Illinois ladies facing bc

Lago, it is always something, but I have noticed that most all of my "somethings" have turned out to be a "nothing" so go to Cape Cod and love life on the beach!

Rita, got the book.  I will start it tomorrow. 

I celebrated my five year anniversary with teacher friends today.  We ate a wonderful, if not, decadent, meal. One of the teachers has a mom  and sister recently diagnosed but both are doing well, so being with me with five years under my belt was good for her.  I still have the mri to do.  I am not technically behind (August) but I hate it.

Makmak, it sounds (as usual) that you are totally on this thing.  I admire your work ethic!  I know you feel that you do not have a choice, but that attitude alone is what makes you such a winner.  You get that this beast is big and you choose to be bigger.

Mary, I think that liver enzymes can fluctuate somewhat randomly.  And yet I am sure you are worried.  Hugs to you.

Finally finding a minute to try to catch up on everyone...

I have not been typing much in the evening since I'm on the computer all day at work...my wrists and elbows ache terribly by the time I get home...:(

Wendyty...Hope you had a happy birthday..Lago - have fun on your trip..hope rash gets better...makmak..hoping your research efforts find good ideas...zap...congrats on 5 year mark..Jackie..bummer on the dates of the balloon fest...we have a ton of stuff this weekend..so not sure we will make it or not...I love fair food even though it is not good for me and is too expensive so we usually pick one thing and share.......well wishes to everyone else...still reading posts and sorry I know I missed some ...have a great day tomorrow everyone!

Marsha

Morning...60 on the deck. Rain moving in later this am, more showers this afternoon but nothing major. Beautiful tomorrow tho...



Mary...a rise in liver enzymes after chemo is normal but yours went up 10x? Sounds a bit high but everybody is different in their reactions to chemo...your doc didn't seem too concerned tho. Probably just all that good poison!



Mdg....happy moving day tomorrow! Weather will cooperate here for you!



Lago....enjoy! All the way to Melrose? He must be esp good at your type of rash what with all the great doc's right where you get tx! Let us know how it all turns out...interesting for us. Not so much for you tho...



With all this turmoil in the economy we have started to look at ways to cut back and I was VERY surprised to see how much money I have spent on ebooks when I hardly bought but 2-3 yearly before. I am determined to sit down at the computer and follow all the steps to download to my computer for FREE. There are 2 pages of instructions for my library and that is why I gave up in the past. I figure if I get stuck I will just ask a child to help me!



Happy Wednesday All!

Stopping bye for a quick hello to all. I am back at school getting ready for the kids to start next week. I have whaaaa to much paper work and can't seem to make a dent in the pile of charts.

Hope everyone is doing well in there txs, good luck to those moving kids into college. Let the fun begin. For those going on vacation have a wonderful and relaxing trip. Life is too short not to enjoy.

Time to hit the shower.....have a wonderful day everyone. Oh I am so wishing summer would stay longer. sniff sniff. Hugs to all.

BJ

Have fun Lago!

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.
- Socrates

Zap-  Any recommended reading from your seminar?

Maryj-  Congrats on the great news!!!  I drop my oldest dd on Saturday too but for the first time, wah.  (c:

YUCK YUCK YUCK!!!

I forgot how yucky I feel the day of Chemo.. and guess what.. NO ONE warned me about pre-meds as they kept telling me how this stuff is mild.. and in all the commotion I forgot to ask.. and guess what I got.. ZOFRAN.. a VERY VERY dirty word in my book.. made me sick as a Dog last time.. so yes, I feel horrid.. but they took note and will change it next time.. and the dreaded Decadron.. very low dose which I asked her to check with Dr to see if I can NOT get it..  As you ALL know by now.. I HAVE to be informed of everything.. so I'm ticked off for now..

My schedule will be three weeks on and one week off.. unless my counts don't hold up.. as  you all know I will do all in my power to make sure that doesn't happen.. and that includes drinking many potions that most of you would never imagine..

 I'm reading "The Help" and really enjoying it.. after that I will be out so will need suggestions myself again.. being home all day and doing my stepper I do get some reading done these days!! 

Hopefully I'll feel OK tomorrow.. so far at least the 'flu' symptoms are staying away!

 Lago - I am a seafood addict.. so PLEASE have some lobster for me.. and I promise to have some for you in October when I'm in Boston..

Marina

O boy, Mak, doesn't sound happy there tonight.  I hope you feel better soon.  I loved The Help and DD and SIL just saw the movie and said it is every bit as great as the book (not usually the case). I am now reading the book Rita read and it is titled The Forgotten Garden.  So far I am loving it.  My book club is reading The Book Thief but it is about the Holocaust, so I would take a pass on it for now if I were you.  Certainly not overly  gruesome as it is read by older middle school kids, but just may not work for you now.  I loved the Housekeeper and the Professor (small and sweet book that deals with math in a delightful and fictional way).

 I finished my seminar today and said good-bye to the people in my group (all have cancer history and some are just braving a recent dx). I get so attached to people that I was sad.   There was an Indian   woman there and she spoke on how her culture is not terribly supportive in that cancer is bad karma and according to her religion,  she brought it on herself. She was like 25 years old and came with her girlfriend (or maybe her sister). It is tough out there.

  Adey, you asked about a book from the seminar.  I asked the teacher and she suggested Wherever You Go, There You Are:  Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by John  Kabat-Zinn.  I have not read it as this is all new to me.  She and I chose a Meditation class for me  that begins on Monday.  This is all free.  Only requirement is that you have or had cancer !

OK ladies...I officially changed my city to Chicagoland.  It's official - I am here.  I am staying in a hotel tonight and moving into our apartment tomorrow afternoon.  It took them 11 hours to load the truck yesterday (OMG!).  It will be quicker tomorrow as half of our stuff is going to storage.  I miss my family and friends already...lots of tears shed in the past few days but I am looking forward to getting settled here and building a new life.  I guess it is a good distraction - I don't have time to sit around and obsess over BC!  (that's a good thing!)

Lago - I have had major rash issues since chemo.  It finally went away about 3 weeks ago - it started before Easter.  Mine was super itchy and burning though.  I went to a dermatologist.  They finally came to the conclusion I was allergic so something I was ingesting. They made me stop all vitamins/supplements for a while and use a special soap and cream.  It cleared up right away.  I now thing I am potentially allergic go my iron supplements which is a bummer because I am anemic from chemo.  I have introduced some of my vitamins back in one at a time with no issue.  They tell me there is a high chance it was the iron.  I am waiting until I get settled before I try the iron again to see.  I can't deal with the rash right now again if it comes back.  They did tell me it was not uncommon for people to develop allergies after chemo.  Gee...no one told me that before chemo.  Just one more fun thing to add to the journey.  I hope the rash goes away.  They have me using Vanacream soap which you can get at the pharmacy - just ask the pharmacist and if they don't have it they can order it.  They have lotion, sunblock, shave gel among other things too.  My derm recommended it - it is super clean. 

It is so nice to hear some of you being 5 years out or more.  I have not gotten to talk with anyone that is much further into this than me.  It is hard to think about being 5 years bc free at this point.  I need to chat with people that have been survivors for a long time to give me more hope and inspiration. 

Also - does anyone see a holistic MD that deals with cancer patients?  I need to find one here.  I was seeing one in MI and would like to find one in IL.

Just waving from the Cape. Had my Wellfleet steamers for dinner. Yum. Mom seems to be doing really well. She lost a lot of weight too and look great.

BTW do not wear a long skirt when flying. I got the pat down on the legs because of it. No problems with the port on sleeves.

I think I might have an idea of what might be causing the break out. I started adding Ocean Spray cranberry lemonade powder to my water (about once a day). I'm thinking this may be the culprit. I'm not having any this week to see if that makes a difference. Too bad because it's tasty but it would be great if that's all it is.

Mak really hoping this latest treatment does the trick.

Sorry...wrong button!



Mdg....welcome to the Fox Valley! If you need anything, let me know! Sorry but I don't know about holistic doc's. My internist is very conservative...also takes kids. Practice is in St Charles with 3 other doc's...really a good practice. If you need his name, PM me. He's on staff at Delnor Hospital in Geneva (Randall Rd).



Happy Thursday to all...it's Mowing Day for me....but not yet....too early and dewy.

I have been up since 2am.  Feel wiped out right now (obviously).  Maybe I can catch a quick nap.

Adey...I was given great advice when we dropped our oldest off in 2000.  'Say your goodbyes at home'  Talk about what you want w/o the hassles of move in day.  We moved her in, ran out to a walmart, ate, and then a quick drop off because her and the new roommate had to be at a meeting for incoming students in 10 minutes.  I was so glad we had done our formal goodbye already. 

Makmak...Hope everything goes well for you today.  I just got done reading Sarah's Key.  I liked it.  Snow Flower is good, too.

Ritajean...I cried with the second one.  I know that's odd.  Maybe because he wasn't too crazy about his living situation.  Early morning golf sounds wonderful.  

Zap...I did not know that the Indian culture felt that way about cancer.   I think a meditation class sounds great.

Char...about the ostopenia...are they going to start you on a medication for that?

Mdg...glad to hear the move is going well.

Madis...you've had a very emotional week.  Try to take 1 day at a time.  Hope your next fill goes ok.

Lago...I hope you found the rash culprit, but that cran/lemon powder is tasty!  

Wendyk...I am thinking a Nook is going to be on my Christmas list this year.  Yes, free is good!