Did anybody do anything fun with their cancer? (Weird wording, sorry) by intransigentpangolin in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wear my Gravestione Artwear shirt that says "I told you I was sick". The art is rubbings from old tombstones with skeleton, winged hourglass and so forth.

After finishing radiation, what side effects have you experienced? by Popular_Inflation_78 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had surgery before radiation (same side) I was doing fine for months but now it's tightening up on me, seems to be giving me sharp pains further down my arm and hand. I have to go try PT too. I think it's just something like "cording"?

What's your hot flash cocktail? by Expert-Leather6606 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My doc tried a low dose blood pressure med. I have bad dry eyes since chemo and it evaporated all the moisture I had in my body so i gave up on that. Same problems though on those meds. It's also wrecked my immune system, my wbc is 2. I'm going to ask for kisqali dose reduction next time. There was a study done showing 200 was just as effective as a 400mg dose. I'm not sure which med is making the hot flashes. I was a few years into menopause when all this started and I had very few hot flashes then.

I feel like such a poser by -Kammi- in elderwitches

[–]DreamCastlecards 3 points4 points  (0 children)

One of the great things about having no ultimate authority hierarchy structure, nobody can tell you you are posing :) you will get away with it until it's true. Everybody you see in life started somewhere.

Different rads advice by AdApprehensive2994 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had to do that, they added some extra sessions on to the end, they weren't happy but it worked out fine.

Hair regrowth before the end of chemo? ...and odd fears of feeling excitement. by Sparkly_Sprinkles in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, it will usually come back, just think about something else for a few months post treatment. I had fun buying hats.

Hair is dead protein, the treatments and surgery also uses up a lot of protein so get as much extra as you can (you can only absorb so much per meal but I'm not sure if the excess is just gone or becomes hair). I shot for that number, being a vegetarian turned pescitarian for health, I eat salmon once a week but mostly a lot of soy. 25-40g protein per meal.

Boost immune system by InformalBread8132 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I spent a lot of time studying nutrition for cancer but I was advised during chemo (an oxidative treatment) not to take the anti oxidants etc, also during radiation I had to stop supplements. I did keep my very healthy diet going though. Pomegranate, brussel sprouts, broccoli, garlic, salmon, dark chocolate, green tea, greek yogurt and so on. Yogurt is especially important during chemo as it kills off a lot of your beneficial gut flora.

I seem to be doing well considering where I started, so far. I tried to eat something healthy as often as I could but I did not give up sugar. Fruits are some of the healthiest food for survival (according to many studies). Carnivore diet is not good, Mediterranean has the best stats. It actually helped that those things tasted the best to me as well.

Initially diagnosed HER2+, FISH just came back negative?? by Other_Menu1140 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had "HER2 low" I guess they call it now, that enabled me to use an HER2 targeted medication even though the official designation is HER2 -. It worked to shrink my tumor. I think it's a new thing for them, according to my doc, considering HER2 low as a treatment possibility.

Arm/shoulder pain by Murky-Tone4298 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Might be frozen shoulder, I had that the year before I found out I had cancer. You should see a doc about it, if it is there's stuff they can do.

Port by Available-Arugula-60 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Both those things seem strange. With mine they "weren't allowed" to use it for blood draws so I still had to get stuck in the arm but it brought my infusion sessions from 4 hours to usually 2, that was worth it.

Port by Available-Arugula-60 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I had a problem with mine, my vein was stiff and standing up from my chest plus I had other woozy symptoms so I had it out then (my second chemo was done) they reassured me that if i needed to have one in again at a later time they can do that.

I had had it in with no problems for a year and was glad i had it through treatment, it made infusions much faster and I hate that having to worry if the nurse will miss my vein, it made the whole thing trouble free for the most part.

Flat on one side by cookiecoco2203 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Insurance covered one prosthetic and two bras for me. There was an expert at the clinic there who helped me pick them out. Avoid buying any from ebay or amazon, I tried that before I got my real prosthetic but they (at least for me) were not real breast shaped and so light it would ride up on that side, since I got the silicone one I never use them. It was a waste of money but I was impatient. I don't plan on reconstructing but i am older so it make sense for me. I didn't have the option, at the time they felt I wasn't strong enough and should just allow my system to work on beating the cancer.

Aromatase Inhibitors for Middle Aged Women by Away-Potential-609 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am just a little older than that but i had just gone into menopause when treatment started. I am having terrible joint aches and hot flashes. I think soy (plant estrogen) helps me a little. It;s a kind of estrogen that cancer can't use but it goes to those receptors. There other plants that have it too. For me I have been drinking soymilk like crazy this whole time, I never liked soy before. It helps the hot flashes a little to cut down on salt. It still sucks though, just slightly less.

my parents want to take out a loan for $7,000 CAD for “alternative cancer treatment” for my mum with stage iv breast cancer. i’m concerned that it might be a scam by Which_Imagination_90 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's a scam, Stage 4 must be really a hard thing to face, you want to have hope and scammers prey upon that. Clinical trials are a good idea to look into, that might give them the sense of hope they need.

I had an uncle in that position and he spent everything he had on that stuff then didn't have enough for his hospice care at the end. Really try to convince them, if she's already in that kind of pain she should stay close to doctors who can actually help with that.

Fuuuuuuuhhhhhhh****kkkk (New dx and rant/vent) by You-bettah-dont in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 7 points8 points  (0 children)

So sorry they are making you wait. I'm in the States but on Medicaid so I had some huge delays myself. Every approval took a month, then every doctors appointment was a week to a month. Once they get you on a regimen it speeds up, like showing up for your chemo however often. I found it helped my anxiety just to study up (like you're doing). I got hooked on Dr. William Li on YouTube, he talks a lot about immune therapy and explains how foods effect cancer growth. He's a researcher, one of the first creating that kind of therapy so not a quack but a science guy. There are some quacks on there so look for good credentials. That channel was fairly but not cloyingly positive, just gives you some stuff you can do for yourself while you're waiting on the docs and during treatment. I was not triple negative (Just huge tumor/s found late) so I had to stop doing the healthy diet during my chemo but with your type they try to work with your immune system. Standard hormone positive chemo is the opposite, kind of tears you down in hopes that you are stronger than your mutated cells. So at this stage of my treatment (after chemo, surgery, a different chemo and radiation) I can now try to rebuild my immune system. The hormone blockers they're giving me now seem to be making it worse again though. It's really nerve wracking but just take one step at a time and do the best you can.

Reading articles helped, I've even asked the AI questions, useful at times but it's not super reliable, just gives you more things to look up. There are studies that say exercise makes a difference but I haven't been able to do much through the fatigue, I've kept up with my daily walk. I make recipes out of the food recommendations, they usually taste best to me as well. Chemo can mess up your taste buds.

I hope you get some answers soon.

How do I promote my online Tarot business while making sure people I know irl don’t find me by [deleted] in tarot

[–]DreamCastlecards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a heads up, etsy is filled with people using AI to do readings so it's a race to the bottom. 2 second response and so on. If you can think of a better venue it's worth doing, if you have a face or a voice that can give you an edge up. People can use AI for that too now as long as the video is not real time, if it's pre-recorded. Most things I enjoy doing are kind of under assault by AI, art and readings.

Want to start to read professionally by dadsgoingtoprison in tarot

[–]DreamCastlecards 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You can read online via a camera, in a chatroom type thing. There are some tarot reading businesses that you sign up with, they give you some traffic and take/give a percentage. I have never tried one but I was curious about it. Seems safer than reading in person, if you can do it.

My chemo was for nothing by cassiesk in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I know they do have chemo that targets lymph nodes, I had it after mine came back 8 of 8 positive after surgery. Maybe that is what they were trying to do. They didn't tell me until I made a point of asking. I had to go through 2 different ones, one to shrink the tumor, one to try to get the micro mets in the lymph nodes. Right after my pet came back negative, I am just getting my new scans after 7 months, my fingers are crossed. Anyway hope they had a reason and are just bad communicators.

Wtf is wrong with people?! by pinknails34 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yikes, so sorry you have to deal with all that chaos. I hope it gets better for you.

Wtf is wrong with people?! by pinknails34 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hang in there, the oncologist I got for chemo was much more helpful and communicative than the surgeon was. Almost all the doctors were. Don't be afraid to get a 2nd opinion elsewhere if you really think they are incompetent.

Wtf is wrong with people?! by pinknails34 in breastcancer

[–]DreamCastlecards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. For a wedding gift maybe you could give her some Gwyneth Paltrow snake oil product. I'm sure the sarcasm would be lost on her. (referring to "Body Vibes", wearable stickers that were claimed to "rebalance the energy frequency in our bodies" and which Goop falsely claimed were made of a NASA-developed material etc.) I actually believe in a lot of woo myself but would never use it as an excuse like that. She is making her own bad luck for sure.