I WANT MY MOJO BACK!
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Firni, I don't always read as carefully as I should but I read back a bit and saw what you had planned to tell your doctor...PRICELESS!!! Gutsy lady YOU!!0
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Firni I love your analogy about the Mini Cooper vs the Mac truck..w extended cab..that was me...coming out of it finally but it has left some scars literally and figuratively.. so happy for you about the Estrace, way to advocate for yourself!!
Marin-- you are my inspiration once again..and I got Mr. Big..had to laugh, he was too big to fit in the mailbox so had to pick him up at the PO!! And he came in this HUGE box..but yes, he is quite versatile, as good at back, foot and calf rubs as he is at those other places...you mention plenty of fish...when I'm ready I think I'll try that, did Match before and it was pretty good too, do you think fish is better??
I'm also cutting back on my drinking as a direct result of the info on this thread..then I just read that pot causes cancer too!! altho the study had flaws, so who knows.....
great info on this thread..keep it "comin" girls
Mena is in my prayers and wishing her all the goodness and strength she has given to others..
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Hey ladies! We've been talking aobut alcohol, and in our hot weather (Houston is over 100 degrees) I've been craving an ice cold beer. So I bought light beer and discovered after some Internet searches that it has just about the same amount of alcohol by volumne as regular beer! It's light on calories, not alcohol.
So for those of us watching our alcohol intake, but who still crave the taste now and then, guess we'd better find a non-alcohol version that we like.
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I'm concerned about the alcohol studies. They are so *NEW*...wasn't it just not too long ago that we were told that wine was GOOD for you. And now it's bad?I think behind all this research there is some kind of protestant ethic that whatever you enjoy must inherently be bad. The good life is the suffering, tortured life. No pain no gain. You *must* suffer to gain, you must have chemo, you must stop having sex (Geezus, it's nothing but sin anyway!!)...I'm skeptical about these new studies...don't know what to think. There were some very alarming studies about a year ago that many of the chemos were ineffective (particularly adriamycin) but the doctors paid no attention. They just kept on giving new cancer patients adriamycin despite the heart risks.What does this tell you?\0
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I don't think the information is all that conflicting. The news that a limited amount of alcohol is good for you has to do with cardiovascular health, and it's primarily focused on wine and to some extent beer.
It's not unlike other health issues. Spinach is great for you in many ways, except that it contains oxalate which is the chief cause of most kidney stones. So if you're prone to kidney stones, you are advised to avoid spinach.
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Though ONE glass of red wine a day used to be considered good for a woman's cholesterol, even now, they are saying it isn't worth the risk of cancer.
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I've been trying to find the *original* article to look at the study design and see how the researchers actually came up with this data. Every source I find on the web that quotes this info appears reads exactly word for word like it source, and each one talks about an 11% increase in BC risk for each glass of wine per day. I finally got to an abstract of the actual article published by the authors and here's a direct quote
"Each additional alcoholic drink regularly consumed per day was associated with 11 additional breast cancers per 1000 women up to age 75;"
Now I am wondering, where do people get 11% from 11 out of 1000? 11% percent would be 11 out of 100. Looks more like 1.1% to me. Also there is no time frame for the occurence of BC, you can't talk about a rate unless you have numbers over time. Also I was able to find out that less than 2% of the study population had had BC, and I couldn't find anything about actual recurrence.
I keep trying to pull up the full text of the original article without success so I can't get into the fine print and figure this out.
If anybody has some citation to the original research articles I'd appreciate it. These figures do not make sense!!
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HAH! Good work! That 11% would make us ALL think "out of 100" not a thousand. Very deceiving reporting. I look forward to seeing the full report.
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Looks to me like there has been a lot of misreporting. I would like to see the full text of the original article, and this appears to be very difficult, because the website for the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Great Britain)'s web page is not working properly. The full text of the article is supposed to be "free" but whenever you try to load it you have to have a subscription ID....0
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Firni, I so wish you had said that. Reading this thread this AM is raising my blood pressure, I swear. The whole thing is so paternal. If I am willing to take a small theoretical risk related to breast cancer to enjoy sex with DH, then fine, document your warnings in my chart, and prescripe the flippin estrogen.
Mizsissy, can't even begin to tell you how many thoughts you've put in the last 2 pages reflect mine. I love my Onc, but wish as much time would have been spent telling me the long term (months and years) SE's of my treatment as had been spent teaching me how to give myself a neulasta shot
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Vell, vell, this is off topic for this thread, but I finally did manage to get the full text of the Million Women Study article done by Naomi Allen et al. and I've never read a more poorly worded scientific article (I am a PhD candidate and have reads lots of journal articles). I'd like to find out more about Naomi Allen's credentials.
I have also looked around and found at least one example of research that contradicts the Naomi Allen study, for example, this is a direct quote from Alcohol Consumption and Breast Cancer Risk in the Women's Health Study:
"Higher alcohol consumption wasassociated with a modest increase in breast cancer risk; the multivariable relative risks for 30 g/day of alcohol vs. none were 1.32 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.96, 1.82) for total breast cancer and 1.43 (95% CI: 1.02, 2.02) for invasive breast cancer. "
This was published by Zhang et al. in the American Journal of Epidemiology 2007.
BTW, kmmd, Firni has started a new thread on Quality of Life during treatment. Take a look at it. http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/7/topic/737221?page=1#idx_13
The point I am trying to make is that I don't think enough research on BC is being directed in the area of humane treatments vs. medieval, ridiculous and just plain silly treatments. This latest research on alcohol really bugs me because damn it...I enjoy that glass of wine at the end of the day and I look forward to it, and I am going on a vacation this summer in Quebec where wine is regulary drunk with meals and I want to ENJOY it.
My first onc was a very close-lipped, unfriendly, uniformative fellow. I recently switched to a warm wonderful woman who acts like she wants to be my best friend, and I am sure that my quality of treatment will improve!!!
Miz
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I still continue to enjoy my red wine with dinner, just cut down on it and still an occasional couple of beers with friends. I've added a multivitamin with folic acid which hopefully will counteract any bad effects, and I now force myself to drink a lot more water in between and after imbibing, as well as working out regularly and trying to add in more antioxidant veggies and other foods. Have also switched over some foods to organic, which I never did before, so I feel OK with what I'm doing. Can't wait to check out the Quality of Life thread
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rgiuff- your approach sounds sensible to me.. that's kind of what I'm doing too..I've never liked drinking water and I know that alone would be a huge benefit if I just drank more water
thank you for digging into the research Miz, what I still don't get is are they looking at risk of recurrence or just "original" risk?? seems to me there could be differences based on what population they are sampling...what matters to me is of course risk of recurrence, at this point..
guess "all things in moderation" is the best motto?? except of course when we are talking about mojo..there, the more the better!!
I'd like to see some statistics on *medical* marijuana use and risk of recurrence..that might be preferable to some as a relaxant over alcohol anyhow...can I volunteer for that study??/ LOL just kidding..
well Mr. Big and I had a nice relaxing massage session last night..feet, legs, back...I'm swimming more now and a little sore..continuing to enjoy life in the slow lane without having to maintain a relationship with a man..for now ...I even stayed home on a Sat. night because I wanted to...lit some candles and tiki torches on my deck, facebooked and emailed with friends, it was a lovely evening!! I'm my new best friend, haha!!
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The research I had looked up recently was for alchol-related recurrence. After all, the horses are already out of the barn!
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Barb, please quote your research and give me your references. The recent research by Naomi Allen et al. that is being quoted in the media had nothing to do with recurrence. In fact, all women that had breast cancer diagnoses prior to her study were ruled out, that is, they were excluded from the study group.0
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Just wondering if anyones dr has prescribed testosterone? My dr says absolutely no on estrogen but she did prescribe a 1% testosterone that a compond pharmacist will mix up. Mostly this is for libido which I have none zippo. After 4plus years of no hormones in my system, Iam very nervous about starting something. Definitely excited, hubby is thrilled, but Iam wondering if anyone else has tried it?
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Yes, go back a few pages for a description of what happened when I took it..but I am sure reactions are individual. Somehow, I don't think testosterone would be good for BC, but that's just because BC is so hormonal to begin with and it seems like such s cockeyed kind of hormone to throw into a bunch of cancer cells that are growing wierd to begin with.
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Thanks for the research of the "reasearch"---it is amazing to me how the media and others who are "experts" come up with the most amazing remarks and the remarks are considered pure gold. LOL
I quit listening to all those "sky is falling" remarks after they announced that FRENCH FRIES caused increased cancer. I am pretty sure they don't eat a lot of fries in Japan, and some other eastern countries .
Anyway, it's so easy to tell people it';s their own fault for this disease and for us to leap to believe a lot of things cause we already are made to feel responisble for our disease,
By George, if they found the real cause of breast cancer it would be shouted from the roof tops! Not just suggested in an obscure study.
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rgiuff have you checked that your multivitamin has no estrogen in it? I see a naturopath who warned me that most multivitamins include substances which contain estrogen.0
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I'll try to find the article Mizsissy, but I looked a couple weeks ago and can't remember! It was on emed or something, when I google I get too many hits....I don't make this crap up, as I was a very contented wine drinker before all this happened!
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hi I am new to this site I finished Chemo and radiotherphy 2 months ago. i thought by now that I would be back to feeling like my old self. I love my husband very much but the thoughts of making love fills me with fear . without my boob i just dont feel whole and the thoughts of my husband touching the flat chest just dont feel right . Can anyone tell me if it always going to be like this
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Well, I was pretty happy that I was able to find evidence that the alcohol warnings weren't justified, but I don't want to celebrate too soon. If there is more evidence on alcohol and recurrence I'd like to find it. Most of the articles I've seen all point back to that Naomi Allen article.
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Hey chicas! Sorry about frequent absences, but I'm busy with my other board(S)...both message board AND my wakeboard
! Anyway, I see that we're, once again, discussing alcohol's influence on our bc...did it "cause" it?/will it make it recur? I guess that my take on the matter is that there seems to be some significant findings suggesting correlations, but that they're not overwhelming and don't really declare that alcohol is definitively causative. It's sort of like other behavioral and environmental factors that seem to be influential to some degree and how we use this info is so individual. Personally, I have chosen to avoid some things and to ignore warnings about others, based upon how solid the evidence seemed to me and the extent to which doing without would impact my ability to embrace and enjoy life. If I was a drinker, I'd probably enjoy wine or whatever in limited moderation and take my chances. This is assuming that it was important enough to my enjoyment of life and I wouldn't become paranoid after every drink. Then it wouldn't be worth it at all!.ANYWAY, back to MOJO, y'all!! I'm so glad that you are luvin' Mr. Big, soccermom! BF and I had a rousing session incorporating the toy into the fun this past weekend and it was truly orgasmic! Should we call that a threesome, I wonder???
I've also come across some interesting articles on the relationship between PTSD and decreased sexual arousal where the PTSD was defined as an event or events that were seen as traumatic by the victim and which created strong feelings of fear and powerlesness. A few articles mentioned cancer as such an "event," so I became interested in the results of research which revealed marked inability to become aroused and a tendency to feel almost numb in matters of intimacy by those who had been somehow traumatized. Certainly food for thought, doncha think?
So HAPPY MOJO-ing, my chiquitas! I'm glad that you all are dedicated to its pursuit. Truly, it is such a vital part of what it means to be human and, as I always say, cancer has taken enough from us...it CAN"T have our ability to experience sexual pleasure too!!! So keep up the excellent work, y'all, and I'll be back to check on you when the surf once again wanes some!
~Marin
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feeling down I think your feelings are completely natural. I was lucky in that I did not have a mastectomy but my boob has very obvious scars and for ages I felt worried that it was unattractive and that my boyfriend would not want to touch me. I know there are many women here who can respond to your question. From my reading I see many who have been able to feel relaxed in their bodies post-mastectomy.
In the mean time, if you are worried about him touching you, why not start by touching him? There are so many things you and he can do, focussing on his body, which will pleasure him and help you begin to feel sexual again. Nothing makes me feel sexy like seeing my actions satisfying the man I love and desire. I have found many times since the surgery/chemo began that even if I myself am not incredibly in the mood, getting my boyfriend all hot and bothered usually gets me excited too! It was through things like this that I realised he still desired me even with my dodgy boob, chemo belly and bald head. And even if we stop after he's had his fun, I always feel better than I did before we started.
Don't rush yourself or your body. Kissing, touching, licking, plenty of attention paid to his body, plenty of lubrication when you are ready for sex so you don't hurt yourself. You're a gorgeous woman with or without your boob and you deserve plenty of pleasure after your long chemo/rads journey.
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Thanks Sakura it is nice to know that there is someone out there that I can talk to Thanks for your advise I will give it a try
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Hello Ladies,
Help!!! I'm trying to read this whole site....but I am in trouble and I want my mojo back and so does my husband....he's not happy right now. My gyno gave me testosterone 2%. onco says she doesn't think it's a problem...but I'm scared. has it worked for anyone???? Thanks for any information. I really need it. I had bilateral mastectomy in 2007
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Welcome, Jackie! It IS a loooooong thread, but there are so many good ideas within the many pages. As for using testosterone, I think that some of the women here are also considering trying it, while others have decided gaianst it for one reason or another. The research done so far indicates that the topical gel doesn't have a huge effect, while the oral medication has helped some women who were clearly low in the hormone to begin with. Did your doctor test your testosterone level first? If you already had a normal level, I'd say it's worth a shot, but keep an eye out for any side effects (like extra hair growth, etc.).
In the meantime, maybe some of our other ideas for perking up your mojo might help...keep reading...and let us know how it goes!
~Marin
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Thank you so much. I need all the help I can get.
Hugs, Jackie
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Hi all,
I haven't posted on this thread, but have certainly seem to come to the right place to air my frustrations over the loss of libido, etc. due to treatments. I had chemo, radiation, reconstruction, and am on tamoxifen. Ever since my first chemo treatment, my ovaries shut down and I've been tested to be post-menopausal at age 42. I'm sure many of you can relate (unfortunately). I am grateful to those women on this board who have posted on this board their ideas, suggestions, and experiences. I have learned so much from all of you. Thanks...
That being said, have any of you ever heard of taking ginko biloba to increase sensation? I read a short article in a magazine about the fact that 24% glycoside Ginko is supposed to increase blood flow and help not only one's memory abilities, but increase sensation during sex. Needless to say, I ordered some as fast as I could as I'm desperate to try nearly anything to reclaim this part of my life.
I am waiting patiently for Mr. UPS....
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Ooooo, poor Mr. UPS, don't jump him robyn!
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