Starting Chemo in JAN 2007

Tina, we must have posted at the same time...I am glad that things are settling down for you.  Scary about the child abductions...we hear stories about that around here as well.  I hate the feeling of being a prisoner inside my home with the kids....I remember "going out to play" when I was younger and wish that my children could share that experience, but alas.....organized activities are the only reasonable choice in my current environment.  Who knows what the future holds....DH has been applying for jobs, and I hate living in a cancer hotspot, so maybe we will move at some point.  Ah welll

Rebecca, I get so mad at your mil. You need to put her on speaker phone so we can all rant at her. She is so insensitive. You have been thru so much and she just makes it HARDER, for crying out loud. And insurance companies, just adding more stress. Come to San Diego, Rebecca. You too, Tina. Sit by my pool, let the kids swim, and finish some of these wedding leftovers!

I have so enjoyed having this day to myself. I go back to work tomorrow, and my husband went back today. But I had a whole day to revel in the solitude. I love my house and am so seldom alone in it, esp for an entire day. I ran one errand, went to the gym, called the Amer Cancer Society to check out a charity called Brides Against Breast Cancer. You can donate gowns to them and they sell them, then use the funds for breast cancer patients. I had heard about them but wanted to make sure they were bonafide, and they are. So that is where the bridal gowns and my two mother of the bride dresses will go.  That's what my daughters and I want.

I hope to make the chat tonight. No cooking, since we have a frig full of food. We can graze for days.

Melia

Rebecca, you have had quite a day!  I feel for you.

Jan, I hear NC is the place to move - lots of new companies.

I too don't understand how anyone affords California. 

Nancy, glad you're back and had a good time.

I never seem to be very awake at night for the chats - but some day I'll surprise you and be there. 

Jan, thanks!  The first one is my husband with our girl. 2nd is me, so need to lose weight and grow my own hair back.  Third is son in law, older daughter, younger daughter, new son in law, son, and son's darling girlfriend.  Cute kids, huh?

Melia

Melia -

Everyone looks beautiful - love the bride's gown and flowers.  And you look terrific.  What a lovely family you have.

Melia, beautiful pictures!  Everyone looks wonderful!  You look sooo happy!

Caya, you mentioned in an earlier post that you are still premenopausal.  I think you are my age and am wondering if you got your period back or you got your estrogen levels checked?  I see my gyn tomorrow and think I will ask to have my estrogen level checked.

Hi Ladies,

Rebecca, your stars must be stalled in some retro-collision right now...I'll say it for you: AARRRGGGH! I have totally had it with insurance companies. However I bet you won't have to pay that full amount, keep stalling and appealing. And your MIL! She needs to be sat down and told a thing or two, and made to get that new title! I wish we could come there and form a posse.



Melia the pix and your girls and you are lovely. Looks like the whole thing was totally gorgeous. And what a wonderful thing to do with the gowns.



Nancy I had to laugh at your Grand Canyon story. I'm sure that was the appropriate thing to say. So did you take a pic of the dog/cat/rat? Welcome home!



My day and evening yesterday were consumed with the book talk which went very well, they had a full house and my Powerpoint more or less worked. So I missed chat, unfortunately. I did end up going topless on the advice of ds, who thinks I look better with my own short hair than wig. At the end of my talk I told them the book was written on chemo, and any mistakes they find are due to chemo-brain, but added I just had clear scans and got a huge round of applause! I was too surprised to cry.



It's cold and windy here today, brutal October. I miss tropical October. Tina, right now Boca sounds good to me too. - Skye

Melia,

The pictures are beautiful. You have a gorgeous family. Congratulations again.

Rebecca,

Hugs to you! What a frustrating day. I also hate insurance companies. I agree: you gotta bug them until they relent.

Skye,

I am glad your book talk was a success. It is also very cold here- what happened? I miss the warmth of last week.

Nancy,

Welcome back. I am glad you had a great time with your family.

Caya,

I am glad to see that your dh will get severance pay and that you can keep your insurance for a year. What a bunch of jerks!! Charlotte and/or Boca does sound nice right about now.

Watch out, Jan- here we all come!



My dd sent me her "personal statement" to read. She is applying to graduate school- She wants to enter a direct entry program to become a nurse practitioner. This program has become very competitive. The paper needs some editing and guess who was chosen to help? I guess I should feel flattered- I haven't seen any of her work since high school. As my dh put it, we paid over 150 thousand for her college degree, so it should be one hell of a paper!! LOL. It is very good, but I understand why she needs it to be outstanding. I am just telling her to shorten it, cut the fancy rhetoric (I think) and make it more personal. Easier said than done, but that is up to her.
I am very proud of her- she took Anatomy and Physiology, and Microbiology with labs this summer ( a 7 week intensive semester) - and both courses at the same time- and got 2 A's. I could not have done that!!



I have to write tons of Thank You notes- I am so behind...

It is dark and dismal here today- good time to start.



Catch you all later,

Viddie

Viddie, you must be very proud of your daughter. Does she have a specialty in mind?

If I hadn't started nursing school so late, I would have gone on to be a NP. It was too late by the time I graduated 3 1/2 years ago. I'll be lucky to pay my school loans by the time I retire.

Cindy.....thinking I wouldn't mind taking another class or two! 

Oh Amera, the hair, the hair.  I will heed your advice and not trim off anything for months.  Not that there is really much to trim - lol!!

Viddie - I think you meant Tina, not me (Caya) in your post. Although I wouldn't mind moving to Boca either.  My MIL has a condo there that we have used many times over the years. And kudos to your DD for doing so well in her courses and applying to be a NP - I'm sure she will get in somewhere.  And thank you notes - OY!! I have to write some from the party.  Although we put "Absolutely no gifts please" on the invitation, quite a few people brought some, and others sent in charitable donations (which was great).

Skye - glad your talk went well and that you felt fine going topless. It's cold here now too - rainy and miserable.

Cindy- lol about the "flasher" story - I think these guys should be careful what they wish for. 

Nothing special here today.  I made a batch of vegetable soup with the last of the broccoli and cauliflower left over from the party.  Added some zuchini, mushrooms and alot of curry and cumin - a nice fall soup.

Getting up early for my Herceptin journey tomorrow.  I have a few questions for my onc.

Caya & Tina,



Oops, sorry about the name mistake-but you both know I know the difference- right? Must still be chemo brain.

Caya,

What do you serve with your delicious soup?

Cindy,

LOl, I guess you could have flashed him your hair- hat on- hat off!

My dd wants to do either family or women's health. Her bf is applying to Dentistry schools- and getting into colleges in the same city, let alone the same school, could be a problem. It would be nice to be that young again and have such problems.

Amera,

Thanks for the heads up- I will definitely wait-did you get your hair colored?

Viddie

Amera, thanks for the tip on the hair. Mine is pretty wild looking and I was thinking about just going into my hairdresser for a consult. She had said to come back when it was an inch long and she would help me decide what to do. The back is longer than anywhere else and looks kind of funky. I might let her trim that but nothing else. I am ready to lose the wig everywhere but at work, and will stop there fairly soon, I think. I need some confidence, though, on what to do with it. Other than constantly run my hands thru it and feel very smug.

It is getting cooler and feeling like fall. We all lost a spring and summer. Odd that it's the time of year that it all started for me. And for all of us.

Skye, glad your talk went well. Viddie, congrats on your daughter. My daughter who was just married and her husband went thru four years of vet school, her in Calif, him in Ohio. It was very difficult and they weren't always sure they would make it. I hope your two end up closer geographically.

Thanks for all the kind words on the photos. It really was beautiful. I need to drop 30 lbs now, and that's really evident from the pics. But I felt pretty that night, and the rest of the fam really are gorgeous. It was a very happy night.

Hugs, Melia

Hey Ladies,

Cindy, you probably would have caused a semi accident had you flashed, but it might have been worth it. LOL! I love the idea of flashing the wig, too. Although we are all getting too hairy for that. Amera I was just about to make an appointment to get the top textured and shaped but not shortened, and some trim at the back of my neck. DS says it is looking shaggy! The top is so thick it's making strange lumps I have to keep flattening like whack-a-moles.

Melia I do think you get the prize for the most natural-looking wig. Loved that gown on you too.

Viddie, your dd must be brilliant! A's in science courses are not easy to come by. I hope she gets the grad school she wants.

Caya, I made veggie soup this week too, must be the weather. Beef base, with parsnips, red cabbage, leeks, brown rice and black beans. DD and DS snarfed it down.

Gotta run errands this morning, it's in the 40s and windy out! DS had to dress warm for the petting zoo, where he has met a cute art student he is planning to ask out.

Hey did anyone else see that new study on Taxol? I can't really believe it discounts all the prior studies that had docs prescribing it in the first place.

Anyway, looking forward to the weekend already....Skye

Oh, and those soups sound soooooo good.

Anybody interested in a recipe swap? 

Oh, and I just looked at a report on that Taxol study, and boy that is aggravating.  Reminds me of the Adridamycin study a few months ago.  I did not get Taxol, but Taxotere is related, and is probably subject to the same efficacy rules.  ah well....at least this did not come out until after treatment was over.  It would have been very demoralizing for some of us to read something like that during treatment! 

Rebecca that is so sweet, France's first crush. I hope you get a pic for the scrapbook, date or no date. I remember being about in first grade and lying awake at night wondering which little boy in my class would make the best father for my Tiny Tears doll. No lie! And I wasn't exactly an early bloomer.

As for my soups, I don't use a recipe, I just throw in whatever's in the veggie drawer and usually a handful of brown rice and some rinsed black beans, basil or oregano, a little celery salt and a swig of worcestershire or soy sauce, until it tastes good to me. I've tried making my own stock but usually just buy the low-sodium ready made. I always use parsnips instead of potatoes now though.



Taxotere is just a variation of Taxol. That gal I met in the chemo room Monday was going to have AC/cytoxan followed by Taxol, and she did not even know any of her path reports, whether she was ER or HER + or -! We have the same onc so I know he told her but she said she isn't paying attention to all that.



Jan, I bet you will be out there climbing those rocks when you're a wizened old lady. If you can do it this soon after chemo, what's gonna stop you? -- Skye