SDianneB

Hi Denise. Things I've tried on my dried out face (from radiation) -- Aquaphor which is really good to get some moisture in the skin, but didn't help the itch. If the skin is dry and itchy, I'd recommend you try A&D ointment. (It's used for diaper rash, so you'll find it in the baby section!) It immediately stopped the burning/itchy feeing. There is also a product that is a vitamin E oil that you can get from most hairdressers. They sometimes use it on dry hair, but it's great on skin too. It's expensive, but only takes a tiny bit to cover a lot of skin, and the results with me were immediate. Good luck! Di

Hi Melissa, and welcome! Sorry you have to be here, but it's a great place to be! Being a little down from reading here is understandable, because people do have bad news sometimes. But, that's the reality of the scourge they call "cancer." Once you've been around a while though, you'll read some of that "bad" stuff turn around. Sometimes people lose their battle with this disease, but when they do, they always leave us with more weapons to continue the fight. We love them, we commiserate with them when they are going through tough times, we pray for them, talk to them, and mourn and miss them if they don't make it. But by golly, there are a bunch of us here, and we aren't shy! Your mom is close to my age, so tell her I said she's got a fantastic daughter, and she should listen to you more! Di

Don't forget - popsicles! Also -- maybe they can try a suppository for the n&v? Just a thought ... Di

Oh, how I love these Lucie updates! As usual, the two of you handle this together, and with extreme grace. The both of you are such an inspiration. If the rest of us could have only a fraction of your strength and fortitude, we'd be truly blessed. Di

Awwww Kel, a HUGE hug to you and your entire family. This is SO difficult for you all, I know. But, you're doing everything right it sounds like to me. The negative scan sounds like a good thing, so I'm hopeful that your mom will regain strength -- and soon. Di

Before coming here, had someone said to me "brain mets," I'm afraid I would have called the undertaker and just folded my tent. In this forum, I've read SO many times of people getting on top of these with WBR, then coming here to tell us about it -- unbelievable to me only a scant 6-7 months ago, and now it's a fairly common occurrence. Amazing. I remember sitting in the hospital, talking to my sister when we first heard the "cancer" word, but still not knowing where it was, exactly what kind it was, etc. I told her I was sort of like President Bush and the troops (!) -- I figured I had plenty of troops to fight cancer, but if it was in too many places in my body, I didn't know if I could fight that. Fortunately, I didn't have to make that choice then, and with God's blessings maybe I won't, but I didn't know then what I know now -- that the people who come here and post know all about that stuff. They have the same fears as me, but they suited up and jumped into the fray, and they constantly amaze me with their insight and strength every time they post. Now, I know I can do it because they can. They did. They still are. And so will I. So can your mom with your love and support. Di

Pam, that is so sad. I felt so awful for you reading your words. My dad died suddenly, and he was out of town. It took me a long time to stop being mad at him for dying when I wasn't there to be with him to say goodbye. I was at home by myself the night they called to tell me what had happened, and ever since then if the phone rings late at night, I break out into a cold sweat with fear. Even if it's a wrong number or a prank, I will lay there a while and remember that night all those years ago, and those fears come back. Every tough thing like that is a hurdle -- the more of those you can get through, the better. It never gets easy, but you will learn to handle those times differently. I promise. Many hugs to you. Di

Marge, we would LOVE to share NED with you -- forever! Good to hear from you, and good luck on the next chemo. Di

I think there are a lot of things that affect how we feel and our health, and there have been tons of studies about all that. I think we struggle to find answers though, and if we can identify things that may ward this off for someone else, it's definitely worth consideration. Stress takes away from overall health, so it probably is something that we need to deal with anyway. In my genealogy work, I come across tales about how very hard people worked back then (1800s and before) and had none of the modern conveniences we have now. My mother recalls in her young life (she was born in 1913) that they worked hard, everyone worked, but they were all at the same dinner table every night, everyone told about their day, they shared everything, and loved each other dearly. She will tell you that if there was stress in their lives, they didn't have a clue what it was! Di

Beth, you and I are the biggest wimps ever when it comes to those MRIs, I guess -- I do NOT blame you a bit. Just reading here though tells me that these are vastly different, depending on where you go. The tech I had was a jerk -- a real jerk. It sounds like Heather had nice people with her who helped ease her through it. I bet that makes a huge difference, so just demand that you get real humans to help you through this one, rather than the "lay down, hold still, and shut up" kind. Hopefully, this is just going to be something easy to get fixed. Di

Where are you guys? What's going on with you? Just missing you here, that's all. Di

I have absolutely no experience or knowledge about that, but I wish the best for your sister as she goes through this. And to you as well. Hang in there. Di

I wish I could track down a video of it, but a little over a year ago there was a Nightline show that highlighted a cancer patient and her physician. The physician's wife had been through cancer treatment, and he reorganized his entire practice due to the (overall poor) experiences they had with the "system" during her treatment. He'd changed to a team approach -- had counselors, surgeons, holistic practitioners, etc., all available in one practice. The cancer patient was undergoing chemo for advanced breast cancer. We saw her in a pretty wig, with makeup, and nice clothes. "This is me living," she said. And then she pulled off the wig, wiped off her face, and threw on her sweats. She said "this is me dying." She said that when she went to the grocery store with the wig and makeup, friends would come up to her and say "let's do lunch." Just meaningless things that implied she had a future. She said they never saw the other "her," because they couldn't handle it. She said that if she showed up at the same grocery store without the wig and makeup, in other words showing her friends "the dying me," they would run in horror. Her family and close friends, of course, knew both. She said it had taken her the better part of the time spent in treatment to weed out those who could from those who couldn't take it. In the meantime, she had no choice but to take it -- every day. I guess we just have to look for the "happy" (for lack of a better term) medium in all this, and not have our expectations set too high so that we alienate everyone, yet have them be realistic at the same time so that we aren't hiding from or deceiving others. They just don't teach you this stuff growing up. Di

Wow, Jen -- that is GREAT news! I recall exactly how that feels too -- to be told "this is the last one." YAY!! You'll do great with PCI. I will say this about it though -- I was very eager to have it, knowing the tremendous positive effect it has on survival, I bugged Addie incessantly to find out *exactly* what she felt and what it was like for her, but when I had the first one, it suddenly dawned on me -- "they are radiating *my* brain!" So, take just a few minutes at least to ponder the seriousness of what you are doing, while at the same realizing why you are doing it. I think you're a tough cookie like the rest of us, and will be just fine. I'm just SO very glad for you that you've come so far and are still in there fighting away. Kudos to you, my friend!! Di

Good for you, Cheryl. You're a trooper, for sure. I think you'll find it somewhat helpful to write about what you feel every day too -- I did when having PCI, and what you're going through is way more than I ever did with that. It isn't reasonable to expect that we will feel anything like "normal" when our bodies are being strafed by chemo, radiation, and tons of pills every day, but I hope you have more good days than bad, and that you come out the other side of this with an excellent result. Di

When I lived in San Antonio (1984-1987) there was a place called Tycoon Piggies. They had THE biggest and best burgers! I had to have a jalapeno chili burger just about once a month! We'd sometimes go there on a Friday after work -- it was on a wonderful street where there were other restaurants with mostly outside dining and lots of people -- and have those giant burgers and waddle home! Makes me salivate just thinking about them ... Di

TAnn -- you might try some A&D ointment on the rash. It was great on my rash from PCI -- stopped the burning and itchy feeling immediately, and kept it moist overnight. Makes sense I guess, it's used mostly for diaper rash! Good luck -- I know you must be really uncomfortable. Di

Oh my. Someone needs to talk to her Radiation Oncologist -- I think they turned the machine up WAY too high if that's Addie!! Di

I've been pretty much a loner for most of my adult life, don't have much immediate family to speak of, but love dearly the ones I do have! (They tease me that I know more about our ancestors 100 years ago because of all the genealogy work I do -- they may be right!) Although my family is factored in on everything that affects me and I talk to them about it openly, it's a different thing than people who have husbands and children - completely. So, how could I ever understand that? Simple. Because I've seen and observed it for years and years. And because it's often someone from outside the situation who sees it more clearly than those directly involved. Professionally and personally, I've been around seriously injured, seriously ill, terminally ill, and dying people since I was 18 years old. Personally, I believe there are worse things in life than death. So, you're handed a cancer diagnosis. Now what? It's like the stages of grief that we go through -- anger, denial, etc. We go through it. Sometimes we come out of one stage and go to the next smoothly, sometimes not. But, as for me, know what was more fearsome to me (and still is) than the thought of death? What I was going to have to go through just to GET there. Chemo, radiation, morphine, and all the buzz words that float over the heads of people with devastating diseases. We try and swat them away one at a time, but sometimes they come back. Sometimes they are here to stay. We just don't know for how long. In order to get there, counseling - yes. Hospice - yes. Whatever can be helpful to us - yes. Being single for so long, and independent as heck, I've learned a great deal about having insight into myself and what I feel. Generally when I talk to counselors, they tell me that -- that I have good insight and just need to concentrate on x, y, or z. Whatever. In the meantime, there is that ONE thing that we have to do, no matter what else we do or don't do - we LIVE. Life. As long as we have it. The reality is that people who are 20 or 30 or 40 or 80 and who are in perfect health might use some counseling to prepare for disease or death just as much as any of us, but most don't seem to think of it until something whacks them upside the head and says DON'T THINK YOU'RE GETTING OUT OF THIS LIFE EASILY!!! What keeps me strong is just that -- LIFE. Living it every day and hoping that I don't have to worry on THIS day about steroids or more chemo or more radiation. I may have to worry about that on the NEXT day, but not on THIS day. And then I call/email my family and let them know that I'm ok and that I feel good and that I love them dearly. Di

Awwww Frank. You ol' softie! Thanks. Di

Eeeeeuuu --- you people are GROSS!!! Had the BURGER. Yummy! (brrrrrrrrrp ) What a great day, thanks in large part to all of you. Di

Ok, I want Ry to come and fix up my house, and a chest full of Lucie's quilts. Wow. Ry, this is an amazing idea for a thread. I can't wait to hear what others post. I'm going to soak it ALL in. Di

ROFL!! You people are nuts! I LOVE YOU ALL!! This is a fun birthday. You're all the greatest! (Pie he says? Swoon! They have the greatest pie and chocolate cake -- the kind you make in a sheet-cake pan. THUD. Will just knock you off your feet. Of course, it has only about 2 bags of powdered sugar in it - yikes!) Di

Goodness, Wendy. You're SO young to be going through all this. I'm so sorry. I don't know the answer to your question, but I'm older than you, and was quite used to plenty of aches and pains. When I first started seeing the Radiation Oncologist, he asked me if I had any pains, and I told him yes, but that one day they were *here* and the next day they were *there* and we both got a big laugh out of it! He told me then to not worry so much, but to just pay attention to the kind of pain, frequency, etc. My trouble before all this was that I didn't always pay attention, so now I'm having to learn something different. I'm hopeful that I'll settle into some kind of status where I can have a better handle on what it is I feel at a given time, and maybe you will too. This is rather new to us both, so it isn't like we know all the rules yet! Di

Pammie -- I had mine cut off before starting chemo, but didn't lose it with chemo. Go figure. I had that "needly" feeling in my scalp though. Addie said she had it, and maybe others did too, but I managed to keep my hair through that. It grew out some, but when I had the PCI, it started falling out, but appears to have stopped now, or at least is just shedding a little rather than hunks of it coming out. I also recommend getting it cut, as the tangles will make HUGE hunks of it come out, whereas when it's shorter, it tangles less and doesn't seem to pull away from the scalp as much. I had a few sore spots on my scalp from the radiation burn, but not too bad. That is where I lost the most hair from. I look like a hillbilly whose granny put a bowl over her head and cut her hair. Seriously, I have hair that just covers my head, with a receding hairline over both ears! What a visual, huh! I guess there isn't an easy way to lose one's hair, but I agree with you that cutting it does help some. Di