Best Of
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
I would like to taste some of Mara's meals but it'll never happen. It's real hard for me to wrap my head around ingredients and cooking.
I'm a huge fan of pizza and peanut butter and jelly.
gailmary
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Jackie, what my mom, Bob & I all immediately noticed after the bandage came off the day after our first cataract surgeries was how vivid colors were—especially blue! Before the surgery it was as if I were looking through a yellowed sheet of cellophane, and anyone I faced who was backlit looked like a silhouette. Push came to shove when I was playing a set at a suburban festival on a tented stage facing the sun. I could not see the fret markers on the side of the guitar neck nor tell (visually) if I was playing at the correct fret! Like betrayal, I too opted for just the distance correction because a new IOL doesn't slow the progression of presbyopia—which is caused by focusing muscles becoming more sclerosed with age. I have astigmatism, so drugstore readers won't work (they make every square grid look like a parallelogram). I went with my usual progressives, but with a much milder distance correction. (The frames hide under-eye bags and help me save on concealer).
I spoke too soon about things at the house proceeding apace. Got to the house this morning only to find that today they were bringing back only the appliances, daybed, and twin bedframes. Stove is hooked up but gas not yet turned back on (more about that later). Only the kitchen fridge (the big French door LG) was brought back—the ol' reliable top freezer plain vanilla basement Kenmore top-freezer is still in storage. So are the headboard for the king-size bed and the footboards for the twin beds. They brought the LG in in pieces (doors, hardware, body); but they couldn't get the L door to sit at the same height as the R. (The L is the one with the icemaker and water dispenser). Took both guys 4 hours and they couldn't figure out what was wrong. (I suggested calling Abt, which sold me the fridge back in 2018, but it's out of warranty so I'd be charged for a service call). The dryer was brought to the wrong part of the basement (where the Kenmore belongs), and is not level (the pedestal on which it sits was not delivered). The sump pump appears to have been unplugged, so I'm hoping against hope for no torrential rains. The daybed sways unstably—several screws & bolts are missing. The crew is coming back tomorrow with its appliance specialist and the right hardware for the daybed, so hopefully the fridge can be reassembled, hooked up to the water line, and plugged in. Meanwhile, due to humidity the basement doors stick (the door from the stairway and the one from outside too), as well as the door up to the attic, so they will have to be re-hung & planed. The contractor is on a job "out south," so he sent his two older Polish-only speakers to clean up the closets that got all filthy during construction (and it took heavy use of a translation app to make any headway). Also discovered that in the den—which is where Bob watches TV—the crew drywalled and painted over where the cable & satellite outlets were! So no point in calling Astound or DTV to reconnect us yet.
And the restoration company said today's items were a "rush order" in case I had to move in imminently. Everything else will arrive no earlier than August 8, the day after the visiting vet appointment which will be here in Lincolnwood. So it's conceivable that we may not be home till Labor Day. (The rent is an arm & and a leg but at least we will have a big fat casualty-loss deduction on our 2025 tax return—which we didn't take for 2024, as everything up till 6/30/25 was fully reimbursed by State Farm).
Rinse messaged me that they washed and dried the linens—and if they got the stink out, I will send them the white split-king set for the next load. I bought the Downy Rinse & Refresh to use only if my Tide Free & Clear and white vinegar don't do the trick. The new twin & twin XL sets don't smell, but maybe I'll have those laundered as well to remove any chemicals that might be harmful to sleep on. The dinette set now smells merely grassy, which is because of the linen blend in the upholstery. I can live with that. So no need to Febreze. But I will plug in the Zevo traps to catch the flies that snuck in, what with the doors having to stay open.
So I'm home and staying in tonight (the Rinse driver will leave the bag behind the porch chair so the porch pirates—or tomorrow morning's possible storm—don't get it). I'll be there again in the morning.
Will definitely do triage on the boxes, which should be labeled. There are going to be a lot of "free to a good home" and "come and get it" posts on Nextdoor Edgewater.
chisandy
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
Also, sending tons of love to everyone here, I do read along daily and I know many of us are struggling. Love to you all ❤️❤️
sf-cakes
Re: Stage IV MBC Fitness
@chicagoan I was also in NYC last week for a couple of days, right after my Zometa infusion, but I soldiered on. @AJ @gailmary @stirfry @threetree @rlschaller @illimae We take a lickin' and keep on tickin' as the old Timex commercial used to go.
Re: Zoom Meet-up for Those With MBC: Place to keep chatting
Thanks @tanya_djamila and @kbl I've had an exhausting week with all those tests. My Oncologist didn't really give a conclusive diagnosis. But the Radiologist recommended a follow-up MRI. I'll deal with that next week. I had reflexology yesterday and it left me totally wasted. I hope I can make it for our Monday group. Love and hugs
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
I am a dog-person. Owning a cat is fine if you have problems with mice. Dogs are high-maintenance but it can get fun. Late afternoon, we had just gotten home from a walk. I had run out of points for the day. He kept pestering me with "bike-ride", "ouch-owie", "walk", "please", "did", "pee", "fairgrounds", and "chase". I kept telling him "no more walk, mama tired, no more fairgrounds, fairgrounds hot." His message was "Remember, this morning we went to the fairgrounds and I ran alongside you on the bike? I am no longer scared of the bike wheel. I don't like riding in the basket, it is uncomfortable. But I can run alongside you, and you can rest on the bike." So I rode and he ran. I think he needs a bunch more words now. LOL! Just "remember", "run", and "scared" would have made that a lot easier. On the list.
Jackie, that fence is going to be beautiful. So nice that you live in a place where you can have a fence like that. They promised us a dog area last fall, but had some higher-priority projects that came up, like new picnic tables.
Cindy, I can just imagine your blonde ear. Jackie, your reference to someone else had me grinning, almost as widely as the Pope. It is fun to have accidents like that and have people make a double-take. Our school principal has dark hair with teal and dark red lights. Then there is me with my clothing from saris. I have a small one coming with a pastel floral design. But I have six full ones that are uncut, and bunches of large pieces. Really upset that I can't do any sewing right now. My supplier is a silk-lover in Australia, who orders boxes of them from India, sorts through them and her stash, and sells what she does not love. She even treasures the mulberry tree in her yard, although she displays what she is selling on her clothesline.
My TV stand is the coffee-table my parents had when I was a kid. A bit low to the floor, but with a futon, I don't care.
Kitty, I love the cake. Much more healthy. Just reminded me that when it rains and the temp drops later today, I can make my cake with coconut milk. Yummy!!
I got my hair cut on Monday. Time for a picture, I guess. I need to move my wall-hangings but can't do it right now. The picture is flipped.
The arrow is Mary on a dinner-napkin trimmed with lace. Didn't realize where it was pointing. LOL!
mcbaker
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
Update on me…..
Scans are stable again. To continue Lynparza/Lupron/Xgeva. I am stopping Lupron after the next dose though. I will be 55 years old in October, and my last MO said to stop Lupron after 55. I asked my current MO about starting an AI with the Lynparza after that, but he said he didn't think it would help me, as my 2021 liver biopsy showed ER- (but it was PR+). I don't know if I agree with him. But I guess I will just take the Lynparza alone and continue to monitor scans.
He said his patient that holds the record is 23 years MBC. I asked if bone-only, and he said she had liver involvement too. I will be 8 years MBC in September.
I am reading along at all your posts. And saying HI to all.
Re: Birads 5 with calcification
I have a similar story, scaredme—and it predated my bc diagnosis. In 2004 when I was 53, shortly after returning from a flight on which I caught a cold, I woke up one morning and found that music on TV—commercials, themes, etc.—sounded tinny, sour and completely off-key. Vocals and instrumentals sounded like they were in different keys, in the same song! My best Martin guitar sounded like a cheap solidbody electric that wasn't plugged in. And stuff sounded a quarter-step flatter in my L ear than my R. That weekend I had 2 gigs (plugged in, and miked so I could hear myself sing and ignore the fact that the guitar sounded off) and a large-group recording session for the anniversary of "Give Peace a Chance" (I was assigned to play dulcimer and be part of a 12-member harmony choir of Chicago folkies and rockers). I managed to get through it, gritting my teeth all the way, and a week later I was part of a folk festival—my workshop set was miked so it was tolerable, but the sound of acoustic instruments jamming all over the festival grounds was like fingernails on a blackboard, so I went home early. Now, a few weeks earlier, my right hip began "snapping" painfully—the only thing that relieved it was swinging that leg in an arc as I held on to things like I was a dancer at the barre. At that folk festival, I was forced to use a cane to walk because of the pain.
Went to an ENT for the hearing problem—he said "must be something with your cochlea" (ya think?) and told me to hydrate and take Sudafed to decongest my middle & inner ear. I went online to a female musician listserv to which I subscribed and described the problem—and received a flood of "me too!" responses (unlike what the young ENT said). One musical colleague from Seattle gave me the name of a local neurotologist who successfully treated her "sudden sensorineural hearing loss" and even offered to put me up should I decide to fly out. Because of the congestion, though, flying was out of the question. The neurotologist gave me the name of his colleague in Chicago—but when I called for an appointment I was told he had passed away a week earlier, and I was referred to another neurotologist in the suburbs. I went to him, he gave me a standard hearing test, declared there was nothing wrong, saying "you're a musician, you're just too picky about pitch." He concluded I had atypical Meniere's syndrome (a diagnosis made when everything else has been excluded), put me on a restrictive diet and ordered a brain MRI, which I had the day after I saw my orthopedist for the hip problem.
Meanwhile, back at the orthopedist (who had a room full of residents and fellows), I described the symptom and how I relieved it, and he ordered an X-ray. When the films came back (they still used film), he gasped and said "What the f***?" (not something you want to hear from your doctor). There on the film, the tip of that side of my hip had broken off and there was a chip floating free. At 53 I was too young for osteoporosis. So he ordered a PET scan.
I spent that weekend awaiting the results of both the brain MRI & PET scan. (I'd asked the ENT "are you considering bone mets from a brain tumor, or brain mets from bone cancer?" and he replied "Yes." Also not what you want to hear from your doctor). I spent that weekend frantically Googling "bone cancer" and "brain tumors affecting hearing," and the prognosis for either was not encouraging. I began looking at obituaries of people at least 5 years older than me and began to resent that I might not live that long.
Come Monday morning, the MRI results came back negative for any brain abnormalities. I went to the orthopedist, and he showed me the scan that he concluded showed only inflammation, no lesions. He then asked, "Say, didn't my former partner harvest bone from your hip in 1996 in order to put your broken leg (from having been hit by a car) back together? Looks like he dug a bit too deep, but better to over-harvest than not take enough." Thus, the two swords of Damocles were retracted back up into the ether. (A course of antioxidants & steroids cleared up the hearing disturbance, and the bone chip was resorbed by my body so the ligament stopped getting hung up on the jagged edge of the iliac crest).
So 11 years later when I was diagnosed with IDC, I was a bit more prepared (though still pretty scared).
chisandy
Re: Night sweats and acupuncture
Just sleep quality. To soon to tell about the night sweats because I am due for my fulvestrant shot next week and this week they have historically been minimal before the next shot.
Re: Night sweats and acupuncture
@Waves2stars I went for my consultation and treatment yesterday. I had one of the best nights sleep I have had since starting this journey. I won't really know about the night sweats because I am on Fulvestrant and they are worse the 2 weeks after the shots. Then less problematic prior to the shots. I get them again next Tuesday. By then, I will have two accupuncture session completed. One thing I do know is how much better I feel today then I have in a long time.