Stage 2 Sisters Club
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What part of North Carolina are you going to be in?
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Hi Ruth,
I'll be in the Raleigh area. We'll spend most of the time with family, but we like to go see and do things.
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My sister lives in the Raleigh area! There are some neat things downtown; the old state house, a neat science museum & history museum. A couple years ago their traveling exhibit was about the Titanic and it was fascinating.....you could check online to see what's going on. Also they have some good small theater for a reasonable price (we went to Dreamgirls for $27 a ticket). There are good restaurants, and if you want to go someplace without the kids; Rum Runners is a bar with dueling pianos and is really, really fun. With kids, you could go to Raleighwood where you can watch a movie and eat dinner. Newer movies & reasonably priced kid-friendly food. Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach is only about 2 hours away if you want to do some ocean stuff (I just got back from there last Tuesday, so it is still fresh in my mind!).
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Thanks Ruth. Was the weather crazy when you were there?
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Hot, hot, hot and humid, humid, humid. You need to be near or in the water, or in an air conditioned building!!!!! Pack very, very summery clothes. You don't need to bring jeans or long pants at all. The only time I wore the light jacket that I brought was on the plane.
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Checking in my friends. Stage II not sure a or b as I haven't had sx yet. Grade 3, 4 cm. ER + PR + HERs -.
Sx is 8/6 for bilat mxs & implant reconstruction right after. Of course not a club to be thrilled about joining but so thankful for this site and forum. It wasn't on the list of online sites the hospital gave me for info and support and I made sure that they change that!
Love to you all. God bless.
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Welcome Artista! Glad you let your facility know about this site. It's a huge help for me!
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Hi Artista! Glad you found BCO and are passing the information on to others too!
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Oh yeah, not only to my facility but also other message boards I'm on that I'm blogging on about my journey. There is nothing like this site. Although I'd rather not be a member here like the rest of you, I'm so happy I found this site!!
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Hello. GG2 here. I found out that my favorite chemo nurse is undergoing treatment for Stage 2 Ovarian cancer. She always talked about having babies, I feel so bad for her. So I decided to bite the bullet and have the port removed in the office with just Novocain and offered it up for her. (It's a Catholic thing, offering it up lol) The surgeon was great and very patient with nervous Nellie me. I hate needles that sting and also pain, and there was some, but I would go this way again if I ever had the "opportunity." I took it home and added it to my other cancer keepsakes. Pretty sore for a couple days but that's all. Thanks, ladies, for the support. My gf's and I had a "deportation" adult beverage toast that evening!
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Also, neighbors are out. I've been here 7.5 years and they all can barely summon a hello much less anything else.
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Yea, GG2! Glad you have been deported!
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How do they put the port in / take it out? I have major issues with needles too and I don't think I can handle this without being knocked out.
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That was very kind of you, GG2
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Hi all: With my pathology report today I just officially joined this club. Waving at PoppyK from another thread. Looking forward to getting to know all of you even though I have to admit that I am not thrilled to be here. :-(
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Welcome Octogirl and Artista! You have come to a great place. You both sounds in good spirit as you enter this journey. Not sure what the next treatments are for you but we are here to share our collective C-wisdom, support and hugs.
GG2 - Glad to hear no more port. Sorry to about your favorite nurse. I hope she recovers well from treatment and goes on to become a mom, perhaps in a way other than the traditional route.
Hugs, Nisa0 -
Welcome Octo, the silver lining of the whole horrible thing is the wonderful women you meet on BCO, ladies you would have never met under an other circumstance. One of the weird turns made by life!
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Welcome, Arista and Octogirl!
Arista - I had bmx with direct to implant back in February. It will knock you on your feet but it's short-lived! In case you haven't found it, here's a great thread for you. https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/91/topic/833382?page=1#post_4447909
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thanks for the welcome, all.
I am sure I will have questions about next treatments once my treatment plan is fully determined. I am meeting with MO in a week or so...right now, I am trying to rest and recover from the surgery (Lx, with nipple removal). I am sure the questions will follow soon!
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Thanks again for the welcome everyone! What a wonderful group of ladies I have encountered here!
jilly59: I saw the thread you linked and thought it looks familiar. Some started another thread "August Surgeries" https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/91/topic/...
I was like I just clicked to follow one and here's another one! Any way to just have 1 thread be the one mods for August Surgery folks? I'm following in this one too and will check in. Just would rather not duplicate my posts and possibly miss something.
I've started with the preops now. Today was with the plastic surgeon who is just a great kind man everyone loves. I'll have 4 drains, 2 in each breasts for 2-3 weeks. One gal had them in for 6! He wants it to be less than 1 oz draining when he pulls them out. This just sound so uncomfortable and gross but I have the cammies with pockets to put them in and have some duster house coats with pink pockets stick on pockets ready to go as well. The part I'm freaking on is how to sleep. I'm a huge side sleeper and he told me today the drains are on the side so no can do. Have to become a back sleeper which I don't do. Going to get all kinds of prop pillows to create it so I can get in and out of bed ok because I'll be alone much of the time. (I have a thread going on what do to if you're alone/minimal help somewhere- forget where right now).
When I got there there was a lady there who looked very tired and sick. She's in chemo. She was after me so I let her go ahead of me because she looked like she was going to fall over. Poor thing. That's my greatest issue is not so much with the sx but afterwards- with minimal help. And I've never had sx before of any kind to even guess how I may do with this stuff.
So thanks to this board I'm getting as prepared as I can ahead of time so at least I'll have that under control. The rest, well we'll see!
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Artista, I'm a side sleeper, too. I thought I would have a miserable time trying to sleep on my back. Surprisingly, it wasn't that big an issue because my back was the only semi-comfortable position. Many found sleeping in a recliner the best solution. I just surrounded myself with pillows to make sure I couldn't roll onto my side in my sleep.
I found it difficult to keep track of when I had taken my pain meds, so I had to write it down. Since you will be by yourself much of the time, you might want to do the same.
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Thanks PoppyK. I'm in a small apt and no room for a recliner. Just a couch and a full size bed in the bedroom. I have a pill sorter for 7 days, am/pm, and even with this I find I forget a dose here and there of my 1 whole anti depressant I take. Can't get more under the nose than that. So yeah, I do fear forgetting things, and from what I'm reading about chemo brain, omg, I already am dingy and forget things under my nose or written down! That's my fear, not really the sx but after on my own.
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I didn't get 'chemo brain'......but I have always been the type to write things down......I have a notebook where I keep a list of everything I want/need to do each day of the week.....plus sticky notes all over the place (I should have bought stock in the company when they first came out, I would be a millionaire by now!); including on the steering wheel of the car, so that I remember to 'get cat food' or whatever......I keep my pill sorter right on top of my underwear drawer, and if I have to take something extra, like antibiotics or pain killers, I write a little list of times (on a sticky note in the bathroom) and check off when I've taken them (7:30, noon etc.).....being super organized will definitely help you get through this without the 'chemo brain' (which I think is mostly 'brain overload' from being worried, scared, nervous etc. from all the crap going on).
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Thanks Ruthbru. I've always had memory issues. I just noticed this am that despite my pillbox on my sliding medicine cabinet up against the mirror so no way can you miss this that I forgot to take my Celexa yesterday. Great.
I too have notepads and stickies all over the place. I should have bought stock too! lol. And still I could be staring straight at it and forget. Even my beloved guinea pig who is my rock and love (I have no kids) so she's my kid. I've taken her water bottle, walked a few feet to the kitchen to refill it (I live in a small apt) and come back to the couch without it. She doesn't say anything, even on a hot day. She'll look for it but just go back in her igloo and wait until mom hopefully soon figures out after looking at her cage 100 times that the water bottle is missing! ah!
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Maybe you won't notice chemo brain, because like me, you're already there
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Hilarious Ruthbru! Oh my...
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artista - I use printable med forms, such as this one linked. There are also some apps that you can use to track, but I found the old school paper and pen easier to deal with post-surgery. It can be helpful to set an alarm on your phone for when to take the meds - particularly early on when it is beneficial to take the pain meds at regular intervals. Always better to pre-treat pain than chase it after the fact.
http://www.freeprintablemedicalforms.com/preview/M...
Getting ahead, I also used these printable chemo side effect sheets - they are awesome and I printed a set for each infusion:
http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@nho/documents/document/acsq-009502.pdf
I saw your thread regarding being on your own after surgery, but I am just putting some thoughts here - I had a BMX on Mon, stayed in the hospital until Wed morning - mainly due to the anesthesia department not having anyone available to remove my anesthetic block until late on Tuesday - I could have gone home but was concerned about knowing my pain level without the block first. My husband stayed home with me but returned to work that next Mon. He works 12 hour days, and has an hour commute each way, so I was on my own a lot. I had no problem with drain stripping - do suggest using the alcohol pad folded over the tubing to facilitate when doing it yourself. Here is a demo youtube video about drain stripping which is not graphic, just instructional.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNFtsGa_f6w
I cooked ahead and stored things in portioned amounts, stocked up on groceries, did all the laundry and had a good supply of paper plates, plastic utensils, solo cups, etc. I would recommend having an insulated cup with a lid and straw. I knocked my cup over a few times, lol! I did not use a recliner - just built a throne in bed with pillows - I am also a side sleeper, but did ok on my back propped up - the chest pressure from the surgery made laying flat difficult, so I actually felt better in the more upright position. Some people use a foam wedge like those used for reflux sufferers - you can get them from Bed, Bath & Beyond and use a coupon. Also, being on pain meds in the short term will facilitate sleep. I found having a hand-held shower head to be invaluable, as well as these lamp dimmers - they are inexpensive and save you from having to reach over.
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Hi Artista928! What helped me and what may help you, too is a cell phone which you can program with various alarm settings for taking pills. This saved me from my chemo brain when I had to take several pills every day at different times. Just using a pill sorter thingie wasn't enough. I had to make sure that I took the pill when the alarm said or I would forget. Good luck and all the best!
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Wow! SpecialK! Thanks so much for your detailed post and links! I'll have to check them out!
And yeah SoLinda, I'll have to do the alarm thing. That should do it because I'm going to wonder why it's going off, unless I chalk it off to being dingy as I can be at times! lol Oh my.
Thanks gals!!
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