MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

BarbaraA

{{{{{{3JAYS}}}}}} Missed you! Jo, you may have a vitamin B deficiency. I did and once I cleared that up, I was good to go. Paula, best wishes for you today!

Meece

I think I was in denial during tx, too.  I played tennis some and did my regular scedule including work,  I missed 2 days of work.  One for surgery and one for a bout of nausea.  I had too much responisibility to let it get me.  Some of the time after chemo I would come home from work after an hour commute, crawl into bed and stay there til morning.  It could have been during and after rads, too.   It all blurs together.

jo1955

Paula66 - Will be thinking of you today.  Wishing for a speedy recovery.

Thanks ladies for all the tips.  I am supposed to see me onc next week and will ask him what he thinks.  I am glad to know I am not going crazy and that the fatigue could linger for awhile.  I can work with that.  My job is so hectic right now. I am a manager in a "snowbird" RV resort and when everyone gets here, I have about 700 people to deal with.  They keep me so busy, I consider that my exercise program.

I do have a great boss and have the luxury of taking time for naps if I need them.  He is still amazed that I have worked through this whole process.  Took one week off after surgery but have been at it ever since.   I think I just want to stick to my regular schedule as much as possible - it kept my mind off BC.

Thanks everyone for your support. 

Meece

Paula66, best wishes for a successful surgery and speedy recovery.

Maureen813

Good luck Paula

ReginaR

 Just read post! Thinking of all of you!  {{{HUGS}}}

Hope you all had a Blessed Christmas!

{{{{Paula}}}} Thinking of you & Praying for a fast recovery!

{{{Lisa}}} Good hearing form you, keep us posted when you can!

jo1955

Regina - Beautiful picture.

phew

jo--it does sound like you have your dxercis covered!  especially at his time of year, huh?  kill 2 birds with one stone !!

raeinnz

Hello everyone! 

(((PM))) - great to see your post.  You are in my thoughts.

motherofthepatient - sorry to hear your DD has an infection. I agree with NM - I don't think the doctors will start chemo with an infection in her breast.  I had to sign a paper before bmx and recon surgery giving the surgeon permission to make the decision to remove an implant if an infection set in and I needed to have chemo.  He said an established infection is very hard to cure once chemo has damaged the immune system so the implant would need to be removed to cure the infection quickly so chemo could start as he didn't want that delayed.

jo - I didn't have rads but I felt as you do after bmx with recon.  IMHO you are managing amazingly well keeping up with such a busy job at a busy time of year and you are only 4 months out from dx!  One day at a time. 

jo1955

raeinnz - Right now I am on break from any hormonal meds.  Struck out with Arimidex & Femara.  Have an appt with my onc on Jan 5th to get my RX.  Really enjoying the break.  I feel like my poor old body has had more recovery time.  Both the AI's made me so nauseous I hope Tamoxifen does well.

Believe it or not, I was back at work one week after lump surgery.  The four walls at home were driving me crazy and I could spend the day doing paperwork and if I needed a nap, I could walk home and crawl into bed.  I was lucky there.  I have a great boss and he still can't understand how I did it.  Wanted to get back to some semblance of normal as quickly as I could. 

leisaparis

I enjoyed my time off. I started on Christmas presents....made quilts for family & friends. Wasn't ready to go back. I have to lift heavy windows for 10 hours a day. So was in no big hurry. Boss was very understanding as well. I think it's because they know the guy I work with does NOTHING unless he absolutuly has to. At least they know that.

raeinnz

jo - wow, I week! I had 8 weeks off before starting back at work - I am a school librarian and carrying heavy boxes of books up and down stairs lots during a working day.  Surgeon said I was to be 'well healed' before I went back to work (6 weeks at least). As it turned out I had surgery 6 weeks before the end of the school term and then I had an extra 2 weeks to enjoy a bit of a holiday before school started again.  The recon limited my movement for quite a while post surgery ie after a week I was just about able to wash my own hair by bending down with my head near my knees lol - so i wouldn't have been able to be back at work very quickly whatever my job. I also had a bad reaction to the GA and my mind was mush for about 3 weeks - couldn't concentrate to read and even watching tv was difficult.  Not a nice time to remember at all but we get through those times don't we? and gain from them I guess.

jo1955

raeinnz - Since I had a lumpectomy, recovery time was quick.  My discharge instructions from the hospital said I could "return to normal activities in 1 - 2 days" and the surgeon signed off on it.  It took all day to get me into surgery - was supposed to go at 11:30 and did not get in until 4:30.  The case the surgeon had before me developed complications in recovery and had to take that patient back to surgery.  Stuff happens.  I did not get home until 9:00 at night and laid around the next day.  The following day, I was ready to get out of the house but was a good girl until my one week follow up.  Even drove myself to that appt with no problems.

raeinnz

jo - you would have been very hungry by then!  Did they let you have a drink a least?  My surgery was scheduled for 1.30pm but I didn't go in until 3.30pm and I was starving by then - the nurse let me have the odd sip of water thank goodness.  Wasn't hungry when I woke up 6.5 hours later though and didn't eat for the next 4 days - didn't seem to lose any weight though apart from the 3lbs of breast tissue!

elimar86861

Same kind of surgery story here.  Scheduled for 11 a.m., but got bumped by an emergency surgery, sot it was more like 2-3 p.m.  Home around 7 p.m., and groggy w/ anesthesia hangover the next day. 

Paula66, by now you are most likely home...let the healing begin!   Share your story when you are able.

cookiegal

Jo...I got hit HARD by fatigue. Everyone is different. I was just fine the first three weeks and then boom...I was like a Stepford Wife who's batteries ran out. I would be fine and then crash, things would get woozy and I would have trouble thinking. It was different everyday. We just sat down to Valentines dinner and crash...I was out.

It gets better slowly and in stages. At 4 weeks I was about 60 percent. It took 6-8 untill I was 100 percent. Don't worry, my onc says things like hormone levels determine how well we tolerate rads. Also of course how big the dose was.

CELLULITIS? It's a big old pain. My first month on awful antibiotics did nothing. I had to see an infection specialist, who put me on the big guns for months. I should be done in about a week. There seems to be a lot of trouble diagnosing this....it's just hard to read. My ID doc says the drip doesn't even work that well....it's strong pills over time.

On these happy notes....HAPPY NEW YEAR!

phew

coockie  *giggle you justt reminded me    i thought all was sell, i was healthy   AND THEN  i went to the movies with a friend.  i had to run to our parking meter before it ran out of time.  she doubled over with laughter and said what was THAT    i told her i was running over to the meter    she oh!  not from this side.  YOU WERE STANDING STILL!!!  guess this was that fatique they warned me of?

~~~nc 

jo1955

raeinnz - By the time the surgery was all said and done, I had been 24 hours without food or water.  When I woke up in recovery, water was the first thing I asked for.  The room was freezing and the nurse asked me if I wanted ice water.  I said I did not care - just wanted something to drink.  Believe it or not, I was not hungry at all.  At that point,  just wanted the catheter and IV out, get my clothes on and go home to my own bed.  It had been an extremely long day.  Got the hosp at 6:30 that morning.  Besides the long waits, had to 2 hours in radiology doing the dye and 3 series of pictures to mark the area for the sentinel nodes.  Surgeon did those first in surgery.  

cookiegal - The fatigue sounds just like what I experienced.  I am at the point now I can pretty much make it through the day - don't really need the nap - some days just want one.  I can stay up to my usual bed time and then crash. 

jo1955

Meece

elimar86861

Oh, look here...there has been an invasion of "cuteness."  O.K. then, BRB.

I had to go looking for a message for P-Mom, getting a spinal tap and fluid off her lung today.  Well, I went and got the cutest one I could find (in under 60 seconds.)

                                      

Hope all is underway and going well for you today P-Mom.  Holding your hand from afar, sister.

Meece

Invasion?  We are always cute here in the middle, don't cha think?

elimar86861

Yes, when we are not being diabolical!

Meece

Who? Us?

jo1955

Meece

Elimar, you are cute  in just going and finding a cutie!  It's contagious!!!

jo1955

Meece - Too cute!

leisaparis

HAVE A HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE..........

Maureen813

marlegal

Wow, I can just imagine the pics tomorrow night!  I'm still relishing my week off - not wanting it to fly by just yet