1-1/2 yrs. out .... now taking Celebration Trip

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pinkbutterfly6186
pinkbutterfly6186 Member Posts: 11
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

DH & I have wanted to get away, just us two, since my dx & treatment.  Finally we're going!!  Cruising to 5 islands off Puerto Rico (Virgin Islands, Aruba, etc.), and we leave in a week.  Cool  Please tell me we are doing the right thing, and that you would do this, too.  The closer we get, the more anxious I feel.

I was dx in June '09 with invasive lobular bc.  Came thru treatment fine.  Am in a zometa trial now.  Got our cruise booked and I began having "new" symptoms.  Ugh.  Since radiation I've had episodical low blood pressure, but no big deal really.  I haven't ever fainted or anything.  But about a month ago my hands began turning "blue."  So, off to my oncologist I went.  And, I bought myself a blood pressure cuff.  Sometimes it reads low, sometimes it reads high.  But mostly it's in a normal range.

 My onc. dx me with peripheral vascular disease (low oxygen in blood) and sent me to a cardiologist.  I've been doing tons of research and am only finding a few articles that link breast cancer and peripheral vascular disease.  The cardiologist is assuring me "I'll be fine" but I am going to see him (now that I've been doing all this internet reading) again before I leave.  I had an echocardiogram and a nuclear stress test this week, and next week they are doing an MRA (angiography), one of my chest and the other of my arms, THE DAY BEFORE WE LEAVE.  I guess that's what has me feeling nervous, altho I believe the interventional radiologist will be present ... I can bend his ear I guess & ask for support & assurance that I'll be ok.  I know the cruise ship has a doctor on board, but I'd think they are very limited in what they can do.  Of course I want a smooth trip, but reading about PVD, I guess what is most useful to know is that I have a higher than normal risk of heart attack or stroke.  Great.  Surprised

Anyone here dealt with this?  Before my cancer I thought I was in pretty good shape.  Never a smoke or a drinker, not overweight, etc.  Thanks for listening.

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited March 2011

    Go...........go.........go and have a great time. 

    I don't know the answers to all of your questions, but do know that chemo and the stress of having BC wreaks havoc on our bodies.  This trip might be just what you need to relax and think of nothing more than how late should I sleep and what excursion should we do today.

    Have fun.

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  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited March 2011

    pink....dd#2, hubby and I went to Israel for 2 weeks one year after finishing chemo.....onc gave me a 2 week break off AI's as I was so struggling with side effects.....My fingers turn blue and I've been told that its Reynauld's....pretty benign.....I've had it now for 3 or 4 years.......

    Go on your trip and have a great time.....be sure to tell us all about it when you get back  :)

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited March 2011

    Yes, go, go go!

    We started looking at Cruises when I was going through Chemo, and this January we finally went! It was wonderful, we had an amazing time and I would go back tomorrow. Go, enjoy, and don't give cancer one second of your time. 

    BTW, they do have Dr's on board, you are not doing anything reckless. 

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  • jennyboog
    jennyboog Member Posts: 1,322
    edited March 2011
    You better go or I will!!! Laughing  Enjoy yourself and the well deserved relaxation.  I plan on doing something big myself, if not a cruise a whole day at the spa when I'm done with tx.  I agree, our bodies have gone through so much, it a wonder we don't have more problems than we do.  Have fun and be safe. 
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  • kim40
    kim40 Member Posts: 904
    edited March 2011

    You better go!!  You and your husband need this and deserve it so much more.  If you don't go, you will regret it!

    My family and I just got back from our first vacation since I was d/xed.  It felt so good to get away and put things on the back burner for 2 weeks.  We went to Florida for 2 weeks and I am so happy that we went.  We needed to reconnect with each other and forget about cancer if only for 2 weeks. 

    Have fun and if something comes up while you are away, they have doctors on board.  Enjoy yourself!

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  • pinkbutterfly6186
    pinkbutterfly6186 Member Posts: 11
    edited March 2011

    oh thanks sooooo so very much ladies.  I really needed your encouragement.  How good it feels to come here this morning & read your replies!!  Laughing 

     I HATE to exercise but I know it's what the doctor orders so I'm just going to have to get used to it.  I am excited about exercising on the ship tho, bc it looks out over the ocean.  Everything I'm reading says regular exercise is good for this problem.  My doc did say he didn't think it's Reynaulds.  I dunno.  I think it acts like Reynaulds but has a diff. name.  I have the PVD dx but he is also calling it Subclavian Stenosis.  I think there are off-shoot diagnoses of the PVD.

    Thanks again!  I feel good this morning from having read your encouraging words.  Tongue out

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited March 2011

    Some of the nicest runs I have ever had were on the ship, in the middle of the ocean! Even if I did feel like a hamster after a while (three circuits = 1 mile). Enjoy it.

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  • anneflorida
    anneflorida Member Posts: 59
    edited March 2011

    I can understand the need to get away.  I finished my radiation in August and 3 months later my husband, 2 teenaged sons, and I went to Rome.  We had the trip planned for early in 2010 and cancelled due to surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.  At the time, I thought that I would never get there so it was so sweet that a year later we made the trip.  Praying that you get a wonderful send off from your doctors.

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