Is There A September 2011 Chemo Group?

Rj and Belle- I will join you all on the floor. Nothing I can point to specifically like all the stress you have been going through RJ but sort of just feel like it all catches up with me every now and then when I allow myself to slow down.

Mags- such wonderful news!!!! So happy for you.

Kelli- the hair is awesome!

My kiddos are great. We have been enjoying the spring weather before the heat really gets bad. Have my exchange surgery scheduled for may 3rd. Can't wait!

Thinking of all of you....

Belle, for better or worse, you will not have to have the estorgen-sucking meds.  When your hair revives, it will just revive.  I just want to shake my oncoligist by his shorts about my hair, 4 months and 1 cm on top,  My armpit hair grows in length 2 weeks what the top of my head cannot do in 4 months, WTF!  but so it is.  It is what it is.  Hugs belle. It ain't pretty or back to norm here yet either, All women want their hair back.  We share the pain of;...it doesn't come back fast enough.

Hugs belle. Good hair days to you and me soon.

thanks girls for being there, you all make me feel better!!! kimberly,thanks for making me laugh,picturing you grabbing your mo by his shorts! that just sucks about your SE!

i'm glad to know i'm not the only one frustrated by the slow hair growth and the emotional rollercoaster,we are still on!

saw my regular mo yesterday so glad she is back! everything looks good,port removal scheduled for april 24!! yahoo!!! i will see her every 3 months for 2 yrs,then every 6 mo for 2 yrs,then once a yr! she said focus is on catching it early if it comes back. next app july 11 with mammo done before so she has results!

lee ann, haven't heard about study,are you in it? any info appreciated.

hope we all have good hair days soon!

lee ann, that's what is scary about this whole thing, we have to depend on others to get the tests right. it's been 3 mo since last chemo,i don't know if i would qualify plus truth to tell not too keen on putting any more chemicals in my body.

Lee Ann- Unbelievable about your pathology! I cannot imagine the shock and the anger about not having it before. Though obviously having something else to prevent a recurrence is a good thing, I can imagine you have mixed feelings about starting another infusion.  I was doubtful when everyone told me that Herceptin alone would be a breeze compared to chemo, but thus far, everyone seems to be right. They'll probably try to get you a MUGA soon to get a baseline before starting.

belle- my onc. is the same way about scans- nothing routine and only if a symptom presents. it makes me nervous. good luck getting in the study!

cjrt, it makes me nervous,too. nothing we can do,my onc did tell me if i notice anything different no matter how minor it might appear to me,to tell her cause it might be major to her! i will hold her to that!!! lol

Belle: The yearly scans were the most exciting to me too about the study, I'd say sorry you don't qualify, but node neg. is good so I'm glad for that

CJRT and Belle: My doctor was/is the same about scans, although I explained to my doctor how I could never feel it was gone without at least one clear scan and he had agreed to do that for me in May or June (once I had gotten a few months out). They say it is because early detection has been shown in studies not to have a significant effect on long-term survival in recurrence. I think that is horsehockey! They say you still get local scans (mammo's etc) to catch local recurrence and if its metastatic there is no benefit to catching it early. I dropped my first onc for this kind of thinking. My second is more reasonable and understands when I tell him that I am young and have small children. I told him that if catching it early just gives me an extra 6 months to a year, that is statistically significant enough to my kids! 

Turns out I am having a CT scan next week now since they want to make sure there is no active cancer before they start treating with Herceptin...I totally feel your worry CJ, I am nervous about the effects and the results. Let us know how your scan goes.

Belle- Sorry I don't know about that! That sucks! Maybe try posting the question on one of the rads boards of women that started before you. I just read an article about taking fish oil to combat the fatigue from breast cancer treatments. The article didn't differentiate fatigue related to chemo or radiation. I was going to do it but read that soy was in the ones I bought, and with the estrogen + status, I will try to find one without soy. Hope you feel better quickly!

Thaks RJ, it really does kind of suck. Now I found out the Pathologist put a note on there that it could be a false positiver because noone recorded whether or not it was fixated within 6-48 hours. He says if not, it has been know to come up with false positives...

Belle: My fatigue got worse too and just seems to be improving some this week. (I finished April 3rd). Are you sleeping ok? I have had insomnia for awhile now and I have to take something to sleep or I just can't. I'm sure that isn't helping with the fatigue. I also think that I am being a little more active and that it is also making get fatigued quicker. I'm trying to slow things down and see if it helps. 

Sorry you are having such a rough time Lee Ann

Belle, I needed 2 new medications after chemo due to probably some damage from chemo (on a not perfect body system to begin with). I needed something to slow my heart rate and something to help keep the fluid retention down, which I hadn't needed before breast cancer treatment. It was kind of irritating to have another 2 meds but I felt so much better having the side effects addressed. In my case, my GP was able to throw a couple of drugs in that made me feel so much better and on the road to back to normal, back to pre-cancer, pre-treatment baseline me. I hope you can have as good treatment with your GP. Hugs. Kimberly.

sorry,cjrt,i had lumpectomy! hope everyone is doing well and enjoying spring. i do believe i have chemo brain,i'll be talking and forget words,so embarrassing,i hope it is temporary!!!

thanks,kim for responding,if the swelling continues i'll talk to mo in july.

Thanks so much for thinking of me, Belle. I got sick from the anesthesia (which I didn't with the mastectomy), but all else went well! I had my post-op appointment this morning, and the PS said everything looked great. Just hanging out in the recliner today. Already feels nicer without the hard rocks under my chest. Hope you're doing better with the swelling.