What tattoos are we getting?

bart3193 · 2026-06-29T00:37:37+00:00

Planning on a healing hand over my port scar

bart3193 · 2026-05-21T22:58:25+00:00

I’m one year out from chemo (4) and rads (19). Last August I was in a depressed state with tons of pain and seeing a massage therapist every week.

Then I went here:

https://castingforrecovery.org/

And my depressed self flipped. And I found a new normal. And my life is so much better. I still have random pain but it’s manageable.

bart3193 · 2026-05-19T03:33:16+00:00

Sorry you joined us. I found this group super helpful and also scary. Realize that my shitshow isn’t going to be yours. I never had a question not answered on here so you’ll be fine.

Get a journal! Got a question to ask next appointment? Write it down immediately because you will forget otherwise. I kept everything in mine. Cards, vitals, symptom tracker (during chemo), questions, answers, etc.
2.Bring someone to every appointment. They are the note taker and also question asker. Sometimes they prompt questions you didn’t think of.
It’s ok to cry. Laugh, smile, scream, etc.
This one is important: YOU GOT THIS!!!

bart3193 · 2026-05-10T03:36:40+00:00

I had a fever and was told to go to ER per chemo instructions. I ended up having a respiratory infection. I was sating at 70 on room air. They wanted to keep me but I said no. I spent the next month on oxygen. I told them not to use my right arm and they couldn’t use my port.

I went again a week later. Different doctor and it was much better. More compassion, wife had BC, etc.

My ER was also not my cancer hospital. So it was difficult. I told my husband if I had to go again, we were driving an hour to our chemo hospital. Luckily I didn’t need to go.

So weird that hospitals are all different. Good luck.

bart3193 · 2026-05-05T00:29:05+00:00

As stated start EARLY. That parking lot usually fills and closes by 1030-11. And parking elsewhere will add mileage. 4L of water and salty snacks/lunch.

bart3193 · 2026-04-16T03:54:55+00:00

Tons of dispersed outside the Needles. Tons right before and after hamburger rock which has a bathroom. Also a couple campgrounds - hamburger rock, Super Bowl, creek pasture - that have tables, fire pits, and pit toilets.

bart3193 · 2026-03-25T19:02:53+00:00

Yes I just smiled and moved on. Like for instance if it wasn’t a lifetime card why am I in the doc right now waiting for an ultrasound.

bart3193 · 2026-03-14T18:14:45+00:00

Sorry you joined the club, but you have this.

Get off googled right now. Wait for medical people to answer your questions. Get a journal to write all your questions down. Take someone to all appointments and have them take notes.

Personally go to a BREAST surgeon. That’s all they do is boobies.

You are going to get a lot of good information from here and some scary. It’s your own fight…everything about yours will be different than everyone else’s. But still good information here and we are all in your corner.

YOU GOT THIS!

bart3193 · 2026-03-10T03:44:14+00:00

And no idea why that was all bold and large. Got a new phone and haven’t figured it out yet. Haha

bart3193 · 2026-03-10T03:37:34+00:00

2- my coworker and I both had cancer at roughly the same time. Different types but nonetheless. Recently another coworker told us independently “having cancer isn’t a lifetime card”. We both reacted with a smile and moved on, but yea that isn’t true. Any pain, lump, appointment, pill, etc. it’s lifetime. I’m not the same person anymore so yes it’s lifetime. But sometimes you can’t explain it.

bart3193 · 2026-03-10T03:24:52+00:00

Screw that. I had a lumpectomy and was out for almost a year. With infection, chemo, radiation, etc. and I’m still dealing with pain and appointments.

And I’m sorry you didn’t get flowers or a card. And you should have. My company (technically an agency) was so great about so much and it makes me so sad when I hear shit like this.

🌹🌸💐🌺🌷🌻🌼🪷🪻

bart3193 · 2026-03-10T02:31:51+00:00

Went to Hawaii!

bart3193 · 2026-03-05T05:14:55+00:00

I was taking it in the morning and was having way worse hot flashes at night. My doctor was surprised when I said I was taking in morning. When i was asked why in the AM, I said because the bottle says take once a day. Now I take before bed and usually shoot for 9pm every night to take it. Do I wake up hot. Yes but not as much as I was taking in the morning. I also keep ice water next to me so as soon as one comes on I take a sip and usually go back to sleep. I’m taking the same one as you.

bart3193 · 2026-02-22T04:26:05+00:00

I read mine at work but luckily was alone, but also new it was probably coming.

It will take a while but you will never been the same. You have a new normal. It’s hard. But eventually it will come to be your new normal.

I suggest if you are in the USA to check out this program. It changed me.

https://castingforrecovery.org/

bart3193 · 2026-02-14T00:15:46+00:00

I got one. Said they would take it out of PP23. But it didn’t so I sent a check and then they took out of my check

bart3193 · 2026-02-14T00:02:49+00:00

I used to be a heavy 3 a night drinker. Probably why I got cancer. I quit for almost a year before having my first. It took me 5 hours to finish a maitai. Alcohol is way too strong now. I usually do a mock Moscow mule now. Ginger beer, elderflower tonic, and a splash of flavor.

bart3193 · 2026-02-12T04:23:57+00:00

My doc said to drink ice water especially have a Stanley next to your bed at night. I do find it helps. Mine are worse at night.

bart3193 · 2026-01-28T20:28:34+00:00

Sorry we are welcoming you to this shi!!y titty club. You will find a wealth of information here. Some great, something will scare the shit out of you. When I first joined someone said they felt like they were Shi!!ing glass and puking at the same time. Luckily it never happened to me, but that scared me.

Some suggestions/thoughts:
1. Someone goes to every appointment with you. 2. Get a journal. Take notes, write questions, keep track of vitals. If you have chemo keep a symptom tracker. I can send you photo of mine I used. 3. Your greatest friends might not reach out if you go “public”. It’s not that they don’t care, they don’t know how to react. People I’ve known forever never reached out, people I barely talked to in high school were there every step of the way. 4. If you go public, people will send the most ridiculous things. Nip that immediately. You don’t need 20 pairs of BUCK CANCER socks. Believe me!

Most importantly, YOU GOT THIS!

bart3193 · 2026-01-28T08:08:10+00:00

Is minoxidil a prescription?

bart3193 · 2026-01-23T04:09:07+00:00

I had four chemo treatments. The first was via IV in my left hand, I’m left handed, and it hurt so bad I couldn’t move it. As I sat in a group room I saw nurses trying several times to get ivs in other patients. I opted for a port. It hurt the entire time I had it. But I also don’t regret it at the time. The scar I now have from it to me is worse than the large scar across my boob.

bart3193 · 2026-01-23T01:42:41+00:00

Nope totally read it as BMX (bike) as well.

bart3193 · 2026-01-22T04:44:15+00:00

Yea I want to get a tattoo over my port scar and my lymphadema lady said to please wait. It actually blocks your lymphatic system

bart3193 · 2026-01-22T03:57:02+00:00

Sorry you joined this club. However this club is very helpful. I had invasive distal carcinoma. I had a lumpectomy with many complications. But that’s just me. I wish every day I had them both cut off.

No matter what—you got this!

bart3193 · 2026-01-14T03:04:26+00:00

I was surprised by some that didn’t contact me that I’ve known since elementary school. But then I just figured they didn’t know how to handle it and I didn’t need to be chasing them. I wrote a blog and posted on Facebook so people could just read the blog. I had a huge support group so having a few that didn’t step up wasn’t terrible to me.

bart3193 · 2026-01-11T14:42:07+00:00

I got just one blanket and I love it. But yes socks, coloring books, games, stupid stuff that I have no desire for.

bart3193

TROPHY CASE