You know you're a cancer patient when....

Lady_Madonna

re: the chemo brain, I was reading the asco conference info on the bco home page and in the q & a part in which they address chemo brain the doctors say they haven't determined whether chemo brain is an actual... what's the word... well I'll just say - thing!!!

dawney

when you pick out clothes to wear to work the next day and can't remember the next morning and have pick out something else.  I wonder if I picked out the same thing?

rosesrx

....when you wonder where you BCO sisters keep their foobs..

rosesrx

...when you get more upset after ONC tells you that BC is a permanent exclusion for donating blood despite no chemo or rad.  Then you call regional donor office and find out its only 10yrs post and NED.....HECK THAT"S NOT PERMANENT>>>UNLESS....as the world turns

Firni

Well, I for one am ignoring the UNLESS and and plan to donate blood again in 8 years and 2 weeks.  

lauri

Only 10 years ?  GREAT!!!  Donating blood is the easiest *volunteer work* I can do -- and there are cookies afterwards!  My local center didn't know -- they were just sure that I couldn't donate while I was still getting treatment (Arimidex)

So 5-1/2 years to go!

jenn3

My cancer center said 5 years NED before donating blood.  Hmmmm.... I wonder if there is a standard across the board?

AStorm

when you have to wonder if you should remove the donor sticker from your driver's license... if you can't donate blood are your organs tainted too?

rosesrx

The regional center was MEDIC so others may be different. 

Leah_S

AStorm, I've heard that organ donation is even more problematic than blood donation.

It's hard for us to accept, but if you turn it around you might understand better. In other words, would you want to receive a blood transfusion or an organ transplant from someone with cancer?

It's hard but it's reality.

Leah

jenn3

I never thought about the organ donation.  I wonder if I should change that?

Lady_Madonna

Remember the man that was in the news because he died of ovarian cancer?  Unfortunately ladies I think we should all take ourselves off the organ donor list- permanently.  Just in case.  Since it's such a selfless act, think of the others and how they would feel knowing they were receiving an organ from a former cancer patient.  The woman who donated the tissue/organs to the man who died of ovarian cancer was supposedly cured.  She died of something else.  Very sad. 

marlegal

From the American Red Cross' website:  Eligibility depends on the type of cancer and treatment history. If you had leukemia or lymphoma, including Hodgkin's Disease and other cancers of the blood, you are not eligible to donate. Other types of cancer are acceptable if the cancer has been treated successfully and it has been more than 12 months since treatment was completed and there has been no cancer recurrence in this time. Lower risk in-situ cancers including squamous or basal cell cancers of the skin that have been completely removed do not require a 12 month waiting period.    My local center asked me to wait 5 yrs - I passed that in August

NativeMainer

If the cancer is "active" which means in any other state than NED, then no center will take the organs or tissues.  The acceptability of some organs/tissues depends on the cancer.  The cornea or lens of the eye is usually acceptable if the donor has a history of bc.  Even if the organs/tissue aren't acceptable for transplant to another human, they are useful for research and medical training.  The organ procurement system in the US is well set to sort out these details at the time of a donor's death.  This is started by a nurse when the potential donor dies by calling the organ bank and filling out a pretty simple form.  Then the organ bank takes over.  While we hope to inprove some person's (or more than one person's) life with a gift of donation, the resarch uses of the organs is equally as important. 

NavyMom

Thanks Ladies for all the info on blood and organ donation.  My local blood bank told me 5 years after tx completed and NED.  I was a regular donor and not being able to give blood really bugs me.  I worked in an ICU and then Recovery room for many years and I hung many units of donated blood over that time span. 

 My son now donates in my honor   

Navymom

Anonymous

,,,,,,,,when you realize that the Mayans already discovered the cure for cancer....they prophet an end to the world in 2012!!  

.......then you remember that because we have already survived the worst chemical assaults ever including radiation....we will be the only one's stuck here!

......then you watch a documentary today that says the world will end in a flood instead of nukes...and realize that we are the only ones who have MaeWest implants that likely float!  

.....and then the "TA TA:'s becomes the new world order!   Plz wear locaters so we can all find each other!

.....when your best friend who's BC has returned asks her doc if she and I can get a group discount on a double mastectomy. 

.......when the doc does your endoscopy on Tuesday and you wake up from anesthesia with a bloody nose and lip bruises cause, despite all the drugs....THAT THING is not going in my mouth!! (I am told combat duty for my GI team is having to secure a mouth guard in me to get the scope down). TEE hee! SV

Love to all, SV

Jane_M

When you have trouble putting your shoes on in the morning because you forgot to take your slippers off first

barbe1958

YKYACPW you are closing on your house and you confidently give the lawyer the old house key to only realize a couple days later that you gave him your office key! I go back to work on Thursday, what to do....what to do???

mumito

LOL  When you actually get excited about finding a new thread here to chat on.

jenn3

Nothing to add, but still enjoy reading the post.

jancie

took me over a week to read all 53 pages of this thread!  thanks for all of the laughs.

finally i understand why i was peeing sideways.  was too embarassed to ever bring up the subject.

sorry, no caps but am dealing w/ a broken arm.

i was actually lloking forward to my very first brazilian wax - and my luck........all of the hair in the center went away but the hair you would normally shave off remained all during chemo.  unfair if you ask me!

Marple

YKYACPW~you've got as many posts as I have on these boards.

Ca1Ripken

YKYACP when you still try to tuck your 'imaginary' hair behind your ear before using a Q-tip

Anonymous

....when you lost your post for the thousandth time because you repeated the exact same mistake again!!! I give up. XXOO, SV

jancie

ykyacp when something as simple as wearing a shower cap for the first time in 8 months makes you all happy and giggly for days

DancerMel28

Leanna - I know exactly what you mean!!!!!  I used to tuck my hair behind my ear all the time and I still find myself automatically doing it even though I don't have any to tuck! *sigh* all the small things.....

Firni

SV, love your synopsis on the end of the world.  

Firni

Leanna, I still move around hair that isn't there.  

YKYACPW  you get excited when the wind can mess up your hair. 

KittyDog

When getting your first hair cut makes you feel beatuiful again.  Gosh it was only around the ears and neck but I told the lady she made me feel like a new woman again. 

leisaparis

when you finally have your date set for reconstruction, only cuz the surgeon screwed it up in the first place