May 2012 radiation

DH and I are lifting a toast to US right now!  I'm so happy for all of us!  WE DID IT!  and I love having everyone have their sunglasses on too!

Hi Goodie,  I am glad both righty and lefty are doing well. On one of the other threads someone was talking about when she could start swimming again, her doctor (who, apparently has a strong accent) said, "not for 4 weeks, if you do your 'neeple' will be very sore"  -  I laughed a lot and have been talking about my 'neeple' for the past 24 hours ...  this made me think of you guys as, I thought of you all, as we certainly had our laughs (along with the tears) over the past couple months.

I pretty much ate well before all this stuff (I have been a vegetarian for 20 years, and pretty much gluten-free for about 6 months now) - I took some vitamen B-12 and calcium while going through radiation, and then started taking ginsing after seeing this article on the BCO website: http://www.breastcancer.org/tips/new_research/20120611.jsp

But, I feel so good now, that I am not taking anything anymore.  I am teaching two classes this Fall, so once I get overworked again I might go back to trying the ginsing ;-).

Hi, girlfriends!  I took the day off to celebrate and see my med onc this morning.  She was pretty impressed with the still-healing radiation wounds and wanted me to take some time off work to rest and heal up.  I have a big conference on Friday but I believe I'll take tomorrow to sleep in and lurk around the house sans shirt. 

We went for a lovely bike ride after the onc appointment on a trail we haven't ridden since right before the chemo started.  It felt very special to ride it again, the day after radiation finished.  Kane's chemo started this morning and we dedicated the ride to her healing and recovery.

Mckenna, I don't know if my son and his wife will want to know if a daughter or son is on the way, but if I had to guess, I would guess they would.  Hopefully they'll share the news!  It's going to be Thomas (a traditional family name) or Aubrey, and I love both names.

BL, I've been laughing with you about the "neeple."  When I worked labor & delivery a million years ago, we had an Indian nurse with the same accent.  She told a patient she'd bring her a "peri kit," a collection of stuff to keep her episiotomy clean.  The patient thought the nurse was bringing a "parakeet"!  We all laughed over that one for weeks.

Happy Wednesday and don't the radiation stations look great in the rear view mirror!

ha ha ha ... close-by, a while ago one of my classmates and I had a friend in common from a different school.  My friend, a woman, was from Australia, and our common friend (also in a phd program in statistics) was a male.  Well, apparently Brad was a dancer -- I had no idea!  Sue said, "yes, he is a belly dancer".  Wow, I thought, not many male belly dancers - especially that are pretty "buff" and a statistician (read: geek) as well!!  But, I would get frequent updates on how Brads belly dancing was going.  So, about a year later, near Christmas, Sue tells me, "Brad is actually dancing the Nutcracker!" -- WOW - I had a difficult time understanding how the Nutcracker would fit into a belly dance -- so I said, "I just can't imagine how belly dancing could be done to the Nutcracker!!".  Sue just looks at me for a moment and says "b- a - l - l - e -t dancer" 

Can you imagine what the routine would be for a belly dance to the Nutcracker??  

We lived in Nashville and heard a man tutor his son how to say pitchers mound (the little boy had asked what it was that the pitcher was standing on).  The man says, "that is the pitchers mooooooand" --the little boy says, "mound?" and the father says, "no, moooooand" ... I love the south

Gouda Gouda - I think I will start yelling that at baseball games

(wow an entire post and no boobs or neeples mentioned once ;-)) 

Good morning ladies

congratulations to everyone that has finished rads

I was laughing at the belly dancer. I am from the south . I went to Outback one day and ordered a ice tea with lemon. S

he looked at me funny. When she brought my drink I had a flute of asti with a wedge of lemon perched on top. LOL. This happened again recently. 

Mckeena  I like to walk as exercise but this heat and humidity has made me feel like I am in prison. The  MO told me exercise was important to help with joint pain from the generic Femera. I have taken them for two days now. Does the Tam SE page actually say it may be fatal. Yikes

Oh Jitters ... that is horrible. I hope you are feeling better.

ha ha -- you didn't say "sa-weet tea" Asti and a wedge of lemon, they were really talking about all your "Northern airs" in the kitchen  

 At the levels that Tamoxefen is use as a chemoprevention I think it is very very rare to be fatal.  That said, some people may tolerate it better than others -- which is why you have a MO monitoring you.   I don't know what I would do if it was recommended that I take it ... just like with most treatments - it depends on your risk tolerance.  Good luck with your decision ... and try not to pee your pants - that is the last thing you need 

Thanks, mckenna.  I put my big girl panties on, and just took it with lunch and a glass of water. You're right - surgery could have been fatal, too, and that went off really well.  Thank you for the pep talk.  I like the idea of being active in fighting anything further.

Neeners - glad you decided to take it!  I was eager to start.  I too want to be proactive with everything I can to prevent anything coming back!  I take a low dose aspirin and vitamin D too along with calcium and magnesium.  I also take melatonin before bedtime and my Senokot.  I'm full from all my pills!  LOL Maybe that's how to lose weight.  It's not working yet!  I've been taking it since June 18th and I have minimal side effects.  I do have warm moments but they aren't as bad as during chemo.  

stlmom - I didn't know you can get a single glass of asti.  Hmm I love asti.   

I also take my tami in the morning because I think it can cause insomnia and I don't need to deal with that too.  My melatonin helps too. 

I wouldn't try rice crispies with asti.  Maybe rice crispies with an asti mimosa! 

Did any of you find arimidex or other AI caused constipation, and if so what did you do for it?



Thanks, susannah