Anyone starting chemo in June 08
Comments
-
I saw the rad onc for the last time today. Next meeting will be in 6 weeks. I have my first post chemo appt with onc Jan. 9th. Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well. I hate the freaking out about any new pain or ache, but can't help it. This is one time I hope it is OLD AGE even if I am only 51!!!!!!!!!!
Here's to a pain free week.
Wyoming
-
Wyoming, I saw my rad onc today also and go back in a month for skin check. Two more days of boosts. Here's some more Wednesday pissyness from me. I gained three pounds since last Wednesday. Now how the hell does that happen? Anyway, I saw my reg onc last Wednesday. He didn't order any scans, just the blood work. He doesn't believe in the scans unless you complain of pain. Says the cure rate is no different. I think we discussed this in here before. I know what you mean about the stress of the aches. Anyway, while I am sitting here airing out, I looked on this site about joint pain and maybe you have already seen this. I found this under the Ask the Doctors Online and it said the following:
Victoria: Is joint pain normal?
Answers -Charles Loprinzi, M.D.: Joint pain is a common complaint in many women and men as we reach middle age. Joint pain itself is rarely caused by recurrent breast cancer. There is a particular syndrome or phenomenon where patients, a month or two following completion of chemotherapy, can get quite a bit of trouble with pain in their hips and knees and morning stiffness-type troubles. This has been termed "post-chemotherapy rheumatism" and is something that generally goes away in a matter of months.
I will bet that is what you are experiencing. I certainly hope so. Our rads are almost done. Friday is my last day. Going to get the 5 rad techs a gift certificate for pizza. People bring goodies in there all the time so I thought I would do something different for the last day. Cheers, HunkyD
-
Hi Everyone,
I have been finished Rad. for almost 3 weeks now and my skin is a mess, been having a lot of trouble with part of my scar which is close to under my arm. When my arm is down it rubs together and has made it very raw ouch!! Did anyone have this trouble with theirs and if so some helpfull hints would be nice as to what to do about it/
Thanks
Bonniie
-
Bonnie
I had a terrible time with the skin under the breast. My sisterinlaw is a nurse and she had me apply saline solution 4 times a day and air dry it for 20 minutes afterwards. Then apply my cream after that, I was putting polyspoirin on the sore areas and glaxal cream on the top of the breast. It was gone in one week. I can give you instructions to make the saline if you like as it is expensive to buy. I would wet a handtowel and lay it right across the breast area and leave it sitting on for 15 minutes. The salt in the solution heals and dries it out. I found it was a wonderful feeling to put it on as it was hurting. Hope this helps.
-
Bonnie, could you put a gauze pad where it rubs together? I have not had this problem - yet. Rads should be the end of January, since I have to be re excised on Wednesday to get 2 mm clear margins. The surgeon only got 1 cm last Friday. At least I will NOT need the wire inserted or the 3 lovely injections of dye.
BTW, I had deep conscious sedation, aka MAC. The recovery is almost instant with no headache or long time lying still. I went home as soon as the saline was finished. I had it with a couple of my wrist surgeries and it is much easier on the body and you remember nothing. Another bonus, you can take a pain pill with a small amount of food right away.
I would be curious how expensive you found saline solution to be. We used it when my husband had open heart surgery and I do not remember it being expensive at all. They also gave us some small bottles so it was easy to fill from the larger ones. We poured it over the "wound" and let air dry, once the steri strips were off.
Another thought - when you shower, use a hair dryer to dry the area. Do not have to rub and irritate the already irritated area. Good luck. Nancy
-
oops CM should be mm...
-
HunkyD, Thanks for looking up my symptoms. It sounds just like me. I have two more boost then I'm done. I like the idea of pizza. I was thinking of doing flowers. Sorry to hear about the weight gain.
Bonnie, I didn't have too much trouble with my skin, but what trouble I did have I slathered tons of lotion of all kinds. My shoulder is a little rough. I also used Johnson baby oil gel all over my body which helped.
Getting ready for a blast of cold weather, minus 5 as the high on Monday. Hope everyone stays warm where ever you are.
Wyoming
-
Nancy, sorry you have to go back under the knife again. Sounds like it isn't too bad as far as anesthesia goes for you. Speaking of surgery, good luck Monday Jax. I know you will do fine. Have fun at your party and relax this weekend. Great to get started on that part of your recovery and reconstruction. Keep in touch. Bonnie, I am pretty crusty on my collarbone area. I also just have been putting on the lotion they gave me. Pretty tough for an area to heal that is always getting friction. I think KKing is right about the air-dry method. Wyoming, brrrrr. Snowed here last night but is already 30 degrees. It is a good day to stay in and lounge around for us. Bet you will be glad for next Tuesday to get here. My techs made me tear up Friday on my last day of boosts. Kind of emotional. Now I just need to heal. Later, HunkyD
-
Thanks everyone for all your help on my problem, finally got it under control. I had to get some antibiotics as it was oozing a green color. A few days of that and I had been putting on polysporin and the doctor said no put nothing on it let it get dry if possible. His nurse and I tried all kinds of bandages to try and cover it. Was impossible, when finally she got this stretchy net type thing that went over my head and acted as a bra on the good side and did help to keep a pad in place under my arm for maybe 1 day when of course the netting stretched. Anyway, I finally have got it under control and healing good if I can keep my hands off of it. So itchy, a lot of my skin is pealing from being burnt. If there is ever a next time for anything like that I will definitely try the saline solution, with the blow dryer. I really think that would have worked if I had started early enough. Well everyone take care, good luck Jax on your surgery, sure it will be fine.
-
Bonnie: glad things are under control for you. What a hassle. Here's hoping it is all gone and back to normal real soon.
I have the itchies from the lump and snb Dec 5, and will have the re excison on Wednesday, only to start it all over again... I find that using the hair dryer is the best to avoid any irritation at the "wound" site. 31 years ago when I had my son, the nurse suggested a hair dryer for the "nether" region also.
Hugs, Nancy
-
Good luck to Nancy and Jax coming up. We will all be thinking of you both.
Bonnie, glad you are feeling better. It will be itchy as well, my skin is still doing that so I keep applying some cream on it. The radiation seems to suck all the moisture out.
Nice to hear you finished your rads HunkyD. Like you say, now you can heal.
Well, I am thinking about the New Year coming and I have decided... Exercise everyday. I am still off work, so I will take advantage of it. Well, off to pick up a Christmas Tree.
Enjoy the Day
Karen
-
Nancy and Jax good luck with your surgeries. Everything will go fine. We are all becoming experts in areas that we didn't want to be.
HunkyD congrats on finishing rads. It is amazing how close we get to the techs and nurses.
Everyone have a great week.
Wyoming
-
Hey ladies......surgery was yesterday and I was home in the afternoon.........had a surprisingly good night.......and am very happy to be at home.......even stayed on top of the constipation thing and am feeling as good as could be expected......less pain than the lumpectomy and auxillary node dissection back in May.......I will post my updates here with you ladies as I feel I am not getting too much support on my surgery in December thread......go figure......we are all going through such traumatic things.......but for some reason.......there are some on that thread that pretty much ignore my posts......go figure
Cheers
Jax
-
Hey Jax, glad to hear from ya. I guess I am not very educated yet on a lot of the reconstruction, but I assume you had no problems with the expanders. They must leave you quite a bit of skin then. I don't know how it all works....reconstruction is down the road for me due to radiation. How long do you have to wait before you get the exchange? I am glad you are feeling so well to come home. Keep on top of the pain and don't try to do too much. I still can't get over how much darn hair you have. Mine is looking darker than I wanted. But, it is growing. Hey, I know you are on herceptin, but are you on tamoxifen too? If so....how is that going for you? KKing, are you on tamoxifen? I have to start taking mine in a couple weeks. Just curious. Wyoming, congrats! Today is your last day of boosts. Let me know if I was the only crybaby on her last day of rads. Bonnie, glad you are recovering finally. What a pain those sores that hang on can be. Nancy, good luck tomorrow...... Where the heck did the rest of the Junies Go? Later Ladies... HunkyD
-
Jax, good to hear you are doing so well. You must be so relieved to be home already.
HunkyD, I did start Tamoxifen in October. I have not had any bad side effects. The worst thing is hot flashes during the night...covers on..covers off. Otherwise, it seems to agree with me. I am scheduled for a pap in March and I am going for an ultrasound, they have to check that nothing is going on down there because of the tamoxifen.
Good to hear you are finished Wyoming, how is your skin doing??
9 days to Christmas... where has the time gone???
take care all
Karen
-
Jax, glad it is over for you and that pain in under control. I hope everyone has a good rest of the week. I am biding my time to try to not wake up at the crack of dawn. Noon is when I have to report at the surgery center and no food or drink for over an hour now. 2 cups of coffee in the morning is my usual routine, so I may be also having caffeine withdrawal by noon...
Hugs, nancy
-
Hey Junies.......glad to see some of us still posting.........3 days out from my bilat mast.......and I'm feeling pretty good......I will be glad to get the drains out......but overall I am feeling better than I expected........can't wait to start expading......weird to look down and be flat......they kept some skin and I can tell that she kept the fold.....so I have my fingers crossed for a good result for the exchange......she goes pretty slow....my ps......so I'm thinking it will be June or so by the time I am ready for the exchange........my home care nurse can't get over how neat my scars are....so that's good news.......HunkyD.....Herceptin is a breeze......tamoxifen seems to have no side effects for me.....well kept me awake at first......but onc said to take it at night and that should help.........I don't really understand why......but this has helped a lot........started sleeping like a baby the week or 2 before surgery......and look forward to it again.....
Continued good thoughts to all........
Cheers
Jax
-
Jax good luck with your healing. Nancy how did your surgery go? HunkyD, I didn't cry but I felt lost the the next day with no where to go. My techs and office staff gave me xmas present. I also received a certificate of completion signed by everyone. Today was the last day of school until Jan 5th. I plan on taking it easy over the break. I still have stiff joints. My hair is also coming in darker. I think more gray. Good thing we have a thing called dye. It is so soft that I sit and rub my head. We have a fund raiser at school. The students buy tickets and guess how much my hair will grow over break. They can win a stash of candy, popcorn, and videos. I feel extremely lucky as I did not have to have a mastectomy. So no reconstruction for me.
I know this is a busy time of the year but keep up the entries. I enjoy them as I'm sure everyone else does.
Have a good weekend.
Wyoming
-
The surgery went quite well. No wires and no dye injections, just a mammo on the affected side. The tech was so gentle and really worried about hurting me. I did not even take a pain pill yesterday. Keeping ice on it helps a lot and give me a good reason to plunk in the recliner and do absolutely nothing... hee hee...
I had deep conscious sedation both times, which is a much quicker and easier recovery than full knock you out anesthesia. My surgeon was very agreeable and wonders why more do not ask for it. However, for a mastectomy, it is not recommended.
Yesterday I had the first loading dose of herceptin only, which took almost 2 hours. I will continue it every 3 weeks until August or so. This is for the Her2 +++ factor and the wonder drug for it. A few aches from it, but at age 62 - I already had aches... My onco was so pleased that the pre surgery chemo destroyed the tumor she gave me a hug.
Oh, they gave me a very nice clear plastic bag with pink trim full of Herceptin info and a pink BC pin. Hope everyone has a great weekend and no pain or aches. HUGS, nancy
-
Snowed here about 3 or 4 inches with some drifting but nothing out of the ordinary. Just throw it into 4 wheel drive and go. Great excuse to hang out in the warm house and be lazy today. Nancy, glad your surgery went well, and that you are dealing well with the pain. Jax.....same goes for you. Glad your are recovering so nicely and hope you get your drains out shortly. Tomorrow will be present wrapping time for me. Maybe after some xmas cheer I will get in the mood to wrap. Better get it done. Next week I will only work two days and call it done, so I guess I will try to do a little house cleaning when I can. My wood floors need a little TLC. They are all beautiful original oak floors that we had professionally refinshed this last year and I love them, but since the snow they are getting a little dirty. Ya, maybe after some xmas cheer I will do that too....hehehe. Thanks for all the replies on Tamoxifen. I will start it the day after xmas. Skin is doing fine...back to wearing bras comfortably. Wyoming....you are going to have a nice little vacation. Your hair growing pool sounds fun. They say half an inch a month is statistically the average but Jax apparently broke the curve on that. Anyway...let us know how you determine the growth. Sounds like something fun for the students. Hope you are staying warm enough in Wyoming. KKing..and all the rest of us still posting...have a great weekend...keep those posts coming. Between the BC board and the few few friends I chat with on yahoo....I guess I just need some company....especially those rowing the same sh^t boat I am in. Later! HunkyD
-
Hi ladies, the strangest thing happened today. I had a patient with a big bag and when I told her I liked it she told that her husband was in it!! Evidently he died several months ago and she can't decide what to do with the ashes. I was very careful not to knock over the bag. She seemed pretty easy going about it but it was a first for me...
I am starting to get my taste buds back so I have been eating more and more holiday treats. I am done with two weeks of radiation and have five more to go. Only a little itching and not too much redness so I feel lucky about that. Everyone have a nice week, I have a couple days off and we have been making cookies and tree ornaments to fill the time and stay away from the television for a change.
Kelly -
Hi Kelly
Sure hate to burst your bubble but I had no problem at all with the radiation until it was all over. They kept asking if it was getting red or sore and no it wasn't not at all. I thought well this is a breeze, until about a few days after I was finished and then did it get red and sore. So I think you should be prepared although I sure hope you don't have any trouble.
Bonnie
-
Kelly, wild story. Guess that is one way to get your husband to go out shopping and etc. with you. Pretty creepy. My luck I would leave the bag somewhere and lose it. Were the ashes just in the bag?, or in a container in the bag? Funny, but not funny. Hope you have good luck with the rest of your rads. I have done no baking yet but we do have a nice tree up which we love to sit by in the dark. I ordered a whole bunch of glass icicles that hang on it and they are so pretty with the all white lights. Bonnie is right...the worst of the rads is the end. I seemed to get along pretty well, but I gave my skin quite a bit of air time when I started to have the sores. Only happened where my clavicle field was radiated. The rest of my skin turned out fine. Good luck on the remainder of your radiation. HunkyD
-
Hello everyone. It is cold here. I am redoing my kitchen and yesterday was in Rapid City picking out my new cabinets. Can't wait to get started. We remodeled about 5 years ago but didn't get the kitchen done. HunkyD we put in wood floors and I know what you mean about being dirty. My pets go outside and find the mud then come in with little paw prints all over. I am also going to wrap a few gifts. I just love that job. ugh.
Kelly what a freaky thing to happen. That would be a first for me too.
I'm with you HunkyD about talking to people rowing the s#*t boat. The understand the ups and downs.
Everyone have a good week.
Wyoming
PS. I tried to post a picture but didn't work. Those who have posted a picture let me know how you did it. Thanks
-
Wyoming, I use photobucket. Make a free acount and then upload your photo. Copy the "direct link in the drop box under the photo. Then come back here to post a reply....hit the little tree icon above and then paste in the html code you copied. Thats what I do. Very cool you are getting a new kitchen. I didn't get any wrapping done yet but did do some cleaning. I have doggy tracks too..
here is the one culprit I have.....Anyway, hope this finds all my June friends feeling well. I am looking forward to any and all pictures posted by my BC sisters! HunkyD
-
I have a macintosh, and tried doing the photo thing, but it won't work for me. Or I am too brain cell limited to get it... Hope everyone has a restful sleep. Hugs, Nancy
-
Hey Junies......I am drainless once again.......and PS says things are looking good......no restrictions......so it looks like I can pull out that fridge now afterall.....lol......I am just so happy to have my drains out for Christmas.........much easier to dress and hang with the kids.
I love pics too!......Cheers
Jax
-
Glad to hear everyone is doing well.
I want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas. Of course, to a very healthy 2009.
Enjoy yourselves
Karen
-
Hello Ladies,
I agree with all who say "Good Bye to 2008". It can not be over soon enough for me.
Today I go for the practise radiation thing. I'm all off schedule because I had more chemo after surgery. My hair came back and then fell out again. Drat! In a perfect world this would all be behind all of us, wouldn't it.
Holiday travel plans are all goofed up. Big snow is keeping my parents from coming to visit. It also delays my large 2009 wall calendar (an annual dad gift). I have lots of post-its stuck to the old calendar waiting.
My cancer must wrap itself up soon. When all this started in June I saw it as an opportunity to reread all the Carl Hiaasen books. I'm on the last one and don't know what I'll do when I finish, other than stop laughing my head off. Too bad his book this year was about golf.
Do any of you have suggestions for reading? Nothing too heady please.
A great thing happened yesterday. The local Senior Center called to tell me I won their raffle. $250 in gasoline! Can you imagine my joy! I can't decide who to share them with. The food pantry, the womens shelter and the senior center come to mind. Yea! Luck is such an under-rated thing.
Stay warm everyone.
Sarah
-
Congrats Jax. Please don't over do.
Merry Christmas to everyone. Hugs, Nancy
Categories
- All Categories
- 679 Advocacy and Fund-Raising
- 289 Advocacy
- 68 I've Donated to Breastcancer.org in honor of....
- Test
- 322 Walks, Runs and Fundraising Events for Breastcancer.org
- 5.6K Community Connections
- 282 Middle Age 40-60(ish) Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 53 Australians and New Zealanders Affected by Breast Cancer
- 208 Black Women or Men With Breast Cancer
- 684 Canadians Affected by Breast Cancer
- 1.5K Caring for Someone with Breast cancer
- 455 Caring for Someone with Stage IV or Mets
- 260 High Risk of Recurrence or Second Breast Cancer
- 22 International, Non-English Speakers With Breast Cancer
- 16 Latinas/Hispanics With Breast Cancer
- 189 LGBTQA+ With Breast Cancer
- 152 May Their Memory Live On
- 85 Member Matchup & Virtual Support Meetups
- 375 Members by Location
- 291 Older Than 60 Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 177 Singles With Breast Cancer
- 869 Young With Breast Cancer
- 50.4K Connecting With Others Who Have a Similar Diagnosis
- 204 Breast Cancer with Another Diagnosis or Comorbidity
- 4K DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)
- 79 DCIS plus HER2-positive Microinvasion
- 529 Genetic Testing
- 2.2K HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer
- 1.5K IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)
- 3.4K IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)
- 1.5K ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)
- 999 Just Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastasis
- 652 LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ)
- 193 Less Common Types of Breast Cancer
- 252 Male Breast Cancer
- 86 Mixed Type Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned
- 189 Palliative Therapy/Hospice Care
- 488 Second or Third Breast Cancer
- 1.2K Stage I Breast Cancer
- 313 Stage II Breast Cancer
- 3.8K Stage III Breast Cancer
- 2.5K Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- 13.1K Day-to-Day Matters
- 132 All things COVID-19 or coronavirus
- 87 BCO Free-Cycle: Give or Trade Items Related to Breast Cancer
- 5.9K Clinical Trials, Research News, Podcasts, and Study Results
- 86 Coping with Holidays, Special Days and Anniversaries
- 828 Employment, Insurance, and Other Financial Issues
- 101 Family and Family Planning Matters
- Family Issues for Those Who Have Breast Cancer
- 26 Furry friends
- 1.8K Humor and Games
- 1.6K Mental Health: Because Cancer Doesn't Just Affect Your Breasts
- 706 Recipe Swap for Healthy Living
- 704 Recommend Your Resources
- 171 Sex & Relationship Matters
- 9 The Political Corner
- 874 Working on Your Fitness
- 4.5K Moving On & Finding Inspiration After Breast Cancer
- 394 Bonded by Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Life After Breast Cancer
- 806 Prayers and Spiritual Support
- 285 Who or What Inspires You?
- 28.7K Not Diagnosed But Concerned
- 1K Benign Breast Conditions
- 2.3K High Risk for Breast Cancer
- 18K Not Diagnosed But Worried
- 7.4K Waiting for Test Results
- 603 Site News and Announcements
- 560 Comments, Suggestions, Feature Requests
- 39 Mod Announcements, Breastcancer.org News, Blog Entries, Podcasts
- 4 Survey, Interview and Participant Requests: Need your Help!
- 61.9K Tests, Treatments & Side Effects
- 586 Alternative Medicine
- 255 Bone Health and Bone Loss
- 11.4K Breast Reconstruction
- 7.9K Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 2.7K Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment
- 775 Diagnosed and Waiting for Test Results
- 7.8K Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 50 Immunotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 7.4K Just Diagnosed
- 1.4K Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy
- 5.2K Lymphedema
- 3.6K Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment
- 591 Pain
- 3.9K Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 8.4K Surgery - Before, During, and After
- 109 Welcome to Breastcancer.org
- 98 Acknowledging and honoring our Community
- 11 Info & Resources for New Patients & Members From the Team