Is There A September 2011 Chemo Group?

Pinkshirt - I'm so sorry for your setback! I'm so glad you were able to get on and vent a little. Sending you warm, gentle hugs and hoping you are able to heal quickly and get back on track with your chemo.

Lee Ann - Good for you!! Fingers crossed for you to find a new, awesome Onc!

RJ - Good luck with Rads and your port removal. I'm glad to hear your port infection was caught early.

I've been working on a little photography project to try and keep my brain busy. I'm going to try to attach one here. 

Kelliregi.... beautiful picture.  You took that? Awesome.  Wish I had some creative talent.  Thanks for attaching.

rjbaby..congrats on getting that port out this week.  I'm bummed to hear the posts stating your oncs want them to stay in. I am going to ask mine about this Friday when I see her.  She originally told me she didn't care whether or not I got one. Since I was doing 12 weekly taxol plus the 4 AC I elected to get one.  I still have to do the herceptin every 3 weeks for the rest of the year. I would really like my port out in the next few months prior to finishing the herceptin. I heard the herceptin isn't bad on your veins like chemo. Now that I have it, I'm sure I'll be stuck with it. Mine is in my arm and bugs me. I can always feel it. Just another reminder....

sarasowise..congrats on your last tac!  

Leanne...good luck with your onc search. You definitely want to be comfortable with that person.

Curious.. do any of you that had surgery prior to chemo still see your bc surgeon at all? I only saw mine once after surgery but now have a few questions regarding an anterior margin. Thinking I need to make appt. 

pinkshirtnow....I am so sorry you have to endure this. As horrible as it is, you will get through it. I hope you can have the surgery on Friday so that you can get it all rolling along, heal up and finish off those last two chemos I believe is what you had left.  Keep us posted and know we are all here cheering you on.

maggie.... give us all the fun details of your trip so we can live vicariously through you. I love Vegas. I'm sure your staff loved it and congrats on the award.

Aw Pink, I see what you're saying, couldn't picture it getting worse, then...Wham. I just have this dumb question?  Why did you fall in the shower?  Were you weak on your legs?  Did you just slip?  I'm glad your parents were able to come and help you out during this.  Are you worrying about bone healing and your BC treatment...I can just imagine. You know what, you will probably heal better if you're not stressed from worrying on top of everything else, so as miserable as it is, try not to overdo the worry because that's not going to help. I hope it doesn't hurt too bad. I never broke a bone so I don't know. BIG OLE BOOBLESS CHEST SQUEEEZING HUGS from your friends. Hang, buddy.  What else can we do? 

RJ - I am using the same Eucerin.  There is no dry skin like Arimidex dry skin, turning into my memories of grandma overnight, or within 2 weeks of start.  Well, let's say I feel bald and dry and leave it at that.

OH PINK---so sorry about your accident.  I can only imagine such a setback and how I sould feel.  You have been such a positive influence on so many of us here...now let us do the same for you.  You can do this.  This setback is temporary and you are strong.  Sending you healing thoughts and prayers for strength to help you through this.  If we lived closer I would come to help you out....Anyone in the Portland Area??

Have 2nd rad consult today as insurance would not budge on the Local Cancer Center Doc so gotta head south for treatment....could be worse right!  Rad may be a little delayed from this but not upset as body is just ravaged from chemo crap and could use a little break. 

Maggie

Pink Shirt - I am so sorry about your accident.  I broke my foot 1 year ago and I was bummed about having to hop about one leg or use crutches.  I did not have breast cancer at the time and I was still fairly mobile but it bugged the living H_LL out of me.  So I cannot imagine the level of aggravation you must be feeling. 

It will definitely be depressing and difficult but you can get through this.  You are a strong person (you pretty much have to be to go through all this crap and still try to get out of bed in the morning).  And in time the surgery will heal, the bone will heal and you will be back on both legs. 

My thoughts are with you.  I hope you have a speedy recovery from the surgery - Take care.

I got the news that my blood counts are high enough to do surgery on Friday so keep me in your thoughts.  I am relieved and scared at the same time.

I am a bit overwhelmed to reply to everyone but I can say that we don't know why I slipped in the shower.  Every health care worker has quizzed me on that one and I think that I just slipped. I don't think I lost consciousness and I didn't have a seizure.  I could have been dizzy from the chemo because that is one of my side effects but it all happened so fast.  I guess I can't answer the question with certainty.

People have started to bring my family food which is very nice of them but they are bringing so much that it is overwhelming.  I asked one of my friends to coordinate it because I don't want to waste any of it but I my freezer is full.  People all want to help but I truly don't know what they can do.  They all have such busy lives and work full time so it's not like they can move in with me and take care of me.  Sigh.

Take care everyone - I will be thinking of you even when I am not posting.  

Linda

LInda, I am glad you are able to have your surgery.....the faster fixed, the faster healed!

You might want to tell your friend that there are websites available to help coordinate food....can't remember the name of it, but the one we used for a friend of mine was awesome.  You can list preferences, and folks sign up for a particular day and show what they will bring.  May help her get it under control for you!

We are thinking of you Pink. Congrats on final chemo Lee Ann, hope you sort out the doc situation!

went to see my sub mo today,last chemo next tues. did i ever tell you i don't like my sub mo, still don't so condescending!!!!!! thank god i only have to see him 1 more time in a month!!

also found out today trial is postponed til may 7th, now i have to call RO and tell them i can start earlier.

CJRT - Noticed the increased fracture risk to BC patients due to the dual whammy of poor balance post chemo plus increased risk of break related to increased osteoporosis from anti-hormonals.  I'm having theories that chemo has effects on the brain and balance, physical weakness and general debilitation, and a lot of us have numb feet and toes so we are not getting the sensory input a normal person would.  I know my sister lost her balance and fell in the deep end of my pool with her winter coat on during her first year post chemo.  I was talking to her during this and remember seeing her foot step where there was no cement and kind of watching her fall sideways in slow motion.  Sisters, I'm telling you, middle of November, Wisconsin, in the deep end of the pool with your coat on is not good.  I was so happy she was able to swim out because I didn't want to have to jump in to save her.  That water was about 35 degrees.  I also saw her trip and fall getting out of car on Wisconsin snow, which is kind of uneven at the curb, but still it is something we are used to.  I  know that she took a tumble at work going up some stairs, apparently misjudged the stairs, and got a nasty gash on her head requiring stitches, again, very near her chemo.  I don't see or keep in touch up her butt, so these are only the ones I am aware of for that time, there might have been more.  So yeah, in general I think the fall risk is real. Knock on wood, haven't fallen yet, but saw the numbers too, think of my sister and now Pink. Anyone else taken a spill since chemo?  I try to be extra careful because I live alone.  I admit the subject scares me a bit.

About Pink in the shower, I just know there were times during chemo I had a hard time standing long enough to take a shower, was that weak, and leaned against the wall for support during a lousy 5-minute shower, had to sit down to brush my teeth afterward and to step into my underwear.  When your feet are numb, that's obviously an additional disadvantage.

Another subject, CONGRATULATIONS LEE ANN, Another one made it home through the chemo nightmare.  Power on sister.  Any SE are a little easier to bear knowing its the last.

linda, thinking of you! hope surgery goes well.

rj--how do they remove the port? Are you knocked out or just a local?  Have heard 2 different versions so was just curious.  Mine comes out if scan comes back clean from yesterday.

Maggie

Shelley, I am halfway through rads and cannot wait until they are done.

 Maggie, when I had my port out a few weeks ago my BS used a local (lidicaine).  She did the procedure in one of her exam rooms, and it took all of about 15 minutes.   So, so glad to have it gone!

RJ and Linda, hope you are both recovering nicely. Hope Linda can recover from this and get back on track with chemo and surgery. I know it's a cause for worry but worry won't heal you one second faster. I hope you order a new freezer to hold the casseroles, take your pain pills, let family take care of you, and TIVO comedies for chuckles to take your mind off it.  Hang in there sister.

Karen - Changing diet is difficult.  I have been feeding the dogs all the salty food I can no longer eat.  Perhaps that is not ethical but I hate to just toss it.  They are getting ham and sausage and bacon bits and soup and some frozen pasta dishes, broccoli casserole as their treats. Pink's freezer may be full, but my refrigerator and freezer look emptier and emptier as I clean out all the no-no food. So far the dogs' paws are not swelling.  They like my cooking because they don't know any better.

Congrats Shelley on finishing rads.

About falling, I always wonder about old people falling, because they break hips and so forth and so debilitating.  I bet they think the same way I do before they fall....I don't fall.  No worries.  During chemo I was weak on my feet so I did worry.  Now I don't worry as much, except that my bones are going to get crunchier on the AI's. I am aware that women with breast cancer fall more than average, no matter what the reason is. I feel steady on my feet, but I think it is something that I have to be aware of and more careful with than I was before BC.

I thought I would pick up Biotin to help hair growth.  Ooops, picked up the 5,000 mcg dose,  Way too much, should probably be 1/10 or less than that. I can't believe my hair growth is this slow because when I used to color my hair, all the white was 1/4-inch up and a problem 2 weeks after coloring.

Ha, ha funny.  I thought the hair on my legs was not growing because they felt so smooth, but my hair is white on most parts except my forearms.  For whatever reason, I was laying on the bed and put my leg up in the air, and the overhead light revealed the hairs.  AHHHH.  OMG.  Some were about 3/4 inch long.  I hadn't shaved them since chemo started.  Guess I should wear my glasses in the shower for the state of the union, hair-wise.