Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?

CLC

flannelette...I could never kill an animal either...but I am all for eating meat that lived a good life.  I want my husband to hunt the turkeys we have around here...but he isn't big on killing either...sigh.  We buy free range grass fed local beef.  But I'd rather get the meat wild...

Let's hear it for morphine!  I know it got me through my time at the hospital after my mastectomy.

socallisa

I went with on a scout overnight to the Navy's survivor school in the mountains close by here...they had to 

use live rabbits to make a stew with the things they found around the area...well, you know how it went...but

I ate the stew and was careful not to chew on an eyeball(they are good for protein) ..what we willl do

for our kids... 

CLC

SoCalLisa...yuuuummmmm....  nothing like eyeballs...

ananda8

SoCalLisa,

You are a really good sport. 

gardengumby

I wouldn't mind eating the rabbit - in fact I like rabbit stew - but I'd definitely draw the line at eyeballs!!!! 

lassie11

We sometimes wonder the effects on our children of no particular religious upbringing. My children were taught to be critical thinkers and to make their own decisions. Now that they are grown ups, one complained that he hadn't been baptized. The other two said "thank you". Recently I learned that my daughter has put her cross stitch patterns on an online shop. This isn't meant to be a sales pitch but if anyone wants a link to buy a pattern, PM me. Meanwhile, I think this lets me know that she's all right!

luv_gardening

I can relate to that Lassie.  Being a bit autistic, I've never been able to feel any links to festive occasions, and was careful never to tell my boys about santa except to say he was a mythological character.  Once they were going to school and figured out what mythological meant, I had to ask them not to break the secret to other children as other mothers were horrified that I didn't lie to my kids. I had some strong warnings from other mothers and had to placate them.  I notice other aspies (with aspergers') are also very literal and don't lie about santa.  My youngest told me he missed out on the fairy tale aspect and wished I'd told the story, not the truth.  My eldest was pleased I hadn't lied, he's a very active atheist and skeptic now. 

I remember reading how the psychiatrist R D Laing was devastated as a child when he realised his parents had lied about santa and then questioned religion and whether there was a god.  How can we trust someone who has lied to us?  In the end I think it just makes us more careful about what we believe and more immune to cults and peer pressure.

lassie11

Well, we did have Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. The older two kept up the pretence longer than they might have so that the youngest one could enjoy the magic. My grandchildren right now have the Skittles Fairy. Somehow a skittles toy fan gets filled with candy almost everytime they arrive. The eight year old is suspicious but doesn't say much because he likes candy.  Since most of the world is magical to small children, I don't see an issue with adding a bit more. Full explanations come as the children learn to explain other magic - like elevators and water sprinklers.

chumfry

Any word yet, Arlene? You've been on my mind today.

--CindyMN

flannelette

hey thanks Cindy - not a word. Except during the pre-biopsy wire insertion the radiologist did say I don't have a new primary.

I kinda figure no news is good news - like if they found someting even more suspicious would they nt have called me in for yet another test? I do rather like stickiing my head in the sand. I'm sticking with the rash theory since all major drs brought that up as a very real possibility.

I see my onc next week. An appointment that was set up a month ago as tests began. I'll take several clonazapams first, and just have to deal with what she says. it's a mystery that is scaring me less and less. Went swimming today in the river and it was extremely good to feel - or be? alive.

Hope you're all enjoying your summer in the way you like, and are not fried to a crisp!

socallisa

I never, never  believe that they would call....too many times in my life they did not and should have...so I always call to check

ananda8

flannelette,

You are in my thoughts every day.  Of course my thoughts are of the rashy sort.

flannelette

Thanks so much, Notself. Lisa - they set me up for an onc. visit when they started getting suspicious, so that's this thurs - but yes, sometimes they do not call back.

In 2008 when I was DX there was a huge paperwork f-up - the lady who ran the Breast Assessment clinic went on holidays and somebody in the radiology dept actually phoned me and told me I did not need a biopsy despite my calling 3-4 times over a few months. Then one day my own gp happened to be looking through my file and wondered why there was no biospy report. she called me right away. within 15 minutes I was booked for the biopsy. I had an 8cm tumor of IDC. I could have died, if not for that gp, who is now retired, and whenever I bump into her socially I thank her for sving my liffe - well, thanked enough now - now we just give each other a hug.Best dr I ever had.

My bad mammo was in April 2008 showing extensive calcifications. My biopsy was not till something like into July. At my initial surgeon's visit outlining course of treatment, after we all left the room, the Nurse Navigator ran to catch up to me and said "SOMEBODY has to tell you this isn't a death sentence". They could not believe the size of my tumor coinciding with the big f-up. My surgeon never mentioned the word metastases until he was standing at the foot of my bed just pre-op. I think he was looking at me like I was a goner. I just looked at him and said - "you're concerned about metastases" and all he said was "yes". whew! my stage 2b was a gift from the universe, and that's when I became a really happy person and an optimist. I guess like many of us here, I stopped taking life for granted.

have a great weekend all

ananda8

Holy crap, that is some story! IDC, 8cm and no nodes.  Truly amazing. 

I had a bad reading of my mammo.  I was lucky that my tumor was fairly close to the surface and I was able to pick it up in a self exam a couple of months later.  If I hadn't done that exam, I would have been stage III or IV because it started growing quickly.  Between the time I found it and my surgery it increased in size by .5cm. 

I have always had a few calcium deposits but radiation causes calcium deposits so now my mammograms look like pictures from the Hubble telescope...lots and lots of "stars".

I'll keep thinking rashy thoughts for you, flannelette.

flannelette

ps SUNFLOWERS! when ever I look here I think of you. Are you there??? reading??? then HUGS!!!

CLC

Oh my gosh...Arlene, that is some story.  I am so glad you found yourself on the easier path...and I hope that you will once again find yourself on the easier path...the rashy path...:)

And, I, too, have been thinking about you, Sunflowers!

flannelette

finally, results - all clear - yay! I called my surgeon's secretary this morning and no need to wait any longer - it was the rash from hell that did it. every friggin bone in my body scanned including both sides of my skull and right to fingetips, US, CT scans of pelvis and abdomen, breast MRI, 6 nodes dissected - whew! talk about nowhere to hide. oh well - now I know that I'm 4 yrs out and no sneaky metastases lurking, as in Canada they only do this stuff if there's a symptom - probably elsewhere too, as I'd think it's very $$$. yay! had a cup of tea, fish & chips fr lunch, some baklava for dessert, and went swimming. thanks, all, for your good thoughts of the rashy kind

socallisa

Such good news, I love it,time to celebrate!

CLC

YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Wonderful news, Arlene!

lassie11

Great news Flannelette!

river_rat

Yay!!!  I'm so happy to hear the good news.

wren44

Wonderful! Definitely time to celebrate.

JulieH

So pleased for you, Flannelette!

ananda8

Hooray!! Rashy thoughts prevailed.  Congratulations, Arlene.  Breathe deep and dance!

lassie11

Some religious people came to my front door today with a pamphlet about how the violence in the world is going to end. It was fun, if not a bit cruel to argue with them a bit. What sort of brain washing does it take to think it is OK to come on someone's front porch uninvited and try to make them believe the mythology they believe? I took some of their time, but not their pamphlet.

ananda8

Some Christians think Jesus was talking to them when he told the Apostles to go forth and teach all nations. Of course there were only 12 apostles but so what? They also get a bit confused because they thought he said "Go forth and impose on your neighbors".

ridergirl

Still pretty new to all this and while i wouldnt say i' m precisely an atheist,, i think its possible there ia some sort of higher power but no real concrete ideas on who or what it may be. I have had a few wonderful people say they will pray for me and i just say thank you. Dont know that it will help, but dont know for sure that it wont . Just my thoughts.....

flannelette

Hi Ridergirl - your thoughts are welcome. where do you hail from in ON?, cause, me, too. Are you a ridergirl because you ride bicycles or motorcycles?or none of these?

people on this thread are of various persuasions - some buddhist-leaning, some more pantheistic, some have strong spiritual feelinigs which do not involve the idea of a monotheistic, judging, all-seeing and judgement-dispensing supeme being who happens to sometimes look quite male. that, to me, is just a medieval artisit's concept of how would they picture god. come to think of it, though I'm not an art historian, there are not that many pictures of him.Lots of Jesus, though, and I personally see Jesus as a brilliant, deeply spiritual as in he was enlightened - he was able to live in non-duality, beyond ego, and was grotesquely misunderstood, misrepresented, and used in evil ways that directly contradict what he was all about. Just my take. ps to me atheist means not believing in a creator god. does not mean non-spiritual. but for some here it does. open to all, and welcome. some lovely and very thoughtful and insightful people hang about here.  

retiredlibby

So very happy for you flannelette!  What a relief!

L

chumfry

So glad to hear your good news, Arlene! 

--CindyMN