Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part IV - GAGWTA

[CherylDan]

LMP, I hope you have a great time on your trip! Should be coming up pretty quickly now, I think.

Smiley, that's too bad about your DH dental problems. Hopefully your January trip will still work out! i can't wait to go back and take that drive through Big Sir again......so beautiful. And Madelines.....yum! I'll be sending lots of good wishes your way that your trip, scaled backed or not, still happens!

How is everyone's shopping going? I've got a pretty good start, almost all of it on line. I'm a huge fan of Amazon! Of course, I've already gone a little nuts buying stuff foe Zoe. Oops.

Called and Got my CT results from last week....shows a slight progression, for the second scan in a row. No other details yet, I see my oncologist next week and will be able to discuss the results then. Right now, I'm inclined to say that I don't want to make any changes to my treatments until after Christmas and WDW. Sigh.....it's been a long year.

We started putting our tree up yesterday. It's 12 feet tall, and quite old, the kind with individual branches that stick into little holes in the pole. Takes forever! I'd be happy with something much smaller and new and quicker, but DH likes it and since he's the one doing the work, I guess we keep it yet another year. It does look nice once it's all finished.

GAGWTA!!

 

[Straitlover]

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't had time to respond to everyone's posts. I have read them and prayed for those needing it and envied those planning and/or going on trips LOL. Hope to do some kind of trip again someday.

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was a good one. I went w/ my sister to her late DH's family dinner. Was weird not to have to cook for Mama, but I made it through.

My exchange surgery for my implants is scheduled for 12/19. Will be glad to get that over with. Praying for no infection this time!

GAGWTA!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Lisa - hoping your upcoming surgery goes smoothly with no complications

Linda - how are you feeling? Hope all those bad side effects post op are subsiding. I smiled at your great yard sale find with the light sabers!

Cheryl - that is a big tree! I think ours is 9 feet. I am sure you are busy between christmas prep and vacation prep.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Dh had to go to 3 stores (He left me at one) to get a turkey and the pork sausage for the stuffing. He only got it because there was no tag on it. Next year we will get it sooner. We went on Mon. I think or Tues.

Ds1 had a phone interview for a job. He was at bb practice and went outside to talk. Someone started racing a car engine. I think he wont be getting that job. I told him he was unprofessional etc.

Ds3 got a call for an interview at the nursing home where dh and I went to the anniv. party the other month. He is giing for the interview but thinks he would be more happier with his present two jobs which are more related to what he wants to eventual do - ped. onc. It would be more money. He doesnt know what to do. He wants the best experience to be able to work in the hospital
Linda -any advice on the above???

One week from today we will be in WDW

GAGWTA.

 

[Dancind]

DD has been doing phone interviews too, to try and transfer with Apple. And it hasn't been going well. She gets nervous and talks too fast, or giggles. Her next one (and last chance) is for a job doing phone helpline stuff. I'm really hoping she can calm down for that one. I've had to put the cat in the laundry room, he decides her talking on the phone is a good time to be very vocal.

 

[Feralpeg]

Hi, Ladies! Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving! Ours was very nice. Kendall and I had a traditional Thanksgiving meal with an Irish twist at Raglan Road at DTD. Amazingly, it wasn't that busy! We spent some time strolling DTD...something we haven't done for awhile. Fun!

We are as prepared for Christmas as we will be. All my shopping is done. Kendall hasn't started, but she's finishing up the semester and has been swamped with projects to complete and preparing for finals. As soon as she is finished, we plan on spending some time at the parks. Looking forward to a casual stroll around Epcot and a trip to the Studios to see the Osbourne Lights. It is supposed to be pretty cool next week (by Florida standards)...perfect weather for the Osbourne Lights and a little hot chocolate!

Not sure what we will do on Christmas day. It may be a good day to catch a movie and just relax. Until then, I'm enjoy the holiday atmosphere.

Saw the oncologist last week. So far so good. At this point, he said no more scans for awhile. Of course, it could change based on my tumor markers, but I'm not expecting anything bad. If only my feet would improve, I'd be in great shape. I certainly can't complain!

Hope you are all enjoying the pre-holiday madness! You are always in my thoughts and prayers!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Peg - yes I am following the weather closely and it looks like its going to be cooler, colder etc. I wish it would have been warmer for our trip. We are going to see the Osborne Lights on the 14th since its a late em for dhs I think.

Well I will pack tomm. We are getting a n'oreaster so I wonder if our flight will be delayed on Tues. Its starting Monday night. I did read another poster say when we got a bad storm like this in the summer her van got flooded out going to this airport (our local one), so our flight is really early so hopefully we might make it or get bumped to some later time etc. I have a feeling its not going to be good.

I def. need a vacation. Ds3 refused to cooperate and take a family christmas picture today at church,which we always do, so this will be the first year we dont have one and I wont be sending one out with our christmas cards. Needles to say I was very, very upset.

I will bring my netbook and check in when I can. I am sure that will be more often as I am sure dh will be doing work as usual.

GAGWTA. May your days be merry and bright

 

[CherylDan]

Hi ladies!

Hope you all had a good weekend, and all your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely.

Maryann, enjoy your trip! I hope you have a great time and the weather cooperates.

Peg, yay for no new scans!

Straitlover, best wishes to you for a complication free surgery!

Dancind, how did your DD last interview go?

I had quite an eventful doctor appt this week. Between my last two scans showing progression and increased tumor markers, it was decided that chemo #2 is not working either. So I now have a new plan in place......I will be going off chemo for two months, and starting a hormone therapy, Faslomax. I will get an injection every two weeks for the first six weeks, and then once a month. At the end of two months I'll have another CT scan to check progress (hopefully, the lack thereof!)

I'm glad to be getting off chemo for awhile......even though this one was fairly tolerable, after being on it since June, I can tell its really been taking its toll. And I also happy to be having this break over Christmas and our upcoming trip.....hopefully some of the fatigue will be gone by then.

I had to get an antibiotic for a pretty nasty infection under one of my fingernails. Pretty painful, and really gross looking. Ewwww!

I bought myself a Christmas present......got the new iPad Air 2! I'm excited to start using it. We also got a new desktop because my old one is slowing dying day by day! DH set it up for me but I really haven't had much time to learn how to use it yet.....been too busy with Christmas stuff, I guess.

I'm pretty much done shopping, and the tree is done along with some other decorations. We cut back quite a bit on decorations this year, it just got to be too much. So, we've adopted the less is more mantra this year!

GAGWTA!!!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Checking in live.

Its colder than what I expected. Layering is my friend. They say its 10 degrees below average and boy the parks are crowded.

Our trip started off with getting through the rain storm to the plane, having a man have a supposed heart attack on our plane. They kept giving him oxygen and a nurse who was on the plane looked at him. But he walked off the plane and sat in a wheelchair with the emts, then my wheelchair was not here and the guy said he had no record of the order, etc.

But we got to Epcot, saw the candlelight after terrible service for dinner at Rose and Crown and Levar Burton was awesome!

Then yest back to Epcot and we saw many of the holiday storytellers and entertainment. Had a nice dinner at Chefs and saw Edward James Olmos at the candlelight processional for free this time.

Cheryl - in your honor, I stopped and smelled the roses in Epcot and they were pretty and smelled wonderful! Lots of pink color.

Going to MVMCP today.

GAGWTA - thinking of you all.

 

[Feralpeg]

LMP, Kendall and I were also at Epcot last night. We started out with the intention of seeing the Osbourne Lights at the Studio, but found out that they were closing early for a private event. We got there at 5pm and they were closing at 6pm. So, we changed plans and went to Epcot.

We managed to get a last minute ADR at Teppon Edo at 6:30. After dinner we just wandered around World Showcase before heading home. We got home about 8:30. The wind had really picked up and it was very brisk! Felt like winter to me! lol.

Hope you're having a good time!

 

[smiley_face2]

Love live updates from Disney!! thanks LMP....I did not pay attention...sorry but is your whole family there? I am sorry DS3 did not want to do a christmas pic this year...was thinking if you were all there perhaps he would have one taken there?
Cheryl....that is funny because we have also decided to cut back...in fact I went and bought a beautiful little 4 foot tree, one that is snow covered and already strung with little white lights, berries and tiny pine cones. It is in a lovely pot, fits perfectly on one of the large end tables, all I did was to put some tinsel on it and a pretty topper and it's done! I felt such a sense of relief when we (I) decided that I didn't want to do so much!
We have all 4 grand daughters coming to stay for the week after Christmas and are very excited about that!! I also said we will be doing lot's of take out meals or going to restaurants as all that cooking and cleaning wears me right out now and makes me crabby and that is not a holiday for me! hurray!
I only have 2 under 2 yr old presents to get and I am done shopping. Cut way back on that this year as well, making gift bags for the grand daughters that include a $50 gift card to Michaels .... they love crafting and so does their mom and they go there frequently. got lot's of pretty hair dos and chocolats etc to go in the bags.
Peanme....hope you are feeling well. Snappy where are you? Peg...yay to no more scans for a while! Straightlove....sure hope your surgery goes well!
RobinB....MRI's are horrible!! I think because of how you are postitioned....I have also had major surgery on my esphagus....I take dilaudid before I go in for mine.
GAGWTA!!

 

[Dancind]

LMP, sorry it is crowded! I'm still living in the DVC fantasy that early December up until the 15th is a good time to go. Guess there are no good times to go anymore, for crowds anyway.

I haven't really done Christmas decorations for several years, but I'm doing it this weekend and will make DH help. You ladies have inspired me. We will celebrate before DD leaves on the 20th. Her interview was actually a "touching base", she now has an interview on the 18th. Hectic week coming up.

 

[Straitlover]

Hi everybody!!!

Oooh, a live check in from WDW! Sooo wish I was there, even if it's cold. Love everything there about the Holiday, esp the Candlelight Processional and Osborne Lights. Maybe next year ...

Hope you are having a ball LMP!

Cheryl, sorry about the bad report. Hope the new treatment works better. Enjoy that break from chemo as best you can.

This time next week I hope to be leaving the hospital from my surgery. It starts at 7:30 and is scheduled for 3 hours, so if all goes well, I'll be done by this time. I better get on the ball and buy the few presents I need as I will be pretty much housebound between then and Christmas (no ride).

Handling my mother's estate, what little there is, will I think drive me to drink. Since she had no will, it gets split equally between the sibs. There are 2 living and 2 deceased (each get 25%). The deceased's children get their part. So 6 kids split my deceased sister's part. Problem is, I only know where one of them is. The rest are MIA. So what do I do with their part???? After all's said and done, we're probably talking less than $200 per kid (5 of them), so I'm not spending money on a lawyer to ask about it. I'm going to do more research, but right now my plan is to send a letter to the last known address where I know none live, hold the money in the estate account for a year, and then send it to unclaimed property in that state. Ya;ll come visit me in jail if I end up being wrong, LOL!

GAGWTA!

 

[smiley_face2]

Hi everybody!!!

Oooh, a live check in from WDW! Sooo wish I was there, even if it's cold. Love everything there about the Holiday, esp the Candlelight Processional and Osborne Lights. Maybe next year ...

Hope you are having a ball LMP!

Cheryl, sorry about the bad report. Hope the new treatment works better. Enjoy that break from chemo as best you can.

This time next week I hope to be leaving the hospital from my surgery. It starts at 7:30 and is scheduled for 3 hours, so if all goes well, I'll be done by this time. I better get on the ball and buy the few presents I need as I will be pretty much housebound between then and Christmas (no ride).

Handling my mother's estate, what little there is, will I think drive me to drink. Since she had no will, it gets split equally between the sibs. There are 2 living and 2 deceased (each get 25%). The deceased's children get their part. So 6 kids split my deceased sister's part. Problem is, I only know where one of them is. The rest are MIA. So what do I do with their part???? After all's said and done, we're probably talking less than $200 per kid (5 of them), so I'm not spending money on a lawyer to ask about it. I'm going to do more research, but right now my plan is to send a letter to the last known address where I know none live, hold the money in the estate account for a year, and then send it to unclaimed property in that state. Ya;ll come visit me in jail if I end up being wrong, LOL!

GAGWTA!

I do not remember what the exact limit is, it has been nearly 20 years since I went through nearly the exact same thing with my mom. she had a will though, I was executress, basically she died with nothing because she sold the house and used the money to build on to our house to come and live with us. other than that she had her pension and very little money in the bank. by they time the funeral expenses were paid, there was no cash left. one sibling threatened through the grapevine they were going to sue us but it went no where. I know there is a free legal advise line you can call.... I would not worry about going to jail!

 

[Dancind]

Straitlover, did you try Facebook? Amazing who shows up on there.

 

[Straitlover]

Straitlover, did you try Facebook? Amazing who shows up on there.

Yes. I did not see any pictures that looked like the oldest (last pic I saw of her was from 2005 not too long before my sis was diagnosed w/ her inflammatory BC). The others I doubt I would recognize in a picture. 2 of the 5 are troublemakers (drinking/drugs) so I doubt they have time for FB.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Well I am back

Lisa - Wishing you all the best with your surgery. I dont know where you live but if its NJ I can ask my cousins dd for some free advice for you.

Cheryl - glad you are getting a chemo break and hope the new treatment plan brings good results

Diana -hope your dd interview goes well

Laurie - we miss you

smiley - have fun with your dgd's. Always love seeing your pictures with them. Its so fun that they love crafts.

Linda - hope you are healing and getting stronger each and every day

Peg - I hope you and Kendall get to see the Osborne lights. We enjoyed them alot and honestly it was less crowded than I expected.

I need a vacation from the vacation because as soon as we got home I had to wash dh clothes, he helped. Now he is in Calif. and Wash. He isnt going to San Diego that guy is coming to SF to meet him. He will be back for Christmas and then he is leaving to go to New Zealand on a mileage run so he can get 100k status for the year. He is only sleeping overnight in Auckland I think and coming back with a pitstop in Australia I think.

The vacation was ok. Of course the weather was getting warm and nice when we were leaving. We got alot done like the storytellers, MVMCP, Osborne Lights etc.

I didnt get to shop at DTD or see the gingerbread house at the GF. Dh was always making me change the plans. sigh. One night he was up working till 3:30 am.

Some of the meals were really disappointing I think the food quality has really gone down for sure. Dh steak at Yachtsman was terrible, he sent back his steak at Be Our Guest and all the food there tasted like salt and he said at Hollywood Brown Derby his chicken was not cooked well but he didnt want to send it back. That place is off our list now.

Also dh doesnt want to use the wheelchair co. we have been using. He has had it with their bad service and I think I have too.

We did wait in line 2 hours for Toy Story (no fast passes available), call us nuts and we got the first row for the frozen sing along.

Also a guy took a napkin and made it like a snowball and threw it at his son and his son ducked and it hit me in the head and shoulder. I was shocked and just stared at them. They were at the next table. I didnt see what happened and was waiting for the guy to send his kid over to apologize because I thought the kid did it. But the dad came over to apologize and bought us dinner!!! Dh was none to happy as he is always too very protective of me and said something. I just wanted to get out of there.

GAGWTA. Thinking of you all.

 

[CherylDan]

Merry Christmas ladies!!!

Christmas is in full swing here at our house - we grilled steaks and had our annual gift exchange bonanza tonight with immediate family. I think it gets bigger each year instead of smaller, even tho I really did try to scale back! I blame it on the DDs - they seem to bring more and more gifts each year. And then of course it is Zoe's first Christmas, so we really went all out for her! It was a lot of fun.

Going to BIL's house tomorrow night, and then Christmas night we have our big dinner here for about 25 people. I'm pretty sure I realy did scale plans for that dinner back! Anyway, I love Christmas.........and I'm so glad to be feeling good to really enjoy it all! This chemo break could not have come at a better time.

I want to wish each and every one of you the happiest of holidays! GAGWTA!!!!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Happy Holidays to All!

 

[Feralpeg]

Happy Holidays, my friends! Hope you all have a safe and very merry Christmas!

 

[NHAnn]

Wishing you all blessings at Christmas, and into the New Year!