December 2009 Rads Group
Comments
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Congrats, Renee! So glad your mammogram was normal! Yippee!! What a relief, whew! Such good news.
Can you believe that I have been having a lot of trouble with my BACK?? Geez. Over Labor Day Weekend, which is 11 weeks ago, I was on a horse camping trip and I WAY over did it, including doing something to my back which has gotten worse instead of better. Had an MRI and I have a synovial cyst inside my spinal canal, which is pressing on the nerves that supply my left leg. It's sciatica and it HURTS LIKE HELL! I have missed about 5 days of work from being unable to walk or get of bed. But last week I got epidural steroid injections, and this was like a miracle. The pain is about 75% less, and I feel like I have a future again. It was getting pretty grim there for a while. Only met with a spine specialist last week. He said that it's 50/50 if I'll need surgery, but that the surgery for this is actually pretty safe and successful, and because it's microsurgery, it's relatively easy to recover from. So, that made me feel a lot better about things.
I swear, I have literally had more medical care in the last 18 months then in my entire life so far added up. ENOUGH!!
However, I think that if I had not had the cancer year, that I would have been in better physical condition on that camping trip, and so I probably would not have gotten this injury. This is a big wake up call about keeping my body in good condition. Now that I'm able to walk around pretty good, I'm exercising sensibly and consistently. Very important!!
Hope you're all having a lovely Thanksgiving! I usually fly back east to CT to be with my family, but could not travel this year with the back thing. It's kind of nice to stay put, though. Get some rest!!
Bonnie
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Guess who? Yep, that's me on the pinto.
Anyway, took me awhile to remember what rads group I was in (how's that for getting on with life). Never joined a chemo group (at least I don't remember being in one--- geez, talk about chemo brain).
I've switched almost exclusively to the "Calling all TNS" thread, since that's what I am. Just thought I'd drop in though for a blast from the past. Sounds like all you gals are doing well, as am I (though I've had a few major scares). But, all's well that ends well (won't call myself a survivor until I die from something else).
So far, so good...
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Bonnie and Veggy thanks for the happy LOL!!! I went and saw my plastic surgeon yesterday and I will be having my recon surgery to make everything match up on Dec. 20th... Whoopeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very excited to bring all of this a wonderful close and the end of a perfectly awful year. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Much love to all of my sisters
Renee
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Hi All, finally home!!!!...Glad all is going well for most, sorry about your back Bonnie, Renee glad your recon is coming up soon and wishing you speedy and great results, Heidi love your horse photo...Hey Veggy, hope things are all good......
Finally home after 2 weeks of vacation...won $1000 on a slot machine first nite in Vegas, then to Zion National Park, Utah....Most beautiful place I have ever been, the drive takes about 3 hours from Vegas and is one after another huge mountain canyon around every bend, the colors were outrageous, then stayed at Majestic View Lodge with a breathtaking view out all windows and from the deck, for anyone interested you can take a virtual tour on line...talk about a view, just surrounded by mountains and canyons, I'm a Florida girl and never knew of this type of exhilarating landscape..Did a 5 hour hike up Angel's Landing, a 1200' climb that zig-zags up a cliff of a mountain, took many breaks but I DID IT!!!!!........Loved, Loved, Loved this part of my trip, then back to Vegas to meet relatives for a few nites at the Mirage, it was feezing and windy in Vegas and I think we went in at least 20 casinos, there must be a thousand of them!!!...What a place, but not my cup of tea!!!......Give me Zion anyday..........Then off to San Diego and the most frightening freeways in the world, felt like I was on Mr Toads Wild Ride!!!...You have to get on a freeway to go anywhere and it takes so long to go anywhere....Did enjoy Point Loma and La Jolla...My son and I did a drive up a 7000' mountain where I could not drive another death defying blind turn at about 5000' feet (gave up and turned around), then back to my schizophrenic sister-in-laws house for Thanksgiving and a birthday party for her husband...Worst week of my vacation, the two of them are work-a-holics, no kids, making big bucks and then hiding the left over turkey in the vegetable drawer so no one could have any ....Such an unwelcoming place to stay, my mother and father-in-law were staying there also, and we all saw the true side of our hosts.....Then back to Vegas for 2 days alone at my sister's vacation home where you can see all of Vegas through two stories of glass windows and she had left us a whole turkey and all the trimmings....Then off for another Mr Toads Wild Ride of a trip home yesterday, the airplane shook all the way to Charlotte, there were huge high clouds for the 4 hour ride, never saw land, just giant puffy monster clouds....Then finally home sweet home!!!!....I slept 12 hours last nite and sooooooo happy to see my dog!!!!.....I think I took over 1000 photos and will try to post some later........I'm so glad to be home on my flat non-freeway roads where I can go anywhere I want in about 5 minutes......I have blood work tomorrow and hoping all the stress I just went through did not cause my any concerns....I have to get back on my non-stress healthy eating way of life......Best to all...Jewly
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Zion,, and Utah in general, is beautiful!
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Somanywomen - Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Can't wait to see your pictures.
Today marks the one year aniversary of my breast cancer surgery.
Valerie
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Jewly what a wild and wonderful time on vacation you had! I have always wanted to go to Vegas maybe one day. I've been to Cali but I was a kid when I went would love to go back. I have a cousins that live there (one of them has a male partner) the other one is married and has a town house apt and a small son. Really no place to stay but I still want to go. Maybe if I save really hard. Haha... doubt it with 5 grandkids. I can dream.
Valerie... Happy one yr cancerversary!!!! Happy dance going on for you....
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Thanks for the dancing bananas!
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You're Welcome Valerie!!!
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Thursday, tomorrow, I get hooked up to a heat monitor for 24 hours. Had heart palpitations Monday. My family doctor took me right in and hooked me up to his EKG machine. He thinks the medication I am on for my heart, that was a result of chemo, is way to strong for me. He cut me back on the one medication and I have to take the two 12 hours apart. I hate waiting for the results. When can I forget about cancer when it keeps reminding me of its past presence.
I want to move on.
I WANT TO MOVE ON!!!!!
sorry about the yelling.
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Veggy your quote..... "When can I forget about cancer when it keeps reminding me of its past presence.
I want to move on...I WANT TO MOVE ON!!!!!"
Gosh Veggy, I don't think we can ever MOVE ON!!!!!!........No matter what I do of where I am, this crap comes into my head!!!...Everytime I go for check ups, I question everything to the point where my docs just get me in and out asap..You are lucky that your docs took you seriously and got you right in...Sorry the chemo did that to your heart....I didn't do chemo, but if ever recurrence, I will question that choice (with possible, damned if you do and damned if you don't)....Hope they get your meds corrected and you can move on as much as possible....Jewly
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Thanks Jewly,
I should be getting ready to go but I keep putting it off. I just wish there would be a day or two that I didn't have the chance to think about it. Every little ache or pain, every little flutter, even looking in the mirror, I am always reminded of this crap.
A couple more minutes and I'll be out of here.
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Veggy, I'm checking back to get your update and hoping all went well with your appt....It's just crap that this is a never-ending rollercoaster for all of us, never know if were going up or down....Best to you and let us know....Jewly
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Just posting in here to let you all know they found something on my chest x-ray at the rad oncs office and I have to go for a chest CT tomorrow at 9:45 a.m. Please say a prayer for me as I know you all will do anyway. I am about to come apart at the seams. The doctor thinks its scar tissue but when I was dx with BC my doc didn't think that's what it was either. I am so scared. I am trying to stay positive and believe B9 results.
Renee
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Dang, Renee, I'm so sorry that you have to deal with this scare. Hopefully your doctor is right, and it's scar tissue, but it's good that you are getting it checked out. I will be thinking about you and wishing you benign results.
adrienne
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Oh, boy, Renee, I'm definitely thinking of you and wishing you B9 thoughts. If this thing was there when you were diagnosed with BC, then it's probably nothing new, so hopefully nothing bad. GOOD LUCK! Try to stay calm!! (I know it's a lot easier said than done!) When you start to freak out, try to remember to stop and breathe, count to10 and try to slow down. Hey, aren't you a week away from reconstruction surgery??? Lordee, you've got a lot going on.
And Valerie, some surgery anniversary present you get - heart rate monitor. How did it go? did you get any results yet? Good luck!
This week is my anniversary of starting radiation. It's looking like I'm going to need spine surgery. Can you believe this? At this point, I think I'm looking forward to it. It's been a very rough time since Labor Day Weekend.
Jewly, your vacation sounds WONDERFUL! I was in Zion Nat'l Park a few years ago. I thought it was the most beautiful place I had ever been. Can't understand why it isn't as famous as the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. I hiked up the Angel's Landing trail, but only up to the terrifying knife-edge part! No way was going to do that part. CONGRATULATIONS! Weren't you terrified!?
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Bonnie, when I had a chest xray done this time last yr. before I started rads this didn't show up, so nope, wasn't there and it's new.
Thanks all for the well wishes!~
Renee
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Renee, fingers and toes crossed that it's just scar tissue. Keep us posted
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Renee...so sorry you are having to deal with this finding on CT..Everytime I have a CT or Chest x-ray, they find things, just had to go through that last year when I had my pre-op for my bc and sure enough there were new findings, it's exhausting, but the 3 month follow-up showed some of the findings had disappeared and some had gotten smaller, I am thinking that there might be nodules that just happen and or that are there since we were small and they flare up now and again, but all in all are benign..I think they came to the conclusion that mine are granulomas..Here's what I found below for you, what is the next step, I had to wait 3mo for a new scan...Praying that you get benign results, it's so hard to breath until you know, and it's okay to take an occasional xanax.....
"Many of these benign lung tumors may occasionally have multiple origins. Among these are hamartomas, hyalinizing granulomas, leiomyomas, and sclerosing hemangiomas."
Veggy, still wondering how you are??
Bonnie, Zion is beautiful isn't it??...It's only about 2 1/2 hours from Vegas, yet most people don't take the time to go there...Such a gorgeous drive through the canyon mountains..I took over 1000 photos...It was a tough climb, had to rest all the way up and got about half way up the chains at very top and turned around...Most of the other climbers were non-Americans, mostly Europeans and Japanese, seems us Americans don't realize how breath-taking this area is....Yes at times, I was terrified, but I was trying not to let my fears keep me from going as far as I could...I was very proud of myself when I sent my nineteen year old a photo of me way up there...I'm sure he didn't think I would do it!!!
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Thanks Jewly for the info. Didn't realize you had been through something similar or maybe I did and forgot! Tamox brain... LOL!!
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Renee - I just about started to cry when I read your post. I hope it is just scar tissue and nothing else. Sending youa great big (((((HUG))))).Please keep us posted.
I haven't gotten any results back from the monitor. I guess that is good news. I will call tomorrow just to make sure.
Valerie
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Valerie I will wait with you... {{{{hugs}}}}
Renee
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I called for my reslts...
normal.
Renee - I'm holdng your hand... waiting. Hope your news is good too. (((hugs!)))
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Thanks Valerie... I think I'm fixing to give them a call my mom called up to one of her friends that works in xray and we know he read it yesterday so the doc has the results, just don't know if he's looked at it yet himself.
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They never call with good news.They make you sit and wait and worry. They hope you will forget. I just get more anxious. I had myself all worked up, looking up information about pacemakers. Why can't we just think of the best instead of the worst. We would sleep better.
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I actually slept well last night it's this morning I am having so much anxiety! But I called and only got the nurses voice mail. So I sit and continue to wait... Uggh!! oh well the old saying no news is good news. I will keep a prayerful mind. Hugs.
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Jewly, Valerie, Bonnie - I just got the call from the doctors office; all of my blood work is normal and my Chest CT is NORMAL ... woo hoo!!! only a small amount of scar tissue!!! What a wonderful Christmas miracle to receive from our heavenly father. Thank you one an all for all of your prayers I will have a Merry Christmas now and I hope you do to. Tomorrow I will be going for my doctor appt for my markings and pre-op to have my reconstruction on 12/20/10. Love to you all!
Renee
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We both got good news today! I am so relieved!
Now we can do the dance of joy!!!!
(((HUGS!)))
Valerie
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Well Renee and Valerie....Happy Happy Holidays...That's just great news!!!...Now both of you can finally get a good nights rest!!!........I can just imagine those big smiles on your faces........Now Renee, rest up for your recon and the very best for that also.....Jewly
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Thanks Jewly!
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