Winter rads 2014-2015
Comments
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Congrats to all of those who have finished rads. I had the 2nd of 7 boosts today, only 5 to go and I am done. I will be doing my happy dance Thursday! Whoo Hoo!
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Kayfry, bravo for you! We all can return to the best version of our lives ; perhaps not return but find the best version. One day we are exhausted and the next day, not so much. Saturday evening I babysit the boys for 4-5 hours and then bring the oldest home with me so I can get him to hockey Sunday morning. His next younger brother has games several hours away. Being able to do these kinds of things is something I looked forward to in retirement. At times it still feels overwhelming. But in many ways. I am stronger now.
Quiggy, thanks for the good vibes. Saw my RO today and they cultured the drainage and put me on antibiotics. Hopefully that's all it takes. But as my best friend in the worlds always said," what will be will be." That was her favorite song in college! "Casera, casera, what will be will be. The future's not ours to see. .." Showing our age!
Cassiecat, glad you are healing well.
SunnySide Up, Congrats on finishing!
Coyote, age may give us wisdom but energy not so much! Don't try to escape PT. It can help a lot of those aches and pains if it only teaches you how to exercise efficiently and safely. It takes a lot less time than you think. Try it please. It does not mean you are weak. It will be a gift you give yourself. Take it from this 65 year old body.
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mqt64-I had an area along the incision scar that got red and drained after radiation finished. Plastic surgeon said it was a stitch abscess. He put me on an antibiotic just to be safe. No issues since then.farmerma and sunnysydeup-congrats on being done!
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SunnySydeUp ~ Congratulations on getting to the other "syde" of rads. It's a great day and deserves a big smiley.
Thank you so much for your encouragement. I know that there is value in PT, but it will require traveling out of town again. I'm just not excited about that! My issues are more annoyances than problems. A few years ago, I messed up my left shoulder and did the PT thing for awhile. I think if I apply those exercises and stretch out frequently, it should clear up.
Tiny town life has it's + & -. No stop lights, not even a 4-way stop! Great people; the county fair and rodeo is here because we are the small town in the county. We are in an oasis surrounded by mountains, mesas, and the Mojave Desert. Those are good things. Shopping availability - gotta go to the big city; medical care - don't get hurt or really sick unless you like helicopters, "fine" dining - become a good cook or eat at 7:00 am because the best breakfast joint in Southern Nevada is on the main road. Except for breakfast, those are ... maybe not so good.
I spent most of the day at the studio. I made a necklace and earring set for a dear friend; finished a silver bezel and chain for a beautiful 20 ct gemstone; worked in my new flower garden that I dug and planted this week; brushed my horse and cleaned his water trough; went to the hardware store for vacuum cleaner bags and stopped to pick up the mail at the post office; sat in the brilliant orange blossom covered pomegranate orchard with a big ol' cat and ate lunch; vacuumed up the cat hair that was everywhere in the studio (why aren't the cats bald yet?); mopped the kitchen floor; and painted one of the interior doors "coral" (will paint another one "turquoise" tomorrow). It may not sound like much ... or particularly important, but it filled my day in the best of ways.
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Coyote - If that's "not much", I'd hate to see your list on a busy day! I got tired just reading it! Keep up the good work!
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CoyoteNV, loved your "things I did today" recap! Sounds like you have a pretty great lifestyle and one many of us with crazy schedules would love. I would!
I'm with you on the PT. I don't think it would work more than I can do for myself. I DO believe it's helpful for some. If I had time, I'd give it a try but right now I can't think of committing to the appointments, trying desperately to get back to "normal.".
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congrats Sunnyside, welcome to the finish line!
Congrats to all our bc sisters just finished or nearly finished! One heck of a journey
We're moving to our new normal now, whatever that is to you. Hopefully our energy, health and joy return quickly! 😁
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Sunnyside, congrats.
Coyote, what a to-do list. i am with farmerma, made my to-do list like "easy". Take care and love that you were able to relax in the orchard. I am trying to "spruce" up my backyard, which was my oasis until this journey started. It needs a lot of work now. But I am up to the challenge -- especialy after reading your to-do list (big smile).
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I'm up at 5:39 . Rads then down to Sloan Kettering in NYC FOR an echo to check that herceptin isn't harming my heart. Hope the left breast holds up since it's my 4th week of rads there. Ouch! Not many more crack of dawn appointments left. 2 weeks to go. I have been reading all your poata and can't imagine what my after treatment life will be. Would love to start painting again, maybe take a class at the local art school. Get more involved with my new great granddaughter Valentina and maybe go back to volunteering in the pre nursery and/or work in the food bank at church. My home also needs a serious decluttering. Tired just thinking about it. Oh well on to shower and then off to treatment. Love, Jean
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SunnySydeUp. What a great last day (except for the coughing fit). Charge ahead and enjoy the extra time.
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Coyote, I agree that your "things done" list is more than impressive! If you can do all that in a day, I would say you're doing wonderfully. To be honest with you, I would probably not want to leave such a beautiful place to travel much, either. You have the beauty of your garden, your art, your horse, your orchard, and your non-bald cats. Sound perfect to me! And very, very productive.
Do you ride that well-brushed horse? Riding mine is some of the best therapy I know.
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hi ladies - I finished on Monday! I have a few really rough patches and am extremely tired but all things considered, held up pretty well. Coyote, I'm tired from reading what you did on a slow day! Would you us some pictures of the jewelry? It sounds lovely. And it sounds so peaceful where you live...
I am starting tamoxifen next week. I am a rare case, 58 and premenopausal so the MO wanted more blood work, specifically to check for any indication of clotting. Gyno also wants a baseline sonogram before I start.
This thread has been so informative, I can't thank you all enough. Someone early on posted about using a little stuffed animal under the seatbelt- I have been using a teddy bear for three weeks and I can't believe the difference it has made.
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It's so interesting to me that you ladies see the jewels in my lifestyle. I love it. My sister, who is a very sophisticated world traveler thinks my lifestyle "simple" (as in simpleton) and my time wasted. She laughs at me. OK - that's fine. It rather fascinates me how we all make (or adapt to) our life choices. Most of us would even rather have our own problems than those of others to whom we compare our circumstances. My husband and I came to this valley to care for my mother after my father passed. It was a promise made to my father. It became rather complicated, but we kept our word to him. We had no idea then that this would become our Shangri-La.
kayfry ~ Like all of our four footed family members, DeMarcus came to us needing a safe place to land. He found it. He has his own 1.5 acre grassy pasture with 6 horsey friends on the other side of the fence. Although he is a very well trained fellow, I don't ride. I don't know how. We do play, but my feet are on the ground too.
DeMarcus is a 17.5 hands, 10 year old Thoroughbred gelding, sold off a California race track because, as my DH say, "He's the kind of horse you bet to win in the second and he shows in the third." Sometimes I think I do him a dis-service by not giving him to someone who will ride him and keep him well trained, but he has such a good life, and life can be so iffy for a horse, that he stays.
Wishing you all a super day.
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Dotwithkitties ~ You posted the good news while I was verbally wandering on! Congrats to you. You are right, there is great advice here!
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Coyote, thanks for the back story on your place and how you got there. I find it quite affirming. I have only one sibling, an older brother, and he was the world traveller from an early age. Has been and lived all over the world, though now he is back in our home state and after some serious health reversals, will probably not be doing so much traveling anymore. I was always the homebody who wanted to stay home with my animals and my books and a quiet, stay-put kind of life. It's still that way, though I'm now at a point where I realize that it's up to me to see however much of the world I can while I still can, and perhaps will try to add more travel as time goes on. It's hard to leave the furry kids, though. I don't love traveling, find it rather stressful, but also rewarding in many ways. But home is home, and yours sounds so soul-nurturing.
That's one big Thoroughbred, though I don't think he can be 17.5 hands, since hands are measured in 4-inch increments. So 17 hands plus 5 inches would technically be 18.1 hands. Not sure I've ever seen a Tbred quite that big, though I have seen some over 17 hands. Was he ever trained for any kind of riding after his time on the racetrack? Being "well-trained" for the track is a far cry from being well-trained as a saddle or pleasure horse. If he's sound and his temperament is good, it could be done but would require skillful training. It would be a mighty intimidating first horse to ride at that size! It's wonderful that you were able to give him a great life, and I bet he's lovely to look at. Many ex-racehorses are not so lucky.
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You ladies amaze me!
Jean, you mean there is a 5:30 in the morning? What a busy day! Hopefully the next 4 weeks will fly by.
Kayfry, hopefully you will feel better soon.
Coyote, your home sounds lovely as does your jewelry. Pictures would be wonderful. It is strange how we land where we do. I envy you your weather. Just got done snowblowing and shoveling the 6-8 inches of wet snow we got last night. Arrgh! My husband is working out of town. Your day certainly sounded busy enough to me. I understand your reticence to travel long distances. Some days it's all I can do to drive 15 miles into town. We all need to do what's best for ourselves.
Dotwithkitties, congratulations on finishing! Welcome to the other side.
Chrissie, thanks for the input. I had a stitch abscess after my knee replacement. I think this started out that way but the drainage turned green and my nipple which was getting better started to hurt again. Having done I and Ds in the past I had visions of a big abscess in there. The area is already discolored so redness is hard to see and the area is numb and hard due to tissue necrosis. How do you know? ! Waiting for culture results.
Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend.
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Back from rads and the echo was fine. Just a bit of discomfort but no pain. Oldest son, who is retired, did all the driving. 5 hours round trip. I fell asleep in the car on the way home. 2 weeks to go then done. Guess I'll get my smiley in the spring board. You ladies have been so helpful. Thanks. Love, Jean
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Hi dotwithkitties, so did you name your puppy? I still have mine, he rides shotgun most days now, his name is Colt. I named my wig McKenzie. It is nice to have them in the car, and it helped with rads too. Kept the seatbelt from rubbing when the skin was fragile. Cheryl
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Coyote, your life sounds happy, peaceful, and serene. And nothing beats shoveling manure, and brushing a horse. I love the feel of the big noses, and listening to the snickers and crunching of apples and carrots. That's real medicine in my book. I miss my Walker, he was quite a ride. Your studio sounds so colorful and bright, true joy and a labor of love and satisfaction. Have a magical and colorful weekend! Cheryl
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Got a call from my MO's office today, seems I am post menopause so picked up the prescription today for Arimidex instead of Tamoxifen. Anyone else taking Arimidex, how are the side effects? Doable?
Coyote - Your studio and life sound amazing - I would love to retire in surrounding just as you describe. I can imagine that it is the best therapy in the world for you in your studio making your jewelry. Would also love to see pictures.
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Coyote and KayFry -- Thanks for all your wisdom as our "group" goes on from rads to what's next. This board has been a wealth of information, support and comfort. I'm on some other ones too, but this is the one that feels the most like home.
Can we keep it going? Who's with me for continuing?
New normal for me, is like KayFry, to try to get back to as much of my life as before. I work for the state and love my job (though it has its days and stresses), but the folks around me are generally wonderful. Love my home (townhouse in the city but feels like its kind of in the country), my garden, my DH, and my pups. Don't get to see enough of the grandkids because we live on opposite sides of a fairly large city and I'm one of 8 grandparents, but cherish the time we do spend with them. Looking forward to a summer of trips to the wildlife sanctuary, the museum, riding bikes, swim meets and soccer tournaments.
Will see my MO next Friday and expect to start on letrozole (AI). A little scared about the bone/joint pain SE but have been working out almost every day since they released me after lx. Hope the fear is more in my head, like it was for rads, than reality. At 2.5 weeks out of rads, skin has really calmed down, though I have peeling and tight skin over my lymph node incision. Also have a fairly big seroma (about the diameter of a small apple) that it hard and sore, but I'm trying to ignore it and hope it goes away soon.
Hope you have a relaxing weekend! Sunday night we're having dinner with our best scuba traveling buddies and hope to be planning our next trip.
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Hi WheelyGirl, I was supposed to start Arimidex 2-weeks ago but I keep looking at the bottle and just can't make myself open it. Terrified of the SEs, specifically the bone thinning and joint pain.
I promised myself I would start on May 1st.
Its BS that we have to make this choice. Thinning bones is too serious for aging women and it's not reversible. The pain is frightening to me. I have rheumatoid arthritis and can't imagine adding to the pain. BUT.... I don't want more breast cancer so I guess it's "suck it up buttercup" time!!!
Would like to keep in touch with you to compare experience. PM if that works for you.
Either way, I wish you the best moving forward. 😊
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Happy Friday ladies!! I am so happy you're all herein this board. But I'm also sad that you are.
Every single one of you have been an inspiration to me and I can't imagine going through this without you. Thank you all.
Giant (gentle) hugs to all of you. 😊
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beachbum, I refer to my teddy bear as Toots, and he's been a constant companion. I get in the car and say, let's go toots! I'm wondering if people are looking at me at lights.
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Quiggy, bone loss is reversable. I had a different cancer in '08 and because rads were through my hips I was told I needed to exercise and take calcium (citrate not carbonate), Vit. D and do weight bearing exercise to avoid breaking a hip. I took the vitamins, got serious about moving and joined a gym. I did 2-3 hours of Zumba, some yoga and Silver sneakers for seniors almost every week. (I'll be 72 at the end of this month.) After a year I had another bone density test and had actually built bone. I intend to go back to serious exercise as soon as I heal from rads. I already dug out my Zumba tapes and am doing 1/2 hour of it along with some Taichi. Just one week and am already feeling stronger. You can do this. Love, Jean
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Just a quick thought for those of you looking at starting Anastrazole... I started it a month before rads back in December. So far the se have been manageable and for me not bad. The aches and pains haven't gotten worse. I have arthritis and chronic back issues (1983). I guess my thought is don't borrow trouble. Be aware but not paralyzed by fear. Don't know about Tamoxifen, different drug. But the thought probably still works.You can always stop. Take good care and hopefully at peace with your decisions.
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Thanks for pointing me towards the optimistic path zjrosenthal and mqt64. I sometimes leap to the worst and let fear take over. I know better but that doesn't always help. The fear of bone loss and more pain causes me to freeze up and I just can't seem to move past it. In the end, I will but that first step.....
Like when we played 3-person jump rope as kids; I'm the jumper and a little hesitant to jump in.
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I would love to stay in touch with all of you after treatment...don't forget I started a Winter Rads facebook group. It is a secret group that you have to be invited to and no one on your facebook page can see the group's newsfeed unless they are invited to the group as well. If you are interested in joining the group just mail me your email address and I will invite you to the group so we can stay in touch. dimmick@bellsouth.net
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
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dotwithkitties. Happy for you that you have finished.
WheelyGirl. I agree on staying with such a supportive group. I will send you an email for the Facebook page.
So I am doing my not normal but lucky thing. I am in Nice, France with my husband and another couple. We booked the apartment last May before I was diagnosed and treatment worked out for me to come two months after finishing rads. After a very long, cold, snowy and gray winter, it is delightful to bask in warm weather, see brave souls swim, look at flowers and palm trees. I know some of you enjoy these delights in the US or elsewhere.
I have been on Anastrozole since November and all the time I have spent on the exercise bike and tread mill in the last two months have made my arthritic knees ache less. No other side effects except a little rosasea on my checks. Have made sure the pharmacist fills my prescription with the TEVA brand. Folks on that discussion board said they had fewer side effect issues with that. I have asked two MOs and they say they know nothing about it.
So I am falling behind but enjoy hearing about group members fuller life than just cancer treatment, although that has been critically important. Today we did a walking tour with a delightful local woman. Tomorrow off to a famous garden. With the sea everywhere. One easily understands why artists have always loved it here. Nice to immerse myself in something beyond health issues. Enjoy whatever you like whether near or far.
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Hello, Winter rads awesome women! I havnt written in a while, but I will say I have been learning, not lurking. And I am so, so thankful for all the sharing/teaching you have all done and continue to do.- Coyote, I am done! Finished my rads on 4/8/15. The Rad Therapists tossed confetti on me as I left the treatment vault. One apologized that the confetti was still in my hair after I dressed - I explained I was so happy to have hair for it to stick to! Its true, eyebrows, eyelashes, and head hair does return. Slowly, but that's okay. Rads treated me pretty well. This weekend is the worse. Some burning, rash, redness - the usual. So lucky no broken skin or severe pain. Slathered in Aquaphor all weekend. Yuck.
- I'm starting Teva brand Arimidex this week AFTER my breast heals some more. We have to have some control, right? Come on, Quiggy - Jump in with me! I think we will be okay, and we are not alone. With all the positive reinforcement from everyone, including the recent messages from mqt and jean to remind us to get on with it. And, I'll be honest - yesterday I spent some time in the fetal position, weeping over all of this. But today is another day. We can do this.
I'm taking a lot of deep breaths, and going to stop researching everything to death, and remember to enjoy being done with the slash/poison/burn (ha!) tx and to enjoy life. Going to a nutritionist this week (insurance paid???) who works with post-chemo patients and starting Livestrong at the YMCA next month to work on my bone density. Follow-up appts with MO and RO in May when we will work on my personal Survival plan. Thanks, Coyote, for reminding me to not fall through the cracks. XO Linda
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