Illinois ladies facing bc
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Good Morning Friends...
I hope everyone had a nice Easter.
Laura I would have never guessed to put the two together. When you say LE your talking about lymphedema . right?
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Good morning everyone,
Gosh Laura....glad things are sorted out for you now. Knowing myself, if I had more than one incident ( or several right close together ) of excruciating pain I would head straight to a Dr. or Er. You are such a strong person, but I think I would be afraid of allowing more damages to happen. So thankfully, your road will be upwards now.
Hi Ginny.....your weather sounds wonderful. here in Southern Illinois we are having it nice, but still some in-consistency. That is ok if we get those warmer temps.
Rene....glad the Zometa infusion went ok. Now I wonder -- do most people get a delayed reaction on that ? If that is like the Taxotere bone pain than it really hurt. I had that once -- really terrible. I just sat in a chair and tried not to move or think. I'm glad it got better and hope it has lessened even more.
Bj, I am so sorry that your Mom didn't do so great over the week-end, but good that her issues are being figured out in the hospital. How scary--for both of you. Moms are very precious even if they throw upsets and scares into us. I'm sure we garnered the same reactions in them when we were small. She will be in my prayers that it all gets right soon.
So far, no rain here, but some may come toward the end of the week -- like starting Thursday. -- my first day back to work. Oh well. Just the way it goes in Spring. I am sure loving all those green places that were just bare branches such a short while ago. Should have been doing some lawn cleaning yesterday afternoon....too windy to do much outside, but I was lazy. I'll have to do better today.
Hope you all have a great Monday.
Lots of healing hugs, Jackie
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This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life. - Author Unknown
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Morning all...geesh...I am exhausted. Emotionally, physically...you name it! It's great to have answers. To know what is wrong and to know it's not terminal! lol
I looked at that darned cat litter container...I thought it was 25 lbs...it's actually 40 lbs! Going forward I really have to be more careful. Unfortunately, I have to remember that I am susceptible for the rest of my life.
Game plan...book PT for the LE (Lymphedema) and take pain meds for the muscle tear in my chest muscle and use a heating pad and nothing strenuous.
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Thanks for the opportunity to vent this all. It's almost like a "live" journal.
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Laura you are inspiring to make me think I'm not insane and maybe should get my pain taken a look at.. Nothing is helping.. my DH thinks it could be a pinched nerve in my back but why is it that it hurts with EVERY breath.. in my bad boob!! To top it off, we have moved the baby to her room last night.. what a disaster.. Have to start sleep training her tonight.. I got 4 hrs and now have to work..
Oh Wendy.. I did order some meat and it's coming on a truck this Friday...
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I have a question. I have had a pain in my back and ribs for 2 weeks, I thought I pulled a muscle from having the dry heaves. It hurts when I take a deep breath. Have been going to Chiro for the last 2 weeks, not getting better,now along with that I have a deep pain in my leg( the one I had skin cancer in). My question is , do I see onc or GP? The pain in my ribs is on opposite side of breast cancer. Help!
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Morning! Jeepers....we are quite the bunch.
Laura.....I am so sorry about the tear. Hopefully you caught the LE in time and you can keep it from progressing. I carried lots of 40lb bags of mulch last spring and this year I am having the landscaper do it. It's just not worth it. Cat litter MUST now be DH's job.
BJ....I am so sorry to hear about your Mom. How is she doing today? How are you????? I know your MIL wasn't doing that well either. Please take care of yourself first, okay?
Irene....I was truly hoping that your zometa infusion would be simple but I guess not. Glad tho that the meds are helping. And yes, I thought your doc WAS funny!
Saltykm.....if I were you, I would probably call my PCP first. Please do so today as that deep pain in your leg could be on the serious side.....could be a phlebitis starting so you need to get that checked out soonest.
Jackie/Ginny...glad your weather is good. OUrs is too...sunny and nice today, probably hit the 70's.
Ginny....I hope chemo goes well for you, and your tests are all good! Sending healing vibes your way....
Marina....yep, guess it's time like Laura, to have that pain evaluated. So...your cow comes on Friday????? Take pictures!!!! Good luck with Gabrielle and the sleeping thru the night tonight!
Did some more research on my R thumb/wrist pain and have pretty much confirmed my diagnosis of de Quervain's syndrome (tendonitis, sort of). I figured I had just overdone it as I really only use my R arm and hand. But I checked out my L wrist/thumb and that is slightly sore as well. So I did one of those...."hmmmmmmmm's" and googled arimidex and tendonitis/de Quervain's and gee, guess what! Surprise, surprise. Another side effect of good ole' arimidex. Like I said I see the rad onc tomorrow and I will talk to him. No, I am not even slightly considering quitting that little white pill right now but I will have to see what happens to my hands. And really, this isn't anything compared to what some of you are dealing with....I knew about carpal tunnel and arimidex but not about tendonitis as a side effect. Oh well.....only 2.3 more years on it!
I hope that all of you enjoy the day....and that you are all feeling much better by tomorrow. Onwards and upwards.....
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Thanks Wendy!
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Finally my Onc called.. and told me to try to take 2 Aleve tonight for the pain. Said if it works, it's muscle pain.. if not, he will do a chest CT.. of course hearing that is FREAKING me out.. as you all know what happened the last time I got scanned.. though he said he's convinced it's not related to the cancer but to see if there is some blockage.. I am going to try Aleve and hope for the best.. can't take two as I know I've taken one before and knocked me out.. wish me luck.. so don't want to scan until next month when I get my full body scan..
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Laura, don't use a heating pad unless you keep it just WARM, as heat will draw more lymph fluid to the quadrant of your body that has lymphedema and likely cause more swelling (and more pain).
Lymphedema:
Let me know if there's any way I can help. Gentle hugs,
Binney0 -
Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.
- Orison Swett Marden0 -
Salty - I usually follow the 2 week rule...if something lasts more than 2 weeks...call or visit the Dr. Best wishes to you.
Wendrew - Tendonitis of any degree is very painful,annoying and frustrating. Hope it's better soon.
BINNEY - Thanks for chiming in! I appreciate any info re: this beast.
Jackie - Your quote...OMGoodness...I walked boldly through them and look what happened! lol ; )
Irene - Hope you're feeling okay...post 1st infusion.
Marina - Hang in there - I hope the Aleve helps. I hear ya...I hate the fact that I had a CT AND an xray Sunday night. I try to avoid the exposure...but had no choice.
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Well...After numerous phone calls and BS...I finally have an appt this afternoon with my PCP - I need a note from her saying I need LE PT...Then tomorrow at 8 am I have an appt with a certified LE PT. As of today the LE has moved from my upper arm to the area between my elbow and wrist. It is SO freaky looking! This whole thing is too frickin weird! It feels very "tight", warm and tingly.
Hope you all have a good day.
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Finally an update.. The Aleve WORKED!! It knocked me out so I slept well too!! So didn't want to do an extra Scan!! Can't take it during the day so still some slight pain.. but as long as I know it's a muscle and not something more serious.. I'll deal..
Yucky out.. but oh well.. and we had sirens outside at 10 am which I didn't know but they represent a test they are doing every month.. kinda scary at first..
Hope everyone has a great painfree day!!
Marina0 -
Marina.........so glad the Aleve worked. Muscular problems can be so scary
Laura, sorry about the LE but glad to hear that the chest pain is NOT something super serious. It sounds like you'll be "bummed up" for a few weeks but you can do that now that you know it can be treated and tackled!
I hope everyone had a happy Easter. The weather in KY was gorgeous and it was so much fun to spend the time with the grandkids, my son, and his wife. We came back through Cincinatti and visited a couple of casinos in the general Cincinatti area. Dave won quite a bit of money. He kept giving me money to play on because he didn't want to leave and he just kept hitting those slots. Too bad you can't do that everytime you go to one of those places! Anyway, we are home. The cats were glad to see us and I went out and played 18 holes of golf this morning because I thought for sure that it was going to rain this afternoon. Instead, the sun is shining brightly!
Wendy, I'll be anxious to hear what they say about your thumbs/wrists. There are so many side effects of the Arimidex, but like you, I'm not quitting it unless something very extreme happens. We both have about the same amount of time remaining. We can do this!
Well, I need to put in some laundry and get the refrigerator cleaned out so I can restock it tomorrow. We have a gift card from Red Lobster that we haven't used and I've got Dave talked in to using it tonight so I don't have to get groceries until tomorrow. Yep, I'm spoiled! LOL
Ginny, I hope the nice warm sunshine is making you feel better.
I hope everyone is doing well today.
Rita
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I am port free. BS took it out in his office today. Since I had a reaction to the local he used for putting it in he used lidocaine instead. It wears off a little faster he said, but still lasts long enough to do the procedure. I am glad it is out, but it did not bother me as much as is does some people. I was glad to have it during chemo and for all the herceptin visits. It is a little sore but they told me just to take ibuprofen for it.. Getting port out really means almost done except for checkups. I see pulmonary doc to get results of last lung CT. If no nodule changes it will be 6 months or a year before next one. I see rad doc for check-up next month and onc in June. Only one appt per month instead of every day or every week is wonderful. I am having trouble with my pills. Had to quit the aromasin because they were giving me a continuous headache. This has happened with 3 other medicines bofore and we were pretty sure it is a binder that all the meds have in common. Providone and crosprovidone are binders made from iodine which seems to be the problem for me. It only bothers meed if I take the medicine for more than 2 weeks. So I have probably taken other meds with it in them but did not take it long enough to have a reaction. The CVS pharmasist helped mefigure out what binders all the meds had in common. He also helped me find a brand of tamoxifin that did not use this binder, since tamoxifin is now generic there were several possible companies that make it. I am still having an occasional headache from the aromasin which I have been off of for a week. Arimidex also has this same binder. Femara does not but tried it first and had alot of joint pain. If the tamoxifin does not work I will give femara another try since I was on the herceptin at the same time I originally tried it.
Marina so glad the aleve worked. I know what it can be like to spend time worrying about something that in the end turns out to be nothing, but you have to go thru alot to find that out
Laura I am glad you are getting your LE taken care of. Be careful when you fly now that your have had this..
The weather it great out today. I am going to sit outside and enjoy it. Annette
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Laura, just sent you a PM but will post it here as well in case you don't see the PM notice: if the area feels warm go NOW to the doctor or ER -- cellulitis is sadly very common with lymphedema and spreads rapidly unless it's treated promptly. Don't wait until tomorrow morning. If it isn't an infection, that's great, but better safe than sorry on this one.
Hugs,
Binney0 -
Binney4....I don't know you but you are fantastic getting on here to help Laura out. You have been around for long enough to get lots of needed answers for others. For those of us who have not had LE rear its head, we end up not being all that much help to Laura. I confess I have only done a little reading as I only had 3 nodes out, so between that and a sleeve I just felt/hoped I'd never really need to know so much. Many thanks as when you help one, you help us all learn a little more.
Hugs, Jackie
Been a really pretty day today though extremely windy. A couple times it nearly blew me over. That's ok....I'm so enjoying these spring days. I seem to recall though it was supposed to be March that came in like a lion -- not April. Not going to complain.
Nana....glad you got your port out. That is a ""good"" signal that the finish line is very close now. What stretched before you somewhat endlessly is now about to fade from view. Just fade though as it never really goes away.
Marina...big relief. Yay for you. Hope things are getting better for the little one in her room.
See all of you later.
Hugs, Jackie
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Off for the week. spring cleaning and cleaning me with a 8 day colon cleanse!Yippee! MEANWHILE. my oldest golden decides to start a hot spot on her back hip as a early event.. she is on holistic meds now and resting comfortably.. though she tore off mom and dad;s guaze pad we so carefully placed on her last night. !!!I am hoping she did not eat the guaze as i cannot find it! She is 11 years old and sometimes it is like she is 2 mos old!!!!
My Dh is still at the fallen fireman's funeral .The attendance there was nationwide. So proud of him and all what Firemen represent in genuine love and concern for each other as brothers!! What a ending of a career for my DH. It is all so emotional.
South side girls.. Only email i have are Buddy's and LisaMed.. want to just get a head count for our April 23rd luncheon at PF Changs.. Everyone is welcome of course! Have 6 of us so far!
Be well ALL and thinking of ALL of you in TX and with various tests and appts. Stay strong and know you are NOT alone!!!
Hugs,
Donna
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Donna, you should be proud of your DH the fire fighter. I have such a deep respect for firefighters and police people ....both have very rough jobs. I think it will be hard for him as his career comes to an end as his is not an ordinary job!
Tomorrow I get us ready for our trip to DC as we fly out Thursday morning. I am getting excited!
Take care, sweet people, and stay healthy.
Susan
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Donna I have heard much about the Fireman that was killed while tryigti save the elderly man. I respectyourDH s much for attending.
Come on out for PF Changs Gals.
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The funeral for this fallen firefighter was beyond words and there was not a dry eyed person for miles by DH said. Hundreds of firefighters ALL over the country were present. Hundreds of fire trucks and percession that closed most of Western AVE and 95th street.The family was so overwhelmed!! Bag pipers were beyond words in the amount of them playing. It is this kind of closeness and brother hood as Susan said is not an ordinary job. Poor DH came home .with such sore feet and blisters all over this morning walking for almost 10 hours. WE are to be proud here, as we TOO are a SISTERHOOD that cannot be described!!!!
Rain rain go away.. i want sun and fun!
Have a safe trip susan!!!
Hugs for now,
Donna
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Good morning everyone,
No sun today, but all the fresh green helps what would otherwise be the dreary gray that I dislike so much. May or may not rain through the day, but I knew it was coming so I'm ok with it --- as long as it does not hang around too long. Sounds like for the moment all of you are doing ok...and things are progressing ok with you.
I have been reading the quote I'm leaving for two or three days. Some things just get into my head and I think, think, think -- until, well until I share something that is so profound to me in its simplicity. Years ago I took a course in communicating......and in part of the course, they talked about the fact that we are all prone to thinking so many of the answers in life are great big long complicated formulas. They said if you will take everything down to its lowest common denominator, you will usually find the best answer available.
Either I am needing an answer for something....or it is just time for the universe to remind of this one. I hope it helps you think -- preferably something good.
Hope you all have a fantastic day.
Hugs, Jackie
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Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death
they would be asked two questions
and their answers would determine
whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife.
The first question was, "Did you bring joy?"
The second was, "Did you find joy?"
--Leo Buscaglia0 -
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Susan..........Tomorrow's the day! Have a great trip!
YEA ANNETTE! NO MO' PORT! That DOES mean that you're closing the door on those treatments and you're ready to get back into a routine without so many doctor's appointments! Such a good feeling! You did it!
Jackie, I liked both of your quotes today! Thanks for sharing! It's rainy and dreary here today, too. I guess that gives me the perfect excuse to stay home and get things accomplished around the house, eh?
I hope everyone is doing well today! Donna, you descrived our sisterhood here perfectly! Good luck with the colon cleanse. I've never done that.
Rita
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Morning all....drippy here too Jackie and I hear 48 tomorrow...so much for my shorts! But it is so nice to see all the green that has popped up!
Laura...how is your arm? How is PT? And you probably can't type now so...just know that I am no longer be lifting any really heavy stuff...it is so not worth a chance of LE.
Donna....saw parts of the service on TV...very moving. Very sad.
Susan....have a wonderful trip! Take pics....
Juliette...I see on FB that after today you will only have 6 rads left! YAY !!!!!!!!!!!!! How's Miss Foob doing?
Rita....well, this is what the Rad onc said about AI's in general...they are wonderful drugs but the side effects can be really nasty. He agreed that it is "probably" the arimidex and that I should call my reg. onc if it continues to worsen. My next appt isn't until 7/1. My rad onc told me that what will probably happen is one of two things....I will be given a 2 week respite to see what happens and/or switched to another AI. I said well....the se's are all pretty much the same and I could have much worse se's, couldn't I? And he said...sure! So I asked then what happens if I take 2 weeks off....will there be a surge of E? Wouldn't that be bad too? He didn't know about that. So...I decided this and my rad onc thought it was a plan. I weigh my hand symptoms against maybe dc'ing the arimidex and having the bc come back and could I live with that, all because my thumbs/wrists are becoming slightly painful. And the answer for me was....NO!!!!!! So...all in all....I am gonna do nothin'! I wear my little thumb immobilizer at the gym and if I drive for a long period and I wore it Monday while cutting the grass. And then.....
Marina....I took your experience with aleeve and feeling so much better that I tried one Aleeve and...poof! Most of the pain was gone....along with with any other little aches/pains I attribute to getting older. So....thanks for reporting in on your experience with Aleeve! And glad too you are feeling so much better!
Time to move the laundry from one white box to another....
Budders....did you call? How are you????
Ginny....think about you every day, down there in the Carolina's...all things blooming and pretty!
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jackie..One reading that i read this morning that may feed you..Strength is found in the stillness....0
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Hey Rita Jean, I am fine and glad to see you are too. Yes we must get together. We will be up the Lincoln way this summer and I will have to let you know. We will be at the Apple and Pork festival too. We are at the Contry Junction on the craft side. We were in Mesa Az.at an R.V. park and we have a daughter in Scottsdale so we were just 5 mins from her. It was so beautiful there and my hubby and I both felt so much better. My nagging muscle and joint pain I hung on to after treatment was so much better. I was surprised at how much better I felt. It was hard to leave but we will go back this winter. I am glad to see you keep this thread going. Thats great and it means so much to newbies and oldies. I remember my fear and how wonderful it was finding B.C.org. It was my life line because as we know only sisters know what we are going through. I remember wishing I could live long enough to see my first grand child graduate from high school. (I am her2 and Herceptim wasn't on the market until I was 6 months out of treatment and I got it then) I see him graduate in June. Yea and thank God and the Onkies. Well it is so good to hear from you and we will get together. I will try to check in more. Keep it up girl, your doing something so good helping the newbies and keeping this thread going. Mary
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Wendy abd Marina and anyone else who is listening:
Alleve is a wonder drug in my book. I skipped a step on our stairs (silly me) and jarred my knee. The pain was pretty bad and I was worried about caring for the 3-year old grandchild and all the walking in DC. I took two and less than an hour later I forgot the knee was ever a problem. Arimidex might be a wonder drug too, so keep taking it, Wendy, as the Alleve will handle the pain. I do notice that the pains I get jump around, so it may leave your hand and jump to someone else's! I am being silly.
Ladies, I had the strangest dream last night. I was sent off in a canoe and was on a surviivor's TV show. I was with two other people who had gone through cancer. Unfortunately the dream ended there. Maybe tonight I will dream that I made it back in my canoe. Pretty obvious meaning here in this dream. I may be moving on.
The hotel in DC has internet, so I will be checking in. Take care.
Susan
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Hi Gals. Yes I called and yes I got in. She ewas very nice . She even offered to see me for just what my ins covered so I wouldnt have to make a copay. Now I found out our cancer center also has a counsler free to talk to. What the heck was I thinking... So i will go see her on Monday. Even though the social worker was nice. the cancer center is much closer.
I got to have lunch with the friend I made at the chemo clinic. I told you about her. She is so very kind. She wont be able to join us at PF changs she will be in treatment.
My arm and chest have been so painfull lately I will be trying the aleve. Sometimes I dont think I can stand the pain.
Zap.What in the world have you been eating before bed??? Yikes. I sure hope I wasnt with you in that canoe. That is the funniest dream. As usual Thanks for listening. Love Buddy
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