Shadow in chest is recurrence
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Ohhh and I have been singing odyssey to natural yoghurt and probiotics
http://oncologynews.com.au/how-our-gut-bacteria-af...
Here is link to that wonderful thing called our gut.
And one more thing I picked from Heidihill
- skin is indeed a wonderful immune organ - we should treat it kindly - sweat andshower those toxins with abandon after a walk
So simple, so clever!! Thank you Heidihill 😊
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Hi everybody
Hope you are all doing well. Day 4 ( if I count day 1 as Fri)
Coping with the early symptoms. Haven't ventured out far as the tummy issues are presenting and my hair is in between stage.
The hardest part is not being able to walk lots just yet but rest important too I guess.
Work called so my mind is jumbled with just what I'm going to do. Lotto win would be nice at this point!
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😊Liz,
I am so trying to take a leaf from Msdivine - " trust it to the universe" she said once.
I would tell work that you are having treatment and you will be back part time ( if that is what you are thinking - pick a date that suits you at present) and I would have no second thoughts aboiut whether you can truly make that date or not. You will not know for sure and independent of money - you should keep your options as open as you can. When this thing in your chest bites the dust as we are ALL willing it to do, you might enjoy hanging around with a bunch of adolescents pondering the meaning of love, sex and rock and roll in prose or verse.
Ok that last line was an overreach - champagne on Spanish island is hard to beat - Lotto it is then!
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Thanks for the welcome ladies. First THP was on Thursday and have been feeling pretty sorry for myself since SEs set in on Friday evening. I think I'm starting to climb out of the fog. Been resting a lot which is strange for me. Had some great support from Liz - thank you so much. Onwards and upwards!
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Hello Catherine 😊
Liz your homework sheet sounds brilliant.
I am going to create one for my "daily dos" - that inevitably when you start work kind of fall behind a bit.
Walk, eat, sleep, take your pills on time, two-three fruits one natural yoghurt, stretch, take a hot shower, drink your green or ginger tea. Sounds simple enough huh?? Not so when consistency is the key.
I will elaborate on the hot shower/sauna theory - buyer beware. I am simply tying together some wise comments from the women on Stage 4 threads.
There is a fair bit of evidence that cancer does not do well with hyperthermia - enough for some Canadians to offer hyperthermia under anaesthesia as alternative therapy. Z ( clever 😊) has been hitting the sauna and reports feeling better. I have been trying hot showers immediately after a work out and it feels good. Make sure you are not prone to fainting as it vasodilates.
On the work out note - on the Ribociclib everolismus trial thread - it was suggested that the nurses made participants run ten flights of stairs before drawing blood to boost WC up enough to stay on the drugs.
Simply put you don't have to do a lot in one go to mobilise WC and immune system - even 10 minutes stunts help a lot. And there is a bit of work on this as you lit search benefits.
I go on a bit...
Claire - how are you?? - is Afinitor being a bad dance partner??
Hugs to all
Ioana
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Ioana,
Lots to say about your last post. Will post again soon.
Thank you for staying with us and all your continued research.
Tonight my heart breaks for Manchester, my country and the free world.......🇬🇧
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Liz,
Just got up and saw the news.
The word of a homeless man - Stephen Jones when was asked why ran in to help.
" it was instinct, isn't it. They are human, I am human"
I love your country.
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Thank you Ioana.
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This is me before my walk this morning. Wishing love and peace to all my dear friends on this forum. ❤️
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and with my wig.
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Looking good. 😊
Great to see you out walking!!
Fav go to short on time/nothing fresh around smoothy:
Frozen banana and blueberries, almond milk, yoghurt, walnuts plus minus some citrus juice ( lemon or orange ) and a bit of honey.
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You look great Liz. Glad to know you continue to do well on chemo. I knew you could do it!
Pat
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A smoothie sounds delicious as I'm waking up this morning, I'm also going to treat myself to a new fluffy robe today.
Lying on the pillow feels weird now as my hair is all stubbly but Richard likes it. ?? Didn't sleep well though, perhaps it's just the change.
Hi Pat thanks for the motivation- what's happening with your tx now?
Claire- how have you been?
Di - sending love❤️
Catherine- I really hope you have a better day today and that this lifts you. You are doing this!!!
It is unseasonably hot here in the UK today. Wonderful , but the usual pattern is that people stand it for about a week. Funny really! It is major news if temp hits high 20s or even 30C as it will in London today. ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
Enjoy your days
L x
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Hello everyone. Beautiful flowers Ioana. I've got some very similar in my own garden. No idea what they're called though - I just buy what looks pretty!! Doesn't Liz look fantastic in that wig. You would really never know.
So, I'm now day 8 post my first infusion of THP and I feel great!!! I've had such terrible side effects that I wondered at times whether I would ever get through. Today is totally different. As Liz said, the sun is out here in the UK (even in Scotland where I live) and, apart from a mild headache, I feel absolutely fine.
Hope everyone else is enjoying their day
x
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Hi Liz,
I still on Arimidex (generic version) and am supposed to be starting round #2 of Ibrance tomorrow after an extra week off. My oncologist has reduced the dose to 100 mg since my neutrophils tanked early and then were too low to start the second cycle on schedule. Now the issue is figuring out the process. The first time I dealt with Pfizer reps directly and they shipped the drugs to my door. Now the cancer agency pharmacy is involved and I have no idea if the order went in or when I will get the drugs. Eventually it will sort itself out I'm sure.
I have had a little extra stress the last two weeks. A spot appeared on the left side of my chest above my breast some time during my second or third round of Taxol and has not disappeared. I paid little attention to it as I typically have blemishes appear during chemo and simply thought it was slow to heal due to my compromised immune system. Two weeks ago it got quite sore bringing it back to my attention. It's more of a lump now, slightly raised, red and about 3/8 of an inch in diameter. I wondered if my bra was irritating it and so changed bras and tried antiseptic ointment/bandages to try to get rid of it. No luck. It's not quite as painful now but shows no sign of healing whereas other scrapes I have had are healing nicely. Showed it to my oncologist yesterday. While he said it would be unusual for this to be mets it was not impossible. While we could do a biopsy it will not change our treatment approach given that the Arimidex and Ibrance take time to work. He would be more concerned if the fluid was increasing in my lungs (thankfully it is a bit less - not a significant decrease but going in the right direction).
Must admit this stupid spot caused some angst. It really brought home the reality that those darn cells were likely charging around in my body while we work to get the treatments to kick in. The couple of months on Taxol, with no response, were not helpful. My gut is telling me that this is mets - when he asked if it had grown I said I was not sure but later realized I think it likely became more of a lump which is why it suddenly got irritated by my bra cup. But I do feel better having met with my oncologist. He's simply fabulous. Funny what can make us have a wobble though!
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Catherine,
Thank you - I don't know what they are callled either but they are hardy - I love being in garden but have little knowledge of it. Headache with chemo my instinct is to say hydrate. I remember from last year - for me day 3-5 were the horrid ones - nausea despite antiemetic, a diet of crisps, short of breath, aches, hot flashes and just feeling completely washed out - I would have to stop twice going up a flight of stairs - by day 7 it would start to lift and I could breathe again. By week 2 I was back to walking and eating well again. Everyone is different.
Liz you really look good.😊
Sadiesservant
Have you considered showing it to your local doctor as well as oncologist? We call them General Practitoners GP in Australia. This might be the height of stupidity and I am almost afraid of suggesting it a but redness, hot and pain over an area that gets rubbed to mesuggests infection or local inflammation - sebaceous cyst comes to mind - rather than subcutaneous Mets. We get so many associated ailments from being bombarded with drugs and cancer.
Hugs and a peaceful week-end to all,
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Sadies
It was a silly thought - ignore me.
Thank you for sharing - I am Stage 2b and wobble at my shadow these day.
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Hi Liz - you look cool in that wig, so you can walk in beauty in the night... I am glad you are feeling better. I had good blood work yesterday, but Afinitor gave me some shortness of breath on Friday, so took a few days off. Hoping next month's TMs go down, as I am off on my Baltic cruise June 24th. Pat - hang in there, Ibrance is a nice journey once you balance things out. Iona - I have graduated from taking my pill with yoghurt, to just straight down the hatch with coffee. D- (()).
Kind thoughts to all in sunny UK from cloudy LA
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I am sorry about the yoghurt bit - I am wildly crazy sometimes.
This gut biome thing is interesting only to nerds like me.
Coffee is perfect - and straight down the hatch is how I like my vodka. 😊🌻
Liz how was your smoothie smoothy - you are wildly kind and I never stop learning from you
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Ok Wiley crazy a lot of times 😉
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Hi Wildplaces,
No worries at all. We also call them GPs in Canada.
I have quite a bit of experience with sebaceous cysts. They tend to be hereditary - I have several on my head as did my mother and my grandfather. (I blame Scottish ancestry.) This silly lump isn't quite the same as my cysts and there is no heat associated with it. Antiseptics don't seem to make any difference. Regardless, I refuse to stress about it now that I've seen my oncologist. I trust his judgement completely.
As an aside, I'm a bit reluctant to go to my GP after my last visit. He's a great doctor but is not in his comfort zone when dealing with some of the weird and wonderful issues associated with cancer. My last visit was a bit of a disaster when I went to have stitches taken out where the PleurX catheter was inserted and he thought I said the catheter needed to come out. After tugging and pulling on it with me going, ow, ow, ow, he finally asked me if it was attached somewhere else. The look of horror on my face must have been priceless! At that point I had only had it a couple of weeks and the experience of having it put in was not something I wanted to have repeated, particularly as it would likely be weeks before I could get OR time. I know Claire is amazing and was tough enough to handle weekly thoracentesis but that would not be my first choice. The PleurX has been a godsend.
Happy Friday to all (or Saturday for some of you). I'm glad to be working full time again but still appreciate the weekends!
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Guys,
Will reply tomorrow. Rough day. Tummy playing up and although day 8, fatigue is a factor.
Hope to talk tomorrow.
L x
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hello sadiesservant,
Surgeons and radiologists alike all stitch their drains and/or tubes in just that little bit different to give someone who does not work in theatre no amount of trouble. On top for both chest drain's and chest tubes there are different companies marketing them that little bit different - yet another variable. A more sensible thing would be to give the patient a note on tube and tie, expected date of removal and what to do if it accidentally pulls out. No one gets a note down here ....
Both you and Claire are very tough.😊🌷0 -
Liz
Gentle hugs for today.
You've got this 😊🌷
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Lots to catch up on:
Pat- very to sorry to hear your extra worry which you could really do without as you embark on adjusting to new treatment. I hope you get answers. Not easy when we are told that " it won't change the treatment" anyway.
Claire- the Byron quotation was lovely and a beautiful poem. I bet you are looking forward to the cruise. A cruise is on my list of plans. Trouble is we still have 3 teenagers who are more than happy to share it with us. I would also like to return to Croatia next Summer. Last year we stayed in Rovinji- stunning little town. Can highly recommend it! I was sorry to hear your spell of shortness of breath. That is one side effect that I have had and one I find very difficult to deal with. It brought me to A&E during my first cycle- 8 hours of hell.
Ioana- I believe that it is you who holds us lol together. You offer information, support and advice but most importantly your Wiley craziness- my book will need its own chapter specially dedicated to YOGURT!!!!!!!!
Catherine- yeh my chemo buddy. Our daily check ins are so important to me. As I type this I hope Aberdeen are victorious in the Scottish cup final today. I know we have been hugging our children tighter since the horror of Manchester.
Di- check in when you can my friend.
Finally , here is my beloved Bonnie after an unbelievable hail storm this afternoon.
Love to all L x
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Ohhh Liz,
Bonnie - a thousand reason for me to rush straight out and get a cat - it's one of our projects by end year.
( the chicks are turning into chooks and they are a joy to watch in the garden)
Happy the book is starting to bloom in terms of chapters
I love eggs second to yoghurt - I could sing an ode to the "nouriture" they bring us.
I make these small frittatas in muffin pans - eggs, a little milk, crumbled cheese ( feta or a little cheddar) diced red capsicum and spring onion and turmeric - salt pepper - 10 - 15 minutes 180C oven. They work for breakfast, lunch and supper....
I love the Scotts - I spent my chemo time in bed with Gordon Ramsay - the days I could not eat I watched him cook with abandon.😉
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Liz 😊🌷
Lalady1 - hope you are being treated gently by Afinitor - not long to go now before your Baltic adventure - end June.
Hugs to all
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Hi Ioana
I will definitely try that recipe.
Having a blue day but for once it isn't this disease.
I've said it before but it is entirely possible to be in a family of 5 and feel lonely!!
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big hugs from down under
I totally get the loneliness - it comes in waves.
Talk to Bonie - cats are very wise - she knows.
I am slowly learning its ok to have off days, to say No, to let others fend for themselves and to go out for a coffee when the sink is full of dishes.
In a way we are back to yoghurt - Liz I can do some fancy pansy anaesthetics - over the years I have been at the helm when half a liver, pelvis or lung came out and do not flinch. And yet all this freaking disease resumes me to is - eat your yoghurt, go for a walk, sleep as best you can and accept your poison while praying it works. Crickey I forgot hot yoga and Vit D!!
That and I have borrowed a word from Sadie - crapshoot ( my fav go to this days)
To Eastern Europeans crap is valuable - it makes the earth so much richer - and slinging it around sounds like fun.
So be well my friend when you can😊
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Wildplaces, you make me laugh!
I think the planets must be out of alignment today. Bit off myself. Walking Sadie was a tough slog tonight - not sure why as the lung was drained yesterday (with the least fluid in weeks I might add). And I had a lovely weekend with unexpected visitors, friends I have not seen for years. We drank not one but two bottles of champagne - the real McCoy. And I don't really care about that damn study. 😜 Today however, I do feel drained. Must be the Ibrance kicking in.
Of course pre BC we would just recognize we were a bit off without analyzing it to death. Ha!
Hoping for sunny skies for all of us tomorrow.
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