The Hermit Club
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Another wonderful, sunny weekend at home! Worked on painting a cabinet, vegetable garden clean up (zucchini, cucumbers, and broccolis came out), picked blackberries on our hill, and simmered another pot of tomatoes for sauce. Have lots of scratches on arms and legs to vouch for the blackberry picking! Our son will probably be moving out next weekend into his new condo so will be busy with hauling stuff all weekend. It will be bittersweet seeing him go, but at least he will still be close. Have a wonderful week Hermits!
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hermettes, i am glad all are doing okay. Bippy has tragic news in that coffee is not good smelling or tasting to her now. Sadness! I make it for DH and have to turn it off asap lest it make me barf. Bippy had to get iv last week for dehydration from the big D. Also,unrelenting nausea....good times!
Anyhoo, enjoy coffee those that can. This week is better already, 10 days out from 2nd chemo and on the upswing! Walked last night and had good energy. Hermitting all week, inside, but doing loads of decluttering and assembling more stuff for the consignment shop. Happy Monday!
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This should say "hermits unite".
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Oh Teka, where did I get the Lipton idea ... I guess I need to take notes when I read.
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Bippy, hope the side effects pass quickly ... can that happen?
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Oh Onco pot first and foremost is always good for anything, nausea too. And just lately now they are realizing the good pot does for cancer, they thought it was a myth. I never thought of it as a myth LOL
Blondie some of these shows look kind of good, I hate all these reality shows and there are so many of them. And never worry about me stayin by myself I never minded it really--I amuse myself all the time and if I ever find myself starting to get bored that's as far as it gets cuz boring means nothing bad is happening so I'm basically a happy person inside. And believe it or not I have lots of friends they just respect when I don't feel like doing something and they give a notice of what's going on if I can or want to go. It's simple really for me.
OK, just checking in. MUAH to all of u
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Hermits- I bought some fig leaf tea from someone at the farmers market here about a month ago and drink it all the time. Fig leaf is good for so many things from blood pressure to blood sugar, etc. It tastes good too, sometimes I throw in some mint from my little herb pot. I make big containers of cold herbal teas for the summer time. Republic Tea has some very tasty teas.
Bad flooding in southern Cali and AZ today. We are dry here in NM.
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It is so cold here in pa. Will surely have the blanket on tonight
Bippy sorry for the se they surrly dont make things easier
HAPPY TUESDAY
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Oh Bippy, such a bummer coffee isn't doing it for you anymore! I LOVE the way it smells more than it tastes. I put lots of flavored creamer in mine.
Jazzy, Love that t-shirt. Gotta get me one
Got through my busy work day, ready to move on to Tuesday. I'll try and go to bed now and sleep
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I'm drinking COFFEE today! And it tastes grand! (Well, it tastes ok, and that's progress!)
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Good morning all ... didn't want to walk, but did ... I don't know why getting out there is so hard because once I am walking I often have "a light bulb" moment/some interesting realization.
Mags, happy to hear that you can drink coffee again. I just discovered Starbucks' Pike Place k-cup. My Keurig actually makes it like in the shop.
Teka, thanks for another cute coffee pic.
Bippy, hope your se's are less today.
Hi Monis, Blondie, Cami, Onco, and Jazzy ...
May everyone's day have at least one sparkling moment! Mine was my ah ha moment while walking.
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Hi Hermits, I am at work right now and thinking that in about 15 minutes it will be lunch
( for 30 minutes) for me. I eat alone in my room and have even before I was diagnosed with BC. As a true hermit--don't like to sit around a bunch of people making small talk. Since I am friendly and respectful to all the other teachers when I see them in the halls-no one bothers me any longer to come down and mix. So, I went through this period of having my energy back when I was weaning off of Anastrozole for the 6 weeks. Everyone was gushing how changed I was with loads of energy. Now, I've been prescribed Aromasin and have been on it for about 10 days. I am back to being a zombie. I have extreme fatigue. I'm so so tired--I just want to sleep. However, since my short reprieve off of Anastrozole and burst of energy, everyone thinks I am "cured". I keep telling them I am on a new C med--they don't get it. I had a hard time telling my son why I just wanted to stay home and sleep on Sunday instead of shop. I'm so exhausted at work now and have so little energy. Sometimes I remind folks I am still taking Cancer meds and still being treated because I don't want them thinking I am lazy. A teacher walked in while I was napping on my prep last week and I had to explain. It's been a year and a half since I was diagnosed with BC. Well--they can keep pretending until I have my next reconstruction surgery in December. Maybe when I have tubes hanging out, it will remind them I am still on this horrible journey.
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Hi Teka, Yep, I am retiring May 2016. Trying to make it because I am on an Early Retirement Option where they are paying me base pay plus 5.6% compounded through 2015-2016. Otherwise, I would retire at the end of this school year. I'll just keep trudging on. By the way the reason why I am having surgery in December is because I am almost out of sick days--I think I have 6 left so I am trying to get as close as I can to our Christmas break so I can recover over the holidays. My new PS said he would do the surgery December 17th.
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hermettes, Teka, Blondie and sally, Bippy can drink coffee again too! It is a joyous day here.
Little things really do mean a lot. I never appreciated how good coffee smells and taste before really. I'm evaluating my entire relationship with food and drink--I'm being forced to by side effects, but i'm not using food as a coping mechanism anymore which is a good step.
Also did Bippy mention that she doesn't have to work anymore? Probably only 1000 times..... So nice not to have that awful looming stress over my head every day! This must be under the category of silver linings and was reading about....
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Hi hermits- I did something I have not done in awhile, went to a movie matinee! I met a couple consulting collegues for lunch, which was nice and went well, and was driving past our big movie theater and decided to spontaneously go and check out what was playing. I was there a bit before 1 p.m. and chose a sort of scary/thriller called As Above, So Below. I have not been to a movie theater in years (watch them at home mostly).
Got my outfits ready for the next couple days, TV promo tomorrow morning and conference presentation on Thursday. Going to work it the next few days.
Dwill- I am sorry you are having a tough time on the AIs. I had a really tough time the first six months on arimidex and then went off it for 6 weeks and it has been better since, although I still have sore feet and stiff joints a lot of the time. I do better if I exercise to keep my body moving. I tire easier these days but don't have the intense fatigue you are experiencing. It is too bad the Aromasin is not much better. I think there is one more you can try, Femura?
Sounds like people in your environment don't understand what you are dealing with, but no surprise either. Everyone thinks you are done with treatment after surgery, rads and/or chemo. The AIs have been some of the hardest part of this and it's for years too.
Coffee friends- sorry it has been tough on the coffee front. I love my coffee, I have had to give up so many other things but relish my morning brew.
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Jazzy, good luck and have fun making the promo tomorrow morning.
Dwill, I too am sorry that you are feeling so tired. Since I am retired, the Arimidex fatigue is manageable for me. I am not sure how I would feel if I were working.
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Dwill always nice to see u, but sorry things are so tough--It's so true most people feel like oh u'r done, u'r fine that's it---so why bother talking about it no one understands. And like Sally said I don't work either (outside my home) but I know I couldn't possibly go to work 5 normal days a week, that's why sometimes I'm so tired I just sleep but when u'r working it's impossible. I remember when I did work the first 4 months of chemo I couldn't make it everyday and on some days I'd hide somewhere and sleep or just feel miserable--couldn't do it anymore then.
Jazzy good luck tomorrow and make sure u tell us all about it--I should say break a leg but I hate that now with all our bones issues.
I got an invitation to my GF's surprise BD party next month--It's at a super restaurant and I can't wait. I just love her so and I'll see her family and the rest of my friends (who I see them anyway) but it's always fun.
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Jazzy, awesome photo of yesterday's harvest moon! I wanted to snap a photo of it myself, coming up through the trees, but I didn't want to get my butt up off the couch to get the camera!
Sally, It always takes all my energy just to motivate myself to go for my walk. But once I do it feels so good. Just need to motivate myself more often!
Mags and Bippy, glad your taste buds are accepting coffee again! That little drink is just a cup full of warmth and joy.
Dwill, I'm on Tamoxifen, and I too feel fatigued all the time. Can't sleep very well either on some nights. I can't complain too much though. My SE's aren't really very bad compared to lots of other women. I'm lucky in that way. Another reason to motivate myself to get outside and walk!
Hi also to Teka, Cami, and Onco! Hope everyone's Tuesday went well. On to Wednesday!
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Teka that sounds so yummy! I'm emailing it to my cousin, maybe she will take pity on me and bake one!
Coffee coffee coffee! Yay!
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Hi hermits- well the promo went okay and we had a script before hand of our questions but they went "off script" about half way through and that threw me off a bit, but we go the word out. I probably should not quit my day job though
Funniest part of today was the other gal I did it with was wearing the exact same color dress (royal blue). I told her I had done some work in film a few years back (in a friend's documentary), and they always coached us on colors to wear/avoid but there was no info provided for us on that so I did not worry about it. We just cracked up. Turns out she is originally both from CT too like me though, and that was a nice discovery. We hope to see the link with our interview later (I don't like to watch myself though, I am hypercritical of anything I do like this).
Tomorrow is our really big day where we do the panel in front of 100 plus people. I changed my outfit again for the presentation, and now wearing a longer paisley dress that will be a better choice for sitting at a table in front of a large group (don't want to cross my legs and show off the family jewels).
So here is what I am discovering and perhaps is good about doing this right now. I have always been someone who is good at self promotion, love being on camera, etc. but notice I am not quite as confident with "putting myself out there" as I used to be. It is because of all that went on the past few years and that I took myself off the professional radar a lot between late 2012 and last year, with the focus of getting through my healthcare crises, getting back to work, getting through that contract, etc. As a self employed person who is actively looking for new projects, I need to be more comfortable with being out there again and think these events are pushing me out of my hermit comfort zone.
Going to see my personal trainer now. My legs are still sore from Monday.
Teka- I love being outside in the fall. There are apples at the farmers markets here now and love all things apple. Your cake sounds delish.
Cami- how fun you have a party to look forward to. Now start working on the outfit and jewelry you will wear.
Mags- so glad to hear you are doing better with the coffee.
Bippy- I hope you are feeling better from chemo and dehydration.
Monis, Onco, Lili, Dwill, and all the rest, wishing you a good day.
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Jazzy, you wouldn't risk showing off the family jewels if you'd remember to wear your bloomers like mom always told you to. Just sayin.
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My primary care facility has labs online to look at at my convenience, and the cancer center does if I would sign up for their site but I haven't. In any case, chemo labs are looked at and discussed by MO same day. Sad moos for dear onco.
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Onco, how rude ... the voice tone on the phone and the general attitude ... I would think that they don't like waiting either.
Teka, yummy sounding recipe. I like Bisquick recipes.
Jazzy, you sound like a very put together lady. Being in business for yourself, facing the public is important, and you seem very comfortable in that role.
Mags, like you, my primary care facility puts test results online. I love it. The site will even organize graphs/charts of multiple results (same test but different dates) so that results can be compared.
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Onco- my first thought was your lab results are in and they want you to come in to discuss them, which may not be a good sign. However, if there was something truly of concern with the cholesterol or anything else, you would not be waiting 2 weeks for a scheduled apt. If your results are not available on line (they are with many orgs now), I agree with Teka, might be worth stopping by or leaving a note for either your doc or her nurse to call you. Who knows who the snot was that left the message?
I know the docs run the liver enzyme tests periodically to make sure there is nothing changing there. But my MO does that, not my PCP. However, if I remember correctly, your PCP is really the one following you now post treatment as you are not doing the anti- hormone treatment?
Two weeks is a long time to wait and now they have you worried. Call back and find out what you need to know.
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Onco- I find when I push on the medical healthcare system for my info and/or second opinions, I usually get results. Our system in the US is not always "patient-centric" which is why people either have to have someone to advocate for them, or they do it themselves if they are able as you most certainly are.
Good job on the LDL drop too. I find changing one thing can make a huge difference in our numbers. Eliminating a food, or exercising more, etc. can make the numbers go down you want them too. Keep it going and congrats on your great results! You go girl!
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