Best Of
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
i have been lurking on this thread for almost 5 years and finally told myself that I should either start posting or get off, so here I am. (I am an introvert to the max). Briefly, I am 71 (will be 72 in 2 weeks), was diagnosed in Dec. 2019 (Stage1), did BMX to flat, chemo and have been on an AI since July, 2020 (and have already told my onc she will have to pry the bottle out of my hand to get me off it). I also had/have? kidney cancer - diagnosed Dec. 2022 and lost my entire right kidney. I lived outside Lancaster, PA until I was 10, moved to NJ (Ridgewood) until I went to college, and because my husband served 20 years in the AF I have lived in NC (Fayetteville), VA (Richmond), the Philippines, TX (San Antonio) and finally WA (first in Tacoma, the last 15 years in Seattle)- where all 3 of my adult children and 6 grandchildren live - none more than 10 mimutes away. I do A LOT of school pick-ups, drive carpools and spend almost every weekend at sporting events (all 6 play sports, several of them 2 or 3, so there is no down time). I have a dog and a cat ( both elderly) and my cat reminds me a lot of Betrayals in that he is a menace. He also has run thru a paint tray and left footprints all the way down the stairs and out the door. Unfortunately, it was my neighbors house and to say she was not happy is the understatement of the year! (Not that I blame her, of course). My husband and I spend a couple of weeks every year in Hawaii, took our first cruise last fall (we actually were about 2 days behind Betrayal and her daughter going up the Inside Passage) and travel to the east coast (Boston) a couple of times a year as my sisters, nieces and nephews are all in that area. Anyway, I’m looking forward to participating here and hope everyone on the east coast has survived the blizzard (can’t say I miss the snow, which, if the last few years are an indicator, we may never see again in Seattle. ) My daffodils are blooming, my neighbors cherry tree is blooming and both my asparagus and peonies are showing thru the dirt - that is so not right for the end of February!
janiehs
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
Good Morning everyone. Hope the snow is beginning to clear in your neighborhood. Make sure to hire young person to remove snow. We are just too old for shoveling, IMHO. The temp here is 36, another night of keeping plants in the house. Gonna look into a small portable type hothouse or green house for next year.
Well I'm trying so hard to keep that mindset of NED, but there's a major hiccup. SUV came back at. 2.4 for the tumor in the chest wall. It was 1.9. One on abdominal wall came back 2.2. It had been 1.9. I know they are still below the 2.5 range considered active disease, but radiologist mentioned to keep a close follow up for possible recurrence. I don't know how to feel right now. Someone said give yourself some grace. I think I'll take my frustrations out on planning the spring garden.
In pockets for all my sweet friends.
Irishlove
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
Hi all!
This post is about nothing important so if you are feeling low on energy, save yourself and don't read it.
Micmel happy to hear Gabby is done with chemo and now onto the next stage, well, soon. Praying much healing and energy for her, and you!
Mara reading about you doing laundry brings to mind a fairly recent chore change for me. Since most of the laundry I do is Hub's and all of his clothing is dark and terribly dirty, I go a LONG time waiting to get a big enough load of lights to make it worth washing. While I wait, one by one, I run out of gonchies. I can have 20 pairs of panties in the laundry, two tea towels and a pillowcase and that is still not enough even for a small load in the washer. But there I am - gonchless.
So now when I have a bath (not a showerer) I toss my gonch that I took off into the tub with me and scrub by hand. Rinse and hang them to dry. By next day they're dry and I have an endless supply of clean underwear! I do not wash tea towels or pillowcases this way. But for panties it has been life changing. I never run out! I could literally survive a year on 4 panties. I know some people might wrinkle their nose at this but I also used to use, make and sell re-usable, washable period pads so handwashing underwear is not even something I think twice about. What did our Great Grandmothers do? They got their hands in the water and washed stuff ! I feel quite earthy as I lather my lacies. (they're not lacey, they're boring cotton)
Does anyone ferment? No, this has nothing to do with poorly washed underwear, although it could. I mean, anyone make fermented food?
Hub has been going through bad stomach acid - bad - and now has difficulty swallowing. Had a throat scope, biopsies taken, no bad things found, but extensive damage from unrelenting acid associated with his HIGH intake of pain meds. His ankles are bone on bone destructed and walking is endless agony. He takes meds to function. But they are eating his guts. So internet diving tells me that fermented food is the holy grail of gut rehabilitation. Okay… I'll bite.
I will dip my toe into fermented water by trying to ferment sliced apples. Follow instructions. Add cinnamon stick and whole cloves. The smell was divine! Let them fester away on the counter for a few days and opened at the appointed time. The enticing aroma had our mouths watering with spicy apple pie anticipation. No! No! That is not what happened! Oh, the horror, the disappointment, the spitting out of mushy, salty, VILE apple! How can people eat this ?! This is revolting! The salt sent my already high BP right into the atmosphere. I didn't feed it to the chickens or throw it in the bush where some hapless wild animal could OD on sodium. Into the garbage with that failure. Consulted FB group where many said, yeah, fermented fruit, big disappointment. Now I'm trying fermented carrots with garlic. After appointed fester time will make Daughter try them, because we're not going to do that again! If anyone has fermented food wisdom, I'm all ears!
Love, hugs and good sleep to all.
runor
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Reader,
At 1st for years with chemo brain only enjoyed reading a magazine or newspaper. I now enjoy Cozy Murder Mysteries. I'm not a member of a book club.
I may read " The Correspondent." 🙂
teka
Re: Bone Mets Thread
@norah2024 - Is Ondansetron (Zofran) an option for you? Dissolves under tongue for nausea. It is like a miracle for me in that it seems to relax my stomach and stop nausea in its tracks. Comes in 4 mg and 8 mg dosages. Magical - I swear by it. Hope this helps. Healing thoughts for you - Terry B.
tbos805
Re: Bone Mets Thread
@jen1 I second @threetree 's advice to get a second opinion. It couldn't hurt. This amount of time between imaging scans seems off to me, and if nothing else it could ease your fears. Oncologists, at least the decent ones, expect for their patients to get second opinions.
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
@mara51506 Happy that your appointment went well and that you have a good appetite. Fifty years ago I styled and sold wigs in a department store. It has been too long for me to know current products, but I will manage.
@cookie54 Currently I am crocheting a seat cover for my DH's office here at home. He feels the cold more and the leather chair is too cold for him. Then I am unsure what I will make. I am torn between using up my leftover stash or making something totally new. I have lots of blankets already. I have no energy to do much of anything right now.
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Chris - hope all goes well with the hand surgery,
Book clubs possibilities - put up a sign at your senior or rec center? at your church? I see interest expressed sometimes on Next Door. If you are interested in reading a specific type of book, see if your library will help you advertise it. Ask 3 people you enjoy to each bring a friend to a meeting to explore the idea of starting one.
Thanks for the info on Mardi Gras Carole. I thought of you and wondered if you participated.
Interesting about the civil war finds. I have one family that all the sons and sons-in-laws joined the same unit in Illinois. They all came home.
Intolight - my adopted daughter has never wanted to search although we told her we would help her. I know she has at least one sister/half-sister. She did the ancestry DNA because she wanted to know more about her ethnic background but has never responded to any inquiries she's gotten. I'm glad your search worked out for you.
1946taco
Re: Bone Mets Thread
Hi all,
This is an update
I went to the doctor yesterday for my appointment after receiving my blood test results.
My liver enzymes have started to go down after the doctor reduced the dose, which is good. The rest of the tests are either within the normal range or unchanged. There have always been some values — especially in the red and white blood cells — that are slightly higher or lower than usual, but the doctor has never been concerned about them.
The tumor markers have also decreased compared to the previous value.
I told the doctor that my main problem is the persistent cough and loss of appetite. Whenever I eat anything cooked, I keep coughing and then end up vomiting the food. He examined my chest with a stethoscope and confirmed there is an infection in my right lung. He prescribed antibiotics for 7 days and said that the severe loss of appetite is due to the infection, not the medication Afinitor.
I started the antibiotics yesterday, and I hope my condition improves so I can go back to eating, even a little.
As for the Afinitor dose, the doctor decided to keep it at the current 5 mg.
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
@cookie54 I feel better than yesterday, just want to avoid the super thick productive cough, none of that yet. Herceptin gives me a stuffy nose too but still got plenty of Mucinex. I like the time release pill vs cough syrup.
I slept OK last night, may be part of feeling better today no doubt. I do not have to leave until about 150pm. I set the pick up time at 630pm. I would be getting a loading dose of Herceptin since it has been months since I had it last. They may also transition appointments to the afternoon, it was an offer made and of course I accepted.
Done first part of a wash, not doing three cycles unless cloths and my clothes require deep cleaning. The Lysol laundry stuff can handle stuff that is heavy duty cleaning of more soiled stuff, not the regular stuff used for wiping up dust etc.
I bought myself another automatic can opener, this one is a usb charge power which I like better. It was because I have a hard time with the manual Starfrit one, nice to stick on the wall with magnetic holder.
Will be having crunchy beans, little bit of lentils and rice. Possibly stick a hotdog in the air fryer as well. Rice will be made on the stove of course, small amount, while that happens will use air fryer multi times do up the crunchy beans first, Need a small amount of shredded cheese as well. Since things will be happening all at the same time, will likely need to be warmed in microwave. I will see. Option 2 with preparation, empty each ingredient into a bowl while heating up others. Then put the temp on the air fryer to around 80 C to keep all of it warm together without more cooking, should be able to warm the cheese and add queso and sour cream.
EDIT SUPER DELICIOUS. That description deserved caps. I did not separate stuff quite the way I described, still made rice first while doing 2 dogs in the air fryer and making them crispy, second thing added lentils and beans, just a spoonful of each, heated both hotdogs and the lentils and beans, about 5 mins at 392 F, max temp, stirred them around. Once that was done, added shredded cheese, tostitos queso and garlic and parm mayo, put back in the air fryer, only to melt cheese, once cheese melted, stirred everything and unplugged fryer but left it all in the basket part. Unplug to avoid additional cooking and who wee it was wonderful. Due to the fat content, took 2 immodiums and taking one more, since I will be at the cancer clinic a LONG time for the loading dose of Herceptin. Cannot really get out of bed. Reading it said a 90 min drip, 1 hour wait time post drip as well. Crazy.
Anyway, hoping all have a good day in pockets for all as well. Least it is not raining still. Wish we could have a couple sunny days to dry up all the snow and rain.
