Illinois ladies facing bc
Comments
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I agree Jackie but for us younger gals, they don't do dexa scans. That was never discussed. They really should because chemo and menopause can only worsen something that is going on. It could have been like that before, but I will never know. I do know other younger BC gals in the same situation and none of their docs did bone density tests either until there was an issue. I do wish I would have known more about this when I started my journey, but it is what it is. Just glad my bone density is slowly improving and that I did not have a more serious injury.0 -
Oh mdg...Just what you didn't need! That black ice is so treacherous. I hit a patch and crashed my car into a ditch on the Saturday before Thanksgiving so I know how it can sneak up on you without ever knowing there is ice. My car is still in the shop and my left hand is still banged up and swollen where the air bag hit it. I guess we were both lucky!
I'm taking a break from writing Christmas cards. I have them all finished except for a few more that need a letter included. I have my Christmas music playing and the lights blinking on the Christmas tree. I think I've finally "got the Christmas spirit!"
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Hi all - been awhile since I've posted, but check in from time to time to see how everyone is doing. Mdg's post made me want to post as well. After my bmx, I remember going to my MO afterwards and getting my first script of tmx. I asked the PA how would I know if something was starting, if I needed to come back and see them. She said always be on the look-out for persistent symptoms. I remember thinking at the time "well, duh". And yet....I made the mistake.
I had been running a low-grade fever for 2-3 weeks, just chalking it up to a junky virus. Popping the Advil. Finally, just before Thanksgiving, my right breast flushed bright red. An infection! I had my last revision six weeks ago! Never put two and two together. But there it was...a persistent symptom. Granted, no the big C word, but a reminder, to always question something that is persistent.
Thought I would share, in hopes it might help someone else. Will be a bit more vigilant next time :0)
Hope everyone is having a restful weekend
P
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MDG, well I am way smarter now than I was. I was 62 when I was diagnosed and for quite some time I have been aware that to an extent, dx. can have some differences for older versus younger people. In fact, I am actually on another thread daily which is pretty much devoted to women who are slightly older ( or as we say there -- well seasoned ) but I really didn't know that it was and is apparently routine to skip tests like Dexa for those who are younger. It doesn't make sense to me that with drugs that are so harsh ( chemo ) as to kill large groups of cell populations that there would not be concern for ALL of the people who use them regardless of age. Learn something new all the time, eh.
Jackie
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MDG I was the one who suggested I get a baseline to my MO. I was 49 at the time and perimenopausal. I'm glad I did.
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Have any of you had elevated AST (I think its a liver enzyme)? My MO sayd my labs are "wonderful" then when I look a t them, I find numbers in red.........
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Hey Boatin= glad to see you back on again, even if it is sharing a down turn for you. But glad you caught the infection and hopefully it will clear up soon. Interesting that it happened relatively long after your revision, my last was 2 weeks ago, so will keep an ever vigilant eye out. I think once you have been diagnosed, you cant help but be wary of any tiny change in anything!
Raining here in Algonquin today.
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Hello, Red--yes the AST is a liver enzyme. My AST was also elevated along with the Alkaline Phosphatase and ALT. My onc sent me for a liver US as well as a bone scan and all came back clear. In fact, on repeat lab work the AST returned to normal. Unknown why my values went up. But since it doesn't take much to make me panic, I was glad to have the extra testing done.
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An excellent way to practice love is to set your intention on seeing
beyond someone’s behavior or personality. Try to realize that
beneath the surface insecurity, negative thinking, and poor
behavior, everyone is connected to God. Just as you wouldn’t
get angry at someone simply because he or she is in a wheelchair,
you need not be angry because a person hasn’t yet opened his or
her heart to the nourishment of his or her Soul. When people act
in unloving ways, it only means that they are out of touch with
their Souls and aren’t feeling spiritually nourished.Richard Carlson0 -
Hi BoatinGirl! So glad to see a post from you. Pop in more often. You have been missed! Your warning about persistent symptoms is a reminder for all of us. Thank you for sharing.
Redhead.....I never had the elevated liver enzymes but I know a gal on the CMF thread that did and she had some problems with it. I don't want to alarm you, but I think I would question these results and see what your onc has to say. It may be nothing...like cathiero said, but then again, there might be something that needs to be addressed so that it doesn't get worse. That would hopefully give you "peace of mind."
Loved your quote today, Jackie.
It is drizzling and dreary here today. I hope it clears up this afternoon as I'd like to get out and run a few errands. I need that sunshine!!!!!
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Compassion is the basis of all truthful relationship: it means being present with love—for ourselves and for all life, including animals, fish, birds, and trees. Compassion is bringing our deepest truth into our actions, no matter how much the world seems to resist, because that is ultimately what we have to give this world and one another.
Ram Dass0 -
"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring."
Oscar Wilde0 -
We all share beauty. It strikes us indiscriminately. There is no end to beauty for the person who is aware. Even the cracks between the sidewalk contain geometric patterns of amazing beauty. If we take pictures of them and blow up the photographs, we realize we walk on beauty every day, even when things seem ugly around us.
Matthew Fox0 -
Unfortunately, all is not beauty and peace. I don't believe I've ever met
a person who hasn't been challenged or wounded by something. Difficulties
present choices: we can either waste away from our wounds or use them to
grow our souls. My husband, for example, is a survivor of the Second World
War. As a child, he suffered through six years of bombings, near-escapes,
and concentration camps. Part of his soul work has been the gradual
transformation of this deep well of grief and pain. As he heals himself, he
also participates in healing that terrible idea of war in others. I have always
said that no one heals alone--we heal through and for one another.Joan Borysenko
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It's been quiet on here this week. I am hoping that everyone is just busy with holiday preparations! Hugs to all of you and thanks, Jacki for keeping the quotes coming each day!
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I've a question. Relative to your relatives, have you more arthritis?
I'm showing signs of osteoarthritis in my toes, fingers and hip. Diagnosed in my hip, but not digits. Wondering if this was the TC and/or AI. Not genetics, unless adopted which I'm sure I'm not, or it's a family secret which seems abserd.
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Good friends help you to find important things when you have lost them…your smile, your hope, and your courage."
Doe Zantamata0 -
I have less or so it seems to me. Have a tiny amt. in my fingers -- sm. amt. in knees and probably some in toes, but enough left over neuropathy there that I discount it more there than anywhere. Not much troubled by any of it though I am far stiffer in the morning upon getting up and sometimes still clomp around until my ? joints ? are fully awake and able to function well.
Jackie
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Doxie I never had arthritis but once I started with the AIs I do. Not bad but I do have some in my left hand.
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I had it before and haven't noticed it as much since I got the BIG C diagnosis. Maybe the C just pushed the A to the back of my memory, eh???
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Redheaded1,
Then you must be doing really well on Arimidex. AIs are what have caused my arthritis to appear. I never had it before.
Guess I'm just frustrated with the SEs of the AIs. Soft joint tissues are hit the most. Struggling with hip pain again. Pretty sure it is an inflamed bursa, but if I don't get it under control soon, my MO will send me for x-rays again. Haven't exercised in two weeks, except for usually running around and climbing stairs at work - shouldn't be doing that. My joints in hands and feet are acting up again. Now getting trigger finger in the index. Had to get a cortisone shot 8 months ago for my thumb.
Without these niggling SEs I'd have moved way beyond BC. Sorry, just frustrated.
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To me, the essence of keeping the soul nourished is obedience to one's conscience. I don't think that the soul can be nourished unless people have a strong sense of conscience that they have educated and developed and soaked in the universal and timeless principles of integrity and service. This way, the individual's soul becomes part of the universal soul of service, contribution, and making a difference.
Stephen R. Covey0 -
I feel your pain Doxie...but for me it's Tamoxifen. My feet hurt all the time....even when I am not standing on them. So frustrating because it makes me not want to workout.0 -
Doxie Don't get me started. Some of these SE are just unexecptable.
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I think my problems stem from the estrogen depletion rather than any specific one of the AIs. I feel about the same as I did on arimidex as now on aromasin. Also wondering if it is somewhat seasonal. November was when new arthritis like symptoms kicked in last year. Unfortunately they never left.
I've pored some gin on golden raisins and will start taking 9 per day again. Seemed to help.
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By having a reverence for life,
we enter into a spiritual relation with the world.
By practicing reverence for life we become good, deep, and alive.
- Albert Schweitzer0 -
Doxie,
My dh has used the gin/raisin therapy for years now. When he runs out of gin, it isn't long before he remembers to go to the store and replace it --- and get back in tune with taking raisins daily.
Some people also have some relief ( never heard from anyone though using AL's ) with the Capsaicin cream. My Dh sometimes uses some of that too.
Jackie
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Doxie-I have awful joint and muscle pain with AIs, can hardly use my right hand especially in the mornings, not good when I use computer all day at work. Tried Femara and now Aromasin and I think it is even worse. Saw my onc today and he said there was no use trying Arimidex as they all work the same and some people just can't take the AIs. I am going to take a break for a month and try Tamox. He said if I have problems with it, then I will not take anything. Quality of life is more important to him and these meds are just a little insurance, no guarantee you won't have a recurrance because you take them and no guarantee you will recur if not. So that is my plan for now. Like you, I can barely get out of bed and the fatigue is mindnumbing...wondering if the AI is part of why I am having such a hard time recovering from my hip replacement. Tomorrow I see the ortho for hip check and my primary on Wednesday-then hopefully that will be it for a while.
Hope all you ladies are doing well, getting into the holiday spirit-finding that particularly difficult this year-even worse than last when I was going radiation. Go figure!
Wishing you pain free, peaceful days.
Mimi
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Mimi,
I hope you can stay on one of the drugs. Anything that makes a 50% actual reduction in the possibility of recurrence is important. I'll tough out a lot to last the 5 years. Then consider the next 5 if research shows evidence supporting it.
I'm wondering if some of this is related to SADD that creeps in this time of the year. Mine is under control, but definitely there. Seems I have had less muscle and joint pain like this in the summer. Or the gin/raisins made the difference last year.
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MimiL55 I too have my struggles with AIs. I did the switch from Anastrozole to Exemestane (Arimidex to Aromasin). Anastrozole gave me bad back/neck/shoulder pain to the point where it hurt to stand up straight by the time I quit. I also had sleep issues, depression and gained 10 lbs. Switched to Exemestane and lost the weight, no sleep issues and pain gone… but got anxiety with some depression. I'm now treating that with meds. My MO doesn't really want me on Tamoxifen although she did say it was better than nothing. Has your MO tried to treat your symptoms with meds? I know I am not a lover of meds but this isn't forever.
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