Starting Chemo in December 2013

Yeah Barbara, Vancomyacin (sp?) is what i'm getting every 12 hours through IV infusion. Each trip to the ER for infusion takes over 3 hours and they have to put it in real slow due to my reaction to it. Ugh. Makes for long days. I have to do this until at least Monday night.

I'm so over this. The redness seems to be getting a little bit better so hopefully it is doing what it needs to be doing.

hugs and love to all.

michelle

Barbara- you are in my thoughts and heart. Praying 2015 is a peaceful year with new happiness to come!

What supplements if any are y'all taking? I am doing nothing but my prescription. Help a clueless sister out

Clueless sister as well......All i'm taking is tamoxifen, my blood pressure pill and effexor. I guess you could call my Womens multivitamin gummies a supplement, but i mostly take those because I like the the taste!

OMG ladies, this boob infection has been a freakin disaster. My veins are collapsing left and right.....my arm is so sore from all the different IV's and attempted IV's!! I just want to cry! and maybe I will dammit!!!

Well...I'm about to head back to the ER to get hooked back up for my evening dose.

love and hugs to you all.

michelle

I take Vit D3 with calcium and magnesium; about 4000 IU's of Vit D.

Gosh Michelle, I hope you get over this soon! I would cry....

I tried HOT yoga on Saturday. Totally intense. I had to sit some out, but the heat helped me stretch my shoulder more. I still don't have full range of motion in my right shoulder (side where cancer was and lymph nodes taken) and it's been over a year and I've been doing physical therapy.

Lisa- I have held on to that saying. I love it!!

Happy New Year ladies -

I was in baja for a week. We had no internet, so catching up on your posts.

Barbara - I am so sorry for the loss of your husband, my heart goes out to you.

Re port scar - I had mine lasered. It is flat and smooth now.

Michelle - I was wondering what happen to you. Ok now I am in no hurry to have my TE replaced. I have shitty veins and can only imagine how horrible this has been for you. Sending healing prayers your way.

Vitamins & lose dose aspirin -

Ubiquinol (1 tablet) , B Complex, DIM 100mg, Turkey Tail Immune support (2 in morn, 2 in eve), D3, Curcumin Phytosome 1000 mg (1 in morn, 1 in eve), Low dose aspirin, zinc (supposed to take it, but always forget 25 mg.) Melotinin, Norwegian cod liver oil, Calcium 1200 mg, magnesium citrate 200 mg & Ashwagandha (1 tablet). I haven't started the calcium and magnesium yet. I think the magnesium is supposed to help me sleep. These are all recommended by my integrated doc.

Kim

just me checking in and pouting......Pardon my language but FUCK! I gotta keep doing this shit for 10 total days now. I'm on day 6 today and just got another new IV in today which hurt like hell but the cute flight paramedic made it a little more tolerable. I fly to Rochester, MN tomorrow evening so won't have to do tomorrow night's dose and I have an appt. with my PS on Wednesday morning. My arm is so bruised and rock hard and just hurts to touch it. I can tell the infection is improving but its still really red. I'm on vancomycin (sp?) and they have said its really hard on the veins. In hindsight I wish i would have had them put in a pic line but never dreamed i would have so much trouble with it. What pisses me off is that this is the side that didn't even have cancer!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

You ladies just keep partying in my pocket.....it's comforting to know you are there.

michelle

Tumeric is supposed to reduce inflammation in the body. There has been studies done regarding it and breast cancer... But it escapese right now.

I had a hard New Years Eve. I'll share my blog (hope I haven't posted this one already), but I just had it in my mind that all the physical stuff would be over by 2015. Setbacks suck. I was not anticipating radiation pnuemonitis. I think I've said this before, but I was so naive at the beginning of this. I thought treatment for a year then done. Didn't factor in complications from treatment, menopause at 37, chronic pain, etcetera.

Lisa - how are your lungs??

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I'm in need of prayers and inspiration

posted by Holli Barrett on Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Many of you have told me that you receive inspiration from many of my posts. I am so grateful and humbled that God is able to use me as a vessel to reach out to many of you. And many of you have reached out to me to keep me going. Thank you.

Today has been a difficult one for me and I ask for prayers and inspiration from you all.

I'm in pain from the steroids. I'm on 5 mg every other day and on the days I don't take them I hurt all over - muscle and joint pain.

I saw my medical oncogist today. He is in absolute agreement that a hysterectomy is important for me. However, he wants me to wait 6 months before I do any more surgeries. He wants me to be stronger, better conditioned, and off the steroids for a longer period of time before I go under for surgery again. Especially since the hysterectomy recovery time is 6-8 weeks.

I trust him completely and I know he is right. But I am so upset because I just want all of this to be over. I can't heal emotionally until I get all the physical out of the way. This was supposed to only take a year. Now we are spilling over into year two. I can't finish my reconstruction until I have the hysterectomy. I feel so deformed having only partial reconstruction done. I know, I know, I should be thankful to be alive. I should be thankful for currently being cancer free. I should be thankful to have so many blessings. And I am. I am thankful for it all. But some days it is all so overwhelming.

My plans to get stronger also suffered a set back today. I am thankful for all the help I have received in being able to have a gym membership. But I was planning on doing more with it. You see I applied and interviewed for their "change your life program". It included free nutritional counseling and free personal training sessions for an entire year. Just the help, motivation, and accountability I need. I thought my interview and application were steller, but I just got an email today saying I wasn't chosen. I honestly don't know why. I was so sure I was a good candidate that I had already been chosen in my mind. So the email was a huge let down.

I'm just so ready to be done.

Well, just writing this all down has helped. I'd really appreciate any prayers or inspiring words to get me through this slump.

My foot is where I found an i.v. when I woke up after my mastectomy. I had a bunch of bruised areas from all the blown veins. It is a bitch to say the least. 4 more really sucks Michelle.

Lisa, I am praying for you. It is a difficult situation to be facing.

I pray for all of you every day. This year will hopefully be brighter for all of us.

Tomorrow I meet with my RO and next month with my BS again. I am back on Ativan as this change in my follow-up appointment scheduling has me stressed out of my mind. I should have asked my BS why she has changed her mind about how closely I need to be followed after she did the ultrasound at her office. She had me move up my RO appointment by a month, so "everyone is on the same page," then scheduled me for another follow-up in February. She is the one who stated every 3 months was too much follow-up and now I am monthly. I was too shaken up to even think of asking. Duh...

Michelle, AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! You are right FUCK this! I'm sorry you have to do more. I would insist on a PICC line. Four more when your veins are in bad shape is a lot.

Kim, Baja, I'm so jealous.

Robin, I would ask the question on why they want to see you monthly. I don't think they realize that everything they say or do we read ten times into it.

Holli, I also had it in my mind that the physical stuff would be over by now. My joints still ache, my right hip is killing me, the pads of my feet are still tender (neuropathy, I don't know), my feet still burn after I'm active, my fingertips still get numb and my hands still get hot, my muscles sometimes ache like I have the flu, my eyes are still dry and I've lost my eyelashes THREE times!!!! I'M OVER IT!

I'm hoping that some of these symptoms will go away after I'm done with herceptin (one more to go!!!) I've been reading the herceptin thread and the one thing that keeps popping in my mind is a woman wrote "about 8 weeks after herceptin my body didn't ache and my feet didn't hurt anymore". Can it be???? No hurting feet....please please please.

I may be starting my period finally. I've been moody and feeling fat the last week and wondering what is wrong with me. And I've had to wear panty liners the last few days because of moisture and really started wondering what is wrong with me. Then I started spotting last night. That's why I say I may be starting, cause I'm not so sure. I've kind of gotten used to not having a period...I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Michelle, that looks horrible. So sorry you are having to deal with this! And, having to go in the crappy weather!

Holli, I had a HX/ooph 9 yrs ago. It really wasn't bad for me. I was glad to have fewer parts to go bad! But, I was already peri-menopausal and my body didn't take a big hit with a shock to the hormones. The procedure itself was easy and I recovered quickly. I know it's totally different than what you are dealing with.

Barbara, thinking of you.

Robin, I agree with DJJ; ask them if something changed their mind? Sometimes Dr's don't remember what they told you previously, and they need to be reminded! It's hard enough to go in every 3-4 months. I hope your RO appt went well.

Kim, nice that you could get away! Whoo-hoo! Pics?

Have a wonderful week, ladies~

Robin, so, you are having another US besides the one the BS did? I hope all is well:). Keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you!!! It's so hard to have to go through this crap, but like you said, they have to be extra-cautious. Please let us know.

Robin - I will be praying for you. We are in your pocket...... always.

DJJ - I started an exercise class for recovering cancer patients. One of the ladies in my class is having a lot of pain in her feet. What was the drug that you took for awhile? Any info. I can give her will be helpful. She goes to Kaiser, told her MO that she was in a lot of pain from the Taxol, but the MO sounds like she is no help to her. She finished her treatment awhile ago.

Keepthefaith - I don't have any fun pics from baja. We have a little beach shack in a fishing village, so we just worked on the shack and chilled. We did take a kitten home from Mexico..... It adopted us and I didn't have the heart to leave it. She is a trooper, rode 1100 miles in the car with us, got spayed yesterday and had to endure blood work and shots.

Holli - Good info regarding the ovaries. I would have them take my ovaries in a minute if I felt like it would reduce my risk of recurrence. My labs come back menopausal at this point. I will be praying for good health for you. I have my MO checkup on the 22nd. Wondering if she'll keep me on Tamoxifen or change it. I hope my labs come back good...... How I hate labs, hate cancer, hate all this crap.

Michelle - I hope that those antibiotics are doing their job and that you are on the mend.

Have a great day ladies,

Kim

My neutrophil is low, that dr. told me that. I am going to get a shot soon. What did you do with your low neutrophil? Thanks!