For those starting chemo in June

Hey Girls, well I am glad that is all over. The longer it draws out the harder it gets. Now we can heal and go on. I do miss going over everyday. Every day she said she wanted to die and by golly she finally did. Well hubby leaving at 5 a.m. and we are to get about an inch of snow early. It has rained and been cold. Hope Janie didn't get those awful storms down there. Hubby would of been in the middle of it all had he been able to leave yesterday. He is headed for Texas and darn I would love to go but have Dr. apts. tomorrow and Tue. and Thurs. is Thanksgiving too. My Onky is going to be upset because my Dr. hasn't found out what the mass is yet. I am almost tempted to cancel until next wk. Guess I better get going. I want to see who wins Dancing With The Stars. Stay warm girls, Hugs and thanks for being here and making me feel better, you girls are the best. Mary

Ooh, well, it's chilly here, but no rain at least. Someone flicked on the "autumn" switch for at least a few days.

Mary, I hope you find out good things at your doc appts. What a drag to have to do that after all you've been going through. I hope they figure out that throat thing QUICK.

Good thing your hubby wasn't down here yesterday. The winds were fierce. Gusts around 40-50 all day. It was weird.

Janie, a week off sounds great. I hope you've got some fun plans. Bundle up.

So we've got some great plans: all us kids, grandkids are going up with my mom to the Black Hills again to celebrate mom's 75th. Her birthday's in January, but we can't all get up there til August. So, I only have 9 months to wait....

Later,
Paula

Hey Girls, Good luck with you Dr. apt. Janie. Hope everyone stays warm. I saw Onky and he does tumor markers. My CA 15-3 is elevated. He will check in 3 months so hope it goes back down. I noticed my sodium was low(I eat a lot of salt) and my CO2 was high so am wondering about my heart. I did get my sono on Thyroid because I have everything sent to Onky(I just asked for copies of all my latest papers) and I do have a nodule in left side but is small and thyroid is normal size (again). I had a chest e-ray so that is an all clear on cancer going to lungs I think. High CO2 can indicate lung trouble or heart. Well guess I better see about a stress test huh? I see my reg. Dr. Tues. so guess I will see if we can find out whats going on then or maybe not. Well, have lots to do tonight. You girls stay warm. Hugs, Mary

Hope you all have a great wk. end. I hope Nancy is doing better. I am trying to get my nerves settled down. I just hope where ever this is it is not in my lungs. I hope the blood work is just off on that. I know the tumor marker is not likely to be wrong but hopefully the other is. My stress level is really up there and I have to wait until I get symptoms? That kinda sucks. Well better get going, Later girls. Thanks for being here. Hugs, Mary

Mary, my onc doesn't do tumor markers because he considers them unreliable. Hoping he's right in your case. So what's left on your medical agenda? When do you find out about the throat thing, finally?

BEAUTIFUL outside here today. Going to see a play at Nathan's school tomorrow, then he's in a Thanksgiving show on Monday. It's a mommy week.

Janie, hope your week off is great. Mary, dammit, get BETTER! We're here to lean on. Will hubby be home soon? Wasn't he on his way down here?

Nancy, if you're out there lurking, hope you're better, too.

Paula

Mary, has anyone check into "silent reflux"? It's like GERD but without the hearburn. I saw someone on the Moving Beyond board that had it and it sounded like similar symptoms. Here's something from google on the symptoms

Hoarseness
A "lump" in the throat
Trouble swallowing
Chronic cough
Too much throat mucus
Heartburn

Just got me wondering about your symptoms....


Paula

Hey ladies,

Mary, maybe you will know something soon, at least about part of it. I have heard the tumor markers are not reliable.

Nancy, hope you get home for Thanksgiving. Bet it is beautiful at your place.

PJ, sounds like you are on to something with Mary's symptoms. I like my doctors, but I always found out more on these boards than anywhere else because we are the ones living it. Sometimes things are too new for the oncs to know all about it yet. For example, we were all told that Herceptin does not have side effects.........NOT.

Yep Mary, there is an upside to turning 60. You're old enough for lots of people to think you are senile, forgetful, fragile, etc., so you "can be" whenever the notion strikes; however, you are still young enough not to really be any of those things.

Have my routine onc appointment and routine regular doc appointment both tomorrow, because I am stupid enough to schedule them during my break......maybe I am losing it after all.

Have a great week everyone (I sound like Tiny Tim)

Well, Janie, at least you'll get it all over with in one shot. It'll be a breeze.

Mary, hope the Mylanta makes a difference. And I hope they nail down some answers tomorrow. I mean, come on, the holidays are coming. You need to get that whole swallowing thing behind you, right? It's time to EAT!

Paula

Janie, great news and I hope the lungs are fine too. I am going to be o.k. Hugs and goodnight, Mary

All right ya'll. Out of the kitchen long enough to say hey.

Hey ya'll, have a great Turkey day from an ol Turkey. I have been round my sister in law, she lived in Georgia many years before moving back home a few years ago and still has the talk. Her bar is called Johnny Bob's, her hubby is John and she added her southern "Bob" to it. Every mans name she adds a Bob to it. (this is hubby's sister). She cooks very southern but MIL always did too. Theres some good eatin. I have the turkey cooking, got up at 5 and got it in the cooker. The weather has been beautiful, in the 50's and today it may break 60. Hubby made it home yesterday and leaves early tomorrow a.m. and I am heading up to Springfield early tomorrow to save $40.00 on an MP3 player for grandson. I also want to get a flat screen T.V. for my dinning room where I always watch t.v. They have them for just over $100.00 but getting there early enough is the trick. I need to be at Wally for the T.V. and Best Buy for the MP3. This should be interesting. I am better, Dr. thinks nerves may be my problem. Loosing 2 friends(from mets) and MIL and my blood work may be a little much. I have a little pill to take the edge off but haven't taken any yet. I am better. I sure hope Nancy is getting better. Eat all you want today and then some. Glad we are spending a Great day with our families. I am very glad I have such good friends here. Hugs, Mary

Hey, Janie, turkey and the works and two (smallish) slices of pie. It's beautiful outside and I SHOULD be out getting some exercise. Nah......

I'm very thankful for all of you. This is our third together! And we'll have many more.

Mary, I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Goodness, with everything going on around you and your already busy life, no wonder you're stressed. Take a pill, take a chill.

Paula

Good Mornin Girls, Well I saw a pair of tennis shoes a couple years ago my niece had and they were soooo cute. They are old cloth high top basketball shoes, the kind we remember and they had feathery pink trim sewn around the top(black shoes)and ribbons for laces. Now with tights and a skirt they are adorable on a little girl and I had to make a pair for my grandaughter. Now her mom told me a size 2, I now have to cut all the feathery crap off and replace the laces I forgot where I put and take them back to Springfield and get a smaller size and resew them all over again. It wasn't fun the first time and my bruised sore thumb from the needle jabbing into it on the dull end can attest to that. Yea, they make a thimble but why get one and make it less painfull and I probably would never use it again, hubby's cheapness is rubbing off. Now thats a scary thought. Well, I will make a shoe exchange run and I can eat someplace good too maybe. I use to never go to a restaurant alone but now, if I don't, I don't eat. Maybe I will take the grandaughhter and make it really easy, the only thing is I then have the 4 year old wanting to go and he is really good but it will be very crowded to hang onto 2 kids. Maybe I will live on the edge today. Maybe not.....I will let ya know if I survive. Ya know, I find myself spelling words completely incorrect sometimes or more but I don't proof read a lot and I see them later and there can be 30 words and the misspelled one jumps right out and I look at it and think What the h%*# was going on in my brain? The letters don't even belong in the word. I have lost most or all of my brains apparently. Chemotized fried brains....maybe I never had them in the first place I was just too ignorant to know. They say you are always the last to know.hugs, Mary

Hi girls,

Eat alone? Sounds great to me!

Pretty dull weekend. But it's hard to beat 4 days off in a row. Did a little shopping, a little cleaning, a little baking, a little Xmas decorating. Poor Nathan was bored out of his skull. But that's a thing he's just got to get used to. Husband has been in bed sick for 3 days, so pretty much like being a single mother. That's a lot of work!

Hope you guys have a great week ahead. Janie, how are you feeling? And you, Mary? Getting any relaxing in?

Still hoping we'll hear from Nancy Lee soon....

Later,
Paula

Oh, I absolutely LOVE steak and shake. with 5 kids, it was our fancy "sit-down" place to go out to eat when i was a kid. love those fries.

glad the shopping trip was fun. as for the toilet, it's just always something, isn't it?

have a good one, girls,
paula