Starting Chemo February 2009?

Jaimieh

Oh Artemis I am so sorry for your families loss.  Type 1 diabetes is horrible...  I hope the vertigo goes away soon.  I really think that herceptin has something to do with it. 

Apple whoo for looking cute

Michele~ I come in Sunday (January 24th) evening at 9pm and then I have appt. on Monday.  I really hope we can meet up.  I will let you know what time my appt.'s are on Monday as soon as I know.  BTW, painting a room already ??  WOW!!  Did you get your drain out yet ??

Kerry~ I should be in NOLA for 11 days total.  I get there on a Sunday, have scans and pre-op on Monday, Tuesday is surgery day and then I should be in the hospital until Friday.  After I leave the hospital I have to stay in town until I get released to fly homw on Wednesday (hopefully). 

I am very proud of myself I managed to book 3 flights different times to NOLA by myself.  Booking flights etc.. is normally my DH's department but I got it done.  Now grant it I was yelling at the US Air lady on the phone because I only wanted to fly with them one way but they were going to charge me the miles for round trip either way.  It got a little ugly on my part and she felt like a heal but it will all work out. 

I am still bandaged up today and I feel okay.  I have a teeny tiny bit of fluid still so I am going to keep it wrapped to make sure it doesn't get out of control .  I am so ready to be done with all of this fluid nonsense.  I have not even been wearing my prostetics trying to keep the swelling to a minimum. 

gcpommom

Hi guys!

Jaimie:  try not to be too nervous, after all, NOLA is the best, you're lucky to be going there....if all goes well, I'll be looking at possible reconstruction early next year, too....and I'll probably be nervous, so I shouldn't talk!

Michele:  what color did you paint the living room?  My DH won't let me paint a whole room on my own, doesn't think I'll do enough prep....I hate the prep, it's worse than the painting itself!

Apple:  my onc also told me that I looked good....and he said it wasn't just having hair, that the sparkle was back in my eyes (I don't know how he knows the difference, I hardly get to see him, usually it's the PA)

Artemis:  wht instrument do you play?  Sorry to hear about the young woman in your family....so very sad...my BIL also passed of juvenile diabetes a few years back...I spent many years very worried that my kids would have it, but so far, so good.  Hope your vertigo gets better soon

I found MICE in my basement today, in all the 23 years I've lived here, this is a first....DH had drilled a hole to run an extension cord outside last year, and turns out he never sealed the hole...he's out of town, so I fixed the hole, and set out mouse trap....they've gotta go, now!

KerryMac

Ohh, Judy - you need a cat! I have actually heard that a lot of Oncs can tell how you are doing just by how you look - if you are looking and feeling good, you are generally doing good. Take that as a good sign!

Artemis - I too am so sorry to hear of your loss. It is so sad to hear of a ypung person passing away.

Jaimie - you are all set! Do you need someone to carry your bags.... ? I am so excited for you. Wish I could be bothered to do recon - right now I just want no more Surgeries! Hopefully 2010 will be Surgery free for me.

Big bad frost out there this morning. But it means a sunny day - I love these crisp Fall days. We still have a hole in our bedroom roof (covered with plywood) Hope it gets finished today. Tomorrow is a PA day for the kids, Emily wants to watch TV all day!

Hope everyone has a good one.

gcpommom

No cats, I'm very allergic to them....just peeked at the traps...one mouse down, but I feel so bad about that, and I don't want to go down there are see it up close, ugh.  Figures DH is out of town for this one.  I'm such a priss, lol

KerryMac

Oh, I wouldn't be able to do anything either! I am such a wimp. is it dead? just throw the whole thing away, trap and all.

Jaimieh

Oh Judy I am sorry to hear about your little friends. As a teenager I was known for letting the mice go in the field next to the house if they where alive. I can't touch a mouse trap now. I am a sissy.



Kerry I hope your roof gets fixed today.



I got to clean today:( but it is raining and cold and I just want to climb back in bed. I had to stay up and finish my portrait perty packages. I have a family session with the cutest little girls this weekend I am excited that I get to capture them.

gcpommom

Yea, it was dead.  My dad told me to set the trap inside of a coffee can turned on its side, but all I had were small cans, so the mouse was hanging out, ewww!  But I just picked up the can so he'd be inside it, and threw it all out!

Jaimie, it's funny, about 15 yrs ago we accidentally threw away a check, and had to bring a bag of garbage back into the house to find it in there....well, a little mouse shot out of the bag....I trapped him using a string, pencil, a baking pan and some peanut butter, then let him go.  But this time I just don't have the time or inclination to be humane, that's bad I know.

Back to my mosaics, have a good day!

Artemis

Judy ~ I'm a bluegrass bass player.  I should say "was" since I never practice much less play in a band.  I have a bass guitar, but no amp, and I sold my upright, so I'm in pretty sad shape, lol.  (Mice?!  Eek!!  Good luck catching them!)

Thank you, Furies, for your sympathy.  My family and I truly appreciate it.

Have a good day, everyone!

Jaimieh

Judy I don't think it's bad at all. We lived in the city 10 years ago and even though we had an exterminator we would get mice and I could't stand it. They got the trap but I made DH clean them up. I am a sissy.

apple

you just stick your hand in a couple bags, pick up the mouse and turn them inside out.. if you have to do it.

i hate killing bugs myself,  it freaks me out.

KerryMac

Cockroaches. When we lived in Sydney (Australia) we were infested. They were everywhere, we would get an exterminator, they would just run into the next apartment then come back. They were all deformed too. Hideous.

apple

omgosh.. i moved into an apartment once and it instantly filled with roaches.  I bought a couple roach bombs, set them off and came back to my apartment about 8 hours later.  THere were literally 1000s of them on the floor.. dead for the most part.  I filled an 1/8th of a grocery bag with their carcasses.

heh

Anonymous

  Good evening ladies,  I have not been on here for awhile and seems like I have missed a lot.  Judy, how is your daughter doing?  I saw where some of you are going to NO.  This is probably a stupid quesiton I should know, but why is NO the place people go for  reconstruction.?  I have a friend who lives in the quarter and I was talking to her this evening and told her how a lot of people go there and she wanted to know what hospital. and I didn't even know.  I love NO....it is different from any other place.  My freind, Emily, is an interior designer down there. 

    My Dad has mice at his house and for awhile he was actually feeding them....He set up his video camera and would put out some food for them and sure enough the mice would come. He had at one time thought there was just one.  Well, you know there is never just one. I don't like killing things, but convinced him he had to get rid of those mice.  I thought they were gone, but just last week when cleaning out drawers there, found some mouse turds.  The roach story gives me the willies.  I am afraid Daddy has those also.  Apple and Artemis, wish I had your musical ability.  I have no rhythm whatsoever. 

My CA 27/29 went up to 73 from 52, but I still want to stay on the aromasin and give it a chance.  My onco here thinks it is what is causing my diarrhea, but the onco I consulted with at MDA says he thinks it is from something else, especially since I did not get diarrhea when on aromasin before.  I feel like I wasted my time going to TX since it seems they are not even paying any attention to the recommendations I got there.  I can't understand why they would say we may  have to look for something else after just one month when at one point they watched my tumor markers go all the way to 700 before changing me to another treatment.  The way I look at it we are way ahead fo where I was before starting chemo in Feb because then they were in the high 300's.  All I know for sure is I feel better than I have for a long time and everyone says I look great.  Slowly the SEs are leaving...had the plugs taken out of my eyes (the two that were left since I accidently pulled two out the week before) and I am not tearing, I can feel my toes and food tastes great.  The edema problem is back so am not sure what that is all about, but in general everything is better.

Have any of you gotten the H1N1 vaccine? 

xpectmiracles

I got both the seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine. I got them through work. We come in contact with the viruses a lot at the hospital. I get a weekly update from the CDC and it seems that the current spike of H1N1 cases in Virginia has past it's peak. That's a good thing. Just in time for the seasonal flu to peak. (sigh)

Today I was having back pain and decided to try just tylenol for it. I took 3 of them instead of 2; but it worked! I did not need the vicodin! Maybe the pain is a side effect of the tamoxifen and the break from the med is helping. I have a glimmer of hope!

KerryMac

Oh, Cheryl, I hope your pain does go away. What is the plan of action if it is the Tamoxifen causing it? Do you feel comfortable not taking it? Your risk of recurrence must be fairly small, I would imagine you will have to decide if the small benefit outweighs the pain. Tough choices. Anyhow, i hope you start seeing some improvement soon.

Mary - you sound as though you are doing well. Nice to hear from you! I hope the Aromisin kicks in and starts dropping your tumor marker. 

Anyhow, all well here. The skylight is in and is great - so much more light in our bedroom, we can see the sky again! Hope everyone is doing well!

Jaimieh

Cherly I hope tylenol helps and continues to help. 

Marybe~ I got the H1N1 shot and I didn't have any problems from it. 

Kerry~ Glad you skylight is and and the works are out of your house. 

Does anyone have any exciting weekend plans ??  I have a family photo session that was supposed to be today but it's raining   So we were able to reschedule it for tomorrow.  Oh I forgot we also have 2 kids parties this weekend which I am not looking forward to but what do you do.  My son is sick and has been all week so I am hoping that his sniffles clears up soon. 

Okay off to try and clean and get ready for the parties....    Hope everyone's weekend is great!

gcpommom

Artemis:  My hubby has an upright...bought it used, and it needed work (new bridge, etc)....so it has sat in our basement for like 15 yrs now....I begged him to let me mosaic it, lol, but he won't go for that!

Apple:  that wouldn't work for me, even looking at it wasn't an option, I felt so bad for killing it!

Kerry:  I think having cockroaches would bother me more than the mice....at least the mice are kinda cute, lol.

Cheryl:  I still believe the coumadin is causing my pain.  When I stop taking it in December, I'll let you know if it goes away.  I am at the point where I need to start taking something for pain....my onc suggested Cymbalta (which is like Effexor), so I am not sure about that, although many report that it helps with the pain.

Mary:  Hi!  No, it's Jaimie that is going to N.O. for reconstruction, lol.  I wish.  I'm glad you are doing well.  I did not opt for the H1N1 vaccine...not a vaccine person I guess, never had one before.  

So, I managed to kill one mouse, but the other (who keeps trying to escape back through the screen I repaired, lol) is able to get the bait off the trap every single night without setting it off, lol.  Talented little bugger!  So today I built a homemade trap, and I'll let you know if it works.  The bottle is weighted at the entrance, so when the mouse gets to the bread at the end, his weight will be more, and the bottle will fall, upright, into the box.

KerryMac

Judy - that is hysterical! Let us know if it works....

apple

you are a genius....

Anonymous

  If that works, maybe you can get a patten on it.  I was just curious as to what the hospital was in NO, but went back and read some posts so now know it is St.Charles.  Is it in NO or on the other side in St. Charles.  I will ask Emily.  I have been on coumadin ( the generic Warfarin ) for about 6 yrs.  I have had several clots, but the main reason I am on it is because I had this atrial myxoma that broke off and is lodged in my pulmonary artery and the warfarin thins the blood so it can flow around it.  Dont' know if the diarrhea is affecting things or what is going on, but my INR was 5.1 on Wed.and that is way too high so I was to not take any for two days and am not taking 5 mg. per day and will have it rechecked on Mon.  Before that I was alternating 5 mg with 7.5 and it was staying between 2.5 and 3. where they wanted it.  Never know what tomorrow will bring any more, it's just one day at a time.  Re exciting weekend plans....I went to a doll show today, which was not just dolls....beads, quilts, all sorts of things.  Then I went to some little antique shops and gift shops in that area. I found a springerl mold which is a type of German cookie my grandmother made every year at Xmas.  I make them also so we really excited to find this mold which came housed in a little box that you can hang up.  The woman in the shop had no idea what it was so I was explaining the cookie to her and promised I would take her some.   I took a spaghetti casserole I made to a co-worker who lost her mother this week later this afternoon.  To me it is a  vacation to not be running to my hometown for the weekend where we are continually doing renovations.  I love redecorating and can see a light at the end of the tunnel finally, but it gets to be tiring driving back and forth every weekend.  Hope the rest of you are having a good weekend. 

gcpommom

Hi all.  I'm here in the ER with Julia....her tube is messed up....we have a really nice doctor though.  He seems to think this tube is not working at all.  Her gastric "juices" are leaking through it.  yuck, poor girl.

Well, anyway, the mouse escaped my mousetrap, the bottle was too short.  So I am now using a 2 liter bottle, and hopefully by tomorrow morning, I will have a mouse!

gotta run, they're trying to suction her tube....fun times, again, poor girl

KerryMac

Hope Julia is doing better this morning. Sounds yuckky for her.

Hope you catch that mouse!! I could send you one of our cats, she would dispatch it for you in no time. 

Not much going on here. Went out with a friend all day yesterday and got about 80% of my Christmas shopping done.  Had a nice day out too. Still fairly mild here, hope that lasts until about the 20th dec, then we get mega snowfall for Christmas!

Hope everyone is doing well. Thinking of everyone! 

Jaimieh

Wow Kerry you are on the ball.  I have 2 whole presents for Christmas so far and I normally buy for around 20 people.  My kids so far would like one of everything in the toy store....oh and my 6 year old wants a cell phone (not going to happen). 

Artemis

Kerry ~ I'm laughing at the idea of deformed cockroaches.  Like, the pesticide wasn't strong enough to kill them, just strong make them look all wonky, haha!!  And yay for having the skylight finished!

Cheryl ~ I'm glad your pain is better, but I hope you're able to go back on the Tamoxifen if that's what you want. 

Marybe ~ I'm not a real musician like apple is.  I can play just well enough to get by in a VERY low tier band.   I'm so glad to hear that you're feeling better!

Judy ~ that's a clever mousetrap you built; hope you have better luck with the bigger bottle.  Poor Julia just can't catch a break, can she?


Kerry ~ Wow, I'm impressed that you have so much Christmas shopping done!  I've started a list, and that's it.

Furies ~ I was having Herceptin this morning and suddenly got very dizzy.  The doctor had the nurse stop the drip, and then he orderd a brain MRI. 


He's not convinced it's the Herceptin causing this vertigo, but I told that I've never had it in my life until 4 days after my first H infusion.  And today the dizziness came about 10 minutes after a nurse turned the drip to go faster.   He said he's going to talk the drug company about me, but he wants to do the MRI just to be safe.

I'm glad he's erring on the side of caution, but I surely am not looking forward to this.  It's scheduled for the 30th, and I can already feel the claustrophobia setting in...

Ok, enough about me.  Hope everyone's having a good day and that you all have a most blessed week!

Love you guys!
Artemis

KerryMac

Oh Heck, Artemis (that language would be stronger if allowed here!) I can imagine that is not the most fun thing to have to go through. I am so sure it will be nothing, but I can imagine the waiting will be tourture. Hugs sent out to you m'dear.

Jaimieh

Artemis~ I have been dizzy for a while now (on an off) and my onc. is poo-pooing me.  He would NEVER admit that the herceptin would do this.  I think he believes that I would stop it (not).  I am on herceptin until February. 

 So I got my paperwork from NOLA today.  I have to get my pre-op appt. scheduled for January up here and then the day before my surgery I have 2 appt. one after the other.  I am nervous as can be but I feel like I am doing the right thing for me.  My sister and I were talking about everything today and just talking about everything now makes me nervous.  I know that I will be fine once I get there but planning everything has me nervous.  I am a sissy I tell you. 

So I worked yesterday and it went pretty well.  Now I am just finishing up their gallery and then I wait for an order   I am hoping for a decent order.  Next up this weekend's portrait party hopefully I will get a decent orders from that. 

Tomorrow I get to go to the PS to get my stitches out and check out my lovely incisions.  I am still wearing the ace bandage 24/7 to keep all of the swelling down.  I do not care if I have to do this until January...anything to keep the swelling down and my body out of the OR.    Monday I will be back in the chair for an infusion.  I am not looking forward to it

Hope everybody's week is starting off right. 

MicheleS

Oh no Artemis! The waiting is torture!  But, you can add me to the vertigo club.  I think that taxol did it to me cause it started during those treatments.

MicheleS

got the path report back on my prophy mastectomy. fiborcystic disease throughout.  My surgeon gave me the "I told ya so" speech but also told me that with a boob with so many fibrocystic changes, I'd be getting callbacks for every mammogram.  So... I'm glad I had the prophy.

apple

i suppose that's good..

good to know that definitely Michele..

sorry about the MRI Artemis.. yuk

Artemis

Thanks for the support, ladies.  I am certain it's the Herceptin.  Jamie, in addition to you and me, I've found at least 10 other women in the HER2+ thread who say they've had dizziness while having Herceptin.  And like you, there's no way I'm going to stop taking it.  I can deal with a few dizzy spells a whole lot better than I can deal with getting cancer again!

Michele ~ I'm so glad your path report was clear!  I had fibrocystitis, too; that was a big factor in my decision to have a double mastectomy.  

Jamie ~ good to hear that your NOLA plans continue to move forward.  And you are NOT a sissy!  You're a Fabulous February Fury, and don't you forget it, sistah!

Hugs to all of you!!