February 2012 Chemo
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Not much new, but I enjoy reading everyones updates. Getting ready for the July 4th Holiday. I will have my son (who is a radiation oncologist) and his family visiting. Trying to figure out how we will approach it. He has two boys, one of whom has autism. What I am trying to figure out is how to approach the fireworks, etc, as I don't want him to have a melt down, which can happen with too much stimulation. On the other hand, I don't want him to miss out on everything either. We are going to try doing our own fireworks so we can pace it and stop if its too much for him, and keep it relatively tame.
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firstcall; it is so good when you do drop in!
i am not really close to anyone with autism in their family so i have no suggestions for you- i think the approach of doing your own is good....timing and sounds etc may be more controllable.
years' ago as a Girl Scout Leader, my troop would go Halloween Camping where the local Lions Club put on a haunted hayride- we went twice- the girls love dit- however, the second time, they had added strobe lights along the way and one of my girls had developed siezures that year. it was so very uncomfortable for her- she buried her head in my lap for the duration (i don't care for scary stuff myself!). i know it' snot the same ; however, considerations need to be made in many "daily" occurences!
btw folks- i had a chemo brain moment when i was typing the above paragraph-almost had to go ask someone for the word strobe as i could NOT think of it!!!! that's how my chemobrain reacts....
hot humid
thank goodness for a/c at work!
this morning i finally was able to take a pic of lil betsy!!! to me it was a whoo ohooomoment- it was dark so not the greatest
and of course it doesn't show her maine coon "hair" behind her ears or her tail but! lemme see if i can add it to here-not sure how!well- not today i guess!hugs prayers and maybe a giggle or two!
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Go lumps! LOL, good job I wanna see the pic..
First call, have you heard of weighted blankets? Kind of helps with the over stimulations. A quilt where each rectangle of the quilt is holding a twin sheet folded to fit in the rectangle. They have velcro around the edges to hold the sheets in, but they can be removed for laundering as needed. I just saw them on sewing with Nancy, my daughter is a nurse who worked with autisim spectrum residential clients. It's kind of like swadleing a baby. But they just lay them over themselves as they want, you don't bundle them! LOL Maybe you could pin two heavy blankets together for him.0 -
firstcall
I hope the fireworks aren't too rattling for your grandson and its nice that you're having a smaller scale fireworks show to go nice and easy. Interesting what Moonflwer said about the weighted blankets.
Lumpy
Hope you figure out how to post a pic of the new little pussy cat
I'm a little in shock right now because I've been asked out on a date! OMG haven't dated in like 16 years. Anyhow, its an old highschool friend that's on my facebook and he's been asking to meet up for a few months now. It was never a good time with selling the house and being so busy with work. So I'm meeting him for a drink weekend after next. Not that I'm looking really for any kind of love connection but it is nice to be asked.
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MLB-it IS nice to be asked- go have fun!
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Mlb. Yes, go and enjoy
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MLB, ENJOY!!!!
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Two things. First, I went to see my PS. He is willing to try again and do another TE implant. Third times the charm, yes?
Second. While I was there. He saw my skin lesion. I told him I showed it to all my docs. He said oncs think about it for months. Said pcp's do the same. He said surgeons want to cut, LOL.so he biopsied it right there. Hope its not anything. I mean, I had it during chemo, so it shouldn't be cancer, but? We set a surgery date, but one of the last surgery dates I scheduled like this I ended with a bmx instead. So perhaps just a bit paranoid. LOL0 -
oh, moonflwr, i'm so sorry. i'll be praying that it all works out.
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understand the feelings moon...hugs!
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Moon
Praying for a B9 result, that goes for surgery too.
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Thx, ladies. Still waiting. If its fungal, it will have go clear up before surgery, I don't want to be doing meds for that and on antibiotics too! LOL of course I'm scheduled for the livstrong program at the y in Sep. I'm going even if I can't move my arms! I tried to get in since Jan. They didn't have a summer session this year, and the first two classes were full, so I don't want to miss it. I am looking forward to they implant but scared, don't want this one killing me! What a mess I am, huh.
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Moon, I hope you get good news.
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bumping this up so we don't fall off the face of the earth; i mean first page!
happy friday everyone!
i went to HR yesterday about my lil probs at work- feel like a tattler!
hugs and prayers
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Mlb. How was your date.
Moonflwr. Did you get results yet.
Lumpy. Going to HR is scary0 -
No results yet. Also don't know if I have to get stitch removed or if it dissolves. I just forgot about it til the big bandaid fell off and I saw the stitch. LOL ill call Monday, not gonna worry all weekend, will enjoy the changing weather. You know, rain, sun, humidity, wind heat, cold, mist. And that was just today! Gotta love WI! LOL
MLB, tell us all! And Lumps, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Grit, Ali, FirstCall, hope you have a good weekend!
Much love to all.0 -
LOL! The "date" is next weekend. Meanwhile totally enjoying the Canada Day Long weekend, off to the local farmer's market shortly with a friend then a Canada Day Party BBQ tonight
T/C/H 2/17, 3/9, 3/30, 4/20 then H til 1/13
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well, make it a good one
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wow- yesterday was a "DAY"; our company hasa daily line up newsletter- i was honored by the editor for chairing our Relay for Life Luminaria committee and for somethings that i worte about my own luminary lst year at the event...
THEN i sent an email to an entire Team that should have gone to one person- it jokingly accused her of something and wow- omg-the director of our operations emailed me back asking me to please explain ..now, he's from Texas and so i could hear his drawl in the please..i am mortified and pray that i still have a job.on top of that i dunno if my friend will ever speak to me again. i have so few at work can't afford to lose those i DO have.
today we are having moon's weather- rainy cold yucky hot humid sweaty ....i cut teh front yard but the back had standing water again..so.
i'm trying to make plans for a vaca in november and realized today that if i can afford to do it- the vaca itself won't be bad but the airfare may kill the whole thing....i probl'y should get some type of compression sleeve for my left arm, huh?
well-hugs and stuff....
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Moon....praying for benign....and about the stitch...if you can see it, it will likely need to be removed. Disolvable sutures are generally placed entirely under the surface.
MLB .... have a fun date. You deserve to have a good time.
Just back from a family reunion in California. spent a couple of days up near Yosemite, where the big Sequoia trees are. It was a nice break. Hope everyone is doing well.
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firstcall - we have a friend whose 7 year old has autism and we all went to see fireworks last year. It was terrible for the poor boy, he covered his ears and hid his head the whole time.
Maybe doing them at home at a slower, controlled pace will be better. Sequoias - I love them - they are magical! 
MLB - how nice to reconnect with someone from the past! Romance or not, I bet you'll have a great time catching up and remembering the "good ole days."
moonflower - hoping for benign results, and yes, hopefully third time is the charm. Do you have a date set yet?
Margo, seems like almost everyone (including me) has accidentally sent an email out to a group instead of one (my boss is the king of this - I won't email him anything sensitive anymore). And it is so easy for emails to be misinterpretted. Hopefully the boss will understand.
Tomorrow I have my annual ob/gyn appointment, and then a check-up with my onc. I am SO NERVOUS. What if they feel a lump somewhere? What if I have bloodwork done, and that CA-whatever level they check for is high? Ugh... I cannot wait for tomorrow morning to be over.
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Christina....that CA 125 isnt diagnostic, its just a screen. I've seen several people with high readings that turned out to be nothing. All it does is identify a group to look closer at. Think good thoughts....
And yes, that was my thought with doing some fireworks at home.....if they are too much, we can just be done, and do something else. One of my favorite fireworks was at home. It was several years ago, and we had a neighbor - a young lady - who was blind with us. We had so much fun trying to find something that she could see a little of. She would get so excited when she could see a little something.
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For some people the tumor markers are indicative and for some people they are not. For me they are indicative so I do pay attention to the number. And there are definitely things that will pop that number up that have nothing to do with cancer.
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i called off this morning- having a mental health day...meaning my mental health is sucky!
need to get showered soon to take michael for his PT-INR blood draw...so tired of these....
4th of july has lost it's fun for me- it will be a day off work paid and that's about it this year...no plans no desire...and our local fireworks will be the night before-wtf?
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It can always be worse but I think it's fair to say that today is a pretty cruddy day. Went to my ob/gyn appointment and saw the nurse practitioner there, who I love. She did my exam and said that she wanted to do an ultrasound because she felt some uterine change and I am taking tamoxifen. So I got to have an ultrasound - one of those transvaginal ones where they stick a great big woo-hoo thing up your lady parts. Oh my! Didn't hurt but AWKWARD! I thought the day had to improve from there, but no, it did not. The ultrasound revealed a 7cm something in my uterus. Nurse practicitioner said it is probably a fibro-whatever from taking tamoxifen, but that I need to see the ob/gyn to determine what to do about it. So that appointment was set for 7/17. Depressed, I go see my oncologist, and they had me scheduled to see the new oncologist in their practice. She specializes in women's cancers but I was still annoyed and declined to see her; I said if my onc is not available then I will see his nurse practitioner. I have enough doctors and I don't want to be bounced around to different ones. So I saw my onc's nurse practitioner and she was concerned about the whatever is in my uterus, but glad that I am going to see the ob/gyn. She said, "This might be a good opportunity for a hysterectomy. How do you feel about that?" I was like, WHAT!?! A good opportunity for a hysterectomy? I said, "I don't feel real good about that, to be honest!" So she went on to talk about how ovaries put out estrogen, blah blah blah... I was so mad, I do not want any more surgeries, that is a rather major surgery as far as I know, and my 40 year old friend had a hysterectomy and now she has to pee every 5 minutes or she'll pee herself. How is that a good thing? So now I am stewing over this 7cm whatever, and if it is cancer or not, and if it will screw up my reconstructive surgery on the 30th. The icing on the cake was that I am scheduled to have a couple of moles removed tomorrow, and their office called me to confirm my appointment tomorrow, but they screwed up the time, and I can't go at the time they have down in their books. I would have been more understanding but the lady was very rude to me, and basically accused me of having the time wrong. I have the appointment card with me! And I told her, and she told me that they don't give appointment cards! Seriously that is what she said! She said she would see if it were possible to move things around "to try to meet my demands," (OMG!!!!) and call me back, but she was just plain hateful, so I am not counting on it. Assuming I don't hear back from her, I will reschedule with a different doctor, from a different office. I have already written a letter to the doctor explaining how I was treated and I will mail it to him tomorrow.
I just remembered I did not pick up my prescriptions while I was in town. All my bloodwork was good except my potassium was a little low again, so they called in a script for that. (The CA-whatever result is pending. Yeah I know that number can be misleading but it's still nice to get a reading on it.)
*sigh*
It's going to be a long 16 days until that appointment.
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oh christina...c'mere...lemme hug you!
ok-hysteectomy-i KNOW we are all different- i had mine at age 46 -and i never had the peeing problem....actually it wasn't really so bad once i wrapped my head around it....they would then switch you to arimidex instead of tamox..pretty much the same except that arimidex is harder on teh bones (i am on it)...ok gosh this was meant to cheer you and i don't think it will... if you are done having natural kids then it's not really that bad of a thing -no monthly's!
ok i'll pull my feet outta my mouth...
called my primary's office today and reschedule dthe follow up appt taht i bailed on a few weeks' ago- and told them i want to discuss my mental health...i am thinking i need different meds ....i keep hearing jimi hendrix in my head....(if you don't remember him just think bipolar)i have been treated for clinical depression for many many years and am questioning the dx now...
today i caught the two cats napping together on a dresser-Lovey has slept tehre for a year and Betsy has stared to but i had never seen them together! i'll try to post their pic if i can....we all know that doesn't really work for me!!!! i guve up it still doesn't work for me!
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maybe you can magnify my avatar???that's Lovey on your left and Betsy on your right..i was so surprised that Betsy didn't immediately jump off the dresser when i started to take the pic!!!! Lovey could care less!
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Christina, the same thing happened with me , 6.3cm and I had the tests and all normal. One thing I will say is the test with the camera and taking of sample bloody hurt like hell. Saying that all they gave me was a small shot of pain relief and I begged them for local. As I have said before bloody butchers in uk ( cost cutting )
Today had check up with surgeon who I love to bits. First thing she said after how was I is I hope your taking the Tamoxifen. I told her the SE were better and I was feeling good. She was very happy with that and went on to tell me a few things.
1. I had a 50 % chance of dying in first five years and 40% for ten years. She went on to say my cancer was bad and that they were very good odds it should be worse.
Also said with my cancer many people have a reacurrance within first two years.
Then she told me I will be taking Tamoxifen for ten years. Also said I needed new bra's as mine still didn't fit right. She then said my bra was more like a nipple shield. She won't do a lift on good breast for five years as it will take that long for radiated breast to settle.0 -
Christina, Ali, hugs to you both THAT SUCKS. And hx don't mean you leak. I never had one and I leak, but that's from my four kids, one if whom checked in at 10'4". LOL. But if your friend has an issue like that, she needs to talk to the surgeon, cause there things he can do to help.
Ali, we'll all pray for you to be on the no recurrence side! I hope we all stay in that side.
Lumps, I hope you get the issues settled, whatever they may he, so that you can enjoy things. Like those adorable cats!
I got my results back, and yes, B9! Not fungal, not CA. But granuloma annularis. Which, if you remember is what they said before the bx, but now we know for sure. And that translates out to " ring shaped skin thingie unknown origin." LOL It just looks gross, kind of like a big ringworm, but at least its not contagious. If I don't cover it, I have to keep telling people its not ringworm, yuck! LOL
To everyone, Happy 4th, enjoy the fireworks, the big Milwaukee ones are tonight. Ours are tomorrow. and much love to all.0 -
Christine
(((HUGS))) Tough decision on the hysterectomy
Lumpy
Hope all is OK at work now and with you personally. The cats seem to be getting along?
Moon
Yay for B9! Love that word!
Ali
5 years for recon? I was told a year after rads.
I'm prepping for my colonoskopy presently. Fun wow! Consumme and jello never tasted so good! Starving!
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