August 2015 Chemo Group
Comments
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Showing off my slow-going hair growth. Bald spot in front, but I even had to get some of the scraggly stuff in the back trimmed. We were at an exhibit opening at my old work. My husband called it my new hair's coming out party.
I kind of can't imagine having long hair again. Just might keep the pixie. About 3 months post final taxotere and I feel so good. I've been on tamoxifen for 3 months and so far no real side effects other than stiffness, which improves when I move around. I started on Lupron last week since my period came back with regularity. So will hope for minimal side effects with that, too.
Thinking of everyone.
Rachel
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Chemo is the gift that keeps on giving....the moment when your toenail falls right off....so gross.
Having a great holiday in Mexico. My boobs look Perkier than the 20 year olds. I have gotten lots of looks, I'm sure lots of women are thinking that I had a boob job. Well ya I did, but unintentional. I have been burning even though I have 60SPF sunscreen on and have been sitting in the shade. I'm not sure if it is due to the Tamoxifen. My forehead is peeling and gross.
The good thing is I'm alive and can talk about it.
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what to do with the left-over feminine hygiene product. how long do i need to keep them around?
it's been 7 months. I think my period is still trying to come back - I really don't like those come & go weird sensations. What's normal, what's not? some days are good, some days just trying to get comfortable... 0 -
I'm checking in. I go for a brain mri on Friday. I've had a headache every day for a month. Not constant but comes and goes. I freaked out because I started smelling phantom cigarette smoke over the weekend. It lasted all night Saturday and into Sunday. I was in my house around no smokers. My partner didn't smell anything. My MO decided better safe than sorry and ordered an mri. Wish me luck.
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Bluefrog, your pictures are the BEST!
Mom2aBoy GOOD LUCK, that op sounds pretty major but you sound upbeat.
Kate, thanks for asking. I'm much better but SOOO tired after what turned out to be staph septicaemia. My white count was "normal" too. I think post-chemo bone marrow is pretty sluggish for months - I didn't make any extra white cells when the bugs got inside me so a normal starting point didn't help me much (it should have been HIGH)! Herceptin makes the bone marrow sleepy I've decided. So I'm with you on the obsessive hand hygiene.
Dee, love the perky boob story! Been there with the toenails, they grow again :-).
Superius, sorry no suggestions on what to do with may-never-be-needed-again feminine hygiene products except if they're the stick-on kind, little girls like to color them in with felt pens and stick them on cards for their mommies.
And RavenSally, fingers crossed for your MRI, I bet you will be fine. Surely most likely to be a side effect of all the poisons you've been on?
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Wishing you a good outcome, RavenSally.
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RavenSally: thinking of you and hoping for a good outcome and another explanation.
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MsBrompton my sister can use the stick-on kind. I read online that one can use the "non stick-on" in a survival kit, for nose bleed or filter for water. or something like that! :O
RavenSally - Sending you good vib!
MO appt next Friday (Good Friday!). Gonna ask her about that, & the weird/ uncomfortable feeling I have on my non-BC side. (since I was diagnosed at an age one begins to do self exam, & I don't have a s/o. I wouldn't know what's normal, what's not...) I had phantom weirdness/ soreness under my arm long after picc line. Also need to make decision about genetic testing. & if so, what's next? Trying to figure out what else I should ask her...
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MsBrompton, glad you're feeling better! My WBCs were low last week, but I was on Augmentin at the time. . . . Of course, I'm not that kind of doctor, so I have no idea if there's any connection. Whatever. Hand hygiene it is.
Bluefrog, that's such a lovely picture. Thank you for sharing!
RavenSally, I completely understand. When I read your post, I imagined how I would feel in those circumstances and. . . yeah, I think I'd feel the same way. Sending lots of love to you, and hoping for the absolute best possible outcome. Maybe it's nothing. I'm going with "it's nothing" vibes.
Superius, I need to make a decision about genetic testing, too. You might ask your MO what she think about the big Myriad panel vs. BRCA-only. My insurance company will only pay for the latter, even though my surgeon's office really wants the former. My MO doesn't seem to care either way, as long as we "figure out what to do with [my] ovaries." Yay, ovaries.
Tamoxifen is drying everything up (yes, everything) and making sleep difficult. When I don't sleep, I become like a whiny toddler. We shall see how this unfolds over time.
I'm off to my exercise class at the Y, which I LOVE. I hope you're all doing well overall. This is one hell of a long ride, isn't it?
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RavenSally - wishing you a very uneventful MRI.
Dee - Love the boob story! My exchange surgery is coming up in a few weeks and I'm getting paranoid that surgeon my won't give me results I'll be happy with. He seems very unattached when I ask questions and is taking the approach of "I'll do what I think is right", which is fine if he bothered to ask me what I wanted!
I'm adjusting to life on AIs. My joints are achy and I have a hard time sleeping sometimes but the odd thing is I don't have many hot flashes....which makes me wonder whether or not these meds are working.
Glad to hear from everyone else.
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It's St. Patrick's Day and, though I don't really drink anymore, I'm having a beer or three.
Remember that light at the end of the tunnel?
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enjoy the day Kaitie! Y've earned it.
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I went through the menopause some years ago and recall that 'dry everywhere' feeling. Then I went on HRT and it went away. When I got BC, I stopped HRT and had a second menopause, second 'dry everywhere' experience. Here's some good news: the dryness got a LOT better over the next few weeks. Not back to normal by any means, but enough to make life tolerable. Hope that gives people hope who are knocking back the tamoxifen and similar stuff.
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Home from an excellent week in Mexico. Just what my DH and I needed. Came home to lots of snow, which doesn't make me happy. It was almost all gone when we left a week ago.
SoCalGirl-I was very unhappy with my exchange immediately after surgery. They do change as they heal. They felt like pancakes post surgery. They are not like that anymore....they are looking very voluptuous. They are still very high, so I am looking forward to them dropping. Make sure your PS is clear on what you want.
Kate-I have found that applying a bit of coconut oil to girl parts sure helps with the dryness. I just keep a container in the bathroom and apply a few times a day.
RavenSally-thinking about you and I hope everything comes back clear.
Rachel-beautiful family
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DeeRatz: so glad you had a wonderful time. Mexico is definitely our happy place! We are hoping to return to Riviera Maya in November.
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I haven't been on in a week--in the middle of rads and just really depressed. I am so happy to read so many updates! This thread just feels like home and you all are my sweet, funny sisters! Love the pictures, the stories, and the advice!
So tired right now or I would write more. But so thankful I could catch up with you all and say hi! Happy Spring!0 -
Musosgirl, rads were the most depressing part of this whole shebang for me, but the cloud lifted when I was done with tx. Sending good vibes your way.
Also: coconut oil FTW. Coconut oil everywhere! (lol)
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Yeah, good vibes Musogirl. Hang in there. I've just been playing Faure's requiem - recommend it for the soul.
How's everyone else on the rad front?
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I love Faure's Requiem! Our priest likes to start Holy Week with Palm Sunday Concert, so we had Durufle Requiem this year. Try John Rutter one, it's very good as well.
Amusing Spring Fever story for Musogirl:
Yesterday before concert, we were signing Thank You Card for the Maestro. I simply wrote a "thank you" in chinese, & then WorryWart showed me what he wrote on the card, something like... "thank you to the best choir director, from the best accompanist".
I commented, "that doesn't look like your hand-writing."
"what are you talking about! Of course it's my hand-writing! You don't recognize it from all the love letters I wrote?"
!!!!! the innuendos had moved up to pg13 lately!0 -
superius, you should have deadpanned with "hmm, those must have gotten lost in the mail!". There may be a real one soon!0
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I LOVE the worrywart chronicles! You could have your own Hallmark movie.
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Musogirl, sorry to hear you're feeling down. Radiation seems to hit a lot of us hard, emotionally, if not physically. I've noticed I have been weepy the last few days. Be kind to yourself.
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Faure's Requiem is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music. . . .
Seriously, though: radiation seems to be so much worse for so many of us, at least psychologically, than chemo. I wonder why that is. . . .
The Worrywart Chronicles! Yes! Superius, perhaps there's a blog in your future?
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Should I tell him he's famous?
I did ask him what is the postlude he plans to play on Easter Sunday, because, you know, monday will be my birthday & I am alive!
Also realized that I haven't told him the Echo result. I wrote:
"it's in perfect working condition, but I do have a little hole between the upper chambers. it's normal, it supposed to close at birth but didn't. No wonder I'm so clueless about matters of the heart! there's a hole in it!" LOL
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Oh my! Totally sitting here with Easter candy reading with great anticipation how this all unfolds! Can't wait to hear his response to that!
Wish I could visit you for Easter service! It sounds lovely! I haven't been on a Sunday in who knows how long... I even missed our family Christmas service--huge church family breakfast, the Christmas story, and then community gifts from our church to people suffering in the local area. I do go to Wednesday night services, or did before rads. They decided to do the Easter egg hunt on a Wednesday this year so little girls don't get all muddy in their white and pastel Sunday bests. My youngest has soccer practice just before church--so we are missing a church family Easter dinner--then going for the egg hunt and classes. DH asked if I would be there Easter Sunday and I said I am making no promises. Especially with my eldest's birthday party the day before. He was born on Good Friday and it just happens to fall on Good Friday again this year--won't happen again until his 30's or 40's. He is so excited. Friday night will probably entail something special for him too. I am exhausted just thinking about it! But there is something so sweet about my Easter baby and my Christmas baby--youngest was born Dec. 15th.
Not sure why I said all that. Sappy mom moment. Sorry ladies. Superius, don't keep us in the dark!0 -
I'm glad we are able to provide some comic relief through this crazy journey!
I had a very strange dream couple weeks ago, very vivid & I remembered everything. so I goggled about the different elements in the dream. Very interesting result, if one believes that kind of stuff... Maybe I will share...
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Good news gals, my mri came back clean. I've never been so happy to have migraines. I had a bone scan as well and found out I have osteopenia. I'm supposed to start taking arimidex but now I'm not sure. I dont want my bones breaking. I talk to my MO on Friday.
I also feel like I turned a corner the past few days as far as my energy level goes. I've set up a my music studio and am being creative again. It feels really good. My boob is really hurting the past week, but I think the skin is sloughing off from the radiation. It's not horrible, but certainly bothersome. I'm using some numbing cream the RO gave me.
Slowly forward.
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RavenSally, that's such good news! When do you finish rads? I'm three weeks out, and I just have a weird tan box on my chest. . . . You'll get better soon. Promise.
You might ask your MO about tamoxifen. It's not ideal, but it provides some osteo-protective benefits.
I'm with you on the energy/creativity, too.
Honestly, now that rads are done and I've been taking tamoxifen for a couple of weeks, I feel better than I did before my diagnosis. It's hard to explain without writing what would amount to an entire memoir (which I'll spare you), but I'll just say that I think I needed the shift in perspective that this whole ordeal has given me. That's beyond a silver-lining kind of thing; I'm actually a better person now. I was a workaholic for 15 years, and now I'm not, among other things. I'm lighter. Less serious all the time. More willing to laugh, more interested in what other people are doing. I certainly wouldn't have chosen BC as the thing to wake my ass up, but I guess I'm glad it happened. Now I just have to keep it from coming back. At my most recent MO appointment, she said I have an 85-95% chance of NO recurrence, and I like that she put it that way, especially because I'm an odds-player.
Superius, tell us about the dream!
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Brilliant RavenSally, delighted at your news!
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