**NEW** Starting Chemo March 2009

Buddy - That's great news that the mass was not cancer, but it sounds like you've had a rough time.  Hang in there. 

bethr - Thanks for that link.  I loved the expressions on the faces of the people watching - first confusion, then delight.

Welcome back, Buddy!

If there's one thing I've learned from this BC journey, it's that things happen exactly as they are supposed to. I can only imagine how frustrating the delay in chemo is, but try to find the positive in it. There's a reason...

So glad to hear the mass was benign, but what an ordeal for you! Continued prayers your way for quick healing.

Big hugs,

Nadine

  I can't get the photos of the women cheering.Maybe tomorrow.

Hi ladies

Just home from having my first round of Taxotere (having completed 3 x FEC).  Feeling ok so far.  They gave me lots of dexamethasone by IV as no one had told me to take it prior.  Gina - I kept thinking of you and what a horrible time you had with it.  I had 3 nurses staring at me with hydrocortisone and an oxygen tank at the ready,making me not a little paranoid (!) but all went well.  Will see how it goes tonight and tomorrow I guess.   2 more to go and then done end of June (time flies....).

Buddy - so glad the mass was not malignant but does sound like you've been through a terrible ordeal!  I hope you are home and healing well.

Regarding the sex and periods talk (why does it always come down to those two things when girls get together! lol!).  Sex?  I wish!  My boyfriend and I split up about the time I was diagnosed with Graves Disease (a year ago) and since then I've put on 40 lbs thanks to the medication for that.  Then, came this little beast.  Luv2Sing...I also have some pretty wild dreams, especially if I take an Ambien / Stilnox, but in the light of day the urge is supressed more through lack of opportunity and lack of motivation to create an opportunity.  A distant friend asked me the other day when I was going to get back into the dating pool.  I mean....what?  Sure...I'm overweight, fluid-y, with one big boob and one little one, scars, patchy baldness, crabby....I am a catch!!!  I still wear makeup every day (I have light eyes so need eyeliner, mascara etc for definition) but thats for me, not anyone else.  I don't feel very feminine in this shape so it's a bit hard to turn on the sex kitten.  Hopefully she'll come back before the end of the year and even more hopefully there'll be someone around to respond!

Meanwhile, my periods are still coming like clockwork 3 tx's in, despite the fact I opted out of any fertility saving measures.  I'm 39 and have always been ambivalent about giving birth or perpetuating my genes so didn't want to add that pressure into the mix.  As my friend Julia likes to say "You'll make someone a wonderful 2nd wife one of these days" so I'm looking forward to blending kids into my life any other way.  There are lots of adopted people in my family be they kids, aunts who are not really aunts etc.  My 'grandmother' died last year but she was really my third cousin.  When my real grandmother died soon after it was quite confusing to explain.  Everyone thinks I have 3 sisters although I actually only have 2.  The 3rd is my sister's ex-flatmate but she comes to all our family dinners and even has tiffs with my Mum.  The Italian kids who go to school with my sister's kids call my parents Nonna and Nonno. Even our pets are strays who never left! 

 Anyway, for the ladies who DO still want their own rugrats there is always hope! My sister was told she would never have kids after her first cancer treatments in 1993 (she was 26 and a new bride).  She and her husband were devestated.  She was told she was in early menopause at 29.  At 30, she was sick with gastric flu when the Dr did a pregnancy test for kicks.  That was my nephew Harrison, now 12 and in his first year of High School.  He's an athlete and just started his own gardening business.  13 months later...more gastric flu...that was my niece Laura, now 11 going on 17 and in her last year of primary school.  She's nearly as tall as me and smart to the point where she will either win a Nobel prize or start a billion dollar ponzi scheme.  The docs could never explain how my sister overcame her 'infertility'.  She even made the papers and TV as a 'miracle mum'.  Now this was before all the preservation techniques they offer today so I think if the little' uns are meant to be here, they will find a way...;->

R xo

Buddy - Prayers and Well wishes for your recovery.

Francine - Congrats on the last.

Everyone Else - Have a great SE minimal/free week.

Buddy!

Great news that it wasn't cancer - what a relief.  Sorry though you are having such a hard time. Sending hugs your way

(((HUGS)))

Francine: Soooo happy for you. Congratulations and I would love to see the celebration photos.

Christy: Halfway done....that's fantastic!

Have a good day everyone.

Beth P

Chick717:\

I was told to floss  I could floss lightly because if the platelets are low it can cause bleeding. As far as a spray tan goes I don't know what they use for chemicals. I would get the ingredients details and ask your onco or nurse to be on the safe side. A beach wedding sounds lovely!

My onc told me that I could floss as well, just lightly though and brush with a soft toothbrush.

Hope everyone is doing well. 

My Onc said no flossing.  However, since my 4 front teeth top & bottom aren't super tight against each other, I have been gently flossing those every couple of days.  The molars get flossed when I feel like something may be caught.

It was so great to meet you today too, Alyad!  Sorry that you will have to wait a couple of extra days past the 3 weeks til next treatment.

Hello all, Its been awhile since I posted. I am having my 3rd AC this Friday. I have beenn feeling really good. I hope the 3rd is better than the  first two. I felt a small bump on my stomach, the Dr. wants me to have a cat scan--nervous. I just hope its nothing, the nurse said it feels like scar tissue. Hope everyone is doing great!!!

"Photo of the nurses with the pom poms. Next week I get the full celebration.I was told this today when went to get my neulasta shot.

Hi all,

How can I thank so many of you who gave me congratulations. It was a very strange nine weeks as it seemed to go so fast and slow at the same time. I  remember talking with you all about loosing our hair. Who could imagine such a thing. Now we have a whole group of women with no hair. Remember MOB with her Mohawk, Gina with her brother and expecially Gina with her Sydney and her pink wig too. WE have been through so much together. Yes some of us are still on this journey but I am sure all feel that having a board like this to come to and chat about whatever we want helps us get thru this crap.

Buddy and your good news certainly made us feel so good. You were thought of on a daily basis by so many of us.

Wow Alyad actually met another board member CCBaby in real life. How does that feel. LOl.

I have tried to tell others what a great support this board has been for me.

I have two more regular oncologist visits in the next two weeks and then we will discuss..tamoxifin,Arimidex, femare etc. I go for a bone density test next week to get a baseline.I have also made two appt's with Plastic Surgeons for latismus Flap surgery to replace my breast which had three surgeries on it.

Then I guess I will go back to the Breast Surgeon who tell me how to preserve the breast I still have. I guess this journey will not be over so soon.

I do have hair question. I now have sort of white fuzz on my head. Should I shave it off in a while and hope that real hair will begin to grow on my head. Any ideas?

Gina...I just loved your celebration for us.

Ricki13- Such great family stories. Keep them coming...

Sakura..Yes we will be here to support you. We are going nowhere. In September your spring will be coming and our fall will be coming.

Once again..my love to all of you for listening. I sound a little Maudelin but I am going no where.

Hugs...to all.

Francine

"

Once again, I'm finally caught up with posts ..... whew!

So glad Buddy is better and healing. Keep it up.

Hair - I go everywhere bald. I put a hat on outside just to protect head from the sun. Otherwise, my attitude is "if you don't want to see my bald head, then just look away".

Sex - Desire, or lack of it, doesn't matter. No partner.

Periods - Post-menopausal for 7 years .... yippee!!

Now for my update .... Took a few days off and did nothing but rest. Laid around the house in my pj's from Friday noon til Monday morning. TX this week was moved up to Monday, so got that done, then back to the couch. Felt really, really good yesterday all day.

Onco is worried that Herceptin is beginning to affect heart. She usually gets an echocardiogram every 3 months, but she's sending me for another after only 6 weeks. Blood pressure is "managed" but high for me, pulse rate is running high and short of breath. So I also have to see a pulmonologist on Friday.

I'm one of those people that is VERY aware of what's happening in my body, since my stroke several years ago. So I'm keeping check on BP and heart rate, and keeping all dr's informed. After last week's TX, BP was extremely high. Thought I was going to have to call EMS, but I finally got it down to acceptable levels.

So basically, I'm just resting as much as possible. Work has been great ..... my schedule has been adjusted so I don't have to work late any more and if I get too tired, I'm allowed to go home early.

Bunny