SEPTEMBER 2008 rads group

Jeez, Nancy, are you okay now??  I've really felt like crap this week, a bit nauseous even.  Yick.

Good news is that my mammogram wasn't horrible and the radiologist looked at the images right away and said everything look A-okay.  No waiting!  I did ask the mammographer if she'd ask the radiologist to tell me right way if there was anything wrong.  Glad they did.  I took ibuprofen beforehand & it wasn't too bad and NO DO-OVERS!!!

Then, after I'm all done, I get a call from my breast surgeon's secretary. I see the BS next week.  She said she was calling to tell me that the BS had wanted me to get all my post-op imaging done at her hospital and did I understood that.  What I recall is that she told me she "preferred" that I get them there.   Well, here's what I prefer.  The place where I have gotten my mamm's all along is 5 minutes from my house.  I work in the same hospital system.  I know most of these folks personally.  They're the ones that found the cancer in the first place and they have new digital equipment.  My BS, lovely as she is, is located 45-60 minutes from my house.  So, I told her secretary that I do work for a living, the mamm center I went to is 5 minutes from my home, they found the cancer in the first place, and I will be bringing copies of the actual images themselves to my surgeon next week so she can see them for herself.  And my implied-but-unstated closing statement was, "Put that in your pipe and smoke it."  Also, "Don't aggravate the cancer patients."  So, she says, "Oooo-kaaay.  I'll tell her."

Hmmph.  I mean, really.

Found this on facebook and wanted to share it with you all since we've al been there!  It's a poem about radiation therapy..........

The 3 Million Dollar Tanning Bed
By: Kathy Negro/ Breast Cancer Warrior

I walk into the office with apprehension and fear
The diagnosis of cancer is what we all share

Radiation is needed for 6 weeks and 3 days
Completed my chemo and now it's this phase

The entire staff is filled with compassion and care
They make you feel as if they've known you for years

A mold is made from my chest to my head
To prevent me from moving and being misread

The next step seems to be exciting and new
Not one, not two but many small tattoos

The first day of treatment seems so surreal
The patients you meet know how you feel

It is time for radiation from the 3 million dollar tanning bed
You get on the table and gently lay down your head

You look up and the ceiling is filled with flowers galore
Your heart starts to beat and you feel anxiety to the core

The staff aligns you and each exits the room
It feels like you're awaiting some impending doom

I lie there alone and start to pray
It is painless, this so called radiation ray

Each visit gets easier and the staff becomes friends
Fear, apprehension and anxiety all begin to end

Yes, the skin can get red, blister and peel
But doctors will take care of anything you feel

These words are my gift of appreciation and gratitude
For encouraging me to always have a positive attitude

Each day I walk in, I smile as I have learned to cope
This office has given me care, kindness, but most of all hope.

From the front desk to the doctor to each one of you
I am so grateful and proud of the job that you do

Wndalina  - I laughed when I read your post!  I would give anything to have a C cup.  I am an A cup, or as my bra says "barely A" and just had my mamo on Tues.  If they can get my barely A's into the machine, you should have no problem!  Don't worry, you will be OK!

Someone suggest taking tylenol or motrin.  I have some stronger stuff left over from surgery - if hubby will drive me, I might take the stronger stuff.  I have to go in April - silly to stress now, but after having 7 years of no worries or pain, it does concern me - we all have our quirks right?  Its better than not going at all!  Have a great day all!

 Kathi -     "Still feeling crabby (and dizzy, sleepy, dopey, grumpy, achey and moody, my version of the Seven Dwarfs (dwarves?)" Glad to see you feeling better...but I hope your dwarfs morph into Happy, Dreamy, Smiley, Flirty, Sexy, etc.!!

Susan

Kathi - good for you!  Letting go of obligations must make you feel so much lighter!!  Pretty soon it'll be spring somewhere!  I hope here!  That'll make me smile like nothin' else!!  Garden time! 

Hi, ladies.  Just checking in after a tough few weeks in the life of a person Living With Cancer, plus a few exhausting weeks at work.  I'm going to put a longer post on the Starting Hormone Therapy thread.  But I'll just say that I'm really tired & this has been a long winter in more ways than one.  We had a foot of snow at the beginning of the week, I got stuck somewhere, near some patient's house, pretty much every day this week as I drove around for work.  Now today it's near 50 degrees & everything is melting (YAY).  Gawd.  I know it could be worse & I could live in Michigan or Canada or something, but NO MORE SNOW, PLEASE!

Rose, Love the new avatar.  Roses are my favorite.  I will be planting some soon, well not soon enough.  I'm still waiting for the snow to melt.

I'll try and check out Oprah tomorrow.  That's just awful!

KAK - it was a beautiful weekend here too!  I can't wait for a repeat!

Glad you had fun and learned a lot at your seminar.  Thanks for sharing.  I have scar tissue at the site of my lumpectomy, but nothing too bad. I hate it when I try and do a self examine and it all seems bumpy.  I guess it's suposed to. 

The only pain I still have is from the SNB.  I have nerve damage from it.  My dh massages it and it really helps.  I do have to limit using my right arm during different activities because of pain.

How's everyone else doing??

Hi Girls!!

I thought I was the only one Makraz   I really have to watch when I carry things - my purse, groceries, books etc. I will get pain where my 2 nodes were removed and little of my breast. I know it will be a long time before I'm ever back to normal if at all. When I took my 6 month mamm. the surg. said I had scar tissue. That sure will make it harder to see any other lumps if they occur. I haven't even attempted massage. I agree - I don't want someone touching me that doesn't know what they are doing. Guess I should reseach how I can do it myself.

It's a blessing NancyD that you found a great PT.

 Have a good week !  Nice, cool and sunny today !

Hello folks!  I actually had some troubles last week when my radiated breast started getting really warm and sore.  So sore i finally called the plastic surgeon, he referred me to radiologist.  Turns out its mastisis (sp?).  Using the steroid cream again a few times a day and it is better.  The breast was swollen and I couldn't wear a bra.  It was horrible.  I feel much better and wore a bra today.  Guess just when we think it is all over, it really never is huh?

Oh well, life goes on (and it is all worth it).

Cheers!

Hi,

Does anyone suffer from neuropathy in their feet (from chemo).  If so, what do you do about it?  I hear vit. B6 can be helpful but I don't know how much to take.

Thanks,

Jo Anne

Hi KAK,

I have had trouble with PM to you so need to stay on the boards.

I am being treated at MGH and have a great deal of trouble reaching a doctor except for regular appointments.  The PT department is excellent and I would like to have some treatment there for my feet if it would help.   Could you tell me more?

I finished RAD in Jan. and only then realized how numb my feet were.  In late Feb.  I took Cipro for an ear infection and got a drug reaction which made the problem much worse.

i am now taking vit.B6 but would like to do more to help my feet.

I hear that for some people it goes away in about a year.

Thanks,

Jo Anne

Sisters, I've just found out that my recent negative mamm wasn't so negative after all.  There are more calcifications in that breast and I need to get more imaging done.

More calcifications means I don't think I can keep going through all this.  So, a mast may be in my future.

Shoot.

Kathi - Are you feeling any better?  I've been thinking about you.  Cals can be sucked right out as rose put it.  Hang in there.