please help

portiasproudmom

Nettie, your posts make me smile.  I'm so sorry that you're having such a hard time with some of the nasty side effects of chemo.  I suffered from the dreaded constipation too.  It was such a foreign thing for me--I've always suffered from the opposite problem.  My onc prescribed a heavy-duty laxative for me.  It really did the trick.  You might give your doc a call if things don't loosen up for you.

I'm so very sorry about your having to wait around at the hospital in the exact ward where your brother passed away.  That must have been so difficult.  I haven't had to go back into the hospital where my dad died last August, but I do drive past it on occasion.  It makes me so sad just looking at the building.

Hang in there, dear Nettie.  You're doing great! 

Hugs,

Karen

portiasproudmom

Much love to all my dear sisters.  I'm feeling a bit better today--at least my hip isn't as sore.  I know I'm being stupid for not making a doctor's appointment--I really am pulling a "Sue", aren't I?  You're absolutely right, Judie!  Sigh...........I promise never to lecture you again, Sue.

Love and hugs,

Karen

cloudhowe

Hi Karen

Nettie here, quick note ,nurse has just gone and am being picked up in half an hour to go to the big car bottie - never been before.

Just to say I now know where your name came from and boy oh boy lassie, Portia is a lucky wee girl.

I habent had the bone ache, because of these shots - they strenghten the immune system. Will post the generic name to you. My onc - the coldest Egyptian this side of Cleopatra - is some kind of genius,

I too, Karen, normally get the opposite prob with the old waste disposal - was all stocked up with Imodium in preparation. Now am jobbing bricks. Swear in 100 years scientists will be thinking they are fram the Jurassic period!

Must dash! Much love!

Nettie

ps the jabs are called neupogen. Only ache is slight headache and having to sit on a donut!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxNettiexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

nowheregirl

             

Hi everyone. I said I would not be back here anymore but just wanted to bring some Spring as it looks like most of y'all here are getting tired of the cold weather. Been extremely busy here but things will get even more hectic as the end of March gets closer. Won't get enough time until after the end of April. Trust me, I have been working at least 14 hours a day and 6 days a week already. Imagine how I will be if things get more hectic. I can just hope I will survive this crazy time of the year. 

                  

                     

Nettie,  Welcome to our place. Now talk about conspiration! I too had severe one when I was doing EC. I guess the longest was over a week. Yuck! Hope you feel better soon.

                  

                   

Karen, So how's your hip? Sorry you have to be worried. I'm 3.5 years out already but still do get nervous when I get pain. Craptacular isn't it? Hope everything turns out to be OK soon.

                

                    

Debbie, Not sure where you live but how cold is it there? It's cold where I live but that's just by my standards. Nowhere near as cold as it is in some places in the U.S.

                    

                   

Leesa, Welcome to our place. You mentioned the girl with colon cancer who was a service rep whom you spoke to on the phone and asked if she could join us. Of course she can if she decides to be here. Sorry about sinuses. Hope you feel better soon.

                  

                   

Cathi, I know it's late to say this but I did love the pictures! You sure do look a lot younger than you really are. I almost spilt my coffee when you said you have 4 grandkids.

               

                   

Mel, my sweet friend. Big congrats to you and your sister. And woo hoo for your 2 year mark. That's the way it should be. You only deserve good.

                 

                   

Lisa, Hey you have a new b/f? Wow, that's amazing and I am hella happy for you. I bet you will make a good nurse, maybe a naughty one? *lol* Oh and you too look a lot yonger than you are. I can't even believe you are older than me.

                     

                    

Judie, Did you say you would bore us with your poem? How in the world did you think you would? You are such a special person with so much talent. The poem was touching and I know your daughter appreciated it.

                    

                     

Cheryl, Welcome to our place. I looked at your profile and hey, you joined this site on my birthday. I am glad that you finally had your PS listen to you. Sorry about the sores from Taxol. I was one of the lucky people who didn't get any major s/e's from it. I only had to be hairless and get some swelling in my feet. Hope you feel better soon.

                

                     

Linda, Sorry you are in the worrying stage. Keep us updated, OK? I sure hope they are nothing to be concerned about.

                

                    

Jane, Congrats on your 2 year mark. How's your art class going? And when will you show us your art work? Don't make us wait like idiots!

                 

                   

Elaine, I read your post somewhere saying you're going to Georgina to visit your son and his g/f. Hope you have a lovely time with them.

                

                   

Sue, Glad you are feeling better but you really must promise us to go see the doctor if you ever have anything unusual happen to your body. Don't make us all jump on the plane to kick you in the butt!

                 

                   

Nancy, Congrats on one year mark! Like you said, a dx is nothing to celebrate about but I too think of it as the day I was given a chance to live.

                 

                    

Sheila, Sorry about your MIL's kidney problems. Hope things turn out to be OK.

                 

                    

Ulla, Nice to see you back here. I too have been MIA a lot but I do come and check in on everyone here. Just can't get much time spending here. Working 16 hours a day and 6 days a week would never give me enough time for myself. Do come back as often as you can.

               

                      

Shirley, Hey where the heck are you? In case you didn't know, you are the boss and a mom to all of us here. We miss you when you are not around much.

                       

                 

Wren, Mouse, Jule,  Don't think I have seen y'all lately. Hope things are going well for you.

                   

                      

Sorry if I missed anyone but my time is up now. Another busy week ahead. Hope everyone has a peaceful Sunday. My thoughts are with you all. 

               

Hugs,

Fumi

Makratz

Thanks so much, Fumi for all your concern and the beautiful pictures.  It is snowing where I am right now and we are expected to have about 15 inches of snow by tomorrow!  Of course I have an appointment with my ONC to morrow morning.  WIll have to cancel since I'm sure my kids will be home from school for yet another snow day.

Thanks agin for the pictures, they have brightened my day!

NanaOfTen

Hi, Just spent a beautiful day with my son. I am so glad he came over. He has struggled this past year recovering from using things he shouldn't have been and he is succeeding! He is BACK! I could shed tears I am so happy to have him back, getting stronger and healthier. He even cleaned my bathroom, scrubbed the kitchen floor (the walls were getting furry from the fan, so he took care of that, too) and vacummed the carpets for me. I could go on and on 'bout him, I'm just happy to have him whole again

The expander is already in, the ps put it in when the mast was done. They filled it with some fluid then. Reading your post, Leesa, I wonder if putting in more fluid would force the rest of the stuff out of me, push it out? Makes sense to me. Make sense to you? I just want to get this extra fluid out, LOL

I stocked up on activia yogurts to be eaten once I started chemo (regular yogurt till then, love my yogurts). The day after my tx, I already noticed it (my bathroom trips) not going a "smoothly" and by the next day it was okay. If I skip a day of the activia, I can tell and will make sure I eat it.

When I saw my counselor on Friday, she said how much better my chest looked (the swelling was to the middle of the chest and to the collar bone, so one could see it with a tank top on) and she said the yellowness was gone. I didn't even know my skin was yellow from so much fluid being in it until she mentioned it. My home care nurse suggested using a heating pad on it. My daughter has one of the long ones and dropped it off, been using it every hour for fifteen minutes like the nurse said. What a difference it makes! Relief and keeping the stuff draining and the swelling going down.

While waiting for my bus to take me home Friday (the Smart Bus picks me up at my house, takes me to the appts. then takes me back home again, just a long time involved), my gp was on his way out to his car. He came and sat with me and we chatted a bit. He asked how I was doing, etc. My sugar is up. morning readings are as high as in the 170's. He asked if they are giving me steroids with the chemo tx's. Yeppers, they are. So, he said I need to make an appt to see him and will have to go back on glucophage while in tx. dayum - and I was eating such well balance meals, too Surprised.

I love my onc and gp docs.

My daughter took her four little ones to the dollar show yesterday. We had a nice laugh as we remembered my doing the same when my kids were all little (I raised two sons and two daughters ... sons are definitely easier! I do believe girls are born with pms). I asked her if she hit the penny store (I would go to the drug store to stock up my purse to avoid paying the high prices the cinema charges for treats). She said they were only getting popcorn and then they would all go out to eat afterwards. What fun for her and them today. I owe her kids a trip to the pizza parlor, the one that has all those games ... will have to plan it for two weeks from now, according to the graph from my doc, that should be one of my "good" weekends.

I forgot, I wanted to show some of my art work. I was using them for avartars for a while. Ok, this one, a watercolor, I painted when I was 13 years old. 

be right back with the pic - having a hard time pasting it

Love and hugs to my sisters,

Cheryl

AnneW

Hey, girlfriends!

I've been delinquent here for several reasons, but certainly have kept you all close in my heart.

The recent deaths, especially Deb and Annie, and now Twila, have hit me way harder than most of the others. So much suffering, but what an outpouring of love from all the women here, the "elephant" girls.

I've been focusing on the reconstruction board, because I am not happy with my implants and hope to bite the bullet and go for the DIEP or GAP this spring. I do not relish the thought of a long surgery and a long recovery, but I can no longer tolerate the cold, hard foobs and this perpetual tight band across my chest that makes me feel like I want to rip off a bra (that I don't even wear!) So, I'm deciding between NOLA and Charleston. I love Dr. Massey in Charleston, but it's all day travel from Denver. No direct flight. And if they do the GAP flaps (from the butt area) I really won't want to be sitting very long post-op!

(Here's a chuckle for you. I tell my hubby that if they go with the butt tissue for breasts, every time he feels my boobs, he'll be able to say, "Nice ass, baby!")

I've been busy trying to get this body straightened out. Chiro for neck issues, plus loosening up the mid back that I think is related to implants. And I've had hip pain for 6 months. I'm in PT for that, and I think that's slowly working. I know it's more soft tissue, but like everyone else, I start thinking, "Is it mets/?" and I intellectually know it's not, but we do live in perpetual fear!

That said, I did just pass my 7 year survival point for my first cancer...so even though I had a new primary a year and a half ago, I count every survival moment I can!

Fumi, I love your photos. They are stunning. I thought of you when I was in NZ over Christmas...I had lots of TimTams, and even a TimTam slam! (Most of us would think that was some sort of alcoholic party thing, but it's anything but!) I loved NZ--had a fabulous time there!

Enough rambling. I promise not to stay away so long--catching up on all the posting is a tough payback!

Hugs to all,

Anne

Anonymous

Fumi!!!!! I have SO missed your stunning pictures and inspiring comments. I know you are way too busy to continue on a regular basis, but know you are deeply appreciated.

Karen, I'm glad you are a bit better. Take care of yourself!

Makraz, I'm sorry about the snow. It's time for a little spring. Winter was interesting, but enough is enough. Fumi's pictures do brighten a day, don't they?

Nettie, you owe me a new keyboard. Mine is full of coffee that should have gone into my gullet but sprayed all over the place reading your post. Jobbing Jurassic bricks. I can relate to that. Good luck. I have a huge bowl of steel cut Irish oats every morning. It helps with the cholesterol and the unmentionable end problem.

Cheryl, it's exciting to hear good news from you. One step at a time, one complication out of the way, the future looks bright. What joy it must be to have a son return. Have you posted photos here before? You can't just paste.  From the help section:

How do I add an image to my message?

To add an image to a Topic or a Post, click the image icon in the Post/Topic toolbar. A popup will appear where you can enter the image’s URL (see note below), description, and dimensions. Click “Insert” to add the image.

Note: The image you wish to insert must be saved online somewhere, such as www.Photobucket.com or www.Flickr.com. Each of these sites explains how to share your images. You should select the HTML code option for the image you want, and paste it into the “Image URL” box.

I'm excited to see your artwork!

nowheregirl

              

Just had to post a quick note before hading off to bed as I forgot to post something that couldn't be forgotten. 

             

Karen, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Hope you have a great one filled with laughter! 

               

               

Anne, Don't make it sound like Tim Tam's is Kiwi's. You are going to piss Aussies off! *lol* Joking aside, they have a similar biscuit called Chit-Chat but I would have to say Tim Tam's is way better. Did you have Tim Tam's icecream? It's so yummy and I am missing it! 

              

Hugs,

Fumi

Anonymous

Fumi, you posted as I was composing mine. Oh, well....

                                                        

                                                                     

                                                      

NancyD

Fumi, I'm going to say it again...your photos are gorgeous and of professional quality. I love them! I know it's hard to post at certain times of the year when work overwhelms us...I have cyclical periods of heavy workloads and just manage to read a few posts a day at those times.

So, folks, don't think I've gone off the deep end if I don't post for a while, sometimes. It's only my job catching up to me.

To "celebrate" my cancerversary, I partied this weekend. My social life is either feast or famine, and this weekend was definitely feast. First a good friend decided to have a multiple birthdays party for everyone in our group who's recently had a birthday. That was Friday night. I overdid my "limit" and had a third glass of wine, and paid the price for it with a headache the next morning. Oh-h-hh, I can't party like I used to. I was home by 11:30.

But a nice long sleep-in and hot shower fixed that up just in time. Another friend called to say his doctor was playing in a band at a local bar and did I want to go to see him (a man of many talents). We met up with some other friends there, and I was much smarter this time. I drank cranberry juice the whole night. But again, I was out of there by 11.

I enjoyed getting out, but I'm not sure sitting in a bar with loud music, shouting all the time, and only hearing 1/4 of what people are saying is my idea of a good time. Comparing the two evenings, I'd have to say Friday night was more enjoyable, and would have been even without the wine. A dozen good friends with a few new faces in the mix, reasonable volume music, a lovely venue, and being able to have a conversation made it the best of the two by a long shot.

NanaOfTen

Ok, thanks for the advice, I joined photobucket and am learning this new site. oo bouy!

Let's try this, I keep previewing it and it keeps coming up so big even tho I tell it to size it small. This is a clown I painted in watercolor at 13 years of age. I have been doing art since I was able to hold a crayon, pencil, etc., in my hands. Won my first contest in first grade.

Here goes what I hope is not too big:

I did it!

Cheryl

NanaOfTen

Now i know to resize the pics when I upload them TO photobucket!

portiasproudmom

Thanks everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Fumi, I'm so glad you posted!  We've missed you so much!  Please come back every once in a while--it's just not the same without you!

I'm going to my mom's for dinner tonight.  She's fixing my favorite German meal--roulaten.  Love it!! 

Have a great day, everyone.

Hugs,

Karen

NanaOfTen

Karen, so it's your birthday ... Have a great one!

C

portiasproudmom

Fumi, my personalized birthday cake is awesome!  You amaze me!!!!

Love and hugs,

Karen

portiasproudmom

Thanks, Cheryl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Every birthday is a gift now.  I'm not happy about getting older, but I'm thrilled to still be here!

Hugs,

Karen

Makratz

Happy Birthday Karen.  Enjoy your German dinner!

Wren

Fumi! Your photographs are beautiful. I wish I had them in a calendar. They are so colorful.

Happy Birthday, Karen!

Hugs to you all.

portiasproudmom

Thanks Linda!!!

portiasproudmom

Thanks to you too, Wren!!

portiasproudmom

Everyone's right about your photos, Fumi.  They are absolutely breathtaking.  I wish I had them in a calendar too!  Gorgeous!

Anonymous

Oh, Karen! My favorite, too. When I was a young mom, I had a friend  from Germany who gave me some recipes for a dinner party for our group. Sadly, she didn't know how to convert measurements, etc. and guessed. I was able to wing it, though, and all were wonderful. What does your mom put in the rouladen? I Guess it varies by region. Mine had bacon, mustard, ultra-thin slices of onion, orange, and dill pickle.

Nancy, I'm with you. The bar scene is fun and exciting, but not very satisfying for me anymore. Give me good conversation in a cozy setting.

Cheryl!!! You are a quick study. That painting is amazing! What a talent. Somehow I'm not surprised. Your posts speak of a talented woman. More photos!!!! (please)

This group is filled with talented people in so many ways...art, writing, compassion, quilting, knitting, photography, wisdom, music, dance, partying....and more. A blessing, indeed.

I, too, am missing our Mother Superior. Will you ever finish selling books and return to your family, Shirlann?

NanaOfTen

Ok, will post one more today. This one I did for my art class at the community college and it also got me a job offer to do graphic art many years ago ... maybe when tx's are done I can revisit this dream . . .

I took a magazine pic of a lady and distorted it, enlarged it and then painted it with a water based paint called gouche. First and only time I ever used this medium. Wasn't too crazy about it. Dried as soon as it hit the canvas. A little bit of how I feel most days lately, tho . . .

I'm still getting a little "X" box before the pix, the words to the link and then a second pic of the paste ... I still have kinks to work out of this pasting process.

Enjoy

md_mouse

Fumi... so good to see you again.  Your pictures are beautiful.

Nana - I loved your clown picture - such talent at 13.

Karen - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Hope you have a wonderful day.

Hello and HUGS to everyone.

mouse

Makratz

Nana,

Love the pcitures, you are very talented!  Are you sure your a nana of ten or is that your just your screen name.  You look WAY to young to be a Nana!

NanaOfTen

Makraz, I have ten grandbabies (three of them by my children's marriages, seven from my kids - they are all mine, tho ) and I can't get enough of them, LOL

I'm glad you like my work. I am attempting to do another portrait now. My one granddaughter has a favorite pic of herself when she was a toddler with a Santa cap on and I "stole" the photo and would love to surprise her with the drawing. Just hard to concentrate lately. I'm sure once I get more settled into the routine of my tx and all these doc visits, it will be easier. I sure hope so.

I was just sitting and thinking how it's been almost six years since I worked, since my auto accident, and how the weekends were really nothing more than just two more days. Since my dx, and all the doc appts., the weekends are a relief again, I look forward to them as I did when I worked. Then again, this is hard work, fighting this fight. Come the weekend, we deserve a rest.

And I had my first baby at 19 - he's going to be 35 in April this year. boy, he's getting old.

Cheryl

Makratz

Thanks fo rthe information Nana.  I'm sure all 10 are truly yours.  You are very lucky!!

It's to bad you son is gettig old!  You surely are not!!

1Cathi

Fumi thanks for the great pics and wonderful compliment and yes I am ME-MA TO 4, but I did have my girls quite young, BY 22 I was done.

Hope you gals up north are doing ok with the snow today - we are a bit cold and windy again. My friend who's husband has the kidney cancer w/liver mets has to fly to Cleveland Clinic today for him (a heart procedure - big problems there too) and they are worried about the flight.

I just spoke with my daughter she had her GYN appointment today and while her DR is doing a great thing, I feel so bad/weird about it all.  She has given her script to have mammo/ US and base line MRI (Jaclyn is 28), she is kind of freaking out over it.  I tried to explain it is just precaution, but I know she is just thinking about the crap I have had the past few years, I feel so bad that I have had to pass this "fear" onto them. She has never had any of these tests, I have offered to go with her once she has her confirmed appointment.

lvtwoqlt

Fumi, I love the photos. This morning I woke up to 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. the photos of spring let me know that spring is just around the corner.

Happy birthday Karen.

Good news about my mil. She is doing better and will be put back in a regular room today. They took out the ng tube Saturday, took her off the oxygen also and gave her a bird bath. She was looking more like herself Saturday night at the last visiting hours of the day. She was even joking about whipping my bil for his birthday.

My dad is having spine surgery this afternoon, bone spurs in his lumber spine area. Please keep him in your prayers. (btw, they - father and mil - are in different hospitals) My mom said don't worry about trying to see him this evening he won't feel like much company.

Sheila