Anyone starting Chemo in August 07?

DGHoff

Hi Everyone! I'm back from sunny California. Back home to possible snow! Ugh!

We had such a good time, and it was soooo much fun to meet Kaye and Nash in person and the husbands and kids!  I look forward to the day to connect with everybody else too! And I'm game for cruises, Colorado. Pretty much anywhere. Though it would be good if we picked someplace warm during, oh, say February, for example!  (I am remembering now why I almost chose to go to college in California! Yesterday I was swimming in the ocean, but here in Minnesota it is time to pull out the wool sweaters.)

Yay to everyone on their good news! Jackie, I'm so glad that your daughter is OK!! Whew!!! And what fun for you at the Giants game!!  And awesome news, Nash, that biopsies are not needed, and that the bone scan was clear. 

Lilith-have an awesome vacation! Power shop your heart out and have fun!

June - you are right that the kiddos look like the moms! Nash's kids are beautiful, just like their momma! And I found a picture of myself at my son's age. It looks like him in drag! It's very funny!

Hugs to you all!

DeAnn

DGHoff

Hi Everyone! I'm back from sunny California. Back home to possible snow! Ugh!

We had such a good time, and it was soooo much fun to meet Kaye and Nash in person and the husbands and kids!  I look forward to the day to connect with everybody else too! And I'm game for cruises, Colorado. Pretty much anywhere. Though it would be good if we picked someplace warm during, oh, say February, for example!  (I am remembering now why I almost chose to go to college in California! Yesterday I was swimming in the ocean, but here in Minnesota it is time to pull out the wool sweaters.)

Yay to everyone on their good news! Jackie, I'm so glad that your daughter is OK!! Whew!!! And what fun for you at the Giants game!!  And awesome news, Nash, that biopsies are not needed, and that the bone scan was clear. 

Lilith-have an awesome vacation! Power shop your heart out and have fun!

June - you are right that the kiddos look like the moms! Nash's kids are beautiful, just like their momma! And I found a picture of myself at my son's age. It looks like him in drag! It's very funny!

Hugs to you all!

DeAnn

wackyjackie

Nash...great news!!!!!!!! whew!!!!

Lilith....enjoy.....!!!!!

katoMato

Good News on the scan, Nash. Real good news. (yet another sigh of relief.)

Well, Jackie have fun on the field tomorrow - I don't know yet if we get the game or not, but we'll try. We'll be looking for you!!!!

Ahhh Lilith - Have a GREAT time!!

Junem, my sister.... maybe you could give facebook another chance. I did the same thing as you - tried it and bagged it. Until my son explained some things to me...Just ignore all those people you don't know or want to keep up with. It's not rude, and they never know they're being ignored.  I have divided my "friends" into two groups: Family and BC Girls. So I can just go check out the people i really care about and just glance at all the rest if time permits.

Welcome home D - I hope you guys had a great time. 

I'm off to check out the site June suggested... back later.

nash

OK, being compulsive (for good reason most of the time, LOL), I got a copy of my bone scan which Dr. Ozzy said was fine. The report states:

"Mild focal area of activity involving the sternum at the sternomanubrial junction. This may be related to some arthritic change, however this should be correlated clinically. When correlated with the MRI breast exam done 2/0/09, no definite abnormality was seen in the sternum at that time."

However, the bone scan I had done on 12/31/08 didn't mention any uptake at all, so now what? The previous bone scan was done at another facility, so it was on a different machine, with a different radiologist. I do have pain in the sternum, which had prompted the bone scan before this.

I also have shoulder pain, and the report says,

"Minimal activity is identified in the shoulders bilaterally consistent with some arthritic change."

So...since Dr. isn't concerned, should I not be? Should I just see what the next MRI says (which is going to be done in March). I didn't realize the sternum showed up on breast MRI, but I guess it must.

Ugh. 

DGHoff

Ugh, indeed. Don't you just hate when they don't tell you everything and you have to find out stuff for yourself. But, my thinking is that if the doc isn't worried, I wouldn't be either. I think since nothing showed up on the MRI, that all is probably OK. 

I am supposed to get an MRI too one of these days. Theoretically, they were going to schedule one for me months ago. I go see my onc next week, so I'll press her on that. I didn't have a mammo 'cause I was supposed to do the MRI. Sheesh. A girl goes cancer free for two years and they don't think they have to worry about her anymore, I guess!  Oh well. I guess I'd rather be in the "we're not worried about her" camp as opposed to the other options!

yellowtownhouse

Nash.....sheesh is right!  I'm not sure sometimes if we will ever get to let our guard down a millimeter but in this case, I would take a 'bit' of a wait and see approach.  Especially in light of the fact that it was compared in the Feb MRI.  Either way you and I are of the personality group that we're probably not going to feel home free either way.     My advice is to do what you always do so well and closely monitor "how" that area is feeling and if there is ANY change then get back to the doc pronto! 

Wishing you and everyone well.

June

nash

Thanks, girls. I think I've calmed down about it. I did some research and found that uptake at the manubriosternal junction is considered a variation of normal, and that's probably why Dr. O is not concerned. I just need to trust her judgment (she's been right on everything so far), and also go with what my mom used to always say, which was basically that if something is wrong, it will eventually present itself in an obvious manner.

DeAnn, definately press your onc on the MRI.  I have both mammo and MRI done--they're staggered so I'm having some sort of imaging every six months. 

katoMato

Good advice from "mom", Nash. She was one wise woman. I have been chanting that mantra myself the last few months about little "things" that cause me to "think". Of course, you wonder while you're waiting for an obvious thing to present itself, what ELSE is happening in there...

aaaaaAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH.

deep breath.  Ahhhhh. much better.

(what an education. Who even knew we HAD manobriosternal junctions?)

wackyjackie

Nash,

I don't know what to say.  It's good to have trust but we must be our own advocates too.  I say never second guess YOU.  I think we have to trust our instincts also.  I know it's hard but try to give it time.

Hugs, Jackie

wackyjackie

To All My Beautiful Friends,

I was supposed to walk at the Making Strides American Cancer Society Walk today but we had a noreaster(spelled wrong?) and it was at the beach so we did not go.  Instead, we had a champagne (mimosa!) brunch here and I drank a mimosa for each of you (LMAO!!!!)

Hugs to you all, Jackie

katoMato

Absolutely, Jackie - you speak the truth. We need to be judicious in where/whom we place our trust. Intuition is right up there. (Physiologically speaking, I believe it's anterior to the manobriosternal junction.)

and hey, that's quite a few mimosas if you count all of us!

Nash, are you still having your uterine biopsy tomorrow or was that what you had talked her out of?

nash

No biopsy for me, thank you very much! That is indeed the procedure I talked the gyn out of. Phew! Wasn't looking forward to it, especially if it was completely unnecessary.

Yum, love mimosas, sounds like you had a fabulous brunch, Jackie! Saw all the snow at the Patriots game--you guys must have had quite the storm in that neck of the woods!

Due to a mid-life crisis that I seem to be having, instead of a uterine biopsy tomorrow, I am adopting a shelter dog. This is significant in that I have never, ever owned a dog, and have harbored a phobia of them for a long time (due to really bad childhood experiences). But since I am not going to be having a third child, I've decided we need to have a furry substitute. The hubby and kids are thrilled. I'm as nervous as I was when I brought my first child home, LOL, since I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. But I've flung myself into it, and scheduled a vet appointment and a grooming appointment, plus signed us up for obediance school (all in the next 5 days).  His name is going to be Duke, and he's a 5 yr old shepard mix. Very sweet and social. Wish me luck.

katoMato

Good choice on the new family member!!! We are dog-people from waaaaaaaaaaaay back. And a Shepherd mix is a VERY good choice. You're gonna love being a dog-mom, and if you do it like you do everything else, (ie do the research) you're gonna be wonderful. (I was a much better dog-mother than i ever was a people-mother.)

Pictures! We want PICTURES!

wackyjackie

Nash,

Good for you!!!! And your family!!!! Enjoy!!!!

Hugs, Jackie

nash

Thanks you, girls! We're home from the vet--all is well. Will put photos up on FB soon.

yellowtownhouse

Are we having a shower for the new "baby?"  I'll bring the chew toys! 

We are at that time in our lives with no 'chillins' and no animals.  But we certainly had many throughout  the years....(that's animals girls).  We had three
West Highland Terriers and a Collie over 35 years.....all were wonderful animals.  Congrats to the entire family Nash on the new addition and as someone else already said......YOU will do smashing!

hugs to all...

June

nash

LOL, we should have a Doggie Shower, huh? I actually know someone who went to one of those...

I should've named the dog Velcro. He's a bit, um, attached to me. Poor thing doesn't get any rest during the day b/c he leaps up to follow me around every time I leave the room. Hopefully he will settle down soon! 

wackyjackie

LOL!!!! Nash......have fun!!!

DGHoff

Hi Everybody! Hope you've all been well! We've been quiet here for awhile! 

Just wanted to let you know that I had a breast MRI yesterday and heard back that it all looks good! The person at the breast center had me a little freaked out though because she left a message for me to call her and that she had the results of my MRI and needed to speak with me. Had me a little panicky for a moment as I was calling her back, only to find out that there was just some scheduling mixup about a mammogram and that the MRI looked just fine. They should NEVER be allowed to leave possibly scary messages like that!  Don't they know better? 

Anyway. Looks good! Hey Nash, my onc thinks I should maybe do Zometa. I'm not totally convinced and asked her to do a bone density scan first before we consider it. Had that last week but don't have the results yet. I meet my onc next week to discuss it further. Did you have any side effects from your Zometa infusion?  

Oh, and how is the new furry family member doing?

Hugs everyone!

OH, and you may have seen it on Facebook, but I am so excited! I spent two solid days in a recording studio with a sound engineer and we managed to fully record five of my songs. It was hard to pick only five but studio time is expensive!  It was so fun, but my fingers are still a little sore from playing my guitar for hours on end! I am not actually very good at guitar, but it was still a blast and hopefully the sound guy can make me sound more polished than I am!  I'll post up the songs when they are fully mixed and ready for public listening! One of them is called "RED" and it is all about - you guessed it - the red devil chemo drug itself - Adriamycin. You guys will probably fully appreciate it more than anybody else I know.

DeAnn 

wackyjackie

De---- Congratulations!!!! Where can we get a copy??? I feel like I know someone famous.  Happy to hear your test was okay.

Ladies....it's official.  I am going back to work.  3 full days a week.  For the doctor I started working for before my diagnosis.  Wish me luck!!!!

Hugs to all......how the heck is everyone?

nash

Hi, girls! Hadn't been on our thread in a couple of weeks--looks like I missed good news! I'm so happy that your MRI was good, DeAnn! Phew! And I agree, they shouldn't leave scary messages like that--sheesh!

The Zometa is very tolerable. I get a little achey for 24 hours afterwards, but it really isn't bad. The trick is to take some Aleve or something before the infusion, then drink lots of water. I do think it's causing my hair to thin, although it may just be from the Tamoxifen, but I am losing more hair than normal. It's thin on top, and that is a side effect of both Zometa and Tamox. So hard to say. But I think the Zometa is a pretty easy bit of extra insurance to help avoid bone mets.

And the dog is settling in nicely. He's finally starting to trust us and get a hang of the routine. It's not easy being a shelter stray! He's very, very sweet.

Congrats on the recording session! Can't wait to hear the songs!

And Jackie, I'm so happy you found work, especially at a place you're familiar with. I know you'll do great. 

DGHoff

Congrats on going back to work Jackie! Good luck to you!

Thanks for the info, Nash. I'll be seeing my onc on Friday to discuss the details and decide what to do. I also had the blood test done to determine if I am metabolizing Tamoxifen. They are worried that I am not getting hot flashes!

Glad to hear the dog is starting to feel at home!

nash

I'll be interested in your Tamox metab test. My onc doesn't do it, and I didn't push it b/c I don't want to go on an AI. I only get intermittent hot flashes, and my rad onc was worried about the metabolism also, but then I read that the hot flashes are not a definitive determination. Keep us posted on what onc says.

lilith

Hi... lots of work, lots of stuff to do, little time. umphhhhh.

Jackie - so happy for you. 3 days a week is a wonderful rythm! DeAnn, brilliant about the MRI. makes me smile to think all is fine. 

Nash - I switched from Tamox to AI last year, and the hot flashes resumed for a few months... now they are back to just intermittent, as you say. I think our bodies adjust.

The 25th is my doctor time - blood check-up. I am getting a *bit* nervous. You know how every little ache feels like a terrible thing - and with hormon therapy we are all achey! jeez.

Hugs.  

wackyjackie

Lilith,

Happy to hear from you.  I will keep you in my prayers for your check-up.  It is very scary!!!

Hugs to all,

Jackie

DGHoff

Lilith- Hope your checkup goes well. I know exactly what you mean. Even though I feel 100% fine there's always this little worry that I try to let go of, but it isn't easy. 

So, here's the news on my tests.

Test #1 was the bone scan. Turns out I have mild ostopenia, so my onc definitely thinks it is a good idea for me to do the Zometa infusion. I'm scheduled for one in December now, so we'll see how that goes. I am not excited.  Still, its good to know about the ostopenia so that I can make every effort to prevent any further thinning. Makes me wonder how long it has been that way. Did I have that before all this cancer treatment, or did all this cancer treatment bring it on somehow? Anyway, I'm upping my calcium supplementation as of now and getting back on the horse of actually exercising every day instead of just thinking about it!

Test #2 was the tamox metabolism test. Well. The results were quite illuminating. Seems there was a reason why I have had such an easy time of it on the Tamox. I do not carry the gene that metabolizes it efficiently! I was actually really surprised to learn that!

Anyway, it doesn't make much sense for me to take the tamox, but since my cancer was pretty hormone happy, my onc says I REALLY need to be on some kind of hormone therapy. We discussed doing a shot that will put me into medical menopause, but since I have had exactly one period in two years, I'm speculating I might already be in early menopause, in which case I could go on Femara.  Again, I am not excited.  She did take another blood test to measure if I am actually menopausal or not, so we will see what that says.

So, lots of interesting news for me today!

Have a good weekend everyone!

DeAnn 

nash

Well, DeAnn, that was quite the onc visit, wasn't it? I wouldn't worry too much about the Zometa--I think it will help, and the side effects are really quite minimal. I would guess that the chemo brought about the ostopenia, although I'm just hazarding a guess. I don't know what age one's bones start to thin. I haven't had a bone density test done myself.

The AI thing kind of bites--I'm scared of that myself, which is why I haven't pushed for the metabolizing test. Kind of a head in the sand approach, which is coupled by the fact that there is some research that says lobular BC is tamox resistant. So I may be taking it completely in vain. Alas.

My period came back about nine months after chemo, even though I had a blood test that said I was in menopause right after chemo. I'll be interested in what your test comes back as.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

DGHoff

Got the results of my test back and it seems I am still pre-menopausal. So, now I must decide do I just stay on the Tamoxifen and at least get a small benefit from it, or do I get "the shot" that puts me into official menopause and go on Femara. Everything I've heard about the AI drugs sounds icky. Sigh. What to do? I'm thinking about doing some more research on natural means of balancing hormones. Honestly, there must be a better way!

DeAnn 

nash

Oh gosh, DeAnn, I'm sorry you've got to make that decision. It's such a risk/benefit thing--premature menopause carries its risks, too. And I'd suggest researching HT and its effect on HER2+ disease. I've read articles recently that say Tamoxifen can actually stimulate growth in HER2+ disease, but don't know if it applies to AI's. I'll have to dig around for the literature, as I've been out of the HER2+ loop since my mom died.

I think you're probably on the right track with thinking about natural means.