For those starting chemo in June

mary1220

Good Sat. morn girls, Yea, that is cool to have NED for an onky. Glad your with us Shrink. Janie, glad your back girlfriend. Janie, it is kinda funny that my son has shoulder problems and my hubby and I. I wonder if they are all the same? It took 9 months for them to find my sons muscle was torn form the scapula. They treated him like us, for muscle strain. Come to think of it we all have sore left shoulders. Hummmmm. Is there something going on here? Hubby is both shoulders but mostly left. Oh thank God he has been busy working on his little wood projects. He hasn't offered to fix a thing but I don't think he can physically with his pain. P.J., hope you are drying out. Good luck for N.L. Later girls, Mary

mary1220

No Janie, you are a "cool psychologist". Mare

janie44

Hey girlfriend Mary,

That is strange that you all have the same ailment in the same place. I can sort of see why you (working in crafts and all the nursing stuff you used to do) and Tooling Tim with all the woodworking etc. he does having shoulder problems, but now, the son as well?

Yeah, two shrinks on the same thread. Can ya'll stand so much analysis? lol. I cannot count the times I have said "No, I cannot read your mind, and no, I do not analyze everything you say." My kids used to say 'Don't try that psychology stuff on me." I replied, "It's not psychology. It is called common sense." lol Sometimes, I think I missed out on getting some of that myself.

Have a good weekend.

shrink

Well Ladies:

Having been the "helper/therapist" for so many years, I find it difficult to be the person who now needs to ask for help. Maybe that's one of the lessons I can learn from this nightmare. I am finding that being diagnosed with advanced cancer (Stage III) the most shocking, unsettling experience of my life (I'm 66). I cry unexpectedly at people's kindness, I'm incredibly sad and angry. I'm frightened as well. However, over time (since the end of May when I was diagnosed),these feelings have become momentary and most of the time (when I'm not nauseous), I'm reasonably OK. I do find that for me, talking about these feelings and writing them down does help as does calling on my support systems, telling people what I need and just plain old keeping my feet moving. I think these are normal reactions to a highly stressful situation. For those of you who think you have to keep this all inside or be "strong", IMO it's OK to recognize and accept vulnerability especially at this early stage in our journey. I know that a positive attitude can do wonders long term and I can feel it peeking around the next corner. These message boards are wonderful in terms of support and information. I read them several times a day.

Thinking of you all this weekend.

mary1220

I think as time goes on it gets easier but it is always there, the threat that when you least expect it your world can come crashing down again for no good reason. I think leaving our loved ones has to be the scarest thing in life so naturally we are scared. After all this wasn't in our life plan and we didn't have any intention of leaving here until we were ready. I think we all cry sometimes and get scared sometimes and see the world a whole new way. We enjoy so much we never gave a second thought about before and we appreciate "life" and how fragile it is and how exciting and happy it is. Hech, we are a new us and thats not so bad and we have each other and thats great because no one else understands us except us. I am so greatful for my little June Bugs. I am tired so good night ladies. Mary

PJB

Mary, I so hope your son does well this time and that a stupid nurse doesn't worsen his problems. Maybe the three of you can get a group discount on pain meds. Better yet, get a drug company to make you guys a clinical trial and get them all to you for free.

Nancy, we're waiting to hear from you that everything's OK.

Janie, when does your school start up there? You'll be in your new place by then, right?

And Shrink, it does get easier but it never gets completely better. I've been NED now after a recurrence and probable regional spread that happened less than a year after my first treatment was done. I got back for new scans in August, and i'm scared spitless. But, hey, I know I have at least until Aug. 21 that everything is fine. So, that's good enough for me these days.

You guys have a great Sunday,
Paula

janie44

PJ, we go back for pre-planning on the 26th. The kids return August 1. I am trying to get squared away asap. Not much time left.

mary1220

Gosh summer is going fast. I am so trying to get stuff all cleaned up so we can leave before the snow flies. I get my mammo Aug. the 2nd. so that will be outta the way for another year. I don't get as anxious about that as other pain like my neck and thyroid. I guess I just don't think it will come back in my boob. Not to be confused with me a "boob". I have my grandaughters birthday party tomorrow so we have to go help with 6 girls and 2 boys. My son rented a cabin at the lake for a slumber party so I made jelley bracelets and goodie bags. I don't think I will swim or ride in a paddle boat, I will just help cook. My son fell over a log and hit a stump with his face and broke his nose and orbital and sinus bone. He looks like heck! His eyes are black and swollen something awful. He has to see a plastics gal Thurs. He was to have his shoulder surgery Mon. but that is not going to happen now for a while. Wow, we don't just read Murphy's law, we live it. Well, I better get so have a good night ladies. Mary

janie44

Hey,

I made an offer on a house. They have until 2:00 tomorrow to accept. If they do, everyone is working feverishly to close by the 31st, which will be interesting since I will be back at work by then. Still much packing to do. I can put myself under so much stress. lol. Mary, hope all of your family, including you, gets a break from aches and pains soon.

My back is bothering me lots lately, but I know it is due to packing and lifting.

Later Ladies

PJB

Janie, LOVED the pic of your house. It looks so cute and comfy. I bet it's great inside.

Mary, your family has THE worst luck.... I hope the party is great. Sounds like a blast. What a cool idea for a party.

NancyLee, if you're out there, hope you're well...

Actually, very nice day here. In the 80s in mid-July in Texas. Crazy. Getting excited about our trip to SoDak in just three weeks. It'll be so nice.

Later,
PJ

janie44

Mary, I would like to have you for a grandma. lol. you do such neat things.

nancy lee, hope all is going well for you.

kathy, how is your treatment going? we are here for you if you need those who have been there done that.

pj, yes, i think i will enjoy my house lots. i will have plenty of room to knock around in. depending on how i use the finished room downstairs, it either has 3 or 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. i am ready to be in a house again. i feel good enough to maintain one now. i may change my mind the lst time i mow the lawn.

later taters

mary1220

Hey girls, we are going to be gone the next 2 days so I will try to get on when we get home but we will be gone all day. I hope N.L. checks in with good news. I am sooo happy for you Janie. Just think of all the "stuff" you can collect now with all that room. That sure is a beautiful home and it looks like a nice street. Not long until your trip P.J. I bet your getting excited and Nathan too. Mary

janie44

Hey all,

Meeting with the inspector this morning and then headed to TN shortly afterwards for a couple of days. Big shindig in my hometown this week. My oldest and youngest are already there. My "middle child syndrome" child is going with me today. I do not know where he even heard the term, but when he was little he used it for an excuse once when he did something he shouldn't. lol.

Well, I best get busy and pack a little more before my appointment.

Later Ladies,

litig8or

HAHA Janie! I too used used the 'middle child syndrome' to my advantage whenever I could growing up----my brother is 3 years older, thus in my view he got to all sorts of great stuff. And then, my sister, she's 4 MINUTES younger--well, being the 'baby', she got all the attention and poor me.....I was just ignored and had to demand attention to get it! LOL! We still talk about my 'snydrome' to this day--and I still use when it when necessary!

Kathy

mary1220

Have fun Janie. Gosh, sure hope your o.k. N.L. Gotta get going. Doing really well at this summerfest. P.J. is no doubt getting packed. Hi Kathy. Everyone have a great wk. end. Mary

PJB

Hey, girls,

Not packing yet, Mary, unfortunately. Can you believe it's raining and 75 degrees again? Weird. Loving it, but weird. Glad summerfest is going great for you.

Waiting for my Harry Potter book to get here. Then I plan to turn Nathan over to my husband and read.... But first, gotta take the dog in for a haircut, take my mom over to a few places, go to the grocery story. OK, so maybe I'll start reading tomorrow....

Janie, are you having a housewarming party when you move?

Nancy, hope you're doing OK.

Paula

NancyLee13

Yah, I'm doing OK--not great--just OK. I haven't even looked in here since my exploratory on the 13th. I was busy all last week getting the team squared up for the Relay for Life. It went well. I just got back home about an hour ago and I had to turn on the air conditioners. It's 103 outside and close to that in my closed up house. I brought the dog in. He's lying on the floor soaking up the cool air!! I walked most of the night and earned scads of money for the ACS. I won 2 round trip airline tickets for earning the most money for an individual. I'm sending them to my sister. I DON'T fly, but it's a really nice prize. She and my BIL can fly out to see me!! On the medical front, I go into the hospital on Monday and they do a complete hysterectomy on Tuesday. I'll probably be in the hospital until Friday because I live so far from the hospital and I don't listen to instructions very well (or some other foolishness!!) Then they say that I'm kinda out of action for 4 to 6 weeks so I'll probably drive you all crazy complaining about being cooped up in my house!! Prepare yourselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I took so long to get back--just needed to get that RFL out of the way and I can kinda do amazing things when I put my whole concentation on something. I was trying to raise $1000 and then I moved my goal to $1300 and I ended up with over $2700. Cool, huh? I'm pooped--gonna go unpack the jeep and shower and then try to rest some--well, rest and read the new Harry Potter book I just picked up after the Relay!!! Yay--Bye for now my muggle friends--Life is Good Smiles--NancyLee

PJB

NL, wow, girl, 2700 bucks. That's amazing. And so nice of you to share your prize with your sister. Hope your recovery is quick from the hysterectomy. Don't push yourself too hard or it'll just take longer.

Have fun with Harry. I just finished it about an hour ago... Now I'm gonna start reading it again, more slowly this time. I just about couldn't go on the Web until I had it read because I was afraid I'd find out what happened.

I hope you guys get rid of that hot weather up there before I get there. (Who'd have thought I'd be saying THAT from Texas.....)

Hey to everyone else..... Hope your Sundays are going well.


Paula

NancyLee13

OMG!!! It was 107 here today--I think that once it gets to 100 it doesn't matter how much it goes up after that. It was just HOT!! I'm supposed to just be drinking liquids and all that good stuff up til 3 am and then nothing more. It was supposed to be midnight, but the nurse said that since I'm the queen of dehydration they want me to drink a whole bunch of water til 3. I drank a bunch of that laxative fizzy stuff and so I have spent most of the evening visiting the powder room..with that and all the water, I will probably be awake all night. Cindy is driving me up there in the morning so I can rest in the car and sleep during the surgery!! I intend to take it easy so that I can be all healed up by time to start teaching again. I have tons of bookwork to do and lots of sitting around stuff like crosswords, jigsaw puzzles and books so I should be alright. My house looks amazing because I cleaned it all up so that I don't have to do housework during recovery. I haven't seen it look this nice in forever. I got my picture of the survivors at the Komen race this May. It's so cool--the lady in the post office and my friend in the bank picked me out of the sea of pink right off the bat although I'm in the way back because they started with the fewest years in the back and then went forward to the 40 and 50 year survivors. I'm standing with the 1-5 year ladies and I'm like one of the few who had hair!! Well, feel an urge to head to the ladies room--talk to you all probably this weekend when I get out of the hospital. Life is Good Smiles NancyLee

PJB

Nancy, you're so smart to clean up that house! It'll be so nice to just come home and relax. Thinking of you today. And I really, really hope you come home to nicer weather. Hot is not a good way to recover. (And you're right, once it's over 100, it's hot no matter if it's 103 or 112)....


Hey to Janie and Mary, too

Paula

janie44

nancy, best of luck to you during your surgery and recovery. thoughts and prayers coming your way. i take it they will be doing it the old way since the recovery is so long. bummer.

hey mary, pj, kathy.

i return to work thursday. close on the house tuesday. had a fender bender this past weekend and dealing with all that goes with that. truck plowed into the back of me at a traffic light. i had just gotten my car serviced and it was in the best shape it has been in for a while.

everyone (appraiser, inspector, homeowners guy) who goes to my house tells me how nice it is and what a good deal i am getting. it has been very well maintained. i am anxious to get in it and settled.

hugs to all,

mary1220

Hey, hope all goes well N.L. I will be thinking of you. Sorry about you accident Janie but glad everything is going smooth with the house. I got my MRI and I have a tumor on spine. I am seeing the Onky today. Now by some out of this world chance maybe it will be not cancer.....What are the chances? I am really scared. Later, Mary

shrink

Wishing you the best, Mary.

janie44

Oh Mary! I am so sorry this is happening to you. I am thinking of you and praying hard that it is not cancer. Hugs coming your way. Janie

PJB

Mary, we'll be there with you at the onky's office. I'll bring lots of chocolate for us to worry away with. What time is your appt.? (I don't want to be late) Gosh, just giant hugs coming from Texas. Glad tho, that you'll see onc so quickly.

Paula

mary1220

Hey girls, its comforting knowing you guys are here and know how I feel. I haven't told anyone until I talk to the Onky. I am keeping it cool but inside I am really anxious. I think I would feel better just knowing for sure ya know. I of course looked it up (the kind of tumor it is) and it comes from breast and prostrate ca. and the time is about 18 months mortality. I ain't looking it up anymore. I am really thinking maybe it is a fluke,I have to. My apt. is 2:15. I will check in later. Thanks and hugs girls, Mary

janie44

Mary, We are all there with you waiting anxiously. It is 2:07 here Day Light Savings Time (ET). If we are in the same time zone, you are there now. Whatever the time, feel the vibes coming your way. We love you.

Janie

PJB

Mary, whatever you do do NOT look at whatever stats they have for mortality. They just aren't accurate and they don't take into account any new drugs. But mostly they don't take into account YOU, who even if it's bad will kick this again.

Waiting for your update, whenever you feel like posting. Giant hugs,
Paula

mary1220

Hey girls, all of you, I felt braver knowing I wasn't alone, thanks. I have 2 tumors but they don't at all think they are cancer. They think it is from spine injuries. They grow slowly but can cause pain and maybe need to come out in some point in time. One is small and one bigger and has been there since 2005. No one told me that....Sometimes they can't be removed because of nerves and you have to live with it but he is going to get it checked. He thinks I have very bad neuropthy in my neck and arms. He said pain management is the only thing for that. He thinks the bigger tumor is causing some pain also. He is going to get me into a spine guy to see if it needs to come out. First he is getting a bone scan just to be sure. SHEW!!! That was scary. Hubby chewed me out for looking it up on the puter. Gosh, now I know what it feels like to recur., it sucks, poor P.J. went through it a while back. I get my shot tomorrow in my shoulder finally!!!! I have to take my son up to get surgery on his face. Two guys attached him one night last wk. end and beat him unconscious with a bat and their boots. He has 14 fractures in his face, broken nose in 2 places and broken sinus bone and orbital bone. He was walking their dog. People knew it happened but the 2 that did it are meth. makers and people are scared of them. They hit my son in the head then beat him just because they felt like it. We know who it was and the house they were at(this is a small enough town). My son lost his memory for a few days after and thought he feel on a log but it all started to come back and the keestone cops here thought he was lieing because he didn't know what happened. Someone called and told him who it was and the guy is on parol for meth. and domestic violence. This guy's brother stabbed someone a few days earlier. Our police force isn't experienced and these people have been getting by with this crap for some time. The police say the perps won't admitt it so we can't do anything but they are investigating and maybe they will get something done. I don't know how someone can do something like that to another human being. They didn't fight, they tried to kill. My son(only has one good arm) has to get his face and nose and head fixed now and didn't get to get his shoulder done this wk. When it rains......Thanks for all the thoughs and I am just going to relax this eve and sleep good. Hugs girls, Mary

shrink

Geeez, Mary. That is terrible. I hate what we're all going through with this cancer business but when something happens to one of our children, it's worse. I am so sorry about this. I'd be tempted to contact Tony Soprano or Dexter (TV Cop who takes out the bad guys when the justice system doesn't work).

Glad to hear about your other news though.