In shock

nihahi

morning ladies....oops.....meant to post here yesterday and (obviously) didn't.

momof2....I wish I had known you when I was getting ready to start chemo....you have such an incredible spirit and outlook.....!!!!! You'd better round up an outfit with ginormous pockets, cause it is going to be filled to overflowing with us supporting you. fyi.....I'll be shipping my ironing down to you...!

morwenna...how did the RTW go this past week?

This coming weekend is an annual "Girl's Weekend Away" for me (GWA). It's with a gang of ladies that all worked together as OT's and a rogue Physio. We have been doing this, with just a few misses, for about 20 years. It's like a 3 day PJ party. Makes me think we're going to have start up a GWA of our own, with a gang from here. Edi....somehow, you had better start collecting some bigtime bingo wins!!!!!!

Calgary gang....anyone interested in another meetup....this time maybe a bit less traumatized by a "wait for a result mindset"????

Benny....did that whiteout mean you ended up somewhere in Saskatchewan????? Haven't heard from you lately.

liefie

Hi girls,

Arrived in Cape Town safe and sound, temp. is above 30 C, and I'm still adjusting to it - lol. DH arrived this morning, other DS landing in about 4 hours, then we're all here. Bridal shower on a wine farm yesterday very enjoyable, total surprise for the bride, and she literally jumped a foot into the the air when she saw me. Such a privilege to see our family, just be here, and soak it in. Slept the whole afternoon - still quite jetlagged. My voice is disappearing from all the talking and laughing - lol.

Jenifer, hugs to you re: chemo. I did 4 x TC, it was certainly not pleasant, but I don't regret it. This too shall pass, this too shall pass - repeat over and over!

Later, sisters! Will check in when I can. Wishing you all the best!

websister

Good to hear from you, Liefie - what a wonderful surprise for DIL, rest up well, big week ahead for you

Nihahi - beautiful pictures! I would be up for another meetup here if it was after this upcoming weekend. We are heading to Cranbrook at noon on Friday for grandparenting duties - DS and DIL are going to his company Christmas party at Fairmont - weekend thing. My 3 yr old GS called and left a message the other day - 'I am feeling excited to see you - next week - I love you' - this melted my heart. Anyway, busy week prior to going and trying to pace the activities to see if I can't conquer this fatigue issue.

Benny has been active on Facebook so the whiteout didn't get her

Mom - in those pockets tomorrow with everyone else, love your attitude

Dakota - your busy hockey weekend is almost over, hope the kickboxing worked it's magic

Edi - love your cartoons - you should post the kangaroo one here also

Jennie - good to see your posts again, how is everything going for you post treatment?

Everyone - sending love, take care

Morwenna

RTW not too bad.

I hadn't realized (nobody told me) that my temp replacement had actually been off for about 5 weeks with her back, and another PT is off having shoulder surgery, so they have been down 2 members of staff ans struggling for some weeks. The resultant backlog is considerable, and it turns out my manager was concerned about me returning into this maelstrom and overdoing it!

They are currently being very protective of me. I have to complete some reorientation and mandatory annual education before they'll let me out to see clients anyway. I do see that it will be hard for me to go slow while everyone else is running around like crazies!

I want to give up PT and work in an ice cream store!

I'm still twitching in my right quads, and have decided to report it. I'm stressed as all getout about the possibility of mets right now. I need to get out more!!!

PS. And my son is worried that his gecko, which I am looking after while he's at school, is developing an impaction, so we're both feeling guilty about that too. He's feeling bad that he might have caused a problem by changing her substrate to sand, and also that he's had to leave her while he is away, and I am feeling bad for not letting him know that maybe she was getting lethargic.

I'm hoping she will feel better soon!

Enjoy your girls weekend away Nihahi. I remember how excited Ade, Wendy and Abby always were when this annual event occurred! Give my love to everyone! Xxx

Morwenna

ppps: I would totally be up for another meetup!

nihahi

(sigh.....will they just play the darn football game and get it over with!!!!! .

websister....I'm away this coming weekend too, so it would definitely have to be after that. I'm likely the most flexible, schedule wise, of the 4 of us (you, benny and mo) so what day/time works for you all???

Morwenna

Today's reason to be joyful:

PoohBear-61

Hi Morwenna ...GREAT PICTURE .

ive been trying to get my chickadees to feed out of my hand all summer with no success ....

P.S my Mom, sister and brother live in Calgary .....

Thanks for sharing !!!

momof2doxies

Hi Ladies,

My DH and I drove to Atlanta to give some moral support to my dear friend (with the cockroach problem). We had a great time. She always brings me little goodie bags and/or flowers and just gets all emotional when I try to return the favor. So yesterday cockroach was stalking her and her iphone battery was low so she could not record the altercation. So today I took her to an Apple store and bought her a reliable recording device that she can nail that cockroach, I HOPE. Oh, she was so emotional...I just told her to go sit down over in the chairs with my DH.

Adagio..I know you are increasingly worried about the twitching. Please try not to worry..it is not mets...If anything, it could be a SE from chemo. I had a similar problem before BC and it was pure stress from taking care of my FIL. I was put on clonazapam and the symptoms went away. I am not a doctor, and of course get it checked. But perhaps my situation can ease you worries.

So I am not worried about tomorrow....I am taking big pockets with me and an agate from the Oregon Coast to remind me of all my fellow warriors. The only thing I am having problems with is drinking all this water....But I am trying

Hope everyone had a nice weekend...YAY for Liefie...rest up from the jet lag. It is wonderful to hear that all members of the wedding party are present, and happy to be together. I may have to use you as a resource, if I ever get back to my own DD wedding planning,

Take care. Love to all,

Jenifer

Morwenna

Thanks Jenifer (it was me with the twitches, not Adagio)

I know one gets twitches with stress. It's not unusual for me to get a tic in my eyelid, and I've had a thumb muscle twitch occasionally, but this is outside my experience! Just the fact that a) its a large skeletal muscle, and b) that its gone on for two weeks. My last chemo was back in June, and throughout all of this garbage I never developed a twitch before, so if its stress, why now??

I know I'm sounding neurotic, but I've had a habit in the past of ignoring symptoms in the hope, (and expectation) that they'd go away. I don't want some doctor in some weeks or months time saying "why didn't you report this?"

Maybe I'm just turning into that "anxious lady" I was described as back in the summer when I could feel lumps in my other breast!

caitlin61

Wonderful to hear from you Liefie - sounds like the party is off to a great start!

Morwenna, love that bird photo! Sorry to hear you've landed in the midst of a hectic workplace, but good that they're being protective of you. Also sorry to hear about the poor gecko - that's quite a responsibility to have to look after him while your DS is away. I hear you re: the mets stress - feeling pretty phobic about it myself. Saw my BS for follow up last week. He could feel the same lumpy area in my breast as the RO, so he decided to do an ultrasound. On the basis of nothing unusual showing up with the mammo or the US, he did not recommend that I have a biopsy at this time, so trying not to think of it. Still have recurring discomfort in my left buttock near my tailbone, but at least the lumbar/sacral x-ray came back clear. Now I have a burning sensation in my side - but I wonder if it isn't just the full aspirin per day my MO has prescribed trying to burn its way through my stomach lining?

Websister, hope you have a great time with your grandchildren! Nihahi, enjoy your GWA!

At our Kentucky home for a few days, then heading to North Carolina for Thanksgiving on Tues or Wed.

Momof2, in your pockets tomorrow! It will probably be a relief for you to get the show on the road. Will be praying for minimal SEs for you.

nihahi

morwenna....."so if it's stress, why now".....hmmmm.....

A. return to work.....

B. rtw to find they are short staffed.....

C. rtw to work to find they have been short staffed for awhile and there is a backlog of patients.....

gee, I dunno.....stress????....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Morwenna

*laughing* OK Nihahi.

momof2doxies

Oh so sorry Morwenna....I am getting chemo brain from drinking all this water. My only other suggestion is a low potassium. But please do not consider yourself neurotic.. Keep a log, and give it to your MO. Adriamycin and Taxol IMO will have SEs that sneek up. I thought I was doing great on Arimidex, but then developed High blood pressure, forgetfulness, and high cholesterol. These drugs are serious business; in their task of killing the cancer cells, they do harm our good cells. So get it checked out so we can have a worry free summer this year. I am coming to Oregon and now that I have that passport, Canada is a real possibility.

I will be thinking of you tomorrow. We are going to get through this..DAWG GONE IT...play on word there from Athens.

Oh Movie....I read in the paper that there might really be a BCS Bowl between Oregon and Alabama. I am going to decorate my yard in GREEN and YELLOW. That will definitely turn heads in the neighborhood...but really, how can UGA respect ALA..they have had easy teams to play. I hope they play Oregon and "Go Ducks."

I think I have 5 more swigs of this water bottle, then I am off to bed to rest up for tomorrow.

Love to all,

Jenifer

Morwenna

Thinking of you tomorrow Jenifer! Wear big pockets, and maybe a party hat!!

MariaNL

Hi all,

Sorry I've been m.i.a, I have tried to catch up but man have I missed a lot.

I finished 20 of my 33 rads today. I'm not enjoying it at all, my skin is broken out with small blisters and it itches so bad. I also feel tired all the time yuck.

I just want it all to be over. Sorry to be a downer but I'm having a hard time feeling upbeat lately. 

A couple days after Carla passed a good friend of mine passed from bladder cancer, he found out the same time I was dx. I think it really woke me up to the fact that it can come back or never go away. This terrifies me for all of us.

I think of you all, all the time and hope you all are staying strong

Morwenna

Sorry to hear rads giving you a tough time Maria! I consider myself fortunate in only having to have 16 treatments!

When I finished, I was just beginning to get red/sore, and they said I was looking surprisingly good, but by two weeks after that my skin was just as you describe!

I just kept lathering on the Glaxalbase cream several times a day as ordered, but when my little blisters formed I used to alternate it with Polysporin, which had some local anesthetic in it as well. It did give temporary relief, but You probably need to ask your rad onc if you want to try anything different as you are still on treatment. Have you seen him/her recently so they know the condition of your skin??

nihahi

Oh Maria.....gentle but billions of hugs going out to you. It can be such a long road through tx, that it seems endless. The exhaustion can be overwhelming....are you still working too??? I'm sure the gals who had rads also will chime in here, like mo did....maybe collectively they'll have some more suggestions to help. You have the added stress of hubby's work situation too, so don't be calling yourself a "downer", it is a real time of huge issues.....one day at a time, sweetie. This is the place for ALL emotions, not just the easy ones. So sorry to hear the news of your friend. Especially after with where you are at yourself. You are loved.

momof2.....thinking of you today....billions of hugs flying out to you too.

Love to all.

(edi.....everything ok???)

caitlin61

Maria, sorry to hear your skin is having difficulty on rads - but you're almost there! Are the last 5 boosts? If so, they hopefully won't be as hard on you and will only take seconds to deliver. My skin held up pretty well, but I did start to get some minor blistering around Day 20 and some dry sloughing off of skin in the armpit after it was all over (I had 25 regular treatments/5 boosts). Like Morwenna says, my RO recommended adding in something with anti-itch properties to the blistered area, in addition to the usual (Aquafor, aloe Vera, and I also used over the counter Biafine) - that seemed to help get me through the last stretch. Once I got beyond Day 20, I knew the finish line was in sight - will be thinking of you this week! Will you get a day off for Thanksgiving? I know my skin and I were happy to have a break for Independence Day! Sending hugs and prayers your way!

momof2doxies

Hi Ladies,

Seems like I have been here all day and the "good" stuff hasn't started..LOL

I went in my agate bowl and pulled out some agates..not enough for everyone, but I have few named.

I will try to post the picture that Dh took. We shall see.

momof2doxies

I will attempt this email again. I am doing fine...was only there 6 hours! Glad I am only 3 miles from the clinic. But the treatment went fine, but who knows what tomorrow will bring, The steroids may be playing with my energy levels. So tomorrow is the Neulasta shot; we shall see how that goes. Then I run over to the PS for a pre Thanksgiving saline fill. LOL

I before I ran out the house I grabbed 4 agates and put in my pocket. I love all of you dearly, but I did not plan ahead to grab enough agates for all of you in my pockets. I will do better next time. DH took a picture with his iPod, but I am down and uploading deficient. The picture will follow. So I grabbed 4 agates and this is how I decided to name them...I chose to dedicate them to my fellow TN warriors...Edi, Morwenna, and Adagio...Then there was a pure white agate that I dedicated to Carla. I told one of the nurses my story and I thought she was going to cry. You know she must see all kinds of things in chemo lab, but she was really taken with these agates...Just wait till the next treatment...There will be a load to carry. I held each one and rubbed them, I sent positive vibes to you Morwenna. This is about as religious as I get, so I just want you to know I thought of each one of you. So that is my "Rock Cancer" story.

Hope all are having a good day....gotta go drink more water.

Love,

Jenifer

scouser47

Momof, So glad 1st chemo over for you.

Agate story brought tears, thank you for thinking of the Musketeers.Sure Carla was watching over you.

Drink that water, pretend it is Vodka, 

Love and ((( hugs ))) X

momof2doxies

Well, here are the agates...and a very rare picture of me. I hate to have my picture taken.

adagio

momof2 - how considerate to think of others on the day of your chemo - that is so very touching!!! Glad things went OK for you - take it easy the next few days. I gave my own Neulasta shots - they are not so bad - just be aware of any bone pain and take Claritin - it worked for me!

Morwenna

Jenifer, how lovely of you to be thinking of us at your treatment time!

I had a GOOD day! I decided after the little birds yesterday that it is important to find a moment of joy in every day, in any way that I may.

So today's joy was discovering this morning that my son's gecko had managed to have a BM!!

For the delicate of constitution, look away now!

I managed to change my work start time which allowed me to attend the BEAUTY exercise program for bc survivors this morning. Then "work" was a workshop on making "connections" with other people and attitudes, and how to make the workplace enjoyable, which was fun, so not really like work at all!

Love and hugs to everyone!xxxx

nihahi

you just have to love this thread....from the heartfelt "tears" of from reading momof2's post about the power of agates....to morwenna's tale of finding the moment of joy in everyday....to gecko poop! And you know what....it all fits together.

Love you ladies....(hoping for minimal se's for you momof2!) Thanks for the photo...it's good to "meet you".

websister

Maria - over halfway with the rads! It is a long haul. I also burned and peeled, please ask your RO what they recommend that you use, the techs should also be monitoring you and they should be able to ask the RO's nurse to come and see you at your next visit, if not actually setting up a visit with the RO. I had the privilege of having tea yesterday with a lady from another thread on this forum and we both agreed that the fatigue that we felt from rads seemed worse for us than the chemo fatigue. Know you are not alone and that as Nihahi said, you are safe to say how you are really feeling here. Sending gentle hugs also.

Momof2 - beautiful photo and beautiful story of the agates, how wonderful that you thought to do that. Hope all goes well for you over the next few days, especially the Neulasta. I used the Claritin the day of the Neulasta and for 7 days after, with my MO's blessing and I do feel that it helped.

Morwenna - glad you can breathe a sigh of relief over the gecko

Nihahi - I will have a look at next week's schedule and let you know what looks good for me for meeting

Love to everyone, here's a picture of me meeting with my friend from the Canadian Connection and Survivors 2013 thread, I'm in the dark grey sweater. It was wonderful to meet another sister.

Dakota212

Momof- glad it went well today !! I also gave myself the neulasta not bad at all. I had to search for what the heck agate was. Found it !!! Tired tonight busy weekend, was doing bills yuck !!!

Benny - hope ur doing ok !!!

Have a great night and if things get to hectic and I don't get to post HAPPY THANKSGIVING MUAH !!!

marianelizabeth

Curiosity got to me when Websister mentioned this thread and I knew some others on it too~~Adagio and liefie for starters. Looks like a great group.

Nihahi, I snowshoed on Saturday and thus much warmer than your day~~we did Bragg Creek. I brought 3 pairs of snowshoe in my bag from Vancouver as the friends I stayed with had never snow showed. Adagio, it is a great sport and we are so lucky here in Vancouver with the local mountains so close.

Yes Websister and I did talk about post rads fatigue and I am still tired~~rads ended June 14 and I am still bagged by 9 PM.

I am having my exchange surgery Dec. 6th and am counting sleeps! Can't wait!

Marian

adagio

Marian - welcome and glad you had a great time in Calgary. Your big surgery day is getting closer all the time. Lovely photo of you and websister.

Websister - how great that you could meet with Marian - I just think it is so neat how we can connect with each other - modern technology does have many pluses - you and Marian look so great in the photo and even though you may not feel 100% - you both actually look healthy.

Morwenna - so happy that gecko is feeling much better! What a relief.

Maria - your RO should be able to write a prescription for some cortisone cream to help with the itch. I got some, but never used it - I used aloe Vera instead - the all natural stuff - no additives or colouring - got it from a health store. Hang in there - it is almost over!

Momof2 - hope your neulasta shot went well for you.