Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Hi Gals....I just haven't been posting much.....And KANTALOPE! WHAT DID they do to you exactly? Are you doing better?
Isabella, that was classic what Marybe said! "You don't need a solicitor, you need a hit-man!" Man, that was funny!
Yes Lost_Creek, I am so tired of cleaning, but everything looks so much better!
I had a little "beauty mark" cut off my arm...so now I am not beautiful any longer..
She is having it sent away for a biopsy, but probably nothing. And the horrible on-going rash on my one lower leg is much better...because of Fluocinonide. They don't ever know what causes this kind of thing.... My Daughter just had a skin cancer cut off her arm last week....got infected....and has to go back AGAIN, because they did not get it all! So I will go with her, like she did me today! I think my one Daughter, and my little dog inherited my skin! We must have the same genes! Ha! Always some sort of skin problems on us fair-type Irish gals!....Okay...till later....xoxoxoxo0 -
HnS, that's hysterical about your mother getting into trouble and not remembering. Maybe I should go back to the melatonin since it makes me groggy if I wake up but not stoned out of my mind.
Lost_Creek - I love fishing and one of my bucket list items is fishing for salmon. Still chuckling about SV and the hook in her a$$. What a visual.
SV-I feel a fishing road trip coming on.
Alyson - bigs (((HUGS))) for you. Sorry about the tube. Ick.
Isabella, I totally agree with Alyson. You always are so selfless and caring of others. Please try to do for yourself first. You need to take care of yourself better.
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Barbara - since my mother moved out of her condo last week, she's especially disoriented! I told her to cut it in half - I bet she forgot. She's not in an assisted-living, that will be upstairs if and when the time comes. So right now, she's supposed to be independent, and I don't know how independent they will think she is if she goes wandering down the hall (hopefully dressed) and not knowing where she is. I think I'm going to get her some melatonin ASAP!
Yes, a fishing road trip would be a hoot! I hope I can get my old 4-wheeler running by then! I refuse to sell it - men are always trying to get me to part with it. I know enough that when a lot of people want something I have, it must be a keeper.
GD - hope you are doing alright today. Sometimes the first few days after hurt a little more, but that's why they are sooooo generous with the pain medicine. Honestly, I think I have a lifetime supply now! But definitely use them! Let us know how you are doing when you feel up to it!
((HUGS)) to everyone enduring surgery, tests, and all the other glorious ideas the docs come up with!
Isabella - as we so lamely say over here, "Just say no!". If they try to make you start defending yourself and explaining why you're right, you start losing ground. You definitely are your number one priority right now - you have done so much for so many over the years; now it's your turn. Just take care of yourself now, and everything that makes you happy.
Lost_Creek - I can't believe it, I let the first mate have the trigger fish to eat. We had tons of King Mackerel though, and I was sorely disappointed it wasn't a marlin or something!
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Lost Creek check the meaning of 'fanny' - look on line, it will give the Brit, Aus and NZ meaning and you will understand why we nearly fall apart when some nice young american lass says she will 'put it in her fannypack' And we use the term 'bum' all the time, its not at all rude, though the term butt is coming in - we are very bilingual here, English and American English.
Jeanette, watch those bits on the skin, evidently people who have had BC are more susceptible to skin cancer especially if you have had chemo.
The curtain lady has just been so that's another decision made.
Must go and get a cup of coffee, can't have anything to drink for four hours before this tube goes in. Yuk.
Alyson
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Ya know girls I'm no more caring than the rest of you....we all take on these responsibilities, because it just comes natural to jump in and do whatever has to be done....while the men sit, read the paper, switch the TV around a while, wait for a meal to magically land in front of them, then sit some more. The only caring, and helpful without being asked men I know are gays !!! Thanks for the messages of support.
Today has panned out into a not too bad day. I have felt very bad about complaining about MILs dog, its the 1st dog I have muttered about looking after in about 50 years of dog owning.....and its got to me..'.but its a dumb animal' I keep telling myself, just a not very nice one. DD took it and put it in a kennel last night, put it a radio in the pen for company, and told DH he was now in charge of it....I was not to be harangued any longer with a dog that was biting me, and was filthy in the house !! I admit I hid behind her skirts. I don't like it when DD becomes Mom, but its happened a couple of times this year. DH has retreated to MILs empty house, he has been and cleaned 'his' dog out and actually fed it. I shall pretend I am having nothing at all to do with its care, yet will check it to see its being looked after, as I just KNOW, after a couple of days DH will have forgotten the dog exists !! At least if its in a kennel, it isn't messing in my house.
I had appointment with Dr this morning. ... a little shuffle of my tablet strengths and dosages was made, really nothing much, but I think Dr just had to be seen to be doing something. I am right back on exact dosages I was on a month ago ! I was told to avoid stressful situations ha ha ha. I have now to go and join their hypertension clinic, that should be interesting.
Just been trying to sort out my car tax online. Each year I have to have a certificate to say the car is safe, it lasts 12 months. My SIL and DD run a garage that looks after my car. I have been running around without the certificate of roadworthiness now for 6 months, I will be in trouble with the police if I don't get it done tomorrow ! I rely on my SIL to kick my a$$ for these things, and he's forgotten this year, so it'll be me kicking his a$$ tomorrow.
SV I cannot stop laughing at your fishing story, last time I fished was about 30 years ago. I got quite interested in fresh water fishing, but never caught much...AND I went out and bought all the gear !
MB....HOW do you live with stage4, you are a walking miracle, still working and doing lots of visiting. I would be as real blob of nothingness if I were in your shoes.
We have had a really lovely day today, sunny and warm, just the day to be outside. Tonight its spoiling itself and raining like mad, and much more is forecast for the next 3 days. I think thats it for summer. I am usually busy buying and planting bulbs now, but I just haven't got any energy this year, so none will get planted. I might just buy a few for containers I have at my back door, but no planting in the lawns and garden. I shall retreat to my sewing room and make some Austrian blinds for my kitchen I have been without curtains since I finished my kitchen some months ago, luckily no neighbours to overlook. I have 4 blinds to make. Its years since I did Austrian blinds, they were a bit fiddly then, so will take me a few weeks now I am a bit slower.... but I have to fill my time somehow, I cannot bear to sit watching TV in the day, and falling asleep, as DH does if he gets chance. Luckily I shalln't see that this year !
Isabella.
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Alyson, I looked it up and you're right! I'd put up an embarrassed smiley here. Hah. How fun, and how odd that this particular word means so differently in our English-speaking countries. No wonder you folks get a giggle! "Bum" as the breech or backside, is of course in this old slang dictionary but fanny is not.
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The h*** with breast cancer ! It has consumed 7 months of my life from suspicions of cancer through rads last week. I am going fishing ! Had acupucture today so this may have helped with the exhaustion. We have a vacation home on Oak Island so very little prep is reqired to make the 5 hour drive. I will wait until Oct 1 to start the femara. Maybe I will have a fishing tale in a few days but it probably will not be as entertaining as those of SV.
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I will tell you a little story about language differences.
Many years ago my niece then aged 9 attended school in the USA - my brother was lecturing at UCLA. On her first day she put her hand up and asked the teacher if she could go the the toilet. This is what she would have done in Australia where she is from. She was scolded for saying 'toilet' and was told in future she must ask to go to the bathroom. Things settled down and later the teacher got her to talk about where she came from in Australia which she did and with some encouragement sang an Aussie song, Waltzing Matilda. The teacher asked her what it was about and she told the story of a tramp. This bemused the teacher a little and so she said a tramp was a person who wandered from place to place. 'Oh right' said the teacher, 'you mean a Bum'. The little nine year old gathered herself up to full heightand replied. 'You told me off for saying toilet which is a perfectly good word and you use a word which is very naughty.' (Children are not encourage to say bum but of course they do) The teacher told the story to my SiL that afternoon and said it really made her think about language.
Alyson
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GEESUS, my a$$ has made it around the globe from the UK to NZ without ME!! i hope it had a good time. And as to acupuncture, i have some great ideas and they are really inexpensive!! I wonder the benefit of hooking me arse-perhaps it boosted seratonian levels for a bit. Speaking of 'moons' the harvest moon is out tonight-it sneaked up out of calendar kilter and there is a huge report on CNN about it. I need to go outside and look. Lordy so many people are going thru somany thing I am lost and need CB to tell me how to half screen so I can post as i read!!! Sweet Dreams, SV
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ISABELLA, You asked how I live with Stage lV. I just do it, as do many women on these boards. We just have to take it one day at a time and make the most of our lives and the time we have on this earth I honestly do not feel bad and think I have a good life (other than the fact my husband drives me nuts, but it is because of his insurance that I am alive so maybe I should just accept him as he is) and feel fortunate in many ways. We all have problems and I think all of you other women have to put up with just as much if not more than I have even if I am stage lV. I have never really felt weak, I have never been so sick I could not get up out of bed, I have never had terrible SEs (well, I did with abraxane, but I quit that one) I don't have horrible back pain that makes it difficult for me to walk around...so see, I really don't have it so bad. I DO have many things....I have a profession that I like and I am still able to work, I have many good friends, I am still able to go places and enjoy life, I still have a father who loves me and most of my friends have already lost both their parents, I have a lot of interests to keep my busy that give me pleasure....and I have Stage lV breast cancer. I cannot say I am happy that the CT shows progression in my liver, but until it gets so bad it makes me miserable, I can live with it so that is what I am doing.
You my dear lady are one who is an inspiration and I really admire you and so many of the others on this thread. You would never be a blob of nothingness as you said you would be....it's just not your nature. In spite of all your own problems you always have a kind word to say to others and I truly appreciate you sending them to me. I bet your Austrian blinds turn out lovely.
Friday I will call to find out what my CA27/29 is and I will be surprised if it is not in the 600s since it has been going up. My onco was not ready to jump into another treatment since my cell search came back zero so I am hoping that the bone scan I have Mon will not show anything new and maybe he will keep me on the navelbine awhile longer. I will be at the State Dental meeting on Friday and am going to be staying the weekend with my friend Cyndee in Cols. so I will be doing my thing....staying busy is my secret to success....if I keep running around, I don't have time to dwell on illness. Guess ADD is a good way to be in this case.
Sorry this has turned into another one of my rambling posts....did not mean it to be, just can't seem to help it. Your language post made me smile, Alyson. Sleep tight, ladies.
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Isabella, maybe it would be a good thing if your husband did tell his family about your bc because he would no longer have a secret to hold over your head and just maybe his lazy siblings would realize they need to take care of their mother's affairs as you are really in no shape to do it, (you have the best excuse in the world) now all you have to do is use it.
I worry so about you because of your sense of loyalty even when it doesn't make sense. (((HUGS))) Darla
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Darla, I see you and I are both having insomnia night. Yikes. Went to sleep at 9 after 1/8 ambien and BAM awake and stoned out of my gourd at 2:30. Three cups of coffee later and my head has stopped spinning. I don't think I'm cut out for ambien. Anybody have another suggestion?
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Barb, have you tried Melatonin? I had a dreadful time with getting off to sleep and I really don't like sleeping tabs so my doc suggested the Melatonin. I take two about an hour before bed with a cup of warm milk sweetened with honey and I sleep like a baby with no meds hangover. Goodluck.
Hugs. chrissy
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HI Chrissy, yes I tried 4 mg melatonin (2 pills) and it is great for putting me to sleep but I do the wake up at 2-3 AM thing at least 5 times a week. It also makes me groggy but not stoned so that is a plus. Maybe I'll try upping the dosage tonight to 6mg.
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Barb, have you tried the slow release one?
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Didn't know they had that. I'm on it. Thanks, Chrissy.
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I find that my wonderful massage chair is excellent for putting me to sleep - and my super comfy memory foam mattress.
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BarbaraA, when do you drink your last cup of coffee? Some days, a noon cup can wake me 14 hrs later. Other days not so much, but caffeine after about 3 pm can hit about 3 a.m. Coffee at or after 5 p.m. is almost guaranteed to wake me in the night, and keep me up. Delayed reaction I suppose, and has been noticeable since my mid-fifties. Took me awhile to figure it out because before then I could drink a cup of expresso at 10 pm and sleep like nothing. Chamomile tea has soothing properties, have you tried that?
Cloudy and cooler here, we had a tiny shower Saturday, first moisture since May, but no rain in sight in the long range forecast. It's still very dry - dew would be considered precip [by me] this time of year.
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LC, I have 2 cups per day. So if I wake up at 2:30AM, my last cup would be around 4AM. THat's it for caffeine. I'm going to try the time-release melatonin. I have nothing to lose except a few $$.
Weather here is sunny, blue sky and puffy white clouds. High around 90. 40% chance of rain. Rain = a 10 minute downpour then sunny skies again. Love Florida!
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MARYBE You are my hero and inspiration. Your attitude is inspiring. I know why your so great, you are from Ohio. I just moved to Lake Erie in Marblehead. Dont post much but love to read everyone elses post. A quote I just love,Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit: Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. Hugs Dar
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There are few words here, but it says so very much.
How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours. ~Wayne Dyer
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granny misses her sistas.im drugged,bored and still sore.thanks for prayers.xoxoxo
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Ladies: Granny said she had a full auxillary node disection. Do any of you know what that is and have you ever had it? The reason I ask is because I wondered how long you had to keep your arm on the side they did it still. Granny has been a good patient and trying to keep the arm still but now her back is beginning to hurt, I guess from having to lie still so long. Did any of you have back problems with this procedure and if so, what did you do about it other than to keep taking the pain pills? Does it take long for this procedure to heal?? Thanks for any information you can provide.
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I think auxillary node disection is when they take out the nodes under the arm and area on the side where the breast cancer was....if it's the sentinal node biopsy, they are only taking the node closest to the breast. the first one in the lineup. At least I think that is what it is, but am sure they explain it somewhere better than I am and also more accurately. When they check the auxillary nodes they take out a lot of them....maybe up to 30 or however many there are...since you said full, I am assuming they took all of them. . They took out 19 on me when I had my mastectomy and I did not have to lie with my arm still so maybe it's not the same procedure. I know I wasn't supposed to lift things and could not reach for awhile, but this was a long time ago so don't recall any specific instructions about having to lie still. If you have a spinal anesthetic you have to lie flat on your back for a certain # of hrs, but think she would have just had a general anesthetic. Sorry not to be more help. Please tell Granny I am thinking about her and that she is in my prayers, all our prayers.
Darolyn, You make me blush. I love the tomato adage. Go Bucks!
Gray's Anatomy comes back on tonight so I must get my popcorn ready to watch it.
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Hi all
I had full node disection and was encouraged to use my arm right away. They had me doing exercises - stretching arms straight out and raising them above my head as much as I could with in hours of the op.
This is to get the lymph moving as there is a risk of lymphoedema developing and it helps the muscles in the back rebuild strength. I was told not to lift anything that weighed over 2lbs with that arm until it was healed.
So Granny gentle exercise was my solution. I have had a lot of trouble with arm and muscle pain but something we have here called Pink Pilates really helped and the charge is extremely reasonable. They know all about BC and lymphoedema- there must be something similar in the US.
PM me if you want more info about the exercises etc.
Big hugs
Alyson
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Hi all
I had full node disection and was encouraged to use my arm right away. They had me doing exercises - stretching arms straight out and raising them above my head as much as I could with in hours of the op.
This is to get the lymph moving as there is a risk of lymphoedema developing and it helps the muscles in the back rebuild strength. I was told not to lift anything that weighed over 2lbs with that arm until it was healed.
So Granny gentle exercise was my solution. I have had a lot of trouble with arm and muscle pain but something we have here called Pink Pilates really helped and the charge is extremely reasonable. They know all about BC and lymphoedema- there must be something similar in the US.
PM me if you want more info about the exercises etc.
Big hugs
Alyson
PS, the tube is really ick and is making my nose bleed.
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Awww... HUGS (((((((((((Alyson))))))))))))) that sucks. How long do you have to have it in, and does your doc know it's so uncomfortable? Call 'em up and at least let them know. They may have some solutions. I hope so.
Connie
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Hi Granny, I had full disection as well and from day one was encouraged to move and use my arm. On day three was encouraged to do specific exercises to make sure I ended up with full range of motion and this included walking my hand up the wall, a little more each day until I could rest my body against the wall with my arm above my head. Absolutely no heavy lifting...nothing over 2lb. Hope you are doing better soon.
Peace, strength, love n hugs. chrissy
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Hi Barb, I have terrible insomnia. When I had the Zometa on Monday it hit me that night and I was almost brain dead for 18 hours and still woke up every hour on the hour. I finally forced myself horizontal about 9:30 yesterday morning because I had refused food and water the whole time so common sense told me I had to get something in my system, anyway I was still awake at 8 this morning, then the phone rang at noon and I was up again so who knows how long I'll be awake this time.
My BC gave me Ambien when I had my mx and I couldn't take it, I had a terrible hangover from it and it didn't really put me to sleep. I haven't tried the Melatonin but it sounds like it's worth a try.
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Thanks Alyson...Yeah, I know about skin cancer....Had one removed from the corner of my eye, & one from the tip of my ear....each different types! I don't think the dark mole she removed was anything, but it's gone now! My youngest Daughter has the same skin, as I do....and so does my dog, for that matter! It's in the genes!
But I'm so happy because the Doc gave me a prescription for fluocinonide....That terrible rash with itching on my leg! And it is MUCH better! The Tamoxifen probably made it worse, but I won't quit taking it, & this salve really helps!
My Daughter's "older" friend had breast cancer right before I did....A lumpectomy also.....But she decided she did not want either Radiation or chemo....Man, I thought that was a BAD choice, but now, it has metastasizedto her bones. She is going to an Oncologist next week....but I wonder "why?".....She so far has refused any further treatment....She & her Husband DID go to this foreign country to see "Dr. John, or Ron"...Is that right? He is supposed to "heal"...like a guru or something! I hate to say anything to my Daughter, because she WANTed her to get more treatment, but she wouldn't do it! I just feel so bad, for her family....AND my Daughter....I feel like she could have at LEAST followed through with some sort of help!
Oh well, lesson learned. You can lead a person to water, but you can't make them drink. Or is that a horse?
Jackie! I loved that saying! If you really think about it, it's true! I have one.....What is?....IS! That means you can't change a thing...One of many not so relevant thoughts from my Brother! xoxoxoxoxoxo
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