Starting Chemo May 2008
Comments
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roxi drains are awful hope you lose at least two today
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Popping in to say hi...nothing to report. just sitting around the house waiting on work.
snuggles and squishes!
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hugs & squishes comin back at ya Jen !
I'm not looking forward to this day .....my best friends mom passed away last week and today is the funeral. We just spent the weekend attending grad ceremonies this weekend. My friends daughter and my niece gradded . So it was a bittersweet time for her, but she did a good job about making it all about her daughter and all the fun stuff that goes with grad, now that is over we have to get through the hard stuff.
Just sent my daughter off on her grade 8 year end trip. They are heading down to Spokane and will stay at the Davenport...a very historic posh hotel. They have a dinner and dance cruise on Lake Courd'lane and a day in Silverwood an amusement park. Wow the year end trips sure have changed since i was in school...i don't think we even got one in grade 8 ! The house will be quiet for the next couple days.
Hope everyone is healing painlessly, Rock stay safe over there, I worry about you !
Have a good Tuesday everyone !
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holy! Y'all have a lot to say in a few days!
I am back online after no internet for 3 days. It was too complicated to waste time with old friends to chase down a wireless connection at the college although I am sure there was a few around. Roaming Data charges on our phones are impossibly expensive on Canadian cell phone plans so text and free wi-fi are the only way.
Not enough sleep, lots of gin and tonic, chatting, dancing, reminiscing, and hoping it would last longer
.. all the things that college reunions are made of. Vermont remains one of my fave places on earth, although the people that didn't like me or didn't "get " me in college remain the same. I got to sing in the chapel choir on Sunday morning, and sleep in a dorm room. Everyone loved my BF and we got to meet Rachel( the NYC friend who met Rock last year) at JFK during our 90m layover there. 2 of my fave friends had only 2 hours on campus to sign and sell their new book so we got a little time with them too.Choosing to get the same haircut as I had in Freshman year made for a few laughs..
The store was ok while I was away. The huge street festival plans went off without a hitch( we did not lose any money, but did not make any.. typical for a festival for us) so me being out of town was an ok choice.
Love to all, boobs birthdays and all that I missed..
xoN
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Oh no we won't (stay on the 2nd page).
Happy vacation eve. We're trying to get it together for tomorrow. I will try to read and post as we go. I hope everyone has a happy and safe (Rock) week.
Be back soon!
Julie
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Hi Everyone,
When I got home from work today and picked Joe up from a friends house (he went there after Cub Scout Day Camp)- we webt to dinner at Chilis and split a dessert (molten chocolate cake)- and afterwards he said- Today was a good day!!!! He had no idea of the last few days on here but it was a good reminder to me to love all the little things everyday!
Work is busy- I think I will be Ok for a while but who knows!
Friday is a vacation day- going to pick Adam up from band camp! Almost have Valerie ready to go to Italy!
Kristy
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We sit here and fret over my 4 month follow up tomorrow (we graduate to 6 month check ups we hope, tomorrow). But today... we have a robin that has layed 3 beautiful blue eggs under our deck. She knows they are safe. Today is a good day.
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Kristy - Joe's recognition of Today is a good day is so perfect!
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Zippidied doodauded around town a bit today. Had to pick up a bday prezzie for friends of ours little girl, A father's day giftie for hubby, a few cards.... flax seed oil and sliced cheese. The flax seed I have been taking was still $4 off this week so I grabbed up 2 bottles this time around. I'm still taking (with doc's blessing) 2 tablespoons a day... one in the morning and one at night. If nothing else it is good for the heart.
I'm starting to get cabin fever from lack of work. Kinda wandering around the house looking for something to get into but nothing is holding my attention for very long. Hopefully the quotes that boss made up last week get approved and SOON!
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Reading, but really busy.
Roxi - I hope you got some drains out. Yech.
Jen - May the employment gods be bountiful to you!
Tomorrow is Katie's actual birthday and I think we have managed to keep her present a surprise. She is getting a guitar (a Fender, if anyone cares to know) as she will be taking guitar (we hope) in school next year. One of my best friend's dh teaches guitar and he has offered her lessons this summer. She should be very surprised! I got her one of those HUGE birthday cards that plays "We Will Rock You" - it seemed appropriate!!
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Hey girls. I'm sitting here on the couch having a really good cup of tea after an anxious day..anxious for no reason, really. I've learned to recognize this state and just let it go away as it will. I had a bigish seroma drained on my left rib and a smallish one on my right, and boy does that feel more comfortable. I also had a consultation with the dental surgeon who is taking out a broken tooth at the end of the month, and he tells me he also wants to remove a (completely unproblematic) impacted wisdom tooth. Maybe that's where my anxiety has come from..this shite never seems to end. I have to have the teeth biz in order before I start Zometa. On and on it goes...Roxi, I hope you lose the drains NOW! It will feel so much better when they are gone. Jeano, you're back at work???? WOW! You amaze me! I am still pretty tender, and found a couple of new sore spots when I was driving today, changing gears mostly. But the healing is looking pretty good. RanD, you are on my mind. I hope you are super-comfortable and super-spoiled! XXX to you all.
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Morning Everyone!
Up early, but not to go to work! Going to Lexington to see the new onc. It is about a 2 hour drive. (One of the reasons I didn't go there in the first place.) I am hoping that this doc is easier to talk to and will actually listen.
Roxi-I hope that you got some drains out and feeling good!!
Kerry-I hate dentists! Have to be medicated just to walk in to the office.
Today IS a good day! I am thinking of it as "my new life day". It was 2 months ago today that I had the blood clot and almost left this world. It still doesn't seem real. And here I am, back to work and feel great. (Other than being DAT) Today is DH's birthday-going to take him somewhere nice for lunch since we will be in the big city!!!
Love you all so much!
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Gracie, Good luck with the new Onc. Have a fabulous lunch, yum.
Nope, still got the drains. I won't get them out now until next Monday. Thank goodness we're still doing a whole lot of nothing (except garage sale and b-day party, but I can do those from the comfort of my home). Ends up the residences all graduate this Friday so he's super busy and can't see me until then.
Have a safe trip Julie! We'll all cram in the trunk...
Thinking of you Adrienene. Those appointments will get easier for all of us over time. I'm with you though. I see my onc next week.
Noelle, you trip to Vermont sounded like a blast! What fun...
Christine, a fender, how cool. I'm selling my daughters First Act guitar and amp in our sale. After a year of lessons, she never really caught on. Did a mean rendition of Smoke on the Water though.
It is a good day...off to my hereceptin visit. Got the approval to drive. Hi and good cheer to all my pals.
P.S. Linda, thanks for the card. I can imagine you and your daughter snickering in the card aisle.
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I love playing the guitar. I love other people playing my guitar even more.
(Hey Jude is an easy beginner's song, some song about mama having a squeezebox, and -- of all things -- Horse With No Name -- only four easy chords!)
may the teeth (and the teats) all get treated with a minimum of pain.
xo
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Had my 4 month follow up today and received a clean bill of health! All bloodwork looks good including tumor markers. Delivered 6 crocheted sun hats that were well received by the chemo nurses. Today is a great day!
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I FINALLY had my last post hysterectomy doctor visit and I am free to resume my normally scheduled life LOL - I guess everything is healed up and he says it looks great. I realized driving back to work how stressed I was about this doc visit- just because I am so tired of being poked with needles or prodded in places I dont want to be prodded and feeling like something on exhibit in the museum! No more scheduled visits until after vacation the end of July- TODAY IS A GOOD DAY!!!
Kristy
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Hooray! Hooray! for people and their good/great days!
Hooray for the word "sunhat"!
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Ohhhhh, "sunhat"! Just what I needed yesterday.
It was a good day, mind you; or at least it ended up that way. But that's not how it was looking at lunch time.
Picture this: A mid-50-ish woman, wearing men's cargo shorts (because they fit) and a men's sleeveless T-shirt that says "Nevada Wolfpack" (because it's a comfy T-shirt and it only cost $2 at the thrift store). She's bra-less under the T-shirt (because it's HOT HOT HOT outside) and therefore she's not wearing her foob either. So, she is lopsided. And, her short, still-chemo-curly hair is frizzed badly because the humidity is 115% and (remember) it's HOT HOT HOT outside, so she is sweating like a (fill in your favorite metaphor: ____________ ). Therefore--now picture this--her 2-inch, semi-curly, frizzy hair is STICKING STRAIGHT UP.
Got the picture?
So, this woman is lugging 4 or 5 huge boat fenders around on the deck of a boat. She is thinking about the "5-pound rule" for preventing lymphedema, and how those boat fenders weigh way more than that. And, she's tying the fenders in various places, trying to guess where the fenders need to be and where to put the docklines, to tie up at a fuel dock of a marina she's never seen before.
And then the marina employees switch sides of the dock at the last minute ("Go 'round to the other side, so the dock is to your starboard"), which means everything must be untied and moved to the other side. And then, their fuel hose is too short to reach both sides of the boat at once, so after one tank is filled, everything needs to be untied again and carried over to the other side and re-tied as the boat is turned around. And the hot, foobless, sweating-like-a- (your word here: ________ ) woman with the curly, frizzy, sticking-up hair is doing all the deck work because her dh is sitting in the shade in his captain's chair, steering the boat.
Did I say it's HOT HOT HOT outside?
Mid-way through this adventure, someone on a boat nearby hollers, "Hey, there isn't any water in Nevada." Huh? He says that twice, but the frenzied white woman with the sticking-up hair has no clue what he is talking about. So she just smiles (she hopes it looked like a smile).
And just when the fuel tanks are full and it looks like no one is going to suffer bodily harm, the frenzied, dripping-wet woman with the sticking-up hair sees a TV reporter and a camera-person standing on the dock. And then the marina owner comes over and says to the now-heat-crazed, soaking-wet woman with the curly, frizzy, sticking-up hair, "Since you're all done refueling, how would you like to be interviewed on TV about safe fueling procedures at a marina?"
......
Bwahahahahahahaha!
Nope.
Five hours later, we were much farther downriver, bobbing at anchor in a nice, quiet cove. The grilled pork tenderloin we had for supper was delicious. <sigh>
Big hugs...
otter
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Otter - You made me snort!! Good thing I wasn't drinking and I'm glad it ended up being a good day.
Rock - I thought of you and your guitar this morning as she was plucking the strings. And thanks for the "beginner" song tips!
Kerry - Uh-oh. I hope we don't have a tooth thing going on here. I went to the dentist this morning and found out I need to have a root canal at the end of the month! Crap. I HATE going to the dentist (PTSD from braces, although I miss the laughing gas...) and now I'll have to go TWICE to complete the dreaded procedure. I will be taking a Xanax that morning. I hope it's not catching, for everyone else's sake.
Gracie - Hope you liked your new onc! Was it a good lunch?
Roxi - Good luck with the garage sale and party! (Hey, I've done both of those recently, too!)
Randie - Thinking of you, especially tonight because on "So You Think You Can Dance" there is a dancer named Randi who is paired with a guy named Evan and they were awesome! I want to channel their energy to you...ohmmmmmm...ohmmmmmm...
Sleep tight, everyone.
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Otter, you made my Good Day even better...ROFL!!! I kept seeing you (Otter) with Art Garfunkle hair and one boob!! It is DEF the funniest vision I've had for a while..(and remember: I'm a visual person!) YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THE INTERVIEW!!! OMG!!! What a missed opportunity..you could have put on an eye-patch for the full effect!I'm STILL lsughing out loud. Oh, today is a good day, raw ribs notwithstanding. And Rock..you crack me up too. Sunhat. Thankyou..I will never feel as I used to about sunhats.
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TGIF- I know its Thursday but Im off tomorrow so TGIF!!!!!!
Working from home today while the home workers are blowing insulation in the attic- the original 30 year old stuff was pretty flat, and they are painting and trimming the mud room and a bathroom- putting in a electrical outlet in the garage so the extra frig and freezer go go out there- YEAH I will have a nice mudroom back entry finally!!
Making a squash casserole for dinner- homemade squash, green peppers and onions and grass fed beef from the Farmers Market- I REFUSE to grow a cow although dh really wants to!
DD- Valerie - left for Italy this morning- I am so excited for her and she SO deserves this trip after being the primary caretaker for me and her little brothers all last summer - not the ideal summer for a 16 year old for sure!
Hope everyone is up and around- I wish we would hear from Randie!
Kristy
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Ahhhh...the picture you paint is too funny, Otter. I'm still scratching my head on the no water in Nevada comment. huh? LOL
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Evening Everyone!
I absolutely love my new onc!!! She knew everything about me before she even walked into the exam room--really impressed me. She listened to my complaints of pain in my right hip and left shoulder and immediately said that we were going to do a bone scan, just to check it out. (Felt good to not have to "insist" on something to be done.) She wasn't happy with the amount of chemo that the former onc gave me--pretty much said that I had more chemo than I needed. I am just really impressed with her.
DH & I didn't get to go eat because there were storms a brewing when we left the cancer center, so we headed straight home! (2 hour drive)
On the up side, DD & kids are spending the next few days at youngest DD's, so we get a little break. Going to enjoy it while we can. I have 2 doc. appts. tomorrow, (check up with family doc and follow up with rad onc), then can enjoy the rest of the day. Have to work the weekend. (And get to miss going to the Nationwide race in northern KY--was offered free tickets--I'm still crying....but I don't think they would like for me to ask for the day off, plus I make more on the weekends and really need the money!) Work is going good-just very tiring. Was supposed to be off today, but they called me in.
Randie--Hope that you are feeling okay---am thinking of you!!!!!
Hugs to all--
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Glad everyone is having a good week. Sorry about teeth problems. I get my permanent crown when I get back. Like I said, I'm sure I could have used it on our vacation to accessorize on the beach. My SIL would have loved that for the family photos.
Gracie - we stayed in Lexington last night. I wish we would have had a more firm schedule and maybe we could have met. But - hey Gracie I went through your state and thought of you the whole time. Tonight we are in Beckley, WV. I've never been to WV before. We had some nasty weather yesterday afternoon and it stormed here this evening. I'm glad you like your new doctor - that is so important no matter where we are in this "journey".
Adrienne - I love how you now use your rock for the Familyroks avitar. That is clever.
Kristy - I'm glad your daughter has the opportunity to go to Italy. That sounds fun. Will you please share your squash recipe?
Roxi - glad you got a good review and can drive again. That always made me feel more normal - when I could do some of the basic things myself.
Noelle - how is your ear? Sounds lik you had a fun weekend. It's good to get away!
We're off to Fayetteville, NC tomorrow. There is plenty of room for everyone in the back of the van. We brought our Gumby along and have been taking pictures of him with the different state signs. Kind of like "may you never gnome alone".
Traveling with my family - today is a good day.
Later ladies - Julie
Otter - speaking of crazy journeys - I'm getting a crazy visual image, too. Thanks for sharing what could have been really embarrasing.
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Well, I am back. Good to be back, too. I had to go to Tennessee because my stepdad was in the hospital (no big thing and he's well now)...then when I got back I focused on getting my house really clean and starting on the clothes thing--I am the proud owner of a full work wardrobe, in a bigger size and a smaller size. The smaller size fits now. I have found a lady who wants all the bigger size clothes. I don't need all the smalller size clothes as I don't have to work anymore. I am only keeping the favorites that I love and that I feel great in. (It is possible I could need to wear a suit for business)....
My job now is too get us ready to move. That will entail cleaning out my boys' bedrooms and keeping stuff for them--I'm going to try to get their input on what to keep, and am willing to keep and move a limited amount of stuff for each of them to be given them at a later time, for instance when they start having children. (I still have EVERY book they ever owned). And then, a little downsizing--my dh is a pack rat. We have books and magazines about flying like you wouldn't believe. Our new house will have a library just for these. My dh has always had to keep the magazines in plastic bins--I think if he had space he is actually organized enough to get those big binders and have them on a shelf--what a concept! So, lots of memories coming up for me, being in this house when the kids were 7 and 3 and every age up from there. Lots of reflection and sweet memories and warmth. I am so lucky to get to do this in a leisurely way. Our place has now been on the market for 16 months. It's with a commercial real estate broker and the land is what is for sale-so thank God we don't have to show the house. It will sell, it's just a matter of when. And the longer it takes, the more we'll end up getting for it. I am trying to surrender the house selling and to know that it will happen when it is supposed to, and just be ready.
I am glad for sunhats, too. And Otter, you can really paint a word picture. I've been there, done that with the fenders and the dh at the captain's chair in the shade (!).....
I don't know how I made those letters so big and therefore don't know how to fix it. Technologically challenged, I always have been.
So, I am feeling a bit disconcerted by retirement now. Just that I still have this highly specialized valuable knowledge and it feels a little scary to let it wither away. If ANY of you need questions answered about air traffic control, all you have to do is ask! I know this is a "life passage". I know I have made the right decision. People just keep asking me "So what are you doing now?" And my answer is "Whatever I want to." I know I had recon only two weeks in to retirement and have spend the last 8 weeks recovering. So it's sort of just now hitting me that I don't have to work. I don't miss the job, I was ready to go and that has always been the plan (and I worked my butt off to get to this point) but I do miss the people, and the quick, ruthless, gallows humor, and the cameraderie of having worked through a difficult situation together.
I am glad everyone seems fine and am waiting to hear from RanD...
I am home alone now until Sunday. My house is clean. Today I will finish sorting through my clothes and cleaning out my closet. This is a good day.
Love,
Sue
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WOW sue you are one busy gal right now. Just don't over do it.
Gracie~ I'm so glad you like the new onc. Hopefully this one will work out better for you.
Otter~Loved the story, I needed a good chuckle.
Well.... I'm starting to get to a point where I may be looking for an evening job. I am really dreading this to be honest. I'll be shocked if I am able to find anything. It has to be in the evenings, so my dh can be home to watch my son, and I'll probably end up working all weekend as well. This way if my normal job has work coming in I can still work during the day (take ry with me). Granted I could hire a babysitter, but if I did that, I would be working just to pay for that. I'm at a loss on what to do. I am NOT willing to go to fastfood at all. I have been there done that. I'm sure we could survive on just dh pay, it will just be very tight. He is trying to encourage me to get the job by bribing me with a new car LOL. The one I drive now is 14 years old and we have it for 12. I shouldn't have told him I had car fever LOL. I just keeping thinking if I hang in there just a little bit longer......
Sorry about the whining.... just had to get it off my brain a bit. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Much love!
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A VERY quick swing by to say THANK YOU!!! to Jen and Robin for the cards
it made me feel very special (and I got a good laugh!). XXXX -
Dear Ladies,
Today and yesterday and yesterday were amazing days. Sorry it has been a while since I flew by, but it's been crazy as it is for all of you with school age children. We have been finishing off with baseball. We have been tying up baseball picnics and today we have another baseball picnic (not going),a sixth grade picnic and an entirely different school picnic. Our 16-year-old, Max, is preparing for finals and thinking about what to pack for his five-week trip to Israel. We have also been plannign our summer trip (Kerry, thinking of you enjoying winter is interesting). If any of you are in any of these places on these dates, please let me know-- New York City June 29-July1 (get to see three Broadway shows...I am jazzed). Montreal July 2 and 3. Middlebury for the 4th of July then New Hampshire on the 5th and Marblehead on the 6th then Red Sox on the 7th, 8th and 9th. We are doing a few thank you notes for Susan G. Komen. Be right back.
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Okay, so the Komen page isn't quite working and Adam has given up to go shower. It's another gorgeous day in paradise (right, Adrienne?)...We have had three house guests this week including our au pair from Germany....then we have a family of 5 coming in from Maine tonight at 9:45...house flipping day....Okay, gotta' go ....love you all.
Someone in the way back asked me about the femara/aromasin scene. I have been doing aromasin now for just over two weeks. It is different in terms of SE than femara...it spread the pain throughout the joints rather than concentrating in most injured. Does that help? Love you all. More later. -
Today is a good day! Slept with the windows open last night to cool air. Slept in this morning and then just kinda laid in bed for awhile to enjoy. Opened the door up and let kitty in for her morning scritching and then very lazily got up to see what the rest of the house was doing. ahhhhh
squishes, slobbers and wishes of a perfect weekend for each of you!
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