Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Running late today.....and need to hit the road, but I will be back later to chat. Hi to everyone and I'm thinking about you. See you soon.
Hugs, Jackie
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Phanay, I so well remember driving the Grapevine to get to Burrough Valley a few miles past Fresno to see Mom and Dad. Always hoping not to get into snow --- and we never did I don't think. It is a lovely area around there and would have been a great drive, but we were always pre-occupied with our visits. We did have bad weather ( some fog -- fortunately not the tulie fogs though ), and sometimes the 250 mile drive from where we lived around Ventura/Oxnard area would take as much as 6 or 7 hours. Lots of memories of the ranches along the way. The grape fields etc.
I had a lumpectomy.....probably what your Dr. was mentioning to you. My surgeon said Dr.'s like to do it that way if possible as the recovery is much sooner and almost always less complications....I ended up with two different tumors ( one non-aggressive and one that was ) and still was in and out of surgery in a couple of hours ....... leaving for home 75 miles away by 3p.m. and though I got the pain prescription filled I did not need to take any of them. Got clean margins the first time out and three Sentinel nodes came out that were clean. So all this can go rather smoothly.
Hope you do well.
Anyway, another long day it seems. I'll be looking you all up in the morning. See you then.
Hugs, Jackie
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Phanay, insurance does pay for implants. It's the federal law. I do hope you will explore all your options. I had a small tumor and could have chosen lumpectomy, but I didn't want to face the possibility of another bc tumor in future years. So I opted for bilateral mx. In some countries I wouldn't have had that option. My insurance was obligated to pay for reconstruction. I chose the immediate reconstruction which meant that I had the bmx and the placement of implants all in the same trip to surgery. I went to the hospital with breasts and left with breasts slightly larger than my natural breasts.
I had a drain in either side and these had to be emptied. My dh took care of that task for several days and then I took over. After 10 days the drains were removed. It was 8 weeks before I could start playing golf again. But I started walking on the street for exercise after about a week.
Some women choose to have TE's or tissue expanders inserted at the time of surgery. Periodically they get "fills" which expand their skin and chest muscle. After some weeks the TEs are removed and the implants inserted. With this procedure a woman can opt for larger breasts than her natural breasts or breasts the same size as her natural large breasts. I read that the fills were painful so I didn't choose that type of reconstruction.
Even though I was 66 at the time of surgery, it was still important to me to retain a normal shape. Some women have the mx or bmx and do not choose reconstruction. It's all a matter of personal choice.
Feel free to ask questions on this discussion forum or on any others that you visit on bc.org. Good luck to you in making your decisions.
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Tears and laughter cleanse the heart.
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Good morning everyone. We just had a magnificent pour-down. I think it is done and we will have good weather later today for the Balloon Fest. Our little city has it every yr. this time and un-like most other places......the balloons ( usually 40 or so ) set up around a little pond in our big park.....and we can walk up to the balloons, talk to the pilots and crew and otherwise interact directly with all of them. At dusk.....and on command, the pilots fire up the burners on the balloons which are inflated.....and not only do you see the night lit up by the balloons which are all in a circle....you also see the reflection of them in the pond. It really is a gorgeous sight. Often it is fairly hot.....due to time of yr. but nothing much to do about that.
Carole, I had forgotten how so much of the mx/reconstruction went for you. What a fantastic explanation. I think you are quite right about those fills causing discomforts --- especially if a bit too much is put in at one time.
Hope you are all going to have a fantastic day. I have to go out to the Shelter.....but that is ok. We don't go to the B-Fest until the evening hours anyway. So work as usual for me. I will be checking in late tonight. See you all then.
Hugs, Jackie
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Hi all,Thank you Carole. I was so sure that the insurance did not pay for the reconstruction etc.. I thought they just left you like that and if you wanted it you wd have to pay for it.
I spent a lot of time yesterday looking up places that help with the co-pay and all that. We are below the proverty level. . . yet not really. Honey spends $140. per month on his Direct TV. Our water bill up here is outrageous. Near $100 a month, billed every 2 months. During the winter, our propane bill can be $300 a month or more. Honey is always cold and this is an old large double wide.
I don't know how we're going to pay for the co-pay. We're barely making it from each of our SS checks to SS checks. He has hidden stocks out there which he had started w/ his late wife and he feels I have nothing to do with it. Just one of them is over $100,000. He had it out one day and I seen it. Oops! We've been married over 21 years. He's not as mean as he used to be.
I ran in and told him that insurance does pay for reconstruction and he said "yeah, but we have to pay the 20 percent! And don't know how we're going to get the money for the gas plus the 20 percent that all this is going to cost!"
At 9:00 last night, my doctor called to tell me the good results of my blood tests. I asked her what type of cancer do I have. It's Intraductal Carcinoma. Not so bad.
What is dh? Is that Dear Husband?
Carole, you have a really great husband. Helping you with the drainage etc..
If my brother lived near here, I know he and his wife would help with that. Wouldn't I be able to do it myself? If not, I would stay with them after coming from the surgery. They're not that far from Bakersfield going towards Fresno.
Doc said that it would be a in and out surgery. I call it a drive by. LOL.
Jackie. . .Carole, thank you so much for the explaination. It is great. I needed that. I feel so. . .I don't know how to explain it. It made me feel "NEW." Does that make any sense?
Also heard about radiation implants. And not having to go through radiation therapy. That would save a lot of money and transportation costs. I see where the 5 days a wk for 7 wks, costs almost $2000. each time! I haven't looked in my insurance book yet nor called them. I have Aetna Medicare HMO.
I have Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 3. Insurance already pays for the catheters and my co-pay there is $64 a month. Plus my kidney doctor. I was scared that w/ this cancer thing that they would probably cut me off.
Love you guys,
Phanay
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Hi gals....Phanay....I looked this up... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intraductal_carcinoma
So this might give you a better idea of what Intraductal Carcinoma is. And I would really talk to the surgeon, before you opt for a mastectomy. A lumpectomy has about the same outcome as a mastectomy....and that is depending on how invasive the cancer is. So far, yours is non-invasive, it sounds like....
A mastectomy is mostly for women who cannot have a lumpectomy, meaning their cancer is more invasive or too large.
The radiation I had, is different from the 6 week normal radiation time.... The radiation seeds are put into the small "balloon" that is implanted in your breast, either during your surgery, or at another time. The seeds are left there about 8 minutes...And you go twice a day for about 5-8 days. Very easy really....Then the MammoSite device is pulled out! And you are done. I also had to have help cleaning the spot where the Device was in for that week... My Daughter just shivered, but DH....(Dear Husband) wasn't even bothered by it. It all heals up! This is a video of that procedure. http://www.mammosite.com/breast-lumpectomy/view-a-demonstration.cfm
But honestly, don't plan on ANYthing, until you know what you have. No need to worry about things that might not happen. Check with your Insurance FIRST, to make sure they cover the type of surgery your surgeon will do. The MammoSite device does cost more, so you have to know this first, and how much the insurance covers. I still had to pay $2000 even with my insurance, but that wasn't bad.
Carole, Jackie, Nancy, & Marcha...What's going on? Talk to you all later...xoxoxoxoxo
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Hi everyone....just got back from the park. The fireworks show was outstanding as usual for a small town with 14,0000 people. It always amazes me so much. Denny ( Dh ) enjoyed it a whole lot too. He is normally quiet about things like that.
Glad you are feeling better Phanay. I don't think cancer can ever be said to be a walk in the park but if we take things as they come ( not worrying or getting unnecessarily upset ) which is sometimes hard to do, we can get through with much more ease than we often think we will.
Will see you in the morning.....It has been a long day and evening.....almost 11:30 p.m. I got up this morning at 6 a.m. and I've pretty much been doing something ever since except sitting down for a light supper at 7 p.m.......right before we went to the park. Hope you all had a great Friday.
Hugs, Jackie
p.s. Dh is darling husband.
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"Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself." Bach, Richard Messiah's Handbook0 -
Good afternoon to all. Seems quiet here. I am getting on here late because I had a truly enjoyable experience this morning. I met one of my bc friends from Bloomington. She was on her way to Mississippi for a week and was going to be driving past the interstate exit about 9 miles from my house. So....we met for breakfast at a cafe right off the inter-state. Rita posted here for a good long while but stopped. We are on the Illinois thread she stated a long time ago and I post a quote there everyday as well. We had a really great time and she and I will be going to Chicago ( by Amtrak ) in December for the annual Illinois ladies Christmas party. I am really looking forward to it.
Really enjoyed the Balloon Fest this yr. Don't know if I mentioned here, but today is the final day. It's a three day affair. I love to see it come but it does mean Fall is just around the corner. Soon we will be hauling tons of nuts from our yard in prep for the trees losing their leaves. As we have almost 2 full acres here.....that is always a huge chore trying to keep up with the leaves as they come down for a couple of months. We are fortunate to have two big ravines on either side of us so we each have a leaf blower and that is how we spend most of our available time.
I hope you are all have a wonderful Sunday. Hi to all.
Hugs, Jackie
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Hi Gals...Jackie! I remember Ritajean so well! I don't know why....So she DID post on this site! I remembered her name, and her picture! How fun that you could meet her, again!!! That's great! I saw where she still posts on the Illinois thread....I'm glad they didn't scare her away completely, ha!
Did she leave when a whole bunch of them jumped ship? I'm still surprised this whole thread wasn't shut down completely....We really lost a bunch of nice gals. So it's like we are starting all over again, almost!
How are you doing, Nancy, Marcha, Spar, Carole & Phanay? It's hard to keep up, & I mostly post on just one thread....!
I'm still getting our rooms ready for putting in the hard-wood flooring.... Just ordered more sheers for the living room...& I painted one wall in the bedroom a saphire blue....It was so "light" in there before...no personality, Ha!
Carole, I found a great article on how they built the ALCAN highway! If you want to see it, I can post it here...I've been reading your journal! So interesting....You really are a great writer!
Okay gals....talk to you later! xoxooxoxo
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Hi Chevy, actually Rita started the Illinois gals thread.....back I think in 2007 which is just about the time I started using the BC site. I had never before posted on any blog of any kind......and the few that I saw in operation went so fast and furious that I had no idea how they worked. I thought I'd probably be incapable of using a blog but fear, and desperation tend to take care of that. Plus of course, for the most part here we are all talking pretty much the same thing. We are all pretty much in the same boat.....makes a big difference.
Carole you are a great writer. You make me feel like I'm standing right beside of you.
Glad to see you here Chevy......I was wondering if this would be one of those all by myself days.
Whatever you do, have a good one.
Anyone who may be curious about this Forum --- just pm Chevy or me and we will try to explain ( at least what we know of it ) things. It is too long a story and I think should probably not be told here.
Hope the rest of the day is a good one.
Hugs, Jackie
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Count no day lost in which you waited your turn, took only your share and sought advantage over no one.
Robert Brault
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Good morning. It is pretty out right now. Going to warm up, but the humidity won't be so high so that hopefully we won't notice things too much. Nice day yesterday for the last day of Balloon Fest. We really enjoyed Friday night. I did go back the next day with my friend Donna.....but it was a very short visit. There were cookbooks for sale and as I passed them by on Friday night....and naturally regretted it.....that necessitated another try which succeeded.
I think this is loose ends day for me. All I did not do over the week-end since the Fest was here. Interesting....the city did some work on the streets and left the barricades up so for a few days up to and now during the whole week-end ( with all the extra traffic ) we had one lane traffic. Hope the road is opened soon. Getting a bit tiresome. The highway runs right through town. Not fun to have it be one lane.
Hope everyone is going to have a great Monday.
Healing hugs,
Jackie
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Hi all,
I just wrote to all of you and thought I would check something out, came back to finish up the post and It had disappeared!
Too tired to rewrite it all. Will try again tomorrow. Or later.
Wanted you to know how much you have helped me.
My love,
Phanay
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Good morning everyone....Phanay, that disappearing act happens a lot. Chevy has a way to be able to leave your post, go elsewhere, then come back. I'm not too good at that sort of thing. I just try to recall everything I can and keep going till I hit the send button. There are many enigma's hidden in this machine. I have conquered some and welll, ahem, some have turned me inside out trying to figure. Chevy taught me how to use Picasa.....so I could put things in the blog like the picture and saying above.....but even that does not work like she told me. All my pictures are in one place rather than albums for say like family pics, pics of birthday cakes, pics of sunsets, etc.
Our heat and humidity is back for a bit....but I sure hope not too long. Hope you are all going to have a great day and accomplish what you need and want to. I'm working on several small projects today. I'll be checking in with you all later.
Hugs, Jackie
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Dropped by yesterday to talk to you girls. But. . . I was in the middle of writing my post then wanted to check something and came back to finish up. Poof. . . it had disappeared! Then I wrote another post to you and submitted it, it too was no where to be found! LOL. C'est La Vie.
Jackie. . . Richard Bach? I love his books! I began with Ruth Montgomery, when first DXed w/ uterine cancer in 1978. I ran through sooo many books. They're wonderful. Still have most of them. Loaned some out and they never found they're way back home. I have 4 shelves full. They are my treasures. I'm leaving them to my children. They understand but never have time. They have their own grandchildren. I have 9 great grand children.
Carole. . . when I look around at the mountains now, I think of you enjoying the marina. That's a wow-ee! At one time, I lived on Beacon Hill (Seattle, WA). My huge bay window framed the picturesque site of the Pugeot Sound. Had the chess set in the middle of the area. My nights of watching the ships with their lights on was rhapsody in itself.
Aussie Sheila. . . I'm still thinking of standing in the Von's parking lot and walking up to people to flash my boobs! LOL. That'a way they can say. . . "you see that old woman? She has some nice boobs. Small but nice." Just a few giggles to help me through.
My love,
Phanay
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1:15 pm. Manhattan Island, just had a 5.8 earthquake!
There are a lot of fault lines under Manhattan.
Horrible with all those skyscrappers in New York. I know nothing about the geography of anywhere except the states I have lived in.
Carole. . . did you feel anything?
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LOL. . . Chevy! Help! LOL
I tried putting up a pic I got off the net of Jesus holding a girl. I recolored her hair to resemble mine.
As you can see. . . I boo-boo'ed. How embarrassing! I didn't know if I should delete it or if it can be fixed. I took my own pic off and stuck in the one I tried to upload in the post area. "Jesus holding girl." If you can help me, I'll put my own pic back later.
Love,
Phanay
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Earthquake:
I am 80 miles from the center of the earthquake - unpacking groceries in my kitchen apartment. Thought upstairs someone was moving and furniture fell. Got text from son "U ok?". TV says earthquake, ran outside. All my family and friends and I are fine. Apartment manager says all is being checked. Good thing is we have no natural gas lines at all in the complex. Nancy0 -
forgot to click "add to favorites"....
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Hi all,
Trying to get syked up about going for my last AC infusion on Thursday. We have decided to go up that morning and come home that evening. It may be worse then the last, but it will be the last of these, Actually I have done well with the Chemo, but I am one who hates to have everyone else doing things. It is harder for me to answer questions and tell them what to do then just do it myself, but after the chemo I can not. Guess I have a lesson to learn.
Hope all is well with each of you. I will post later on when I feel up to it and let you know about the Taxol comming up.
Hugs
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Hi Gals....Momarch... Thinking of you....hope things will go easy for you guys on Thursday. If we don't hear from you right away, just take your time & come see us when you feel like it. So glad it is your last! Love you....
Gram! Glad you are alright! I know what it's like to be in/around earth-quakes! Darn scary, is all I can say! We had one here in Colorado, near Trinidad last night, but all I "felt" was like someone hit the wall, or something....But ONE time, when I was staying with Dad in Richmond Ca. after Mom passed away, I woke up to this SOUND like a train coming through the house! I ran to his bedroom, yelling S***! All he said was, "Honey, it's only an earthquake!" I just laid there shaking! He was so used to them, being there, when that big one hit near San Francisco, & took one bridge out, & collapsed the upper deck of the SFOAB bridge! I am just a panty-waist! But glad you are alright Gram! Just hold onto your britches, & run outside!
Phanay! Have you tried going to Google Images? Then just type in ANYthing, like Jesus holding girl, & see what comes up! I use those images a LOT! Then just right click "copy" then paste it where you want it to go! ...
Is this like the one you meant?
Jackie.... hope you are going to find a way to relax someday soon, here, ha! I'm just glad you don't work yourself sick! It's like I have so much energy all day, to get a lot done, but by this time, I am just frazzled! I could go to sleep at 7...Ha!
Okay gals....hope your day was easy.... thinking of you Marcha....xoxooxoxoxoxo
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Phanay...this was on google images!
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Yikes....about the earthquake Gram. I lived in California for 25 yrs. and got fairly used to them. We were never encouraged to run outside though. Usually for the reason that things could fall on you ( of course your own house can too ) but we were told to stand in doorways ---- heavier support beans there --- and if anything stays standing that will. I always had wind chines hanging in the house. Lots of earthquakes were mild.....but even then I would know it by the chimes making noise.
It's scary when you are not used to them. We had one of the rare ones that happen in Illinois and I realized ( it woke me immediately as my head board kept bumping the wall ) it and the minute I figured out what it was I just rolled over and went right back to sleep. Later decided I wasn't among the quite bright.....in Calif. frequent earthquakes are expected and structures are designed and built with that in mind......here, I doubt engineers and builders consider it very much.
Mom.....glad you are going to get that last infusion. It was hard for me as well to feel too good about having to do it. By then, I felt like I just couldn't do one more though it was all their was left of the A/C. I got it done of course, but I sort of did drag my feet.......the Taxotere was mildly better.....at least it was a single....but my body had gotten used to dealing with chemo a certain way and it sort of went right on doing it.....just not as strongly.
We do get through it all.....but I do think expecting some dread for the last ones is not uncommon. I hope it all goes well on Thursday. I'll be thinking of you and wishing it so.
Will see you all in the morning. Sleep tight.
Hugs, Jackie
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If your problem has a solution then...why worry about it? If your problem doesn't have a solution then...why worry about it?
~ Chinese Proverb0
