Starting Chemo October 2012

MrsCich

Hi all....I haven't been on in a while but I think of you often.  I am FB friends with some of you so you already have heard most of my babbling. 

This past Thursday (July 25) marked my 6 month chemo free anniversary.  I never would have thought 6 months ago, that I would have a head full of hair...and curly at that.  I love the texture it now has and I'm keeping it short, as I love the way it styles. Not to mention it's WAY too easy to deal with as well.

I'm on Femara and I take it every other day because daily was causing me too much bone pain.  I still have pains but they aren't nearly as bad.  I need another breast surgery because the cadaver skin they used to hold my implants in, keeps giving way and my right one falls under my arm. This will be the third surgery for that issue.  I have my MO appt Friday, I see her every 3 months now.  I will have lab work and my tumor markers will be checked to see if there is anything quirky going on in me.  I'm having some depression for lots of reasons so we will discuss that as well.  I recently got a tattoo, see pic below!  It's on the right side of my stomach (lower than my belly button).  It has a lot of meaning behind it for various reasons.  One being, I am a survivor.  The words Hope, Believe and Fighter didn't speak to me like Survior did.  Also, the "S" is my best friends first initial and I took the S from her signature.  She was murdered in Dec 2010 but now I have a piece of her on me always. 

I put on 30 lbs since my diagnosis last August so I'm FIGHTING to get that off.  Not being very diligent though, I have to admit. 

I hope you all are well! 

All my love!

~Kristie

MrsCich

Hi all....I haven't been on in a while but I think of you often.  I am FB friends with some of you so you already have heard most of my babbling. 

This past Thursday (July 25) marked my 6 month chemo free anniversary.  I never would have thought 6 months ago, that I would have a head full of hair...and curly at that.  I love the texture it now has and I'm keeping it short, as I love the way it styles. Not to mention it's WAY too easy to deal with as well.

I'm on Femara and I take it every other day because daily was causing me too much bone pain.  I still have pains but they aren't nearly as bad.  I need another breast surgery because the cadaver skin they used to hold my implants in, keeps giving way and my right one falls under my arm. This will be the third surgery for that issue.  I have my MO appt Friday, I see her every 3 months now.  I will have lab work and my tumor markers will be checked to see if there is anything quirky going on in me.  I'm having some depression for lots of reasons so we will discuss that as well.  I recently got a tattoo, see pic below!  It's on the right side of my stomach (lower than my belly button).  It has a lot of meaning behind it for various reasons.  One being, I am a survivor.  The words Hope, Believe and Fighter didn't speak to me like Survior did.  Also, the "S" is my best friends first initial and I took the S from her signature.  She was murdered in Dec 2010 but now I have a piece of her on me always. 

I put on 30 lbs since my diagnosis last August so I'm FIGHTING to get that off.  Not being very diligent though, I have to admit. 

I hope you all are well! 

All my love!

~Kristie

Poke

Agree, that does sound like a wonderful experience! That you for including us : )

Marlene18

Hey girls,

It's been awhile but life is getting back to normal-ish for me. I'm heading in for my first post-diagnosis mammogram next week but not feeling too anxious about that. I'm done 10 of 17 herceptin and started on tamoxifen in June, with pretty minimal side effects. My hair is coming in ever so slowly but I already got it cut once so I could look decent for my sister's wedding

Chloe is still doing awesome - nice and chubby and getting ready to crawl any day now! She starts part-time daycare in October when I'll be going back to work.

It's good to hear everyone's updates, no matter how frequently...

LouBar

Marlene - you look just beautiful and baby Chloe is getting so big, her dress is precious.  Your hair looks fantastic!!

We are just passing the one year anniversary of our diagnosis, surgery, treatment.  It some how seems just so surreal and I'm not sure if I have processed "our year" - not sure if you all feel the same? 

I've had some personal upheaval over the last couple of months, my marriage is ending as we approach our 15 year wedding anniversary.  I have known for 3 months now and was completely blindsighted and I remain heart broken, he was fantastic during treatment and I thought our marriage was stronger than ever  Trying to focus on the importance my health and that things will get better but it is a message I have to constantly remind myself.  I'm moving provinces to the East Coast (Nova Scotia) in 3 weeks to be with my parents, sister and her family (my beloved neices).  So I've been busy, packing, looking for a job and all that other stuff that is necessary.  I truly can't believe what has transpired in 12 months but it can only get better!

I do think about you all and never underestimate our connection and what we have gone through.  I plan on participating in breastcancer awareness month and am so glad to be amongst you as a "survivor" and will be thinking of you all

xo

Poke

LouBar: You look great! Good luck with your mammo and thank you for the update!

Poke

MrsCich love the tattoo and thanks for the update!

Enerva

Hi all, i just found this tread, i finished chemo in Feb, had surgery in March then Rad in June now having the exchange surgery in Dec. I am so excited that this 2013 is almost over. I dont want to ever remember it. I had a hard time with chemo, still dealing with numb feet, not forgetting waiting for my hair and life to be normal again. I am in Ontario, feel free to contact me if any of you want to meet. All the best for this new year coming may we all end this chapter and be healthy  

Enerva

Hi Loub my p also stopped last xmast and its not back yet, did yours came back? I am so worry cuz i just turn 40, dx at 38 and i fear infertility i had not time to freeze my eggs Anyway hope we can keep contact, I keep thinking maybe next month it will come back lol  

LouBar

Hi Enerva

Sorry for a delayed response, I haven't been checking this site often. My last chemo was Jan 31 and no sign if p yet, I have resigned to the fact that I won't be having children. I moved two months ago to Nova Scotia, but if you ever want to chat please don't hesitate to message me privately and we can connect, best to you, L

Ladies, hope you are all well, forever in my heart and thoughts xo

Jennie93

Hope all had a great Thanksgiving. I was so thankful to be able to taste everything this year! :-)

Enerva

Oh yes Happy T, to you, i am in Canada so we celebrated it before. Hope you had a great time Jenie

Jennie93

Exactly one year since my final chemo today.  Kind of a surreal milestone.  It has gone by fast!  Hope you are all doing well, hair growing, etc.   :-)

Enerva

My one year is this Saturday well hair is growing but kind of slow due to been so curly i love the new curls but i wish it was long past my shoulders its only at my ears ;( Still surviving from exchange surgery, hoping to see a new PS soon. Hope every body is healthy  

LouBar

Hi Ladies

I don't often check this website but tomorrow January 31st  is the anniversary of my last chemo as well - seems we are all feeling a bit reflective on the difference a year makes!  I am trying to not think about cancer so much but it does creep up on me from time to time.  I feel the need to connect with a Doc on a more regular basis as assurance, but need to appreciate and be grateful that I don't need a Doc!  I feel forever changed, but blessed. 

Hope you are all well - love and best wishes on our respective anniversaries.

xo

Jennie93

I don't know how many of us still read here, but I noticed something weird and who better to share it with than my "chemo sisters".   

So, my eyelashes & brows fell out about 6 weeks PFC (thanks to reading here I knew that was common so it didn't freak me out too bad!) - lost most of lashes, about 80% of brows, but looking closely you could see the new baby ones already growing. They filled in pretty fast.  But I had really thick eyebrows before chemo and they never grew back as thick. They looked fine, average, I never had to pluck them anymore, got used to them and never thought much about them one way or another.  

Then the other day, now about 17 months PFC, I happened to look closely at them in the mirror, and suddenly noticed there are tons of little bitty baby hairs growing in the eyebrows. Like they are soon going to be twice as thick again - like they were before all this - unless all the mature hairs fall out at once, that is!  How strange is that?  Anyone else have a sudden bunch of new hair growth after so many months?  I just thought that was really weird...

Enerva

lol well let me tell you something, I also got lots of new hair growing and I was so piss cuz prior to bc many year back I paid big money to remove hair with laser. The Wierd thing is that it only came back in some spots I ask my FD and she said it's due to the hormones changes, after chemo our body hormones continues to go up and down so some of us will get more hair than others. I am just sick of my hairin my head, lol  not growing as fast as I need it to its now almost at my shoulders but since it's so curly now it does not look long at all. In a year from now I LL look into doing a few lasers to remove some of these other hairs. Lol I figure after when I am sure things are stable regarding my hormones lol 😁 

halfcan

Hi gals,

It will be two years since my surgery July 31st and two years since I started this thread in September.   I couldn't seem to get logged in on here for months although I read all posts on my phone because of the notifications.   I was so grateful to all of you that shared with me all our rough times!   I still am so happy to have had this place to go when the days were so dark and also to share the good times.   I feel pretty happy to still be here on this earth .... I only wish this 5 year Letrozole pill I take didn't make my hair so thin  :-)  but it's a small price to pay.   I stopped by here today to give a virtual hug to all of you and I hope everyone is doing fantastic!!!    I keep up with this thread and I always will be here if anyone wants to talk.  xox

Jennie93

Great to hear from you halfcan!   I think most everyone wandered off, lol.  Funny how some threads are more active than others.  I have the September (to learn from those ahead of us) and November (to offer any help I can to those coming along behind us) threads in my favorites, and they were both much more active than our October group.  (All are pretty dormant now.)

Anyone else having long-term effects from chemo?  My immune system is still messed up, still have issues with chemo brain, and major fatigue.  Depressing. 

Enerva

Hi, I am still around here, yes I still have Se from chemo and rad, infant I am having a revision surgery next month to try to resolve my rad muscle contraction and internal scaring. I have chemo brain having hard time passing exams. Lol I have insomnia, what can I say I am trying to stay positive and active eating healthy but not much I never got my appetite back to normal. I am in the insomnia tread which is very active and the breast implant 101 tread, and the singles tread. I hope you ladies are well and let's keep in touch  

LouBar

Hi ladies!

Been a while since I was here... I danced on the waterfront yesterday in Halifax for the "pinked" event kicking off the cibc run for the cure.  I participated in the event last year as a volunteer but to date have still been a bit emotional to get much more involved.  Beginning to feel stronger emotionally and ready to give back to this community

Overall, lots of changes in my life, but doing okay! Find I need my sleep and a little worried about the SE from tamoxifen...but all manageable and glad to be here!

Coming up to my 2 yr anniversary of diagnosis ... Gosh, what a life changer.

Love to you all, xxoo

Jennie93

Great to see you again!  2 yrs for me too, can hardly believe it.  Tamoxifen is not treating me very well, either.   :-(

Enerva

Hi ladies well me too and what is very Wierd is that I have my revision surgery on the date of my anniversary. Can you believe that? August 27. That is the day I was dx in 2012. Wow I am glad I am still ok fingers crossed we are still ok for our 5 year mark 

Sending you all hugs

Jennie93

Just checking in with my October sisters. Two years, wow!  Hope all are well.

Jennie93

Just realized that today is exactly 2 years PFC. I know, no one posts here anymore, but I just wanted to take a minute and thank each and every one of you, I couldn't have made it through without all the wonderful support here.

Enerva

hi Jennie 93, I am doing ok back to work full time.It's been hard but all ok

Hope everybody is doing great

halfcan

Hi gals,

 

I still and always will get notifications from this thread I started.   It is so good to hear from a few of you that post on here every once in awhile with an update.   So happy to hear things are going well.  :-)     All good here.   Back working and keeping busy.   If I was to complain it would be the loss of hair from the Femara I have to take for 5 years.     But I'm not.   Happy to be alive and kickin'.   Hugs to you all.

 

 

Jennie93

Three years ago you all helped me through the most difficult and scary experience of my life and I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you. Hope all are well.

Enerva

hi good to heard from you .all good at my end

Sending you all hugs

Jennie93

Just realized that the 3 year anniversary of my final chemo passed by completely unnoticed. I reckon that's a good thing.