Radiation recovery
Comments
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BigD/joan,
I have a lot of admiration for your ability to hold things together even though I know you must be fearful.i'm glad you can come on the thread and tell us about what you're going through. What is harder than waiting for tests and results? Since bc I need answers right away, can't tolerate a moment of uncertainty. Please be comforted by the genuine caring we have for one another-I know I will be thinking of you every day until we get your news.
Run, you are my colonoscopy twin. Ditto to all you said. My husband was away the day of my prep so a good friend came over to keep me company because I was afraid of fainting. Once I started the prep I couldn't wait for her to leave. I did feel light headed in the morning, and was glad my husband was by my side-and once you get to the hospital what safer place is there if you are going to faint? The procedure itself was nothing, I even enjoyed the sedative. I postponed the test till I was 60 I was so afraid-I know you will be fine. In the unlikely event you do pass out it will not be sudden, lie down with your feet up. The anxiety will pass once the test is done and you can eat. Be of good cheer, you will get through it. In your pockets for sure.
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Run hubby just had his first. Prep lasts about 4 hrs. Hope all is clean & shiny for you so you don't have a do-over. Big Hugs (())
Big D Big Hugs, everything crossed for good results for you.
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70charger, I want to go to your husband's surgeon! That's a fast prep! I'm not scared of the procedure--I learned when I had my lumpectomy that propofol is a beautiful thing. The laxative's a bummer but they allegedly use one that doesn't taste like anything, and I have books and my iPad and I'll just sit in the bathroom as long as I have to. It's only the fasting that I'm dreading. Thanks for all the encouragement, everybody. I know I just needed a bunch of cyber-hugs for the half marathon too. I saw this coming, two sorta scary things within a week. After this things stay busy, but not scary. You should all see the enormous plate of pancakes I am going to have when this thing is over!
BigD/Joan, my hat's off to you for going to work and soldiering on. I suppose it's easier to go to work than to stay home and fret, and that's assuming that staying home is even an option. Waiting is just the worst. Here's hoping it turns out to be nothing AND you find out soon and can stay peaceful until you find out. I'm so sorry you are going through this.
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wow, BigD/Joan, I'm so sorry your results were inconclusive. Waiting is just the hardest thing to do. I'd be a complete basket case and non-functional by now. Be sure to join us here as you can....we'll all support you from afar and wait with you.
Run and everyone else having colonoscopies....what everyone's said about the procedure itself being a non-event is true. No awareness, no drug hangover and just all done. That said by the person who put off having the test for 10 years. I was really fortunate in that I was given something called HalfLight, so did not have to drink an entire gallon of stuff.....only half a gallon
. And my surgeon allowed us to eat jello or bullion on our fasting day but I found the stuff was so filling I wasn't hungry at all. Hopefully it will be as easy for all of you. Now the rest of the prep is the same for everyone, I'm afraid. 0 -
Ok, sounds like I missed a lot today.
Big D/Joan sorry your going through this sweetie.Waiting is the hardest.Maybe they should have been sure before they told you.I'll pray for you that all is well.
I'm glad you found us and we have been helpful and supportive to you in your time of need.I too would love to meet everyone in the group and give each and everyone a big hug.
RunFree, kudos to you for getting it over with(colonoscopy) It will all be over before you know it.You will do fine.I am over due for one myself.Had some issues(bleeding) back in 2006They did a colonoscopy in Jan 2007.Luckily everything was fine but it scared me since my Grandfather died of Colon Cancer and my father had it too.I was supposed to have a repeat one done in 2012 but haven't yet
Got to get to bed it's late and I was a zombie at work today th.felt like I was in a fog until I drank my 2 nd cup of coffee around 2:30 pm.
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Big D--I am sorry you are having to go thru this time of stress and waiting. I am saying a prayer that this is resolved for you in a very positive way. Are you still having balance issues? They found some white spots on a brain MRI I had done pre-breast cancer DX but they were determined to be migraine scarring.... Would you like me to send my Angel back for a few days? I think she kinda enjoyed hanging with yours on Saturday. She has a lot of wanderlust in her wings..
When I had my one and only colonoscopy at 50 (now 57) they had me take mirolax and I mixed it with 2 gallons of Apple juice. Didn't taste yucky, and actually, the prep wasn't bad for me. Wasn't sure I was "cleaned out" like everyone else had complained of, but I went right to sleep and don't remember anything at all about it. I think they gave me Fentynl .
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BigD/Joan you are in my thoughts and I am sending positive energy. I hope you have answers soon, and I hope this will be nothing serious. I hate that you have had to wait. Waiting is the worst.
Run good luck with that colonoscopy. You will be so relieved to be all done with it.
Getting a card ready for Kate.
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Tomorrow is my last day of radiation! There is a part of me that wants to celebrate big time but one of my best friends lost her beautiful 18 year old daughter to bone cancer and my stage 1 ductal carcinoma seems like a hang nail compared to that horror. Am I crazy??? I'm very active and right now I'm most excited about getting my energy back -- I'm exhausted
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Michele5, big congratulations on finishing radiation! I think you SHOULD celebrate big-time. It's awful that your friend lost her daughter. I have a teenage girl too and that is just so hard to hear about. I have thought some about this question of how much of a big deal to make out of my cancer when there are people suffering much worse. I have a colleague with awful Stage 4 (I think) colon cancer, much younger than me (she's about 37), young kids, problematic husband, two years now of surgeries and chemos and awfulness. My only answer, so far, is to insist on saying I had breast cancer, not just cancer, to make the point that "cancer" is a big umbrella term and you can't really compare it. Your story is your story, nobody else's. And your friend needs you to get better to help her through this!
So I say do your happy dance! Your energy will return (maybe not as fast as you want it to) and you'll love to have your days back. Yay to finishing rads!
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From my point of view, the best way to handle the prep is to have one bathroom all to yourself. Living alone, Big D, is an absolute bonus! Over the years they've made wonderful changes to the stuff they give us. Last time, it was several hours before anything happened, then, as someone else indicated, I think it was all over in just a few hours. I slept though the night, and after a single event in the morning, rode nicely to the hospital, an hour away. Tip: Ask them whether, if you're really feeling faint, and if your were to show up early, would they be able to give you something, like, for instance, a yummy IV with sugar water.
Wow, none of us like mystery spots on our scans. There's no reason, of course, that these should be anything but just boring blobbity blobs, but angst is angst and we're all angst-ing right along with you. Looking forward to hearing the all clear!
Sorry, landlubbers, but I just have to write this: Cindy, you're such a hero! I never went near a hobie cat. Flying up in the air would have left me a gibbering idiot. The boys club really showed up with the Shields fleet--they wanted muscles on their crew and I never set foot on one. I spent all my time in Sonars (jib or halyards) and loved every minute. In the winter I was on race committee for the dingy races. Yep. Goldilocks that I am, I was too wimpy for Shields, too heavy for dingies. Oh, and I started a Blue Jay race for grownups. So much fun!
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congrats michele5 on your final radiation tomorrow.
We hope your energy levels improve soon and that you can relish in that excitement!
Sorry to hear the news about your friends daughter x
The Mods
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Brookside, that's a great point about the reserved bathroom. I suppose that might just happen naturally.... The woman at the OR, once she softened up, told me they'd get an IV in me as soon as I show up at 8. I wonder if I could go in earlier--maybe.
I didn't understand any of what you said about, apparently, boats. That just proves what a sailing pro you are and maybe Cindy even more? All of you women have super powers and they just keep emerging on this thread!
BigD/Joan, I love Brookside's language about the blobbity blobs. THAT'S what I'll hope for, in addition to the peace and fast answers.
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lol Brookside, I'm with RunFree ... You need to provide subtitles with your conversation to Cindy! ;-)
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BigD, I know what you mean about finding this thread to be home. I am so happy to have found a place where we can validate all those peculiar feelings, findings, and, well, peculiarities that seem to hit so many of us, even months after treatment. Who would have known that it is perfectly reasonable to find ourselves still disconnected and disinterested in things that once held our full attention.Welcome, Michele. May that energy return super speedily. I am so sorry about your friend's child. You can mourn her fully and deeply, support her family, and still absolutely rejoice in completing your treatment. Joy surely has an important, albeit invisible, place on that food pyramid they keep showing us.
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Thank you, RunFree and Gemini. I knew it would come across as gobbledygook, and therefore provided a bit of apology before carrying on with classes of sailboat (kind of car models--SUV, convertible, etc.). Just so you all know, the hobie cats Cindy sailed are catamarans, with two hulls (think pontoons) in the water and a platform between. In a decent wind, one hull is maybe 10 or more feet in the air, with a crew member out on a trapeze, suspended over nowhere, using her (Cindy's) body to keep the whole thing from flipping over. Of course, the skipper (or maybe this was Cindy) is also doing his or her part to also stay just on the edge of adrenalin.
I do apologize, everyone. The last thing that kept me from moving from Long Island to Vermont was sailing. There ain't no water here, and it's been a long time since this once beloved subject has come up.
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Michelle5, Congrats on your last Day of Rads.I'm so sorry about your friends daughter.I have a 19yr old and can't imagine losing her.
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Good morning...I spent last night reading back the pages I missed then fell asleep. I am about to head out to work .. seems like that's all I do. But after June 26th, I am off until the end of August. Wow...can't wait.
Welcome, Michele. I was quite active and kept working through rads...but I needed a time of recovery to deal with wanting to sleep late and working through the emotions of BC diagnosis and treatment. I had a voluntary heart catheterization right after rads but report was clear and I recovered in a day. I got my strength back quickly and loved doing normal things again.
I will repeat something i said a few weeks ago...on this thread, we talk about everything you can imagine from our tests and treatments, our emotional response to BC, and our everyday joys and sorrows. It is all part of recovery. There are days when it may appear that we are not focusing on radiation recovery. However, getting back to these "normal" activities and relationships IS our recovery. I hope you will feel comfortable to share questions or anything here.
Yes, celebrate in your own way...I was very private and quiet but did feel accomplished! I got a diploma and hugs...I brought the staff gourmet pastries and little gifts for my regulars. It is a time of transition from the daily drama of rads to "nothing going on".I had my colonoscopy after 60 and passed (whew!) I had some lemon lime flavored drink that was not good, but it wasn't the worst ever. It was over fast - I had my own bathroom, and also worried about the fasting. I was allowed to take a xanax in the morning before the procedure. It helped a lot to take the edge off as I waited. The worst was it seemed to take forever for them to push the sleepy meds into my IV and I was so squirmy and anxious. I also had endoscopy and it was easy. I awoke with a swollen sore lip from a mouth piece and a huge bruise on my arm near the IV site. That was upsetting because I don't know what they did to me...probably in moving me while I "slept"...but reports were good.
I admire those turning 50 who get right on it. I am a procrastinator and was also remiss in my mammos...am very fortunate to have not waited any longer.
BigD/Joan, I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers for a good report. Waiting is the worst. I hope it is nothing to worry about. Meanwhile, it is tough to wait.
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Hi y'all!
Michele - welcome! Congrats! Happy Dance
Ring that bell! Celebrate you did it! Life is about celebration each moment ....so please do! Sorry that your friends dd has passed...a child is a hard loss and she will need you ...just show up ...but don't forget to take care of you. PTSD is not unusual so be gentle with yourself. Take a vacation and just bask in family friends and life! Sending healing thoughts!RunFree - good advice on colonoscopy! It was a nonevent...was permitted clear broth, non red or purple jello or popcycles and hard candy which helped with my low blood sugar...big event was the earthquake on the gurney hooked up and no way to get off and stand in doorway...ha! Did it at 50 and again at 59 (MO insisted) and will in 3 yrs they found some polpys ugh! Prep is much better...it's all better than BC! You got this:) designated private throne is a must!
BigD - ah, Joan the waiting
(( glad your team is on top of things and watches you closely. Will keep my fingers&toes crossed all is well. Sending good confident thoughts&prayers your way ))Joan - counting down the days...summertime break is almost here! And summertime gk memeory time is about to start Ooo who!
Brookside - yes, I was on that trapeze! Ooo who
TX has many lakes so move was easy...got be on or near the water LBJ is beautiful. Hubby #2 took sailing lessons (6'5" with 2 other men on lido 14 no wonder he didn't move on to keel boats)...so I went down to do a check out with instructor to prove I could sail...ha ha, been a few years dh crouched down in the bow and off we go instructor on the jib me at the helm a brisk 10-12 knots in Newport Bay ( grew up sailing there) after 4 hours and a lecture about I know what you're doing as match tacking up the tight channel with a 50fter and got him on starboard finally, instructor made me jibe back to turning basin and play nice...instructor got lecture that we should have reefed the main wind was over 15 knots on return...a fun day. Ah, sailing...Christorper Cross song!Felt good to mail a hug to Kate! Can just see her glam face light up, her tiar shine brighter, and her princess warrior coat snugged a bit tighter with cake ball dust and laughter coming out of all the full pockets! Thank you RunFree for making that happen!
Off to a new class today!
(((Hugs)))
Cindy
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Welcome Michele!
Sailing sounds like so much fun. Started Kayaking last year, does that count?
Joan, I'm excited for your time off! Fun plans?
I had a colonoscopy, not too bad. Lots of "peace of mind" after.
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Brookside and Cindy, I don't mind a bit seeing your untranslated sailing talk! I love knowing about all the different competencies we have on this thread. Cindy, you sound so fearless! I do know what a catamaran is, but I did not realize they were so tippy. I think I've only ever been on pretty big ones. Yikes!
10 am and not starving yet. 23 hours to go, not that I'm counting.
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Run You got this girl!
Michelle Welcome, happy dance.
Joan Big countdown begins to time off. Well deserved time off.
Cindy busy as ever
If I forgot anyone, fuzzy brain today. going to rest on this rainy, dreary day ... again.
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Cindy and Brookside, we had a little Hobie Cat for years, just a 16' thing, perfect for 2. And yep, they can go ass over tea kettle as they say
Great fun though on the lakes and down in Mexico (Baja). Small enough to just pull along behind us and swim to the shore when the wind totally fails. Ah, those were the days.Michele, congrats...you're done! No more active treatment. Hip Hip Hurrah! It seemed sort of anti-climactic to me after all the endless appointments and schedules to suddenly be let loose. You definitely should celebrate....I'm not much of a party girl but treated myself to a new orchid and a bag of trail mix! I'm so sorry to hear about your friends loss. I know she won't feel like celebrating with you right now, but in her heart of hearts I know she's thrilled for you.
Joan, June 26th coming right up!
BidD/Joan....I like thinking of this thing as a blippety bleep (or is that the x rated version of Brookside's term?) I'm hoping it turns out to be a touch of scare tissue from childhood, or some other non-issue. Waiting...ugh!
RunFree...won't they even let you have a bit of broth or clear jello or something? That might help. Soon, this will all be a past memory......
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Yes, I can have clear juices, jello, and broth. Nobody said to avoid red or purple jello, hmmm....
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Just got back from the mail box! Instead of sending Kate a card, I sent a cheque to be used for her to have her hair done. They have someone come in every Monday. Just thought it was fitting. Hope it was a good idea?
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great idea charger!
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charger, how incredibly thoughtful of you! I've been wanting to do something a little special as well. I've decided that I'm going to draw a picture of Kate in her princess warrior coat. I'll snap a photo of it when I'm done. :-)
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Run - I am the Queen of colonoscopies - just my luck during other previous medical issues -my PP sent me for my 1st at 45 yrs. Due to polops, I had to go every 3 months, every 60 mo and now every 2 years. My tips: 1) stay busy during today and go to bed early - the "fun" happens for about an hour only. 2) NOTHING WITH Red or Purple Dyes as it will look as "bleeding" in the colon. I munched on popsicles, jello and clear broth; 3) mix the solution with Crystal Light and chill for a long time; 4) Don't worry about finishing it - you will know when you are cleansed!; 5) I also took Colace; and finally -- at the Dr office request a "big" shot of the dose". You will fall asleep - and it will be over withing 30 minutes! YOU have got this one!!!!
BigD - you are in my prayers!
Hugs to all!
LiLi.
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Wow LiLi, you do know your stuff! I called the surgeon's office just now about the red jello question, because I got a six-pack and I'm already two cups into it. The woman said they used to believe you couldn't have red, but now they don't see it as a problem, and then she went off and checked with someone else and confirmed it. So I will let you know if they tell me tomorrow that I look all red on the inside! Also taking Colace is a good idea. I was going to use Crystal Light, but I wanted the calories, so I got two kinds of juice I've always admired but avoided because of the sugar. I will definitely chill it. Great advice about staying busy. I've been in bed with my iPad and will be watching episodes of "Call the Midwife" interspersed with reading, I think. And my People magazine just came. Do you think I'll be able to sneak off this evening and attend my son's concert for about 20 minutes???
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RunFree, as long as you sit near the rest rooms, why not? You are not sick...just...ummm, well you know! HA! Best of luck...worst part really is the prep! Will be in your pocket or at least nearby and not upwind! (AH...that was really bad! lol)
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Lili - I had polyps too - non-cancerous but have to go back in 5 years not the usual 10. I had a friend who procrastinated for years and years about having one and ended up with major gastric problems and surgery. W/o getting too graphic she had to have the bag for awhile. Made a believer out of her. It was scary and gross.
Charger - what a cool thoughtful thing to do. We all know Kate had beautiful hair and worried about how it looked.
Michele - welcome and congrats on THE END of rads. I had them too. Sorry about your friend.
Big D - I don't wait well at all so I can only imagine what you are going through. Hopefully you will find out soon.
Josie - when is the age when you should start having bone density tests? My Ob/Gyn said 50.
Diane
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