Radiation recovery
Comments
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Susannah....I love you too, and you're welcome....❤.....keep me posted, and if there's
anything I can help you with, let me know.0 -
Thanks Christine, I will.
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Hi Gigil,
Glad you are getting much needed sun. Yes my ex is one of my oldest friends and his support means so much. Enjoy Florida, Hugs, Kate
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Hi Lemon,
Thank you so much for your support. Shopping of course. I love shopping in Chicago. It is the 2nd best place to shop, New York City first. Hugs, Kate
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Hi Josie,
Thank you for being moved by the story regarding my ex husband, and thanks so much for your support.
Hugs, Kate
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Hi Josie,
When it comes to being sick I act the same way as you do . I try to get on with my life. Nothing can hold me down. If someone sees me laying down they know that I must be extremely sick. Sometimes i do feel sorry for myself, but I won;t give in to an illness. When I have pain I don't take pain meds. When everyone got tired at rads I was hyper instead and absolutely never slowed down. I hope I can do this with chemo too. Just get in and out and get the treatment. If I even feel tired try to push myself to the max, so I am not. I am resilient and so are you. Hugs, Kate
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Keep up the good attitude and enjoy your trip Kate!!You deserve it.!!
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Hey Josie
Luv the new pic! Will you finish this week? Must be in the final countdown:)
Relief is sight...soon this will have past...beautiful new skin and cancer gone:)
(((Hugs)))
Cindy0 -
This is interesting. Seems like my pcp, the one I want to hit with a malpractice suit is panicking. Two weeks ago on The Monday before I had my biopsy, and went to the hospital, I had a urine test at my MO's office. For whatever reason they sent the lab work to my pcp's office. While I was in the hospital having surgery my pcp's nurse called and said I had a urinary tract infection. It was on my voicemail, and I didn't call back. Then two days after I came home i had another voicemail from my pcp telling me to call him back, because I have a urinary tract infection. OMG I was furious they keep calling to say I have a small medical problem like a uti when I have stage 4 bladder cancer. Now today I got another message that i have a doctor's appointment for this Thursday. MMMMMMMMMM I did not make that appointment. This is a joke. Now he is being dilligent when I called him 4 months ago, when I had urine hesitancy, and he said I had a uti, and prescribed an anti biotic and never did a follow up. Then what about 18 months ago when I started telling him about symptoms, and told it to him continuously for a year, and he didn't order a test or suggest a urologist. OMG what is he trying to do now cover his tracks???
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Gigi, enjoy the sun. I'm spending the week on the Gulf coast, and it's gorgeous.
Josie, I think a cough and shortness of breath is a common side effect of rads, but mention it to your RO.
Kate, you may want to try acupuncture during your chemo treatment for relief of side effects. I didn't have chemo but a colleague of mine recently underwent it for BC. We were discussing acupuncture (I found it helpful during rads), and she said the worst side effects happened the one time she didn't have acupuncture in tandem with one of her chemo rounds.0 -
Hi Gemini,
Thank you for letting me know. I will have to see what the side effects are like. If they can be controlled then I won't try acuputncture, but if they can' be controlled I will try it. Hugs, Kate
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Cindy, Thanks I had that pic taken with my daughter.My DD took it with the lap top camera.Not bad for a lap top.The pretty blonde is my daughter Sarah.She's 18 now.My Rads is finished on Tuesday a week from today.
Thanks Gemini for letting me know I thought I read it was a side effect of Rads.They never listen to my lungs on my Monday Dr visits.Wonder why?0 -
Wow, this thread has been busy!
(((Bunkie))) So sorry you have to go through another biopsy! Will be in that pocket with you.
Kate, have a blast with those grandchildren!
Gigil, I am so jealous! I would love to be in FL right now instead of getting ready to start my rads but you did your time. Have a great vacation!
Alex is safe! His cell phone was lost when his backpack was taken by the police so he could not call my daughter back. He has his phone back now and all is well. He had finished before the bombs went off by about 14 mins! Thanks for asking. My daughter was crying hysterically when he finally called her. He said "You left me 35 text messages so I thougth I would call instead of text" and she lost it!
Ok, heading to bed. Hugs all around. My clock is ticking and radiation starts Monday and I am nervous. Lubing my boob like a good girl. My skin is so soft...maybe I should have paid attention to the right one too? LOL
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Hi Josie, I agree with Gemini that shortness of breath, occasionally, is a SE of rads, but do check with the RO. I think the reason they don't listen to the lungs is that on "dr." day they take X-rays of the rad zone....at least they did with me. From that they look for lung damage etc. your DD is sure cute. Glad you got the avatar posting business figured out.
April, I too sure hope Alex is Ok....and you too for that matter.
Sab, out of curiosity, how long does it take you to do the 4 mi walk on your street? I need something new to aim for. Also....wasn't it the anti-cancer diet book that said something about if you eat 27 different fruits and veggies a week you'll end up with a good, varied diet? Do you by any chance know the page number? I mentioned it to a friend with tongue cancer who had just found the book, and now I can't find the reference. Did I read it somewhere else? Am I dreaming? Nuts? No...don't answer the last one.....0 -
April thank God Alex is ok. I am so glad. Hugs, Kate
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April, Happy Alex is OK. What a scare.
Josie, you are both pretty!
Kate, That pcp calling now must be irritating. Try to forget about it while you're away. If it bothers you, write down the details of your timeline so that you don'thave to think about it until you're in the attorney's office!
Sew, I'll look for that reference, it has a familiar ring, but I don't know how to keep 27 fruits and veggies in the house all the time, and we are fruit and veggie lovers! As for walking, we have worked up to 15 minute miles now, brisk pace, so it takes us an hour. The first two miles is a steady uphill, so it's challenging. I would suggest starting at about 18 minute miles or so...that would be a fast "walking the dog" walk...and alternating it with faster or slower intervals depending on your fitness level. If you use a smart phone try the irunner app. It is free, and will keep track of your pace and your total time along with some other cool data. Of course you don't have to go four miles right away either! Why not measure out a mile with your car, and try a mile out and a mile back for starters, or something like that? Let me know...I'll ride along (not in your pocket, on your shoulder so I can see) and cheer into your ear :-)
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Hi Sab,
Yes, my pcp calling now is irritating, but I defintely will forget about it when I am away. I am just going to sleep now, and I have to be up in 3 1/2 hours. My friend, hairdresser couldn't come here to color and cut my hair till 9:30 pm. She was on vacation in Trinidad and flew back today. When whe landed in Miami American Airline's computers were down, and she had a 3 hour delay at the airport. She is an angel. After traveling all day long she came to do my hair, and if I must say so myself it looks good. I have you all packed in my carry on's so we will have a blast. I'll email when I can from Chicago. Love, Kate
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Good Morning
Kate, I agree with Sab...just write it all down and don't think about it and enjoy your trip with your new hairdo!
Sew, I don't think I hit that chapter in the book yet but I am reading that book too. Will let you know when I get there if someone else doesn't beat me to the punch. I know there is a list of the 15 clean veggies/fruits and the 15 dirty or the ones that get the most pesticides but I don't think that is in that book...gah, it all runs together after a while.
Josie, you are almost there!!!!!!!!! Hang in there! Gemini is right, that can be a short-term side effect and is known as "radiation cough" and it usually self-corrects in a month or two.
Hugs to all - off to work!
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April, after my first day, I had a pretty unusual amount of redness and heat in my poor breast. My RO recommended Advil before treatments. She explained that a large part of the redness and soreness and heat is due to inflamed blood vessels. I took two Advil an hour or so before each treatment and had no real problems. I don't know if the Advil was part of the reason for my good result, but it sure made me feel I was doing something to help!
I had 16 treatments plus 4 boosts. Like you, I was concerned about the higher dose and asked my RO if, should I have difficulty, she could change to the "regular" plan. She said they don't like it, but they can do it. Probably your problems will be doable, but if not, that's an option you can explore. My RO also said the worst thing any of us can do is quit halfway. In that case, neither has the job been done, nor can you have rads again.
So what will you be doing between your AM and PM treatments?
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Goof Morning April I am getting picked up for the airport in 30 minuted, and I am so stoked. Hugs, Kate
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Well I gave it a long hard think yesterday and have decided to wait for the second biopsy. First of all it was the Drs nurse that called me and not him. She said he just felt he needed to repeat the biopsy and get more cells. She said he wanted me to do it soon. Ok I have an appt with him in 2 weeks. I am going to schedule this for after that. I just feel the need to sit down with him, go over my report and let him explain some things to me. After BC I am just done with doing all my talking through nurses etc. I am paying for a specialist and he is going to earn his money. I need to understand what he thinks he will get this time that was missed last time. The fact that the report was benign that we did have makes me feel a bit better. Perhaps we need to just go in and get a real sample instead of all this poking with needles etc. None of these tests are fun and I am not running from it but sometimes I feel the need to get some Dr time in there before jumping to yet another random test. I have some blood work to get in and a 24 hour urine. When I go see him we will have all that to discuss and then a plan forward.
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Hi Bunkie,
I totally agree with you. You need to do what makes you feel comfortable. Hugs, Kate
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Thanks Kate. I was just looking back on my last sick 4 years and enough already. There have been a lot of misdiagnosis with my autoimmune stuff and no so good drs so I am going to slow down. Thyroid is not the worst thing to get so I am going to get some real info before proceeding. Had I done that before I had Rads I amy not have done it at all. No going back so like I said slow and steady from now on.
The weather should be ok for your visit. I hope you are eating at some really great places and enjoying your family.
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Bunkie, I think taking a step back might be a very good idea. You have enough on your plate. I also agree that you should be talking to the doctor, not his intermediary's aka the nurses!
Brookside, thanks for the tip about advil. Will check with my RO first. As for what I will be doing in between, we have an office 5 mins from Yale so I will go to work as they said I could be a guest that week!
I won't be meeting with clients so I can get a whole lot done! They have a desk set up for me and a computer and a VPN so I can get a lot of case notes done, phone calls etc. I will work from about 8:00 to 1:00 or 8:30 to 12:30 depending on how long rads take. so I will only need to take two hours sick a day or three at most cause one hour of my time will be lunch. We work a 35 hour week so a 7 hour day with one hour unpaid lunch means I will work for 4-5 out of the 8 hour day which will be fine. If I dont feel well, I will stay there in between or go home. But, I plan to work through the whole week.
I will go straight home after the 1:30 rad session and rest so it should be doable cause I will be home by about 3:00 at the latest (prob earlier) which is still a lot earlier than if I worked all day! But, I have to be at the rads session at 7:30 each day so I will be leaving my house at 6:30 which is an hour earlier than usual when I go to work.
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Hi Bunkie,
I think you're making a great decision, just my 2 cents. Thyroid nodules are so common, and totally slow growing and change often, so I think a wait while you investigate makes great sense. If I may ask, have they done a thyroid uptake and scan? It's a test where you take some sort of radioactive pill, then they use like a ct scanner and they can identify "cold" spots (nodules that don't take up the dye) and "hot" spots (nodules that do). At this point I forget which ones you want to have, but believe they don't want you to have hot spots. At least, that was the primary test they used 30 years ago to identify my pre-cancer nodules. I have no idea though whether they would allow us to take this type of test now having had radiation, nor whether they use it much any more possibly having decided needle biopsy's tell them more. The good part of that test is that it doesn't hurt at all. Just a pill. I like those types of tests! Anyway, I think a long talk with that Dr. is a great idea.
Sab....will you sing to me too? What a sweet thought! I currently do about a 17-18 minute mile, at least on paved surfaces. Trails are a bit harder for me as my balance is just about nil. but.....I'd love to have you encouraging me along..... I'm going to get this body in shape, I swear I am!
Brookside, great tip on the advil. I also had rads induced inflamation starting my 3rd day of rads, but the RO didn't tell me to try that one. Wish I had! Ah well, it's all a vague memory now anyway.
April, glad you're reading the book. It's totally empowering. And a great read too. Oh, and we're planning a special surprise party for you for next week. Just think, you'll be finishing up just shortly after Josie, who's been slugging away at it in the traditional method like the rest of us! Good question, what are you doing between session besides drinking lots of water and eating protein?
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Sew, read my post above for explanation on what I am doing in between...long winded one..LOL
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Kate - you're in the air! Chicago and family soon:D. Savor every moment friend...full pockets full heart! The hair looks great; goes with the big smile (((hugs)))
Bunkie10 - yes, take a step back. Take time to determine how best to proceed and meet with your Dr face to face. You deserve the best care...demand it!
Gigil - FL sounds like fun...counting all those steps in the warm sunshine...RX vit
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April - glad Alex is ok. Too horrible to even begin to process...we're fighting so hard to live covering all are odds and then ... Just so sad.
Yippee your rad time begins soon...you will start and finish ahead of me! Praying for your success
happy skin calm mind. You are on top of this and will do great! Your work is awesome by embracing your need and making a way.
Sew&Brookside - tomorrow I meet with a nutritionist to discuss diet. Last week saw a natural oncologist and have their list of yes food. Goal is to change improve eating to help my body fight on its own.. My weight & bmi & body fat are not issue so trying to ensure I don't go back to any old habits that may have helped that sneaky c get foothold in my body. Gonna be new and improved after rads...and HT.
Josie - yippee...your last day of rads is my first day of boosts. Watch the cough and fatigue...soon...yes soon we will check this off our list!
Time to shower and prepare for rads. The door is broken at rad center across the street so I'm driving across the valley to their other center then will hurry back for BC support group. I so enjoy the sharing and support. It's almost as good as you all but there's skin.lol!
Today is 9 on my countdown...:)) girl looks pink rashy but we're gonna make it we're committed to making this work!
(((Hugs)))
Cindy0 -
Yes, the old thyroid uptake scan is alive and well, and is OK after rads. I've got one scheduled in a couple of months and my RO says it's fine--the radiation limit is absolultely limited to specific target areas. By the way, is there a connection between breast cancer and thyroid stuff? I've noticed a number of postings hereabouts about various thyroid issues.
I saw my ENT for another problem shortly after my BC diagnosis. He found my thyroid enlarged (not the case a year or so ago). We did an ultrasound and it turns out I have multiple small (and almost certainly benign) thyroid nodules. He says these nodules are too many to pick where to stick a needle, so I'm avoiding a biopsy, for now, at least. The radioactive iodine uptake will show if there is a hot spot; a repeat ultrasound will show if they're growing.
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Brookside VT & MostlySew - Thanks for the tips. Lets see what happens with yours....I may be right behind. I just know that I did not have all this just before Rads. I have not had a scan yet. I did have a small nodule in 2011 they found on the ultrasound but it was too small to biopsy. Now several months after the rads it is growing. So because I have some symptoms of hyperthyroid the endo wanted to check it out again. When the ultrasound came back with a larger nodule he wanted to biopsy it. I was OK with that but darn it I am not going to get sucked into a new crisis and get all crazy about this. That is why I am definitely going to step back and talk to the Dr. Depending on what he says and how I feel about it all I will be getting my report and getting a second opinion or just let him do it again.
After all the issues with my autoimmune disease, gallbladder, chronic vertigo and finally cancer the last 4 years I am not ready to get into more drama with my body. After running on pure adrenalin and anxiety for all the cancer stuff no thank you. Sometimes it feels like my body is just falling apart one area at a time.
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Brookside, that sounds like a great plan. the uptake/scan is a walk in the park. If they let you see the pictures, do look, as they're all in these great reds and yellows and are wonderful...kinda "trippy" or is my age showing? I don't know if there's a link between BC and thyroid, but I've heard that the rads cause your thyroid to go wacky. I think it then normally settles back down. Thyroid nodules are very very common as we age. They are generally ignored. Goiters, on the other hand, they will look at, but those also tend to resolve themselves. Actually, interestingly, pregnant women often get their thyroid out of whack during and up to 1 year after birth......
April, my posts and yours do cross in the mail....takes me forever to write them, and then one has come in, and I get behind......am I slowing with old age? We are on the same time plan though. Your plan sounds great. I love having a plan. Something to shoot for.
RMlulu (cindy)... you might want to look into the book Anti Cancer, A new Way of Life written by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, Phd. It's fabulous. Talks you thru lots and lots of nutritional issues dealing with cancer and keeping it at bay. It's a great read too. A friend called it empowering and that it is. I'd highly recommend it. And all of the points in this book coincided with everything the nutritionist my cancer center recommended who does a class on cancer nutrition said. I like your plan of attacking the things you can address, like food. It feels good if nothing else to know we're doing all we can to help our recovery and keep us going. At least that's what I find. From this book I decided to try to eliminate all "added sugar" from my diet. I've been relatively successful at it, mostly. the other day I treated myself to a totally decadent, sinful, huge, apple fritter donut. It at least had apples, right? Wow....I dragged around like I was still in rads the rest of the day. I'd heard that sugar could cause your body to do such things, but this was a total shock. Down side is, next time I decide to splurge, guess I'll just have to have 1/4th of the donut and it tasted so great!
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