Sept 2012 chemo

kelleyb

Marian - loved the video!  You and your daughter are both adorable. 

patriciahurtado

Good morning my beautiful sisters!!!!



I love the video Marian.... You look so beautiful....



I do too wanna start my garden but I don't have space just small patio with concrete so I was thinking of making a big box with soil and stuff ... Love some celantro tomatoes and bunch of herbs......



Today I will BBQ with my hubby and daughter and just relax its nice here in Florida ... I'm going to play all my 80th music loud because I wanna enjoy every move ill be making ... Specially from Michael Jackson.... Beat it beat it!!!!!!!!! Because that's what we are doing!!!!!! So my beautiful ladies have an awesome Sunday!!!!!!!!!

whenlifegivesyoulemons

Beat It is right, Patricia!  Wish I were out grilling today.  Ice fishing might be more weather approprite (although I admit I've never done it - it's on the bucket list though).

Hey, big hair news today: I have 5 o'clock brow shadow!!! And just in time:  between the two theoretical brows I have about 5 hairs left.  

A belated thanks to Jojo for the brow pencil recommendation.  The Anastasia pencil has worked out great.

Mariposa - Have you decided where to move?  I so love the Bay Area.  

Faith-Focus-Finish

Marian - I just watched the video; it was great.  Thanks for letting us share your last session in the BGC.  All centers should have a bell!

Amy4978

Marian.. What a great video!



Since my anniversary is tomorrow my DH took me out last night to dinner and.a movie. We enjoyed a cpl of margaritas and laughed our asses off at Identity Thefy! Was so nice to get out of the house. The hardest part of surgery is being a lump on a log till you recover. I am going stir crazy. I go tuesday to get a fill and hopefully the dreaded drains will be gone forever!

Timbek2

I loved the video Marian. You have a beautiful daughter! I hope I live to see mine reach 18. That's my goal.



Amy. Glad you got out even with the drains. That movie looks fun!!



Still waiting to hear from radiology. I'm all mapped so let's get this going!!!

Faith-Focus-Finish

Amy - We want to see that movie too.  It looks like so much fun.  My hat is off to you for going with your drains in.  I barely wanted to get up and move around let alone leave the house for dinner and a movie. 

The other day I was in a store buying some cards and they had a whole section of pillows for sale.  One of the pillows located front and center read ... "Yes they're fake!  My real ones tried to kill me."  Seeing this made me angry.  Who would buy such a pillow?  Who is making money off of this?  Is it me, or does anyone else find this strange?

Hopex3

Marian...Your video is great. Your daughter is adorable. Ding ding..your done! And loved being reminded of "Florbo's" dance. So funny!



Forever...I can't clam because of going through reconstruction. You really use your chest muscles to pull them out of the sand. Unfortunately, we hardly got any clams. But that was ok cause the sun was out and I breathed in that fresh ocean air. Ahhhh, nothing like it. Didn't have the cheeseburger as the crab sandwich on crusty bread caught my eye.



The counselor nurse that talked to me last week about nutrition told me the following:

1. No sugar....tumors love sugar....not even the diet sugars.

2. Eat berries as they are full of antioxidants. Better to eat organic as they won't have pesticide residue on them. She said to eat them every day. So, I will put them in my protein smoothie that I buy from Costco and throw in some spinach.

3. Stay away from white potatoes. ....and pasta. Full of starchy carbs which dissolve into sugar. Potatoes raise blood sugar which feeds inflammation and cancer cells. Eat broccoli (cancer fighting) add onions, leeks and garlic.

4. Spice it up with turmeric with black pepper. This helps inflammation. Add Mediterranean herbs like thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, marjoram, mint etc. these also help reduce the growth of cancer cells. Also cinnamon, cloves and oregano.

5. Only eat omega 3 eggs. Use only olive and canola oil.

6. Eat only whole grains and if you can, organic.

7. Seeds and nuts are good. I'm putting chia seeds in my protein drink. She also wants me use the flax seeds. Do not get the ground as that loses the nutritional value of it faster.

8. Go green meaning drink three cups of green tea daily.

9. Do something physical for 30 minutes for at least five times a week. She recommends walking!! Outside if possible to get that fresh air circulating in your lungs. Cancer cells run from fresh air!

10. Get your vitamin D...whether its 20 minutes of lovely sunshine or as a Vitamin d3 supplement.

11. Melatonin ...but only 1mg...to help you sleep.

12. Eat meat sparingly. Go organic if possible. Eat fish 2 times a week.



We really didn't get into supplements yet....but she really stressed taking the Vitamin D3. And a multi vitamin. She did suggest eating a high quality organic yogurt or taking a probiotic supplement to help the immune function and to weed out the unfriendly bacteria which cancer likes to feed on as well.



Recommends these two books: The cancer fighting kitchen by Rebecca Katz. Anti cancer, a new way of life, by David Servan-Schreiber MD



Avoid alcohol, eat more fiber, drink 64 oz of water daily, eat legumes 2-3 times a week.

1/2 of your daily food should come from the produce department. Veggies and fruit.

jojo2373

Hopex, I think I can do those recommendations! Thanks for sharing. Melatonin gives me great dreams, love it. It must be so true about sugar. I remember seeing my tumors light up like fire as they were ferociously devouring the glucose mixture injected for the pet scan. Any word regarding chocolate?



I am thinking the end of March I will dye my gray and start the topless look!

Hopex3

JoJo....she said, if you really need a chocolate sweet, try a few squares of dark chocolate containing 70% cocoa. Just eat it slow and enjoy every morsel!



I may be ready at the end of march to go topless as well but not to work. I work at a middle school and I don't want to freak the kids out. They keep asking me if I've colored my hair, got a haircut etc. they are so observant, it's funny.

I did go topless last night in front of another couple that I don't know real well. They didn't care and it felt so good.

jojo2373

Neta, just saw your latest pic! You have a hairstyle, looks great.

Amy4978

Omg here you all are being so good and talking.about eating healthy and my DH is serving me up some oreo mud pie again! Twice this week... I told him no more thats in back to salad... Well I told him after I ate the pie lol

Hopex3

Amy...just talking about it, not doing it. That's about all I do! So enjoy that Oreo pie. I wish I could have a bite or two!!

Amy4978

Okay I opened the meijer ad tonight and they are having their 10.for.10. Sale.this week that includes strawberries, salad, cukes, tomatoes, bell peppers and all sorts of healthy food! Its.a sign lmao

Neta69

Thanks Hope! That's a great summary. Very similar to what I'm trying to do.

Jojo, it's almost a pixie cut now. I brushed it and put some mousse in it the other day. Not because I needed to, just because I could

florbo

Hope--thanks for the info from the counselor.  I have those 2 books she mentioned.  I got the cook book from a friend and found the Anti-Cancer : A New Way of Life at Half -Price Books for a great deal.  I've read several sources along with the Naturals Forum on this website to avoid canola oil as it has more Omega 6 than we need and the way it is processed.

Marian--it didn't hit me until after the video was over that I realized, " I think she was talking about me and my pole dance!"  I really would have taken my show around the infusion center and collected money if I could.  

Amy--Happy anniversary!  You should just enjoy the mud pie.  

Foreverchanged72612

Great list, Hopex3! 

Mariposa123

Took my pictures tonight.  Made me so sad.  Trying to keep my chin up -but it is hard.  Then, I was going through the mail and saw a letter from my insurance saying that they denied my doctor's request for surgery.  What a pain in the ass they are.  Do I need this two days before surgery???  So, I have to call them tomorrow and fight with them.  They cite it isn't a medical necessity.  WTF!  (excuse my French).  I think they were billing my HMO instead of my PPO- but it still annoys me.  I pay a ton of money for my insurance, it feels unacceptable to have to worry about this stuff right now.  Oh well.  I need to remember to breathe.

Hope everyone else is doing well tonight and able to get some sleep.

 

Toastiecat

Marian, that video is fabulous! Your daughter shouldsend her videos in to Ellen, maybe she would giveyou guys a nice vacation!

Patricia, yay for container gardening! (I'm a total garden nerd!!) There's a book called The City Gardener's Handbook by Linda Yang that is fantastic for setting up gardens of all sizes.

Mariposa, you absolutely do not need that two days before surgery! That is ridiculous. I'm so sorry you're going through that. There is a special place in hell for insurance companies that do this to people.

Regarding diet, I tend to not do well with a lot of "don't eat" directions, so instead I'm focusing on the "do eat" ones. Somehow my nutritionist intuited that, I think . I'm trying to just eat the rainbow every day, and include cruciferous vegetables. I'm failing pretty miserably right now because all I want are bland things and chocolate, but I know I will get there.

I finally got my drain out on Thursday (9 1/2 weeks later...I know there's a joke there somewhere) and naturally my seroma immediately returned and I wound up with a random fever. Aspiration number 2 sometime today. Blegh.

For mx people, are you guys going for silicon or saline and why?

xoxo

Hopex3

Mariposa... Insurance companies never want to pay anything. Maybe your doctor needs to write it up differently. I don't even know if mine was covered. I don't even want to ask! They didn't cover a 4,500.00 test I had in the beginning to see if I had lymph node involvement. Pisses me off as that is the only test I have had. I would check with your dr. First to see how they wrote it up. You can always appeal. It will get taken care of!



Toastiecat...I'm going with silicone as that is what my PS wants to do. He told me silicone is like a natural breast and it "hangs" better.

Timbek2

Toastiecat-I went with saline.  If it leaks, I will know right away.  I don't need anything leaking in me and worrying about it all the time.  I'm trying to get and stay healthy.  Had them 6 months now and I think it's fine.  Just my two cents.  Husband is thrilled with them.  

jojo2373

Hello ladies! Rads #16 just completed and I am exhausted. Dr sent me home with creams in case itching or burning gets bad. Today is the first time I am red up towards my collarbone. I lost 6 lbs last week. Yeah, but was far from perfect in my diet so hope it was just a long time coming and nothing else.



Mariposa, how are things today? Anyone else having surgery this week?

Cherioo

Jojo that is awesome you lost 6 pounds. I started working out again but still have not been good with my food choices I am working on it. I know how you feel with the discoloring happening from rads. We are almost done. I started getting the burn feeling Friday . Today I was ok . Rest . I dont know how You work

Cherioo

Mariposa I hope that you are ok and everything was taken care of with your insurance . Thinking of you

marianelizabeth

florbo I hope you did not mind that I mentioned your pole dance chemo ending but I have to say it stuck with me after you posted it!

Faith-Focus-Finish

Mariposa - Sending positive thoughts your way.  Saying a prayer .... you are going to be okay!  : )))

Big hugs  ))

patriciahurtado

Mariposa... Sending lots of hugs ... I will be thinking about ......



My ladies today my right breast were my tumor hurts..... is that normal ... I haven't had my surgery yet and my last taxol is Friday.....



My Jojo almost done so happy for you !!!!



Toasty.... Thanks for the book went to get it book they didn't have but I love the idea ...



I'm glad your drains finally were removed... So nervous about surgery but there's no way around it!!!



I'm feeling so sleep tonight....



Amy so happy u enjoyed your anniversary ... Margaritas sound good to me too....



Had great Sunday had 2 glasses of wine... But my mother in law had to ruine it..... After I drank she was like you know that's us really bad for " your cancer ".... So I felt bad and scared .. I just believe it was my chemo brain over reacting!!!!!



Enjoying my night with my DH



Night my ladies

Hopex3

Mariposa....Thinking of you tomorrow...sending you lots of positive healing vibes. I hope your insurance worked out for you as well!



Patricia...my tumor always hurt. Enjoy your night with your DH!!

cgesq

Whenlife, regarding your post a few days back, I also think its cool that we have met eachother, at least virtually, through this site.  Although we haven't done any surveys, we probably are very different, from different parts of the world and may not have met under ordinary circumstances.  I think its great!

You had asked about herceptin.  The course of treatment is a full year (for most of us.)  For me, it was weekly infusions for 18 weeks (weeks 1,4,7,10, 15 and 18 were the chemo weeks, so I also got taxotere and carboplatin) and every three weeks thereafter.  The herceptin drip doesn't take very long...most people have it run over 1/2 an hour.  I found that run time was too fast...I got very sleepy, so now I have it run over 90 minutes and its fine.

Herceptin doesn't have many unpleasant side effects, but unfortunately, one of them is that it slows hair growth.    My hair is growing back, but it will take a while before I can go topless!  Neta, I am really impressed with your hair growth!!  Congrats!

Toastiecat, I got silicone implants.  Not exactly sure why....but the PS thought they would be better for me.

Mariposa, I hope your insurance battle is successful.  I had to battle with my insurance co. before my bmx because they wouldn't approve my PS.  They wanted me to use a PS who's office had never heard of the type of reconstruction that I did (back flap) but somehow, they deemed him suitable!!  They denied me twice, and I had to threaten them with a lawsuit!!  They finally agreed to pay for my PS--they day before my surgery-- because their guy wasn't even available till 2 months after my surgery date.  The moral of the story is don't give up.  If they don't approve you initially, be prepared to fight!!!  Good luck!

PatinMN

Mariposa, wishing you steady-handed and skillful surgeons, clear margins, a good pathology report and a quick recovery.