For those starting chemo in June

Well Hello again girls, First let me say please take some vicodan PeepJB and plenty of them if you want to get to sleep. Do you think you could reconize this guy with clothes on? Did he have skinny bull legs and teeter from side to side when he walked? Been there and saw that. In my business I see it all the time. I am telling you it will give you bad dreams. Its not a pretty site and you will need heavy duty meds. It has probably given you brain damage and now you never want to get old.I still can't believe you were peeping on an inocent little old man trying with all his strength to make his way to his cubicle. I bet you'll keep your eyes in your own cubicle from now on huh? Just joking. You can't tell me anything.(And apparently we can't take you anywhere.)Janie I must have one of those faces people just like to talk to me and older people just tell me their problems. This being a population of I don't know 11000 last I knew and that was a few years ago. Might be less, don't know who would want to live here. Well not much crime and you know a lot of the people or their relatives.We did have the most cases of neuroblastoma in one town ever reported. I think it was 8. They think it was an old coal tar site owned by the utility co. It was on the national news. We lost all eight little boys. Ages 6 to 13. We knew a couple of them. Not too many wanted to move here for a while.There was maybe only 8 case in the nation and we had 8 in one small town.Anyhow Janie you get some sleep oh shoot, you will be up all night probably. Hope this ones not nasty. PeepJB, Do not open the curtain tomorrow. Just let him strut his stuff.Renee hope your o.k. Hugs, Mary

PeepJB before treatment, Peep after treatmemt Mary reading her post. Boy Janie PJB is going to kill us. I was scared to log on. Not too scared I could't add a little fuel to matters with pictures but scared a little.I had to get an x-ray. Having bad pain in hip and radiating down to my knee. I have had this pain before but not going to my knee and not this bad so called and Dr. gone all wk. and Nurse practioner could see me end of next week. First I refuse to pay Dr. charges for a nurse and My leg could fall off by then. I am in pain here. I talked to nurse who knows me and told her what I need and she ordered an X-ray for me and I ran right over and got it. My MD Is a woman so she is gone a lot but I like her.She is also an O.B.G.Y.N. so I don't have to run around and I don't have a man looking where he don't need to. I just think men have no idea what we go through or our pain. Besides I worked with the local O.B.G.Y.N. and nope, no way.Well I am home for an hour and back to work. Have a few things to do. Later,Hope PJB's rad. went well today.She may have been early again and caught a glimps of the moon. Hope she had the "bare" necessities today.Well hopefully they were not running "behind" again. Oh, I gotta go, Mary

Hey Hey Paula, Sounds like you didn't have time to do much today -- maybe not even the "bare" essentials.

I have a female physician and a female OBGYN. I always get a female for anything I can. I also believe that men do not understand the female body and many times chalk it up to the wrong thing. Males delivered my 3 kids. The first one was horrible. I should have reported him to AMA or somebody. The other two were good. I like the male docs at the cancer center as well as the females. I like my female general physician. She had just had a premature baby herself, when my mammogram came back. She was only working two hours a day and she called me herself on my cell phone and told me to go get a second mammogram and an ultrasound that she had set up. She listens to me and my opinions about what's going on with my body. I feel very comfortable chatting with her.

Anybody have any vision problems on Taxol? I read a post somewhere on this site where a lady did. I just had my contacts prescription changed a month ago. I am already having problems with my eyesight. It must be the chemo.

Mary, I hope your hip/back gets better soon. I know how painful that is. I haven't had to have as much pain meds this time. I had one percoset last week and have made do on Tylenol the rest of the time. I hope my eyesight does return soon. I am using a magifying glass on smaller print. Cabbage rolls....you have the best ideas.

My hair seems to be taking off and growing faster. Still just fuzz, but definitely coming in -- mostly black! I doubt it will stay that color. I don't care if it's purple as long as it comes back... preferably thicker.

Warm fuzzies, Janie

Just checking in to say pain is soo much better. The aspirin in motrin really cleared up the inflamation. I will continue the motrin for a couple days to make sure I get rid of it good. My Dr. office hasn't called yet but they have an outside rad. Dr. so it takes a day or two to get them read. Well at work so gotta go Hugs and how ya doing today PJB? Sounds like you had a great time yeaterday.Mary

Janie, you still haven't told your parents? They ARE gonna be upset. Hope it goes well. At least you'll be able to tell them you're mostly done with the worst part of the treatment. What kind of private practice do you have?

Mary, glad to hear the pain is lessened. That'll certainly make a trip easier.

One week down, five and a half to go. My mother-in-law went with me this morning. The machine was down so they gave us a voucher for the cafeteria and so I had two breakfasts today! Other than that, not much to it. Nathan's 7 today. He got one gift this morning, gets another tonight and one tomorrow. Then his party's Sunday. I've just got the one child, so I've got to really do it up. I'm really late getting to work since this morning's stuff took so long. It'll be a fast and furious afternoon.

Talk to you guys later, Paula

Paula,

My parents are elderly but always worried beyond what would be considered the norm, even when they were younger. My Mom once sat in front of the TV the whole time we were in, watching the weather channel for days worrying that it would snow on the day we drove home. This worrying become even more intensified when my only sibling, a brother, was killed in a car wreck many years ago. I was honestly afraid this would take my Mom on out in her already fragile condition. I wanted to be able to go in with the worst part of my treatment already over and let them see that I am ok and reassure them that I will be ok. Of course, Sat and Sun are my worst days on Taxol. So they will see me at my worst.

I have a private practice in psychology. I'm a shrink. My main job with benefits etc., is within the school system as an administrator and psychologist, but I do some private stuff too. I went back to school late in life and hope to finally be able to retire from the schools some day. That is why I am building my own practice.

Mary, my Friday pain has started right on schedule, just like clockwork. My hands are swollen. Not good when I will be flying tomorrow.

Have a good day ladies.

Janie, My mom would shoot me if I hadn't told her. I was afraid to tell her because her boos- who is my age- has been fighting BC for years now. I haven't seen mom and dad since this all started, so we are going to visit them in Arkansas in November after chemo before rads.
But after reading your posts, I understand why you haven't told them yet... Maybe with the guys there, she won't be as mad at you.
Mary, I have been able to walk okay. Not as far or as long, sometimes the walk to my mailbox- 1 mile round trip- is too much. This round of Taxotere has been way easier than the first round. My eyes water alot, but no pain this time.
Housework??? what's that? you mean everyone doesn't have little dust bunnies floating in the corners of the room?
I pamper myself quite abit. I take it easy and have not worked much since I need to schedule shows weeks ahead of time. It has been nice to get up when I want, nap when I want,etc. but missing the extra $$$ is hard. I will make up for it when this is over.
PJB- Love your 'peep show' story. My skin is so dry too. I took a bath, slathered on oil, and 30 minutes later, you couldn't tell I had put on any oil. I've never used so much lotion in my life. The good thing, all those bottles with just a bit left in them are getting used up!
My old work out friend stopped by today with some beautiful fall flowers. We chatted for hours. It was good to catch up with her.
Make it a good one ladies.
Renee

Hi girls, Janie good luck with your mom. I can see your point and she probably couldn't have helped you while you were going through treatment so keeping her from worring was a wise choice, you just have to make her realize that.Sure hope she don't ground you.I am sure my itching is chemo residue or dry skin or both. Thanks girls I know I am not the only one with it so its not anything bad. Renee you must live in the mountains or country. The only way I would walk a mile to get my mail is if there was a big fat check in the box. I have to walk up and down two flights of steps at work and I have a two story house and my bathroom is upstairs and believe me I almost crawled up those babies when I was getting treatment. You must be in good shape Renee. I do have an elevator at work but I don't use it. Trying to stay in shape. PJB, When is Nathans party this week end? what kind is it? He will have fun and hope its great.Good Luck Janie and hang in there this wk. end Renee, My Tax pain would start on Fri. afternoon and go until Mon.Hang in there. My daughter sent me some fudge from Van Otis and its sooo good. I wish she would stop sending me stuff darnit especially sweets. I have eaten 4 pieces already and I got it today mmmmm. I have to go in to work a couple hours tomorrow, crap.Hugs, Mary

Oh boy, PJB you will be raggeged tomorrow night. The kids will have a ball. I bet Nathan is excited. Glad they won their game today. We had two back to back. The youngest played at 9:30 and the oldest at 10:30. We got done and gone. Usually they are an hour or two apart so we are wasting time waiting for the next one to start.I have 3 grandkids tonight. We went fishing for a while today. I haven't done that for years.There is a Chili fest uptown and there are rides (a few) and craft booths so we are going there tomorrow for a while.One of my brothers gets into Chili cook offs but didn't this time. He travels around here close and gets in them, he enjoys it. Well so glad you are doing so well so far.Some people say the fatigue isn't bad. Hopefully we will be some of those people.My siatic nerve pain is better and my muscle pain from the Taxol is better. If I am on my feet a lot I hurt but its better I think. I just keep lumbering along.My legs still feel like they could just give out on me sometimes but not a lot. My youngest grandson told me my (new) wig looked kinda funny as he put it. My hair was straight and this is the messed up curly kinda look so it looks like a lot more hair than I had. Out of the mouth of babes. I asked if my cap looked better and he said no the wig looked o.k. it just didn't look like me. My crown was the thickest part of my head and it took the longest to fall out and I am still bald on the crown. I have plenty of hair(fuzz) and its even getting dark in places but I am bald on the crown...What the hay? I am so ax backwards. Well better go and I am with you; I feel great feeling almost normal even with the left over muscle pain. Hugs, Mary

Janie, Glad to hear the trip went well. Hope things continue to go well for all of you.

So I"m trying to figure out if I'm just weird, in denial or what. There's a Relay for Life thing on Saturday. A woman at work who also has had bc asked me to be in it. I'm not on a team, just going. Several people at work have bought luminaria in my name. The thing is, I don't want to go. I don't want to be around a bunch of people talking about cancer. I mean, it's one thing when I come here and talk to you guys. It's another thing, to me, to go out and be among a bunch of other people who have/had it and then walk (actually, that part's no big deal except i can't walk real far) and then talk more about it. The thought makes me uncomfortable. What do you guys think I should do? I value your input.

mmmm, fudge sounds so good, but chocolate still doesn't taste good. I have some M&M's ready for when I can taste! My goal is for my Christmas cookies, fudge, and chocolate covered cherries to taste normal. Can you tell I usually have a sweet tooth. Hey, maybe that will change and it won't ever taste good... think of all the weight I wouldn't gain by cutting out sweets!
Janie, I'm glad your trip went well... It's a good thing we have those little nausea pills to help us out.
PJB, How was the party?
I walked in the local cancer walk, but didn't go until it was dark. It was not as crowded and I didnt' want to talk with others while I was there. I felt it was my time to reflect. They had music playing and the songs were very touching. I found it calming. Tom and I went a few laps and then left.
We went on a bike ride- It's not a weight bearing exercise so it's easier than walking. We find the 'downhill 'route, go that direction. I take a book with me and wait for Tom to go back and get the car and pick me up. He gets a longer ride and I can just sit and rest.
I'm also trying to learn how to crochet again. My grandma taught me years ago so I brought that with me on the ride and practiced that while I waited.
On Sunday, we were on our way to go to a state park to look at all the fall colors on the trees. Tom was going to hike, I was going to read or crochet. BUT, the car decided to overheat so we had to change our plans. We ended up stopping at this really old tavern we'd driven past at least 100 times. The owner just had her 100th birthday on Friday. Volunteer bartenders come in every day to help her out and watch out for her. I truly enjoyed my talk with her. She had a few real customers come in. Then a couple came in driving a vintage convertible mercedes! The owner had spent his younger years at that tavern and came back to say hi to her. I guess she was on the local news. She had so many customers because of the news, she ran out of most of her drinks.
Yes, we live in the country. I love seeing the wildlife in my yard, but the driveway is long and the mailbox is at the bottom of the hill.
Renee

Hi Girls, I found the pink and white m&m's at Farm and Fleet. I don't shop there but stopped after Dr. apt. at Rad. in Decature and saw them so bought a couple bags. I couldn't eat them until about a wk. ago because chocolate didn't taste good until a wk. ago and I am eating it like crazy now. I didn't eat a lot of chocolate before or sweets. I ate them at night and sparingly as I am not a snacker or I can't eat my meals. I do however enjoy a midnight sweet treat but I am eating a lot now. I actually eat a whole sandwhich and I never did that before, only a half. I must be starved or just excited I can taste somewhat now. Its not all back some things I can't taste real good but most things I can. I even drank water yesterday, first time since A/C and I didn't get sick.Gee life is grand. Your part of the country sounds wonderful Renee, I have never been there but have thought about it. Its someplace we can drive for a wk. end and we think about those kinds of things and some we do and some we think about. My husband hasn't had a weekend off for some time. He has to use vacation days to get a Sat. and Sun. off.He only gets Sun. night off. My daughter in Az. bought make up and got her and I a charm bracelet that helps B.C. reserch. Shes sent mine but haven't got it yet. I have eaten soo much fudge I could bust. I should move my mail box down the street so I can walk this fudge off. They had the cancer walk and all that here first wk. of June. I didn't go because I was in treaatment and didn't feel I was a surviver yet so didn't feel comfortable going. I will go next year and do what ever I need to do to help but this year its all too new to me and I need some time to put it all into perspective and let some of the shock and awe sorta speak settle down and get confortable with it all. Being a small town I thought some of my friends would ask why I wasn't there but no one did so maybe they understand. I know next year they will expect me so I will have to go. Hope Nathans party was a blast. Later, Mary

That reminds me. I've heard the fatique is bad on rads. How are you guys holding up? Are you going to be able to keep up a daily work schedule or is it too much? I am debating on whether to continue at Mayo with the rads or have it locally. The way you talked about it being an art, I am almost afraid to have it here. It will be during the holidays and I will be off close to 3 weeks anyway counting Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am thinking about just taking off and doing it in JAX and doing whatever work I can do there.

HiGirls, I just typed in and had it all done and it was suddenly gone. My Rad. and Onc. said the rads. build up on you and the last couple wks. I would be tired a lot. I have to get a mam. done and see my serg. on Fri. for a 6 month check. Its not 6 months yet but I will be doing rads. so he wants to do mam. and see me early as late. Gotta go, later, Mary