Chemo June 2010

I am scheduled for my first mammo plus ultrasound since diagnosis soon. Just like Jackie and so many other women (30% according to my BS) I was "mammo occult".  Who ever heard of that term!  I thought mammos were fairly reliable.  My left breast has been scrutinized within an inch of its life, but now I am worried.....what if my right breast is "mammo occult"?  I guess this BC journey will never end.  I sure hope the fears start to fade someday.

gin2ca - congrats on your anniversary!!!  I am so glad you have a wonderful hubby!!! 

I hope you all have a great week! 

kitty-  Count me in for the aches an pains.  For me they seem to be mostly in my knees and feet.  Having said that, my right shoulder was killing me yesterday!  The worst part is always wondering if it "is something".  Dear God, I hope these cancer mets fears subside someday.  No telling if it's rads or chemo.  My MO made a good point (which for some reason never occurred to me) that it could very well be chemopause related.  Even non BC women, when going through menopause, get joint issues.

kittycat, Dmom and mimi,   I suffer from the aches and pains also but was having a slight problem before BC with joints but it has definitely gotten worse.   I have started taking fish oil, calcium with D, and glucosamine chondroitin in the last 2 months and I think it is helping.   I am taking Femara and it has a major side effect as joint pain so I am trying to counteract that with some of these supplements.   Being a 55 yo woman with BC really does a number on everything I think. 

Mimi,  I had advanced BC also that did not show up on my mammo but mine was ILC that tends to be hard to see on mammograms.   Mine did show up on u/s but not until I had already found it on my self exam.   We are definitely our own best clinician in finding this stuff.  I will tell you that the Breast Center where I work finds small cancers all the time just on the mammo but really dense breast are hard to see through and a lot of times the cancer hides in the dense tissue.  I think one day they will have better imaging but we are not there yet even with digital.  There is nothing that is 100% accurate and that is a shame.  I pray they will find a cure and we can all breathe a sigh of relief.  

gin2ca--Happy Anniversary--sorry you couldn't enjoy it   Feel better soon!

Kitty--yes, many of us have complained of aches and pains after chemo.  It hit me esp. hard a year ago after chemo for colon cancer.  My onc also says it might have to do with the chemo pause.

mimi--I like your 5 day rule!  My prev. mammos didn't show anything either, and when something did show up it was just some calcifications.  I was told no hurry, but should have them biopsied eventually.  Rad doc said if it was cancer it would only be DCIS.  The MRI didn't show much else either, and biopsy only showed DCIS with a microinvasion.  Well, lumpectomy found a 3.5 cm IDC tumor, and mx found DCIS all throughout the breast!  I wish I would have had the other breast removed too, and still might.  The cancer managed to get to my nodes with hardly anything showing up--so of course I worry about what might be in the other one!

sherry- Oh WAHOOOO!  Can you hear me?  I'm shouting with my happy dance all the way from NYC!  You get the biggest, craziest happy dance of all!

mimi-  I like your 5 day rule.  Now if I can just remember to count the days....

gin-  So sorry about the stomach bug.  Be sure to take some good acidophilus when you can to balance things out again.  Happy Anniversary!  My DH takes glucosamine and chondroitin and swears by it. He said it took about 2 months to start working.  He could hardly walk down subway stairs before (used to be a runner).  Now his knees feel fine.

Oh wait....  I forgot to mention my work drama today.  So I decided today that after all the months I spent doing chemo and still working, that I am going to take care of myself more.  I got a mediocre to okay review today, even though I work really hard, taking care of customers and traveling on business... YES TRAVELING... DURING CHEMO and RADS!  I modified a business trip I was taking tomorrow to leave in the afternoon.  And I'm only going to work on my own projects and put myself first.  Sounds selfish, but I've given more than necessary.  You guys all got to hear about my work dramas during the summer.  When I have my hysterectomy, I'm taking time off and not doing the work thing along with it.  My friend Melanie told me that with my wig and makeup, I look good/healthy and act like I'm okay.  That could work against me. 

I stopped by a really cool place today that helps cancer patients, called the Caring Place.  They have all kinds of things to help cancer patients... massage and reflex therapy, reiki, support groups, art & jewelry classes, etc... 

This cancer jouney doesn't end when treatment ends.  We still need to heal physically and emotionally. 

Sherry ~ Congrats on finishing up the rads!!!  Wow, what a long journey you've had!!!  Now onto the next chapter!

Kittycat ~ I've been following your work related drama and can honestly say I know how you feel!!!  It is so frustrating when you are trying to work through chemo and rads, and feel you're doing pretty darned good, and they hit you with the @$#%@$.....The very week after I finished my radiation, I got pulled into HR and was written up for some really 'bogus' stuff and asked what happened to me, that I wasn't the nurse I used to be!!!  I was sobbing and asked "are you kidding me???"  They said I needed to 'get over it', and move on with my life.....HELLO!!!!!  The chemo is still affecting my body, and the radiation is zapping the energy out of me and I'm supposed to snap out of it!!!!!!  They also told me that I needed to get some mental health, because obviously (I was crying) I couldn't handle it. The thing is, I was getting excellent feedback from all of my co-workers, but my boss was angry that it took so long to get through.  Sorry, this had to be dealt with, not gonna die for my job...literally.

Sorry, I needed to vent.  If I were you Kitty, I would definitely take care of YOU first when you have your hysterectomy!  If (God forbid), I go through this again, I am going to choose not to work.  The working was really good for me, but the stress of dealing with bosses who lack compassion is not healthy.

On the hair front, I have about 1/2" of dark, curly hair!  I've been going topless, although I still wear my wig occasionally...

Kittycat,

Try drinking tonic water to stave off the foot cramps.  I really hate those, one minute I'm fast asleep, the next I'm hopping round the bedroom with rigid toes!  Anyway tonic water stops cramping.

Julia 

Sherry - I'm also doing the happy dance for you. It feels great to be finished. 

Kitty - I have had lots of aches and pains with the chemo and they continue, even though I am done with the heavy stuff. I still get herceptin every 3 weeks so that may also contribute to that. My toes are still numb until I get into bed at night and then they start to hurt. 

I'm going to be starting tamoxifan soon - can't wait to see what SE's I have with that... 

My hair came in all grey and is about 1/2 to 1 inch long...some are sticking straight out. I may go to my husbands barber and get it evened out a bit. I don't like my wig, so I just wear hats outside for the sun protection (now that I am in warm sunny AZ) and go without inside. Up until a few days ago (in CT) I was totally covered while outside, but again just using hats. 

Sorry for those of you who are dealing with ridiculous bosses and co-workers. I am retired, so it was easy for me.

Bon Did you try contacting Susan G Komen or The Avon Foundation for help with the med bills? Isn't that one of the reasons that we walk and do all that fund raising. It might be worth a call to them.

Meeting with my new AZ Onc for a treatment (herceptin) on Thursday. Hope all goes well.

Hugs

Liz 

Janny and Kitty-  I think that we ladies on the boards should all show up at your jobs with our weird, short, post chemo hair and tell your bosses exactly how they should treat you !   Yeesh ! How can these people be so self centered and short sighted.  Take care of yourselves ladies.

A big WOOOOTTTTT !!!!!  To Sherry.  You've been through the wringer I am so glad you are done.

Gin sorry you got the stomach bug on your anniversary.  If you are no longer contagious give your hubby a kiss from all of us for being good to you.

My hair doesn't seem to want to get much longer than it is.  It seems like it has been a half inch for two months.  Oh well.  Like the snow, there isn't a thing I can do about it.  But, like the snow it frustrates me. 

Today I forgot to put on makeup before I went to work and someone asked me if I was feeling all right.  Thank goodness for maybelline!

kittycat - well done - stick up for yourself and put yourself first for a change!!

bon - any news about the insurance and herceptin?

i had to miss a day of rads this week - had a virus with 39 degree temperature, cough, and feeling awful. still have the cough and am not great, but am on antibiotics and the temp has gone at least.

i'm now looking into a surgeon for my ooph - the surgeon i wanted is not availble until april and i really want to get it done late feb/early march so i can get my life back!

 i'm so jealous of all you with curly chemo hair - i always wanted curls - mine is dead straight and already 4-5 cm longso i don't think it's going to curl (and it has lots of gray - i bought an ammonia-free color rinse to see if it will help, but haven't tried it yet)

it's cold and rainign out so i think i will curl up with a book in bed soon!

Hi girls!  How's everyone doing?  I got my review situation straightened out at work.  Thank goodness!  I'm still getting aches and pains in my legs.  Ughhh...  I thought I would start feeling better after chemo and rads was over!  Maybe I'll try the glucosamine.  Just add it to the rest of the supplements I'm taking!  I had a bad week last week.  I lost my friend to colon cancer.  I've been having a hard time emotionally lately.  I just want to be somewhat normal again. 

I'm doing another speech for Susan G Komen this weekend at a women's college basketball game.  I have a couple friends going with me, including my friend Melanie that I met from BCO.  My DH has to work and he's so bummed.  The game should be fun! 

Kitty, Latte and TMarina-  Interesting to hear you are all planning oophrectomies.  Maybe you have already mentioned this.  I was wondering why your doctors reccomended you have one. 

Kitty- Sorry you lost your friend to the beast.  It seems cancer is everywhere.

TMarrina- I keep "forgetting" to make an appointment for a general physical because I don't want to face all that extra testing either.  I don't like the special treatment. 

On a very frivilous note I have been looking at the spring/summer dresses that are online and on sale.  I have lost alot of weight and will need some new clothes for the warm weather.  But, with the lumps and scars from my port, as well as the discoloration from rads and tatoos all on my chest, I am wondering what style of dress to get that is modest on top without looking too frumpy ?   Anyone know a good style or shopping venue that would fill the bill ?