tests do you go through every time you see your oncologist? Thank you so much for your help.
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Hi Kate--I've been following your story too but I must have missed a day. Now I've caught up. I'm so sorry about your new diagnosis. When my mom got bladder cancer, her doctor said, No cancer is great, but bladder cancer is one of the most treatable kinds. Fifteen years later my mom is doing fine. I'm so inspired by your courage and determination, although I'm sure you have low moments. It sounds like this chemo will be a can-do. I'm glad you're going to keep posting here, because I really want to see how it goes, and you have quite a following! I hope your trip to Chicago is just as you need it to be.
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Hi April,
I live in Santa Monica,Ca. , and I have not retained an attorney yet. I would appreciate a couple of recommendations. Thanks so much. I think pushing myself as hard as I can to file a malpractice suit will give me the strength to get through this God awful chemo hugs, kate
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Hirunfree16,
Maybe your mon's bladder cancer was caught at stage one. it looks like mine has metastasized. I am trying not to think about it, but sometimes i have low periods. I am so looking forward to my trip so I don't have to think about it at all. Thank you so much for being part of my following. I don't know what I would do without all my wonderful bc sisters. Thanks so much for your support. Hugs, kate
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Kate my husband is a doctor and I am a lawyer. I have evaluated cases like this a few times over the years. If your PCP didn't mention your concerns in his progress note, it will turn out to be your word against his. From what I remember you told him you were concerned about a change in the shape of your bowel movements. Was there anything else that would point him to the bladder? Pain? Frequent UTI's? First thing you should do is request a copy of your records, just telling them it is for your own files. They will likely make you pay for them, but you have a legal right to them. Look them over and see if he mentions your concerns in the progress note. You can decide where to go from there. You can take that to a potential attorney for their opinion. You can do this in your own time, when it works for you, and when you have the energy and time. That statute of limitations for California is two years, to the best of my knowledge.
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Kate
Your health is #1 but go after them in full Warrior Gear!! Have a wonderful trip to Chicago, I know the city very well my employer is there, so much fun and so much to do! Cherish every minute. You are going to get though this and be just fine. C is messing with the wrong girl.
((HUGS)) Kim
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New2bc a lot of MO's don't believe in running routine blood tests. Some of them can yield false positives. My PCP does a metabolic panel at least twice a year. That would show signs of trouble all over the place. She did a complete blood count at first too. Now she monitors my vitamin D (which is always low) and my thyroid. My surgeon follows up by manual exam looking for lumps and bumps in the armpits, neck, and breast area. My daughter in law who had a double mastectomy gets a bit less surveillance. My MO recently retired, so I am looking for a new one. I read a great article by an MO from Harvard who treats bc patients. She doesn't think a ton of blood tests should be routine. If you are interested, I could look for that link for you.
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New2bc my MO orders blood twice a year, and that's it. Our exams are chats...I don't even undress. We go over test results/mammo film. I see my regular doc for wellness every year and have a routine screening mammo (yes, I'm back to screening) now once a year.
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(((Kate))) We'll get through this!!! Enjoy yourself in Chicago...keeping you in my prayers...xoxoxo Lisa
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