June 2007 Chemo

TerryNY

Well, the day is almost done, I hope Shrink is doing ok and that her family is by her side and all of us with her in spirit.  I can't wait to hear from her! 

B445, Pinkstock sounds fabulous!  I have read some of that thread and how awesome to meet fellow posters!  I wish you the best at your dr's appt today and know that I'm keeping you in my thoughts. 

Linda, glad to hear your rads are going so well!  Positive news is always a day brightener.   Good luck moving your dad, it's difficult having elderly parents.  My MIL is 88, soon to be 89 and still lives on her own but isn't as sharp as she used to be.  We worry about her on her own.   I felt so much better after my port was removed, probably only a mental effect but I'll take what I can get!  LOL  Hope they schedule your removal soon.

Cyndi, I'm glad you're feeling better after finishing chemo.  I am too, so much energy!  I still have twinges and numbness from Taxol but certainly much better than during treatment.   Good luck with rads too.   The party sounds wonderful, friends are a must when dealing with this.  

Guess that's the update from here...we're getting hit with snow and wind lately, winter has arrived!

b445

Today Scott, Charlene & I went and saw the neurosurgeon. We looked at the MRI done on Nov 30th compared to the one done last May. There are at least two large spots and a lot of small spots on the newsts MRI that were not seen on the one in May. The spots are cellls that got into the brain and have swelled putting pressure. It is not brain tisse that has gone bad. Because of the number of spots it may not be best to go the Gamma Knife route but rather to go the whole brain radation route and if need to done the road go gamma knife. They did another MRI today with a finer look to see if they can tell what the smaller spots are. At any rate I have a very hard and long road to recovery in front of me.
Most likey I will have to quit working as some fuctions may be limited. it can be a few months to a year before we will know all of the affects.
My goal right now is to maintain as much of a normal life as I can and spend time with family. I fell there is still a lot left for me to do and my time is not yet here.

I ask that you keep my family in your prayers as this will be as hard on them as it will be on me. In some ways harder I think for them. Financially this id going to be very difficult but I trust the good Lord will see us through.

I will know more in the days to come as to how we will proceed with treatment.

Right now I'm going to concentrate on cleaning out my house and making things as simple as possible. I've got a lot of stuff to get rid of  and make room for family to be here if they want to be.

well that's all I know for now

Love Cy

shrink

Believe it or not I'm home already after my bi-lat surgery yesterday.  The bs must be like Zorro or something.  He was done in less than two hours.  I've had almost no pain, taking tylenol maybe twice a day. I am sure that all of your prayers and good wishes helped.

 I do have these ugly drains to deal with. One of them blew their top off and soaked my shirt on the way home.  They do look like grenades.  I couldn't wait to leave the hospital.  It took about an hour to get someone to take me to the bathroom.  Two nurses started to take my bp in the wrong arm.  It took 4 hours to get all of the discharge papers together. They forgot to send my dinner last night and then sent four of them.  But I'm grateful to be feeling so well.  I'll be interested of course in the pathology report.

Hope you're all doing well.

honeygirl

Hi Cy. You and your family will be in my daily prayers. We will be right here with you on your journey to recovery. It always helps me to take it one day at a time. It does help to have family and loved ones around. Take care Cy. xxxx Melody

honeygirl

Hi Shrink , its so good to hear from you already! I'm so glad your home. I hated the drains. But its better than letting the fluid build up. I'm keeping you in my prayers. Get some rest. Good luck with the path report. xxxx Melody

TerryNY

Cy, I am sending loving and positive thoughts your way tonight, for your family and friends and most of all you.   I'm at a loss for words actually but know that we are here for you in spirit to fight along with you and to listen when you need an ear.  

Love and hugs to you, dear sister. 

TerryNY

Shrink, welcome home!  I didn't have to deal with drains...well, a mammosite catheter that acted as a drain!  They are a pain for sure.

The hospital sounds a little overworked and a bit unorganized!  Glad you finally got your dinner and a potty break. 

Keep us posted on the path report.  

Gentle hugs tonight for making this part of your journey!

DebbieK

Shrink, so glad to hear that you came through the surgery with flying colors!  Those darn drains are a pain but they are necessary.  Are they having you write down how much is accumulated each time you empty them.  I enjoyed seeing the amounts go down each day. 

Cy, so sorry to hear your news; but it sounds like your doctors are working hard to make the best treatment decisions for you.  Somehow God gives us the strength to make it through these tough times.  I'm glad you will have lots of family support in the coming months.

My prayers are with you both, Shrink and Cy. 

mikeysmom

Cy, I'm so sorry to hear about the new spots. It sounds like you are staying strong and I will certainly keep you and your family in my prayers. I just don't know what to say but as the others have said, come here to vent, cry, laugh or whatever you need. We will support you no matter what. There was someone on one of these threads that had this posted in her signature, "If God leads me to it, God will lead me through it". I love that thought and hope you do too. It brings me comfort when I don't know why things are happening.

Take care, Cyndi

mikeysmom

Shrink, it's so good to hear from you so soon after surgery. You sound like you are doing great! Lucky you that you don't have much pain. I didn't have drains for my lumpectomy but had them for other surgery and they are so annoying! But temporary and necessary...

The hospital sounds crazy! You can certainly recouperate better at home. Let us know about the path report. I'll pray for a continuing easy recovery for you.

Cyndi

b445

I do belive that God will see me through and with all the prayers headed his way how can he but not listen.

We are praying hard that the insurance company will pay for the Gamma Knife Rads as there are at least 10 visiable spots as seen on the test done yesterday. It is prefferd to go that woute first and if need be in a month of so go the whole brain rads.

So if you dont mind I will ask that your prayers be directed at the insurance company allowing the first option to be paid for.
What ever we do we are trying to get it all done before the year is out so that most of it will be covered by the insurance company before we have to start all over with deductibles and copays.

Thank you all for your support and continued prayers.

Shrink so gald you are at home I know the drains are a pain but they won't be there to long. Keep tack of how much you empty and in now time it will be down low enough for them to be removed.

Hope everyone else is doing well. I'm thinking of you and praying for you too.

TerryNY

Just checking in to see if Cy has updated about insurance approval.  I hope they've agreed to cover your treatments.  You continue to be in my thoughts, Cy!

Am doing some Christmas shopping today and hopefully will be able to ship some packages tomorrow.  

We haven't even decorated the house yet...Christmas is sneaking up on me fast this year!

Hope everyone is having a great week.  

burquie

Hello my Junies!

I haven't posted much lately, but have been reading all the posts.

Shrink, so glad the surgery is over for you, and wishing you a speedy recovery!

Cy, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Everyone else...... I hope you are all feeling well, I'm sure everyone is busy getting ready for the holidays. As Terry said, it sure is sneaking up on us!

Well, tomorrow is my last rad treatment!!! Horray!! I can't wait! This burn in my armpit is really getting bad and really hurts! Just said to my husband last night that it seems my nerve endings from the node surgery sure came back....... 'cause I can definitely feel in that area! But I'm sooo glad to be done with all treatments, and to start living the "new normal".

I have enrolled in a CNA course that begins in January and runs for 7 weeks. It was something I was planning on doing last spring, but BC had other plans for me! Anyways, I'm a little nervous about it, it's been a while since I was in school, but I'm also excited! Taking care of people is what I do best; I (along with my dh) hospiced at home his father with cancer, my mother with alzheimers and my 82 yr old dad still lives with us. (he has COPD and diabetes, but holding steady, thank god!) And my boys are both young men and don't need muching caring for anymore........ so I'm running out of people to take care of. So off to CNA school for me!

Sorry for rambling, guess I'm just so excited to be getting done with rads, and getting on with LIFE!

Hope you are all well!

dville

Hi Everybody,

Bonnie, I too have my last rad tomorrow and I am with you on the pain--the left side of my chest and my underarm are red, sore, and swollen. I can't wait for a long soak in a hot tub which should be good for my lymphedema, but with this drought that's going to be a once in a while treat. The CNA course sounds like a great idea. I'm sure you'll do great. I teach at a local tech college and my older students who have come back after being out for a long while are always my best ones. I'm going back to work in Jan. and looking forward to it.

Cy, you are going through a very dark time and I'm so sorry for you and your family. You are being very brave and I will definitely have you all in my prayers. I hope the insurance co. comes through for you.

Shrink, it sounds like you are getting over surgery very wel. That's great.

We are slowly getting ready for Christmas here. We've got all the favorite music out but the decorations will have to wait for Sunday when I've got help and no one has a parade or concert or paegent they have to be in. It's a happy kind of hectic around here and I love it, but the littlest one has head lice and I'm spending a lot of time cleaning, recleaning, and picking out nits. Yech! I hate head lice! Does anyone out there have any suggestions? I've tried everything at the drug store and now we are going the mayonaise route--very messy. Oh well, lice are part of life and I guess we get the good with the bad. I'm determined to win this battle, but it ain't easy. I wonder if any of those strange internet products work? Does anybody know?

Have a good weekend you all and if things aren't going well just tell yourself--at least I don't have head lice. This is one time when my near-baldness is actually an advantage.



Love you all, Debbie

shrink

Thanks for your good wishes, everyone. I'm grateful for all of you.  It's been a long journey and it's been good to have you with me.  My path report is not so good, I'm afraid and I am really afraid.

I finally heard from the onc and the news sucks! 

Twenty-one of 21 nodes were positive.  Everyone was surprised since the tumor shrunk so nicely.  The cancer in the nodes did not respond.  The hospital tumor board is meeting on Tuesday to discuss treatment options - radiation or radiation and oral chemo (Xeloda I think).  There was cancer in 3 of 4 quadrants of my right breast which the MRI did not pick up for some reason but the bs thinks he got all of that.  I don't know how they'll monitor for spread to other areas now that those nodes have been active all of this time.

I'm very upset since I believed the chemo was shrinking the nodes too.  I feel like I did at the beginning of this trip - very frightened.  Even worse, I feel like I went through a lot for I'm not sure what?  I know I'll settle in to some kind of rationalization eventually but for now I cry every time I think about this mess.

Hope you're all doing OK.

mikeysmom

Shrink, I'm so sorry for your upsetting path report. It is a shock since the tumor shrunk so much. I don't even know what to say. This disease sucks! Please let us know what the tumor board says. I'll be praying for you.

Cyndi

TerryNY

Bonnie, great news on the CNA school.  I think its wonderful you've found a calling.   My daughter in law is a CNA and works at a local nursing home.  She gets very attached to her patients.  Good luck!

 Hooray on the rads completion too!

Debbie, ugh, head lice.   I feel for you.  My niece just dealt with this last month.  I can't remember what she used to get rid of them, something over the counter.  It has to be done twice and everything, EVERYTHING has to be washed in hot water.  The ped nurse told her that anything that couldn't be washed, like stuffed animals, etc., to close up in a huge garbage bag for two weeks.  It's so much work to deal with.  Hope your situation clears up soon!

TerryNY

{{{Shrink}}}  I am at a loss for words.  I'm so sorry the nodes didn't respond to the chemo.   Are they doing bone scans or CT scans?   God, I hate this stinking disease.

Please know that we're here if you need a comforting shoulder or a place to vent.  

Keep us posted on what the tumor board recommends for you.

You are in my thoughts.   More {{{{Shrink}}}}

lastminuteD

Cy and Shrink - you are both in my thoughts and prayers!  

Shrink - when I found my recurrence, they did a pet scan to check for metastasis; maybe they could use that test.

Debbie - You also need to vacuum EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE.  Mattresses, along the frame, along the carpet edges.......those buggers can be anywhere.  We used over the counter stuff and luckily got rid of them - that was 17 years ago!!

I am so happy for (& jealous) of you that are done with rads.  Today would have been #8 but the machine broke so now tomorrow will be #8. 

Wishing everyone a relaxing weekend.

Dawn

shrink

The tumor board at the hospital is meeting on Tuesday to come up with recommendations.  They want to go ahead with radiation and maybe add oral chemo during rads (Xeloda).   I dared to be hopeful for a while.  Now I'm pretty discouraged.  However, there are many of you who have bigger problems than a bunch of loaded nodes.

Have a great weekend, Everyone.

b445

Got the news the insurance is going to cover at least most of the treatment so that's a relief!

Feeling pretty good but a little tired. So now we just wait and see if it did the job.

Shrink Hang in there honey we will get you through this. I know it's hard but we will fight it all the way.

GracieM2007

Hi all, sorry I haven't posted in so long. Life has gotten crazy for me. My daughter, son in law andtheir two daughters moved in about a month ago. My son in law has been transferred to a town about 15 minutes from us, and they haven'tfound a place to live yet, and their other house is on the market, so for the meantime, they are here. Then my mom had a really bad fall last week, blood sugar bottomed out, she's all banged up, so I spent days last week at her house.



I've also had a little scare, will find out more on it on the 17th, I have an appointment with my surgeon then. I have found a lump under my arm on the mastectomy side. I don't know if it has been there, and I'm just finding it, or if it's something that's just come on slowly. It's pretty good size, can't feel it if my arm is in any but one position. I'm hoping it's just scar tissue, and not a node. My last pet scan and everything came back clean, but I know that's no insurance policy either.



So, life is crazy right now.



I'm so sorry for those of us who are having continuining problems with this beast...it's just not fair. But I am keeping you all in my prayers.



For all who are done with chemo, I hope this Christmas is wonderful for you, or if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful new year.



I have missed all of you, and wish some day we can all get together. You are a great bunch of women.



Blessings,



Gracie

honeygirl

Hi Grace , I will keep you and your mom in my prayers. If you remember , I had found a lump in my armpit during chemo. It was nothing serious. I hope the same for you. Merry Christmas to you. And I wish you and your family a brighter New Year. xxxx Melody

GracieM2007

Thanks ,Melody ,I'm hoping for the best, but I also realize that this disease can come back on me at any time....so I appreciate your prayers and the encouragement you offer



God bless,



Gracie

lastminuteD

Good news about insurance b445! 

Gracie - it's always something isn't it?  Take a deep breath, find some positives and know we are all rooting for you!  The 17th sounds far but it will be here before you know it.

shrink - again, it's always something isn't it?  if the tumour board is meeting Tuesday, will they call you or do you have an appointment to find out what they recommend?  Know that we are all waiting with you!

You are both in my thoughts and prayers!

Dawn

shrink

Thank you, Dawn, and everyone.  The onc. is supposed to call me on Tuesday with the tumor board's recommendation.  Yes, it is always something and sometimes not good.  I do try to find things to be grateful for each day.  My SO is wonderful and I have lots of caring friends and family and all of you.

DebbieK

Shrink, keep those good thoughts going!  You are in my prayers!

Cy, I loved your pictures with your girls and your grandbabies.  Such a beautiful family.  My thoughts and prayers are with you.

This afternoon we had our 7-year old grandson over for a few hours.  He helped me get the artificial tree out and decorate it.  He is such a good help and so willing.  Now I can really enjoy it.

I have 7 more regular radiation treatments followed by 8 boosts.  I am looking forward to finishing with it, but I can't really complain too much.  Have had some minor skin issues to deal with but very little fatigue.  I sure hope all those nasty cancer cells are dying off from the treatments.

Hope all you girls have a great week.  Take care all,

GracieM2007

Shrink, will be keeping you in our prayers on Tuesday, although you are in our prayers every day anyway, but, extra prayers for tuesday



Thanks, Dawn Yeah, something always seems to come up. I'm hoping for the best.



Debbie, I'm so glad to hear you are doing so well with your radiation. I kind of wish I could have had it too, but they won't do it with the Lupus. Stay strong



Blessings to everyone,



Gracie

TerryNY

Cy, great news about the insurance coverage, one less worry.  I am still sending positive vibes your way, healthy cells kicking cancer cells butt!    Is the gamma knife a one time procedure? I'm not very familiar with it at all.

{{{Shrink}}}  Thinking of you dear friend.   Keep us posted on the tumor board's recommendations today. 

Gracie, whew, a whirlwind time for you.  Sorry to hear of your mother's fall, hope she's recuperating and doing well.   Good luck to your daughter and SIL on finding a place to live.  It's good to have adult kids living near home and when the grandkids are nearby, a double blessing!   I'll be thinking of you on the 17th, please let us know what's going on.  {{{Gracie}}}

DebbieK, great news on the rads, so glad to hear you're not having extreme SE.   Too cute about your grandson, they are helpful when they wanna be!  LOL   Enjoy your tree.  

My four y/o grandson walked into the house on Sunday, took one look at the tree, eyes wide,  and asked, "What is this?!"...LOL    He has a communication disability but he's talking so much since the summer, it's unbelievable how he's improved.  I really credit his teachers at the preschool he attends.  Anyway, my son said their tree is up but not decorated yet so he was probably amazed to see all the lights and ornaments.  LOL

I"m headed over to my mother-in-law's and running errands this morning.  I'll check back in later to see if Shrink updates.   I'm thinking of you!!   

b445

The gamma knife is usually done for 5 or less spots. Then they found 10 then the final count was 15 so we weren't sure is the insurance would cover it or think this is experimental. Thank The GOOD LORD that they are going to cover it. It's a big relief!

The next option was full brain rads wich has more side effects. So we were really praying for the gamma knife. There is a possiblitiy they could do it again but not as likely.

All we can do is hope and pray that this worked and when they change my chemo late Jan that it will do the trick to keep the mets at bay.

I have family in form out of town so may not be able to get on as often. But please let me know that my prayers and thoughts are with you.

Hugs & Prayers & Happy Holidays