The End or the Beginning? Jan & Oct ladies unite

Jule
I thought you left the thread also. Glad to see you here.
Karen A and Valerie hello. Also hello to everybody else who's checking this site.
Hugs
Angela

Mine are

Movies - Shawshank Redemption and City of Angels

Book - The Lord of the Rings and anything by Bernard Cornwell

Place - Anywhere on the Corniche Road between Frejus and Cannes in the South of France.

Can't wait to see Hawaii though. My brother-in-law was there two years ago and called me to say that I would love it. Had planned the big vacation for last year but had to cancel because of dx and tx, so next year (DV)

Big hugs

Fire - I am so jealoues. I missed the cruise I had planned in January because of treatment. So happy you had a great time.

Karen & Jule - {{{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}}}}} I am sure everything will be fine. I'll be praying for you both. PLEASE keep us posted.

Donna - I know the testing is almost nill when it comes to early stage bc. I had stage 2a with no nodes involved and all I am having is a mammo. 2 months after my treatments ended. ( I will be going in late April). As far as I know, thats all they do. Which to me,stinks. AND its only on the effected breast!!!

Valerie

FDA issues new warnings on anemia drugs
58 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Federal health officials issued stern new warnings Friday for doctors to more carefully prescribe widely used anemia drugs that can increase the risk of death and other serious problems in patients with cancer and kidney disease.
At issue are drugs sold under the brand names Procrit, Epogen and Aranesp. These drugs are genetically engineered versions of a natural protein, erythropoietin, that increases the number of red blood cells.
Anemia is common with certain forms of kidney disease, especially once a patient is on dialysis, and when cancer patients take chemotherapy.
But the Food and Drug Administration pointed to recent studies that found using too much of the drugs increased the risk of death, blood clots, strokes and heart attacks in patients with chronic kidney failure. In other studies, patients with head and neck cancer had more rapid tumor growth if they used higher-than-recommended doses.
Even when the anemia drugs were used at FDA-recommended doses, giving them to cancer patients not on chemotherapy increased the risk of death, the agency warned. Moreover, some doctors have begun giving the drugs to patients following orthopedic surgery, also increasing the risk of blood clots, FDA said.
Friday, the agency added stern warnings to each of the drug's labels urging that:
_doctors monitor patients' levels of red blood cells and use the lowest possible dose to avoid the need for blood transfusions.
_doctors and patients carefully weigh the risks of using anemia drugs vs. the risk of a transfusion if anemia gets too bad.
Amgen Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, companies that manufacture and market the drugs, both said they would work to inform doctors about the new warnings, outlined in a so-called "black box." The warnings are the most serious a drug label can bear.
"Amgen is committed to providing timely and appropriate communications to physicians and patients whenever we become aware of new safety information that could affect clinical practice," said Dr. Roger Perlmutter, Amgen' s executive vice president of research and development.
The FDA also said it would take a new look at how the drugs are marketed, including claims they can improve the quality of life of cancer patients. The Web site for Procrit, for example, says the drug "helps you find the strength you need."
"With the new label being revised today, we will certainly evaluate any marketing claims and revise them as needed," said Stephanie Fagan, a spokeswoman for J&J's Ortho Biotech Products LP.
A panel of FDA advisers is scheduled to discuss the drugs at a May 10 meeting. Their recommendations could lead to further revisions of the drugs' labels, FDA officials said.
In December, lawmakers and some experts raised concerns that Medicare's payment system encouraged overuse of Epogen, endangering patient lives and wasting taxpayer money. FDA officials said they would forward the recent data on the class of drugs to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The three drugs are huge sellers, with combined 2006 U.S. sales of $10 billion, according to IMS Health Inc.

It's been pretty quiet around here lately.

Karen - love the new pic. Make sure you post some from the Derby. When I think of Kentucky I think of blue grass and the Derby but its true what you say about how certain areas are portrayed. How do you think I feel living in New Jersey? Most people think all the woman here have big hair, talk with an accent and and all the cities look like what they see on the Sopranos!!!! Whadda you goin do!!! LOL.

I'm still waiting for you all to post some pictures. Don't let my mug be the only one out there!! By the way if anyone can give me some tips on how to post my avatar I would appreciate it!!

I stopped in to see my hairdresser today and she actually gave me a VERY quick trim!!! It felt good sitting in the chair again. Never thought I would miss it. But I needed some taken off around the ears - I was beginning to look like Bozo!!!

TTYAS,
Valerie

Hello ladies:

I AM DEFINITELY IN for NYC.

Life has been busy as I'm sure it has for all of you. Still adjusting to the various aches and pains that is my new life. I went back to the Dr. last week for new drugs to deal with the bone pain. She actually asked, are you more active than before? I laughed and responded, OF COURSE I'm More Active than before. Six months ago I was laying on the couch gagging from chemo.

Truth is, I'm reffing like crazy - as much as I can really 'cuz each year I take my earnings from soccer and use it for whatever I want. This year it's going to pay for my kitchen reno. (Can't wait.) I had my follow up with the rad. oncologist, he says I am the healthiest person with cancer he's had in a long time. Of course, always one to go for the joke, I responded: So, aside from that whole cancer thing, I'm in great shape.

Work is busy. Life is wonderful. Kids doing great. Love having them home for the summer. We're off to a cottage in Haliburton for a couple of weeks in July and really looking forward to some family time by the water. It's part of a cancer recovery program they offer here where you can go off for a week to a cottage that has been donated by a kind cottage owner who will not be using it that week. The idea is that the whole family has been affected by your cancer journey and the whole family needs time to heal.

So, as for all of the posts I've missed:
Jule: your flowers/children/grandchildren are stunning.

NJ Valerie: happy birthday babe.

Angela: that is marvellous that you are continuing with your volunteer work. Here, most places require you to be 1 year "clean" before you can volunteer so as to ensure you are ready to help others. Sorry to hear about your son.

Fire: Vegas sounds fab.

UK Valerie: Liverpool, eh?

Karen: welcome back, heard a rumour you've been in other time/place. Stick to it. There's got to be a finish line at some point....at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Lisa: glad you found the group again.

Big Happy Hugs to all.

R

sorry i dont have time for the life story tonight-but just a quick post.
angela yr story was very powerful. i was in rochester on biz (we arrived at 11:30pm-and went to wegmans!)and i had coworkers w me-but if i go back again for fun i will let you know!!!!
i am sorry yr having trouble adjusting. yes many people expect us to be "normal "again-but thats why we have each other becuase we know there is a "new normal", one that takes some time getting used to!!!
karen-glad yr back and ok.
take care all-off to boston friday to see a friend who is getting a stem cell transplant at dana farber.this is her shot.
lisa

Mary - thanks for checking in. I also was told I had the big "C" over the phone. But I chose to have it that way. My BS had me fill a form out about how would I want to be contacted about any medical issues. I had a choice between scheduling an appointment to find things out or get the information over the phone or left on an answering machine. She also wanted to know how much she could tell my DH. Even though I also found out at work I still liked her approach. Like I said in my previous post, I kind of knew it all ready so it wasn't such a shock.

Karen - pretty amazing how are dates on dead on. I don’t remember, had yours spread to any nodes? Did you just have A/C? I know what you mean about getting your hair cut. I don’t want the curls to disappear either.

Jule- thanks for checking in. Give that girlfriend of yours a cyber hug from me, OK? And let her know if God forbid she gets bad news we are here for her. She’s lucky to have a friend like you. It’s been dreadfully hot here as well, plus I caught a bit of the flu so I haven’t been 100% lately.

Angela- I am on Effexor. I started taking it to control the hot flashes from the Tamoxifen that were keeping me up in the middle of the night. It has definitely helped with the flashes and doesn’t keep me up at night. It seems to have helped my mood as well. I noticed I don’t get as weepy as I used to. I think its worth a try.

I went back and read one of Roni’s old posts and she mentions going away in July so I am hoping that is why we haven’t heard from her.

Fire – are you out there?

Gotta run ladies,

Valerie

Hi everyone,

Karen and Valerie, I still have curly hair after the cut. I talked to a lady on Sunday and she was diagnosed 4 yrs ago went through chemo & rads, and her hair was curly for the first 2 years and know it is straight. go figure.

Talk to you all later.

Hi all of you,

Karen, glad to hear you're feeling a tiny bit better.  Valerie, what a beautiful image to hold in my mind ... the tiny little candle burning its way up, from a chapel in the Alps ... we missed you.

Just want to reassure you that I think Roni is Okay, she just had a very strong  reaction to all the new hoops we have to jump through here, on this site, like I did too.  She emailed me and with her and Jule's encouragement I did indeed start us a group on Yahoo groups.  The name is new_normal  and if you feel so inclined, please drop in!  

Saturday I am volunteering at Depoe Bay's community Indian-style Salmon Bake, and Sunday Jule and i get together!  I've been settling into the new routine of my half-day admin job, so don't worry about me if I'm scarce ...

Love and Light,

Delina 

Jule you are going to be fine.  If there was any problem at all then they would have seen you then and there, not leave it to 27th.  You go girl and have a fine time with Delina and soothe yourself with the sand and the sea.  It was a scare, but I think that is all it is.

Lord spare us from incompetent nincompoops!  Little do they know the havoc their dozy inefficiency wreaks on we poor individuals who have already fought a valiant battle only to falter in the face of their carelessness!

((((((((Jule))))))))

Big hugs everyone

Dear ValRose, RIP...

I will never forget you...

I miss the closeness we all had here.  Must of us have moved on, but it   will never be the same.

My heart breaks knowing we will never have that group hug we were all so looking forward to.

I'll miss you Val - you were a good friend.

Valerie