Starting Chemo in JAN 2007

Joni, isn't it funny how some days you just feel kind of anxious and weepy? I hope the sun comes out soon and you feel better. Most of the time I am ok, but sometimes it really hits hard. By the way, you had a mastectomy, right? But still radiation? My dr hasn't mentioned rad to me ...

Skye, good for you getting hair back. I love the bird feeders too, though I live in San Diego and have birds most of the time ... greedy little critters. But so much fun. My bird feeder is outside the window where I read, and they are lovely to watch and hear. The hummingbirds seem to like my hanging geraniums as much as a feeder, so I stick with those.

I hope everyone else is doing well and having a good evening. I am so glad it's almost the weekend. My third taxol went fine but I was asleep by 7:30; today I have more energy. Seems like I crash on Sundays.

Melia

Mizsissy, nice pic of Aladora. I'm glad she's doing what she needs to do to get herself through...

QUOTE:
Tina, great story about the volunteer breaking down and telling you his troubles. Guess you did need to be there for him that day, but I hope he doesn't tell everybody those stories - horrors!
MEL, I'M A SUPER OPEN BOOK TYPE OF PERSON. NO ONE'S EVER ACCUSED ME OF NOT SAYING WHAT I THINK. AS A RESULT, PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS REALLY OPENED UP TO ME... THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.

MY MINOR IN COLLEGE WAS PSYCH. AND I WAS INVITED TO ATTEND AN "INDUCTION CEREMONY" TO AN ORG. CALLED PSI CHI. I WAS LIKE WHAT'S THAT??? APPARENTLY I WAS BEING INDUCTED INTO THE NAT'L HONOR SOCIETY FOR PSCYH. BECAUSE I TOOK SO MANY ELECTIVE PSCYH COURSES AND GOT A'S... IT WAS A BREEZE FOR ME BECUASE I WAS ALWAYS VERY INTERESTED IN THE SUBJECT...THUS PEOPLE TELL ME ALL.

Joni, I wrote a long post which got lost, but one of the things I commented on was your new avatar with the little koala bear and your handsome guy. Great photo, and they're both adorable. Your support group sounds great - we probably all need something like that. There's a good support group here that meets once a month, but so far I've never remembered to go.

Cindy, I think, like you, my expectations were off as far as recovering from this. I so expected to just get done and get better...I didn't imagine the effects would linger like this.

Melia, I think it's customary to do weekly blood draws with weekly taxol. Also, I was like you - I put on my wig, and went to work, and looked fine and acted fine...and once in a while, I thought that a little sympathy would be nice right now. I think that because I didn't look sick, people forgot. And now, they probably wonder why I'm suddenly not at work. Maybe I did this wrong.

Viddie, hope your taxol/herceptin went well today. I hope my PS will reconsider and let me have my surgery in June after all...it does seem a little bit early to make a decision, but there are issues such as needing to donate two units of blood for the surgery (and I'm still anemic)...so I'll do whatever she says.

Jan, is the plastic surgeon you're waiting to hear from in Charleston Dr. Allen or his partner? Have you talked to goldnmom on these boards? She was in my November group, is a nurse, and is having her surgery with Dr. Allen, who is one of the best. She might be a good person to talk to - she just went through a huge battle getting her insurance to pay for him even though he is out of network.

I'm less swollen today - even got my support hose on today. Didn't do a thing all day, ut I think I'm better.

Hope everybody's having a good day.
Mel

Melia, I think it's customary to do weekly blood draws with weekly taxol.

IT IS. THEY DID A BLOOD DRAW EACH OF THE 12 WEEKS FOR ME AND ON THE 3RD WEEK THEY'D ADD IN THE CHEMISTRIES, I.E. LIVER FUNCTION.

good morning gals :
well i am up early practicing getting back to my "normal " I figured the best way to start was to get back to my old timetable . I used to get up everyday at 5 am to go to work . Today i had coffee with hub and am now waiting for my girls to get up for school . The days is starting out sunny and the birds are chirping . Those little yellow birds are finches , we do not get red cardinals here that much they are a beautiful bird . We had to cut down our old cherry tree in the backyard where must of the birds hangout But now i have a bunch of cherry wood to play with
want to use it to add some woodsy whimsy to my garden .... Have a fairy garden in the front and they need some company ( I am a fairy believer old hippie ways form the late 60s and early 70's)
Joni having a group support after chemo is great idea they sorta leave us hanging after chemo , i am in a bit of limbo too. I am out for dinner next weak with a group from Barrie just north of us and will be meeting more BC patients / survivors
Mizsissy good to see aladora is doing well
skye are you an artist too ? cleaned up my sewing room just before chemo and ditched alot of stuff . Now its waiting for me . I went to Alberta College of Art in the mid 70's and have always been dabbling in my art one way or another . Right now I am trying to do photoshop i am a real amateur but it gets my mind going . Body WELL ha its still shivering , i still get cold and clammy .... hope that starts to go away .
robinjay : tattoo's down near your belly ? maybe they have to radiate your whole breast and armpit . Did you have a lumpectomy ? Was your tumor on the bottom half of your breast ? I also checked out your space .... hey your daughter is beautiful and you like camping ? I love it too thats all I have done most of my life . Not a hotel person . Are you camping this summer ?
yesterday is the past , tomorow is the future , today is the present . PRESENT !!!! give yourself one today and enjoy every minuite .
I need a nap already .... ave a great day everyone ....

Guys, when do you worry about swollen lymph nodes? I had one under my chin at my last onco visit and he wasn't concerned as I'd had a cold a few weeks prior. That one has gone down but I have a new one on my jaw, near my ear...it's smaller, but it's sore to the touch... I also broke out in this huge blister on my lip...maybe I'm fighting an infection of some sort. Anyway, I don't see teh onco. until June 19 now... I do see my surgeon in two weeks at my Herceptin tx... I guess if it's not gone by then, I can mention it. I don't want to be a hypchondriac, but...

Mel - you guessed it re Dr. Allen. I was fortunate enough that goldnmom contacted me a couple on months ago when she noticed that we are in the same city. We are actually meeting for lunch next week and I can't wait to meet her! She sounds like she really knows her stuff on the recon issue. Good to hear the swelling is going down.

Viddie - sounds like you are in for a wonderful weekend. I can't wait to hear the details. Take some pictures for us. Funny, my DD was just watching the Sound of Music this morning in the car. I love that movie. The first time she saw it she called it the "movie where Mary Poppins is young."

All the talk of birds - my girls love to keep the bird feeder in our yard full. It's in view of the family room window. I love the cardinals and we get those yellow finches too. We have a blue bird house, but there seems to be a black snake living in it at the moment. I have to admit - he's just as fun to watch, although we don't see him often.

Shorti - we've been taking our girls (and dogs) camping for the last several summers. My inlaws actually have a small and remote campground in the Appalachian mountains. We tent camp - but I cheat and borrow one of the cabins to shower in. The girls love cooking over a campfire.

I can't seem to bounce back from the fatigue this time. By the time I get the girls off to school in the morning I am totally worn out.

FYI - there is a special with Ted Kopel on the Discovery Channel this Sunday night called "Living with Cancer." The guy who writes the NPR blog (that I am now hooked on) will be on the show. When they recorded it he thought that he would be gone by now - but he's still hear and his last brain scan was clear. I hear him talking about it on NPR this morning.

TPPJ - I guess if there is any sign of infection that explains the swollen lymph nodes. If it doesn't go away you should mention it. But I wouldn't worry about it too much.

DH's MBA graduation is tonight. I think I'm going to wear a suit since it is a bit chilly and rainy here today. I've been stressing all week b/c all of my dresses seem a little too low cut - so I think the suit will be more comfortable. I can't believe I'm so worried about it.

My mom has been in Toronto all week visiting my aunt. She has been awake and able to talk to her which is a huge improvement over last week.

Hope you all have a good day and that you are having better weather than we are here!

Hi gals,

Would love to post more but life has me busy these days, and I've been without my reading glasses for a few days which means I can't see the computer very well or read what you've posted very well.

I've glanced over the last few days...IowaCindy, looks like you really had a scare biking. Have they found out what caused your asthma attack. Was it a real allergy? Scary!!

Rebecca, congratulations on your LAST chemo; of course, it's not over until it's over.

Jan, how did graduation go? I am sure you looked very sexy in whatever you wore..!!! That is SOOOOO exciting about your aunt!! How alert is she, is it the old self. I just had a feeling you hadn't seen the last of her yet.

Thanks everybody for your advice about taking it easy. I am. I sleep as long as I want in the AM; I have officially let my husband know that I am *tired* and don't feel up to normal chores (which is fine because I really think he loves to pamper me). And I am going for long walks. I do feel some weight creeping up around the middle and I don't like it!!!

I am now wearing an event monitor so that any thing that goes wierd with my heart will get recorded. Both the onc and the cardiologist ordered bloodwork re the strange bruising on my legs and arms, and hopefully we'll find out what it is soon.

Robbin Jaye, the reason they tattooed you in places on your body is simply to get your torso lined up with the machine each time...they have to position your whole body under the machine. I got one tattoo between my breasts and two others under my arms. My fatigue came on after the third week; I just started out feeling sleepy, so they recommend sleeping more (I slept until 9:30 this am, after falling asleep around 9 last night). I am walking instead of running; exercise is important. Anyway, for those of you on ativans who need them to sleep, radiation is a great way to get off.

I'm completely off my ativans now; the only drugs I am taking are Prozac in the AM and keflex, my antibiotic, at night.

My hair is growing back thick and white!! Ach!! It's not very long. But I have no EYES...no eyebrows or lashes. I have to get out pictures of my former self for reassurance that I'll ever look normal again. No point in eye makeup anymore because there's nothing to put it on, but I keep my face and body very tan with the sunless stuff. Makes me look healthy even without eyes!!

OOO...finally..went to a nursery yesterday and picked out some plants to fill in the bare spaces...some rosa rugosa for a dry elevanted garden, some lavender foxgloves and blue bonnets for another garden, purple pansies...I am SO EXCITED...all perked up!!!! Today I'll do some planting!! The weather has been GEORGEOUS lately....!! So glad to be home for spring!!

Caya, thanks for the inquiries about Danny. He's recoving nicely, will graduate this summer, and has a storybook wedding planned for September. I'll post a picture of him with his fiancee later!!

Mizsissy

Skye, I adore the scene with the roosters! Are those prints? I love them.

I took 1 design course in college. I was a magazine journalism major and wanted to add to my photo editing skills. It was a nightmare. I am not an artist! I scooted by with a B+ because I think the prof felt sorry for me. It was a miserable semester. I spent every weekend trying to "define the space," rather than having fun.

Skye, you did those paintings??? Wow! I just love them. I loooooove holiday scenes. Sooooooooooo cute!

Mizsissy, I've been meaning to say that I feel like I lost more eyebrows and lashes after chemo than during. Was it hyou that asked that? I woke up last week w/my eyes all crusted over, like pinkeye but it went away in a day... anyway, when I washed my eyes, there went the lashes. And Im just pencil city w/the brows. It's sunny here today and I'm feeling in a blah mood. Unlike me. Must be something going on here in OH, Nancy....

Jan, glad to hear your aunt is doing better... that's so nice for your mom, to have this time.

Jan, my cousin told me about brow powder she gets at CVS. I need to get there and look for it. What is the brand of yours?

Tina- sounds like a good philosophy to me. I have also gained about 10 lbs. since chemo started, which I am sure is due to the chemo, less exercise and too much good food brought over by caring friends and family... last night actually was a very healthy dinner cooked by 2 memebers of my choir - tilapia, grilled veggies, an amazing field greens with veggies and strawberry salad, fruit bowl and choc. chip biscotti- (those are the killers).
Just relax, we will all get to the stage where we can exercise more - have you started Herceptin yet?

nancy - I hope your treatment went well today. You can b*tch here anytime, we all have those days. I hope your mood is uplifted with the coming of the nice weather - try to get outside if you can, I think looking at the blooming trees and flowers, as well as the sunshine, really helps. I sit on my porch alot, as it is covered so I don't get too much direct sun.
caya

TPPJ - I found the eyebrow powder and stencils at www.eyebrowz.com.