Radiation recovery
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Brookside, Josie, Sab, Gigil, Cindy, Wyo, Runfree, and Joan thanks so much for the support
Brookside my physical therapist comes Ties., Fri., and Sun, so she will be coming today at 5 after my 1:45 MO appointment
Josie so glad your test was normal. How dare they make you wait so long for results. So sorry your hubby has the flu, and your daughter too, especially on her birthday. Happy Birthday to your daughter.
Ciindy, I just don't think I would be happy in a rehab. Home is more comfortable for me. I hope you don't get jealous that I will be in your husband's pockets lol. Sending prayers and positive vibes. Have a relaxing time at yoga. It is so hard for the caregivers.
Wyo have fun in Montana
I am taking things one day at a time which is a good thing. One day it's an emergency amd then next day I am fine.Today is my first appointment with DOC since I had the surgery. I am very anxious to see what he says about treatment.
Have a nice weekend everyone. Crummy weather today on my first day out. It is raining
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Kate, Here's hoping that Doc has all good news and options for you today. And that your PT session will feel just wonderful after your trip out in the rain.
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Kate, glad to hear your getting PT three times a week.Does she give you exercises to do when she's not there? Is it helping?
I heard California is getting rain.We have a snow storm coming our way.It's going to be a bad one.They are already preparing to possibly close our office if necessary on Monday.We are supposed to have snow and ice Sunday into Monday.Yuck I am so tired of winter.
Thanks for all the shout outs for my test results and DD's BDay
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Kate - I can certainly understand you wanting to recover at home rather than a rehab center. My husband and mother were both in rehab centers at one time and another. Husband's wasn't too bad; it was a beautiful place, new and the staff seemed really nice. He didn't have any complaints about them so they must have been okay. My mother's place was another story. She was there recovering from hip surgery and I have to admit it was depressing for her and for myself and siblings. The staff wasn't that great either. Fortunately one of my brothers pretty much had a bedside vigil with her. He lived close and worked out of the house so he was able to check on her constantly. State of mind and comfort zone are as important as anything else for recovery. Hope you feel better. Diane
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Here in So. Calif. the rains really came down -- had some thunder and lightening too and it's still coming. We need it here so badly,we'll take every bit of it. Unfortunately some areas had mudslides and flooding. Calif. is in a serous drought right now.
BTW, I'm new pretty new here. I'm post-rads about 5 weeks and doing OK. After 2-3 weeks I could feel some of my normal self coming back with less fatigue. I had my post-rads check-up this week, Dr. was pleased with my skin, can barely notice I had any radiation treatments. I did get pink and more so with the boosts, but not too significant. Have a good weekend everyone!
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Sew, Josie, and Edwards thanks so much for the support.
Sew unfortunately my physical therapist had to cancel due to the weather causing traffic to be too bad, but she will come Sun. morning.I feel like Doc did give me good news and options. He is wanting me to do chemo, the exact kind I had before cis/gem. and he is hoping to get me into a clinicaltrial for immune therapy. He siad my leg will improve enough for me to come to Chicao. I am wanting to leave April23 and return home April 28, and he said that is fine, but it is the latest I can go, bcause he wants to start cheno the next week.
Josie the physical therapist is giving me other exercises to do when she is not here
Edward My Mo isn't even talking about Rehab for my case, His treatment plan is physical therapy, cheno, and a clinical trial
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Kate I'm glad to hear you have a plan that will help you recover at home, and that you don't have to make the decision about rehab.
Run, you must be super busy, good luck on tests!
Speaking of test, Josie, happy to hear that it is not as bad as you thought!
Joan, a nice break to look forward to. Let me guess, grandkids? Lucky you!
I won't have break off either. I went over to the dark side of academics…admissions…and so we are coming into a crushing period of our annual cycle. I'm tired just getting ready for it. But grateful for the job and the good people I work with.
Welcome to you Rose!
Off to take my daughter's bf home. Those I missed I leave a hug to share. Don't worry it's a big hug :-)
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Kate, that is good news that you get to take your trip to Chicago. April feels a long way off, but will be here sooner than your think. As to the chemo, you know just what to expect this time, so hopefully that will make it easier for you. And, if it will take care of this miserable leg swelling that's even better. Glad doc gave you such good news.
Yes, Rosecal, it's raining up here in northern ca too. The storm Wednesday brought 1.85" and so far today we've gotten 1.12" so it's helping. Lots of towns around here have started a 50% mandatory reduction in water usage and the farmers in the middle of the state have been told no water will be sent this year so many of them are already letting their fields go fallow. Many ranchers are having to let their herds go, both dairy and beef, as they don't have the feed for them since rains haven't come to make the fields grow, and there's no water for them. It's getting pretty dire up here. This current system will green things up for awhile though so it will be good to see other than brown hillsides.
Oh, and welcome Rosecal. Sorry you had to go thru BC treatment, but now you're thru active treatment and can concentrate on the healing. It will take awhile to be fully recovered, but just listen to your body and keep up the creams....it's our best mantra around here.
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oh, and I forgot, I saw my MO today for 3 month check up and...I've Graduated! Don't have to go back for 6 months! My bone density is stable (osteopenia) so I don't need to go back on Prolia which I had been given the first year to combat full blown osteoporosis caused by the Arimidex. Blood work is so, so, RBC etc. is still low so a touch of anemia, and my WBC is down again, but we've decided my body just does this and it's nothing to worry about. I figure it just gives me an excuse in the afternoons to sit down and read for awhile and, just possibly, close my eyes for 10 minutes or so
Hi Sab, your schedule is enough to make me breathless. Sounds good though....
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Kate - Chicago right now is 28 F degrees with a high of 24 on Saturday and 19 on Sunday AND 3-5" of snow. Hopefully April will be the start of warmer weather!
Good luck!
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With all that Chicago weather, I wonder if my DS will still be there when I finally get to visit him for the first time since he moved 1.5 years ago. I have seen him, just not there. He says he's had enough of the Chicago winter!
It's even cold in DC today...very atypical.
About rads - I also healed up in about 2 weeks and felt normal...glad to have a little rest though before going back. Now I have tenderness and lumpiness near lumpectomy incision. A new bump has me concerned; but I was checked in January.
Gigil, glad you have company in FL while DH travels to work. Your time will go fast there...enjoy every day.
I am concerned for those in CA and the heavy rains. DS is looking for a home in the North Bay area and I told him to take a drive after the storms and see how the foundations and soils are behaving after the rain -- especially on the steeper lots.
Janis - miss you!!!
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Sab, Sew, and Mapgirl thanks for the support
Sab, only you could keep up such a difficult schedule. I think of you as wonder woman. So much discipline for exercise, diet and whatever else you have your sights on. I say that with love. I am so jealous when it comes to exercise. can't motivate myself off of the sofa. I am motivated when it comes to diets, when i was working and other things, but when it comes to exercise I am a lazy cow. I am extremely motivated to go to Chicago, so I will usemy leg as much as doc wants me to,even though at times it is very painful. My physical therapist told me it was ok to lift weights again. My upper arms have gone to hell. I also got approval
from Doc today to do it, so I will try once again. I wish you were my trainer. I so much appreciate your support. You always have so much feeling for others even though you are loaded down with problems yourself.
Sew it is so very nice to have your always intelligent and kind support. You are definitely right about chemo being a little easier this time. because I will know what to expect. Doc is hopeful that it will take away all of the swelling, and I am praying for that. I am so grateful that he thinks I will be ok enough to go to Chciago before I start chemo. I can come home filled with great memories that will definitely help
me tolerate chemo and kick cancer in the butt. I won round one and I will win round 2 also. So far it's kate 2 cancer 0. I am glad you have improved and graduated fro a check up every 3 months to a checkup every 6 months.
Mapgirl the weather in Chicago has been crazy this year. Almost daily my son calls me, and he include the Chciago weather forecast. When I talked to him tonight I asked him if I would need sled dogs and a fur parka for the end orf April, and he said the way the weather has been going I might. Chicago is my home town and I have seen major snow blizzards in the first 10 days of Aoril, but none past that, so I hope the end of April will be ok. In any case I will have my wonderful children and grandchildren to keep me warm.. Is Buffalo Grove your home town? My children live in Northbrook, not too far away, and I have 2 cousins who live in Buffalo Grove. I hope the weather warms up for you soon
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P.S. Today I wore the sequinned jacket I got on sale at Pink's,the end of the year to doc's UCLA office. I got so mamy compliments about it and how glittery it was. I told everyone who mentioned it that I was getting ready early for the red carpet Sunday, and that i was hoping either George Clooney or Brad Cooper was here at UCLA to donate money, and to invite me to be his date for the Oscar's. Saying that was a hit everyone got a good chuckle.
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Cindy, thinking of you and your hubby, and that CFR sounds fabulous!!
Kate, still praying for you as well, every day, hang in, we are all here for you.
Wanted to share results I received yesterday from my MO - Oncotype score 12; Bracha came back normal, so no chemo for me and I am on to rads! Next week, for the first time in awhile, I have a week where I don't see any doctors. I am going to enjoy that. Week after next, having a spinal MRI by a neurologist to see if we can pinpoint why I fall occasionally for no reason, and meeting with my RO to get marked and ready for rads. The results of these two tests helped me much emotionally. It has been a rough couple of months, waiting and waiting, having other medical issues to deal with, financial issues are difficult too, but one day at a time.
I hope you all have a nice weekend. Saturday, today, it is going to be a glorious 80 and by Sunday we will be freezing again, gotta love that Texas weather!
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Welcome, Rose. Congratulations on getting through the daily slog. Sounds as though you’re raring to get back to normal, but don’t forget to give yourself a break if your body/mind/spirit feels a bit uncooperative.
Hooray for the graduation, Sew. And did you say that Prolia moved you from osteoporosis back to osteopenia? That also is a huge achievement. I’ve recently started reclast for my osteopenia, but hadn’t had any real hope for anything other than slowing the slide. Now I’m more hopeful. I’m glad you’ve found a reason (not excuse) to sit for a while in the afternoon. Perhaps we should all follow your lead? How’s about we all share a four o’clock Downton Abbey high tea?
Yikes, Joan. New lumpies are probably perfectly normal, but no fun, are they? And so frustrating that things always seem to pop up right after your/our appointments! Your DS is so lucky to have a geologist momma. What other easterner would advise a field study (or whatever the word) before purchase?
Kate, it sure sounds as though you’ve got everything together now, with Chicago, upper body toning, lymphatic massage, and a familiar chemo all lined up. Oh, and your two Oscar dates. Why settle for one. You have two arms, don’t you? Two movie stars seem just the right number.
Cindy, here’s hoping you and hubby are having a super fun weekend with the mystery bump fading into the backs of your minds.
I realize that almost a whole year after finishing rads, I’m finally feeling like myself. Not sure if it’s just that time has passed, the longer, brighter days, the half hour I’m spending on the treadmill most days(can’t bloody walk outside in our frozen tundra), or maybe even that I have a new manager at work. Suddenly, I have energy and interest. Alas, my appetite has perked up as well, have already gained back five of the 25 pounds I’d lost. Five down, twenty to go. Uggggghhhhhh.
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Thanks for the weather report, Big D. I just checked the temp, and over the past hour, it's gone all the way up from
-4 to -3. Probably by noon we'll be up to zero. I think I'll come visit you!
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Oh dear Brook!!! I know, I need to think about you when I am griping hahahahahaha. That is some crazy cold. You come visit anytime
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BigDBeating and Brookside thanks for the support.
BigD so glad your scores were good, and that you don't have to do chemo.
Brookside I am so glad you are feeling like yourself again. After all that you have been through that must be a wonderful feeling. To heck with putting back a couple of pounds. I used to fret about that all of the time. Even though it means so much to you people won't even notice. However they will notice that brilliant mindof yours.
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Thank you, Kate. I notice the weight gain bigtime, but have a really difficult time recognizing the loss. Unfair.0 -
And Big D, you're invited here as well!0 -
Good Morning ,sorry your freezing up there Brookside.Glad your feeling like yourself again and getting your appetite back.I'll gladly give you my extra 20 lbs that I gained after Rads.
Kate, glad to hear you are starting to get better.Sorry to hear the traffic kept your PT away though.
Welcome to Rosecal.Congrats on being finished with Rads.
Big D, congrats on the good results yay for no Chemo!!.Sorry to hear your having a spinal MRI.My hubby just had a MRI on his shoulder yesterday and They had to inject this dye into the joint capsule.Imagine having a needle stuck into your muscle around the Clavicle area ouch.
Sew, glad to hear that Prolia did its job and improved your T scores.My brother has the low WBC too, apparently he's been seeing a hematologist for years for that and none of us knew.
Sorry if I forgot anybody.I've been up and down since 4am with the stomach flu.
Now I'm trying to slowly replenish my fluids without starting the vomiting.I'm assuming that will be next.
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So sorry your tummy is upset Josie. Now, do tell--when you do your scans, do you find many people's T scores improving?0 -
Yes, We have seen them go from Osteoporosis back into Osteopenia with the Prolia.
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Josie, glad to hear my t scores aren't unusual. I'm hoping I won't have to be treated with the Prolia again, but it sure did do it's job alright. Sorry that you're now coming down with the bug your hubby and dd had......Apparently my MO isn't concerned about my fluctuating wbc.....my blood just acts like a rollercoaster! Just doesn't often get up to the "normal" levels. Ah, life.
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All of these posts are SO helpful! I have 2 more rads to go....YAY! I developed a bad rash along the top part of my breast, so RO recommended hydro-cortisone gel. I've also lost some weight...now I know that may sound great to some of you; but I really can't afford to lose any... My RO said to eat more and increase the carbs. I guess that's the fun part...eating more! I'm just afraid that I'll get so used to that, so once I start on tamoxefin in a few weeks (which I'm told causes weight gain), I'll have to buy all new clothes, I'll probably gain the lost weight and then some....So, guess I will be on a weight roller coaster for awhile. I'm post menopausal, but since I have osteoporosis, doc wants me to go on Tamox for a year or 2, and then switch to femara. Good news for me with the rads is, no fatigue....yet. Just trying to stay positive thru this journey....sure helps to have such a great group of women to "vent' to on this site....really does help & I've learned a great deal as well. Have a great weekend all!
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BCDeb, it's not a given that you'll gain on tamoxifen. I think overall the effect of tamoxifen is that it makes weight loss slower and a little more challenging.
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Hi y'all
BCdeb - welcome and congrats 2, 1 DONE
happy dance shoes are ready! Hydrocortisone and emu oil helped girl. Speedy healing!Kate - Ooo who! Great news from MO...bet you are their fav glam girl:). Glad you have a plan, Chicago & family in sight! Hope keg swelling goes down each day with LE massage...2 arms, hot dates, knock out gown, you will be stunning on the red carpet! Wave to us...or sneak us up onto your glitzy tiara
Joan - rain, flooding, burn zones suffering...good advice to ds on home purchase...yippee nana time:) fingers&toes crossed on lumps ugh:(
GiGil - family sunshine warmer days and DH on the way:) enjoy...cheers
Josie - ugh, so sorry that the flu bug is hitting your house so hard:((( hydrate and take care
Sew - good news:) bones strengthening
)) bravo...Brookside - brrr...here's to springtime coming soon! 5#-water weight focus on what you've accomplished???we are our worst critics.
BigD - great news! On to rads...you will rock..TX weather is crazy...but spring wildflowers soon! Stay hydrated and if at all possible free boobing during rads gives skin/girl air and nothing yo rub or irritate skin! Maybe you can meet up with us Hill Country Warriors sometime:)
Map girl - great weather report brrr! My brother moved to Chicago and they had their worst blizzard in decades...once he could find his car he hightailed it to Santa Fe...but missed the big city.
SAB - enjoy respite over weekend...mom worked at UC Boulder...pressures & excitement:) how about a home made soup recipe for our cold sisters!
Hubby's rocking Kate's coat, ha ha, the wait is on...GS wants zoo...so SD this next week...been along time since I've strolled up and down those hills:) better get a warm up walk in:)
Shout out to all!
(((Hugs)))
Cindy
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Sew, how long were you on the Prolia?
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Thanks for the well wishes everyone. I'm a tad better and starting the Gatorade.I hate being stuck in bed all day.In order to drink and not get tummy upset I have to be sitting up for a while.But then it's back to bed cause everything hurts.
Sorry I'm a baby when I'm sick but DH is taking care of me and the kids get extra dad time.
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Hi Josie, I had 2 infusions of prolia. 6 months apart. Apparently I developed an extreme allergy to the Prolia ( talk about skin rash...this was major full body rash/bumps/hives/swelling/ you name it) so I was hesitant to do the 3rd treatment. We ran a dexa instead (a year ago now) and the Prolia had moved me from full osteo (-4.5 numbers) up to osteopenia (-1 and a bit). So, no Prolia last year. This year my numbers are the same whohoo, so no prolia this year either! I swear it's the prunes! I learned from the exercise group or someplace that prunes, just 5/day, would help with bone loss. so, I've been doing that. I do walk about 6 days a week, but I always have so no change there. I do take magnesium and vit d3 too, but I started that with the Arimidex. So....I think it's the prunes and the prolia. Whatever, I'm keeping up with this routine because I really don't want another full body rash!
cindy, keep that coat around hubby...it does wonders. We're willing to give him a lion king crown too....look around at the zoo for one!
BCDeb.....Oh Boy Oh boy Oh Boy...almost done. Let the healing begin. Keep up with the creams, and lots of us have found that Calendula cream (from Amazon made by Boiron and all natural) worked wonders on burns. I also had several of the prescriptions, but this was really helpful too. You could add some nuts to your diet...almonds, cashews etc. Taste great, good for you, not bad fats and have calories. Or...perhaps an avocado sandwich? Don't worry about the weight you might gain, deal with that later. You need the calories right now to help fight off the effects of the rads. I didn't start gaining weight until at least 2 months after rads, (when I was still treating myself to goodies). Glad you found us, we're great at this recovery stuff....the BEST part about having cancer!
Brookside, I'm so glad to hear that you're feeling more normal now. I actually think it takes about a year and longer to get back to the routine of life after we finish cancer treatment. Not that we don't function, and function well during that healing year, but I do think all of us suffer from a sort of PTSD, or grief at our loss of innocence, certainly we still suffer from stress of all the post treatment follow-ups like mammos etc. etc. and I think that takes it's toll. Then, eventually, we feel more positive, things look better, we don't have any or have fewer medical scares so that stress is removed and one day life ends up looking much brighter. At least it was that way with me and I've been out of active treatment almost 2 1/2 years.
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