Anyone starting Chemo in August 07?

Thanks, Kaye and Lilith! 

I have done nothing different with my hair, but I have only had it cut once when it started getting wild, I had it 'trimmed', but I kept saying, Please Don't Cut TOO Much!!  It still looks wild at times, but I am afraid to cut it, because the little curls on the ends will go away. 

I am still using Nioxxin shampoo and conditioner, but will probably switch to something else soon.  I blow dry it into some sort of style or I curl it with a curling iron, to get the ends to keep their curl. 

So sorry about your Mom, Lilith! 
DeAnn, sorry about your MIL!! 

I hate BC!

Hugs to all,

Harley

I have an old friend from High School visiting this week so I may not be online for awhile!

Hi ladies,

The new avatar is a picture of me and my sister at the breast cancer walk in October.  Lilith, so sorry about your Mom.  I always feel bad for young people when they go through this but as people get older I just think it's too sad and hard for them to have to face it.  I'll be praying for her.

Hugs to all, Jackie

Oh, Jackie, I am so, so sorry. This is unbelievable. I'm shocked. The coincidence of both of being diagnosed at 46 is mindboggling.

You know that we are here for both of you. You are well-educated about bc, and have a good support system in place here--those are positive things that will help your sis immensely.

I know how hard it is to watch a family member go through this--for me, it was harder watching my parents deal with their cancers than it was to deal with mine. I don't have any siblings, so I can't imagine how that would feel, but I know if it were my DH, I'd be hysterical. So, big, big hugs to you. And to her. This really sucks.

Thank you so much.  Lilith, I agree totally that there is another genetic connection.  There has to be.  I'm praying too that the MRI brings "good news".  Nash, I agree that this is harder than me going through it.  I will be needing all of you for lots of opinions.  Thanks again.

Hugs, Jackie

Yep, there has to be some sort of genetic trigger, and even maybe an environmental one, too. Even in our family I had to wonder what was up--it was just me and my parents, and all three of us had cancer around the same time. Makes you wonder what kind of landfill our house was built on or what.

Jackie, when the shock subsides a bit, you can tell Ann that she really should've timed her diagnosis a little better, so you two could have gotten discounts on all the scans. Sort of a 2-for-1 deal. Gallows humor is the only way my mom and I got through everything we did, but let me know if you want me to shut up. 

OK, am a bit annoyed. Went for my breast MRI at the new place today--drove over hill and dale to get there--and they wouldn't do it b/c I wasn't at the right point in my menstral cycle. Which I vaguely remembered being an issue, but no one, not even Dr. Ozzy, whom we all know rocks, mentioned it when I made the appointment. And it hadn't been an issue the past two MRIs, b/c one was when I still had the tumor and one was when Crazy Onc thought she felt a change in the Good Boob. So now I have to reschedule after my period starts next month and run in there sometime between days 7 and 10 of the cycle. Ugh. I also have visions of further insurance nightmares to come out of this, such as them billing for today, etc. One could scream.

Good luck with your meeting on Wednesday, June. Will be eager to hear the outcome. No matter what, you've done the right thing.

I'd mentioned the Vit D to Crazy Onc, who said I didn't need to be tested b/c I live in such a sunny climate. She did say to take Vit D supplements, however, although I don't remember the dose. Sounds like I need to get tested anyhow, though, and I will bring this up with Dr. Ozzy in March.

Jackie--do you have the particulars from Ann's path report?

Lilith, you look fabulous in your new avatar!

Random update on the ice show--I don't see how things are going to get off the ground this year. I am not getting any support from the skating club, and I can't get bc.org to tell me whether they would handle the money for me or not. So that leaves me with having to start a new non-profit, and this is so not the year to do that, with the economy in the tank. I can't ask my DH's boss for $10,000 in sponsorship money when they've got a pay freeze. So I think I'm going to tell the rink to unreserve the ice, and just hold the thought until 2010. 

That being said, I hope there is some way for us all to get together this year. I know it's going to be hard for people to travel with all the new cancer diagnoses in the families, but maybe there will be some way to swing it, especially if Lilith's new job brings her to L.A.

Jackie, to start a new thread, go to the forum you want to post in (Just Diagnosed, Help Me Get Through Treatment, etc) and to up to the right hand corner of the screen. There will be a pink button that says "Start New Topic". Click on it, and it will give you a box to type the title of your thread in, and then a box to type the body of the message.

Thanks, Jackie. How is your sister doing this week?

I go for my first Zometa infusion tomorrow. Not to be outdone, my ear randomly developed cellulitis in the lobe, so I spent the morning hooked up to IV antibiotics at urgent care. I have to go back for two more doses, then hopefully I can switch to oral antibiotics. The doc warmed my heart by taking a culture and saying, "I hope this isn't MRSA infection". That would be ironic--to survive the cancer only to be carried off by some drug-resistant staph infection. 

I also go on Wednesday for more glaucoma testing. This week is shaping up to look like the old days of camping out at the cancer center. Harumph. 

Thanks, Jackie, for the prayers, and that makes me feel better about your SIL doing well after having MRSA. The doc scared me with his comment about it--it hadn't even dawned on me that I might have something weird.

The new onc prescribed the Zometa off-label b/c there is growing evidence that it can help prevent bone mets. It's dosed semi-annual for that use, but there's some question as to whether the insurance will cover it or not. They're covering the first dose, but the onc said they'll clue in that I don't have bone mets when the second dose is six months out, rather than one month out, so they're probably going to balk at paying since it's off-label. But the onc felt strongly about adding it to the mix of things, so we're giving it a try. 

Thanks, June. That makes me feel better, too.

Nash, good luck with the Zometa. I'll let you know what my doc says about it here in CH - as I plan to bring it strongly to her attention. Especially after my mom's recent diagnosis... and I hope that the fact that she has seen my mom to confirm the DX will actually make her more willing to consider creative and recent treatment alternatives. If I remember well, Zometa is a Novartis drug (ironically I almost went to work with them), so it should be approved here as well... and I also want to ask about using it for my mom. The Novartis suiss site does NOT however mention any preventative action...

The additional fact that it is also used against ostheoporosis - well it is the cherry on the cake.

Hi Everyone! I've actually been on the board several times and have been starting to post multiple times but then get interrupted.  

Nash, bummer on the infection! I'm on antibiotics myself for a sinus infection. Such fun. I'm glad that the Zometa will start for you. I'm sure that it will feel good to be doing something preventative.

I'm back in research mode myself trying to bone up on lung cancer so that I can ask the right questions when my MIL goes to Mayo clinic for follow up. Her primary onc is suggesting 5 weeks of rads with weekly chemo during and then 2 more weeks after rads ends. I don't know what drugs yet, but it is all so different from BC.  She has one lung and some surrounding lymph nodes affected, so, it's stage III, but it could have  been much worse. She's ready to start fighting now.  I even have her drinking green smoothies, Kaye!

Hey, I started a blog this week! I had a Caring Bridge page, which was great, but I feel like I'm ready to move on from that now. Hence my blog.  You can find me at http://standinginthesunshine.blogspot.com/

Good for you, June! I'm so proud of you. That took a lot of guts, and you totally made the right decision. What a bunch of horrid people at that place. They don't deserve you.

DeAnn, your MIL is very lucky to have you. And I will bookmark your blog--how cool! And hope you feel better soon!

The eye doc appointment went well. The vision field test was fine, so now I'll go back in four months and have the optic nerve scanned again and go from there. I also got my last dose of IV antibiotics today and will switch to oral tomorrow. The culture came back as run-of-the-mill strep, not MRSA, so I was really happy about that. And the infection is already much better. 

The Zometa went well, too. I drank a lot of water and took Tylenol, and didn't get any of the body aches/flu symptoms that can come along with it. Hooray!