Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

HH, I am feeling better. Not great yet. I think I must have a cold along with the allergies. At least I feel like functioning most of the time. And I'm positive that I'm stressed over the memorial. Things are progressing on that front too. I can't find which box I packed some of the photos I would like to display are in, and I've gone through them. Well, guess they won't be displayed. Efficiency isn't all it's cracked up to be - honest! GD garage that my Realtor says FHA would require be repaired is looking better. Sure not done. The guys work 4 or 5 hours a day. Very annoying. But I'm exceptionally pleased to have HOT weather. Over 80 today and supposed to say that way for some time. YIPPEE. I'm a hot weather gal. However, I won't be sitting and sunning for awhile - no show for the garage guys!

Let's toss in another frustration while I'm complaining: Trying to get the right forms verifying my Medicare Medigap coverage. New company (both are Blue Cross BTW) needs a certificate of creditability. Took two tries to get that one right - it had to show I have an F plan. Then there's the challenge of getting a copy of my bill. I have NEVER seen a bill in 6 years. They aren't online. So far haven't gotten one though I've requested it. Washington BC suggested that I requested a Billing History Report - he said Michigan should be able to spit that one out relatively quickly. So I've done that. Since I was feeling especially bitchy, I posted on Blue Care Network's FB page how unhelpful they were. Good thing there was a great deal of distance between them and me. They said I could get my bill online. AFter I've searched for AND been told by their customer service that it isn't online. I nearly blew a gasket (adrenaline is good when you've been feeling down). So I gave them a piece of my mind. (I did retain some pieces for further use, however).

So I'm doing better, making progress and ready to murder Blue Care Network of Michigan!

HUGS!

EJMann, great news! Of course you can do this!!! Because that's what we, as women, do! Just do it! Heal good! That's terrible about DH taking so danged long to get a CPAP. Criminal in fact. At least my frustration is just paperwork.

HUGS!

Great news ejmann! Peggy, I hope you feel better. Is the memorial this weekend?

EJMann, I'm thrilled your node was negative and your margins were clear! What terrific news! You certainly can do this! You'll need only breast radiaion, which is (IMO) a bit easier than breast plus nodes. Insurance is one of life's trials and tribulations.

Before I forget, thank you HH for posting the great photo! I just love seeing photos of my cancer sisters gathered together. It is like getting a hug. You all look lovely! HH, your walking time is not slow at all. Mine is usually a bit slower than yours, but I keep going longer. That's what I'd suggest for you - set a pace that feels relatively easy and keep going for more steps.

Peggy, please don't stress over the photos. A year from now, no one will remember exactly which photos were displayed. The memorial will be wonderful and you will probably shed some tears. I hope you resolve the insurance issues soon. Insurance issues are always a PIA, and especially when government is involved!

Sandy, I'm very happy to hear about Bob's good results! WooHoo! Your airport story reminds me of why I hate to travel. You were such a doll to go to North Carolina and perform. I hope very much that I can hear you some day.

Sherri, I hope your son feels better soon. Then you'll feel better too!

Last night I started coughing around midnight and could not stop. Whatever I caught, which has included laryngitis and a fever, was a parting gift from my SF cousin. The only thing that will work when I get a cough is codeine, and I was all out of the cough syrup with codeine from the last time (which was many years ago). Then I remembered that the endodontist had given me an Rx for Tylenol 3 tablets, which have codeine! They were supposed to be for pain but I didn't use them. I wasn't sure if a codeine pill would work like the cough syrup, but let me tell you, it was a miracle! Within two minutes my coughing stopped and I slept through the night! Today I am a little woozy but able to function.

I'm sure I've missed a few comments I wanted to make. Maybe I'll have more time later. Happy Week everyone!

Dear MJS:  I am so impressed with your commitment to exercising.  That is awesome.  Keep it up.

Dear LovingGrouches:  I am so happy for you that you are working out.  I don't think that your time is slow.  I can sympathize with gaining weight from a stressful work situation.  Good luck with your upcoming surgery.

I was doing an exercise routine for years and I looked great.  Then, unfortunately, I tore my meniscus and detached my ACL during a faculty/student basketball game.  I am totally uncoordinated and I fell in front of the entire school in the gym during a pep rally.  I had to have knee surgery.  The last day of my physical therapy is the day that I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I stopped exercising when I hurt my knee.  I exercised again during radiation - I walked 2 hours every day.  However, I was inundated when I returned to work and I have not been able to exercise since.  I work such long days and I am totally exhausted.  I was medically induced into menopause.  The menopause, AI's, lack of exercise (aside from 10,000 steps per day of walking), and ridiculously stressful work load has completely ruined my body.  Of course, it is my fault because I am not exercising.  My plan is to exercise on a daily basis this summer.  I am hoping that I will continue exercising, once I start my exercise plan. 

Dear HH:  LOL!!!

Dear EJMann:  Don't overdo it!  Nap when you need to.  You just had major surgery.  You will be back to your regular routine soon enough.  It is normal to be tired after surgery.  At least you are not in pain.  Listen to MollieFish. 

Yay for node negative and clean margins.  It is great that you will only need rads and no chemo.  However, you should DEFINITELY REQUEST AN ONCOTYPE TEST.  The oncotype test will indicate whether you will need chemo. 

Your kids are very lucky.  Their schedule sounds awesome!

Dear Peggy:  Feel better soon.  I am so sorry about the insurance issues that you are having.  Of course it is the same company!  Ridiculous.  Good luck.  I love that you "kept a piece of your mind for future use".  LOL!!!  ENJOY the memorial for your DH and being with your entire family.

Dear LTF:  I am so glad that you had a good 1st rads session and that you will be able to swim for now.  Thanks for the good wishes for my son.

Dear Moondust.  Thanks for the good wishes for my son.  Feel better soon.  Have a good week and get some rest.

I can sympathize with needing codeine to alleviate your cough.  I was born premature (2.5 lbs and 2 and 1/2 months early) so I have had chronic lung problems throughout my life.  I had pneumonia and bronchitis so many times.  As an adult living in NY, I would get bronchitis every fall and every spring.  The only thing that worked for my cough was cough medicine with codeine.  I would only take the cough medicine at night because I would use it so sparingly. I did not want to waste it by using it during the day.  I coughed non-stop at night.  I would cough for at least a month for each bout of bronchitis.  I finally stopped getting bronchitis when I moved to Florida.  Moving to Florida was the best decision that I ever made (although I did not move here for my health.  It was an added benefit.)  The tropical weather in South Florida resolved my lung issues.  I have only had bronchitis 3 times in 14 years since I have been living in Florida.  Yay! 

Dear Sandy:  Woo Hoo for the good news regarding your DH and his lungs!!  Yay!  You can now celebrate and "have fun without your clothes on!!!"  lol.  I am so sorry about your troubling commute.  I should not have given you a "kinehura" (jinxed you) by wishing you "happy travels" in my previous post.  Sorry.

Thanks again for everyone who wished my son well.

Good luck to all of the exercisers on this thread.

Well, it’s getting crazier and crazier. When I got an ETA of 6:52, it was 4:50 at the time. 7 pm came and went, and Subaru roadside assistance gave me a robo-call to find out if the tow guy had arrived yet. When I said no, they contacted the tow company, which told them they had one customer in Evanston ahead of me, and gave me a new ETA of 7:22. Meanwhile, I discovered a little sliding button on the fob which released an emergency key, so I was able to get into the car. I couldn’t find the hood release or shift into neutral, however. But I DID notice what looked like a fuse box missing, and one of the dome light buttons depressed. Now, the night before I flew to NC, I turned off all lights and locked the garage. I am now almost positive Bob forgot to lock the garage one day while I was away, and someone came in trying to steal the battery or even hotwire the car. I wouldn’t be surprised if the hood were finally popped and the battery was missing (which happened to me once years ago when I valet-parked: someone replaced my new DieHard with a dead old one that had just enough juice to get me home from dinner). The new ETA is 8 pm--but they are working on someone 2 miles from me, and if they need to be towed, I’m screwed. I am going to go back to the garage, cellphone in hand, to see if anything else was stolen from the garage. Oh, and if I can’t get to the dealer by 9 I won’t have a loaner--the only car rental agencies open right now are at O’Hare--at least a $35 Uber ride away.

If it turns out the garage had been left unlocked and my amps are missing, Bob owes me biz-class fare for our trip to Italy in July.

Ejmann, so happy for the great news!!! Get some rest while you can!

Sandy, so glad to hear good news about Dh!

Peggy, glad your feeling better and hope all goes well with memorial!

Loves to fly, your time will fly by. You will probably be ok for now with the swimming, but I wouldn't have chanced it into week 2, that's when the skin issues started.

Moondust, glad your better! Chronic cough is miserable!

614, I sympathize. The exercise is hard when you've dealt with all the tests and treatments for cancer, plus working so much that you stay exhausted all the time. I felt so bad today, but pushed through it anyway and went to gym- glad I did. It's hard to get motivated though! It only took me 20 minutes to do a Mike today! I'm making progress!

Hugs to all !!!

614, totally get it.  My niece is a teacher and she works harder than anyone I know for relatively low pay.  Before BC, I had a high stress job, 12 hour days, plus commute.  While, I have always struggled with my weight but had been relatively fit until about the last 4 years.  Now that I'm retired, it is a lot easier, although I am taking classes and commuting 5 days a week but less stressful and more flexible.  Now every time I want to skip the gym, I remind myself how out of shape I was and how bad my health was as a result.  In addition to BC, I had a Thyroid problem, heart problem, and sleep apnea. 

Loving Grouches, yeah, one step at a time!  That's exactly how I started walking on the tread mill so I could monitor my pulse.  I developed Tarchicardio, a super high resting pulse rate, while on chemo.  At least, I was convinced it was the chemo but none of my Drs. committed to that.  My resting pulse was around 120 to 130 and is now in the 60's.  Writing this actually helps motivate me to get up in the morning and head to the gym.  Good night all,  MJ

Sandy, whew, what a week you've had, I'm worn out for you! Hope rest of week is calmer. Great news for your DH!

Peggy, hope you feel better soon. Hope the memorial service brings you all peace and closure.

LTF, glad you had a good first day and you are able to swim. I'm hopefully right behind you. I'm only ready to start rads so I can close another chapter.

ejmann, wonderful news on clear margins & negative nodes. It took 2 surgeries for me to get there. But it's a great relief. From my first surgery, it was the 3rd week before I started feeling like my old self. I worked but was tired all the time for 1st couple of weeks.

Moondust, hope your cough doesn't come back so you can rest.

LG, keep up the good work on exercising

HH, Zumba is my favorite exercise ever. It is so much fun and I get such positive energy from my Zumba peeps. They've been very supportive & encouraging to me since my dx. Congrats on the 8,000 steps! I plan on going back to class this Saturday & keeping it low impact for a few weeks. I did that after 1st lx and was about back to full speed at 4 weeks. Don't know that I'll manage it in same time line, but don't want to lose too much momentum. I've bee stress eating & have started gaining.

I go for my post op tomorrow from my 2nd lx. Don't even notice 2nd lx site, it's the SLN site that bothers me, which I kind of expected. It's sore, but my underarm area, that's not numb feels bruised. So I guess my bs will tell me how I'm doing and maybe I'll get an idea when I should start rads.

Thank you, dear friends for all the kind words. This is definitely going to be a bittersweet weekend formally saying goodbye to Chuck, the kids saying goodbye to their childhood home. It will be nice to have closure after all these months and share what a wonderful man Chuck was with all those who attend. I filled my little urn with some of his ashes. With lots of luck the rest of his ashes will be scattered at the state park where he liked to fish - we don't want the rangers to notice! Luckily we also have a fun event to celebrate, too. #2 son's birthday is Sunday so having a small party for him. Then I can look forward to my move and my new life.

Sandy, Well, at least you got the car to the dealership. That had to have been frustrating. Glad you live close to good stores and grilled up a yummy dinner. Hope it all goes smoothly today.

HUGS!!!

Last year I helped a friend with her breast cancer. They live about 40 minutes away and only have one car. She was taking the bus to various appointments. When she started chemo, she really needed rides. I took her several times and provided meals and other support. One time I became very concerned because during her chemo treatments she went south fast. I was talking to her one day and she literally fell asleep as we were talking. I decided to go in with her at her next visit to her doctor (which I'm assuming was her MO since I didn't know exactly).

I rolled her into the office and we waited quite a bit. The waiting room was very depressing, no natural light, packed with patients, just depressing. Then when we finally rolled her back to the room, we had to wait again in a very closed in space. My friend dozing and waking and dozing and waking. The MO came in and went straight to her computer and had her back to my friend the entire visit. I had to wave my hand in front of the MO to LOOK at my friend going in and out. She dismissed a lot of her complaints about her symptoms and just seemed uninterested in HER progress. Just looked at the computer the entire time.

When I received my diagnosis I decided to go with my yoga instructor's BS. He's not warm and fuzzy but he is considered the best in the area. He was very clear about what he was going to do and I was able to get in quickly to have it done. The center is so much brighter and the staff is very helpful. My experience has not been at all like what my friend went through. Although I'm early in my experience I would never settle for a MO like she had. I learned a lot helping her so when I got the diagnosis I was very quick to find the best environment for my own journey. I'm glad I asked around and ended up where I did. We deserve the best. Don't settle for less.

Dear Balding:  I am glad that things are going so well for you.  That is great.

Dear Sandy:  What an amazing story.  I have no words to comment except that I am sorry that you had such an ordeal after a trying luggage situation. Your life is certainly interesting.

Dear Peggy:  My heart is with you this weekend.

Dear MJS:  You are my inspiration.  I am definitely going to start an exercise routine.  I plan to start on June 1. 

LG:  I am so proud of you too. 

Dear EJMann:  I am so glad that you like your MO and that you are doing well.

Dear Jo6202:  I totally agree with your advice.

Dear HH:  Zumba sounds great.  Enjoy.

Hello to everyone else.

tbalding, so glad you are healing well! HUGS to all today!!!! I took a break from the gym because I had to stay late at work for training on new software and every step I take is painful and my back is KILLING me! I think I did too much weights yesterday, so tomorrow will only be treadmill, elliptical and hips!

LG, It sounds like everything has finally caught up with you. All those emotions that you tidily tucked away and thought you'd dealt with have surfaced. Aggravated of course by idiots who have no clue what you've been through. No comparison of c-section and a hysterectomy. At least with a c-section you have a BABY! Nothing that great coming from any of your surgeries. I am rather surprised that your MO wouldn't prescribe anti-depressants. Mine always asks and I know my PCP and BS would prescribe them, too. Perhaps a sleeping pill will do the rick for you. But if it doesn't, find one of your docs who will listen and prescribe them for you. As to why you see the BS every 3 months, mine is my "coordinator" of care, orders my mammos and any other tests that might be necessary. My MO just keeps track of how I'm doing on the Arimidex. And my RO to make sure no issues from my rads. Try to get some sleep tonight and there's a chance tomorrow will be better!

HUGS!

LG- my BS actually asked if I thought I might need them when I was struggling waiting for results. I've also seen this a lot, and thought of it while I was reading your post: