March 2009 Rads Group?

Hey Catherine- I noticed you were missing and figured you had rejoined the Land of the Living so to speak- and GOOD FOR YOU!!!!

Yes it was an very positive experience and it has motivated me to do better on my diet.  Hum... should have gotten a workout in today and it's probably not good to do it now.  My profile pic is from the reunion.  That's my best gal pal I've mentioned before in black and another best gal pal from high school I don't see as much- but they were both huge support for me with BC.  We lost our other cohort from high school to BC in 2007 and she was well remembered at the reunion.  

A word about my cleavage here... I have no nice clothes that fit me.  Between the economy and my weight gain and trying to diet back into my size 12s and 10s- which fill my closet and have been waiting so long they actually came back into style... THE FREAKING 80s MAN!  Sheesh. My gal pal in the pic went out and shopped and bought the black dress for the reunion, I didn't have time.  So I was wearing my normal kinda schlubby mommy clothes.  I did a quick check in my closet to see if anything fit when I heard she was going out shopping for a dress.  She's already in PA and I have to drive 2.5 hours to get there.  I had stashed that blue dress, size 14 from a while ago.  It fit but my jog bra showed.  I also have an irritation on my RADs boob argh.  I had sacrificed 3 of my six white jog bras during RADS and again, I don't want to buy more, I want to lose weight and then buy more.  I dug around in my underwear drawer and found that nice nude bra, again, from years ago, probably 2005.  Would it fit?  No time to try it on, I grabbed it and the blue dress and got on the road.  

When I got to my friend's house to meet up with everyone before the party, I asked if I looked OK.  They were, as you can see, dressed nicely.  So I pull out this blue dress and they both were like... that is so NOT you!  (I'm the wild one of the bunch these days...) My gal pal who is very conservative said "It looks like something I'd have bought today, not you!"  We were roaring with laughter.  So I tried on the bra alone int he bathroom- it fit!   Wow, that was nice.  And with the dress too!!!  But... wow... a lotta cleavage there, right?  I may dress funky but I am not accustomed to showing that much cleavage... but the gals said Hey- you got to keep them, so why not flaunt 'em?  

And so... I did.  

whoa- benadryl is what i need when I get hives!  bummer.

Nelia, keeping you in my prayers! 

Jeanne

Sounds good to me Rachel. I do not drink much anymore either. I did the whole college think and when I was working retail we would go out after work, then once I started having babies I just did not drink. Now I drink rarely.

I may have been the one that posted. I looked up Drug-Interactions w/ Tamoxifen and it had a list of CYP2D6 inhibitors.  I was actually making sure I could still take sudafed, because that is the only me that works for my sinus. www.Drug-Interactions.com I hope this helps.

Anyone still have some redness just at the booster site?  I still have a lil bit there.  The radiation

oncologist said it is hyperpigmentation and will go away.  But, I didn't know if anyone else had

experienced it or not. 

   Jeanne

Sorry, Jeanne didn't have the boost.

but I will let you guys know something that I have found very valuable.  I am done with all mandatory treatment so I am left with "whats next?".  I have asked all my doctors about what I should and should not eat, what kind of exercise I should do etc. but have never gotten any real good answers.  I finally found an oncology nurse - not mine - that told me about a book....and I love it.  It is written by a doctor that was diagnosed with cancer.  It give you suggestions of good food, tells you what you should buy organic and what doesn't really matter, talks about you body AND your sole, talks about exercise, I am only about 1/3 of the way through it and I have learned so much so far.  I would recommend to to anyone with questions regards to nutrition.  The name of the book is "Anticancer - A new way of Life" by David Servan-Schreiber.

I hope that it helps anyone who reads it.  

Hope all is well...Kristi

Kristi, no boosters?  May I ask why not?  I guess I thought everyone had the boosters with

radiation treatments.  And, thanks for the info on the book.  I will look for it!

Have a fun July 4th!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wishing all of you a great 4th of July!  We are going down to our cabin at the lake in the morning

and spending our time there.  The fireworks over the lake are so romantic!  Looking forward to it

with my hubby!    Jeanne

nelia- that "we'll only call you with bad news" policy sucks dog poop.  I agree, I'd call them bunches until someone confirms the results have arrived (stuff happens, especially on a holiday weekend) and then I'd call until a doctor tells me what the story is.

One kinda nice thing is that they sound like they don't expect anything.

On the bras, can you take them (or one) back? Are you sure the ones you saw online were not out of stock or from less reputable vendors or full of hidden charges?

Funny about the boob weight!

Thanks for letting us know your progress!  

Hugs 

Nelia,

Idiotic that these bras would have to cost so much! Stupid little piece of cloth! I think we should boycot these fitting stores, we don't need them.

I bought only one, which was about $50. It is not even that comfortable. You may just want to buy your own regular bras and make a pocket in there yourself

Nelia--What a pain about your bras.  The BC experience has shown me a lot of things.  Some great and fascinating, some not so much.  How healthcare "works" falls into the latter category.  But I'm hoping there was a reason why you were charged the amount that you were.   Although it's hard to fall into that "getting ripped off" mentality.  It's annoying to find yourself going negative, but it's even more annoying to be placed in the position to feel that way in the first place.

Here's a "gettting ripped" story for you:  When I went in for my frst Neulasta shot, they MADE me go to a private room where I sat for about ten minutes until they came to take BP and give me the shot.  Later I got the statement from my insurance provider:  They charged 21K for the room I was in for all of ten minutes.  21K!  And my insurance paid for it.  The second and third shots I had done at the nurses station.  But the last one...again, they insisted I go to a room...and then billed the same again.  Funny thing is, with the first room, I was in this penthouse suite of a room.  The last time, I was in a much less nice surroundings, but they charged my insurance the same amount.

Of course this is much less personal an insult compared to your bra experience.  But it does make me upset that there's always someone out there who takes advantage of someone who is already going through tough times...and for what?

I hope your PET scan results are positive.  I agree with Rachel that you should call for the results.  Waiting is waiting, for whatever reason.  If you can get the results faster, then I'm all for that.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Catherine

I go Wed for my BRCA test results. My hubby is watching the kids. Not sure if we are all going or if I will go alone. I am a little nervous, but either way at least I will know my options. If positive I will get my ovaries and tubes removed! Which will be good for so many reasons: no more period, no more worry about pregnancy, no more worry about ovarian cancer( which is the cancer I was always worried about).

I hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend!  We had a wonderful, romantic few days at our cabin.  The fireworks over the lake were awesome, as always.  It was so relaxing, so wonderful, just what we needed.  And, I even got a tan!   

I had my monthly radiation oncologist appointment and everything was fine.  He still says no hot tubs..darn it.  lol  But, I think next year, I will have to try.    He saw that the hyperpigmentation

 is getting better and fading more, which is good!  It was right where I got the 12 boosters.

Well, hope you all had a great day and are enjoying the summer!

Jeanne

Wow nelia you are wild... waited two days for this nonsense!  Thank you for posting, I have been holding my breath.  Well literally, no news is good news.  

You gals are so great!!!!  I called first thing this morning, and the gal said  she would pull my chart and a nurse would call me back with the results.  I waited what seemed like forever, and then she called.  She told me that my scan was clean!  No problems at all!  I think I sighed the biggest sigh of relief ever!!!!!  Then she said something that made me think, OH NO!  She read my Blog!!!  She told me that I should feel feel free to call for test results anytime and not to wait next time and worry like that!!!!  Now where else would she know that except from my blog!!!!  Well, I'm glad she did.  Maybe she told these Dr.s that it is NOT NICE to do that to patients!

 Thanks, all of you, for your concern and prayers!  It sure helped me a lot this week!