2009 Herceptin group

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  • mamasarah
    mamasarah Member Posts: 23
    edited January 2009

    Hi Sisters - 

    I love a glass or two of wine, but have found my taste buds are off, so it doesn't taste right.  Haven't tried a martini yet.  A bottle of beer is just the ticket right now, but there's not much of a buzz.  Also, found that more than two glasses made me wake up "wired" at 2 or 3 in the morning.  I'd rather sleep through. 

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  • traceyz
    traceyz Member Posts: 745
    edited January 2009

    hey ladies,



    Yes i am noticing a change in vision. Now i have to wear my reading glasses. Also about the nails, it does get better with herceptin. Taxol and taxotere are the culprits of the bad nail issues

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    YES!! Me to with bad eyes... it started after AC and during taxol. I never needed glasses before. I now should get reading glasses. It has gotten bad and I HATE it!.. I wondered if it were the chemo, or just my age.. I turn 41 in  few weeks. Everyone tells me that most everyone starts needing some type of glasses starting in their 40's. So who knows... I sure hope chemo did not hurt our eyes....

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  • Juli50
    Juli50 Member Posts: 859
    edited January 2009
    I heard today that the effect chemo has on our eyes could take a few months to go away. Hopefully, it will. Undecided
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  • mamakaren
    mamakaren Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2009

    I have bad toe nails also but they never completely fell off. They look awful like they have fungus or something my big toe is half gone and the rest are thick. My hands are 90% back to normal they are still very thin but they look like my natural nail color. Thank God!!

    Christi hang in there! Lets look on the bright side, We can always go get our nails did at the nail shop. I have seen them do wonders!

    Estepp, I'm thinking that your gonna be fine!

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    How are you doing Karen? Are you feeling any better sister?

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  • mamakaren
    mamakaren Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2009

    Estepp, I guess i am but i just feel very down lately, it's like this is suppossed to be the easiest part of treatment but i feel like i'm falling apart. I feel like i've been holding the roof up all this time and now it's caving in. It's just one of those days when it rains it pours! Then i was thinking about this little phrase " LIVING IS WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS...IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN"  I'm just so emotional and just want it to stop. I want to be happy and i usually am but sometimes the smile is so fake that i just can't keep it up. Then this happens, I get all of balance. Well enough about me I really hope you do well and you will.

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    I do understand about the fake smile. I think we all do. Sometimes we just have to do that for the others we love. I am going to have to go back to work soon. I have been off since July 08. I am happy to be going back... it really is time. At the same time.. I hate leaving the safety  of my home. I have felt "safe" here all these months.. safe from cancer.. even though I have been treating it for so long now... here, at home... I feel like cancer cannot get back in... but out there... in the world... it might get me again...

    I know this sounds nuts... but my home as been my haven for a really long time.

    I will be fine going back to work.. and I miss it..finally I am feeling restless... so I know it is time. My body is ready for me to get back to the new normal.

    Hang in there... we will all get through this and move on in life.

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  • mamakaren
    mamakaren Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2009

    JUST TO CRACK UP TRACY, I HOPE I JUST DIDN'T RUN OVER A PILE OF NAILS WITH OUR BUS AND FLATTENING ALL OUR TIRES! LOL WITH MY SAD POST I'M SORRY WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE DARN PARTY BUS! I HAVE TO MAKE MYSELF HAPPY SOMEWAY. I TELL YOU, IT'S LIKE THIS DISEASE MAKES ME A LITTLE LOONEY, WHEN I FEEL DOWN I ALWAYS PICK MYSELF UP AND THEN I LOOK LIKE SUFFER FROM MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES. (JUST PASS ME THE BOTTLE PLEASE) beep beep!

    Lots Of Love,   Karen Wink

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    LOL Karen... beep beep... :) You will be fine!!!

    Sometimes the party bus takes a detour ... then it gets right back on the main road... multi-personalities and all....Smile

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  • mamakaren
    mamakaren Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2009

    Estepp, Thanks for your comforting words they really do help. I will be going back to work also i just don't know where. The company i used to work at closed down so i'm just looking to see where i get in. I need to get out of my home even though it is my safe place also but it's becoming a habit. When i leave somewhere i don't feel safe sometimes and then i just hurry up and come home. I don't think that its healthy for me to always wanna run home from where ever i'm at. I do agree with you though, we will get through this and become stronger minded people after all this is done.

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  • suemed8749
    suemed8749 Member Posts: 1,151
    edited January 2009

    Hi to all on the party bus - Karen, I just noticed how closely our dx dates and pathology reports match up. Too bad we didn't meet up here earlier - I would have joined you on one of your long drives south of the border. You would have cracked up watching me float this summer in the Sea of Cortez with my wig on - I never knew how vain I was!!! But my daughters' fiances and my own kids were NOT seeing me both bald AND in a swimsuit - some sights are too much to inflict on others! And even though I was going through chemo then, I still sampled some of the local beverages (and not the tap water, believe me!)

    Taking a day off work Thursday for an MRI in the morning and Herceptin PM - do I know how to have F-U-N or what?????

    Sue

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  • mamakaren
    mamakaren Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2009

    Sue~ LOL I'm sure you do know how to have fun! There sure is no other place i'd rather have that kind of fun at MEXICO!!!! It wouldn't be bad if a few of us just went on a trip over there ha? I would love to rent a pink bus and just have a blast. I'm sure you looked fabulous floating! Let's look on the bright side at least you didn't have to pay for a bikini wax. LOL Is the MRI routine or what? I sure do know about those local beverages!

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    Sue... ya sound like a fun gal! Good luck with the MRI! Let us know...

    Good night ladies!

    So much paperwork to do tomorrow.. and my last fill... wahhhoooo... I am 4 week out of surgery today... I feel proud of myself.. I did it! Had my first Herceptin alone today... BS and Cancer Oncologist all wanted to take pics of my breast today for other women to see how good Reconstruction with TE's can turn out... I was so proud of my PS...:).... I am a pretty shy gal when it comes to things like this... but I let them both take pics and let the chemo nurses come in and look at me.. my PS will get some referrals after today...~wink~...

    Goodnight ladies!

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  • mamakaren
    mamakaren Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2009

    Goodnight Estepp, You should be proud of yourself! YOU Go GIRL!! I would be showing them off to everybody! Well....... not everybody.

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  • suemed8749
    suemed8749 Member Posts: 1,151
    edited January 2009

    Thanks for the kind comments Estepp and Karen - yeah, the MRI is routine follow-up on the one remaining boob. I had a mammo and ultrasound last week and all was well, but my surgeon orders all 3 tests. Boy, I know what you mean about the fear being the worst part of all of this. The surgeries, chemo, Herceptin - all went well - but that gut-wrenching fear. . . I know my onc will order a PET/CT soon, and THAT was honestly the worst thing last year for me.

    Estepp, glad your recon went so well! I got a silicone implant in October which went well, and the lift on the good side. . . PRICELESS!

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  • traceyz
    traceyz Member Posts: 745
    edited January 2009

    Karen, never hold back your feelings on this bus. Yes the nails in the road may flatten our tires from time to time, but we will always have spare tires to keep it moving. We are all in this together so when you feel down we are your go to girls. Goodnite ladies



    Tracey

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  • bluewillow
    bluewillow Member Posts: 779
    edited January 2009

    Hi everyone!

    CHEERS!!

    Haven't been on here much lately-- been very busy with Life After Breast Cancer Treatment (yes, there is one and it's a wonderful one!!!)

    I just want to wish everyone the best with your year of Herceptin!!  I had my last one Nov. 10 of 2008 and boy, what a relief it was to be done!!!  Truthfully, the year of H wasn't all that unpleasant and you all will sail right through it and be done before you can say "jack-rabbit"! 

    I love the idea of the Pink Party Bus!!!

    Hard to believe I was bald as an egg a year ago and today, I've been surfing the 'net trying to find a good hairstyle so I can go for a haircut and color this Friday!!  Yippee!!

    Again, BEST WISHES TO ALL OF YOU LADIES AND PARTY ON!!!!!!! CoolCoolCoolCoolCool

    Mary Jo 

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    Thanks for the Support Mary Jo!..... For some.. we are almost done. for some... our bus rides all year... !!!! Pink Party Bus... I love it!

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  • mamakaren
    mamakaren Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2009

    Welcome back Mary Jo, I can't wait till the day I can say a year ago i was bald. I know that my day will come sooner than I think.

    Tracy, I know ha! Heck my uncle owns a big tire shop business and i better ask him to keep the tab open LOL.

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  • DianaT
    DianaT Member Posts: 532
    edited January 2009

    Hi everyone!  Mamakaren I know how you feel, going up and down emotionally.  I am right there with you!!  I had a panic attack this past weekend, so bad that the ambulance came to the house and I effectively scared the crap out of my husband and kids.  I am starting my new job on Monday and still freaking out.  I feel like I should just park my butt on a shrinks couch and ask them what the hell I am supposed to do with my life now.  I get so scared out of my mind somethimes, but then I realize that I feel fine and need to get over it already!!

    I need a BIG ole margarita!!!!!!!!!!! 

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  • ango74
    ango74 Member Posts: 255
    edited January 2009

    I think the party bus is great even if it does take a detour, how can it not! We can't all be strong and brave 24/7 and no one should expect us to be.  I tend to  beat myself up if I have a bad day but I am trying hard not to do that. I've/we've earned having a bad day.

    So to cheer everyone up I have a joke......

    Why don't single women fart?

    Because they don't have an @sshole yet!

    I just want to add that I'm not man bashing. I have a wonderful hubby who is not an a hole.

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  • traceyz
    traceyz Member Posts: 745
    edited January 2009

    Ango,

    LMAO...LOL!!!!!!  That was a GOOD one!!! My husband on the other hand did NOT find it amusing, hmmmm, I wonder why. VERY funny joke! Thanks I needed that!

    Tracey

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    Loved it Ango... LOL....I am soooooooooooo going to go tell hubby that one right now...hehe.

    Needed a good laugh.. today my party bus has been slow. I am just sick to see the death of Deb... I have kept from being scared for awhile now.. no I feel that sadness and fear.

    Started my Herceptin yesterday.. so I should feel like I am fighting it right!

    I wish you so much luck ( I am sure you don't need luck) Diana! I know you are going to do just GREAT! I hope you can relax... did the say for you to try anxiety meds? Maybe you do not need any of those big drugs.. just some anti-anxiety ones. I plan to take them here before too long.. as I go back to work... I need to keep my mind mello.. I think the way I react to stress gave me BC. So if I have to take anxiety meds for the rest of my life.. I will... that and plenty of exercise and prayer.

    Gals.. have a great night.. I still do not know about rads... again told by another rads doc that being Her2... is why they are leaning for me to do them.

    I will have my decision by the end of the week. I am still calling Tracey's Doc too.. probably tomorrow. Maybe he will talk to me.

    Take Care

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  • mamakaren
    mamakaren Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2009

    haaaaahaaaahaa!! Ya I can agree with that due to the fact that all husbands can be a pain in the ass sometimes. That's a funny joke.

    Diana, I'm here for you girl! We have to be strong minded and beat the shit out of the disease although i sure do get those panic and anxiety attacks and it's like i'm a scared little rat in a corner. It robs all your inner strength and confidence they say you have to beat it but at the time your out of power. I think we all deserve a giant trophy for being strong people and dealing with all these punches below the waist. hand in there girly. Cheers to you!

    Today i got another potent Herceptin drink they gave me some zantac for all this heartburn and it really helped me alot. Tomorrow i have an appt with Dr. G. and it's so nerve racking. My scalp is very tender because my hair is growing so thick and it's growing in every direction it's crazy! I seem to have got more facial hair I remember wishing that i had hair and now it's in places i don't need hair.  

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    facial hair... me too... how do we get rid of it? I know it is from chemopause... as I might possibly be in full menopause... but how can we get rid of it short of waxing?

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  • mamakaren
    mamakaren Member Posts: 225
    edited January 2009

    estepp: I don't know but i sure don't want no beard that's for sure! We need to do some research on that. Seriously i need to do something anyone have any ideas??

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  • traceyz
    traceyz Member Posts: 745
    edited January 2009

    Laura,

    Remember Herceptin levels the playing field for Her2+. You go to Midas you get a muffler. Take in ALLLLLL the info,rads SE, recurrence rate, survival benefit from rads, over all mental wellness and come to the right decision and in this case it will be right either way. There is no wrong choice. I stand FIRMLY behind you in whatever you decide. Best wishes

    Tracey

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    So sorry Tracey.. I KNOW you have to be tired of me bringing it  up all the time and are just being the sweet person you are.

    When I see deaths from this disease.. I hurt so deeply for their families, and then I worry if my decision might take me from my family..

    I will stop... you are so right about Herceptin. I am very happy to have it.

    You have been very  very helpful with this with me. I thank you so much.!

    Does anyone know how to get rid of the face fuzz? Without waxing... too painful... I hate to use Nair for face.. chemicals....

    Any ideas?

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited January 2009

    You know what REALLY pisses me off about all this.. I AM USUALLY ALWAYS up and happy. This darn dx has got me having low days I have NEVER HAD before. I HATE being down... I am mad that I go there..................I have a huge party being thrown for me this Sunday... because of my path report after chemo... no cancer found anywhere... they are throwing me a "cancer free" party, and I feel inside... will I/we ever be FREE?

    Thanks for letting me get that out. I am mad.

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