Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Jo, it feels good to now take a deep breath. I'm sorry too that you had to have another biopsy to find out you only have scar tissue, but at least it gets you out of the what if song that replays over and over inside when you are not for sure. It is good to know because then you can move into the next segment of life with confidence. Don't recall how long it has been since you have had LE therapy, but hoping there may be a little something new there which will truly help you much more with this problem.
Hi Melissa, and everyone else.
Pam, you are so right about examples like Marybe,because we are here to glorify our souls and her way to me is perfect. She meets her challenges calmly, cooly, with little complaint and just trying to understand what is there so she can address it appropriately w/o worry, terror, upset, or negation.
Thank you, Marybe. Watching you gives us all a little boost and I can really appreciate that.
Gotta run -- I have sort of been running all day, but lots more to do before I can rest. This was just something to do while I took a much needed coffee break. Hot here today....nice. Put the screen door in and made my day. How little it takes to make me happy.
See you al later.
Hugs, Jackie
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Hugs MaryBe..........Not exactly the kind of news you want to hear! You will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers!
Jo, so glad for your good news.
Rita
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((((((Marybe)))))) Thinking of you today. Look after yourself. Hoping some sort of plan can be hatched to slow everything down. Let us know how things are going.
Jo....phew...near thing, this flaming disease, there's never a rest from it at all.
I have had my neuro. appointment today. The MRI scan pictures said it all, the damage is very easy to see, and there is no alternative to an op. Well, there is, leave alone and I will quickly get significantly worse, and end up with loss of bladder and bowel control, and unable to walk. I am in a corner really ! Neurosurgeon told me it is a 'rough' op...scared the pants off me...I am to expect quite a bit of pain afterwards, due to all the digging and cutting he will have to do. I don't mind this, I can cope with pain, as long as I can walk upright again. I go in next week on Thursday for half a day of pre- assessment tests....lovely !
DH was absolutely sweetness and light, I really felt someone cared at last !!!! He even took me out for a meal when we came out of hospital. Actually he was this way when I was dx'd with bc, couldn't do enough for me. This lasted 2 years !!! A complete change of character, just like he should be all the time ( I live in hope ) It was quite a shock when he slowly turned back into his normal self.
I have to go see DD tomorrow, she is not well. I rang to tell her the result of my neuro appointment, she was in bed. Her horseshoe kidney is bad again....too much drink, but she will not be told, she spends 3 nights out and about in pubs and clubs with her girlfriends every w/end. She has been told NO booze at all, but she is in a hung over state all w/end. She is on just about permanent anti-biotics ( WHEN she remembers to take them) and does not pay heed to her Drs at all. I have been sat in on an appointment with her and she just looks the doctor in the face and says she never drinks. She was always a handful as she grew up. Her g/mother used to call her 'maverick' because she would always do her own thing, and usually just the opposite of what she should have been doing ! She would regularly bring her 3 boys to me for 'one night' on a w/end, and they'd end up staying Friday 'til Monday.....I never minded too much because it gave me some time with my G/sons.
My very favorite cow calved Monday night, she is a Jersey, she had a heifer (female) calf, promptly named Bridget (the midget!!) because she is soooo dainty. She gave me another heifer calf last year, Niamh, another Irish name. Don't know why the Irish names, just in an Irish phase, I suppose. I get them so tame that they become real pets/pests..... whichever way you look at it. ( I call them pets, DH calls them pests ! ) and do exactly as they want....I have hardly any control over them at all, I get mobbed whenever I go into their shed, and they'll come charging across 2 fields if they hear me calling them...I just love Jerseys, have kept them for 43 years, my heart rules my head when it comes to my cows.....but how long can I go on keeping them if I can't walk? So I have to have my op., for my cows.
I am itching to get into my garden again, haven't had chance since w/end to go and get grubby. I bought 4 trays of carnations before this last w/end, left them on a garden seat, and when I looked at them this morning there are 4 trays of spikes....slugs have eaten them...suppose it stops me having to bend and plant them now! I always have a slug problem, big white things, as big as my thumb, and bigger sometimes. I hate to kill anything, but it could be this year I will have to do something about them. When you go out into the garden on a night, they are all over the place slithering about, my outside light is broken at the moment and I have trodden on them a few times because I can't see them.....gives me the creeps! Won't use any form of poison tho' because of the dogs and cats.
Right I am going to make myself a salad sandwich, I have had a craze on salad sandwiches for 2 weeks now ...nice and crunchy! Then its bed for me.
Isabella.
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Good evening, all you dear ladies, Thank you so much for all your prayers and thoughts and reassurance. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! It is absolutely amazing to me how a scan or a report can make or break my day. Everyone always thinks I am so upbeat and positive and take this all in stride. Well, to a certain extent I do, but last night I was lying there in bed thinking every single little twinge I was feeling was an area where the cancer is and even though I had taken my celexa ( which the woman told me would help me sleep,but so far has not) I was thinking I know I am not going to sleep a wink tonight and I kept looking at the clock. Well, I did go to sleep and didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 5:15...Weds are early days when we have our first patient at 7 AM. Groan. So I worked until 10 and then putzed around in the lunchroom until it was time to leave for my onco appt. The nurses asked how I was when they were taking my vitals.....oh get this, after I ate an entire half pint of ice cream the other night and last night for the first time had real bread and butter at the restuarant, the scale said I lost 2 lbs!!! There is no rhyme or reason in this world. Week after week at WW, the tell me I have gained and then I decided after the lst scan report I was just going to eat what I felt like since I was going to be going off the megace and that was supposedly the reason for the weight gain....so I ate non diet food and the scale goes down!!! Go figure. Anyway, the nurses asked how I was and I said not so good and they asked why and I said because the scans are bad and then they wanted to know why I said that and I said because I went and got them. Don't other people do this? I myself don't like surprises when it comes to my health. So then they are looking at my chart and the bone scan isn't even there yet and I told them they could have my copy, but they said it was being sent so right then I knew Dr. had not had a chance to see it. Anyway, basically the same routine with him....how are you doing? And I said well I feel good, but I guess I am not doing very well and he asked why and I said because my scans were bad and he also was surprised that I was able to get them. He went over them and said well obviously the hormonal treatments are not working for you, I think you would agree and I shook my head yes and he had to sort of add quietly that he did not think they would work from the beginning (but that was OK because he was right) so the question is What do we do now? I said well, we talked about Gemzar and he said yes, but it does have SEs and he thought it would be good to try navelbine because it is a gentle chemo. He said the most likely SE would be tingling fingers and toes...and I said will it make my nails all funky and loose again and he said it shouldn't and if goes to neuropathy we can always cut the dose or change to something else. I said Can I go to work after I get it and he said he didn't see why not. I asked about xoleda which is what the onco at MDA said to suggest and he said he doesn't like what it does to your hands and feet and with my job he felt I would be unhappy with it. So he is thinking of me and now realizes how important work is to me....he used to say all the time, Why don't you go on disablity? So to make a long story short after we get ins approval, I am going to start navelbine and I will get it weekly and will start next week and get my zometa at the same time. He gave me a printout, but I am going to ask on the boards about it. I asked him why I feel so good if I have so much going on inside and he said because the cancer even though it is in many areas is not large enough to cause me any pain and we don't want it to get to that point. When I was first diagnosed as Stage lV it was because I had pain, bad pain, in my sternum and kept complaining and finally was scheduled for a bone scan after I complained for over 2 years. He said also if this works, I can stay on it a long time...he has patients who have been on it for years. I hope it works for me. Hope that is the key to everything and I once again have it. So once again, thank you dear ladies. I think I will sleep well tonight and will not be worrying about who is going to take care of the cat or the dog if something happens to me. It's awful, but I wouldn't trust my husband to care for them....he loves them, but that is different from taking care of them. Ooops, there I go in another direction. Must go post about navelbine now. I will pray they come up with a doable plan for you Isabella.
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Isabella,
I wish I could help with your problems and your daughters, but I can help with the slugs.
Plant your flowers or vegetable and sprinkle wood ash in a circle around each plant. The wood ash will keep the slugs away. When it washes into the soil, just add more wood ash. It usually is good for the soil.
If you get a lot of rain, then use finely crushed egg shells. You could use a coffee grinder to grind them up. They have to be dry but they don't have to be clean when you crush them. I used to live in an area with a lot of snails and slugs and both worked although wood ash is less trouble.
Neither will kill the slugs. They just act as barriers and the slugs will go elsewhere for food.
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Marybe, so there IS a treatment plan/s! How wonderful that you have a job that means that much to you. I enjoy being retired. I've never gotten around to doing all those things I put on my When I Retire List.
Today is Thursday, the day I set aside to take my mother to her hair apptment and do her shopping. We usually have lunch out or bring take-out food home with us. She was 87 in Dec. and lives in her own small house. She gets around in an electric wheelchair and has scarred up most of the door frames from running into them!
Hope everyone has a good day.
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Carole, Jo, and the rest of us too:
To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent - that is to triumph over old age.
-- Thomas Bailey Aldrich0 -
Oh Carole, I'd give anything to be able to take my Mom to her hair appointment and do lunch. Enjoy every minute you have with her. I miss my Mom so much, especially this time of year with Mother's Day looming ahead.
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JO-5
I don't like using chemicals of any kind so I am always looking for non chemical solution. I also do my best not to intentionally kill any living thing. This really limits my options for pest control. In spite of this I manage a productive garden of vegetables and flowers every year. The best way to protect tomato plants from those large green caterpillars is to plant borage near the tomatoes. It works like a charm and has beautiful purple flowers.
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OMG ! Does this happen to other people? I have a history of UTI and/or Ear Infections. Taking the antibiotics and get better for a few months and start over. Now, I've been checking positive for UTI every time, for about 6 weeks, resistant to all the antibiotics by mouth and they are talking about injectables.
Here's my dilemma, I've got a beach invite for a week starting saturday or sunday. Its a 4 hour drive. we go every year to connect with cousins, all girls. I've got a UTI. I'm not taking anything because they tried septra, cipro and macrobid. Something caused a nasty case of Hives, one particularly nasty hive became a fluid filled blister underneath my breast, on breast.. the healthy side. I tried not to scratch, but the blisters opened and now theres large blotches requiring a 4x8 inch gauze dressing several times a day. No fever. Saw a Derm, who judged it a severe allergic erruption!! Gave wash & Cloderm, looks under control.
I missed getting the cortisone shots in my hips due to the hives. They won't inject you if you have a skin condition like Hives. I am rescheduled for tuesday...
I wanna be at the beach with my girls on tuesday. I don't want a UTI TO grow without treatment. Just how much beer would wash it all away?
Advice?
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I don't know how much beer will beat a UTI into submission but have been wanting to post that beer is excellent for getting rid of slugs in your garden. Just set out several small shallow bowls of it. My mom used it with great success.
So sorry about the beach plans, Connie. It is no fun to have health issues interfere with fun. Hope your docs can offer some alternative.
pam
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Ok Pam...just got to ask this. Re: beer and slugs -- how does it work. I enivsion that the slugs take a couple of drinks and then can't get away from the pan and drown --- or maybe their demise comes from a massive yeast infection. Just kidding...but still wonder how it works.
Hugs, Jackie
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Jackie,
I googled this and learned something!
Dig a hole deep enough to hold a canning jar or empty peanut butter jar.Place the jar inside of the hole until the rim is flush with the ground.Fill the jar with beer to about one-half inch from the top.Wait for the snails and slugs to go to the beer and fall down inside.The snails and slugs won't be able to get out of the beer jar and will drown. If you don't want to use beer, use a solution of one-half teaspoon of baking yeast and one tablespoon of sugar in a jar of water. It's not the alcohol that attracts the snails and slugs; it's the yeast that baits them.
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And you have a jar of stale beer and dead snails. Gross. The kids found out that if you pour salt on them they shrivel up and die. I had a problem once with them getting in the dog food and leaving snail trails all over the patio. put a cirle of salt around the dogs food bowl and the snails never came back.
I have MUCH better plans for some ice cold, light beer. Haven't had much lately, been trying to get rid of this infection and I know you shouldn't drink and take antibiotics. I'm off those now. And it's been a hot day here.
~Connie
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I just was thinking isn't it nice to worry about slugs, UTIs and scratched up doors and not think of cancer 100% of the time! We are all actually living our lives and not just being patients Sort of like we were before the diagnosis. We're chatting with friends about other stuff!!!! 0
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It's the best part of this thread. We chat and share something other than cancer.
Don't kill the slugs and snails, just use wood ash or egg shells. If it worked in the slug and snail capital of the USA, California, it will work anywhere.
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Marybe--here's praying that the new plan halts the progression of the mets. ((((hugs)))).
We use the beer for the slugs and it works, but don't know how it works.
Connie--so sorry you are having to deal with the UTI and struggling with the decision of getting together with your friends at the beach. It's always something, isn't it?
I agree it is so nice to be able to talk about and think about something other than BC.
Gentle hugs.......
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Connie: I used to get uti's alot and also blood in my urine. I went to a urologist and went through all of the tests and he finally said I had nephritis of the kidney's. I asked how to prove it and he said he would biopsy the kidney. What would he do for it if that was it? nothing. It is common in woman your age and there is no cure. So I asked my pharmacist if some of the meds would do it and he said my Celebrex was known for it. So went off of my celebrex until my next appt . and I had clear urine. The urologist did not believe me , But now I drink lots of Cranberry juice and only take half of the dose of my celebrex. and have not had a problem for 2 years. Maybe this will give some insight. just maybe. Barb
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First allergies for 10 days , then sinusitis, at least I have antibiotics! I am headed to my sisters over the week-end as Monday is her birthday and it will be my last visit before I go back east. I am going to have lunch with a girlfriend and hit the road to arrive before dark---deer on that road can be dangerous around dusk.
These last three weeks in Vegas have dragged their feet and have been very long. I have two more weeks to go before I hop on the RED EYE out of here the night I retire (well, semi retire).
The Fire Department has hired a replacement and that is GREAT as I have a few days to train her. She is a person I know and a good match. Bet her boss (also know HER) threw stuff at her as she has a HOT temper.
goodnight Ladies- Hope illness of any kind avoids you all. Melissa
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Just a quick stop here to tell all of you wonderful ladies and mothers to have a WONDERFUL MOTHER'S DAY weekend. Enjoy your day. My kids are coming in this evening from KY and will be here until early Sunday afternoon. I'm really looking forward to it. We are doing the Susan G. Komen Race (walk) for the Cure in Peoria tomorrow morning and then visiting either the park or the Children's Museum in the afternoon. On Sunday we are going to a Mother's Day Brunch at the golf course. I've been keeping myself pretty busy lately but there's nothing like family!
What's everybody else doing?
Have a great day. I'm off to change sheets, do a few loads of laundry and make some jello.
Hugs to all of you.
Rita
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I am headed to page AZ to stay with my sister,-her birthday is the 10th and mine is the 17th-for one week of every year she is 2 years older than I---teehee-like it matters!
Happy Mothers'Day week end to the entire crowd and I hope you all do something fun.
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HEY CONNIE DEAREST-OK HOW ABOUT BEER AND CRANBERRY JUICE?? I AM SO SORRY AND I A GETTING THE UTI'S TOO WITH BLOOD (NEVER HAD THOSE BEFORE). I AM JUST SO SORRY MY DEAR-THEY PUT ME ON REMERON AND THAT REALLY HELPED. I AM SO PAST THE CIPRO MACROBID STUFF.
ISABELLA, OH HONEY, MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOU!! i just hate hearing news like this and caring for someone and NOT BEING ABLE TO DO A FREAKING THING!!! I just hate it and so tired of people I love on the board going thru awful things and getting awful diagnosis! I wish there was more I could do for you! AS to the slugs, old southern remedy, salt!! If it has not been mentioned before-we used to torture slugs by putting salt on them-terrible kids we were! But it kills them and keeps them off plants. glad DH is acting like a human being and wow, do you get Mommy's day for bovine deliveries? is the count at two calfs this week? take some pix of the little critters!!!! My prayers with you!!
MB as you know you are always in my prayers!! Love ya gal.
And Miss Kitty, wow retirement is SO close!!!! Say hey to the B's in Page for me and try to sneak me some pawn-teehee!! How are puppies and DH?
HAPPY MOMMY'S DAY TO ALL MOMMIES!!!!! JEANETTE, WHAT ARE u UP TOO?? XXOO, SV
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Hey everyone, I've been really occipied with DD and grandD and my own pain that I haven't been writing much. Welcome to new ladies and sorry to meet you here, but then its a great place to have landed. Just reading about everyones Spring things from bulbs to bugs and butterflys to new born calves.
Hey SV- Thanks. please tell me what comes after macrobid? I LIKE TO KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT. oops didnt mean to yell.. but they say Injectables as meaning more than just a shot. I'm worried about this sore on my breast. Thats on the good side and today the entire breast is swollen. . .a lot. This is not like any other allergic reaction I've ever had. Its painful now & I'm getting scared.
hey said the bug is ecoli, not uncommom in UTIs. And Im not being treated until they get a report. What if the hives, the open, raw blister, the breast swelling, the suddenly severe bursitis in the hips & the UTI infection are all related & I'm a sitting duck, just festering & waiting to see what part gets sick next?
I've tried to explain to my cousins, why I cant go to the beach. It sounds so lame. Im waiting for a treatment... of some kind, on tuesday maybe wednesday, Idk.
sorry im bitchy tonight.
~Connie
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Hey everyone, I've been really occipied with DD and grandD and my own pain that I haven't been writing much. Welcome to new ladies and sorry to meet you here, but then its a great place to have landed. Just reading about everyones Spring things from bulbs to bugs and butterflys to new born calves.
Hey SV- Thanks. please tell me what comes after macrobid? I LIKE TO KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT. oops didnt mean to yell.. but they say Injectables as meaning more than just a shot. I'm worried about this sore on my breast. Thats on the good side and today the entire breast is swollen. . .a lot. This is not like any other allergic reaction I've ever had. Its painful now & I'm getting scared.
hey said the bug is ecoli, not uncommom in UTIs. And Im not being treated until they get a report. What if the hives, the open, raw blister, the breast swelling, the suddenly severe bursitis in the hips & the UTI infection are all related & I'm a sitting duck, just festering & waiting to see what part gets sick next?
I've tried to explain to my cousins, why I cant go to the beach. It sounds so lame. Im waiting for a treatment... of some kind, on tuesday maybe wednesday, Idk.
sorry im bitchy tonight.
~Connie
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Connie07,
I have know idea if this will work and it is plenty weird but it shouldn't hurt. First the back story. I had a student who had chronic UTI and vaginal infections. The class went to a fresh water pond fed by a spring for their qualification dive. I was a PADI scuba instructor. It had been dry for quite a while and the tannin from the cypress trees had darkened the water. The next day after the dive, my student called me to tell me she had itching or discomfort for the first time in years. I have no idea how long the relief lasted but a week later she was still OK.
No, I am not going to ask you to take up scuba diving or sit in a pond.
The other source of tannin is easily available and is probably in your cupboard right now. Tea. Take a bath in tea. Use enough tea bags to make the water dark brown like strong tea. You will probably need a whole box. Sit in the bath for at least a half hour and see if it works. Or don't do this because it is weird and I have no idea if it will work.
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HAH... thats th first real laugh I've had today. Thanks!
~Connie
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HAH... thats th first real laugh I've had today. Thanks!
~Connie
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connie-i made a huge mistake on the med reference and i am so sorry-REMERON (which i suggested) is in fact a med that i take for panic disorder (PTSD). as to the UTI-normally i am put on meds that run 7-10 days-i do not tolerate doxycycline well but it does get into all tissues-but mostly for respiratory stuff for me. the big guns get pulled out when I have a UTI-i just finished a course of LEVAQUIN for UTI and I had blood in urine with e coli. SEEMS TO HAVE WORKED. If that does not work, I get AUGMENTIN (oral). But I have to take yogurt and things to keep the good bacteria in my bowels. Man, i am really having trouble with my eyes tonight and need to rest them I think. anyway, use the 'i have to stay out of the sun' excuse if on antibiotics!!! and increase acid in urine with vit c-just my recipe! don't you have any other SE's with UTI-I get nauseated, major pain and feel awful until uti is cleared. i usually run a fever too. i am surprised that you can go on a vacation. i's be too ill. (((big hugs)))) SV0
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GEES CONNIE, I FEEL SO AWFUL THAT I MADE A MED ERROR-THAT IS LIKE-I DON'T THINK I HAVE EVER DONE THAT!! So sorry. I am on more meds now than when I was using!! Anyway, love to all, SV
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Yeah, I do get the sickly feeling with UTI, and pain in the kidney area. I think I've tried so hard to make it better so the beach week would work out. All the signs are telling me not to go. I'm old enough now to know I need to listen. Not old enough to always do the right thing. And as a rule, I would go way beyond my own limits to be with my cousins. I feel like throwing a temper tandrum, if only I had the energy. And if only it would do some good.
I just don't know what to think with my good boob swelling up like this, it's very uncomfortable and I don't want to go back to the Breast Center.
~C
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