Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Annie, your hubby sounds like mine. The other day he says" I'm so stressed!" I ask why, well I had your birthday and now Christmas! I'm like you have 1 person, I have !0 grand kids and their parents, you and 4 friends to gift! and he's stressed. A couple of years now I have written a list, this year all I asked for was a surprise get away! I'll be older and grayer if I ever get it! He does manage cards. If he had someone to shop for him, I'm sure he wud do it. He is predictable with a gift card for a massage lately. I showed him a sweater I liked and asked him to get it for my birthday. MEN! I have a friend whose husband cud give mine a few lessons on surprises.
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A friend of mine is starting her 6th yr on brand-name Arimidex (she’ll be on it 10 yrs) and reports no side effects whatsoever. My former office mgr. is on generic Femara and reports only hot flashes (she’s nearly 80).
Happy belated birthday, Sandra! (I was born a Sandra, but nobody calls me that any more except judges, hospital registration clerks and the DMV).
Happy Hanukkah (3rd candle tonight--or 3rd lightbulb, for those of you with overly-inquisitive cats fascinated by fire). Made low-carb latkes this morning out of almond meal, coconut flour, baking powder, xylitol packets, eggs, unsweetened vanilla coconut milk, salt & cinnamon (I eyeballed it, so can’t give you quantities except 2 eggs, 4 packets xylitol). Fried in a mix of olive (traditional) and coconut oils till golden brown. Poured a little sugar-free maple-flavored syrup over them (kills me, as I have a couple of jars of the real thing made by a friend in OH with his own grove). Off now to make myself a low-carb cappuccino (equal parts the aforementioned coconut milk and FairLife 2%) before tackling registering for the upcoming Bar Assn. CLE trip to London/Lausanne/Paris this spring and then holiday cards. Been so long since I’ve sent any that I can’t find the address database I made! Gotta go with torn-off return addresses from envelopes and whatever addresses are in my Contacts app.
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Happy Hanukkah - my gift - Yay!
Linda
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Sandy, those latkes sound delicious. And the upcoming trip sounds great, too. Hope you have fun on your travels. Be sure to tell us about the experiences.
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I only had two pages of posts to read in order to catch up! That's a record. Love the beautiful gray cat. He looks so cuddly. Enjoyed the mountain lion story. We can all relate to that one. You all have so much to do at this time of year and even with BC treatments, it's a hectic time but everyone sounds like they are figuring out ways around the hardest parts. I found something recently that I wish I'd known about when my kids were small. Buy only 4 presents: one they want, one they need, one they can wear, and one they can read. Also have only one present from Santa and make sure that's not extravagant. Kids will anxiously tell each other what Santa brought them and it's easy to forget that not all kids get "big" gifts from Santa. The ones that got something small, or sometimes nothing at all, wonder what they did wrong to make Santa angry. It's the beginning of low self esteem. I never thought about that.
ChiSandy, I was called Sandy for years, then changed it to Sandi (no I didn't put the little heart over the i) in high school in order to be "cool." When I began my fledgling singing "career", I kept the Sandi but added a new last name, Lawrence. Later when I got married, I followed the tradition of taking Mike's last name, so there goes another name change. When we moved to Germany in 1981, I decided to drop the Sandy and go back to Sandra. I thought it sounded more grown up and couldn't imagine being called Grandma Sandy someday. (Little did I know I wouldn't have grandchildren.) So I've been Sandra ever since. (One benefit of moving around as the wife of a career Air Force pilot is that every few years you can reinvent yourself if you want to.) We've stayed in touch with many people we were in college with or stationed with over the years as well as relatives so it always tickles me to see how they address a Christmas card. Some say Sandy, others Sandi, and most Sandra. I answer to them all.
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My shopping is done. I have four more packages to wrap and I will probably do that this evening while Dave is at a meeting. YAY!!!!! My 12 year old grandson (Well, he'll be 12 on Dec. 29th) wanted a Nintendo 3DS game and loves Legos. All my grandsons get at least one book and an outfit to wear. It is my son who I had problems with. I may still put a little extra money in a card for him because everyone else got much more than what II found for him.
mysunshine....It won't be long now and we will be headed your way. You are not that far from us. We started out going to Fort Myers Beach which I really love but as we began staying for longer and longer periods of time we moved off the beach because of the terrible traffic congestion and went to the Cape Coral area. We are still close enough to visit the beach and we always have to come over your way to the Dog Racing track. I will have about a week after Christmas to get things packed up and ready to go!
Today is Bunco day....12 crazy ladies throwing dice, laughing hysterically, and pigging out on the good snacks! I guess I should get off here and get ready to go!
Hugs to all of you.
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Patience and diligence, like faith, move mountains. -William Penn
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Rita, two of my neighbors (one now a former neighbor) are members of a bunco group. A couple of years ago I was invited when one of the neighbors was hosting the group. I didn't do too well and it was much too loud and boisterous for me. The food was delicious, though. The neighbor's dh is a very good cook and he had made giant meatballs in sauce to be served over pasta. There were lots of snacks, too. .
This is crazy weather for December. We're having a whole week of sunshine and highs in the 70's. Friday the high will be almost 80. I'm taking advantage of the weather and getting in three days of golf.
Termite, when are you moving to Fl?
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Sandra -- loved the Frosty cartoon.
Rita, glad you are just about done with the shopping and wrapping --- it was always fun interacting around the Christmas tree but someone 'always' had and has to do a lot of work to make it happen. Glad I'm out of all that pretty much. Still I do enjoy hearing how others do things and the fun they have doing for others at such a special time of yr. It is I think sometimes the only time some families get to be together -- so even though we don't do much at all --- I'm glad for those who do.
Bunco is a pretty noisy game overall. Dh and I used to go to our local Moose and play --- 10 or 12 tables going ---ooh talk about noise, but we thought it fun. We just have sort of outgrown it all though. Into many other things so game playing is way low on the list right now.
We seem to be having slightly warmer weather than I expected too -- but often we don't see snow until Christmas or after a bit. We don't count on too much anymore since the global warming weather changes started. We just pray it won't be too bad and try not to get frustrated with rapid changes. Hope it does stay a bit warmer this yr. One good snow is usually sufficient for me.
Jackie
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trying to catch up on all the posts.
Welcome to the new ladies.
Happy belated birthday to those I missed.
We are living with sons right now since our townhouse will not be done for a few months.
Went to dentist today had to have a few teeth pulled. Feeling a little sore and swollen.
Since this has been such a messed up month I can not get in the mood for Xmas. Dh and I decided to only buy for the 10 grandchildren. Since we are not settled anywhere they will get money this year. We have bags of items for the ds and ddil s such as detergent, crochet dish clothes, tools, etc.
Hope everyone is having a good week
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The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness
of the interdependence of all these living beings,
which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.
- Thomas Merton0 -
The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great teachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and to prove and know it a person has but to persist in making him or herself more and more virtuous by lifting up his or her thoughts. -James Allen
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Hmmmm, quiet here. Hope you are all doing fine and just busy. I stayed the night Wednesday night at the physical therapy facility where my little lady was staying --- so a bit out of commission myself. At her age ( 99 ) being placed somewhere new ( though temporary ) can be upsetting so I was there as a buffer to that. She actually did just fine and that was good but everyone ( but the facility ) felt a lot more comfortable having someone on hand that she knew really well just in case. I will go today --- but not sure what will come after that. I haven't found out ( and who would maybe know for sure anyway ) whether there is any idea of just how long my little gal will be at the facility.
She did VERY well during her eval and exercises yesterday. Note to anyone here --- she had such a tremendous backache which was the original reason she stopped all movement mainly and had to go to the hospital in the first place. Turns out all of this came from a UTI. So, for that reason, I think she will do pretty good with her physical rehab processes. All being played by ear just now but that is what I feel.
Otherwise -- we are warm though it is fairly foggy and enough to be drippy here. Hope the fog will go away -- not because ( I think you could see well enough ) of the fog itself, but the drippiness. Lots to do today, but I think it should go fine. Thurs. since I was up so many hours of the night before was a sort of wasted day for me. I came home and got all my chores done and then just vegged out for the most part in my chair. Napped a couple of times briefly, but did go to bed a bit after 9 p.m. and slept all night.
I've never been much of a night person -- though I can do what I have to do, and did at one point work for a couple of years at night. I always hated it though since your first day off is always spent sleeping or your system too sluggish to accomplish much. Some people do thrive on it though. My sister loved being up all night and wouldn't have dreamed of living any other way.
I have always felt that ( though important things do happen ) life happens during the day time and if your not up and about you will just miss a huge portion of it as it is taking place.
Hope you are all going to have a good day and I will be checking back in later. See you then.
Blessings,
Jackie
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Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow. Success depends upon using it wisely—by planning and setting priorities. -Denis Waitely
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Oh Carole and Jackie...You are so right! The Bunco gals can get quite loud but we sure do have fun. I even won this month. That's even more fun!
Termite...hope your mouth is healing well and feeling better each day.
Jackie....glad your lady is recovering well. UTI's can also cause mental confusion in older people, too.
I drove up to DeKalb Illinois yesterday (about a 2 hour drive for me), to visit my Aunt who is in a nursing home up there. I must admit that I don't go as much as I should but she never knows me at first. When I ask her if she knows who I am, she looks at me with a blank look and says, "I should know you. Maybe you are family." After we chatted for about an hour, it finally clicked who I was. I had taken some old family pictures and we spent quite a bit of time looking through them. Just when I thought she had connected better, she said, "Who did you say you were?" I know that she forgot about the visit as soon as I left but that is O.K. I felt good about going and she smiled several times while looking at the pictures, several of which she didn't even recognize at first. So sad......
Well I have a Christmas celebration tonight with a couple of the gals that I taught with and their hubbies so I should get off here and get busy doing something around here. I think laundry would be a good start!
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UTI's can cause lots of problems with seniors especially. I never knew this until months after my moderate brain stem stroke when I had a return of symptoms. In the hospital, they did an MRI to see what new damage there was to the Pons area of my brain stem but it showed no new infarcts! Well then, why was I having vertical nystagmus (eyes going up and down...a symptom of brain stem damage), severe imbalance and misbehaving hearing all of the sudden? (Brain stem stokes affect your eyes, ears, voice, and balance.) The internal medicine docs and neurologist tested for a UTI even though I had no symtoms and lo and behold, I had one. They explained that if people who've had a stroke get either a UTI, pneumonia, or a blood infection, they develop Unmasking Syndrome. The brain thinks you are having another stroke and "unmasks" the previous symptoms. The docs said it's common in nursing homes where family members might be told their loved one had a stroke but they didn't at all. They said most physicians have never heard of it because unless you deal with internal medicine, elderly patients, or are a neurologist, you would have no reason to know about it. The symptoms displayed are exactly like having a stroke and the only way you can tell for sure is an MRI. It takes about a week for symptoms to go away.
I've had it happen several times since my stroke nearly 3 years ago and it's always agonizing...do I go to the ER and face three days in the hospital or take my chances that it's unmasking syndrome again? I give it a day, then go get it checked. So far, so good.
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Ritajean, That was so nice of you to drive 4 hours round trip for a visit with your aunt. My mom had Dimentia and she would respond the same way. Even if she did forget you were even there, after you left, you gave her some quality time. You are a good person.
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Jackie, I hope your elderly patient gets better. She's fortunate to have caring family and very fortunate to have you as a caregiver.
Rita, that was good of you to visit your aunt.
Nothing exciting going on around here. DH was off early to the golf course for day two of a final men's golf assoc. tournament. This afternoon at 3 pm we're attending a Christmas concert at St. Timothy's Methodist Church. It is always wonderful so I'm looking forward to going. We'll have an early dinner afterwards with another couple.
It has been very warm for December. I would enjoy some cooler winter weather.
Happy Sunday to everyone.
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Whatever you're thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you're worrying, you are planning. When you're appreciating, you are planning. What are you planning?
Abraham0 -
Good morning,
It is once again quite warm here --- maybe rain this afternoon due to it --- coming up from the south. Like Carole, this is not our usual winter weather, but having said that --- it can change dramatically in a very short while. I don't mind the changes --- actually expect it, but I prefer for them to be gradual if possible. That way -- hopefully no one has to 'suffer' too much in a 24 hour period.
Rita, the nicest thing about the things we do ( especially for people we love, be it family members or friends, or even some strangers ) is knowing that we were willing and able to reach out and give a part of our heart to someone else for a time. These things are never wasted as they make the person we reach out too feel some humanity just as it deepens ours. Maybe they don't feel it on an intense level but something inside them will know and hopefully that is enough for both participants.
I do care very much about my little lady ( though for her age she can be very obstinate at times ) and it has bothered me the last couple of yrs. watching some of the deterioration. Still, that is what always happens given enough time so just have to be brave about whatever goes. I do think she is going to get much better here though with her therapy. I have a little bit of candy ( can't give her too much or she will gobble it down and not eat her meal -- like a kid ) to take her today. She can be as well very sweet -- especially if you try to give her the impression that she has been in charge the whole time you were tending to her. Little adjustments. It works out ok.
Hope you are all going to have a good day -- I'll be back later on.
Blessings
Jackie
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Hi everyone,
Sad to say, we are having really yucky weather here in So Fla. The sun peeks out occasionally, but we have had constant rain, it seems like for weeks. My DGS's 7th birthday party started at 11this morning and we were home by 12:30, soaked to the skin. He and his sister spent the night last night and we had a fun time watching Christmas movies and cartoons. Their favorite TV show when we go to bed is "Father Knows Best" I keep a couple of episodes on my DVR for them. Good TV is still good TV.
I was done with all my shopping for the grandchildren, but had no idea what to get my kids. My oldest called one day and suggested I get her a pressure cooker- apparently, her fellow workers love theirs. So, along the lines of "what's good for the goose is good for the gander", I bought 3 pressure cookers: one for her, one for my oldest son and one for my daughter that lives in the warehouse. I bought them each a cookbook as well, including a vegan one for my son's wife. I know what I want to get for the daughter I live with, leaving only my son and his fiancée and I have no ideas for them at all.
Found out yesterday that both babies on the way are girls. One in March, the other in June. Oh, the shopping I could do.
I'm in that mixed up place I find myself in way too often. I am so excited to go to my son's Fri to spend Christmas with Lucia. But at the same time, I am very sad at leaving home again, and I won't be back till late Jan- early Feb, in time for Jamie's baby shower. My grandkids down here really count on me for stability and encouragement, and I enjoy every minute we spend together. Once I come home in Feb, though, I should be here until late July- early Aug, because of the babies being born and my youngest's son's wedding. I am also adding my son in So Carolina as a real "home away from home" instead of a place to spend a weekend at while I am in Ga. His wife, with all her moods and issues, doesn't work, and between she and their 2 1/2 year old, it's becoming a favorite place to be, rather than going to keep the peace. My oldest DD is coming over Christmas Eve, but leaving right after breakfast Christmas Day.I told her I do not want to leave that soon, even though I will have been at my son's for a full week by then. I want to see Lucia open all her gifts and play with some of them. We finally agreed that they would bring two cars over, and I will stay 2 more days. I can't stay longer than that because I have Dr appts the week between Christmas and New Years. She's not happy, because she thinks I get the most rest at her house, but I also get very bored.
Hope you all have a good Sunday,
Anne
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Courage begins when we can admit that there is no life without some pain, some frustration; that there is no tragic accident to which we are immune; and that beyond the normal exercise of prudence we can do nothing about it. But courage goes on to see that the triumph of life is not in pains avoided, but in joys lived completely in the moment of their happening. Courage lies in never taking so much as a good meal or a day of health and fair weather for granted. It lies in learning to be aware of our moments of happiness as sharply as our moments of pain. We need not be afraid to weep when we have cause to weep, so long as we can really rejoice at every cause for rejoicing. -Victoria Lincoln
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Good morning. It is rainy and windy here this morning. Was raining when I went to bed last night. Wow !!!! It will make it colder after it is done, but what a lead-up to Christmas. I need to handle some finishing items for the holiday -- mainly little things. Still it will take time out from some of the chores left un-done from yesterday. Went over and helped a friend with a problem. So, I got home later than I hoped and didn't much feel like starting a project then. Well, hopefully things will go ok here when I get started.
Hope your weather has gotten better Anne. The yucky stuff is not fun -- no matter what state or how nice it CAN be at any given time. Like most people, just the name Fla. or Calif. conjure up nicer weather almost all the time, but I lived in southern Calif. for 25 yrs. and I know it is not all that nice a lot of the time. There are seasons there actually, but they are fairly subtle. In the winter it rains ( not lately though ) and rains and rains. When my kids were small and going to school --- each at different times --- I would be in and out 4 to 8 times a day. I jokingly said I spent weeks never quite dry. Taking kids to school, picking them up, and in order to keep the car for this having to go out at lunch time and pick up my Dh and take him back to work after lunch. In the meantime --- running to pay bills or go for groceries and I was out in the rain several times a day.
So nothing new here for me --- just the usual work, but I'm not complaining. Was going to stop in and see my little gal, but I don't know --- I'd sort of hate having to turn up too bedraggled from the rain. I'm hoping it is not going to actually be an all day thing, but we watched a different news program and not sure how their "forecasts" range.
Mailing out some cards today. I only send to people who send to me. I use to send out tons of cards, and usually with a personal letter -- but I don't have the time, money or stamina to do that anymore. The cost of postage for all but a couple of bills is very prohibitive, especially if you have a computer. I do admire people who can still 'keep' in touch that way, but I'm well past now.
Hope you are all going to have a good day. Thinking of you as always.
Blessings
Jackie
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Jackie, I loved the post from Victoria Lincoln. So true. BC makes us see that even more!
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All the forecasts for a stormy Sunday didn't prove true. We had about 1/2 in. of rain last night and then today it was back to sunny weather, but more comfortable with lower humidity. The weather man is promising we'll start getting some more typical Dec. weather.
I started the week off right. Went to the gym and walked 20 min. on the elliptical and 20 min. on the treadmill. Worked up a sweat. Then I ate healthy today and did NOT have a cocktail tonight. Nor did dh. He's good about supporting me when I'm trying to abstain for weight loss purposes.
All in all, today was a good Monday. I have the Christmas presents for the neighbors ready to deliver. I'll need to get more gift bags to finish up the presents for my family. I still need to buy some gifts or purchase some gift cards for my niece's three children. I'm hoping their father cooperates in making it possible for them to come to our family dinner on Christmas day.
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Miracles happen everyday,
change your perception of what a miracle is
and you'll see them all around you.
- Jon Bon Jovi0 -
Mysunshine, glad you could identify with the quote. I think it is one of the BIGGEST reasons I sooo enjoy quotes. Parts of me must have gotten separated at some point in time and I guess I didn't notice until all of a sudden I realized way too much non-participation was coming out of me. I was alive, but no longer living -- at least on any decent level. When I started reading quotes, thinking about what they said and finding some identification points in them, I did a lot of waking up.
As you aptly stated --- the cancer dx had a whole lot to do with that. I don't want to just exist -- just put in my time. I want to add something again to being here. It may be small and sometimes seem a bit inconsequential in the scheme of things but it is fabulous to re-learn that we are ALL here for a reason and all the little things we do our whole life long will be one gigantic thing in the end. It is all important --- and I do think the more you can feel and understand, appreciate and be grateful for along the way, the nicer and more acceptable those little inconsequential things along with your days become. You become the important person that you really are. You start to see the miracles and feel the life inside of you.
A bit dreary looking here but still warm. I sometimes ( other than if I know I'm going out for sure ) don't bother with more than a glance at our weather because who really knows. We often don't get much of what they say or twice what they say so it is easier to just go along and get along.
Carole, I wish I had some of your discipline right now, but listening to you does inspire me to try and be a bit more serious about my diet and exercise. So easy this time of yr. to skip things. Today I will go to work so I will be skipping -- again, but I will hopefully keep in mind how I felt when I read what you wrote.
Hope you are all going to have a really good day. I'm going to work at the Manor for awhile to sit with my little lady --- so that will curb my exercise right there. It will be good to see her though.
Jackie
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Jackie, I also enjoy your quotes. This one speaks to me today.
Miracles happen everyday,
change your perception of what a miracle is
and you'll see them all around you.
- Jon Bon JoviI am a survivor. Today is my radiation simulation and I get my RO nurse to answer my questions about lotions (and potions, hehe).
Met with a counselor yesterday and she said to think of it in a positive way, so I'm thinking of healing rays coming down over me in my breast cancer recovery.
Sure, I'm a little nervous. But, I was nervous for the surgery too and I got through that OK. And G-d will get me through this part.
I like that my recovery journey is one part at a time; first it was MRI, surgery, then radiation. After that comes the visit to the medical oncologist and choices about hormone therapy. When it's broken up into smaller pieces, I handle it better.
The weather has been in the 40s and 50s here. I missed it but on Sun. it got into the 60s (was doing house stuff and paperwork). Now it's getting back into the upper 30s, which isn't bad for IL in December.
Wishing you all healing and recovery with joy. (I need more joy in my life).
Linda
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Linda, I think you will find that the radiation isn't really that bad!
I wrote a long post yesterday and then POOF! I don't know what happened but it just disappeared before I got it sent. At that point my patience was gone so I just walked away from the computer. That makes me so frustrated when that happens.
Anne, I alway loved "Father Knows Best." I think it was my favorite television show as a child.
An older lady at our church (90 years old) has pneumonia. She wasn't at church on Sunday which is really rare so I checked on her. She is at home and not in the hospital so I am taking her dinner tonight....nothing fancy, just chili, cheese and crackers,and a little tossed salad. She has lots of family but lives alone still. I hope she recovers from this as she has always been pretty active!
Well the dryer just buzzed and I want to get those clothes out before they wrinkle. Catch you all tomorrow.
Rita
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Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
- Pema Chodron0
