December 2009 Rads Group

Michelle: 4 to go, hurray! You will finish next week! Me, too.  You have been through so much already. Thanks for the info on the silvadine cream. I don't have it yet. I'm using aquafor on the peeling parts.

My latest trick is to cut squares from old soft silk pjs. Slather on aquafor and then lay the silk square on top (sticks to the aquafor), then a soft cotton tee shirt, which slides over the silk. 

Bonnie

Bonnie, David Servin-Schreiber's book "Anti-Cancer" A New Way of Life, was one of the first books that I bought when I first was diagnosed, and I mentioned it above along with the other "Foods that Fight Cancer" as one of my favorites....He is living with the ever-gloom of cancer return...In his book he mentions the importance of the anti-cancer diet that he reluctantly, but ultimately decided that it was of great importance to those of us fighting this decease..I found my copy at Barnes & Noble for about $26 well worth it...It may be one you can check your local library for....Along with having a corlorful section on foods effects against cancer, it also has a list of household chemicals to avoid..That is something that I am replacing one by one as the no/less deadly ones....His book is what really got me on this no chemicals in or on my body kick..It just makes me feel in this out-of-control world of cancer to fight back with what I can and what I can is what I choose to put in and on my body....I would have loved to actually seen him speak, he is a true role model of anti-cancer nutrition that most doctors have little knowledge of....

Steeny, hope all of you find the book helpful, I believe it just makes sense...am I am hoping that by taking this control that we will find a better outcome, I believe we will!!

Renee, you are toooo funny, the first rad leaves your body on day 31 after rads, the second rad leaves your body on day 32, and so forth ....that means that it takes almost one month for all the rads to leave your body..... All of mine will have exited on or about Feb. 15th........Of course se's could effect us for years, I have read in "The Merck Manual" that 10% to 20% of rad patients will get mild pneumonitis about 3-6 months after rads...and about 5% will get asymtomatic rib fractures ..funny our doctors never mentioned this....surprise...surprise!!!!!!!

To All, once we all have the list of foods, we will have to get creative and share recipes that include these foods....One more item, I must mention is a replacement for mayonaise (very bad food for us!!) I was never a big mayo fan but now that I am trying to include more cabbage, cole slaw makes sense, and you can replace your mayo with"Vegenaise", this is a great product made from grapeseed oil...Milk is another food that I am trying to give up, and believe it or not, there is a carton of "Rice Dream" (sold cold in milk-like carton where reg milk is), made from brown rice and it's not bad, I was very surprised...one 8 oz gives you 10% A, 30% calcium, 25% D, 2% iron, 15% phosphorus, and 25% B12..............

PS, I don't know when I am going to get the nerve to take that first arimidex!!!!

Heal well, everyone......

Adrienne, I like my computer so much that I have found two great sites for you guys to check out...My son has "Pandora Radio" on mine, all you do is registar and tell it the groups/songs you like and it plays about 20 minutes before very short commercial...I put in Beatles, Rolling Stones, Hendrix, Journey, Dylan, Moody Blues, Neil Young, The Doors (I love Jim Morrison), Joplin, Cash etc and it just continues to play my favorites and similar ones for 2 hours or you just go back and tell it you are still listening and keep groovin to the music...

Another site to check out is organicconsumers.org....has list of real organic vs some of the false ones claiming to be.....Has a lot of up to date news...

Heidi, driving horses on beach, can you explain? sounds wonderful.....

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hhfheidi - I loved the picture of you on the beach with your horses!! Of course I would since I am a horse finatic!! What a beautiful scene for a Christmas card next year :=)...?

somanywomen - Sorry, I didn't understand about how the rads leave our body.  No one has ever explained it to me before.  That does make me feel much better!!  Wheww!!! I took a look at the book on Amazon.com and it appears to be very interesting.  I am hyped about getting it.  I'm not a big Mayo fan myself either so that won't be a problem and I don't love milk either I use it in my cereal only so I think I will stick with it instead of using the Rice Dream.  I have used it before and I personally don't care for it, much like I don't care for milk.  I have what they call T.O.E. allergies and I'm allergic to dairy, eggs, corn, sugar, and wheat.  I use to take allergy shots and not eat all of these things (they don't cause me to have a rash just really bad sinus probs) and when the doc stoped the shots I started back eating them in moderation.  As for the Pneumonitis from rads... I wouldn't know because I usually get it once or twice a year from sinus infections/bronchitis anyway.  :=)  

Bonnie - my skin isn't too bad.  My underarm and under my breast is really tight.  The underarm is a little red, but not too bad, it is still dark brownish/black in color though.  All in all it's much better than it was.  Only 3 more regular treatments and then Thursday I start the compression boosts!!! I can't believe I'm nearing the finish line :=)!!!

Renee

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Hi ladies. Thanks for all the great info and the laughs. I had heard that low levels of vitamin d are also responsible for depression and insomnia (as well as cancer). I read low fat, 30 min a day of exercise, no chemicals and lots of fruits and veggies.

I can't believe we have more to deal with after this. I celebrated this weekend with friends in ny. I got my first swedish massage. Was worried about lying on my stomach but just propped it with a towel. It was awesome.

My skin is starting to peel and there's dark skin under but at least it's soft. Good thing it's winter because I've had to wear a turtle neck or scarf to cover the burning on the neck. Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend.

Renee, I had never heard about rads taking 30 days to leave the body and I read your post and was shocked. Thanks for clearing that up.

Hello Ladies! Long time no post so forgive the long post following. You can count me in the charred yet raw category. I developed no blisters but the charred (black, tight) areas of skin just opened. My supraclavicular nodes were included in my regular tx sites and turning my neck on Friday apparently caused the initial split in the skin. Oh well. Two more boost or reductions to go. Thank God that area is still intact.

And I forgot who asked but I've had the bolus used every other treatment. The cold gel pad reportedly increases the dose to the area of interest. My wonderful tech was kind enuff to allow me in the dressing area 1 patient prior to my actual tx so I could sit on the bolus while waiting for my turn up at bat. It worked wonders! Of course, I had to ask but he obliged. BTW, I noticed you're triple neg. too. Perhaps that's why we're getting it.

Will pick up the silvadene script after tx today--if I last that long. Thank God I'm off today.

And to someone else (still using chemobrain as my excuse for forgetting who posted what)- I love Flylady!!!!!!-especially when I follow my routines -even though I often skip the 15 min declutter.

Sorry about the arimidex issue-can't help. I'm triple negative. u'll probably think i'm just paranoid but i sure do wish there was something else i could take. Will pick up the Foods that fight Cancer book as I have already read the AntiCancer book. Rad Onc said I could resume taking my antioxidants the day after tx.

Congrats to those who've finished before, Hang in there to those still undergoing tx. And thanks to all!

Halfway through my radiation.  Got a dark area under my arm with lots of spots at every hair follical and my nipple is extremely sensitive. (yuch)  Dr. says it will go away.  Will it?  I get more tired with each treatment but am taking lots of vitamins and have cut carbs.  Has anyone's pet scan come back with activity around the scar tissue?  They did a second CT scan to clear up it wasn't cancer and it is still non-conclusive.  I am hoping hte radiation will take care of it.

Liza, I had pet 2 weeks before starting rads and it did read "some increased activity in left breast consistant with patient's known surgery, uptake in left breast is felt to be postsurgical"...I had the pet to follow-up on a 5mm nodule found on my lung on chest xray and then on Ct scan prior to lump...The pet showed no activity in the lung area, but since I have been told that you can't rely on pet for anything under 1cm...I now will have another ct scan in Feb to follow up all the follow ups...crazy huh???

Jules...go up to my posts about 3 up from this one and read about tumeric (you have smart husband)....and you will learn even more once you get your book!!!... I was told my first follow up mammo would be in about March/April..6 months from my last in Sept 09....Make sure they check both breasts, I have heard that a lot of times they only check the one......

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Hi ladies hope you all had a great Monday!  Completed #26 today!!  Still hoping I will finish up on Feb. 3rd, but there may me a glitch.  My grandma has been put in the hospital.  She is not doing well.  She is currently in ICU on a Vent.  She didn't know my grandpa at all before they inserted the vent.  I'm sure she has been sedated now.  Please say a prayer for her.  She hasn't been well in the last few years. 

Thanks a Million

Renee

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Hi ladies I have 2 to go yeahhhh and oooooooooh my skin is a mess but thankfully I am numb under the arm from the AND so I dont feel it, so I choose not to look either unless putting on the silverdine cream. excuse my spelling.

Basically the skin turned really black then blistered huge blisters and the scar started opening, then the blisters all burst so the skin is now just hanging off in a black goopy mess.

Somanywomen

I see you live in Florida also, what with this beautiful weather it feels great to be out walking.I l love your picture nice view, the pic of me and my son on my pic is at the end of our dock and yeah we also see some amazing wildlife too. I put on 20lbs from the steroids and have lost 4lbs in a week since coming off them.  I just bought the book you mentioned and look forward to changing my eating habits.  Thankfully right now I cant seem to eat sweet stuff so that helps.  I think it is either the rads or the Xeloda but whatever it is works for me.  Sounds so vain but the 20lbs is what makes me feel unhealthy.  I have a wee bit of hair now so would like to have my body back. I have my nipples tattood on in hopefully 2 or 3 months depending how the radiation damage heals.

Indomitable1

I do the bolice too I did it every day for 23 so far with 2 to go yeah, I am also TN and had a huge supraclavicular node involvement, that is actually how I found my cancer no lump in the breast .

adrienne 

you are amazing at reaching out to every one thank you 

Steeny, your se's are horrible, hoping you heal soon....Once I finished my rads, the skin started healin immediately...Your view is awesome, I love the beautiful color of the water in the Keys....My first husband (while in the Coast Guard) was stationed of all places (I think about 90 miles off the keys) on the old lighthouse station on Garden Key about 5 miles from Fort Jefferson...That was in the 1970's...At times I got to stay out there in the guest house (there was only 2 houses on the island) it was so unbelievable gorgeous out there, the sun came up on one side of the island and set on the other side of the island....Then in the late 80's my second husband ran a restaurant "Foley Square" on Duval Street in Key West, we rented a home right next to Jimmy Buffet for a few months and then a house on Caroline street....Now with my third and final husband, we love to take our dog on vacation to the Keys and take him to the dog beach in Marathon and Key West....I bet you see amazing vistas from your dock...My view does look straight down the canal to the west, so we get great sunsets......But nothing like your breathtaking views...If you take the book to heart and understand the importance of starving your cancer from things that it wants, you will probably have no problem loosing weight (my husband has lost about 10 pounds in 3 months from out healthy diet change) and hence you will start feeling better physically and mentally.....I know I do, I just feel more in control when I don't feed my cancer what it wants!!!

To All...I took my first arimidex yesterday morn with coffee.....the only thing I noticed was I woke up more often last eve...Just took my second, only 1823 to go...... I do need to walk more so my friend and I are taking her Christmas present (metal detector) and one of my Christmas presents (plastic bucket, 2 shovels and a sifter) to the beach today and we are going to hunt for our fortune...Wish us luck!!!