Starting chemo July 2014
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Oh Rachel honey how awful. You'll be in my prayers, as you have been. You must fight, for your Knight in Shining Armor and those precious gbabies. You have such fun with them and it's clear they adore you. Keep fighting
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Pink - praying and here when you are at the point of processing that you need me/us.
Mags - don't you see the MO today? Praying too!
Kay
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thank you for your prayers!
Mags,
How was your pets scan Wednesday? I've been praying for you
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I am so negligent in not keeping up with this topic, I forgot to dance with the ones who "brung" me. I've been lurking/posting on my other "favorite topics" regarding my particular situation and have lost track of the ladies I came on board with. Now I see that some in my old group need prayers. Since I never ask God for anything, I hope He will hear my prayers at this time for Mags and Pinkinjay. Love to all.......
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Here's the email I just sent to my friends and prater warriors.
I wanted to give a more detailed update about what's going on with my health issues. I've been battling a chronic cough for about a month now and have had a lot of pain in my back, ribs, chest and stomach. I went to the doctor 2 weeks ago to get cough medicine and they did an xray to rule out pneumonia. The xray showed several lesions in both of my lungs so they wanted me to follow up with a catscan. I immediately called my oncologist who ordered a petscan and catscan, which I had Wednesday.
I met with my oncologist today and the results of my scans showed my breast cancer has metastasized and spread to both of my lungs, both kidneys, one of my adrenal glands, my liver and a few bones. I am now considered to be in stage 4. My treatment plan will consist of me getting a port put in on Monday then I'll start chemo on Tuesday morning and will continue to have it every week indefinitely.
Obviously this news is very disappointing and the last thing I want to do is to go through chemo for a second time. I just got used to having hair
Please keep me and Ken and our families in your prayers. I'm still trying to process it all and I'm feeling very overwhelmed. Please know that if I don't respond back to your texts, phone calls or emails, I am grateful for you and reading each one.
I was praying this morning and actually laughing with the Lord about this new journey I'm about to start. Some may say I've been through enough already but how much is enough really? I don't have to hang on a cross and die for the entire world's sins and feel betrayed, humiliated, forsaken or abandoned. I am loved and have the most amazing friends and family and an even larger family in the body of Christ. I don't have to be fearful of the future or worry about dying because I know without a doubt where I am going. I just don't want to go there right now
I will be blogging this new journey so if you want to be kept updated, just clink on the link below then you can enter your email on the right side bar of the front page.
https://redeemed1.wordpress.com/
Thank you so much for your love, support and prayers. I am very grateful. Romans 12:12 is still my life verse: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful to prayer
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You are very strong pinkninja!!! Love you girl
Nancy
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Pinkninja,
You have such an amazing spirit! RE: chemo, I did Taxol. It's supposed to be the gentler cousin of Taxotere, but it still gave me mild diarrhea (which I controlled with Imodium). In other words, if Taxotere gave you the big D, I'd assume that Taxol would give you at least the small D. One thing that I regret (somewhat) is not icing my mouth during the Taxol infusion. My taste buds got zapped, and everything tasted like crap while I was on it.
It looks like your cancer is still HER2+ -- Thank God for Heceptin and Perjeta!
Best wishes and ((HUGS))
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Im so incredibly sorry to hear your news. Will pray for you. I too have had this aweful cough for 3 weeks now. Went to amblitory care and was told bronchitis. Gave me cough syrup, antibiotics and steroids. Done with steroids and almost done with antibiotics but still not better. Cant help but think the worst especially since they have been monitoring 7 lung nodules. I
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Blownaway, Nancy2581, ElaineTherese, et al; good to see you guys again. I know your thoughts and prayers will be comforting to Mags and Pink
magdalene51 - where are you??? You haven't posted since the 9th.
thrifty1 - call your oncologist about this cough and see what they recommend. They may want to look at those nodules again.
pinkninja9560 - when you get a moment, Why do they think it is the same type, have they done pathology and if so how did they do it? What will the chemo regime be? I know weekly herceptin and perjetta, but what about the rest? What drugs and how frequently?
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I'm going in tomorrow for my port and while I'm there they're gonna do a lung biopsy to make sure it's still her2+ and er/pr-
I'll be doing taxol, Herceptin and perjeta every week. I think the dose is lower since I'm getting it every week. From whatI've read, taxol seems to have less side effects than taxotere. Grateful for that!
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Thrifty 1
push your dr for more tests! Use me as an example 😉
I just spent an hour reading over this thread from when we started it in July 2014. I was looking for info to help me get thru chemo and other helps.
I am so grateful that when I got diagnosed the first time I found this website. I learned so much and gained so many friends. Even though we've slowed down communicating as we ended our treatments, we are still here for each other. I would not have survived the first go around without you guys and I know I'll get thru this new season with my new group, the feb 2017. I'll still come here and post updates and check on you guys too.
It would be fun for everywhere to post pics of what we look like now since we have hair, although I'll be getting my fohawk next week!
I'll go first! I was in the hospital last week when I took this selfiso that's why I'm in a bed 😉
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This is a picture of me with my DD at her senior night for cross country. (I'm on the right, but I'd be flattered if you thought I was young enough to be the one on the left.)
Mags -- I'm so happy to hear that your DH has stopped self-medicating! Option 2 sounds good to me, too. Hope you've recovered from your houseguest.
Pinkninja -- Hope you are still HER2+, though being ER+/PR+ might help, too. I'll be following your progress.
((HUGS)) to you both.
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Great pics ladies. Here's me. I took it just now lol. Kinda blurry😝
Mags going to go read your thread now.
Pink good luck tomorrow! I will be thinking of you - hugs
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love the pics!!!!!
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mags-I woke up and was praying for you and this song popped in my head
Hugs and kisses 😘 for
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Pink - Great Idea about the pictures and thank you and Mags for getting us back together.
boxofrockstar we need more baby pictures!!!!!!!! And seeing you would be nice too.
Mags - great news, 30% reduction. Sounds like it is working. Accept that you cannot change the 'self medicating' and enjoy these fantastic results. So to me, you have two choices, continue with the strong chemo or reduce to the lighter chemo. Can you ask, will it hold it at bay if I go on the smaller chemo for a week or two so that I can get my strength back, then continue with the harder one that seems to be working? I know some of the folks in the chairs with me in 2014, found if they stopped, the pain returned, because the tumors would start to grow back. I'm pulling for you during this hard journey.
Pink - are you out of surgery? Did you do all your shopping this weekend? Fill your Rx's, buy your Imodium, Desatin, baby wipes and Laxatives, fill the fridge with food you WILL eat and drink? Get all your crazy smoothie ingredients. We want photos of you drinking strange green concoctions again. Don't forget when the grogginess wears off today, go get a steak or some ribs. Eat them with pleasure and for Mags, as she misses them.
Here is the most recent of me. I'm not big into selfies, but I was in the ER with my 9 year old. He's fine, just needed a tetanus shot. As our area hospitals are being bombarded with flu and Noro virus I kept us masked. Didn't need to bring that home! I'll have to see if there are any of me anywhere else. Just looked at the picture my husband put of FB last night of my daughter's 13 birthday, and my hand was in it holding my coke ... 10 - 13 year-old girls, I needed more than my usual water.
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CURRENT PHOTO PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK - I tried to find our core group - if I missed anyone - I'm so sorry, so continue to the task. Pink has asked us to post pictures with our hair as it currently is, as she is about to undergo more chemo and will probably lose her hair again. Mags, cute hat will do, something worthy of pink... Never mind, too much pressure, whatever the latest is you have from the chemo center. So... I created a list. 1st date is last time they posted, next is 'name', next is from our 'header' and our 'start date' for chemo in July '14, then their 'link'. I'm hoping that will flag something and they will get a notification that we are talking about them.
2/17 Magdalene51 – July 1 magdalene51 UPDATED PICTURE POSTED
2/12/17 Blownaway – July 3Blownaway
11/14/14 Mumford – July 4 Mumford
6/1/15 ChaosRains – July 9 ChaosRains
6/16 CoyoteNV – July 10 CoyoteNV
1/17 RainDew – July 11 RainDew
8/16 Jennliza – July 16 Jennliza
pinkninja9560 – July 16 UPDATED PICTURE POSTED
9/16/16 Dancingdiva – July 16 dancingdiva
knmtwins – July 16 UPDATED PICTURE POSTED
2/17 Puffin2014 – July 17 Puffin2014 UPDATED PICTURE POSTED
1/17 Boxofrockstar – July 17 Boxofrockstar UPDATED PICTURE POSTED
2/17 Nancy2581 – July 22 Nancy2581 UPDATED PICTURE POSTED
11/14 Redheeledwomen – July 22 redheeledwomen
11/15 WalleGater – July 23 WalleGator UPDATED PICTURE POSTED
2/17 ElaineTherese – July 23 ElaineTherese UPDATED PICTURE POSTED
Kebab – July 23
1/17 maidentiredofwaiting – July 30 maidentiredofwaiting
11/16 Slappy-Squirrel - no chemo!Slappy-Squirrel
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I am out of surgery! I actually watched them do the liver biopsy, I peeked and the dr yelled at me and said you're supposed to be sleeping! I said the stuff didn't knock me out and I want to watch. the needle was insanely long! everything went well, got my port in and ready for chemo tomorrow!
I've been making my green smoothies but my appetite in the last several weeks has not been good. Once the chemo shrinks some of the masses and lymph nodes, I won't be in so much pain and won't feel like my organs and stomach are being squeezed.
Tomorrow 8 am I start the heceptin, perjeta, taxol and zometa. Gonna be a 6 hour day, praise the Lord for Netflix and Hulu!!!
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Pink - thanks for keeping us posted. Gotta love 6 hours... wow were we longer than 6 hours before, because we had carboplatin also, or are they doing a 'slow drip'? I'm still job hunting, so let me know when you want me to come hang out for an hour or two. Your at the center 'at' Shady, right? I'm good at getting blankets, fluffing pillows, spooning ice chips, etc. Are you going to ice any this time?
As to peaking, nice, not asleep, yikes... I peaked after my Bmx when they accessed my port. Yea, not doing that again.
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twins-we were there for 6 hours, they are doing the drips extra slow and blasting with extra stuff
come by whenever you want. you have my cell right? I'm at the Aquilino Cancer center right next door to shady grove.
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Pink, my needle became dislodged from the port during my lung biopsy, and the fenergan infiltrated my chest tissues. What a mess! They had to pack it and massage it to get it down enough to reset the needle so they could flush & heparin it – after the biopsy was over, of course!
Don't really have a current pic, but I'll get one Thursday. I've decided to go ahead. Only 6 weeks, after all
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Wow Mags ... CRAZY what can happen with these ports, but when I remember the poor people in the chairs who couldn't get ports... and they had to find a vein... so glad for my port. Also, isn't it amazing how when you get your options laid out for you, the option you didn't think you wanted is what you chose. So glad to know their is a weaker one, just in case you need a break for a week or two. Glad you will get a newer pic on Thursday. I'm so bad at selfies, that I tried and I won't post those. Maybe when I visit Pink during her chemo she can teach me, because she is the queen!
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Yikes! That's crazy! How are you feeling? I've been praying for you!
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Well, it's nice to see activity here because I miss you guys, but I really wish it wasn't for these reasons. Mags and Pink, I am thinking about you guys all the time and praying that everything turns out ok. I hate that you still have to deal with this, after all this time.
Today is 2 years since my last radiation treatment, which seems unbelievable. I'm so glad its over and so far I've been ok, but there's always that nagging fear that I'll get bad news every time I go to the doctor.
Here's me making a face
And here is the baby
And the guys together
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Ok I just remembered I took a selfie last week when our friend first visited, he hadn't seen me bald, so I wore the blonde wig that Beatmon from Insomniacs thread loaned me and I took a pic for her.
I'm really glad I took the week off, with the pt I've been getting, I'm feeling a lot stronger and not nearly as emotionally fragile. So I called and left the message with MO to set me up for chemo on Thursday.
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P.S. I got a pm from Shirley (Slappy squirrel) and she's offered my a new head cover, since I passed on the last one. I'll send her a note to check in here
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There are several stage IV gals in my support group that are in remission, I pray for the same results for Mags and pink.
Here's a photo that was taken of me in the airport in Nov when I went to Florida to watch my granddaugher dance at Disney.
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pink - you crack me up. . . You're suppose to be sleeping but want to watch ha ha. Glad everything went smoothly. Hope chemo goes well too. Go knock the crap out of that nasty cancer! I'll be in your pocket tomorrow. Don't squish me😬
Mags you look great. I like that wig on you. Glad you're going to continue on!! Just like Pink go knock the crap out of stupid cancer.
Box - so nice to see you. You look great! Your little one is getting so big. Both boys are adorable. Enjoy them. My mother in law always said they grow up so fast. At the time I thought not fast enough lol, but poof my kids are now 23 and 20. How did that happen?
Knmtwins- you look wonderful mask and all lol
Hugs to all of you ladies
Nancy
Oh Puffin I just saw your post. You look lovely. Hope you are doing wel
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magdalene51 - so glad that was the decision you came to. Sometimes we just have to step back and know what all our options are to realize what it is that God wants for us.
pinkninja9560 - thinking of you, are you getting the numbing spray right now?
boxofrockstar - look at all that thick dark hair and your boys, how darling.
Nancy2581 where is your photo???
Mags, love the blond wig.
Puffin2014 - look at you.
Slappy-Squirrel - hello - where are you?
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https://youtu.be/tIZitK6_IMQ