anyone starting chemo in Nov 2005

One of my girlfriends sent this to me when she got back from vacation. I will post a little later after I catch up on all the news!

Michael and I have been away for a short vacation this past week. ( Our Anniversary trip.)
I'm trying to catch up, Michael had to return to work today.

This is what she sent to me, thank goodness for copy and paste

When we were on vacation last week we tried this pasta salad and it was really good....I got the recipe and thought I'd share it...

Pasta Salad
1 lb zitta (do not rinse)

Ingredients:
1 c. white vinegar
2/3 c. oil
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. celery seed
2 Tbsp. mustard (regular)

Cook pasta and drain; add ingredients while still hot and store in refrigerator overnight. Stir periodically. Then add vegetables of choice.

(the one we tried had the following in it: green & black olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red grapes, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots)

Hope you like it!

I would use splenda in place of the sugar. And wheat pasta in place of the white. Could use the extra fiber

It needs to be added that she did really look pregnant....she had a round tummy and was wearing something that looked like a maternity shirt!

Congrats Kim!!

I cried my after my last rad. I think I held it in how much I hated that process until it was finally over.

Here's to moving on.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Congrats Kim, looks like we are all moving on. I have been very busy. Which feels good. And I rejoined my weight watchers class again last night.

They were so glad to see me. I was nervous, and almost didn't go at the last minute. But glad I did.

I have a long journey back to really good health. Neuropathy is still a bit of a problem, but not nearly as bad as before.

I think a new pair of walking shoes are needed, seems like my old ones rub me the wrong way. My weight was up after vacation But I had fun, every bite of it.

Now it is time to buckle down and get back to where I was before all this happened. I feel like my life is coming together again.

Love and (((((HUGS)))) to you all.

WHERE IS NANCY ?????????????

MaryLou, looking forward to the pictures, especially the shirt.
Margerie, yep I cried my eyes out especially when I walked out of the rad room and the techs were there with lots of hugs. Dh went in to work late so he could come with me. I just wish my treatment was over. I see oncologist tomorrow and set up the CAT Scan. Hopefully the lung spots are stable or decreasing in size and I can stay on the Xeloda.
Will update after doctor appt.

Kim

Kim, I'm really praying for you-we love you!
ML-I have pretty much worn out my two CANCER SUCKS shirts. I really truly love them-I was shy about wearing it when I had hair (pre-chemo), but once I was bald, I was proud to proclaim my hatred of this disease! I think everyone should get one when they are dx!
Gotta go, I've been naughty on the computer for a while now!
I love you all!
Love and prayers, Debbie

Odalys and Mary Lou! Happy Anniversary to you both! I totally missed the anniversary part on your post, ML!

I am going in tomorrow for my first rads consult! I feel like I should be hearing "Pomp and Circumstance" graduation music playing in the background-it's weird, but from what I've learned from my beloved sisters here I'm actually excited. I am sure I am going to be another one who is teary about it being over, too. I was emotional about chemo being over, because I no longer felt "protected" by treatment.
Gotta go to bed-not tired yet from Ambien, but Greg is going to ban me from the computer any minute. I'm really bad-I insist that I'll "just be a minute," then I type a bunch of messages!
Love and prayers, Debbie

I'm so glad to hear that Kaye is hanging in there. I am sure that things aren't always easy, but she has a terrific spirit about her.

I am scared and need a cyber hug from my sisters....

I saw the rads oncologist today (yay...), but she shared something with me from the pathology report that scared me. She told me that while I was originally told that my tumor was a grade II, it turned out to be a grade III! What the ?!?!?
I feel like I am just now getting past the sucky emotional rollercoaster that we call our journey, and now I feel like I was punched in the stomach. Grade III? I know that there are so many of us out there who have to deal with the news of that grade tumor, but how many of us have had to deal with such news 10 months after dx? Ick. Cancer sucks! Please send hugs and maybe ancedotes (ha!) of what kind of blow you maybe have been thrown, cuz I need to hear I'm not alone.
I hopefully start rads next Thursday, I go in Monday for simulation. My rads oncologist is the sweetest little lady. She must only be 4 feet tall, and has a cute little sing-song voice. She walked in and goes, "Oh look, we have the same hairstyle!" I love her, want to put her in a box, and sit her on my shelf so I can smile when I see her. She is going to be a key to my journey! She made me cry some good, healing tears.

One other thing...I was honored to have an old HS friend contact me and tell me her cousin was just dx. and her cousin wants my contact info. My friend told her about me in such glowing terms that it made me cry...(she forwarded the email to me). It's good to know that God is starting to use me in the way He needs.
I'd better go.
Love and prayers, Debbie

I'm so sorry Deb. I am also a grade three gal.

I think the rads onc may tend to make the call to a more aggressive side of diagnosing the path report if there is any gray area. I have a copy of my path report. My onc and surgeon both told me I am Stage IIb, but I read my rad onc report and he stated IIIA. I freaked out right there as I had thought for 6 months I was stage II. I had multi-focal disease- so depending on how you do your math..... I got a very aggressive rad treatment, which I favored. So I will forgive him for overstating my stage

I came around to Anna's way of thinking, which BTW Anna, I love your words! And about the aggressive grade- the more aggressive the cell, the harder they fall with chemo and rads. And like my oncologist says "Younger women get more aggressive cancers, no news there."

I hated my simulation because the room was cold. I wish I had worn warm socks, a warm cap and fuzzy pants. They mark you up with a marker so don't wear any nice bras! The actual treatments were a breeze- in and out in under 10 minutes.

Hope all goes well. Good luck on your nip check Anna. I laugh because I can't believe I am getting a boob job, tummy tuck and tatoos before I am forty. Not in my wildest of dreams.

MaryLou, I can see you smiling these days!

And I hope Kaye is enjoying some fabulous sunsets and glorious days.

Margerie

Debbie, I'm sending a big (((((HUG))))). I agree with the gals. It is hard to think stage. I was III B....And I had a tumor 5 inches long and about 2 inches wide. And my nodes were eaten into. I'm one lucky gal.

But it is all over and in the past. Now I look forward to getting my port out and new girls. Another chapter in my life. This to shall pass.

Did I tell you all that I'm back to my weight watchers meetings again? I want to drop some serious weight before the boob job. Then maybe I can have a tuck or two

Glad you liked the kitty I put it in my siggy~~~~

Deb, big big cyber hugs to you.

MaryLou, congrats on going back to WW. It is an awesome program. You did it once and you WILL do it again. We are all behind you and rooting for you.
I am glad you heard from Kaye.

Hope you all have a great weekend. It is going to be hazy, hot and humid here. YUCK!!!

Kim

Kim , thanks so much for those words. I seem to doubt way to much , that I can ever get this weight off again. That's why the new attitude!

I used to work out and never miss a day. Then after I married, I slowed down. I kept saying that I felt tired, but thought I was just eating all wrong with little activity.

Which was some of it, but I did try to diet and exercise. Only finding myself to tired to continue. That is when I started going to the doctor, and eventually found out about the cancer.

Long story between, but it took a course of years to find out. Through three doctors. I think maybe the size of my tumor was just draining the energy right out of me.

So now that is all hind sight.....And I'm looking forward to the new me. I can only go up from here

Love to all my sisters .

I just love you all. I mean that from the bottom of my very big cancer-free heart.
Love and prayers, Debbie
PS-I saw plastic surgeon today and he almost made a boo-boo and started expanding me today. Interesting how one must remind doctors of every single detail of treatment! I got the go-ahead to start stretching away! YAY!

ML-here's to a skinny you and me! I think my boobs were approx. 5 pounds, because my weight plummeted that much after surgery. I still want to lose 15 more pounds so I can feel healthier overall. By the way, you look beautiful NOW. You GLOW! Skinny jeans aren't everything, and we all have learned that through our treacherous journeys!

Odalys-You are a most blessed gift. I remember in the beginning when you were struggling with questions of "Why me, God." Look how He uses you now!

Anna-I just can't wait to meet you in person. I owe you lots and lots of healing teary-eyed hugs.

Love and prayers, Debbie

Debbie, it was good to hear from you, but I am worried about your not being able to raise your arms! Weren't you sent home from your surgery with some arm exercises? If not, then you should ask your surgeon to refer you to a physical therapist and work out a program to regain your range of motion. I promise you it only takes five or ten minutes twice a day to get your full range of motion back, and at your age you should see 100% improvement after only a week or two, but you really should do it sooner rather than later, because your shoulders can freeze. I have talked about this with other women who have had mastectomies and all of those who did the exercises had no trouble at all with r.o.m. issues.

On Monday I go in for my Herceptin #26, that means I will have completed exactly half of the regimen I'm supposed to get! The half way mark. Wow.

My daughter has just one more month in France before she winds up her sabbatical year. Why does that thought keep me up at night (like now)? Weird. I guess it means time is going by so fast.

I am reading a fabulous book called Life of Pi. Have any of you read it? It's funny and spiritual at the same time.

Have a good weekend, everyone. Tomorrow I will go out into the Virginia jungle and visit my parents for a bit. I hardly want to leave home these days; it's just so hot out there and even though my hair currently suffers no bad hair days, my tolerance for heat and humidity has lessened this year.

Since this is the first time ever we have spent the summer here in Virginia we have indulged in a vegetable garden, and we are having fun eating the herbs and fruits of our (mostly my hub's) labors. For the time being it's cucumbers, or shall I say C U C U M B E R S, since there are so many of them. I am eagerly awaiting the tomatoes. I'll have to take some cukes to my parents, even though I have a sneaking suspicion they are getting mighty tired of those greenies.

Hugs to all,

Anna

ouch Anna! I hope your toe feels better soon.

And TOO WEIRD because today I almost broke the same exact toe! I was setting down a wakeboard on end in the boat and told everyone to watch their toes, and then proceeded to drop it on my own toe. I can bend it, but it will be pretty ugly tommorrow.

And I agree that Deb should be working on loosening up those shoulders- it only gets tighter if you don't stretch it. I love to swim- it feels good on my affected arm.
Odalys- do you go to the beach? Ahhhh the beautiful white beaches of florida.

Toodles everyone,

Margerie