Canadians in British Columbia
Comments
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Ossa, Yes, I have family in Summerland, it seems like a nice place, although the forest fire thing really scares me in that area. When we were there this year there was the Peachland fire, the Keromeos fire, the Westbank fire & the Summerland fire, that's too much for me even though the last 2 were small ones.
I will be interested to hear how the fat grafting goes, I would like to have more upper pole fullness, but don't really want to go under again. But I may consider it if the outcome is worth it.
Tazzy, La Frenz is right, I knew I didn't have the spelling right, but couldn't be bothered to look it up!
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Just wanted to share with you what my son wrote as our team fundraising story for Run for the cure in Abbotsford.
For those of you who does not know (like me) who the Avengers are.. They are a group of super heroes out to rid the world of evil ( the top selling movie at the moment) Here goes...
We are the six SURVIVORS OF 3019 The Walmart Avengers. We are uniting in the CIBC Run for the Cure on September 30.
Like the Avengers of Breast Cancer we put together a team of survivors. But instead of Captain America and Thor, we have real Heroes who have fought real battles. Although our radiation levels weren't like those of the Hulk we are ready to smash Cancer.
This is how the six of us came together, six women with one goal, to rid the world of Breast Cancer.
Our plan started by placing a 5 gallon water jug in our store for donations for our team of six survivors. The outpouring of supprot was tremendous from co-workers, friends, family and customers. We orchestrated 2 raffles and received many personal donations. To date we have raised over $3000 in a month ( with another $2000 coming from Walmart. ) All six of us are at different stages in our battle but the exact same place in our hearts. WE WILL CONQUER THIS...
This may be the first year of participation in this event but Breast assured, it is nowhere near our last.
Kudos to ALL brave fearless PINK WARRIORS.
Heidi, Osa, Diane, Cathy, Marie and Anne
If anyone would like to donate to this cause please go to CIBC run for the cure... Click Abbotsford.. MY name... Ase Floris..
I will be having lots of pockets on run day so if anyone would like to jump in my pockets feel free, just please bring your own snack.. No boytoys for this one though as there is limited space
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Will be thinking of all of you when I am walking it tomorrow in Vancouver; also will be thinking of Tazzy in Kelowna. I guess I better get out and do a 5 k walk today in preparation!
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...trunckle??? You mean vhest trunk or bottom? Sorry..confused.
Wow.so much going on. Ossa Congrats on port coming out ( we hope)
Marie so sorry the worrying has entered your life again. At least you've got great MPs caring for you! Hang in there ...glad everyone is getting things done ...tax..hope to hook up next time..planning on going up at Xmas! I think most hosp's here are good...except Ridge Meadows ..nurses are awesome tho!!! I'm done in now ..night.0 -
Cher.. so happy I got to meet you yesterday.. you look great loved the tutu.. I really wanted a picture of us,but forgot in ll the emotions.. What a great day it turned out to be.. So emotional.. My husband was fine until the survivor round. Then he lost it... (This is a man who does not cry.. you know the kind that grew up being told crying was for sissies) He told me that when he looked at me and all the women walking he thought wow it it was not for reshearch a lot of these women would not be here today.. So true
You were all with me ladies
I walked for all of you
Cher I will be in your pocket today.. Wish I could go with you, but we have inventory at work tomorrow so I will not be able to get away today. Let me knowif you need me in the future.. I work 10 mins away from the hospital...
Have a great day ladies
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Oh.. Ossa.. bless you doll! thank you for the offer.. & I'll take you in my pocket for sure.. along with others.
It sure was an emotional day.. that's amazing about your hubby
!! what a loving caring man! this damn disease has given me some great blessings too, I woke thinking of them. When I picked up the tshirts, I met 2 other survivors at the Running room in MR. Wonderful women (of course) the 1 poor gal, works at our hosp here, well, you guessed it, I have a big mouth, but she had agreed with me on many accounts, & shes dealing with FVCC, so that's good. this woman was Queen K team leader. its sure been a great diversion & such, and lots of fun.
Ok.. now to go get ready for appt. Ladies good luck in all you do today!!
thinking of you all
Cher
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OSSA.. lol lol.. your son did an amazing job with that!!! awesome.. had a chuckle & a YAH !! great job to all who raised money.. and ESPECIALLY those volunteers!! buuuuaaah!
Marian.. how'd you make out yesterday? hope you didn't overdo it!!& all is great today for you!! Yes I was thinking of Tazzy up in WBank & all you other ladies. I was telling my daughter (#2) all about you all & how we're all supportive to each other. She said last night 'it sure felt good to give & be part of mom & make a difference, I'm in for the future' .. she was'nt too keen on the whole thing, tutu's etc.. but for Momma.. anything. she 'GOT' it, and so did my granddaughter & other family there... they GOT it.. the 'idea' of support & the seriousness of the disease.
GG27 & others- re: Summerland. my Aunty & my BFF live there, I was there for 2 days & she & I made the tutu's.. had a special suitcase for my crafts lol.
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Congrats Ladies... wasn't the Walk/Run wonderful to be part of. I need to upload my photos and post on here. I really didn't think I'd be that emotional about being a 'survivor'... until I got there and saw the support... in way I am happy my DH was away... think we both would've lost it had he been there.
cher, ossa.... how wonderful you managed to meet up.
Not sure if my achey hips are to do with my age or the chemo
... going to have a restful day today. 0 -
Ossa, hope you can get the port out, one step closer to being done with the active treatment. That's a real milestone. I am doing very well, thank you for asking. Rads finished in July, and I have become stronger and more energetic every week since. My life feels normal again, no more drs or Cancer Agency appointments at this stage, just check-ups in future. I count my blessings every day.
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Hi there ladies.. sure has been quiet in these rooms.. hope all is doing good! So I've had great results with the New Onc in Abby CC.. as OSSA said, they're fantastic. great programs too & going to take advantage of them. counselling (as you guessed I sure need it lol).
Am 2 months late for Chemo, but am in the WINDOW so am still in safety zone to get it. hooray & uggg. scared/nervous. New Onc straightened out the craziness of the surgeon & other Onc. so of course it's still ER+ even at weakly positive. something I'm going to ask about is I'd forgotten it says HER2 negative 1/3 my ER is 1/3 so am wondering if there is also HER2 in there, it does say that there is in the path report, so does that have anything to do with anything?
just noticed the Cyclo(cytoxan) says 'injection' so is this a bag or injection into ME? are these minute' questions to ask the Nurse via that nurses line? Also am concerned with if my immune is wiped out, will this give the prvious infections ability to come back? that freaks me.. ok, now I'm borrowing trouble I KNOW.. geesh. ok.. i'll stop now. all is good.
not too many to help me here anymore. I guess I used up all my people with the surgery/infections. my girls live too far away & work w/families etc. Have a couple g/f's close by, but not many. the lady next door has bladder cancer, so she came with me yesterday to the Chemo Teach. her chemo starts on the 18th, so who know's maybe we'll be having ours same time. I dunno.
they're going to try to get me in next week, but most likely will be last minute call to fill a cancellation. otherwise then week after for sure.
well, paperwork is calling.
have a great day!!
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Cher.. Glad to hear it is finally happening for you.. A friend had injection and they did inject it trough her port (are you getting a port or stint) If you are Her2 + your treatment will be different than if you are not. I had 4x4 treatments plus Herceptin (drug that targets the Her2+) It should be in your pat report
Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving weekend in out beautiful province..May your taste-buds all be with you this weekend
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Hello all of you beautiful ladies,
I haven't been in here for quit a while but just dropping in to say that my surgery went awesome. I now have a new companion that's going to take a ride for about ten years. The swelling is going down slowly but surely and its starting to look like what can only be declared as a normal fake boob
.......Anyway, its nice to grab onto something soft than onto that hard expander !!!!!! I am slowly feeling back to normal again, I cant wait to work out with the weights again........
Ossa has been my wonderful supporter and friend. We had a absolutely great walk on the 30th of Sept..... its going to be something that I will be doing every year now for as long as I am able
I have a question for anyone who goes on the chat here on this site. What Java do you have that allows you access to the chat room? Can anyone let me know, I have down loaded three different kinds none are working....... Thank you ladies.
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Chat site? I did not even know one existed. Is this like a live chat?
Hope everyone is having a good weekend. My port site got really sore last night just when at 48 hours post op I thought it would be better. Maybe my 5 k walks were not such a good idea on Sat./Sun.? But took some pain killers and feels better today.
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I remember being sore after walking too, it may be just a simple thing like swinging your arms as you walk!
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Just took off the dressing; it did say 2-3 days and am 3 days now. I think I must bruise really easy as it is definitely bruised and just below the port there are several slightly raised purple blue thin bruises that look about the size of teeth from a comb. But no bleeding and no new swelling so I guess it is fine. I felt wiped out this morning and am thinking that is still just the hangover effect from the meds from the conscious sedation - certainly not from wine though I am thnking of a glass soon as we are having Thanksgiving dinner tonight though not turkey. Roast lamb and a free range chicken so as to keep everyone happy.
I did walk again as I figure I would feel worse if I did not.Marian
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Cher56 LOVE your Avatar!!!
chemo today, rest time...belated Happy Thanksgiving all
marianelizabeth...port brusing...mine looked like a boot print LOL it was more painful than surgery. I was an unusual case, my veins ran in a circuitous path ergo the difficulty. While strange, it is not uncommon, my chemo nurses were familiar with "different anatomy" diagnosis. That said, it work like a charm.
I have photos, thought I may need them
Turns out, it is just another little surprise. Doable as they say.
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whaevah, thanks and I look forward to going to chemo teach on Thursday just to make sure all is well with the port. I agree, this is just as painful as my lumpectomy I think. I forgot to take a small pillow (advice on another thread) when I drove myself for the first time today. Glad it was not far as I was holding the seat belt most of the time. Dental done, teeth cleaned, ready for the chemo though still on the wait list - 24th for sure but hoping for 15th says my MO.
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marianaliza, yes its a live chat room .
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Cat61 I did find it but could not see how to actually use it.
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Hello all! I have been trying to read a bit on both this thread and the Canadian thread but too much to catch up on all in one go! I don't know what's going on with the site lately but the notifications are sure messed up. I'll post here and catch up on the other thread later in the week!
Great that all you ladies managed to get out for the walk!
We had a great trip and I did a lot of things I would not have done pre-diagnosis. For our anniversary, my husband booked a flight over the Grand Canyon in a Cessna and then down to the canyon floor in a helicopter, and I actually made it through most of it with my eyes open! (I have a terrible fear of flying.)
It was a bit too hot for my liking and my skin graft didn't fare too well but I hope it will settle down now that we're back in the cooler weather. Even my leg blistered (where they took the graft) and I was wearing long hiking pants with built-in SPF!
Ossa: I did NOT get rich or famous, so sorry to say I don't have tiaras to pass out. I did win 1000 quarters so I'm happy with that. whaevah: No tinfoil hats either!
Cher: Love your avi too! Glad to hear things are getting somewhat sorted out for you, although it's still nerve-wracking when you have yet another treatment step to start.
cat: Congrats on the exchange! I bet it feels so much better to get rid of the awful TE!
Marianelizabeth: Sounds like things are moving quickly for you too. Was it you who mentioned Karen Gelmon? I can't remember now but if so, she is great -- my sister saw her for a few years, and we all loved her.
Hope all's well with everyone.
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Gumshoe - Glad to hear you're also endorsing Karen Gelmon as I have an appointment with her on the 24th. A physician I work with told me that if his wife were to be diagnosed with cancer that Karen is who he'd be sending her to. With that, I promptly requested Dr. Gelmon. I was denied an appointment with her initially (was told she is too busy for my 'simple' cancer), but for whatever reason they called to let me know that I've been booked in with her. Hope this doesn't mean they've seen my path report and things are more advanced than initially suspected (I'm still waiting on those results).0
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Gumshoe welcome home.. Happy to see you back even if you are not rich and famous
Sounds like a nice trip.. happy for you.Marian..my port have looked bruised the whole year and a half I have had it in..You will not feel it after a while.. becomes part of you.. mine comes out tomorrow( yay..I think,) kind of worried about it coming out as it has been my "lifeline" for so long.. The mindgames of what if had started again. arrrg
Enjoy the last few days of sunshine as our Fraser Valley weather is on its way
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Gumshoe it was probably Sneaky who endorsed Karen Gelmon though I have had other good reports about her too. I too could have had an appt. with her but it would have meant waiting an extra 10 days and with the urgency around my cancer it did not seem like a good idea. What helped with that was that our oncologist friend in NS who knows Karen Gelmon, says that all the MO's in Vancouver are excellent and he would have no hesitation with any of them for me. I do like Dr. Tamara Shenkier who I am seeing and appreciated that she called me back when I had questions the day after I saw her. Now I am at the mercy of BCCA with the chemo room wait list no matter who I see. My MO is working hard with my mitigating circumstances but I guess there are those with more urgent problems. Sneaky, how long have you waited now? Although I think we have the best in Canada, there are two things now that really bug me. One is that 17 day wait for patholgogy due to the way the system works and then the 6 week wait for my surgery due to "summer closures." So now that creates the mitigating circumstances with my aggressive cancer - not the slow growing type usually associated with strongly positive estrogen receptors. I suspect that because my core biposy had the ER+ plus no evidence of lymphovascular invasion, waiting the 6 weeks seemed like no big deal.
Good luck with the path, Sneaky!
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17 days since surgery and as of 9am, the path report wasn't in yet. I'll call again right before lunch to see if it's worth heading to the BS.
And like you, Marian, I was put on hold because of the summer. When I first was diagnosed in July I was told I'd have surgery within 3-4 weeks. I actually had to wait a little over 2 months. My biopsy suggested that it wasn't an aggressive cancer (and very strong ER+/PR+ so I'm guessing they also think my wait won't be an issue). I'm really curious of the overall size of the cancer. I'm multifocal and biopsies confirmed cancer in 2 palpable masses of only ~ 1cm each, but there was a very large mass seen on biopsy and MRI deeper down that wasn't biopsied.
See, now I'm thinking of all the different scenarios while I sit here and wait.
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sneakychiqita, I was just counting the days for you and mine did come in on day 17 last minute. I am now thinking positively for you that those "summer closures" were OK for you. Let's just hope that in fact the biopsy in your case is the same path as your surgery. I think that the fact that the FNA was negative is in your favour! We are going to a VIFF film this afternoon as I need to get out of the waiting game mode - I manage really well then boom the mind game is back. Maybe the change in weather is having an effect too.
I did plan to see the BS even if my results were not back though in your case you saw her in the post op days so would have got her impressions from the surgery. I did get mine briefly post op, but it was just that there was a second lump and that some nodes looked pearly. If I had known she had taken 8 nodes I might have even done more mind games over the 17 days!
So as I said above, my only complaints in Br. Col. are summer closures and the ridiculous wait for pathology. I mean, really 17 days or more then hurry up and get to BCCA to hear that I have to wait more than 3 weeks for the chemo they say I need fast!
Deep breaths for both of us!
Marian
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Just got off the phone with BS office. Apparently the lab hasn't even started on mine yet. I was told to call on Monday to see IF my results are in. Ugh, this wait is excruciating.
I actually haven't seen either of my surgeons since pre-surgery. My BS did talk with my mom on her way out after surgery though and did pass along the news that only 2 nodes were removed and she didn't feel the need to remove anymore than that. At least I seem to be healing relatively well (ridiculously tight pec muscle aside) so I think I'll be on track for a fill when I meet with my PS next week. Sheesh, I'll probably be finished with reconstruction before getting my flippin' results back.
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The waits are terrible. I know I had my paper confirmation of DX on June 12th, I managed to get into surgery July 12th, at the time I thought that was way to long, now I feel lucky. I never got the pathology back for 23 days. I live in Prince George and all ours are sent to Vancouver, so I am sure part of the problem is everything in B.C. Is filtering through the labs in Vancouver....the Cancer Coordinator actually told me she didn't like saying this but I was DX at a bad time of the year as operating rooms, staff shortages , nurses, Doctors, all have summer vacation.....it's just the way it happens.....sheesh, thanks for that info...Chemo for me started Sept. 5th....when everybody was back....lol
I pray you girls get news from your pathology reports soon.0 -
Welcome back Gumshoe,
WOW! sounds like you had a great time on your well deserved vacation....0 -
Thanks Ossa!
Just quickly scanning at lunch here -- sneakychiquita, marianelizabeth: 17 days?? That's really, really bad. The "summer closures" affected me initially too and it's just not right. My pathology was last year over Christmas, so that was stalled as well.
Yes, everyone needs a vacation but why can't they make sure there's someone on the other end? If my company just stopped every summer, we'd have a serious problem.
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Welcome back Gumshoe... sounds like you had a marvellous trip.
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