Radiation recovery
Comments
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Cindy I was a SoCal surfer girl but someone made the mistake of having me born and raised in North Dakota. It was all a big mistake, but I couldn't convince anyone of that!! Landlocked in outer Siberia when all I wanted was to get to the beach and dance with Frankie and Annette!! Ha! Ha!
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Great picture GiGiL! I love that and the quote too! Funny how we "belong" certain places, and woe to us if we're stuck in the wrong one. There are worse fates, but it does matter. Stay away from that macho PCP, yeah. What is it that makes some people insensitive like that??
Cindy, I love all the kinds of fun you listed in your TX community! Wow! Glad you refilled your Rx. I don't think I have any side effects from Tami yet, but now that I'm halfway through the honeymoon period, I'm starting to get suspicious. Like yesterday I was tired and draggy, blew off my zumba class and couldn't muster any other exercise, and I thought, Well here we go. Maybe. Today I actually feel lots better, hoping to go running in a little while. Hope your Arimidex is your friend. I have a friend who had a terrible time with chemo, said she felt as if she flunked it, but Tami for her was like a placebo. Go figure.
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RunFree, I'll bet your down day was your post party letdown. For a couple of weeks, you were probably living on adrenaline, and now you've relaxed and your body just decided it was time to take a break. Might be a good idea to take it easy for a couple of days.
Janis, how far before your appointment do you take your valium? Personally, I'd also take a couple of ibuprufen or tylenol. I'm not sure which, but one of them is good for reducing inflamation (bruising, post procedure discomfort).
Josie, I have to go to my other computer to see your pics, but am thrilled to read everyone else's reactions.
Kate, what news could be better than that the chemo is working. I know it's difficult, and we all have down days, but, chin up, for as they say, "The sun will come up tomorrow." You will don your sparkling princess warrior coat, your spectacular emerald and diamond tiara, and maybe strap on Excalibur, and will be victorious over all the annoying/depressing side effects.
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I think you're right, Brookside. On Sunday, I felt like a chicken cutlet that had been pounded flat with a mallet--but a happy chicken cutlet. Monday and Tuesday I was vertical but not much more. I think I'm just today coming out of the exhaustion and adrenalin from the clean-up and party. So worth it!
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Brookside it is a series of many shots which take forever! They did 6 injections last time but they have to locate the nerves so the needle pokes are dozens as they locate them using x-ray guide. I don't have valium here. Last time I had the injections the nurse told me I could not have relaxing meds as they wanted me alert. I told my doctor this at my follow up and he was not happy. He said you cannot take ANY type of pain meds, which I knew. The only way to accurately measure the pain levels after the injections is of course to be able to rate your pain. You have to do it every couple of hours the first 24 hours, rate your pain on a 0-10. Then again at 24, 48, a week. He assured me I will be getting some Xanax I think he said. I am not allowed to take anything for pain prior to the procedure or for those faw days afterward so I can get accurate pain levels charted.
My doctor has made the referral to the cardiologist so they should be contacting me soon. Then I start down a whole new road. Hopefully the tests will be fine. I still wonder if it is a lung issue. Hopefully I will know more soon.
Gigil I have to agree with Sew and I think you will feel better about your choices very soon. We're with you girlfriend all the way. I just know everything will be wonderful news.
RunFree I think there could be some letdown, but also you worked your bum off to get ready for the party and I think exhaustion is normal afterwards. I did fine during my garage sale and all the work leading up to it. Once it was over I was totally exhausted. Getting your home ready is a ton of work. You did great Lady! It was wonderful you had this party and came out shining!
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Just wrote you all a long letter and lost it. A shorter version to follow.
Have missed you all, but am now caught up on your news.
Kate, I wish I were there to give u a really tight hug. Chemo is yuck, but it's working!! It's good news that your MO wants to keep u on. U r so strong. I feel for you about the hair, but really, really, u will still be pretty. Hold all of our hands, we're with you.
In your pocket Thursday Janis. May spill some cake ball crumbs in there, will try to sweep up before I jump out. Please let us know how the injections go, I hate for to be in pain.
Run free, congratulations for facing your fears, glad the party went so well! I feel like I was there with you.
Thinking of you all!0 -
Sorry, Janis, I guess I remembered the wrong med, but just want to be certain you have it on hand so you can take it at the appropriate time. If you don't already have it, I guess it would be good to call the office, just to be sure they don't want you to come early so they can give it to you there. The procedure sounds absolutely horrid; I sure hope it gives them the info they need to fix this problem for good!
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Susannah thanks, we will have a great party. Thursday is a big party day. Lots of fun food and beverages. I am more than happy to have a few crumbs spilled on me! I hope everything is going well with you. Be well and happy Sweetie!
Brookside when I saw my doctor last week he assured me that was not protocol and I will get meds this time. They will not write a script for them. They just give you a pill right there. Trust me no pill, no injections!
I am not going through that again. I think that the injections will be far less horrible if I am at least relaxed. Hopefully all is well in your world. Gigil I have lived in many places. I cracked up that you were simply born in the wrong place. For everyone who longs to move, I understand. I want to move out of Idaho! My father could not stay in one place for more than a few years so we moved about every five years or so. He was a salesman and a good one, so always found work. I was born in San Francisco which I loved....but at eight he moved us to the Sacramento area. Then further up I-80 to Auburn Ca...that lasted just a year. He hated it there, I loved it. Then off to Reno where I met my first DH. We married there and he decided he wanted to go to grad school in Bellingham, WA, about 80 miles north of Seattle. That lasted a year, no work so we returned to Reno. He got his first job as a geologist in Denver, so off we went. After two years he got laid off and found a job in Casper Wy. My firstborn son was just a few months old. We stayed there two years and the company moved headquarters to Denver. So back there for 9 years, then the same company moved to Houston. Almost five years there and back to Casper where we divorced but remained good friends. I actually worked for him and loved my life there. Then I met current DH and we married, a year later his company promoted him to a management position in Cheyenne. Then his health issues forced early retirement (at 66) and a move to a lower elevation, so now we are here near Boise. No wonder I have neck issues from the constant looking back! One thing I know is all my life, wherever I have lived has never been my choice. Sometimes that bothers me I must admit. I am not sure where I would move if it were my choice, but closer to my family for sure. I have a son in Wyoming and a son and sister in the Denver area. I love the quiet laid back lifestyle of Wyoming, and the huge open roads and no traffic or pollution. I love Denver but do not care for big cities at all. The last seven years in Cheyenne we had just a little over two acres and lived on a quiet dirt road. How I miss that. I definitely want to live someplace a little rural. Years living in Wyoming I came to love the state. Winters are brutal sometimes, but the people are wonderful and really sturdy folks!
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Gigil,
I bought that Alice Walker poetry book for my daughter when she was going thru tough times at age 38. We read many of the poems together. I loved all of them....but the furious dancing was my favorite.
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Janis, not sure where I'd choose to live, but I'd sure want it to be where there are wonderful and sturdy folk! Wherever I've lived it's the people and friends I met that meant the most to me.
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Sorry if I've seemed down this week, but I feel great today. I have 2 bad weeks and 2 good weeks every month. The week of my 6 hour chemo and the week after I usually feel bad. My 3rd week of chemo and my off week are so much better. I got discouraged when my doctor said 6 months of chemo, because I was so hoping for 4, but I am learning to accept that now. So, just 4 more months to feel yucky. My doctor made me feel very good when he said that maybe after that I won't need chemo for the forseeable future. I know that with stage 4 there is only a 15% chance of a 5 year survival rate exspecially since my cancer spread to the distant site of my lungs, but I am trying to beat those odds. My leg swelling is much better, but not good enough for me to exercise yet As soon as it goes down some more I need to start a serious exercise program. My doctor said the 3 best things I can do is stay positive, eat a well balanced diet and exercise. I am good with the other two, but I need to diet. My hair is just a little thinner, but still good enough for my girlie-girl flat irions. Tuesday on my birthday Joanna my hairdresser friend is coming to my house to do a blow out and flat iron. Then one week from Friday when I go to Malibu with Tracy she will flat iron it again. So all is good. I am so much looking forward to my birthday celebrations.
xoxo,
Kate
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Janis, you have moved as much as my sister, who is married to a petroleum engineer. They lived in Casper for a long stretch. My DH and I were married there in 1980. I love Wyoming too. It is a wonderful place. I loved the afternoon rain storms in the summer and the mountain views were amazing! Think about Casper tomorrow. I will send you some soothing Reiki energy from a distance if you want. It will help that you know what to expect. Bet all of that and the Xanax will make it much more bearable.
Sew I haven't read the book. I think I will.
Run glad you are feeling better. I love the pounded cutlet comparison. I felt felt like that, but didn't know how to describe it.0 -
Janis I'm sorry you have to go through these injections again. I was thinking about how brave it is for you to face these issues in such an active way. I know it will pay off for you with reduced pain, an all clear on the cardio and relief of your knee issues. So much to deal with, but you are attacking in an organized and determined way and I respect that.
Kate I'm glad you are having a good day.
Gigi, did you stop into the clinic? What's the verdict?
Gigi, Janis, Susannah, Brookside I think if I could live anywhere at all, and money was not an issue (or family) I would like to live somewhere mountainous, with a lake, like Lake Tahoe or one of the gold country alpine lakes so that I could paddle and ski and hike and then have a small condo seaside for when the weather was too cold in the mountains. Of course I haven't travelled extensively enough to know all my choices, but I do love the remote areas of California.
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My ideal living place is a city with a university, a teaching hospital (and now it shoulld be an NCI comprehensive cancer center), theater, orchestra, museum, lots of ethnic restaurants, some with take out and delivery, cell service, sidewalks, public transportation, shopping, none of which are within an hour of my house now.
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Oh Yah, Brookside, I'll add all that to my list as well! Except maybe sidewalks, I don't care about them! Hmmm. Maybe Boulder comes close.
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I live on a main road, so no walking in the winter because with the piles of snow and ice, there is no safe edge to escape onto. Therefore, sidewalks, and, as a former New Yorker, I'd really feel better if there were a line of parked cars between the sidewalk and the street. Yes, I hear you all laughing at me.
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Kate, thata girl!! Proud of you!
SAB, mountains, lake and seaside, sounds perfect, as long as the neighbors are good. I live in an area that is at times unimaginably beautiful. Would love to spend some time in the mountains as well. I still think though that good friends are the most important.0 -
Brookside, I share all your priorities except the parked cars! I would additionally like a vibrant running club open to people of a certain age, lots of safe running trails, and a track within a short distance from my house, AND the ocean not too far away. And warm weather a bunch of the time, but not humid. SAB, your vision's not far off from mine either, especially with the seaside condo added. No tornadoes please.
Janis, I so sympathize about the moving. I moved 8 times before I was 14, way too much. Since I've been an adult, I've moved somewhat less, but this is the first time I've lived in the same house or done the same job/school for more than 4 years at a stretch, ever. It took me into my forties to get that stability. I have had more choice than you, but this still isn't my real preferred location. I had a job offer in Laramie once. I confess I turned it down. There didn't seem to be enough work for my husband, and the town felt awfully isolated. I was told Wyoming people were awesome and I'm sure that's true. I really liked everybody I met when I went for my interview.
GiGiL, glad you liked my chicken cutlet image! Will you have your mammo at the original place tomorrow or have you changed your appointment to the new place?
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Brookside is Boston the city for you?
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Brookside - I want what you want. I do not have that here at all. I am laughing about the parked cars close to the street but we had that in Ca also. I miss Delhi's. I have to drive an hour to a Whole Foods. I am so sick of all the stores here offering one row of organics and that is it. We have a Univ but not a teaching one. That is also an hour drive. I miss the city. I miss delivered groceries and they do not do that here. I remember when I got sick in Ca and all my favorite restaurants delivered. They do not even deliver pizza here. I really do not have to have a big city. Just one that I can get what I want close by. Where is that place?
Janis - Good grief!! You did move all the time. I grew up in Lansing Mi. We bought this house when I was 10. I have to say I had an idyllic childhood. This is a great place to raise a child..at least it was when General Motors was big here. I moved once when I was a kid. My parents got divorced and mom remarried. Most of my family is from Mi. When I was 29 I got divorced and moved to Ca. I loved it there. People were much friendlier than Midwesterners and I loved the diversity. Then I chose to move back home to care for my parents. So only 3 real moves but I can sure feel the difference in coming back here. Like I am isolated.
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Hi y'all
Where to live...beach or lake! Sunshine! Sailing or windsurfing or kayaking. Preferably San Diego county...hubby is desert rat ugh so Rancho Mirage...could not get him to live at beach or Temecula/Fallbrook so TX Hill Country with constant level lake. His son&wife moved to Fredricksberg, which is why we bought a home here, but then he passed our 1st week here:( Big city Austin is 50 min drive and area looks like Temecula wine country.
We lived in the mountains 5 yrs, but we drove off hill everyday...work and shopping. Hubby is shopper ugh! Me, settle in make friends get plugged in...we've always had open doors (refrig frends)and missionaries stay with us...exciting...hubby not into 3rd world travel, but I'm game...son goes to Cambodia 2 wks medical trip soon:).
Small town, college town, major airport, arts, MEDICAL. We're a 2nd marriage so 2 homes is our SOP easier.
GiGil - pocket party or wait for July?
Janis - loading up the pockets & we'll bring V just in case!
Bunkie - we got to get that house SOLD! Move you home to CA:) hang in there! Can you sneak away to the Windy City? Or roll down sleeping bear dunes...
All you East Coast girls ...coast and colors...NY Boston
Susan - Good Friends are key:)
Love Costal Living Magazine....
(((Hugs)))
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Cindy, it will be July 2. Checked out new location. It is much nicer and more laid back, big parking lot, not crowded.
Bunkie, sell as is, as soon as you are free to do so. You need to get out.0 -
GiGil - yippee! Glad you like your new clinic:). Relax and we'll all party with Janis.
Kate - how's the diamond and emerald tiera? Rest up it will be Bday party time soon! So nice tat your hairdresser comes to you:).0 -
Cindy, I love the tiara it is so girlie girl like me.
As for what city to live in I am totally opposite of what was mentioned. I once lived in Denver and I adored it there. It was cold and scenic.. I also lived in Austin and I despised it there, too hot for me. Anything over 72 is a heat wave to me. I guess if I could pick any state I would go back to Colorado, where it was cold, scenic, great people, good restaurants and shopping too. I couldn't bear a small town, because I am from Chicago and used to having every convenience at my finger tips. I am opposite too about teaching hospitals. I hate them. The reason I do is that if you are in one you are stuck with interns coming to talk to you or doing procedures on you. I love a small private hospital, and that is why I love St John's. Mind you I have the best doctors, so I don't have to worry about finding a doctor at a teaching hospital. Sorry about being opposite of everyone, but I tell it like it is and in the winter let it snow, snow, snow lol.
xoxo,
kate
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It is great that we are all so different and yet so alike in many ways. That is what makes this group so much fun! For me, I would pick San Diego. I love the ocean, moderate temps, and California in general.
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GiGiL, that is so great about the new center! We'll focus all our energies on Janis today, and what a party we'll have!
Cindy, major airport, good addition! I think if I could make all the people I love move to live near me, and my husband and I could both have meaningful work wherever we wanted--hey, it's a fantasy, right?!--it would perhaps be northern California. I haven't spent a lot of time there, but my Facebook friends who live near San Francisco seem to be having the most fun. Santa Monica would be on the short list. Too bad it's not your preference, Kate! But why Chicago over Denver? Just curious. I do get your point about the teaching hospital.
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Hi Runfree, I am partial to Chicago, because my children and grandchildren live there. Plus Chicago has the second best shopping and restaurants in the country. Second of course to New York. As for Santa Monica it is the people that I mostly don't care for. They are not nearly as friendly as a lot of cities and they are affected. Otherwise Santa Monica has great weather and iis fun to be near the beach. I used to live in Nashville Tn too, and it is a sweet town with some of the nicest people in the country. Folks are great in Chicago and Denver too.
xoxo,
Kate
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I love Colorado. It is so beautiful. My son lives in Confier, high up in the mountains west of Denver. I could stay there forever. I am not a shopper so I could easily stay up there and just enjoy the beauty and quiet serenity. I much prefer living in a smaller community and no real close neighbors. I love having elbow room.
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Good luck today Janis. Wine is bought and ready for your pocket party.
xoxo,
Kate
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