anyone starting chemo in Nov 2005

Odalys

Hi ladies - How about having an email distribution list for the group that way when the boards are down we can still communicate. I would be willing to set it up to include everyone who is interested. Any thoughts?

Deb - count me in for the next package.

Have a good day ladies. Good luck to those receiving treatment today.

kim825

Hi everyone. The email distribution sounds like a great idea. Mine is ak825@ptd.net

Deb, glad you got the package. It was a lot of fun. It was nice to be one of the last to receive because I was able to read everyone's journal entries.

I had my second simulation for rad yesterday. It really wasn't too bad, but of course I just broke down and cried when I got into the car. I just hate all of this. I will probably be starting on Wednesday. I just hope and pray the rads to something to shrink this beast. It has been pretty painful and sore. (more than it ever has been)
I just want to get a move on with all of this.
I want to wish all of you Mom's out there a very very special Happy Mother's Day.

Kim

Mary-Lou

Deb - You email anytime, and the rest of you all too! My addy is : ww100lbs2go@yahoo.com I think that is a wonderful idea Odlays.

I had tried a website for us a while back, but I couldn't get it to work later. Sorry

I may work on that today. I wanted to be able to share pictures with all of you , and you all to add to it. All we need is a code to type in.

I think I'll call it CANCER SUCKS! Speaking of that, at the center one of the nurses was selling shirts with Cancer Sucks on the back for $10.00 as a fund raiser. ( I'm getting a deep purple one )

They made her take them off of the table. You can still buy them, but you have to ask. Hospital rules. I thought that was a little odd. And I told her cancer does suck.

Glad the box made it Deb, was everything new? Did you get the card I sent? And so sorry about the handwriting. I have a hard time reading it and I'm the one writing. That's bad

Hope all is well for everyone this morning. (((HUGS))) to all my sisters. I'm off for my 10th rads!

Margerie

Odalys,

Count me in the list too. manning0425@aol.com

Kim, I was emotional during rads too. I hated the cold table and being marked up like a piece of meat. I held it in until the last treatment and then cried like a baby afterward.
I hope you gain strength. It sure is a hard road and hugs to you! I know you are dealing with a lot and I have much respect for your courage, humor and grace.

Well ladies, I had to make the decision to get my thyroid removed- joy! My biopsy came back "no signs of caner", but there are some cells present that could be precancerous. Doc gave me the current odds which vary between 3-65% that it will become malignant. Well, not a big fan of watching a lump- been burned before. And what's with those odds? Thyroid is still a mystery organ.

I won't whine too much, surgery isn't that big a deal. Fine tuning the thyroid medication will take some time. I know much worse can happen. But I am pretty sick of this crap.

I am still doing well on Arimidex. Haven't strangled anyone yet haha.

Loved the box, especially the journal. I vote for round 2.

Odalys

Margerie- I'm so sorry. You are going through so much. I'll keep praying for you. Love and many hugs...

Anonymous

Odalys, great idea, count me in, too! My email is thebandteacher@yahoo.com.

Ok, I am going to OFFICIALLY announce Round 2 of the Pink Ribbon Exchange. If you are interested in it again, I ask that you appease my chemo brain, and send me an email directly to thebandteacher@yahoo.com. That way I can start a whole, new file of everyone's names and not get confused.
Any thoughts on stuff to include in this one? I cracked up at Margerie's pink lace panties, and wondered if part of the "theme" is the funniest "Pink Stuff" we can find. So if you have clever ideas email that to me, too.
Also, I think we can try to open the exchange to more women this time. If it turns out to be a lot, then we can split the list in half so we arent' all waiting forever.
Gotta go help dh make the bed. Our cat has had peeing issues and peed on the bed this morning. ICK. We took her to the vet and have meds to give her, which she was so not into receiving!
Love and prayers, Debbie

AnnaM

How I wish I could have another cat, but my husband is sooooooo afraid of them. My cat (acquired before I met my husband) died at the age of 17 five years ago, and I still think of him often.

Debbie, I hope your husband is giving the meds to the cat. Don't get extra scratches, even if your surgery is still in the future, and especially after the surgery if it involves removing any nodes.

Anna

Nancy-SanDiego

Morning, Ladies. Sorry I haven't been able to join you for a while--business travel and cycberspace problems.

Mary Lou, I can't believe you are on rad 10 already. Any side effects? Fatigue same? Worse? I met a lady who had just finished and she swears by fresh aloe. She said she cut a piece and rubbed it on her skin after each treatment and at night and had no redness or burning. I can't wait to get started on 5/23 (and finished). Tempted to put one of those temporary tatoos (a dragon perhaps) that connects their dots for my first treatment. Did I tell you that the sim room looks like an expensive day spa, all soft lighting, relaxing music, and warm, cushioned bed. What a joke, but so much better than the sterile/stainless steel I expected and sounds like Kim experienced. I'm sorry it had to be that way--tough enough as it is.

Still wrestling with neuropathy and will see the neurologist on 5/25. Mary Lou, did upping your Neurontin help? Any side effects? Looks like I will lose 4 toenails and a couple of fingernails. Charming. And after holding on to my eyelashes throughout, I'm down to 4-5. Gotta love that Reptilian look.

Debbie, be careful of those kitty scratches. Anna, I know what you mean about missing our kitties. Kitty Kimerly was 2 months shy of her 20th birthday when I lost her. She was such a great companion, outlasting husbands, adjusting to cross-county moves, and always willing to listen to my woes.

Margerie, so sorry you have to have surgery but I can truly understand your decision. I have been on Synthroid for years and did extremely well (except for this pesky bc).

Odayls, thank you for taking this project on, I can't imagine not being able to communicate with all of you. My e-mail address is nkimerly@cox.net.

I better get dressed--today is the kickoff for the 3-Day Walk in November. I will be on the food crew and really looking forward to it.

Happy Mothers Day to all of you. I hope you spend tomorrow surrounded by family or memories of moms and children. Mine include little tummies hanging over their diapers as they waddle toward you, attention spans of t-ball players, first year saxophone practice (WOW that was painful, right Debbie?), the pride of graduations, joy of weddings, and the glorious gift of grandchildren. I will be thinking of my Mom and how much I miss her and yet feel her presence so strongly. And, I will be thinking of all my sisters here and how grateful I am to have you in my life.

Nancy

AnnaM

Nancy, so good to hear from you again!

I think all of you on this board are just totally classy. I feel like this is a home to my heart.

I get to spend tomorrow with my mother, and I feel lucky. My daughter is in France for the year and had no clue tomorrow was Mothers' Day till I happened to mentioned to her in our phone conversation today that I was going to spend the day with my mom. The French celebrate M.D. later this month. Now we'll get a phone call though, so that'll be nice. Mothers are incredible. I don't think it's fair that mothers should have to deal with breast cancer. Some of my very best memories as a mother have to do with nursing my baby. It just ain't right....

I wish all of you dear sisters a good day tomorrow, mothers or not, all of us have nurtured others in our lifetime.

with much love and wishes for peace and goodness,

Anna

Odalys

Nancy how great to hear from you again. Sorry about those toe nails. I know what you mean about the eyelashes; I too lost mine at the end. The good news is that they are growing in again but it's a slow process. It seems one eye is always ahead of the other.

Ladies, something very exciting happened today. For days Steven has been wanting to adopt a Beagle. Well, today we walked into the pet shelter thinking that we would look around and would you believe the first dog we see is a Beagle! She is a sweetie, playful, and quiet. Well Steven could not contain the excitement. We adopted her. Her name is Maggie and she is 9 month old. She was brought into the shelter two days ago by her owner. It's been so nice spending the day getting Maggie settled in our home.

Rads is proceeding nicely. I finished the regular rads yesterday (25/33) and will be starting the boosts on Monday. The skin is a little red but doing great. I think the Aloe has really worked. Rads fatigue is really quicking in. I had to miss four days from work this week because I was so tired I could not even think straight. It felt like everything around me was moving too fast and I could not keep up. My brain knows what I need to do but my body is saying no way.

Happy Mother's day ladies. I think Nancy and Anna have said it best. I would just add that I feel really blessed to have you all in my life. I could have never gotten through these difficult months without your kindness, support, and words of encouragement. At times I needed motherly support and you have given it to me and for that I will always be greatful. Take care and God bless you all.

kim825

Happy Mother's Day to my "sisters". I hope you all have a wonderful day.

love,
Kim

Mary-Lou

Happy Mothers Day

I have had a long day, just wanted to say hi to you all. I will catch up later after I have a nap. LOL

Hope all of you are doing well this beautiful Sunday.

Love Mary Lou .

AnnaM

I want a Beagle!

Mary-Lou

I'm so mad right now, I just posted a long post to each one of you. And it was lost again Grrrrrrrrr. Says that it is no longer the format or something like that. And I couldn't get it back.

It is 11:45 pm, so I will try again after rads tomorrow. Sorry

I wouldn't be so mad if it wasn't in such great detail ~~~~~

AnnaM

Mary Lou, I can imagine your frustration. Try this: just before you hit the continue button highlight everything you have written and copy it. That way if it doesn't go through you can paste it again.

Margerie, when is your surgery scheduled? How long is the surgery, and what is the recovery timeframe?

Kaye, I hope you are doing well.

Getting ready to go for Herceptin treatment.

Three black toenails and very very very sore joints, but the breathing sure is better. My onc. explained to me that the toenails did what the hair did, but it just takes longer to notice bec. they take longer to fall out. Also, she says chemo put me into menopause and my joints don't get the same lubrication they used to, that's why they hurt. She says it'll get better. I just hope they don't get better just to get bad again when I start the AI treatment, namely, after Herceptin. We have to make sure I'm menopausal then, too. I haven't had any hotflashes (I hope I don't regret these words).

Odalys, how is that little beagle? My husband and I walk in the neighborhood (pretty far from town, houses far apart, gravel road, no sidewalks, unfortunately) and just about a mile from our house live two Beagle pups, maybe the same age as your new puppy (aren't they puppies till one year?). They howl and howl when we walk by, no barking per se, just little hoarse attempts at serious howling. One of them is way more courageous than the other. They are inside an invisible fence and the feistier one comes right up to the edge, still way back from the road, but he comes right up there. The other one stays back and just imitates Mr. Champ. I love seeing them and am always disappointed if their owners aren't back from work and haven't put them out when we walk by.

If we walk in the other direction we get to see Lily, a black lab who comes running and plays fetch with us for the rest of our walk. She's the friendliest dog I have ever met.

I spent the weekend cleaning house. Two family members are coming tomorrow (but not together) to spend the rest of May with us. One of them is my sister-in-law, who is very dear to me. I hope to teach her some quilting while she is here. The other is my stepdaughter, who is going through some sort of nervous breakdown (this has been ongoing for the past two years or so) and who often causes great pain in our family. I have resisted the latter visit throughout chemo, but can't resist any more. Needless to say, I am hoping I can keep hold of my positive frame of mind.

I wish we could have that retreat we imagined back in the winter. Remember? I think we were picturing ourselves on the beach near Odalys. That's what I'll put in my mind during the coming days. That haven. That is exactly what all of you have been to me these past months.

Have a good Monday!

Anna

Odalys

Hi Anna - sounds like you are doing so much better. Hope the family members don't tire you out too much. Good luck with stepdaughter.

I have some bad news about the Beagle. She ran away this morning. I let her out to our backyard while I got Steven ready for school and when we got ready to let her back in she was no where to be found. I had to convince Steven that she was probably exploring the backyard so he would not get upset before school. However, I've looked everywhere and she is gone. I even walked and drove around the neighborhood but no luck. Oh boy...I'm not sure how to break the news to Steven this afternoon. Just a little more stress to add to the mix!!!

kim825

Oh Odalys, I hope Maggie finds her way back home.
ML that stinks that you typed up that whole message and it got lost in cyberspace. I'd be pissed also. Anna's suggestion sounds like a good one especially if you are still having trouble with these boards. Anna hope you enjoy your company and don't get stressed out too much. I have my run through with rads tomorrow. Then Wednesday should be first treatment.
Hope you all have a great week.

Kim

Odalys

Update...Maggie is back home thanks to a good samaritan who found her, took her to the nearest Vet where they scanned her and found the microchip. They were able to locate me right away. She was back home before Steven got out of school. It must be our lucky day!

Oops...I was so stressed over the missing dog I missed my rads appointment and now it's thunderstorming. Oh well, I don't think one day would make a difference. I'll just have to finish my boost next week on Thursday instead of Wednesday.

BTW- It's nice to be able to share other parts of our life on this board. Thanks for listening and caring. Many hugs...

Odalys

Now that the dog drama is over...Hope everyone had a nice mother's day. Just want to share with you the mother's day poem Steven wrote for me in school. Here it goes:

I hear my Mother's soft voice reading poems to me, words like music over and over. I hear the sound of her cooking spoon beating against a white bowl in her sweet-smelling kitchen. I hear her car turning into the driveway home from work. I hear her heels taptapping as she comes into the bedroom to kiss me good-night and I feel her smooth skin as she takes me in her arms and holds me tight.

Is he talented or what? I think this is very deep for an 8 y/o but who is bragging?


PS: Sorry, I don't mean to hog the board today; just have a lot of time in my hands today.

kim825

That is a beautiful poem Odalys. Brag away!!!

Glad to hear Maggie is home safe and sound.

Kim

Odalys

Thanks, Kim. How are you doing today? Hope RADS goes well on Wednesday. You will see the actual treatment will probably be a breeze compared to everything you have gone through already. Let us know how it turns out.

Margerie

Odalys-

Great news for Beagle Maggie. Those darn dogs!

Your son's poem, extra special. My oldest made a story book with his favorite mom things and he illustrated everything with me having my hair. I could of cried!

Kids are such a blessing.


Hope rads go well for you girls. Anyone need a spatula yet so they can turn you over?

Odalys

Oh, Margie how sweet. I know what you mean, they sure keep things in perspective for us as we're going through all this bc stuff. Hair is a big deal to them too.

Anonymous

Hi Everyone,
I'm sorry I haven't been here for a little bit. I have been missing every one of you like crazy, though!

Gheesh, it was so weird to read each of the posts I have missed these past few days. I would go through each one of your highs and lows with each line I read! Especially the saga of the beagle! Oh my goodness....I was having palpitations by the end!

I am so glad everyone had such a blessed Mother's Day. We had a special day, too. My favorite part of the day? Watching little Daniel try to drag "his gift" for me across the room because it was too big for him to carry. Also, watching Daddy and Daniel vaccum the floor together. Daniel was trying so hard to "help" Daddy and struggling to keep up, and Greg was being so patient and cute with him.

Of course now Daniel is sick. Poor thing! He seems to have the stomach flu again! I was doing his stretches (for his CP), and he pointed to his mouth. I thought he wanted to eat and I told him, "No, it's almost bedtime...." then he coughed and barfed all over me. Greg thought it was because Daniel was spinning around the room earlier, but then Daniel puked about 100 times in the bathroom and several times in his room!
I don't care....I love being a mommy. He cried each time and just wanted to snuggle with me.
I have to go help with the dishes (Greg has to wash because it hurts my hands!). I also have to open up the exchange to some others!
Love and prayers, Debbie

kim825

Deb, I hope Daniel is feeling better. It is kind of funny when the kids throw up on you. Usually Anthony gets the brunt of it. Then he has to clean it up because I will puke from the smell. LOL!!! Glad you had a great Mommy's Day.

Kim

Mary-Lou

Grrrrrrrrr it lost one again. When I preview is when I lose it. I really don't understand.

I was going to copy and paste. Didn't give me a chance.

Mary-Lou

Nancy, and anyone having a hard time with the leg pain and the Neuropathy. Try the Cymbalta. I see a difference and it has only been a few days.

Google it if you want to know more.

Mary-Lou

Can a post be to long? Maybe that's the problem.

I know I just love you all so much. If I had to go this alone I really don't think I could have sailed as smooth as I have.

ML

kim825

ML, glad you are feeling better only after a couple days on the Cymbalta. That is good news.
I go in for rad. #1 today. I am so glad to get this started. I wish I could say I am off the chemo, but that won't happen for a while. My breast is still very red, warm and swollen. You'd really think I have an infection, but I guess it isn't. The funny thing is that I've had a fever of 100.4 the last 2 nights. Did I call the doctor, NO because they said to call if it was over 100.5 So we didn't call. I do have a call into the doctor with some other questions, so I will mention about the "fever".
Hope you all are having a great week.

love,
Kim

Odalys

Mary Lou - Great news about the Cymbalta, glad it's working for you. As for the posting, how frustrating. Can you type it on Word and then cut and paste it onto the preview screen. If it's too long, how about multiple postings one for each member.

Kim, I hope rads goes well for you today. Are you in any pain? Please let us know what the doctor says about your temp. Hope you feel better soon.

Debbie, How is Daniel doing? Hope he is doing better.

Ladies, I've been so tired from Rads and the daily commute and so stressed trying to juggle it all that my blood pressure was very high last week. The rad onc gave me time off from work until 5/29 so I can finish all the treatments. I'm glad she did because my head wants to do so many things but the body says no way. I was told the rads fatigue goes away slowly after the last treatment. I hope so. Meantime, I'm trying to rest as much as I can.

Hope everyone is having a good day. Love and Hugs...