Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Hi Chevy,
I just saw someone on TV talking about the new uses for Facebook. He said some lenders ( who specialize in loaning money to poorer credit risks) are now requiring their borrowers to "friend" them on Facebook. Then the borrowers credit rate is determined by not only their own credit rating, but also the lender checks the credit rating of the borrower's "friends" and factors that in to what they charge the borrower! AND the borrower has to agree to allow the lender to post "late" notices on their Facebook page so everyone can see them.
Wow, talk about Big Brother!
He said this does not affect most of us now but it is a sign of the direction that privacy, or the lack of it, is going in this modern world.
So I do have a Facebook page but look at it very rarely. Wonder if I should close it as you have done. I hate not to be moving along with the technological wave. I already can't figure out how to text message! My DIL sends me text messages on my cell phone but I can't figure out how to scroll past the first three words so all I know is that she sent me a message but not what it was. And I really do not "get" tweeting at all!
Ah, now I know how my mother used to feel.0 -
Pj....try hitting the center button on your cell-phone...or the one that says "okay"....See if you can see the whole text then.....
My Brother said "Warning" on his FB page, that he had been hacked! And since I never use it anyway, it just seems like I don't need another way to talk to my friends...
Besides, I can't figure out what to do with all the "friends" and THEIR friends, and all the messages..... I like emails much better, and this forum!Man, my Nook drove me crazy until I figured it out! My brain just gets tired....
xoxoxo0 -
For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three. ~Alice Kahn
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I might be the oldest one here....71! Until recently living the good life........8 years after bc, free and clear. Those horrible feelings had faded into the past. And then the fear, anxiety and depression suddenly returns and hits you again with one phone call. Today I go for a biopsy. Will it start all over? Dear God I hope not. You gals all gave me strength before when I went through those agonizing days. I return again for that same comfort of this sisterhood which when we join I guess we never really ever leave! Wish me luck and say a prayer as I feel selfish when praying for myself.
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Good morning everyone. It is not a nice day here.....drizzling big time which will lead into snow tonight. Not much maybe, but I think winter may actually be on the way --- just when I decided I could do without.
I haven't decided what to do about Face Book as yet. I do think ( which I am definitely NOT ) if you are good enough on computer there are probably things you can do to stay out of trouble from FB or My Space, or Twitter.....or any of the social networks like it. Seems to be.....most of those are so you can tell a lot of people the same thing all at one time. I don't feel I have that many friends.....and I also feel it is impolite to lump all my friends into one faceless mass on a social network. I would rather have a few friends that I can feel that I am relating to really well than a ton of acquaintances.
It is just how I feel personally....I'm not out to make anyone wrong who feels differently. It is the same reason I don't post on lots of different parts of BC. Org.
I do worry about technology taking us over, ( not that I don't think it has its place ) and our not establishing strong parameters with it. We have to keep our humanity here.
Chevy and PJ.....I am still thinking Nook or Kindle one of these days. Maybe when I am working less and exercising more.
Hope you all have a great day in store and that your weather is not too yucky -- there is a really non-technical word for you.
See you later, after work today.
Hugs, Jackie
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buckanddoe, I think we were posting at the same time. Please don't feel selfish when you pray for yourself -- you are the one with the strongest need for a "good" outcome to all of this. I am praying as we speak.
You have kept up with all your check-ups obviously, and I do hope and pray this is just something that needed a closer look only. I do feel at any time ( as things always change to some degree or other ) things can crop out.....they may have a look, or even feel that is suspicious....but as we know.....'all that glitters is not gold' and suspicious looking may be only that.....suspicious, but turning out to be nothing of concern after all. This is what I'm hoping comes for you.
BC....I think it is like walking in the city......you have to stop at every corner and even if the light is green.....look before you step out in the street.....so yes, I think it never really ends for us, but I'm very much with you....after 8 yrs., it would be a shock and huge disappointment.
We are here for you......you are never alone because no one here ever quits caring. Many prayers and
Healing Hugs,
Jackie
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buckanddoe! Hey Welcome young'un! Nope! I'm 74...Dang, I'm so sorry about you being worried AGAIN!!!
I'm always worried every time I go for a Mammogram....Just let us know today.... We'll be thinking about you.... Did you take any of the Als after the first time? I mean like Tamoxifen, Arimidex, etc?
I'm saying a prayer for you...(((b&d)))...
Jackie.... I'm the same way, about FB.... I know my Grand-sons are on there, along with my Daughter, and THEIR friends, and it's just not my place to be in on their conversations. I talk to them on the phone, and email, so I can't see why FB is any big deal to me. .... I'm SURE the boys friends don't want to hear from "Grandma"....Ha! That's just for the kids, IMHO.
I don't know anything about Kindle, but it's probably the same as Nook? I like that I can download ANY books I could ever want from B&N...... And I can do it all on my computer, without a wi-fi connection. I sent my router back to Amazon, and they credited my account 3 days after I sent it! I couldn't beLIEVE it! Man, that was fast! And I didn't have to pay to ship it back!
This seems like just conversation I know....expecially when buck&doe is facing a biopsy.... Let us know...okay? xoxoxo
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Dear buck&doe,
Even though I am the family Pollyanna, I can be annoyingly optimistic, there is just no way to put a happy spin on a possible recurrence of breast cancer after eight years. Don't we all remember they oft quoted statement that if you go five years then you are in the clear? Who started that canard? I would think that after eight years you would have begun to relax a little. How awful to face the uncertainty and dread again. I am sure it is no easier this time than last. Please know that we are all, however selfishly, hoping that you will get good news.
Omigosh, illinoislady, today's quote certainly hits the nail on the head! The Thursday before Christmas I realized I was running out of one of my "really need it" medications. The pharmacy had screwed up and failed to call the doctor's office at the time of my last scheduled refill a month earlier. Of course Christmas weekend was approaching and they began faxing and I began calling the office. No replies. By the following Wednesday I was leaving increasingly desperate messages at any extension that I could reach. I never got to talk to a real human being and I never got a call back. Nor did the pharmacy! I finally went to my PCP's office and asked if he would call in an RX for a drug that he did not prescribe for me and explained that I could not get anyone to call me back from the involved DR's office staff. He did it and I was able to go to CA to surprise my DD for a short visit without turning into a raving lunatic without my meds. I thought for sure by the time I got back to Florida the problem would have been solved. NOT! By then I and the pharmacy had been trying to reach someone for over 10 days. It is SO maddening! They just do not answer their phones. It is all voicemail. Well, I finally had to show up in person (a 60 mile round trip), they do have real people at the desk! I demanded to talk to a supervisor who admitted I was not the only person who complained about their phone system. She claimed they had never rec'd a fax from the pharmacy (I don't believe it cause I was ranting at them on the phone since they were the only real people I was getting to talk to) and she claimed that "someone" had called and left a message for me... Once out of many requests for a response. But that didn't happen either.
The problem is I really like the doctor. He is very caring and interested and gives you his full attention. But it is a large group and obviously no one feels responsible for answering the #%^* phones! Doesn't not answering your phone fall under the malpractice category?
I feel better!
Carole, a cream cheese filling in a king's cake sounds delicious! Maybe I will look to see if southern Living has updated their recipe to include that. What I have had is the garishly decorated, colorful, yeasty bread concoction. Loved it!0 -
Buckanddoe...................The thing we all fear the most...............waiting for the other shoe to drop...............Not sure if this will be any consollation to you,but my son-in-laws mother got BC bavck in 1988......She did the mastectomy, chemo, Rads, and Tamox...............after 13 years of not one problem, BC showed up in the other breast.......................she had the other removed, but this time, no further treatment, other then another drug, but fail to remember the name..................when Arimidex hit the scene, her Dr. put her on that...................this past November she celebratedbeing a 24 year "thriver"...........................so for what it is worth to you....................sometimes things aren't always as bad as they seem.................I don't mean to minimize your recurrance, but there is always hope, even at the darkest times....
I will hope and pray that your biopsy goes well, and I hate to say "welcome back", but I found so much love and support at this place I will probably never leave.
I am not even 1 year yet, had a lumpectomy, rads, and now Femara............it all beats the hell out of you, but until I can't handle it anymore, all I can say is "it beats the alternative"...................by the way I am 76, closer to 77 which will happen in April..............so your a "kid".......................hahahahahahaha.............good luck, and hugs.
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Thank you ducky & pj! Man, can you believe it? We always start to think we are in the clear, like me, after 2 years! But maybe us being "older" helps us a little? I mean, if we DO happen to get this again, our age might make a difference on our continuing treatment? Crap! I just thank God that this didn't happen to me when I was in my 40's or 50's!
Do we HAVE to start a NEW thread, called "Older than Dirt?" Ha, ha! I mean is ANYbody on here older than 80? I remember when I was working at the Mountain Bell as a switch-board operator when I was 16... part time...I thought those gals that were 24 were sooooo old!
It's like I KNOW we are older, but I hate the way younger people think about us....Like we don't know as much, or not as valuable, not to mention we just don't "appeal" to ANYone anymore. We are still women, who like to wear make-up, and do our hair, and like to feel "beautiful" even when we look in the mirror & want to "see" something different. And our kids start talking to us like THEY are our Mother! Do they think we lose our brains or something?
I just want to feel like a "girl" again. So I'm going to take a shower, put on my makeup & do my hair! Maybe my dog will think I look good!
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Thank you all for your words of encouragement. This sisterhood is the greatest! Yes, I took both arimidex for a year followed by Lexatrol 4 years and am now in a clinical trial 3 years of 5 for Lexatrol.
I am home now comfortable and relaxing with my ice pack. Biopsy went smoothly. Radiologist was encouraging as he said that these calcifications are relatively benign appearing from the many he has seen but with my history and the sudden appearance of so many more the biopsy is necessary. I could have kissed him!
Now we wait. 0 -
Okay thanks buckanddoe...Wow! Thanks for telling us what you took! So maybe those meds DID work? I mean if your biopsy comes out okay? I sure hope so! We can always hope! I'm crossing my fingers for you too.
We'll all wait together.... ((((hugs))))
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The words from the radiologist sound reassuring. Usually they won't say anything if there is a chance of bad news. What is lexatrol? Is it an estrogen suppressor? And would you mind saying why you stopped arimidex after one year? I did also, well, after about fifteen months. I switched to tamoxifen and have gotten along well since. My big problem with arimidex was terrible weakness resulting in two falls. Not me at all! Now I walk three miles a day, bike, shop (till I drop!) , work in the yard and keep house. So much better! But would love to know about other drugs.
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Buckanddoe: Welcome back, but sorry you have to be here. We are the same age...I'm 71 as well. I hope that your biopsy turns out to be nothing serious and you can share that news with us all shortly!
Praying that you have the best possible outcome!
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I stopped Arimidex because of severe joint pain especially in my feet. Letrozole I believe, is the generic name for Femara. I think it is an estrogen suppressor. I had no issues with it the 4 years I was on it. By being in a clinical trial, I dont know if I am receiving Letrozole or a placebo.
Thanks to all for your prayers.
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buckanddoe my sister had a UMX eighteen years ago . Only follow up was tamoxifen for five years. When I got my diagnosis she had a mammo and they said she needed a biopsy. We were expecting the worst but the radiologist said it was just benign calcifications. I have to say I was relieved for her and wish it could have been me as well. Hopefully with the ALS it will be.
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Everyone has a purpose in life... a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.
By Deepak Chopra0 -
Hey gals! Man, I think my DH and I are the Weebles...... Remember them? I just remember that tag-line...."Weebles wobble but they don't fall down".....
So yesterday, Dh slipped on the ice in the alley, but it didn't hurt a lot....he says....even today! So we bought a mat at Walmart, to put right outside of the back door, because of all the ice and the icicles dripping from the gutter, right over our door! So I put the mat down, and it slipped on the ice, and I went flying all sprawled out on my side...... Man, it felt so good for a minute to just lay on the ice there, but DH came running out, & helped me up....AGAIN!!!
So we "wobble, but we DO fall down"....Ha, ha! All you can do is laugh, I guess.....especially when we don't really get hurt.
I fell backwards off the 2-step stool in the living room, and he helped me up THAT time....It's a wonder we haven't killed ourselves yet!
There is soooo much ice out, but that's no excuse...I can fall by just not being careful. The mat I bought has a rubberized back....should have known. THAT slips faster on the ice than I can.
It snowed about 6 inches yesterday, so we KNOW the ice is coming next! Man, I just wish it were Spring....I know when we have been up in the Mountains around Grand-lake in the Spring, they call it the "Mud-season"....So they have 5 seasons they say. Spring, Mud, Summer, Fall & Winter!
buckanddoe...have you heard anything yet? I know our oldest Daughter is 53, and she has a lot of calcifications also....she always gets them checked, but is doing good. Hope your results are the same.
ptdreamers....what is a UMX? And you just started Tamoxifen? Are you doing okay with that?
Jackie...hope you are enjoying the snow....Yes it IS beautiful, but we are just getting so MUCH!
I know it's good for everything, come this Spring, but it's slowing me down....
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no, I dont expect to hear at the earliest till tomorrow and probably not till monday and if not then, after that I will start calling.
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Buckanddoe, Do you eventually learn which part of the trial you were in?
Chevyboy, have you seen the ad for the heated mat that one lays on their step to prevent ice? Might be worth it. Falls are dangerous! And expensive - I broke two pairs of glasses in my two falls!
I've been seeing the news about no snow on the slopes in CO. So guess the ski resorts are happy.0 -
pj.... I guess the high-country is getting very little snow! It is all here on the Eastern slope! They want more snow for the skiing, and to fill the water sheds!
I'll look into the heated mats! Right now, we are covering the icy spots with little area rugs, (with no rubber backing) and bar-towels!
When the ice and snow melt, during the day, it drips off our gutters, that are filled with ice and icicles, and THEN it freezes in late afternoon, and it is ice again....but the rugs really help!
It's just now a standing joke, as to which one of us will go flying next, Ha!
They were talking on the News about how many people wind up in the Emergency rooms because of falls with this last storm.... Maybe we are just practicing?
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Chevyboy: Careful on that ice! We aren't spring chickens anymore. At least you know you have good bones when you take a fall like that. I fell last year...flat on my face while going up a walkway and didn't see the small step...bam...right down. I thought I was fine, but I injured my shoulder in the process and it's taken a year for it to get back to normal.
Too bad about the lack of snow at the resorts. We decided to pass on Breck this year...too many things going on with treatment and such and didn't want to push it. I'll really miss going out there..it's the first time in ten years that we've missed skiing, but there's always next year!
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Chevy, glad you and your dh are surviving these falls. Snow is beautiful. The last couple of years we had snow here in south LA and I took some nice pictures. Tonight we're having a hard freeze on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain. Temperature in the 20's. I'm NOT playing golf tomorrow since the high will be low 50's and it's supposed to be breezy.
Tonight we have the gas logs lit in our fireplace and it's so cheery here in our living room.
Tomorrow I hope to catch up on some chores around the house. My desk in the study is so piled with stuff to be filed that I can't see the surface. I also want to make some soup. It will be great soup weather.
Wishing everyone a good evening.
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Wow !!!! Be careful out there on that ice....as I parrot everyone else. Just thinking though....at our age we don't bounce anymore....our landings are pretty hard. My last fall a few months back seemed to take forever for me to stop limping and gimping.
Dh bought us some of those cleat type things you snap on your shoes or boots in the snow and ice. Not sure our snow is going to last long enough to use those.....but we have had several yrs. that every other step at least spelled possible disaster...so bad it was. Our snow turned into ice this afternoon and neither the Illinois or Missouri departments of Transportation were quick enough to get anything done....so a lot of slipping, sliding and accidents were the order of the day. I made a very slow drive the 3 miles home tonight. Anyway....do be careful.
Carole...I am with you....I love the snow. We lived in southern California for 25 yrs. and I'm glad we did, but you can't fake winter and the Christmas season. Jingle Bells on the beach in thongs and shorts just doesn't conjure up "dashing through the snow".....so I don't like the ice but there is something a little magical about snow and snow drifts and the whiteness of it all.
I hope you all had a fantastic day...I'll be back tomorrow to see you.
Hugs, Jackie
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You know, I'm not sure if they will ever tell us. Next time I get my supply of pills I will ask the research nurse, but that is not for a month.
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Morning gals.... buckanddoe....I was in a research study one time, for Asthma....I had really been doing good, with just maintenance meds....but about two weeks into it, being without being on any of my own meds and taking just "the pill" I had to get out of the study.
I think they were "testing" some new kind of drug for asthma, but I went into a full-blown asthma attack, with what-ever it was I was taking. So I was "removed" and back on my own meds...
Your trial will be different... That's how the drug companies learn what works & what doesn't..... and thanks to women like you that get to be in a program like that! I don't think they will ever tell you which pill you were on...if they do, it will be at the end of the trial.
It's warming up here again today...it's 28 right now! DH and I are trying to stay right-side up...
Take good care! xoxoxo
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Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb but how well you bounce. ~Vivian Komori
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Good morning gals....yum, there is some sunshine out there today. It is not going to get warm by any means, but with sun I FEEL like it is. Oops, went behind the clouds...hope it comes back.
Chevy....just had to use that quote I found for today. And by the way......we should remember to be grateful for those who are willing to go into "trials" for drugs. I'll be the first to admit....I've never thought ( with deep feelings of gratitude ) about the sacrifices made for me.....so I could avail myself all these yrs. later of the latest and best that could be offered me. I've just thought how wonderful and sorta moved on.....I think I'll have to correct that. So buckanddoe.....thank you and I'm really hoping that all comes out in the end to be positive and you can move on.
Here is something else I'm really grateful for....this morning the Today show is celebrating 60 yrs. on the air. Watching Dave Garroway and J. Fred Muggs brought back such wonderful memories of not only the show, but the great enjoyment my Dad had watching it. It just carried me back for just a few moments to our little house....with our big old fashioned t.v. set as my Dad chuckled watching Mr. Muggs helping Dave Garoway give the weather. I could see the steam curling up from Dad's cup of coffee....I think I even smelled it for a second or two.
Later some of the BIG stories were discussed.....civil rights, MLK, Presidential assassination, first man on the moon.....then of course, John Lennon being shot and killed, the Challenger bowing up with Christa McCauliff......very poignant. A real trip down memory lane for sure. That is what I get for being my age.....to go from only having a radio in the early years ( and lucky to have that I think ) to the big 45 inch flat screen t.v. And being able to watch what was going on all over the world.
Hope you are all going to have a great day....and no bouncing please.
Hugs, Jackie
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Okay, YOU little Jackie are too funny, Ha, ha!
And nothing hurts today! I loved you reminiscing about "the old days."
We didn't have our own TV for so very long, it seemed like! My Brother and I used to walk down to the corner at night, and lay on the lawn & watch this TV that Cobb's Plumbing and Heating had facing the window.... It was like a miracle! Then we finally got our own, and would watch Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca, and all the variety shows.
I remember listening to the radio while eating "supper" and listening to the Red Skelton show... And Inner-sanctum, and oh, lots of others!!! And the Shadow! Ha, ha!
DH and I were in Orlando that one year, and we all drove down to watch the lift off of the Challenger! It was soooooooo exciting! Sitting with a lot of people in front of a Walgreen's Store, and looking at that huge "cone" waiting to take off! THEN the lift off, and the crowd just roared! We watched it like in slow motion, until it finally disappeared.
We were back home, wating for the Challenger to land....when...... Our Daughter called us crying, because of what happened.... Man, that was awful.
I remember when I was in Grade School, when General McArthur said "Ask NOT what your country can do for you, but what YOU can do for your country".... This was during WW 2.....
And then when the war was over and everyone drove downtown celebrating and honking their horns!
Okay, back to the "today" show....
Talk to you later....xoxoxo
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I remember the Today show back then. I was living with my grandparents at the time, and we had a big room that I guess today would be called a family room, but back then it was just an extension of my grandparent's bedroom where everyone gathered to watch TV.
Last night we did a nice trip down memory lane and went to see Jersey Boys...what a fun time! I never knew Frankie Valle had so many of those hit songs! One of the guys in the band with them was the one who wrote all of them....what a talent! If it comes to your area and you have a chance to see it, don't walk.... run to the theater...you will love...love...love it! We actually saw it once before in Las Vegas, but when we heard it was coming to Ft. Lauderdale, we purchased a block of tickets and invited all of our friends. It was so enjoyable to see how much they loved it as well!
Today I'm off for my rad onco visit...the first of two that I will make before deciding on whether I am doing them, and if so, what kind and type. This facility was recommended and is state of the art as to equipment, etc. Also closer to my home, so it wouldn't be as far to travel. My BS highly approved even though it is not connected to the hospital where he practices. I've also had a circulating tumor cell blood test and a re test of my liver enzymes which were high, so next week will be busy for me, as I also visit my onco regarding my oncotype score, and get my echo cardiogram of my heart to see what is up there. My head is spinning from all of these doctor app'ts! I would love to just fast forward into the future and have this all behind me, but I know it's a day at a time.
Have a great day everyone and a wonderful weekend.
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