April 2015 Chemo Crew... Starting in April? Please join us!

littleblueflowers

This landscape has been cut, burned, poisoned by mining, scared by industry- but its scars make it magical today. I wish that for all of us this Thanksgiving.

Rpayton

Love the photo and like us the scars make us beautiful.😇 Happy Thanksgiving!

KBeee

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

DizzParkMom

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful and that everyone is looking forward to the holidays.

FYI, if anyone experiences any burning skin (inexplicably) that feels like someone keeps lighting a match and holding it to your skin...and then 36ish hours later develops hives in that same area....get to the drs. in the next 72 hours for antivirals. DON'T do what I did! "Ouch, my leg burns." 2 days later..."what the heck, I have hives!...I'll just put benadryl and cortisone on it for a week!" The day before Thanksgiving, it finally dawned on me that the now rupturing blisters might be SHIINGLES. So, 2 weeks after my first symptom, I finally went to the drs...yep, shingles. Apparently it's pretty common after treatment while our immune systems are still rebuilding.

I've apparently lucked out with a mild outbreak, but will be getting the vaccination in 6 weeks anyway...don't want to revisit this anytime soon!

ksusan

Ick! Very painful! Thanks for the warning.

KBeee

Ack!!!! SO very sorry you have shingles. I have heard that's horribly painful! My first time through chemo I was on a clinical trial for a shingles vaccine. The trial just apparently ended so I'll find out sometime soon if I received the actual vaccine or a placebo. I think I got the placebo, but who knows. Hoping your clears soon. How are you doing other than teh rash? If you ever venture into social media, come join us in our Facebook group; even if under an assumed name!

GingerChi

Dizz, I'm just seeing this, I hope you recovered well from the Shingles! My gosh, I've heard the pain is terrible, so sorry you went through even a mild case! .

I hope you and your family had a very Happy Holiday. Hoping for a healthy and happy New Year for all of us! Would love to have you on the FB group, its private so no one else can see our posts or group members.

ksusan

Hi, everyone. I see it's my two-year anniversary of beginning chemo. Time flies--or not :-)

How are those of you not in our Facebook group doing?

DizzParkMom

Hi Ksusan.

Same old crap going on with me. Had 2nd Mona Lisa appointment today. We will see...also have been given green light from MO and gyn for low dose bioidentical hormones. We need to evaluate if joint pain can be alleviated by hormones...if not, rheumatologist will probably insist on methotrexate. If it helps, I haven't decided how long I will stay on them. MO believes I am at a higher risk for osteoporosis and heart disease complications from menopause than I am for a recurrence due to hormone therapy.

Also still struggling with slow growing and thinning hair, insomnia, fatigue, chemo brain...you know, ALL the fun stuff.

Congrats on your 2 year mark!!!!

Hope you and everyone else are doing well.

ksusan

Wishing you the best, Dizz! Keep us posted! I know people want to know how you are and if you want support.

KBeee

Good to hear from you Dizz!!!!

I see MO next week got my quarterly check up. I am wondering if I will be moved to semiannual check ups. We'll see. I had blood drawn today so that results are in by the time I am there.

littleblueflowers

Hi Dizz! Ugh, so annoying how our bodies are still in changing/healing/FU mode, isnt it? Glad you are hanging in! I got new boobs March 17...still getting used to them. Be well-

Jen

ksusan

Yeah, LBF, and we're still waiting for pictures!

littleblueflowers

Patience! They haven't reached their full potential yet 😁

ksusan

Eagerly awaiting for non-prurient reasons.

littleblueflowers

Moderator chicken? 😁😁😁

ksusan

Best not to risk it.

littleblueflowers

LOL Ill message them to you one day. Are you interested in the healing process, or just the final results? Right now they are a little scabby, but my overall shape is pleasing.

ksusan

I'm interested in the whole damn odyssey, my friend.

Fran2014

Hi All,

LMAO! You all are cracking me up! Congrats on the new boobs Little Blue! I must say I was digging my new set (that is until they also decided to go rogue!). Take your time with the healing process-you'll be at "full potential" sooner than you think.

Happy holidays to all in the coming week!

littleblueflowers

Hi Fran! Yeesh, yours have put you thru the bizness, haven't they. Blech. Always glad to hear from you here or posting on facespace. How are you doing?

slv58

happy two year anniversary everyone! So nice to see familiar names. Dizz, so sorry about the shingles, my daughter went through that in her mid 20's- it's an awful affliction. I'm going to see about getting the vaccine at my yearly physical. I hear you about the aches and pains. I've had hip and knee problems and now my shoulder. Thankfully prednisone injections have really helped.

I havnt been on the boards as often as I just needed to start living. I've been really trying to be more active and feel a lot better. I know it's not a huge amount but I try to walk two miles every day but take a day or two off every now and then. It's helped me feel better physically and emotionally.

When I had the recurrence and had a mastectomy I never read my pathology, guess I needed time to accept everything and my MO told me that they got everything. Well I finally read it and was shocked to find that they found grade 3 DCIS in the same breast. I immediately made an appointment with my BS who said that it didn't put me at any higher risk but I'm not feeling great about it. I had whole breast radiation and yet dcis was found?

I've tried to get yearly MRI 's but they won't do it (live in Canada) as they said the newest studies indicate it doesn't increase chance of survival. So I'm trying to get on with my life with a better attitude.

Ive finished my diep reconstruction (feb) and am thrilled with the results, although I'm getting use to smaller breasts and how they look in all my old clothing! I get my 3D nipple tattoos in July and then I'm done!

Well I wish everyone good health and peace of heart and mind. Our lives are forever changed and we all understand how a new ache can bring panic when others have no idea how that affects us. Living life unaffected without worry seems like such a huge gift that most of us took for granted. The challenge now is not to let cancer rule us- I'm learning.

Hugs everyone, Shari

DizzParkMom

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. The BHRT will arrive Thursday via FedEx from the compounding pharmacy. Excited to get started so we can see if it really is just Menopause causing all this pain and weakness. A little nervous, but trying to focus on how the hormones will definitely help instead of how they could have a tiny chance of harming me.

Congrats on the new boobs Jen. I can imagine that it is a relief to finally be beyond that stage. The shabby part is the worst, but before you know it, you'll forget how bad was because of how good it looks.

Shari, Congrats on the DIEP completion. You will love the 3D tattoos. It is amazing how that works. Mine were done last May. I have had a little fading, but am comfortable with the current shade. They will supposedly continue to fade albeit at a slower rate. I might have a little more surgery (puckering from scar tissue) in August, so I may have the tattoos touched up at the same time. It is just amazing what they can do. What's next? Holographic boobs?

Fran, glad to hear from you. Speaking of rogue boobs. How is everything going?

Sorry I haven't joined you all on Facebook. If I were ever to change my mind about joining Facebook, it would be in order to hang out with all of you awesome ladies. I will let you all know if that happens. In the meantime, best wishes to you all!!! Looking forward to the days when we have trouble recalling how many years it has been since we landed in the April 2015 Chemo group.

Scarlett152

Can you send me an invite to the Facebook group? I can PM you my email.

Chemobrain has become a real problem for me at home and work. I am waiting for a referral for cognitive testing, so hopefully we can pinpoint the problems and then come up with skills to help manage it.

Switched from Tamoxifen to Armidex in January. Overall I had been managing it well, but recently the muscle and joint pain has gotten a lot worse. Have any of you on an AI feel the side effects are cumulative? I'm far more achy now than I was the first three months. Of course I have zero interest in exercising, so that could be the source of the pain.

Hope everyone is well

KBeee

PMme your email address and I will send you an invite

KBeee

I sent you the invite Scarlett! Dizz, if you decide to join, you could just create a name just for this; then you won't get friend requests from everyone you know!

Scarlett152

I didn't get the invite.

littleblueflowers

rAts! I'm not an admin, but you can friend me...Jennifer Childress Ryan....I'm friends with Kbeee so she can find you that way! We all thought you were already on!

KBeee

I can try sending it again. I will also send you my name via pm. If you friend me, I can add you directly