2005 ROCK-TOBER CHEMO GIRLS

TracyNY

Did anyone watch the Independent Lens documentary called "Lion in the House"? I think that's the name, it was on PBS about little children with cancer. I only caught the last half hour but the epilogue said that although there is an increase in childhood cancers, 75% of those diagnosed survive.

Anonymous

tda: I saw that. It was kind of hard to watch.

Anonymous

Rosemarie, so sorry for your friend.

Ravdeb, I was the same way, there was no way I would have even found a lump as I was not doing my BSE's then. This disease is so deadly, I wish there was a better way to screen. In fact, why isn't everyone given the tumor marker test once a year??? That would show the cancer wouldn't it??

Tda and brenda, the children's oncology unit is in the same building as the chemo clinic. I would see the kids everytime I would get my blood taken. It was sad but the recovery rate from childhood leukemia is now 90%.

marymelodi

I saw the documentary "Lion In The House". It was hard to watch the kids struggle with cancer and even some died. Very sad and very moving. I was inspired by their courage and grace.

sherryhaire

Had Port removed yesterday, am so glad it is gone, pretty sore today but all went well. Today was my 3 months checkup- Onc says all looks good, but still wants to see me every month for a year, Hope everyone is doing well and has a great weekend

Anonymous

Must feel good to have your port removed.

I was just diagnosed with arthritis in my eye! I thought I had pink eye that would not heal, but I was wrong. I don't know which one I'd rather have.

TracyNY

Quote:

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I was just diagnosed with arthritis in my eye!

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Huh?! I am not being facetious, but how you know when you have arthritis in your eye? Like you don't have enough problems.

Anonymous

Here's a description of my eye problem:

It started with the lower eyelid of my right eye. I thought I had what looked like a pimple. It was really red when I pulled the lid down, but the rest of the eye seemed fine. Then the skin around that eye started to hurt and my whole eye turned red. The lower lid became swollen. My GP prescribed eye drops for pink eye over the phone. When it would not get better he referred me to an opthalmologist, who diagnosed it as arthritis in the eye. There's a fancy term for it, and I wrote it somewhere.

The eye doctor said it could also be another one of my chemo side effects. He gave me a prescription that would help the inflammation. It is better now.

sherryhaire

Sometimes I don't think the doctors really know just how many side effects there are from Chemo

TracyNY

I'm glad that's over for you Brenda. There's never a dull moment, is there? I had a bit of a scare this week when my left arm was feeling a little too tight and swollen, I thought it was lymphedema for sure. I prayed about it and slept with my arms practically over my head and its better now. Thank God.

This weekend is the Gay Pride parade in NYC. One of my closest friends is coming down and we go to the city and watch the kids cavorting! Its his birthday weekend and we do this every year. I hope the rain holds up.

ravdeb

Sherry..glad that is over.Hope it heals quickly for you.

Brenda..that is weird but there is arthritis of everything..usually it's rheumatoid and those who have the kind of rheumatoid that we all know and hate (I have that thanks to chemo)are more succeptible to those weird ones like in the eye and in the lungs, etc... grrrrrrrrr.... Glad yours is feeling better.

Years back I worked with children with cancer in a hospital. Got to know them on the floor, did a bit of role playing with them with puppets before their surgeries, treatments, whatever and worked once a week in the clinic with the parents and the kids. And one of my patients died. He had leukemia. He was 4 years old. Sad but I found the work to be very rewarding.

tda...enjoy NYC and the parade and being with your friend. I'm sure you'll have a blast and I'm sure you'll have him laughing like you have US laughing!! have fun!

ake

ravdeb,

i think that our friends, family, husbands, etc. were very traumatized by us having breast cancer (of course), so when it's all over, they are in a rush to have us be ourselves again. my husband would get frustrated when i was on this site, talking about, crying, etc. because he so desperately wanted me to be myself again and when i talked about it, he would think about it and he was trying so hard not to think about cancer anymore.

they don't understand that post-treatment is so much harder than when we're in treatment...when we were in treatment, we felt like we had control, we were actively fighting, etc. now, sometimes i struggle with a helpless feeling and i'm too wary to trust any happiness or normalcy in my life. i'm working on that with my own therapist because i don't want to feel like i have to fight all the time.

don't feel pressured to be finished with anything...go at your own pace...and know we're here for you no matter what you've just finished rads so the experience is still new to you...i sobbed the day i finished. but, all of a sudden, you'll have a day where you forget to do a breast exam, or you love your hair, or you laugh as hard as you did prior to cancer, and you'll know that you still have your old self.

love,
amy

ake

oh yeah, i still don't have internet access, but i'm at my parents' house in virginia beach using their computer i may be away for a few more days next week until the damn internet modem is fixed!

ravdeb

Just wrote and lost my message.

Amy..thanks for your kind and useful words. You are right..I'm fresh out of treatments. It's on my mind constantly and I do believe it will eventually be tucked away and won't come out as often. My dh doesn't get it. He's the kind of guy who sees my cancer as a situation that needed to get fixed. Typically male, he knew I had the cancer, knew I needed the treatments and then once that would be over, I'd be "fixed". Because I'm an early stage, he has it all set that treatments were the solution and I'm "done". I know this is how he thinks. Wish it were that simple! I do understand him but it's frustrating.

This is why I'm here, on the boards, and still need the connection.

Luckily, I have my trip to concentrate on as we begin to pack our bags, and I have some new ideas to get started on when I return at the end of the summer...business ideas...that will keep me busy and is something fresh and exciting to look forward to. It will be then that the daily self-checks will go back to being monthly, I hope!

Enjoy your stay in Virgina Beach!

Anonymous

Hi everyone -
Just popped in to say hi! Lot's going on with everyone.

Brenda -
Hope your eye doesn't cause you too many problems. After chemo one of my eyes was drooping. My Dr. thought it was Myasthenia Gravis. But we waited it out and sure enough it got better. So, we too blamed it on that darned chemo!

sherryhaire -
Ahhhhhh...you are portless - woo-hoo! Glad it went well. The pain will subside over the next few days.

Rosemarie, Ravdeb -
Hope your friends are going to be okay.

marymelodi -
I'm so happy the lung issue turned out okay. Sorry you have to have the Adrenal one followed up now. Hope that one turns out to be nothing. The waiting game continues. I hate that game.

Debbie -
Hope your tummy is feeling better and less bloated. I loved your family photo. Your daughter is angelic!

Kelly -
Love your Avitar!

Amy -
Hmmm...Nutra Nails...I will have to see if that brand is here in Illinois. Have fun at VA Beach, tell your Mom & Dad I said hi (just kidding).

tda -
You, your girls, your nipples, can't wait to hear what's next! You should write a book.

maryanne -
Your dragonboat team sounds like lots of fun and hard work. It's a great way to get back in shape.

Graycie - Tracy - daydream - Paula -
Hi! Hope you're all doing well!

I hope I didn't forget anyone and hope everyone's having a great weekend.

Laura

RoseMarie

Hi everyone, will write more later but here's a picture taken with my husband's cell phone last night. It was our anniversary

TracyNY

Handsome couple!! Happy anniversary! How many years is it? I can never make it past seven!

marymelodi

Brenda:
I have the same thing, I think. Inside the lower lid of my left eye I have what looks like a pimple. It's been there for a while. At first I forgot it was there. I just thought it was a sty or something like that. But, it hasn't gone away. It didn't hurt, but in the last week I have noticed more redness and some tenderness. Your story is motivating me to call my eye doctor first thing Monday morning. I had no idea such a thing could exist. Thanks for sharing this important information. I never even thought it could be related to the cancer or treatment. Wow!

marymelodi

Rosemarie:
How nice you look!! What a happy picture. Congratulations on your anniversary. Just a lovely picture of you and your husband.

Anonymous

Rosemarie -

Beautiful photo! Happy Anniversary! Wishing you many, many more.

Laura

(BTW - me and my dh will be married 10 years this August!)

Anonymous

Rosemarie: What a great photo of you and your husband. It looks like the two of you are on a float in a parade.

Mary: I have 2 things going on in my eye: arthritis and a blocked duct (the pimple). I guess we are more susceptible after chemo.

Laura: Great to hear that you're in good spirits. My husband and I will be married 28 years on June 30th. Incidentally this is also the one year anniversary of my infamous needle core biopsy.

Anonymous

Brenda -

Congrats on your upcoming 28 year anniversary! Sorry it has to include memories of the biopsy.

Ironically, my wedding anniversary this year is the one year anniversary of my Mastectomy!

Laura

RoseMarie

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Thanks for the prayers for my friend. The tumor was quite large but thankfully all nodes are clear. She had a mast. the day before yesterday and her mom said she's in pretty good spirits.

My husband and I have been married 16 years. We took a horse and buggy ride around downtown Indianapolis after dinner - that's where my dh snapped the picture. It was a great night.

Hope you're all having a wonderfully relaxing weekend!!

maryannecb

Rosemarie, Happy anniversary. Hope you enjoyed the ride.. Great pic.

Ravdeb, who could imagine BC at 16, too sad.

tda- hope parade was a blast. My first marriage fizzled at 8 years but officially ended at11. I have my 5th anniv on June 30th. This guy is a keeper.

Brenda, glad to hear your iritis is getting better. It can be nasty so make sure you follow up.

Mary hope your eye is somethhing simple but do get it checked.

Terynsmom, tumor markers are good for following response to treatment but not especially good for diagnosing it. Mine are still negative.

Sherryhaire isn't it great to get rid of the port? No more flushing appointments. Oh, the freedom.

Amy, I am one month out of rads and feeling better every day. Today there were hours where I forgot all about this whole business. I am looking forward to the day that turns into days , then weeks. I still have negative thoughts but surprisingly am very optimistic that I am now cancer free and will remain so.

I saw the respirologist on Thursday. He feels the fluffy infiltrates in my left upper lung are likely radiation pneumonitis but... they are a little atypical. I have to have pulmonary function tests and a follow up CT scan this week. I still have a slight cough. I also have chest heaviness and sharp pain with deep breathing or coughing. Really ready to move on so hope all this stuff doesn't mean anything bad.

Fists up!

sherryhaire

Good Monday morning everyone, This is hoping everyone had a great weekend--My incision site where they removed my port last Thursday is finally not so sore!!! I finally got my onc to give my an RX for something to help me sleep at night-he gave me Lunesta and I actually slept like a baby for the first time in sooooo Long this weekend, should have asked for it earlier.. I highly recommend it!!!

TracyNY

You just met my friend Lunesta?! I thought every one knew him. We don't see each other as often as we used to anymore though. We were really tight when I first got diagnosed, when all I could envision was me laid out and my family wailing over me, my buddy used to turn all that off.

He stole me away from Ambien, my other companion. He would lull me to sleep gently and sweetly but he was too passive a lover for me and Lunesta got in there and took charge!!

Slut that I am, I left them both. I found Ativan. He keeps me calm and rocks me to sleep. Luckily they aren't jealous lovers, I use each one as I need to and they are always happy to oblige!

marymelodi

tda: I can hardly type for laughing. I am an old fuddy-duddy and stick by trazodone. He's like an old shoe, tried and true, from an older generation. I'm slightly apprehensive of those younger, flashier guys. Brave girl, you are.

RoseMarie

Lol!
Maryanne - hope all turns out well for you!!
June 30th is actually my anniversary too but we were celebrating early as we will be having a houseful of company this weekend.
Happy anniversary to both you and Brenda!! (Too funny to have 3 of us with the same anniversary!!)
I FINALLY got my surgery date - September 15. So I'll have my port poking out all summer long BUT I'm happy to finally have a date!!!
Sherry, glad to hear you're feeling better and sleeping better!
Have a great day...

sherryhaire

tda--you crack me up--so funny, I guess I waited so long before asking for something to take as I had a fear of becoming addicted to something, Doctor said to quit worrying and take as needed, Tomorrow I go for my "yearly exam" I am embarrased to say it has actually been approx 8-9 years since I have had one.

debbie444

THE MANNOGRAM

A friend sent me this to cheer me up - thought it may appeal!
Debbie