Starting Chemo March 2015

Lovemylab

Love the quilt Katy. I used to quilt in my life pre BC. Now I'm not sure what I do but not much is probably right. I am faithfully walking daily but after that.... Not much. Trying to do my chemo brain exercises but only have about 5 min of patience for that. Finding I am only eating Campbell's chicken and stars and canned peaches. Going to hate both when taxol is done but right now that is all I can stomach. Have a good weekend everyone.

SueH58

Katky - Beautiful quilt! Adorable kitten! Are you going to hang the quilt on your wall???

Whitney - so are you officially done with BC treatments? That deserves a huge "WOO HOO!!!!!"

I have my first post-dx mammogram on Tuesday. I guess it serves as a new baseline mammogram since my breast is so different due to surgery and reduction/lift. Then to my RO the following week to get my program established.

Speaking of association, I chewed on ice chips during my infusions to help avoid mouth sores. On my last chemo, they asked if I wanted ice and I declined. It literally made me sick to think about those damn ice chips in my mouth. The following week I was having lunch with my daughter and ordered water. The ice machine was chips--I couldn't even try my water. Yuk! I wonder how long that will hang on.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. We're having dinner at our very best friends' tonight. I may even have my first Gin & Tonic since April. Hope they have big ice cubes!

so-she-did

What a great bunch of accomplishments and happiness on the board today! Have I mentioned lately how fabulous you all are? You mean such a great deal to me ❤️

Jackbirdie

Indy- here is Jack today, after we got back from a beautiful cool woods walk 5 minutes from my new house

Here is where we walked:

Life is good. I am grateful.

SueH58

Katy, do you sometimes look back to Christmas, or surgery, or midst of chemo and now look at where you are? In your beautiful new home, added a (darling) member to your family, feeling good and exercising. Sometimes it's just SOOOO hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I will finish rads end of Oct/beg of Nov, and I plan to have a very meaningful Thanksgiving!

You'd like to tell the newly-diagnosed that everything will be alright, but in your heart you know what a long road ahead they will have.

Jackbirdie

yes Sue- I do look back and I look forward. Some days aren't so nice as today and I break down all over again. But I will celebrate today. Look down at my feet and see where I am now.

SueH58

Can you take a minute and smooch Tutti for me???

Jackbirdie

absolutely- consider it done

Lovemylab

I walk on a trail through the woods as well and I feel like it is so healing! Way to go finding that one Katy. Jack looks so relaxed at his new home!

Jackbirdie

Sue- Tutti didn't really want to be kissed. But here's the evidence:

Trvler

Sue: There were so many things I didn't want to do because I was afraid they would forever and always be associated with cancer.

eheinrich

I just got home. Having a hard hard day. Just reading about you guys and seeing your pics made me feel better. Thank you. You'll truly never know how much you guys mean to me and how much "easier" this whole situation has been because of you.

eheinrich

Also thanks for turning me on to the hummingbird feeders. Sitting outside with a hungry flying friend.

shaz101

Stunning quilt katy. I'm so proud of you. It looks amazing. It's nice when something good can be achieved during all this crap.

Eileen,congratulations on the case. I'm sure you'll do a great job and more work will come your way. A nice distraction for you as well.

My radiation was on my back. The first 25 were using the breath hold method and the last 5 normal breathing. The radiologists were very nice and alway kept the breast not being radiated covered. I'm very red and starting to blister and peel. But it's not overly sore. I put cream on 3x a day and I now have a gauze pad with bepanthen on to keep it moisturised.

Jackbirdie

Sharon- just make sure you keep a little space in your suitcase when you come over. You'll be going home with your choice of quilts for being such a very good chemo buddy. Scratch that. Just a great buddy!

One more rads andyou're done! Woo hoooooooooo!!!!!!

Jackbirdie

E- sorry for the down day. Hummers always make me feel better. Glad yours found you! Hanfpg in there, no place to go but up!

IndyGal35

Thanks for the Jack pic! He and Tutti always make me smile.

DH and I took a small hike at Ft. Ben State Park today. The cording still hurts like hell, but it's probably the best day I've had since chemo started! I felt puny having to cut our trail in half, but I was so proud of my effort. I'm trying to build up my strength slowly now, and I'm praying that rads are kinder to me than chemo and surgery have been.

It was a gorgeous day here. It was hot and humid, but the trees and breeze were wonderful. At one point, I realized that this was the first time that I've felt peaceful, capable, and healthy in such a very long time. I crawled inside of that moment and lingered there as long as possible.

SueH58

Katy - you get an A for effort. Cats are funny about smooches :-)

SueH58

Lee, don't you just love those moments when you realize you feel happy and peaceful?  I hope you have many many more!!!

Meme117

Katy the walking path looks great, I'm jealous. Lee I think we had the same weather today. I turned off the air and it's been a truly beautiful day. I walked my 2 darling pups for the first time in weeks and did the entire trail at a local park, felt so good. Need to make it a daily habit.

Sorry E you had a rough day. Good news on the job, I'm sure you'll do a great job.

I'm heading down the jersey shore, camping(not in a tent) and I'll be offline for a few days so I wish you all beautiful happy days!

ksusan

Beautiful quilt, Katy! My quilting secret is I only do squares and rectangles because I don't care enough about cutting on the bias to do it correctly.

molly1976

Have a great trip, Maryellen! I have a friend who has spent most of her summer at the Jersey shore this year and it looks so lovely.

Jackbirdie

Indy- I am so happy you had that moment! I still have goose bumps from it writing this now. You WILL have many more moments like that. I am so grateful you were able to get out, walk with your DH, and "crawl inside that moment".

KSusan- it is very smart, imho, to have quilting rules like that. I am a beginning quilter, with only a dozen or so quilts under my belt, but am a firm believer in letting the fabric do the talking. I'm not one for complicated stars, etc., to me it's more about "cotton therapy". I love working with the fabric, and putting colors together that please me, or that I know will please a friend. One of my most successful quilts was all squares and rectangles, all blues, which I myself don't use for personal quilts, idk why, with a judiciously used whale fabric. She loves whales, and we have watched whales together many, many times in Port Orford. So the quilt design did not need complicated patterns or tricks. Just a simple recognition of what she liked, a shared memory, and not overprogramming myself. Everybody happy.

There's a life lesson in there somewhere, I think, I just need to tease it out.

Jackbirdie

Maryellen- just wanted to say how glad that you too got out for a nice walk with your pups, and so soon after surgery. You are doing do well. Proud.

Trvler

Lee: You deserve that moment!

Can someone tell me exactly what cording is?

slothabouttown

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Cording_and_Axillar...

The link above has a better explanation than I can give and some photos. Cording occurs after damage to the lymph nodes and it restricts ROM. A lot of what I've read suggests that aggressive PT and MLD post surgery can really help prevent cording. And if it does develop, tissue massage can break the cords. Sounds awful. I know a couple of women in our group have had to deal with it since surgery.

Jackbirdie

Well, exactly? No. But I can start the conversation. It is something that happens not just to bc surgical patients, but for purposes of our discussing it, it usually happens, If it happens, on the side lymph nodes are taken, whether by SLNB OR ALND, for some reason, a ropy like muscle-like cord can develop. It's also known as AWS (axillary web syndrome), under the general heading of Lymphedema, I believe.

Sometimes you see them running down your arm, sometimes you just have a sensation of tightness and pain. They can also occur truncally, across the surgery site, like thick ropy scars. They can be, and should be broken up via tx from a certified LE who is a PT or OT. Only those two disciplines can qualify to certify in LE.

I have had significant ropy scars from my surgery. My PT was trained in scar tissue management, but is not certified in LE. I have gotten some relief, but was still, am still in daily pain, 8 months later. So I have been referred to an LE at the hospital who will do some massage and evaluate for LE if necessary.

More often, in my observation, LE most often presents obviously as increased swelling on the lymph node side. People notice that, and seek help, sometimes the cording is what self refers them.

If nobody has mentioned it, they used to say never to have BP taken or blood drawn from the side lymph nodes are removed.

There is a huge argument raging among the medical community and patients now that since the SLNB procedure has reduced greatly the number of multiple lymph nodes removed, it is no longer necessary to avoid that arm for BP and blood draws. But there is evidence that there is still risk even if only one node is taken. So I avoid that arm for those purposes. Of course if your LE and cording is truncal, you are screwed. But truncal LE, I've been told, can happen with gallbladder surgery.

All you wanted to know....and probably so much more....

slothabouttown

Also I'd like to suggest we play the Golden Girls drinking game at our lake retreat!!!

slothabouttown

That's what I was trying to post... Golden Girls drinking game for our Lake Retreat?!

eheinrich

Linda, I Love it!!!