Hi, WhatNexters, how’s everyone doing?

Carool

Hi, all. We want to keep this site active. So, longtime friends or newcomers, please let us know how you’re doing. Anything good or anything you need help with.

beachbum5817

Hi, Carol. I haven't been on in awhile. I hardly ever get the What Next Digest, and I seem to not think of it without receiving a daily email. Anyway, I am doing well. Last week, I had my annual appointment with my oncologist. Thankfully, all is well. I finally got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine 2 week ago. I am lucky enough to be spending the holiday week with my daughter and her family in NC. I hope you and everyone else at What Next are doing well. Take care.

MarcieB

Carool...yay! You are stepping up, (thank you).
I had my second shot (Pfizer) yesterday and had a kind of strange reaction - I felt like I did after a chemo infusion - foggy, chills, achy. My treatments haven't been so long ago - I REMEMBER what it felt like! Today, I am fine. I wonder, if after going through chemo, my body is just super aware of anything it did not produce itself...and just shuts me down for a while?

beachbum, I'm so glad to know your appointment went well. Now you can enjoy the holiday time with your family with peace of mind. :-)

legaljen1969

I am trying my darndest to get a vaccine. It is like the great treasure hunt. I can get one appointment but then can't get another for my husband. I suppose we don't have to go together, but it would be nice.

On the cancer front, had my last appointment with oncology on March 9. Oncologist seemed to think things were going okay. I have my follow up with the surgeon on May 10. She has had the most "hands on" time with me. LOL She's more or less the "team leader" so hopefully that appointment will go well too. I don't expect any issues.

Marcie, you are the first person I have heard of who has had second shot issues with Pfizer vaccine. Most of the second shot people I know have had issues with the Moderna. Although, everyone has had second shot issues that I know. I hope you feel better soon. Those symptoms sound quite unpleasant. Lots of good healing thoughts out to you. I will keep you all posted on my success with getting a vaccine.

Carool

Hi, beachbum! Great to hear from you. And even better to hear that you got a good report from your oncologist. And the vaccine.

andreacha wrote last week and galvanized some of us to continue our beloved Greg’s Thankful Thursdays idea by communicating here a few days each week, just to see how everyone is doing, and help newcomers, too. We want our WN community to continue. Thanks for your update.

Carool

MarcieB, thank you. I LIVE on my iPhone, especially since the pandemic began, so it’s second nature for me to do this (and I want WN to thrive).

Congratulations on completing your vaccinations! From what I’ve been reading, your reaction is typical of those who reacted. Two friends (a married couple) had the same reactions to the Pfizer, though neither of them ever had cancer or chemo. They said the chills were the worst of the response. My partner and I also had the Pfizer. I slept for ten hours straight and may’ve had a slight fever, while he said he had no reaction.

Carool

legaljen, good to hear that your oncologist appointment went well, and good luck with your “hands on” doctor.

And I hope you and your husband get your vaccines very soon. Before my partner and I got our appointments, I thought it’d be months before we’d get them. Suddenly, it became much easier to get them. I hope that’s what happens where you are.

Thanks for your response.

Bug

beachbum, I'm so glad your annual appointment went well. Yeah! That's great that you can spend time with family. BTW, I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as well. A sore arm was my only side effect. And, actually, it wasn't even that sore.

MarcieB, I'm glad you've been able to get your shots. Those side effects sound common. I'm still sorry you had to deal with them, though. I hope you're feeling better today.

legaljen, good luck with the vaccine hunt. I know how it is. My age group was not eligible but I kept hearing of people my age getting the vaccine anyway. Sure enough, I went to a pharmacy - figured it couldn't hurt - and signed up and got the shot the next day. I was honest about my age so I don't know why they gave it to me but I wasn't going to argue.

Carool, thank you for this post. It's nice to connect with folks again. I'm glad you and your partner got your shots as well.

Carool

Bug, thank you! I know you did a Thankful Thursday a little while ago in an effort to keep WN running. Let’s hope these efforts work.

Anyone hear from LiveWithCancer recently? I just wrote on her wall.

legaljen1969

@Bug, I think what caused the major backlog here is that they went from 55 and over to 16 and over. They had been doing it by increments of like 5 years. My husband is 58 and I turned 51 in December. We were waiting for word that the 50 and up group was ready. Then the next thing we knew it was "16 and over" so everybody and their brother snatched up the appointments. I keep checking every morning, afternoon and evening. I am on three lists and waiting to see who calls me first.

Teachertina

It’s great to see y’all coming back to WN! Love seeing good news happenings. My family is well now after having 7 with Covid-19. It was scary for a while. My husband and I were not sick and got vaccinated together. We are wondering about people that are ages 66 and 67 right now having a flu that was going around when we were 6 and 7 years old. It was a bad flu that year, which we think may have given us some good T Cell immunity because we have never had a bad flu like that since. We were exposed to Covid and have health issues but did not get infected. Maybe we were just lucky! Anyway, here’s a Fun Friday thought- You think you are stressed out? When I was a kid, if you missed your favorite tv show, you just missed it! Forever! Happy Easter to everyone!

legaljen1969

@Teachertina- I know the feeling about missing a TV show. Gone forever sometimes. And even those yearly shows only came on once a year. The Great Pumpkin. A Charlie Brown Christmas. Frosty the Snowman. The Wizard of Oz ...usually around Thanksgiving. I always remember The Sound of Music coming on around Thanksgiving too.
And when your favorite movie left the theatre- it was just gone. It took years for many of them to show up on TV, HBO or on VCR or DVD. When I realize how many times a movie gets played over and over for kids now, I think our parents might decide they had it pretty good not to have to watch Frozen 100 times in a week. LOL I think I convinced my parents to let me see Pete's Dragon at least 20 times the year it was out. My best friend Maggie and I would belt out the songs in our back yards daily. We would ride our Green Machines up and down the street belting out our concert. LOL I think the neighbors were probably thrilled when we got on to something new.
Thanks for the memory.

MLT

Thank you to all who are keeping this site going!
legaljen 1969, keeping checking Vax sites. Check with pharmacies late aft. They often have unused doses that need to be used. Good luck!

Had scans last week. Showed slight decrease in liver lesions again! Oncologist, family, friends, myself, we are all so ecstatic! Xeloda is working!
Happy Easter to all!

Horselady46

Thank you for keeping the site going. I too do not think about it unless it pops up in my inbox. Still recovering from coming off my horse on Halloween.
Got both my Moderna shots. Then the end of February got Acute small cell Glaucoma. Never had it before and ended up in ER and they didn't even know what it was. Not until I went to my Dr did I find out and was immediately sent to an ophthalmologist. Almost lost my eyesight. But coming back.
I don't go for my annual till June, but have been cancer free for 9 years. Hope it keeps up.

Carool

MLT, that is great news! Thank you for this. It’s so encouraging that these newer drugs are successful (and scientists continue to invent even better drugs).

Carool

Horselady46, thank you. That’s so scary. I hope your eyesight returns to what it was before. I’m overdue for my eye appointment, and you’ve reminded me.

Good luck with your breast exams.

Bug

Carool, I have not corresponded with LWC lately. Nice idea to reach out. I'll write on her wall, too.

Teachertina, having seven people in your family with the virus sure would be very scary. I'm so glad they're doing better now.

MLT, congratulations on the good scans! That's great to hear.

Horselady46, I'm sorry about your eyesight situation. That must have been really scary. I hope your eyesight continues to improve and provides no more concern. And good for you for being cancer free for nine years!

Dltmoll

Glad to see activity on the site again and that everyone is doing well. Things are going ok for me personally. Had my yearly MRI and all is well so I'm going ahead with knee replacements - first one one the 15th, the second six or eight weeks later if all goes well.
Sadly, cancer continues to be a dominant force in my family. A year ago December (2019) my younger brother was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He has been undergoing chemo every other week since then. It is heartbreaking and the pandemic hasn't made it easier. I spend a lot of time going back and forth between prayer and mental ranting, which probably isn't good for me but can't be helped. Fortunately we've all been vaccinated, so I will be able to travel to the other side of the state to spend more time with him.
So, there is still much to be grateful for. Thanks for the activity here, I will definitely be checking in often.

Bug

Dltmoll, that's great news about your MRI. Congratulations! I'm so sorry about your brother. Going back and forth between prayer and mental ranting seems normal. Sending very best wishes for your brother and your upcoming knee surgeries. Take care.

Carool

Bug, thank you. Please let us know if you hear from LWC.

Carool

Ditmoll, thank you. I’m sorry about your brother. I wish him and you all the best.

And good luck with your knee surgeries.

beachbum5817

Ditmoll, I had a knee replaced in November. It was nowhere near as bad as I had thought it would be. I was more nervous about it than I had been about my double mastectomy. I know that everyone is different, but I hope you make out as well as I did. Make sure that you move around as much as possible and do your exercises faithfully. That is great about your brother being Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and surviving it for more than a year. My husband wasn't as "lucky". I hope that he is able to enjoy his life and continues to do well. I will remember him in my prayers. Let us know how you make out with your knee surgery. Take care.

Dltmoll

Thanks Beach I'm. I had a hip replacement in 2018; everyone tells me this will be worse. But the hip wasn't all that bad, so am plowing ahead. Expect to be fully bionic soon.
Ironically, early in his career my brother did R & D on cancer drugs. The one he is moving to now was his baby, start to approval. Life can be so unbelievable sometimes.
Thank you all for your good wishes.

Ashera

MarciB - you stated exactly what I felt like after my second Pfizer vaccine! I even had an issue right after when I went into the waiting area. I sat for 30 minutes - as I had the with the first - because they said I was a cancer survivor and 'special' - with a smile! this time, around the 25 min mark - I stood up and suddenly got tunnel vision like I was going to pass out. One of the nurses keeping watch over this waiting area noticed me sit quickly back down and came over. Checked my pulse, strong, and I asked for water. She had another nurse return with a cup of tap water and I stayed another 15 minutes. She sat with me. Then I slowly stood - things seemed clear and good and I walked out. That night and the entire next two days or so - the fog, the great fatigue, the intense achiness...and then poof - all gone.

MarcieB

Ashera, nobody gave me the *special* treatment because I am a cancer survivor, so I think I will be moving to YOUR neighborhood...! (lol) I did not experience the tunnel vision thing, but my husband did. But, it was the only reaction he had. He had a bad moment when he thought he would pass out, but that was all. I had a friend who survived cancer and a week later she experienced her lymph nodes swelling In her left arm, even though she got her shot in the right arm. Well, that happened to me too. It will be a week tomorrow since I got the shot and all day yesterday I was aware of swelling under my left arm. I couldn't feel actual lumps, like nodes, but I was swollen. Today it is gone. I'm just glad it all behind me.