please help

Sue, If you and I lived near each other...there would be trouble..haha...I have a sneaky feeling...crazy girls..haha.

Hi Just popping in before work.

Ulla, sit down with DH and tell him calmly that the screaming banshee you become is not you, it is the situation.  You are not yelling at him ( even if you are ) but the situation causes you to feel anxious and angry, but it's not at him, it's the cancer.  That's what one of the old hands on these boards advised me to do and it worked when I had the screaming abdabs.  We still recognise when we are angry with the cancer and all.

And just remember that they are men.  Even the best ones are ropy when it comes to dealing with this "inconvenience" to their lives and plans, so they are on a non-starter really.  Anyway, Karen, I understand your not wanting to go to family and friends with this as it would just be another downer when everyone gets their shawls on to have a gossipfest.  Keep it with us that he is a creep and keep a blithe face on things for the family.

Sue, can't believe you are not resting. But didn't expect anything else really. When you stay at home you put on the funniest films or tv programmes so that you are laughing your socks off.  If not laughing, then sleeping. That's what normally happens to me.

Well, I am off to work now - that is full time work, Sue, but I am nearly a year out of chemo, not just going through it. You truly amaze me, but I join in with all the others wanting to scold you.  I think chitter chatter Adam is perfectly sweet.

Much love and big hugs

Valerie S

I have just been catching up with all you wonderful women. Have been so busy running to and fro and meeting lots of new people. I am exhausted (too many 2am bedtimes!)

Just wanted to send you all my love and best wishes. You are all amazing. Ulla, I am so glad you have a wonderful supportive social worker - having her to vent to will do you so much good - it will assist your healing. Sue, I am so glad that you have decided to call in sick more often. I can see you have a great need to work but your need to assist your healing must over-ride this. Ok, ok, I will stop lecturing now! Karen, I am so sorry you are not getting more support at home. I guess we can always excuse this sort of behaviour (you know, men just can't cope and this is his way of 'dealing' with your illness etc) but it does make me so mad to know that you don't have more support from him. Well, at leat you have all your sisters here.

Went to Niagara Falls yesterday - it was terrifyingly fantastic and incredibly cold with huge icicles hanging on the cliffs. Hoping to have a quieter day today and just hang out with my sister and rest a bit. My arm is a bit achy and I am going to massage it.

Love to all you beautiful people.

gb

Hi lovely ladies,

Phew...it takes a long time to read all of the posts when you don't check in for a couple of days.

Sorry to read about some of the bad stuff that we are feeling. Hope everyone is doing better with the se's and cold heads!  Some of us need more rest, too (right Sue!)

Wondering if anyone has had any scans or nuclear medicine tests postponed recently?  Apparently, the supplier of 2/3 of the worlds radioactive isotopes is located here in Ontario (Canada) and it has been shut down for 2 weeks, with no clear picture of when it will reopen.  It's all over the news here, and some of the hospitals are in fact reporting that some surgeries/tests/treatments are already being cancelled because of this.

Sorry, don't want to alarm anyone, but this is ridiculous.  If one of us has chemo postponed because we can't have a MUGA scan or something that is just NOT acceptable!

Dorothy Sue - its me Aunty Em - I'm here - can you see me waving

I'm still at work -its 3:30 here - glad to see you are resting, its about time!!!

Will check in later,

Hugs to all,

Valerie

Oh Ulla,

Hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs.

Hang in there...we love you!

Mia

Hi sweet Sue, you know, honey, a lot of the gals just routinely take the 3 days off after the chemo treatment.  You need to find what you need to do and do it. 

Very few, and I mean very few people can work the day after chemo, or a few days, for that matter.  Especially when you are on your feet with the public and all their germs.  So you need to just get on a schedule that lets you work but one where you don't have to wake up the day after chemo and worry.  Just set it up for, say, 3 days after, and then see what happens.  If you were sitting on your fanny, it would be a lot different.

Well, I have bleached, washed and scrubbed every frickin' surface in this house.  I have cleaned places that have never seen me before.  I have washed 8000 loads of blankets, throws, dog toys, my husband, the dog himself, er, no, not my husband and the dog, they refused.

Anyway, the cat is in the garage, quarantined, Christmas at my house is fading like a dream, no one wants to catch Ring Worm.  And I am pissed to hell. It is a one month quarantine.  And it is transmitted by spores.  They fly all over the place.  Of course the new kitty slept on a pillow at the top of my head, in my bed, S**t.  Maybe Sue doesn't know that word!

Sighhhh, I think I will fly to Sue's to help her.

Love you, little sweetie, Shirlann 

Ulla,

Sue is so right...your doctor should give you better meds for pain and sleeping, etc. 

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Do you have a place there where they offer support?  We have a place here called "Wellspring" and it offers programs, support groups, yoga, tai chi, mentors, etc.  It would be good to have a person you can talk to who has walked this road.  It's hard to go to these places sometimes, but it will really help you get through the worst times.

Try to rest and call that doctor in the morning.

Hi Karyll,

Please keep us posted on how you do with the Taxotere.  I'll have my last FEC in December, then Taxotere in the new year.  Have to admit, the Taxotere is scaring me...but your post is making me feel better.

Did you get steroids with FEC, too?  I don't think I am but I honestly don't know.  I meant to ask last time and just forgot.

How many days has it been since you had your 1st Tax.?

Mia

I did have steroids with my FEC too... they gave me it IV when I arrived (dexamethasone) and then a card full of pills which included the steroids for 5 days afterwards.... along with zofran. Sometimes they use decadron which is a steroid too.

I will actually require less steroid on this one... so that is good. I dont mind it, it does make me a bit nervy though....

So I am about 5 hours out of chemo and feeling not much different than I went in.. a little buzzed is all. I take sleeping pills so will make it an early night to bed for work tomorrow! I'll keep you posted. I did well with the FEC considering and worked FT through it, I intend to do the same here even though the road is paved with good intentions - hopefully it will carry through.

Karyll