Choices

Good morning ladies!

Sounds like everybody is in a funk right now. I just got to the point where my exhaustion finally caught up to me and I've been sleeping ever since my appointments last Tuesday. I think I might have even slept in the dressing room while I was getting ready for the MRI LOL. This morning I'm finally catching up to my exhaustion and feel a lot better. Marla I have never done taxotere, but I did get a chuckle out of your comment "poo on that" :)

So right now I'm waiting for the radiation oncologist that I met Tuesday to set up my radiation appointments. It will be 5 days straight of radiation to my tailbone area. I made sure that I have some CeraVe. It's the cream that I used the last time I had radiation. I didn't get burned I just got a deep tan because I kept using that after each treatment. In fact I started calling it my targeted tanning treatment lol. Hopefully it does the job for me again.

Claoh i'm a little bit concerned about you. I totally understand you're being melancholy especially hanging around your family. I try real hard not to look in that direction because it would spin me off into a depression which I do not need right now. Granted, I got a little anxious when I saw that I had no more chemo treatments but also nothing to replace them. I try to keep my mind busy with things I like to do like jigsaw puzzles and watching old westerns. It's hard when you can't see ahead to know what you will be dealing with.

Time to throw a little levity to this conversation. Why were the dogs named Rolex and Timex? Because they were watch dogs. Okay, I know, that was really bad LOL.

And on that note, I think I'll just sign off for now haha. You two have a blessed day. I pray that the funks that you are both in be replaced with joy and happiness. I know this is hard on all three of us but at least we have each other to lean on and for that I am very grateful.

BTW my brain scan came back clean!

Sadie, I am overjoyed that your brain scan was CLEAR!!! huge, just huge!!!!

What are your favorite westerns? I love westerns and grew up on them. I watch Gunsmoke, Laramie, Rifleman, Paladin, Wanted Dead or Alive, and of course John Wayne, and Randolph Scott in about anything. What comes to your mind?

Claoh, what is your bathroom renovation all about? What are you doing?

Going to the airport alone would cause me some anxiety too! Who will you be visiting? friends from high school?

I am 6 days post-chemo #3 and finally feeling like myself. I went for a walk yesterday and drove to the store, post office, and bank. That was enough for me, came home and had a 2 1/2 hr nap. Wow! Finally, the nausea has backed off into its little corner of the room. Hope it stays there.

I had another support group meeting last Wednesday, and thank goodness it was much better than the last 2 times listening to one young girl cry and cry. So depressing! Can't say that I learned anything, but one of the women, this is the second time she has had breast cancer and chemo. Interesting that everyone has had different treatments.

Good for now, hope that you ladies have a joyful happy day!!

I totaled understand about the group support meeting!!!!

Two of the 3 meetings that I have been to were just depressing because of this young lady. Seemed like she was treating us in the group like her therapy session which is different than a support group. The group leader/moderator just kept quiet and let her go on and on.

So that being said, where are you located? I think you said Florida, right?

There must be some virtual cancer support groups that you could check out.

I am so glad that we can check in on each other everyday, not weekly!

Is your shower going to be a walk in shower? I am assuming so. Sound good too!

Good morning ladies!

Claoh, I'm so glad that you have so many people, both friends and family loving on you. Their support and their love is worth its weight in gold. That's how I feel about you two. I would have felt so isolated without you and Marla.

Marla, is your support group part of the American Cancer Society? I know they have support groups along with helps like free wigs and free bras and financial aid etc.

Claoh I am happy that you're getting a shower upgrade. It sounds like it's going to be a lot more convenient for you. Be careful of that old shower door, there was a time when they made them out of just glass instead of tempered glass. I would hate to see that fall and shatter if that was true. Are you going to be putting in a built-in seat or will you just be using a bench? I've been using a bench for years. My peripheral neuropathy won't allow me to stand for very long or walk very far. In fact when I go to the Cleveland Clinic I always grab a wheelchair.

Marla I don't think I have a favorite western movie per se. I just like the ones that have a lot of action. I don't really like the ones that show the "damsel in distress" type either. I guess I'm too much of a tomboy lol. Hope I didn't offend anyone by using the word tomboy but I'm too old to care about nouns, adjectives, pronouns and such anyways. :-)

So I imagine that I will be hearing from my radiologist next week to set up an appointment for my cat scan and appointments for radiation. I'm not sure but I think I am already feeling the effects of the cancer in my tailbone. I'm having an even more difficult time standing up and trying to get around but this morning when I tried to get up it felt like somebody had driven a spud bar all the way from the bottom of my heel up through the length of my leg. It was incredibly painful. Then on top of that I had two bouts of just bile regurgitation. That seems to be happening more and more and I'm not sure why because it's been a while since I've had chemo. I guess I get a chance to ask the gastroenterologist when I see him on the 2nd. Another thing that I did last week was to stop at the cemetery and make sure that everything from the opening to the closing was taken care of. Now I just need to stop at a funeral home, get that taken care of and then make sure my will is up to date. It's amazing how expensive this stuff is! My brother-in-law told me that funeral homes have insurance to pay for their part so I need to check that out. Once I get this all taken care of and wrapped up so that I don't leave this stuff on the shoulders of my husband or daughter I can go on living without worrying how they would handle all this. My niece told me to make sure that I had all my bank accounts and credit cards in a file that would be easy for them to take care of. I guess when my sister died she didn't have that information and they had to scramble to find it all. I don't want to do that to my husband or to my daughter. I realize that this might be a morbid conversation for some but it's a fact of life and given my situation (as well as Claoh's) I just think that it's wise to make sure that I have all my ducks in a row so to speak. :-) Granted right now I just have pop-ups in my body (because of the cancer in my lymphatic system) but you never know when it could actually become full-blown. It will be a relief to get this stuff done and behind me and then look forward to whatever the future brings, including spending some time with two of my wonderful friends on this board. My oncologist already confirmed that my chemo (along with my pet scans and brain MRIs every few months) was for maintenance only. I really appreciate her openness and honesty as that helps me to make decisions also.

Okay ladies, that's all my news for now. I pray that you have a wonderful and blessed day today! Hugs!

Hello Ladies!

Claoh, don't ever be"reserved" in your questions to me. Don't forget that this board is all about choices and each one of us has chosen a course that needs to be talked about. I am fine with anything that you need to ask or any opinions that you may have. You too Marla. You've been pretty quiet lately. I hope you're all right. Besides I miss your wonderful sense of humor! While!you were talking about nausea in the corner I was envisioning sit stay! LOL What a blessing it is to have your sense of humor around!

So the Cleveland Clinic called me early this morning to set up my first sets of appointments this coming Friday. The first one is with the nurse and the second one is for simulation. What they do is they run you through a CT scanner and simulate, or create a model of your sacrum which is the triangular shaped bone at the end of your spine. They will also mark your location when they dio the modeling so that the next time I go in I will be in the exact same spot for the radiation. Also when I go in there this Friday they will give me my five appointments to add to my calendar. It will be one radiation per day for 5 days. There will also be a follow-up in about 3 months to make sure they got it all and to check for any new growths.

So this is where I'm at. They have stalled the incurable breast cancer and even made it shrink a little bit, used gamma ray on the incurable brain metastasis and they're getting ready to do radiation on the incurable growth I have on my sacrum. This is what maintenance is all about for stage 4 triple negative. Through their maintenance they are extending my life while trying to give me a quality of life. Like I said, this is all going to be whack-a-mole from here on out. At least I get to tell you girls about all the really cool toys they get to use on me lol. I'm definitely learning a lot through this process.

That's it for me right now ladies. Marla looking forward to hearing from you! Hugs!

Good morning ladies,

Been quiet these last few days, just battling the nausea. Trying to rest more often and that seems to help, but I am always so busy that it is hard to slow down. Not getting up at 6:30 am and staying in bed until 8 or 9 am is new for me. Too many years of getting up early either to work at the hospital or teach school.

I think the high doses of Tylenol can be harmful and less effective over time. Maybe a drs. opinion would be a good idea.

Well, I have learned something new. I spoke with my oncologist since I have developed a pattern of chills and sore, very hard-to-swallow sore throat. I do not have tonsils. The reason my lymph glands in my throat are swollen is they are catching all the dead cells including dead cancer cells from my body. Treatment, drink lots of water to flush it all out. It sure seems to be a regular occurrence. Do any of you girls have this?

Not much new today, I started to write yesterday but have been busy with car insurance and home insurance. I have had Farmers for the last 45 years and their prices have skyrocketed, So I checked with AAA and they were half the price! So I have been busy taking photos of kitchen, bathrooms, hose exteriors etc. At least it kept me busy and not think about the nausea. 10 days post chemo #3 although physically I feel pretty good.

I have my support group meeting today and will let you guys know how it goes.

I have a joke for your ladies,

Enjoy and talk soon! love to you

Hello ladies!

This is the second day in a row that I feel like myself! Hooray! I hopefully will have the rest of this week and next week to feel good before #4 chemo. Not a lot to report, however, I did have my support group meeting yesterday and it was pretty good. Most of the conversations were about treatments, mastectomies, and how a few of them are doing post-surgery. I did not have much to add since I am not in that group. There is a new lady who just joined and I think that I am closer to her in the treatment plan.

How are you guys doing? I know that this is Thursday and Sadie is going for her simulation Friday. I am sure that there will be much to report as her style is to tell the story. I love it! Reminds me of the "You Are There" program years ago.

I don't have a joke, but a quote from Ray Bradbury, " Creativity is like a cat, it just follows you around for a while."

Much of my creative plans are just like that, they follow me around until I can make it happen!

Take care my friends and I too look forward for your posts!