Calling all TNs

By the way Karen I am typing with me jammies and me dressing gown on so you are not alone.  Haven't even had my shower today yet. Hope nobody calls unexpectedly.  

Annie:  not finding the rads worrying, just like Groundhog Day driving in and out day in, day out.  Just a right pain in the arse.   Skin is a little pinkish but I am using saline soaks and lubing up more.   It is what it is and some days I am just tired of it... you know how it is.  Today has been a good day though. 

Hugs and love to all xxx

OBXK: Warped is good sometimes... that story reminded me of Laura Linney's character is The Big C. Any of you watch that show?

recon is on for Nov 1st...doc says even with this cellulitis flare I will be done with the meds by then and should be fully recovered.  So excited---and scared--but cannot wait to close this door!!

maggie

Sending good thoughts Karen!

hugs to you Karen...wishing you all the best...we will all be there with you

Tazzy--just wanted you to know that the fatigue from rads will be over pretty quickly when you finish--at least it did for me.  Let's hope it is the same for you too..hang tough girlfriend

Maggie

Karen- when your hand feels warm tomorrow you will know it is mine holding yours.  All will be fine I am sure.  Love and hugs to you. Annie 

The little animals are so so cute!!!! I have a bicon-poodle named Brandie and I dress him in a dog costume at Halloween. This year he's dressing up as a devil. What's more, he'll have two tails to chase.  Other than Halloween, I don't dress but he wears a coat when it's really cold in the winter.

Here's last Halloween dressed as a hot dog.  The year before he was a lobster. I'll try to dig up a picture of that one. Lol...this year's he'll be a devil and he actually likes the costume.  

CS - I know what you mean. We love Brandie so much!  He's trouble sometimes and he's a diva (....or, a devo). Last week, he jumped up and sat at the table expecting dinner to be served to him (see below).  We were only serving humans that night at the table.  He also has his own little sofa, which he loves!!!

question? how long do you stay in the hospital? bmx and removing the ovaries all in the same surgery, I'm just trying to plan my home, anybody in the same situation?

Borntosurvive - I'm waiting for that test to be discovered, too. So much of my thinking and planning has been constrained by a "well, it probably won't matter much" reflex, and that's just not the me I used to be.

Adagio and txjunebug - Welcome to the group. I do more lurking than writing, but I find a lot of great support with this thread.

Regarding chemo, the advice I would give is take the time to get a wig that really 'is' you. I went with a red wig, since I always wanted to be a redhead, and frankly, losing my hair was one of the easier things to deal with. I don't do scarves too well but I got some good looking turbans. I wore the most dangly earrings I could find almost every day. And one very big piece of advice - try swishing and swallowing a tablespoon of olive oil twice a day. I can't say why or how it works, but I didn't have too many issues with metal-mouth or losing my taste buds (they'd go off for one day each round, but they came back really quickly). A friend of mine recommended it (her doctor passed the tip on), and I'll swear by it. Good luck as you head into chemo.

Hahaha Sugar, I laughed so hard at your lil hotdog that all the names and thoughts I was compiling in my head from the previous several pages of this thread went straight out of my head. I have a ginormous mastiff//lab mix and the extent of his costuming runs to an orange pumpkin scarf at Halloween and a red tartan one at Christmas. Every Halloween I claim he is a poodle dressed up as a mastiff. 

Sending energy and hugs to all the ladies here. Pink October is almost over and that should give us all a boost! 

I was interested in the statistics in the article about recurrence. Better than I thought, but I suppose it is different in every case. I have no idea what my prognosis is aside from the shattering crap I found online before my husband forbid me to look any further. My oncologist won't give me any numbers. He just goes on and on with a very long story about driving on the highway and the guy that reaches his destination is 100% alive and the guy that doesn't is 100% dead. Drives me crazy- I want to know! I keep thinking he won't tell me because my odds are crap. Sigh.

Sitting in bed with my laptop today. My oncologist has cancelled my chemo this week, which is freaking me out. I am not tolerating the taxol well and the SEs are getting really bad. He says I need an extra week of rest to regenerate nerve endings or some such thing. My feet are all fricked up and I can hardly walk and I am covered in an attractive warty rash just in time for Halloween, and and and... I just want to get this over with! I thought the taxol would be a breeze after the horror of my summer of AC, and am really disappointed. I guess it is obvious that I am having a whiny baby day today, bleh.

Bernie - brilliant. Never expected that ending.

DesertMama - know how you feel about taxol.  I had a bad experience with it too.  Allergic reaction on the first infusion, terrible itchy rash on hands and arms that nearly drove me mad in bed at night, numb, tingling fingers that were bent up so I couldn't type very well and shocking finger nails that have still not come right.  I think the AC and red devil was probably better because at least you got two weeks of feeling good.   

Sugar I love his sofa too.  One contented little dog.

DesertMama My hands are a lot better and there is not too much numbness at all now.  At one time I could really squeeze my fingers  and they wouldn't hurt but now it does and the side of my hands are a lot better, they were also numb.   There is still some numbness but nothing like it was through taxol.   I was to have 12 taxol but because of the problems they stopped it at 7.  I thought they might have reduced it but they just stopped it. Yes like you it got more worse with each round of taxol.  My finger nails are just as bad,  almost like a dark yellow and red lines all across them.  My oncologist said that was from the AC.  The only good thing that I think about is perhaps as they have not come back to normal yet there may still be some chemo in my system that may be keeping a recurrence at bay.  Not sure if there is any truth in that though, just my silly thoughts. I hate my nails now though and keep them in my pocket if I see someone I know. They used to be well manicured and lovely but now they are ugly.