August 2015 Chemo Group

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  • VickiRides
    VickiRides Member Posts: 211
    edited August 2016

    Congratulations, Musosgirl!

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  • MsBrompton
    MsBrompton Member Posts: 357
    edited August 2016

    High 5 Musogirl.

    That last Herceptin sure is a milestone!

    Love the cupcakes story!!

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  • MsBrompton
    MsBrompton Member Posts: 357
    edited August 2016

    NEW BIKE! My end-of-herceptin present to myself. And finally feeling fitter. Hang in there ladies!

    image

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  • exercise_guru
    exercise_guru Member Posts: 716
    edited August 2016

    OK I love your bike that is super super cool. As soon as I can start riding again I am treating myself to new kevlar tires for my road bike.

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  • molliefish
    molliefish Member Posts: 723
    edited August 2016

    364 days today ladies! happy to be here. Tomorrow is my little brother's birthday. I missed it last year because I was having my first chemo... so happy to be on the other side..

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  • superius
    superius Member Posts: 340
    edited August 2016

    SWEET BIKE!

    Not much to report back. Had CT last week. MO appt in a month.

    All is calm & quiet in the realm of WorryWart, until yesterday. Someone who used to sing with the choir came over before Mass, requested prayer for her sis-in-law, who has brain met past 1.5yr. Said they have done everything they could, etc etc...

    i looked over to the piano, & Worry Wart was starring, asked "you ok?" "yeah." you?

    i was about to joke about him not taking vacation for 2 yrs (& the boss is on his case about it), "hey you can get a day off, or two, i promise not to drop dead while you're away." That would be in bad taste...

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  • Musosgirl
    Musosgirl Member Posts: 387
    edited August 2016

    superius, if you do that get it on video!


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  • DeeRatz
    DeeRatz Member Posts: 350
    edited August 2016

    Musogirl-congrats on being done with Herceptin. I hope you are feeling better as the days go on.

    Molliefish-I am glad to be on the other side of treatment as well. Glad you could celebrate your brothers birthday!

    MSBrompton-Sweet ride. Glad you are feeling more in shape. I'm hoping to get back there too...

    Superius-you def would need to get that on video.

    We have been on a family vacation in beautiful BC. We have rented a beautiful house and are halfway through our 2 weeks. We are up high on a hill overlooking lakes, vineyards and orchards. It has been such a great holiday. Days out on the boat, lots of swimming, wakesurfing and enjoying life. Evenings are spent on the huge deck enjoying the view with a nice glass of wine. Hard to believe how much I have changed in the last year. I see pictures of me from last summer and it seems like I am looking at a totally different person. I'm actually loving my short hair....there I said it! It is not curly. My old hair had way more curl. This hairdo is wash and wear, so easy. I will be keeping it short. My toenails are a mess. They are lifting off and all lumpy. Glad my fingernails have been good.

    Trying to enjoy everyday....they are not guaranteed! Glad I was here to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary and 46th bday. Made it another year

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  • superius
    superius Member Posts: 340
    edited August 2016

    everyone likes my short hair, too! & I should keep it short (used to have shoulder-length bob& the curls! I wonder if the curls will stay -- someone at church said hers didn't.

    Here's my version of Viktor/ Viktoria. I made them on the Peanut movie website. :D

    image

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  • KateB79
    KateB79 Member Posts: 747
    edited August 2016

    Mine came in wavy/curly, too. At first it looked like it was going to be straight, but now it's got some serious body. I'll take it!

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  • MsBrompton
    MsBrompton Member Posts: 357
    edited August 2016

    Short hair rules OK! Great pics all

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  • Musosgirl
    Musosgirl Member Posts: 387
    edited August 2016

    Has anyone else gotten lazy, or frustrated, about showering? I mean during chemo I didn't have to shave, didn't have to wash or condition my hair. Showers were simple and short. Good thing because I couldn't do much more. But now I stare at the bathroom feeling totally defeated and dread dragging myself into the shower. I had forgotten how robust and thick my hair is. In my defense I am recovering from two surgeries and wasn't even cleared for bathing or showering for awhile, but I still don't bother unless I have to leave the house the next day. But then it's 5 days of growth on my legs and slimy hair on my head--just awful!

    On a side note: it is always interesting sending men for feminine products. I am still spotting after my hysterectomy, but just barely. I told my husband not to get anything with wings--so he brought me overnight longs. I didn't say anything...

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  • KateB79
    KateB79 Member Posts: 747
    edited August 2016

    Musosgirl, I still shower at least six days a week, but I hear you about the hair business. For some reason, my leg and pit hair is growing twice as fast as it ever did, especially now that I'm done with Herceptin--I THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER COME BACK. Boy, was I wrong.

    As for the hair on my head: it's crazy. Nuts. I kind of love it. I'm getting it cut today for the fourth or fifth time since March, just because I'm totally on board with no-muss and no-fuss. . . . I'm just waiting for the top to get long enough to bring back the mohawk, which was a lot of fun last year. I'm not dying it, though; that's too much work.

    You made me lol at "overnight with wings."

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  • MsBrompton
    MsBrompton Member Posts: 357
    edited August 2016

    This is us!

    http://linkis.com/huffingtonpost.com/Uksuf

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  • KateB79
    KateB79 Member Posts: 747
    edited August 2016

    MY CBC WAS NORMAL YESTERDAY.

    For the first time in a year.

    It really is the little things. . . . Normal CBC, normal echo, normal pap.

    I never in a million years would have thought I'd be celebrating a normal blood test--or writing about one in shouty caps. :)

    MsBrompton, thanks for the link!

    Edited to include this selfie, just to illustrate crazy-hair:

    image

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  • VickiRides
    VickiRides Member Posts: 211
    edited August 2016

    LOL, Musosgirl. I do miss the quick and easy showers of the chemo months. There is just so much work to do now! Fortunately, my right pit is still hairless (radiated side) and I only have about 5 hairs that grow in the left.

    Kate, your hair looks great!

    My hair is super curly, especially in back, and way more salt than pepper. My husband was craving a milkshake one night this week so I took him through a drive-thru to get one. They gave me the senior discount!! Good thing I have a hair appointment next week. It's time to get rid of the gray. And this was the same day that I got the results of my gyn's bloodwork: I'm post-menopausal. She is ready to take out my IUD, but I am not sure that I trust the results of just one test.

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  • superius
    superius Member Posts: 340
    edited August 2016

    my hair is very curly at the back as well. have to get someone to take a pic, just in case they don't stay once I have it cut. I think I need a trim soon, maybe after i show it off to my MO next month.

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  • molliefish
    molliefish Member Posts: 723
    edited August 2016

    Kate I'm very happy to hear about your blood tests. i've not received a call back from the onc or the family phys. so i'll call tomorrow.. I shall try to get a picture of the curls. You won't believe it... i'm in awe at how our bodies react and recover from the chemo and the drugs.


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  • molliefish
    molliefish Member Posts: 723
    edited August 2016

    image

    image

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  • molliefish
    molliefish Member Posts: 723
    edited August 2016

    As you can see it's a little out of control, but i'm having some fun with it. I am still deciding what to do with it. This is after about 5 cuts, and one colour about 2 weeks ago. I just couldn't stand the grey any more. My natural auburn, which really was nice, was being overwhelmed by the grey...so I coloured it...

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  • MsBrompton
    MsBrompton Member Posts: 357
    edited August 2016

    image

    LOVE the selfies, your hair looks great ladies.

    And as for being post-menopausal and gray/white, deal with this.

    Who cares? It's hair!


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  • Musosgirl
    Musosgirl Member Posts: 387
    edited August 2016

    oh ladies! I have a mammogram tomorrow. My first since diagnosis. Having lots of emotions about this... Why does it sound so scary

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  • MsBrompton
    MsBrompton Member Posts: 357
    edited August 2016

    Musogirl, I have mine next week and am feeling similar. Surely it's a normal reaction to feel anxious - we now know what happens if they find anything, and it's no fun. But 99% probability you will be fine!

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  • Musosgirl
    Musosgirl Member Posts: 387
    edited August 2016

    MsBrompton,

    I am sure the HX isn't helping--I have cried on and off today thinking about it. And while I am sure it is normal, I don't want this to a part of my new normal. I am also just plain sad that it is taking forever to heal from my surgeries last month. It is agonizingly slow

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  • exercise_guru
    exercise_guru Member Posts: 716
    edited August 2016

    Muso I feel for you. Recovering from surgery is agonizingly slow. It gets better but I remember the first 6- 8 weeks I felt like the inconveniences were going to be my undoing. I still feel frustrated. I had my surgery December 30th so that I could crank my bike and play all summer. Alas it really does slowly get better but it is not a light switch where one day I suddenly started feeling like myself again. Be kind to yourself.

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  • Musosgirl
    Musosgirl Member Posts: 387
    edited August 2016

    I survived the mammogram! And the doctor did not see anything suspicious so she did not do the ultrasound. No more imaging until February when we will do a mammogram on both sides--couldn't do lefty since reduction was just 3 weeks ago; otherwise it would have been both today and MRI in February.

    Kate, are you back to teaching yet? I am having the hardest time deciding on when to start our homeschool year--this recovery crap is taking forever!

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  • KateB79
    KateB79 Member Posts: 747
    edited August 2016

    I go back into the classroom next week, but I taught online all summer and am celebrating posting grades by attending many, many meetings this week . . . I'm ready. It's time.

    So I got my DEXA scan results, and they're not especially good. Apparently chemo can cause bone loss. I'm on a mission to reverse this without drugs! Nothing like osteopenia at 37, though we don't have a baseline from before for comparison. I suppose it's possible that my BD has always been low, though I'd be surprised--I used to squat my body weight for reps.

    Question: since I'm also on Zoladex, I'm considered post-menopausal, right? So that means that tamoxifen should have an osteo-protective effect?

    I'm really getting sick of this crap.

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  • Musosgirl
    Musosgirl Member Posts: 387
    edited August 2016

    Kate, my understanding is Zoladex (or Lupron) will eventually make you semi-post-menopausal. But you have to have your estrogen levels checked to make sure, and then it *could*be reversed if you stop the med. But it can take some time to get your estrogen low enough to be considered menopausal. But I do not know for sure.

    Either way Tamoxifen is supposed to prevent bone loss. Unfortunately I cannot continue on Effexor and need to go back on Paxil--so I am switching to an AI in the next month. I really, REALLY wish I could have stayed on Tamoxifen. I feel like the SE were minimal and I wanted the bone protection. I hope the AI my MO chooses is as friendly to me as T was.

    Kate, what do you teach? Have you said before? I always assume you teach language or communications because you are so perfect in your writing--but teaching at the college level would do that as well. We are tackling multiple digit addition and subtraction, (if we ever master) long division (we will move on to) and fractions, chemistry and physics, state history, and my DH is in charge of language arts. Then of course there are co-op classes, violin lessons, painting lessons, soccer, and swimming. Their schedules exploded on me this year and I am so overwhelmed! The only day that does not have something is Friday, but the co-op teacher for state history wants to do a lot field trips on Fridays and the weekends.

    Suddenly online classes sound so appealing!

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  • superius
    superius Member Posts: 340
    edited August 2016

    I am trying to read more about Lupron. I told my MO my period came back july 4 (very light, & just 3 days) & she said we will talk about that. It was even lighter the second time 5 wks later. So.... hello, what's going on down there? just settle down, would you?

    p.s. I am not happy with you-know-who right now. He said something that's totally got on my nerves on sunday.... <blow raspberry>

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  • Musosgirl
    Musosgirl Member Posts: 387
    edited August 2016

    superius, sorry to hear worrywart is acting up. Lupron didn't give me any trouble, I hope it doesn't give you problems

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