Best Of
These Discussion Boards
More specifically, >Breast Reconstruction>Breast Implant Sizing 101 by Whippetmom. Thank you Deborah for helping me with the scientific/brand specific/body image transition of it all by determining my fill capacities and subsequent implant selection. May God bless you and the wonderful things you are doing for women like me!
And to all of Team January for helping me soldier through breast cancer period! I don't know where I would be if I did not have these discussion boards to turn to for support and guidance.
Many many thanks for this website.
Kat
Re: how about drinking?
Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Hump Day! The deed's been done. Mom signed the papers Monday, the facility people moved what furniture she will use in the new room yesterday, now I have to move all her clothes, personal items, etc from the old apartment to the new room and then have movers move everything left into storage. Throughout the day yesterday I noticed Mom taking another big step down in her short term memory and cognitive function. If what she is telling me is true (which may or may not be, its hard to tell right now) the staff isn't letting her do anything for herself without supervision. I'm telling myself that the staff is just trying to get to know what she can and can't do safely. On the up side, there are Assisted Living suites with an ocean view and Mom will go on the priority list for when the next one opens up, which, of course, there's no way of telling when that might happen, but at least it gives mom some hope of getting the ocean view back. So, it's back to daily trips to see her until all her stuff is moved out of the apartment. Two moves in 27 days. No wonder Mom is more confused and out of sorts much of the time.
Carole--cramped is a good description of Mom's new "Suite." But she is on the priority list for a bigger Suite if/when one opens up. Hopefully it will also have an ocean view, too. Glad to hear the bloodwork is mostly good.
Jazzy--beautiful pictures! I’d love to hear the wine recommendation! It sounds like you are having a great Thanksgiving week!
Good Morning, Minus, Wren, Teka!
Miriandra--it's amazing all the places BC pops up.
Pumpkin Martini
Ingredients
• 2 ounces* vodka
• ½ ounce heavy cream (or coconut milk, for vegan)
• ½ ounce (to 1 ounce**) pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
• ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Graham crackers, for the rim
Instructions
- Prepare the rim: Crush a graham cracker with your fingers, and place it on a plate. On another plate, add a small pool of maple syrup. Run the rim of a martini glass in the maple syrup first, rotating the glass so the rim is evenly coated. Then roll the rim in the crushed graham crackers until evenly coated.
- Shake the drink: Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add a handful of ice and shake until cold. Strain the drink into the prepared martini glass.
From
Re: TNBC MBC Stage 4
@rlschaller Wow that Giants game! I watched the 4th quarter of that one and was so disappointed they lost since they had played so well. I should probably take a page out of your book and have music in the background since I can get a little crazy lol.It's a great distraction for me and I love the excitement of it. I am overjoyed to hear that these pesky mets have met their match!!! I commend you for your calm perseverance through all the changes you have been dealing with.Continued prayers that you improve with each passing day.🤞Your holiday sound perfect. We don't need to always have to be together on the actual day but just be together! Oh I hear ya on ordering food I will be ordering some of it for Christmas too. That's our gift to ourselves to be able to relax and enjoy a delicious meal.😊
cookie54
Re: How long have you been Stage IV?
@eddiej Thank you .Happy Thanksgiving to you as well as @livinglifenow , @tougholdcrow , @eleanora , @aj and everyone! I hope you all have a fantastic day!
ssales13
Re: STEAM ROOM FOR ANGER
The ability of people to formulate weird ideas about cancer and the treatment thereof, is truly remarkable.
My sister, who lives 20 minutes from me told me I had to stay away from her for the first 72 hours after my chemo infusions because they were somehow a threat to her mysterious health condition she refused to explain. She had gone through treatment for hyperthyroidism a year or so before (radioactive iodine). The issue for me was that our mother had purchased a $12,000 long arm quilting machine for us to share and to help me deal with the mental side of months of chemo and radiation. The only days I had enough energy to use the machine were the 3 days of steroid treatment after chemo infusion. To this day, I have never used the machine and I still don’t know what this mysterious condition was that went against all medical knowledge of my treatment team and the endocrinologist I consulted to try to understand. I believe the truth is that her husband did not want me around. He has some strange ideas and beliefs and I could see them concocting a story that wasn’t well researched.
The emotional impact of the situation has affected our family in such a negative way. I am estranged from my sister, my niece and obviously my brother-in-law. My nephew has stayed neutral but like his generation, he isn’t in touch with extended family. The toll this disease takes on our bodies, minds, and relationships is frustrating to say the least.
Re: How long have you been Stage IV?
@livinglifenow @ssales13 @tougholdcrow @eleanora @jensgotthis and everyone one else:
Sending wishes to all for a fun, happy, healthy, comfortable Thanksgiving holiday!
Laugh a lot, eat a lot and love a lot!
Enjoy! juliana xoxo ♥️🥳💃🕺
eddiej
Re: Making that Final Surgery Decision
@sanchez22 I'm sorry to hear about your tough decision and situation. I went with BMX with implant reconstruction. I didn't qualify for diep recon. I had high grade DCIS on left only but went ahead and did bilateral mastectomy because I didn't want to deal with this again though my breast surgeon said risk of it coming back on the good side was very low. Plus I wanted breasts to look symmetrical. My path did show 1.3 mm focus of invasive cancer. I did not do radiation or chemo.
I know have 3D nipple tattoos and decorative tattoos on my boobies. They look great but I do miss not having sensation in them like before.
snm
Re: Newly diagnosed and scared
@cosun10 I have been so back and forth on course of treatment, every time I think I have a decision, something else comes into play. Like you, I will be glad to get results in the MRI biopsy but like you said, the holiday may play a role in delay, I'm sure the Dr. offices are closed on Friday in addition to T-Day.
Maybe we will both have our answers within the next week or so.
I don't like the idea of radiation, which I would need if I go the lumpectomy route but at 62 I don't know which way to go with mastectomy: flat, implants or flap surgery. It's all so overwhelming. And then there is the nipple saving issue, who would have thought I'd be thinking of that.
I lived in CO from 2nd grade - high school, Arvada West.
sastip
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
No sooner did I finish my post last night, than the sleep study report showed up in my portal. I know I have OSA and have been using an APAP machine for years. Results were not unexpected, since it confirmed NP's concerns that I do become hypoxemic during sleep. The initial study in September showed that my pulse oximeter readings dipped into the 80's (norm 90 and above) while I slept. I am glad that she ordered additional study, but now am concerned about what else I will need to have done, or will I be referred to other physicians for follow-up? I would just like to get one positive report that all is well, and next week is my mammogram, which I am dreading after last year's debacle. This is a lousy time of year to try to have anything done with the approaching holidays.
The office called today and I was able to get an appointment for next Tuesday afternoon to review results and to see what she feels is a necessary intervention. My biggest concern is how this will impact my vacation plans for the spring and next fall. We'll see what she has to say then.
I feel a lot of this dates back to when I had my hernia repair and had a disastrous outcome with time spent in an NCICU post-op, and 4 months of at home recovery. The knee surgeries may have exacerbated it. I had a fluid overload after hernia surgery, and then again after left knee surgery. I needed transfusions after the hernia and spent New Year's in ICU being short of breath because hemoglobin was only 8 (up from 6). Hgb on discharge on 1/4 was barely over 9.
After left knee, again I had a fluid overload due to them trying to raise BP using lots of IV fluids. Spent 5 days in the hospital then, on oxygen and hemoglobin was barely 11 at discharge. Recovery was slower and I did have shortness of breath for several weeks after surgery.
I realize now that the surgeons were not concerned about these hiccups, because they were not surgical issues, even though they were post-op findings. I did see my cardiologist for the abnormal echo, but the next one was fine and she did order the cardiac CT study before my left knee surgery.
I am glad the NP read my left knee hospital records and decided I needed more pulmonary intervention based on these. So while I am distressed, I am also thankful that she is on the ball. I guess the concern is, is she too late because non-recoverable damage has already occurred? I have no daytime issues and do not have any daytime symptoms from OSA.
Taco, hope you get some sun soon. It has been relatively gloomy here with overcast skies and drizzle, so I hear you. It does have an impact on my mood.
Sandy, sorry your Housekeeper was the one who got the ticket, but that is not much of a fine. Our baseline fee for any fine is higher than that. DH will forget to feed Leo who likes room service for his meals. He's older, spooky and set in his ways. He will drift downstairs on his terms.
I hate Fedex deliveries. They employ the laziest drivers. I had an order coming from Amazon that they claimed they could not find my house the first attempt. On the second, I told them to leave package at garage door and last night we received a message that it wad been delivered and it "was in a secure location". So DH and I checked the garage door, the front door and the back door twice and came up empty. This morning, DH finds the package at our roadside mailbox, which is far from secure because it is over 100 feet from the house on a somewhat busy road. Right next to it is the Balsam Hill Christmas tree I ordered. They tried to deliver it 2 days ago and when the guy arrived at the top of the driveway, he finds it is not on the truck! He said he would be back. No notice from them it had been delivered, but it too, was at the mailbox. I haven't seen the box to see if it disclosed contents, but glad he left early today to take dog for her walk and then to the Acme where they were accepting turkey donations. Otherwise, we might not have gotten either package. Now that the turkeys are gone I have room in both freezers. I will rearrange them now, since they were hastily filled.
Spent today consulting Dr. Google about test results, so I can understand the report, and formulate questions about the results. A lot to digest and learn about. Not in the mood for much else.
Hope everyone had a great day and waving "hi" to everyone.
betrayal