For those starting chemo in June
Comments
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Nancy Lee, Are you out there in cyperspace?
I was just wondering how your treatments are going. We are winding down -- 8 more to go. How big is your dosage? Hope you are doing better.
Janie -
Janie, good luck on the onc visit tomorrow. I'm so sorry you're having all these side effects. You and Mary are inspirations for me, putting up with the crap to get through to the other side. However, I'd prefer it if all of us could get over this chemo stuff and on to treatment-free life for more than a couple months at a time!
Crazy things they're doing down there with those Georgia schools. I hope you don't have to make it up.
Talked with the onc just now on the phone. Says the nodule things are technically considered the same thing as having positive nodes, but that they were trapped in the area and therefore wouldn't have moved systemically. So I'm gonna feel good about that, at least. And gonna blast all those bad cells outta there with this nasty chemo coming up.
Having a nice day alone at home today. I treadmilled for 40 minutes and now I believe I'll read a book. I think I"ll get the drain out tomorrow, and then I'll go back to work for part of Thu and Fri.
Mary, when's the MRI?
Nancy, hope you're doing well. Renee, hope things are well with you, too. -
Whats new little pussy cats???Janie how was the onkie visit? P.J. Glad it sounds like the cells are contained and you can knock them the heck outta there. I get my M.R.I. tomorrow (but that won't mean much as far as my cancer and if its in a joint or bone and its small) but at least if my hip pain is from a disc in my back I will know why I have such pain. I also need to know why I have the bad neck pain. I don't think the cancer has anything to do with my neck and probably not my hip but I just want to know if it can be fixed and get the hell outta pain. Ya know? Penny's brother is in from abroad and he isn't a happy camper about how much material things Penny has and the rest of them "get by." (Get by is not the same as we know it.) Penny is in full control and he really can't do anything about it including keep his dad home. He doesn't want him put away because he has plenty of money to stay at home and have help. Oh Boy....He is leaving tomorrow to go back over seas where he has lived for some time. He gets home about once or twice a year. He has lived all over. Well I hear Sat. I am out of work. God only knows....I don't think Penny knows, its what ever sounds good at the time. I just work day to day. Gotta get, Hugs, burrrrr....its rainy and cold!!!!Mary
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Mary, I hope they figure out FINALLY whatever is going on and give you something to stop the pain. Of course, lots of that pain is coming from Penny, sounds like.... She's saying they don't need you after Saturday? And then, what, Sunday she calls and asks where you are?
Janie, hope things went swimmingly. Did you find out if you ahve to make up the days?
Another day draining in the heat. Maybe tomorrow I'll get it out. We're supposed to have a front come in tonight and it's supposed to only be 82 tomorrow. Heavenly. -
Well ladies, I have a bone scan scheduled Monday with feedback on Wednesday.
Mary, you are under pressure from all directions. I hope it all turns out the way you want it to turn out.
PJ, I hope you get the drain out so you can return to somewhat "normal." No, I still do not know about making up the days.
Try to have a good night.
Janie -
If nothing else comes of all this at least we will never get lost in the dark because we will glow. Hope the bone scan is clear. I am gonna ask for a copy of the M.R.I. reading so I can see whats up and not wait for Onkie to call when he gets around to it. The radiologist will print all the findings out so I just have to read it. It will be the same as what the Onkie gets. P.J. hope you get that nasty thing out soon or you will have to hang a ghost or something on it for Halloween. I got to dig out my electric blanket....Good night, Mary
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Mary, any news? Hope it's good. I'm tired of hearing so much bad news. I hate all these scans and other nonsense going on with us.
Got the stupid drain out FINALLY this afternoon. Two more weeks and I'll join you guys back in chemo land.
Crossing fingers on your scans....
Hey, I suppose I'd really scare the bejesus out of the new Oct. chemo group if I joined up. Probably more humanitarian if I don't.... Besides, I already have my chemo girls. -
Mary, sounds like you don't know when you will hear anything. I have my scan Monday and see the onc again Wednesday to get the results.
PJ, I know how good it feels to be rid of the drain. You are right, you cannot jump the June chemo ship now. We are a team.
Renee, Nancy? I do hope you all feel so well that you are out doing things and not giving the big C another thought. -
Hi Girls, Well they did a 45 min M.R.I. and said now I can inject dye and do another for 45 mins. and I said I had a really bad reaction to dye 20 years ago and it may not hurt me but I can't lay 5 more secs. on this board and I didn't fight for over a year to have a bad reaction and drop dead so no more. If a disc problen does not show up we will know its cancer so whats the need for another? The gal said your the boss and your right, If nothing shows then it is probably the cancer. I limped my big crippled ass out of there and drove like a nascar driver to get home and pee....I called Penny because she hadn't called and she was going to talk to her dad about going into the hospital nursing home and of course she forgot to call. Anyhew, shes taking him tomorrow but keeping me for a little while to get things straightened away at the house. They have valuable collectables and she doesn't want anyone in there that could take anything. Well the Rad. tech said it would take 3 days to get a reading from the Rad. Dr. and I requested the report be sent to my general Doc. cause she will call me right away. I guess I will be able to go in to work late now. I hope I am still salary but I really doubt that. It was cold today especially this a.m. and its to get down to 38 tonight, I was thinking this morn. while shivering my butt off that we need to go to warmer weather, I mean we must be brain dead, its our kids...they did this to us, totally screwed us up. Next fall we are outta here!!!!burrrrr. It is going to be warmer in the daytime than usual and thats good but ya know it is a day away from Oct. Goodnight(that reminds me of an old James Bond movie, the agent was named Goodnight)Later burrrr, Hugs, Mary
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Glad you got the drain out P.J. Mare
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Well, geez, Mary, I hope they don't make you wait over the weekend! Or, really, personally, sometimes I'd rather wait longer, just in case the news is bad and I can stay in denial longer. But surely this is just a disc problem, and why it took them so long to react to your pain is really beyond me.
I'm so sorry all this crap is going on with your pain and your pain the the butt boss's daughter right now. What a stressful combo. And as for that cold weather, I'll quit complaining about the heat down here because i REALLY can't stand the cold.
Off to work for part of the day. Husband's driving me in, since he works up there, too. I just drove Nathan to school and using those muscles I'm supposed to be exercising....
Hope you all have a good day. -
Mary, Remind me. I haven't had a bone scan in over a year. Is it the one where they give you an injection and you lie still for an hour or am I thinking of something else? I had so many tests in the beginning, I cannot remember which is which.
Janie -
I posted this on a couple of other threads but wanted to ask Mary if her situation is similar.
Although I have had back pain as long as I remember, recent back and rib pain is keeping me on Darvocet daily. The pain is a little different. While the "stress" pain is still there, I also have pain running up and down my spine and branching out in different areas. I have a bone scan scheduled Monday.
New wrinkle: Yesterday, my hip/back began "giving out" on me when walking a short distance -- much like when I was on Taxol.
I was up vomiting with the trots for about an hour last night. I don't know if it is a virus or treatment related.
I hope you all are enjoying the weekend.
Janie -
Goodmorning girls, Well first Janie the bone scan is an injection and you go do what ever you want for an hour and come back and get the scan and it takes about 30 to 40 mins. to scan the spine. The girl at the M.R.I. told me the B.C. likes to hide in the spine for years before its detected sometimes. People have pain but its blamed on other things. Thats scary. Thats why the use the contrast to help show it up but I guess sometimes it can still go undetected until it gets big enough to see. My daughter(the Pharm.) keeps telling me how much really poison stuff they have pumped into m body and how much damage that does and thats a lot of the pain. Janie, I have noticed pain in my ribs too. It is in my right side about 8 inches down from my armpit and radiates around toward my stomach. My hip gives out on me too. Sometimes its very painful to step on my left leg. We are probably soo deteriated from all the chemicals. Well Penny put her dad in the nursing home. He went kicking and screaming. I felt sooo sorry for him. She told him if he stayed at home she wouldn't come see him anymore. He still did not want to go. She wants to go away for the wk. end this wk. end and next and wants him out of the way. She also does not want to have to take care of him cause it takes time out of her life. May I say she is a millionaire thanks to her dad and my boss and his wife could never have kids of their own so they adopted 8 and none want anything to do with them now. They are all too busy. My boss isn't mentally capable now to "change" any will or trusts so he is on his own sorta speak. Glad your getting better P.J. and back to work. I have 3 kids saying Grandma, grandma....later if my head doesn't explode.They want the puter. mary
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Mary, Janie, surely this pain is just from all the chemicals. I mean, statistically, the chances have to be way low of all three of us having recurrence/mets, right? I hope all your scanning comes back clean, clean, clean.
Mary, sorry about the boss. I feel bad for him. What awful children they lovingly helped. -
Mary, that is really a bum deal about your job. She didn't give you much notice after all the dedication you've shown. Unbelievably selfish. She probably will not go see the old guy anyway whether he is in the home or not.
Another question about the bone scan. Is that the one that requires you to hold your arms over your head for about 45 minutes. Please say it isn't. The first time I had these tests was before surgery. It was hard to stay in that position then, but impossible now.
The toxic reactions makes sense. My mom has really bad bones (since age 35). Some of her discs practically disappeared from degeneration. She had a bone transplant in her spine and has been a chronic pain sufferer for a long time. They have kept a close watch on me, but my last two bone density tests showed me to have stronger bones than most women my age. So I don't guess the problem is disc degeneration, but I don't suppose the bone scan would show that or would it?
PJ, I was just thinking the other day that it would be really weird if we all had recurrences. You are right, that doesn't seem possible.
My other son is in town this weekend. We are all meeting shortly.
Warm Fuzzies,
Janie -
P.J. your right the chances of us three at the same time has to be low but who knows. Janie, I think I had my arms at my side but then again I have chemo brain still and I don't even get close enough to my car in a parking lot for the flashing lights and horn honking button to work. It could be the same one because I remember thinking my neck would really hurt after but it didn't so kiddo I have no freeking idea....I do hope you have a great evening Glad I could almost help, and I wonder why I don't go back to hospital work......Now thats a lawsuit waiting to happen. I do remember the big square hunk of metal right at my nose and that was a little scary. Gotta go so I will talk to yas tomorrow. You girls have a great night.hugs, Mary
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Mary, chemo brain has blocked my memory of metal in your face?!?!?
Thanks for the input. My lymphedema/surgery arm will not go all the way up and neither will the other one that had a frozen shoulder several years ago. I remember one test being particularly hard to endure. However my arms were outside the machine and I could move them but they were very uncomfortable anyway. I did something where I was to lie down for an hour beforehand, but I read that this one requires movement to work the stuff into the bone. I guess my questions will be answered in full tomorrow.
Are you thinking of going back into nursing at a hospital or something? There are plenty of nursing shortages in GA. I bet there is everywhere, right?
PJ, how's the recovery going?
Hugs,
Janie -
Janie, did you have a PET scan? What you're describing is what mine were like.
I'm doing OK. Moving the arm as much as possible. Sometimes it's really painful. Today it seems better. Have some fluid buildup under the incision, and my drain incision thingy still isn't completely closed. So I guess I'll have to call them tomorrow and have it checked out just to be sure everything's OK.
Taking Nathan and a friend to a pre-birthday Chuck E Cheese outing. Can't wait.
Have a good day, guys.
Paula -
Yes, I had a PET scan too. I had a whole series of tests for several days before I even had my surgery -- so now they all run together and I can't sort them out as to which was which.
Have fun at Chuckey Cheese!
Janie -
Well, Janie, good luck tomorrow. And Mary, good luck on getting those MRI results quickly. I really believe that since I recurred (and just possibly mets) it's got to be pretty much statistically impossible for you guys to have any mets, too. So I believe all your stuff will come back clean and we'll celebrate. (Because I also firmly believe that the drugs I'll start getting in a couple weeks will get rid of mine once and for all)
Whew, Chuck E Cheese is behind me. Now some cupcakes and this portion of the birthday celebration will be over. Next Saturday, the family gathering. My mom's coming down Thursday. My brother and kids will come up from Austin, and we'll have a few other friends over. -
Wow PJ! Looks like your plate is full for a while.
Twyla answered another thread and said we get to keep our arms down for the bone scan. That is a big relief. Someone else on another post said she felt like she had been beat with a ball bat. I know the feeling. My entire rib cage is soooo sore (I think from the vomiting attack Friday night). I told the boys not to make me laugh.
I hope everyone is having a good time with the family. It's been good to have both boys here. I am giving some thought to visiting my daughter during Thanksgiving. I have never been to Oregon. I think it is time I go, don't you?
Fuzzies,
Janie -
Hey, P.J. You darn right your gonna kick some cancer butt...And we are gonna be here to help you. I figure my M.R.I. results should be done Tue or Wed. I will call my reg. Doc's nurse Deb tomorrow and allert her they are going to come in and she will call me as soon as she gets them. I will have to bake something and take to the office for them being so good to me. Janie, glad you have the boys home. You just go to Oregon, I hear it is really pretty there. It's about time you got away. Hubby has been busy at my daughters house so he has calmed down around here Thank The Lord and knock on wood. She lets him and even encourages him so hey, she deserves what she gets. Poor girl has a dead tree in her back yard and it's big. The lowest bid to take it down was $2200.00 Gotta get it done. Janie, I thought I had my arms down for the bone scan and she put a blanket over me so I wouldn't get cold but Janie I never know for sure. I think we are going to sell the house (and we will have to get a flat bed truck and haul the Castle/shed out too) but I think we will get something smaller because I don't think we will stay here much after next fall. The cold mornings are really making me hurt. Well I better go make bracelets that I will probably never sell because I never try....OH; I got our bracelet today. I was looking for a medium priced one and found one thats nice and smooth. I couldn't find my birthstone so I got an M. I will figure out how to put the link in and I will send it along to Rene and she can send it down to Janie then down to P.J. so she will have it while going through the new treatment and we all will be there with her. We can keep it maybe a wk. the first time so we can get it to P.J. by the time she goes for treatment. Then we can keep it a month or more after we get her through this. E- me or P.M. your add. Rene and Janie can e-mail or P.M. hers to you and P.J. to Janie. Well better go so hugs, Mary
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Mary,
What a good, thoughtful idea about the bracelet! Looks like we get our results about the same time.
Today is bone scan day. Talk to you all later. Everyone have a good day.
Fuzzies,
Janie -
Mary, the whole bracelet thing sounds very cool. Moving doesn't (what a pain) but I hope it makes things easier.
Janie, good luck today with the scan. We're all crossing our fingers and toes that benign results come back quickly. -
Well, this has been a fun-filled day. I did not remember it taking so long. I arrived and did a bunch of paperwork, then went and got my injection with instructions to drink 60 ounces of fluid within a couple of hours. Now, I am the type who gets a glass of tea and sips on it all day and still has some left by the end of the day. So, this was easier said than done, but mission accomplished in the end. Then I went back and they were running behind. The first scan started at my head and moved ever so slowly down the entire body, but was not so bad. The second required hands over the head (for the ordinary citizen), but since I could not get into the correct position, they strapped my right arm down and tied it with a sheet and I held the other to my forehead. The one technician thought I was finished and said I could sit and wait to see if the radiologist wanted anything else. I sneaked a peek at the images. There was a lot of black, but it looked like it was mostly at the joints. Then the other technician said the lst one didn't do everything, so I had to do one where they send the gizmo all the way around the rib area. This required more creativity on everyone's part. Once again, I thought I was done. Yeah right. Now it seems he wanted a picture of my forearms "to make sure he checked everything." I got the idea that at least they were clear. I do not know how to interpret all this, so I guess I will just wait until Wednesday. I may go take a look at the bone scans on the net -- like my chemo brain would really remember what mine looked like anyway.
Hope today finds everyone feeling pretty good.
Hugs,
Janie -
gosh, janie, sounds like a real drag. perhaps now you can get a job as a contortionist, since it sounds like you had some practice today. so, things looked clear from what you could tell?
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Wow Janie, I have enough brains left to remember mine was not like that. The machine moved around me but I may have had my arms up at some point but that is all. I didn't have to tie myself up in a knot thank the Lord. Mine was at a small hospital so it may be I have an older machine. I just really remember the big square going over my nose and I could feel my facial hair move it was so close. They had my results in an hour from the bone scan. The M.R.I. takes longer because it has to be sent to Springfield. Well Penny said she wouldn't leave me high and dry but she did. I expected it. I have had 2 calls today because people have heard I am available but I have to check things out with the people and stuff. One is alz. so I just don't know and frankly I just want out of medicine, I am burnt out again like before in my past 30 years. I just want to talk to people that can make a sentence. Oh well. Ten years and not even a "thanks" or good-bye pay. Bitch! I feel better now. Later girls. Hugs, Mary
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PJ, The forearm results appeared to be clear from what I could decipher. I don't know about the rest.
Mary, I am sure the people there already know the results of my bone scan and I was trying to read their actions, but didn't pick up on any vibes one way or the other. My onc will tell me the results Wednesday.
The strange contortions were because I cannot hold my arms in the desired positions, especially for that long, so they have to improvise. I did notice the black on top of each shoulder during the few seconds that I caught a glimpse of the computer -- which didn't surprise me. I'm sure those were arthritis and bursitis. There were several other "hot spots" but I really don't know what they were. I asked if disc degeneration would show up on that scan and she said not the disc degeneration but the vertebrae would indicate it if it were there.
Mary, what would you like to do as a career change?
Warm Fuzzies,
Janie -
I think Mary should become a humor columnist...
Well, Janie, Mary, I'm waiting along with you for the results. Waiting for the all clear....
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