Joppette
-
Posts
1,997 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Downloads
Store
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Blogs
Events
Posts posted by Joppette
-
-
Good morning everyone!
The dog days of summer are winding down. It is a balmy 71 right now. Got down to 51 last night! Slept like a baby!!!!! High today of 77, lows in the 50's for the next 3 days. Then it's going to get back to the 80's for the weekend. Perfect weather. Think we're probably done with 90's here for the rest of the year.
Today is organization day. I am going to tear my office apart, and file, or shred documents that have been sitting around for way too long.
Slept in until 9:30, decadent! It felt soooooo good!
So, see ya! Have a great day!
Judy in MI
-
Katy,
Katie posted a good article on palliative care that might be helpful for you. Here's the link: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=44010
You are so right, he must stay on top of the pain, and not wait until it's so bad he "needs" the meds. Hope you have him on the right track now.
Hugs!
Judy in MI
-
Hi All! Yes I am feeling much better today. I feel like a ten ton load has been lifted from my shoulders. I didn't put eye makeup on today because I knew I'd be crying tears of joy and sure enough shed a few this morning. I couldn't help but think about how my life was going to change if they found mets, and it weighed me down more than I realized.
So waiting to hear from the cardiologist, and I'm not worried about it. Compared to the other worry, this is a walk in the park. Hearts are very fixable (if needed), where mets not so much!
It's a cloudy cool day here. I love this time of year. I've said it a hundred times now. LOL! But I just love the change of the seasons, must be why I stay in Michigan.
I too am so happy about Rose! Yes!!!! Judy Portsmouth is so charming. I live close to the big city of Grand Rapids, but the little City I live closest too does not have parking meters, and is very much like Portsmouth. And I love it. It's so charming.
Well, have a fantastic day all. I'm at volunteer work doing some major organizing today. Figured I better get it together since it looks like I'm going to be around a lot longer!
YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!
Judy in MI
-
Well, they finally called me back after 5:00 today. She was all cheery and said the test results were negative! I told her I was so worried, and why didn't they call me sooner? It's been a week.
Her response was unbelievable. She actually said to me "We don't call people back with negative results." I'm like "why would you not call people who are stressed and worried, and her response was "we have way too many patients to call back the ones that don't have disease."
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!
So good news on that front. Tomorrow I'll be assigned to a Cardiologist to figure out why my heart is so whacky.
Life goes on.....huh?
Judy in MI
-
Katy, I'm so sorry about your "not great" news. Do you live in the USA? I didn't check before I wrote this. You can demand pain medication. It can be a fight, but it's worth it.
My Mom was in tremendous pain, and the first medication I requested was liquid morphine. She was not able to process the pill form and the liquid was nice and easy for her. But as her disease progressed, I had to get more sustained pain medicine that would not allow her to go into pain highs and lows. I would suggest that you ask for Duragesic pain medication that comes in a patch form. You put the patch on his back, and date it, and when it's time to transition from an old patch to a new one, you leave the old one on long enough for the new one to kick in. It was very effective for my Mom and gave her a few months of relatively comfortable time.
I had to be nasty with the doctors. They actually had the audacity to say they wouldn't give this medication because it was addictive. I'm like "really?". So what?
I know others here will say that no doctor can be a predictor of the "time" we have left here. And they really can't. They base the time on statistics. And fortunately we are people, not numbers.
I pray for relief for his pain, and for comfort for both of you.
Judy in MI
-
Ron, I'm glad you went to church and that it gives you some peace. Me too. I'd be lost without my faith.
Sending you a big cyber ((((((((((((((((((((HUG))))))))))))))))))))
Judy in MI
-
Hi folks,
Well, today was a rough day. I don't feel well at all, and my heart is skipping beats like crazy. Waiting for the doc to call with my new Cardiologist. But he said upon getting ready to hang up, if you have the slightest chest pain, get to the ER immediately. Nice and reassuring. Errrggggg.
Then I called the Onc. because I have not heard back. I'm worried because he is retiring and am I getting lost in the transition between the old Onc. and the new Onc. Well that was first thing this morning, and still no call. I'm stressed. It'll be a week tomorrow since the test. Now my brain is going through the "no news is good news", to "maybe they have to formulate the new plan, so they have not called yet" thoughts. Yuck!
I'm just in a bad mood. Head is pounding, heart is skipping beats, and I don't know if I'm NED.
Sorry, having a pity party.
Judy in MI
-
It's afternoon here, and a beautiful 80 degree day with no humidity. A little too warm for opening the windows yet, but getting to 60 tonight, so definitely will open them up in a couple of hours.
What a life. Hubs is in the kitchen preparing Cornish Game Hens to pop into the Big Green Egg to smoke for a few hours. He picked up five dozen ears of the sweetest corn East of the Mississippi, and is going to zip the kernals off, flash cook them in sugar, butter and water, add iin some green, red and yellow peppers, and cool. Then pop them in the freezer so we have fresh corn off the cob all winter long.
Me? Just read the paper, and now catching up here! LOL! Rough life huh?
Tomorrow I better be getting a call from the Onc. I decided to be patient one more day since Friday was only the 2nd full day from the scan. And the experiment we did with the medications this weekend didn't work. I went off the spasm meds, upped the inderal heart med, and I'm still having flippy floppy heart beats, and my spasms are really bad. So I have to call the regular doc tomorrow and likely will be referred to a Cardiologist. I don't think they can add any more ologists to my list, I think I have one of each!
Oh well, life is still good no matter what. I woke up this morning, kissed my husband, got a little church, and now being waited on hand and foot. Love it!
Judy in MI
-
How awesome is that! I love B9!!!!!!
Judy in MI
-
Prayers for a NED scan, and prayers for a calm to surround your heart.
Judy in MI
-
Becky, so sad about the dog. Gosh, so vibrant and jumping up that tree, and then he died. So sad.
Of course your son had to tell his friends you are a goddess, you diva you! LOL!
Just got home from Detroit. The baseball game was a blast. The tigers actually won! Shocker! We went to a blues club in Greek town afterwards. Was great fun. Slept in on a gorgeously soft bed with great big fluffy pillows at the hotel we stayed at. Drove home this morning/afternoon, and now going to a BBQ.
Have a good rest of the day!
Judy in MI
-
Steff,
Of course I support you and every single person on here that posts. It helps me feel better to do this. Take care, wishing you a strong spirit and gentle side effects.
judy in MI
-
Thanks for sharing Ronny. Beautiful family.
Judy in MI
-
Morning all,
Have been up for a couple of hours getting the house cleaned up. Have a 21 year old darling coming to stay with the animals, while we head to Comerica Park for a Tigers baseball game in Detroit. We're staying at the big casino next to the park over night, thus the dogger sitter! Of course the house must be perfectly clean when having a visitor!
Spoke last night at the Cancer Walk at Grattan Raceway. What a nice thing they did to raise money for Gilda's Club. Got lots of nice comments on my speech afterwards. Even a few tears. Nice. They were good tears.
Well, going to head out. Won't be back until tomorrow afternoon, though am bringing computer in case I have a little free time.
Have a great day all!
Judy in MI
-
Don't know the doctor or facility as I'm from Michigan. But I do know about being pre-disposed to getting cancer. Same in my family. Four with lung cancer, three with breast cancer, and two with brain cancer. So I understand.
It is common to combine chemo treatments. I did the carbo/taxol combo. Be ready to fight for you have a challenge ahead of you. Make sure they give you plenty anti-nausea meds, and pain meds. And stay on top of the constipation! That can be a problem. Don't let it get to that point.
Hugs. Wishing you the best.
Judy in MI
-
Great news Donny! Yeah! I'm doing the happy dance!
Now I'm hoping they can do that stint and you will get relief. Yeah! Love good news!
Judy in MI
-
Amazing news! Just amazing. Thanks for sharing. Bless her for teaching 5th graders. Blesss her. LOL
Judy in MI
-
Good morning all. Good for you OH Judy for starting the exercise gig. Bud good luck with your lure business. And Katie, thanks for the kind thoughts. Never think you can't post in a survivor's forum. You are a survivor, you not only survived your own cancer, but you survived the experience of your father's lung cancer. That makes you a survivor in every sense of the word.
Not sorry about the rant I did here. Wow did I need to get that out! I'm printing that and mailing it to every doctor that is dealing with me and putting on the bottom of it, HELP in great big letters.
If the Onc does not call by mid afternoon, he will be getting a call by me. There's no way they have not seen the CT scan yet. This tells me it's likely to be negative, as surely they would have called by now if it was not.
Then I go to the foot doctor and try to find a solution for the foot spasms. I'm afraid part of it will be multiple cortisone shots into the arch of my foot. OMG!!! I know pain well, and thankfully the pain is short lived, unbelievably painful but very short lived. So I shall endure.
It is so beautiful out today. So thankful for this time of year. It's heating up again with the humid machine, but that's okay. It's heading into late August, and the humid temps are beginning to fall and I love that!
And in spite of my rant, I do love life. I love people. It's all going to be okay.
Judy in MI
-
How awesome to be free from that doctor. I'm with you, there's lots of others to take over for that one! I'm with ts though, when I read the last part of your bio and it says pacemaker installed, two months to live, and the LVAD, I didn't understand that.
And I'd like to know how you are overall, not just with respect to lung cancer. Hope your heart is beating well and healthily!
Judy in MI
-
Thank you Judy and Kasey. It really did help to just pound the keyboard, and chronicle the craziness that is going on. I slept (for the first time in days) like a baby last night, and I'm sure it's because of my lovely and furious rant! Ah!
New day.....
-
This is an email I sent to a dear friend that I can trust, and just needed to UNLOAD ON:
My head is spinning, and I’m all talked out and so tired I can barely function. So, read at your own risk. There’s no advice (I think) you can give. I just am beyond frustration and need to chronicle this. Perhaps I’ll print it out so my husband can see the craziness and maybe intervene because I just am one big wreck, flying from just laughing so hard at life’s absurdity, to feeling so dejected that I don’t know what to think or do.
Like I said I’m all talked out. When people ask how I am I just want to walk away. I don’t want to vomit the stuff going on, and I don’t want to fake it like I’m just fine. And I’m confused.
In 2000, while in NYC, I had to lift a weeks worth of luggage over the subway chain link fence, and got the 2nd of five hernia's in my belly. The first was when I was a child, the rest after this incident. Each repair got complicated, and required another repair. Today I just live with a bulge to the right side of my umbilical, and try not to lift too much to irritate it.
Then there was the lung cancer. Obviously a horrendous thing. The side effects of the chemo and other drugs plague me to this day.
Then the complicated foot surgeries. I had four of them a long time ago to remove cysts. Then I had huge cysts on the bottom of my foot which were removed with a 3% chance of them returning. This was before my lung cancer DX. But of course the cysts returned, and they had to remove the ligament that makes up the arch of our foot. What followed was acutely painful spasms, that I think are caused by walking strangely due to the damage done to the foot. Thus I’ve been sent to several physical therapists who try to help me walk normal, but can’t because most of my left foot is numb, and it’s hard to walk right when you can’t feel most of your foot.
I was still thinking the spasms in the body are from the foot stuff, I endure it until it gets so bad that at a church gathering a friend who is a paramedic, almost dragged me into an ambulance because I was writing in pain because of the spasms.
Take it back to the PCP. He begins to send me to Neurologist, Muscular specialist, and Rheumatologist. Muscular specialist prescribes Xanax, and it helped a bit but I was in a complete fog all the time. Not the right solution. Neurologist decides to put me on a medication for MS patients, also for people with spinal cord injuries. I notice immediately that the medication is making my heart (which has a damaged (inherited) heart valve)skip beats in a wild way. He says to stay on the medication but cut the dose back a bit. Does not help with the heart palpitations. But he told me to stay on it because if this medication didn’t help, the next medication would probably help with the spasms, but leave me basically feeling like a Zombie. Not my style.
In the meantime, I’m waking up every single morning with my foot that has had six surgeries on it, in total spasms with the arch like a brick wall, and the toes stuck straight up and the ankle jutting out sideways in a bizarre manner. I know this is not related to the other spasm issues, but because of the severity of the foot surgeries, my foot is absolutely nerve damaged and because most of it is paralyzed, it is spasming like you can’t believe, EVERY SINGLE MORNING. I wear a boot to bed on one foot, and a shoe on the other because that foot is also genetically damaged and without further serious surgery can’t be corrected. Not about to have more surgery on the foot that is fairly okay.
NEXT…..time to see my Oncologist, which I did Friday this past week. He asks how things are going. I tell him about this medication I’m on for the spasms, and that it’s giving me bad headaches, heart palpitations, and makes me dizzy and nauseated. He immediately orders a CT scan to make sure the cancer has not spread to my brain!!!!!!
Now today I have not heard back on the CT scan, so that is in the back or forefront if I’m honest of my mind. My PCP calls and asks me to come in because my blood work had some irregularities and my blood pressure is too high. So I saw him today. My blood pressure is too high, and he listened to my heart for a very long time and asked for his nurse to come in and do an EKG. The nurse is doing this and asking me to stop wiggling, as the EKG is very irregular. I tell her I’m not wiggling, and so she stops and watches me for like five minutes to make sure I’m not wiggling. Then she hurries out with the report to the doctor.
He comes in and says my heartbeat is not normal in any way, and he is very worried about that. He doubles my inderal heart/blood pressure meds, and says to take them for two days, and if my heart does not regulate, to stop the spasm medication, and then if my heart is still not right on Monday, I have to go to a Cardiologist immediately.
So I go to the pharmacy, and ask him to fill the new inderal heart medication, to which he responds, how is your asthma (born with it)? I said okay, and he cautioned me that inderal can cause asthma to become much worse, so to be sure to watch it and have my fast acting inhaler available in case I have an asthma attack as a result of the increased meds.
And, here I sit waiting for my Oncologist to call to tell me if my cancer has spread. I can’t stop the spasm meds because the spasms are horrid, my heart is skipping beats and totally not keeping up with the music in the band, and I see the foot doctor tomorrow to get cortisone shots into the arch of my foot to try to stop the spasms that are preventing me from sleeping.
THIS IS INSANE.
I don’t need a sensible response to this, as there is nothing sensible about what is going on. I just needed to vent. Vent. Vent. Vent
\So frustrated. Just want to get all the docs in a room with a big white board and start drawing symptoms, and meds, and docs and ask them all to work together for Pete's sake@@@@@@@
-
Morning all! Libby, we are just East of you and what you get, we get a few hours later after it crosses the lake. It was 62 this AM, with a high of 82 coming. Lo Humidity. We are coming into the most favorite season of the year for me. Autumn. I adore Autumn. The colors in Michigan are so spectacular, with the huge rolling hills and wonderful landscapes. We will head north in a couple of months, probably early October, to experience the beauty once again.
Have not heard from the Onc. yet. Didn't sleep great last night. I really don't know how much time to expect. When they found lung cancer, the call came 3 hours after the CT scan. So I guess today I will take this as no news is good news.
Going shoe shopping today. Hubby failed to put the puppy into the kennel before leaving for work, and she destroyed 3 pairs of my shoes. Of course they were the ones I wear all the time. I have genetically bad feet, and have to wear special shoes most of the time, and those were the ones she decided to chew up. Bad Daddy. But I get to go shopping and spend his money with glee as he thinks about what he should have done.
Judy in MI
-
Hi Ronnie,
The firsts are the worst. The firsts of each month, then year, anniversaries, birthdays, holidays. Expect to feel pain at these firsts. I'm so sad you must go through this, but like Randy said, talk to her. Tell her how your day is going, communicate with her for she is not gone, she has moved to the other side and she can hear you.
Judy in MI
-
Hi Annette,
Of course I too wish you the best on the one year scan. I agree with you about life post cancer. It's amazing the many things that have gone wrong in the 3 years since my DX. None of them thus far have been cancer related, but they have all been health related, many of them as a result of my treatments. It seems some days if it is not one thing, it's another.
I have learned much patience in all of this. I had to try to just love the day I'm in and enjoy what I can of it and let the rest go. Not how I thought I'd be spending my 50's, but what can we do?
Now: You do NOT have cancer in your big toe! Trust me.
Judy in MI
Scan time again - NED
in MEMBER UPDATES
Posted
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!