Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Mavericksmom, Welcome.
Illinoislady & Betrayal, cyber hugs
Today it is 3 years since surgery.
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Woohoo petite1 !!!!! Every year after surgery is a blessing! Thanks for the welcome! Sadly, I was just diagnosed for a third time! Thankfully, this time it sounds like I have one of the "best" cancers, if one has to get breast cancer in the first place, high grade DCIS with microinvasion. Hopefully this will remain the same after surgery, scheduled for mid-October and they won't find more. My ILC wasn't seen on the mammogram, only on US. I only had a mammogram this time. I will have a mastectomy with implant, because I had single mastectomy (refused a double) with DIEP the last time. I go back to work at a school, aka germ factory, next week, and I will be wearing my KN95 mask! Love the kids, not their germs! I just don't want to get sick with anything prior to surgery. I got my flu shot last week, earlier than I normally would get it, only because of work and surgery.
mocogram, loved what you wrote about your collie! I had a black lab that did the same for me during my first time with breast cancer. Sadly we lost him about 5 years ago, and the little chihuahua mix rescue about a year after that. I miss those furry kids! I too always wanted a collie! I love them, and of course grew up watching Lassie! I ended up with two shelties, followed by a long list of other dogs.
As someone here said, I too would love another dog, but it would have to be small breed because neither my husband nor I can lift a big dog. Likely will be a small rescue pup, maybe next spring or summer.
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There is something greater and purer than what the mouth utters. Silence illuminates our souls, whispers to our heart and brings them together.
Khalil Gibran
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Kinds and caring words so appreciated. Muted sun so far today though early. It has stayed much cooler than I thought for the time of yr. we are in. August often is a very toasty month, but it has been nice enough to walk in the afternoon. I lhope that continues. My day will likely consist of doing more things that are hard to do when the kids are here. We got the back wall of the living room cleaned and have a couple more areas. I had hoped to wash ALL the walls but a tall order with all that needs doing.
Kids will be gone to the end of the month so I do have extra time. I do find though with all the medical insults I've undergone I don't ( even with a list ) coordinate well and so don't organize well at all. Makes it nice to have that bit of extra time.
Hope you all have a truly good day. Hard to believe the major part of summer has already spent its time out. It seems to go so fast every yr. while waiting for it to arrive just drags. Even retired life can get sooo busy. Hope your day is lovely.
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Had an appointment with my rheumatologist at 12:45 today. There are none in our city, so I go to the next largest town, about 50 minutes away. Of course she was late, but she spent about 30 minutes with me. No blood work this time, which was good.
Glad to be home relaxing. It’s taco Tuesday at our house. Enjoy your day.
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Mavericksmom, we had Shelties too, Cinnamon, Bonnie and Toby, and two mixed breeds, Mollie and Pasha. I loved them all, but Bonnie and Chance, the collie, hold special places in my heart. I'd like another, older, smaller dog. At 73, I'm too old to deal with a young, energetic pup.0
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Hi all, caught up on posts, thanks for thinking of me. Good wishes for all. Do any of you have bird feeders? Mine are attracting too many blackbirds, blue jays and turtle doves who pig out on all of the food and dump alot of it that they don't like on the ground. The finches and wrens just hide in the nearby bushes and wait for the bigger birds to leave, but they are pretty dominating of the feeder. Even the cardinals seem afraid. I like watching all of the birds and sometimes almost 40 or so of them will fly off from the backyard when I have to walk through.
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Oldladyblue, we tried a bird seed feeder a few years ago and got the same results you are seeing. Gave it up after a few years. But, this year I put out a hummingbird feeder. Didn't know whether it would work. But, within hours we had several hummingbirds visit the feeder. It's been out for several months and my DH and I so enjoy seeing their antics. We've been able to spot at least six different birds. Some visit at the same time daily, some we see several times a day, two of them will "share" the feeder. One of the larger hummingbirds will sometimes sit in a nearby small tree and chase off the others who attempt to feed. It's been quite entertaining.
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When you honor your most authentic self--your Spirit--you are
allowing your Light to shine and touch the world. Living
authentically, in its simplest terms, is living your Truth, the
truth in your heart and soul. It's allowing yourself to be guided
by Divine Truth and Wisdom, each and every day, and doing
your Highest, most authentic work in the world.
It's joyfully creating and living your Highest purpose!
Valerie Rickel0 -
Trying to catch up. Lots of phone work to straighten out bills I should not be getting from providers used by the hospitals who worked on me nearly a yr. ago. Total aggravation, but hopefully we have come to the point where most of it is done.
Nothing special today but will drive Dh to his Dr.'s appt. Between the two of us it does seem ( even though a lot of it is fairly good news ) that we are almost always dealing with medical things or medical Dr.'s. Keeps us around for another day anyhow.
Hope you all have a good day.
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illinoislady, Sounds like my DH and my life! We got a bill recently attached to one from same health care system, for $1.89 from 2019! We laughed! I guess his cardiology group had someone look over years of records, perhaps and audit, and found the error, but $1.89??? I actually didn't think they collect past 2 years, but I wasn't going to make waves for less than $2. I thought I was finally caught up from 2019 bout with breast cancer, and here I go again! But, as you said, we are alive to see another day!
oldladyblue, we used to feed the birds. That was something that gave us great pleasure. We especially loved the goldfinches and different types of woodpeckers. We had to stop due to the Avian Flu and another disease that was affecting wild birds. Last year we had to cover up our birdbath too, due to the issue in wild birds here in PA. We uncovered the birdbath but never went back to feeding the birds, since the Avian Flu is in PA again. We used to get so many starlings at the bird bath, but since we don't put out feed, we don't get any. It is soooo much cleaner without those dirty starlings!
mocogram, my DH bought a hummingbird feeder and the first year we got a lot of birds, but last year we didn't get any, so we didn't put it up this year.
I really love the gardens and birds during the summer months. We usually try to feed the birds in the winter too, mostly thistle for the goldfinches, who change color but stick around, and suet for the woodpeckers. Our cardinals don't look very healthy this year. We usually have several pairs, but not this year. The blue jays, however, look better than they have in years.
Getting ready to go for a drive with my husband, since it isn't too hot today. Have a great day everyone!
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oldladyblue, We had bird feeders, but squirrels, racoons and once in a great while a bear make an appearance and all like bird seed. So, we gave up bird feeding.
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We have a hummingbird feeder. We get green hummingbirds show up every season. They seem to be territorial, fighting over who can feed. But we do see two at the feeder at the same time on occasion. We enjoy watching them swoop in from the trees.
Enjoy your day
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Years ago I fed the birds all the time but it was always a mess under it. I had it placed in my garden, and I too gave up. Squirrels would do just about anything to get seed. This year we had at least 2 male cardinals chirping sun up to sun down for mates. I did put out a mix with a lot of sunflower seed, just laid it in a line on a cement garden bench. They loved it and so did the others. Still a mess under it! I think once this bag is gone I’m done, again.
My chimney mason hasbeen here two days and is returning again tomorrow. The first day there was thunder and lightening so they got scaffolding set up and that was it. Tomorrow they should finish.
I finally called about a container being dropped off in my driveway. Pods were too expensive. U-box is reasonable, about $200 for a full month. Before I booked I ran it by the painter to confirm the date he’s showing up. He thinks it may be pushed out a week and will let me know tonight. I think a full month is long, but it will give us 2 weeks to disassemble two bedrooms and all the junk stored in there. Might be the push we need to get rid of things! One can hope. And 2 weeks, give or take to reassemble the rooms. A lot of work in this money pit.
I planted two butterfly bushes in the backyard this morning. It was only 75 out but humidity felt high. The sun was burning off all the dampness from yesterday. I also ran to PT this afternoon. He worked me hard, quads felt fatigued as I left. I need to keep it up daily so I’ll be mess fatigued.
I’m ready for a nap. 85 and full sun right now.
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Did some spot-cleaning of the kitchen floor early this afternoon. Went out to Ace and got the proper screw for my right rear-view mirror. I will not get on any highway without Amish lanes from now on. It is positively dangerous. Ace has wire dish-drainers-- everybody else has plastic. Rode over to the VA to take the other route home. Did it on battery power because my knee was hurting.
Today was Tippy's third anniversary of being with me, so I dropped a thank you at the rescue's page on Facebook. 59 likes in 13 hours.
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3 years ago I bought a Simplehuman dish drainer after ATK top-rated it (as has Wirecutter). It's the best I've ever owned. I used to rely on Consumer Reports and then Alton Brown for kitchen tools, pans & appliances--but ATK has yet to steer me wrong. I know the old maxim "a poor workman blames his tools," but the ease of getting great results with the right stuff (especially pots, pans, knives & ingredients) continues to amaze me.
We gave up bird feeders when they were overrun by squirrels (even after we mixed capsicum powder in and installed anti-squirrel baffles).. Now rabbits are our chief garden pests (but they're so cuuute)! We lost only one tomato to a squirrel this season--and it wasn't much of one anyway. Have yet to encounter any hummingbirds here in Chicago--we saw them all the time when we lived in Seattle. We have mostly cardinals, robins, finches and mockingbirds now. Used to hear woodpeckers and chickadees, but not this year.
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Love feeding the birds...
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Cool!
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Oh I am smiling widely this morning over the bird stories! Thank you so much to all of you. The photo of the Jay with the peanut is adorable! Thank you all for your tales and I don't feel so bad now knowing that bird feeders and trouble of the large and small animals sort of go together. I can't imagine a bear in my yard! We do get possums wondering in and out sometimes. One of my tenants just told me when they were out smoking last night late there were fruit rats out after the seed on the ground and even climbing up the pole. Ugh. Last night I brought the feeders inside, and I will cut down on the amount of seed today, and not refill when empty. They get emptied in about 2 hours. I could try hummingbird feeders like some of you have! What tips do you have for those types of feeders?
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Joy is what we are, not what we must get.
Joy is the realization that all we want or need in life
has been etched into our souls.
Joy helps us see not what we are "going through,"
but what we are "growing to"--a greater sense of
understanding, accomplishment, and enlightenment.
Joy reveals to us the calm at the end of the storm,
the peace that surpasses the momentary happiness of pleasure.
If we keep our minds centered on joy, joy becomes a state of mind.0 -
Where to begin so I won't forget to mention things -- most of which are now on the page before this one. First, yes the bird picture -- marvelous. We are former bird feeders here and like many did everything till we got so tired of trying to outsmart non-birds we just gave up on the whole project. I do miss not having more birds here, but at the same time -- having cats and birds somewhat together was not a great combo anyway.
Sandy, I copied down ( because my memory can be that poor ) those initials you gave for and outlet for kitchen goods. Since resources are often on the thinnish side here I can certainly appreciate and use an outlet that sounds like they specialize in quality items. I've 'endured' a lot of my kitchen mistakes for long periods. So, I'm always open to finding a 'good' source.
Going to have to look up 'fruit' rats. I'm not famaliar, even though it just may be something I've forgotten over time. Sounds interesting.
Not too much planned for today. Was on the phone most of yesterday but did get I think good help from a special section of the V.A. that helps you when you get bills they are to pay. I did have to go up to the National level ofc. for the help, but I think I"m on the way to finally getting a bit more of a handle on all the bills from this past Nov. Bills I should not have gotten. It will be nice to quit dreading going to the mail-box for our mail.
Hope you all have a really good day.
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Love the blue jay with peanut picture. We have a simple hummingbird feeder that hangs from the soffit above our deck. We can see them from our picture window.
Congratulations on your 3 year gotcha day with Tippy, McBaker.
I thought fruit rats were bats until I looked them up.
Spent some time dealing with my dental insurance company. I received a claim for routine cleaning from a dentist in California. I live in VA. Turns out the patient in California has the same name as me and same insurance group number. Everything else is different. They said they’d refile the claim correctly. Which is good, since I go in for a routine cleaning in 2 weeks
Enjoy the rest of your day.
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Jackie, "ATK" is the acronym for "America's Test Kitchen:" the company that produces the PBS show of the same name as well as "Cook's Country" and the "Cook's Illustrated" magazine that started it all. Besides cooking actual dishes, they also review ingredients, tools & appliances. The site is americastestkitchen.com, but to get the full review ratings you have to subscribe. Alton Brown had a long-running Food Network show called "Good Eats" (he recently revived it on a streaming channel). Each half-hour episode was dedicated to a particular food or ingredient and gave a couple of recipes using it--it was very entertaining, as before he went to culinary school Brown was a music video producer (his most famous one was for fellow GA residents REM's "Losing My Religion"). His companion cookbooks suggested his preferred brands of ingredients & equipment; he has a longstanding distaste for "uni-taskers," kitchen tools that do only one thing.
Had a sleepless night--worrying about mice (Heidi alerted Bob to a mouse they saw streak across the rear kitchen baseboards and dart into a tiny space in the wall before she could catch it--at 17 she can no longer outrun her prey, which frustrates her); and my HK (who decided that despite a third negative test she would stay home today). Didn't help that while I night-ate & watched a PBS show to get sleepy, the foods (keto & carb) I ate were fiber-heavy; I awoke again this morning to a very angry gut. And Happy has been clingy all day, sitting on & shedding all over me and messing up my computer (walking on the trackpad bringing up various windows and hitting "enter" with annoying results).
HK says that despite having low energy she'll come in for awhile tomorrow to tackle the most urgent stuff that won't wait for over the weekend. I am not used to having to housekeep by myself except on weekends and her other planned days off; the cat stuff and laundry is increasingly daunting for me. Bob does take out the garbage & recycling if I ask (several times in a row), and is learning slowly how to set the table. (His mom & then my HK & I have done all that for him--he never lived on his own because we both went to the same commuter-only college and lived with our respective parents till our wedding day). I know I sound spoiled, but after 37 years it is what it is. I was a horrible housekeeper till a couple years before Gordy was born, but at least I've always done all the cooking & shopping.
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Good morning. My 3 year check up went well. Though, I start Prolia injections next week. They had to get authorization from FloridaBlue Medicare before starting, so I could not get it yesterday. The fluid pocket under my scar has resolved and labs are good. I was a little anxious before the visit, but relieved after.
I loved the bird picture.
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That was a blue jay with the peanut? I was going to ask what kind of bird it was, it doesn't look like the ones we have, which have a top knot like a cardinal. No matter, that picture was so beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing!
Jackie thanks for asking & Sandy, thanks for sharing! I too love quality kitchen items and cooking! I am writing that information down!
petite, congrats on three years!!!!
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Oh I forgot, Sandy, I stepped out in our garage yesterday and it smelled like dead mouse! I looked but didn't see any in the traps we always keep. I told my DH about it and he went in the garage and sure enough I didn't notice a trap had flipped over and there was a dead mouse. Ugh! Our neighbors used to have three cats that not only kept us entertained watching their antics in our backyard, but kept the mice away! Sadly they moved and took their cats with them.
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Glad your appointment went well Petite1.
I spent most of the morning validating / updating credit card information for autopay information. I got a new credit card in the mail as the other one is expiring. Thankfully I keep a list as we pay most of our bills via credit card. Glad I only need to do this every 5 years. We write very few checks these days.
Been also dealing with another issue with my dental insurance. When I called to have them update my autopay information (seems they don't have this functionality via their web site), they said my account expired in 2018 when I left my former company. That's funny, they been accepting my premium payment every month. Once I got the autopay information updated, they took care of the data issue.
Happy National Dog Day to all you dog owners. And Happy Friday.
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The natural world teaches us the power of change. As seasons shift, I see the purpose and beauty of life's cyclicality. I see the promise of spring, the ripening of summer, the bounty of harvest and that mysterious containment of winter. All seasons work for the good. So it is, too, with the changing cycles of my life. As I surrender to the wisdom of a higher plan, I discover in all circumstances the opportunity for growth and expansion. There is no season in my life that is without worth. There is no season in my life that does not unfold my highest good. Challenged by difficult times, I consciously choose to affirm the goodness of life's timing.
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Petite, so happy to hear your news. It is nerve wracking to wait for your health report card, and when it turns out gnenerally positive the feeling of relief is pervasive and welcome for sure.
When we lived in Santa Barbara we had a Williams Sonoma outlet store. My mom and I use to frequent it quite a lot. This was back in the 80's and things seemed more affordable, plus its being an 'outlet'. I miss outlet stores but the only ones I'm aware of are about 3 hours north of us so we don't go. I just don't want to drive that long to shop. We usually now go about an hour west of us ( toward St. Louis, Missouri ) and there is a lot of shopping there as well as antique stores and so many restaurants it is staggering. Likely good I'm not much of a shopper. We are srarting to have almost enough around here with the bargain shops/thrift store and new bargain furniture. Maybe there is some hope for us -- but for variety you'd still have to go west .
Hope you have all had a good day.
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Petite, great news indeed! I used to get my Prolia shots at my cancer center's chemo suite--the nurses had a way of making those huge syringes feel no worse than a flu shot. Six shots over three years, no side efffects. And great that your seroma shrank.
Jackie, I like Williams-Sonoma, but it's pricey for most stuff (cookware, appliances). I used to like the outlet store malls up in Kenosha or the far W or NW 'burbs when they sold actual closeouts, overstocks, previous season's stuff. But over the past decade, I notice more & more that most outlets sell things that are made specifically for the outlets themselves, rather than what could have been bought at the regular & department stores a few months earlier. The stuff--especially clothing--is of poorer quality (cheaper fabric, cut less generously, less durable or classic) than the company's regular lines. A case in point is Chico's Off the Rack vs. Chico's. I'm less likely to find what I want, and be able to wear it over more years, at the former. Same with the UGG outlets too.
I have found, though, that some outlets are still mainly overstocks--LeCreuset, Levi's, and (for the most part) Coach. Nordstrom Rack used to sell past season clothing but now it has much lower quality than Nordstrom stores--better selection than Marshall's or TJ Maxx, but the gap between them is closing. (I hate "fast fashion:" I will not set foot in an H&M, Zara or Uniqlo, nor order from SHEIN. Even at Old Navy & Target I limit my purchases to things that can handle being cleaned & laundered for at least a couple of seasons without falling apart or having stains set in, and can also fit decently with small fluctuations in my weight. "Disposable" clothing is little better than single-use plastic.
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