April 2011 chemo

What a great laugh, Bernie Ellen!  Thanks!

Today is my birthday, and I'm just so happy to be alive and feeling great!  A far cry from my last birthday, which was 2-3 weeks after my "bad news" and the week before my BMX.  This birthday promises to be much more fun.  I don't really have much planned other than a little shopping and some relaxation.  Tomorrow we're going to Savannah for a few days -- my husband's birthday is Tuesday -- so we're going to celebrate with some good friends.

Hugs to everybody!

A guy walks into a bar with his pet monkey. He orders a drink and while he's drinking, the monkey starts jumping all over the place. The monkey grabs some olives off the bar and eats them, then grabs some sliced limes and eats them,then jumps up on the pool table, grabs the cue ball, sticks it in his mouth and swallows it whole.
The bartender screams at the guy, "Did you see what your monkey just did?" The guy says, "No, what?" "He just ate the cue ball off my pool table - whole!" says the bartender. "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," replies the patron. "He eats everything in sight, the little twerp. I'll pay for the cue ball and stuff." He finishes his drink, pays his bill, and leaves. Two weeks later he's in the bar again, and he has his monkey with him. He orders a drink and the monkey starts running around the bar again.
While the man is drinking, the monkey finds a maraschino cherry on the bar. He grabs it, sticks it up his butt, pulls it out, and eats it. The bartender is disgusted. "Did you see what your monkey did now?" "Now what?" asks the patron. "Well, he stuck a maraschino cherry up his butt, then pulled it out and ate it!" says the barkeeper.

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," replies the patron. "He still eats everything in sight, but ever since he ate that damn cue ball he measures everything first!"

Another good laugh, BernieEllen!

Yay, Windlass!!  I know what you mean -- last year at this time truly sucked, and I wouldn't have believed anyone if they told me I'd be feeling this good either.  It sure is great to be feeling so good.

I'm on Femara and having no problems with it other than some occasional hot flashes but tolerable.

So sorry to hear that, Windlass.  Hope it passes soon, and I hope you're feeling better today.

I felt great today. So I'm just going to take it a day at a time.

I joined a health club and told my primary care doc. So then she wrote out on a prescription pad that I have to do five one-hour workouts per week!!!!

Did you ladies know that regular exercise DOUBLES our chances of staying recurrence-free???

I am treating exercise the same as rads - I am getting out of the house and into the car and out to the "treatment center" every single day.

I only got a 40% improvement in survival from rads, yet I went every day for seven weeks and tolerated total torture. so I'm all for exercise as a treatment to double my chances.

I hate to exercise, so the only way I can keep it up is to view it as a more active form of  chemo/radiation/physical therapy, etc.

Jack wakes up with a huge hangover after attending his company's Christmas Party. Jack is not normally a drinker, but the drinks didn't taste like alcohol at all. He didn't even remember how he got home from the party. As bad as he was feeling, he wondered if he did something wrong.
Jack had to force himself to open his eyes and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And, next to them, a single red rose! Jack sits up and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotlessly clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye staring back at him in the bathroom mirror. Then he notices a note hanging on the corner of the mirror written in red with little hearts on it and a kiss mark from his wife in Lipstick:
"Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to get groceries to make you your favorite dinner tonight. I love you, darling! Love, Jillian"
He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast, steaming hot coffee and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. Jack asks, "Son... What happened last night?"
"Well, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and out of your mind. You fell over the coffee table and broke it, and then you puked in the hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door.
Confused, he asked his son, "So, why is everything in such perfect order and so clean? I have a rose, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me??"
His son replies, "Oh THAT! Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed, "Leave me alone, I'm married!!"
Broken Coffee Table: $239.99. Hot Breakfast: $4.20. Two Aspirins: $.38. Saying the right thing, at the right time. . . PRICELESS!!!

off to england tomorrow to see my friend.  she's just had a hysterectomy due to the B******* C.

talk next week ladies

A couple was invited to a swanky masked Halloween Party. She got a terrible headache and told her husband to go to the party alone. He, being a devoted husband, protested, but she argued and said she was going to take some aspirin and go to bed, and there was no need of his good time being spoiled by not going. So he took his costume and away he went. The wife, after sleeping soundly for one hour, awakened without pain, and as it was still early, she decided to go to the party. In as much as her husband did not know what her costume was, she thought she would have some fun by watching her husband to see how he acted when she was not with him.

She joined the party and soon spotted her husband cavorting around on the dance floor, dancing with every nice chick he could and copping a little feel here and a little kiss there. His wife went up to him and being a rather seductive babe herself, he left his partner high and dry and devoted his time to the new stuff that had just arrived.

She let him go as far as he wished; naturally, since he was her husband. Finally he whispered a little proposition in her ear and she agreed, so off they went to one of the cars and had a little bang. Just before unmasking at midnight, she slipped away and went home and put the costume away and got into bed, wondering what kind of explanation he would make for his behavior.

She was sitting up reading when he came in and asked what kind of a time he had had. He said, "Oh the same old thing. You know I never have a good time when you're not there." The she asked, "Did you dance much?"

He replied, "I'll tell you, I never even danced one dance. When I got there, I met Pete, Bill Brown and some other guys, so we went into the den and played poker all evening. But I'll tell you... the guy I loaned my costume to, sure had a real good time!"

ginger_mea, I got the same fright in January when I had my first mammogram after the BC diagnosis. Like you, they called me back to do additional views of the non cancer breast.  They told me everything was fine and I gratefully when home.  A week later, I got the "probably benign and have another mammogram in six months" letter  Needless to say, I freaked out, but I had an appointment with my BS in a few days anyway.  I trust him the most of all my cancer doctors and he looked at my pictures and assured me the non cancer breast was fine.  I am still getting mammograms every six months for now.  I hope your MRI will be all clear and I hope it is actually the herceptin that is causing the high tumor markers.  The anxiety is awful, isn't it?  Sending hugs to you.

hi guys! been a long time! just trying to get back to my life! before Christmas i has an ultra sound to check on my overies and the found a  cyst. now 2 and a half months later i have 2 cysts on that overy and a mass of some kind on the other!!! i'm a little freaked out right now and going next week to get tumor makers done and talk to onc.....my gyno said she would go ahead and do a hysteritomy and at my age they never want to do one so does anyone know anything about ovarian cancer?? and i think it is connectted to the tamoxifen??? any input???

Herceptin/TDM-1 dose #13 yesterday. Just four more to go...

KiwiMum, Congratulations on reaching your first cancerversary.  I wish you many more healthy and happy cancerversaries.

To impress his date, the young man took her to a very chic Italian restaurant. After sipping some fine wine, he picked up the menu and studied it with an appraising eye.
"We'll have the Giuseppe Spomdalucci," he said finally.
"Sorry, sir," said the waiter. "That's the owner."

Congratus on the one year, KiwiMum!!  As Elizabeth said -- here's to many more cancerversaries and happy, healthy years ahead!  My one-year cancerversay was 2/25, which I was very happy to celebrate.  I totally understand the "new normal" thing.  I'm starting to come down with a cold (again), and like you said -- every new ache or pain or illness scares the heck out of you, whereas before BC I wouldn't have paid any attention at all to it.  And I know it's just a cold, but it sure gets your mind thinking all the "what ifs."   

Axtella: Sorry to hear you are having such a hard time. Did your periods come back after chemo?