Starting Chemo September 2015; join us!
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Ladies, I'm halfway there! I ran a half marathon in 1:58 tonight in the FL heat!!! Marathon target time is 3:59.
My hair is hopeless. Thick and curly and course. Nothing helps. I have resigned myself to another 2 years of bad hair because it seems to be taking forever to grow in. Anyone have thin eyebrows and eyelashes and taking an AI? Not expecting that.
I have finally been released. After 11 months of obsessive worry about mets, by God's grace I let go and rarely think about it or the residual side effects much (save for the fatigue, which can't be denied). Wishing you all peace tonight.
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I also emailed my MO a thank you note for his kind and compassionate care and for never once making me feel crazy when I showed up a basket case to every appointment and then followed up with tons of questions from my own compulsive research. Love my MO, have already sent a friend to him.
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I did it! Praise God, I ran a half marathon in 1:58:07, beating my pre-cancer time!
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Thats truly amazing Cajun and no easy feat...Im really proud of you......I feel like running like right now but will settle fir sone sit ups....inspirational stuff Cajun xxx
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I'm going in for my hyst / ooph this morning, and I am dreading it more than I expected. Wish me luck (and no occult malignancy) everyone
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I wish you only the best! May you get through this without any hiccups or surprises. May you heal quickly and painlessly and regain all your strength
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Good luck darling...heres to aspeedy recovery.
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inSF I hope your operation went well, and that you're already recovering (((hugs)))
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INSF
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in sf hope you are healing.
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Fast healing INSF! Praying for a smooth recovery
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So I have a mystery, I've consulted Dr. google as well as my MO, not in that order LOL
kinda stumped
I'm on Lupron for ovary suppression (to lower my estrogen to postmenopausal levels) and we are aiming to switch to AI's soon. But when they test my levels my Estradiol, FSH & LH are all low. The goal was to lower my estradiol level and in turn the LH & FSH levels would increase showing menopause, but after 1 year of lupron and months after chemo all 3 levels are still low. We thought it was the lupron but my MO has other women on the same regime and their FSH & LH levels are high to signal menopause.
(scratching my head)\
Any help is very welcomed
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Thinking of you inSF. Hope everything went well!
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InSF - Can you please phone home? We miss you. I hope you are feeling better. I miss you🙄.
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El Tigre could your low FSH and LH be due to pituitary problems
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Thanks everyone for the well wishes - it really helped with the anxiety. You ladies are the best. The first few days were pretty miserable. My body definitely does not appreciate general anesthesia and I threw my back out on the way home from the hospital. I couldn't move without intense pain. Today I am finally starting to feel ok again. I don't have the results from pathology, but so far everything looks benign (fibroids, endometriosis, all that other junk we accumulate over the years...)
El Tigre, I'm wondering along the same lines as Tessu. There are many times they expect to see levels move in opposite directions (e.g. low thyroid hormone with high TSH), but that presupposes your body is good at producing the hormone they expect to see elevated. Especially after cancer and chemo, I wonder if some people just don't produce as much FSH and LH. I went on AIs without ovarian supression (at 47, the chemopause is expected to be permanent anyway). My MO has only been checking my estradiol to make sure I stayed post menopausal until the oophorectomy.
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Tessu & inSF I'm suspecting a pituitary problem as well. My MO will also be checking my estradiol levels too to make sure AIs won't increase the levels. I have not started the AI's yet, gulp, we'll see. Thanks!
inSF Happy to hear you are doing well. Sorry that you had intense pain for a few days, all behind you now. Warroir on!
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hiya, ladies! happy for the good news, inSF. I really did not enjoy my total hysterectomy either. For some reason, I thought it would be a cakewalk after the BMX, but I was wrong. That said, after a couple of miserable months, I'm on the other side now and hoping the same for you too. Praise God for no more cancer found!
Could somebody please enlighten me about the levels? Is it possible to not be in menopause after ovarian removal? Or are we saying you can still produce estrogen levels the same as when you had your ovaries? (Scratching head still full of weird chemo curls)
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I asked my MO about removing my ovaries to help with decreasing estrogen. I'm almost 52 and so they aren't producing a whole lot to make it worth a procedure. I haven't had a pd since Nov '15. Ovaries aren't the only organs that produce estrogen. Fat cells do for one and I have a lot of that. My MO isn't considering me in meno until 1 year since period so Nov '16 I will move to AIs.
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Artista - so nice to see you again! I hope you are well.
Cajun - having the ovaries removed does make you automatically "post menopausal" medically speaking. However, as Artista mentioned, the body has other ways of making estrogen. One of the primary means is, of course, converting androgens to estrogen, which we attempt to block by taking the aromatase inhibitors. One thing I haven't come across is any indication of whether age can impact your body's ability to produce estrogen without ovaries (i.e. does a younger woman's body tend to be more successful at this or vice versa).
My understanding is that the ability to make estrogen from fat (in particular abdominal fat) is a large part of the reason many women start putting on weight there when they hit menopause - the body's attempt to produce more estrogen when the production from the ovaries decreases. Since many of us now have zero ovarian production, one more bit of fun we can look forward to is either weight gain or calorie restriction. I'm not overweight, but I need to keep it that way because my joints are bad to the point of disability. I already had a very healthy diet, but now I am really having to watch it even more and reduce quantities
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Hi Guys, glad to hear your procedure went well inSF. Hope everyone here is doing well. I finished rads a couple months ago and am still quite fatigued and still have chemo se of fatigue and joint issues along with memory issues from time to time. On Tamox now even though AIs would suite me better. Since I have bad arthritic knees MO said if I go on AIs then I'll basically be crippled as that's a big se so many have. But at last visit she's changing her mind. She considers me high risk and now feels it's worth a shot trying AIs from when I see her next in Nov. My concern is should it make my condition worse and I become sidelined would it reverse to pre-AIs or will I be stuck with the se. I mean chemo se still here. I had a scare on mother's day when I woke to chest pains. Had pneumonia and partial collapse of both lungs. Where it came from, 1 week into rads, no one knows. Never had medical issues other than arthritic knees until then. Rads? Chemo? So now I'm on watch for awhile. I just fear it won't reverse if I stop and not knowing how much better it'll work- if it'll even work at all as who knows- makes me crazy. I've never had to decide anything and now I'll have to in Nov.
Anyway, well wishes to all. The year went by very slow but yet here we are almost a year later posting in our old chemo thread. Look how far we have all come! Keep on keeping on my friends! xx
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inSF you might be on to something (women's bodies putting on abdominal fat to try to compensate for sudden estrogen loss). My weight has not increased at all since chemo, I think because of the constant Herceptin diarrhea, but my belly is definitely getting fatter although my ribs show. Yuck. I went through menopause about a year before bc. You'd think the AI wouldn't be such a shock to my body (no estrogen left to block), but I guess bodies can be stupid sometimes
Once I'm off Herceptin and I stop losing calories out the other end, I'll definitely have to start watching how much I eat, because there's nothing wrong with my appetite LO0 -
I am very heart heavy as my mom died yesterday after a week long battle with pneumonia. She was admitted into the hospital a week and a half ago for a bowel obstruction, developed pneumonia last wed after aspirating and declined rapidly after. Her burial is fri and I am devastated. My mom was 82 and saw me thru my treatment last year and this year. She had bc at 69 but just a lx and rads. I was dx on her birthday last year on 5/7. I actually waited to tell her I had cancer until the next day as not to have her upset on her birthday. Yesterday when she passed I was 6 mo past my last rad. She called me every day when I was sick during chemo. I just miss her terribly. I was with her when she passed by her hospital bed when no one in my familycould could handle it. I felt I owed it to her to be there as she was there for my first breath and it felt right to be there for her last. She is survived by her 89 year old husband who will turn 90 on 9/7.
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Shopgal2, so very sorry to hear about your mom (((hugs))). Your being by her side at the very end was so kind, and I'm sure it meant the world to her. (((((more hugs)))))
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Im so sorry you've lost your mother. Im so glad you could be by her side. We come into this world with nothing and can take nothing with us when we leave, its memories and experiences and the wisdom we share that we leave behind. Your mother was clearly an inspiration to you and Im sure she was so proud of you. You will miss her and her support every day but in time you will be able to think of her and smile. A mothers love never leaves her child. Take care you have difficult days ahead xxx Maria
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Shopgal, I'm so very sorry for your loss. {{{Big Hugs}}}
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Shopgirl, so sorry you lost your mother. That's beautiful she was there for you and you were there for her. (hugs
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Shopgal - it's so hard to find any words for such a devastating loss. I lost my mother when she was far too young, but there is never a good time. I truly grieve for you. It was a blessing you were able to support eachother during tough times. I know you arestruggling each day and sometimes it seems there is no end to it. We are all pulling for you, and you will get through this.
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oh my sept gals thank you for your comfortingwords. It's just hard having her pass so close to the date when my treatment began and I really felt like a cancer pt. Tough year. I thought it was supposed to get easier. I just feel worn out and tired. I just want a break and a semi normal life without the roller coaster ride. I don't think I can handle that anymore. Tomorrow is the funeral and I just wish it was over.
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Shopgal, I am so sorry to check in here and read about your Mom...I am so, so sorry for your loss. I understand how you feel about the timing. Sending hugs, prayers and lots of light to you and will keep you in my thoughts during the funeral.
Octogirl
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