Sisterhood of the Secret Handshake

covertanjou

I am jealous of all you women who live in SoCal.   Several years ago my DH and I traveled from San Francisco to Laguna.  I wanted to move there immediately!  I live in Montreal, and although I love this city, the winters are brutal!  January & February are especially tough.  When the weather gets to -32C (-25F) --colder with the wind chill-- I dream of SoCal.

Brenda, nice to know I am not the only one who has a problem with my language!

So, I decided to cook on Saturday instead of ordering pizza.  The latkes were pretty good considering it was the first time I cooked latkes.  The crab cakes (also a first time recipe), were not so good!  Oh well.

Susan, I am sure someone will post the "secret handshake" pics again soon!

Mary #2 

mumito

Smith I want one of those t -shirts as well.

GramE

I didnt want to offend, but I have a shirt with " the H... with pink ribbons, Cure it now "...   

mumito

Another great shirt idea

ktym

NoCal girls, looks like you had so much fun, and you look terrific

LittleRed, loved the clip, I want my money back too 

LittleRed

kmmd:

Yep, I had a good laugh over it - "Just enjoy the show...?"  "I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!"

Be good to you -

LittleRed

SoCal ladies:

Looks like you had a wonderful time - so glad for you.  Great pictures!  What a beautiful spot. 

Nobody's wearing a coat - I'm jealous.  Although today they said it's going to go to 70 degrees - that's New England for you.  Blink and the weather will change.  But not to worry, it will drop back to the 50s tomorrow...Oh, California...

Be good to you -

benisse

Morning!!!  I am going for a walk with DH and Ddog in a minute but wanted to stop in.  Love reading this thread.  NoCal girls - how fun.  You all look wonderful and happy.  IMHO, NoCal makes more sense.  But, what do I know about CA.

Don't want to be Debbie Downer here...but I had rect. bleeding yesterday morning...quite a lot and bright red.  TMI!!!!!  Have had burning in my GI for weeks.  Am less than 4 weeks out of chemo.  Will call the onc this morning and see if tests are needed.  I am getting my teeth cleaned this afternoon...first time since January because of chemo.  Can't wait!!!

Have a great day!!!

Anonymous

Wow, I am jealous - you guys look like you had such a great time!!!   How wonderful you were able to meet.  Can't wait for the NY contingent in January.

I agree - I was in CA three times last year for business and I would move there in a heartbeat - the weather - Oh, it was so beautiful every time!  Florida is the land of extremes - too hot, no seasonal changes, hurricanes, you name it. 

Rachel_BC

Ah benisse- what a drag.  Like you needed another bodily issue, right?  Time to talk about derrières... so... let's go there... if you just had a nice poop, chances are it's a fissure or hemorrhoid type deal.  I had that especially when my stomach started doing the acid thing.  Stress (surprise!).  Mine went away and I try to be kind to the exit of my body (colace, bran).  My gal pal had a fissure so bad she needed surgery, which was not a big deal.  Tell me when you want to hear my asshole jokes

Michlady- Hi and welcome  I peeked at your posts and profile- you're just at the tip of this fucked up iceberg, so if you want us for your rowboat, welcome aboard!  It's only been days since your DX (OK like a month), you've had a world to absorb.  Could I trouble you to please help me sort out your DX line?  How did you come to list your Stage as Ia, 3cm and mets? From what I know, that's not possible.  I have to know where to send my demented mental cheerleaders...

Mary #2- latkes and trafe, a perfect combo!  Latkes are actually harder to make than I thought, needing something to hold the potato together.  

T-shirts- one of my faves: "Yes, they're fake.  My real ones tried to kill me."

I love on the NorCal gal's pics where kari is doing the cross-over handshake, it looks like she's Vanna White about to serve them up like dessert...

I just am so proud of the NorCal gals- you ROCK!   

benisse

Rachel - thanks for the info.  Well I wouldn't say it was a nice poop.  I was constipated for sure.  The weird thing is that I had extremely painful BM's throughout chemo...SOOOO bad I would cry.  I was taking Senekot S or colace every night.  When chemo ended I went off those unless I go a day w/o a BM.  Now no pain whatsoever but bleeding.  Of course I went all the way to colon cancer when I saw the blood.  Did you have tests to determine the cause???  Colonoscopy/endoscopy???  I actually want to have tests to be certain.  Have a call in to onc nurse and will let you know.  I could end up (pun intended) wanting to hear the jokes by day's end (pun intended).  That t-shirt is hilarious.  I think a handshake demo video is needed.  Or is it okay that there's so much variance???

benisse

Little Red - I didn't realize they say that about the weather in NE.  In Texas we say "if you don't like the weather wait a minute"  since it changes so much.  Glad you're having CA temps for a day anyway.

I'm with you Chelev - If I could move anywhere in US it would be to the San Diego/Rancho Santa Fe area.

kfinnigan

Renee, too bad you weren't in Napa yesterday!!! It was gorgeous.  Wish I could have taken more pictures along the drive cause for those of you who have never been its one fabuloso area!! Incredibly beautiful!!  and YAY for all the good news you've recently gotten!

Benisse, i had the whole butt bleeding problem, but (pun intended) believe mine was cause by the Avastin I was on...my onc ordered a sigmoidoscopy a month after I finished Avastin to make sure.  All clear!  keep us posted.  Hugs

Ahhhh Vanna White, yeah I could be her and serve up ta tas like they are dessert and flash a million dollar smile and get paid mucho bucks!!  

Love SoCal too!!! 

Rachel_BC

benisse- its from the constipation- everything you said puts that together HOWEVER, yes, go get a colonoscopy/endoscopy, and an anal cancer check (anal cancer is what killed Farrah Fawcett, and it has to be checked differently than colon evidently) if you can manage it.  Colonoscopy is no fun BUT it STOPS colon cancer, not like mammos, it can stop it cold, no TX or anything... I forget your age but around 40 its a good idea, around 50 a MUST.  Then after the colonoscopy you can join me in a chorus of "my ass is not going to kill me".   But the bleeding after a big constipating poop after weeks and months of constipation is just a tear on your poor asshole.  Poor thing.  Deserves a break.  All that chemo crap had to exit somewhere and it all went through there...  bleh.  Might as well do the endo while you are knocked out and see if the acid has done any damage to your esophagus.  

OK first asshole joke... the parts of the body were having a disagreement about who was the boss.  The brain said "of course I am the boss because I do all the thinking"  The heart said well how could you think if I didn't provide blow flow to the brain?  The stomach said wait a sec, the blood is fine but you'd all starve if I didn't digest food and the lungs said what good is blood to the brain if you don't have oxygen?  Meanwhile the asshole was trying to get a word in but no one would listen.  So the asshole stopped itself up.  Nothing exiting the body.  Pretty soon, the brain couldn't think, the heart was laboring to beat, the stomach couldn't digest food... and that, my friends, is how the asshole became the boss!

Yeah a sigmoidoscopy could sort it out maybe, I dunno how they determine which to do and yes I sure did go get it checked out!!!!  More fun! (augh) 

Rachel_BC

chelev- i'm waiting to hear what your ONC says today...

Rachel_BC

if I couldn't live in NYC, my next favorite place would be SFO area, or London... but I'd LOVE to have a place on the beach in SoCal.... then again, I'd go in their "winter"... I love it at 70 degrees and no one is on the promenade all the way from Redondo Beach to Malibu

Anonymous

Rachel - I don't go until Friday, so we'll have to wait until then.  But at least the appt. is in the morning.

If I could move to CA, it would be north of LA - anywhere between LA and San Francisco.  Hermosa Beach was really nice too - I spent a few weeks there last year and loved it!

Wind blowing 30-40 mph today thanks to Ida.  We're going to get a little rain off and on for the next few days and lots of wind.  Good thing I don't have to worry too much about my hair!

lisa-e

I am still without my laptop, so this is a flyby post from work... 

I agree with smithlme about the tee shirts. . .

I had a wonderful time; it was so much fun to get meet you all!  

Kari, thanks for posting the pictures! 

lbrewer

Colonoscopy isn't that bad.  Its the prep before..liquid diet and cleanse.  But I'm one of the "lucky" ones that has to have them every 2 years because of a genetic condition.  There's actually a study being conducted now to see if women would rather have their an endometrial biopsy at the same time as they are sedated for a colonoscopy.  Like anyone would rather be woken up first!!!!

Rachel_BC

I wish I could schedule not only the endometrial biopsy but a whole buncha other stuff while they have me knocked out- YES PLEASE!???

lbrewer

Research shows that estrogen is stored in fat cells.  I think lipo should be considered preventative medicine for BC women!

kfinnigan

meg, I asked for the same thing when they took my younger DD out via c-section...no dice.

Rachel, loved the ass joke!  

I've had a colonoscopy before when I was having constipation issues (eat more fiber) and the sigmoid because my onc thought I got a fissure from chemo.   

Rachel_BC

Doncha just love a conversation about our asses?

LittleRed

Too funny ladies!!

Didn't know they said that about Texas.

My girlfriend just told me she's having constipation and 'arse issues' - damn it's weird reading this thread!

Love the T-shirt. been thinking I need a new boyfriend with a motorcycle so I can wear a t-shit that says "SFBC is my Bitch" on the back!  Beautiful day here for a bike ride!

Rachel - I've been to London twice, so I know what you mean, but I couldn't leave the ocean...this time of year I can see the harbor from my bigger-than-a-bread-box house so that makes me SO happy!!

I was thinking I shoul get a Brazilian butt lift when they do my exchange...then I could move to CA...!

BooBee

Ibrewer...I like the way you think.  Sign me up for lipo.

I had bootie bleeding problems as well.  They went away after about two months.  You still want to let your Dr know about it.

pkb143

NorCal Ladies, loved the photos!! thanks for sharing with us. Wish that I could be a California girl....and not just so I could do lunch with y'all. If I could have my pick of where to live, Ireland comes to mind, but really, anything close to the ocean would be nice. (I think -- but I've never had to deal with a hurricane, so.....)

This conversation has really gone into the toilet, huh? It just shows that we can talk about ANYTHING here, and do it with some humor, too. However, if it's MY a$$ we're talking about, I might not find it so humorous. I skipped my colonoscopies for about 15 years because I had a phobia (guess you'd called it that) from having two really bad experiences years ago. Then about 2 years ago, my doctor insisted I have one, and guess what? it was a piece of cake. Seriously. So benisse, if you have to have one, I hope it's smooth sailing for you, and it turns out to be nothing worrisome.

**I think I want a t-shirt that says "Fight Like a Girl!" or maybe I'll make up a new one that says something like "Yeah, It's a Boob Job, but It Required a Mastectomy First."

LeggyJ

Hi all,

I had such a lovely time with the NorCal Girls, thanks so much for coming!  We could have talked for a few more hours, and not covered everything.  Rachel, we all thought of you, and you gave us all the idea, THANKS

I was born in Redondo Beach, and lived there until, I was 10, sure miss it, but I'm lucky to live here in the Napa Valley.

GramE

Try this website for some Boob tshirts:

http://www.zazzle.com/boobs+gifts 

smithlme

Geez! All this "cheeky" talk going on. I had my colonoscopy in May. It was the first medical test I've passed in years! Talk about a relief. My dad's a colon and kidney cancer survivor so I figured I'd better get the damn test. Yahoo...clean as a whistle. Yep, the prep was the worse part, but I lost a few pounds.

I just got back from having lunch with two women I attend a cancer support group with. Small town...small group. Anyways...we were discussing what we say when someone asks us if we're "cured." After the swearing stopped we now have a new name for our lunch group. We are now officially, "NED's Dancing Academy." NED for, well, duh...no evidence of disease, and the dancing academy is because we "dance" around peoples uneducated remarks as well as through treatments, surgeries, etc., etc.

I was also talking about what we call ourselves when we have no breasts, boobs or foobs. One of my fellow dancers nailed it....we have noobs...no boobs! And if we peek down our shirts we see....noobies! OK...I've had way too much caffeine, but you get where this all went...

Linda

LeggyJ

Gee, I had a bloody butt, all during chemo., and again on Sat., and never thought to mention it to the Onc.  Hey Rachel, I don't think I could tell the Dane, but I have my first one year appt. with him on Dec. 11.  I think I'll just take another softener.....OH POOP!!!