Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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If it can be verified, we don't need faith. . . . Faith is for that which lies on the other side of reason. Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys. -Madeleine L'Engle
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MC, it is easy in this day and age to get burned out, isn't it?? Added to that a rainy day. I hope the sun comes out and improvement shows up if slow, consistently.
Yay for a good covid test. I think we all worry about having to be out and never knowing if we have lost control and may be about to get bad news. I've had two covid tests and soon to get another. Sigh !! Does feel good when it is negative. So far, so good. I have heard a 3rd. wave of covid on the way and they are it seems always worse. Here's hoping and praying for all of us.
Hope you all have a good Saturday.
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I have been feeling a bit gloomy, too.
My appointment with my kidney dr. went well yesterday. All my blood work numbers were good except the D number was a little high. I am to decrease the D supplement and come back in a year. I did request a urine culture to make sure I don't have a UTI.
We had some conversation about Covid that was interesting since she spoke of some of her experiences with patients. She disclosed sadly that a nurse at one of our two hospitals died of Covid. She agreed with me that life will not return to "normal" any time soon. She said that the antibodies from having Covid don't seem to last longer than about 45 days. As the virus mutates, Covid survivors can become infected again.
After the appointment I went to an exercise class at the gym, held in the gymnasium. I seem to be one of a very few who quickly don the mask at the end of class.
The clouds opened up as I was driving away from the gym, heading out to run errands. I managed to do shopping at a supermarket without getting drenched but skipped the trip to Sam's to pick up prescriptions. I'll go today.
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The promised cold front arrived, it is in the 50s this morning and overcast. Sat up half the night with one of our dogs who suddenly last evening started to yelp every time he moved. Fortunately, our vet is open on Saturday morning. Took him in, somehow managed to lock him in the car along with my purse containing the key fob and my cell phone. Was able to get a lock service to come and open the car door (DH is at a meeting an hour's drive away and I couldn't call him because his cell phone number is in my phone, not my head!) Now waiting at home for the vet to call about what they found.
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Beaverntx, you are having a day of it already. I hope your dog is okay and glad you got help in time for the dog to still get into the vet. I hope it will turn out well for everyone. Hugs.
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Sandy- had a little trouble finding you, but then spotten tinfoil hat and jean jacket and ,to me, great singing Q Anon-.And super acting. So many different rollercoasters in life. Ours now is whether to move back to our Mather CCRC where the virus has entered Independent Living - 1 case so far , though undoubtedly more since they don't test- as well as the Assisted Living section with its 8 cases. So all dining rooms, gym, pool, visitors have been on lockdown with probably more restrictions to come. Our lease is up Nov 15 in our rental house in beautiful red and gold leaf strewn Glencoe and it has been rented to someone else starting Nov. 15. DS and DDIL, wooing us to find another house to rent,by dropping off pizza and other delicacies almost every nite. There is really nothing available to rent at any reasonable price and the thought of renting furniture again, getting wifi connected, dealing with Comcast ,service people in/out seems logistically too much. DS calls our CCRC “a death trap." I have bought an elliptical for the apartment with its beautiful lake view and we can just basically enclose ourselves there except for my 5-7 mile walk a day. But, since we are on the 10th floor, means coping with elevatos and narrower than 6' corridors. But don't want to be a nomad- going from one rental to another. Also don't want to die of the virus in our beautiful Retirement Community. Must decide what to do this weekend. Thus, a rollercoaster of differerent scenarios, none of them very satisfactory
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keywestfan, ah the decisions we have to make in our supposedly carefree golden years! Best wishes as you and your DH work this one out.
Dog update: he is staying at the vets over the weekend for injections (I am presuming steroids) for his neck which is apparently the source of his pain. The tech who called me was having trouble deciphering the vet's handwriting (imagine that!) so I hope to get more details on Monday. The dog is a dachshund, a breed known for spinal problems, but more often in the lower spine affecting the rear legs.
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Sandy - you've had a lot hit you lately, between covid testing and doctors. I'll look up your singing soon. EDIT: JUST WATCHED, LOVED IT!
MCBarker - turn of the tv news and put on some music that you like. The politics are nasty, more so this year than I ever recall.
Beaverntx - you've had a day! And not a good one. Hoping nothing too serious with your dog.
KeyWestfan- just throwing it out here, what about an extended stay hotel? I've seen nicely furnished ones with fireplaces. You could say you don't want maid service, just access to a vacuum or whatever you feel necessary. I'm assuming Wi-Fi and cable tv included.
I only slept 5.5 hours last night. Up at 7 AM, so around 2:30 I had to nap. It cooler here 56 now, but sunny. I feel like I missed the day.
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Good evening, ladies. Busy these last few days. We have some rental properties and are doing major renovations on one where the floor in the bathroom fell in. We went to order the bathtub and enclosure. That will be picked up by the contractor to install. After that we went on a little date to a place on the river. No one was wearing a mask, but then, it is hard to eat and drink with one on. We did have a nice time and it was pleasant to watch boats going by. Today my wonderful lady came to clean the house. She is such a caring person. My husband hired a cleaning lady for me for my 65th birthday because my Lupus was making it very difficult to do things like mopping, sweeping and hard scrubbing. Now with the Arimidex, my hands are getting about worthless. I do my hand exercises frequently. Is anyone else dealing with Lupus and BC?
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Judy, I don't envy you your narrow options. An extended-stay hotel sounds like the best (albeit probably most expensive) compromise. But I don't know of any on the N.Shore or N.Side. If extended-stay hotel or another standalone rental were unavailable or unaffordable, I would probably hermetically seal myself into the retirement building apt.--never leaving the apt. (not even venturing out into the corridor) unmasked, and taking elevators only when you'd get the car to yourselves.
I went to put my ballot today into the early-voting secured dropbox. Whole Foods was on the way home but I decided not to go in--I'm trying to shelter in place now as much as I can, except for appointments (tomorrow CT scan, Mon. melanoma oncologist, Wed. allergy-challenge test). I have a mani-pedi set for Thurs. (I missed the mani while locked down awaiting my COVID test results), and the place takes strict precautions; but I'm still on the fence. I've stopped going to the hair salon--the gray roots aren't that bad, and I can use "lamellar water" rinse, blow-dryer and flatiron or ionic brush to keep the frizzies at bay. I wasn't comfortable in June with the hair salon's (at least my stylist's) lax precautions: no temperature checks, no Plexiglas partitions between stations or at the counter; and even though the chairs were moved 6' apart every other one was supposed to be unoccupied, but my stylist plopped down into one to talk to me as my color was "taking" and had to be admonished by the owner more than once.
I was going to drop Bob's off too but we didn't notice the box on the other side of the envelope authorizing someone other than the voter to drop the ballot into the mail or drop box, and I wasn't about to forge his signature. So he's going to have to drop it off himself Mon. morning.
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Two things fill my mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. -Immanuel Kant
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Keywest, unfortunately your best decision is not available--continue renting the same house. Tough options. I wish you luck in making your decision. I do not expect Covid to disappear as POTUS predicts.
I bought a package of cloth masks at Sam's Club yesterday. They have two layers and a filter layer. When I opened the package at home, I saw that the masks are a little on the skimpy side, but they do fit just under the chin and over the nose. I get so amused/annoyed at mask wearers who have their noses exposed. The message is a lack of belief in the whole business of wearing masks. I am a convert to the extent that I wouldn't dream of going anywhere without wearing my mask. I even wore one when I went to an outdoor stand yesterday to buy fresh shrimp.
It was cool enough last night to turn off the a/c and open a window in the bedroom.
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I don't have any political signs. I did write twelve bulleted points for voting for who I voted for, as the right-to-life candidate. LOL. Printed it, and taped it to my window. Now I am much more objective with the news. Feeling good about it, since I suffer from anxiety in interpersonal debate.
Locked myself out of my apartment with my phone charging yesterday afternoon. Maintenance man had had forgotten and left his phone in the company truck because of a family emergency. Tippy and I whiled away our time in the community room. He was cranky when I tried to put him in his kennel-- he hadn't had his night snack laced with benadryl, I had turned it in another direction, it had his bed in it, not enough toys, and we hadn't done our ritual which entails me chasing him under a table, pulling him out, and lifting us both so I can walk, hugging him, to his kennel. I don't know what aspect of departure from the usual was the most traumatic.
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MCBaker, if only dogs could talk!! But they can get into a routine very quickly and will let you know if you miss a step.
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I even had to put him in butt-first, even though I had tossed a treat in! First time was a bit early, since we have already made the time-change.
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Mary, I have a small face, so my fit problem with masks is the exact opposite of yours. I might make a couple of small "tucks" at the chin to tighten the fit and lower the chance of slippage.
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Sandy, the masks I bought were M-L. There was also a size Small. Those packages included some colors. The M-L masks were black, navy, and white, two of each.
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I have been sewing masks from a pattern that comes in different sizes. You take 2 measurements and that tells you which pattern to use. It's a comfortable mask.
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Greetings to all. Many thanks for the prayers for my SIL! Surgery went well on 10/13, released from hospital 10/20, stayed in hospital guest house facilities until follow up plastic surgeon visit on 10/23 & then headed home to continue the recovery process.
I only just skimmed through the posts on the last 3 pages, but "Yeah" for the all the good test results that have been posted! NIce bargain hunting, too!
Stay safe, and for those in cooler climates, stay warm as well!
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Carole, the masks I have that seem to be too big are a couple of surgical ones (designed for men, I guess) and one with the clear plastic window so others can lip-read or at least see me smile. I usually buy size S or S/M, and they fit okay. Bob brought home a couple of Bears surgical masks--not going out for dinner during the game tomorrow night but I might wear one to my melanoma-MO appt. tomorrow morning. (Along with my "Real Bears Fans Wear Pink 2020" long-sleeve tee). My breast MO, his partner, suggested I get an initial consult with him.
Had my followup chest CT this afternoon, but pulled a muscle by my L SI joint getting out of the car at the hospital garage (very tight space to open the door) and then again getting out of the scanner. Having to bend down to feed the cats is aggravating it. Tylenol, ibuprofen, CBD tincture & topicals, heating pad and lidocaine roll-on aren't making a dent. Will slather on some Voltaren gel and then a lidocaine patch for sleep and see what happens.
Bob made it home for dinner, and says the hospitals were suprisingly quiet this weekend (despite the regional spike in COVID cases, which dipped by over 2000 today compared to yesterday, which was the state's all-time high and drove the IL Health Commissioner Dr. Ezike to tears).
Reviewed my NorthShore patient portal, and had an "aha moment." The brain/ear/head MRI/MRA/MRV reports from 7/1-7/3 mentioned, almost as an afterthought, a "tiny" 2x4mm area of "hyperfocus" in the "R orbit, posterior to the lens." It suggested in passing I might want to "follow up with ophthalmology." We glossed over it because I was having those scans to determine the cause of my pulsatile tinnitus (rule out aneurysm, acoustic neuroma or brain tumor). In other words, ears--not eyes. I might have missed it if not for that floater in the other eye a few days later that sent me to a retinologist who saw a growth in the R (obviously, in restrospect, the visible manifestation of that tiny "hyperfocus" area in the MRIs) and referred me to the ocular-onc at UIC who diagnosed it as melanoma and did the brachytherapy.
One more instance of proof that things in life are interrelated in ways that we don't notice at first.
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Measure wealth not by the things which you have,
but by the things you have for which you would not take money.
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I had my dexa scan 7:30 this morning, and as always, I asked for a copy. Once home I could compare to 3 previous - it's my first at endocrinologist office. Great news was my hip "neck" is all back in the normal range! No osteopenia. I'm weighing staying on generic Fosamax or doing infusion of Reclast. One of those if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
MO appt was 9:45, received an all good there too. But no stopping to make your next appt, and that's where I get a copy of blood work. I track that too. MO said I can call, they'll mail it.
Lastly was a chiropractor muscle therapist appt at 4. Heavenly and painful too. Enough so I must force myself to use the foam roller daily, on my legs & hips, or she'll knuckle out the muscle (IT band was so tight). I haven't been there in about a year. Once back from FL, w COVID, I wouldn't risk it.
Sandy - I hope your CT scan came out fine. Pulling a muscle to get there isn't on the program. I hope all of your remedies give some relief.
I'm showering, very early, to get my jammies on. A cool 47 here and rainy, drizzly all day. Talk of a snow dusting on Friday. Calgon, take me away!
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Cindy, what is the foam roller? I sometimes fold up a towel, actually roll it, and ly on it on my back for a period of times and it helps with muscle ache.
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Good news from yesterday's chest CT scan--the lung nodule is stable (and the "nodularity" in the adrenals, likely related to letrozole affecting estrogen production, has actually reduced). Not-so-good news (again, an incidental finding): I have calcified plaques in my coronary arteries (age-appropriate, but unexpected for a woman--perhaps aggravated by estrogen deficiency or the calcium supplements I used to take before I was ordered to stop when my blood calcium levels were too high). Sigh--more fish and fiber, less red meat and butter in my future. No way can I go vegan without regaining weight.
Saw the melanoma-specialist MO this morning. He said my prognosis seems pretty good, because my ocular (choroidal) melanoma was so small. Ocular melanoma is almost never detected until it either affects vision or is visible on the outside. Gotta hand it to that L eye floater: had it not popped up I might not have gone to the retinologist, who found it unexpectably in the R eye and sent me to the ocular-onc at UIC. Because the brain/ear MRI scans were for an ear, not eye concern--and because the ENT said no need to see a neuro-ophthalmologist because the pulsatile tinnitus was caused by an inborn anatomical aberration, not a CSF leak--I might not have even followed up on those scans and the ocular melanoma might not have been discovered until it would cause a problem. He explained that the biopsy was likely done not to confirm the diagnosis but rather for genomic assay--and if the sample wasn't big enough for that I will need to go back to Medical Genetics for another blood draw to test for melanoma-related mutations that were not found back in 2015 when I was tested for the two BRCA, Chek2, and PALB2 mutations (or turned out to be among the weasel-worded "variants of unknown significance," which given the state of the science over the past 5 years may now have "known" significance).
And my back problems (piriformis & IT band) are both referred pain from spinal and SI-joint osteoarthritis and related to thinning in the area of the chunk of bone they dug out of my iliac wing back in 1997 to grind up & mix with epoxy for something for the R tibial hardware to grip after I was hit by a car.
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Cindy snoopy jammies early for me tonight too. That kind of day. I knitted a baby blanket for my grand-niece while I watched Perry Mason. Whoop!
Sandy you have really been through it. Glad your tests have been coming our 'relatively' good. I have the GI doctor and cardiologist on deck in the next few weeks. I really hate going to Drs, always have. But between an autoimmune ailment since my late 20s (Petite, similar to you) and Breast Cancer it seems its what I do. 🙄🙂
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Well, my "Real Bears Fans Wear Pink" shirt didn't work this time: L.A. stomped all over them tonight (as predicted). So it's back into my knitted leopard-print PJs (not yet cold enough for the fleece ones). Either that, or scrubs with a long-sleeved underwear top beneath. Time to put away those cute shortie PJ sets for the season. Wore a winter car coat (wool, with hood) and gloves this a.m. to my MO appt. First time since early May.
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Good morning, Ladies. On the thought of masks, I need a small one and my husband needs a large one. He has difficulty breathing, even without the mask. He usually wears it under his nose.
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We need to find the courage to say NO to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity. -Barbara De Angelis
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These are my foam rollers. Speckled one is harder/more dense. I lay on it for my back, roll out my spine, and do my legs for IT band, quads, and glutes. If you've never used one, it sometimes hurts - but once you loosen up muscles, its a great thing for the body. I need to get back to doing it daily.
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Thanks Cindy. Certainly better than rolled up towels.
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