August 2013 Chemo Sisters

Lisa-Yes too bad you are far away it would be fun to go hat shopping with someone who understands what it's like to be hairless! I did take your advice and wore a hat last night instead of a scarf thing that I usually wear. My husband and I went out to dinner with a friend of his and his wife. I didn't really know them and I felt I wanted to not look like a "cancer" person, yet my hair is too short to go topless (at least without questions). I wore a cute hat I forgot I had. My son said I looked like a hipster ?? which he defined as someone who likes to do her own thing and looks cool for it. So I took it as a complement. ;-) I am on the Tamoxifen. Besides the hot flashes I haven't noticed any problems. I do wonder if weight gain will be a problem. Right before I was put on the Tamoxifen I was put on something for the high blood sugars that have stayed since chemo. One side effect of that was weight loss of that drug was weight loss. I did loose about 5 pound until the put me on Tamoxifen. Now I have stayed steady and wonder if Tamoxifen is countering the weight loss. If so it stinks cause I need to loose the weight I have put on with this whole mess!

Rhody-Congratulations on being done! I know it seems so weird to finally be done. It must be even harder for you as you have had quite a long time of chemo so that had probably become your new normal. Hopefully soon you'll get back into your old ways. It's never quite the same but I have found I don't think about the cancer as much as I once did. Some days I even almost forget about it. Hopefully you will be able to find that place too. I think that is the way we cope with it. When I start to dwell on the idea of it coming back I miss out on the life that the chemo and radiation has given me. At least that is the way I have tried to look at it.

Thanks, Candi07!  No, I am not taking any hair supplements specificially for hair.  I only using my hair products that I made.  I do take MSM.

I been making soap like crazy (which means lots of lifting) which means a touch of lymphedema .  I'm OK with it . . . nothing will get in the way of making products for my business.  Once I'm fitted for a sleeve, I wear it whenever I can, especially when making soap or vending.  I mentioned this to say that when I went to the lymphedema specialist, she kept asking about my skin and what products I use . . . I mean she asked about 3 times in a 30 minute session.  I told her that I make my own soap, lotions, butters, scrubs, oils, etc. and she congratulated me on how healthy, hydrated + moisturized my skin look + felt.

Besides drinking plenty of water, I can give you ladies a few recipes to make your own DIY skin-care products (body oils, lotions, butters) just let me know.  I'm happy to help my August Chemo Sisters!

We are being very quite on this thread lately!  I hope that means that everyone is finished treatment and on with their lives.

Continue thriving + striving!

Beeve, while I can't recommend any nail solutions, just want to share my nails are awful. Ridges from chemo are towards the end and my nails keep splitting far down the side. I actually have put some super glue on the splits to try to keep them from catching on something so it doesn't tear that far down the finger. I have tried the Sally Hansen and I think it might have helped a bit, but I forget to do it regularly....

Kate, Thoughts and prayers are with you. Keep being strong.

Bev, check the private message boards. I dropped my i-phone in water!!!!! I can hear texts coming in but can't get the screen on . I put it in rice so hopefully, it will dry out. Gotta' go for now.  Sharon

Togetherness, great to hear from you! It's hard to believe that many of us are all done with chemo, etc. and moving on with our lives. The chemo did a job on me as well, I have terrible residual joint pain and neuropathy from the Taxol. I  try to be positive and tell myself (and everyone else) that every time I hurt so bad it is a reminder that I am here, an option that might not be true if I had not had the chemo. I have continued to choose to not have reconstruction, and while I still feel that way recently I have been having a lot of emotional issues related to feeling like I am no longer a woman.....for me getting implants would not change that, I would feel like a fake (but that's my decision, everyone needs to choose for themselves).

As far as finding someone who specialized in lymphedema, you could ask for a referral to physical therapy to somewhere that has a Women's Health Specialist. They are few and far between, but a valuable asset! I went to one for PT for strengthening, and talked to her about my goals (rowing) and she changed my program to help me work towards that goal....even though my BS said no because of the risk of lymphedema. So now I am rowing, I wear my compression sleeve, and have had minimal problems. I think the key is to get to someone who specializes in lymphedema management. I work for a corporation that offer outpatient PT and my CEO asked why I didn't use them, and I told her that I really needed a provider that offers lymphedema and women's health specific services

(((HUGS))) to you and everyone else as well!

Binney4 Thank you so much for the info!! I am calling first thing Monday morning swelling has gotten worse!  Hope to get some relief soon.  I will check out the thread as well!

It's been just over a year since my double mastectomy, no
reconstruction yet (no implants, just to neaten up all the uneven parts -
and an eyelid job I already wanted to have done). I finished Chemo
around Thanksgiving, Rads at the end of march. I work out on an
exercise bike in inclement weather or when I can't hit the actual road.
I was almost at my pre-cancer distance/duration and then I severed a
tendon in my thumb so I lost a couple of weeks to pain and all that
jazz. In the past week, I've been back on the bike and it was going
great, every day doing a few more minutes until I hit 25 minutes and
plateaued for a couple of days.

The next day I shattered my old
record, going all the way to 33 minutes. My legs were jelly so I took a
day off, but yesterday I got back to it but could only sqeak out 10
minutes; today I was nearly fainting at 13. Add to that I'm way too
tired, and it's not because I'm abusing my medication or anything. I'm
eating healthy, getting as much exercise as I can and sleeping a lot but
the past few weeks I'm just exhausted by everything.

Normally I
wouldn't worry too much, just go with it and nap it off, but since it's
been several weeks since my blood got checked and knowing I have no
more appointments scheduled (although I could have sworn my last
Herceptin was at the end of July - I'm going to check on that tomorrow.

But
is it because I'm getting older or is there something more deadly at
play and what are the chances? Can anyone enlighten me? Don't tell me
to call the doc because I'm actually going to stop by his office while
I'm in town to find out the skinny and maybe have them do my blood, but
I'm a wee bit anxious.

I'm still here... Doing pretty well, knock on wood... Still seeing the round of docs every quarter. New MO, as the one I was seeing moved. Next up is my surgeon next month. Been exercising a lot since the new year as I've gained about 20 pounds. I haven't lost anything yet, but I am feeling better just from moving more I think.We'll see how it goes. I joined a support group and we meet twice a month so I've made friends in that regard. I think it helps. Also started a healing garden last spring but didn't finish, so looking forward to blooms this year.

Hope everyone is doing well..