Calling all TNs

Anonymous

Dang, I'm tired! Just got in from feeding horses after a long day of watching my son play rugby.

I will look in to the glutamine supplement. I take Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSN (for my joints), garlic, biotin, fish oil, Vit. D and multi vitamin. Stopped taking other stuff once the TNBC panic subsided.

laurajane- just for you....

58FC8998-5F98-67A3-58AE-338395DBB2B1

1.03.01

Sugar77

Heidi - thanks for posting the secret alien code....I like it too! lol

Titan

Heidi..I'm glad the aliens are back!  Seriously...a post from you without the aliens.well..it just isn't a Heidi post!  G

Oh..this talk about sex..When I was taking chemo the nurse gave me a booklet on "Sex and Breast Cancer"..still haven't read it yet..thought it was a major example of an oxymoron!  I still have it though...maybe I should read it..I don't know..I guess we are getting personal here so I can tell you..well..I feel bad for my poor DH...he is very understanding..and I KNOW that being intimate with your significant other is a way to prove that you are ALIVE...I know all this stuff..but there is this HUGE barrier in my mind..It's not my body..its my BRAIN...

On another note..I had my hair CUT yesterday..it is very short..and I love it..I just didn't like it long..ok..long was maybe 5 inches..now it is about 3 inches..it is just so damn curly..it was curly before but now it is super curly..I'm thinking about having it "relaxed"...I don't want it perfectly straight...I just want something other than CURLS!  Most of the color was cut out too so now I'm back to being a brunette...I went a little crazy after chemo..went to blond highlights...they were fun! 

LauraJane..sorry about that BF of yours..I hope he realizes what he has with you.

 Swanny..I have fear of white coats also..I think my BP goes up every time I'm near a medical facility..

And Heidi..about the tingles..hmmm..I still get them on the bottom of my right foot..I told the onc and he was like..whatever..guess it wasn't important enough.

I have heard but don't have scientific back up around that chemo SE's can last up to 4 years..my fingernails have some ridges in them now..that happened one year ago...sometimes I lose a few eyelashes and eyebrows..all at once!   Sometimes my legs hurt for a few days and then I'm fine...it's weird.. 

Anonymous

This is not an Alien... it's my cat: "Butt"

 

Anonymous

This is not an Alien. It's my cat: "Butt".

 

Titan

I love your cat...My cat Eddie looks alot like him..seriously..they could be brothers...maybe I will try to get him to sit still long enough to take his pictures..I just love "Butt"..what a cutie!   Is he seriously sitting on the toilet? My Eddie sleeps on the toilet at night..when he is not taking up my leg room.

laurajane

I danced my petunias off, so much fun. I got to hear so much fabulous music from Brazil, Africa, Columbia, India and beyond.Just lovin' all of you guys and "Butt" too! ! Great to go to sleep tonight with a smile on my face. Sweet dreams to all. Thank-you.

MBJ

mittymuffin:  legcramps are usually a magnesium defieciency-my dr has me take 1000 mg 2 x day.  hope this helps!

Cathy559

So much happened this week and I think I am starting to feel overwhelmed by all of it. My last post I went to my granddaughters grandparent day brunch at school. That was a wonderful time.

Later that day I went to the "Wig Barn" . Now that was a totally traumatic excursion. It is s et up at a Hair Salon in a like closet room. You bring someone with you and they let you in there. There are shelves and shelves of wigs and hats and scarfs etc. However noone to help you. You bring your own "helper". You can choose whatever you want and its all free.While my daughter and granddaughter tried to make it a good fun thing all I wanted to do was cry.I finally picked out 2 wigs- a longer one sorta wavey and a shorter one more like I usually wear my hair. Then Jen found a box with ?Hairpieces. Like Hair on a band that you put a hat over. She took a couple of those and a couple chemo hats. She also got both wig stands and shampoo. Of course its all free but I think this whole process finally hit.

Then 3 days later ( Monday) I went and got my drains out. Oh was that a wonderful feeling having them out but we noticed one place that looked funny on the right side incision ( my non-malignant side) . BUt since I still had my staples it was okay.

Then 3 days later(Thursday) I went back to the Dr and got my staples removed at 0930am. That really felt great but my daughter pointed out to the surgeon that area?? that looked funny. He wasnt too concerned becasue he had sutured to the skin level and the staples were actually just holding the skin edge closed. Said just to watch it.

3 hours later I am sitting in the Breast Cancer Coordinators office ( she is an RN) at the Cancer Care Center and guess what happened? Yep -- felt a wetness and looked down on my right chest wall and my shirt was rapidly turning red. I grabbed a handfull of kleenex and told the RN in there you better go get a towel. When I lifted my arm the dam burst and suddenly I had serous stuff rapidly turning to a lava flow of dark red -old blood running all over the place. The incision dehised about an 1 1/2 inches and must have had a pretty good sized hematoma holding out under neath. My daughter wigged out and thought I was bleeding to death and went screaming out of the office for someone to get help I was bleeding all over. In the meantime back came the RN Coordinator loaded with dressing supplies and a clean pt gown. Before we were done I had saturated 2 5 packs of fluffs 2 abd's and a handful of kleenexs not counting what was all over my shirt and shorts. She put on a pressure dressing as I called my Dr's office. He had just went into surgery but sent me back to the office and his nurse steri-stripped it. With orders to call him if I noticed any s/s infection.

The next day I saw my oncologist ( Friday )-- and he wasnt happy about the dehise but had faith I would stay on top it and do everything I could to get it healed. Plan is to start Chemo in 3 weeks. Cytoxan and Taxotere with steroids. Also my primary care Doc called me at home to check on how I was doing and ordered more pain meds. Along with the Fentanyl patch she ordered more Loratabs for breakthrough pain. God love her.

Okay 2 days later ( Saturday) pulled off dressing to get in shower and noticed purelent drainage. Yes it was an Oh *hit moment. So a call to the doc. Since I was suppose to see him monday I asked about getting it cultured so we at least had an idea what was growing by monday. He agreed. Told me what he wanted me to do. (Note-to walk into ER with my insurance its a $125 co-pay up front for my insurance) I told him the girls at work would do the c/s and we could then just turn it in. He said good plan. I ended up going into work ( ICU) and the girls at work did anerobic and aeroboic would c/s on it. The charge nurse wrote the order. They also loaded me up with dressing supplies/gloves to take home with me.

Now if I can get this healing ( diabetic so its gonna be tough) I will start my Chemo Oct 7.

I am trying to keep a very positive focus but this is beginning to really set in. But everything has moved so fast I think thats why its starting to overwhelm me. Mammogram to surgery to now-- not quite 4 weeks I think.

MBJ

hhfheidi:  I thought my cat Ashes was the only one who sits in this position LOL!  Sometimes I have to take 6 or 7 of the 5mg of Melatonin to help me sleep.  I hear smoked salmon, halibut, herring, cod, sardines, all things high in omega 3's are good for meno/chemopause and there was a small study done in Canada on this.  It sounds like you already get alot of excercise.  Magnesium at night before bed also is good and so is a 1/2 tsp Celtic Sea Salt in a glass of warm water.  I had to completely get rid of coffee though

laurajane:  I am so happy that you had such a great time.  sounds like a blast!

Sugar:  Your hair is sooooo long!  I just died mine brown black and it actually looks like a style ala Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday!

Titan:  I found an amazing product to help with the super frizzy curls.  It's called Marc Anthony Straight cream.  I put a glob of it on my wet hair and style it with my fingers and it dries however I style it.  Love this stuff!  And let me tell you mine is just curly, frizzy, thick fluff without it!

riley702

Holy crap, Cathy! How scary. And of course it's the weekend. ((((hugs)))). I'll be thinking of you. Please check back in after you see your doc again Monday. Or if you just want to vent.

Claire82

Cathy - So sorry you are having such a tough time but thank God for your co-workers!

MBJ - this sleep thing is driving me nuts! I took up to 6mgs of melatonin and still not more than 4 hours sleep. I was afraid to take more so I stopped and seriously I didn't notice a change. So I figured maybe it's stress. I'm seeing a psychologist to try to find ways to deal with it. She suggested I have obsessive thinking (lol - who doesn't when they have a cancer diagnosis) and situational depression. She also said my biorhythms are way off due to the chemo. So anyway she suggested prozac which I haven't given in to yet. Last week I had a cold so I took nyquil and had 3 of the best nights of sleep I've had in a long time. Can I get a script for that? lol

I've looked on the net for other solutions and have read about light therapy and hypnotism - anyone use these?

Claire82

Another question:

Is anyone else losing time? Sometimes an hour goes by and it seems like a minute.

Swanny

hhfheide - The aliens are back.

Hey - does anyone have pain in the balls of their feet?  I told the onc and he said it was from the neulasta shot.  Maybe it is the same as neropahy and Glucosamine will help.  Only thing the onc gave me was pain meds.

Anyone else have a hard time spelling all these big words (words I never wanted to know in the first place).

Luah

Cathy:  So sorry to hear about the problems you're having.  My sister went through something similar, and it took awhile to heal, but eventually did, and she went on to chemo and did fine. If there's one thing I learned through my own journey, it's that something unexpected will come up and throw you for a loop. Hopefully you'll heal up fast and it will be smoother sailing from here on.

Sugar77:  Love the new avatar photo!   Your hair has filled in nicely.  I just had my second round of colour, and I am so much happier with the results.

Titan:  I'm liking the shorter look too.  And it is way easier to manage. I have a pretty strong wave, but it's not long enough yet to be full-blown curls which I'm glad about.

Have a great day, ladies.  The weather is spectacular here in Toronto. 

Anonymous

Cathy- what Riley said...times a gazzilion. You are having one H*ll of a ride. How terribly, terribly frightening, not to mention uncomfortable and upsetting. Here's hoping things get better soon. When I was a kid I had a friend that use to say:" Things are always darkest before they go pitch black." I always got a chuckle out of that and hope you do too. I think you've expereinced pitch black, so it's time to "lighten up"...lol. Take care.

Swanny-ARE YOU SAYING MY CAT IS AN ALIEN? Hrmph...she is actually a Manx (no tail).

Titan- yes, she is seriously sitting on the toilet. Don't all cats do this when they use the powder room? And, because I love you SO much, this is for you:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Tom-Brady-Now-his-family-s-primary-breadwinner?urn=nfl-270620

(laughing) (stupid emoticons still don't work with Mozilla) Grrr...

Anonymous

delete

Swanny

hhfheidi - sorry, was about a page behind (without knowing it) when I saw the link show back up.  Your cat is great! 

MBJ

Cathy:  Just saw your post and my goodness, hang in there!  Sending you many good thoughts that you can heal enough to do your chemo!

Swanny:   spelling/???? ha!  that went out the window first, I think!

MBJ

Claire & hhfheidi:  I have done quite alot of research on Melatonin and it is safe to take up to 30 mg. You do have to work up to it and it isn't instantaneous.   It can take some time but what you are trying to do is re-set your internal clock.  I read most of this waiting in my Onc's office!  It's very important for healing BC!

MBJ

claire:  regarding time:  I think I have always had this problem, but, yes, sometimes a week feels like a minute and I have no idea where it went or what I did!  crazy time travel, huh?

MonikaV

Cathy: My goodness , how scary! (((((( Many hugs)))))))

Anonymous

Claire & MBJ- silly girls. The reason you lose track of time is because you are being abducted by aliens and they erase your memory before returning you. Isn't that obvious? lol

 

LRM216

Swanny:

It is an inflammation of the nerves (yes, from the chemo) and it's called Mortons Neuroma.  Quite common and very painful.  You can buy pads for your shoes for just that area.  Didn't really help mine though.  The pain would sometimes be bearable - other times not so much when walking, but it went away after my chemo ended (took about 6 wks.) and no problem since then.

Best to you,

Linda

starling

Oh cathy, so sorry about all you have been through. This disease just sometimes seems to take us by the throat! Hang in there - I am trying to take my onw advice here too !- It has to get better. I keep thinking about how next year this time I will be feeling so much better and you will too!

Right now I am 3 days away from my last date with the red devil, and of course I am feeling pretty good now. Just tired, but dealing with that. I hear from everyone Taxol is easier, and I'll be having that series next. I just try and look at every treatment, every test as another notch on the bed post of hell!

Hugs to everyone!

MBJ

hhfheidi:   LOL! Of Course it's Alien Abduction!!!  They must have given me something to  make me forget....forget what????

Lynn18

Cathy: I am sorry you had such a wild week.  Hopefully the worst is behind you and hope next week goes much easier.  Hugs to you.

MBJ:  I love Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, I bet your hair looks really cute.

Most of the posts are making me laugh today.  Especially that cat.  I have not seen a cat sit that way.  

About spelling.  I am having the neo-adj chemo and I can't spell neo-adj whatever. I guess I should figure that out.

Alien abduction?  I think that I might prefer that over going through all this chemo and stuff . . .

laurajane

Cathy- How scary. I'm so sorry you have to go through all of this on top of everything else. Wishing you fast healthy healing.

MBJ- Maybe I wasn't taking enough Melatonin. The most I took was 5mg and I also only had about 4-5 hours of angry interrupted sleep . The last time I took it my teeth hurt from all of the grinding. I guess I need to start again and try and stick with it. I slept great last night almost 10 hours.

barbbasile- Congrats on your upcoming final dose of the red devil, I hope your Taxol experience is as smooth as mine has been so far.

hhfheidi- how do I post photos? I just love the 'Alien Abduction' still laughing at "Butts", thank-you.

Wow! I just realized it's September! What happened to June, July and August? Ha! Ha!

Anonymous

OK, it's official. I am appointing myself Humor Coordinator on this thread. Whenever I find something that I think will give us all a little chuckle I will post it here. I've always believed that laughter is the best medicine anyway. So, why not.

Posting Photos (laurajane)-

-first, you have to have an on-line photo album site (Snapfish, Shutterfly, Phanfare, Photobucket, etc.)

-second, you have to locate the "external" link feature on your photo site (If you can't find it let me know and I'll visit the site-I already have accounts with most of the above anyway- and I'll try and walk you through it).

-third, you have to Copy that link (copy to clipboard feature or just copy/paste) and put/paste it into BC.org using the icon (looks like a tree) shown to the left of the smiley face in our "Post a Reply" window. To recap: go to your online photo site & copy/paste the external link to your photo, come back and click the tree icon here in BC.org, paste the link into the URL box and hit the "Insert" button. Your picture should then show up in your post (Preview it first, just to be sure)

If it doesn't work, it may be a browser problem. As some of you may have read, I have lost the ability to use emoticons and post pictures in BC.org using Mozilla Firefox. I have to switch to Safari. Most of you are probably Windows PC users  (I use a Mac) and are using Internet Explorer, as it's probably the most common browsing tool thanks to Bill Gates (or not if, like me, you prefer Apple).

Anyhow, hope that gets you all merrily on your way to sharing your pictures in here. I'm an amateur photographer (jack of all trades, master of none) and really get a kick out of seeing people's funny pictures---or serious. Whatever floats your boat...

If you are totally lost after reading this you will proably need to confer with an alien. Don't worry, I've got that covered also... lol.

MicheleS

{{{{Cathy}}}}