Jewish Warrior Sisters

rachelvk

Karen - sounds like a great weekend plan. 

Hi all. I had a fantastic pre-Shabbat visit from a couple in my synagogue, laden with chicken soup, challah, chicken and cookies to drop off for my Mom and me. I couldn't say the full bracha over the candles; I started to tear up, but it was nice to share that with my mom. I don't often get to light candles on Friday - too busy running around or working.

Shabbat Shalom!

orangemat

Somehow this thread got dropped off my favorites list, oops.

My nephew's bar mitzvah is this weekend, and my SIL is beside herself with all the weather forecasts of doom for the metro NY area. As of last night, she already had four cancellations. It's barely dawn now and nothing is falling from the sky... yet...

Since I still live in the northern NJ town where I grew up, I don't have anything to add to the discussion of old Bronx neighborhoods... my husband, however, grew up in Washington Heights.

Have a wonderful weekend, all!

rachelvk

Esther - Mazel Tov on your nephew's Bar Mitzvah! I'm sure he'll do wonderfully. I'm sorry the weather isn't cooperating. I woke up the morning of my Bat Mitvah with a foot of snow on the ground (back in the day before the Weather Channel and play-by-play forecasts) so I completely understand. But those who made it had a wonderful time.

One of my milestones to reach is my nephew's Bar Mitzvah in 12 1/2 years! 

Leah_S

Esther, Mazal Tov on your nephew's Bar Mitzvah! I hope the weather cooperates, the parents get loads of nachus and the Bar Mitzvah boy is not too nervous to enjoy himself.

One of the milestones I'm looking forward to - my grandson's Bar Mitzvah in 6 1/2 years. Of course, there's also all the B'not Mitzvah of my granddaughters (I have 1 grandson and 6 granddaughter), the weddings of my still-single kids, the births of many more grandchildren, the weddings of grandchildren.....

One of my granddaughters was born one week after I was dx with bone mets. I was holding her the day she was born and davening very hard to be able to dance at her wedding. I told this to my onc and told him that it was his job to make sure that I did. He said that if that's what I wanted then I should learn  to dance.

Leah

orangemat

Thanks for the well wishes. My nephew did wonderfully at services this morning. Unfortunately, the snow fell wonderfully as well, and now much of the area has no power, including the synagogue where the party was to be tonight. So it's rescheduled for tomorrow at 4pm. My house has no power as well... and the snow continues to fall...

karen1956

Esther...mazel tov on your nephew's bar mitvah....and hope the weather cooperates....

Leah....I love the advice your onc gave you

Had a relaxing day today.....mom and I sat by the pool and read or chatted...came back to the apt for lunch around 2pm and it has rained since then....we thought we would go ouy got frozen yougurt motzei shabbat,...but we got in the car and it started pouring so turned around and came back home and made dinner!!!! 

It sure is hard seeing your parents age....and not do it well....

Eema

Shavouah tov, Banot!



I'm just checking in after my surgery. I'm still waiting for pathology to come back, but we did find my uterus was adhered to my stomach, which is why wr have only one child (NOT because I didn't go to Kever Ruchel, like a friend told me). This was emotionally harder than the BMX.



I'll be back soon.



Xoxox

karen1956

Eema...wish you a refuah and prayers for only good news......Karen

karen1956

Eema....just started reading your blog...it is too funny!!!!!  need to keep reading it......I hope 5772 will only bring good health and good news for you....

crusader1

Hi ladies,

Eema hope you continue to recover..

My power was out for three days. What a difficult thing that was. No showers, heat..etc. But we managed and are now back to our old routine..

Hope all are doing well.

Going to Chicago this weekend we visit with my stepson and his lovely wife..

Hugs,

Francine-

Eema

Thanks for the warm thoughts, ladies!



I'm still a little sore and slow, but it has only been a week. I've been blogging a lot and it is therapeutic-- please take a look and 'like' the posts you think are better than the others. My friends here think I need to turn it into a book for Jewish women in the same boat. Cancerchmancerpoopoopoo.wordpress.com is the URL.



Hope you are all doing well and not too sad for 'mar Chesshvan'. I'm happy Pinktober is done!



Xoxox



Eema

exbrnxgrl

1collapsed lung, 3 chest tubes, 6 days in the hospital . Finally home. The cause of this? A small puncture in my lung during port placement. Kind of like a slow leak. I still have a portable chest tube but hope to have it out next week. Oy, what a nightmare this has been. Thinking of you all.

Caryn

Eema

Oh Caryn!



I am so, so sorry! Please let me daven for you!



Feel better, may you go from strength to strength.

rachelvk

Eema - Good to hear from you! I read an interesting article on Mar Cheshvan - I never knew that about the month and found it an interesting time to have had my surgery.

Caryn - sending you good thoughts on a better recovery from here on in.

Some of us traded our Hebrew names on here, but I was thinking of starting a Misheberach thread - everyone could just post their Hebrew name and we'd have one place to look for them. If you'd like this, list a few here and I'll start the post. At shul before surgery, I sort of just thought through everyone's screen names. 

Pessa

A mishaberach thread is a wonderful idea!

 At this point, I am done with all my treatments, though have at least 4 more years of anastrazole to go (my second mastectomy was exactly one year ago, right after Succot and I finished chemo a year ago Sept).  

My Hebrew name is Devora Pessa bat Chava.

 Caryn,  So sorry to hear what you went through,  You should have a refuah Shlema.

 Debbie

Eema

I love the idea of the mischaberach thread! Thanks for thinking of that! I'm Miriam Raizel bat Hinda Leah.



Ok, I'm going to bed. Lila tov, girls. Cholemot Paz!

karen1956

I think this is a wonderful idea....I already have Leah_S on my list....the other gals I know, I just use their English names, but it would be great to have hebrew names....I'm Rachel Yehudit bat Sarah Esther...

Is someone going to compile the list?  I'm willing to help, but it will have to wait till next week....DD and I leave tomorrow evening for niece's Bat Mitzvah...DH left today so he could spend time with his mother....

Hope to get to check in here tomorrow, but then probably won't have computer access till I get home Sunday night...

SAB

Caryn, how awful for you!  Feel better.

Eema, how wonderful that you can write.  I think Rachel writes as well.  I seemed to have dried up completely at diagnosis.  Haven't written a word since.

My name is Shoshana bat Dov v'Mariam (you know us egalitarian reformers )

orangemat

Great idea, Rachel. Funny, I don't have an English name... Esther bat Varda, that's me.

Oh Caryn, feel better!

Eema, glad to hear from you.

Things are status quo with me, in the aftermath of the snow storm and power loss, as well as my nephew's bar mitzvah adventures. Though many in surrounding towns here in northeastern NJ still have no power. Just trying to breathe through it all, and for those who can't breathe easily themselves.

My son turned 20 on Tuesday, how odd that he's no longer a teenager!

Have a lovely day, all.

rachelvk

Great! I'll get it started a little later today.

It's a beautiful day here, and I shed tears of joy for the first time since I can remember after getting my path report - absolutely nothing we didn't already know, and the five additional nodes that came along with the tissue were all clear. The only change is that the tumor was about 3 cm, not the 1.7 cm estimated at the time of the biopsy, which technically puts in me in stage 2, but that's a technicality I can live with - and I will!!!! Baruch Hashem. I don't usually say that all that often, but I can't tell you how I poured my heart out this morning after hearing from my BS. I'm also glad that he is recommending chemo because I'm triple negative. Although the rest of the pathology report was good, I have known for a while that chemo is my best weapon against recurrence, and the loss of my hair is a small sacrifice to make sure that I have wiped this beast out of me once and for all. 

Eema

My GYN called with good news!  My pathology from the hyst/oop was benign except for a little endometriosis on a tube!  Woo hoo! 

Rachel, glad my surgery partner and I both got good news today!

Pessa

Wonderful news!

orangemat

Yay, so happy for the good news!

rachelvk

Great news!

Shabbat Shalom, everyone! 

undercoverebel

BLUECOWGIRL-Thank you for the tip. They are good.     CRUSADER1-Thanx,felt good to get some good news. Even w/that brca neg report they still tell you about other gene problems that may not show up at the moment. What next?                                                      

rachelvk

Just thought I'd check back and see how everyone is doing. I saw my onc for the first time and really like her. I'll probably start chemo in early December. Just taking a few days to decide whether I take any precautions on future fertility options. That's been the worst part for me in all of this, not having children. And while I've been ambivalent about having kids for a long time, there's a huge part of me that will feel incomplete if I don't. But at this point, I really don't want to delay chemo if it would take a month or two to harvest eggs, etc. I suppose adoption would be my best course down the line. It just makes me so sad that I may never have a real Jewish home of my own in that respect.

On the more positive side, at least my recovery is going very well. Hoping to return to work in a week or so (was hoping to be back next week, but the doctor wants to be a little more cautious).

Shabbat Shalom, everyone! And a wonderful weekend in general. 

Pessa

I adopted both of my sons at birth(now age 17 and 14).  I have a home that is as Jewish as if I had given birth to them.  They are my children in every possible way.  They are completely accepted by my Jewish community, synagogue, Jewish Day School.  My older son is talking about making Aliyah to Israel next year and joining the Israeli Army.  While I wish I had had the experience of beiing pregnant and giving birth, I am still a mother, with all the joys (and difficulties!).  Don't despair about that part of your journey with BC.

SAB

I went to see the new mikvah today with the Rabbi who helped to spearhead the project.  I came up in a very traditional family, but it seems that the community has been encouraging the use of the mikvah for non-traditional life-points that call for symbolic cleansing and renewal. The mikvah coordinator will find a guide/teacher who has had a similar personal experience. Evidently there are several survivors of bc who volunteer to guide and pray with women who come there. 

lizcarolan

Shalom my sisters. I just stumbled on this thread. My name is Elisheva bat Shira. Just killing the last 2 hours before heading to the hospital. BMX w/ TE's hopefully

rachelvk

Liz - While it's never pleasant to have to welcome new women to the world of bc, I'm glad you found us. Wishing you strength and all the best on your surgery and recovery.