February 2012 Chemo
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christina...so glad you are doing well!
just checking in for a second at work- yesterday was crazy busy -
it's pouring rain this morning- i can hear it on the roof! we need it!
tomorrow i have my simulation..am so eager to get all of this done!
hugs to all!
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Christina
I had two as well. One was beige with the pockets for drains etc and the other was more of a black tank top that I wore out alot under shirts etc. I pretty much wore these for 3 months solid until I got my prostetic and bras and got used to the weight of the prosetesis.
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moonflwr, I need to get an alternate camisole, I am sure I'm going to be wearing this a lot for a while.
The scale says I am down 3 lbs. But I don't know how much my boob weighed, so did I really lose weight? Hmmm...
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Chrsitine
I was down 2 lbs after surgery so its totally possible it weighed 3!
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Christina: Sounds like it's the boob. Think of it as a freebie. :-)
I had a horrible breast MRI yesterday. George Washington University Hospital Medical Associates MRI department. The table they put me on couldn't be lowered, so they had me climb up on to a plastic step stool to get on the table. Then they gave me these little foam ear plugs that did nothing to block the sound. Worst MRI experience I've ever had. I tried to call the manager of the department but couldn't get through. So frankly, I'm not going to bother complaining. Not worth my time. I just won't ever go back. I don't care what my doctor says about where she wants me to get tests done. I will go where the facilities and service are better. Jeez. I got enough discomfort in my life without this. What a PITA.
Thursday I meet with plastic surgeon to discuss options for surgery and I'll find out on 9/4 if I have the go ahead to have the surgery.
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gritgirl
What a crappy place and experience! BTW whats a PITA?
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PITA = pain in the ass :-)
yeah, having cancer is hard enough so i'm working to cut down on other hard experiences like crappy MRI's :-)
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Oh LOL! I've seen that acronym and wondered. Re the MRI. Can you imagine an elderly or disabled person having to try to get up on a machine like that? Crazy.
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that's why i tried to call the manager. but after trying 3 times and the phone ringing endlessly, i thought screw this. but i will mention it to my breast surgeon. that was ridiculous.
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Gritgirl, yeah, that does suck. Never had an MRI, probably never will. Pacemaker is made of metal. Although they are claiming to be working on a MRI safe pacer. I have 12 years left on this one, don't want another op.if I don't have too! LOL. but you are right, there is no reason to spend all that energy on such annoying things. Much love to all
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Glad to see you Susan. I had to climb up on a stepstool to do the breast MRI back in January. I asked the tech at the time, how do older people do this!?! I guess the techs just help as much as they can...definitely weird. I'll cross my fingers that your surgical consult goes well, keep us posted!
Ali are you still getting rads? Just curious; I hope it has not been as bad as the chemo was for you.
Where is everyone else in their treatment process? I'm sorry, it's hard to remember everyone for sure sometimes.
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Hi, day 9 of rads and I have the burning sore throat and flare up at night. What with the hot flushes and no sleep I wasn't in good mood for rads.
Told the rads girl I was stopping this crap and burst into tears, I told her I was sorry and all the things were getting on top of me.
The Tamoxifen is driving me mad and I can't sleep but never mind it's all good for us!
Love to everyone and hope your not moody like me.0 -
Ali
Trying playing around with the time of day you take the Tamoxifen. Some say it helps with sleeping if you take in very early in the day. You also might find that the SE's level off with time. Being exhausted makes everything that much harder.
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Luckily no rads for me. Made the mistake of looking at info on DIEP last night. Shouldn't have done that. Grossed me out. So much of this stuff it's just better for me not to look at. I can handle thinking of this stuff intellectually, but once I see pictures, oy.
Going through all this stuff sucks, Ali. It just does. After my nasty MRI experience yesterday I broke down into mega tears. It's overwhelming. Thank God women are allowed to cry. I feel bad for guys going through this. They're often expected to be "strong." Screw being strong. I'm gonna cry for a bit here.
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Every time I look at my fingers, I can see the poison ridges. All 6 of them. The horizontal ridges are spaced the same distance apart, every three weeks. It's actually funny, if you showed up in the ER with fingers like this, they would look for poison. We have to remember why we chose this route. So go ahead and cry, we have a hard row, but it is the best chance we have. So crying or not, we still show.up.in the BGC when we are scheduled. We are really strong! Much love and virtual hugs!.
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Ali...
treatment has fought you every step of the way. You just go ahead and be moody!Susan, I can't look at graphic surgical photos like that either. I don't even like to see the before and after photos although I made myself look a bit just so I would have an idea of what to expect. Anyway it's gross but at least we should have a nice boob(s) afterwards.
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Hello Ladies and First Call.....
Well I went for my first mammo since the DX and .....I quote.....BS said I am "totally good". I said does that mean I am cancer free and she said yes, absolutely. While I dont kid myself that there are any gaurantees in life, today it is awesome news. No pun intended but it is a HUGE weight off my chest!!!
Next step is the removal of the Mirena IUD and the start of Tamoxifen. I am going to make the GYN appt tomorrow and start the tamoxifen on the 28th. Would start before that but I am taking my daughter back to college and I will be emotional enough without my hormones making it worse.
Thinking of all of you and wishing those still in treatment minimal SEs.
(((HUGS)))
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Mthrdee, congratulations!!!! Wooohooo!!!
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Mrythdee, congrats!
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Mtherdee
That is the best news ever!!
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mthrdee...Just the kind of news we all want to hear...congrats!!
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Great news mthrdee!!! 0 -
Fantastic news mthrdee!
Christina- glad to hear your doing well.
Ali- I have the same problem with the tamoxifen. Cant sleep. I've been on it two weeks and I think its getting a little better, but I feel like I have pms everyday. My DH and kids are going out of their mind. I'm getting agravated over the littlest things. That's not a good place to be in. Nows the time to enjoy life and try as best as possible to decrease stress in our lives.
Anyone doing yoga? I might look into that.
Going on vacation to Boston and Salem Mass this weekend. Cant wait!
Hope everyone is doing well
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A friend just helped me take these. Thought it would be fun to take regular photos to show my hair growth as mug shots. I'm calling it my prison hair series.
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Gritgirl
Your hair is coming in really good. Love the mug shots!
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yeah, a big change from the baby ostrich look. so should i leave it greying or go for the reds again?
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From what I see it looks brown but I know the camera can sometimes distort the colour. Go for the red I say. Any colour will make it look fuller too.
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Hello all! Dropped out for a while again, but I have been keeping up with everyone.
MTHRDEE, congrats! So happy to hear the good news.
gritgirl, I LOVE the pictures. Glad to see how well the hair is growing in. Go for whatever color will make you feel good! BTW, so sorry about the MRI. You know, I've been going to Sibley for all of my treatments and medical related stuff but I just got a letter from Dr. Kaltman saying she will no longer be working there, just at GW. I'm not sure I like this after what you just went through! Well, I suppose I can still go anywhere else I want for anything other than the MO visits.
I have scheduled my DIEP surgery for November 9 - excited and kind of scared too. gritgirl, I went to my first appointment with the PS by myself and she showed me all the DIEP pictures - I nearly passed out! Despite that fact and knowing all the complications that may arise, I still think its the right thing for me as I prefer the thought of using my own tissues to having implants for the rest of my life. My PS said she is very meticulous and does the surgery slowly to make sure everything is done properly, so my surgery is scheduled to last 14 hours - YIKES!! Its hard to fathom being under for so long. Well, for those of you considering this procedure, there is a DIEP forum that I've been lurking on that has some good information.
I have been on Tamoxifen now for about 2 1/2 months. Fortunately I have not had the mood or sleep issues. The frequency of the hot flashes seems to have diminished, but I've been taking Black Cohosh and Omega-3 which are supposed to help. While I'm happy that my hair is growing back quickly, having been thrown into full blown menopause has brought on crazy hair growth in areas that I never had much hair before!!
Ah well, as Ali says, the Tamoxifen is helping save our lives, so I'm not going to complain too much.0 -
ymac, good for you.
dr. kaltman likes to send me to the George Washington University Hospital for my bone scan and CT with contrast. That's fine over there. The MRI was at the Medical Faculty Associates building. I usually get most of my stuff down at Washington Radiology Associates at Park Potomac. I joke it's like a spa since that's where the rich ladies live (it is very nice).
Is your PS Dr. Joanne Lenert and your breast surgeon Dr. Christine Teal. That's who I'm seeing. As Dr. Teal said of Dr. Lenert, "She makes such beautiful breasts." :-)
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No, my PS is Dr. Kathy Huang and BS is Dr. Collette Magnant. I did an initial consultation with Dr. Teal - I really liked her but decided I prefered having my surgery at Sibley over GW.
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