Best Of

Hello everyone and happy Thursday,

I'm not going to be able to join at 1pm today as I'm taking my parents to the doctors. Both of them have bronchitis so off to the doctor for a follow-up visit and check up for them both. They are both 87 so anything like this makes me very nervous.

How is everyone doing? I've been having a lot of lower abdominal pain. I'm four months into taking Lynparza and it's one of the side effects apparently (45% of people experience it in some form). My next meeting with my oncologist is Dec 19th so I'll mention it again however it's been a side effect since day one. It is however, a bit more pervasive now vs previously. I did have my CA-125 done this week and it was 17 so that helped reduce some anxiety on my behalf (because we all know ab pain can mean so many things).

We are looking forward to Christmas in a few weeks. My granddaughter is 22 months so it will be a very fun Christmas with her.

I hope everyone is doing well out there. I'll check back in later today to see how everyone is doing.

Be well.

Hello Ladies!

I am back from Punta Cana! I had a wonderful time. My biggest issues were a couple of days of the runs, tired legs and sunburn on my lips despite lots of sun block. I also had red swollen feet most nights. I did take Zippy my scooter and that turned out very well - I used it in the evenings when I was tired. I floated around in warm pools and in the warm ocean with the kids and grandkids and we made wonderful memories. I felt SO GOOD while on holiday (first in many years) and I felt not at all like a patient. What a lovely change. I had a fit-to-fly letter from my oncologist but nobody asked to see it. Travel was tiring but it was worth it in every way. Here are a couple of pics. I am wearing a wig as my hair is still very short and fluffy. I am waiting for a CT Scan result but doc said his quick peak showed that I'm stable. Still going 3 x each month for Taxol and Avastin.

Hi @HorseGirl …love the pics!! So thrilled to hear that your numbers and bloodwork are normal. That's fantastic. I will admit that I have on and off again abdominal pain and I describe it as 'crampy' as well. My brain always goes to the worst thoughts and then I pull myself back up again so I encourage you to stay in the positive too. Your numbers are telling the true story so lean into those. I take Senokot-S every night. It has worked for me to keep me regular and I've spoken to my medical team and they say to just keep using it (the old adage if it ain't broke don't fix it). Sending positive thoughts back 'atcha!

@flory i appreciate your prayers and support. Means so much. I agree with you that Keytruda is going to work for me ❤️‍🩹

My CT scan results are in, and it’s not what I was hoping for, but time will tell following further treatment. All of my lymph nodes that are cancerous have grown. So far nothing has stopped them. I’m praying for positive healing ❤️‍🩹 soon. I still believe that the Keytruda is going to work, so I’m going to be patient.

@Strongwoman that’s a lot of ups and downs. Sorry for the passing of your hospice friend and for your health issues. So tough.

As for Christmas, do whatever your energy and your heart tells you to do plus enlist your family for help if you can. Engaging them may make it that much more special. I hope whatever you choose gives you some joy. You deserve it

Hi. With some tweaks to my pre-meds and my neutrophil count just squeaking by…I was able to have treatment.

Well it seems like I’m in a good news-bad news situation!!

The good news is that my CA125 went down another 4000 - that’s a 75% decrease after 3 treatments!!

The bad news is that I had another reaction to Carbo. Caught it earlier this time because I wasn’t under the influence of Benadryl…so only some nausea and face flushing. The alternate will be Cisplatin.

I am going for allergy testing. It’s for Carbo, although I think that is a forgone conclusion now, but it will be able to show the level of sensitivity. They are also going to test Cisplatin which is the alternate for Carbo. So, hoping Cisplatin is ok!

My nurse was amazed that I was able to self-advocate successfully for the change from Benadryl to a 2nd generation antihistamine - he said Drs rarely agree to the change 😁.

I have a CT scan in a couple of weeks so I’ll see how it compares to my CA125 decreases🤞.

It feels good going into the holiday season with lifted spirits.

@Sandi6 it takes a lot to see joy when you are feeling crappy so well done. I hope the CT results yield a positive outcome.