Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Sandra HHHHAAAPPPPPPPYYY BIRTHDAY to u and so many more---U'r day tomorrow sounds wonderful, we all wnt to go with u, well I do anyway. How pretty that would be to see all the lights.
We are having a warm front but not like TX, just rain and fog and not cold, but by the week-end Brrr cold is coming.
I cancelled my Onc. app't and had a great time with my GF's today so that was much better. I am exhausted and took my work phone with me, just got one phone call got a few after 5PM when I got home.
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Chevy - Thanks for the Joplin memories. I believe, like me, you're senior enough to remember the original Cry Baby by the Enchanters. But gee - I remember Gogi Grant and The Wayward Wind too. And Patti Page and How Much is that Doggie in the Window. And Nat King Cole's Mona Lisa. Don't get me started on Perry Como or Teresa Brewer or Frank Sinatra. OK ladies - have fun remembering your favorite oldies.0 -
Min us2--I remember every single one and Chevy must remember even before those.
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Oh oh Cami - good thing you didn't mention the Mozart concertos. She'd kill both of us.
Edited to add - ha, ha Chevy... just kidding.0 -
Happy Birthday Sandra! It must feel good to have all the cards and shopping done. I hope you celebrated that AND your birthday today in style, gal!0 -
Sandra...Happy 65th! What an awesome day you are going to have. I have heard such wonderful things from friends who have been to the River Walk. Love, peasoup!
Jackie...I got a letter from a local hospital saying they now have the 3-D mammogram. Unfortunately it was right after I had my mammogram, Ultrasound and MRI done. The cool thing was if you went and had it done they were giving you a Vera Bradley wallet. Darn! I got nothing from my tests! Hope you have perfect results!
MinusTwo...I remember all those singers! My favorite (and my mother's) was Perry Como. A friend of mine met him in a store in NYC. He was with his wife and my friend had a little conversation with him and said he was very charming and friendly. You never heard a word of scandal about him and he was happily married all those years.
Di2012...hope you had your procedure and all went as planned.0 -
Our DD called yesterday and her ONC told her that the chemo was not doing what they want. We are devistated . She went back in today and they are going to try a new protocal. They are affilitaded with MD Anderson. I asked her if she wanted me to come and she said no. I understand. I think DH and I will take camper and go down after the first of the year. DG is not taking things very well and lashing out at her Mom. DH called her school today and talked to the headmistress about things, so they are going to have counseling sessions with her. They are like oil and water. When DD had hodgkins when she was pregnant with DG we were her sole caregivers, DH took care of DG and I took care of DD during Chemo. It was a tough battle, she had been in remission for 15 years. DG bonded to us. That is part of the problem.
Well anyway enough of my soap box, hope you all are doing well0 -
The Wayward Wind was one of my favorites. My girlfriend and I used to sing it in harmony. Also loved Green Door. I loved watching Your Hit Parade on tv and then Mitch Miller later. Name That Tune was fun. Wasn't that the one with Leslie Uggams? I already told you that I won the 6th grade talent show doing the cha-cha to Venus. For the 7th grade talent show I sang Tammy.0 -
Sandra....I hope your birthday was as special as you and you have so many more you lose count.
Jackie
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Mommarch, That's just so hard for everyone. I'm glad DH had a talk with her school. They can really help by being understanding and providing someone to talk to.
Sandra, Happy Birthday. I'd love to take that boat ride down the river with all the decorations. It was summer when we were there and it was beautiful then.0 -
Oh Mommarch how sad with all this with u'r DD and GD--I'm sure she wants u there but is thinking about u too. Very hard when they are not close enough to just pop over and do what u can. (((HUGS)))
I think my faithful Mom would have left my Dad for Perry Como--she never missed his show and as I was growing up I felt the same way. He was as kind as he was relaxed. I remember stories about him that showed that kindness to people, he never said but some people would come forward and tell of his deeds.Oh and Tony Bennett, they went to see him in person and my mom said u could see his blue eyes from where they were sitting. Well Tony B is still around and doing well. Memories such nice ones.
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Sandra! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rnHXC5oS5M And the Wayward wind was by Gogie Grant, right? And Happy Birthday to you!
And Julio! Oooooh! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fg7fPHPT6k Do you remember him singing with Willie Nelson? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi2AX14eRbk
Remember Kay Star? And Bill Haley & the Comets? And Rock around the Clock! My DH and I went to see Red Prysock, and the Platters, one time before we were married!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-qjc17KEsc
Chuck Berry! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmug-0iSmgY
But my favorite was Johnny Ray.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-I-T35E5LI&list=RDlTPo9UxCkjo
And Whitney! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yu9sWomfkk She was my favorite singer....still is!
This was fun listening to these while I was looking them up!
I'm so glad I grew up in the 50's! A beautiful easy time.... Compared to now, it seems like we had it made! Ha!
Mommarch, so sorry for all the new problems! Wish there was something we could do.....
Wish you all a great Wednesday...!
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Hold up your head, you were not made for failure, you were made for victory; go forward with a joyful confidence in the result sooner or later, and the sooner or later depends mainly on yourself.
Anne Gilcrest
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Show off Chevy, pringtin up all that fun. My GS always calls my DD1 Gogie, cuz when he was little he couldn't say Jodie so she likes that name and I always think of Gogie Grant--they don't know but I do. Yes the 50's were a great time, our parents had no fear therefore we could do pretty much what we wanted and everyone was nice to be around, now it's horrendous I feel bad for these kids, they really don't know much about having fun and looking forward to silly things to do. They are usually plugged into something--but-they're safe so......
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Mommarch,
That's terrible news - certainly not what you hoped. She's lucky to have you as unconditional support. Daughters seem to take their mothers' diagnosis so hard. My therapist said it's because they get a double whammy...they are having to deal with their mother's cancer AND they are facing the fact that it could happen to them. My adult daughters took it harder than I did. No surprise that your granddaughter is acting out. This awful disease touches all parts of our lives as well as our families too.0 -
MomMarch...so sorry about your DD and GD. Hopefully the new treatments the doctors go with will get good results. As Sandra said, daughters take it so hard. My own cried ten times more than I did when I got my diagnosis and that is what really broke my heart. Your daughter is worried about her daughter. And you are worried about both of them.
I also am glad I grew up in the 50's! Love that decade.0 -
Mommarch, that's depressing news for your daughter's loved ones, including you and your dh. Sure hope the new protocol does wonders.
I took my mother to Branson, MO, some years back. One of the entertainers we saw was Tony Bennet. He was really a polished performer. We also saw Glen Campbell, who gave a good performance. Then the next year there was all that scandal about him being in jail for drunkenness. My mother and dad had watched the Lawrence Welk show for years so we had tickets for that performance with some of the younger dancers and musicians who had been on the show. I hadn't expected to enjoy that much but I did.
This goofy flip flop weather! Last week there were two nights with freezing temps. Today I played golf in shorts and short-sleeved blouse. When I got home it felt humid in the house so I turned on the A/C for a few minutes to cool things off. Cold, hot, cold, hot. I think more cold weather is headed this way.
My niece with the 3 kids finished up her 28 days in the detox hospital today. She has decided to enter the Grace House in New Orleans for another 3 months to get additional treatment. She came home today to get more clothes and to get some money. Against her mother's strong advice, she insisted on driving herself in her car to New Orleans to the Grace House, which is reportedly not in the safest neighborhood for parking a car. Well, she got in two wrecks and was ticketed for reckless driving. We still don't know whether she ever arrived at Grace House.
She saw her 4 yr. old for a few minutes and didn't see the 8 yr. old or 10 yr. old, who were in school. I have no optimism that she will emerge a better, stronger person and a fit mother. A very disheartening situation. For those of you who believe in the power of prayer, please pray for her.
Wishing everyone a good evening.0 -
Oh mommarch....so sorry to hear that the current chemo is not doing what they had hoped. Hopefully they will come up with a new cocktail that will do the trick. In the meantime, I can only imagine how hard it is for you and your GD. I taught Jr. High and saw how deeply young boys and girls could be touched by health problems in their families. They strike out only because they have no other control over the situation, and like all of us, they are scared. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.
Hey Chevy thanks for the music! Life in the 50's was so different and was such a slower pace than the lives our grandchildren lead. I think the only bad thing about the 50's was polio, which claimed the lives of a few of the people in our little town and crippled several others. So sad.
This gloomy weather has me in a funk of a mood. Tomorrow is supposed to really be COLD in central Illinois, with the chance of rain or snow flurries. Bah humbug! I need to get out early to get my hair done so I'm sure I'll be growling about it! ;-)
In the meantime, I'm off to curl up and read my book. I'm reading "The Kitchen House" and it's pretty good!0 -
well I can go either way! I find the new info wonderful I am 2 years clean... 59 teach fulltime .and now struggling with tamoxifen still. One tip..I did change the dosing to the day instead of at night. Weather change and I simply had to get some sleep. It took 3 weeks but I feel much much better. My knees have been the sorest pont yet I have had all the heat hips ache etc. Arthritis and a torn meniscus both knees. Never had any problems prior to now. I have spoken to both my on and ortho surgeon to find answers. Delayed surgery. No estrogen. Poor connective tissue. Poor connective tissue chances of injury? I will not get knee surgery until I know more. Also was told that anesthesia was different while on tam. Anyone else dealing with this? I'm in for the olders.
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Hi CentralCoast--Yea it a rough ride with the meds, even when other things are done, u'r body is still flling apart.
Carole I'm so sorry about all that's going on, 2 accidents--Wow her poor kids and Mom.
Rita I heard ice storms too, Oh how wonderful to not just fall on the floor but now really take u'r bones part.
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Thanks back....Central Coast
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Carole.... I'm so sorry about your Neice... My friend just went through this also...
She was taking part in this Intervention for her friends Daughter... The SECOND time, the girl actually showed up and stayed! VERY traumatic for everyone. I think I already posted this here... But the girl promised she would go to rehab... Her Mother paid $25,000 .... trying to save her Daughter. The girl got there, and left the next morning... Would not go through with it.
It just seems that once the drugs or alcohol "take" a person, there is almost no hope. Her Mom nor family can help... I don't know what it takes to straighten someone out. It's her kids.... If she could understand how much her kids and Husband want her back..... She has those choices...
Isn't that Grace House kind of like the "Sober Living" houses that they go to after rehab? There are soooo many resources out there to HELP these people, but sometimes they just won't take the help.
My Brother's Son is caught up in that web also.... This has been going on for years... It's easier for a man to stay drugged up... they don't have to worry about the kids! They just go from place to place, even out on the streets to survive. They hide and "use" people to get what they want. And they go back to who-ever will take them next. Right now "He" is in the hospital.... They are trying to regulate all the drugs and crap that he is doing. My Brother and his wife just had to give it up. He would take their help, and money, and be his "sponsor" with his state-aid checks, but it wasn't enough.
I remember my Brother crying, telling me he was living on the streets..... several times. He stole from them, lived un-knowingly in their shed for awhile... but his drugs, drinking and smoking used up all his monthly alotment... until the next month. Then it was right back to his routine...... Leaving his Parents, his 2 x-wives, and 4 kids to make it without him........ He couldn't care less. I'm sorry Carole.....
Morning CentralCoast! Yes, Cammi MEANS well, but she just can't spell...Ha! She meant "your body is FALLING apart"..... Ha, ha! Not "filling"..... Oh, wait.... maybe it is.... It is filling up with that dang Tamoxifen! Don't ask ME about it, because I threw that out a couple years ago....
And what are you doing? Falling on the floor Cammi? Try that one again! Dang, my brain just hurts trying to figure out what you just said! You think it is cold there? Oh no little kiddle.... it is 13 below ZERO here right this minute! If I fell on the ground out there, my bones would surely clank apart!
I am sick..... at least that's what my PC says.... She called last night, saying she called in a prescription for Cipro.... for a UTI..... I just said "You're kidding!" She said that urine test Monday showed an infection.... so I must be sick somewhere.... After it warms up to about 15 we'll go pick it up at Walmart.... I might be waiting for DAYS until it gets above 15! Ha! It really isn't funny.... but what else can you do? Love you guys!0 -
chevy it was warm yesterday here, now tonite super cold, Hmmm I wonder who's sending it here to my own home, the other side of the street will be 30 degrees and here -0 cuz of u. And all thenewbies don't let Chevy scare u off, she picks on the sick and elderly--me actualy all the time, it her way of feeling good, so I sacrifice my pride and allow for this. I am a better person for it.
Oh chit I'm gonna hear about this post.
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Some things don't matter much. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the over-all scheme of life?But lifting a person's heart - now that matters. The whole problem with people is they know what matters, but they don't choose it. The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.
Sue Monk Kidd
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Hi all ... I haven't posted in a day and a half but it feels like three or four days ... so much new.
As I was reading through the music discussion, I couldn't think of Johnny Mathis for 5 minutes or so. I hate that feeling of forgetfulness. Anyway, we high school girls used to put his music on at slumber parties as we wound down for a few hours of sleep. MinusTwo, as soon as I saw your reference to "The Wayward Wind," I started singing it. I was rather impressed with myself for remembering so many of the words.
Many of you are facing family challenges. Your families are in my thoughts and I send you all hugs.
Carole, thanks for sharing a good book title. I will check into "The Kitchen House."
As always, thanks to all of you for being on this thread. It helps me more than I can say.
Sally
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Sally I started singing that too when I read it.
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Cami, another song that resonates in my brain ... has for years ... is "Climb Every Mountain" from Sound of Music. I saw the stage play in Chicago in the early 60's. Dad took Mom and I to eat at Trader Vic's and to the play. After that I saw the play at a summer theater when I was a camp counselor in Michigan and the movie often ... I have a dvd of it, of course.0 -
Cammi! So you got the cold, eh? See, the girls are not paying any attention to you, because they KNOW how much we tease each other! I didn't send you the cold weather.... I stood out back this morning, and held out my hands, to try and keep the weather HERE by my house, but it must have gotten away? And I don't pick onthe elderly..... that's because I am about as elderly as they get! So Ha! And I am also sickly! I have that UTI! Remember? I didn't know it though... So now I am taking Cipro for my sickly self.
It is warming up here... It is 9.5 degrees out.... right now? What? Is this weather nuts?
Sally, me and a girlfriend used to sing to "Cry" by Johnny Ray! We used to play her little record player, and sing as loud as we could! And we smoked! We were so "wild" in those days...Ha! And we would put our cigarettes out in this ash tray and hide it under the bed.... We were positive we destroyed any evidence!0 -
Hahaha Chevy destroyed evidence LOL--so smart those day. Everytime u guys mention a song I start singing it and I remember Johnny Ray sing that song taking his tie off like he was really crying. My dad and I always liked Connie Francis and when she sang Who's sorry now, which was from the 20's he would love to listen to her voice. Oops my mind is blanking I think that's the song.
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Thank you all for all the lovely birthday messages. I had a great day. My friend took me to a noontime concert by a university show choir that was inspiring, an art exhibit that was beautiful, and a nice lunch. Mike and I went downtown, had a nice dinner at my favorite German restaurant, and enjoyed the colorful lights on the San Antonio Riverwalk. Mike told the boat driver that it was my birthday and she announced it to the whole boat full of people. They sang Happy Birthday as we cruised down the river. So nice.
Today we had to get up early to make a 7 a.m. appointment at the hospital to have another PICC line put in before my surgery tomorrow. My veins refused to cooperate after my first surgery 3 months ago, so the PICC line was put in. If you've never had one or seen one, it's no surprise. Most people never get one. In a sterile environment with all of us in surgical gowns, caps, and masks, they use ultrasound to find the brachial vein on the inside your upper arm. You get a lidocaine injection, which stings, then they go down deep into your arm to the vein. It is dilated and a catheter is "fed" up your arm, across your chest, and down next to your heart. The catheter is sutured in and sterile dressings applied. The PICC line has two lumens, one attaches to the IV lines during surgery and recovery and the other one is for blood draws. I had the last one for two months. It stayed in for the second surgery and for my iron infusion. You have to keep the area sterile and go back to the hospital once a week to have the dressings changed. It can't get wet and it must be protected so that is difficult when all you want is a quick shower. It was great to get it out a month ago...but now here we go again. Hopefully I won't have this one long...maybe only a few days after I get out of the hospital if I don't have a complication again.
I had a bad infection (on one side only) in the hospital after my double mastectomy three months ago and it took a strong antibiotic (IV Vancomycin) to finally stop the progression of the damage. I was in the hospital a week, then home with my IV and a visiting nurse for another week before being readmitted for a second surgery to remove all the dead tissue. I lost parts of three muscles, a lot of soft tissue under my arm plus lymph nodes and about 1/4 of the skin covering the implant on that side. They took it out and placed a tissue expander. After three weeks, I began getting weekly saline fills to expand it. Now that I've grown a bunch of new skin, it's time to have another surgery to continue reconstruction. The plastic surgeon will be revising some of the scars from surgery #2 and will try to give me more range of motion. The tissue expander will be replaced with a new kind of implant and my "good side" implant will be removed and replaced with a smaller implant to match. There will be one more surgery in a couple of months to put in fat grafts under my arm (it's just skin and bone there now) and to fill in some "divots" on my chest.
Even though this is the 3rd surgery in three months, I am very nervous. I'm so afraid of another infection. This morning when they were putting in the PICC line, they had trouble. There was a blockage (maybe scar tissue within the vein from the last one) and they could not get the catheter to advance past my shoulder. I couldn't help it...I had tears falling, not because it hurt (they keep giving you lidocaine sticks) but because it was a complication. Was this the beginning of trouble? Well, they finally were able to use a wire to move the blockage and a half hour later, with a couple of sutures and a sterile dressing, we were out of there and headed for breakfast.
Guess it's time to pack my bag. I'm the second case in the morning so I don't have to be at the hospital until 9 am. I'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Stay warm!0
