December 2009 Rads Group
Comments
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Hi there, gals! I'm here! Glad you've been checking in.
Veggy; Congrats about your son's graduation! You must be proud, both of him and yourself. Sorry your thyroid stuff is not going well. Good luck with the liver scan, that sounds scary.
Here's my report:
I've been doing quite well! About three weeks ago I noticed that I was feeling stronger FINALLY. I'm not 100% back, but getting there. Whew!
Started supplementing iodine. Right away, scar lumpiness got a lot better. Connected? Who knows. Bad news is now my breasts are different sizes. But you know what, I don't care! Enough is enough! Maybe later I'll do something.
Still having to stretch due to scarring - seems to come in cycles.
My first mammogram is supposed to be in July, but it's not scheduled yet. I may wait until Aug or Sept. I like not having medical stuff for a while.
But I"m having a colonoscopy next week! It's a baseline since I turned 50 - no symptoms or anything.
Keep checking in, everyone!
Bonnie
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Veggy glad to hear things are getting back to normal for you finally. Be patient with the thyroid scar it does take time for it to heal and shrink. Mine is still noticeable but then they let an intern staple me up and he didn't do a great job so I have bad scar. It's been 21 yrs since I've had my surgery and I don't even pay attention to it anymore. You know it's really kind of strange... most people don't even notice it especially since I wear a necklace all the time it tends to draw the attention and the eye away from the scar. You might try that. I'm never without a necklace on and haven't been for years. I usually sleep in one. LOL!! I know odd ball.
Bonnie I am so happy that you are feeling stronger at last! Isn't it great to be feeling somewhat like your old self again? I am still tired at times, but heck I work all the time an haven't really had any time to rest at all. I want a vacation so badly I can't stand it but with the economy I doubt we get one. We can afford all of it except the hotel, they are just so darned expensive. Maybe after the main vacation season we can go somewhere. By then though I may well collapse. HaHa!!! In all seriousness I still haven't gotten all the strength back in my arm after radiation and I find that when I try to do things like open jars, vacuum, mop, or things of that nature my arm gives out easily and I don't have the same force to put behind it to "clean" the floor or whatever as well. Anyone else in that boat with me?
Bonnie good luck on the colonoscopy! Hope it goes well.
Jewly I would love to come and go gambling with you. Have a girls weekend how very wonderful. Tampa is about a 12-14 hour drive for me I think? Isn't that where you said it was?
Renee
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Renee and All, yes, the Seminole Hard Rock and Casino is just on east side of Tampa..I can get 2-night comped stay Sun-Thurs nights...You can view the info on line...wouldn't that be great if we could pull something like this together for the group of us, who knows maybe we would get lucky and actually win!!...There's a huge pool, Tikis, restaurants, you name it!!!...I could get a room with 2 queens and fit as many of us that might get to come.....Who's in???????............right now I have an offer for all of July except for Fri/Sat nights and of course they blocked out the 4th!!!!..They usually send me an offer for 2 nights each month....So when should we do this?????
Hey everyone, remember I have been fighting an office visit charge ($30-$35) for each of my 30 radiation visits with my Ins and the Cancer Center, it's a real pain sending in the paperwork and so far I was denied twice....So yesterday after trying to understand my last statement and talking with the very nice office rep at Cancer Center, I offered to split the cost with the Cancer Center and pay half, she made the offer to my Docs and they accepted, I paid half and now I have $0 balance....Just glad I don't have to keep fooling with the unfairness of the charge....
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Renee, Sorry you're still feeling tired and weak; I have to say that I am too, but just STARTING to feel more like my old self. Today I was pretty wiped out again, but the overall trend is UP! Hope you're on the upswing too. AND hope you get a vacation!!
Jewly: Glad you have a zero balance - good thinking to offer to split, even though even $15 per visit seems unfair. Congratulations! I wish I could join you (and Renee??) at your gambling weekend in Tampa! Sounds like so much fun - but just too far for me to go from California. You need to win back you radiation money.
Bonnnie
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Bonnie I think I am definitely on the up swing, but it's just one of those things that takes time and I'm not the most patient person... I like things done yesterday. It's the nurse in me. LOL!
Wish I could make it to a gambling trip in Tampa, but alas right now the funds are just not there. My daughter is getting ready to go back to college (I hope) the first of August and we have got to get all of that taken care of.
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Well I guess July would be too soon, it takes a while to accumulate enough extra$$$ to go again to the Hard Rock....But if anyone is ever down this way, just let me know..I better save for a Vegas trip in November, I've never been and we are going there to meet my dh's family for his brother's 50th birthday and then on to San Diego...
How is everyone?..I am still a little sore but much better than a month ago...I try to not dwell on the bc effect but it sometimes won't leave my mind....I try to be conscientious about what I put in and on my body..I try to be more patient with my mom.....I don't always do so well at this but I try...
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I'm still tired. I'm going for an CAT scan on my liver today. A friend of mine is having her labor induced today at the same hospital I am going to. I might stop by and see how she is.
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Wow Veggy what fun! Your friend is having a baby!!! Celebrate life...
I'm sure the tiredness will soon go away for all of us. I know that it is slowly but surely leaving me. I am tired for another whole reason... All I do is flipping work!! I put in about 50-60 hrs a week. It definitely takes it's toll on me and my house and family. I usually don't feel like doing anything at home most days and the housework goes totally lacking. It's quite sad. Hopefully in another month life will get back to normal. Or at least normal as I knew it before BC. Jewly, we may be down that way for a family vacation in Daytona around August 9th. We are definitely looking into it. Haven't made the reservations yet. We are checking out hotels. We want something on the beach, but not too pricey.
As for being sore I definitely still have some of that going on especially in my ribs and occassionally in my breast I'll get strange Pangs or Pings I call them. They aren't constant and occur at random. It's really weird how they happen. The pains I have in my ribs on that side since rads are weird to it's almost like they bruise easily for no reason... stay that way for about a month and it gets better, then will be well for several months and it happens again. Very odd??
Renee
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Veggy, hope your CAT scan was free of any concerns..Keep us updated.....
Renee, with all those work hours, you need a vacation!!....Maybe if you get to Daytona, my husband and I will come up (we are about an hour and half south) and we can meet somewhere for a glass of wine.....
I have an appt this morning with a dermatologist, no concerns just wanted to get checked so I am hoping that I am not opening a whole new can of worms!!!
Edited after appt with derm doc......no areas of concern, she will just watch a couple of moles in the future, so at least now I have a baseline check.....
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Hey Veggy, Jules, Bonnie and Jewly and any body else I may have missed! I hope all of you are doing great and had a great 4th of July weekend! Please check in and let us know how all of you are doing. Hugs to all of you my friends.
Renee
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I saw my chemo doctor today. Everything is good. Last time she saw me I was bald. Now I have hair and I dyed it. I'm not too thrilled of the color...raseberry. It was supposed to reddish brown... that's what it said on the box. Anyway she checked on the results of the CAT scan and everything is the same as last time. No changes of the spots on the liver. She doesn't think its liver cancer like the radiologist thinks it might ever so slightly be. I'm satisfied. Now if I can only lose some weight.
Hugs<
Valerie
{{{{Renee}}}}}
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Yeah Veggy!! I am happy for you that all is well and your CAT scan was stable, that is totally awesome. Good luck with that weight loss program. It's especially tough if you are on oral meds. I don't know if you are. I am taking Tamoxifen. I am on a weight loss program I have done fairly well with the first 30 + pounds but now I'm stuck and nothing seems to be coming off, of course I have been under a great deal of stress at work and have not been very diet savy lately. I have to get back on "my horse" and follow my diet a little stricter. I have 15-20 lbs still to lose to get to my goal wt.
Renee
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I'm not on any oral meds for the BC (I'm triple negative). I'm taking synthoid for the thyroid. I think the fatigue and depression has a lot to do with the weight gain. I went shopping and bought a lot of fruit instead of ice cream. I want to stick to smaller portions and drink lots of water. I want to start walking but the weather here has been in the high 90's and very humid. I've been doing a lot of work in my garden at night.
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Hey guys, I've been dealing with my mom in hospital for "unknown infection" for the last week...They have given her every test that her insurance will approve!!!...I've never seen so many tests done...This has been very frustrating, esp., since my two sisters think that since I live the closest they don't have to drive the 1+ 1/2 hour drive to come help!!!!!.....I hope they do not release my mom until she can do things on her own again.....I do not have the patience since this week has been such a trial for me....
Veggy, Congrats on good scan, my next one will be October.... I think your weather has been hotter than Florida this week, I took my great long walk on beach this early morning, there was a nice breeze and I am getting so use to my walks that I feel guilty if I don't go at least twice a week....I have even had the nerve to start walking in a swim suit so I can go in the water....
Renee, Wow you've done great with your weight loss, thats great!!!! I seem to have gotten at a plateau with my weight also, I still would love to take off another 5 to 8 lbs.....
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Wow Veggy you guys are having "hot" weather like we do here in Alabama... Yikes!!! The humidity is a stinker isn't it?!
Jewly I am so sorry to hear about your Mom, I hope she heals fast and gets out of the hospital soon. Shame on your sisters for not helping out, but isn't that usually the way of it, one sibling ends up doing more of the care taking than the others? That is definitely what I have seen happen with my grandparents. My mother has been trying to hold down a part-time job and then goes and stays with my grandparents 24-7 for 72 hrs straight. She has 2 younger sisters and one of them lives in the house with the grandparents and the other one lives a mile from them (my mom lives the farthest away, 55 miles). So, I totally get where you are coming from.
Take care and hope you get that 5-8 lbs off soon! LOL! Keep smiling
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Hey Renee, just having coffee and see you're still hanging in here to keep this topic alive....My mom is out of hospital and seems to be doing okay..I believe that the leviquin IV that she was on for almost 6 days straight may have caused most of her se's while she was in hospital...They did every test they could and now when I read the leviquin se's website...they are exactly what my mom kept complaining of!!!!!..These medicines!!!...She lives about a mile away from me and I will go check on her this morning, but my two sisters will find every excuse they can for not coming up to actually do something to help her out, oh but they call her and send her cutsie little cards!!!!..Your mom sounds like she is a saint, what is up with these family members, do they have no conscience????...I believe they don't!!!!!.........Thank God I have my husband, son, daughter and my dog's full support and also they keep my smiling, esp., my crazy dog.....He always jumps in my bed at night, it's a pretty high bed (at least 2 1/2 feet) and he has no problem jumping up in it or out of it...Lately, when my son is not home, my dog gets in his bed, mind you my son's bed basically a pillowtop mattress on the floor, no box spring (his choice) so my dog just steps up on it....For some crazy reason he is afraid to jump down, I mean it is only about 14 inches, mattress included...He cries and acts like he is soooo scared, we have to go back and help him down...It is sooooo funny, he gets stuck about 2 or 3 times a day......
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LOL! That is too funny about your dog not wanting to get down off your son's mattress! Especially when he will jump off yours... hmm!!! Makes you wonder, doesn't it what they think of. Oh well, and yes, my mom is a saint, too bad she doesn't realize it. She stays depressed so much over all the things she has to do for everyone else and seemingly gets nothing in return. It seems to me that everyone is always taking from her and always has. She is a really great woman. You sound a lot like her. Take Care Jewly and I'm glad your mom is doing better. Big Hugs!!
Renee
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Hello there December Gals! I'm still here!
Just spent 10 days in NYC where it was SUPER HOT! One day was a record 103 degrees! Was there with my two sisters waiting while my mom had surgery for lung cancer. The doctors were very worried she would not survive the surgery, so we were scared to death. But she pulled through without a hitch, so my sisters and I had fun in NYC together. My mom is tough!
Next week is my first mammogram since all this began. I'm a little worried. I'd hate to start all over again. Had a colonoscopy a couple of weeks ago and it was 100% clear. Yippee.
I'm doing well. Just get a few pangs like Renee now and then, and sometimes I feel a tearing feeling in the radiated chest muscles, but all in all just fine. In NYC I did so much walking that I got motivated to keep it up at home. The last four mornings I have gone running, so hopefully will keep that up. I'm trying to lose 10 lbs, too. It's hard!
I'll let you know about my mammogram!! Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Bonnie
I'm glad we're keeping this thread going. I think about you guys.
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Hey Bonnie, great news for your mom, just had some similar issues with my mom..She's also doing well....But, I must have strained a muscle while doing stuff for her....Had backache for about a week, just went to doc, he assures me it's a muscle strain (you know how are minds work these days) and gave me muscle relaxer and naproxen for pain...We BC girls just can't be too carefull....I've got a few lbs also that I would like to get rid of, I do walk on beach 2x week....It's a habit now, feel bad if I don't go...Great news also on your fun procedure, bet your mammo will be just as clear.....Let us know>>>>
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I'm glad your moms are doing okay. Looks like we all have a few pounds to get rid of. I'm trying not to eat as many carbs as I was. I'm bigger now than I ever was even pregnant. Let us know how the mammo goes. I wonder how the rest of the girls are?
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Bonnie glad to hear your mom as well as Jewly's are doing well. I too think your mammo will be just fine. Veggy I weigh, even with a 35lb weight loss, what I weighed when I came home from the hospital after I had my youngest daughter. I've got about 10-15 more lbs to lose and for the life of me I can't get it off. I have really lost a lot of inches on this diet and it doesn't reflect in the lbs of the scales, but you know I would like to look at the scales and see the number down in the 130's. I have followed it for the most part to a tee. I have cheated a little and then I will get right back on it. But for the last 3-4 wks I haven't lost not one lb. I am so disappointed!!! I paid a lot of money to go to this weight loss clinic and they did help me lose "some" weight but not all that I wanted to. I've only got till Aug. 20th and then they put me on maintenance. I really don't think I'm gonna get it off by then. I would have to starve. haha!! If ya'll figure out some way to get it off let me know. I think the Tamoxifen has kicked in and is making my body be stubborn.
Renee
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O.k. Ladies I'm checking in on everyone... where are you at? I know if with my busy schedule and caring for my granddaughter, who by the way just turned 18 months July 8th, I can find time to get on here my fellow Dec Rads ladies can check in.
I'm getting ready to face the dreaded Medical oncologist soon I have to go in on 8/31 (I think that is the date). And I have to go see the Plastic surgeon on 8/25/10 and I'm hoping that I get an o.k. that we can go ahead and do the recon surgery sooner rather than later. Guess I'll have to wait and see. He told me that I might have to wait a yr. but I really hope not. That would make me wait till Feb. or later. Egads!! How terrible I hate waiting on things...
Hugs to all of you my friends!
Renee
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Sorry to double post in one evening but you know I was looking back from the very 1st post to where this thread is today... the lady who started the Dec Rads didn't even post over a few times and hasn't been back on I think her name was Linda_nj? There are many others when you look back that have dropped off the boards. I guess they are getting on with their lives, at least that's what I hope they are doing. Then there are others that occassionally post maybe once every blue moon and some that have moved onto other threads. I've went back and looked. I guess I was bored and curious. One of our favs Lissette from Cali that is a teacher hadn't posted since Jan. and she posted a few times in May and June, then nothing. Like I said living LIFE!!! I guess I have become to attached to move on. I know I have got to get a new computer so that when my daughter starts to school. LOL!!
Renee
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Hey Renee! I'm here, and the other faithfuls will be chiming in too, just you wait!
Yesterday I had my first post-treatment mammogram. Don't know any results yet. I looked at the screen to see I could see any clips left behind; I did not see anything. I have something bothering me high up on the breast, but near the SLNB scar. Don't know if that is shown in the mammo or not. The radiology tech said that nowadays she sees so many breast cancer diagnoses. She said almost every day there is another diagnosis. Interesting, but sad. What the heck is going on???
Interesting fact: Yesterday's mammogram was on the exact same day as last year, which resulted in the BC diagnosis, and everything else. July 21. Hopefully this time it will be better news.
I went to my 30ish high school reunion a couple of weeks ago and, lo and behold, one of my classmates went through just what I did, except she had only one surgery.
A few weeks ago I was in NYC and it was record-breaking hot. Don't know if that is a factor, but on that trip I had a discharge from my BC nipple. Yellowish fluid. (Hope this isn't too icky to share here!) The discharge was probably more to do with the staph infection from April, I guess. It was only that one day. Anyone else get anything like that??? I see the surgeon for a followup in a month. I'll ask him, but I know he'll just shrug.
Hey Renee, good luck with the plastic surgeon and everything. I think eventually I'll have the nipple moved, but I don't mind waiting another six months or so. Let things settle down.
Bonnie
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I still check in everyday a couple times each day. I guess I am too attached to this site also. I need to see a phycharist to help with the antidepressants. Still very upset about the thyroid scar. Its been 3 months but I cry every time I see my reflection in the mirror. I try to get out more often so I don't focus on myself. I just don't know you go about chosing a shrink to confide in especially face to face. It took me months of reading these boards before I actually posted.
Renee - I hope everything goes well with the plastic surgeon.
Valerie
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Bonnie and Veggy thanks for checking in I appreciate it. Bonnie the 30 ish high school class reunion sounds like fun. I've been out school a long time to. I graduated in 1982. LOL! I am not far behind you.
Veggy I hope you get out of your funk! It will all work out. Take care of yourself.
Renee
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Hi All....I'm also one of those who feel the connection with the women on this site....No matter who says they understand what we have been through, they just don't!, but, I know you all do....
My mom was in the hospital for a week a couple of weeks ago, she would call me everday when she got home to have me do this or that, well I don't mind as long as I feel she really needs help, but she is a player...One day she is asking me to bring some milk and oatmeal by her house (she has a little store right next to her condo and a Walmart right next to that) the next day she is able to fly out to Tennessee to visit and go to reunion....What a player!!
My left side (surgery area is still sore), have you all healed?....Renee, I hope you get recon as planned....Bonnie, let us know about your mammo results, I always get copies of reports to keep myself, also I got film of my last mammo, I'm not a radiologist by no means, I just feel more comfortable seeing for myself.... I also think that more and more women are being dx daily, I was at the store yesterday and a young friend of mine said her 37 year old sister was recently dx and had a mast....Veggy, seems thyroid surgery is happening more and more to people I know also, most say the scar does get better with time....I find that long walks on the beach does wonders for my lows in thinking...Once it becomes a habit, the benefits are great...Do you have a nice area to walk?....One of my weekly walking friends just went back to Denver (they live here 6 months, then go back), I will miss her, she would go anytime, now I will have to make myself go alone at times...
So glad that some of us are keeping this topic going, it's a great place to say what we want with no judgements.......thanks all.......
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I love walking in the woods. I'm just afraid of the bears and snakes. A friend and I went last week and followed some trails. We found some wild berries on our way and ate them. Next time we will have to bring a bucket.
Take care everyone!
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You've all see the Pink Glove Dance video, right? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdVfyt-mLw
Well, listen to this! They are working on another one, and today they are filming a segment in San Francisco of breast cancer survivors (I don't like that word, bug I guess it beats patients). Anyway, I'm going and will tell you all about it!
It's being filmed outdoors, at Chrssy Field, which is on the northeast corner of San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge will no doubt be in the background. It will probably be very very very very foggy, though. We've had fog for WEEKS here.
Have a great day, all!
Bonnie
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I have always wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Maybe one day I'll get there.
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