anyone starting chemo in Nov 2005
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Margerie - Glad to hear things are going well. Prayers for continued healing.
Mary Lou - I love the photo! The sparkle in your eyes!!
And excellenct news with the scale as well!
Anna - Prayers for you at this bittersweet anniversary. Yes, its been quite the year for us Nov. gals. But look how far we've come!
Hugs & prayers for all!
LAT56 -
Yes, look how far we have come!
Bittersweet is okay, I guess. It feels really good to know you know exactly what I mean.
Today was my first day back at the gym. I am back in my 90 mins/3 times per week class of cardio, weights and stretches. I was surprised I could pretty much keep up. Then I tagged on 10 minutes of treadmill. It feels good to be back to my old routine.
Next week I have an appointment with the hairdresser. I think it's time for a trim (those tufts that stick out above my ears) and maybe a little bit of highlighting. I used to be blonde. Now I am either very very dirty blonde or brown with grey, it depends on the light. I tended toward frizzy before when it was humid; now I am totally curly, tight curly even. My hair still feels as fine as before, but there seems to be more of it, or maybe that's because it is so short, I'm not sure.
On Wednesday I get my nipple tatoos. Then I will be totally finished with my reconstruction. Wow!
Margerie is probably up and about, walking the hospital hallways. Gosh, I remember how slow I was. I truly felt like a 90 year-old.
Tomorrow I will be demonstrating quilting at a local fair. It looks like we will have some nice weather this weekend. I love the fall feeling we are already getting. It came so fast this year....
Love to all,
Anna -
((((Oh Anna, HUGS)))))))
This coming wednesday the 20th will be my year anniversary of hearing the news, the 26th I had my MRM.
Michael is taking off to take me to the circus. I wanted to replace a bad memory with a positive one.
I'm getting excited. -
Thank you Chris for updating us. I hope she will be home with you all tomorrow.
MaryLou, what a beautiful picture.
Anna, many many hugs for you. I know all of us are coming up on our anniversaries and I expect to feel like you do. Just think how far we've all come in a year. Many hugs and lots of love to you my sister.
love,
Kim -
I hope everyone is having a good Sunday. What glorious weather!
Margerie, I hope you are thriving and taking it easy.
Love, Anna -
Just checking in to say hello to you all. I had a wonderful week end with family . I will post a little more tomorrow when I feel rested.
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Hello friends-
I got home yesterday afternoon and boy, was I tired! Everything went well. Ended up doing bilateral DIEP instead of SIEA and they look fabulous! It is such a miracle of science that my old stomach roll is now a new breast. They are not quite even, one side delayed and one side immediate, but he will even it up when I get stage II. I love the shape and that they are so high up and perky!
I am doing well pain-wise. But get pretty tired out. And I got the best news today- all the pathology was negative for cancer. Whew, you just never know!
I have so much to catch up on.
Mary lou - you look fabulous. I will get a pic of my hair soon. It is kind of out-of-control wavy. My surgeon didn't recognize me because when I had last seen him I had the pixy hair.
Take care dear friends,
Love,
Margerie -
LOL, I wish I could say 22 lbs gone. It is 18 as of last Monday for this time.
Not sure what the out come will be tonight. I had a little to much food and a few to many drinks. But I had a blast!
Margerie - so glad to hear you are doing fine. I'm going to be the very last one to get my girls. But I hope to have a whole new body to go with them ... -
Margerie;
What a blessing you are. I'm so happy knowing you are home, getting stronger, and the path was negative. You are a true fighter and one day your kids are going to be so proud when they realize their mother is a such a warrior.
Wow... perky breasts and a flat tommy. Yeah!!!!!
Love you my friend. Please take care. Sending you gentle hugs for now.
Odalys -
This is a picture of this past weekend. I told them the shed was not a great back drop for pictures.
Top row:
My two sons Chris and Cory, and my husband Michael.
Middle row:
My Granddaughter Ashley, Chris's girlfriend KC, Cory's wife Jessie ( so pregnant ) and myself.
Bottom row:
Melissa, Kc's daughter, My step girls, Stephanie, and Angie.
I look like the great grand ma. This hair has gotten on my last nerve. If I get a trim, will it curl up again????? ~~~Sigh~~~
Here again with My boys and Michael's girls. -
Mary Lou, you sure stay up late, girl! Your hair is the same length as mine. I wish we could see your face better.
Margerie, the best news of all is that clean path report! All the rest will come with time, but that path report made my day. I love hearing those negative results.
Getting nip tatoos tomorrow, a hair trim on Friday, meeting up with some bc ladies in Maryland on Saturday, next Wednesday I go on my first trip! (to Boston to see the girl and her boy) I got my custom made compression garments in the mail (lymphedema avoidance for flying) and I had them made in seafoam, man are they wild! No tan for me. Nor am I a color matching type person, so these'll look fine no matter what I wear, right? I'm supposed to practice wearing them, so tomorrow I will go out with my seafoam hands and arms....
Love to all,
Anna -
Anna,
I wonder about those compression garment? My onc told me it was not necessary eventhough I had axillary node dissection. I flew to Memphis in June without one and will be flying out again on the 25th to Chicago. I get so nervous on those planes.
Odalys -
I went through the whole process of learning how to do manual lymph drainage massage on myself and will wear the compression garments because I had one episode of swelling that looked suspiciously like lymphedema. My therapist said being careful sure can't hurt, and I absolutely don't want to take any chances.
I had sentinel nodes taken, two on one side and nine on the other.
From what I have read it doesn't matter how many nodes you have taken out. The simple matter of having had breast surgery puts me at risk, so I follow the guidelines for avoidance (exercise, watch out for cuts, insect bites, avoid BP cuffs and needle sticks on at-risk arms, etc.) The LE thread is full of helpful info and caring angels.
Hugs,
Anna -
Got my nips tatooed today! So I am officially finished with my reconstruction.
It's been a long road, but I have reached a good place, I think.
Love to all my sisters,
Anna -
Me and my kitty screamer. Hope you can see the hair better.
And here is one having a "Hot flash" LOL Could I be any shinier?
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Mary!
Your hair is soooo pretty and so are you..I love your little kitty there too. (so precious)..gosh I hope my hair comes back like yours.. -
Thanks Ferq , I have a lot of product on my hair and I blew it up. New for me trying to deal with this much curl.
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Anna,
Congratulations on finishing your reconstruction. I'm so glad to hear you are happy with your new breasts. Did the nip tatoos hurt?
Hugs,
Odalys -
Hello dear sisters! I had so much to catch up on with these posts, and my hubby and baby boy are fast asleep already. I've been terribly busy lately.....we had a weekend mini-vacation to Wisconsin for my best friend's daughter's baptism. On top of that, we finally got our new furniture! I was glad to get rid of the lawn-chair furniture (we sold the old stuff).
It was good to catch up with you all-I have been missing you terribly.
Anna, my heart broke for you when I read about your year anniversary, but I also got really excited to read about your demonstration at the fair! How COOL! I've always wanted to quilt. I find it fascinating, and would love a real quilt rather than a store-bought one.
Margerie-YAY! You sound fantastic! I'm thinking of you, dear sister! I'm also jealous of your new tummy-tuck....
ML-You look fantastic. I giggled at your hatred for your hairdo, though. You know what is bugging me? People who knew I was bald before have this urge to stick their hands in my hair and ooh and ahh over "how nice it is coming in!" It is like when I was pregnant and everyone thought it was ok to rub my tummy!!!!!!!!!!!
Odalys-You go to Chicago this weekend, right? We had a great time stopping in Chicago last weekend. Daniel LOVED the Brookfield Zoo. The Peoria zoo is just plain silly in comparison!
I found out last week that my Ebay account was hacked into! Some monster bid on 47,000 worth of stuff in my name! What a mess....
Miss you all! Love and prayers, Debbie -
So good to hear from you, Debbie! I'm always freaked out when I hear of hacking or identity theft. I feel vulnerable because I am so ignorant about these matters.
No, Odalys, unfortunately I have no feeling on the flaps that are the center of my breasts or on the nipples, which were formed (twisted) from those flaps. I did feel something going on on one side, no pain, just recognition of something happening there. The PS who was doing the tatoos told me that means I will be getting some feeling back. I takes years sometimes. But I am psyched. Feeling is good. Numbness is boring.
Actually we had a blast during the tatooing. I got to ask all the questions about plastic surgery I wanted and she told me all sorts of plastic surgery patient horror stories, you know, how some patients are never happy and go overboard. She and I agree that my PS is truly the best! (I think maybe lots of women say the same about their PS. Funny, I never thought I'd say "my PS.")
Today I go back to the gym for some treadmilling while Home Paramount comes in to make sure we don't have any critters who would like to take up residence here now that it's fall in Virginia. Sure, I let all sorts of stuff get pumped into me to fight stray cancer cells, but I won't let myself breathe in anything that might be toxic. They're only doing the basement, but still....
Tomorrow is highlighting and trimming day. Mary Lou, your hair looks blonde to me. Very pretty. I want my blonde back. Mine sure looks mousy. Curly, but mousy.
Margerie, are the drains out yet? That's the day things will turn around big time. No more gingerly finessing showertime. You can't even imagine how happy you will be once everything is done. You will be whole, believe me.
Have a great day, everyone.
Anna -
Great to hear form everyone!
Yes, the 2 abdominal drains came out yesterday (only 8 days in all) yeah! I liked them even less the second time around. I am feeling better by the minute. Tummy is still tight, I can stand up 95% straight. I stopped taking the darvocet on Monday due to naseau- pain is only a factor getting out of bed or out of the car.
My new girls are wonderful. I am so happy with the size- which is pretty close to my old size. See, being fat does have it's advantages! He will lift the immediate side when we do Stage II. All the incisions look great, a little itchy as the scabs/dermabond are starting to come off. I had no binders- that was a pleasant surprise.
I forgot to thank my surgeon afterward (drugs) and his associate did the follow up/ discharge over the weekend. So I sent him a thank you email letting him know how much I appreciate the new breasts physically and emotionally. I can tell he is a modest, quiet guy and that he was shocked.
I really think docs should be encouraged into this line of work. I mean only a handful do DIEP in the state of CA.
Anyway, glad Deb has new furniture and that we are all enjoying life. What a difference a year makes. My cancerversary is Oct.4th- the day my world rocked. Proud I have come so far, but the tragedy will not be forgotten ever.
I am going overboard this Christmas to make up fr last year- buying the kids all new sleds, ski clothes, snow shoes, etc. We are renting a condo up at Tahoe for an old-fashioned Christmas and I can't wait!
Anna, I will have nip questions for you later! I can do the stage II mid- Dec or wait until mid-Jan. I don't want to be on the mend over Christmas break. But it would be nice not to have to pay our huge deductible THREE years in a row. -
Oh my gosh, Margerie...can you tell me more about the condoe at Tahoe? That sounds like such a great time! An old fashioned Christmas! Tell me everything! My best friend and I are so weird-we always used to say that we'd marry men who wore suspenders and carried pocketwatches. We were both addicted to Little House on the Prairie books when we were little (we weren't friends back then-we met in college). Anyway, we are both the types that love the simplicity of old fashioned times, and how important family was back then!
Ok, so we have been all tossing around the idea of a get-together for our chemo-versary.....are we going to do it? I know that we all kind of find money to be out enemy (did I spell that right? It looks weird!) right now, so I know it would need to be cheap. I just know I want to meet you all in person and give everyone the huge hugs I have imagined giving you!!!!! Should we all say how far we'd be willing to travel, how much we'd be willing to spend, how many people it would be, etc?
I just had a brainstorm-there is a VERY wealthy man at our oncology center that built a hotel somewhere in the south. Anyone who had cancer can stay there for free! Should I look into that more? I sat next to him once during chemo, and fell asleep before he left, but the nurse said I can just ask again for info and they'd get it.
Ok, I have to go. I'll tell you all more about my big news later, but Daniel was chosen by the Children's hospital to be the "story" they use for their big fundraiser!!!!! They sent me the "letter" I supposedly wrote, and I want to make corrections to it so people don't think I am a big weirdo (there are some strange things in it that I'd never say).
Love and prayers, Deb -
Hello ladies! I noticed last night that the back of my hair is totally curly now, and the front is straight as a stick. What the heck?
Love and prayers, Debbie -
LOL Deb. My hair looked good when it was in pixie stage. I had curly hair before and now it is longer and curly. I don't know what to do with it! It ends up looking like a bouffant style. Am trying to grow it, but may just cut it really short again. And here I swore I would never complain about a bad hair day again.............
This Christmas we wanted more "us" and less "stuff" so we rented a condo in the tiny town of Incline Village at Lake Tahoe. The town has a grocery store, a couple of restaurants (including a cute little swiss fondue place), and a ski resort.
We are going to get a little tree and do lots of outdoor activites and family stuff. Santa should make a visit, although we haven't worked out the details yet. We are barely going to get all the gear in the truck and there are no Targets up there.
Anyway, we usually have WAY too much going on and wanted to slow down for the holidays this year. But really any Christmas not on chemo is doubly meaningful.
Kim I think of you often. Are you ever going to get a chemo break? Hope things are going well. It must be nice to have the kids back in school so you can get some rest. -
Margerie, are you back home now or still at your sister's? It sounds like you are making great progress. I agree, it's nice to get those drains out quickly. It shows you are healing well.
I really didn't find the stge II difficult at all. I was down for the day because of the anesthesia, but up and about the next day. Sure, you get to wear a weird bra and put gauze over the nips, but other than that it didn't impact my daily routine. And I had more than just the two nips done; I had one breast raised a bit and some cleaning up around the tummy scar.
My tatoos are healing, but I am so itchy where the sticky plaster touches my skin. I can't wait to be able to leave it off.
Debbie, congratulations on little Daniel being chosen as the focus story for your hospital! Does that also mean you will get some great professional pictures of him?
Today I am going to have lunch with a group of bc.org women in Maryland! How great that I get to meet some of the women whose names I recognize from these boards. I guess I will learn some of their real names; a few of them use monikers instead. Anyway, I am really excited. Remember LizM? She was in our group back at the beginning. She will be there. I am meeting up with someone who lives in Alexandria and we will drive together.
I got my hair cut yesterday. Not much, but still, it looks mighty short. My hairdresser told me that this curl will grow out and I will go back to my old curly, namely curly but not ringlet style curly. Also, the grey I had was only at the ends, and she cut most of it off. How strange is that? Also, and this is what I find most surprising, she said my hair is stronger than it used to be. Still fine, like it has always been, but stronger. Who would have thought?
I am getting really excited about my upcoming trip to Boston. Did I say I will be wearing seafoam colored compression sleeves and gloves?
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Love, Anna -
Anna,
I am back home. My local surgeon was able to do the follow up. He did go up to SF to do the prophy mast, so he was comfortable doing the post-op after I was discharged. I still can't believe he travelled up there for me. He is such a nice man. He calls me "one tough lady." I go back up to SF in 3 weeks.
I am having the same at Stage II. I had one side skin sparing/immediate and he told me we would have to lift it later. It is slightly droopy (but less so than my original!) and I already have some dog ears on my abdominal incision- they are pretty funny looking. Maybe they will go down some after initial healing since that is where the drains were.
So do you think I could have the stage II and then a week later travel (car) and ski, etc?
Your get-together sounds fun. Oct 3rd, DH and I are getting together with 6 other couples where a spouse is a young survivor. We know one couple already. It will be bittersweet- as they are all families with young kids and no one else in the world can relate like they can. But devastating to me that so many families had to go thru this last year too. But I'm a big baby anyhow!
I went to the lake and saw a gal with a fuschia colored compression sleeve. She was in a bikini, tan, on a boat and she looked fabulous! -
Just a drive by. I just wanted to say hello to you all. I will post later when it is not so late.
Hugs to you all. -
Margerie, you can definitely drive around a week after stage II and do your regular activities. I'm not sure about the skiing part. I was able to do my normal floor stretches and walking, but I'm not a skier, so I don't know about that.
I had to take the bandages off my tatoo sites. The sticky stuff did a real number on my poor chest. The tatoos are healing fine, but the rest of those breasts is one inflamed mess! I had no idea I was allergic to some bandaging material. Now I am covered in Neopsporin and swathed in gauze packs. It looks like I am stuffing my bra big time. Sure hope it goes down by Wednesday! Here I am going on my first trip and I am more of a mess than I have ever been on this journey. Yikes.
The get-together was really nice. It's strange how I felt like I had known those women forever. Each one was so beautiful and strong, but I recognized the slight vulnerability, too.
Today I am staying at home (with stuffed bra you know) and will sew sew sew. I love listening to books on tape and doing my quilting. I'm excited about going to the gym tomorrow. I did my 90 minute cardio/weights/stretching class plus 30 minutes on the treadmill on Friday and had no trouble whatsoever. I'll have to cut the treadmill a bit tomorrow so I can come home and shower before my Herceptin treatment. Then just one more day till I see that daughter of mine!
Happy Sunday to all of you. Kaye, I am thinking loving thoughts.
Anna -
we're sliiiiiiiding again.....
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Hello everyone,
I'm posting tonight from Chicago. Just flew in this morning to attend several meetings and will be flying back home tomorrow evening. Last year I missed this conference because of the surgery. Wow, time goes by fast.
Nice weather (50+ - 60's) it sure is a refreshing change from the muggy 80-90's Fl weather.
Glad to see we're all moving along in our journeys.
Margerie - nice to see you are recovering well.
Anna - Hope you have a nice visit with your daughter.
Mary Lou - I Love your smile. You look great.
Debbie - LOL my hair is curly only in the back too. What is that all about? I'm due for a second haircut soon since I am going to keep it short for a while.
I'm off to bed, been up since 5 am and started to run out of energy. Take care dear friends.
Love and hugs,
Odalys
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