Starting Chemo, November 2013 Group

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  • audra67
    audra67 Member Posts: 521
    edited May 2014

    I think it might be awful too, I used to drink soy chai tea lattes every morning for probably 2 years!  That was about 4 years ago...now coffee, but I am avoiding it now too and it seems to be in EVERYTHING!!! 

    We should come up with a brand that makes : No soy, no dairy, no preservatives for consumption at stores for BC women!  We would make a mint!

    It takes a lot of TIME to look at every label in grocery store to see if it has 'bad' ingredients...it annoys me!

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  • QuirkyGirl
    QuirkyGirl Member Posts: 383
    edited May 2014

    It's pervasive in a lot of vegetarian cookbooks, too. :(.  Thank goodness there is at least Bragg's Amino Acids as a good substitute for soy sauce. 

    Lisa- your soy story is spooky!  

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  • lisa137
    lisa137 Member Posts: 569
    edited May 2014

    Spooky but it seemed like a miracle at first. No more spending almost a week of every month in bed snacking on Ibuprofen and Flexoril! Then Mom got DCIS and told me that the doctor had told her to avoid soy and I started thinking about how half a cup of something each day could have such a *dramatic* effect on my body and was like.... ugh...that can't be good. 

    Audra, you are right, we'd make a fortune. And I know what you mean and I can't even read the labels if I've forgotten to bring my reading glasses with me to the store...

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited May 2014

    Today is my B- day! It's a good time for me to pause for a moment to be thankful that I made it to this point.

    I have caught this terrible cold so any celebration might need to wait until I feel better.,

     I think me catching a nasty cold at the very end of my treatment reminds me of a marathon runner who is collapsing at the finish line. Yeah, it's been a long, bruttaly hard and exhaisting race to the finish!

    Here is a pic from my garden this morning. Enjoy!

    image

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  • ellenkc
    ellenkc Member Posts: 173
    edited May 2014

    Happy, happy birthday, Amazon! -- Ellen

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  • Phebe38
    Phebe38 Member Posts: 197
    edited May 2014

    Happy birthday Amazon. I love your flowers. That's what keeping me busy these days. I just love making my home attractive with plants. My adult kids are helping me. I find that I get very exhausted and no energy need to go and lie down to rest

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  • QuirkyGirl
    QuirkyGirl Member Posts: 383
    edited May 2014

    Happy Birthday Amazon!  Beautiful flowers for an amazing woman!

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited May 2014

    ellen, phebe, quirky: Thank you so much for your birthday wishes. 

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  • audra67
    audra67 Member Posts: 521
    edited May 2014


    Happy bday to you!  HOPE you get BETTER fast!  REST...enjoy!

     

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited June 2014

    I started Tamoxifen today: Let the fun begin!

    I understand that the latest recommendation is to take it for 10 years! So it's going to be a while without any daily meds. I will be taking it with a low dose Aspirin as well because latest research shows its beneficial. 

    I was a wonderful day today. I spent a lot of time in my backyard resting in a hammock.

    Here is a pic of a old world swollowtail that showed up in our garden today. Actually my son caught it first and then we had to release it.

    image

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited June 2014

    aurda: Thanks for your well wishing.,

    I am still dealing with the nasty cold. First my voice went, and now I have this dry, annoying cough on top of an itchy, sore skin after finishing rads. 

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  • BigT16
    BigT16 Member Posts: 100
    edited June 2014

    Amazon-check with your doctor regarding taking aspirin with Tamoxifen.  Aspirin is an anticoagulant.  I know that Coumadin is very much a contraindication with Tamoxifen due to Tamoxifen increases the blood thinning effect.  Aspirin also has blood thinner processes.

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited June 2014

    bigt: There is actually new research out there that shows that Aspirin boosts the effect of Tamoxifen. 

     http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/259480.php

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited June 2014

    All: When do you usually take your Tamoxifen? Morning or evening, with food or without?

    Are there any dietary or supplement restrictions that your DR recommended?

    Are you also on a daily dose of baby Aspirin? If so how often? Every day or every other day?

    How do you manage any SE?

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  • smrlvr
    smrlvr Member Posts: 422
    edited June 2014

    Amazon, I take it in the morning before I go to work.  I take it with D3, turmeric, probiotic, lexapro and magnesium.  I don't eat until I get to work and for me breakfast is a nutrabullet  smoothie.  The biggest side effect for me are the muscle and joint aches and pains.  I am trying to alleviate them with the magnesium, but not working.  The only thing that works is alieve.  I don't like to take that every day, but I may have to.

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  • QuirkyGirl
    QuirkyGirl Member Posts: 383
    edited June 2014

    I take mine in the morning with my blood pressure medicine and coffee or tea.  I try to eat something within the hour.  I have the same SE as Smrlvr.   

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  • Bec65
    Bec65 Member Posts: 312
    edited June 2014

    Amazon, I take mine on an empty stomach right when I wake up because that's when I need to take the clinical trial drug.  I have coffee with nonfat milk about an hour later, then food about 45 minutes after that.  (Can you tell I LOVE routine?!?)  I tried tamoxifen at night with my sleep aid, but I was waking up around 3 am pretty regularly.  I'm actually NOT having any appreciable SEs right now.  The joint stiffness in my hips and legs has subsided, so I think that was leftover from Taxol, as my MO had thought.  (And that's a huge relief, because my MO made me stop taking Aleve regularly.)  I read that aspirin study -- I'm going to ask my MO about it at our next appointment.  

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  • inks
    inks Member Posts: 746
    edited June 2014

    I take tamoxifen in the morning too. I was told by my MO to take one baby aspirin a day, but a friends MO told her to take one every other day. Mine told it was to prevent blood clots. I also take biotin for hair, vit D3 and turkey tail mushrooms. I might start taking IP - 6 too. I was taking curcumin during radiation and wanted to continue since it may be helpful with cancer but it gives me diarrhea. I also sprout my own broccoli sprouts and juice them along with some kale for a green shot.


     

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited June 2014

    Thank you ladies for the Tamoxifen info.

    I am feeling that I am finally turning a corner with this nasty cold as I don't seem to cough my lungs out any more even though I am still stuffed up and having quite a bit of mucous.

    I am 1 week PFR and my radiated skin is itchy, turning blotchy in red-purple colour with brown freckles, has a grainy leathery feel and is painful in certain spots especially under my armpit. Bawling

    Here is my update regarding hair growth after 10 weeks PFC. I never knew before that my hair was growing in a swirl like a spinning galaxy. :)

    image

    image

    image

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited June 2014

    On a more positive note, here is a pic from my garden this morning. Its beauty lifts my spirit. Enjoy. 

    image

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  • lisa137
    lisa137 Member Posts: 569
    edited June 2014

    The swirl is cool. Now I have to ask my husband if I have swirly  hair. :P

    Sounds like rads is actually worse after it's done, then? Hmm.

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited June 2014

    lisa: For me, It is definitely worse after than during. Ouch!

    Anybody else had a similair experience?

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  • Bec65
    Bec65 Member Posts: 312
    edited June 2014

    Amazon, my skin looked EXACTLY like yours for about two weeks after rads ended.  It definitely was worse after than during, but it healed within about a month.  I love your swirl and your flowers!!!

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited June 2014

    bec: What was the progression of healing?  Did you get dry peeling skin or wet or both?

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  • smrlvr
    smrlvr Member Posts: 422
    edited June 2014

    Amazon, my skin looked just like yours. It took about 2 weeks PFR for it to heal. The doctor prescribed silvardine cream for me and it helped.  I did nave some broken skin that was oozing a bit, but not too much.  Mostly it was peeling like a bad sunburn.  I notice that the radiation made my scar lighter in the radiated side.  I wish I could do something about the scar on the other side.

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  • Amazonwarrior
    Amazonwarrior Member Posts: 485
    edited June 2014

    I can't believe my luck! On top of having a nasty, dry cough, a painful and itchy radiation burn I bit my tongue really badly!

    It happened when I was eating a tomato. I feel that after chemo my tongue doesn't have the same sensitivity hence the accident. :(

    Thanks ladies for sharing re radiation recovery. 

    Inks: I have never heard about the turkey tail mushroom. Do you take pills, or is it tea. Would you mind sharing some info about it?

    I am using chaga tea for antioxydant and antitumour properties and taking MGN-3 supplement made from shiitake mushroom to boost NK- cell activity.

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  • ellenkc
    ellenkc Member Posts: 173
    edited June 2014

    Hey Amazon -- At 5 months PFC, my swirls are turning into curls! I've always had some wave and curls, but not this much. Front and top are still pretty straight. -- Ellen

    image

     

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  • lisa137
    lisa137 Member Posts: 569
    edited June 2014

    I had my husband inspect my head (lol.) He says nope, no swirl. "It radiates." Dang. I kind of wanted to be swirly.

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  • Bec65
    Bec65 Member Posts: 312
    edited June 2014

    Amazon, someone on another thread described the peeling as more of a "pilling" which was pretty accurate for me....little balls of skin rubbing off.  I was super itchy and pilly everywhere, but oozing only under my arm.  I used Miaderm twice a day and Benedryl gel for the itching.  I should have kept a log like I did for chemo....I don't remember exactly when it was all better, but I know it was within four weeks.  

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  • QuirkyGirl
    QuirkyGirl Member Posts: 383
    edited June 2014

    mine was worse after rads and then healed very very fast.  My chest is still a bit pink and hot and feels a little leathery but I think I'm the only one who would notice. I finished rads at the end of April.  Beautiful swirl and beautiful curls ladies!

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