Uplifting and Lively Messages. No holds barred..
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I was finally able to sleep last night. I think the late afternoon walks are definitely helping. Claire and others, you have cheered me on mentally to get outside and push myself each day. Even though one day it rained heavily, I was determined to finish my walk under the giant umbrella I was carrying. I, sort of, felt like it was a universal torch for bc survivors, and I had to finish my route. In the case if it was too bad, I live on my route and could have detoured. Here is to one more day of anticipation of my surgery on 1/24. I can't wait to get it over with!!
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Michelle, you are doing one of the most important things in cancer recovery: exercise! Congrats on being so positive and proactive!
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Thanks, Yorkiemom, and welcome to the Uplifting..... thread!!! Look forward to your contributions.
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Well, I pushed it. After cleaning the bathroom, I decided it was nice enough outside to get in my 4000 step walk. It was a bit foggy and dreary, but I pushed myself. 4000 steps may not seem like alot, but it is the beginning of me getting more exercise. I am getting a little nervous about my upcoming surgery, but talked with the hospital today, to see if I could have my Canadian anesthesiologist for this surgery. He did my lumpectomy and I was feeling no pain. Tomorrow I will find out if he will be my doctor. I have been getting some mundane things done around the house, including, wait for it, hand washing my custom knitwear. I have a designer that I work with who is awesome and I love all of my hand knitted/crochet items. Many capes and ponchos ago, I was able to give her the gift of a lunch with one of the creators of costumes for the Hunger Games. The family had went to my daughter's high school and sent some original pieces for auction at a charity event. I am always happy to make introductions for people that I know, and just keep paying it forward.
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I have slowly worked my way back to between 9,000-10,000 steps daily since my 11 / 3 surgery. I do really think the walking and triple strength fish oil I take keeps the joint issues to a minimum. I usually have to get quite few steps on the dreadmill d/t not getting much movement with my job. When it's nice I like to walk outside. We live on a dead end road in the country. One lap to the end and back is 1/2 mile.
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Logang, how do you get 10,000 steps? I don't understand how it is possible. I am going to investigate the fish oil. I love walking in the winter, especially where I live. It is an area of 100 year old homes and gorgeous trees. It reminds me of a college campus area built in the 1800's, sans the college. Two laps around my blvd is about 1.7 miles. I also love walking at night, but have to be careful of the gumballs on the sidewalks.
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I made a nice salmon dinner this evening for my husband and myself. I used the cast iron skillet and tried to find directions on the internet for blackened salmon. Salmon was not blackened, but was good along with fresh spinach salad and a potato. It is kind of weird not have at least one of our two children home. Our daughter was visiting our son at his university dorm. I have been getting alot done around the house in preparation for surgery. I am mostly cleaning, and putting some projects together to work on after the surgery. That is what I did when I had the lumpectomy. I start the hard part of a project and leave it to be finished. That way, I can have several projects going if I am bored.
What is everyone doing this weekend?
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I am a home health nurse, so we do a lot of riding in the car and sitting in patient visits. If I have to take specimens to the lab, I park far from the entrance so I have to walk more. I also do that at stores I go to. Even working around the house, I will make multiple trips back and forth when I could just make 1 or 2 trips. Some days I still end up walking over 2 mile on the dreadmill. It s easier to meet my goal when I'm off work.
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Radiation - and deep tissue massage. I have awakened the sleeping dragon by doing deep tissue massage on the fibrosis cause from surgery and radiation. The itch from hell has returned, with a vengeance. I just had to start massaging the fibrosis scar area and doing deep tissue massage, only to wake up this morning to the same itch that I endured after radiation had finished. Did I reinvigorate the itch or cause a flare up in post radiation symptoms? I do not know, but instead of worrying about my surgery on Tuesday, I will be managing the itch, from hell that is under my breast, in the middle of my chest and around the areola area. I am so mad at myself for stirring up trouble. My breast does not feel as hard, but I have done something in an untimely manner right before my gyn surgery. I am using a lotion with lidocaine, but believe the itch to be regenerated through the nerves in the breast. I have irritated the nerves. I need prayers girls, because I am about to lose my mind.
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Michelle, it could have happened anyway. Don't blame yourself!
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It is so easy to blame myself, because I know better. I was thinking breaking up the hardened area would be a good thing to do, which I did manage to make a difference in, but at the expense of irritation of the old rash. The rash was not in the massaged area, but under the breast itself. I put some radiation cream with lidocaine on it and am leaving it alone. I did manage to go for a walk today, with my dog, Sylvester. He is such a great assistant and never leaves my side. He is wearing a pink harness to support breast cancer awareness (a/k/a I can't find his other harness.) It was gorgeous here today,at about 60 degrees or so.
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B"H
Michelle - no reason AT ALL to blame yourself - no reason not to believe that it would have hapopened anyway and better now BEFORE surgery..... hoping your skin has calmed down....
going thru all this - does seem its less important WHAT we go thru than where we take it so-to-speak - i.e. how we can become stronger, better, kinder to ourselves and to others...
you have been very brave - sometimes you can "respect" the fears and pain, listen to your body... this thread has really strengthened my understanding that it is our responsibility to strengthen ourselves physically (which surely entails pushing ourselves a bit) but right before\after surgery just be kind to yourself... you are on your way to healing and giving yourself less chance of recurrence.... (i personally thing it is VERY brave to take on more surgery after being thru one...)
so wishing you the very best.... you have a lot of fun and important things on your "to do" list and I am sure you will do them all - in style!!!!
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I am sorry that I haven't been here to cheer you on, Michelle. About 3 days from hell from the never ending (let me add ill-paid and thankless) project on top of my nonprofit work. Fortunately, building the team website for a fundraising walk didn't pan out for Friday. It will be facing me tomorrow when I get it activated from our donations processing people. Don't ask. Also a major Phase 2 proposal for the nonprofit for something that is truly exciting.
I think I have a small project from my old client this week plus a board meeting on Saturday that I will need to prepare for.
I am getting out (escaping work jail???) for a spot of skiing today. Unfortunately, most of my fave trails haven't been groomed, but I am getting out there anyway. I am thinking about 8-10 miles. Not nearly as stunning as last weekend, but those days were super-special.
I do have La Traviata on Wednesday, so that should be fun. I think I will dress up a bit and also wear my new suede coat plus my vintage Donna Karan wool 2-piece dress I got fixed up last month. The coat is no longer a "bit on the snug side" so time to really enjoy it.
Anyway, yesterday's meeting was a home run. I did the setup and agenda*, which meant we covered all the important areas, and got clarity to move forward. Skills from my corporate life which I recycled. Plus, I had updated the collaterals which everyone loved, although still need a few more edits and tweaks. I think everyone understood my financials review. The tough one for a lot of people is understanding "fair market value" for donated items and also how to group small expenses into larger buckets that are meaningful.
Good luck this week, Michelle!!! One technique I learned from my business training when I was about to go through treatment was scenario planning. I didn't do this consciously, but I was doing a group ride about 10 days before surgery. One of my favorite spots and the perfect September day. I suddenly did a fast-forward to a year hence, when I would be cycling down the same country road, no worse off than being missing a couple chunks of flesh and having much shorter hair.
And guess what???? That's exactly what happened!!!! - Claire
* I provided all attendees with a six-month calendar leading up to the event so we could easily set up meeting dates....streamlined that process!!!!
POSTSCRIPT: Please don't take this the wrong way, but do you know about Bag Balm??? It's a veterinary product used for chapped and sore cow's udders. I had at least 200 "testimonials" growing up as we used it on our dairy cattle. You could see their relief when you applied it to their sore udders/teats. I used it throughout radiation along with the aloe gel, and I think it was one of the reasons I got no worse than a bit of skin flaking. I still use if I get really bad skin chapping anywhere on my body.
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Thereisnode....you always seem to pop up just when I need to hear from you!! I hope that you like this thread. I have been trying really hard to draw individuals with upbeat and positive attitudes to contribute to our dialog. So much can be learned from each other and it is great to share healthy ideas. Walking has been a form of both therapy and exercise. I try to be mindful of nature and take in as much fresh air during my walks as possible. When I got caught in the rain the other evening, it was imperative that I finished what I had started. With each step that I took, I was one step closer to my goal of getting home. That walk echoed the metaphor of what I have experienced since August, from surgery to radiation and now lowering my recurrence risk via salpingo oopherectomy with hysterectomy. Soon, I will be on an AI. Speaking of which, how are you managing with Arimidex?
Claire - LJ in Seattle, it is wonderful to have projects and a sense of accomplishment. It spurs us on in other aspects of our life. When one aspect is going well, the other spokes on the wheel seem to be in synchronicity. Business projects seem a bit ago for me because of taking time away from my career to raise my children and soak in all of the memories. My daughter graduated from high school last year and is self sufficient. Not sure where I want to invest my time outside of my hobbies, family and health. I am giving myself at least one year to determine my next step.
Here is a tidbit about me: I was very involved in sports all of my life and over the last few years became a USA certified (junior olympic level) volleyball coach and club director. I had about 250 kids, 10 coaches, and 1 hard headed country boy (amazing coach) to oversee. I could not have been more opposite then the head coach in all regards. But, the common denominator was we both wanted success for our members. I stepped down in 2015, but have been invited to help identify up and coming talent in the USA olympic pipeline. I have not done that as yet, but hope to in the future. Volleyball is my sport of passion, for which I will always have a great fondness. I also enjoy watching high school age boy's basketball in my area. We have two of the best coaches in the midwest, who set the tone and direction for alot of great youth. Last year, my seatmate at one large basketball event, was the governor of my state. Although we have different opinions in some areas, we agree that our basketball programs are second to none.
I was supposed to go and do bloodtests today and I called ahead to see what the wait would be like. Somehow an xray tech at one of the prompt care satellites answered the phone and told me every location was full of people with the flu and gastroenteritis. I am glad I got the heads up, because I will just go into my doctor's office first thing in the morning for a blood draw and they can also check my reactivated radiation rash.
As Claire always says, that's my story and I am sticking to it.....
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Just did my blood draw for tomorrow. Getting up at zero dark thirty tomorrow (10am ish) and will just move on over to the hospital admissions desk. Probably won't sleep tonight, but plan to try. Here is to almost 24 hours and counting!!!
I have a fun story to tell..... I have been on the Hystersisters trying to get the lay of the land, and I ran into someone with the same name as on BC.org. She had been through the gyn stuff herself and was offering me advice. She mentioned that she had early bc and was on a certain drug. I immediately wrote her on this website, not sure if I was right. I was. What a small, small, world.
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((((((MICHELLE)))))) praying for you...you will be fine! We need u to keep all of us uplifted and headed for good things. ..
Remember the worry before the lumpy n you did great
Just a few less things to worry about while you enjoy your kids go on to good things...
All the best! Take it easy
((((Hugs))))
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Thereisnode.....thank you so much! I really means alot to me to get encouragement from others. And, I will return to lift everyone up that needs it. Positive, upllifting messages can really help the world as a whole and the person as an individual. Big Hugs.......
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Good luck tomorrow!
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Hope your surgery went well today. Looking forward to hearing from you soon!
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Doing well. A little pressure,like i need to pee, went well. Great team here and so fortunate. Thanks for checking on me. I really appreciate it. Overnight stay, which is a good idea
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I'm glad to hear it went well, Michelle, and that you're holding your own. I hope the anesthesia gave you a reprieve from the itching and maybe even broke the cycle. Take it easy!!
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Glad it all went well, Michelle. Have been thinking of you. Get some rest and hopefully the healing will go quickly.
I can say that you should be back to everything sooner than you think.
Enjoy the first day of the rest of your life tomorrow. Onward and upward from here! - Claire
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Everyone, thank you so so much for your support, it really makes a difference. Each one of you had played a role in my journey. I feel like I have a sisterhood of women that understand me. You have inspired me to keep eating healthy, get off of the couch, take charge of my destiny. Thank you.
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BH
MICHELLE so happy you are after surgery....PLEASE take it easy...listen to your body...and feel good TODAY...been thinking of you and thanful yoy are here to inspire us all. On some other thread someone wrote BC seems to bribg out either THE BEST or THE WORST in people, referring to the way others interact with us...but i guess its also true about us ourselves, n it really feels like u r working hard to bring out the best in ourselves. thank you and may Gd bless you with a swift n complete healing!!!!
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I will chime in and say, make sure you do at least some moving today. Unless you are completely unable to get out of bed. Because you will feel better and also sleep better. This helps with healing. Your body will let you know when you have had enough.
Add in a guilty pleasure or 2. Perhaps some chocolates??? Or a novel with no redeeming social value??? Flowers?????
Feel tons better soon. - Claire
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Hi, Ladies, well I finally made it home today at 2pm. Last night was a very long night, because I could not sleep a wink. Versed sedation has that effect on me. I walked last night up and down the hallways with my intervenous bag and urine bag. Boy, was I a lovely sight. You could not believe how incredibly happy I was, though looking completely miserable. I had been weighing the decision to do some "housekeeping" in the ovary, tubes, uterus and cervix department. With no end in sight for my cycles, and working to decrease recurrence risk, this was one alternative. Some people have mastectomies, some people get chemo, many take anti estrogen meds, I decided to give up my manufacturing plant located in the lower part of the abdomen. With my obgyn saying that "I could be looking at a couple of years of shots to suppress ovarian function," my thoughts were, "I am not on the forever I want my cycle plan!"
I want to recover well before the next step, which is anti estrogen meds. I have more choices because I no longer have my manufacturing plant, and I might qualify for a lower does of anti estrogen meds??? Maybe??? I really appreciate the advice and support. My sisterhood got me through that long night in the hospital. Thanks again...
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Slept a little last night, not alot of pain, but fluid retention from all of the bags of saline in the hospital. Drinking fine, not alot of appetite. Drs. office had me walking around my house today getting circulation going. Did around 1500 steps. Thank God you gals pushed me and inspired me to walk over the last couple of weeks. It has given me strength to get through these last few days. I can't wait until I am moving around on my own and getting out of the house. I am so tired of being homebound, but now it is time to rest and not be in the public view. I feel so thankful to have this behind me and to be able to move forward. Modern medicine is amazing.
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So, girls, what is everyone doing this weekend....chuckle....chuckle.....I know what I am doing....resting and walking and healing!! Can't believe it has been 72 hours since my surgery. I am tired today and napped on and off. Trying to eat foods to bring up my iron level which was lowered during surgery through some blood loss. It happens to everyone with this type of surgery. I am so glad it is behind me and I can move on. I am working on some chanel pieces just for fun and that has kept my mind occupied. My husband is tethered to the house, because I don't want to be alone right now. Son and daughter are working on university studies and my dog has been by my side ever since I got home. It is amazing that one miniature Schnauzer can make me feel so secure.
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I invested in some fabulousness at the resale shop's winter sale. The first was the dark brown sheared mink hat I had been eyeing. Fits like a cloche and really does something for my bone structure. Did I mention the warm part???? Then there was the Armani black (silk blend) velvet loose smoking jacket which has silver threads throughout in some sort of subtle floral pattern. An amazing cut and looks even better without the belt. It will be perfect for my board meeting tomorrow.
My favorite, fabulous, luxurious, warm and comfortable.
In hindsight, I am thinking that having a 2017 goal of 5 fabulous pieces of clothing purchased this year might be a bit dangerous. Although I did have a similar vintage piece (minus the silver threads) when I was in my 20s. It eventually fell apart.
Board meeting tomorrow and work/skiing on Sunday. But tonight is dinner which awaits me plus a reasonably early night as would love to get in a run prior to the meeting (which includes a planning meeting cum wine-tasting in the afternoon). - Claire
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Love this thread... From what I've read I feel motivated to hit the treadmill before I spend the time getting caught up here.
😀
Traci
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