Ellen in PA
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Posts posted by Ellen in PA
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Hi Patti.
Congratulations on the shrinkage!
And congratulations on getting rid of that doctor -- he sounds seriously unstable (as in 'nutcase'). Doesn't matter how brilliant he is -- a top doctor has to be brilliant AND sane.
What's the name of the new guy? Is it Dr. Pennell? I follow cancergrace.org and think he's fantastic (and he's in Cleveland). Really smart and sooooo nice. Lots of luck!
Ellen
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"recce101"]
Ah, the Red Scare! On a happier note, my first daughter was born on Labor Day (the September one) in 1961, and May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii!
Ned
Talk about 'Red Scare' -- I just learned from Wikipedia that May 1 was proclaimed 'Loyalty Day' in 1958. Maybe you knew that but I sure never heard of it. Good grief.
A belated happy Lei Day!
Ellen
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Hi Judy.
May Day IS Labor Day -- everywhere in the world except the US. Our September Labor Day was created expressly to prevent workers from celebrating May Day.
Ellen
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Thanks for the Harry's tip! Hubby tells me we have to make a wine run pretty soon.
Ellen
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Yay, Philadelphia! And, yeah, Pittsburgh.
Thanks for posting this.
Ellen
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Hi Ginny.
We recently started making runs to Total Wine too -- used to go to Canal's in NJ. So what/where is Harry's?
Ellen
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Like Sandra, I don't go far for a restaurant -- not more than around 20 minutes anyway. But when we first moved to Philadelphia (back in 1967), there was a radio commercial for a place in the 'burbs called the Doylestown Inn that featured a couple with strong NYC accents raving about the place and one of them said, 'Sure it's far! But for good food, we go!!!' Gerry and I roared each time we heard it at the image of New Yorkers driving 100 miles (past about 10,000 perfectly fine restaurants) for a restaurant in the Philadelphia 'burbs! Dream on, Philly...
Ah, but do gluttony-driven detours count? I once spent a night in London on the way back from a conference in the north of England, just to have a great Indian meal. And some colleagues and I once spent a night in Lyons on the way home from a conference in the south of France just to have a great meal in that city... And Gerry and I did once go for the day from Madrid to Segovia just for the suckling pig...
I'm getting hungry.
Ellen
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Hi folks.
Can I ask a really stupid question? What does 'air' in this topic heading mean? I know air that we breathe and air that we sing, but what's this one? I thought I'd figure it out as time went by, but my senile brain isn't up to it, alas.
Ellen
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All of the above -- plus the series of some male 'enhancement' product that always ends with a man and a woman in separate bathtubs somewheres outdoors. Is this supposed to be romantic? I find it hilarious.
If I may add my current *favorite* commercial, it's the one for a drug that makes you stop having to urinate frequently -- it has pastel-colored balloons as people, dancing around at their high school reunion. I love the idea, the imagery, and the music, and the reunion content is certainly targeting the right age group (for the product).
Interestingly (or not), for ALL of these, I have no recollection of which product is being advertised!
Ellen
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How about using last year's letter? Just remember to change the date at the top.
Ellen
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Hi Stephanie.
Eek, surgery, chemo, a zillion radiation sessions -- I don't know how you guys do it. My 14 measly radiation sessions -- and just to the spine and pelvis -- was the pits. When I wasn't sleeping, I was nauseous, in spite of taking Zofran religiously. That's been my only serious treatment and I didn't like it one bit. Yes, I can certainly believe that 20 radiation sessions, and after what you've been thru, is kicking your butt.
But I love your line about having 'excellent sleep skills'! May I use it? I am the soundest sleeper I know.
Hang in there.
Ellen
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"ts"]Tuckered out - from 8 pm to 8:30 am with an hour break just before midnight. So, 11 hours at least!
(Ellen, just saw your post - 2/3 the way thru radiation could be contributing!)
When did you start sleeping that much? If it's in the last few weeks (i.e. since the start of radiation), then I bet that's it. I had only 14 tx and it really knocked me out. Good luck.
Ellen
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My usual 5 or 6 at night. I'm a night person by nature but my husband, who's in Switzerland this week, calls at 630am and the dog walker comes at 7am. But I've been taking 2-3 hour naps in the afternoon -- I suspect it's because of the Zometa.
Sandra, when I was getting radiation to the spine and pelvis -- and for a week or so thereafter -- I was sleeping 14 hours/day. The radiation onc said that was to be expected. Anyway, maybe that's why you're sleeping more lately.
Ellen
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Barb, thanks for sharing! And that's a lovely picture.
Judy, Misty is a Miniature Pinscher and they were bred centuries ago in Germany to hunt vermin in kitchens and barns. (I guess they had other breeds for living rooms and bedrooms.
) Anyway, all the poor thing can do with her genes is lunge at pigeons and squirrels in downtown Philadelphia, all the while restrained by her leash. Animal lovers should feel sorry for her. Small flightless birds are just what the doctor ordered. Muriel, maybe your retrievers can retrieve Misty if Judy gets too upset.
Ellen
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Ooooh, Barb, can my dog Misty 'guard' half the chicks? She's never met a bird that couldn't fly away and this will be such a 'treat' for her -- in more than one sense!
Ellen
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Hi Barbara.
You might want to ask what vital structures are at issue, just to set your mind at ease. In the general area but not really that close, I don't think, I can think of the spinal cord and/or brain stem and the trachea. But closer perhaps, there are the carotid arteries, which they don't like to mess around with...
Anyway, good luck with the new plan!
Ellen
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I'm so old (or senile) that I hadn't realized some of these things were no longer around...
Great list! Thanks!
Ellen
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Hi Barbara.
I wish for Bill and you everything you wish for yourselves. Hang in there.
Ellen
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Hi Marianne.
Your vacation sounds fantastic! Have a great time!
Ellen
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Hi Barbara.
Amen.
Ellen
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Hi Barbara.
Oh, if I'd been told that chemo/rad would have made me possibly eligible for a stab at a cure (aka surgery), I certainly would have opted for it, and concurrently, if I were told that would be more effective. I can't imagine you and Bill making any other choice!
Ellen
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What these numbers also say:
On the average, concurrent chemo/radiation patients lived 27 days longer (9/10 of a month) than those with sequential therapies.
If we assume that the original 237 subjects were divided into 3 groups equally, that makes approximately 80 subjects per group, so...
...after 5 years, 15 of the 80 patients receiving concurrent therapies were still alive; after 5 years, 10 of the 80 receiving sequential therapies were still alive.
I'm NOT putting down the study -- just giving people a different way of looking at the numbers to help them decide their own course of action.
Barbara, thanks for posting, as always!
Ellen
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Nope. But I won't be eating matzah either, even tho I'm Jewish. I'm an equal opportunity non-observer.
Ellen
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We don't usually walk out -- but I have been known to go out for a l-o-n-g cigarette break during some duds. Then there was Star Wars... I fell fast asleep. When I woke up, I thought my husband had passed out because he was slumped over the arm of his seat, his head down in the aisle. Turned out he was trying to read the newspaper by the light of the little bulb near the floor lighting the aisle. He didn't want to wake me but couldn't wait to leave, which we promptly did.
Ellen
) Anyway, all the poor thing can do with her genes is lunge at pigeons and squirrels in downtown Philadelphia, all the while restrained by her leash. Animal lovers should feel sorry for her. Small flightless birds are just what the doctor ordered. 
My Latest Scan
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Bravo, Patti, you've picked a winner! Dedicated he is -- he answers in great detail, and at all hours of the day and night. If you're not familiar with his contributions on cancergrace.org, you should really check it out. (It's a great site all around.) In any event, I bet he's going to be an ENORMOUS change from your previous you-should-excuse-the-expression doctor.
Ellen