Anyone starting Chemo in August 07?
Comments
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Bummer about the platelets, Jackie. Sort of a too much of a good thing situation. A bone marrow test doesn't sound too entertaining. Ugh.
Kaye--I had the MRI b/c the crazy onc felt a change on the "good" side. I never could tell what she was feeling, and figured she was just hallucinating. I was right. Anyhow, I didn't mind having the MRI done, b/c I wanted a baseline post surgery/pre radiation one done anyhow, since the MRI will be a semiannual screening tool for me.
My mom started Tykerb yesterday (it's oral) and will start Taxol on Thursday. She tolerated Taxol well three years ago, and I really hope it will have some synergy with the Tykerb. Don't know if the chemo will help the breathing, as a lot of her problems now seem to be mechanical issues from cancer damage to her pleura. We'll see what the pulmonary doc says next week.
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Nash - Your moms onc. makes MY head spin all the way over here in Va!!!!! This is IMPORTANT stuff, they need to get it together (befor) they speak with you.
GUESS WHAT?!?! EVERYONE?!?!?! I FEEL BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ive been so sick but Im on the mend for this round. They are going to try a new anti nauea medicine on me next chemo ( cost me $353.00) and they seem to think it will help keep me from getting so sick.
Speaking of sickness, Jackie I sure hope they dont poke you to much. I HATE needles. Ill be thinking of your results and keeping my fingers crossed.
Except when I eat which I CAN DO NOW!!!! Sorry I cant help myself.
Hugs
Kim
Congrad to nash on her MRI!!
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Kimmie,
I'm so happy to hear you are feeling better. I hope that medicine works for you (especially at that price!!). Please, eat all you can and enjoy!!!! Have a great weekend.
Lots of hugs, Jackie
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Hey gals. Just wanted to say Hi. I have started my rads. Seems like a breeze. Kim- I am so glad you are finally feeling better. HOORAY!!!!!
I started back to work on Wed, as well as starting my rads (kinda-- had another mapping session that day). I wore myself out at work Wed and had a killer migraine yesterday. As i was leaving rads today, though, I realized I felt pretty good! Like... really good. So I am quite happy.
I start my Herceptin next Thurs. I have been putting off having a seroma drained for a very long time. i may get that checked that day as well. Does anyone know what happens if you just leave it? Would it eventually absorb? i had been hoping it would-- I had to be drained about 4 times or so, and i just got sick of going back and getting poked. But surgery was 10/25, so I am thinking I need to have it checked finally. Blah.
Oh--- And how do docs know if somethimg is mets or a new primary? Just so i know. hopefully I will never need it.
Have a good weekend all. Angie
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Glad that Angie and Kim are starting to feel better! I am, too, actually. My bloodwork last week showed I'm no longer anemic, and I think that's a big part of it.
Don't know anything about seromas (although now I'm humming Kaye's version of "My Sharona").
Angie-I'll try to answer your question of new primary vs. mets. There three ways to have this fabulous experience with bc again--1) local recurrence 2) new bc primary 3) bc mets. A local recurrence would happen at a lumpectomy site or in the chest wall (hence the radiation), and would be from the orginal tumor growing again. A new primary would show up somewhere in breast tissue, possibly not anywhere near the orginal tumor site. It can be, and usually is, of a completely different biology than the first primary (ER/PR/HER2 status, IDC/ILC/IBC, etc). If tumors show up in the organs or bones after a bc primary, they are assumed to be mets from bc. The only time I've heard of distant spots being biopsed to see if they are new primary cancers of a different sort would be in the case of spots on the lungs. BC lung mets tend to be multiple lesions, so if a bc patient has a solitary lung lesion, they tend to biopsy it to rule out primary lung cancer.
Hope that clarifies things.
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Kaye--I'm planning on going to the next San Diego lunch on Jan. 13. I'm not 100% committed due to my mom's crappy condition, but if I can be there, I will be. Wanted to let you know in case you had a free weekend to come down.
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Angie - nothing like feeling bad for a long time to make you appreciate feeling good !! I don't know a thing about seroma's , wish I could help.
I called my doc and her office is going to fill out the paper work to see if the drug manufacturer will send that pricey prescription to me for FREE !! YEA!!
Hope everyone is good and just to darn busy with life to write. And I hope to here from you soon.
KIm
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Kimmie, Kimmie Bo-Bimmie
Bonanna, Fanna, Fo-Fimmie
Fee Fi Mo Mimmie!
Kim-EE!
(And yes, I remember when that song FIRST came out. So does June. Don't even TRY to deny it, girl.)
Kimmie the reason you were sick was that YOUR HEAD WAS SPINNING, duh.
Stop paying attention to Nash's onc. Only DR. NASH is competent to handle her. Trust me in this.
Angie - please sing Muh-Muh-Muh-MY Seroma with Dr. Nash first,THEN I will tell you all about seromas.
Good job.
Seromas are just caused by the lymph fluid that Used to go through the glands that are now in a jar on a shelf in your onc's office.
When you drain them, it relieves the pressure, but they fill right back up again proving the theory that women were ORIGINALLY supposed to have THREE breasts.
After having mine drained twice (during which time they removed an obscene amount of fluid - ONE CUPS WORTH - the nurse told me that I was postponing the "cure" for the instant gratification of drainage. (And why had no one mentioned that previously?) If you bite the bullet, they DO reabsorb somehow. So bullet bitten, it got real bad, then better. I'd massaged it daily pretty vigorously and when it "gave", it took about 2 or 3 days with noticeable reduction each day. Everyone hopes they drain back into the breast, and mine did. i think it did anyway.
My theory is that after surgery and then the drains, etc. as it's all healing, some pathway becomes clogged with scar tissue or who knows what and it needs the eventual HEAVY, INTERNAL pressure of the full Psudeo-Breast to force open that (or some other) pathway. How long have you had it?
Nash - I won't be able to do the whole weekend thing this time, but if you'll be there on the 13th I'll be there. I know things are unpredictable with your mom, but if we let them include us in the reservation, i'm sure they would understand if you had to cancel. Let me know.
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Oh my gosh, Kaye, I needed that laugh!
Brenda is making the reservation and always reserves for a couple extra people, so if we say we're coming, then don't, I don't think it's a big deal. They're meeting at the Claim Jumpers in Carlsbad. That would be really cool if you could make it. I won't be able to make a decision until closer to the weekend--my mom is weaker by the day, so we'll just have to see.
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Na-nee Na-nee Poo Poo! I am comment # 1000 on this thread!! thatks for getting it started for all of us Kaye!
Nash, Thanks for the info. Sorry you have had to become such an expert. I think of you and your mom often.
My seroma doesn't cause me any discomfort-- it's just very wiggly. I guess if it won't eventually become bad for me, I can leave it for a while more. Like I said, I had at least 4 drainings (last one was 90cc's or so. my best was 150cc- so nothing close to your cup, Kaye). I have to drive 40 minutes to get to the docs office and I just got bored with going. It was demoralizing at the time. Being after the surgery and I saw it as a hinderance to my healing and moving on.
Actually, I am still a bit irritated that the surgeon did not make me "flat." I wanted to be completely flat. I told the surgeon I was not having reconstruction and had no desire to do so ever. But alas, I appear to have had a skin-sparing procedure done (per her NP). So I am pissed, really, and not sure how I will address this with her. SO maybe I am in total avoidance mode. That is so unlike me. I don't know. I am bored with the idea of having BC.
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You guys are sounding like you're feeling pretty good - I'm SO glad!!!!
Angie, I'm interested in what their reasoning was for not making you "flat"...there must be some technical reason. (Other than "oops, sorry".)
Anyone going to be or is on Arimidex? Any se's yet? Maybe this is too early to ask.
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Hi All,
Goodness, I had no idea what seroma's were, and now I am fully informed thanks to you all. Fortunately, I have not had to deal with any, but who knows what will happen after the implant goes on in Wednesday. I'm a bit apprehensive about not turning out "even", but heck, it can't get anymore uneven than it is right now so, unless they give me a shoulder pad instead of a breast, it has got to be an improvement over what I have going on now.
I'm so glad to hear that everyone seems to be feeling good. I'm glad you recovered in time for rads, Angie! Good luck with the Herceptin next week. And I'm very, very pleased Kimmie, that you are feeling so much better. I hope it continues.
No Arimidex here yet, though I don't know for sure if I will get that or Tamoxifen or something else. My onc has not mentioned a word about it yet. When does hormone therapy usually start, anyway?
DeAnn
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DeAnn, WHAT is the problem with a shoulder pad, may I ask? It's my New Look. (Actually, with a bra i look pretty even. WithOUT one is a different story. Fortunately, I don't seem to care much.
The Arimidex started the day after rads was done. Some dr's think it's ok to take it during rads, but some don't. The concern is that it might interfere with the rad action. So, the day after the 33rd rad i took the pill.
I hope it all goes well on Wednesday. On a light note, I had a friend who looked alarmingly like a Barbie Doll, and we used to joke about "pop-on" parts. There was some obscure body part she didn't like and wanted to trade with someone elses, and we both thought how convenient it would be if you could BUY the parts you wanted and just pop them on with large built-in snaps. Kinda like a toy. As I'm considering it now, boobs lend themselves well to that whole concept. If you wanted to wear a slinky dress where "too much of a good thing" might not work, you could just go to your closet and select the "A" cup for tonight's dress. Working out at the gym? Leave them both at home. Romantic weekend in the south of France? Use the Double D's. You could even use TWO on each side if you folded them.
(wait. that's just sick.)
DeAnn, I hope they'll be exactly what you want, and they "work" with everything you want to wear!
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Kaye, I love it! Snap on body parts would be great! Sort of a snazzier version of Mr. Potato Head! I think there are absolutely no worries of me looking like a Barbie doll. My other side is still an A cup, and I decided not to upgrade, although the doc gave me the opportunity. I'm rather elfish in stature, so I figured anything bigger than what I've got would put my center of gravity in a totally new realm, and I'd just be tipping over forward all the time. I have enough problems trying to appear graceful as it is!
DeAnn
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I know of one body part I'd love to "snap off" right about now. The rad burn is almost unbearable. I thought I was just being a baby until the onc took one look at it this afternoon and pulled out his script pad to write a script for 2 Darvocet 6 x a day. That's before I even said anything except that it was a little uncomfortable!!!!!
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Ggma! You are SO CUTE!!! (How come you have eyebrows?)
Darvocet, eh? Wow - you must be fried. Ouch! I wonder if it's your skin or they're just turning up the amps on you. Either way, wow - i never even needed a tylenol. I didn't need the dumb Aloe vera stuff I bought. (I hope they toasted me ENOUGH...little worried happyface inserted.) I'm really enjoying the "udderly Smooth" lotion as a HAND lotion, though. It works GREAT.
Are you still in a bra or are you doing the t-shirt thing? And how are your eyelashes...mine disappeared, but grew back pretty quickly.
DeAnn, you could just roll forward everywhere. Elves roll, i'm pretty sure. (Oh, Nevermind. You'd just have asphalt all over your back, and a headache when you arrive.)
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Hey, Gma--is your avitar also the expression your onc had when he saw your rad burn? You cracked me up.
Hey, Kim--any word on the Dr. C appointment? Hope you're continuing to feel better. Was the very pricey pill they gave you called Emend?
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Hi,
Yes the very pricey pill is emend. Hope it works on the 16th.
Leave it up to kato to notice the eyebrows. Shes so funny.
Its so nice to see other women who are as bald as me. I dont feel so alone.
GMA - great avatar!!!!!!
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Bra, what's a bra??? If you would have told me I would be going to work w/o one, I would have laughed you out of the room a year ago. But, under the circumstances, I lost them a couple of weeks ago and haven't been able to put one on since. The whole underneath of my breast is a raw, bleeding, oozing mess. This despite 2 perscription creams, peroxide/water soaks, plenty of fresh air and anything else anyone has recommended. The dr. told me that I was going to have problems and boy, she was right! Just 5 more boosts though and I'm done, done, done. Not that I'm counting or anything!!!! As far as the eyebrows, I did 4 AC and only lost about 1/4 of one eyebrow (of course, in the middle of the browline) and they both thinned. They grew back quickly, but my lashes are still pretty sparse. I sent the avatar out along with the caption, "I asked Santa for blonde hair for Christmas and I guess he got the wrong message". Glad I could cheer you guys up with the pic. I also sent it to my daughter, along with a pic of her 7 month old bald son with the caption, "notice any family resemblance?" She got a kick outta that too!
Debbi
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Hi All,
Had my implant exchange today, and have only a little soreness. Thank you Percocet! I'm feeling pretty good. Took a quick peek, and I am sooooo glad that I have read the reconstruction threads that it takes time for the implant to "drop". My good left side, at an A cup, looks positively buxom compared to the implant side, so I would have been a mite concerned had I not known that this was typical. Already though, it feels WAY better than the expanders did. No more boxy corners (boobs are just NOT supposed to have corners), no more hubcap in my chest that my arm would bang into, and I no longer have a lump on my chest that is three inches higher than the other one. MUCH better, even though I am still very uneven.
I don't know if anybody else here is still waiting for reconstruction, but rest assured, the surgery was quick and I found it was much easier than my port surgery was.
Still a good bit tired, so I'm off to lounge on the couch some more.
DeAnn -
Hi gals,
Just a quick note to let you know I heard from M D Anderson today and my appointment is the 23rd of Jan. YEA!!!!!!
Now to find flights/hotels etc... I told my DH this is the closest thing we will get to a vaca.
KIm
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Glad the exchange went well, DeAnn!
Whoo hoo, Kim--I am so excited that you got your MDA appointment date!!! (although a cruise would be better
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Kaye--I am pretty certain I will go to lunch on Sunday. Wanted to let you know so you can plan the weekend out.
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DeAnn, I'm so glad things went well! You'll have to post pictures when "the girls" are ready to meet the family. (Get back in that chair. I'm just kidding.)
Kimmie - GREAT! I hear New York is beautiful this time of year. (A lot like VA, probably.) I hope you get a great price on a room - if you find one close, they may offer patient discounts. I found that out at my last visit to City of Hope. We missed 2 other opportunities because we didn't know, but we did catch one. It's worth a try. I wonder if MDAnderson themselves might know any local hotels that give discounts to patients.
Nash - thanks. I'll plan accordingly.
I'm off to see the play "Hairspray" with my MIL.
SEEING it. Not USING it. There is a difference.
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ok, DH, Ever my brain-guardian, just reminded me that MD Anderson is in TEXAS. Not NEW YORK. So I retract my statement about the weather being like VA. It's not. The weather will most likely be more like CALIFORNIA.
So welcome to paradise!
!The comment about the special deals, though, I will not retract. You may find a hotel that does give discounts to Anderson patients. I hope so.
Hairspray was absolutely darling, well worth going. Now I need to see the movie. Then I need to grow the hair.
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Hey Everyone,
Thought I'd do a quick post and tell you that my surgery on Tuesday went well. They cut w...a...y
back on the drugs and the fluids they pumped into me and I did great! Not a sign of heart failure, yea!! I came home about 4 hours after the surgery and have just been sleeping mostly. Two surgeries in 3 weeks wasn't fun ladies but I'm suprised and relieved at feeling not so bad! A little more pain this time but I think it's because they basically went back into the original surgical site. Now, to just wait for the 15th for my post-op and the pathology report. I've crossed every part of my body just hoping that I can move on now to the rads and hopefully back to work.
Kim: so happy to hear you got your appt. and so quickly too! See if you can find one of those rooms with a hot tub in the living room......well, gosh if this is the only vacation the girls going to get!!!
DeAnn: congrats on the exchange.....see good things come to those who wait and is anyone more of an expert regarding waiting than us ladies???
My best to all,
June
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June!! I was just sitting down to post and ask if you were ok!!
I'm so glad it went well...I was interested in the heart failure part of it from your last surgery. Do you have the nausea from some anesthesia drugs and then the Vaso Vagel (sp?) response to the nausea? (Where your heart 'pauses' when you vomit?) Or was it something else? I'm asking, because that's what i was diagnosed with, and we've gotten a letter from two anesthesiologists now describing what I can and can not have in case I have any future surgeries. If that's what your situation was, I heartily recommend you request in writing from the attending anesthesiologist of the SUCCESSFUL surgery exactly what he did and used so that you'll have it for future reference.
So glad to see your post!
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Glad you're through the surgery, June! Happy to hear you're feeling pretty good considering everything.
Some encouraging news--I took my mom to a thoracic surgeon yesterday to see if anything can be done surgically for her breathing. He reviewed all her scans very carefully, and concluded that there are some procedures worth trying. So she'll go into the hospital next week for about 3 days, and they'll put temporary drainage tubes in (sort of like spigots) to drain her pleural effusions. Then he'll see if her lungs reinflate, and if so, will go in with a thorascope to see if he can surgically remove some of the pleural scarring.
So, this all may or may not work (he said there's no way to tell unless one tries). But what was encouraging to me was that although at first he didn't even want to see her, as he thought there was nothing that would be worth doing, after he reviewed the scans, he changed his mind.
So, that was all very good. It renewed my frustration with our idiot onc, though, who has changed her tune from "she is chemo resistant, has terrible disease progression and we need to talk about hospice" to "chemo may work again, the progression isn't that bad, she still had time left".
The other kicker today was that there was no communication between the surgeon and the crazy onc after we saw the surgeon yesterday, and the onc's office was confused when the procedure would be, when we'd be back in for chemo, etc. The surgeon had wanted to do the procedure today, but we'd said, no, let's do it next week (the surgeon said it'd be OK to wait), b/c my mom was supposed to have Taxol today. So, the idiot onc says to me, "The procedure takes precedence over the chemo.You should have called me on my cell phone to ask." Hello? I know I'm not really a doctor (I just play one in real life
) and I know we spend an inordinate amount of time at the cancer center, but I didn't realize I was actually on the staff. -
Nash - and boy, are you UNDERPAID for being one of their RESEARCH STAFF! Sheesh! Dispite the mental chop suey, it all sounds like good news though. Good.
Ok Nashie - I'm on for Sunday the 13th. I'll get on the San Diego thread and let Brenda know. I need the name and the address to the place, too.
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Hi everyone -
DeAne so glad to hear you've regained your parts.And it sounds like it went so well. Happy new years to you.
Kato - One of these days Im going to pee my pants reading your post
.When I read them my 8 yr old daughter wants to know why my face looks so happy.June - Im glad to hear your surgery went equally as well. You have got to be getting tired of the whole surgery thing by now. How are you holding up? Ill be crossing my fingers for you on the 15th as well. Believe me I know how it feels to wish you could go on with rads and get on with life.
As far as Texas is concerned A hot tub and a mini bar and Ill be set.
N ash - You know any good news about your mom makes my heart soar. Hang in there.
PS - Tell me again why you stay with that idiot onco?
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