Starting Chemo in JAN 2007

I don't know what others might call it , but I call it Awesome!! That pic showed every possible color, it is gorgeous! I am soooooooooo jealous!!

Hi all,
I read all the posts. I must be a slow reader because a lot of time passed by- a lot of enjoyable time. I love reading the posts- better than a book.
I had my “big” herceptin treatment on Friday and all went well. No s/e’s, just tired- but I think that is from the taxol. It must take time to recuperate. My nails are still hanging in there -so we will see what happens next.
My dh wants to plan a long trip for next April when my herceptin ends. Has anyone been to Hawaii’s Big Island? He wants to go to Molokai, but I think that might be too isolating. I feel I am bursting his bubble, but somehow I can’t get too excited right now. I think I have to get over my surgery first.
It sounds like everyone had a fun weekend. There are many more to come!!!!!
Wow Mary,
You have lots of hair!! It looks blond to me too. You look fabulous. I am still waiting for the top to come in.
Joni,
You also look beautiful! Your backyard is lovely- so peaceful and serene.
Catch you all later,
Viddie

Mary, what a nice thick head of hair! You remind me of Mia Farrow, remember when she wore her hair like that? And it's longer than mine, too.
Joni that cowboy hat is a great look for you, and the dh too. Great pic!
We ended up taking our "walk" at the Art Fair on the Square in Madison. I was surprised I was able to make it all the way around. Our only purchase was a gooey piece of authentic baklava, which was excellent. Now back to humdrum workweek and five more rads. Tina enjoy your dinner(s) out and Caya, send us a pic of you and Marla! - Skye

Yeah, Mary! Lots of hair. I do see the Mia Farrow thing. It's your blue eyes, of course, too. My hair is prob. a good inch "long" now (ha!) and I've dyed it brown. However, I am looking more Don King than anything else. The DH always used to call me Don when I'd wake up pre-BC because I had sooooooo much hair and I looked like I stuck my finger in a socket. Well, now I am a cross betw. Don King and Albert Einstein. It's hard, this stage...you really can't do a helluva lot with it.

Joni, your's looks dark under that hat.

Viddie, me too....I'd rather read this stuff than books. I always prefer non-fiction, whether it's newspapers, Court TV, etc...

Caya, what ended up being the verdict w/your Herceptin? Was it only a 1/2 hour infusion every three weeks?

HA HA, just as I thought... 2 weeks ago I mentioned to the rad tech HMM hypothetically what happens if that big lead door breaks and I'm in here? Well guess what girls??? Right after the 2nd zap I was waiting for the machine to get in position for the 3rd zap, and all got quiet, I laid there in my weird steady position and laid there and laid there. And I'm thinking where did everyone go? is there a fire? Are they arguing about who's turn it is that gets to work the zapper? What is going on? Hello?? anyone there? hell ooooooooooo. Finally 3 people push the door open about 8 inches and they say "Sorry we didn't want to say anything to you to frighten you, but the machine just broke down and we can't give you your 3rd position zap."
I just said cool I'm outta here and please don't charge me for the repair of the machine. Then they were tearing the phones up calling up people to cancel. I swear if I so much as think it It happens!! I scare myself.
Tomorrow going for an MRI to see why I have a prickly sensation in my arms and why my legs hurt so much. I may have hurt my back or have a bone spur, via the Dr.'s thoughts. He said if so more surgery, I thought oh what the hell!!! Then I wasted an entire day a work making one mistake after another, I left, came home took a nap and will tackle the clean up tomorrow. UGH!
My hubby got my bike out yesterday and cleaned it all up for me to ride. I managed 1 little block. My legs just hurt so much I could not petal. He says.. back all ready? I'm so sorry He worked on it longer than I rode it. ):

Hi All,

Been really busy with my friend Marla from Dublin. We have been close friends for nearly 35 years since we appeared together in our high school production of "The Mikado" as 2 of the "Three Little Maids from School" (for your Gilbert and Sullivan fans). Marla met her husband Irwin when she was 24 at a family Bar Mitzvah - they had relatives in common, but were not related themselves... it was a whirlwind romance, she went to Ireland to stay with his parents for a few months while dating him and they got married. Well, 2 lovely kids and 26 years later, here we are! She arrived in Toronto on Saturday and we went shopping at a really nice mall call Vaughn Mills (like Sawgrass Mills in Florida, but more upscale), out for dinner with my friend Arlene. Sunday we spent a nice day at Arlene's pool, I tried out one of my new mast. bathing suits and the new swimming boob prosthesis - both a great success. The boob stayed in place and the girls said it looked totally natural. Sunday night out for dinner with my mother, stepfather and brother and the DDs. Yesterday we took my closest friend here in TO, Toby, out for lunch to celebrate the recent engagement of her daughter Ashley. Toby has been my rock here during my treatment. The restaurant was participating in a promotional program they have here in Toronto called "Summerlicious" - for $15.00 you get an amazing 3 course lunch, all inclusive - really nice. So I have been eating out and don't want to get on the scale. However I usually only see Marla once a year, so I will deal with the scale tomorrow.
Unfortunately, I woke up Sunday morning with my left knee and hip bothering me, to the point where it was difficult to walk. I've been taking super strength Motrin and Aleve, which have provided some relief. I just started Tamoxifen the preceeding Tues., and I understand bone, joint and muscle pain can be s/es - anyone out there have anything like this? It seems a bit better this a.m., and I have my Herceptin infusion this Thursday, so I will ask the onc.
Tina - my onc. did tell me my hair would be "blonde" - i.e. grey. Also the Herceptin dosage I am getting is correct - the 3 week amount, but at my hospital they infuse it in 30 minutes, not 90. I know Skye had problems with nausea when it was infused so quickly, and I did discuss this with the pharmacist. I was very nauseous the first time, hardly any nausea the 2nd time, and I will bring this up with my onc. on Thursday. I don't mind getting it in 30 minutes as long as it is the right dosage (it is) and the nausea problem has been resolved ( it may be).
So we will see. I will try to get some pix posted of Marla and I. I may to email them to Jan again as I am tech challenged.
Nancy - hope your MRI goes okay. What a story about being held hostage in the rads room - OY!

Caya - Thanks for the update. Sounds like great fun. I hope that bone pain goes away. Feel free to send the pics to me to post.

My hair is coming in gray - but no surprise since it's been that color for years. I wonder how long I should wait before I dye it?

Rebecca - my arm hair is mostly standing up straight too. What's up with that?

I "volunteered" to help my local support group re-do their web site and get online donations going. I don't know what I was thinking - but this project has been making me crazy. I bit off a bit more than I can chew, but I'll manage. I was up until 11 working on it last night and still have a lot to do. I managed to get the site working, but have yet to completely figure out the online donations part.

Caya, I know Gilbert & Sullivan, especially the Mikado. Back when I was a child, my dad did all the operettas. He was the Major General in Mikado. I remember having to go to every rehearsal on Sunday's. When the review was written up in the paper, they mentioned how his two daughters knew all the songs by heart! I am very familiar with most of the G&S Operettas. Sounds like you and Marla are having a good time. As for the bone pain, I was bad bone/joint pain for about 2 - 3 weeks after I started tamoxifen, then it got better. The only thing I notice now is my joints in my feet are a bit stiff after sleeping all night, it hurts to go downstairs.

Nancy, yikes! How awful to be stuck in the room. They definitely should have notified you there was a problem so at least you could relax and know they were working on it.

Joni, sounds like you are going to have a very nice trip! Take tons of pics..it would be great to see pics of a killer whale. I'm with you, I wouldn't go in a tiny kayak with killer whales swimming about.

Jan, good luck with the website, glad it's coming along. Also, hope your first chemo angel assigment goes well, I'm sure you'll do great.

I went to the Dr. yesterday. He looked at it and thought it is looking better (I don't think so). He is still very mystified. One option would be to surgically remove the entire thing. It would be pretty ugly and he would need to put a skin graph there because the skin would otherwise be too tight. He won't do that until he's sure it won't go away on it's own. So I am on heavy duty Ibuprofin for the next 2 weeks, then will go back to see him. Hopefully this will work. He said it's not life threatening, more of a nuisance. I'd call it a nuisance if it weren't so painful. I'm more frustrated with it than anything, it's been over a month. Grrrrrr! So here I go, more waiting!

I am looking forward to our chat tonight!

This is not related to anything, but I thought it was nice -
My UPS delivery woman today left a box on my doorstep and rang my doorbell as usual. On top of the box she left 2 milk bones (one for each of my dogs). I just thought that was so sweet. No wonder they never bark at her

Hi guys, I am officially done. I saw the doctor yesterday and there are no more treatments, no more scans. I'm done. I've got to come back in September for a follow up visit. She wants me to do a mammogram, but of the good breast only. The other one is not allowed to be x-rayed for 6 months due to the radiation. The doctor gave me a lovely card, with a beautiful bracelet - pink and silver beads, with pink charms - alternately hearts and ribbons. It was very nice. I had a party in the hospital, a luncheon with friends at work and a cake and party at work.
I've become good friends with the department chair, who was diagnosed with lymphoma. I took him to his second chemo yesterday, and when I picked him up, he told me that he had just heard that the prognosis was poor. He's a nuclear physicist and he think he might have gotten the cancer from radiation earlier in his career. I've spent a lot of time talking to him and am happy to see that he's staying positive and hopeful. It's interesting to be on the other side now. I can support him, cheer him on, cook some meals, give him rides, but he has to walk to road himself. He's seeing two specialists at Duke and USC next month and hopes to be able to do a bonemarrow transplant. If it doesn't kill him (50% chance), he has a good chance of success. What a trooper. And so are we all. I've learned that I can handle more than I thought I could. I've learned what strategies work and what not. I hope this cancer will never come back, but if it does..... I am ready to fight it again. I love all your pictures.
By the way, last year I went to Oahu for a conference. I stayed at the Sheraton in Waikiki and fell in love with the Island. I never thought I'd fall for a tourist trap, but it has become one of my most favorite places.

Hi everyone,

I survived my first radiaton this afternoon. First I had to go to the CT room for more marks, and once I was in the rad room they had to do the line up X-rays and check with the doc. Then I got my treatments. There were a lot of long beeps. The four techs told me I did good. I really tried not to move. When I finally got back out to the waiting room after almost an hour, my husband was really glad to see me. They tell me it won't take that long every time. As soon as we got home I put Aloe Vera gel on the area and let it dry. So far I don't feel that much different.

Great pics, Caya, I hope you have a great visit with your friend the rest of the time she's there.

I was busy the last 2 nights doing scrapbook pages for my Aqua Angels group. We go out to lunch most months, and the July lunch is tommorow. There were pictures from 2 lunches on this latest roll of film, so I've had lots of planning time. I always seem to wait until the last minute to actually put the pictures on the pages and get them in the scrapbook, though.

I hope the chatters had a good time tonight. I'll try to make it next time.

Hi, everybody. Sorry I've been awol again - missed the chat last night. Actually, I'm confused about what time the chat is on what days - I tried twice last night and guessed wrong both times. Anyway, I've been keeping up with my reading, if not my posting. Congrats to Mary on her lush head of blonde hair and her beautiful Mia Farrow look, and Caya, you look absolutely wonderful in those pictures! You'd never know you've been through all you have been through - and you look so young. You and your daughter look more like sisters!

Congrats to Robertin on being done with treatment. I hope your friend gets to have his bone marrow transplant, and glad you are there to support him. It is great that you are there for him now - I find it comforting that we can make our cancer experience into something good by using it to support someone else as they go through it.

Jan, years ago my dad had a dog, a big Irish Setter/Golden Retriever mix, who went to work with him every day. Everyone loved Russ - people would come to the office who had no business there other than they wanted to visit with him. Anyway, your story of the nice UPS lady made me think of Russ - their UPS man used to bring Big Mac every day!

Lynn, I'm so sorry things haven't improved in regard to your port site. Waiting is so hard, especially when you don't feel well - but you don't want to have that surgery if there is any way around it, for sure. Sounds like a very major procedure. Joni, I loved the picture of you and your dh together. I'd give anything to tag along with you on your trip to British Columbia. That's one place that's always been on my list to visit. Nancy, I loved your story about getting stuck in the radiation room. If it is going to happen, it would happen to you, for sure! You're so funny - you always make me laugh. Hope you're doing better with your hot flashes - are you?

To everyone else, since I'm so far behind - I love you and I've read all your posts!

I've had quite a scare this week - not sure I'm totally over it yet, but it has been mysterious. I was to have my tattooing and whatever it's called before you actually start the radiation today. Yesterday morning, my BS's nurse called me and said that Dr. Baker wanted to talk to me. Then my PS's nurse called me, and said that she had seen Dr. Baker and that he asked her to please have me call him. Evidently there was some uproar going on about my case, but nobody could actually tell me what it was. All I could find out was that the radiation oncologist had called my PS's office. What this had to do with my breast surgeon I couldn't figure out, but I figured it was going to be something bad. I waited at home all day yesterday in case someone called me.

This morning, Dr. Baker's nurse called me again, said Dr. Baker was going to call me (still) but not to go to my radiation appointment today. So I cancelled that. All I could get out of her was that he was going to want an ultrasound of some lymph nodes. He called me later, and said that my rad. onc. had called my PS because he had no experience doing radiation to the skin-sparing mastectomy patient. Evidently, what he had planned was going to totally destroy my chances for having my diep. There is evidently some issue of a lymph node in there that he wants to radiate - Dr. Baker thinks it's unlikely I would have cancer there, but wants to do an ultrasound and biopsy of that node to be sure. We are doing that on Friday. What he managed to nicely say was that this guy was going to do "old-style radiation" on me, and since there is a state of the art, M. D. Anderson clinic just down the street with an M. D. Anderson dr. who is very familiar with the demands of doing radiation on someone who is going to have a diep later, perhaps I should go there instead. (Actually, that was my preference, but I spent an hour trying to get an appointment with no success, so went with the easy way, which was the clinic where I had my chemo. I'm very grateful to everyone for stepping in to prevent a very big mistake.......beginning with the dr. who called Dr. Spiegel to get information when he didn't know about the diep. That's what started the whole thing. Then my PS and BS both stepped in and "saved me" from the old-style radiation. I feel very lucky. Except for the lymph node issue. I'm very scared about that - didn't get enough information to know whether this is a real concern or not. I'm afraid I have more cancer, to be honest. I'm scared. I don't usually admit that, but right now, I'm scared.

Guess I'll go shopping or something - it seems I have the day free. Hope you all have a good day.

Robertin, congratulations!!! It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it? I finished two weeks ago and feel like a new woman.

Caya, you are beautiful! Have fun with your friend.

Mel, I am sorry about the most recent scare, though it will be fine ... everything is going to terrify us for a long time to come. I wish, though, that your road were a bit smoother.

I had a good business trip, got home last night too late to chat. I had fun seeing my colleagues in the industry, worked very hard, and am grateful I could do it; no way I could have pulled it off four weeks ago! I have a trade show next week for two days, but will have help.

Nancy, hope you are ok after your rads experience. Poor girl.

Hugs to all,
Melia

Melia, When I saw your post about going to SB, I wanted to come along, too. It's one of my fave places to visit and also the reason I started reading Sue Grafton's books. Whenever my husband and I get out to CA we spend at least one day in SB. My parents live in Lompoc, so it isn't much of a drive to go down SB for the Art Fair on Sunday or window shopping along State Street.

Did you eat some place wonderful? Hope the rest of your trip was good, too.

Mel thank GOD everything worked out for you, it does sound like someone "up there" is watching out for your treatments. Sounds like all will now be up to snuff.
My irradiated section is getting quite red now, just a shade beyond bubblegum pink. Only 2 times left. There were two female techs there today so I was much more comfortable than usual. Did someone say that the radiation keeps working for a few weeks after the sessions stop in terms of getting redder?
Is our Th. night chat time 8:30 pm eastern?
My week is going much more calmly now. Strangely I'm still slowly losing weight although I've been eating cheesecake and ice cream every day. I'm exercising but not overly. My rads nurse thinks I'm obsessed because I hop on their state of the art scale every time I go in. I'll miss it when I'm done. The scale, that is.
Joni, it must be your thunderstorm that traveled down here and is getting ready to blast us. I can't wait, the humidity is at sopping level.
:-) Peace and love to all my sisters - Skye