Starting Chemo May 2008

AHHHHHH...it is now full out snowing....in the last 15 minutes there is now 1/2 inch on the ground...kids are going nuts!!!  I am all for that cocoa, I think I will get on the couch, bring the lap top and watch a Netflix...The Children of Huang Shi :this sweeping historical drama, British correspondent George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) attempts to save 60 war orphans during Japan's occupation of China in the 1930s. With help from a guerilla fighter (Yun-Fat Chow) and a nurse (Radha Mitchell), Hogg leads the children across hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain -- struggling to overcome one obstacle after another -- while falling in love and learning what courage truly means.

Has some good actors..lets see if its a good one.  Waiting for Boy in teh Striped Pajamas, I am a sucker for Holocaust movies....

Linda, love the picture...great hair.....where ever did you get that cut and color from???

Otter, DVD player is acting up and I think it needs a disc cleaner...was planning on actually driving myself to Walmart...lol..there goes that idea......

Happy lazy Sunday afternoon everyone!  It's the end of our spring break and we need to get back on track.  Wish me luck in the morning.

RanD - woo hoo on the doctor appointment the other day, boo hoo on the snow.  But with March you have to be ready for anything.  We just keep all of our gear out: heavy coats, medium coats, light jackets and same with shoes.  We bought our 2 pairs of flip flops for $5 at Old Navy the other day so we must be getting closer.

I talked to Karin yesterday.  That was so great!

More later,

Julie

Hi Gals,

Today is my 3rd shift of 4 then I have 6 days off.  DD coming home Thursday for her college Spring Break!  DH and I had a lovely dinner at Texas Roadhouse after work, now I've got my feet up and am catching up on the posts.

Eddie- I started Femara in Oct.  Initially I experienced crippling fatigue and generalized muscle/joint pain.  The fatigue gradually cleared (or maybe I got used to it). The joint pain has settled in my leg knee/hip. It never goes away but is manageable when I take Tumeric daily, sometimes Ibuprofen 800 mg is needed but not every day. Lately I've been experiencing left thumb pain, it's a burning in the joint and it is swollen, Glad I'm not a leftie.

The rain/snow/monsoon sounds wonderful.  Our forecast shows a possibility of rain Moday, snow later in the week.

Randie - I can't remember if I woohooed you re: low counts and no more chemo, if not woo double hoo! 

Short term memory issues...it is a function of long term chemo brain?  At 53 I don't see myself as old, although sometimes I move like my 82 year old mother.

RK

Jen - seriously look into accupunture.  I was very sceptical (sp?) but it worked and I have very few now.

RK

Hey All

Just popping in to say.........WHOOOOEEEEE RanD!!!!! But.....keep the snow!

Karin.....congrats getting beyond the lumperversary.......I call mine the lopitoffame!

Sable......hmmmmm.......must be spring fever that has hit ......I spent the day with my mop and pail .........must be a good sign!

I was thinking of getting the hose out and trying to wash away the rest of the lump of snow out front.........I'll hold that thought for now and hope nature speeds up the process.

Great to see you all and hope spring has sprung in your backyard!

Fan-hair, mops and pails, jewelry, videos, reminiscing, aches and pains...yep, it's a girl-site, all right! Jen..it's enough that you had the thought..so sweet. Eddie et al, I (touch MUCH wood) have the pain under control after being certain I was going to give the whole shite thing away! I take a 1500mg glucosamine (with chondroitin) tablet in the morning and at night, and I bust my gut (and my joints) run/walking EVERY day for 40 mins. Now I don't know how I will go in winter, but at the moment I'm not game to stop! I found the addition of chondroitin to have a significant improvement (over the plain glucosamine). I avoid pain-killers, but in the past have had to use them. Not in the last three weeks, though. Gotta go, girls; people for dinner! XXX

Picture me as a taller, much heavier, Sally Field with 1 1/2 inches of yucky hair...(clears throat).  "You like me!  You really LIKE me!!!"  More on that later.

Thanks to everyone for the pms....oooooo, that doesn't look good.  Make that PMs.

I've already forgotten what was on the last page, but here I go...

I talked to Randie and offered to send her a Snuggie but she said the snow had melted.  We commiserated.  As you know, she is fantastic.  Randie, I forgot to say I loved the post about your mom.

Karin, are things going better for your daughter and grandson at all?  I have to go back and see your avatar because I wasn't logged in when I read the last posts.

rock, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!  You are gonna be one well traveled sistah.  I know I should know this, but when will you be back.

Noelle, you are such a sweetheart. I should know this, too, but when and why are you coming to Austin?  I live about 60 miles from there...need to be picked up at the airport?  That's where we fly out of so I know how to get there!

Sue!  Chemobrain again...are you retired yet, are you retired yet???

Kerry, I'm so sorry you are having all this pain.  I'm taking Lyrica for pain and it is making me so loopy I don't know what I'm doing.  But it helps the pain; what do I do?  Randie said she talked to you and you both thought each other's accents were funny.  I hate to think about y'alls opinion of my south Texas drawl.

otter, glad you are getting back to a semblance of "before bc life".

Kristy, orange hair?  Your garden sounds lovely....as does your arbor.  I love mandevillas, too, but we can't plant them in the ground because they freeze.

Gracie, I can only add my sorrow and prayers for Karli.  As the others have said, we are glad she has you.

Jen, you look absolutely fabulous.  However, I have to say my favorite was the pipe cleaner hair...

Cris, guess your daughter wasn't concussed?  Congrats to your friend.

Julie, Robin, Linda, Eddie, Roxi (how was the cruise?), Jean, revkat, oh! Adrienne, Mary, and anyone I forgot...HI!

OK, if I can gather my loopy thoughts let me try this...I have been lurking here pretty much all along, except when I was too D.D.A.T. (Double. Dog. A**. Tired.).  The end of chemo and then rads pretty much left me horizontal most of the time.  And sometimes there was too much to read, and of course DCB (double chemobrain) was a real problem (witness above..had to take notes).  But I took the pledge, sang "I'm just a bill, a lonely ol' bill, and I'm sittin' here on Capitol Hill..", does that count?

And I really didn't think you'd miss me (do I have self esteem issues??).

And then there was Christmas.

And then when I came back, Alaska Deb was gone...then Twink and CalGal, and Annie...took me down.

BUT the main reason was, as you all were sailing, swimming, rowing, etc. across the river, I began to worry that I was too present a reminder that cancer can, and does, come back.  I didn't want to cause that little flash across your mind that you're not even cognizant of that leaves you with a little niggling worry.  So........ I have been assured that we are big girls and we can handle it, so here I am.  Randie and I hope we will be the only ones.

I remain unconvinced that I can do Facebook, but maybe...and my kids are on there, so I don't think I'd ever talk cancer talk.

Now I'm wondering if this post will take up a whole page?  There were a couple of things I was gonna say, but would you believe they just up and left my mind?????

Love every one of you!

dana

I'm back!!!!! But have so much to ctch up with. I'm at lunch and on page 174!!!

Sue, congrats on April 1st, retirement sounds great. Can I say, jealous.

RandD, haven't got to the BBQ yet but can't wait to read about it. You crack me up.

Julie, so sory to hear about your Uncle. Your family is in my prayers.

Rock, and your friend. It truly saddens me.

I see Eyes O Texas is back....Yeah!

Karin, love your post. Keep up the techny stuff.

I'll keep reading and share my stories about vacation later. All I can say is I missed you all. Gotta run, swamped at work. Feels good to be wanted.

RanD __I__ am a HUGE sucker for Holocaust movies, and pretty much any movie about genocide!  And extra double bonus points if it is a documentary!!!!  (Check out my facebook profile; I should list some good ones there.)  Sorry, it is probably not appropriate to use so many !!! when talking about human beings' capacity for committing atrocities of staggering proportion.  But it isn't often that I run into other people who share this particular interest of mine.  And have you read "The Rape of Nanking" (by John Rabe, I think)?  There is also a movie made about him that I know is available through Netflix. 

I can't watch DVDs here now that my audio card + motherboard are screwed up.  (Jen, I did try to restore my computer to an earlier setting, but alas, to no avail. Thx for suggestion!) Very annoying. But then again, I think of something like the Cambodian genocide (isn't the 25th anniversary of the capture of Phnom Penh coming up? No, I guess that would be next year) and realize that my problems are definitely of the first world, non-genocide variety. 

rock (((sob))) (((sob))) love you back...yup, read the book and saw the movie...wow, another genocide follower...didn't think there were many of us around anymore...its kind of a morbid fascination...... 

Jen: Hope the gel is off and you are okey dokey!!!

Robin: Got the butterfly card...how cool!!! hanging up in my window!!!

angels enjoy the sun

later, randie

just found this about EPO from a long doc. about estrogen and women.

My suggestion for women with hormone imbalance is to
avoid herbs which have estrogenic activities such as Don Quei,
Licorice, Ginseng, Royal Jelly, fennel, hops, anise, clover, flax
seed oil and evening primrose oil even though they may make you
feel better initially. Estrogen-containing foods such as alfalfa,
chick pea, carrot (or beta carotene) can be taken occasionally but
not on a regular basis. 

My Onco Doc has no dietaty restrictions for BC at all. During or after chemo. Have I mentioned I hate her?

Hello to all...

Dana - this wonderful group of  18 women welcomed me back after an 8 month absence.  July 4, 2008 was the day after my final chemo.  I didn't post after that date until May 4 2009.  During July I read the postings occasionally, stopped in August when I went back to work. The reflection of my multiple anniversaries brought me back here and we became 19 strong. Now you've brought us to 20.

Just for kicks check out this link with trivia about the number twenty!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty

Julie - DD attends Colorado Mountain College and is studying professional photography. No big plans for her break.  Kristy's day with her DD sounds much like something we would enjoy.  Food, movie, massage.

The talk about planting and landscaping leaves me thinking of what needs to be done outside.  Around here the rule of thumb in to wait until after Mother's Day to plant. After living in our home 15 years and getting most of the patchy areas reseeded with natural grasses last fall we had to have significant excavation which ruined years of work. This all calls for another landscaping plan and you would think I could have accomplished that over the winter. DH and I purchased an 18 pack of solar garden lights from Sams Club.  He put 6 in the ground over the weekend and they look like stars in my yard at night. I suppose that is a start.

The delivery of my Deva products came today and I am looking forward to playing with my hair in the morning. Would have done that after work today but I felt crappy, think I'm coming down with a cold.

Here's a question for anyone...how often do you follow up with your breast surgeon? Last I saw mine was early August for my port removal. Was supposed to have gone a week later for her to cut the knot on the suture, instead one of my co-workers clipped it for me.  My mother and sis go twice a year.  They are 3 and 2 years post mastectomy respectively.  Some on bc.org have mentioned seeing their surgeon annually. My Jan. mammo was clear, my onco gave me a thorough exam last week.  The reasonable thing to do would be to call her office and ask her preference. 

Jen- that pendant is very nice and the words of encouragement very appropriate.

Rock - your words were well spoken.  Thank you from all of us.

Robin - I had a one week follow up with my surgeon and have not seen her since.  There are no plans for me to go back.  I am spending quality with the onc and she is ordering all of the tests.  I am very curious to see what everyone else is doing.

Jean