Illinois ladies facing bc

Well, a bit less SE's for me today on this snowy Saturday... I started eating giner and it's helping the nausea.. My Onc. pharmacy called with B6 vitamin suggestion for my tingling hands.. seems to come and go now..  Waiting for my DH to finish the snow and off goes my hair while the baby is napping.. I am so freaked out.. that I just need to get it over with so I don't think about it anymore.. I know it's part of the deal.. but I still really hate it..  The nanny is coming at 3 or so.. I hope my hubby doesn't hate her..he's never seen her..

Have a great day everyone!! Seems like a busy one for many!!

Marina

I did it.. Luckily I used to wear my hair really short when I met my husband.. so he says it looks 'cute'.. I do wear make-up so I will be wearing plenty of it.. I put on my wig, and it just looks like I'm having a good hair day.  I bought eye-brow stencils and some lashes in case I need them.. Based on yours and others' suggestion I'm signed up for the Look Good Feel better at Condell on March 15th (closer to my work)... I'd love to try a scarf but I just don't know how to wear that yet... Just happy to feel a bit better today...  Oh.. the big news is... I am finally done with milk.. so I put on one of my old bras.. and my boobs are finally not hanging down to my stomach.. YEAH.. I know.. TMI.. but at this point, any little bit of feeling good is helping..

HELLO and ALL too much to read here!!1Welcome to all new and sorry for the reason why but it is  a great forum and will offer all the support and genuine care here!!!Just know that you are NOT alone during this time!!!

I had a very emotional week and will keep this short as i am exhausted.Met with my OBgyn and BS and both want me to have ovaries out as my BRCA Gene test was redone and now is considered a mutation. My fear is the balance lost AGAIN. I have no idea what happens as i know my ovaries are not producing a whole lot of estrogen but can hormone replacement be possible.

Buddy...i was not at Crete elem. school when it all went to a evacutaion mode , but i heard it wa s pretty crazy!!!

First class.. So good to hear the margins now clear and it this part is done. Hope you can find the support you need close to where you live etc. Carolyn...keep up the great atttitude!!!The work and getting what we need can be tiresome but at the end well worth it all!!!

Hope snow does not get too bad as i go Monday for retest with my Intergratvie Dr..HAD alot of news back home in NY of some people i grew up with who passed on and i wish i could go back and be a support. Emotionally just wiped out.. way too much goin on and need to breathe and know this too shall pass.

Oh. for Jm...i am on Celexa and think it does change in what it can do after a long period of time. i am working to get off of it. BUT it does work and always talk to your DR if something is off. I think me being on chemo whacked my entire central nervous system and not sure if Celexa is able to help. Call your DR and get relief if you need it!!!!

Sweet Dreams..

Donna

Morning All....the weather report sure sounds terrible.  DH's nephew and his family are stranded out in Co due to 2 feet of snow...and that is the storm that is headed this way.  Looks like it will once again depend on where you live as there is a strong warm wet wind coming up from the Gulf.  North looks to get it bad again...so Laura, MakMak, Jan etc - watch out!  And make sure you have enuf gas in the blower!

MakMak ....well, you took the bull by the horns!  I never shaved my head...just gently pulled it all out in the shower over 2-3 days.  And you are so right....now you are passed it and can concentrate on the treatments.  Ginger helps wonderfully for nausea - that's why so many Moms give gingerale to their kids when their tummies are upset!

Donna......well. hard decisions up ahead for you.  And while I have my own opinion, that is easy for me to say when I am not sitting where you are!  Hope at least you slept well last night.  Can't make good decisions without good sleep.

Budders....glad colonscopy went well...doing the "no polyps" dance for you!  And yes, I was concerned about taking 50,000 IU of D3 once a week, until I checked out what would start to cause toxicity.  JohnsHopkins puts it at 100,000 IU daily for 3-6 months so I felt better after that.  Once a week should not cause any problems and I get retested in 6 months.  We shall see tho....and once again...what I do is what I do, not what I am recommending.

Connie.....800 IU of D sounds somewhat low to me, esp since you are only at 23 for your levels, but then...that's what your doc told you to take!  So....if it feels right for you, do it.  You can always do some research on Vit D.  Even the doc on ch 7 recommends 2000 IU of D3 daily for all his patients....but, don't listen to me!  Just do your own research and decide what would be best for you.I had already started taking 1000 U daily a year or 2 before I was dx'd.

Jackie....hopefully the snow will stay as rain/sleet by you!  I am so not looking forward to tonight and tomorrow.  I am so sick of winter as I think it has been winter now for about 10 months!

Rita...how did you and Dave do at the boat?  Hello?  Rita?  Are you there?  Ooops...looks like she won and has left for warmer climates....

Elf...how is the jaw today?  Funny thing...you go to the dentist with no pain and they fix stuff that you didn't know needed fixing...and now you have pain.  Got a "leaky" filling redone...that didn't bother me at all...and now, sensitivity and aching off and on since then.  Will give it 2 weeks and then I guess go back.  Why do I think he will now want to do a root canal with crown???  I give up...hoping that your jaw eases up some...nothing much worse than tooth/jaw pain.

Laura...you are such a good girl...off to the gym on Sunday!  I tried going to my new gym on Sat and Sun but the times I like to go...wow...talk about crowded!  If I wanted to go at 5pm on the weekends I would have the place to myself.  What's DH cooking for dinner (and what time should we all be there???)

Time to eat....its been an hour since my synthroid and Wendy hoooooooongry!!!!!!!!  Take care all and get those errands done early...looks like we are in for it!

Wendy.  Wow, Thanks for the D info.  I was wondering how much was too much?  I was a little leary.  I am so glad you gave it to me in numbers.  There is no way I have to worry now.  I dont take anywhere near that.

Thank heavens I have you ladies as I did not know a snow storm was heading my way,  We have our birthday party for my second grandchild who is one! DH  made individual chicken pot pies as that is her favorite dish,  We are also having blueberries as she loves them.  I hope the snow comes after they are here so I can KEEP them with me for a few days.

 Okay teachable moment here.  Our good friend went to the ER for awful pain and he has a urinary stone.  DX?  He took too much vitamin D.  He is the one with colon cancer and his doctor said to cut out the vitamin D.  So just be careful and at least know the symptoms of a urinary stone as it was painful,

Laura, I would love to look at the website.  Let us know of its unveiling.

Have a good day! Susan

Rita - what a way to turn it into a positive!  YES - I am worth it!!

Morning...well, we only got about 2" of the white slushy stuff....driveway actually clear and down to the pavement.  Thank Goodness!!!

Susan.....sorry about your friend and his kidney stone.  I googled that this morning and it seems to be more of a calcium/vit D severe overdose in healthy individuals, over a long period of time, without adequate fluid intake.  So......I am still gonna give my one extreme pill a week a whirl.  My PCP is sooooo conservative that if he thinks this is a good idea, it must be.  I will just drink extra water (I don't drink nearly enuf liquids...period) and then retest like was suggested in maybe 4 months, rather than 6 months.  I have to have blood drawn anyway for the liver/thyroid.  How were the pot pies?

Budders...yep, it sounds like to me that you have it only in your hip.  I can't answer as to if you should be taking something stronger....but then you are so young....how about a phone call and ask your question?

Connie...Of course you are worth the $45/month!!!!  You have YEARS ahead of you and I am sure that you want to dance at your GRANDDAUGHTER'S wedding so keep your bones safe and healthy and strong!  When is the boat going in the water?????

Need to scoot for now....have to go back to the opalth. today....hope I can at least cross this doc off my list!  Take care everyone!

Rita  I have read alot on the baking soda syrup also.  It's very interesting.  Dosen't it make you really wonder?  And bless your heart for taking care of that poor cat. 

We got a couple of inches out here in Peotone.  My boy has a wrestling meet tonight in Bradley. I hope the roads stay good. Wendy I think I will ask my Onc when I go see him in 2 weeks. 

Zap  Ouch  kidney stones. YIKES. 

Laura how did the juice concoction turn out?

Mak Mak and First class  I hope your day goes well.  Your in my thoughts.

Illinois lady  yes I loved the poem.

Love Buddy

Wendy  Did your DH's family get out yet? 

Rained again yesterday and drizzly this a.m.  Flapping around in mud ---  I am going to try really hard to be a good sport about this, but my big time wilting seriously from lack of sun is not only boring, but downright depressing.  I at least am fortunate it is only "weather" depression and will lift the moment the sun comes out -- but as the saying goes " Give me patience, Lord, but hurry". 

Baking soda and maple syrup -- sure sounds interesting.  I can sort of see it -- changing ph balances is what is sounds like w/o reading anything yet.  I may go look but have avoided reading up on non-traditional type therapies as I went full steam ahead with my txs. and nary a thought of doing anything else.  Hate to say it, but I think when the "cure" is found I almost think it will be something right under our noses all the time. 

Sometimes ( and I learned this somewhere ?????, long time ago, the way to find answers is to break things down to the lowest common denominator as too many scientific equations pop up to muddy the waters -- else you might see that the answer lies hidden at the bottom even if a couple small adjustments are needed.  Sort of on the order of putting a little wedge under a table leg that doesn't sit level on a floor anymore instead of removing the floor, building up the foundation, putting the floor back and --- instead, you could just take a couple inches off all the table legs. 

Glad you looked that up Wendy -- it is something that everyone probably needs to think about --- over-doing any vitamin.  Hard to walk a fine line though if your tastes put you in a mode where this happens naturally somewhat rather than the other way.  Makes me so glad my taste for water  ( now I just have to get on a program to make myself remember to drink it ) came back.  Used to drink 8 - 12 glasses a day.  The 12 by the way was when I was doing a lot of heavy work in lots of heat and humidity -- like mowing our yard -- about an acre by hand.  You can mess up your electrolytes with too much water -- always something huh !!!!

Hope you all have a good day -- whether snow or rain or is your fortunate and have sun please oh please send some my way.

Hugs, Jackie

Just a quick hello.. I chickened out with the snow and am working from home for my first day back.. slowly telling the rest of my co-workers via the IM.. just couldn't bear to make it into an announcement in a meeting.. Turns out it's almost a year since one of them lost his wife to exactly what I have.. same hospital and Dr.. but she succumbed to pneumonia even though the chemo was working.. YIKES.. good thing my DH is making me juice every day to help my immune system...

The nanny started on Sat, and she seems great.. just keeps picking up the baby so much that I am worried about how spoiled she'll get.. but oh well.. not the worst thing to worry about... Don't think she's as good a cook as my DH, but still.. it's food..  

I'm with all of you on the winter.. HATE HATE HATE it.. that's why we are planning to move to somewhere warm in 5 years..  but for now, let's  hope it's almost over and we can all get into better spring moods..

Marina

Got good news today.  The bone scan was normal.  The CT scan was essentially normal.  There was a cyst on the left ovary and the radiologist wants me to have an ultrasound. The doctor thinks I probably had the cyst all my life and it's nothing to worry about but wants me to follow through with the utrasound.  So that's scheduled for early Wednesday morning.  Then I'll complete any other pre-op testing that's required that I haven't already completed.   Still need to have the breast MRI.

On the VitaminD.. i was just given D3 at 5,000 mg.. per day! Also have alot of other detox stuff given for me as i am getting real good support and endocrine suppport. The ovaries coming out is definetly goint o be down the road until i am where i am at my optimal level. I also have  aRX for Vagifern.. lowest dose possible and am goin to use this for  3mos.

GOOD BUDDERs...No polyps !!! Been thru this and have had some in past!!GOOD that all is goin better in other areas too!!!

Glad all are checking in and am trying!!!lolol. Work tomm and hope the weather stays nice!Moving to AZ is definitely coming to a more realness as we both need a lifestyle change and healthier seasons! In time!

Sweet Dreams ALL,

Donna

Good morning everyone.  Very chilly this a.m. but could walk out in the dog pen and not "sink" like yesterday.  Getting some new "used" furniture in a couple of days so going to have to actually get productive in some of my cleaning and sorting and stashing --- sigh.  I have been way too lazy and now I will have to "double-time" some hard work to be ready for these changes.  Dh needs a recliner in his bedroom as he often cannot lay in bed as he would like --- wakes up in such distress by morning and hurting.....so the living room recliner will go there.  Then, a couch and two recliners coming from Dave's.  He is making a home theater in his living room ( and it is well large enough ) so does not need these items.  I was going to have to figure out how to save up for all these things and now will not have too.  This is a most welcome and definite bonus for me.  Anytime I can by-pass having to "save", or more importantly....I can now move on to some of the other 500 things on my list that have to be saved for --- like dirt for the yard -- we have had so much wash out -- waiting for the city to sell us our leases, and now we have to put it all back.  That is tons of dirt -- it could be a long hot summer here if that project gets started.  Also, new flooring in house as well as need to continue getting replacement windows.  I always have "work" to look forward too as it is all time consuming. 

Carolyn --  how great that you are good on your scan.  You really can relax for the most part I think....aren't most of the other tests things that actually pertain to the surgery? 

jnuemann --- I did not eat well during my chemo which was done every three weeks for 6 months.  Usually went a week or a  little more barely able to tolerate more than a spoonful or two  of some white diet foods.....but couple weeks after chemo ( about in time for a decent week off eating before next chemo ) I would be ravenous and usually wanted tuna fish on toast.  Go figure --- just de-toxing from the chemo and my brand new cells wanted more poison in the form of mercury...sigh !!!   I figured -- my body was calling out for something else -- ok, what did I put in the tuna -- onions, celery, an apple if I had it, some raisins, chopped b and b pickles and Hellmans' -- but I wanted the same thing every time -- and Milton's wheat bread with it.  Even during the Taxotere.  I think/heck I know the Taxotere was not that hard on my tummy -- but I think by then it was a mental thing....no appetite much at all -- in fact, the thought of food was sort of disgusting -- till it came time for the tuna fish craving. That just popped right up at the appropriate time and so I made sure I had plenty of tuna on hand. 

It is so much the little things that mean so much and make life a joy and keep inspiring us to move forward for what will be another little but almost perfect thing.

Time to move onto some of that work.  See you sometime later.  You are all always in my thoughts.

Hugs, Jackie

I agree.  My friends are the garden of my life.