February 2012 Chemo
Comments
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Yay, gritgirl! Glad to see you are as ok as you can be. Sorry if you felt we were stalkers. Can you pick someone to give your contact info to? We probably all should do that! So we can check if things go quiet for someone. we do have a special group on this board. Much love.
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Christina, horray for last tx! Flddrmr, you didn't think we'd shut up cause you said mo response, LOL! You know us! Since I don't have any advice, just (hugs). Grit, I got the BMX, worked for me, cause they found the invasive sucker in the one I got removed as a precaution. Lumps, keeping fingers crossed for your house. To everyone, much love.
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i am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tickled to know tha susan gritgirl just thought we were all busy!!!! gf stick with us! we loves ya!!!!!( oh--i think my choice would be BMX also )
i agree to giving contact info out by pm if anyone wants to--i feel attached to you all!or-suggestion-everyone pm me and i'll disseminate info out...just a thought from an organizer type....
christina!!! done with chemo --whooo hoooo!!!!! i had my LX 3 weeks after chemo ended but my doc was ok with that...and they tell me 3-4 weeks before RADS after this round of chemo so it's kinda up to your docs and your own body...i didn't realiuze that you were still in school? i had to (temporarily) quit when we moved in january- and my plans to go back are on hold til at least fall....
fldrmr--my hurt hurts for you about your daughter--my eldest son has more issues than my others and it seems that the heartstrings tug harder there! you need to be taking care of you so i know it's hard to watch her...
ok...drum roll....please!!! got the phone call yesterday at work- and WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!!!! yes!! i am doing the happy dance here!!!!! so i have started packing and started my lists!!! we won't get keys til june 15-16 and the plan is to take a carload over each nite after work after a few loads of boxes that weekend--as for actually moving furniture i am thinking the 24th will be the day! between father's day and commitments for my kids/movers, it will be good- and that still leaves me time to do a final cleanup here! sounds much more complicated than it will be!!!! thanx all for asking and for your good wishes!!!ut really has lifted my spirits to picture a nice cozy safe home vs this hellhole!
ok my dog had me up at 4 am so i am about ready to hit the shower and get ready for work...
oh- the move will actually work well in betwix my tx-next one scheduled for june 8th so i should be in a good spot before the 3rd tx on june29th.
thank you, all for being here!!! big hugs!!!!!
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congrats on the house lumpy...hope it's a new beginning for you. All clear sailing from now on!
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Lumpy
I'm so happy for you!! Now you don't have to spend the summer in that apartment that you hate and into a nice house with a yard. You are pretty amazing to be going through TX, working and now moving. I suppose though being so busy makes the time fly.
I'll PM you my info!!
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Glad you are ok Grit girl! I did the dbl mx. They also found something in my "good" breast that never showed up prior to Sx. Glad I did dbl. So many decisions we have to make. Praying for you!
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Thanks all for the 'hugs' and understanding. As you know, I love my daughter dearly. It hurts to see her hurting so bad. She hasn't shared what was wrong but seems to be in better spirits. Grief is difficult and a journey of its own. I try to be patient but it's hard sometimes.
Gritgirl: The decision for a single or doublt MX is a hard one to make but if I were in your shoes, I would also opt for the dbl. In my case, I had a choice of a lumpectomy or single MX and chose the MX. If it weren't for my heart history and the fear of being under anesthesia a longer time, I would have opted for a double and got it over with. The thought of ever going thru this again for the other breast is daunting. Of course, I'm much older (69) so I don't know how I'd feel if I were your age.
Lumpy: I am soooo very happy for you getting the house. Wish I lived near you, I'd help you pack and move and have a glass of ice tea (or an umbrella drink) in your yard. It will be so nice to have a plant outside and know it's safe. The new job, now the house! Wonderful news. Take care!
Best wishes to all today.
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FLDreamer, the BMX decision was very easy for me. I want to put the odds in my favor as much as possible. It may be statistically low to have a reoccurence or a new breast cancer, but I don't want to take that chance. Besides, I'm stage IV. My sex life is over. Who would date someone like me even at my age. But even so, my life is worth more than worrying about those silly breasts. As I told folks, they never did anything for me, not even buy me things.
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Gritgirl - a very smart and funny virtual friend told me 'I am not a statistic', I hope you listen to her. None of us can say we know what you are going through, but starting out at Stage 2 doesn't save me. It is something that will always be in the back of my mind. Someone that would date you with a BC dx is exactly the guy that you would want to date. I've dated and even married my share of idiots. I am certain my ex-husband would have been a nightmare with my dx, he was so superficial and selfish. My boy friend, who I knew less than a year when I was dx'd is kind and compassionate and sees past my bald head, port and scares. He will be the first face I see when I come out of surgery with no boobs because he loves what's inside of me. Your life is worth believing that you could meet someone that loves you head to toe, even if it is a bald head.
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Grit, your sex life is NOT over. It may be you have to fly solo for a while, but enjoy the flight! I am married 39 years this year, and I flew solo for the last ten, I should have bought ever-ready stock! My husband and I had some rough patches this BC actually changed him as much as me. There may be some hope of more intimacy, not necessarily sex, but you never know, and you can't close doors and expect people to walk in. I guess I am saying just be open to possibilities, and roll with it. don't count yourself out. Ynk!
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Grit - we are all happy that you checked in. I do worry when people don't post.
Re the port thing. I had mine removed last Friday. It wasnt a big deal, it was a simple office procedure. I know that some keep it in longer, but I can use my other veins for blood work and tests. Now that the chemo is over I wanted it out. It served me well, but now that I don't need any more chemo, I looked at it as a foreign body. While it hasnt given me any trouble, foreign bodies increase (at least a little) the risk for infection or blood clotting. My oncologist tells me that blood clots are perhaps my biggest risk presently, so out with the port.
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I agree about the port, I won't need it as chemo is finished.
Gritgirl, glad your ok and it would be nice if we all kept in touch.0 -
I'm so jealous of you dePORTers! I have to keep mine for a year to get herceptin. It does feel like a foreign body or alien under your skin. Mine sticks so far out too. I have a TMI question: has anyone noticed any mucus in their stools. Not all the time but occassionally. I see my onc next week and will probably tell him but he is so cautious he will probably send me for a colonoscopy. Really not up for that! I have not had constipation issues with chemo just the occassional loose stool. If I didnt take so much iron daily I would prob have diarrhea.
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fielddreamer - I am so sorry for what you are going through, worrying about your daughter. I don't have children but I am sure it is heartbreaking to watch her go through this.
gritgirl - so glad you are okay! lumpectomy versus mastectomy...it's a tough call, such a personal choice.
lumpy - SO GLAD you got your new place!!! Woo hoo!!! Good to know that you had your lumpectomy 3 weeks after your chemo ended. I wonder if I can sweet talk my surgeon into letting me do mine that early. I think I could handle it three weeks out.
msbelle - I am in the same boat, the port stays in at least until I am done with herceptin next February. I did have mucus in my stool one time about a month ago. I thought it was weird but then I forgot about it, and it hasn't happened since. I hope yours is nothing.
Today I am stressing that when they do my lumpectomy, the tissue will be filled with cancer cells and no clear margins.
I am so anxious to get it done.0 -
msbelle
I noticed the same thing a bit ago but none since and I never really gave it a second though. And its not TMI, not here LOL!t ou
firstcall
Nice to have that port out I'm sure. I like msbell am stuck with it until I finish hercpetin.
Moonflwer
You crack me up. I'd like to put a shortend version of what you told gritgirl on a TShirt LOL!
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MLB, here's your short quote: I may fly solo, but I enjoy the flight! (Or perhaps, I enjoy the takeoff!) LOL
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christina....visualize a resolved or contained tumor with clear margins. Don't let your mind play games with you.
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Yea Lumpy so happy you got the house
Gritgirl glad you checked in I would do the mastectomy in your situation.
Gayle0 -
Hi,I was told I had to wait six wks for Lumpectpmy it is standard over here. Also told 6 to 8 wks after for rads. I'm having axillary node removal ( not sure of spelling) so I think they will take quite a few out. Going to have a wire put in but not sure when, I thought you had that done then the Lumpectomy. I was hoping to go away for a day and night so I don't want the wire in before.
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ali...my wire was put in the morning of my lumpectomy- and it wasn't bad....luckily mine was done in the same facility-funny...til you mentioned it i had actually forgotten the wire!
christina...clear margins, gf! listen to firstcall! don't "go there"....
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hey- what causes foot cramping? i have had some awful cramps in the bottoms of my feet the last few nites- not during the day but when i try to relax....the kind that make your toes go straight out!
please tell me it's just part of aging!
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My wire was also put in right before the lumpectomy. It waasnt bad at all.
Gayle0 -
Hello all - been a couple of weeks since I've posted but I've been trying to follow the board and think I'm pretty well kept up!.
Gritgirl, so glad you checked in - was very worried. As I've mentioned before, even though we haven't met, you know I'm here in DC too so if you EVER need anything, please reach out to me. BTW, I decided for a BMX for the same reasons as you and others - I wanted to take away any chances of it developing again in my breasts. And like MSBelle, it eneded up being a wise decision because they found cancer in the good breast.
Lumpy - YAY for the house. Christina - YAY for being done with chemo. Its such a good feeling, isn't it!!!
Ali - glad you've put weight back on and good luck with the fingernails. Some of my nails/nailbeds got brittle and discolored but fortunately I didn't lose any.
Moonflwr, you cracked me up with your everyready stock comment!
I've been doing well since my last TX on May 17 - it actually didn't hit me as hard as I expected. I had a sort of tragi-comedy thing happen though. With all my previous treatments, I had help from a family member (mom, aunt, mother-in-law) in the weeks afterward. This time, we had no outsider help so it was all going to fall on my husband. I had my TX on Thursday and Saturday was to be my bad day as usual. We sent our children to friends houses for the weekend and everything was going fine at first. I'm OK, just super tired and no energy so laying in bed in and out of sleep. My DH fixes me breakfast, runs some errands, is doing work but keeps checking on me regularly. All is good.
However, over the last month, he's been telling me he wants to trim the trees in our back yard. He is not the handy type (I typically do that kind of work and work around the house) so I kept telling him I didn't think it's a good idea; I just couldn't see him being able to handle such a big task! He tells me that he's been studying how to do it and actually watched a video so he was sure he would be fine. Not being one to sit around and just take care of his ailing wife, he decides to do it that day - I again tell him it's not a good idea but out he goes. After about an hour, I get up to go potty and think, hmmm I haven't heard anything outside for a while, I should check on him. Just then he drags himself into the bathroom and he's a mess. He tipped over on the ladder, fell onto it and thinks he's broken his ribs! I call a friend to take him to the emergency room - he gets there and he is in so much pain, the first shot of morphine doesn't even help him. They give him more via IV, then do x-rays, ultrasound, and a cat-scan. Fortunately, no broken bones, but seriously bruised ribs, torn muscles and contusions on his ankle. My friend brings him home and I get him into the bed amidst agonizing screams. Also had to shower him at one point. Then I'm up and down the stairs bringing him food, water, medicines, etc. So, instead of taking care of me that weekend, I've ended up having to take care of him!! Fortunately, other than being tired, I've was relatively OK. Maybe my "mothering" energy kicked in knowing he was so badly hurt. I was alternately fuming and laughing about the whole situation! Since I couldn't have a drink, I opted for a nice big bowl of ice cream. Ah well, such is the life in my household.
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ali..same with me...wire was put in few hours before lumpectomy. Was not a big deal.
Lumpynme...have you had Taxol? If so, it could be a mild case of neuropathy. The toes on both of my feet are tingly all the time...fine when I walk but I am assuming it is a permanent thing.
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OMG ymac that is terrible! I hope you and DH are recovering well. Yikes!
firstcall and lumpy - thanks for the words of encouragement. I am usually very positive, not sure why I am feeling so paranoid about the re-excision. I'm anxious to meet with the surgeon on Wednesday and at least get it set up.
Tired...steroids definitely worn off by now. I think it's time to shower and head to bed. I'm off work through Monday to recuperate.
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Christina, have a good sleep. I hope you get it set up on Wednesday. Ymac, I hope you both recover soon. Lumpy, try a banana, low potassium or magnesium can cause cramping. Much love
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Ymac
Your poor hubby! Never a dull moment eh? Could have been worse though. I was chuckling at you alternating between being mad and finding the whole thing funny.
Off for Herceptin tomorrow. I hope this time goes better than last, but I will ensure the file has gone to right department tomorrow.
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i have had taxotere so i am aware of the possibility of neuropothy--also i have researched foot cramps and saw about potassium--i eat a banana almost every day...
i'm just going to watch this.....no tingling...
yvonne my sweetie is sposed to be my caregiver but i have been doing all of the caring-except a few days when he has done the driving-early in my first chemo i didn't feel well enough to drive!
i'm so excited that it's friday! however i am cold today and it is raining....everyone at work is sniffling or sneezing or coughing from allergies- myself included!we are having a "day of grazing" at work- a potluck so lunch is easy and i'm throwing a roast into the crockpot for tonite....
hugs to all....
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Hi everyone, yes I do have wire in same day the hospital called and told me. Had the port out yesterday not nice and feel very sore today. Next week I have pre check up for op and see the surgeon to sign papers.
Spoke to my sister who's "cup is always half full" always on a downer. She tells me if I were you I would have the breast gone. She can't have her teeth cleaned without being knocked out. Have had this out with the surgeon and breast care nurse, they both said I don't need it and if you can save the breast then do it. I still have to wait till I have lumpectomy and get path report so you never know.0 -
ali...it has to be YOUR decision.....everyone has opinions but it is YOUR body in the end.....do you pray or have a higher power? maybe you need to turn inward if you really are not sure?
last week i wrote about the gal that i work with whose dx was the same as mine- she is so negative about so much...won't do anything to help the company's Relay for Life team etc--her choice--but the negativity can get to be a bit much!
i'm praying that you will make the decison you know is best for you!
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