December 2009 Rads Group
Comments
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Veggy that is strange? I never had "metal bb's" placed on me for a CAT scan. Did you inquire as to "why" they were doing that. I always asked about everything, but then again that is the nurse in me. When you go in tomorrow ask them. If you don't understand, post it here and maybe one of us may understand. That just sounds strange but I'm sure there is a logical explanation. They always seem to have one for everything they do. LOL!
Jewly, I have started my new diet I am hoping that when I go in tomorrow I will have lost some weight. They have me on a 25 week plan with the o.k. and a signed release from my Medical Onc to lose 50 lbs. He approved everything. Generally speaking I get one protein, one vegetable and a starch with each meal. The appetite suppressant is all natural and I'm taking Omega 3 fatty acids 3 x's a day and a vitamin once a day. I usually eat an apple for a snack or I can have celery or broccoli, cauliflower to snack on (those are examples). Over all it's not to bad. The money is the worse part... LOL, but I know if I pay for it I will stick with it.
Adrienne - I am taking 10 mg of Tamoxifen a day. The doctor put me on 1/2 of the dosage that most take because of my FSH (follicle stimulating hormone levels being over 60, which means I am very menopausal and am producing very little to No estrogen). Everyone thinks I have tons of it because my skin looks so good. The secret to that is hereditary, everyone in my family on both sides of the gene pool have good skin elasticity. Not much sagging going on, now if we can fix the boobies it will be all good with the weight loss. hahaha. At least I can laugh about it.
Renee
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Adrienne, I was suppose to start on 20mg per day, however my blood pressure has been off the charts high since I started radiation treatment last December. Or least I like to blame the increase in my blood pressure on the radiation tx as my BP has aways been perfect 120/80. I have no other reason to explain the spike but on the treatment. I also think it could be related to the three co-pays I am being charged a day for some of the treatments when i saw the rad. doc, had treatment and someone behind the curtain was working on some scans or formulas. The last insult lobbed, post diagnosis was yesterday and it came from an admission's clerk for a post treatment excerise program at the hospital who called me obese! thank youm admittedly i am 10-20 lbs over weight however, I gained the last 10 in the last year and was referred to the program to address my increase in BP and finally maybe it's because i wrecked my partner's car by hitting our other car..... just when i thought it was getting easier.
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Renee, I remember reading somewhere that sometimes they use bb's to mark the location of the original incision -- they can see the bb's in the "pictures" they take, which helps them interpret the results. That's how I remember it, anyway: no guarantee that I'm right.
It's interesting that you are on a lower dosage. I don't think they ever tested my estrogen levels (and I'm definitely menopausal). However, I already have some bone loss, so I'm happy with the higher dose, since Tamox increases bone density. If I start having unfortunate side-effects, I might feel differently, and I'll talk with my doctor.
Cgirl, I had higher-than-normal blood pressure during rads, too: usually around 140/80. I don't know if the rads caused it, or just being in the rads building caused it
The BP test was always taken immediately after a treatment, which might have had some effect. When I visited my medical oncologist last week (16 days after my last rads), my BP was back to pre-rads levels (120/70).I'm sorry for all the troubles you are having -- yikes! I hope you weren't injured in the car crash. You are certainly due for some easier times now.
Me: I am feeling wonderful! I felt pretty good on the weekend, so we cycled 16 miles each day: first time in weeks for a ride longer than 10 miles. What fun it was. The best part started on Monday, when I found myself having higher-than-normal energy levels, and I walked around with a big smile on my face, thinking "life is good." I just had my first weekend post-rads without any burning, I can wear normal clothes all day without discomfort, I can touch my breast without pain -- everything is good. I know I'll have some down days in the future, particularly if I start having bad reactions to Tamoxifen or late side-effects from radiation, and I know that my future mammograms will cause anxiety, but for right now, life is good. I'm starting to wonder if high energy and happiness are side-effects of Tamoxifen
To those undergoing radiation treatment, you are getting closer every day to the last treatment, and soon you'll be feeling better.
To those who are done, I hope things get better for you every day.
adrienne
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16 out of 35
They did the bb's and the cat scan to make sure everything is lined up and to see where the boosts will be.
Had a bad experiencegetting the port flushed today. I had a new nurse. Somehow she messed up the butterfly needleand it woudn't draw blood. She didn't know why. I asked for the one nurse that I like. She was assigned the chemo room for today and was busy. Another nurse came in and "helped" the first nurse by pulling and pushing the butterfly needle into my chest. They decided to take it out and try again. The second nurse told me that she had experience. I said "NO" and demanded the nurse I liked. They finally got her. I had to wait 3 minutes for her to come. She got it in without any extra pushing. Meantime I was sore and crying.Now I am waiting to hear from someone from that department to report the incident to.
I found out yesterday that my thyroid surgery is April 12th. They are taking out half of it and only the node on the other side. I asked the surgeon to take out the port. He is. I am seeing the chemo onc. next week and telling her that I want it out. The surgeon said it will take 2 minutes and it won't be a problem for him to do. Now I have a date for the port to come out. I am so looking forward to that!!
That's my excitement for today. At least surgery won't take place during radiation treatments. I'll have 2 maybe 3 weeks off between the two. Soon this will be over with.
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Tamoxifen dose: I'm taking 20 mg, split into two 10mg doses, morning and night. THe med onc said that splitting it would help with side effects. Must be because I really have not noticed much. HOORAY!!
Bonnie
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Hiya, I hope everyone is ok. Im sorry I think it just really got to me reading (the other day or so) about what everyone goes thru. I cant stay away. I feel like we are all sisters and I need to come back and check on you all. I will just continue to focus on the positive, and keep you & your family members who are ill, all in my prayers.
By the way I Love the horse pic. I cant ride a horse with my bad back, but I often go by horses near our home and take pictures.
I know nothing about Tamixofen. They said I cant/dont qualify, I was triple negative.
Not much new.here... I went and got a new haircut and colored my hair. (I needed a make over). No snow to talk of, in fact it may hit 50 Sunday..(A miracle). .......March is the birthdays of all 3 of my granddaughters and my husband so I will be doing alot of celebrating this month.
Please keep the faith Veggy and Mimi your grandmother is in my prayers.
((hugs))
Jules
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17 out of 35. I am half way there!!!
Today they put more bb's on me and put me through the Cat scan. I think they are getting me ready for the boosts. Also I will be laying on my side for the boosts. Anyone else had to lay on their side?
I finally talked to the head nurse in the chemo department. She felt bad when she found out it was me. She had informed the nurses that the patients have thee right to ask for whoever they want to access the port. she told them that the patient are more than willing to wait to have the nurse they want. She felt bad.
This may be the last time I will need the port accessed and flushed. April I have surgery and they are taking the port out. YES! I'll be de-ported!!!!!! The alien tracking device will be coming out. Maybe then the healing process can start.
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Veggy congrats to you. The thyroid surgery is not too bad, I had 1/2 of my thyroid taken out back in 1989 and the when they remove the left side they thought it was going to be the size of a pea and it was the size of and egg when they got in there. LOL! It wasn't cancer, but, it was a cold nodule that had come up from a hormone imbalance after my son was born. I was very thankful since i had already had cancer once before. I actually was back at work in one week after the surgery, I just had to wear a bandage over the incision.
Heidi I'm really glad you are doing so well, especially your skin. My rad onc put me out to come back in 3 months, but I saw him the last day I had rads and every week during rads. Glad you are getting on with your life.
The biggest thing I have going on right now is I am doing my new diet and so far so good. I actually lost 2 lbs... So that leaves 48 lbs to go in 49 more weeks. The hardest part for me will be that occassionally I like to eat something sweet, especially if I know I can't ahave it. LOL! Keep me in your prayers that I will stick to my diet. Lord knows I've paid enough for it.
Renee
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UPDATE on STEENY107 (MICHELLE)...
Unfortunately, I just came across this post about Michelle (steeny107)............
"Michelle is taking a breath about every 45 seconds. She is in no pain and resting. Thank You for your prayers.
Michelle was unresponsive this morning, but she is in no pain. She has her friend Rhonda, her boyfriend Rex and his mom with her.
Praying for Michelle to be in peace. They had her on something stronger than morphine and it is a constant drip."
Here is copy of her last post on our December 2009 Rads Group, this was right after she had a Fishing tournament in the Keys...I thought she was doing well, but have noticed other posts about her change of health and thought that all of you would like to know.....Just sooooo da_n sad.......Friggin Cancer!!!!!
Jan 29, 2010 12:15 am steeny107 wrote:
Chinablue
I had planned on fiirst appt of the day too, my thoughts were take son to school, drive 1hour 15 mins to appt drive back and do work in afternoon. but found it too stressful, so switched to afternoon appts, gave me a chance to work while not tired and like Cgirl said I would just come home and relax as much as a woman can. lol
Good luck take care of you
xo Michelle
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Jewly (somanywomen) - Thanks for posting about Michelle. It sounds like she is soon going to be pain free, and at peace. I hate the loss of such a young and vibrant woman... it sucks!! I hate it more for her son to have to grow up without his mom. This disease is just to damn cruel!!!
Hugs to all of my breast cancer sisters today and every day for the fight we have to endure.
Renee
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heidi, It is hard to stay away when we all have so much in common that others really don't understand....I for one have learned so much from all of you, esp., the things that doctors fail to tell us....I have noticed several very strong women who had fought this with thier all and now are gone over the short amount of time of finding this site....Michelle is the first that I have felt the personal connection with, being in our group....We all try to help each other and this time we can't help Michelle, it's such a helpless feeling....She is only about 35 and has a seven year old son, things just turned the worst for her in such lightning speed...Mimi, it is just so damn cruel!!!!!!
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somanywomen - I agree with you a 1000% it is very cruel!!!!!! I went to facebook yesterday and looked at all of Michelle's photo's, she was so beautiful and full of life before this terrible disease invaded her body. The thing is even at Christmas when she took photos with her son you could not really tell she was sick except she had cut all of her hair off and it was barely starting to come back in from the chemo it was like a crew cut, but she still looked relatively healthy.
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Hey Ladies hope you are all having a great weekend. I've been doing some research about soy... whether to limit it or not and if so how much. I came across this great article about some new research on it. Here is the link: you will have to copy and paste to read.
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=349208
The name of the story is Soy or no soy for breast-cancer survivors
Renee
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Renee that's an interesting article, thanks for the link. I have also been wondering about soy.
Update on Michelle (Steeny107) sadly I have just seen this posted on facebook:
(Rhonda Napolitano) To all-Theres no easy way to say it- Michelle passed away this morning. Thanks for all your posts. xoxo
I'm so sad that another lovely woman has gone and how fast it seemed to happen.
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I've been following posts with updates on Michelle.......This is just the worst.....She seemed to be doing fine just about a month ago....We had chats about the Florida Keys....She was diagnosed less than a year ago......I hate this damn disease...Taking this little boy's mom way too soon....Just sooooooooo sad.........RIP Michelle............
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I see that some of you already know of Michelle's (steeny107) passing this morning. I was going to post it. I am just positively devastated!!! But yet at the same time I am so thankful that she is no longer suffering from the pain she was in. Cancer of any kind Sucks!!!
I was reading on one of the other threads I am on for stage one's and there is a young woman that is 30 yrs old, never been married (much like Lissette) and has no children that was just in the last month or so dx. She is getting married in July. She doesn't know yet if she will have to have chemo or radiation, but she does know she will be going into her new marriage post mastectomy. SUCK... yea it sucks big time!!! Why should young women... any woman have to go through this? !!!!
Renee
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A bright light has done out with Steeny's death. My condolences to her friends and family.
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I listen to an "Oldie's Radio Station"...and had not heard this song in many many years and just could not help but think of Michelle....it tore me up, but such a beautiful song.......
lyrics from "Seasons in the Sun"...
goodbye michelle my little one
you gave me love and helped
me find the sun
and every time that i was down
you would always come around
and get my feet back on
the ground
goodbye michelle it´s hard to die
when all the birds are singing in
the sky
now that the spring is in the air
with the flowers everywhere
i wish that we could both be there
we had joy we had fun we had
seasons in the sun
but the stars we could reach
were just starfish on the beach
we had joy we had fun we had
seasons in the sun
but the stars we could reach
were just starfish on the beach
we had joy we had fun we had
seasons in the sun
but the wine and the song like the
seasons have all gone
we had joy we had fun we had
seasons in the sun
but the wine and the song like the
seasons have all gone -
So sad. I didn't know her, but my heart goes out to her family.
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Oh somanywomen you are so right that song definitely fits Michelle! I had not even thought of it... it's been so long since I've even heard it. I know she's smiling down from heaven and probably laughing from the photos I've seen of her because of that song.
ThanksVeggy I hope you are doing well? Aren't you almost done?
Adrienne where are you? I haven't heard from you all week.
Renee
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Thanks for that, somanywomen: that seems perfect for Michelle. She was an amazing person. She fought the beast as hard as possible, and somehow managed to stay positive and happy through it all. What a fine example she set of how life should be lived. She helped a lot of people, including me. I love her, and I miss her.
adrienne
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19 out of 35. If we don't get any more snow, I might be done at the end of the month. My breast is maroon in color and itches like crazy.There is no peeling or blisters yet. I keep layering on the Aquaphor.
The chemo onc told me that I have a liver hemangioma and now wants me to have a CAT scan before my thyroid operation (4/12). She gave the surgeon who is doing that operation the okay to take my port out (YEAH!). I'll be completely out for that. Next Tuesday I go in for the scan. I feel like I am spinning like I did when I first found out the I had BC.
My son just made a banana cake from scratch. I can't wait for it to come out of the oven.
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Renee, adrienne, when I heard the song and heard her name Michelle mentioned in it, it just seemed to suit the type of free spirit she seemed to be and her love of the Keys..I just wish I could have had that margarita that she invited me down to join her with on the dock and watch the beautiful sunsets.....
Veggy, we're still here for you....Once the rads are over (I can't believe I finished almost 2 months ago), anyway life kinda goes back to a new normal....Dr. appt's slow down and hopefully your body heals well.....I love that your son is baking you a banana cake from scratch (my son is 19 and although a great kid), I would give anything if he would bake/make me anything like he use to when he was younger....Tell him we want the recipe, I can smell it coming out of the oven now....YuMMMMMMMM.......
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We had cake for breakfast! Why not. It has eggs, bananas, buttermilk and a bunch of veggies...
sugar - plant - veggy
flour - plant - veggy
vanilla - plant - veggy
It will probably be gone by tonight with two teenage boys. I better hide another piece for me.
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Wow, that cake sounds awsome!!!!...Buttermilk, just sounds yummy............
For all that are interested I have yet another book to recommend....This one has a website with great free info on it.....check it out!!
This book has the best simple recipes and so much information about how to cook foods and keep thier nutrients in them........."The World's Healthiest Foods" Essential Guide for the healthiest way of eating, by George Mateljan...What is great about this book is that you can review it on line for free, even has recipes and other info about cooking, like what pans to use, what oils are best, you name it and it is free on line at whfoods.org....I was using the website so much for all it's valuable info that I finally ordered the book, on his website it is about $40..on Amazon it was $27. with free shipping....got it yesterday and absolutely love it...about 800 pages of healthy info and simple recipes using the worlds 100 healthiest foods....
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Hi everyone, Hope alls ok with you.
I am so very sorry to hear about Michelle. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends. I can only imagine what theyre going thru. So sad.
Veggy please keep us updated. We are here for you.
Somanywomen thanks for the book recommendation. I will check it out.
Been busy, My husband is redoing our master bath and we are back in the hot tub again (finally) since its been nice here. (Doc said I can go in just not as hot as it used to be/and be careful with that) Plus 5 March birthdays in the family..lol.. so been busy with that too (gift buying/parties to attend etc).
Take care all for now. Im thinking of you all and you are in my prayers..
((hugs))
Jules
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20 out of 35. I'm very red now. Nurse suggested not to wear a bra. I had her check under the brest and it is starting to peel. I have 5 more before I start the 10 boosts. I hope my skin doesn't get much worse. I've been feeling down. Just plain ole tired of all this crap plus now more crap on top of it all. I wish I could run away from myself.
I'm triple negative so there won't be any medication for me after the radiation. So that puts me at high risk for the next couple of years. Does this make any sense... I can't wait to stop going to the hospital every day, seeing doctors and getting rads but at the same time I'm afraid to stop going to the hospital. I guess I'll get used to it.
I haven't told my mom yet Sorry about venting or is it a pity party. Sorry.
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