Is there a July 2011 group?

yay shinypop!!!!  Congratulations!

Hang in there Rabbit, you're almost done and all those side effects will eventually go away. I wasn't on the same drug regimen as you but the fingernails on my right hand are still weird looking but growing out. The tiredness with radiation is nothing compared to chemo fatigue. So sleep as much as you can, your body needs it. I had muscle tightness really pretty awful for a good six weeks after chemo and then one day Poof! gone. After reading about all your activities while on chemo I've been in awe. You deserve a rest. Take care.

khs113 it's funny, my sister and several say to me that I'm doing too much, I need tood's niece's bday party for 3 hours on Saturday, other than that, I've done nothing for like 5 days! I don't even have the energy to take a 10 minute walk anymore. I did go to the grocery tonight and it was the most I've walked in a week. I don't have a clue how some of you all are working full time or even part time during chemo. 

shinypop, I meet my rads onc next Tuesday, the day before my last chemo.  I won't be doing rads til late January probably but my onco wanted me to meet her in the next few weeks. 

xoxoxo to all my new found friends!  

I know there's light at the tunnel and I'm so close, but damn it seems like moons away! LOL 

Hope all is well with everyone, Rabbit its almost over!  I met with my homeopathic dr, last week.  Yep my foot pain is neuropathy.  He said that with taxotere it can take 2 months after you finish for it to happen.  It just suck because i did everything from icing hands and feet to supplements.  I think that once I started radiation I had to stop taking some of the supplements that helped fight the neuropathy and them bam there it was.  I have days that are better than other but forget exercise.  I just walked 2 miles this morning and I feel like my feet are on fire.  He also said that it can take 12 months to go away.  Otherwise i'm good to go, done with rads and on tamoxifen.  I haven't felt any side effects yet but who knows.  thinking only good thoughts for all of you.

mavinbooks-tell your Friend to keep moisturising the area 3 times a day.   Also tell her to get some Calendula I swear that is what saved my skin. 

...still waiting to get the last drains out. That will be on Thursday. I am still having such a hard time sleeping. I am wondering if it is a new-found energy level after getting all that cancer out of me. All my aches and pains from chemo are fading except some occasional neuropathy in hands and feet, my funny colored nails growing out (but none came off), and joint pain in hips and hands is really bad at times.

I want to find out more about the joint pain. Does it indicate a problem, arthritis down the road or a deficiency of some kind? Radiation should be starting soon. I will find out more on Thursday. I am three weeks out of surgery tomorrow and my onco said I could usually start at four weeks. It feels so good to be pushing on through this stuff!

Rabbit, rent some movies and enjoy the downtime! If your life is anything like mine, it may be the last of it you see for awhile. I always tell myself that the sleep is helping to heal my body and that helps me enjoy that too. I am so glad to see you are almost done. It's been a long journey for you. 

hi guys, thanks for all the encouraging posts! Leaving in an hour for my 2nd to last taxol! This time next week I will be saying "going in for my last chemo" I can't wait. 

mavinbook, sorry I don't know any advice to give you

dexxy, I iced the first 3 or 4 times, then stopped for a few of them, now, back to icing and to be honest several nails had started lifting during my icing, but the neuropathy is not too bad, I would say on a scale of 10-10, it's a 5, constant numbness in a few toes and parts of some fingers. I really don't know if the icing is supposed to keep you from losing nails or help with the neuropathy or both. I was taking all the supplements too but when I had that horrible reaction to the docetaxel, my PA told me I had to stop all of them to make sure it wasn't a reaction to them. I got back on B6 in a week or so and by the following week, got back on the Acetyl L Carnetine, but never got back on the L glutamine powder. I may start taking that now to see if it helps.

yooper, I got my best friend on black cohosh months ago and she swears it is the only thing that stopped her hot flashes and got her hormones back in balance, she started menopausal symptoms in the last year or so. But with me being ER+ I have to stay away from it...you are ER- so you should look into it, I hear it works wonders. If you do decide to take it, make sure you take Vitamin E as well, it balances it well. 

J-Bug, so glad you get your drains out tomorrow, that will be such a relief! I have watched so many movies, netflix and done tons of reading.... 

sandy115, that sucks that you got the neuropathy 2 weeks after chemo! I will be curious to know if aloe is good for rads too...someone please post, I'll be doing rads in January and want to be prepared!

xoxoxo to all!! Hope we all have a great rest of the week!  

Rabbit: That's funny on the movies... of course! You have probably rewatched every movie you own at this point. I am so sick of television and movies at this point. I can't wait to get some prostheses, put on a wig again and get back to work! 

Did anyone have skin peeling after bmx? I have been using Eucerin to get rid of this, but I have had light skin peeling in the area below where my breasts were. It seems odd to me that that area would be affected more than the area where the surgery was. 

 Sorry to have been MIA for so long.  Life has been hectic.  Major issues with my oldest son, hopefully he is on the road to recovery, but he has a lot of work to do to straighten out his life.  I'm cautiously optimistic that after a wasted decade, he has seen the light and wants to move forward.  Fingers crossed here.  Work has been crazy busy and I've been presenting at conferences and workshops, so by the time I get home I don't even want to look at a computer. Ergo, no posts from me.  Finished chemo on Oct 29, just herceptin now every three weeks or so until next July. Radiation starting on December 5, and I go for my simulation and tattoos tomorrow afternoon.  Who'da thunk my first tattoo would be little blue dots on my boobs? LOL

I'm going to try to catch up on all your posts and see where everyone is..from the few I read I want to send my prayers to Misswim and her family.  Cancer is really a bitch.

For those of you finished and finishing chemo, mazel tov!

For those of you getting some hair growth back, great!  I'm still a complete cueball with no eyebrows or lashes.  I'm wondering when I can expect something to start growing back, or if it will grow back.  Whatever.  There are more important things to consider.

For those of you doing rads, which soaps, deodorants and creams do you recommend? The nurse at the radiology oncology department gave me some suggestions, but I like to hear from those of you in the trenches.

Oh, I remember someone here had problems with fingertips and fingernails a while back.  Can't remember who, but I can relate.  I had bleeds in almost every nailbed (I'm on Pradaxa, which is a blood thinner, for A-fib) and I remember the two weeks after I finished the Abraxane chemo, my finger tips really hurt.  They don't hurt anymore, but they ain't pretty.  Very brittle with purple blotches under the nailbeds.  My toenails look evern worse.  My oncologist said this will pass in a couple of months. Hope he's right.

Still waiting on FEMA to get started with the repairs on my house, but we managed, in spite of not having half the house usable, to do Thanksgiving.  I'm hoping to get some work started in December, but FEMA is really, really slow in getting the paperwork completed.

ANA, I'm a long time Weeds fan.  A fun show. I've also become addicted to Hell on Wheels on AMC and Body of Proof on CBS.  I watch them on demand since I'm usually asleep by 8:30 during the week.  

Rabbit - I still have neuropathy in my feet -- it's a little better, but still very annoying and uncomfortable if I'm on my feet for too long.  It gets better when I keep my feet up for a while. 

I'm going to try to keep up with this board going forward.  I felt unmoored for the past few weeks without coming here.

Good wishes to all. 

Thanks ANA_424! I am glad to hear someone else had that. It doesn't seem like a big deal. I just thought it was a bit strange.

Good to see you ellenquilt. I can relate to the challenges that you have had going on and wish you the best in battling on through!

Phillybird: I am glad to hear about you getting to the gym. I was a huge gymrat before all this and I really miss it. I may just have to find a way to get that going again. I just have to find out what I am capable of now that my bmx is done. 

congrats Jbug yeah!!!

and Ellen we missed u! thanks for letting us know you are well

yooper-take any opportunity to heal yourself.  Naturopaths, homeopathic, acupuncturist with Chinese medicine training.  all of these a great avenues to heal from the inside out.  Western medicine just doesn't cover it all.  We need to take our recovery just as seriously as we did the  treatments.  I swear I'm a healthy happy person on most days because of my supplements.  my RO had said no antioxidants which I believe were helping me fight of the neuropathy.  Once those were taken out of the equation it opened the door for those nerves to finally die.  I'm hoping to slowly get better with supplements and acupuncture.

Ellen's baaaack!!! Good luck with FEMA. I met with my rad onc today and we will set an appt for tats next week. Gotta get this thing rolling so that it will finally end. 

Hi ladies- haven't posted in ages. Trying to catch up on everyone's progress!

Rabbit- almost there, sweetie! You are awesome and a total inspiration.

J-Bug- so glad you are doing well after your surgery. I hope your healing continues. I totally had the dry skin patches around my scars. Used Vitamin E oil and cocoa butter and all was well pretty quickly.

Shinypop- so glad you are moving toward the end of things. Keep it up!

Ellenquilt- so glad to hear from you and thank you so much for your prayers and good thoughts.

To all of you, I want to thank you for your kind words and prayers for our family member. He is now at Dana Farber receiving inpatient chemo and we will see how he responds. It has been a tough few weeks trying to work on my own recovery, making sure everyone knows I am ok, and trying to be there for everyone, be a support, and try to answer questions or lend an ear as I am the only other "cancer person" in our family. I had a follow up appointment at my cancer center at the "Survivorship Clinic" , part of which is to see a cancer therapist. I wasn't so into that- but it was the best hour that I have spent with anyone in a long time. I cried alot of tears , talked alot about the survivor guilt I seem to be having and how hard I am working trying to make sure everyone knows I am doing well that I have belittled my own recovery. I hit the ground running and haven't stopped since chemo ended. Iam mentally and physically exhausted....... and I have to start honoring that and realize that my new normal will never be exactly like my old life was. This is all such a process......

I am thinking of all of youand hope evryone is doing well.

Sorry I've been offline again for a few days. I have been busy dealing with things that were neglected during my treatments!

Rabbit - You are SO close to being done with chemo! Just a few more days! I had bad neuropathy during my Taxol treatments, but didn't lose my nails at all. I know someone else in my local young women's support group that lost almost all of her nails. She said they did grow back quickly though. Hopefully you will be able to keep your nails.

Shinypop - Awesome that your neuropathy has gotten better. I feel like mine is getting better, but then I have times when it seems to get worse again. When did you finish chemo again? Hope you can get the rads started soon so you can be done with all of this!

Mavinbrook - Yay for not needing rads! I am also able to skip it. They estimated negative nodes, so I went with the mastectomy to avoid rads. 

Yooper - Have you tried acupuncture? It's supposed to be helpful with hormone balance. I have tried it before and it really helped with some anxiety I was experiencing at the time. I may go back to see if it will help with my fatigue, since it's been 9 weeks and I still get tired easily.

J-Bug - How is it having your drains out? Much better I'm sure! I had trouble sleeping after my mastectomy too (and that was before chemo). It's hard when you can't sleep comfortably. Also, there is evidence to suggest that sleep issues exist for some time after finishing chemo. I know I experienced it after finishing chemo in February and I've had some issues since finishing chemo this time as well. It does eventually get better though. 

Ellenquit - Welcome back! I am sorry about your son and the whole FEMA thing still pending. I hope things get better for you soon. As for the eyebrows and eyelashes.....I lost almost all my eyelashes and a good portion of my eyebrows and it does come back rather quickly! I'm back to tweezing unwanted hairs around my eyebrows lol. 

Khs113 - Funny, I've been happy about the cold weather and everyone wearing hats too! My oncologist suggested we take a vacation to celebrate being done with treatments. Doctor's orders! We were looking at Hawaii, but decided on Whistler, Canada instead. Cold climate...blend in with the crowd.

Misswim - I continue to keep your family in my prayers. We all know that with cancer, it's a one step at a time thing. He is lucky to have you there with him every step of the way. It's different when you have others who have been through it before around you.

AFM - I'm definitely seeing some hair growth in the last week, so excited to track my progress! I just read that hair tends to grow faster in the spring and summer months, which I thought was interesting. So maybe we would benefit from keeping our heads warmer? Not sure if it's a myth or not, but I'm willing to keep my head warmer if it helps!

Hi to all- Rabbit, I'm glad you're so close to being done with chemo. In a few weeks you'll start to notice the changes for the better. Get plenty of rest and keep yourself hydrated. I'm so happy for you.

Misswim--Thinking good thoughts for your brother-in-law and glad that you're getting some support during this time. Take extra good care of yourself.

Yep, the hat thing is interesting. I usually carry a light hat that I can just swap out when things get to hot inside with my warm winter hats. One day I forgot to bring my indoor cap and thought I'd pass out from being so hot. My hair is just not long enough yet to go around in public. Maybe I shouldn't be so vain 'cause who really cares?

I was at a holiday craft sale the other day and I heard a voice behind one of the tables say "What stage of treatment are you in?" I looked around and one of the crafters signaled me and we started to talk. It was the first time, out in public, that anyone had asked me that. She was also undergoing treatment for triple negative breast cancer (the first triple neg I've met in person), and is looking at reconstructive surgery next month. We had a wonderful conversation and exchanged phone numbers. It was like meeting a familiar friend when you're a long way from home. Plus, she has the same first name as me ---Krista! Coincidence?

Glad to hear I'm not the only one on the emotional roller coaster. (not that I want others to be, but you know what I mean.) Hats--I usually throw my winter one on over my regular hat or scarf. That way I can whip it off when I get too warm. It fits over all but one of my hats and I don't wear that one much.



Rad therapists--mine are all women...nice ladies. They're all younger than me but one. She's the one who calls me "Hon" all the time and has bad coffee breath.



I am enjoying watching my hair grow back. It's exciting to me that I can notice change almost every day! That helps me be more patient about it. I lost my very last eyelash this week. There are a few stubbles of new growth. Eyebrows are starting to fill back in. Can't tell yet on my head how much will be dark and how much will be gray.



Krista...I like your story of meeting the TN comrade. It's amazing the instant bond we can have with people who have been through similar circumstances.



Nails...I thankfully haven't lost any. Mine are in bad shape though and I look forward to them growing out and looking normal again.



Saw my regular PA last week for my yearly. She was encouraging about things settling down (hormonally, emotionally, etc.) with time. Sometimes it's hard for me to accept that this is a process. I want to feel good NOW. You probably don't know what I mean. You are probably all waiting patiently for your recovery to run its winding course.