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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Philly Suburbs
Posts: 1,709
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Re: NEDenise vs NEDecadron Smackdown!
Hi Friends!
Sorry I haven't checked in here for a bit...
Botswellia Herb thing...check! I'm on it...well not on it, on it, like Jill...
more on it, like I'm off to find some!!
Like... on a mission.
Thanks Jill and Andi!
My docs are on a mission to get Avastin approved. We all know the dance they have to do.
They request.
Insurance denies.
Docs appeal.
Insurance bargains.
Docs "threaten".
Finally, hopefully, everyone agrees to do the right thing for the patient.
My doc expects the process to take about 2 weeks this time...so that means Avastin won't start till late next week...at the earliest.
In the meantime, I've weaned to 8mg of dex...for no other reason than I'm hoping my face will shrink a little.
Vanity! Thy name is Denise!
So far...nuthin!
All I'm getting for my trouble is sleepiness...I fall asleep, and don't even realize it till I wake up...
but only when I'm sitting down, so no falls so far  ...
but I probably sleep 12-14 hours a day right now,
and I'm a little off balance when I walk around...mostly when I turn corners.
I guess, sort of hand-in-hand with the sleepiness...I'm also feeling weak, and physically tired most of the time.
Hoping the decreased steroid load will let my energy and muscles rebound.
I wake up with big plans for the day!
Then, I get up and use all my energy to get dressed, and get the family off to work and school.
Who'd think making a coupla sammies would leave me huffing and puffing?
So, I sit down for a rest, and some coffee...and usually wake up an hour or two later. I guess it's not so bad, really...but I won't miss it.
I much prefer my former "fly through things with my hair on fire" pace of living...and I can't wait to get some of that energy back.
Till then, I'm hangin tough...trying to keep my chin up...actually it's chins up right now! Looking for the silver linings in all this junk...and relying on my HER2 sisters to help keep hope floating!
Love to all of you!
Denise
__________________
1/11-needle biopsy
2/11-Lumpectomy/axillary node dissection - Stage 3c, ER/PR-14/17 nodes
3/11 - Post-op staph infection,cellulitis, lymphedema,seroma,ARRRGH!
4/12/11-A/C x 4, then T/H x 4, H only,Q3 weeks
8/26/11 finished Taxol!!!
10/7/11 mastectomy/DIEP recon
11/11 radiation x28
1/12/12 1st CANCER-VERSARY!
1/12 Low EF/Herceptin "Holiday" :(
2/12 EF up - Back on Herceptin, heart meds
4/2/1212 surgery to repair separated incision from DIEP recon
6/8/12 Return to work :)
6/17/12 Fall, shatter wrist,surgery to repair/insert plate :(
7/10/12 last Herceptin
7/23/12 Brain Mets %$&#! 3cm and 1cm
8/10/12 Gamma knife surgery, LOTS of steroids;start H/Tykerb
8/23/12 Back to work
12/20/12 Injure back-3 weeks in wheel chair
1/12/13 2nd CANCER-VERSARY!
1/14/13 herniate disk in back - surgery to repair
1/27/13 Radiation necrosis - edema in brain - back on steroids - but not back to work - off balance, poor cordination in right arm
5/3/13 Start Avastin to shrink necrosis
5/10/13 begin weaning steroids
6/18/13 Brain MRI - Avastin seems to be working!
6/20/13 quarterly CT - chest, abdomen, pelvis - All Clear!
7/5/13 finally off steroids!!
7/7/13 joined the ranks of the CHEMO NINJAS I am now Tekuto Ki Ariku cancer assassin!
7/13/13 Symptoms return - back on steroids
7/26/13 Back on Avastin - try again!
8/26/13 Not ready to return to classroom yet :( But I CAN walk without holding onto things! :)
9/9/13 Brain MRI - fingers crossed
“ Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds you down or polishes you up is for you, and you alone, to decide. ” – Cavett Robert
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