**NEW** Starting Chemo March 2009

kim40

Hey Guys or should I say Gals!!

 Just heard from my onc and the news is..........................................ALL CLEAR!!!  YAHOO!!!!

I'm soooooooooooo happy!!!!!  Thanks for keeping  your fingers crossed for me!!!!

Luv ya all!!!!

ChrisC433

I am sooooo happy for you Kim....great news!  You go celebrate now!!!

Mom_of_boys

Kim... can I be the first to say, "I told you so."    I told you that you would soon join our club of post-chemo good results group!

Chris... Italy is still my dream vacation!  I'm way jealous...

crusader1

Kim..

Great News

Now you can breath more freely.

Hugs,

Francine

Dawnmrn1

Kim!  You go girl!!!! Hope aboard the good news train!  Dawn

didle20Diane

Hi gals this is going to be a double post.......Surgery went pretty well today.  I got my TE put in on the L and my simple mast on the R but the PS couldn't go straight to implant so I have a TE on that side too.....I was told this could happen but was hoping to be done with the one side.  SIGH......I was a BIG baby while waiting to get taken back to the OR.  I teared up everytime someone came in for my preop CRAP.  Oh, and I love my surgeons....on my paperwork it said I was having breast augmentation...YEAH right I am hear for a boob job but not my flipping choice.  SFBC!  I have 2 drains and a lidocaine pump for 4 days.  So far I haven't taken any pain meds.  I hate the feeling of them.  I just asked for some tylenol and for the nurse to take the Dilauded pump off so I can have a Tylenol with codeine if I need it.

Now looking forward to the healing process.  I am going to miss picking up my little (almost 2 year old).    I gave all 3 of my kids LOTS of hugs and holding the past few days to make up for what I will miss in the next few weeks....

HUGS and thanks for all the well wishes.  Love you all.

Diane

maidmarion

Just wanted to pop in and say Hi to everyone as I've not posted for so long, that's not to say I don't think about you all often and I check in to see how things are going with you, I am so pleased to see so many posting good news!

Loved the wedding photos Chris...you must have been so proud!

Great news Kim!

Thinking of you Diane 

I'm on my fourth month of Arimidex now and so far its not been too bad SE wise, bit stiff in the morning until I get going ...but that could be old age! and i do get some hot flashes, so all in all not too bad right now.

I have just been on my first visit back to the UK since this all kicked off, I had a great visit with my Son and Daughter and the grandchildren, my Daughter arranged a meal for us at a restaurant on the Saturday after I arrived and as a surprise she invited my other family members so they were already there at the restaurant when I arrived, it was a great surprise and a tearful one too but tears of happiness!

The new Avatar photo is from that evening, the salt and pepper look!

Bon Voyage Francine! Have a great trip.

Have a great rest of the week everyone.

Hugs

Julie

crusader1

Diane,

It is great to hear from you. Sounds like all went well today.

We are all rooting for a speedy recovery for you.

I know you can't wait to give your kids many hugs and kisses.

Breast Augmentation --uh???

Hugs,

Francine

Dawnmrn1

Diane!  Hang in there, you are doing great!  Dawn

sakura73

Diane glad to know surgery went well. Sorry it will be a bit more of a drawn out process, but am sure the end result wil be worth it.

Maidmarion - good to see you and to hear your news.

Kim  - yay!

 Chris I love your photos - what a happy day!

Pickle - love your pics too. You have so much hair!!!

Francine how wonderful to still have contact with your son's babysitter after such a long time. You both look so happy in the photo.

I am a third of the way through radiation and so far, so good. My hair is not growing, and it still has no colour, but I think there is almost enough to dye, as I know others have done. Might do it this weekend, though I fear I would be dying my scalp more than my hair!

pickle

Kim: That is absolutely fantastic news.....gosh there has been a few of us with these post chemo worries and we all are coming out on top! Soooo happy for you KIm.

Diane: Glad everything went well. I'm sure it jarred you to see "augmenation"....WTF is wrong with these medical people......such comments....sometimes everything is just so clinical and not sensitive to the whole BC journey. Anyway I am happy to hear that everything is ok. Hope you don't have too much pain...rest well and wishing you a speedy recovery. You'll be back to picking up your kidlets before you know it.

Francine: have a wonderful trip!

Maidmarion: So wonderful to hear from you. Your avatar is beautiful. So nice that you had a family reunion of sorts...nothing wrong with shedding some tears of joy. I'm sure it was emotional but for all the right reasons.

Gosh I am so happy to see that everyone is coming out the other side of this BC stuff. Love you all.

Hugs

Beth P

kim40

Thanks guys!

Francine - Have yourself a wonderful trip. 

Diane - Glad to hear things went well.  Take it easy!

Well, as I mentioned before, I have some pics to post of our "Dance for the Cure" event and the Run for the Cure.  Here they are - hope it works!

" mce_src="" alt="" border="" hspace="" vspace="" width="" height="" align="" />" mce_src="" alt="Me and the band "Da Rock" They sound like Great Big Sea!" border="" hspace="" vspace="" width="" height="" align="" />

" mce_src="" mce_src="" mce_src="" alt="" border="" hspace="" vspace="" width="" height="" align="" />" alt="Our Dance Banner" border="" hspace="" vspace="" width="" height="" align="" />" alt="The ladies who helped me to pull of this event" border="" hspace="" vspace="" width="" height="" align="" />

" mce_src="" alt="" border="" hspace="" vspace="" width="" height="" align="" />

 <Kim "I Live to Run" - Melissa Ethridge
Diagnosis: 1/6/2009, IDC, 5cm, Stage IIIa, Grade 3, 14/19 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2+

pickle

Rachel: 1/3 of the way....that's great! How is your skin doing? I have thought about dying my hair too but I'm going to leave it for now. I was wondering if it would dye my scalp too!

Diane: Thinking of you and hope your recovery is going well.

NYDeb: How are you doing? Thinking of you.

Have a great day

didle20Diane

Recovering well......so far so good.  I did take a half a percocet last night but wish I hadn't.  I hate the feeling.  Will check in again soon!

Hugs

Diane

bethr

Hi All,

 It's been a while since I've posted, but I have been trying to keep up with you all.  My last RAD was last Thursday..  Oh happy day!  Now I'm anxiously waiting for the right time to get another scan.  My onc wants to wait a while for the radiation to heal a bit.  Luckily, the treatments went well with no more than a nasty 'sunburn' on my left chest.  And that's healing well now.  I worked the entire time and was kind of tired only a couple of times.  My heart goes out to those of you who had it worse.  You're all troopers!!!

I'm leaving for 5 days in sunny Florida with some friends on Saturday and am looking forward to that.  I will also be a major test in how I'm able to manage my lymphodema.  so, we'll see.

After that, I'll be doing the Susan Komen walk in Va. Beach on the 17th with some of my family and friends.  I'm looking forward to that as well and am dedicating my walk to all of you since I have no idea how I'd be getting through this without you all.  I hopefully, will have some pics.

But I wanted to send my best wishes and prayers to those of you going through some new issues.  I pray for you all as much as I can. 

 I also wanted to send my congrats and happy thoughts to those of you with great news...  clear scans...  vacations in Turkey, Italy...  son's weddings..   other cancer walks... etc..   Isn't it wonderful???

My hair is about 1/2 inch long...  and so much gray!!!!  Where did that come from????  lol

My best to you all!!!  You're in my thoughts.

Beth

ccbaby

Congrats Kim!!!  That is a great feeling.

Diane....I am glad you are recovering well.

Congrats Beth!!! You are now PFR!!

I am done with rads!!!! YAYAYAYAY!!!   I brought the rad tech cookies and a thank you note. When I gave it to them, I started to cry. I told them that us cancer patients go through a lot and it is nice to have kindness and smiles from them everyday. Then I rang the bell VERY loudly and then hugged them all. My hubby was there and took a pic of me...that is my profile pic now. I am so glad that this phase is over for me. I am now PFR too!

pickle

Christy:......I knew I heard a bell ringing....yeah! Great pic and so sweet of you to think of the rad techs and show your appreciation.

Beth R: Nice to see you here again.  Congrats and it sounds like you are going to have a lovely, well deserved trip. And indeed all the good news lately is wonderful. Good Luck on the Komen walk and thanks for all your well wishes and positive thoughts for everyone.

Diane: Glad you are doing well.

Anonymous

I'm back.  Spent the last 10 days trying to locate that truck that ran over me. Diane , you are unreal, back on the laptop the next day after surgery.  And, not wanting drugs.  I teared up when my PS told me he wouldn't give me any more percocet Wednesday when he took out all my drains.  I can't believe how much better I feel each and every day.  So, Michelle and Dayla, how long until I can walk like an evolved human being.

Chris, thanks for sharing those wedding pics.  They are beautiful and so uplifting.

Thanks to all for your prayers and well wishes.  Chemo was annoying ( ok, it sucked ), 2 lumpectomies were a piece of cake, but this surgery really kicked my butt.  Thank goodness for my DH who viewed me like his giant science experiment and took care of all my meds, drains and dressings.

Alyad

Deb no more drugs! What the hell is your PS thinking? Ask again if you are in a lot of pain. Sometimes you just need to be a squeaky wheel. I took drugs for a few weeks. That's great your drains are out tho- I hated those things. I am glad my DH wasn't freaked out by the bandages and tubes and such. I expected having them out to be a more profound change tho- like I would suddenly be in less pain.

 I felt like I could have gone back to my desk job at 4 weeks- walking was mostly normal by then. I still couldn't stand for any length of time. I think things got significantly better for me after 2 weeks- those first 2 weeks were rough tho. hang in there, and demand some meds.

Alyad

Deb- you have more chemo scheduled right? I had chemo 5 weeks after my TRAM and the chemo set the healing on the TRAM back- not to discourage you- just a heads up. I could still walk and all that- the tightness in my stomach would return with each round.

Now it is tight after sitting for a long time and after I do things to use those muscles (like hiking, lifting, climbing in and out of a big truck). I just joined a gym and starting working out again and I am sore, but nothing horrible. DH and I are going to the gym today and then going hiking with loaded backpacks! I know I will need Ibuprofen afterwards (aka what long distance hikers call Vitamin I)

Anonymous

Dayla  My  PS didn't cut me off cold turkey as he still gave me some darvocet to wean off with.  I DID find that getting rid of the drains was a profound difference.  They actually did a diep flap on the left and a free tram on the right.  I go to see the onco this Friday and hopefully get a date to start my Adriamycin X 4 dose dense.  And, while they had me wide open , they took a few more lymph nodes -   all negative.  Hopefully that means I might not need rads after all.

Funny story :   About day 2 at the hospital , MOB sends me a text message and tells  me to not let on when I start to feel better, milk it for a while LOL.  Delete this before DH sees it.  Of course I was so looped out, he read it to me !!  He wrote back " too late Tex! "

sakura73

NYDeb  - great to hear from you, and how funny about MOB's message finding its way straight to your husband! You should still follow her advice, though. This is your time  to be taken care  of.

Diane glad you are recovering too. 

Dayla  hiking with loaded backpacks? You are amazing. I can't hike with an UNLOADED backpack!

Alyad

I felt okay with the loaded pack today- just put about 20lbs in the pack- went for a 3 mi hike. I have hiked the same loop a few times , not with a pack.  The hike kicked my butt pretty good. Being sore from lifting weights two days in a row didn't help. I am tired tonight.

glad to hear you weren't cut cold turkey Deb. Glad having your drains out helped a bunch. I had one of mine in for nearly 3 weeks I think?

Dawnmrn1

NYDeb!  Glad to hear from you and Diane!  think of you both often!  Keep up the healing, Love, Dawn

Mom_of_boys

Woo Hoo Deb!  You're back on the boards... good for you!!!  You call that doctor back RIGHT NOW in a poor, pitiful voice and demand some drugs!  That's an order.

didle20Diane

Deb, my surgery was nothing compared to what you had to go through.  I had already had my mast in January on L side and only got a TE on that side.....drain hardly filled but I have had it in for a week.  My R was a simple mastectomy with TE put in.  I go to the PS tomorrow to hopefully get the drains out.  My R fills up a little more but has been decreasing each day.  I had a seroma develop in Jan on my L mast and PS doesn't want that to happen again because draining is hard to do with TE already in and could be higher chance of infection.  Not sure if anyone else has had this but I also had a pack with a lidocaine pack in it that lasted a little over 4 days.....it was connected to small catheters (that I took out when drug was emptied) that pumped the lidocaine into the surgical area to numb things up.  I can feel a difference 2 days out from disconnecting it...I am a bit more sore on the mast side, none on the L but still no pain or nerve pain either.  I am pretty sure that after 3 surgeries on my L and 2 on my R I was probably already numbed anyways.

hugs

Diane

Mom_of_boys

HELLO... HELLO... hello...

I miss you girls! 

pickle

MOB: I miss everyone too....it's been very quiet....

Diane and Deb: Hope your recovery is going well.

Thinking of you all

Hugs

Beth P

ChrisC433

I miss the daily conversation too.  I have joined other boards...but this is always the first one I check on!  I hope Diane and Deb are healing up nicely.  Everything has quieted down here.  No more docs...except for carpal tunnel (hopefully having surgery in early Nov.).  Kids are finishing up fall sports.  Getting into a routine at work.  Wedding is over.  Sophmore in college is situated and doing great.

Sometimes life brings you such simple joys!!

Hugs to all...even you lurkers out there...

Mom_of_boys

I have indeed noticed that I soooo much more appreciate the small things in life now.  Went last weekend with husband to see youngest play baseball out of town.  Even though it was freezing cold, it was great!  Even with a few setbacks and scares, I feel soooo blessed right now.  My boss doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to take off at least one day a week until the end of the year!!!