Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Breast Cancer

Thank you to Sandy for her comment on my last post.  As my post occurred on a holiday (in the States) weekend, I forget that people might not see my blog till later in the week or it might get crushed with all the other updates people get.  So to Sandy's point, a little more color, but first, apologies for the reiteration, but here's the details I posted previously.


(repeat from prior post - new information below)


My cousin was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, has had a tumor removed and is now facing chemotherapy. And is scared shitless!
She's 54, the tumor was about 3cm, upon removal they were able to identify trace amounts of the cancer in the lymph nodes. She's scheduled to get TC in four cycles (I believe). But she's scared of the chemotherapy and not thinking of what could happen if she didn't get the chemo. On a scale of 1-50 she's a score of 23, so about halfway. She has cancelled one appointment and I've not yet heard if she's gotten a second yet. In prep for her first round they had her on dexamethazone and failed to warn her of the effects. She took it at 1630 and was on the phone with me flipping out at 0230. Had she known what to expect she could have been prepped for a "speedy" night but not knowing, her only focus was the chemo and what could go wrong. She ended up canceling her appointment the next day.

Now this blog has been mostly about MM but being scared of chemo knows no borders - just some chemo is more of an annoyance than others. What I'm looking for is examples, feedback or words of wisdom I can pass back to my cousin. Whether it be about chemo, breast cancer or anything else relevant, please post a comment so I can pass them along to her. Any help would be greatly appreciated.



(more details)


Sandy brought up a point that my cousin may be in denial (most definitely) while also being scared of the drugs, their effect, etc.  She can't take tylenol/codeine without feeling like she's on a 70's acid trip.  But again, I think that's being more scared than anything else.  Regarding Sandy's comment about getting online and taking control - well that's a bit of a problem as, until 2 weeks ago, she didn't have an email address.  She's sent me one email (the night the Dex hit her!) and she's not yet responded - most likely due to the fact she doesn't know how!  She does have a son and daughter that can assist with email but I need to call her to get her more info.  Regarding family, her sister is a nurse (oncology I believe) so she has resources but she follows the clan with her stubbornness!  At some point she'll read this and probably hate me but I'm hoping the information I get from my blog readers is such that she'll thank me in the long run!


If you have any feedback (Sandy, thanks for the start) I'd much appreciate it.  Please leave a comment and let me know.  Again, thanks for reading!


Bill

Monday, July 4, 2011

Vacation, Retraction And Assistance Desired

It's the last day of vacation and all my peeps in Belfair are asking for an update or at least some sort of post as it's been so long. I have nothing in particular to say, as I try and navigate this Star Trek keyboard on my new iPad, but do need to cover three things. First is I need some assistance from all my readers.

My cousin was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, has had a tumor removed and is now facing chemotherapy. And is scared shitless!
She's 54, the tumor was about 3cm, upon removal they were able to identify trace amounts of the cancer in the lymph nodes. She's scheduled to get TC in four cycles (I believe). But she's scared of the chemotherapy and not thinking of what could happen if she didn't get the chemo. On a scale of 1-50 she's a score of 23, so about halfway. She has cancelled one appointment and I've not yet heard if she's gotten a second yet. In prep for her first round they had her on dexamethazone and failed to warn her of the effects. She took it at 1630 and was on the phone with me flipping out at 0230. Had she known what to expect she could have been prepped for a "speedy" night but not knowing, her only focus was the chemo and what could go wrong. She ended up canceling her appointment the next day.

Now this blog has been mostly about MM but being scared of chemo knows no borders - just some chemo is more of an annoyance than others. What I'm looking for is examples, feedback or words of wisdom I can pass back to my cousin. Whether it be about chemo, breast cancer or anything else relevant, please post a comment so I can pass them along to her. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regarding my retraction, on Mothers Day I wrote a lengthy diatribe about my Aunt and her reaction to mothers day with us. She promptly told me that what I had written was not correct. While her mother (my grandmother) was alive she usually coordinated the mothers day festivities but after her passing she was taken out by her husband and boys. Her remark to my mother was simply saying thanks as she was so welcomed on that special day. I can only add that it was our pleasure. Family is too important for not getting together when possible and keeping in touch always!

Speaking of family, were finishing up a week with my folks and my brothers family as well. It's great to see the kids together and "Story Time" at night with Nana. The kids were in golf camp all week so the parents got "sanity time" to relax, hit the outlets, or workout. And each set of parents got a day off as well - my wife and I got massages and a day together while my brother headed locally for a night in Sanctuary! All in all it was a greet week and ends tonight with a big 4th BBQ at the club. No real fireworks but thats fine. Unfortunately we leave at 0800 tomorrow and are back at work on Wednesday. So we'll need to chalk this up as another great memory and hope our batteries are recharged enough to last till the next vacation!

So for now, thanks for reading and please get back to me (comment) regarding breast cancer, chemo, etc so i can pass this along to my cousin!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad