Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Cindy, might it be a ganglion cyst or tenosynovitis? They might be able to dissolve it with a cortisone shot.
10 min. before the extreme wind warning expires, but 30-40mph gusts still possible till 9am. Bob just came downstairs to eat a chocolate champagne truffle--if I tried that at bedtime my GERD would be doing a Vesuvius on me.
Cook County is now considered "extremely high risk" for COVID spread by the NYT. We have a party to attend Sat. night, but it'll be just 5 people, all boostered, at the host's apt. I had my meeting with the cantor today; the services I'll be singing will be in the main sanctuary, which is big enough to accommodate extreme distancing (including from me as I sing). But if things get worse we may have to move it back online. (It'll be online regardless--shul for shut-ins, as we've been doing since March 2020). We canceled all thoughts of a trip the first week of Jan., and hope Gordy's wedding can happen as planned by April.
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I am glad that you sold your bike, Mary. I questioned whether it was a safe option for getting from here to there.
Now I'm concerned about Jackie again.
Our Covid stats in the New Orleans vicinity are much improved at the present time but I'm expecting the new variant to spread and reverse those stats. At least Christmas seems safer for gathering with family. At the women's golf luncheon yesterday we were hugging like days of old. No masks on servers. I still wear my mask when I shop. We are going out to dinner on Saturday night with another couple and I doubt those servers will be wearing masks.
It finally dawned on me (Duh) that Covid has been primarily a serious illness for the elderly. A NYT article pointed out that 75 per cent of those who had died with Covid were 65 or older. Obviously 25 percent were younger than 65. Since I'm an "elderly," I will continue to be cautious.
Our high temperature is forecast to be 80 degrees today. A/C time in December.
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CindyNY: Paint was needed in 3 of 4 bedrooms due to either rain and/or replacement of ceilings and windows due to cracks or water damage in ceilings or window replacement. The livingroom and upper hallway and foyer also suffered wated damage from the initial tree strike and rainstorm so painting and floor replacement to be done as well. Basement did not initially have much damage but did have an area of water damage and we had enough flooring left over from previous installation to cover it. Then they took the gutters off the house that fed into our underground water remediation system, delayed replacing them and the roof and Hurricane Isaias hit and flooded the entire basement. The water was sucked up into the drywall so in some areas half the wall had to be replaced and just recently when they removed the old flooring they discovered that the underlayment was still drenched (in spite of dryers and dehumidifiers used in August of 2020), rotted and quite odorous. So what was once a patch job has turned into a complete replacement of flooring. The old paint was by Behr and they will only use Sherwin Williams so I find that when SW tries to replicate Behr it is close but no cigar. There are areas with new drywall that will need a prep coat before painting and then the entire basement will need to be painted. So we are 25 months into a 3-6 month supposed restoration. I am tired of them and their total lack of planning and organization and would never recommend them to anyone. The quality of the work has been above par but they are not timely and cannot fully blame this on Covid. I think they are stretched too thin and because we are in a livable, yet unfinished house, are always last to get the services we have paid for.
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I did my own laundry this morning. As a consequence, I plan on staying off of it for the rest of the day. I have a sizeable chunk of hand-sewing on this sewing job. Metallic thread in fabric cuts sewing thread.
Betrayal, a true headache. I suspect the resale value on your home will really reflect rays of sunlight.
My short-term cleaning lady has a job on her hands when she comes over today. My apartment is in a south and west-facing ell of the building. Every time we have heavy winds, all of the loose leaves from a two-block radius swirl onto my porch. They must be taken to the curb on the street-side of the building to prevent them from returning.
I have to admit that most dislocated knees, as measured by observations of braces like mine, happen to athletic young people. I guess I am a bit out of my league.
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Mary, joining the chorus of those applauding the sale of your bike. When your knee heals, might you consider a trike? (Looking for a folding one myself--only way I could fit it into my garage).
Glad the gutter-cleaning guys are behind schedule, because of last nights's high winds. Our next-door neighbor installed LeafGuards, but since we just had ours repaired from June's falling tree, we'll wait a year. We managed to escape wind damage last night, and our power stayed on. (The latter likely because I prepared for an outage--like carrying an umbrella to prevent rain). We hit 66 yesterday and last night till 1am. In the low 40s now, going down to the 30s for the foreseeable future. Beats a polar vortex.
>11K new cases of COVID reported today in IL, highest of the year. Test positivity is up to 5.9%, case positivity to 4.7%. City's positivity is 4.4%. A number of high schools in the area have canceled all afterschool activities (including sports); Loyola U. in our neighborhood has made boosters mandatory for students, faculty & staff. Stats are that 98% of IL hospital admissions and >99% of deaths are in the not-fully-vaccinated. Sobering statistic is that nationwide, 1% of all seniors (65+) have died of COVID. Glad we're boosted and wouldn't think of not masking indoors in public. If we peeked into a restaurant and saw servers not wearing masks, we wouldn't go in. We have both a city & county mask mandate; and I'm seriously thinking of compiling a list of restaurants that require proof of vaccination as well, so that I csn go out of my way to patronize them.
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A tryke would be my preference, but they are so much more expensive. My daughter has offered multiple times to buy me a car. I keep saying no, but with the knee, I told her to have a serious talk with my sister. I am incompetent when it comes to my choices in transportation.
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After the second Pfizer, I had the Roche spike antibody test. I had a splenectomy in 1999 for ITP. Antibodies were mounted which was questionable whether they would be in those with asplenia.- though seemed paltry at 351- Just had another spike antibody test yesterday- booster was in August- antibodies now 6,684. No-one knows the minimum for immunity, but I feel encouaged that a good response was mounted and is possible. And makes me feel a bit reassured about going to Key West in January
Then a marvelous dinner at the Peninsula Hotel, Shanghai Terrace with DS. Saturday will be Regalia again. A good week to be grateful for.
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6684 is substantially better than 351. I agree with your confidence. I have read that the booster for both Pfizer and Moderna really wraps it up tight. Your test results, asplenia aside, seem to support that.
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Great result, Judy! Stock up on N95s or KN95s anyway, though.
I'm feeling fairly confident, even though things are going the wrong way COVID-wise in Chicago. Three Modernas (all full-strength) and I always mask in indoor public spaces. I have a basketful of cute color-coordinated cloth masks (even animal prints) collected since April 2020, but I don't dare wear them any more (unless I double up or wear them over a surgical mask, which is a bit of a bother). Instead, I use KN95s (black & white) & KF94s (white, black, tan, burgundy, navy). Can't wash them, but if I rotate them, they can safely be reused till they get wet or soiled. We are weighing our risks--certain things are not worth it to me (e.g., going to the gym where not everyone wears their masks properly and the locker room is closed; traveling out of state for something other than necessity or a special occasion) but others are--especially dining at restaurants I trust. I used to shop just for the heck of it, or duck into a cafe for a snack or a latte on the spur of the moment. Those days are gone.
Mary, I thought electric-assist bikes were much pricier than tricycles, even the folding ones.
We have one outside light for the deck (the switch is on the kitchen wall); but lately the bulb socket has been acting wonky. (Tried to change the suddenly flickering faint bulb, but it won't come out no matter how much I unscrew it). I'd like to replace it with a more stylish one, perhaps with an outlet on the side. We have solar motion-detector lights on the garage and deck steps, but Bob would object to the deck light being on during mosquito season. Amazingly, we have no outlets anywhere on the outside of the house--not front, back or sides. So any holiday lights have to be battery-operated--and the ones on our arborvitae out front are on an 8-hour timer. Not just that, but when the batteries run down, it's a real pain to change them if there's snow on the ground because the tree is on the raised gsrden bed. Last year I had to use ski poles to climb up the drifts and steady myself in the snow. I love the lighted sidewalk arches some blocks around here have, but when I found out that they have to be custom-made/DIY using rebar and PVC tubing...and then plugged into an outlet...naaahh.
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I bought several boxes of N95 masks in an Ace Hardware in MN. They're meant to be disposable but I wear mine more than once since I wear one less than an hour at a time. It folds flat and fits nicely in its place in my handbag. It also fits very well. I have discarded all the cloth masks which are more attractive but looking good isn't the purpose.
Sandy, you wouldn't find a restaurant here on the North Shore with servers wearing masks. I don't know about New Orleans. We have a Democratic governor who has persevered in following CDC guidelines but he has been sued by legislators from the "other side of the aisle" for mask mandates and closures early on in the pandemic. So far judges have ruled in the governor's favor. Currently we have no mandates. The mayor of New Orleans has been very tough with her efforts to keep her citizens safe. She was just re-elected with no real opposition. The federal assistance money has helped immensely to keep New Orleans afloat financially.
DH just left to go and play golf. I will go to my 11:30 senior exercise class. It's a gloomy day with rain forecast for the afternoon.
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Our NY home, pushing 100, has no outlets on the outside of the house. Heck, it barely has 2 per room indoors! FL house, 17 years old, has outlets multiple places out doors and many inside as well. But a lot of us have an enclosed front lanai, no outlet inside it. I may look into getting one put out there. It would be nice to sit out there to read.
I put up our outdoor Christmas lights yesterday. Full sun and 78 at 9:30 in the morning. I sweat. More so because I had to take down 2 strands when I realized the end was a “female” plug vs “male” plug. Double my work effort but worth it.
Tonight is Music Walk in downtown. We’re going to meet up with a couple that we met at a blues festival last weekend. It should be a fun night, all outside, no masks. Weather has been warm, well hot. Possible showers over the next few days, but imhoping they miss us
I had to mail my disk of X-rays to my surgeon. Hoping to hear back before Christmas.
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Cindy, glad to see you are making progress on getting answers about that worrisome lump.
After experiencing pedal assist, an electric tryke is the only option. It takes too much muscle to be able to enjoy a bike ride of any significance. A recumbent tryke without motor might be worth considering,
I am sitting here with a sleeping dog on my lap. Really hesitate to disturb him.
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Our house was built in 1946. No outside outlets. Livingroom has 3 outlets but all other rooms have two. DH puts ugly, tacky lights in the front window. Our tree isn't up yet because there are boxes on the table where it goes. Amazing how heavy framed paintings are. DS is coming up after Christmas. I'm going to ask him to move some boxes around. DH would do it despite needing to hang on to something to walk at all.
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Tomorrow a.m., Gordy & Leslie are leaving for NOLA (tasting the menu for their April wedding) and then to the TX hill country to celebrate Christmas with her family, They were unable to book the AirBnB ranch with separate cabins they had last year; and one of her sisters & her BIL refuse to get boosters. The BIL is a science teacher and thinke they'll be safe, and besides it's too late for the booster to kick in. (Not true--booster doesn't require more than a few days to improve immunity--but her sister claims the BIL "knows what he's talking about because he's a science teacher." He teaches chemistry & physics).
Gordy reports that the wedding venue, hotels & restaurants we've booked in NOLA are all requiring proof of full vaccination. He & Leslie are also requiring all guests be boosted as well--including her bridesmaid sister, who will have to make her husband stay home if he continues to refuse a booster.
Just ordered 50 US-made vertical-fold N95s (Indiana Mask, bought from US maker & tester Armbrust) for applications where the KNs & KFs may not be enough. My KN95s are by Powecom (bought from the authorized US distributor) and evolvetogether (bought from the mfr. site). Bob has 10 3M "duckbill" N95s with foam straps should he wish to wear an N95 away from the hospitals. (The hospitals give him cup-type N95s for on-premises use). The KF94s are from a Korean company, BOTN, also bought direct from the mfr.'s site. I have a bunch of black "FLTR95" masks from Costco--the mfr. claims they're made to higher standards than China's KN standards even though they don't have the NIOSH logo, and Costco stands behind them. So I'm confident I don't have counterfeits.
Most of the people I see in stores & restaurants are wearing either surgical or cloth masks. And all the groceries & pharmacies I visit have boxes of free surgical masks at the entrance, next to the hand sanitizer dispenser.
I'm not a fan of the head straps on N95s, because that makes them tough to doff & don in restaurants; but for transit, they're the way to go. Not discarding the cloth masks--they're still usable over surgicals and can be laundered if I remove the filters. I anticipate that if & when we're past this surge when the weather gets warmer they'll be adequate again.
BTW, just read a medical journal article that shows immunity begins to wane only 90 days after the second Pfizer shot. I'm on "team Moderna," including for a fourth shot in Feb. if it's offered.
We're going out tonight with friends to Regalia. Several Chicago restaurants have had to close temporarily due to employees testing positive. The city hasn't mandated vaccine proof for indoor dining. The county is recommending it. Local restaurant assn. pres. is against restaurant owners & mgrs. "being the vaccine police;" but one microbrewery owner--who had to close down till tomorrow--wants to see a vaccine passport implemented, and will require proof of vaccination (or negative test result w/in the past 48 hrs.). I don't think the testing should be an acceptable alternative, as home rapid antigen tests have a high rate of false negatives and PCR tests take at least 48 hrs to process and notify people of results.
We will most likely do takeout for Christmas Eve, unless we can score a res. for The Feast of the Seven Fishes. Big Jones' Reveillon dinner sold out weeks ago. Bob has to work Christmas weekend, so if our friends are hosting Christmas Day it'll be just me attending (or eating leftovers at home).
New Year's Eve, dining-wise, is up in the air. The midnight champagne party chez nous will be boosted-guests only.
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Good morning. Currently it is 61 degrees and heading to 83. I am heading out for a big shop at Publix. I am having my DB and SIL for Christmas Eve. My DB wants me to try and make my later mother's Walnut cake. Most of her recipes died with her. I will try, even if it is not the same, I hope it will be good. Christmas Day will be down south. I am not looking forward to the drive and nor the visit. Too many people and 2 big dogs. It is better at my great nephew's house. It is bigger and a more spacious open floor plan. For some reason he is not hosting it. DH probably won't go. He had a rough night last night. BP was actually low, but he was complaining about the feeling of electrical shocks. He describes the cluster headaches as such and when he is having irregular heartbeats. I could not hear any heart rate irregularity. I hope the headaches are not coming back.
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Very foggy this morning. Yesterday's promised rain, which I wanted to fall, was only a few sprinkles. If today turns out to be a rain disappointment, too, I will have to water my five knockout roses I planted some weeks ago.
Happy Saturday to all.
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The world is not in need of saving; it is perfect in itself--it is not a mess to be fixed up. It is harmonious and whole, and it is our responsibility to harmonize with it, not change it.
A Spiritual Warrior0 -
To all those with issues of ANY kind. I am thinking of you and hoping all can resolve to your satisfaction. One thing I would mention specifically -- at my age and being 5'7", I chose ( though I wish I didn't have too ) to stick with SUV's. It it hard for me to sit DOWN in cars now and sliding directly into the seat for the most part gets me in and out easily.
I'm still getting tired a lot although I did reach the spot where I don't lose ground every day. That sure feels good. I meant to et on here sooner but lose out one day and it sometimes just keeps going. Here's hoping. Love to all.
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Jackie, so good to hear from you. You've had really major surgery so it is no surprise that healing is a slower process than you would like. Glad you feel that you are making progress and are being careful! Please keep on taking good care of yourself.
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Hello Northstar! 71 here and facing a 3rd diagnosis of bc. I was 50 when I had dcis, then 18 years later idc and on Dec 23rd I will have a biopsy that the radiologist already told me it was cancer.
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Welcome Schweety. I hope 3rd treatment is the charm and you remain cancer free after that. I can't imagine how I would feel when told the 3rd time. Two would be bad enough.
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Life is not a competition with others. In its truest sense it is rivalry with ourselves. We should each day seek to break the record of our yesterday. We should seek each day to live stronger, better, truer lives; each day to master some weakness of yesterday; each day to repair past follies; each day to surpass ourselves. This is, simply, progress.
C. Smith Sumner0 -
Schweety I am hoping as well that you will have success in whatever treatment you need. Lots of care and positive vibes coming your way.
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Schweety - Sending positive energies, strength and courage to you as you battle the beast once again.
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Hi ladies, it's Liz The Lurker here...I follow this column every day and keep up with all of you. Just don't post very often. I do have a question and would very much like your opinion--how often are we supposed to have a pap test? I am 75 and I've read/been told every three years, even by my PCP, (who knows I have had breast cancer). Seems it should be more often--know I'll get the real skinny here. Thank you so much.
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I thought after a certain age they were not suggesting PAP smears at all ? I can't remember my last one.
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My gyn no longer performs PAP on me and according to Medicare, I can only see her every 2 years. She told me that if they have been negative for X amount of years, and being over the age of 70, they are no longer recommended. As long as Medicare continues to pay for the visit I will go for my visits.
lauri: love your quote.
Schweety: sorry that BC continues to dog you and hope that this time is the last with a good outcome.
Liz the lurker AKA cowgirl 13: good question and I'll be glad to hear what others experiences are.
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See Betrayal's response. I stopped PAP smears at age 65 after years of clear results and no symptoms, as the guidelines directed. On the other hand, I did not follow the guidelines to stop mammograms, thank goodness!
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Ditto for me on PAP's
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Last gyno visit I had was at age 64 (in 2019) and she advised no more PAP smears once I turned 65. Have not been to gyno since then, not "active" and no issues. Guess maybe I should still go every 2 years?
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