March 2012 chemo

Hang in there Indigo, you're almost done! Sorry for be crud taste in your mouth, for me that was awful. I'm glad you got the prescription figured out!

I LOVE that about the woman in the grocery store...

On another note, my nails are going crazy.

Haven't been around here lately....I finish my last (weird) chemo this Wednesday.  I can't wait to feel whole again.  My neuropathy still sucks, but not as bad as the baddest of days. Started February 28th, finish August 8th.  No rads for me!  Congrats to others about to finish and for any that remain, you will soon be done too.

My MO asked if I wanted to enroll in a BC vaccine clinical trial.  No more info than that.  The objective is to prevent recurrence in early stage BC, for those just finishing treatment.  Must be a big clinical trial, as it definitely is not run out of Oregon, or the town where I get chemo. 

Lost - I'm triple negative also - so did they change your original diagnosis?

Not done...one more chemo, this Wednesday.  Ofcourse, LOL, not really done til all of the yuck feelings done! (The following Tuesday)...so I guess I should say I have one more week of yuck!  Hopefully not years of neuropathy.

Lost - so sorry you have to get new news all of the time.  I think 80% of this battle is adjusting to the "the news" and you seem to be getting so much of it, late in the game.  I admire your attitude, though. 

Kam - Congrats on final chemo!

Lost - Sorry to hear the triple negative news. However, I think I posted to you on another thread. My husband's cousin, who has been my rock and sounding board through all of this, was dx'd triple negative almost three years ago and is doing great. We know she isn't out of the woods yet (I guess none of us ever are, technically), but her MO told her that she was actually in a better place than those of us who are ER+ because if a triple negative BC is going to recur, it usually happens within five years. For the rest of us, the recurrence rate is higher than for triple negative after five years.

kltb - Is there another RO anywhere nearby you could consult with? You and I tend think (and obsess) alike, so I know you will be more comfortable if they do the RADS. As for the surgery, it is really not bad. I know it sounds odd, but so far, the surgery has been the easiest part of all this.

As for me, I had my 12th RAD TX this morning, so I'm a little over a third of the way through. Not so bad. No SEs so far. But it's getting to be tiresome having to go over there every day. Hope everyone is doing well.

Good evening ladies!  Just checking in and hoping everyone is doing well.  Doing well with the rads, though still early, the worst part is going everyday, but nothing I can't handle!

Watching the olympics and chilling! 

I haven't checked in in some time.  I had dx 9/2011, lumpectomy 12/2011, chemo 3/2012-6/2012 and radiation started 7/2012 and will finish 8/2012.  Yes this has been a crazy year.  If I consider the herceptin, I still won't be done for awhile.  I try not to think about it.  I'm so tired of Drs.  that I have skipped my 6-month followup/mammo.  That will just have to wait.

To the huge number of ladies who joined the March Chemo Marchers 2012 thread started by Sissy but haven't posted recently,

How are you all doing?

Best wishes

Alice

Just wrote a long post and somehow lost it before submitting. Grrr.

Anyway, it had to do with the fact that at a party tonight a woman I'd never met said: so do you like to wear headscarves, or are you going through cancer treatment?

Wow. I was a bit shocked because I forget that I wear a scarf, and frankly I didn't feel like getting into it with someone I'd never met... But then I also thought how good of her to directly address it and not act like there was nothing different about my appearance. I guess part of what I'm learning is that cancer is a learning experience for people who know us/meet us as well. They behave toward us in whatever way they need to in order to be comfortable with the big C. That's fair enough. I guess.

KCB: Your post made me think of an experience I had in Wal-Mart over the weekend. I don't think I've shared it on here, but if I have, please just overlook my terrible memory and we'll chalk it up to chemo brain. I apparently have an uncanny propensity to attract every wacko at Wal-Mart anyway, but there must have been a full moon this weekend. So I was in Wal-Mart doing my least favorite chore - grocery shopping, and I notice this lady staring at me. I haven't worn anything on my head in a couple of months, so I had to think for a minute to realize why. Then she just walks up to me and, very directly, says: So do you have cancer? I was a little taken aback, but decided to be tolerant, so I said yes, I did, but, according to my scans, I am cancer-free now. Then why are you taking treatment, she said. I told her that I was locally advanced and had some lymph node involvement, and that's why my MO wanted to do chemo and radiation, to kill any remaining cancer cells that could not be seen on scans. She said, so is that forever, or you just don't know. I said, well, no one really knows, do they. I have done everything I can to prevent a recurrence and that's the best I can do. At this point, I was tired, already irritated that I had to go grocery shopping, and become much less tolerant. So, out of the blue, she says, "well, the Lord Jesus Christ says he will heal all those who ask in faith, so you must have asked in doubt and fear or else you would have been healed. But it's ok, we're only human, and the Lord told me to tell you that, even though you doubted, he had healed you anyway, and would take this curse from you so that you never have to deal with it again. It's over." REALLY!?!?!?!?! So I guess I did all this miserable chemo, surgery and radiation for nothing? And, even worse, it was my own fault, because I doubted the Lord's power? Oh, and I should be celebrating, because God spoke to HER and told HER that I would never have it again!! Again I say, REALLY????? There are some serious wack jobs out here, and this lady is a complete LUNATIC!!! Anyway, just thought I'd share. I may never go to Wal-Mart again.

Hi everyone, trying to catch up after a few days.

Lostinmo, I sure hope that's it for the news for awhile! 

Lanagraves, omg.  I can tolerate just about anything - but at some point you get *so* tired of having to be the "bigger person,"  and having to say to ourselves, "well, this wack job person isn't okay so that is why she is saying inappropriate and hurtful things."  Before my surgery, I went to a prayer meeting with my son where another woman who'd been dxd with breast cancer sat with me and reviewed the meaning of several inspirational Bible verses, and it helped me to see faith in a different way - i.e., without all the guilt I usually carry around with me for not being a better person.  But if someone had approached me out of the blue like that, and basically said "this is your fault because you didn't have enough faith," that would really have freaked me out, too, at least, until I had the chance to tell myself a few times to consider the source!

*sigh* the only reasons anyone ever shops at Walmart are: 1. the prices and 2. the (usual) one-stop shopping. So many times I decide to go elsewhere and spend a few more dollars because I can't take the chaos at my Walmart....

Good Evening all!!

I met with the RO today and he has become my new best friend! We explained our plans to them. (Husband leaves for CA to run pumpkin patch in Sept and I want to join them by Oct 1st) and they are trying hard to get that done. I go for my simulation tomorrow and shooting to start rads on the 20th. Now if only my MO will cooperate! I still have to see him again and make sure his plans for me haven't changed since the hormone crap changed. I am so hoping that they all just say go have fun see you in January.

KCB- I have lost a lot of posts.

lana-sorry about your walmart experience. I for one do believe that God heals people. I also believe that he uses people (DR'S) to heal people.

I now must start making the Rv ready to travel. If it all works out we will be taking it up to stay in when I start rads, then I'll have to move to the Hope Lodge for about 4 weeks till I can fly out and join my family! I see light at the end of the tunnel!!!!