Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Comments
-
JO-5
Sure wish I could send you some of this beautiful weather!
Believe me, If I could I surely would.I have one sister, however, I never remember my Mother, Daddy, Sister, and I sitting down to a meal together, just the four of us. Mother and Daddy were always taking care of someone. They raised Mother's two baby sister's after Grandaddy died, raised a niece because her step-daddy didn't want her, they also raised a couple of cousins after their parents died because no one wanted them, and were always helping out their families.
I said all that to let you know, I never had a brother, and I know George never had any siblings.
I asked George to be my brother and to let me be his sister. He said yes. I thought that would let him know that someone truly cared about him, I also thought it would make him want to go to the Dr. He still won't go. Maybe you're right, maybe he is just afaird. Pray I can talk him into going to the Dr.
Also, thank you so much for praying for Junior and Betty.
0 -
Jan, thanks for sharing the nutrition info. I'm just like Jackie. I know what's good for me but I have one heck of a time staying with it. I like the meat and can't eat high fiber because I have divertriculosis so I find myself cheating along the say. It's always good to hear what we're supposed to be eating, though and it motivates me to try a little harder. How's the oozing coming?
Yep, Jackie. I remember the spoolies and also those pink foam rollers. How in the worlld did we sleep on them? You'd think our heads would be permanently indented, wouldn't you? LOL
Hope everyone is doing well today. I need to get to work but I'll be back later.
Rita
0 -
reba1717
So sorry to hear the news about your Mom. Just remember God is in control of every situation, put your trust and faith in Him. I will be praying for your Mom. God bles You Both!
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldy unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
11Samuel 22:2
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer.
11Samuel 22:33
God is my strength and power: And He maketh my way perfect.
11Samuel 22:29
For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness.
0 -
Hi everybody, just thought I'd post an update here after my lumpectomy on Tuesday. I went to the hospital Tuesday morning and was taken to MRI for another session on the torture machine. A second area that did not show on mammo showed up on my original MRI and they wanted to take it out, too. So had wires sticking out of me when I left there. The surgery started about 1:30 and I was home by around 5 pm. I have had very little discomfort, very little incisional pain, none at all for past 24 hours. Then my surgeon's office called yesterday afternoon and wanted me back in there this morning. So I had all kinds of nightmares about what they might have found!
When I got there, my surgeon told me that the first lesion was completely excised, so was the second lesion, but that one showed LCIS. I also have a lot of areas of atypia. He recommended that I have a mastectomy and NO radiation.
I was ready to hear that! I said, give me the bad I know (surgery) instead of the bad I don't know (radiation). So I am scheduled to have the mastectomy in about 5 weeks. I have to work this in between Easter and family visiting from out of state, and my planned trip up north for my granddaughter's high school graduation at the end of May. We discussed the possibility of reconstruction, and he said I probably wouldn't need it, but we could talk later if I thought I would like to go that route.
I will still be seeing the oncologist for Arimidex. I'm still pretty skeptical of it, but am willing to give it a try and see what happens.
Anybody else have any similar experience? I am 68 years old.
0 -
Cheyanne - So glad to hear that your surgery wasn't too bad. Sorry that you had more than first thought. Glad the whole thing will be over soon.
The AIs aren't too bad. I switched from Arimidex to Aromasin and the SEs (for me) aren't nearly as bad. So, you do have options.
0 -
Here it is bout 6pm and Im just getting home from work......another beautiful but chilly day.
Rita......I am the ooze queen....it seems to be closing up again, but now that I understand the vicryl rejection I wont be so upset when it opens itself again. I got a huge packet in the mail from the bc educators of the program I missed due to their error, Im going to scan my way through it this week end and share anything that might be helpful....I too know what to eat, but doing it is always another story.....part of me feels this way.....I have lived 60 years.....ate bad.....ate good.....exercised.....didnt.....never smoked , really dont drink much ever, and I got breast cancer....changing EVERYTHING now isnt going to change that.....moderation is the key I think....that, and enjoying life and avoiding STRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS if we can....life is short anyway you look at it, and I dont want to be filled with regrets at the end bout shoulda woulda coulda......I think, I better have dinner now *L*
Love you all
Jan
0 -
Cheyanne....so good to hear it all went well for you. I was very fortunate....in my lumpectomy ( two different kinds of cancer --- same breast ) I had virtually no pain......and did not use one pain pill...though I did fill the prescription. Something I didn't understand.....why your Dr. thought reconstruction wasn't needed. Guess my thought is probably no one 'needs" it as such but choose it so that they are fairly equal ---- less back/hip/leg/ and different pains from changing your center of gravity, etc. Makes wearing clothes easier....and as well,probably in the long run perhaps easier than one prosthesis . Well, who knows.....time will tell. Just glad it all went well.
I too am sorry about your Mother, Reba. sounds like they are being fairly aggressive with the treatment and hopefully that will make it so she is around for a long, long time.
Well, I will check in some time tomorrow.
Stay well.
Jackie
0 -
Good evening to all,
I hope everyone is having a nice Friday, as well as some nice weather. It is cold here, with a freeze warning for tonight
We have lots of things blooming already and I fear they are going to be "bitten" by the cold snap.I haven't been here in a while-- my daughter-in-law's dad passed away almost 2 weeks ago, very unexpectedly from a blood clot in his lung, after back surgery to repair a couple of ruptured disks. He was only 51 and everyone has been just heart-broken and in shock from his sudden passing. My son was very close to his father-in-law-- he was his mentor and golfing buddy. He was so well loved in our town that the funeral home was standing-room-only and people even had to stand out in the parking lot to listen to the service. To see such a wonderful family suffer such an unexpected loss has really tested my faith. Prayers are appreciated!
On a lighter note... I have enjoyed reading about smells-- a wonderful smell for me is Coppertone Suntan Lotion. It always reminds me of childhood vacations at Jacksonville Beach, Florida, with my parents-- when Coppertone was the only suntan lotion sold here, and when you could walk along the beach and see just a few more people, way before the crowds and pollution. Ah, what wonderful memories!
Hugs to all!
Mary Jo
0 -
Blue Willow/MaryJo......Hearing about your son's FIL is very sad. I have always meant to read that book "When Bad Things Happen To Good People" which is not a new one---rather dated now, but it is sad when such well loved and respected people leave us. Even knowing we all have our 'season's' and that it was set long ago does not take the sting, shock, and surprise away too much. I'm sure we will all pray for the family's recovery from this blow and that one day they will wake up and realize that the abundant pleasant, happy,uplifting memories are there much more than the pain of loss. It just takes however long it takes.
Hmmm, Jan. I think it is about living in our 'now'. You might as well let yesterday go as it's done and over......tomorrow hasn't happened. So, if we based things on yesterday.....they are not going to fit today and we are not really living in the moment that way. If we try to live for what we think is going to happen.....we are also missing out on now....because now is really all we have. So moderation really is the key.....and if we quit worrying about the yesterdays that are done and the tomorrows which haven't come yet.....we can live today and make it the best one we ever had....no worryin' no bellyachin' and hopefully no stress---or very little. After all we only have two possibilities....it will either work or it won't. So we can rejoice or fix it till it does work....either way it's a good solution. Hmmmm, not lets see if I can follow some of this advice. I have been trying.
I'll be checking back in later.....see you then.
Jackie
0 -
Jo and Jackie - It is great advice and soooo diffficult for some of us to remember. However, right now, I'm going riding!! So, I am definitely in the moment.
Talk to you all later. Have a grrrrreat Saturday!
0 -
To paraphrase some old saying: Yesterday is the past, gone. Tomorrow is the future, not here yet. Today is here and now and called " the Present " (as in gift).
0 -
Perhaps my surgeon doesn't think I need reconstruction because I have no plans to go out to Vegas and become a topless dancer any time soon. Seriously, he said I should wait and see and I could take it from there. I guess I need to balance the thought of going through another surgery against having a prosthesis. I don't know how my mastectomy will go. If it really isn't that much worse than the lumpectomy, then reconstruction probably would not be so bad. I'm just going to wait and see for now.
Side effects of Arimidex. I don't know what hot flashes are. I had a hysterectomy when I was 31. Ovaries left in place. My doctor told me that some day I might have menopausal symptoms because of that. I am now 68 and have never had a menopausal symptom. So don't know what that would be like! Weight gain? That I don't need. I am just at the edge of heart problems; I don't need to put myself at risk for MORE. Osteoporosis? I don't think I need to put myself at risk for that either.
That plus the fact I don't like to put any more medications into my system than necessary. Right now I take one blood pressure pill and a stomach pill to combat GE reflux at night. I have had no reflux episodes during the 5 years I have been on that pill. Had to have my gallbladder out two years ago. Perhaps I would not have GE reflux problems any more, I don't know. I don't want to take the chance. My cholesterol is up, I know, and my primary doctor probably wants to put me on Crestor or something again. I have been resisting that.
I am willing to make compromises in my diet. I know I have been eating way bad for the past two months. Thought kinda was, better eat what I like right now, I may not be able to later! Seriously, I want to eat a moderate diet. I'm not going to go for being a vegetarian or any other crazy stuff. I had a good friend who used to eat the most horrible looking things. We lost her three years ago anyway.
0 -
Can I ask you ladies a question? I just went down to pick up a mastectomy camisole for after my bilat mx in a week. The lady that waited on me spoke w/me for a long time and she knew I was very upset about the upcoming event. She prayed w/me and hugged me and was so very nice. Then, she called in all the other employees (all family) and told them my story, then asked one guy (a preacher) to pray for me. He did, 2 other ladies did and the preacher and this main lady prayed for any cancer left to be gone so I wouldn't go thru with the mx. I have DCIS, had lumpectomy and snb. Clear margins, clear sentinal node. She says she's wanting to hear from me about a miracle and the preacher came back in the room later to tell me he didn't think I need a bilat mx. He thinks what I had is all I will have and that I won't have anymore problems.
I was all set for this bilat mx. Now, it seems I've regressed and need to reconsider. What do you guys think? Would you reconsider and hope that it never comes back and that THAT is all I'll ever have?
I am so thoroughly confused now... I feel like I'm starting over and am back in January... Help??????
0 -
That is a tough question. Here is what I think....first, I would have another heart to heart talk with your Dr. My feeling is that most information indicates that Dcis or Lcis IS cancer.....it just isn't doing anything at the moment...I think some people have referred to it as pre-cancer or what can be found extremely early. But the major point is.....that most of what I read indicates that it will go maligant at some point. Having said that....like Jo, I think God gives us medicine, Dr's, and other tools to avail ourselves of in our journey of life and if I have any faith....it is to put enough faith in myself that I will KNOW at the proper time what I am being shown and given as the right help for my situation. I like to think of the statement.....God helps those who help themselves which means to me that the Good Lord places many answers at our disposal.
And --- your faith is no less because of the medical intervention you choose. There is much power in prayer, and I think it is a total comfort...it certainly is to me, but if that were the answer most often....then I think so much of what we have to fight cancer with would not be here and available. Ask your Dr. what the chances are with perhaps several treatments...mastectomy, chemo, radiation, etc. If you don't like the answers you get, get a second opinion.
I trusted my Dr. pretty completely. As I had lost my Ins and ended up going to the V.A.....I did not have lots of choices----probably made it easier, but I did feel God's reassuring smile when I met my breast surgeon for the first time and got my diagnosis. She had a "healer's aura". People may scoff at me and I really couldn't care less. My dh and I both remarked after she left the room briefly....that we both felt the healing, soothing energy coming from this lady and to this day I am convinced ( thank you God ) that she saved my life.....finding the second, larger, hidden, cancer in the same breast as the biopsied Papillary cancer. To tell you the truth....I feel one of the reasons---aside from the obvious that we lost our Insurance ( because God does often work in mysterious ways ) was so I would leave Centralia ( it's a wonderful small town and I love it, but medical care can be wanting now and then ) where I could get treatments and medical help that would bring me through to go on successfully with my life.
I am not a born again Christian for anyone wondering....I am a Gnostic Christian and for anyone wondering...that only means generally that I believe pretty much in all the standard ( meaning no cults ) religions. God gives us many paths ways to him and it is not for me to condemn anyone else's path.
At any rate....Dr. Ryan was my gift from God so I knew immediately upon feeling the aura that I was in the right place and doing the right thing. I have never looked back and I am doing everything she thinks is proper for my diagnosis although she is only the surgeon and not my Oncologist. Just work it out with your Dr. or Dr'.s Mikita and then trust that you have been led where you need to go to find the right answer for you.
Prayers n' Hugs,
Jackie
0 -
Mikita.....What is your gut instinct telling you right now? You have to feel comfortable about your decision. Nobody else can decide for you. You will make the right choice for you, and your choice might NOT be the right choice for somebody else. Hugs! The decision making process is one of the hardest spots in this journey.
Rita
0 -
First of all Happy Spring to everyone.......
This should be a question I can get some help on from my seasoned compadres....*s*
Question for anyone who might have a thought........constipation.....gas......sorry......but this is the problem. Since I have started on Arimidex + calcium big dose + magnesium + Vit D.....it is quite an issue for me, and I read that it very well can be. I have upped my fiber....I have up my activity but the response is less than perfect, anyone have a similar problem ? an idea ? a suggestion ? This was NEVER one of my issues in life.......
I wish I could be here to post and chat more often, but believe me when I say, I never miss a day of catching up on this thread before I go to bed even if I dont have anything to say or am just to tired to say it......
I wish I had good advice for you Mikita, I guess, to me, if you are questioning your decision then that in itself is enough reason to think it through one more time, with a pro and con list, with a friend, with your Dr, better to rethink it all than to have regrets, you want to be very solid in your decision and then never look back.
Take good care of you and heal well Cheyanne.....
hugs and good wishes as always to my friends JO and ritajean and Jackie.....
Love
Jan
0 -
Arimidex is known to cause gas? No wonder I am tooting a lot, LOL. I'm taking Calcium +D also. I started using benefiber and trying to get a lot of fiber in my diet. Learned the hard way after being plagued by anal fissures, what a pain in the a**. PCP prescribed Proctosol twice a day, I'll give it another week and if the bleeding does not stop after a BM I have to see a butt doctor. God it's tough getting old.
I am 57 and March 23 will be 2 years since my dx.
0 -
Mikita, While I am Christian myself, and a lot of my fellow church members have me on their prayer list, I certainly would never substitute something they tell me for what my doctor is advising. It did not take me long to decide about the mastectomy. As a matter of fact, I have been thinking about that ever since the discovery of my "suspicious area" in early February. I do have an extensive medical background, particularly in cancer, though not in patient care. I also have had a lot of surgeries, ha ha, and I am sure I have gone through a lot worse than what this will be! (Total hip replacement in 1999, was the worst thing I have EVER gone through.) I am just so relieved, at this point, that radiation will not be involved.
0 -
Jan I posted for you on the Illinois thread on your question about the Arimidex and constipation but will also put something here for anyone that may be having the same issues. JFYI I used the Avon patient navigator at my breast surgeon's office for a lot of my questions and problems during chemo. Don't know why but the chemo nurses at Marion V.A. while really nice......just seemed sort of ho-hum and I felt for some reason that when I could get them to answer a question I did not always get a complete answer. Fortunately Donna and I hit it off when I met her for the first time and she gave me her home number ( I had her office numbers ) so when I went into a panic over something, or after hours ( I never felt completely comfortable calling V.A. Emergency room ) Donna was there for me.
I had a lot of issues with constipation/gas, some bloating during chemo and steroids etc. Donna suggested stool softeners. I took two in the morning and two in the evening. I still do this as my system hasn't recovered but with what I'm reading now....since I'm on Arimidex.....it may be due to that. I have very little trouble but I do eat as many high fiber foods as I can.....and this will help with wt. and all all that. The stool softeners are quite in-expensive and since they come in small gel caps they are easy to swallow. They keep me going just fine....now and then I skip the ones at night. Hope this helps.
Jackie
0 -
Thanks ladies:
My reasons for bilat mx were:
My mom died of ovarian cancer. Two of her sisters died of breast cancer. I presently have 3 cousins with bc. I do not want radiation and 5 yrs of tamoxifen. I do not want closely tested every 3 months for more tumors (ie. mammos, ultrasounds, mri's, more biopsies, more waiting, waiting and waiting). I want it all done and over with now. I don't want to go thru with this again.
My docs all only agreed with my decisions after it was made. Surgeon at J. hopkins agreed that I was doing the right thing.She said she would do it if it was her. Surgeon that did the biopsy and snb said he certainly understood my wanting to cut my risks of recurrence. Only my oncologist said she didn't think I should do a bilat mx. But she also told me lots of marriages break up after a mx. (I told her if he left me because I didn't have my original breasts, he didn't love me in the first place and I didn't need him). She told me I had 'nice breasts' and shouldn't cut them off. Also, she got mad when i went for a second opinion.
My pastor's wife sent me a testimony by John Hagee's wife. John had an open heart surgery, then his wife was dx with DCIS a while later. She told of her battle with satan and how he tried to tell her that she shouldn't have a bila mx. She knew she had to 'get the enemy out of my body', so she stood firm and had the mx. Pathology came back clear. No more ca in either breast. That made me confirm my decision....for peace of mind.
I liked the reply that God gives us the doc's and and their knowledge to apply to our decisions.
Thank you ladies for your replies. I think I just need to pray harder, trust God to bring me through my surgery. Like I said, I just want it over. I know there's a chance it will come back. One of my 3 cousins I spoke about above, had hers come back (metasticised) after 20 yrs in the chest wall (under an implant), and 2 other organs. I do understand this isn't 100% effective.
I feel an even harder upcoming week is in order for me.
God bless you all. You ladies are such a source of comfort. .
0 -
Hugs, mikita! I'll be thinking about you this week. I think you will find that once you've got your game plan decided, things will move more smoothly for you and you will be more at peace. It's hard to decide what to do when faced with a cancer diagnosis, but most of us seem to make the right one for us. It's just so hard to make a decision when your whole world has been turned upside down! Hang in there! We're here for you!
Rita
0 -
Jo - I don't know what is causing it, but OMG! I'm just a roiling sack of noxious gas!! The funniest time is when I'm doing a sitting trot on my horse - everytime I bump, I blast!! I keep hoping everyone thinks it's him!
The only new meds I'm taking are Simvistatin, Effexor, and Aromasin. I can't stop any of them to see which one it is, but oh, my, I've never had such trouble. I've even made my cats jump.
0 -
Susan, that is too funny. I'm sure people think it's the horse
. And scaring your cats........I'm in stitches here. 0 -
Ditto
Jackie
0 -
I had a left prophelactic mastectomy 3 years after having a recurrance where I had had a right mod rad mastectomy. I had always said if I could do it over I would have had both done originally. I started having serious calcifications in the left. When I saw the surgeon she said that usually she sends patients home to "think about" having a proph, and come back to see her in a year. But she said she could tell I had "thought" about it and she scheduled my surgery for the next week.
Just a thought!
God bless!
Susan0 -
Calling all old chooks, coooeeee! If you want to hear some good old sixties style music, type Duffy into Youtube and enjoy. There is hope yet for the next generation. I am almost in heaven listening to this stuff.
Sheila.
0 -
Morning
everyone. Donsuzbee/Susan.....I always thought if I had to have a mastectomy.....I'd rather just go the whole way, and make it double. Somehow ( don't know why I only feel this about breasts ) being w/o one would make me feel like half a person in a strange way......and I would be whole if both sides of my chest were exactly alike. Somehow.....knowing you can restore by implant still doesn't give me the impression of whole person. Now.....an arm or leg with a prosthesis would not cause me this same feeling. I do not know how to explain this except I'm a Virgo and have always felt this way---even as a very young person.Jo....the Digestive Enzymes are great. It does as you say take a while for them to take a hold. Obviously if we are having issues there are depletions. I too have had this going on and not knowing much what to attribute it too....so I will have to get busy and decide which method. I seem to notice it more in the mid to late afternoon. Not good when I am working my two days at the office.
I'll be checking back later. See ya'll then.
Jackie
0 -
JO-5
I got up early this morning and went to the hospital just to find out that they had cancelled Junior's surgery. Betty forgot to call and tell me. I talked to her just a little while ago, it seems Junior has a blockage in his heart, she said they had been to three doctor's today, and are suppose to go tomorrow for some more test, she says it is very frustrating. She had taken this week off to be with him, now they don't know when the surgery will be.
As for George, I still can't talk him into going to the Dr.
Makita
I am also a born again christian, and I agree with JO, Prayer does work, but God put Dr's on the face of this earth to help us. But all in all it is bascially your decision. I will pray that God will show you which path to follow. God Bless You and Keep You!
0 -
hi ladies, and jo in particular,
i just found this thread today and have been reading my eyeballs out. what a great amount of information, especially about vitamins! thanks, everybody.
jo, you asked if anyone else does not have a medical oncologist, and we may be the only ones in north america. i had a lumpectomy so many years ago that they didn't even test for estrogen or anything else, and i am still here. i have only my radiation oncologist who i see once a year. i am not sure if i have been foolish or lucky. he did catch a couple of suspicious things during the last 30 years, and they were biopsied away. so, don't let those little kids make nasty remarks to you. just tell them about the grand old lady of radiation therapy and tell them they should only be so fortunate.
0 -
barbaraellen----seems I read ( sometimes I do too much reading ) that there are a few individuals who will have a tumor.....get whatever treatment needed ( and often 30 years ago there wasn't so much available ) and go on and that's the end of it. I doubt whether we....and on a blog like this, hear very much about these people like you. Most of us seem to end up with fairly extensive treatments since there seems not to be much of a way to identify who can have moderate treatment....and what we do to forestall a recurrence. The majority of people I know have pretty much done the full gamut of possibilities for treatment. You don't want to look back thinking -- if only I had gone ahead and had the extra chemo....or whatever. Of course if it is found soon enough ---- but so many of us had gone past DCIS and LCIS.
It's wonderful to hear though and gives hope ( I do know a lady who had a partial mastectomy and then a cancerous polyp from the bladder ) and she only had operations and radiation and does find.....and ( for Jo and you others as well ) that she never thinks of any ache, pain or strange twinge as having anything to do with cancer. Hopefully some day we will all get there...or at least a whole lot closer.
Well, back to work for me....just came in to check.
See you later.
Jackie
0
