Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part II -GAGWTA!

[MerryPoppins]

I'm not caught up on reading (I will later this evening). Just wanted to let you know what DD and I have been doing this afternoon.

She's giving it to Locks of Love. I'm so proud of her.

 

[snappy]

Yay for your DD, Merry!!

She is so beautiful.

DD12 wants to grow hers long as well to donate.

I wonder who might need bright red hair???? I am talking Lucille Ball red here.

 

[snappy]

I just booked my flights on Southwest for the 2008 Orlando RFTC. I am flying in Sept 30-Oct 6th.

There is a great Ding special through 4/21 for an extra 15% off of fairly decent fall flights. You have to enter a promotion code of Ding15 on the first page in the promotion code box. I am specifying this because I left the code off the first time and had to call Southwest to cancel that purchase and try again. I never knew this but you can cancel even a nonrefundable ticket within the first 24 hours, since it was obviously a mistake (I got it fixed within 20 minutes).

I am excited. Anyone joining me?

 

[Sha]

I just booked my flights on Southwest for the 2008 Orlando RFTC. I am flying in Sept 30-Oct 6th.

There is a great Ding special through 4/21 for an extra 15% off of fairly decent fall flights. You have to enter a promotion code of Ding15 on the first page in the promotion code box. I am specifying this because I left the code off the first time and had to call Southwest to cancel that purchase and try again. I never knew this but you can cancel even a nonrefundable ticket within the first 24 hours, since it was obviously a mistake (I got it fixed within 20 minutes).

I am excited. Anyone joining me?

If any of you all go.... I want to try and come down to WDW to say "hi!"

 

[snappy]

Sha I would absolutely love meeting up with you.

I cannot describe how wonderful it was to meet Laura and her older DD and another one of our posters here Alison last year at the RFTC.

I CAN tell you Laura is one beautiful lady, on the outside and more importantly on the inside. It was a trip meeting her after conversing with her online here since 2005. In addition to meeting up at the race we had sushi at Cali Grill. It was marvelous. Not sure I would have ever tried that place if it weren't for Laura. NOw it is my favorite WDW restaurant, although I have only been twice.

Now if Southwest will do a good ding for our May trip, I will be forever grateful. If the prices don't go down, I am dreading a road trip.

 

[Sha]

Sha I would absolutely love meeting up with you.

I cannot describe how wonderful it was to meet Laura and her older DD and another one of our posters here Alison last year at the RFTC.

I CAN tell you Laura is one beautiful lady, on the outside and more importantly on the inside. It was a trip meeting her after conversing with her online here since 2005. In addition to meeting up at the race we had sushi at Cali Grill. It was marvelous. Not sure I would have ever tried that place if it weren't for Laura. NOw it is my favorite WDW restaurant, although I have only been twice.

Now if Southwest will do a good ding for our May trip, I will be forever grateful. If the prices don't go down, I am dreading a road trip.

you are going in May???? when?? I have 3 trips then LOL Love Cali Grill! and would love to meet more from here. You all are my heros!

 

[CherylDan]

GAGWTA!! How's everybody doing?

Lookingforward..... Congrats on finishing chemo!!!
I know what you mean, though, about feeling weird about it....I went through the same feelings, only not until after I finished radiation. I just laid there and cried through my entire last treatment. I think it finally just all caught up with me, after being so suddenly pulled into this life, and then everything coming so quickly, there just wasn't time to really process it all until it was over. I was in a funk about it all for quite a long time, but I happy to say that that phase did finally pass. But it sure did take me by surprise.

Merry..... very cool what your daughter did!

Dawn....I'm estrogen positive, but I've never heard of the lavender thing. Interesting.

Anybody else feel the earthquake this morning??? It was so odd.....felt like somebody was just shaking the bed. Lasted only about 30 seconds, but it seemed like forever! Very strange.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

I am typing this through tears and swollen eyes. Mom has been in the hospital since Sunday and was placed in ICU today because of respiratory difficulties. She has been going downhill somewhat for a few weeks now and feeling really punk. Last Sunday, she was in such a bad shape Dad and I took her to the ER. Mom was admitted to the hospital for tests to determine the root of the cause. Today, her condition deteriorated to the point of being admitted to ICU. She is now in a sedation vacation and placed on a respirator. What seemed to cause this was her first treatment with Taxotere that obviously taxed her body to the max. I believe our family has reached a new phase in Mom's 2 1/2 year battle with breast cancer and it seems so surreal. All I can think about is that the Mom I have always known is no longer with us even if she recovers from this. I cannot quit crying. Thank you for listening cuz I just had to talk to someone. We have two grandbabies almost here and I so want to have her see them. I feel so helpless.

 

[CherylDan]

I am typing this through tears and swollen eyes. Mom has been in the hospital since Sunday and was placed in ICU today because of respiratory difficulties. She has been going downhill somewhat for a few weeks now and feeling really punk. Last Sunday, she was in such a bad shape Dad and I took her to the ER. Mom was admitted to the hospital for tests to determine the root of the cause. Today, her condition deteriorated to the point of being admitted to ICU. She is now in a sedation vacation and placed on a respirator. What seemed to cause this was her first treatment with Taxotere that obviously taxed her body to the max. I believe our family has reached a new phase in Mom's 2 1/2 year battle with breast cancer and it seems so surreal. All I can think about is that the Mom I have always known is no longer with us even if she recovers from this. I cannot quit crying. Thank you for listening cuz I just had to talk to someone. We have two grandbabies almost here and I so want to have her see them. I feel so helpless.

I'm so sorry. Cancer sucks.

 

[laurabelle]

~~~***GAGWTA sistas***~~~

need_a_Disney_fix- I'm so sorry...I'm praying that your mom makes a full recovery and they are able to find a less toxic treatment that will work for her.

lookingforward- It's perfectly normal to worry about mets/recurrence. I try to keep it in perspective and use it to my advantage... being cautiously optimistic!

Melissa- Tell your beautiful dd we're all proud of her too!

jackskellingtonsgirl- I'm glad your mom is going to see her gyn, that's a move in the right direction! She can order a trans vag. ultrasound as well. Remember, it's always possible to have more than one health issue going on unrelated to cancer, especially when it comes to female issues.

Dawn- I have not heard that about lavendar before, thanks for the heads up. I do tend to stay away from anything related to estrogen...it's like kryptonite to my body!

Linda- I totally understand sista. It's funny, because I'm such an open book about my bc, but it really does not define me as much as some might think. I do however feel as a long term survivor that it's important not to fade into the woodwork and get so caught up in going about my life that I'm not visible to new sistas who may not know anyone who has made it past the five year mark, especially those dx under 40. I can say I do tend to focus on the positive in everything...it wouldn't be much fun to go through all the treatment and come out the other side unable to enjoy the fruit of your hard work!

Laurie- Congrats on getting your fall flights booked. I got that Ding too. We would have been leaving on your arrival day if we were still going in Sept. Isn't the RFTC around that time this year? Where are you staying? It was wonderful being able to spend time with you too! You're our sweet steel magnolia! I do have dinner booked at CA. grill and we are finally going to try Jiko! When is your May trip? You need a ticker!

Nothing new to report on the insurance appeal. Hopefully I'll know next week. I'm seeing a little improvement with the increased steroids, but I'm still pretty sick. I'm sooo tired...

BTW- I have a script for I'm picking up for Ambien, I used it int he past, but it only worked for a short time. But in the mean time I've been using max. strength Unisom and it's worked great!

Hubby and I were talking about our June budget trip last night, 6 nights at Pop. When I told him Pop doesn't have a coffee maker or fridge he about died! So he had me call and set up a split stay. The kids and I arrive on Friday, but his band is playing Friday and Saturday night and he's arriving Sunday afternoon. So the kids and I will do the first 2 nights at Pop, then move to CSR. Told you he's a resort snob!

 

[snappy]

Need a fix Disney, I am so sorry that treatment has made your mom so very sick. Her body's reserves have to rally and fight it off. I'll be praying for you and your mom. What is her first name?

Laura, we are leaving on the 22nd. Taking Dd12 out of school for the last day as it is one of those glorius 2 hour deals that we all know and love.

We are leaving IF I survive DD17 graduation activities the week and weekend before.

I am going for the RFTC, It is Oct 5th, on a Sunday like last year, but this year later (last year it was on my birthday, Sept 9, that was the icing on the cake so to speak.

Steel Magnolia. . . I love it. I saw that movie again about a month ago. It holds up well with age. I wish I could say the same about me. We had a major cleaup day in the office yesterday where United Way matched us up with a fantastic group of "angels" from Healthsouth for a "Day of Caring."
They helped us clean up, straighten up and move stuff in storage, tag and inventory our assistive technology items in storage, even did a complete redo of the office for one of our program directors who is seriously sight impaired (and a BC survivor as well).

It was a magical day but I am feeling my age this am. I would have liked a recovery day but I am scheduled to help at a Life after 50 Expo this am where our merry little band will have a booth. I have a lot of work back at the ranch to finish the financials for March before the next board meeting in 2 weeks, but I actually much prefer the interaction with consumers to being couped up in my office churning out reports.

Hey I am lucky to be working and I know it. I am much happier with my life when I feel like I am accomplishing stuff. And know I feel I can justify my sweet cleaning lady each week and my extra WDW trips as well.

 

[Sha]

Had time to go back and catch up on posts that I hadnt read. Want to send prayers to all who need them, and those who are doing ok too!

Really need to have a day at WDW... and after watching ways to splurge on the travel channel last night... I do need to go down there and check on somethings for an upcoming trip. Oh... I am extending the offer for Fairy God mail again. I have a post over on the actual thread about that. I am wanting 16 kids to send to, so if any of you have any then PM names and addresses, age and characters. I cant promise actual characters, but will try. And any of you who need a pick me up of a greeting from WDW, or know someone who would I can do a few of those too!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Yay for your DD, Merry!!

She is so beautiful.

DD12 wants to grow hers long as well to donate.

I wonder who might need bright red hair???? I am talking Lucille Ball red here.

Merry, what a cool thing for your DD to do! She is lovely!

Snappy, I think bright red hair might be a wonderful pick-me-up for someone! DH was a redhead (Now he is bald ) and we thought DS might have red hair, but DS is blond like me.

I just booked my flights on Southwest for the 2008 Orlando RFTC. I am flying in Sept 30-Oct 6th.

There is a great Ding special through 4/21 for an extra 15% off of fairly decent fall flights. You have to enter a promotion code of Ding15 on the first page in the promotion code box. I am specifying this because I left the code off the first time and had to call Southwest to cancel that purchase and try again. I never knew this but you can cancel even a nonrefundable ticket within the first 24 hours, since it was obviously a mistake (I got it fixed within 20 minutes).

I am excited. Anyone joining me?

I checked the flight prices yesterday even though we really can't travel after school starts. Fares were still too steep to change my mind.
Our RFTC is usually mid-October, so we'll plan to do that one.

I am typing this through tears and swollen eyes. Mom has been in the hospital since Sunday and was placed in ICU today because of respiratory difficulties. She has been going downhill somewhat for a few weeks now and feeling really punk. Last Sunday, she was in such a bad shape Dad and I took her to the ER. Mom was admitted to the hospital for tests to determine the root of the cause. Today, her condition deteriorated to the point of being admitted to ICU. She is now in a sedation vacation and placed on a respirator. What seemed to cause this was her first treatment with Taxotere that obviously taxed her body to the max. I believe our family has reached a new phase in Mom's 2 1/2 year battle with breast cancer and it seems so surreal. All I can think about is that the Mom I have always known is no longer with us even if she recovers from this. I cannot quit crying. Thank you for listening cuz I just had to talk to someone. We have two grandbabies almost here and I so want to have her see them. I feel so helpless.

I am so sorry! How horrible and scary for all of you! I hope she regains her strength so she can see those precious new babies when they arrive!

 

[MerryPoppins]

Thanks for all the sweet things you said about DD. I shared them with her. I'm sure I'm part of the reason she wanted to do this. It's sort of cool when something bad brings about positive things. Know what I mean? I always seem to be able to look back at bad times and see that good things came from them eventually. Sometimes in a really strange way, but still growth comes from pain.

NADF, I'm so sorry that your mom is going through this. I'm praying that she makes a great turn-around. Our bodies are amazing things. We can sometimes bounce back from what seemed so horrible. Keep us informed.

Yay for final chemo! And many feel a sort of let-down when treatment is wrapping up. Like they need to keep battling, but there is nothing to do. It's quite normal. Just try to stay watchful, but not worry.

Still no good news from insurance? That stinks. I'm still praying about that one too.

I'm thinking of you all. And I'm really jealous of all the upcoming trips. I'm seriously needing a Disney fix right now. Maybe next year? GAGWTA!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm posting with a heavy heart this morning. Yesterday BIL (DH's brother) collapsed and died unexpectedly. He was young, healthy as a horse, and his children are around the same age as ours. Big Disney fan. Best man at our wedding. A great loss to those who knew and loved him.

 

[lookingforward]

I'm posting with a heavy heart this morning. Yesterday BIL (DH's brother) collapsed and died unexpectedly. He was young, healthy as a horse, and his children are around the same age as ours. Big Disney fan. Best man at our wedding. A great loss to those who knew and loved him.

I am so sorry! Please know that your family is in my prayers.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I'm posting with a heavy heart this morning. Yesterday BIL (DH's brother) collapsed and died unexpectedly. He was young, healthy as a horse, and his children are around the same age as ours. Big Disney fan. Best man at our wedding. A great loss to those who knew and loved him.

How horrible! I am so sorry! Your family will be in my thoughts!

 

[Sha]

I'm posting with a heavy heart this morning. Yesterday BIL (DH's brother) collapsed and died unexpectedly. He was young, healthy as a horse, and his children are around the same age as ours. Big Disney fan. Best man at our wedding. A great loss to those who knew and loved him.

I am so sorry to hear your news. Prayers for your family and friends.

 

[snappy]

Linda, what a devastating loss.

I will have your BIL, your husband, you, and all your family especially his wife and those children in my prayers and on my mind today.

I know your husband will really need your support through this. May the Lord give you all the strength you need in the coming days.

 

[CherylDan]

Linda,

So sorry. Wow, I can't even imagine how devastating this must be to all who loved him. Thoughts and prayers for you all.