You know you're a cancer patient when....

Ah Lena...{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ hugs! }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

When you clip a baseball cap to the dog's leash so you remember not to leave the house topless when you walk her and scare the kids in the neighborhood.

When you listen to your employees complain about each other, their minor aches and pains and all I can think is I bet you are not wearing a piece of foam rubber in place of a breast right now. I am having little tolerance for these people right now.  I watched a minute of "women in prison" last night.  One of the inmates said that being in jail is like being in high school, so much drama.  I feel the same way about my office.  They are driving me crazy.

Elizabeth

Thanks Badger.

YKYACPWhen you get a new, stronger, pain med, read the instruction label take one, then spend the rest of the day, head and rse down doing technicolour yawns, wondering if your number is up already!

Then you read the other 'instruction sheet' the pharmacist gave you.

 Sheila.

YKYACPW you show up for lab, appt and chemo.... Not really wanting to be there but knowing only one more after today... Feeling like the damn could burst if ONE more person asks, "how are you feeling?" from the receptionist to nurse drawing labs, another receptionist, the tech doing vitals, the tech reviewing meds and the PA. Each and every one asked. No joke, I know it's part of the routine and social courtesy, but really?



I answered, don't really want to be here...



Responses included, oh I know... Only two left- one after today! You're so close! And more.

Today starts my second last cycle of chemo SE. Ugh.



YKYACPW you can come here to vent and it's totally ok with the others cause they've been there.

Thanks, -m

Mebmarj, my answer to oncology medical staff who ask me how I'm feeling is, "If I was feeling GOOD, I wouldn't have to be HERE now, would I?" Believe it or not, that actually gets a chuckle out of most of 'em.

amonto - I've done that but I'm better known for turning it the wrong way when putting in a new bulb.  Does being dyslexic account for this problem?  lol

Windlass---------dear one------------word loss is an issue with chemo--------------it's also a word loss with constant stress an loss and grief..........L&H&P's sas

Hi, Sas: Do the words come back after treatment? This is happening to me more and more, that I have to describe things because I can't remember their names. My onc says word retrieval problems are caused by the lack of estrogen and hormones, since the chemo shut down my pre-menopausal ovaries.

I can usually get the word I am looking for after a few seconds of brain searching time, but when you're speaking to people at a normal pace, there isn't time to ask people to wait.

My other cancer patient complaint tonight is that my entire right arm and shoulder and hand are numb and tingling so badly I cannot feel the keyboard as I type. It's a pinched nerve in my neck or back says my chiropractor, but I have no clue how to fix it, and the adjustment I got today from him didn't help. I am off to bed now with an ativan in hopes of getting some sleep. Tomorrow will dawn brighter. (At least til the hurricane hits.) :P

Nite!

windlass, hope you got some sleep.  The loss of nouns thing started happening when I was in my late 40's, pre-BC.  I could not retrieve the word for the four round black rubber things on my car, ya know, the tires?  <sigh>  Then I saw an episode of Oprah on peri-menopause and I felt SO much better because I thought, oh it's just a normal part of the aging process.  Then I had chemo, and fuggedaboutit.  Now I'm 52 and 14 mos PFC and don't stress about memory anymore because I expect to not remember jack and it pleases me when I do.  ;-)

LOL pejkug3, for me it's my phone number at work.

YKYACPW you have to keep one of your own business cards handy, so when you leave a voice mail message, you recite the right call-back number.

I was struggling with memory and processing a lot before diagnosis due to extremely high stress levels at work and legal situation with a house fire. I went to my doctor for some help with it and she suggested CoQ10, fish oil and vitamin B complex. It started helping tremendously within a couple of days. It doesn't fix it all, but it is better. When things got worse with those situations, about a month later, I approached her for something for anti-anxiety. (I have always been a high anxiety person anyway and was on Lexapro years ago for it.) She gave me Celexa and that felt like the last missing piece that I needed. Now my roughest times with memory just fluctuate with treatments.

My word retrieval did get better after chemo.  My menopause apears permanent, so I don't think the word problems were all hormones, or maybe I just got used to doing without them. I called HER2 "HR Puffinstuff" once not as a joke but because I just could not remember "HER2."

Hi, jenn., new to this group. I was dx with stage 3 breast ductal and lobular carcinoma in june, 3 days after my 38th bday. I have always had issues with anxiety as well. I take Effexor XR 150mg. Used to be 75 but with the dx of breast cancer, my doctor increased it. I love it. It keeps me calm and not so easy to jump off the handle! I also take ativan at bedtime. (Sleep issues)



Ykyacpw--when your dad has more hair then u (he started going bald in his 20's) got a picture side by side.



Ykyacpw--you look forward to tasting food again since your last treatment. Why gaining weight when you're not even eating. I eat a ton of grapes, cherries, cucumbers for the first 5 days after treatment. No chocolate, no chips, no sugar, no coffee!! Nothing that causes undue calories?? I don't get it!



People keep asking, How are you doing? You're such a strong person, to be going through this. I know they mean well, but I cry everytime I hear oh, how are you doing? I am an emotional person.



Jennifer

hi Jennifer, welcome to a great club that no one wanted to join.  I don't mind if people ask how I'm doing but not when accompanied by that sad-eyed long-faced look of pity.  I DO mind hearing "you're so strong" because I believe that means, "I'm so glad that I'm not you."

The weight gain could be from the steroids, ya know, the stuff they give athletes to bulk up.  They give it to chemo patients to manage side effects.

I didn't worry about what I ate during chemo, just ate what tasted good and what settled my stomach.  It took six months but I did lose the weight I'd gained from chemo.  I started a walking program when I started chemo (six weeks post-bmx) and the exercise really helped.  Tried to get out every day, even if all I did was walk slowly around the block.

Now I'm working on the fat that was there before.   In fact, it's time to go walk!  {{hugs}}