Starting Chemo Aug 09

Patty and Lilah - I am planning to go to Vegas but haven't booked flights and room yet. It is great that I will "know" you two!! I am sharing a room with a lady I met in Seattle for dinner last summer from the sexy Seattle get together thread. Although I am miles away from Seattle I was there for a workshop and asked if anyone was able to meet and so met Brenda/Frosty.

We had my mothers visit with the onco today and we discussed what her options were. He told put everything on her plate so that she understood it all. He also felt the new lump and also found another one which he feels the new one he felt is mostly likely scar tissue sence its right on her scar line. I asked about the MRI and he said it would just show something is there and it wouldnt tell her if its cancer or not. Only a biospy wil do that. She has made her decision to wait till july and he was going to order a follow up PET scan in july to see if it has changed any. So there it is. I feel at least she knows the chances of it being a reoccurance or maybe nothing at all. I told her I will keep quite till july and after the PET scan, but if the dr still feels its should be biospyed then she said she will do the biospy. I hope she is making the right choice. Only time will tell. I support her in any decision she makes. I'm here to help her not make things worse. I know she is tired of it all and I believe that is part of her decision making.

I hope you all are doing well and enjoy the Memorial Day Weekend and we should all keep in mind the men and woman who are out there fighting for us all!.God Bless

Jenn,

I love the beach as well. We go to the Jersey shore for 2 weeks every year. I look forward to it. Its a place of peace and serenity. My most favorite time of the day is walking to the beach and watching the sunrise. I do my best thinking there. I bring a cup of coffee and stick my feet in the sand. We dont go where its real busy. Its a small private beach where we rent a small cottage. We have made many friends there and look forward to seeing them. After the sun is up I go get my bike and I will ride for about a hour. We go every aug. I hope you have a relaxing vacation. Take it easy and let the sun and sand wash away all the worries and have fun enjoying your family.

Penny

I have uploaded a picture, Its my husband and I. We will be celebrating 25 years of marriage this aug. It was at the beach last year.

It's good to hear from everyone. Jenn, when is your vacation?

I have come to a major milestone this month. I have decided to close down my preschool. I started it 12 years ago with just 4 children coming 2 mornings a week. Over the years I built up the business so that we had morning and afternoon programs every day with 12 children attending each session. I am very proud of what we do. 2008/9 was a tough year financially as I went on sabbatical with DH and so had to leave the business in someone else's care and of course it cost more money to pay more employees. Then 2009/10 was the cancer year, so again difficult  financially and I also cut back programs to mornings and only 2 afternoons to make things more manageable. With the economy etc, 2010/11 has been just barely ok and for next year, the enrollment is not great. So I decided to quit now. Parents are getting used to the idea, but it's been a tough week.

Now I have a massive job to dispose of all the stuff I have before the end of June as I do not want to pay rent for another month. And then I have to decide what to do! I am not the stay at home housewife type. I would waste my time watching rubbish TV and eating bags of chips. So yikes - all change here!!

Gill - Huge news!   I can imagine what a big decision it was.  My business partner and I talk often about when it will be time to sell our little company.  I think we'll just know when it is right.  Having gotten to know a little about you on these boards I'm pretty certain you will not become tv-addicted-couch-potato!  I would...but you won't!

Jenn - Hooray for beaches!

Lilah - I've got my room reserved for the TA TA's.  Also sending off my check for Elton John.  Can't wait!

Patty

I am SO looking forward to Vegas and seeing you both. I have sent off my Elton John ticket money too. Though I must confess now that I have heard Rod Stewart will be there, he would be my first choice of the two.

Patty - what kind of company do you have? If you've talked about it before, I can't remember!

Feel better Jenn. Thinking of you!

Hi I'm still here! I read every post on my phone but struggle posting from my phone...sorry I've been so absent!

@Jenn - I was hoping the tranfusion would eventually "kick in"...my mom felt like a million $ after hers. I want to see Bridesmaids too, I never get to the movies...I usually rent from "the box"!

@Gill - Whenever I hate my hair I just remember not having ant and I quickly get over it, lol! So lucky you get to go on this trip, sounds like fun, I've never been.

We are still "for sale" and beyond frustrated, we were supposed to get another offer last week from another buyer who didn't qualify for this much loan. I will never understand why people house shop before getting pre-approved???

I will go next month for a chest CT, just as another method of checking. I guess my onc. will do this every year mammo followed 6 months later by chest CT. I'm not looking forward to it, I like my "forget about cancer times". I feel real good lately. I'll go for now; I think about you Amazons all the time!

{{{HUGS}}} Donna

Jenn -- SO glad to hear you're back to your old energy levels -- wahoo!  I saw two of those movies and really liked them -- probably won't see Hangover2 till it comes to video though.  I'm sure its fun but not sure its worth $12 (which is what movies cost around here)!

Gill -- I'm sure it is a strange feeling to shut your business down like that.  I hope the trip to England will fill your head with new ideas for the future

Patty -- very cool job

Donna -- so nice to hear from you and see your lovely picture.  Is it new?  Love those curls.

Navymom -- I am thrilled to report I've lost 15 pounds since end of April by doing a simple thing: I have reduced my daily carb intake to between 60 and 100 carbs a day.  I have a calorie counter app on my smart phone (a Droid X) which makes it very easy to figure out the carb counts of things... my calories average around 1200 a day (so I count calories as well... though I find just by making careful food choices carb-wise I'm doing fine with the calories).  I am really liking this version of carb dieting (its two to three times more carbs per day than either Atkins or South Beach so its very doable).  Even with occasional days when I splurge a little on the carbs (or the calories) I am finding that I am continuing to lose.  I recommend this method!

Ladies -- just think: we are almost at the two year mark (August).  Sending healing thoughts and healthy wishes to all of you!  Especially to you Jenn. 

Patty -- I lose 15 pounds on chemo (which I was thrilled about) and then gained it all back plus a few more pounds (sigh) ... so I'm thrilled to be reversing the trend   I'd like to lose 25 pounds! 

And ladies I agree about the hair thing.  I keep getting it cut and it keeps growing (and looking better). At the moment its back to getting on the longer side and not as chemo frizzy on the end as it had been.  I'm sad though because it seems thinner on top than it was.  I always had fine hair... and still do.  I'm hoping it will get thicker with time though in fact it may not; it also may be as thick as it was before but I just don't remember.  Anyway I am getting used to having shorter hair. 

It's probably around 50-50 as many did not have chemo and, as well, some are three years out (like Estepp) from treatment.

Hugs and strength Gilly!  There will be an end of the sorting out...

Gill - Good luck on your sale this weekend!  I hope you make buckets of money.

Lilah -  My extra 2-lbs seems to be glued to my waist.  After reading about your diet, I looked at a diet book specifically targetted at "Belly Fat".  It was all about limiting sugar and getting dietary fiber.   I've always watched fat and total calories but never thought much about sugar figuring it was handled in the total calories.  Now I learn...NOT SO!  The Starbucks Blueberry muffin I felt virtuous eating every morning (lowest calories in the case, reduced fat, real fruit) has more sugar than THREE Krispy Kremes!  Yikes.   But I was delighted to learn that my beloved Fritos have virtually no sugar and a good dose of fiber.  So..Fritos for breakfast!  (Kidding)  I'm going to try limiting sugar a bit and see what happens on the waist.

Jenn - How you doing?

Patty