Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part IV - GAGWTA

[Feralpeg]

Ladies, I have a question. Do you get flu shots? I've always gotten them in the past, but was wondering if I should this year. I'll ask the doctor next week, but just curious. While I'd really like to have the protection from the flu, I don't know how I will react since my immune system isn't at its best right now.

Thanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Stopping by for a moment to wish all you wonderful ladies continued good wishes and prayers. Wishing everyone to get well and/or stay well.

As a word of encouragement, my wife Marie has reached her 15th anniversary of completing her clinical protocols of surgery, chemo and radiation for her Stage III breast cancer back in Sept, '98. We continue to be watchful and alert to any changes as time goes by. A couple years, she did acquire lymphedema in her arm that had most of the nodes removed, as well as two bouts of cellulitis in the past year (just getting over one now).

I am so very saddened to read about Linda (PatsMom). I will miss her smiling Cheshire Cat avatar that always signaled a friendly post. Thanks for sharing the news, Mary, sad as it is.

Peggy, Robin, and everyone...'s Love you all.

 

[snappy]

Nice to see you post, Dan. Sorry to hear of Marie's lymphedema and related issues. A 15 year survivor is always something to celebrate.

Thanks.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Dan - nice to see you. Wishing Marie and you all the best always. Dh and I will be there in Dec. Maybe we can meet up again.

robinb- glad you got to enjoy some time with your dh. My prayers will be with you. Wishing you all the best.

Diana - DL sounds fun! I know my dh and ds enjoyed it.

Linda - my ds got 100 on his dosage and calc test! How did you decide what you wanted to do?? He said right now he is thinking Peds? Dont know why. He hasnt even done that rotation yet. At first he said pediatric oncology but I think he said now just regular peds.

Barbara - thinking of you. Hope you are healing.

Peg-how is your water situation? I usually get a flu shot. With the 3 ds here and considering how many people my dh is exposed to and then at church all the people we see each week, well germs are everywhere for us. Dh and I will be there when you are going tot the party. I still havent made all those plans for the week yet. I am glad you got to go to downtown disney and so happy you are getting your taste back.

Well we have success! Linda you would be proud of me. I am going to the new internist next week. So we shall see how that works out. I need to look her up on the hospital website. Since my endo picked her out I hope I like her.

After dog sitting, lets just say I am not so inclined to get a dog. All they did was sit around and be lazy. I almost tripped on them a few times. Ds 3 took them out for a walk in the dark and the one got out of his leash harness so ds had to scoop up the dog because a car was coming, omg!! And that was just overnight.

Dh has called and is busy in michigan. Today is ds first day of clinicals. He is carpooling and taking 2 other girls, well ladies. One is in our neighborhood. So now I have 2 more cars in front of my house. Ds1 is sick with a bad cold. I hope I dont get it.

Who would you rather see for a candlelight narrarator Ashley Judd or Sigourney Weaver? Dh said - who is Ashley Judd?, I told him if I see Sigourney Weaver al I am going to do is think Ghostbusters or Alien etc.

GAGWTA

 

[annrae]

It has been some time since I have posted - I think of all of you so often but it seems that life just gets in the way sometime. It has been 5 weeks since my mastectomy and I saw the Dr. for the 3rd time today and I am healing very well. I still cannot get my arm up as high as the other arm but I'm working on it. The "glue" finally is gone - I have a lot of numbness under my arm and part of the back of my arm and back but the surgeon said that hopefully will eventually go away.

I was so very sad to read about PatsMom. I hope you are doing well, Peg. Linda, Laurie, Maryann, , NHAnn, Smiley and each of you who have thought of me, I thank you. It's a difficult journey to go through as we all know but with your support and understanding, it makes it easier. You are all so brave!

Take care and be safe, well and strong.

Hugs,

Barbara

 

[Feralpeg]

Barb, So glad to hear things are going well. You will be able to lift your arm completely. It just takes time. As for the numbness, the back of my arm is still a little number after 30 years. I think they cut a nerve somewhere along the line. For the most part, it doesn't bother me. Oddly, sometimes that area starts to itch, but I can't feel it when I scratch. lol!

I'm having my other breast removed on Tuesday. My things have changed since my mastectomy 30 years ago. At that time, they kept my in the hospital for five days following surgery and I was off work for two weeks. On Tuesday, I will have the same procedure as an out patient at a surgical center. The doctor said it would take about 30 minutes (he will not be removing any lymph nodes). I will stay there for about an hour and then, I'm headed home. The only thing I'm dreading is the drain. I really don't like those things, but they are necessary.

Hang in there, Barb. You will be in my thoughts!

 

[Feralpeg]

Peg-how is your water situation?

Who would you rather see for a candlelight narrarator Ashley Judd or Sigourney Weaver? Dh said - who is Ashley Judd?, I told him if I see Sigourney Weaver al I am going to do is think Ghostbusters or Alien etc.

GAGWTA

Water is okay now. We had a boil order for two days. I boiled nothing! lol! It was a perfect excuse to go out to eat. I drank bottled water at home. The dog even got bottled water! I did ruin two toothbrushes. My memory is only good for a few seconds at a time. I'd remember not to use the water to brush, but would rinse the toothbrush. Stupid!

I'm with your husband on the Candlelight thing. I really like Ashley Judd, but I love Sigourney Weaver!

 

[mrsklamc]

I imagine you ladies (and men if there are any here) get this question all the time, and I think I remember a thread about it, but searching is failing me.

MIL is going to be having a tumor removed and 4-6 radiation; Chemo will depend on the results of the biopsy. We'd really like to send a care package and I hoped you might have suggestions. I've had thyroid cancer but this is a bit different.

Thank you!

 

[kofslinky]

Ladies, I have a question. Do you get flu shots? I've always gotten them in the past, but was wondering if I should this year. I'll ask the doctor next week, but just curious. While I'd really like to have the protection from the flu, I don't know how I will react since my immune system isn't at its best right now.

Thanks!

I have gotten the flu shot every year since chemo, but I also was getting the flu shot before I "got" cancer. I work in a public high school, and the flu shot has always just seemed like a good idea. That being said, my immune system has been pretty good the whole time on chemo. (I did get the pneumonia shot on the recommendation of my doctor the first winter on chemo.)

Update on my surgery and current wound- I see both the surgeon and my oncologist tomorrow to see how it's going, but the pain is getting better!

 

[CherylDan]

Kofslinky, glad to hear that the pain is getting better. Sounds like an awful thing to have happened! I have a port, but luckily haven't had any problems with this one or the first one I had. I hope you get a good report from your surgeon tomorrow.

mrsklamc, I found restaurant gift cards to be wonderful!

Wow, Peg, that sounds so quick for your surgery, and as out patient no less! I would think that recovering at home will be much less stressful too.
I've had a flu shot every year since being diagnosed, if I'm remembering correctly. I've never had any side effects from it.

Barbara, glad to hear you are healing well. Give yourself time on getting your arm up, you will get there! Are you doing physical therapy? I also still have numbness seven years later. Peg, I hear you on the itching - it makes me crazy sometimes. Seems like it helps if I slap it.

Maryann, good luck next week with your new internist....I hope you like her! How are all the F&W plans coming?

Dan, 15 years really is very inspirational!

Robinb, sending you lots of thoughts and good wishes for your surgery.

After three months, we officially gave up on the condo short sale.....but wait, because we are a gluten for punishment, we put in an offer for another condo, unfortunately it is also a short sale but at least it's with a different bank! The new one doesn't need much work at all, so that will work out better for us. Sooo, here we go again.

I hope everyone is doing well.....GAGWTA!!

 

[mrsklamc]

mrsklamc, I found restaurant gift cards to be wonderful!

Thank you! I had a friend who had reduction surgery and they told her that eating lots of protein was important for her healing so I wondered if it might be for this too. I will try to think of high protein places she likes.

 

[Feralpeg]

Cheryl, Good luck on the new condo! If you're anything like me, it seems like I'm not living if there isn't some type of crisis in the works!

I thought my life might get a bit calmer after Kendall moved to her own place. I should have known better. We finally got a resolution on the electric company mess. They gave her a credit for the time they had charged her when she wasn't living at the apartment. Now, a crisis on the rent.

On September 1st, Kendall went to the apartment company portal and paid her rent. That is the only way they accept payment. We thought everything was fine until last night. When she got home, there was a note on her door saying that if she didn't pay the rent by September 10th, she'd be evicted.

She went right over to the office where they told her that her payment had not gone through. The bank couldn't find her account. What really made me mad is that she got a confirmation that she'd printed when she made the payment. It turns out that the payment is not taken real time and that Kendall had mixed up a number on her account info when she entered it. Okay. She made a mistake and corrected it. What really got to me is that they charged her $170 in late fees for being four days past the first of the month. That seems really excessive and there was no notification that they had a problem until the notice on her door.

Of course, I stressed to Kendall that she has to be very careful when doing these things. She has so much on her plate right now that she is just rushing through things. She is now set up to have the payment automatically withdrawn on the first of each month in the future. Hopefully, this is the end of the initial setup issues. She is on a tight budget and these things are not helping! It is also not helping my nerves! lol!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

[smiley_face2]

I made a real basic gumbo with my overflow okra this morning, with just a lot of garlic, onions, and shrimp. It was great when I got back from doing errands.

I am a happy camper right now.

I did this too, for the first time about 10 days ago! I was channeling your authentic spirit for help! lol, it turned out awesome! just like the kind we love eating in New Orleans Square in Disneyland at the Blue Bayou! I had to go to 4 stores to get the ingredients, 2 had no idea what annadouli (is that spelled right?) was.... but it turned out great, and I have ingredients to do it again. (frozen okra) I even found filet powder at a specialty kitchen store. Kept wanting to get in here to tell you about it
I am soooo sad to read about Patsmom. It's so hard to lose one of our group. My first experience with this was with Lisa, and then someone from the group of people I did chemo with. It really drags you back to earth and reality in a big way, reminds you that we are basically living on borrowed time, be it 2 years or 20. Of course losing a child does that in a big way, but every loss like this one triggers it all again.
Peg I am really glad you have good results!!
I am glad our youngest daughter, 25, asked yesterday if we could please make a trip to Disneyland this fall gives me a good excuse to go into my obssesive compulsive trip planning mode which really occupies my mind. November 16 is when we leave, plan to be there for the start of the Christmas season which officially begins on Nov 12. It is for sure my very favorite time to be there. In the meanwhile we are going on the 17th of this month for a week up into the Okananagan valley. they call it Napa north, it is the northern most tip of the desert that starts down in California, and if it didn't get so cold in winter (about 10F)! we would move there it's only a ferry ride and 5 hour drive to get there though, and even next week the high is predicted at 90F so nice and hot. We are into our fall mode here of lot's of showers on and off, with sunny breaks and highs of only about 70F we are going on a winery tour and to a mine called Big Rock Candy Mountain where you can go digging for your own gems we will meet up with older daughter, SIL and grandsons for 2 nights and go on a Great Train Robbery on an antique steam train, kind of like what they do at Knotts Berry farm. It will be a nice change to leave home and arrive at our destination in half a day.

 

[snappy]

I did this too, for the first time about 10 days ago! I was channeling your authentic spirit for help! lol, it turned out awesome! just like the kind we love eating in New Orleans Square in Disneyland at the Blue Bayou! I had to go to 4 stores to get the ingredients, 2 had no idea what annadouli (is that spelled right?) was.... but it turned out great, and I have ingredients to do it again. (frozen okra) I even found filet powder at a specialty kitchen store. Kept wanting to get in here to tell you about it
I am soooo sad to read about Patsmom. It's so hard to lose one of our group. My first experience with this was with Lisa, and then someone from the group of people I did chemo with. It really drags you back to earth and reality in a big way, reminds you that we are basically living on borrowed time, be it 2 years or 20. Of course losing a child does that in a big way, but every loss like this one triggers it all again.
Peg I am really glad you have good results!!
I am glad our youngest daughter, 25, asked yesterday if we could please make a trip to Disneyland this fall gives me a good excuse to go into my obssesive compulsive trip planning mode which really occupies my mind. November 16 is when we leave, plan to be there for the start of the Christmas season which officially begins on Nov 12. It is for sure my very favorite time to be there. In the meanwhile we are going on the 17th of this month for a week up into the Okananagan valley. they call it Napa north, it is the northern most tip of the desert that starts down in California, and if it didn't get so cold in winter (about 10F)! we would move there it's only a ferry ride and 5 hour drive to get there though, and even next week the high is predicted at 90F so nice and hot. We are into our fall mode here of lot's of showers on and off, with sunny breaks and highs of only about 70F we are going on a winery tour and to a mine called Big Rock Candy Mountain where you can go digging for your own gems we will meet up with older daughter, SIL and grandsons for 2 nights and go on a Great Train Robbery on an antique steam train, kind of like what they do at Knotts Berry farm. It will be a nice change to leave home and arrive at our destination in half a day.

Its funny you post this right at this moment I am making another shrimp and okra gumbo.

I am shocked you could even find andouille sausage in your neck of the woods. i guess we export it from here, lol.

I am mainly doing the okra and shrimp. With the andouille sausage most people here do a roux and put in boneless chicken thighs too, no okra.

With my controlled carb diet maintenance program, the shrimp and okra are better for me.

Your upcoming trips sound wonderful.

Yes it is hard to lose someone from one of these groups, Smiley face.

Good luck with your surgery, Peg.

Kofslinky, I hope you continue to heal.

You as well, Barbara, look for an email from me in the near future, please.

 

[snappy]

We had a successful short and sweet trip to D
c over the Labor Day weekend. DD17 came down with upper respiratory yucky stuff the previous Wednesday evening and was still sick through saturday morning so that was a bit tricky. Everyone was flexible so somehow it just worked. Dd23 and her boyfriend arrived about an hour after we did. When we were landing at Reagan, I was shocked how we flew in right over the Washington monument and the Capitol. So close. We were then treated to an extended fireworks display when some one on the National professional baseball hit a home run. We were stuck on the tarmac for awhile but I did not mind since I was being entertained by fireworks.

I was celebrating a milestone birthday while there (don't ask) so the hotel had 2 chilled bottles of French champagne and chocolate covered strawberries and other goodies waiting for us. I sprang for suites, and the rooms had these big deep jacuzzi tubs which made the stay feel special even if it was short. I did a lot of research and figured out I wanted to be in the Dupont Circle area with the proximity to many great restaurants, Georgetown and the embassies. We took cabs to the National mall and to the museums since we were short on time. If I had more time and wasn't nursing DD17, we would have done the subway more.

Continuing to celebrate this weekend with my friend Cindy and her SO.

DH bought me a silver Pandora bracelet because I told him that's what I wanted. It was a good thing I explained what it was as he did not have a clue. I told him it was easy as there was a Pandora store that sells nothing but right in the mall.

He picked some special charms, a little fairy that sort of looks like tinkerbell, a shell with a tiny gold star on it, some other thing that looks loaded with jewels and the cutest little fish with a wiggly tail and blue eyes that you have ever seen.

Amazingly, DD23's boyfriend's mother was planning on getting me a Pandora bracelet, so DD23 asked me if I had one the exact same day I told DH that was what I wanted for my birthday. Instead DD23's boyfriend's mother bought me a silver locket with a class case which holds several items they picked out for me, mickey ears of course. Goes perfectly with the bracelet as it is the same general principle, customizing the items you put on the bracelet or in this case, in the locket.

DD23 gave me a beautiful Italian leather wallet she found in a design store near her office in Brooklyn called Stewart/STand. It looks rich, and a real plus is that the area for credit cards has material that protects your credit cards from being scanned by thieves.

Pretty interesting technology.

Having a nice today playing hooky from work. I had to renew my driver's license and get a new photo made. Big diference from the last one when I had longer hair but was a lot heavier.

My sister, her DH, and my mom are in Sandestin and I am a little sad I am not with them, but I am enjoying just being lazy and doing things on my own time.

GAGWTA!

 

[robinb]

Peg - I always get a flu shot but your doctor will know for which has the biggest risk. {{Hugs}} and good thoughts going out to you for tomorrow's surgery. I think I missed why you are having your other breast removed if they are not biopsying the lymph nodes. In any case, I'll be think about you tomorrow.

Dan - thanks for the shout out. I'm sorry that Marie is still having issues related to her surgery so many years later. 15 years is worth a lot !

LMP - It's so cool that your son is going into medicine! I hope your new internist works out. It does sound good that he comes recommended . Of your two CP options, I would choose Sigourney Weaver.

Barbara - I'm glad to read that you can move your arm more. I do hope that the numbness goes away soon!

Smiley-Face - Your trip to Okananagan valley sounds like a blast! It's so nice that you are still able to do things with your daughter, SIL and grandbabies. What a nice trip! Oh, and Disneyland is my favorite park. Have a great time planning.

Snappy - Andouille is available here in Wisconsin ... even in a lowfat chicken variety! I'm sure it's not as good as what you can get, but still OK . It sounds like you had an awesome birthday! I have never been to Washington DC but it's on my short list. Where do you stay? Oh and the Pandora bracelet sounds so nice! I was thinking about asking for one myself, but I'm not sure when/where I could wear it. I am a minimalist when it comes to jewelry and make-up. Where are you planning to wear yours?

Update on me in a separate post .

GAGWTA!

 

[snappy]

Ah, hoping to hear soon an update about you, robing. Hope all is well.

We stayed at Hotel Palomar in DC. Its a Kimpton hotel, which is the same group we stayed at back in February when we stayed at the Eventi in Manhattan. It's not a fancy pants place, more contemporary.

I liked DC, and I am glad we made the trip but I would return sooner to NYC. I think I have been in NYC enough to know my way around some. I prefer to figure out a place to some degree and feel at ease. Maybe that is why I love WDW and Sandestin in the Florida panhandle as I have been to both areas so many times. I can drive around in both areas and feel safe and not obsess.

I plan to wear my bracelet to work. We don't go out much, so I will wear it when out and about. I feel it's not something you would limit to wearing during "dress up" occasions. I need to get jeweler's bags to store the bracelet and the necklace in though. The brochure that came with purchase said not to keep it in the box it came in. Maybe it does not matter if you wear it daily, as I think he issue is tarnishing and I think if you wear silver, it tends not to tarnish. You can't wear it when exercising, swimming bathing, etc., and you should not get makeup, hairspray, or perfume on it, so best to put it on last thing after getting dressed, etc. I absolutely could not figure out how to get the bracelet on at first, but have mastered the clasp. It was much easier wearing it on the left wrist.

I too don't usually wear a lot of jewelry. Mostly I have worn the nice gold chain DH bought for me for mother's day when our youngest was 1 year old. He gave it to DD1 at the time to give to me, and the memory of her toddling over to me with the bag it was in I will never forget. I wear it with a gold sand dollar slide that my parents gave me when my dad was alive. Reminds me of him.

Now though I am branching out with this silver thing. I kind of like changing things after all this time (16 years).

I work out several days a week before going to work and bring makeup to put on after working out but I hardly ever bother. I like your word minimalist a lot, but in my case I think it is more laziness.

I haven't been to DL since the 1960's. I am sure I would love it.

I am jealous of all of your upcoming trips. I am afraid there is no trip in my future. I actually counted up the number of days I have been traveling this calendar year and it is up to 27, but more like 40 during the last 12 months since September 2012.

I think I need to save up both some funds and some energy before planning anything else.

I have really used my Tumi suitcase and carryon bag that I got on a yellow tag sale at TJ Maxx last year. I had two different TSA workers compliment them on my DC trip.

Makes me feel good to get compliments! The material the bags are made up are bright purple, jade green, bright pink in random geometric design. I think it catches people's eyes. It was also cheap for good quality!

GAGWTA!

 

[robinb]

My update as promised .

My DH's insurance is quirky. It's really meant for people who live in NY, but we (and lots of others in his company) like outside of NY State and the insurance that we get is cobbled together. Think Blue/Cross Blue/Shield, but a different company. We pay our co-pay and then 20% of everything after that. His old insurance had pricing agreements with UW-Health so all of our doctors are there. His company changed insurance plans and how the pricing agreement is with Dean Care.

The original doc I saw was from UW-Health and I really liked him but I knew that we would have to pay 20% of their screw-you pricing. So, I got a second opinion through Dean. I saw an oncologist who referred me to a surgeon. The oncologist was great but the surgeon was not. First of all she didn't even look at the ultrasounds I brought over because she couldn't figure out how to navigate to them on the disk. Then she wanted to get an MRI because she always does. (My DH priced out the MRI with their billing department in advance and they said it was going to be $2500. Okay, we'll pay $500 for a test. The real cost was $7500! There goes $1500 down the medical rat hole.) The Dean doctor's treatment methodology was MUCH more aggressive than the UW Doc's treatment plan and she seemed to dismiss any concerns I had about the differences and said that my UW doctor was not worried enough. She pressured me to allow her to biopsy the sentinel node even through my UW doc said it was unnecessary since the ultrasound didn't show anything. She wanted to put me under full anesthesia (instead of the nerve block the UW surgeon recommended) and she wanted to take out a lot more tissue. After reading the MRI she put the pressure on full-tilt and wanted to do a full mastectomy.

I ran all the way back to the UW doctor, MRI in hand. I asked him is the MRI changed his opinion or his treatment plan and he said "no" since he feels that MRIs are not good imaging devices for breast cancer. They show too many false shadows. So, I had my lumpectomy done by the UW doc yesterday. Everything went fine. The nerve block worked like charm and they sent me home with some Vicodin. I took two doses yesterday but have not had any for 14 hours and I have no pain. I was in and out within 5 hours.

Anyway, I feel fine today with no pain. My tissue results come in on Tuesday so keep me in your good thoughts for clean margins.

 

[snappy]

What an ordeal!

I totally believe in second opinions. You were wise to not allow the Dean surgeon to pressure you. Worst case scenario, you can always have further surgery after the pathology results come in if there is any invasion showing in the tissue removed. I did not know that a lumpectomy could be done under a nerve block.

I did not have an MRI, so I can't comment on it. The extent of my disease was clearly visible on the diagnostic mammogram. I did not even get a sonogram. but then mine was widespread multifocal DCIS, with a major area right in the middle.

There are many different iterations of this disease. I think treatment should be tailored to each case, so its best not to compare your case to someone else's.

I am glad your pain is diminishing. Are you using ice packs? One of our original posters here, Ann, used bags of frozen peas! Watch that Vicodin. It had bad side effects for me when I took it for extreme muscle spasms a few years back. And drink lots of water and hot tea if you like it.

Will be thinking of you on Tuesday, hoping for clear margins.

Thanks for the update.

 

[snappy]

My kids, well our daughters and DD23's boyfriend