Radiation recovery
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Bunkie, the dehydration is interesting. Good thing for all of us to be careful of. on the insurance, it's going to take me all this year to figure out what's happening....I don't even want to think about next year.
Tomorrow morning I leave early for a 4 day knitting convention. I'm looking forward to my play time. I won't even mention that there are about 500 vendors at this convention and it takes 4 days just to poke thru all their booths. I'm going to wear my new fitbit zip though and pretend this is just good exercise!
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Fascinating Bunkie! Is there anything else you can do besides drink more? I mean like electrolytes, or something? I have a hard time drinking enough so it would seem to me to be a challenge to add, if you're already sipping all day.
Congratulations on finishing rads, Emma! What will you do with all your extra time???!
I was braced for lots of fatigue afterward. One friend told me it hit her WHAM two weeks after she finished, and others told me they were fatigued for two weeks and then not so much. Others say the fatigue lasts longer. I never really experienced that, maybe got drowsy a bit early a few nights. I am not trying to be alarming, just wanted you to know there's a wide range of possibilities. How old are your kids? Mine are 16 and 13. Plenty busy but easier than when they were littler.Josie, I'm so glad you got the paperwork monkey off your back. May it not creep up on you again, but if it does, I hope the same mechanism for clearing it out can be activated. I hope your husband is OK.
For those following the riveting story (!), my arm has been much better behaved. The test was grocery shopping again on Sunday. We seem to be on a kick of getting lots of bevs and canned soups, so the weight adds up. I was much more careful about how I lifted things this time, and my arm did not seem to be bugged by it.
Speaking of fatigue, I have always been such a night owl and have been able to function, at least for a while, on 6 hours of sleep or often less. These days, can't do it. That I suppose is for the best. I don't know if it's the Tamoxifen, semi-menopause, turning 50, cancer chaos, or my schedule, trying to get up at 5 most weekdays to work out (I've missed it twice this week already though). So much for my bohemian lifestyle!
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RunFree...glad the arm is behaving...or you're behaving so it doesn't hurt
As to the rest, I think it's all of the above.....0 -
runfree- thanks for the installment on the "case of the misbehaving arm" hope it continues to behave LOL I am also amazed how just carrying a small clutch or wallet under my arm on the operative side results in some numbness/tingling and "squishiness"
bunkie- those nephrologists are actually pretty clever- my son who has diabetes has had consults to ensure his kidney function maintains and blood pressure is in check. I read somewhere over the weekend that you should drink half your body weight in ounces daily- I might not be remembering that right but my fitbit wants me to drink at least 64oz and in cold weather with dry heat that may not be enough I think. The body should produce at very minimum 30cc/hr of urine-but of course you don't really know without the 24hr measurement. I also go by color- anything darker than straw I know I need to up the fluids
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Brookside, Josie, Cindy, and Bunkie thanks so much for the support.
I left the hospital today. My leg is still extremely swillen, hard, and difficult to walk. Finally I have a physical therapist coming here Friday. It is very scary because if I can't walk I can't function.
Josie you have a difficult boss. and I wish she were the one taking a hike.
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Wow, Kate, they kicked you out already? Tooglamorous for the hospital? Or did you just decide to fly the coop?
I'm confused about the physical therapist--Is she coming to strengthen you or is she a lymphedema therapist who will help manage your swelling?
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Great idea, Kate. Maybe if we all concentrate on imagining Josie's boss with a backpack, she'll go take a hike and Josie can be happy, happy, happy.0 -
Sorry you are having so many problems with the swelling, Kate, but it is always good to be home. I am praying for you and hope that your therapist can bring relief to you soon!!
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Hi y'all
Kate - glad you are home, but sorry about the swelling and the uncertainty and difficulty you are experiencing. Praying that your PT is able to help eliminate the excess...hurray for long teal skirts...
Josie - in your pocket for tests today
Brookside - yes, boss take a hike!
RunFree - good news on the arm...I've got the smallest bag to protect the arm LE ugh!
Sew - way to go a FitBit for convention
busy hands and moving feet!Bunkie - drink up! Hydration makes all the difference...amazing our bodies.
Emma - missing your rad team? Seems to take some time to get over being in tx daily...now what? Hope you adjust quickly...skin will keep changing...mine did a big peel routine about 4 months after last rad...funny.
We were able to push up hubby's hernia surgery so on the road again Sat...sorry we did not leave vehicle per sop...so drive baby drive...struggling with taking our truck and leaving it. Impacts my ability to kayak...new suv doesn't have roof racks...thinking I may have to find a home for yak at the lake...right now she's in my living room ha ha! Right now I don't want to go...and prefer to fly...working on hubby...checking out long term car rentals...sounds better than a road trip west...my heart was on FL!
Shout out to all
(((Hugs)))
Cindy
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Brookside, Bigdbeating and Cindy thanks so much for the support
Cindy I am glad your husband's surgery date was moved up. Confused about when he is having it. Is he going to have it today? In any case I am loaning my princess coat to him as a prince coat. We are all in the pockets and I pray his surgery goes well. I also pray for your strength. Being a caregiver is so rough.
Brookside the physical therapist therapist is coming here tomorrow for lymphodema, and not to strenghten me.
A nurse came today to check my vitals and they were ok.
I won't get to see my medical oncologist till Friday Feb. 28. Then I will be able to find out if I have options, and what they are.
Today my right leg is as swollen as it was when I was in the hospital. I am barely able to walk. They don't want me completely bedridden either, so I am alternating between laying on my sofa elevating, and walking on it a little.
In the real world I am unable to function, because I can barely walk, so I have friends getting me groceries and prescriptions etc. This is depressing for me, because I like to be out and about. I am still trying to be as positive as possible. Thanks so much for letting me vent..
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Hi all. Yes peeling and still very sore and yeh miss my rad team. They were all so nice.....how long will the peeling take. I am just using moisturiser. Should I be using some sort of exfoliating cream or will that irritate my skin?
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Thanks for all the shout outs everyone.I had the ultrasound this morning and I'm guessing won't get results until next week? The tech said they would be read today by the radiologist and then they would send to my OBGYN but I know if he has patients tommorow It may be a few days before I hear.
I had my CA125 and whatever blood tests he ordered too.
The CA125 is a screening test for Ovarian Cancer.Not that he thinks it is that but he said it wouldn't hurt to have it done.
Didn't get a darn thing done at home today though.
I treated myself to Hardees on the way home.I know it's not good for me but I never eat out anymore.
Kate, glad to hear your out of the hospital.But sad to hear that leg is still swollen.Do they think it's Lymphodema?
Cindy hope your hubby s surgery goes ok.When is it?
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Thanks Kate & Josie.
We see surgeon Tuesday than Injections to drop INR to 1.5 for surgery...so expect Monday the following week. He will rock the warrior coat:D Saturday hit I10.
Josie - it's ok not to get a ##### thing done and enjoy a fast food
hope results come back fast!Kate - relax and let your friends help...you've given to them...let them bless you. Maybe they can video clip some of your fav spots & people. Is it possible for family from Chicago make it out to sunny SoCal? Spring Break? Vent, you are always positive so it's ok to be real! In our perfect real world there would be no BC.
Emma - skin will keep changing for weeks so keep up your moisture routine for months:) no exfoliant let the girl do her thing on her own.
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hi all
Kate- so sorry you are having a challenging time right now- at least you are in your own house sleeping in your own bed- I always appreciated that.
josie- let us know the results of all your tests when you do get them. Always a wait for something it seems. I like the backpack visual for your boss but unfortunately my experience is those people tend to stick around long after you wish they had gone
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hi. Okay keeping on moisturising it shall be!!!!!!!
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wyo, I will keep you guys updated as soon as I know.
Yes the work thing is pretty ridiculous.The other day I took a late lunch since my add on ran into my lunch hour and I thought for sure I would miss my boss at lunch.Nope. By the time I had my soup warmed up it was just me and my manager and office manager.Well we have 2 tables to eat at.I knew it would be very obvious if I sat all by myself at the other table.So I ended up at their table sitting right across from them .Awkward!!! Then my office manager wouldn't say 2 words to me she acted like I wasn't there and talked to my manager.That was fine with me.I couldn't eat fast enough.
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Kate hope the PT can help with the swelling. Josie good luck with your test results. Cindy, keeping your husband in my thoughts and prayers. He has been through a lot lately, to be sure. Things are going well here in Florida. My DS has been here for 4 days, and will be here for about 4 more. Weather has been spectacular. We have done lots of walking and getting out and about.
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love that florida weather! my mom is down there now too walking like crazy in the sun and warm. back to upstate NY next week.
You look great in that picture very relaxed
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Kate, so happy you have a lymphedema therapist coming today. Here's hoping she'll be able to make you oodles more comfortable. It must be sooooo nice to be back with your own bed, sheets, and, especially, your ver own pillow.
Really, Josie! Sounds like lunch in junior high with the mean girls. Really!
Cindy, yet another journey. Your poor husband must feel like a pincushion. Are you going to stay a few extra days so he can recuperate, or is he going to be raring to get right back home?
Gigil, you look so relaxed and happy. And that makes us happy.
And Wyo, really neat city. Can't help but wonder which one.
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Thanks ladies. It is blizzarding in Minnesota and my DH is there working. I pray he won't be impatient this morning when his shift ends, and that he will wait for the weather to clear and the roads to be plowed.
Josie, what an uncomfortable situation to be in for lunch. Too bad you didn't have a book handy, or an iPhone, and could have given them a greeting, sat a bit away from them and looked very busy with other things. These people do not sound very pleasant to work with!
Cindy, any luck on convincing your DH to fly?
Joyce, I surely do hope you get some relief with that swelling soon.
Wyo, I hope your mom can come home to some weather that has settled down some!
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GIGIL, great picture, you look so relaxed.Must be that warm Florida weather.
Thanks for the good luck.
Brookside, yes really!! I can't even sit at the same table with her.Once she had to sit next to me and she turned around to face the other way.
If I do have to sit at the same table I really can't relax and enjoy my lunch.We have to eat in the kitchen or clock out if we go somewhere. Like outside when the weather is nice .When I first started there I would go outside to eat lunch.It was so nice to just sit in the sun and just breathe the fresh air.Now if I would do that I would not be as relaxed because I would be worrying about my time because the elevators get really busy at that time of the day.So I just eat in the kitchen.
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What misery, Josie--Worrying about elevators and all. Can you add 0 .73321 minutes at the end of the day if you are late? And it seems as though, if they were the only ones still in the lunchroom, that maybe they get a longer lunch hour than you peons? Maybe they'll get fat.
Happy,happy shopping excursion, RunFree. So glad your arm didn't give you grief this time. And totally rotten that a whole year after surgery it decided to give you a "remember me" kind of message. Maybe your arm just wants to shop for hot new fashions instead of soup and soda?
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Brookside, Yes ,it is kind of a catch 22.I don't know about adding minutes at the end of the day, probably wouldn't get away with that one. I will just live with it I guess.After all its on'll y 2 days a week I eat lunch there.We all play the same game at lunch.You get into the kitchen,look around for empty spots at the table and choose the fullest table so there won't be a chance " they "will be at your table,unless your in their little cliche.
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I borrowed this from Facebook. This pertains to work
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Hi all
TGIF and I did not get stuck on the BART train because I left early today bwahahaha
That picture Brookside is San Francisco taken from the Presidential Suite of the Marriott downtown. We had a reception there for some nurses who came to help us out with work and I had to get a picture- funny thing we rented the suite for the reception and none of us were smart enough to stay in it over night- I have no idea why....
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Josie,Wyo,Gigil and Brookside thanks so much for the support. It is great to be home, but difficult because I am in so much pain. I still have stomach cramps from the surgery and have so much pain in my leg. I was taking Oxycodone for pain, but I decided enough is enough, and stopped it. Now all I have is Tylenol and Ativan. I am elevating, elevating and elevating. The physical therapist wants me to walk on it as much as posssible. The lymph massage that I had was fantastic. I cried because it felt so good. I think she will be able to come 3 times a week. he thinks that I am very resilient too, and that if I follow her directions my leg will be down enough to make that trip to Chicago in April.
Great picture Gigil. You look so casual, relaxed, and content
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Wyo--Clearly time to schedule another reception with overnight bag.
Kate,you don't know how happy I am that you finally have a lymphedema therapist, and that she is clearly as skilled and supportive, or let's say, just plain wonderful, as the one I used. Those ladies have an amazing stock of knowledge stuffed into their brains and their fingers. I guess you have to wait until Monday for her to come back?
What a bummer that you're basically on house arrest. Being waited on hand and foot ain't what it's cracked up to be, is it? Than goodness you're about as strong and resilient as Wonder Woman and things are truly looking up.
Speaking of lymph issues, I want to mention, RunFree, that while I'm not pleased that your arm acted up the way it did, I think we all need to thank it (yes, your arm), and you, for reminding us that we all have to be careful-ish about how we treat our treatment arms forever. I actually changed the way I was schlepping plastic grocery bags with the wrong arm.
Oh, and Kate, please keep an eye on the tylenol--more than the recommended dosage is pretty darned toxic to our livers, and we need them all happy and nice so we can enjoy our margaritas. Maybe one of your docs can recommend another painkiller.
Josie, really? They're not satisfied making everyone's workday miserable, but make everyone's lunch a misery as well? Truly, they have a distorted idea of management's role. Probably if the managing partner sent them for a workshop or two, they'd become truly human.
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Hi all, lost my long-ish reply post a minute ago...hit a darned wrong key and it vanishes.
So, just a quick hi since I have to go out - it is nice out there today...heading towards 50 and sunny.Sew, have a great trip and shop 'til you drop.
Kate, it is darned frustrating and kind of scary to be home with that persistent swelling. I love the sound of that massage...maybe you can hire the therapist for a few extra days.
Bunkie, I certainly hope nobody suggests steroids for your problem. Here's wishing better days this week end.Run, I am having the same issue with night-owl turned sleepy head. I hope with more daylight and outdoor time, I will get more energy.
Will be back later...have "chores" to do...awoke at 7:30 (thanks, DH) and stayed in bed anyway until almost 10 am.
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Josie - I hope you don't mind a "passer by" commenting on that quote. It so sums up a recent X friendship of mine. It is one thing to agree to disagree but quite another when one person believes only her viewpoint is correct and proceeds to malign you for yours. We were on opposite sides of the political spectrum so I told her we aren't discussing politics. She always managed to bring it up and expound on her vast knowledge of what the correct answer was. Then it was criticizing my sons college graduation invitation because her daughter hadn't graduated yet and was lagging behind and to add insult to injury never even sent him a card. She procrastinated about everything except what she wanted to remember and take care of. The final straw after actual years of playing this verbal volleyball came when I had a medical scare a few months ago. Fortunately it turned out to be nothing but when I called her she immediately dx my condition, no she isn't a doctor but knows more than they do, and didn't call me until nighttime the next day. By then I had already had everything checked out. No pep talk or words of encouragement. End of story. That quote says it all. Thanks. Diane
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Brookside and Joan thanks so much for the support. The lymph massagist is a blessing. I am thinking she will come 3 times a week. I have cut diwn on meds. I no longer take Oxycodone, and all I take is Ativan and Tylenol. Although myb pain is more severe than what those handles.
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