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Jan's Blog
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[National Cancer Institute]
[BreastCancer.Org]
[The R. A. Bloch Cancer Foundation]
[Susan G. Komen for the Cure]
[Cancer Information Service]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "JansBlog" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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12:03 pm
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NO MORE TREATMENTS!!!!!!
Hallelujah I am all done with treatments. The last radiation treatment was on April 4- Now all I have to do is heal up the skin and take a medication for the next 5 years! I am already healing well, looks like I should make it to normal in about 2 weeks. My husband took me out to dinner to celebrate at a wonderful new restaurant called Oceannaire. The food was amazing!
The other good news is that I am a great aunt as of April 2, 2008! Kaira Rose made her way into the world without difficulty and is absolutely perfect (just ask her grandma). I spent 3 days in Upland with the baby, it was great.
Now that I have been set free of daily treatments I can travel again so David & I are off to Madison, WI and Chicago next week. I get to see my Aunt Evie who is 92 and my cousins, etc. Really looking forward to it. David has business in Chicago, but I get to play and visit the relatives there. After this trip, who knows? Although in August we will be cruising in Alaska.
I am coming close to the end of my journey, hurrah! The medication issue has yet to be resolved. I am experiencing significant joint pain and swelling because of the Arimidex. My doctor said that it could subside so I am going to give it six months. If it has not subsided by then I will stop that medication, I have worked too hard to be healthy to continue to feel like a 100 year old woman everytime I get up and to be in constant pain. The biggest decision will be whether to try the Tamoxifen or to go without medication, we will see when we get there.
I will probably continue the blog for a while longer. I do want to thank you all for taking this journey with me, I honestly believe that the journey would have been much more difficult without all of you.
Love & Kisses to All
Janice
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03:48 pm
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Getting Close to the finish line
Hi all, I only have 7 more treatments to go!!! The radiation has not been too bad. The fatigue I thought was hitting, did not. I have been feeling fine and fairly energetic. The burns on the breast are getting progressively worse, but not so bad that it is horrible. So all in all, not bad at all.
I have started taking the Arimidex, a drug that prevents the formation of estrogen anywhere in the body, and unfortunately it has some nasty side effects. The big one is a potential for bone density loss, the doc keeps an eye on that with regular bone density scans. The most annoying one is the joint pain. It affects every joint in my body, so I ache all over and if I sit too long its really hard to get up and move. We are hoping that this will fade with more time, the doc told me it could go away. I am giving it another 3 months before I make any decisions. I'm supposed to take this drug for 5 years and I don't think I can tolerate this much joint pain for that long. Keep your fingers crossed for it to be a temporary side effect.
I have had to be more energetic recently because my husband decided that I didn't have enough to do and needed distraction, so he volunteered my services to the CEO of Brady/San Diego as a temporary assistant. So, I am working 4-5 hours a day 4 days a week. As usual, David was right. The distraction has been good for me and doing a job that is new to me is a good challenge. I am learning all kinds of computer programs that I haven't had to use before, maybe it will help with chemo brain!
This last weekend was a great spa retreat with the two daughters. They both flew out here (from Denver) and we drove out to Desert Hot Springs and stayed at The Springs. It is a small (11 rooms) spa/hotel with natural mineral springs. It was just beautiful and we had perfect weather. It got up to about 85 to 90, but the wind was blowing so it wasn't oppressive. It went down to the high 60's overnight and was clear and gorgeous. The desert is greener than I have ever seen it!
One of the best things about finishing radiation is that I will get to travel again. We will be off to Chicago and Madison in April for meetings and to visit my cousins and aunt in Madison. After that I'm not sure where we're off to, except in August. We have booked an Alaskan Cruise/Landtour with Holland America. We decided that a major reward was in order for both of us getting through all of this adventure. We can't wait to go see the big beautiful state of Alaska.
I hope all of you are well and happy. As usual, I will keep you posted!
Love Janice
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06:26 pm
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Radiation Treatment
Hi all, been awhile since I talked to all of you. I have completed almost 2 weeks of radiation treatment. I now am the proud bearer of 4 tattoos (very tiny dots), which has convinced me that I never want another tattoo. The treatment itself is very simple. I go in at 10:00am every weekday, flash my id card under the reader, change into a gown and go to the waiting room. I get called in (usually within a couple of minutes) I lie on the table while they line up the lasers (with the tattoos) and position the x-ray machine. They do the radiation - it takes about 5 minutes - I change and leave.
The downside is that it is EVERYday. I have a sunburn on my breast from the radiation, not too bad and they give me lotions to deal with it. I am just starting to feel the fatigue. I was OK until yesterday, then it felt like someone dropped a ton of bricks on me. I tried to nap, but had too many interruptions, went to bed early. Today, I napped and I suspect that will become a pattern again. The fatigue is the part I have such a problem with, it just feels like I get nothing accomplished and yet I'm exhausted. Ah well, they tell me that being forgiving of myself is a good thing, so I am trying,.
So, what have I been up to since the last blog. Not too much, I don't get to travel, except really short trips so other than going to Upland for my niece's shower (which was really fun) I haven't gone anywhere. We have been cooking alot for Tuesday nite dinners. David did a Cuban meal recently with Vaca Frita and black beans and rice. It was sooooo yummy. We also just made Onion soup gratinee with a salad lyonnaise that turned out really good. We started with bones and worked our way up to soup. (for my dinner group in April, we saved enough stock to make a demi-glace sauce).
We are trying to catch up with friends that we haven't seen for awhile, so going out to dinner, etc. I am in the process of getting new carpet for my family room, but other than that haven't taken on many projects.
Just so you know, I have been having some problems getting all my e-mail, so if you wrote and I didn't respond, I apologize. Just try again, we think we've fixed the problem.
Love to you all
Janice
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09:46 pm
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What's up with radiation
Hi all, Guess what - I HAVE PEACH FUZZ ON MY HEAD!!!!! It is growing back, I'm very excited, but very impatient as well!
I know I'm late with this, sorry, the appointment with the radiologist was changed until Tuesday. I met with Dr. Mansy, very nice woman, very straightforward. Basically here's the drill. I see her again on Friday and get my markings (my first tattoos!), she does a CT scan so she can see where the internal organs (particularly the heart) are so the radiation can be directed at an angle that doesn't go through the organs as much as possible. After Friday's appt I will start the radiation therapy about a week later (apparently it takes them a while to get everything set up). She said it is 5-6 weeks. The radiation will be whole breast radiation for the 5 weeks and then they try to zap the specific area where the tumor was "to give it an extra boost". She said that sometimes they can do the extra boost during regular radiation so that I might be done in 5 weeks ! That would make me happy. The major side effects are tiredness and skinburns similar to sunburn on the breast tissue. And that is all I know for the moment.
When I last left you I was getting ready to take my out of town trips before I was tied to the x-ray machine. We spent a long weekend up in Idyllwild (in the San Bernardino mountains) at David's boss's cabin (actually a beautiful home). It was great. There was snow on the ground when we got there (about 6-8 inches) The weather on Friday and Saturday was cold, but clear and sunny and lovely. We had some of our poker group join us and we had a great time. We weren't productive, but we did play games and cards and worked on an impossibly hard jigsaw puzzle. We also laughed ourselves silly ( you know the kind of laughter, your sides ache, your eye tear and you can't catch your breath) it was wonderful. Thank you Ron & Mary!
We got home on Sunday and the next morning we flew out to Longboat Key, Florida ( just outside of Sarasota). David had meetings and I invited my friend Bruce to come along. David & I had business dinners most nights, but Bruce and I spent the days doing a whole lot of nothing. the weather was lovely high 70's, and only one morning rainstorm. We introduced Bruce to our favorite Cuban restaurant (Columbia) and its incredible "1805 Salad" and house made Sangria! We had an amazing dining experience with an attorney friend. We went to Bern's steakhouse (which is supposedly one of the best steak houses in the country) which has the most incredible winelist I have ever seen. It is a bound book about an 1" thick with small print. Steve and David had a great time picking wines. The food was almost as good as the wine. Then, after all that we went upstairs to the "dessert rooms" which are individual rooms, the dessert menu is almost 3/4" thick with more ports, dessert wines, eau de vies and others than I have seen before. We shared Bananas Foster, a Grand Marnier Souffle and an aged parmesan reggiano. A truly amazing dining experience.
The fish in Florida was wonderful as always, and I can finally eat it again (couldn't eat it during chemo). All in all a good time was had by all. Next year the meeting will be in Naples (florida) and I will have new territory to explore.
I am very excited that I got registered for my summer jewelry classes in the mountains. This year there are 2 sessions of jewelry making. I am taking an earring class and one where we use "found" objects in our jewelry. Its like summer camp, only better.
I will leave you now, Once treatment gets going I'll be back to let you all know how I am doing. Until then take care and know I am sending cyber hugs to one and all.
Love Janice
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03:22 pm
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No More Chemo!!!
I know you all know that chemo is over, but it still excites me to know that I don't have to go back and do it all over again!
I am 3 1/2 weeks post chemo and I'm thinking it may take longer than I thought to lose all the symptoms. But since I did this to my body for 4 months I guess it can be expected to take awhile for it all to clear out of the body. I'm still having the heartburn and need to take antiacids regularly, the hair is probably going to take 2-3 months to start coming back and the fatigue may take a while as well.
The good news is that I am feeling more like myself and I am getting a little bit more energy. I have some natural color in my face now and I don't need a two hour nap everyday. I'm just impatient with all of this.
I will have my initial consultation with the radiologist on Feb. 11 - I presume I will start radiation shortly thereafter. I will find out how many weeks at that point as well.
Prior to that appointment David & I will be traveling (because once tx starts, I can't go anywhere because tx is everyday, Monday thru Friday). So, Thursday we leave for a long weekend in Idyllwild (in the local mountains) and Monday we take off for Long Boat Key Florida (just outside Tampa/Sarasota area). My good friend Bruce will be coming with us this trip, so I will have a buddy to run around with while David is in meetings all day! Really looking forward to some sunshine and warmer temperatures. It has been cold and rainy and yucky here for awhile.
Other than that not too much happening. I did get Christmas down and out of the house, but it is still in the garage! My granddaughter is starting tap dance lessons, which should be really fun to watch! Everyone else is currently healthy and doing well.
I will do this again after I meet with the radiologist on the 11th.
Love to all of you and continued thanks for being my cheerleaders!
Janice
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11:06 am
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Update
Hi all, Well, here we are back from the wilds of Orlando and 2 weeks post-chemo. I am starting to lose some of the effects, metal mouth is mostly gone, nausea is gone (yeah team!), I am still tired (sleeping 8-10 hours a nite plus a daytime nap) and I'm still bald.
The hair is trying to grow back, but not in an even manner. There are still large patches that are not growing anything yet. I have decided that I will probably wait another 2 weeks before I stop shaving so it can all grow in together!! I must admit I am ready to lose the bald look. Will see the doctor next week and from there I should go the the radiology/oncologist.
Orlando was fun because of the people, but as a city, if you are not going to the amusement parks I wouldn't bother. The downtown area is the most deserted downtown I have ever seen (even on a weekday). Although, one night while we were out to dinner we had street theatre going on outside. The young ladies of the evening gathered across the street from a nightclub and our restaurant, then the restaurant has all these girls (talented amateurs?) in very, very skimpy black dresses (the kind you have to glue to your boobs) and the taunting back and forth across the street starts happening, then to add to the fun the Bible thumpers show up with a bull horn and signs and start preaching at BOTH sets of young ladies. The only cop we saw was on a bicycle and he just kept going. It was interesting.
The best time was had watching the Packers put away Seattle - Go Packers!!!! Nothing like watching the game with a bunch of cheeseheads.
Still trying to get Christmas taken down. I am using the one box at a time method, so hopefully before February I will have it all down and put back in storage.
Next week I'm going to my sister's to plan a baby shower and the following week we are spending a weekend in Idyllwild (the local mountains) courtesy of David's boss (thank you again). Hopefully the next time I post some of the fatigue will have faded and I'll be closer to feeling normal.
Love to all,
Janice
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08:57 pm
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Happy New Year!!
Well, I made it through the LAST chemotherapy treatment. I don't think I'm as excited as everyone thinks I should be. But that could be because I still have 3 weeks of symptoms and side effects to get through. It should hit me soon that I don't have to go back and get stuck and or have poison pumped into my veins again.
Christmas was great! The kids came so we had the famdamnily here. My grandson Micah has grown a foot taller (I swear) and is being so much more grown up at age 4. It was lovely, chaotic and exhausting. Sunny & Steve & Micah stayed til the Saturday after Christmas (squeezing in a trip to Disneyland in the middle) and Rachael and Christian left yesterday. Once we were childless (Jezi went to Disneyland for 3 days with Mom for her 5th birthday celebration), we sort stuck close to home, did some cooking and then had a New Year's Eve party. We decided on an Asian Fusion Feast. Such fun all 4 of us cooked. We had truly authentic Vietnamese spring rolls, moo shu pork, noodle salad, potstickers, ribs, bbq pork , satay shrimp with peanut sauce and bbq pork buns. A feast indeed.
The party was low key, but really good.
My next move is to figure out where to get the energy to take down Christmas and pack it away. We leave next week for Orlando, so my house may be decorated for a while yet. Oh well, I can only do as much as I can do.
The next round of treatment will begin in mid to late February. That will be radiation treatments, which are daily, 5 days a week, for anywhere from 3 to 7 weeks. I haven't yet met with the radiologist-oncologist to find out how many weeks are needed, but I am guessing 6 weeks based on my reading. The good news is that the side effects are not nearly as numerous or as bad as chemo.
But the bad news is that fatigue is the biggest side effect and it is cumulative over the course of treatment. Oh well, at least there's no nausea, metal mouth, hair loss, etc. I'm hoping that the hair will start returning in about 4 to 6 weeks. Yeah!!!
So that's my news, hope that you all had a Wonderful Holiday and a Happy New Year. Love to everyone.
Janice
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07:17 pm
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Been a long time coming
Hey there all you sports fans. Can you tell its the holiday season?? I have been a busy bee for the last couple of weeks. My good friend Bruce came down from Sacramento on the 6th for several days to help me get things done around the house, boy did he! We got my garage cleaned up, the Christmas stuff brought in from storage, the entire house decorated. He cleaned cupboards, oiled tables, and in general whipped the place into shape. Fortunately, we don't believe in all work and no play so, we had some wonderful meals, did some fun shopping around town and in general had a good time. Thank you once again, Bruce. David made his first trip without me since the beginning of this, he just had to go to Northern Cal, but since Bruce was here he decided he could leave. This would be one of the reasons I love this man, he believes that I can't be left alone at all during this.
After Bruce left I had another round of chemo, Round 5, only one more to go!!!, This one is tough, I've been fighting the nausea like crazy. Also, this is the first time they had trouble with getting the IV in - so my hand looks like I'm a junkie or something. (oh well).
In between everything else, I have been trying to finish up the Christmas shopping, figure out who's wrapping gifts for me (mostly Nici), and when and how I'm going to get baking done! I think it will all work out. Last night was the Brady Christmas party down at the Catamaran. A very nice affair with a lovely buffet dinner and a wild crowd on the dance floor. We had a room at the hotel, so we were able to just cruise down and relax.
Today David and I had a lovely breakfast in Pacific Beach and then managed to finish up another 4 people from the Christmas/Birthday lists. (unfortunately both of our grandchildren have birthdays within 2 weeks of Christmas). I'm feeling much more in control now with regard to the gifts, about the baking and wrapping, oh well........It will all get done somehow! I have great faith.
The kids from Colorado arrive Sat & Sun and I can't wait, really looking forward to spending time with them. I don't know if I will get to the blog again before Christmas, so if I don't .....
May you all have a wonderful season and good cheer with good thoughts and warm fires! Love to you all, Janice
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09:26 am
[Link] | Hi All,
Sorry it's been so long since I posted. In many ways this session has been easier than session 3, except for the fatigue. That is the one symptom that is consistent and cumulative. I had several days where doing anything at all was too much. Okay, enough whining!
Since we last spoke we have attended a black tie Christmas party at the Hotel del Coronado. It's an annual event and always fun. We were the guests of David's boss and his wife. There is always good food and a great band. This year it was one of our favorite bands, Rockola. They play everything from the 50's to the 80's. I danced til I was too tired to do anymore. Then we just listened and watched.
We had a room in the hotel, so all we had to do was stroll back and fall into bed.
The next day we slept in and had a delightfully slow and lazy day. David took me to lunch at our latest find, a wonderful French bistro called the Bleu Boheme. We had a long nap and a quiet evening at home. Great way to spend a day.
Yesterday was David's birthday, since it was on Tuesday we had all the usual suspects for dinner. I fixed Prime Rib and yorkshire pudding for 13. A good time was had by all and the evening was topped off with homemade cheesecake!
This week (tomorrow actually) my friend Bruce is arriving and I will finally get my house decorated (this is late for me). I suspect I will be busy getting this all done.
I'll talk at you all soon.
Love Janice
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08:01 am
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Hi There
Good Morning All! It's the Monday after Thanksgiving and I am feeling surprisingly well. It appears that for the moment round 4 is not as bad as round 3 - YEAH!!
Thanksgiving was wonderful. Our Italian dinner was delicious and having all my family around me was the best. The house was warm and loud and full of people and food and all the things a holiday should be.
On Friday, we recooped by doing absolutely nothing. It was great. On Saturday we went to my sister's house for our annual "after-Thanksgiving" party. This is where all the friends get together and do the turkey dinner all over again. This is a 30+ year tradition and I got to see many folks who I hadn't seen since my diagnosis. It was really nice. I must admit I feel asleep on the couch a couple of times during the evening, but that was ok. I was able to eat and enjoy the Turkey dinner and enjoy all the folks. I have to admit that having my sister tell me to sit down and stop doing things was bizarre! I am not used to being told I'm doing too much, and certainly not by my sis.
Came home on Sunday afternoon, when I called Michael to find out if they were home for dinner I got told, "we're going to cook tonight". They cooked the most wonderful meal (steak wrapped asparagus, grilled squash, rice and the BEST spinach salad). It was absolutely fabulous. I've let him know that any time they want to cook, feel free!
All in all a wonderful weekend and I am being very grateful that my symptoms are mostly mild this round. I am looking forward to my friend Bruce coming down to spend several days with me to help me decorate for Christmas. It should be really fun. I have decided that I do significantly better if I have things to do, which is why I am happy to day that we have some sort of activity planned for every weekend before Christmas.
This weekend we have a very elegant Christmas party at the Hotel del Coronado (one of my favorite places) and that we get to spend the night there. We have other activities coming up, I figure between those and getting my Christmas shopping done, I should keep busy.
I hope that all of you had as wonderful a Thanksgiving weekend as I did. Thanks for thinking of me and big hugs and kisses all around.
Janice
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08:15 am
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Turkey Day!!
Hi out there, Sorry it's been so long since I posted. The 3rd round of chemo was rougher than the previous 2 and I didn't feel like whining in public too much. Apparently the effects are cumulative, so it takes longer to get through each of the symptoms. I got about 4 good days at the tail end of this session.
Yesterday was chemo day, that all went fine. As it was the day before a holiday they were fairly efficient about getting us in and out in a timely manner. Only 4 hours and a bit.
Right now I'm feeling fine. Just getting the last minute things done before company arrives this afternoon. We picked up the food last night, Nici baked the cheesecake, Elaine wrapped the gifts, and the cleaning people cleaned the house! I love having elves.
I am looking forward to having a good day today. My cousin from Madison is in town with her hubby and daughter and kids, haven't seen them in a while. Also my sister is bringing my Dad down and it's been way too long since I've visited him. We will be a congenial group of about 15, celebrating Thanksgiving and 2 birthdays. All in all good reasons to get together.
I hope that all of you have a Wonderful Thanksgiving - and please know that I am extremely Thankful for All of You out there reading and responding. It is a year that I have a great deal to be thankful for, but mostly for all of my friends and family who have been the foundation of caring that sees me through this.
I love you all
Janice
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06:18 am
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Update
Hi all, been a little while since I posted, but that's just because there hasn't been too much to post about. I finally started feeling mostly human again by Tuesday the 6th. The fatigue is still with me, I've resigned myself to the fact that I will be tired until this is all over. Most of the time I can still get some stuff done.
Yesterday I spent the day Christmas shopping with my girlfriend. We had an amazingly successful day! Got lots of presents bought and had fun. When we got home, my lovely husband had prepared a feast for us!! He cooked up a rack of lamb that was to die for! (and people wonder why I keep him).
I managed to get Halloween decorations put away and Thanksgiving put up! So my house is ready for Turkey Day, but wait, we're not having turkey. I am having my family and visiting relatives from Wisconsin,etc. for Thanksgiving dinner, but we are getting it semi-catered by DeMille's, an Italian restaurant. So a new thing, lasagna and chicken parmigiano for Thanksgiving. But since it is the day after chemo I had to make it easy. The important part is that we'll all be together.
I hope everyone has wonderful plans for Thanksgiving, and if you don't, feel free to drop by our house!
Talk at you all soon.
Love Janice
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07:07 pm
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Update
Hi all. So It's Monday after session 3. The good news is I'm still standing. The bad news is I'm a bit wobbly. The nastier side-effects seem to last longer with each treatment.
David & I went on an in-town mini-vacation at the Westgate Hotel this weekend. It was lovely, but I'm afraid David got the raw end of the deal. His charming wife was in bed asleep by 9pm Friday night and managed to make it all the way to 10:30pm on Saturday nite (by napping until 7:30pm). Needless to say I was not the life of the party. However, we had a good time and just relaxed and noodled around. We actually went to a matinee (Across the Universe) and schmoozed around Horton Plaza.
Sunday was a bit iffy, we had a lovely breakfast at Cafe 222, but it did not set well on my tummy. I still have not thrown-up, but it has taken a significant force of will and lots of good drugs. Unfortunately, if you don't throw up, the food runs through you anyways. So I have no appetite and I am beginning to hate to eat because of the consequences. As you can tell, I'm still in a bit of a funk right now. I did go to jewelry class today which helped brighten my day (thanks to all those good people), but am still feeling the effects fairly significantly so did not last all day.
My niece came to see me today as well, that was a treat. She is looking good (she's pregnant and having a girl in March). Don't have a lot planned for the next week and I think that is a good thing.
The house has transformed from Halloween to Thanksgiving (trading jack o'lanterns & witches for turkeys & pilgrims) and is feeling nice and fallish. Got to go help David with Tuesday nite dinner now. You all take care.
Love Janice
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11:57 am
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Half-way there!!
Hi all, had my 3rd Chemo treatment yesterday. It was a record, we were only there for 41/2 hours! Glen, my nurse, was very efficient. No problems with the drugs and currently (around noon on Thursday) I am feeling fine. I am trying an experiment this time and am not going to take the anti-nausea drugs until I feel some nausea to see if I can eliminate some of the fuzzies that I have been getting after chemo. I'll keep you posted.
Halloween was fun, we had Jezi all dressed up as a fairy and Cadence was a monkey. They were too cute. At age 41/2 Jezi is really into trick or treating, she came back with a full pumpkin!
Tomorrow David and I move to the Westgate Hotel for a couple of nights (while the kids have a Halloween party) to celebrate the Anniversary. So I'll get back to you after Sunday!
Love Janice
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12:04 pm
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Update
Hi all, haven't posted much, cause there's not much happening. The fires have been scary, so far all of our friends in the fire areas have survived with homes intact. The smoke and ash in the air have made my life miserable, I have had streaming eyes, swollen, itchy and a runny nose on a constant basis. Hopefully within the next week or so this will improve. They don't expect to have the fires put out until November 5th or so.
Other than the fires life has been fairly quiet. I came home from New York tired and did almost nothing for 2 full days. I had Jezi for extra time this week because her school was closed all week. She has been, as usual, a delight.
Anticipating another treatment (on Halloween) and worrying about the cumulative fatigue effects. But, can't do anything about it so, we'll just cope. My son is planning a Halloween party for the weekend after Halloween, so David and I have decided to vacate the premises. We are going to stay in a very nice hotel in Downtown San Diego (the Westgate) and celebrate our 27th Wedding Anniversary.
Other than that, if anyone in our area has any suggestions for Thanksgiving Dinner at a restaurant, please let me know. Talk to you all very soon.
Love Janice
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07:43 am
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Home again, Home again
Hi all,
Well we made it back from New York and our house is intact. Watching the fires from the plane was really scary. So far we are not in any danger, but have a lot of friends who have been evacuated. Our thoughts are with all of them.
The trip was good. I was probably pushing it a bit by going so soon after chemo. Travel day was also "bone pain" day, so sitting in the plane all day was OK, I took the pain meds and just vegged out on the plane. Unfortunately when we landed and I started trying to walk to baggage claim I had major problems. So, I experienced being pushed around in a wheelchair at the airport. We had a lovely young man who managed to push me and our bags out to the rental car. Lucky David got to drive to Georgia!
I had some "gut" problems, first one then the other! Which made me tired, but I still had a good time. The Sea Island Resort in Georgia is an awesome place. Our room was huge with a patio about 10' x 12' that overlooked the water. It was green, green, green with beautiful old oak trees all over the property. We were there with a group and one of the things we did was "GoGo" Jewelry making. Essentially just beading, but lots of fun. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend a lot of time there as we had to leave for New York on Friday, but I did manage to get to the incredible spa and have a massage. It was absolutely wonderful.
As we were getting ready to have lunch on Friday, before leaving to go to Jacksonville and the airport, we get a phone call from JetBlue saying our flight to New York has been canceled. First they tell us it is due to weather, then after we call several airlines and realize everyone is still flying into NY, they tell us that they have too many planes going to NY and so ours is canceled. They then proceeded to do NOTHING to help us get to NY at all. We resorted to Southwest and flew into Long Island, hired a car to drive the hour into the City and got in about 1:30am. Poor David had a 7:30 am meeting. I, on the other hand, slept until 10:00am.
Spent all day Saturday with my good girlfriend Gwen. It was glorious weather (70 and clear and breezy) so we took the Staten Island Ferry for a round trip to view the city and the Statute of Liberty, etc. She took me to wonderful restaurants for lunch and dinner and we wandered around town til we were foot weary and then stopped and had a pedicure! All in all a wonderful day, but I was exhausted by the time I hit the room at 9:00 pm.
Sunday was again a spectacular day. David was in meetings til noon and then he and I took off for the rest of the day. We walked to Central Park and then in and about the park. It was the first time I had ever been into Central Park. What a wonderful place. We saw the Carousel (which is exquisite) and then just wandered the pathways (along with about half of the city population). We did lunch at David's favorite deli (the Carnegie) and then wandered our way back to the room for a rest. Dinner was at an Italian/Venetian restaurant that was just across the street from the hotel. The food was yummy!
Monday was a travel day, we flew JetBlue from JFK to home (5 long hours). They have direct TV on the plane so that is when we started hearing about the San Diego fires. Talk about scary and frustrating, because we were getting National News we only got vague ideas of where the fires actually were. Then we flew over (actually between the two major fires) and got a terrifying look at them.
Now we're home, no more trips planned for the rest of the year. I'm actually looking forward to being home for a while. This second round of chemo was significantly harder than the first, which leads me to fear that the future rounds will be harder as well. So, home is good.
I will talk to you all later, thanks for reading
Love Janice
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10:01 pm
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Update - off to Georgia & New York
Hi all, doing better than I was over the weekend. Monday was good, I completed the beading on my piece, its really spectacular. Then enjoyed a quiet evening at home with David. Today was ok, I had a ton of stuff to do and wore myself out. Wound up taking a 2 hour nap trying to play catch up. I am feeling well enough to go on our trip, so I am currently packed and ready to go!
Even if I don't feel like doing much, I can lay around a hotel, where someone else makes the bed, cleans up, etc , as well as I can lay around home. Wish me luck. I'll enjoy the beautiful Georgia coastline and then the raptures of The Big Apple. Get to visit a very good friend in New York (yeah, Gwennie!) Can't wait to see her.
Talk to all of you when we return on Monday the 22nd. Bye, bye til then.
Love Janice
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08:26 pm
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Update
Hey there, It's Sunday nite and I'm exhausted. I've had a couple of rough days. Still haven't thrown up, but sure have felt like it. Thursday and Friday were OK, not great, but I felt reasonable and fairly alert. Saturday morning I got up (like 6:30am) and at 10:00am, went back to bed and stayed there til 2:00pm or so, it felt like I'd been hit by a steamroller. Today has been just tiredness and vague naseau, I'm hoping this is the worst of it and by tomorrow morning I'll feel better. Not much to say about this except YUCK!
David has been a saint, just keeping up the house, cooking, taking care of business, etc,. It makes me feel guilty for doing nothing, but he keeps reminding me once I'm all better, watch out!
I'll be posting at least once more before we take off on Wednesday. Take care all, sleep well.
Love Janice
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06:31 am
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ROUND 2 OVER & DONE WITH
Hi all. Another chemo round down. Went yesterday and it all went smoothly. They premedicated me and I had no reaction to the drug like the first time. However, it still took six hours to get through all the meds, etc. We have decided that that's just how long it will take.
My sister was down and kept David & I company. I have been doing really well since the chemo. We went to dinner at a lovely new French restaurant and I was able to enjoy my dinner. No nausea yet, and since I have'nt start the anti-nausea drugs, no fuzziness yet.
Monday in jewelry class was a good day, I finished my piece (YEAH!!) and just have to bead out the necklace part. I'll have a lovely new piece to wear to Georgia and New York. (yeah, we're going to try traveling again next week). Not too much else going on, as it is early Thursday morning.
Love & kisses to all
Janice
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04:10 pm
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Time for another update
Well, the birthday party was great! Wonderful day at the beach, lots of good people and Cadence was a doll all day long. Can't ask for much more than that. The day was a good day, not too tired, no pain, etc.
Monday was Jewelry class, I was tired, but got really good work done on my piece. Left early as I had to get packed and ready to go to Vancouver, BC. We left on Tuesday morning, the flight was half-empty, which was great had a seat in the middle left empty. I tried out my new compression sleeve for the flight. It is surprisingly comfortable. The sleeve is to help prevent lymphedema, which is a delightful "syndrome" that I could possibly get because all the lymph nodes in my left arm were removed.
Got into Vancouver and 10 minutes after getting to our room wound up going to dinner with a couple of folks from the conference at our favorite place in the city. Delilah's --they make the best martini's ever! The food was terrific as well. So lovely evening.
The next day David did conference and I went and got my head shaved! The hair was beginning to come out in clumps on the back side of my head. The stylist asked why I wanted it shaved, so I pulled out a handful for her. Having your head shaved is a truly weird experience. It is really cold and after just a buzz shaver really stubbly.
After that experience I went exploring. I decided to walk the West End (area our hotel was in). I think I did several miles just window shopping and exploring, really fun day. Was feeling really good that day. We had a really fun meal at a Tapas restaurant with a new friend and an old friend - Love meeting new people. Got over the possible fear of showing off my bald head as the scarf got really itchy and hot about halfway through the evening. So I just whipped it off. Got some interesting looks, but hey I don't care. I really do have a nicely shaped head with no scars or lumps and bumps, just like my hairdresser said.
Thursday we went exploring on Granville Island, which is a large artist community and home to a very large public market. It did decide to rain on us, but in spite of that we found all the goodies we needed for supper on the plane - yummy meats and cheeses. Also went down Railspur Alley and viewed the Studio/Store sites located there. Really lovely concept of working where you sell - or selling where you work with the designers right there on the premises. David and I had a quiet dinner (just the 2 of us) of really wonderful fish (arctic char is now on my list of favorite fishes).
Friday dawned up bright and glorious, only white fluffy clounds, cold (48) but gorgeous. Decided I needed to get out and about, so took the car and did the Stanley Park drive; then made my way (via Chinatown) to the cruise ship terminal/ convention center that is on the harbor. Had a wonderful lunch (arctic char again) with a panoramic view of the harbor. It was great. Got tired by about 3:00 pm so decided to go back and rest. Our final night we had dinner with a friend from Orange County, it was an adventure because we didn't make reservations for dinner on a Friday night - big mistake. The first place just turned us away, saying they were completely booked for the entire evening! The next 2 places were completely inaccessible for David (large flights of stairs and no elevators and no apologies either). We ate a wonderful little place that was about 2 blocks from the hotel (after driving all over town) called Raincity Grill. The food was phenomenal. It was a great close to a really nice trip.
Saturday was travel day. Left Vancouver around 10:00 am and it took until 3:00 pm to get to the airport in Seattle. The border crossing was 90 minutes. (Thank you paranoid President Bush) We got on a 5:00 pm flight and got home about 10:30pm last night - I was exhausted, but so was David. All in all a lovely trip and I felt really close to normal for the whole thing!
This morning we got to go have breakfast with good friends from Portland, OR. They missed a summer vacation with their kids because of a broken leg, so decided to do a trip to San Diego this month. It was wonderful to see them and the Old Town Mexican Cafe was great, as usual. Have spent most of the rest of the day running errands and writing! I am starting to have some anxiety over my treatment on Wednesday. I have been nearly normal for the last week and am not looking forward to being fuzzy & icky again. But this too shall pass and we'll have one more treatment over and done with.
Well, I'm sure you all are tired of reading, so I will sign off now. Love to you all & thanks for the thoughts and e-mails, I really do look forward to them.
Love Janice
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