September 2013 Chemo Group
Comments
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How fun! I want a mini-vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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LHL - the wig was worth the dough - I echo whoever said it but my wig never looked that good either otherwise I would have worn it more!
Art - the senna tea worked wonders for me (for all the surgeries here and my c section) so I swear by that. I drank it the first night I was home from the hospital until I felt normal. For me the nuclear med was ok. No worse than the other biopsies. Long wait though while the dye traveled so bringing a book saved me!
Cougar - I have one 2 yr old. Hat off to you! Will be sending you strength this week!
Chick - I had a positive node t surgery after a negative node biopsy so I understand the disappointment. Thinking of you and sending strength.
Mama - did you mean physically or emotionally like a T. rex? I am so cranky and grouchy I can't stand myself half the time! Lol. Hang in there.
So strangely I had to shave just one armpit today. First time shaving since sept and my affected side had no growth but my right - let's just say wow I have been really distracted not to notice the wildness growing there. Wish it could what long on my head - haha. Anyone experience this - weird?
Take it easy everyone - glad running has been going skiing for us. Closest I have gotten is watching the Olympics.
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I have to laugh at mama's t-rex reference. I can totally relate. I am shooting from the elbows too these days. I had been using the CeeLo Green joke, but t-rex works too.
For all you MXers, how much numbness do you have? I expected numb foobs, but didn't expect numbness under the tops of my arms, in my armpits, and through to my back near my armpits. Wondering if that is going to be permanent. I also feel pressure across my chest at all times. Like a firmly wrapped ace bandage.
On the constipation question, I was actually a little happy I didn't do anything before surgery to address that issue. Let's just say that, for me, I preferred to wait until I had (ahem) greater arm flexibility to deal with the consequences on my own.
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Looks like we'll be starting rads at the same time, LHL. I don't have any other details yet.
Thanks for your support, josgirl. It is traumatizing!
BetterDay- I'm definitely feeling the acewrap type pressure, but I don't have a whole lot of numbness otherwise. Actually, the most painful part for me this morning is the area above the MX, where they removed the port. I think the nerve block for the rest of the area worked pretty well for me.
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Simplelife and Knightzoo, I forgot to add that I am totally obsessed with your hair growth watch. I had the same chemo as you in the same order just a few days behind you (last chemo 1/20), so I'm thinking I should be on the same hair schedule as you. So come on, hair, let's get growing already!!!
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Patty, Yay on the ski trip; that sounds like fun! It is nice when signs of life beginning to return to normal creep into our lives! You look great!!!!!
Josgirl, I have "patchy arm hair growth, and the patches I do have seem to be in areas, that due to the new stuructures of things, are really hard to reach with any razor of any kind. It would probably be pretty good entertainment watching me try to reach those areas. I have to be creative.
Chickchick, glad you're home. Those rads will take care of anything in those nodes. The chemo took care of anything that tried to escape elsewhere. Rest up!
Michelle, The new wig is very pretty. I bought a new wig soon after chemo ended, frustrated by my lack of new hair growth. Murphy's Law...it seemed to pick up the pace of my hair growth! I usually just wear a hat now, but if I am doing a program at the elementary schools, which I do from time to time, then I wear it. At work, I just wear a ball cap, but most of the guys do too, so I am lucky that I just look like I fit in with what they're doign I guess! I also love the coconut boobs picture...made me LOL...that is exactly what they feel like.
KJ, That Arizona trip will be here befoer you know it; sounds like fun!
Knightzoo, I hope those rads fly by and that April 1 is here before you know it!
Vintage, My mom never had reconstruction and never has regretted it. She has prosthesis she wears when she wants, and other than that, she doesn't wear anything, and has never regretted it. You can always get reconstruction later if you change your mind.
Mama, So glad your boyfriend has been a rock for you and that some of your family is finally coming through. I hope you feel better and better each day.
Art, In the hospital post surgery, I ate a ton of fruit, and always ordered things off of the menu like oatmeal, broccoli (not at the same meal) and other "natural" laxatives. I ordered carefully and never needed a laxative or stool softener.
Cougar, Glad the little man is such a good baby! So glad to hear that the node was negative. Remind me again when your surgery day is. My cousin asked me to send her a booby selfie, but the other day I was looking at my son's phone, and since our iPhones are on the same account, all of my hair selfies were on his phone. I am soooooo glad I did not take a boobie selfie.
Eeeek! I didn't know my chemo day was goign to be my last either, so no bell or sign for me. I did have a rather ecstatic facebook post though.Betterday, So glad to hear your good news! I forgot to post my hair pic. Will do that...
This is 3 months PFC. PFC reminds me...I was typing that in a message the other day at work. Apparently one of the guys was reading over my shoulder, since he asked, "what's PFC stand for?". Before I could answer, one of the other guys in the room said, "Duh, Past Fu**ing Chemo." I said, "close, but not exactly correct, and I told them what it stood for...I did laugh at his version though...lots of truth to it!
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Thanks, clickchick. I'm definitely going to ask about the numbness at my appointment tomorrow. I don't have any pain near my old port site, but they removed it from the inside during surgery not via a separate incision. Also, I had one step recon, and my new foobs are fuller at the top, pretty close to the port site. It is slightly tender to the touch but not painful. I am jealous of your nerve block. That wasn't an option for me, and I had quite a bit of pain in the period right after surgery, which pain meds didn't mitigate well. Happy to hear you're managing pain well and that they sprang you from the hospital quickly!
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Love your hair, Kbeee! Great pic, and so lucky you didn't take the other selfie! And going forward, I'm using your coworker's PFC definition!
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Betterday - I have the same numb areas as you. My foobs are numb, into my armpits, my whole left armpit where they did the node dissection, under that arm and toward the back. No feeling whatsoever!
Kbeee - Wow you have a lot of hair! I hope that my wig "jinxes" me, too, and my hair starts to come in faster. LOL I think that PFC explanation is much more accurate!!!
Tamoxifen is kicking my butt. I have restless legs syndrome every single night (even with meds). I'm having tons of hot flashes, last night between those and a bad headache I was up every hour. Ugh.
My nephew is here doing some work for my hubby and he brought his baby along. Such a cutie. He's 9 months old and wants nothing to do with me. LOL He cries if I pick him up, and he gives me the NO expression stare the rest of the time. Maybe because I have a bandana on and no hair? My daughter is loving it, though... she's the best 7 yr old babysitter ever!
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Hair watch 2014: I have a little stubble on my head. Had to shave my legs below the knee. Nothing under my arms.
I still have a lot of tightness in my chest. Numbness under node arm has gotten much less in the last week. I have feeling about 3" from my nipples in all directions. Less than 3" on prophylactic side.
Love the wig LHL. Great job skiing running. I'm going to start walking on the treadmill tomorrow, I still feel so weak
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This was NOT taken in the car. ;-) It was at my Herceptin infusion on Friday (2/21/14), exactly 9 weeks PFC. I'm only wearing hats when it is cold outside, now. I actually ran a comb and brush through it just for the thrill of it this weekend.
I'm also down 17.5 pounds from surgery date. About 7.5 was from the surgery itself. The other 10 seems to be mainly from loss of all that edema water weight. So, glad the body is slowly returning to some degree of normalcy... the new normal, anyway. :-)
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When I first started writing on this site and saw the term "PFC", I automatically assumed it meant post F**king chemo....it took me a while to realize most people weren't probably thinking of it that way and just meant post final chemo....I guess that says a lot about how my mind thinks! I don't talk that way, but my mind sure thinks that way at times!
Knightzoo...can't believe you had to shave your legs!! Still nada for me anywhere. Maybe it's because you are quite a bit younger.
Clickchick, when you said you had two positive nodes, was that from your original diagnosis or from the path report after surgery? If it was from the post surgical path report...you got that back really fast. If it was from your original diagnosis, your nodes may possibly come up clear at the post surgical path report. My post surgical path report came up with two positive nodes (2 mm largest amount), but the primary tumor was completely gone. I'm interested in talking to my MO about her interpretation of the signficance of having cancer in two nodes after chemo.
KJ....nice to know you can be photographed outside of the car! I'm jealous of the hair. Great pic.
Lighthouse....great wig. Very cute.
Cougar...glad to hear your 4 month old is a good sleeper.
For people with ALND, did you get exercises to do right after surgery? I did not. I still have one drain in under my armpit. It will come out on Wednesday most likely. I'm guessing that they didn't want me to start exercising to keep my flexibility until the drain is out. I was just wondering if other people with complete ALNDs have had the same experience. I was surprised they didn't send me home from the hospital with range of motion exercises.
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simplelife,
You had a drain under your armpit? Mine were under both 'breast' areas. Four total. Two on each side. -
simple - after ALND they usually want you to be a bit "quiet" on the arm movement. It is not really to do with the drain, but rather to ease into movement to avoid sudden onset LE. I recommend using a LE certified therapist and receive instruction on how and when to begin movement, and for preventive sleeve/glove/gauntlet for exercise and flying if you desire it.
kj - I think simple had the axillary drain because she had a lumpectomy instead of MX. I also had two drains on each side at the time of BMX, but when I had axillary clearance surgery five weeks later I also had a drain under the arm.
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Thanks, SpecialK. I forgot she had a lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy.
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kj - no problem!
simple - I don't want to scare you but I wish someone had warned me - when you go to the appointment that you think the axillary drain will be removed, take an Ativan/Xanax/pain med/shot of Jack Daniels - not all of those, pick one. That drain is hooked into an area with a lot of nerves - it was a might uncomfortable to remove it - momentary pain, not lingering.
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Beautiful. Brave. And Funny!
Have a good week everyone! Patty -
Hi Ladies,
I am a graduate student in California completing my dissertation for my doctorate degree. I am studying the impact of chemotherapy induced hair loss on quality of life, body image, coping and self-esteem in women of different cultures. Understanding and filling in the gaps in cancer literature is so important to me, and I have spent a years researching the available literature that exists and have fun many gaps that need to be filled. If you are a women who has at any point lost hair as a result of chemo, please consider taking my study. If you are interested in participating in my 10-15 minute anonymous online survey, your input would be much appreciated and would help fill in gaps in cancer literature. Please take a few moments to go to the following website and answer a few multiple choice questions about your experience. Again, thank you!www.tinyurl/com/laguzvq (please replace the first "/" with a ".") thank you
Thank you,
Olga
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4 rads to the finish line and ugh i I wanna stop ...armpit feels so burned and tight like it's going to rip open. Can't sleep on that side at all and stupid onco office hasn't responded to my Ativan refill since weds, I will be hopping mad on the phone tomorrow. At least I had some Xanax Left so I could get SOME sleep. Please Thursday get here quick !
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so as if this morning, no confirmation, surgery could now be on the 27th.
I'm beyond frustrated
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PeacockGirl,
Hang in there! I'm thinking of taking something to sleep (I've been adamently opposed in the past). Since rads started, I wake up nearly every hour after midnight. Frustrating.Art,
Sorry! Hang in there. Hope you get confirmation today! -
Art hang in there and continue to be strong for Nat hope her surgery date gets set
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Sounds like we're all reaching our limits for one reason or another.... kind of ironic since most all of us are finished with chemo!
Tamoxifen is the devil. Restless legs all afternoon/evening, headaches, hot flashes, waking up all night long. Ugh. I need to check with my MO if I can take two of my RLS pills a day (better to ask forgiveness than permission, since that's what I've been doing the last few days...LOL)
Only good thing is the restless legs forces me to exercise. I've been riding 4-5 miles on my exercise bike every night (20-25 min)... nothing huge but at least it's something.
Wore my new wig to work today and my nephew who works here (he's 24) did a double take and said, "Dang, your hair looks awesome!" LOL
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Running - LOVE the photo montage :-)
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Yes, beautiful pictures of beautiful ladies.
Add me to the (short) list of ladies who had a MX and have their drain under their armpit. If you'd have asked me a year ago if such a list even exists, I would've thought it was absurd.
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I had two drains on each side. The drain sites on each side were both down below my arm on the side of my breast, but one drain tube on each side ran up through my armpit into the crease between my arm & breast and those were the most uncomfortable... both to have in AND to get taken out!
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Michelle, Tamox is driving me crazy too. I had migraines for a long time but thankfully they slowed down (in number and intesity) when my daughter was born. Now they are back in all their glory and I have to think it is Tamox plus getting back into exercise. I am doing all the right things to prevent that I used to (drinking and eating right and on time) but not really helping. And the hot flashes don't help! I couldn't even put my daughter to sleep last night I felt so bad. So I understand. I take Tamox at night and the full 20mg. I wonder if spliting the pill might be helpful? I am going to talk to my onc about it but gosh I don't see him until April! I heard that the side effects wind down after three months or so - I am keeping my fingers crossed but not looking good 2 months in!
BetterDay I had a Lumpectomy & ALND in July last year but my armpit and back and other areas are numb still. It is weird as it isn't a whole swath but rather smaller sections. But I think most of the numbness is still there especially in the armpit. My physical therapist says it will probably remain mostly numb forever....some nerves may grow back but others won't. It has gotten better but not tremendously. I just don't notice it too much anymore.
Simple Life - I had my drain pulled (same spot as you I think) and held a deep breath and as she pulled I let it out. It didn't hurt (and I am a big wus!). The fear of it hurting, however, was terrible and like Special K said might be easier just to take something to prevent tensing up!
Art - I wish doctors (and their schedulers) understood how rescheduling messes with us. Hoping for a concrete answer for you soon.
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Josgirl - I'm sorry Tamox is crummy for you, too, but I'm glad I'm not alone! I see my MO next week and am going to ask, but my understanding is you can only cut pills in half it they are "scoured" (sp?) - where they have the line down the middle. I looked and mine aren't. Ugh. Maybe I can get a prescription for 2 10mg/day? I don't know if it would help or not. I think Hubby is "over" me not being up to par... 11 weeks PFC and 7 weeks post-op and I still feel SO tired and now all these SEs from the hormonal therapy.....I feel bad complaining all the time, but I don't think he honestly gets how "off" I still feel. I'm working, I'm exercising, I'm taking care of the kids, etc, but all I want to do is sit on the couch or sleep! Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into a rant! LOL
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Michelle I totally hear you! My fiancee and I had to have a long sit down and I had to tell him again how while my energy is returning and I seem so much better (compared to chemo anyway) that I just don't feel right and my energy to do things other than watch tv or read is at an all time low. And at some level I am sick of being at this low so frustrated with myself as much as he is (he is being more patient with me than I would be if the situation was vice versa). But I hear you - feeling off after we expected to be getting better is SO NOT FAIR! Let me know what your onc says....
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running, love the montage, kbee and kj looking very good nice hair, LHL, still laughing at your minnion coconut bra. I think your wig is beautiful.
Cougar, i know u did't ring the bell, but you have certainly earned an award for being courageous and a real trooper, giving birth during chemo, i'm sure any magazine would love to publish your story!
Betterday hoping all is well.
Love reading all your posts, as for me still very tired, legs are achy and heavy. taste budsnot bad I want to eat all the time!
Hugs to all
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