**NEW** Starting Chemo March 2009

pinkdove10

Hey Karen D,

looks like yr havind a gr8 time... love yr theam party!!!

Hugs

Uma

ccbaby

Karen...That is a great idea! I might have to do the same thing! All of my frineds and family have been so great to me. I love your shirt too!

Anonymous

Gina :  I am so jealous of all that hair in your avatar and dark too.  I'm just dealing with baby duck fuzz.  My DH tells me it's coming in blond, but I know it's gray and he's being way too sweet. I let him think I believe him.

How awesome that so many are planning (diane) or heading out on vacations.

Dayla:  How was the river ride?

MOB :  I'd skip a vacation in a heartbeat to be throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game.

Francine :  Hope you are feeling better.

Karen  :   Your girls are absolutely beautiful.  You really outdid yourself with that party.  I wish I could be that imaginative. 

I had a party this weekend to celebrate finishing chemo and before my surgery.  Just wanted to have  over my closest friends and tell them how much their support has meant to me the last 6 months.  We started Saturday afternoon and the last guest left at noon on Sunday.......I think they had a good time.

Thursday is lumpectomy/SNB day.  I am nervous, but can't wait to get it over with.

Chris:  Good luck with your surgery, tomorrow right?

Hope everyone is well and out trying to enjoy the summer.

kellerka

Hi ladies! Been enjoying reading. I am begining to think chemo was easier than waiting for hair to grow! Not really...but this is frustrating. So happy for all of those finished. Good thoughts to those still getting there. My boss gave me a tee shirt today that just says 'Cancer sucks' so I thought I'd change my pic. But I look soooo manly! I want my long blond hair back! I feel like that's years down the road. Patience is not my virtue!

Kathy

ChrisC433

Deb:  Thanks...My surgery went fine.  I need to call Dr. today and get some answers.  I had lump. and he was doing SN mapping.  I had one tested positive back in Jan. that is why I did chemo first.  He told me if the first  came out positive he was taking all lymph nodes.  They both came out negative, but he still took them all....so of course I have questions!  Good luck with you surgery tomorrow!  It really wasn't bad at all.  Have a small pillow to use under your arm...it is hard to let it hang next to your body, a squishy pillow feels great.  Not much pain.  The drain is there, but doable.  Have you had any nodes tested prior to surgery or were you have chemo first to shrink the tumor?

Also,  did anyone out there get staples instead of stitches?  My two friends both had stitches from the same sugeon.  I have cut from under my arm to my nipple and then all the way around it covered with staples.  I would think they would leave a bigger scar than stitches....

Anonymous

Chris,

     Just returned from the hospital and my sentinal node injection.  I had heard that was painful, but was not at all.  I did have neoadjuvant chemo to shrink the tumor.  The chemo did shrink it, but not as much as I was hoping.  The surgeon is confident that he can do a lumpectomy with excellent results, guess we'll find out soon enough.

Glad to hear that you are feeling well.

bwbly

Been away for a few days because my AC broke..... 95 inside my house YUCK but better than the 102 outside.

Here's today's update .....

Saw surgeon and oncologist yesterday. Surgeon cultured stuff he removed last week. There was bacteria there but only normal skin bacterias, no infection. He took scrapings again yesterday. He says there IS healing going on, so home health will put in a wound vac which will suck out any drainage and promote new blood vessel growth which will promote healing. If this works, maybe I won't need additional surgery to close. Will see him again in 2 weeks, barring any complications/infections/problems.

Next went to oncologist. Told her what surgeon said, so we decided to go ahead with chemo. So ran to lab for blood tests and cafeteria for lunch. Labs still pretty good .... WBC still a little elevated and anemia showing back up. Then chemo. Finished around 5 pm. Barring any problems/infections/etc. back on schedule and will have next chemo in 2 weeks. Go late today for Neulasta shot to raise WBC count.

So here I sit, waiting on chemo SEs to start showing up. Told my roommate to watch out .... roid rage will show up soon and don't be offended if I start yelling at him LOL.

Bunny

kduling

Hi everyone!

Kathy:  I can relate on the hair thing....for some reason I thought my hair would just "instantly" grow back!   LOL   -- I am now losing my eyebrows and lashes -- 2 months AFTER chemo stopped!  UGH

No one really responded about drinking alcohol --- what are your Onc saying about it?  Does anyone else on this message board drink?    We can do so many things "right" (like breastfeed and have a baby early, etc.) and still get cancer....then I wonder is it cuz I like my nightly glass of wine????

Thanks!
Karen  :-)

sakura73

Hello Warrior Princesses all,

 It's great to see the pictures and hear the news of people finishing chemo and moving on through rads and surgery. NYDeb hope all goes well Chris that is very frustrating that he took all the nodes! Hope you get a satisfactory answer.

Bunny that's great that you are back on the chemo schedule - sooner you get through it, the sooner you are done! Hope the AC is working again (airconditioning, not Adriamycin/Cytoxan!)

I am one third of the way through Taxol, and some finger/feet pain aside am feeling fine. Hair is definitely growing, though it is white and still crispy-chemo-fried. Might shave it off again. DBF has been heard to say he would be happy if my hair never grew back, but I am ready for some hair, thanks.

Karen and Jan  - on  the drinking thing, I am going to keep having a glass of wine here and there. I never drank that much, and have defnietly drunk less since chemo started, largely because on AC I did not fancy it. I think it is too simplistic to single out any one thing as being the 'cause' of what is just plain bad luck. I intend to get fit and healthy, which will mean I drink less, but frankly, if a form of mustard gas is good for  me I refuse to accept that fermented grape juice is the devil's work!

All things in moderation, including moderation. That's my world view. 

arnie

Congrats to all who've finished!  Some of still have a little ways to go...

Sakura... I think it was you that posted way back that strawberries were good for wbc counts...  Well last week my wbc went down to 3.0 so my dh went out and bought strawberries!  lol  My ds told me that a guy at his work said that raisins were good too...so we bought raisins.  Anyway, I ate strawberries and raisins til' they were coming out my ears and my count this week went up two points and is now at 5.0   soooooooooo is it the strawberries and raisins??? Dunno..but thankful my count went up. 

Have a blessed day...

jdeking

Hi everyone!

Gina - happy birthday (a tiny bit late, sorry!) I hope you had a great one.

 Arnie! Welcome back, and hope you are still doing well. How many more treatments do you have? Sending (((hugs))) and best wishes your way. Very cool to hear the strawberries worked!

Karen - I also just started losing lashes and brows. I noticed that my mascara didn't seem to be working correctly, so I bought a new one. Darnit, that one didn't seem to work either! Then I realized more than half my lashes were gone! (I have very pale blond lashes, so they are hard to see until the mascara goes on). Poop. So I looked at my brows, also pale blonde, and sure enough, most of them are gone as well. Oh well.

As for drinking, I think it is ok in moderation. I don't think it can possibly hurt, and red wine has some good healing properties.

Good luck with surgery Deb! I hope you have a very easy time of it.

Take care all!!

ChrisC433

Deb:  Good luck with your surgery today....I'll be thinking about you.

The doc called me yesterday and gave me an update.  He said the nodes (2) were tested while I was on the table and they came back negative.  He said that being that I did have cancer in at least one of them at one point, he thought it might be a false negative.  He said he took more than the 10 he expected to, but did not take them all...just most.  He had read to reports prior to my surgery.  One said it was O.K. to leave nodes if sentinal node is negative, the other said if it had cancer at one time it is safer to take more.  He knows I don't want to have to go back for more surgery so he took some extra.

As for my surgery, I have one huge incision from my arm pit to my nipple and then all around it.  He does oncoplastic surgery so my breast was "reconfigured" and my nipple moved over to stay centered.  He said this way I will still point straight!!  I have all staples that look awful...just scary!

Anyone else experience any of this.  How was the scarring with staples?  My drain is putting out about 75-100 cc.  They will take it out when it gets to below 50.  How long does this usually take?

Thanks all...hope everyone is doing well,

Chris

ginagina

Chris - I didn't have staples (so I can't comment on that). The my doc said drains usually for 2 weeks (on average). My fluid dropped to 30 cc per day around day 5 so I got my drains removed at my one week check up...but then I was back in the office a couple of times to have extra fluid removed by needle. No pain and nothing serious. He said that if we just left it, the body just reabsorbs the excess fluid eventually. It was just more of a nuisance.  Good luck!

Janine - thanks for the bday wish. I had a great day yesterday....mainly running kids around to summer camp activities. Nothing unusual...though my hub did cook a wonderful dinner last night. That was nice!

Quick question for everyone....does anyone have either an oncologist or breast surgeon referral for the Salt Lake City area? A friend of a friend was just diagnosed last week. She lives in a small town about an hour outside of Salt Lake City and her primary dr is a thoracic specialist. She hasn't talk to an oncologist or a surgeon yet. Her daughter (my friend) is desperately looking for a recommendation of a dr to seek another opinion in Salt Lake City.  I already posted this to a broader audience on bc.org but haven't heard anything. Surely there are some women on these boards that live in the Salt Lake City area. 

Hope everyone is doing well and managing SEs today!

sakura73

arnie am so glad the strawberries worked!

janine my lashes are just coming back in after most of them dropped off. Sounds like I  should not get too attached to them; they'll be leaving again soon!

gina hope your friend's friend finds a good second opinion.

Chris  I have a scar all the way around my nipple too. It looked dire at first but now (5 months later) it has faded and it looks quite natural - just the faintest red line blending into the nipple. So you'll find it very unobtrusive  I am sure when it heals. And hey - shape is important so it is great you'll still be 'pointing straight'.!!  I had dissolvable stitches so can't give you advice on staples.

arnie

Thanks Sakura... still eating them...lol 

ChrisC433

Gina and Sakura:  Thanks for the input!  I gotta say, the staples going into my armpit feel like crap!  I can't wait for the swelling to go down so I can see the size difference between them.  I need to get final results of clear margins before I get too excited!

Deb:  Hope all went well and you are sleeping peacefully!  Send the fast healing, no pain angels your way.

 Chris

bethr

Hi All..

Slowly coming out of my last chemo melt-down..  You know, even with this being the last one, the melt-down still puts me in a lousy, lousy mood...  Well, almost done... 

I was reading some of the questions related to drinking and this subject came up at a seminar I attended a couple of weeks ago.  Most of the women there still do drink the occassional glass of wine but have cut down tremendously.  My cancer being ER/PR+ (estrogen based), I've been told it's best not to drink.  I was the occassional beer and marguerita drinker and there were more than a few times that I over did it through the years.  But since I started chemo, I've had no desire to drink anything alchoholic..  who know if that will last or not.  But I've decided healthy is best and don't see myself drinking much at all anymore.

A friend of mine also sent the enclosed doc to me.  You're all probably already aware of it but I though I'd include it anyway...  It's long, but has some good info.... 

 My best to all of you..   Beth

**********

TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .
Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins :
1.. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.
3  When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment.. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it..
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.
1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Pa per isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave.. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.  
This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life. 

ccbaby

Thanks Beth, that was very interesting.

Anonymous

Chris :  Everything went very well.  BS only took out 1 lymph node.  I had heard from others that he usually takes too many, so i'm very encouraged that he thought it only necessary to take one.

I don't have any drains either.  I took a walk this morning and got some fresh air.  Keeping the darvacet going though and an icepack.  He said he would call me this afternoon or Monday with the pathology to find out about margins.

Hope your swelling goes down soon.  Take care

makingway

bethr-False Report Posted!!! As I read you're report I thought it didn't sound like something out of a medical report or journal. There are false claims made in it. I was at a meeting at my hospital and the woman in charge had told us all about some reports coming out claiming they were from Johns Hopkins. They weren't. The reports were from John Hopkins, without the s in Johns. Please remove your report. The information you are sharing is inaccurate and has no validity to back it up. I am open to alternative treatments, but I look at the facts in the studies,reports and trials, and also the number of people in the trial, how recent the data was collected and who sponsered it. Be careful in interrupting data. Believe only data that can be backed up with proof.

I also want to add that I don't put plastic wrap in the microwave or freeze my water bottles. And I rarely resort to even using a microwave. I do this not because any evedience exists proving it's dangerous, but because it just doesn't seem like a good thing. And if it can be avoided, why not?

bethr

Hi All,

I've deleted the post.  I'm so sorry.  For anyone who read it and took it to heart, please accept my sincerest apolgies for any misrepresentation.

Thanks for the heads up makingway.

Again all, I'm so sorry..  I feel so bad.

Beth

ginagina

Beth - no worries! By the way, with last chemo behind you now...how are you feeling? SEs fading away?

Everyone, hope you have a great weekend.

crusader1

Hi All,

Jut returned from a weeks stay at the hospital. I must admit after all the problems I had with my breast reconstruction I was a little leary about this lat flap surgery but was willing to take the chance.

Many of you know the surgery ( latismus flap surgery with tissue expander)was on July 1st. All went well and I returned home on July 3rd. The recouperation was tough but I was managaing. Well by July 8th I had a fever. Surgeon said to take tylenol. Fever persisted.. took more tylenol amd had high fevers. By Saturday my PS told me to come to the emergency room. I was so excited that they admitted me. I was feeeling so, so bad. Fevers, chills etc. By tuesday the decision was made that the tissue expander put in during the reconstruction was probably infected. I had another surgery tuesday evening to have the expander removed and then really felt a lot better. Actually I was not that upset as the flap that the surgeon put in was okay. I had feared it would get infected. But they would not let me go home till tonight as they were waiting to find out what antibiotic to put me on. Three extra days and many IV infusions of antibiotics have really got to me. I am happy to be home but teary eyed too. THis became quite an ordeal.

So now I have two failed breast reconstructions under my belt. First one failed to dying skin, this one got infected. But in three months I will try again. I must say the PS was really  a doll and showed much care to me.

All of my friends who visited got to see my new hair growth. Cute ..Oh yes the patient advocate at the hospital adressed me as sir. Boy that gave me much confidence...

Just another stop on my journey called breast cancer.

Happy Bday..Gina.

Hugs to all..

Francine

PattiB

Kathy,Karen,Janine - I too lost a lot of my eybrow hair 1 month PFC, last week (almost 2 months PFC) I lost most of my eyelashes.  Use mascara anyway, because it will stick on any random lashes that you have. 

To all of you continuing chemo and having surgeries, I send prayers and well wishes! Good Luck.

Congrats to any finishng chemo, having birthdays, etc.

ccbaby

Beth...Don't feel bad!! I already do A LOT of stuff that was on that report anyway. It is not going to hurt a bit to change some of the things we do in order to be healthy again.

Alyad

Francine, so sorry you have such a rough time with your reconstructions! Glad to hear you are out of the hospital and will be able to try again later. I am still really tight from the TRAM back in January- maybe now that I'm done with chemo it will finally heal .

my river trip last weekend was great- we floated 6 mi on Sat - launching after waiting out a T-storm. the rest off the afternoon it was mostly overcast and not too hot- there was mist on the river that persisted long after the rain- I have only seen that late in the evening or early morn- never midday while I was floating- it was really cool- you could only see a little ways ahead of you on the river. We had a fire and roasted hot dogs that night and then we did a short mile long innertube sunday morning. I thought it would be warm enough out to feel good, but it was a chilly ride immersed in the water. We kept having these irridescent blue dragnonflies land on us.

below a pic of me and DH in the canoe in the mist. This weekend we plan to chill at home- maybe go hiking tomorrow to enjoy the cool 80 degree high we are supposed to have. We have the windows open for the first time in weeks!

"

Dawnmrn1

Hi All!  Just trying to catch up on everything!  We got back from our cruise yesterday!  We had a great time!  Bermuda is beautiful but hot and 100% humidity, along cry from NHs', cool rainy summer!My DD had a blast in the teen center, hung with her buds all of the time!  She did go off ship with us everyday, and we all loved the water and pink sand!  I swelled up from the heat and did not go in the water, I won't take off my wig, so swimming is out!  I just am not the type to go bald, I think it is great to those of you who can! The boat was beautiful and the food great, but too much of it! We are thinking of taking a Mediteranean Cruise next summer, has anyone done this? If so I'd love to hear about it! The only other SE I had was runny eyes, I think I have dry eyes from the chemo, Visine did the trick!

francine!  I am so sorry to hear about your reconstruction, you are a brave soul and the third times a charm!

alyad!  So glad you are enjoying the summer!  Great pic!

Gina!  Love the new pic, don't overdue with the packing!

bethr!  Don't be silly about that report, that stuff is written everywhere!  My thoughts are everything in moderation!

chris and deb!  Glad your sx is over!to the eye las and eyebrow girls, 3 weeks PFC and mine are very sparse!! Still wearing mascara, thanks very much!

To those of you having TX, good luck!  I start rads Monday!

didle20Diane

DARN..................I just lost my post.  OK to sum up:

Francine:  So sorry about your reconstruction issues.....hoping third time is the charm for you.  Sounds like you have a great BS. 

Dayla, love that picture of you and your DH.  What beauty you are surrounded by.  Breathtaking....and how you have the strength to do row down that river.....you go girl!

Beth  seriously no worries about the post.....I think about most of that stuff anyway.  There is nothing 100% out there or we wouldn't all be here

I have had a time of it with starting Tamox this week and the ibandronate from the bone trial....a week into the ibandronate I woke up with terrible pain in my hip area....could barely walk.  I took 3 days off and started up again yesterday and so far so good....the tamox has made me really nauseous but I am muddling through.

At the river at my in laws this weekend trying to wind down.....

My cruise plans are on hold.......we are now taking the week after labor day for our week off to visit with BIL and family on Ocracoke Island, NC.

hugs,

Diane

Alyad

Diane, that really sucks you are in such pain from the tamox and ibandronate- did you start them at the same time or one at a time? I just wonder if its one or the other causing the pain or the combo? I've been on the ibdandronate too for a  couple months and haven't had any issues I'm aware of. I haven't started tamox yet tho. I won't start til after rads sometime. I have my rads simulation this coning week.

 I switched to a different anti-depressant in prep for going on tamox- the one I've been on for years (wellbutrin) is a stong inhibitor of Tamox- soooo I started on Pristq- a new drug that is basically the same thing as Effexor. My PCP had some free samples and they have a deal where you can get 50% off your copay for a year. She told me to come back in and get a couple more weeks- I stopped in yesterday and they must have had a bunch, the receptionist gave me a whole box that had 10 week-long packs in it! I love free stuff!

Dawn- that's great you had a good time on your cruise. My mom likes to go on cruises a lot- she takes one every spring. She went on one to Alaska,that's one I would really like to do. I'm hoping to plan a vacation in the fall- hiking somewhere of course.

 Sitting in the canoe for a few hours killed my back- the stomach muscles from the TRAM are still recovering and the back muscles are straining from picking up the slack. I was sore the next day from paddling- tho the current was swift enough we didn't really paddle much- drifted mostly- DH steered. I really only paddled through rapids. Maybe next time we go DH sit in the front and fish while I drive like we do sometime. He gets jealous looks from other guys on the river sometimes cause his girl can steer!

 four weeks PFC I am starting to feel normalish again- ran mulitple errands yesterday for the first time in months- we worked in the yard today and I washed and vacuumed my truck, repotted a couple plants and enjoyed the awesome weather here. but I am wiped out now- headed to bed.

didle20Diane

Dayla, I started the ibandronate a week before tamox....had the symptoms after 7 days.  I stopped it and started the tamox on Monday.  I take it in the evenings.  Maybe I should take it in the AM.  I am so over all the pills they want me on.  I feel like I need a pill box.  Ibandronate in the AM with water no food for an hour UGH then 2 times a day calcium and vit D and folic acid and the tamox......I am so confused on when I can take which meds.  I am going to talk to the research nurse tomorrow and have her give me a schedule to follow.  I never took a thing until this BC crap and my mind is having a hard time adapting to all the pill popping 

I am 10 weeks out of chemo now and the experience hardly enters my mind anymore......YAY.

Of course now I am dealing with the pills and trying to decide what to do about reconstruction and removing my good breast......need to jump to the mojo thread to see what life is like without both girls....losing one has been fine...but thought last night, WOW what will it be like with neither of them.  It is hard for me to imagine and my surgeon keeps reminding me that if I decide to take it off I can't get it back.....like I don't know that already.......

wishing all a wonderful week, no more freaking side effects please.....for any of us.

hugs

Diane