April/May 2012 Chemo hang out
Comments
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Has any of you used Mirena (the IUD)? my new MO is insistent that I have mine removed and when I googled it there seems to be a connection in hormone positive tumors? Have you come across anything Dancetrancer? My eyes blur after the first line of a lot of that medical stuff!
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dancetrancer- FYI- that popping noise in your jaw and what may feel like an earache--- it could be TMJ. I have it and it started acting up after I had a dental crown put by my former dentist. Turns out the crown was placed too high and needed to put adjusted but she never did that. No matter how many times I went back and complained of the jaw problem. Her answer was to give me a night guard. I finally switched dentists when she wanted to send me to someone located at the other part of Houston for a root canal. Now I have a better dentist and a lot less jaw pain. TMJ does some other things besides cause tooth and jaw pain. It can also cause ringing in the ears.
Hope your white counts are up so you can get out and play!!!
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Retail therapy is great. I went to K Mart twice, bought some small items, felt like I'd been to Macy's! We have a family wedding this weekend out of town, even though it's my Nadir time, my onc seemed to think it'll be OK, plus I had a CBC done yesterday with normal results. So I plan to go to wedding and reception, just not be my usual party animal self this time. I'll probably be back at the motel and in bed by 9 . . .
Sandik, sorry to hear about your heart. I also am a big believer in silver linings. Hang in there.
Wishing all a happy weekend.
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Isharvey that is interesting, I may have to do some more research! I had the Mirena IUD for about 2 years. I have no family history of any cancer in my family! Wonder if there might be a connection?
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I had an unexpected surprise this morning. I bragged too soon about light SEs. I was at work and my nose started gushing blood. It took over 10 minutes to get it stopped. I'm now waiting for results of a blood draw, making sure I don't need platelet transfusion. So much for getting 40 hours this week.
I'm happy that I keep a change of clothes in my car, since it got all over my shirt. Sheesh. -
Fierro- No fun with the bloody nose. Hey, if you spit on the blood spots on your shirt, your salvia will help clean that stain on your shirt. It's your own enzymes working to dissolve the blood. That way when you get home later, your shirt will be easier to clean. I know it sounds weird but it really works!!!
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Oh Fierro, so sorry to hear about the nose bleed. You don't deserve any of this. None of us do. I hope you don't need a transfusion. If anyone can turn the situation into something with a humorous sdie, though, it would be you. I look forward to hearing more on this from you later.
I'm still chuckling about your names for the breast prosthetic.
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Thanks, Melrose!
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dandik, that IS a silver lining. Same thing happened to my sister during her BC; found out she had heart problems that were pretty bad. But, she is not 3 yrs NED AND her heart issues are under control and improving!
weekend: sit near the pool; go to a wedding, sit on BCO. Wait for my daughter to get back from her mini vaca.
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Debbie, that's so weird about your foot. Glad they found it!
Melrose, I am chugging as I type! haha The bus will be all my sisters and their families helping too. I'll just be barking orders at everyone! haha I do have a scarf thing that is filled with gel stuff. Throw it in the freezer, then keep it on my neck when Im out. Got that after my last episode! Glad your Dr is isolating you!
Tri, my eyelashes are getting sparce too. From my damn watery eyes! I wake up with them crusted shot and have to soak them to get them apart. Bald IS beautiful!!
Stacie, sounds fun! I love any time my insane family gets together!
mt4ever, hang in there girlie!
dance, Go white!!!! Soccer game sounds fun! My daughter is hard core soccer. I go to any game I can get to of hers. She's been playing since she was 5. Did travel teams as well as school teams. She was on 4 different teams at once back in 8th grade. Glad those days are over! haha A whole Sunday bouncing from one field to the other!
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Gemmie, have fun at the wedding! If you are boogie-ing, make sure you drink! No face plants!! haha
Fierro, that sucks! Me and my sister used to get them really bad when we were little. Redheads! We'll keep up the good thoughts! No transfusion!!!
Vickie, thanks! And glad your sister is doing so well!!
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My weekend - little bit of retail therapy (I have a White House/Black Market coupon from my birthday; love their clothes and they can have great sales), and getting us a new grill. Cannot take any more going through summer without cooking out!!
I need a girls night too. I wish we could all do one together - wouldnt' that be awesome?
I think I've gotten the hang of the eyebrows, using the pencil and powder - at least I'm pleased and I don't think they look unnatural. As for the lashes, I'm mostly using a really good waterproof (Clinique Quickliner) pencil. But I have the watery eyes pretty bad too, and w/o lashes, I have been drawing the line a little lower than I normally would. On the one hand, that eyeliner is good enough that it hasn't rubbed off even with all the tearing; on the other hand, the tearing!
Hoping those of you with low counts are on the rebound!
Fierro, I love your sense of humor too. God bless, I hope no transfusion!!
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Weekend plans? None and I am happy about that. Last time I had my first infusion, the weekend was spent glued to the couch and I will probably do the same thing this time. I Have 8/10 DVDs left that I haven't watched yet, so I will have them to keep me company.
My hair is now coming out by the handfuls, but it's not really noticeable to others. I think I will start to wear a hat to control the shedding, but am going to put off the buzz cut for a few more days.
I hope everyone has a good day. I am leaving for my nuelesta shot in a few minutes. Claritin already taken.
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@ Fierro - omgosh!! I'm glad it stopped. and hope you don't need a transfusion. chemo can really dry out membranes so maybe it's just that. fingers crossed!
@ mt4ever - if you do a search on here of Mirena you'll find several strings and many of them have young women with no family history that this popped up on within a year or 2 of getting it. I had one for 5 years and this showed up a year after my second one was put it but there's some question over whether some have a faulty delivery device? I'm really a little irritated at the whole subjuct since I made a point my whole life NOT to take birth control because I didn't want to put a bunch of extra hormones in my body but agreed to Mirena to control heavy periods because they told me the hormones were only local not systemic. Apparently that was not accurate info.
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gemmie, you are going to a wedding too? I am excited because the reception is at the Broadmoor! For those who don't know, the Broadmoor is a Michelin rated, 5 star resort here in Colorado Springs and it is sooo nice. Looking forward to that!
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No transfusion. Numbers are good (she said.) I'm back at work.
I wish I understood the blood work talk you guys have done in here. It's been over my head, but I'm going to go back and look at it now that I have my numbers in front of me. Maybe I'll understand it if I'm seeing it.
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Fierro, yay on no transfusion! I tried to make sense of my numbers too, but mostly I just rely on my online health management reports that say if they are low or not.... I know Dancetrancer is the real expert.
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I scanned the report. I think I'll ask Dancetrancer if she'll take a look at it and interpret for me if I can't figure it out. LOL
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I guess this is as close as we'll get to a girls w/e!!! Wishing everyone some peace and comfort on this Friday .... thanks for all the book, movie, and research threads. My eyes are so twitchy and nervy that reading is a challenge. Movies are a great distraction. My goal this weekend (aside from having a normal poo) - is to walk to the Moss Street Market and get a new green plant and a nicely pottered planter. DH will eat pastry no doubt. There will be some music and lovely fresh garden produce - strawberries are just out now. Our weather is cool cool cool - low spinning down the coast from Alaska and it looks like rain. Oh well - doesn't sound like I could tolerate the heat y'all are having in the east and south. All the best to those in the BGC today. I am listening to my favourite meditation 'Mantra for Healing' Mahamrityunjaya Mantra - Ancient Chant for Healing & Peace and will send that energy to you. Lots of Love vjm xo
Dance - what kind of car did you end up buying? We are in the market for when our son returns to University and steals our old van.
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This weekend around here is staying out of the heat - we are headed to 100 plus the next 6 days:-( And trying to figure out what to do with a newborn baby calf that my daughter found on the side of the road about 7:30 this morning on the way to the feed store! Some people pick up stray cats/dogs, but not my daughter, she comes home with a calf in the bed of my truck:):) Never a dull moment around here.
Off to chemo land for my Friday Herceptin cocktail.....
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Just got back from the internist. No problem refilling my blood pressure meds but now he is checking to see if I have a thyroid problem Got blood drawn for a thyroid panel. Blood pressure okay but he thought my pulse was too high and didn't like the fact that my red blood count is on the low side since I started chemo. The tech took my pulse right after I walked in the door to the office which is after I hiked from the parking garage and through another building to get to the doctor's office building. I'd rather not add another med here if I can avoid it until after I get this chemo over with. Maybe a little more exercise.....Oh well,... something else to take care of and moniter.
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Been feeling pretty crummy the last couple days.. Just so weak... Worse than the first 2txs on these days... Today is my day 9.
Also having a lot of bloody nose issues and bloody stool (sorry if tmi). I'm on coumadin for the herceptin and I'm worried I'm on too much.
I emailed my nurse late last night to tell her about my issues and she called me first thing this morning to tell me she wants me to come in for blood workup and hydration. So I'm in the chair w my iv waiting for blood results and to talk to her.
Anyway, I stumbled on this and it made me think if all the strong brave woman on here....I can't seem to paste it from my tablet... Will send it later from computer.
Hope everyone is well today. -
lsharvey - I don't know much if anything about Mirena - but a quick search reveals wowza, yeah...I'd get rid of it if it were me. This is why I stopped the pill as soon as I found out I was ER+.
pertinent excerpt:
Breast Cancer
Women who currently have or have had breast cancer, or have a suspicion of breast cancer, should not use hormonal contraception because breast cancer is a hormone-sensitive tumor.
Spontaneous reports of breast cancer have been received during postmarketing experience with Mirena. Because spontaneous reports are voluntary and from a population of uncertain size, it is not possible to use postmarketing data to reliably estimate the frequency or establish causal relationship to drug exposure. Two observational studies have not provided evidence of an increased risk of breast cancer during the use of Mirena.
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melrose - thanks for the TMJ info. It's actually not a pop sound. And my jaw doesn't hurt. It's a squeaky little weird noise deep inside my ear. The audiologist said the jaw opening strethes the eustachian tube and apparently I may have some inflammation in there...not surprised. She said there's nothing they'd do for it. Oh well, the only reason I open my mouth that far is to check the thrush...which is GONE as of today y'all! After two weeks of it again. Wahoo!
And yes, whites are up!!! ANC around 5000. Wahoo!!! Hemoglobin also up a whole point in two days to 9.1 today. Yahoo!!!
Blah news is doc ran an a1c (for diabetes) on me after I told him I was seeing bubbles off and on in my urine. It was just slightly elevated beyond normal. So technically I am pre-diabetic. Said they see it a lot, expect it will come back down. It's due to the d*mn steroids. They cause your blood sugar to spike. Of course I'm worried I'm gonna get diabetes now. Y'all know my personality by now.
Ok so I know y'all are gonna start looking at the toilet now for bubbles. "Tiny bubbles....in the toilet"...just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? Or isthat a toilet bowl ring? LOL! OMG I've just revealed how much I love stupid corny word puns!
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Dancetrancer ---yeah for reds! Yeah for whites! And boo for the tiny bubbles in the toilet!
Fightinglikeagirl --sorry to hear you 're having a tough time. Hope your blood work is ok!
melrose-- boo to the possible thyroid issues. Hope it's nothing to worry about.
fierro -glad your numbers came back good!
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend with minimal se's! -
I felt fine for an hour or so after getting back to work, and then the headache got a bit worse and my face felt hot. I took my temp and it was 99. I decided to throw in the towel and come home. I'm not overly concerned, since they drew blood this morning and said it was fine, but I just wanted the comfort of behing home. I fell 2 hours short of my 40 hour goal at work. Employer is great about it, and DH can't believe I'm working as much as I am, but I really wanted to do 40 on my off weeks.
Oh well. I am in my trusty recliner and can take it easy for a couple of days, then work for a couple before BGC on Wednesday.
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Good gracious Fierro!!!! How scary - I hate, hate, hate nosebleeds! Happy to hear you don't need a transfusion! Have you been moisturizing your nose? I use a bit of baby oil on a Q-tip when I feel it is dry. Some say a vaporizer at night helps, too! Oh and sure I'll look at the report if you like!
vjm - actually - no car! They said the engine wasn't blown after all - whew!!! It was some other timing thing wrong - she's all fixed up! If you are looking for a used car - I highly recommend looking at the library for a Consumer Report's book on used cars - very helpful - they give all the stat's for maintenance issues by make, model, year, etc.
OMG rgina...a newborn calf??? CRAZY!!!
melrose - take care not to push hard if your hemoglobin is low. Your heart rate goes up to compensate for the low oxygen in your blood. If under 8, no exercise. Between 8 and 10 only light exercise. If you push your heart too hard....well - not a good idea!
fightinglikeagirl - so sorry to hear how ill you are feeling...ugggh! Why are you on Coumadin for Herceptin? Something in your medical history? That sure would be contributing to the bloody stools and nose. TCH thins your blood on its own, sometimes too much. I don't get it?
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I had neutropenia the first and third rounds. Third round was 5 days after Neulasta, it was 300 and hadn't come up but then did. I was mostly home, no raw fruit/veggies, etc. I got my shot yesterday, how weird to thinkI have no more weekly blood tests. I still playit very cautiously- so many years as a teacher...does my normally strong immune system give me a good starting point or is all shot to hell by the chemo?
Also - what is with the peeling skin on my heels and toes??? -
Just started Taxotere- Carboplatin- Herceptin 3 days ago
Feeling better than I thought I would but afraid the other shoe's gonna drop - its getting harder to figure out what to eat or drink ... Feel like I have serious case of jetlag, flu, & sour stomach all in one . Am happy to be with others thru this -
lisa - I think the strong immune system may help...but mine has gotten slammed despite being super healthy (sans damn bc)...so who knows.
Peeling skin could be hand and foot syndrome. Moisturize (but don't rub), avoid hot baths, and tell doc! That link has some great prevention tips!
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