Sisterhood of the Secret Handshake

Rachel_BC

Little Red- I learned 3 things so far working with chemo gals growing out and the 3rd thing was just what you said... like ok, you do the chemo for 6 months and lose your hair and then the six months is over but its another year before you have hair really- its a ridiculously long time.  During which everyone wants to tell you how good you look except that you dont think you look like YOU so its not the compliment they intended.  Or they try to say its vanity- which is complete HorseshCRIKEY.

13 is a little out of my dream space but I will think on it... I have some notes for the future stuff... Space Camp, Disney, Dude Ranch, Swimming with Dolphins, Sailing, Driving Cross country 

Rachel_BC

benisse and renee- kinda cool its the same day  benisse i feel the same way about jury duty.  Acutally there's been articles here about people volunteering to serve because they are out of a job.

and don't  get me started on the trials of the terrorists coming to NYC 

Rachel_BC

carollyn- that's so bad it's funny... from throat to wee wee (Hey, it's not a curse word, OK?) to bum... it's like your doctors prescribed the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 to fix your throat!

KIM 40- I think I posted before that you are WELCOME and I think I also sent you a PM but if I didn't - YOU ARE WELCOME HERE   

Rachel_BC

HA HA Patty, will be in OK... :P

Rachel_BC

pclarky- hows' the boob?  and I totally know that "duh its for the swelling" moment.

Rachel_BC

Little Red- ah the family Thanksgiving Dinner.  It's been a bad deal as long as I can remember,  Always drama.  For years I'd have "secret Thanksgiving".  My single friends would tell their divorced parents they were going to the other one's Thanksgiving or whatever it took so that everyone thought they were somewhere else, but they'd come to my house- and sometimes after being at an intolerable family Thanksgiving -and we'd eat and drink and be merry and the one rule was that no one could hassle anyone else.  Then we'd all pass out on the couches high on stuffing.

So far this year my Dad and step mom were coming up from PA to NYC- even though I was making plans to be with them in PA.  OK great, they're coming.  Last year I didn't even see them.  I thought they were coming up this year- the ONLY time they came to the city for my step sister, who chose to be away that weekend last year.  But Dad says they are coming for me and the kid, great.  I am making all the plans to get to their place which is smack in  the middle of the Macy's Day parade, fun fun fun getting through the crowd carrying all the baby gear for the day.  OK got that covered, and my two guy pals (another story) are arriving in shifts, one in the morning and one in the evening.  Great.  This is when I started to worry my step sister was going to use me as her distraction again and sent her this letter.  She's been holding all of us at arm's length for a year now and that's fine but if you don't want to talk to your parents, don't pick on ME!  Fine.  Then Dad says maybe they want to do Thanksgiving at noon instead of 3-4pm.  Fine by me.  But my stepsister - who lives 10 blocks from my Dad- wont come at noon.  She's working.  (right?)  Fine, I'm happy to see my Dad.  Then my Dad says he thinks that opening the catered food for Thanksgiving will be too much for my step mom, who is not feeling great.  (my guess is she is hurt that her daughter is not coming).  I say, no problem.  I find a restaurant around the corner from them that should be a nice meal for Thanksgiving.  Did I mention that I had already decided to pick up a whole Thanksgiving spread at Whole Foods on Tuesday and have it with my friends at home that night because I knew the Thanksgiving at my Dad's was iffy at best? 

I am just a little worried because to take 2 subways to the mass of the parade and then to a restaurant with my kid - and him without the Swine Flu shot...

and this was the easy part of the story- comparatively so far this is the best Thanksgiving ever with my family! 

Hey, don;t knock Country music!  I love it.  And its not all depressing, I Ilove Martina McBride- my baby loves me just the way that I am and Terri Clark, I could have washed my car in the rain... and another Rolling Stones bit... I always get the names confused, one is reggae legend the other is country legend... uhmmm...That's it, George Jones ... OK so Keith Richards has a great respect for country and was recording with George Jones in maybe TN... and Keith was waiting for a long time for George to show up.  Finally George shows up and says he was just so nervous about playing with KR he kept driving around the block for an hour ... oh looky here's a youtube clip of one of their songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FszkSqOGLCw 

AllieM22

good grief--a lot going on! Terri and Juli50 and kookiesmm--good luck to you all! I'm sure all will turn out fine--just have it hurry up, right??

Rachel--good luck with turkey day--sounds like an adventure...!! 

I think that is funny--your comment that the people on the board won't care about our comments since they already wrote us off as deceased! (ok, black humor but still...that's what they are saying! the buggers.) 

Off to bed--have a good night all and a better tomorrow...! 

HelenaJ

Hi everyone.  Man, I was told about the stuff going on in the US with the mammograms and self exam stuff and the ripple effect here on BCO.  Had to come and visit a little earlier than usual.  It hasn't hit the general news here but has, of course, hit the BC websites, forums etc.  In Australia self examination is the only way women can be advocates for our own health.  We only get free mammograms under 50 if you have a family history.  It makes my skin crawl - and please don't think it is a slight on the US, wow Australia has been incredibly medieval lately in soooo many ways - that all the hard work done over the last decade or so by researchers, doctors, scientists and what makes me so incredibly upset - all the beautiful women who have used their final years of life advocating self examination, regular mammograms, can be shot down just like that. 

LittleRed - my sister lost her hair at 35 from chemo - she now has the most glorious long locks and when I saw your photo it reminded me of her and of the photos I look at her pre SFBC and the innocence in her eyes.  You will have your gorgeous hair back - better than ever.  Colour...irrelevant ...you have so much more going on there.  

Terri - I'm not religious but I will say my own special prayer for you.  (((hugs)))

Rachel - my older sister visited recently and she is pretty toxic but Linda Blairish can also be incredibly lovable.  Anyway when she started her toxic stuff (it was about breast cancer which she doesn't have but thinks she knows more than me, crikey!!!) I put my fingers in my ears and went "la la la la la" literally!!!  Worked a treat - I did have to do it 2 times though - but I promise you it is impossible to not laugh when you do it, a bit like skipping - try that too without smiling.  Some people are just toxic and the only way they can get to you is if you let them. 

Anyway, read through lots of pages, you guys are a hell of a bunch of amazing women.

big hugs

Helena

pclarky

Hello, all.

Rachel - know y'all will have a wonderful time.  

As for the boob, it is  s - l - o - w - l - y fading.  Not so much shrinking, but I assume it will do so, even more slowly?

 All the other symptoms (fever, ache, etc) have been banished by the cipro.  Huzzah!

benisse

Renee - That's a hoot that we're surgery twins.  I am going for pre-op bloodwork today.

Terri - Sorry for the long ER wait without seeing the doctor.  I'm glad you got to see the Onc the next day and know there's no blockage.  I know you must be so scared.  I hope you can take something and relax over the weekend.

Little Red - I'm 5 wks PFC....good to know it fills in. 

Kookies - good luck on your test o' the week.

Jess -  Sorry for your stress.  I got a hot flash just reading about it.

Rachel - It's a bummer that in order to see those we want to see, we have to be around the crazies.  The secret thanksgiving sounds like so much more fun.  I have 10 siblings and 43 nieces and nephews.  My parents invited everyone for a special Thanksgiving meal in my honor which is really touching and sweet.  But there will be fireworks for sure.  Somebody will say the wrong thing or discipline another person's child or have too much too drink or too little to eat of the dish someone else prepared...and all hell will break loose.  I spent years being surprised by it...now I'd be so surprised if there wasn't some drama.  I'm glad your step sister doesn't have kids...that introduces a whole new level of holiday posturing.

I've been on Tamoxifen for 4 weeks.  The hot flashes were really bad at first.  In the past few days they've gotten better.  Fewer and not as severe.  Maybe because I was on Levaquin which interes.  Or maybe just SE are dissipating.

Rachel_BC

benisse- good one about kookiesmom's "test o' the week"!

helena- its so strange in Oz, on the one hand you had to research and fight for the OncotypeDX test and what you say about no free mammos before 50 - but on the other hand its Aussie researchers re-growing boobies! 

LOVE the Thanksgiving stories!   

The one thing I may grudgingly have to credit SFBC for is a whole know crapmeter, measuring stick for things that SUCK.

_____(fill in blank with what ever piece of shCRIKEYt happening)_____ ... well at least its not cancer

Off to deal with devils and then meet Leah!!! YEAH!!!

and MEG where are ya?  I was able to send the Black Dog back to the porch but I know it was only because the problem was outside of my body.  Since yours is based on what's going on with your body, its got to be an exponentially more difficult task to send that dog home.  I'm still with ya babe, and the cards from MN will get to the bakery TODAY.

Even though I am still sitting next to Jess in the wild bitches on crack seats.  

Terri- any news? 

kfinnigan

Just a driveby, just got an email from my onc, the results are in on my CYP2D6 test...here's her email to me:

Dear Kari,
You have one copy of the normal gene and one copy of the gene that is associated with "poor metabolism". This puts you in the category of intermediate metabolizer. The people who are considered less likely to respond to tamoxifen are the ones who have two copies of the abnormal gene. It is unclear how to interpret all this information and even more unknown about how to use it. So you are not in the category of unresponsiveness. Hope that helps. Julie 

pkb143

Helena, my 7-year old great nephew did that "la la la' thing with his fingers in his ears one day while I was lecturing him about something and it made me CRAZY! So yeah, it's effective.

Kari, I guess that's good news....being an intermediate metabolizer. So one bad and one good gene makes you IM, huh? Interesting. I have no clue what kind I am but I am assuming since I've had some SEs, I'm metabolizing it.

Rachel, the SFBC crap-o-meter -- sounds like something you could buy on Channel 34 at 2 o'clock in the morning. Perhaps we should invent our own scale for the SBFC crap-o-meter, such as, Thanksgiving with probing relatives (on a 1-10 scale, rates a 7.5); negotiating with stubborn landlord = 6; recalcitrant boob pain = , etc.

Guess I'm lucky compared to some of the stuff y'all are dealing with. The most anxiety-provoking thing I have going on right now is that I started my dog on Rimadyl yesterday and am now obsessing about whether she's OK. I swear, it hadn't been an hour after her first dose, that I started Googling it and found all kinds of horror stories about dogs dying on this drug!!! OMG....I'm trying to stay calm and remember it's a very small percentage. And here I laughed at Rach about the germophobia with her kid....I'm as bad or worse with my little Shih-Tzu.

So glad to hear those of you having boob 'issues' are getting some pain relief -- and yeah, I agree, after coming here and reading, my problems are miniscule. I can't even complain about family interaction on holidays; we rarely, if ever, have any blowups (what's up with that?) ~~ and it's a beautiful day in Oklahoma ~~ and the OSU Cowboys will be playing football tonight on ESPN!!

LeggyJ

Hi gang, 

Kari, I'm in the same boat, and my Onc. said about the same thing.  Yesterday, it was a year since I finished chemo/rads.  Yahoo!!! 

Rachel, your right about the hair, I still have pubic hair on my head...Oh well.

kfinnigan

Right on Leggy!!!!!  well not about the pubic hair on your head LOL!!

AllieM22

Leggy--you do not. You have lovely hair...if someone didn't know what you'd been through they would never think twice about your 'do. And congrats on your one year!!

LeggyJ

Thanks, Kari and Allie! 

jrgolomb

Benisse---I am hot flashing thinking about you hot flashing  when you read about me shouting at a principal of a high school!  Crikey!!!  ....or "shite" as my flaming red headed great grandma used to speal out. I wonder if I should meditate more to reduce the hot flashes....Seems like I read about that somewhere hm.......

kfinnigan---funny comment about "just a driveby"  .  I like it!  Made me chuckle.  We need more chuckles, don't we???

Oh, shite, Leggy, now I really don't know what to do with my hair!  I just won't be able to look at my head in the same way again, because gosh, I probably did have a fleeting thought of "oh gosh, my hair on my head looks sort of pubic like.....no , I can't think that!!!!""  OMG!!  Well, I must admit those were probably PFC days one or two or three weeks out!  Nonetheless,  I am really laughing at that one. 

Pkb143--I truly adore your avatar.  Your hair is a nice color and shape.  I think it is funny about your nephew and the ear plug with the "lalalalala" thing.  Doesn't that just get ya going?  One time my dd started imitating me when I got mad.  She started blinking rapidly and talking in jibberish.I remember thinking she was having an epileptic fit.  Can you imagine my reaction when I realized it was HER MOTHER  she was copying???? 

 Pclarky---I like the huzzah comment.  Do I use it when I am happy, or when I have to excite people during a meeting?  How about when I want to encourage dd to clean her room?  I wonder! Now that's cool.  Huzzah. 

LeggyJ

Hey Allie, your dog is so cute!!!!!  I'll be house-sitting this weekend, and my friends have a huge dog, but she gets along with Wolfie, so I'll just hang out there, and get away from MOM.

Next week, I'm going to Fort Bragg, for Thanksgiving.  I stay at a dog friendly motel, right on the coast, with a walkway right out the back door, that goes for miles along the coast.  I love it there.

ktym

Teri and Julie, hugs to you and hope today is better.  Hope suits go away.  Hope the lump going down was a good sign and that all will be ok.

Rachel, I like that, crapometer

Everyone else hope its a good day for you 

Anonymous

Hi everyone - well, did the MRI yesterday - was VERY nervous but the radiologist, who goes through your films with you before you leave (who does this anymore??? I've never come across anyone who actually takes the time!)  showed me a comparison from the first one in February - yukky boobs - cysts and crap and the huge honking tumor, the blip on the other side . . and compared it with yesterday - his words  IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!!!!  I AM COMPLETELY N.E.D!!!!!!!!  Everything looks perfect - the tamox is really working - there aren't any cysts or anything in there - just a little swelling still from the infection, but otherwise, not a damn thing in them, in the lymph nodes, bones in the chest, etc.

happy dance!!!!

pclarky

Chelev - HUZZAH!

 Jrgolomb - I started using huzzah after seeing the soldiers shouting it over and over in Pirates of the Caribbean - I think it must be a victory cry.  

kfinnigan

Great news Chelev!! 

Leggy, ENJOY the dog sitting and getting away from mom, hee hee !!  Have fun at Ft. Bragg, its gorgeous there. 

We are off to the airport in a bit!!  Cabo here I come!  Arriba Arriba!!

Happy Thanksgiving to All! 

Rachel_BC

pclarkly- HUZZAH FOR THE HEALING BOOBIE   kari love it that your ONC emails you.   leggy- I was trying to read back to find where I could have said anything like you having public hair on your head!   I think (I know I will get slapped for saying it) you look GREAT- your hair sure doesn't like like pubes to moi... and if there is a person whose pubes look like your hair, I feel sorry for them big time!    kudos to Allie and kari for setting the record straight... You're busted Legs... we've seen the pics and have to agree with your Mom (sorry!)     jess- now don't you start!  PattyB part deux you are really something.  You must be the funniest person in Oklahoma...   leggy- is it a bunch of folks meeting up at Ft. Bragg for turkey and doggies?   chelev- Get down with your bad self!! ! HURRAH HOORAY YIPPIEEEE THANK G-D  for crying out loud that was some scary ShCRIKEYit.  How did you do with the photo shoot and all that?  When  you come in January, maybe me and the kid can come to the boat show- ok maybe not the kid because  i am really going nuts on this Swine Flu thing, I am not letting him out of the house to be around people, so maybe just me.  PARTY ON GIRL!   kari that's so cool, rock that vacation in Cabo and take some pics for us!!!!!  

Rachel_BC

OK, just a lot happening, I have a lot of pics to post too, and the BEST TIME with Leah- a lot to report but I am so far behind in annoying stuff that has to be done so... soon come...

AllieM22

YAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!! Chelev--that's so great! 

Leggy-have fun with Wolfie! Beemer says hi to Wolfie...

Kari--have a great trip!

Meg--hope you are doing well.... 

Rachel_BC

Hey Allie- that is one cute doggie!

pkb143

chelev, AWESOME NEWS!! congrats on the NED! What a wonderful feeling that must have been to hear that.

Leggy, I'm with Rachel, if your hair resembles pubic hair, then ..... yeah, then some women must have some pretty amazing pubic hair.  I love your puppy dog in the picture....I need to take a pic with Nugget and make it my avatar, too.  Allie's puppy is cute, too -- looks very laid back and/or playful there.

Jess, thank you (re: comment on my avatar)!! That picture was taken "BBC" (before breast cancer) so it's a year old or so. I'd like to think I look about the same, but I don't know....SFBC has at least given me more gray hair to try to cover up. Now I have to color my hair to cover up the gray as much as to touch up dark roots!

Rach, most likely I am NOT the funniest person in Oklahoma but I might be the funnest. LOL~~ speaking of fun, got to get ready to go see my great nephew.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Mary22

Well hello to all!!! Glad to read that all are doing well!!!!!!!!!

My week has been hell!. On Saturday I had no water, the pump in my well went. It was fixed on Sunday, but they put chlorine tablets in the well, so we could not drink the water for 4 days.

The weekend is finally here yeah!!!!!!!!!

Rachel_BC

Mary, is it a bad thing that your loss of water makes me feel better about living in the city?  We lose water all too often....

hugs...