September 2013 Chemo Group

LHL, I'm so sorry about your friend. I can't even imagine. 

Art, good luck on planning next steps. I've been so thankful that I was diagnosed in the information age rather than years go. We have so much more information at our disposal than just what our doctors tell us, thank goodness. 

To all you hairy ladies (and I mean that as the highest of compliments) you look beautiful!  Keep posting those pics. Love to see all the new growth.  I will be 8 weeks pfc on Monday and you can still see my shiny scalp. It feels fuzzy on top but you can't see it at all.  Getting really impatient. 

And as for the spinal X-ray, I have arthritis!  Never in a million years would I have thought I would be happy to have arthritis at the age of 41. It is minimal but hopefully is responsible for the pain. The X-ray folks said they can't rule out anything more serious, but my MO said that she believes that anything big enough to cause pain would have shown up. Nevertheless, I'm going to see her next week. Depending on the exam and if the pain gets worse, she may send me for an MRI.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

BetterDay!  Arthritis is good news! :-) No one wants something new to deal with, but as long as its not the big C, we are happy!  Keep us posted! 

LHL/Michelle.  So sorry about your friend! I often think of people whose diagnosis was so much worse than mine. I can't imagine -- this is bad enough! Your hair looks cute....and it has the same waves/curls as mine!   And your daughter is indeed sweet!  She looks proud and happy on her horse!!! 

Here's my daughter (in the middle) at Opening Night of Hairspray!  As I watched her on stage, I was overcome by the desire to live a really long life! :-)

LOVE all of your hair!  WOW!!  Mine is at 9 weeks PFC and I can barely see it still....also when I use argan oil on scalp I am getting little hairs on my hands like it is falling out too???  Wondering if it's from the hairs that never fell out or if the Tamoxifen is causing hair loss?  NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Betterday- Yay for arthritis for sure!

All- I went to see PS and BS this last week in Colorado.  Everything is great but they did convince me to change my MO, told them a few of the things and they thought it would be better if I actually got breast exams when I see an MO and someone that helped me feel confident and happy not worried and uniformed or uncared about.  So I made an appt. to see a new MO in Dallas from now on.

Another point for all getting fat grafting/lipo.... I have a lump on breast that I found after round 2 and FREAKED out about, I have gotten ultrasounds 3times already on it and it looks 'benign'...my BS thought it is fat necrosis or suture and PS says suture not dissolved yet.

Well I am supposed to do fat grafting and really looked forward to it as the only area I have fat is my thighs and I want them gone (one perk please) but he did say that the fat grafting can cause lumps...I'm just not sure I want any more...they are SOOOOOOOOOOO scary!  His mom had BC 5 years ago and I talked with her and she has had 4 lumps in 5 years, from the fat grafting/sutures.  Her son is a plastic surgeon and maybe that helps her deal but I'm not sure if I would enjoy having more lumps...I might just get the lipo as a treat and NOT have the fat put in my boobs...they look great now except when I bend forward you can see wrinkles where there is no fat.  Anyhow that is a DOWN side to getting the fat grafting that I missed before.

On another note:  I wore the sleeve flying there and did NOT wear it on the way back to see what would happen, and my BS gave me a long printout of info. on lymphedema and myths and truths and basically it said compression doesn't help in studies they have done, etc...all this to say I was fine and no excess fluids/swelling from flying.  I am doing brushing this whole week and it helps keep it at bay in my boob area swelling.

My BS also told me to take aspirin 4x/week while on Tamoxifen and my MO said not needed.  I am going with taking it and the BS from Harvard Med Schools opinion over my soon to be EX MO!!!  I also wore compression socks on the flight to ward off blood clots...dreading my 9 hour flight next month to get to Malta...she also said to get up every hour and walk around!!!

I am doing great and busy and trying to be 'normal' again...still have thoughts of worry at times but trying to charge forward.  Trying to work out daily and still eating lots of vegies...

Love reading about all of your success and hair growth!

Betterday,   YAY for arthritis!!  I have had it for years and consider it the price we pay for the wisdom of aging. ;-)

Had my quarterly ECHO this morning. Pleased to report I still have a heart and it is stronger than ever. With the mastectomy, they were able to see my valves much clearer with the ultrasound equipment now and are very happy with how my heart tolerated chemo and the Herceptin. 

Life is good!!  And vacation is only a week away!!

Betterday,

A week in the Arizona sun. ;-)

KJ, you will be finishing rads the week before I start.  I would love to be done with this by now.  My biggest concern is skin burns and lymphedema.  How is your skin holding up?  Congrats on you up-coming vacation.

Yesterday was my husband's birthday.  We went out to eat to celebrate.  It's what he likes to do.  I'm just very grateful to have had his support over the past seven months.  Today, I go for a pap smear...just getting back into the swing of things on my regular healthcare stuff.  My lipid profiles came back awesome!  They were high during chemo and I'm surprised that they had normalized so quickly.  The MO said to not worry if they were off for at least three more months because the anesthesia from surgery can also "congest" the liver. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Simplelife,
According to both the breast surgeon and the radiation oncologist (and techies), my skin is holding up much better than they expected. I'm starting week 6 today. I haven't had a problem with lymphedema swelling either.  I did have some cording issues that the lymphedema doc worked out with some aggressive PT (yes, it is painful, but so worth it and only until she works the cords loose/snaps them).

If you don't have the list of lotions SpecialK posted, I have them in a word document and can send them to you by email if you need them.  Just message me.  My recommendation is the miaderm (one 4 oz bottle lasts 2-3 weeks, so get two), the aloe gel, vitamin E oil, and using only oatmeal and aloe soap during rads.  That is what worked for me.  I applied the lotions at least twice a day (once in the morning after showering and once at night) and more if I took a second shower that day.  During 'boosts' (where they focus on your incisions), I made sure to do it three times a day.

Vintage,
I hope you are doing better!  I had Herceptin the week before surgery and a couple of weeks after surgery.  No ill effects.  In fact, it was a breeze.  Suggest that they administer it slower if you are worried about a reaction because your system is weak.  So far as I can tell, except for being slightly more tired the two days after the Herceptin infusions, I'm not experiencing any side effects.  Well... it does change the color of my urine... kinda looks like a glowing yellow nuclear experiment. ;-)

Five days left of radiation... hard to believe!!  Gonna ring that so that LighthouseLady in Texas can hear it on Friday!!

Runningfrom,
Great IMRT!!  :-)   Thanks!!

Thanks KJ, I have the list of skin creams.  I saved it into a google doc when Special K first posted it.

Vintagegal, good to hear from you since surgery.  Hope things are going okay.

Special K - - Wow! You have really been through a lot of medical procedures! Glad the skin cancer issues are under control as well as the b/c issues!

Did you have melanoma or basal cell carcinoma? I have had bouts of basal cell carcinoma on my forehead (too many years as a lifeguard growing up!) and two MOHS procedures to remove them!   Its a breeze compared to breast cancer!  I just saw my dermatologist and she said my skin looked "GREAT". Yay!

I hope your healing is going well. 

running - 100% of my many skin cancers have been basal cells.  Because of that I am not overly alarmed about them - and I am very diligent about seeing my derm every 6 months.  My previous treatments have been easy, but these last three were tough - they were large areas excised and right in the middle of my back, between the shoulder blades.  It made sleeping difficult and the doc would only do one at a time so there were not two stitched areas close together.  He did them two weeks apart, so this went on for six weeks.  Funny story - I had a flat tire on the way to the MOHS.  I managed to be right next to a shopping center parking lot about five miles from the medical center when this happened.  There was a police officer parked a few spaces down so I approached him to ask if he had any numbers for local taxis so that I could proceed on to my surgery, and deal with the tire later.  He offered to take me in the back of the police car, so I hopped in!  The valet parking guys at the hospital were quite surprised when I got out of the back of the police car and went in!  On the subject of my healing from this most recent revision - things are not going as well as I would like - I have two fairly large open areas on the face of the breast, about an inch wide each - not on the incision line.  This area is weakened from several previous surgeries right after BMX in 2010/2011 due to necrosis.  I have an appointment with the PS tomorrow morning and a bit of a sinking feeling about what will happen next. 

let us know how your appt goes SpecialK. You've had a long road of recon  

Running-so glad to hear you are pain free! 

Love all the pics! Anyone thick enough to go cover free 10 weeks PFC? Two more weeks til our trip and I'd love to leave the wig at home. 9 rads to go. 

My boys WON the state tournament yesterday! So special for them to do it together as a senior and a freshman. Brought happy tears to my eyes. Their team was the #4 seed, beat #1 in the semis then #2 in the finals. A little Cinderella story.

Knightzoo, I went topless 9 weeks PFC when i returned to work. Most people think I just have a cool after holiday haircut.

Special K all the best. You are one strong lady.

Going back to the new normal is taking its toll. So tired!!!  I completely let go and did not let little things bother me while undergoing treatment but now I have to keep reminding myself not to stress about everything. 

Take care everyone.

I am wanting HAIR too!  I have trip to Malta in 4 weeks that will make me 13 weeks, hoping for as much hair as you Alfranco, but it really is going to have to start coming in!  Still barely coming ..my leg hairs just started growing maybe that's a good sign.  Does head hair come after leg hair?

I have been busy and that keeps my mind from wandering or worrying.  When it slows down I start to panic to find something to do...I think I need to be calm in quiet and rest too so I need to work on that. 

Flew to Denver last week and my boob is now swollen with lymphedema...working on that with PT, it is ANNOYING~! She says probably just confused and they will be back to normal soon..hoping..

KJ - Booo for your skin having issues NOW.  But that's great that it held up so well almost the whole time!  And vacation is right around the corner!  Woohoo!

Knightzoo - CONGRATS to your boys on the state title.  That is so awesome, and so special that they were able to play on the team together.  I'm 14 weeks PFC and still not going topless, but I'm used to having a LOT of hair and the GI Jane look just isn't me.  If I was going on vacation, though, I would definitely leave the wig behind!  Throw a few hats/bandanas in just in case.

I'll never catch up on everything I've missed.... just wanted to pop in and say hi.  I think I'm getting sick, just in time for rads.  Blah!  My eyes are watering and my face is flushed and I just have that whole "I don't feel good" vibe going.  My friend had the flu last week.  I started Tamiflu just in case... does anyone know if that can make you a little sick?

Tomorrow I see the RO again and they're going to mark me for rads, so after that I should have a start date.  I'm ready to get this show on the road and be done!!!

Running,
I'm sure you will have great fun with your kids at the Grand Canyon.  I remember taking my kids there about 10 years ago.  Love the look of awesome and wonder in their eyes.  :-)

Radiation doc is sending in a prescription of silvadine and a couple of other concoctions just in case I need them while on vacation.  I'm not going to let it ruin my vacation, but I will be prepared.  Maybe I'll learn to drink in AZ.  ;-)