Chemo starting April 2018
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bam320, sorry u are here and we welcome u to the chemo group. Staying postive is the best way to get thru the journey. We all went there chemo of last year. Can support u with any questions you might have. However, it might be more beneficial to join a group for 2019 as well.
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Thank you for the kind thoughts everyone. I cannot believe this happenned here. Its such a cheery, happy country. Don't we have enough heartache already in this world. I was feeling quite low the past few days. This is the time I found out last year. And it was taking all I had to not feel depressed and then this happenned. I have felt so mad, sad and helpless. One thing I have to say, I commend the way NZers are dealing with it. Everyone smiles more, acknowledges each other. I feel people are just trying to be kinder towards each other to prove to ourselves that we are in this together, whoever you are, you are loved. Atleast thats how I felt today at my kid's school and at the mall. I am in Auckland and the shooting happenned in Christchurch. My kid's 2nd grade teacher lost her cousin in the shooting. She was a huge support through out last year when I was going through all this.
Urdrago, belated birthday wishes. Hope you are feeling okay after the reaction you had on Xeloda.
Robin, go you. You are a celebrity. I recently started going to a support group for people who have finished treatment in the last year. Its been quite helpful.
InnaB, congrats, cant wait to read it. I have been trying to make a routine around excercises but have failed miserably. My feet are getting quite sore with Capecitabine. Also, I have been dropping things... sounds familiar. I like your idea around yoga and pilates, thanks, I will look into it.
I love the part that people in the group are making travel plans. What a year it was. We deserve the break. So do our loved ones who supported us through those times.
I have missed the last 2 classes of belly dancing. Its quite fun though. Somehow the teachers there have taught their luscious hair to move with the sensuos beats.... grrrrr, mine is like a bush bobbing up and down. Its so unruly, but its mine, so I am not complaining.😊
Take care ladies and Engine.
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Frog--thanks for the update. You are looking beautiful but next time post a picture with a smile. :-)
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Nice to see your beautiful face Frog. Thank u for checking in.
Bam320 By all means feel free to check in and ask any questions you have or vent away. This group is full of good advice and kind hearts. It is also nice to communicate with people that are going through everything at the same time as you are. Best of luck. Stay strong and positive. You will have your bad days but don't let them overwhelm you to the point where that's all you have. Remember to smile too.
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Good to hear from you, Frog! You look beautiful, love the unruly hair
So, yesterday I saw my story performed on stage by professional Broadway and TV actors! Well, not the whole story, I am still writing it, just chapter 1. I’ll post the video when it becomes available. It was an amazing event. 16 submissions were selected, all of them exceptional stories of courage, and heartbreak, and love.
This is me and most of my fan club - my friends and family who came to the performance. A few people slipped away by the time we took this picture, Monday night being an awkward time.
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So cool, Inna!!
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Wonderful Inna! and you look fabulous btw.
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InnsB. That is Awesome! Congrades! Can't wait for the video. You look really good! So nice to surrounded by loved ones!
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InnaB: That is awesome! Congrats!
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Congratulations Innab! Looking like a movie star with her entourage
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InnaB, congrats - that's so awesome! And you look great.
Frog, you're beautiful, too. I love your hair (probably because I have the same style, lol). So sorry that your feet are bothering you so much.
Batata, so sorry to hear of all the recent cancer diagnoses around you. That doesn't make it any easier to deal with anniversaries of your own diagnosis, chemo, etc.
Edited to add: Happy Spring!!
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Thabk you, guys! I think this is the first time I actually felt happy since last year
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Since we're all on the emotional rollercoaster, I thought I'd share this amazing instagram account I'm following. For those on Insta check out thelatestkate She's an artist that does these amazing drawings with mental health reminders.
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Gawarrior wow who would of thought we would know someone so beautiful and famous now! :-) On a serious side you're very inspirational and a great person to cheer us on.
InnaB, I'm so proud of you, can't wait to see a video. I see you've got curls as well all over like Gawarrior and Frog. I don't have them yet on the top of my head. With that being said the curly have a mind of their OWN!
Frog, Sorry about the feet soreness. Stupid side effects.. will your MO reduce the amount of drug if your feet get too sore? I need to get my butt into a routine of working out..its a plan at this point. When do you finish Xeloda as the end must be insight?
I'm doing a little catching up, sorry if I'm missing you. I had a friend send me a message over the weekend. she was dx with stage 4 Ovarian Cancer, and started chemo today. Plus I came down with a cold and Monday was place on antibiotics. Feeling so much better already! But note to self, urgent care doesn't like to see cancer patients bcuz they can't run bloodwork or do scans. also urgent centers don't have your history. I only went bcuz I was coughing phlegm and knew I had a sinus infection. ugh!!
I went to my MO today, blood work was good and we are going to do 5 days of Xeloda and 9 days off cycle. He feels that my side effect will not get worse and it out weighs not doing the drug. I was willing to since I've done it 3 times already. So I will start again on Tuesday. during the exam he noticed a change in the surgery area and added ultrasound moved up my mammogram. I also asked if I can do 3D, and he agreed to use it. I read that 3D mammography is more likely to find small invasive cancer on this forum. That's it for me..
Quiet weekend without snow! Sending Good Vibes...
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Duffy, love the meme/artwork, thanks for sharing.
Urdrago, good luck with Xeloda #4. It's cool that you can take it differently than the standard way and still get the benefit. Hoping nothing shows up in the 3D mammo. When are you having it done?
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Gawarrior, I go wednesday afternoon. Hows the healing process going?
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I too am getting ready to have my 3D mammogram done as well as my quarterly blood test. All this will be happening in April.
Threw a surprise birthday party for my mom's 80th yesterday. She was so happy. She got to spend time with people that she rarely gets to see these days. She told me at the end of the day it was the best birthday she has had in a very long time. After dealing with my cancer treatment, dad's cancer treatment along with other drama in our family she deserve to have the very best birthday party and it be all about her.
Well now I'm off to go find a vacuum cleaner because while I was cleaning my decided to blow up all over the place. Yuck!
InnaB best of luck to you with your scan and anyone else out there that's getting ready to get scans or bhave blood results done.
Duffy I checked out the Instagram account. Pretty cool. Thank you for sharing.
Have a great Sunday everyone and a wonderful week!
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Woohoo, got my stitches out yesterday. I can start limited stretches and light exercise on Friday (4 weeks) and can do anything "without restrictions" in two more weeks. I started back to work yesterday (booo).
Urdrago, good luck with Xeloda today and your 3D mammo tomorrow - sending good wishes for clear results. Also, I forgot earlier to say I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I wish they could figure out how to find those cancers that hide until stage 4 (ovarian, pancreatic). Sending her positive vibes, as well.
Duffy, hoping you have an easy surgery on Friday! It's a pain to have to stop exercising, etc, but 6 weeks goes by fast and you'll feel better knowing that you aren't leaking silicone anymore.Not going to complain (too much) because warmer weather is here, but geez Louise, the POLLEN! I want to claw my eyes out, lol. I don't get the sneezing, etc, but my eyes feel dry and gritty. You can see it in the air here in Atlanta - we're famous for it because we have so many trees.
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Hooray for reaching another milestone on your recovery journey, GAW!! I hear ya on the pollen. The flowers/trees are starting to look very pretty in Central VA but my red, watery eyes--not so much. . .
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Congrats, GAWarrior!
Urdrago, good luck with everything!
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Congrats GAW on your progress. Quick question how soon did your surgeon say you could start monitoring the breast? Mammogram, MRI etc. I meet with my MO today and since I only have 2 more Herceptins to go we're starting to plan our future relationship ;-). I was disappointed he wants to see me every 3 months but I'll deal with it. I forgot to ask the PS how long before it was safe for mammograms and have it on my list for Friday.
I was a crazy cleaning lady yesterday trying to get all my deep cleaning chores done. Thankfully the Ontario weather cooperated and I even got my windows washed. I know the warm weather is coming so hopefully I'll fill my desire for exercise with long walks in the park. The good news about my surgery is the implant that ruptured is the type in the news now linked to the BIA-ALCL (breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma) and considering I've already dealt with lymphoma once I'll be more comfortable knowing their both being replaced.
Udrago - I'm glad they've developed a new plan for your Xeloda. I hope your body tolerates it well.
Ingerp and GAW I wonder if our allergies are worse this year because of chemo etc. We don't have pollen yet but the mold counts are high from the snow melt and I had to supplement my daily Claritan with a Benadryl.
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Hi Duffy, I cleaned like a crazy person the week before my surgery, too. Sorry I can't answer your question - I didn't talk to the PS about monitoring. I won't be having mammos because I had BMX and I think the MO said I would get MRIs every 3 years. RE: your MO visits, I think they see you every 3 mo for the first year, then every 6 months the second, etc. Are you disappointed because you want to see him more or less than you are? Either way, I'm sorry that you have to see him at all. So glad you will be getting the textured implants out. No sense raising the risk even slightly. And, you may be right that we'll suffer with the pollen more this year due to chemo. I read that we have a high chance of being allergic to foods, medications, etc that we never were before (sorry if I read that here and if I am repeating myself- I totally forgot where I learned this!) - I was given Keflex to take as a preventative after surgery and had an allergic reaction within 2 days (never was allergic before). Load up on the Claritin, y'all!
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GAWarrior - I got a little giggle out of the am I disappointed because I want to see him more. He is cute. But no I was hoping for every 6 months. And you are absolutely correct about new allergies. I battle recurrent UTIs and following my first chemo I had a horrible allergic reaction to Macrobid (which had always worked for me in the past). Still waiting for the pre-op call from surgery center. I'm a huge basketball fan so I'm really hoping for an early surgery time so I can watch basketball Friday night.
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Good news - Arrival time for surgery Friday is 8:30 so hopefully I'll get home to Canada in plenty of time for March Madness.
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Duffy, head on down here to Atlanta, they play some of the March Madness games at one of our arenas.
I'm glad you got an early time. Just an FYI, dig out your Zofran if you have any left form chemo. Holy moly, I was SUPER nauseous for the first 24 hours. I think they did a patch thing for the BMX, but gave me nothing this time around so I was grateful I had some left over. Also, I figured you were wanting to see the MO at 6 mo, but I really did wonder if you hoped for 3 months since you had the scare with the implant and everyone was worried about recurrence.Re the allergies (like how you were allergic to Macrobid...did the allergies resolve over time or do you still have them today? I keep finding out new things that chemo did to us (not that I'm not grateful - I am since it destroyed the tumor, but still...)
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lol. Ive gotten plenty of pills left over..
So just got home from a long day at hospital, mammogram and retakes and no ultrasound..I'm still cancer free!!
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WOOHOO, Urdrago - great news! I've been worrying about you all day.
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thanks Gawarrior. I was a bit nervous when they kept making me do more mammogram of coarse Im looking at each pic. But the doc. Was wrong nothing changed..hes just not use to my boobs!!
I met a woman that had thyroid cancer treatment 2 years ago and doing her yearly. I meet another woman that is currently caring for her mom with cancer small cell lung w/mets and as she came out of mammogram she was all tears. I known that feeling I couldnt hold tears back after the doc. Said cancer. When I asked her, I tried to comfort her and then they came back for her, Im sure to start scheduling for additional apts. Heartbreaking..
There was two woman so grateful to be negative they told everyone in the sitting room they were negative, each saying "have a blessed day..love one and another"
So no apts til next month and CT 23rd of April. Im still taking Xeloda, so now I just need to start living more!!
Sending cyber hugs of support..
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Grest news Undrgo! Huge hugs for you and a high five as well.
Duffy I am confused. What is your surgery for?
GaWarrier Glad to hear your healing nicely!
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Thanks, LIFE! Also, Duffy's implant ruptured and is being replaced on Friday...
Urdrago, what a nerve-wracking day. Glad it's over, get some rest.
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