Starting Chemo June 2017
Comments
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ML, A hamburger sounds good right now!
Funny, my friend called today and asked if I still had my brows and lashes. I do. I have thicker brows. I was hoping they would hang in there. Yeah, for hair growing back, though. I will be sure and fill y'all in with how the hair comes and goes. I do find I need my head covered most of the time, as it does make me cold. And, I wear something on it at night, too. Good to hear how well you are doing!!0 -
I live in the Seattle area (Renton) and long be it here. I was born and raised in the pnw although we've lived in Kansas and Las Vegas. I'm 41 and DH and I have been married for almost 21 years. We were married way too young but I couldn't I'm shine my life with anyone else.
We have a 12 year old son we adopted from Far East Russia 11 years ago. I love that little boy so much. He has been such a huge trooper through all of this. He is so compassionate and helpful.
I am a high school horticulture/ floral design/ marketing teacher and I love my job! DH works from home in the financial services industry. We have a "small urban farm" with 3 cats, a dog and 8 chickens.
It's kind of fun to get to know you ladies beyond our diagnosis.
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Great idea to share other info besides cancer. As I try to remind myself I have cancer, cancer doesn't have me!
I'm 44 years old. Married for the second time. My wonderful husband and I are about to celebrate our 14th anniversary this Saturday. We are a blended family. He has 2 son's ages 28 and 25. I have a son, age 24 and a daughter age 18. We share 4 grandkids and are expecting our 5th one to be delivered any day! I live about 30 minutes south of Pittsburgh Pa. Although I do make the drive there everyday to work! I'm a surgical technician at an endoscopy center. I'm an owner of 3 yorkies! They keep me busy!
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MsLin my brother in law lives in Gold Bar! Not sure if that's close to you! We spent a week there and loved it. I remember being on Mt Rainier in the middle of summer wearing shorts, we walked up til we were knee deep in snow! Beautiful state!
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Fun to hear everyone's story. My husband is from Montana and I am from the Midwest. We met in college back on the east coast. We have been married 47 years, living lots of places including Naples, Italy, but home base was Toledo, Ohio where the company he worked for was headquartered. 12 years ago we retired and sailed our 44 ft sailboat from Ohio to Florida, checking out retirement places along the way. We settled on Sarasota, Florida, which was a great choice. Our 36 year old son and his wife live in Orlando about two hours away.
Another 1/3 of my hair fell out when I washed it today, that leaves the final 1/3 on my head. Doesn't look too strange yet but I will soon be entering the land of hats and scarves. 2nd chemo on Friday.
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So nice to see a little more about us then just our cancer. I like to say it is just a bump in the road. It does not define me and I will get through it. My kids definitely keep me active which is a good thing. My oldest plays football so we are always tossing the ball and my little ones like to go for walks with me just down the street.
Julia jazz that is an awesome story and Sarasota is not far at all from where I am.
Susie..happy almost anniversary!!! Any special plans in store?
MsLin.. love that you teach horticulture..I was looking into that at one time but never dove in ..I do need to start my garden again though..it's a little too hot for me right now though.
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Hey...!
Well me? I'm born and raised in the South... I'm one of the few folks who's originally from Nashville ,TN . About 80 percent who live here in Nashville are transplants ...and I'm not kidding lol.
I use to work at Vanderbilt in the finical dept .. job just about killed me .. so I left after 17 years ... was looking at working part time.. being part time house wife .. and part time creating my own cottage business.. we had just gotten everything we owed paid off and was saving for a house and well cancer had other ideas... instead of a house we're buying me cancer treatments..
My hubby is a web designer .. smart as a whip.. works for the United Methodist Church ...... he works from home which has been a blessing ..
He's been a blessing... we've been married 19 years .. met on the internet! lol
I have a son that is 36 and a daughter that is 27 .... no grand babies
And dang it.. now I want a hamburger!!!
love to all..0 -
I agree nice change of discussion. A nice break. I'm 51. Second marriage as well will be 15 yrs in Dec. Have two daughters from 1st marriage now 32 and 30. Yes was young when I had them. I am a nurse practitioner and work at a community health center. I'm used to being on the other side of this " journey"
We live in Ontario Canada. I have a nice little house in a river in a rural town. DH retired Airforce engineer who now owns his own little driveway sealing business.
Love to camp via tent or camper, hiking and canoeing. Used to do a lot of backcountry camping and portaging.
Have a border collie named Dexter whom we have a lot of fun training.planning a South Carribean cruise in Jan. ( Had made this plan before BC). Hoping nothing prevents us.
Oh and I'm getting 4 DD every two weeks Ac then 4 treatments DD taxol. Then alnd and rads x5 weeks. So will be busy all year
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I live in Ontario Canada too. But i was born in Mexico my husband is from here. We have been married for 20 years. We have 4 children twins of 17 boys, another boy of 14 and a girl of 9. I am 46. I work full time so i am pretty busy with my job, the kids and the house. Nice to know a little more of us.
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Susie - I know where Gold Bar is. It is about an hour from me up in the mountains. It is beautiful up there. When I was a kid we skied at Steven's Pass a few times and Gold Bar is on the way there.
Hhuey - I've been in the horticulture business for 18 years. I once had a corporate job working for Hallmark Cards in Kansas (not at the corporate office, in the field) and I quit one day. I was driving around town and there was a "now hiring" sign in an Earl May Nursery and Garden Center so I walked in an applied. I've been in the business ever since. I've done everything from plain ol' nursery worker to owning my own landscape design business. I'd wanted to be a teacher since I was a kid and an opportunity popped up at this particular school so I applied. Washington state has a program where teachers can substitute years in an industry for a degree as long as they then go and get their teaching certification. So not only am I working full time and dealing with cancer, I have to finish my last year of my certificate program this year. I wouldn't have it any oher way though.
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Hhuey for sure it's too hot to garden in Florida this time of year. Water aerobics is my thing.
Love hearing from everyone. What a great bunch. Here is me in my transitional hat with sunglasses sticking out. I am sure when the final 1/3 of my hair goes, I will graduate to scarves and turbans. Bought a halo wig to try. Not sure I want to wear a heavy wig in the Florida heat although I may go to the cancer society and get one.
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I am 62 and live in small rural farming community in west central Minnesota. Hubby and I have been married 42 years in September, he just retired from farming this spring ( a month before this journey started) We have 2 children, son 35, daughter 33, five grandchildren. I worked in the medical field for 30 years as an xray tech ( very familiar with mammo, us and radiation) retired for 10 years. I have taken a leave from being an accompanist for my church this summer, uncertain I could devote the time and energy. We have a place at the lake and try to get there every week. I have a very supportive family and group of friends. Not sure if anyone has heard of Bunco, but I belong to a group of 12 women who meet every month in someone's home to talk, eat, laugh, catch up and yes play Bunco. I have only missed one meeting ( it was the night before my surgery) and look forward to seeing everyone. I look at this as a bump in the road and know that I will be a stronger person because of it.
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julia..I say with this heat just go for something light on your head..I opted for no wig and wear a light cap I got from headcovers.com...this gray one is my favorite. This is me in the waiting room at moffitt Waiting For Round 4
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hhuey, I like your cap a lot. The view from Moffit is nice too. Congrats on getting #4 out of the way. I have one like It that I wear for sleeping and I could certainly wear around town as well but I have some pretty scarves and turbans too. I may never bother with getting a full size wig. I will post more fashion photos as my style sense develops. Maybe they will help someone else down the road.
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Y'all look great! LOVE all the stories. I have my wig, but I truly feel like I may never wear it. (Still waiting on insurance reimbursement...) It's just not me.
Hats are more fun! Wore the black one out Saturday and the pink one on Sunday. Julia, LOVE the sailing story!
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I bought a wig that looks pretty close to my real hair because I will need to go back to work in September, but for the summer I bought some turban/ snoods from Headcovers.com too. I got 3 t shirt material ones to sleep in and a really soft one bamboo cool it's called that I wear a lot. Since not all of my hair seems to be coming out, I still have a good ring around the entire outside that after repeated washings still isn't coming out, I've been wearing baseball caps and it's nice and cool in our heat. I did wear the wig when I went to the grocery store by myself but mostly it's tne baseball cap
Im going to play around with some scarves tnat I have too. Everyone looks great0 -
It has been a week from my 2nd
TC round (2 down, 2 more to go). I came in for blood work today and
happy to know that white blood cell counts are up and up even with ½
dose of Nuelasta. I've managed side effects of this second round
better but my strength is less (not sure if that makes sense!). And
new SE such as hot flashes, lower blood pressure make their present
known to me.On the human side, I'm 51 and live in
Texas for 27 years. Married to my DH who is 5 yrs older than me, for
27 years; one 23 yrs old daughter and a 19 yrs old son. I used to work
as Network Engineer for 13 yrs; got burn out; took time off to
carpool my kids; switched to medical field and has been a MRI
Technologist for 9 yrs. As of July 2016, we are officially empty
nesters (my son went off to college) so I have since worked part-time
and volunteered as GED Math Tutor at local libraries. DH is a
RF/wireless engineer for 30 years. With God's willing, I hope to be
around to play with my future grand kids & spoil them rotten. My
daughter is heading to the Northeast this fall to start her PhD
program in Neuro-Psychology. I told her to make friends with
researchers in the Medical School & let me know if someone is
working on chemo drugs that target cancer cells ONLY, & I'll make
$$ contribution (so our SE can be eliminated).
Cheers
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I totally agree about the chemo for only cancer cells! I have a niece who is working on her Phd in biomedicine and I've told her thats what she needs to study PLEASE!
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klt, Awesome for your daughter! I remember the Neuro-Psych we met at Duke when my first DH had brain cancer. The world should be her oyster for career opportunities! You've had an interesting trek yourself. What do you mean by 1/2 dose of Neulasta?
HapB, www.tlcdirect.org My cancer center had a magazine, so I just picked out 7 different styles and colors (8 actually, but one was a bad fit). The pink one is very cool. The black is not thick, but it is a little warmer, just because it is black (and summer). I had plenty of winter hats for regular wear here, so these were more geared for summer. I am also wearing a sleep turban (my mother's friend made me two). I feel 80 when I wake with them on (and walk outside with robe and dog), but they seem to work for me not getting chilled at night (imagine that with hot flashes all the rage now). Interestingly, since I had acupuncture on Tuesday, I don't seem to have them nearly as bad. I don't know how healthy I look per se (definitely have bags under the eyes that didn't use to be there.) One thing I am doing almost religiously, that I did NOT always before, is putting on moisturizer and eye cream in the morning. I think that even if I don't leave the house, my skin appreciates it.
Blood counts from this morning are all good! Thank God for Neulasta! #3 tomorrow. Ready to be 75% done with A&C.
Upheld, You haven't checked in with us in a while. Hope you are doing well!!
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Ladies ya'll look lovely!
Such wonderful Warriors! Woot!
Kim, I think I'm with you I've got a wig...but its just not me... I like the snoods ...and scarves and hats better..
I got three new today... the picture doesn't do them justice... very soft...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071G2KKM9/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Kicking cancers in style!
Hugs from TN0 -
Kim those hats look great..
I too feel like I have aged..i am 39 and all along was told I look a lot younger but now I have many more wrinkles in my forehead and in my cheeks so I just figure I look more my age now which is still young so I guess it's not too bad..all done with AC as of about an hour ago..super tired but glad to be done..now onto taxol with her cep tin and perjeta in 2 weeks..hhoping that goes well
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Go Hhuey!
One for the books.. its pass you now ::hugs::: 0 -
orry HapB all this time I thought it was there..I think I fixed it
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test
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Thank you for sharing everyone! I just had treatment 2 today - and am praying for minimal side effects...did pretty well with first one. I am working full-time during this ( I am a Financial Controller for a casino). All of you women have helped me so much - I feel like I am armed with information and tips for getting through this. You are all so brave and beautiful! I am divorced with no kids. I am blessed to live 15 minutes from my Mom and am living with her during this. My father passed away in 2014 so this is good for both of us to be together. I am 48 and have a mini-dachshund named Doxie and my mom has a Bischon-poodle mix named Gracie. We are enjoying being together right now. Since I am working full-time I purchased a wig and a baseball cap with hair already in it!. I had my head shaved last Saturday. It was time. I have (had) super naturally curly hair and when it started to fall it fell and stuck at the bottom of my curls...like a birds nest! Here is my rocking my Farrah wig (it's what I call it).I am going to back and by a scarf too - options will be good since I will be bald for the remainder of 2017! Thank you all for helping me! I am praying for all.
Sue
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lilsuzq
Nice to know a little about you. It's nice you have your Mom there to help you. I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your Dad but it's good you and your mom have each other to lean on. My mom went with me to treatment today which was nice. We did a lot of giggling. I really like your "farah". It looks cute with that great big smile you have. Hoping round 2 is uneventful.
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Hhuey congrats! I am awaiting dose two. It was supposed to be this week but got an abdominal infection from my Diep and am in antibiotics. Plan is to get back on track NXT week.
Nice that some are posting Thierry new do looks. Here's mine. Had shown shave my head to 3/4 as was coming out ever time I turned my head was shedding. Also a pic of one of my head wraps
I also got a couple of wigs but they need trimming. Will wear them sometimes. It's been cool and raining here in Ontario this summer
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Hi Kim,
The Nuelasta auto-injector device is a full-dose or 1 size fit-all-patient dose. That device cannot be adjusted to reduce the amount of drug going into your body. For me, that dose caused too much histamine in my body which hurt my ear drums. So, this 2nd round, I opted to come back to the oncology center the next day & the nurse injected 1/2 the amount (of the auto-injector) into my arm. It was worth the trip.
I saw a piece about IBM Watson computer helping oncologists at the North Carolina University Medical Center by reading thousands pieces of research that human MD don't have time to read then recommend treatment tailor to patient dx (on 60 minutes program I believe). Hopefully, not too far in the future, some whiz programmer can direct Watson to simulate chemo drug that can target cancer cells only. That would convince drug makers to sponsor human trial.
KLT
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I'll share a photo of me with a head scarf on. It's been too warm to wear one and I don't get out much so I usually wear a bamboo hat much like Kim's, However, when I'm feeling ambitious I wear a scarf that I tie myself. I purchased a shaper with a built in velvet headband from wrapunzel.com and it looks like I have a ton of hair under the scarf. I get tons of compliments when I wear them. You can't see the volume in the photo, but it's there.
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MsLin, LOVE that scarf! I don't have any, but you are rocking it big time, Lady! That inspires me to find one. I told DH I may just rock my bald head at chemo today. It won't be a surprise to them!
You are beautiful! Rock on!KLT, Thanks for explaining. I had a very good experience with the shot (1st time) and the onbody injector (2nd time). Expect the onbody again today. Just need to remember to get to the couch in plenty of time. It was a 53 minute dispense time. DH removed about 5 mins later with no problems. There was a tiny droplet of med that I patted dry and put a small round bandaid over.
Tpralph, You are rocking the crew and the head wrap, too. Love the look! Rock on!
Sue, LOVE the wig. You look great, and I pray you continue to feel great while you work. Glad you have your mom and the dogs -- such great therapy! Stay strong!!
hhuey, Congrats on being done with AC! What a relief! I am sure you are still beautiful, and oh to be 39 again.
I hear Taxol is easier, so you be sure and let us know as you get started. You can do it.Denise, Great for the new hats! You will rock them! I am not adverse to just rocking the slick look on occasion. (All talk so far...hehe) I've only (and forgetfully) walked onto my driveway without a hat -- once. I was like, "Oh, well." Then I giggled. I didn't see any neighbors out.
Round 3 in 6.5 hours!
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