February 2012 Chemo
Comments
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Dltnham, thats another nightmare! Every channell, all the time cancer comercials! Aaagggghhhh! I may join you in the closet in October!
It's also cool about the tuition. I have four kids, but only two were in college at any one time. So I am happy its not so bad for you. Especially now.
Christina, ((((hugs)))) you are allowed to break down. The first year of marriage is tough enough without adding bc to the mix. But, at least you know he won't cut and run when it gets hard. Much love to all0 -
Hi everyone,
I've been MIA last week. DH and I went to Boston for a few days. It was so nice to feel normal and not think about the dreaded C. I'm back at work and a little too busy. I told myself I would lessen up on the workload after my treatments and I'm back to my old ways.
Christinia- I think it's the Tamoxifen that made you so upset. The first week I was on it I was so irratible, snapped at everyone and was emotional. I've been on it three weeks now. My mood is much better, but I'm still not sleeping well. I continue to have hot flashes but there not any worse than before the Tamoxifen. I saw my gyn last week and my blood work indicates I'm in menapause. Hope this wont be too long of a roller coaster ride!
Ali- So glad your done with your treatments!!!! I hope you went out and celebrated.
Hair is SLOWLY coming in. Not enough for taking wig off that is starting to look like a possum!. I've dyed my hair for years and it was a little freaky seeing 100% grey coming in. My daughter said I look like Jamie Lee Curtis. LOL.
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Wow. Sounds like everyone is going through it.
Susan here. Just got back from Wisconsin to bury my sister's ashes and sort through her belongings. Sorry, Moonflwr, it was a slammed trip. Wish I could have stopped by.
Anyway, my sister died in February 2011 and I was diagnosed in January 2012. My brother in law wasn't doing well with her death but he finally let us bury her after my nephew and I pulled the cancer card on him. I dearly loved my sister and miss her and my mom so, so much. I am just grateful to be able to honor her wishes to be buried.
Now I'm back to trying to get my strength back. One good thing about the trip was packing and moving boxes was sort of like rehab. Was looking at doing yoga but at this point I still have a hard time getting up off the floor.
Met with my breast surgeon yesterday. We both agreed that it'd be better to wait until after the next round of chemo and the last two spots on the liver are gone to do the BMX. I really want a BMX because I just want to get rid of any possible source of cancer. Feel like I've had very bad luck in the last several years (lost my mom, two good friends, and my sister, then got metastatic breast cancer). I just want to do anything to help my odds.
One good thing. The new form of chemo that is Herceptin combined with a chemo agent, so that the chemo only attacks the HER2+ cells, should be out by December or January. I'm crossing my fingers I can do that next. 5 months of Taxol nearly did me in.
Oh, btw. Just listened to this really good talk from LBBC called Your New Normal: Navigating Your Emotions.
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Hey, grit, no prob. You had plenty on your mind and much to get through. I am glad you could fulfill her wishes, I hope that gives you much comfort. I hope that the new regime is available to you when needed. It has most definetly been a h*ll of a year.
Dipad, my hair is taking its time and coming in slowly, but no gray, so I can't complain.
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Moonflower - I'll make room for you in the closet. I think I might be hypersensitive to some things. I never noticed how much cancer is used in movie and television shows. It's the go-to disease to explain away why someone is dead, dying, or sick - whether a major or minor character or just a one-line explanation for a missing parental figure.
Dipad - Glad you and your husband were able to get away. Looking "like Jamie Lee Curtis" is a compliment, right? :-)
Friction, seat belt/shoulder belt cover and my itchy radiated chest skin .... My rad onc wrote me a prescription for a cortisone cream this morning. My nurse gave me instructions on using a Domeboro soak. I was driving home today and was wearing a top which has a large scoop neck. I noticed that the fleece cover over my shoulder belt was really rubbing on the exposed skin. Duh! Why didn't I make this connection before now? The itchy areas from above my clavicle and down coincide with where the shoulder belt hits in this area and that's where the fleece cover is. Eureka! Since I drive about 66 miles roundtrip each day to and from treatments (not to mention other times) - that's a lot of rubbing on rad sensitive skin by something that usually just protects my neck from the edge of the seat belt. I feel like I solved a mystery.
Lumpy - watch out for that seatbelt!
Went to training for Community Bible Study today also. I've been teaching the 2 year old class for 7 of our 8 years here in Illinois and before that the Baby class in Colorado. First year where I didn't feel I had clear direction on leadership. But we have lots of baby/toddlers this year and I might go back to snuggling those little ones and singing and playing with them while their moms study. It was good to see and be with everyone after the summer break. But I am tired.
Board is quiet! Hope everyone is doing well and just busy with life stuff!
Hugs.
Diana
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Dltnhm, You did solve a mystery, now what did you do to stop the irritation? Just curious.
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Moonflower - Well I took off the fleece cover first and put a napkin between me and the belt as I was driving home. LOL. It at least put something between me and the belt but didn't rub. I also called my nurse because I wanted her to know what had occurred to me. I told her I would probably take a soft t-shirt or something and place it around the shoulder belt . She suggested I just place the shoulder belt under my breast. I told her "Well then it'll probably rub under my breast and cause a problem" and chuckled. She suggested that I don't have that far to go. So we'll see. I'm open to suggestions. I was thinking of placing the little pillow that they gave me after my core needle biopsy .. but that might be irritating as well.0
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diana-oh gosh...i have issues with the seatbelt without thinking of my rads!way back in december i got stuck in the belt-it wouldn't release-so we use the "next" holder/lock which extends the belt further than it should be a bit..so it is always too tight on me! if i put it under my armpit it's not so bad but i doubt i'll be able to do that either after a few more tx!
well- 2 down! today went much more quickly-almost "normal" i guess so there is hope-takes longer to drive there than the tx!
tonite i was so tired when i walked out of work that i didn't even want to drive home....and i had to stop at the grocery store.
susan....i'm sure that your whirlwind trip was full of emotion for you -and some closure....
also susan- that navigating your emotions sounds interesting but i'm not hooked up for sound- any print on it?
well- this week is going slowly...daughter's house still hasn't closed and she needs to be out of apt by friday midnight (lease is up!)--it's endofmonth at work and all of the salespeople are on our necks to get things done that they held up all month--and the crazies! oh my!!!!
hugs....
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Diana, thanks for the words of encouragement. It does help. I know I have to be more patient with myself. Ugh I hate itching! Does the cream help much? I like benedryl cream for itching, although I think I read that if you are taking tamoxifen (I don't know if you are) you are not supposed to use benedryl. The marker and sticker thing sounds great, way better than tattoos. Please be careful about where you place your seatbelt. Placing it under your breast may not be a safe idea, if heaven forbid you are in a car accident.
lumpy & diana, I don't like to see or hear anything about cancer, and not about hair either. I am hyper-aware of people's hair.
moonflower, thanks for the support.
dipad - jamie lee curtis is so cool, that is a good person to be compared to! I loved her in True Lies. My hair is growing slowly too. I only have to shave my legs every 4-6 days. Thanks for sharing about the tamoxifen. Hopefully my emotions will settle down as time passes.
(((susan))) What a hard thing to do, to bury your sister's ashes. You sure have had it rough over the last year. How much can one person bear? but somehow you are doing it. I will cross my fingers for you too that you can do that new combined treatment. I have read about it and it sounds amazing.
I hope everyone is well, peaceful, and pain and side effect free tonight.
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Susan
Good lord girl you've been through it too. Very interesting about the targeted TX. I completly get why you would want a BMX, anything that puts the odds in your favour is worth it.
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Susan - Huge hugs coming your way. I am thankful for you that you were able to finally make the trip to WI and tend to your sister's burial. I know this was weighing on you and there is relief to fulfill her wishes. Such heavy heavy burdens you have dealt with and are dealing with these last couple years. You know you continue to be in my prayers.
That new treatment that is close to coming out sounds so positive for you. And am glad you are dealing with those remaining spots. Did you ever decide on a DIEP surgeon for the future. I might have missed some posts.0 -
dipad, i am so jealous of your vacation. i need one.
my heart goes out to everyone doing rads. i didn't have to do rads because the cancer was out the door already. at least i got to skip that one bit of pain. hope everyone is healing.
dianna, i did meet with the plastic surgeon. at his point i've decided to wait on bmx and reconstruction until after we kill the last two lesions on my liver (i love all those L's :-) ). the plastic surgeon nixed DIEP because of how hard it is to recover from and the strain it would put on my body. right now we're talking about either a latissimus dorsi flap or implants. not sure which way to go now. my concern with the dorsi flap was possible loss of upper body strength. my concern with implants was possible infection and complications down the road. but i don't have to make up my mind for a bit here, thank goodnes.
my uncle was asking me why i wanted reconstruction, couldn't i just have the mastectomy and wear the bra inserts. and i told him, "do you want to go around wearing a fake penis?" he got that point right quick.
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One week today I finished rads and my throat is getting better. I now have hives front and back so putting on steroid cream and antihistamine tablets.
Feeling a bit better but heard some shit news, DH is going to a fund raising meeting with all the fancy cars. One of the guys, his son has a brain tumour and has four weeks to live ( aged 11) so everyone is going with their cars because the little boy loves cars.
My DH wants me to go but it's a bit close to home for me, ( me having Cancer ) I'm not sure if I want to go.0 -
Oh, Ali. I'm so sorry. I wouldn't go either. What a hard thing. When my brother in law's brother died of metastatic colon cancer, I was totally freaked out. I frankly would prefer to hear only stories of people surviving cancer. Just depresses me and makes me anxious when I hear about cancer deaths.
Stay home and have a nice, long soak in the tub. Oh, and don't forget to plan that vacation.
Susan
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I think your right I only want to see and hear happy things.
How are you doing?0 -
Forgot to tell everyone, Sarah had great time at music festival.
She seems a lot happier and she is eating again.0 -
michael had his regular PCP appt today and dropped the bomb about his brother's cancer- so doc did a prostate check-found blood..has ordered fasting extensive bloodwork which will happen tomorrow and referral to get checked out from the top and bottom ends...so to add to everything else he is worried about is more testing...and still no more results re his hip.
today was RADS#3 and doctor day (every weds now unless i need him in between)..so far so good--just more of a nuisance going .....i have 31 to go!
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michael had his regular PCP appt today and dropped the bomb about his brother's cancer- so doc did a prostate check-found blood..has ordered fasting extensive bloodwork which will happen tomorrow and referral to get checked out from the top and bottom ends...so to add to everything else he is worried about is more testing...and still no more results re his hip.
today was RADS#3 and doctor day (every weds now unless i need him in between)..so far so good--just more of a nuisance going .....i have 31 to go!
i really am tired of everything being about the boob.....
the above deleted was a duplicate! sorry!
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lumpy. so sorry about the extra stress with your husband. and 31 more to go? my goodness.
Ali, I'm doing ok. things are stable. i just get very stressed from time to time. it's a challenge to live one day at a time, especially when i hear bad cancer news.0 -
Lump. Give your DH a hug from me, and I'm sure from all of us. He'll get hugged out! Or maybe just relax. Grit, I dont know how you do it. But, I am glad you hang in there you make me work harder at getting through this. So thanks for that! Ali, same goes for you, you guys have your hands full, but you get through it. and happy news is what I want to hear too. Much love.
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Hi everyone,
Ali- Glad your feeling better. I agree about wanting to hear happy things. I have a friend who calls every month to see how I am, and every time she calls she has to tell me about her friend's lung cancer. I even told her in a nice way not to talk to me about it. and the news is aways bad. So now I stopped returning her calls.
Question- I had my ct scan last week. All clear. I saw my onc yesterday for 3 month f/u and blood work. I asked her why I didnt have a PET scan and she said she only does them yearly due to the amounts of radiation. What is everyone else doing?
Question- I had two tumor marker tests done. The CEA was 7.5 before chemo and now 8.5. The CA 15-3 was 14 and now 15 but within normal range of 0-36. My onc told me not to worry and that some people just have higher numbers. I have a feeling this blood test every three months is going to stress me out, and the other thing is that I'm able to read my results on their web site. That could be a good and bad thing. Anyone else have elevated markers?
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Dipad: My doctor tells me that the only time to worry about tumor markers is if they go up in a trending pattern. Just a few points, no worries.
My doctor does do PET scans. She says they too often end up with false positives and then she has to do a CT scan anyway. So it's CT scans with contrast and bone scans for me. :-)
Susan
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Oh, h*ll! Crap! Just got my MUGA back . I am on Herceptin break. Went from 57% down to 48%. Onc wants a echo to confirm. I get the echo tomorrow. He days he feels the echo will show better than 50% EF and we can do Herceptin next week. So will see onc next week too. So, got deaccessed from my port, because, hey, no herceptin today, and the other nurse comes in and says don't deaccess, but, of course, nurse is standing with the needle out! LOL. Seems I was low on magnesium again. So new needle in and magnesium given. LOL. double stick time. Scared about MUGA so forgot I am ALWAYS low on magnesium. Oh well. LOL much love to all.
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lol @ Susan, good for you! Tell 'em like it is! Some people just can't see how it is from another person's perspective.
ali that is shit news and I understand where you are coming from. It sounds weird to say but I too feel uncomfortable around people with cancer, sometimes even people who have had cancer. I wonder how long it takes to feel comfortable around this. Personally, I don't think I'd be able to go, but kudos to the people making it nice for that boy. I'm glad your throat is feeling better, and I'm relieved your daughter is eating better too.
Margo, I hope and pray your husband's tests all come back good. How are rads going for you? Notice any SEs yet?
dipad - I've never had a PET scan. My onc seems to only do them for more advanced stages of cancer. I am stage II like you. I'm not really sure how often he checks the blood markers either. I know they checked this 2-3 times during chemo. My numbers weren't super high to begin with. I will ask the next time I go.
moonflwr, that sounds so stressful. I hope you can get the herceptin next week. I just feel in my heart that herceptin is a real wonder drug. What makes magnesium low and what can you do about it? My potassium still runs low. If I take a supplement I stay in the very low end of normal range. I wonder what causes all this and how long it takes to go back to normal.
Had my herceptin today. My onc FNP is really pushing aspirin. But I hate taking pills, plus I'm an ornery patient (there's a midwest word for you) so I won't do it. Maybe after I'm done with tamoxifen I will start taking an aspirin. Has anyone else's onc suggested aspirin?
Anxious to see the rad onc next week for the 2nd opinion. I really don't want rads.
I was at the eye doctor today and a little girl asked her mother if I were a girl or a boy. That felt great (sarcasm). I hate how my hair is, but it is what it is.
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I think I broke this thread, ten hours and no posts is not normal.
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Christina, carboplatin is probably the culprit. So is diarrhea, and we know I had that! Also, what builds up magnesium is so bad for the D, like nuts and broccoli. LOL, and too much magnesium creates the D! Such a fun cycle. my potassium level is better now, but I take two of them every day too. I've been told six months to a year to get those back to normal. Nothing to be done but keep plugging away.
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i'm in a really whiny mood today and there is nothing wrong to make me feel that way..
no SE's yet from RADS...i'm just tired of being in tx....
date tonite with my son! a river cruise to tour the local lighthouse then dinner..looking forward to the time!
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Lumps, sounds wonderful! Have fun.
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Enjoy lumpy, that sounds so nice.
Tired of hair comments. Some can't be helped (comments from people with dementia, or children), but some people are just plain rude or insensitive. Like I don't feel self-conscious enough.
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Christina, (((hugs))) enjoy your weekend
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