MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

elimar86861

Oh, come on!  Don't act like you've never seen a group of middle-aged women wearing WAX LIPS before. 

Sherryc

Thanks all for the sweet comments and Eli yes he had a bladder infection.  It was very bad and he was not responding to the IV antibiotics.  His lungs were also very weak so with his overall health not being good his body just could not fight it off.

Welcome proyalty this is a good place to hang.  I had lump and rads and then later a BMX with TE's and implants.  Just curious if you want to share but why did you decide to go with lump & rads and remove the implants instead of MX and new implants.

NativeMainer

Barsco--you and me both!  My co-workers bring me a cup of coffee if I'm cranky in the morning. 

Staynsane--great article, thanks for mentioning it.

Sherryc--my sympathy on the loss of your FIL.  I'm glad his passing was peaceful and painless. 

Heartnsoul--the prednisone will calm down the inflammatory response going on in your lungs, so you will breathe easier and cough less while the levaquin is doing it's thing.  When a person has been through a lot of stress and/or chemo the immune system gets wacky.  Some parts of it--like inflammation--will over work while other parts don't work as efficiently.  So sometimes we need  a little extra help getting over an infection. 

heartnsoul76

Thanks, luv!  I'm finally feeling better!  Pretty much been in bed since Tuesday trying to cough up a lung.

Thanks, NM!  That answers a lot of questions.  I had no idea what the connection was with a bad cough and prednisone.  This is the first time I've been sick since chemo.  I didn't know what to do - I'm so glad you said to go to the MO.

The prednisone is rapidly calming down the cough. A decongestant wouldn't have touched this thang!

Prednisone is a double-edged sword.  My father had a fatal auto-immune disease, relapsing polychondritis (NM, I'm sure you can break that down and figure out exactly what it is).  We had to do a delicate dance with prednisone to try to keep his symptoms from flaring up while trying to keep his prednisone dose as low as possible.

Elimar - you have inspired me to go buy some waxed lips.  I'll answer the door wearing them.  That picture is a hoot!

Dianarose

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-26/novartis-paid-for-doctor-fishing-hooters-outings-u-s-says-1-.html

Eli- I know doc's have been pissed at you as well as me for doing our own research, but this is why we do.

NativeMainer

Heartnsoul--yes, prednisone is a double edged sword that has to be used carefully.  Relapsing polychondritis, wow, not fun!  Talk about tightrope walking with the prednisone! 

Dianarose--great article, thanks for the link. 

jessica749

I think the article is great, and just posted about it on someother strand about Komen, wasn' t sure where to put it!

So glad for the article. Had seen the documentary Pink Ribbons Inc last year: this article a toned down , better filled out version of that angry (rightfully so) documentary....  So much that needed saying, both re DCIS and IDC stats, Komen money an dwhat it funds, mammograms, etc.

violet_1

Hi! Just popping in the say "Hello"...I'm 47, so I guess I can join this group....

kaza

HI violet 1     welcome, lovely ladies here...sorry your here. you have come to the right place for support and hugs    

jessica749

Sorry, just want to clarify I was referring to NY Times Magazine article by Peggy Orenstein "Our Feel-Good War on Breast Cancer" metioned above link here

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/magazine/our-feel-good-war-on-breast-cancer.html?ref=magazine

marlegal

Proyalty, one note of caution. I am not saying this to scare you, but I was told I was Stage 1 and would only need radiation after my lumpectomy. Once they got me into surgery though, they found that the lump was a little bigger, and after doing the sentinel node biopsy, one node had cancer cells, so when I woke up, I was told that chemo would be a part of my treatment plan after all. I am only telling you this in case your doctor didn't advise you that things can definitely change once you're in surgery. I'll be in tour pockets on the 8th too.



HnS, I was hysterical about the convo with hub about vasec. After our second child I raised that question and the look of pure panic and fear was almost comical. There was also some comment about how I dealt With 'that kind of thing' better than he did. Pathetic!



Wax lips....gotta love 'em



On to reading the next page.......

violet_1

Thanks, Kaza.... There are so many threads on the bc.org site, it takes a bit to figure out which threads fit you. But, I have learned sooooo much around here! What a blessing...

elimar86861

Welcome, violet_1 and jessica749!

marlegal

I'm breaking the weather rule! We had a long ass winter in the northeast and this weekend was spring perfection. Everything is blooming, warm temps with a cool breeze, opened up our campground place, lots of outdoor time. Makes everything seem just a little better somehow. I hope lots of you had a good weekend too wherever you are.



To anyone having tests or treatment this week, I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Get those pockets ready

Eph3_12

barsco1963

marlegal - you are a rebel aren't you? I do have to agree that this weekend's temps did merit mentioning. You better hope that Eli was distracted enough by the weather that she doesn't catch your post or you may get 40 lashes with the wet noodle - lol

Happy Monday everyone!

elimar86861

Anyone who wants to come along and keep me company for my second chemo is welcome to jump into a pocket on my chemo bag.  It's pretty full of puzzle books, MP3, a rock biography, hand sanitizer, Tic-Tacs, a beanbag eye mask and earplugs, and some pretzels, but there is a big pocket on the front with only my petrified rock (for strength) in it.  Just shove that to one side and there should be enough room for a few at least.  Be sure and wear your wax lips.  If you all make enough noise, maybe I can sneak out and they won't miss me.

I already made a friend at my first chemo, a wife of a Stage IV man (not B/C.)  I eavesdropped the nurse's conversations with them it was his first week too.  I saw every med. the nurse hung which was exactly what I was getting.  So, I will have someone to compare S/Es with, but he didn't have the noeadjuvant or surgery because he is Stage IV.

Here's a question and I hope we have one or two that might fit this:  Did any of you have neoadjuvant to shrink your tumor?  If so, did you have adjuvant also AND was it the same chemo and the same number of rounds that others who did not do adjuvant get?  What I am getting at is do neoadjuvant getters end up getting MORE than others, or do they get a shorter version of the adjuvant, if any?

When all is said and done, I will have gotten plenty.

elimar86861

Now, if Mar had just said she opened up her campground place, the rest would go without saying.  Just like if I say I was out riding my bike on the weekend, you could be quite sure it was neither raining nor too chilly.  I was, in fact, out riding and smelling the blossoming trees on Sunday.  Mmmm!  So glad the Bradford Pear trees have finished up tho'...how can something that looks so pretty stink so bad?  Maybe you have to be a bee to appreciate it.

Momine

Eli, I had chemo before and after surgery. The schedule was 4X of one kind and 4X of another. Depending on response, I was to have surgery either after 4 or 6 of these TXs, but either way, I would get all 8 chemos. I ended up with surgery right in the middle, but the switch to a different chemo after surgery was only because that was the plan anyway.

elimar86861

Momine, you got fluorouracil too, which is a part of what I get.  So I got it low-dose beforehand, and now am looking at 12 rounds on top of that.  That is a lot of flourouracil.  (Yes, I am going to ask the NP today, but I have a feeling that they don't adhere to the "less is more" philosophy, like I do.)

Momine

Eli, that does sound like enough to make your freakin' bones glow in the dark, but I don't know what kind of doses we are talking. Ask 'em, can't hurt.

luvmygoats

When I opened the south facing door yesterday afternoon it appeared to be snowing. No, wait, that was a massive amount of cottonwood blooms. No wonder that ever day when I log into weather.com it has a high pollen alert. Didn't know Bradford pears stink. The one we planted years ago lasted only about 3 years. Drought here has taken many of them.

Eli - in your pocket for #2 postop. Glow little glow worm. Keep kickin' those little sh**s. I'll have to search for my wax lips. Darn it, where did I put them?

Welcome to Violet and Jessica. Sorry for the reason you had to join us but glad you found this neat little group to hang with.

Heartnsoul - hope your coughing up a lung has ceased on the prednisone.  Not the season to be bed confined.  Save that stuff for winter.

    for Eli

macatacmv

Hey ladies,I survived the colonoscopy,only have more roids and now derverticlocis (sp) so good to go for another 5 years.

And I am in sunny Mexico with my dd.It's beautiful and warm and breezy.just wanted to let you know so you wouldn't think I'd dropped off the edge of my world.lol

Will be with you e,just put the wax lips in the freezer to firm them up.

Valjean

E ~~ Your pocket was full this morning, my-my-my, you are one popular gal!! Just know I was thinking of you, and I'm the crazy person that was running along behind on your way to the the massacre of those damn cancer cells!!! I thought about pulling over to the side & waiting for your return trip home to maybe grab on, but, hey, thought I'd take advantage of my predicament (my being late) & get some exercise. I know you get that.

staynsane

Damn!  I knew I would regret eating my wax lips last Halloween!  But the lure of the slightly sweet, lightly flavored, memory-inducing snack could not be avoided.  And alas, my exploration to replace them left me empty-handed.  I probably would have eaten them anyway... 

jocanuck1951

E, if you heard a little buzzzzzzz that was moi! Xoxo Jo

elimar86861

I'm back and just got the last of you unloaded out the pocket.  It took seven hours again.  A friend came by at lunch with a sandwich and stayed til the end.  Wow!  The second half of treatment flew by.  In the first half, I visited a bit with that couple I wrote about a a few posts ago.  Time flies when my mouth is gabbing.  Also, I like to "roam" with my chemo pole, because I don't care how comfy the recliners are, my butt is sore from sitting after the first two hours..  I told my nurse I was starting a CRC club.  Hearty laughter all around.  She must have thought I was joking, but wait til we all wear out t-shirts.  Heehee.

So, this time, talking to my friend, I got the "throat granules" and also the new "larynx tightening" feeling right during the platinum drug.  I might not have noticed the tightening before because I wan't talking that first time.  It felt like laryngitis coming on and my voice felt like it was thinner and straining.  Had it about an hour, then shortly aftewr the platinum drip finished, it opened back up.  (Your airway doesn't close, it just feels like it is.)  Weird.

Two down = one-sixth done.  I'm getting bored already.  You know me.

heartnsoul76

Elimar - sorry for all the coughing (I about choked on a Cheeto and my waxed lips just flew out of your pocket) but I hope it distracted the nurses enough so you could sneak out for a bit and get some fresh air.  They should let you do that - I guess some people just want to get it over with, but fresh air on a nice day would have done me a world of good.

Hope you are feeling up-and-at-'em very soon!

Jo - I thought that buzzing was my tinnitus, haha!

SEVEN hours?? OMG, I'm glad your friend came by.  My son stayed with me through every one and it really, really helped time fly.

elimar86861

Wow, HnS, that is some selfless behavior on your son's part.  He was still a teenager then?  Really?  You won the good kid lotto!

barsco1963

You middies sure do accomplish a lot in a day. Just catching up - sorry I missed the PP Eli. Sounds like it was pretty crowded in there. Gonna have to find me some wax lips.

mac - hope you don't suffer any "roid rage" My DH has diverticulitis and is just getting over a flare up - very painful. I sure feel for you. Hopefully with diet you can keep it under control.