Illinois ladies facing bc

Thank you Determined3. I love the little pictures. They are so forgiving. I look about 30 in that photo.

That's my wig after my 4th treatment. It was similar to my hairvstyle before chemo. These photos are of me from about 2 week ago with 13 weeks post chemo. link

Should be posting my 2 week update on the hair thread.

I never had nausea but I'm sure the other gals can help you. Haven't they given you any medication for this?

My thought is that anyone who has depressive thoughts and feelings should seek medical aid.  People with breast cancer and people without it can be depressed.  My understanding is that depression is not simply psychological, but has a physical basis to it and meds and perhaps counseling can work to correct the imbalance. Maybe the cancer pushed the body and the mind too hard:  resulting in depression, among other issues.  If you cannot take yourself to the doctor to to deal with this, ask someone you trust to take you.  Heck, I'll take you, if you want.  Depression is nothing to fool around with.

Nausea....there are several different drugs and what you have just may not be working well.  I would suggest you get a hold of your Oncologist/nurse/team and see if they can give you something else to try.  I would also ( no one told me this ) start taking the nausea meds long before you even suspect nausea.  You may have to try other drinks.....water is best but if it does not set well with you, something else may be in order.  I think several of the ladies drank lemonade and then you can get Popsicles or Luigi's frozen icee's.  They are in the ice cream dept of your store.  This too shall pass and you will know when it does, but I know it is really off-putting.  I did not have much luck with some of the old remedies like crackers....others it worked like a charm. 

zap, I think that is great advice.  Body, mind and spirit.....all need comforts and care and to be brought back into unision.  I'm sorry several of you ladies are having to undergo these feelings.  I think sometimes there is just too much fear and a huge loss of control.  My prayers and thoughts will ve with you ladies. 

Quite a day here....Chico is improving but must stay yet awhile at the Vet Clinic.  We visited today......hope it was inspiring to him. 

Lovely wedding on tv this morning.

See you all tomorrow.

Hugs, Jackie

Geesh... here I am in Naples, Fl for a wedding this weekend.  This humidity is really doing  a number on my hair which has become a mass of curls.  DH thinks its cute, but uggh! The wedding is on the beach so I brought a big brimmed hat to hide under!

determined3... so sorry that you are having the nausea with your chemo. I had some moderate nausea, but found that the meds they gave me to avoid it, were not helping much so just decided to live it.  It always passed in a few days and I think it will for you also.  The old "ginger" trick never worked for me either.  What tasted best was anything sweet so I drank the flavored sports drinks like Propel and also found out that those Edy's frozen fruit pops were excellent. Still hooked on those.

IllinoisNancy.... so sorry that you are dealing with depression.  I was shocked to find myself dealing with that also while starting on chemo.  Found myself falling into crying jags on and off and I think my DH got pretty worried about me.  I did alot of research and discovered that the steroids and some of the chemo drugs had listed side effects of "mood swings".  Ahhhh!  After the second chemo, it began to make sense so I talked to my ONC's PA.  She was wonderful and said that it was not unusual at all for patients to go through this.  She made sure that I got a prescription for Celexa.  That worked wonders and I was soon back to my old self... well, minus a couple things, blah, blah, blah.  Anyway, I hope that you get some help... I really know what you mean.

Good morning....I think we may have more rain coming....ugg, but the past couple of days there was enough sun and warmth to start drying us up and getting a lot of that water back into the creeks and flowing to the rivers around here.....hope we don't overdo this time. 

 Joan...how neat....a hubby would think curls "cute".  Hope you can go and have a great time even if you must wear a hat. 

Hope everyone has a great Saturday.  See ya later.

Hugs, Jackie

I am a big water drinker but thought it tasted horrible during chemo.  I liked lemonade, popsicles and lemon ice.  Good luck!

It is sunny and warm here in Holland, Michigan.  I sure hope it is the same across the lake! Susan

Jackie - Great news about Chico!

Zap - Have fun! I bet the bulbs are a glorious sight. It's a bit chilly here...hopefully it will warm up as the day goes on.

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dh has our car jacked up and on ramps and is underneath it replacing the radiator. Hmmmmmmmmm...should I release the jack...I'd be one heck of a wealthy widow! LOL Naaaaaaaaah...I'd miss him too much! LOL

So happy that the weather is nice this weekend!  Five soccer games down, one to go.  Followed by a string quartet performance at a fundraiser.  Yesterday the soccer game was soooo windy I was afraid I would lose the wig!  And no one on the team even knows that I have breast cancer, and I prefer to keep it that way.... so off to buy a cap today to hope the extra layer keeps the wig in place! 

Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely weather, so refreshing to see the sun again.  

I have my simulation tomorrow morning, and will start radiation the following week,   I am ready to get moving, so I can get this step behind me.  

Hi Everyone - some of you probably remember me from 'way back' - I haven't posted here in many months.   So hello to all of my old pals here, and hello to anyone I haven't 'met' before.

I'm here seeking info/advice.   My poor dear mother now has BC. 

I'm trying to find a good (and very caring!) surgeon for her.  She lives in the Skokie area. 

Her PCP referred her to a surgeon and mom & I aren't very happy with him...  I've battled BC twice & therefore we have a good amount of knowledge & are a bit picky

I know that Smurf is from that general area;  if she - or anyone - can recommend a BC surgeon in the Skokie area or NW side of Chicago, I would be most grateful.

Please PM me if you can....... 

Thanks so very much - Julie (aka Princess Juliet, lol)  

Oh Julie, I am so sorry to hear this about your Mom but thank goodness she has you in her corner.  I have also heard it often seems easier on the slightly more mature/older woman.  Hope this is so....I couldn't tell myself and I was older. 

I'll be thinking of you and your Mom and sending hugs and healing thoughts and high hopes for picking a good team. 

Hugs, Jackie 

Yes, we did have fun.  I have moved into pedestal cake stands.  I am sure you have seen them in boutique bakeries.  I was able to get two I like; one for each daughter and two vintage hat boxes (each cake plate fits in the the hat box).  Now I am putting together a small book for each daughter with sewed on  buttons  and some vintage ribbon.  Inside the book I have my mother's favorite cake and cookie recipes.  That would be their grandma.  I am not a baker, so this is my way of compensating for my lack thereof.

 Connie, we stopped off at PawPaw lake and we loved it.  We went by two rows of what I think would be condos.  It was late so we could not see inside them but there were some for sale and I got the phone numbers.  Some were what I would call  terra cotta in color and the others were A-frame.  And BJ, thanks for the tip on Delavan.   Paul and I very frankly  need to rent a week to get a feel for it all and then maybe we could  make a decision. I think this summer may be our summer to look about.

Buster'smom, I will pm you on my surgeon in Evanston.  I love her. I am sorry.

Good morning...

Well.. unfortunately I spoke to the Dr just now.. and the lymph node is in fact growing.. It's doubled in the last 6 months.. My Onc is concerned but has seen it turn around and shrink because it's just inflamatory.. may still be a reaction to the vaccine.. OR could be the disease waking up.. if that's the case it'll have to be biopsied in 3 months..   Now I'm freaking and wondering if I should have had the MX and had the nodes removed.. but then again.. I couldn't get the vaccine.. Always something...

Dropped the baby off an hour ago.. and walked into an empty house for the first time.. feels so weird.. Off to Seattle in a few hours..