April 2015 Chemo Crew... Starting in April? Please join us!

Lynne, my tamoxifen SEs are

• increased difficulty falling back asleep after waking (makes it worse, but I had some of this since surgery anyway)
• zappy superficial pain in my calves at times
• sore hips
• increased vertigo
• mild uterine cramps

Thanksgiving is at our house this year--it rotates and I asked in June to have it here in case I wasn't up for flying. Most ingredients will be organic and, where possible, local:

• Crudités (carrots, celery, olives, other veg that look good) (sister)
• Turkey (wife)
• Gluten-free giblet gravy (wife)
• Gluten-free, celery-free cornbread, chestnut, and sausage stuffing with fresh herbs (wife and me)
• Cranberry-orange compote (me)
• Sweet potato/Asian yam casserole (mother)
• Baby Yukon gold potatoes (me)
• Peas (me)
• Corn (me)
• Baked apples and raisins with oatmeal and cinnamon topping (me)
• Various sparkling waters, beers, ciders, wines, decafs, and teas
• Gluten-free, walnut-free oatmeal cookies (wife)
• Single-malt Scotch for those who would enjoy a wee dram. Local G&Ts for the others.

The gentlemen may carve, wash dishes, and make turkey stock afterward. As is traditional in my family, Hanukkah will be observed with gifts in conjunction with Thanksgiving for expedience.

I have a homemade fruitcake a friend gave me last January, when I wanted neither the alcohol nor the sugar. My sister makes a mean fruitcake herself, so we may need to eat this for research purposes.

I may or may not have time to hit a Thanksgiving-morning Zumba/cardio at the gym. I may or may not convince sister and mother to join me. My sister says she may come to my Wednesday evening Zumba.

Dizz - you beautiful woman! And stylish!

Thanksgiving! I have been feeling sad today and blaming it all on a friend of mine. But the more i think about it, the more I realize that it's coming to the 1 year anniversary of my diagnosis. Thanksgiving was spent waiting for results from my biopsy. And what followed was a mess of more biopsies, then surgery and then more surgery. OK - I don't want to make you cry. It's a lot for one year and I think I am going through some normal diagnosis anniversary feeling and I hate it. Ugh.

Anyone else at this point too?

Positive- Yes! I am sorry you're feeling this way. But you aren't alone. I've been unaccountable anxious and sad. Tried to figure what was causing it (AS IF that's ever been successful) and finally realized I'm weeks away from my cancerversary and the bmx which has changed my life so much.

I'm trying to just slog through it and do the normally recommended things, like walking. Minimal success. Cooking helps sometimes. Mostly I'm just waiting ... Hoping it will pass. Lots of tears in the meantime. Sending you a hug.

Hi everyone -

My mouth is watering after reading about all the Thanksgiving preparations...of course we had our Thanksgiving over a month ago. But American Thanksgiving is on a much huger scale! Yum!

Re Tamoxifen SE's...I had started on it, was on it for about three weeks then had to stop in preparation for my surgery. My doc told me to resume it in about a week. BUT...when I was on it, the biggest SE I noticed was joint pain. Every single joint in my body ached...apparently the SE's from Tamoxifen don't last too long, your body adjusts.

Re cancerversary- this is the third winter I have been dealing with cancer. On Nov. 4 of 2013 I was diagnosed with colon cancer, and had my surgery on Dec. 5. A year later...early December...I had my mammogram which showed a mass and my biopsy was on New Year's Eve. I got the results on Jan. 8 of this year and had my BMX March 26. This winter...hopefully no new cancer diagnoses! I am waiting for the pathology from my hysterectomy/oophrectomy.

Oh, and my father died of melanoma on Jan. 11, 2011. That Christmas was a bummer too. So I totally get being sad this time of year, but there is so much to be grateful for! We are all still here and fighting, surviving...I have a wonderful family, supportive friends, two grandchildren who are healthy and happy, and my hair is growing back

Andrea

Hi - Andrea, good to see you checking in, how are you feeling?

Cherie - I have the stiff and achy hands, especially in the morning, but they also go numb at night if I sleep the wrong way. What a wonderful thing that you did to bring TG dinner to your uncle, you sure deserve a low-key TG.

Re - cancerversary, I do not plan to dwell on it or let it bother me at all. I had several miscarriages (5 to be exact - 4 in between #1 and #2, and 1 in between #2 and #3 births), and I'm the same way with those dates - it passes through my mind, especially the one that started on my birthday, but those days do not define me. I know that being diagnosed with breast cancer certainly changed my life - I will never be in the innocent/naive state of mind that I had been - and in this way, the MC are like that. I had a totally normal, problem free first pgy, and then the mc, and once you go through that, I realized that I could not go back to having a worry-free pgy. Anyway, even for 2015 I am going to try to focus on remembering the positives. I loved the idea that Renee posted about starting a "good things" jar and putting in notes about all the good things that happened, and then on NYE opening them and remembering them. I AM going to do that.

Ksusan - your menu sounds delicious. Ever seen Jim Gaffigan's routine that includes fruitcake? It's from his "beyond the pale" show in the cake part - pretty funny. I love Jim Gaffigan.

Heather, you look so peaceful and beautiful.

Lorraine, how is the store going? Big time of year for spirits. I was thinking of you this weekend. On Saturday we went to a local liquor store that was having a tasting. They had several distributors there for tasting, but also were serving a full turkey dinner - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn. It was something! They had La Belle winery there (this is a winery that is in Amherst, NH, so local) that has wines like cranberry and pear. We tried a spiced pear which tastes like "Christmas in a glass". I liked it, but Chuck did not, but then he doesn't really like wine.

Lynne

Here it is: Jim Gaffigan on Cake the part about fruit cake is at the end, starts about 4:25

We are at the airport in Chicago heading home. This is the first time heading home without an itinerary to come back in 3 weeks. As a matter of fact, we only have loose plans for our next trip here. P.S. is finding us a date for diep stage 2 for sometime in Mid-March. We'll have 3 month B.S. and M.O. follow-ups at the same time. Poor Southwest Airlines will be wondering why we suddenly have no reservation on the horizon.

My diagnosis wasn't until April, but the whole ordeal started in March after my Mammogram. It hasn't even been 9 months yet for me and I've had so much crap on my plate. So glad to be throught the darkness. Met a woman this morning who just got started....she'll be coming every 3 weeks all WINTER long. Suddenly all the travelling we did last summer doesn't seem so bad.

LYNNE, I hear you about the worry free pregnancies. I lost my first, carried DS to term, but then lost our second son at birth 2 days before Thanksgiving 2005. Everyone encouraged us to try again, but I couldn't fathom going through another loss. We count our blessings with DS, pray for our Angel, and remember how delicate life can be. I still feel a little heartbroken this time of year, but I know it's more important to live in the now and not get lost in the past.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and to a joyous beginning to the holiday season. Heather

Dizz, may this be a year of hope and joy for you and your family.

steph you look great and your kids are adorable. Good luck with the surgeries. You will do fine- have a great thanksgiving everyone. We have so much to be thankful for this year.

Prayers for a smooth recovery Steph! I love the pic, you look wonderful and your kids are totally adorable!

I hope it went well, Steph.

Happy Thanksgiving (tomorrow) to all my friends down south! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Good luck with your surgeries Steph! Great photo of you and the kids...what cuties!

I'm doing well post hysterectomy/oophrectomy. My pain is very minimal now and I actually have some energy. I can't drive for another week though, but that's okay...I have no problem hanging out at home. It's a lovely sunny (but cold) day, I will go for a walk later on.

Andrea

surgery went ok my boobs look amazing and feel great what hurts is the oopherectomy way more than I thought! Addie did you have burning pain mostly in the left side it hurts to even walk I'm not taking the norco they gave me makes me sick I think just ibprofen oh I also passed out walking out of the bathroom after surgery in the hospital they were still quick to ship me home! Scared the crap out of the hubby!

Happy thanksgiving to everyone in the US - I had a great day with family, great food, the weather was great and we went for a long walk. My niece brought her horse, which was cool, but it busted through this bridge over a little creek - scary for 20 seconds, but all was fine. I cooked a turkey while I was gone, and we had that for "leftovers" dinner - and now I've cleaned the bird and have the carcass on the stove making stock. I took a vacation day tomorrow, so I get to sleep in.

Best wishes to all - lots for which to be thankful this year, every year, but especially this year.especially all of you.

Lynne