Ohio Chemo Sisters

Hi girls!

Kelloggs ... you must live over in Market Heights?  Nice area.  I live in the little neighborhood tucked behind the new fire station on 25th & Cleveland Avenue.  We call it "Fringewood" - all the ambiance of Ridgewood but without the higher taxes, LOL!

Radiation is going OK ... I am very, very tired, and not sleeping very well even with the sleeping pills the doc finally gave me.  I can get to sleep with the pill, but I always wake up between 2-3:00a and cannot get back to sleep.   I am just dragging, sometimes I feel like I am sleepwalking at work.

My skin was in great shape until this week, and now I am starting to get a little rash on my chest and my armpit is tanned.  The rash itched and I forgot NOT to scratch it - D'OH!  So I am putting a little cortisone cream on it and it is getting better.  I have no redness, blisters, burning or anything like that.  I use my Mary Kay face products on my boob.  It is working beautifully. 

Re hair ... it started coming back in about 7 weeks after chemo (they predict 6 weeks).  I have about 1/4 inch of fine fuzz all over.  I have decided it will be whatever color it comes back in, no more coloring my hair (I am 54).  About the same time the hair started coming back in, the rest of my eyebrows and eyelashes fell out.  I have no bottom lashes, no eyebrows, and about 5 upper lashes on each eye.  I wear glasses so it is not super obvious, but when I look in the mirror with my makeup off, I feel like my face is bald.  Bleh.  I had nice eyelashes ... I would really like to have them back, thank you very much!  I usually wear a wig to work, and around the house I wear a 'do rag, or these soft caps I got from TLC.  Nothing glamorous but they are comfy and they keep my head warm.

BTW I have 2 sons ... one is 25 and in the Navy, stationed in Japan.  My youngest is a freshman at  Ohio State in Columbus ... a music major.  He is home this weekend, yay!

Very windy today, lost power 3 times at the office.  I would gladly skip snow and go right to spring.  My tulips are up, silly girls!

Take care everyone ... enjoy the weekend.

Debbie

we lost power during the nite for about 2.5 hours and at the grocery today the lights flickered...i did not wash my hair this morning-afraid to! and it blew everywhere while i was out-so far none of it is shedding tho-today is day 12

i'm in a mood to cook - think i'll make a big pan of veggie lasagna with white sauce- hope it will freeze well after we eat at least one nite off it!

had my appt with new PCP today to get established. he prescribed very low dosage of anti depressant thinking it wouldn't hurt! i'm game.

went to NIA at my cancer ctr-wow- for someone who does not exercise anymore it felt great! however; it reinforced how uncoordinated i am-ie left foot in means left arm up not right arm!!hahaha! class is every two weeks so i'll go again.

trying to enjoy my weekend before tx#2 on monday-

i vote for spring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday morning ... what's all that white stuff?  WHICH ONE OF YOU WISHED FOR SNOW???

Kelly - I work at MobilityWorks in Akron ...we build and sell adaptive vehicles (wheelchair vans). 

Judy - I slept very well last night.  I was exhausted when I got home from work & after rads yesterday.  Dozed off & on watching TV last night.  Went to bed at 10, and took a sleeping pill AND a xanax.  That must be the magic combination because I slept soundly until 8a.  I think we might go up to the auto show today or tomorrow.

Max LOVES Ohio State.  He is a music major.  Even tho OSU has about 60,000 students, the music school has about 500 so he is really in one of the small schools.  We visited Youngstown State, Bowling Green and OSU when we were shopping music schools for him last year - and we were all immediately drawn to OSU, we just felt he belonged there.  And after all the visits, the audition process, orientation, tours, etc. - i came away with the feeling that if you fail at OSU, you CHOOSE to fail - because their support systems are really strong.  (BTW he is a percussionist, in the jazz percussion program - but he plays guitar, bass, keyboards, sings, writes his own music, etc.)  First semester this year he had all A's and 1 B. 

We are a musical family.  My oldest (in the Navy) plays bass, my husband plays guitar.  He and I sing together.  We play at open mics all over Canton, sometimes opening for friends' bands.  Two girlfriends and myself also sing as a trio, the name of our group is BroadBand (get it? "Broad" band?  LOL!)   It is the fun thing my DH and I do together to combat empty nest syndrome!  I have not been out much lately due to my piss-poor energy level, but I make him go to maintain his sanity.  

I was fortunate to be able to have a housekeeper come every other week during chemo so I did not stress over dirty bathrooms.  That was nice.  And I also mostly worked at home ... I have the kind of job (sales) where I could do that.  I did not go to the office much during chemo as it is a PETRI DISH (every sick person feels they MUST come to work and infect everyone else) and my immune system was so weak I ended up in the hospital twice during chemo ... so I mostly stayed away from the office.    I do not ever want to be that weak again.

I am a gardener too!  But end of season last year I was unable to work, so I am going to have to work my ass off this spring to get things looking good.  I am a working mule in my yards and last fall I felt so bad giving my DH the list of things that needed cut back, dug up, etc.  Some things did not get done.  I have a good girlfriend, also a gardener, who will come help me this spring. It will be fun.  We will work shoulder to shoulder, have a good visit, and make things look good again.  I am a friendship gardener, sharing plants, and so is she.  She has lots of plants I do not have, and is always looking to split plants, so I know this spring I will probably get to cut in new beds for new plants.  YAY!!!!!!  Something to look forward to besides CANCER. 

Gotta go get about this bright snowy day.  I am so happy to have found this thread, thanks for starting it!  I feel closer to you all knowing I could almost reach out and touch you.  Everybody think POSITIVE THOUGHTS this weekend, and do something that makes you smile.

Love, Debbie

If you have cardinals and blue jays at your feeders, the snow makes a wonderful backdrop - and it entertains the cat, which then entertains you!  Enjoy!

Jaytee,

Laughing about the deer. We spend the last 20 years living in the country and moved to Parma 7 months ago. Looked out my back window and saw 5 doe grazing in my yard. Guess if I want a garden I'll be putting up a BIG fence!!

Good morning everyone----------Sounds like we don't have backyards anymore, but mini nature preserves.  I think the deer much prefer landscape material to their natural foods out in the wild.  The does all seem to have twins and triplets too, so  impatiens and hostas must work like a fertility drug to them!  I have noticed that the deer resistant plant lists are getting smaller and smaller.

We were having a problem with chipmunks.  There were 2 that I would often see on the deck, had them named and everything.  DH noticed that the concrete pad beneath the air conditoner unit was shifting---they were digging tunnels under there.  He finally had to trap them and ended up with almost 10!  I have to keep my bird feeders farther out in the yard now.  Sure did like to watch the birds up close though.

kelly, I think that sounds so nice to fill your house with music!   I love music, but I seemed to be somewhat of a musical dyslexic when it came to learning how to read it and play..  If I could play any instrument, I would love to play the fiddle.  Just love Irish music and would love to learn to play a little jig or reel.   Have any of you up in the Cleveland/Akron area ever had a chance to see the band called Brigid's Cross?   I know they are from the Cleveland area and we always see them at the Dublin Irish festival in the summer.  They put on such a fun show and the fiddler is amazingly good. 

Chardon is a very lovely community. It's called the "snow belt" because of the tremendous amount of snow they get in the winter (except this year.). I've been watching the TV coverage all day. It is so sad and tragic.

Hey girls ...

Jaytee, chipmunks are so damn cute but they can be VERY destructive. 

Tom and I play a lot of stuff people don't know, kind of adult alternative.  John Hiatt, Old 97's, Decemberists, Neil Young, Cake, Cowboy Junkies - a pretty eclectic mix.  We play what we like rather than having to "play for the room".  My girl band has a growing repertoire which right now includes my favorite "Angel from Montgomery" which was written by John Prine but my favorite cover of it is done by Bonnie Raitt.  I also do "Thing Called Love" which was written by John Hiatt, one of my favorite writers, but was made popular by Bonnie Raitt.  We also have an Everly Brothers tune, Grace Potter, Indigo Girls, Band of Heathens ... The BroadBand is mostly a lead with three part harmonies.  We started working together a few months before I was diagnosed so my treatment has curtailed rehearsals quite a bit.  But come summer, we will be back to having Sunday night jams at our place - we set up the drums & sound system outside and invite whoever wants to come play.  It is a blast. 

Tomorrow I have my last "all over" radiation, then I have 5 boosts (Thurs, 2 on Friday, Monday & Tuesday) and then I am done with radiation.  Wed we leave for my company trip to the Dominican Republic for 5 nights.  That has been my carrot hanging there, getting me thru all this.  And a swim up bar can't hurt, it can only help - right?  LOL!

Oh, and I went and tried on wigs today, and picking up a new set of hair tomorrow.  Woot! 

What happened in Chardon this week was DREADFUL, TRAGIC, UNTHINKABLE.  That is why I hate guns.  They always seem to end up in the hands of the wrong person.  Those poor families.  You should not have to be afraid to send your children to school.  My prayers are with them.

Enjoy the warm sunshine this week.  All the best to my Ohio sisters.

Debbie

GirlPowerDebbie -

I like your taste in music! DH and I went to see The Decemberists when they came to Cleveland last summer. What a great concert !



Today is the last day in Feb. - which means March is here - which means SPRING is just around the corner! Yeah!!!



Hang in there ladies!!

Hi Kelly,  I am doing ok . My first treatment was 2 weeks ago today. Right on schedule my hair is beginning to come out when I comb it. I had it cut short on friday.My hair is very thick ,hope it is a while before I have to shave it.  I am going for a colonoscopy on friday due to constipation and diarrhea.Not sure that the diarrhea and constipation are side effects of chemo because it did not begin until 10 days post chemo .Both my PCP and MO think it is anxiety and stress. I do not look forward to the colonoscopy but for my own peace of mind I have to do it.  Getting anxious about 2nd treatment scheduled for March 7th. 

Thanks for thinking of me.   

Kelly,  Praying that all goes well with treatment #5.  Whew--You are almost done. Hooray!!! Hang in there.. Thoughts and prayers that treatment 5 has minimal to no SE's  Good luck.

Eileen

Kelly,

Good luck tomorrow. You're rounding the bend and heading toward home!!