Illinois ladies facing bc

The metal mouth was horrible. My mouth tasted like I was sucking on pennies. lol My favorite treat was Ice Box Pudding. Homemade with condensed milk and vanilla wafers. Have any of you ever made or eaten it?

From surgery to 24 little ones screaming and yelling downstairs at a birthday party - pajama party.  I fit right in in my  blue jammies with clouds on them!  My 5year old niece ever so nicely asked me to wear my wig tonight.  My sister said she brought up that she was very concerned that the girls might laugh at me (aww - she is so sweet).  The 5 year old also asked me which pajamas to wear (it's her sister's birthday party).  I was so happy that she wanted my advise.

If there has been one good thing that has come from having cancer it has been that my bond with sister and her family has gotten deeper.

The girls are making their own pizza for dinner and playing Wii games and doing a bunch of other things. So much fun! 

Have a nice night everyone!

Carolyn

Hi sweet people:

 I have a head cold and I am mad that I do.  I probably got it on the airplane as it was stuffed with people.  DH is going out for cold tablets as I want to keep going on this vacation.  Went to the Disney Concert Hall and listened to wonderful orchestra music.  Went to this huge modern (ultra modern) Roman Catholic Cathedral called Our Lady of the Angels. Then an Islamic mosque and then a synagogue, all with unimaginable architectural designs and beautiful symbols.   Off to winery tomorrow and then Huntington Gardens.  Went to Hollywood and that was a grim place.  It really was kind depressing but we did get a tour of the Chinese Theater. 

Carolyn, what a lovely family you have.  Of course little girls would be worried about a bald head before so many friends as that is not usual for them.  It sounds like you have a precious relationship with your sister and her girls. Enjoy every minute of those relationships.

I ate frozen bananas during chemo.  YUM.  Took compozeine (sp) but not sure for how long.  I never had nausea but I was very careful about taking the pills.

 Have a great weekend.  Also BJ, the friend we are visiting went to an acupuncturist who used electrical  needles and she really mended his "golf elbow" which is what you get when you play racket ball (not called tennis elbow).

 Susan

My mom swears by Airborne. I know when I start to get sick I use Zicam.

Oh - and one more thing...I'll design a logo for our gang!  lol

lago - I didn't know you are also a graphic designer! Wow...if you want to design it...by all means go for it! lol I've become the resident designer here, but glad to know there's a fellow creative here. Woo-hoo! Do you do any crafts? Mosaics, water color, etc? Just wondering...

Adey: I know we are on different chemo's but this is what I am taking. 125mg Emend day one. Day 2: 80mg Emend, 8mg Ondansetron every 8 hrs, Dexamethasone 4 mg breakfast and dinner. Same thing on day 3. Day four optional, Ondansetron, protonix and Lorazapam that I take to sleep through the night. I have not had any nausea throughout.

Joan: Way to go, a few more left for you. Yeah. I dont even finish chemo till Feb 2nd. I am sooo envious. BTW: My friends daughter and new son in law that are in the air force in Mississippi? Just found out that she is pregnant. Whoo Hoo.

Carolyn: so glad you are with your sister and nieces.

Mak:Have a great trip. No, I wasnt considering the cold caps, I am way beyond bald and I really dont mind except for the cold...lol.

Zap: I am sending you hugs and anti germ prayers...hope you have an amazing time.

Graphic Artists: cant wait to see what you come up with...

Today I am seeing the Nutritionist to figure out what I can eat with this stupid coumadid/chemo. I am sooo craving greens...Have a good weekend. Onward

Thanks Lago, but add lettuce, cabbage, zucchini, blueberries and a host of other stuff. Than with chemo when my wc are bad no fresh veggies or fruit. It kind of sounds like they want me to live at Mc Donalds as there is NO CHANCE I will get anything healthy there...lol.

lago,    It is so funny you mention these 'bowls'  and nausea in the same post!    I used to like them;    didn't have them often but occasionally they were ok.    Untilllll.....  I went there with a girlfriend following one of my AC treatments.    I always tried to eat a little something afterwards.     But it seems like many of the things I had at that time - TOTALLY turn my stomach now!     Probably a mental thing - I associate them with feeling queazy.    Needless to say I don't think I'll ever have one of those bowls again - blec!

Nausea....now let me see, as it has been awhile.  Well, I have to admit I flunked nausea.  I had not had a "bad" stomach since pregnancy and with my reluctance to use pills till needed.....I did not do so good.  I would have taken them sooner if I could have recalled the prelude ( funny queasiness that you get first ) so I struggled pretty much all the way through......even during Taxotere.  I had it instilled in my head by then.....and often just could not eat --- was not hungry at all and just felt like I would get sick if I "tried" to eat.  I lost tons of wt. #38 pounds, but not a good thing to let happen.  Fortunately, it did not cause any real illness --- I still went out every day in the biting cold to feed feral cats --  trudging through snow etc. 

In retrospect I think I became the saying that what does not kill you makes you stronger.  Like  Elf, I struggled through and often felt like the dickens  ( wonderful word here,  DICKENS ), but it was perhaps worth it since my overall health did not take any strange nose-dives save for the one bout of esophageal thrush.  I did everything they say you shouldn't --- clean up after animals, run around outside in freezing temps and cold wet snow --- daily -- but now think often being before,during, and after in a somewhat germ-filled enviorment  kept me going.  No one I was around managed to leave me cold germs that took hold etc. 

About 5 to 7 days after each treatment......A/C@ 3wks. x 4, and Taxotere@ 3wks. x 4, I would crave tuna fish on toast...... make some and would eat till it was all gone.  I sort of laughed at myself --- here I was flushing poison out......and craving it ( mercury poisoning ) at the same time. 

Laura -- Paulie is so cute in his chair/bed/throne -- and is very photogenic. 

Marina....hope the trip goes well for you and that it will be all the sweeter and better for having been so long awaited.

Susan....hope the cold passes quickly.  I doubt my somewhat two favorite places will be on your agenda......San Juan Capistrano and the missions at Solvang --- but you did get to a cathedral. 

Onward it is wonderful that your not much bothered by the hair loss.  Other than the cold, which is what I noticed as well.  In fact, I was often quite cold everywhere as my first chemo was in first week of December which is fairly cold here in my part of Illinois.  Hair loss was not too good for me......but I rapidly got to ---- this is what I have to get thru on my well to getting well and it will return along with much better health. 

Ginger....glad to see you ( though I liked the pink one  very well ) back  in your purple dress.  It is very becoming.

I am going to have a busy Saturday but that is fine.  I'll relax tomorrow when Dh is off for a rare Sunday.  See you all later.  Have a fantastic Saturday.

Hugs, Jackie

It's so cold out...dreading the thought of going out. But I do want to try to find a pair of cross country skis - hoping they will help me to deal with the winter months instead of hate them.

Coumadin: I think I read that you should avoid large portions of food that are high in VitK and avoid large amounts of Cranberry juice.

Hope you all have a nice day.

Hi Girls, just got back from the most amazing massage ever !!! Ohhhhh I am soooo relaxed and have no pain. This women is a lymphedema massage specialist and it was very interesting to find out that I was radiated in my neck area as she could feel swollen lymph nodes up there. So I guess that is why I have thyroid issues. Thank you rad md ! She taught me how to do it myself . I hope this help my pain issue. I know it is a work in progress.

She also talked about the alkaline diet which you all have been discussing for a while here. She recommends drinking a glass of lemon juice 20 min before coffee. Don't know if I can wait that long for my first cup of joe. lol  You need to juice a fresh whole lemon not lemon juice. Helps the liver function better and to drink apple cider vinegar organic kind. It was very interesting to find out that we can truly heal ourselves with the help of diet, massage and modern medicine too..

It was a lot of information to digest but so worth it. I feel so much better. So I am off to go walking on this bright sunny day. No running for a while as the hip needs to rest.

Have a great Saturday. Don't forget the Lunch Bunch is meeting for dinner Thursday night. Hope to see you there. Email me or Laura if you are coming. It will be fun to see everyone and chat away. lol

Remember to be healthy...be happy and enjoy life!!!.

BJ

Elf song - thank you and yep, you hit it right on the head..."bring it on...I say that alot and that's pretty much me, as well as the list of crafty, artistic, musical, horticulture, etc...that I love and do and have been doing since, oh, I was knee-hi to a grasshopper...I'm painting and quitling now, prepping for upcomming surgery to repair botched tram and absesses in my ab area...doesn't stop me, nothing does, I am also writing, preparing to get a book out on first account, bio, had also been out capturing nature, etc. with my photography gift as well...enjoy your weekend and chat soon!

Ladies - thanks for all your inspiring posts and chats, love reading and replying, enjoy each day no matter what you do!  :-)

How about Lake Geneva, WI? If a possibility, PM bj - she's our Lake Geneva Queen.