**NEW** Starting Chemo March 2009

Hi Ladies,

Beth..do hope your spirits are a little lifted as I know you look terrific..

Dawn..Japan..wow I am jealous . What a great experience for you daughter and you. (of course your husband too).Never been there though.

Chris..Your words of encouragement continue to support us,all so well said.

Rough day for me today. Just little stresses that seem to bother me at times. Tomorrow , my DH myself,and another couple are driving up to the Berkshires for the day . Sort of a historic quaint New England place. We will eat at a lovely Inn and then go to an outlet mall. Sounds good to me.

Stay strong all..

Hugs,

Francine

Hello all,

Tanasha I am really sorry to hear about your mother. Since we have all lived through it we know she will get through it too, but it is an awful thing.

Francine [edited since you posted as I was writing!] sorry to hear about your bad day.

Beth P and Nadine I am sorry to read about the continued post-treatment side effects. I too find myself much vaguer and much more easily distracted than I used to be (though if I am honest I was already starting off a low base!) It is both frightening and interesting to realise how much our mental and emotional states are connected to our homones and our bodies.

Dawn Japan  is a wonderful place! You should try to get to one of the hot springs areas which are to the south of Tokyo - in Hakone and Shizuoka. I lived in a small town in Japan for a year as an exchange student after high school and absolutely loved it.

Well, I am officially five and a half weeks pregnant and have one of those ultra sound pictures of a jelly bean to prove it! So of course it is far too early to be announcing it, and apart from here I am not doing so. I have a further scan next Friday to check that things are continuing to develop, and an appointment with an obstetrician in four weeks' time. The doctor said that it all depends on whether  it was a good egg or a bad egg - and given the recency of chemo, the chances of a bad egg are higher than they ordinarily would be. But for now all I can do is avoid blue cheese (alas!!) and hope  for the best.

Francine!  It sounds like you are going to my hometown.  I grew up a mile from the RedLion Inn, used to have Norman Rockwell walk by my house!! It is a beautiful area! As teenagers we used to sneek into Tanglewood! Fun memories of a simple time, ENJOY!!!

Francine: Sounds like you had a lovely day! Gilda's day camp sounds like a good idea. I haven't heard of Canacer Survivor Day. Is it an organized event? Who invites you to breakfasts and lunches? Looks like you will have a busy June. Wonderful!

Dawn: Wow I love Norman Rockwell too. That's amazing that you would see him out for a stroll.

Hugs

Beth P

Janet: So wonderful to hear from you. Sounds like you are getting out and enjoying what you like to do. Good for you!  WTH....running from cancer...sorry to say it... but those people who think you are running from cancer are f'n clueless. I admire you for getting on with things. You are a trooper and as my wise daughter always says....Troopers...  f'n troop!

New York was great....I think I'm already due for a reunion...lol!

We are in the midst of planting a vegetable garden with my son and lovely DIL. We haven't had a big garden for 15 years because we live in the city however their is a community garden about 5 minutes from our house and we managed to get a plot this year. (last year I was probably thinking about a different kind of plot so I feel very fortunate that it is a veggie plot....lol) I am so looking forward to planting our own veggies with organic soil and seeds. My days have been up and down but today has been a good day and I am feeling like my old chipper self!  My DH just looks at me with wonderment and never knows what the day will bring but he's a good soul and puts up with my nonsense.

Have a wonderful weekend and drop by when you feel like it. It really is great to hear from you.

Hugs

Beth P

Sounds like everyone is having a good weekend.  I, too planted my veggie garden.  I plant tomatoes, peppers, onions, cucumbers, and eggplant.  I tried one of the upside down tomatoe plants too!

Glad you are feeling better Beth.  I know what you mean...never can tell what the day is going to bring!  I am off all summer...let me know when you need that reunion to happen!!

Francine:   Your trip sounded very nice.  A quiet, relaxing trip!

The Relay here was nice.  I started walking at 4pm Friday and left about 8am Saturday.  Walked on and off all night.  My youngest son Dominic stayed with me this year.  He stayed up until about 3am and then konked out!  It was a nice time and a lot of money raised for a good cause.

I wonder how many of us are planting gardens this year. 

 I don't feel like I am running away from cancer, but I do feel like I am glad to be able to do the things I couldn't last year cause of the chemo.  I think I am just moving on with living.

Chris: Congrats on doing the Relay. Nice to share that experience with your son. That's great that you will be off all summer. I haven't made holiday plans until I see the surgeon on June 9th. Not sure if I'll be getting exchange done in July or September. Then a reunion....sounds good.

Francine: Sorry to hear about another funeral. When you get home..bask in the beauty of your flowers!

Have a Lovely Sunday everyone!

Hugs

Beth P

Francine: How was the lecture? What did your friend decide regarding recon? When is your Zometa infusion? All is well here. The weather is still a bit cool today but should warm up for the weekend. It is our 27th anniversary on Friday so we ill be having a quick weekend getaway.

Rachel: how are you doing?

Christy: How did your nephew manage his first chemo? Hope he is doing well.

Chris well done on the Relay! What a great idea.

Pickle Happy anniversary - hope you have a lovely weekend away.

Thank you to those who have asked after me. I'm really well. Went for further scan this morning. Jelly bean has grown nicely but the sac is apparently rather small which could be a sign it has not implanted correctly. Usually at 6.5 weeks the miscarriage risk is 15% but the doctor said for me it is probably more like 30% for this reason. Further scan in 10 days, then trip to the obstetrician if all looks okay. I feel completely fine (though if you asked LD he might say I am a little more emotional than usual!!) and am determined to take whatever comes.

Happy weekending, all.

Hi ladies,

Beth..happy 27th anniversary to you.

Rachel..hang in there..You do have a good attitude..

Dawn..Glad your hip is feeling better. How great about your hair getting body.

I just love my new curly easy to manage hair. My cousin said the new hair is a gift from the cancer fairy for all I have been through. LOL

Have a great weekend ladies.

Yes quiet is good..

Hugs,

Francine

Hi Ladies,

I finally talked to my Mom's doctor.  It's DCIS but, it's in a couple different spots. So she has to get a Mastectomy.  I'm just glad I finally got some info. She has a lot of other health issues so she needs clearance for surgery.  Hopefully it will be in the next few weeks.

 Rachel you and your jelly bean are in my prayers.

Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend!!! My Birthday is tomorrow but, I am expecting it to be low key.

Hi All,

Tanasha - I'm happy you were able to get more info about your Mom.  Sometimes I think that, regardless of the prognosis, having the info is 99% of the battle.  And I ditto Francine's HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I hope you get to do exactly what YOU want to do..  no matter what it is...  Enjoy.

BethP - HAPPY ANNIVERSAY!  I hope you and your hubby have a great weekend.

Rachael - Pretty good news for your pregnancy so far.  I love your 'Jelly Bean' nick name..  I smile every time you make the reference.

All - I  love hearing about your veggie gardens and am a little envious.  I've got an extremely small yard but have managed to pot tomatoes for the last couple of years.  I think I'm going to try a couple more pots next year.  I simply LOVE fresh veggies.

Janet - I keep thinking about your comment about your friends saying you're running away from cancer and still can't believe someone would say such a thing.  I'm with BethP..  you're a f'n trooper..  so you troop!!!  lol..   Your friends are totally clueless.

 All - this Wednesday I get a new boob.  I'm having a DIEP, so I'll also get a tummy tuck.  I told my PS he can take more than he needs for the replacement as I've go plenty to spare.  He said they do that anyway and just discard what they don't use.  I thanked him in advance.  The more I think about it, it continues to be so surreal for me.  For some reason, I keep thinking about the 6 million dollar man show... 'We can make it better than before, stonger, bigger...'  lol  I'm so anxious for the results...   (sigh)...

I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!

Beth

Best wishes to everyone...birthdays, anniversaries, surgeries......

Ive been busy with soccer, staining the deck, weeding...the list goes on!  I think of you often!!

Glad the jellybean is doing well...what is your favorite flavor, strawberry or blueberry??

Back to work now...would like to relax on Memorial Day!!

Hi all ..... just checking in. And, no, I'm not going to read 50 pages of posts to catch up LOL.

Finished treatment on May 26th --- YIPPEE!!!! YAHOOOOOO!!!!

Still perpetually tired, nosebleeds and fragile fingernails, but surviving. Working 50 - 60 hours a week just adds to the fatigue, so I do absolutely nothing on the weekends.

Now gotta get port removed ..... YIPPEE!!!

On another note, husband died on March 10, after many, many years battling Huntington's Disease. And he must have needed a dog, because my little Jack Russell died about a month later.

But, all in all, life is good.