Calling all TNs

Suze35

Heidi - now THAT's living!!

Lynn18

Heidi:  I guess the cicada got an eyeful?  lol

NavyMom

Heidi....you "crack" me up!  Yes, pun intended.

Wrenwood47

Can you tell me about your calf burning? My calf not only burns but itches like crazy. Has a Dr dx this problem....I am scared of some other cancer. Thanks

Titan

Good thing the baby cicada's pinchers weren't out and about...Heidi..I've been picturing you all day...still haven't decided if I want to share this with my DH or not..

Too bad about our US women's soccer team..how disappointing.

Welcome to our new ladies...as you can see we are kind of a diverse group...actually I don't think you need to go much further away from this thread to learn all you need to know about TN cancer and cicadas and being butt naked..ha ha.

rella40

Heidi--that is too awesome.  I do NOT like bugs, but that is an amazing process.

FrancesC

Hi all, read in papers today that US is having a heatwave.  Stay cool and well hydrated...

cc4npg

Just dropping in to say "HI".  All is well here.  Enjoying the summer (but not the hot flashes), and getting WAY more of a tan than my onc wanted.  Never tanned this easy before and with as much land as I have, even with a riding mower, there's not much way to escape the sun.  I hate hats and never been one for using umbrella's.

I saw the picture of the little frog a couple pages back.  I have been blessed with a bunch of baby frogs this year too!  I tried to get pictures, but they were literally too tiny when I first saw them.  Mine were smaller than a penny!  And a few tree frogs have decided to adopt my house.  Every night, on my windows and door... a couple of them come to collect bugs.  They're green in color, but for my area, they're juvenile brown tree frogs.  Cute as they can be!

Anyway, doing well here.  You are all in my thoughts...

tnbcRuth

Wren- My torso itched like crazy for months and no doctor had a diagnosis...just had to wait it out and got some good rx cream to make it bearable.  I rarely have it anymore.

Calves still burn, and again no diagnosis.  I'm taking supplements and VitB shots in addition to all my vitamins, etc., and they are helping.  The most helpful are the Adrenal Supplements. I am not a homeopathic kinda of person, I want the Real Drugs, but there is a noticeable difference in the burning.

Fighter_34

Heidi you are something else!! These pic are so clear. That SLR is GOOD. I thought my hubby was buttering me up for another gadget. I just may oblige this time.

TifJ

Angelisa- so good to hear from you and that your doing well!!

christina1961

Heidi,

Those are wonderful photos!  It took lots of patience to take those.  I love the sound of cicadas.  The ones I've seen here in TN look very similar, with very vibrant, red eyes.

Anonymous

Fighter- those pictures were taken with a digital point and shoot. I started with my digital SLR but, given my "state of dress" I opted for the easiest method. I wanted to put my SLR macro lens on and really go wild with close-ups, but I was afraid getting dressed, changing SLR lenses, etc. would make me miss the show!

However, if you are into serious photography, as I am with travel/sport/club/family photos you can't go wrong with a digitql SLR. The prices have come way down and there are many different lenses & filters available for specialized use.

However, if you just want an easy, fun, simple camera a point and shoot is the way to go. I bought one son a Kodak Easy Share, the other a Nikon Coolpix and mine is a Sony Cybershot. All take amazingly good pictures in a wide variety of conditions and have video capability.

Wrenwood47

Thanks for your response.....the itching/burning drives me nuts. When I asked the radiaolgist he just shrugged his shoulders and said that was not his field. My MD gave me some steroidal cream which did not help at all. The itching and burning is on the INSIDE not on the outside....no Dr seems to understand that. I take a lot of whole food supplements by Standard Process..will check their Adrenal support. Just one question, did your itching start after chemo/rads...I only had rads and the itching started long before tx. Thanks again

Lovelyface

Hi Wrenwood47, I also get burning (not itching) in both my feet, not calves, which started after chemo.  I feel them burning when I go to bed.  Someone told me it was neuropathy.  I notice that you only had Rads, not chemo.  I think mine started after chemo, so maybe we don't have similar thing.  I hope you get some relief from this annoying problem.

bak94

Heidi, my husband said when he was a little kid  living in Arizona he used to tie a string around cicadas and then have them fly around like a toy  plane! I said how abusive to the poor little bug! He said he would then let them go and they were ok. I have never seen one before and had no idea what they were, so thanks for sharing! No bugs like that in the northwest! We do have some grand slugs though:)

bak94

Feeling like crap today and hubby and I have not been getting along for the past few days. I feel like he is there for me physically, meaning he will cook, help clean the house, and help me out, but emotionally he just doesn't seem to understand. He never asks how I am doing, if I say I am not feeling well I swear he sighs and rolls his eyes like I am faking it. Why would I fake it? I want to feel good. He never says anything nice to me, not that he says anything mean to me. I just don't know, he seems to be on edge all the time and anything I say can set him off into an argument. He seems emotionally distant. He is participating in a study called helping her heal and is receiving counseling with the study, so I hope it helps. My therapist also said I should have him come in and chat with us as she knows I have been frustrated. Don't get me wrong, I feel lucky to have him, but I miss the emotional closeness we had before. I feel so alone, as I feel like my friends are also emotionally distant. Maybe it is me. Maybe I am pushing people away, I just don't know what to do. I feel so sad right now. Money is very tight right now and he keeps saying things like we need to save money for this or that and I keep telling him we don't even have money to pay all the bills we have let alone save, then he gets mad at me, saying we spend too much money. I have always paid the bills but I think it is time for him to do it so he can see the reality of it. The price of gas and traveling to the doctors and paying for parking is sending us to the poor house.Sorry for the vent, but I am laying here alone not feeling well and crying, not knowing what to do.

Teka

bkj66,

I would have no problem with couples counseling with a therapist.   However, I am leery of individual counseling as part of a study.

NavyMom

(((((bkj66))))))

Suze35

bkj - I wish we weren't a country apart, so that we could get together and commiserate, we have a lot in common. I have been with my DH for 15+ years, and love him dearly, but he has not always been there for me emotionally. He sometimes thinks I am over-reacting, and can be emotionally distant, especially at doctor appointments and chemo treatments. He joined me at therapy, and I learned he is terrified - not just of losing me, but ofbeing a single parent, having to give up his blossoming career, not traveling for his work a anymore, etc. These things seem so selfish - as my mom said to him "don't you think Susan would trade places with you in a heartbeat?". But I have had to learn these are real, valid fears and I need to accept them. We still get frustrated at each other, I still rant that he's not there for me all the time, but I think we are doing better. So, long story short, I think it would help to have him join you in therapy. Unfortunately, life doesnt stop, and we have to deal with all the other stresses in life on top of this. Hugs to you!

Suze35

Wren - I think Lovelyface might be on to something with the neuropathy...It can show up in weird places sometimes.  Also, have you amped up your potassium intake?  Maybe try a banana a day, or some potassium supplements...it could be cramping in disguise...?

mccrimmon324

bkj66 - I'm sorry your having such a rough time.  I think Suze35 is right, I think your husband my be scared and doesn't know how to react.  Both of you described my husband at times.  I know he can't handle or process his emotions well.  All of his emotions come out as anger or he distances himself from me.  He's in therapy now and I hope it helps him.  It would be fantastic if we could all get together and have a girls night.  I can't remember the last one I've had!

slcst12

Hi girls.

I wanted to solicit opinions on the follow up visits with the MedOnc. I have my first follow up tomorrow (I'm almost 12 wks PFC) and was wondering how that will go. Like--is she really going to be able to tell me anything? I'm TN and all...so I feel like there's no real monitoring that can go on.
Obviously I have a list of ? for her, but I just wondered what the protocol was. I'm 38, pretty sure I'm in permanent chemopause, which sucks, so a lot of my ? are around that. Just wondering what the plan is for girls like us. Mammograms every 6 mos? Any other scans? Or do they just wait for me to break my hip and say, "Oh look--mets to the bone?"...

thanks for any input!

FrancesC

bkj66 - hugs to you dearly.  No one not even our hubbys can ever understand how and what we are going through.  They are adjusting alongside with us as well, from the time of dx to the treatments, they are adjusting and I feel men generally do not know how to show their emotions and they cope worst than us in times of crisis.  This is my opinion.  5 years back when i had my first cancer, I went through a bad patch with DH.  I felt the same way as you are now.  He can be physically there but emotionally he was not there. Our kids were young, I was sick and he had a flourishing career and as I had excellent support from my parents and siblings, he internalised his emotions, escaped and stayed out late, drinking after work and socialising.  I got bitter, threw all my time with the kids, ignored him or argued with him and overtime we grew more distant.  This bitterness took a toll on me healthwise.  Fast forward - I have learnt to love unconditionally just as how I love my kids.  I let go of my bitterness towards him (bitterness inside us causes stagnation of our own internal energy flow), I learnt to love him once again like before, we started communicating better and more and slowly he could empathise with me but he still 'scolds' me when I got whiny:) Days 3-5 I was having a rough time and I whined and he told me: snapped out of it, you know these are the side effects, take them as they are and live with them till they go away.  This is how my man react to a situation - very practically.  This time round he also took control of the entire household situation and I just have to switch out of my " I am a superwoman" mode and let him take control.      

I have learnt to let go of all my own bitterness and resentments and am now feeling so much better.  

bak94

Frances, yes, that seems to be exactly what I am going through. I know he is having a hard time and has extra stress put on him, picking up my slack and such. I try to be sensitive to that but sometimes I just need him to say something nice and positive, not to be bugging me about saving money that we don't have. I think he thinks he would just be strong and not complaining if it were him going through this so he expects me to be the same way, but I cry sometimes and am sad sometimes, and he just does not get that.

FrancesC

bkj66 - extra hugs to you.  I am with you.  Cry when you feel like it, shout when you feel like it...Find comfort in others, bff, Kids, siblings etc.  We women are better at giving you support.  I have a circle of close galfriends and we are linked up on closed facebook and I update them on my situation, vent when I want to and they will post me music, comforting words, researches on breast cancer....

Fighter_34

*Warning this may sound blunt* 

I put it to my husband like this and it worked. It could have been your prostate instead of my breast. No one is immune to this UGLY disease. So take it easy and we will get pass this. The whole household changed. He went and got himself checked out and things are good. I am scared of the future, but it feels good right now to be on the other side of things.

SunnyCoconut

slcst12- My onc does tumor marker testing (bloodwork) every 3 months and asks me a lot of questions.  But I dont get any scans.  I don't get mamograms because I had a double mastectomy but I am hoping for an ultrasound of the chest area and nodes.  My appt is Thursday for my annual Gyno exam.  I am going to ask her for a script to get the ultrasound. 

Maria_Malta

bkj66....trouble is that all this cancer crap is so stressful on us and those around us, that nothing is simple and every word or action is open to misinterpretation...sometimes I think we're not very good at accepting help when it's offered..(I went to the beach yesterday and a friend wanted to carry my beach chair for me, and I snapped at her and said "I'm not an invalid!!"), at other times we feel hurt that our husbands talk and behave as though everything is almost normal...men are excellent at burying their heads in the sand, are good with the practical stuff but much less with the emotions...I can't really advise you on how to be, but know that we are all struggling along in the same way, and things do change from week to week, if not day to day sometimes... good wishes coming yr way from the very hot Mediterranean!!

bak94

Thank you all for the kind words and wisdom. Something must have sank in with my hubby because he was extra affectionate when he got home from work and was asking how I was. Today he sent me a text from work saying that I should go do something fun, unfortunately I don't feel up to it yet as it is only 3 days post chemo and I am tired. He really is a great husband, I just think the emotional stuff is too hard on him so it does come out as anger and frustration.