Starting Chemo in December 2013

Missy I am so sorry you are going through this again. I will chime in with the others that it is time to see a specialist.

Today I am 5 weeks PFC and 2 weeks post lumpectomy and lymph node removal (15). My surgeon is on a leave and saw another one the other day. He removed the stitches but not the drain. I am still draining over 100m a day and they want it down to about 20m per day. Has anyone kept their drain in for a long time? I questioned him about the numbness in the back of my upper arm and he was like well sometimes that never goes away....this was the surgeon I saw first and didn't jive with and went to one of the other partners so maybe there was just bad juju between us but he has no people skills what so ever. I want to get on with rads so I can finally be finished with all of this. I was hoping to start soon since my house is going to be tented for termites on 9/8 and there is a lot of work to prepare for that plus making accomodations for 2 nights for me and pets. It would have been nice to be done with rads and just go to the KOA campsite with the pets and be able to swim in the pool. No eyebrows or lashes yet, fuzz on my head but nothing really noticiable. No hair growing anywhere else except spotty on my legs. At  least the chin hair isn;t back yet either!!!

charusa-  I had drains for 3 weeks.  I also have the numbing on the upper arm.  Some came back, but most did not.  Underarm has no feeling what so ever.  I guess I'll get used to it with time.  For the first month, my right elbow would get red from me scraping it on stuff.  Didn't know bc it was numb!  Still is too:(

missy- I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this too. I second on the specialist. How are you feeling?

Rad Ladies - I think I remember reading where y'all were using cornstarch? I'm halfway through rads, but I'm starting to burn under my arm and it is really beginning to be painful. RO gave me lidocaine cream to mix with aquaphor. It helped some last night. But I can't put it on again until I get back from rads. Skin is also rubbing there and sticking together which just increases the pain. 

Hi ladies,

Holli, I used the Cornstarch Baby Powder, to clarify. Not sure if that's what others are referring to. It helped me with the red bumps on my chest and keeping dry at my fold.

I hope you all have a great week-end~

Happy Friday the 13th (with a Full Moon, to boot!)

I don't use Aquafor, just the calandula gel. and i put the cornstarch on after that dries.

is that the cream from California Baby?

Jodi- I loved Friends!! Totally remember that episode. Ha ha! Great visual!!

Ellison looks like she is having so much fun. 

Jodi I had to laugh out loud at that memory of that Friends episode! What my RO has advised me to use and it seems to be working really well is a gel called Califlora, it is a Calendula gel made out of marigolds.  Unlike a lotion that does not dry, this gel dries and then i put a layer of cornstarch on over it.  I am 13 sessions in and no redness at all.  I put on this gel and cornstarch two times a day.  Funny how all of our RO's seem to have a little different way of doing things.  

Hope your tummy starts to feel better.  The pool pictures are wonderful.  Its cold here today in North Dakota so that looks heavenly! 

I'm going to see the movie tonight "the fault in our stars".......i'll probably be a bawling mess like i was when i read the book!

Happy Friday to all..........

Michelle

Barbara- I think you are right!  That internal one is probably causing some heartburn like you said. When they zap there, the machine is angled to my left and they put on attachments to the machine.  Reminds me of an old time camera with the pull cord.  That zap and then change the attachment to a different on and zap me dead center in the chest.  It rotates to over my right shoulder too and zaps me from underneath.  They also do the regular breast area and scar area first.    How is the middle of your chest holding up?  Wondering if that is going to get it the worse.  Lots of stuff happening right there which I am so so thankful for!

Holli and Missi-  I can reference any Friends episode and Seinfeld lol!  

Today was rad #14 and I will have Monday off. They need to rework the plan to move it down a bit to take away the pain from my throat. It hurts to swallow.  Will resume rads on Tuesday.

Also got tired of waiting for hair to darken/color. Bought a box, color was darker on box than it turned out on my head. Not used to looking at the lighter end of the color choices on the box. LOL! Was supposed to be auburn....

I want to play in the waterfall too!  Ellison looks like she is having too much fun.  Jodi, put a lot of pics of your Dad when he was healthy around.

Robin, love the color.  

I'm 7 weeks PFC and barely have any hair.  Have the white fuzzy stuff with some dark stuff coming in. My hair was a medium brown with lots of white that I colored red.  This looks a lot darker.  The eyebrows have a dark 5 o'clock shadow, I can see my eyelashes in the sun . But the moustache hairs are doing really well

I am burning like hell.  Have a bad rash with it too.  Monday they start with a new plan, targeting the scar area, hopefully it will give the shoulder, clavicular area a break.  They gave me SilverMed, will go looking for some calendula gel today, might as well try something different.

The hospital network that I am using is having a special day for their cancer patients and a guest, tickets to the Braves game tonight, a picnic lunch, t-shirts and a parade on the field.  Only had to pay for parking.  It will be fun, my first cancer event though, I'll need to bring tissue.

Robin, the color looks great on you!

DJJ, got the "Fuzz Off" for my "whiskers" and it worked great! What a relief to get rid of it!

Hang in there with the rads, ladies. It is a pain, I know.

chico, sounds like a fun time! 

jodi, I hope this week-end isn't too difficult for you.

Went for lunch with a friend yesterday and she complimented my "hair", but what are friends for?!:)

Hi all from cape cod! My eyebrows and lashes are coming in and I am so glad as I hated that "blank" look. have to darken eyebrows quite bit though as pretty sparse and pale and remember not to rub or else I look like I only have one. Realized that the other day when I looked on the mirror and I was lopsided. Matches my chest I guess. My head hair is coming in slowly and more on the top than sides, still,not much though and still looking pretty bald. It is so soft though, feels kind of cool. It's cool here but humid today and the rad breast just started feeling itchy and is slightly red. Skin is sticky from the weather, (everything always feels damp here) so put on some cornstarch powder and will take a rest while free boobing (no bra just thin t shirt). I'm also not comfortable  going without a bra but for different reasons than many of you, I am so small, barely B with L smaller than R and kind of saggy. Always wore a padded push up bra. Oh boy...our trials and tribulations of BC :-(. I could never even have imagined what this was going to be like. Hoo humm

My great  niece and nephew are here also ages 4 1/2 and 2 and they have not seem me bald yet. Just with scarves and hats. The 4 1/2 yr old has not asked why I am wearing a scarf on my head all the time. Wonder what he would say or how I'd approach it. I was thinking of telling him that my hair fell out because I didn't eat my vegetables...(but that would be just mean I think lol). I also thought I'd tell him that I liked his haircut so much I decided to get one just like him (they buzz his head in the summer). I'm sure he'd be fine. Hoping for warmer, sunnier weather the next few days, have my SPF shirt, wide brimmed hat, uv buff, 50 SPF sunscreen, beach umbrella etc

lisa, yes, enjoy your time away! My 5 yr old grandson did not like my short hair at all when I showed it to him. He covered his eyes. I finally started going without a scarf around him and he is fine. I told him I had to take a certain kind of medicine and it made my hair come out. The other day, he rubbed my head and said "it's getting long,  though!" Love that little boy! He's such a sweetie:).

I am now burning under my arm. It is so odd to me because I haven't had any feeling under my right arm since surgery. Couldn't even feel temperature changes (like deodorant being cold). Maybe I'm feeling this because it is from the inside out?? Not sure.

Under my right arm is black ... Almost like it is charred. On Wednesday the doctor called in lidocaine cream to mix with the aquaphor I've been applying. It offers minimal help, well, it makes it semi tolerable. Supposedly the next step is oral pain meds. I've taken one to help me sleep but I don't want to have to take these every night and especially not during the day.

My concern is that while the pain/discomfort is tolerable now, I still have 16 more treatments to go...