Starting chemo January 2009?

Hi Jewels! I take the quiet thread to be a good sign that everyone's doing well!

I had MRI and blood tests last week in prep to see my onc on thurs which they cancelled and rescheduled for Monday. I just wanted to get my 3-month worry over. I've had some new aches and pains. Funny I didn't feel a thing in Maui for the 17 days we were there.Maybe the cold fog here is making me feel like 90 yrs old.

I sure need the vacation. Taking one class in S.F., but the Professor is great and it's good to do while I"m not teaching. Don't know who will be my new co-teacher next fall. I'm already anxious about that.

Happy summer, Jewels!

Yes, very quiet!  I look forward to a train trip to Montana with dd.  Of course North Dakota has had lots of rain and flooding and so I am checking to see if we will be stopped along the way!  I am so excited about the trip.  I even reserved a room to stay in on the way out.  Then we will check out the very first school I taught at and the college I attended there.  Do you think the buildings will look smaller, like lockers do when you return to your elementary building?  After the memory tour, we head down to Mt Rushmore and then to Colorado.If we get slowed down by flooding, we will head out to Whitefish, Montana.  Either way, we can't lose!  I am not sure how to get around the flooding in North Dakota, but I have been checking and AMtrak hasn't cancelled any of the routes I will be on.....fingers crossed!

Hey all, yes, quiet is good.  We are planning a staycation in a few weeks as a family and want to do a romantic couples vacation end of the summer for 3-4 to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Unfortunately we are finding it hard to find something that works without a passport, for only 3-4 days, that is not outragously expensive. All the places we are interested in are too hot and muggy in August.  We were getting exctied about the Virgin islands but it looks like the timing for flights would make it so we would only really have 2 days of relaxing.  We may just end up doing something closer to home and doing it up big- fancy smansshi hotels and such, but I really wanted a beach with water water and palm trees and morning yoga and frufru drinks brought to your lounge chair.  One other possiblity is doing some national park stuff in the midwest as I have never done that. 

Tomorrow I am using a vacation day to have sometime to get caught up at work without getting any new work to put me behind.  But at least I can come in late, take a long lunch and leave when I want and dress fairly casual.  Of course, the less time I am in the office, the less I will get done.

 I was pretty pooped today as I found my 7 y/o up watching TV at 2am.  When I asked what he was doing he, with a straight face told me the best shows are on at this hour.  Took me an hour to get him back to sleep.  Then I had to get myself to sleep.  Luckily I only had a half day of work due to a dentist appointment.  Unfortunately my dentist thinks I may need a root canal, one of my teeth may be dissolving itself from the inside and/or forming a cyst or something based on an x-ray.  One more medical appointment for September, along wtih my 6mth and seeing the Thyroid doctor.  As if September is not busy enough with Jewish holidays and school starting and hard enough with it being when I was diagnosised/ 

Jess--have a great trip. Glad you can spend some time and have some adventures with dd!

Renrel--that's too funny about your son! You must have cable--wonder what his idea of "best shows" is?

My MRI a couple of weeks ago was fine, as was my blood work at onc visit. She's referring me to a gyn onc because I told her about my co-teacher being misdiagnosed with her ovarian cancer . She said just talking to him will put my mind at ease about me getting it.

Had my 1st colonoscopy, which wasn't bad at all, and neither was the prep. Not as bad as the stomach flu I had last winter! Found one small polyp, benign but the kind that can turn into ca so I go again in 5 years. Funny that I'm almost thinking that far ahead in my life! I'm trying not to think ahead more than a few days--my summer break is almost over. Glad we spent so much time in Maui, and I'll be finishing my class, visiting my mom and sibs in so cal, out of town visitors have come and gone and will come some more, and I hope a few more trips for me before the school bells ring.

Hope all the jewels are having a good summer.

I am back!  I had a fantastic time.  I will post those photos!!!  ( self encouragement talk- I just discovered how to do it on Facebook!)  I talked to one of my very first students and had a great time touring the school.  Later, dd and I went to Mount Rushmore and Devils Tower/ Battle at Wounded Knee/ Charles Russell Museum.  The highlights were great photos taken by dd of wild horses and a herd of Buffalo.  Gosh, how I realized what I loved about Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota.  We had a long trip home, but am now so glad to be back.  I will fill you all in later....

Jess--Glad you had a great time traveling with your daughter. Wow--to see an ex-student. I won't ask how old the student is! Funny I saw a little one I had 2 years ago at Norstrom Rack this wkend. He ran up and hugged me--wouldn't have done that in class. I spent a couple days last week in Monterey with my college grad daughter, and it was great. I tired HER out!!

 Renrel--how sad about the acquaintance with Ovarian cancer passing, and her poor husband. Maybe he figured you could relate to the difficulties of going through cancer. Have a GREAT trip! I'm ready already to head back to an island. I followed our Hawaii trip with MRI 3 days later--and I think being relaxed from the trip helped. You're fine.

Saw my primary care today for a physical. He said I could live a long time--breast cancer is unpredictable. Thanks, doc (actually he meant well).

Hugs to all Jewels as summer is winding down (for me...kids on 8-29).

Hi Everyone:  Can hardly believe that summer is coming to an end. Since my husband always says  "Boo Hoo! not everyone has had the summer off"  I will not ask for your sympathies, only a wish and a pray for a good class and a good year. 

I have had the most amazing summer.  Had two new grandsons added to the family - one in June and one in July.  I got to witness the birth of the July one and wow what an awesome experience.  Did alot of travelling with my youngest DS who marched drum corp for the first time and had a wonderful time following him around on tour and helping out in the big mobile kitchen that also followed them around.  I will never complain about making lunches for my kids again after making 150 P&J sandwishes at one time. Had a family reunion at my sister's house and it was so fun seeing all the neices and nephews who are now all grown up.

Came across a great idea for raising $ for cancer research.  Check out my link if you have a chance.

http.//wishes.causes.com/wishes/355910

Glad to hear everyone that checked in is doing well.  Got the card saying time to make the appointment for 6 month check.  Always makes me nervous.  I will be three years out this November.

Hi Everyone:  Can hardly believe that summer is coming to an end. Since my husband always says  "Boo Hoo! not everyone has had the summer off"  I will not ask for your sympathies, only a wish and a pray for a good class and a good year. 

I have had the most amazing summer.  Had two new grandsons added to the family - one in June and one in July.  I got to witness the birth of the July one and wow what an awesome experience.  Did alot of travelling with my youngest DS who marched drum corp for the first time and had a wonderful time following him around on tour and helping out in the big mobile kitchen that also followed them around.  I will never complain about making lunches for my kids again after making 150 P&J sandwishes at one time. Had a family reunion at my sister's house and it was so fun seeing all the neices and nephews who are now all grown up.

Came across a great idea for raising $ for cancer research.  Check out my link if you have a chance.

http://wishes.causes.com/wishes/355910

Glad to hear everyone that checked in is doing well.  Got the card saying time to make the appointment for 6 month check.  Always makes me nervous.  I will be three years out this November.

Hi all

glad to hear everyone was having a good summer.... spent some good beach time, but now back at work, getting kids ready for school, etc.  Have been off my schedule so not feeling great (bad eating and lack of exercise) and have had  a headache on and off for the last couple of days--- which I think may be related to grinding my teeth at night-I do have a night guard but I keep forgetting to put it in-then I have the headache then I worry that it is something related to bc....sigh.....

Just a little overwhelmed about the start of the academic year (I work in higher ed) and it is always such chaos at the beginning, no matter how you plan...sigh..... 

lady jane, I was in drum corps as a kid--it was great fun--- but does require a lot of parental patience!!!!

hugs to all

It has been a long time since I have been here, but that doesn't mean I haven't thought about each of you.  It seems like everyone is doing well.  I have had an eventful year.  I finally retired and am enjoying a life free of the stress of the ratrace.  I wasn't really ready to retire but due to changes within the upper management team, I found it impossible to stay.  It's all good though.  I am so happy with my new life.  The beach is my new office.  Doing whatever I want to whenever I want to is absolutely a new and very welcome change.    I am trying to figure what I can do in the line of volunteer work.  Anyone have any ideas?  

My next 6 mth onc visit is next month and hoping again that all is well.  Reconstruction is complete.  Didn't go quite as well as we had hoped due to a severe infection after the first surgery, but I do have a boob and that is so nice.    

Hope everyone continues to receive good reports and enjoy life.   Much love, Brenda

Brenda, congratulations, that sounds wonderful.  DH would love me to retire, I'm just not near ready yet.  However, I do totally get the point about new managemen t, if we had a big shake up and things changed much I wouldn't start over somewhere else and move etc, I will retire.  One of the things I had to give up when I went back to school years ago was the time I spent volunteering in DS's school library.  I so loved doing that.  It wasn't anything exciting.  Stamping books in or out  and filing and stacking.  But, they could rely on me to do it correctly and I love books so much I was in heaven.  Hearning the kids stories and seeing them happy with their books was one of the most fun things I've ever done.  If I could get that experience back it would be great.  So, I think Renrel is right.  What do you enjoy?  Books, typing, cooking?  What do you find so fun that doing repetitive meanial aspects of it means it is still fun? 

Good luck on the bone scan and thyroid work up Renrel and please keep us posted.  Your vacation sounds awesome and I love the description of the Inn.  I do so love hearing your stories of DS and how he's doing.  Kept me smiling many days on chem when I wouldn't have otherwise. 

Well, my outside of work time right now is being taken up by therapy visits.  The LE is so bad right now.  Very discouraging actually.  DS's wedding is less than a month away.  I called and rescheduled all my follow up visits for this month until later next month.  I'm not doing cancer related things until after the wedding.  If the LE will allow me I'm going to forget I ever had it until then.  

Don't stop in as much, but, think of all of you often.  So, if I missed a posting from earlier please forgive me. I'm finding that staying off the boards except for quick trips in, and doing even that much less often is healthier.  Seems like a lot of us in our chemo group are doing that. I don't think it is good to let BC take over a portion of your every day, and the computer and the  boards make it a little too easy for me to do that.  I try to look and take a turn at helping newbies sometime, but, otherwise breaking that habit has been good for me.  If I come in,  I check in here and with the thread about exercise and reading--then close out the page for a time. Well, do get a lot of help on the LE thread still, but, I am so trying hard to keep my focus on enjoying today and making BC a past event that is only that--the past.

Thanks Brenad, I will check it out.

Hi all.  I have a sonogram every six months on my thyroid.  I have hashimotos and it is a lumpy bumpy thyroid.  I am hoarse from it, I think.  I hope that it isn't something else......

I have been very busy and have missed everyone on the our thread.  I hope all is well with you and yours.  My life will settle down after the 29th of September, when our recall drive is completed.  Fingers crossed!!! 

Hugs and kisses!

Jess--still here. Get too lazy to log in and write, It's always so good to hear from Jewels who still check in!

 Been back at work since last week of Aug. Have an interesting group of 7 kids with special needs in the K class--27 total. New co-teacher is young but smart and friendly. I'm still missing my co-teacher who died of ovarian cancer so much. I hate cancer.

Sept. 18 was 3 years from diagnosis. Had some friends over to appreciate (not celebrate--don't want to jinx). They saved me through the whole ordeal. We ate brunch and went for a long walk. My daughter is writing one of her college  app essays on how the cancer affected her--i just started crying!! 

 My hip has been hurting terribly, so of course I'm thinking the worse. But taking 2 advil in am and pm really helps so maybe it's something else. I had hip pain on the same side years before bc. My Lymphedema is acting up. I bumped my elbow in Aug while helping my mom and I think that's why it's swollen. Finally got in to the LE clinic. Was told that the only way  to get it to look like other arm is to wrap 24/7. I'm going for it but have to wait til end of Oct. I go in everyday  for 2 weeks to get it unwrapped, messaged, and wrapped. By then it will be colder and I won't miss my 3 day/wk swims, pllus I'll tell the kids I'm turning into a mummy for Halloween.

 love to all JJs!

I am two weeks away from the dx, though the suspicious mammo had already come back.  I was so in denial; I remember getting steamed at the surgeon who runs a breast clinic for mammograms because she made me wait in the waiting room.  I almost walked out during the initial appointment to plan for a digital mammogram.  The original mammo and the ultrasound picked up NOTHING for my right breast and a funny shadow on the left breast.  Hm........my surgery took out a mess of cancer in the Right breast.  Iguess I am thankful for the "shadow" on the mammo of the left breast, cause if not, I 'd probably still be sitting here with cancer in my breast.