Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Every time I hear & watch this, I am thankful...........
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Hi everyone. Thought I'd check in. Been reading but too ill to post. I think my BC is truly the gift that won't quit giving. Last Sunday I was asked to sing a special at the End of our church service. I had been having some skipped heartbeats (usual for me) and felt very tired but hated to say no. So at the end of my song I had a light heart attack. But hard headed me was in denial and made my way home rolled around in bed till evening then decided to let my sweet daughter carry my 40 miles to the ER. After 2 1/2 days in the hospital, an angiogram 2 d echo and multiple blood tests, I was diagnosed with Jacosubot Cardiomyopathy Syndrome. Get this: common name broken heart syndrome. Thought to be caused from stress related from my cancer DX. No severe blockages. Lots of BP meds and low salt diet then discharged. I am not 100% convinced ofthat DX since I have a sister and several cousins who have had the same thing. I think it's a defect I've inherited. Anyway sent home when all cardiac enzymes returned to safe levels and go back In Feb for more tests. Told to only rest no more exercise than light walking and monitor weight. Oh my what a year
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And oh yes yesterday we had not one but two tornadoes, a flood of rain, 70 degrees, terrible wind, temp dropped to 19 this morning. Cold windy icy patches now. Like they say about Missouri if you don't like the weather hear just stick around a couple hours and it will change.
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I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.
- Rabindranath Tagore0 -
All I can say is 'youse' gals. S. Sally I'm relieved that you finally decided to get yourself to some medical people to figure you all out. Stoic people sometimes I think do have trouble owning up to some of the parts that try to be lax on the job now and then. I'm with you on that DX as sometimes we really do know. Not so much more than the Dr.'s but more of the whys and hows. I'm also convinced to a degree that our family ( shared genes ) do match up well enough to put us in a position to have similar illnesses. I'm hoping those things you do from now on will get you right as rain.
Hard to believe ( even though I'm your neighbor so to speak ) about your weather. Especially the 70 degrees as we here over in Illinois have been weathering the cold for several days and have a light layer of snow on the ground as we speak. The sun it out which may do a lot of that in --- we will see.
Chevy, yes --- do put proper footwear on if you attempt some of those things that aren't so easy for some of us as it used to be. Sure, you know I'm not saying anything about age because we don't need too many reminders. I help now and then with snow around here. We have ( since we use mainly the side door and have for years ) a lot of shoveling that needs to take place. The deck which is large and has a set of steps both sides. Left side is shorter amt. of wooden walk-way, but the right is much longer and leads to the parking area in front of our house. We have thought of putting up an awning there to help with how much snow accumulates. Didn't get that done this yr. with having to replace the furnace. Our four car garage was actually a huge awning starting out here when we first bought the house --- then we framed sides, front, and back and filled it all in with a double garage door on back and mid-sized single on the front making it a drive-thru garage. Guess what --- neither of us ever "drove" through. Dh always had too many things in the way so it was drive in the back and back out of the back. It was still a good idea.
Hope you all have a great Sunday.
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We had about 6-7 inches of snow here and was in the 20s yesterday. DH spent the afternoon on his tractor plowing the drive. Had to use it on the walk as the blower wudn't start. I had been having skipped heart beats also, Sally! Never heard of the diagnosis you received. that is usual for me, also , but this time it was constant at varying intervals, plus racing heart, which except for a few episodes , usually from steroids, Has almost been eliminated since I went no caffeine! Anyway finding no reason for the tachycardia and the addition of more missed beats than I ever had, went to the urgicare , to spend the rest of my Saturday. They ended up doing a CT, since my d-dimer blood work was elevated and since I had a Pulmonary embolism 2 years ago. Nothing was found on the CT, for which I was thankful, but they need to find out why the blood work was quite elevated. Heart rate has calmed down, so see the lung dr and cardiologist tomorrow.
Today the temps are headed to 50 with some rain and the snow is yucky and dirty. Supposed to get another cold front, this evening ,and roads will be icy. Guess we eat dinner at home. Packages are mailed and received to the grands, finally decorated the tree and wrapped all but Step daughters family's gifts. Sure wish we had more family to share Christmas. MOst of the church group has moved south. Think we will be here forever! As we say, growing old is such fun!
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Jackie, Just a thought. If the wind direction is consistent when it snows, a hedge or small fence might help keep the walk clear. The hardest thing when we moved here was to look south for the approaching weather. Most of ours comes from the southwest. In Texas and Okla it was always from the north.
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Bonnets.... Your post brought back memories of my problems with my racing heart... It was off & on! First time was when I was really stressed at SF airport, picking up my little Grand-son... And having coffee & hot chocolate, and my Dad being drunk.... I thought I would pass out going across the SFOBB ! TWICE! Got back to Dad's place, because I knew the 11 year old couldn't drive, any more than my DAD!
A few more times of almost "passing out" with racing heart.... I went in for tests.... Wore a Holter monitor... then another kind.... Nothing showed! After a stress-test, they figured out it was plain old nerves! They can really hurt you, even when you don't think you are stressed! So much going on in my life at that time! My Mom had passed, I was "in charge" of my Dad, & Grand-son... And I felt like I was the only adult!........ but your nerves & stress build up & cause a lot of bad things to happen.
I drink de-caf in the mornings, but regular coffee if we go to Starbucks.... That can really make rapid heart-beat worse!
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Yup Chevy, I went off all caffeine more than a year ago, added a little chocolate a while ago, which I can tolerate. Made the biggest difference in my life, since then had 4 episodes, 2 related to steroids. the other 2, as with yesterday, cant figute out. Drs are never worried cuz it is sinus rhythm. I pay attention to it though, as it was the only symptom when I had the PE 2 years ago! Yesterday there was an increase in my usual missed beats too! When I was having tachy every day , before I gave up any caffeine, I wore a Holter for 2 weeks.
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Chevy, so glad you are back! You always make me laugh. Seeing the snow angel video of the dog along the fence and then sliding down the hill just cracked me up. The little girl in the pink snowsuit was just too cute!
Jo
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Sally, Bob (a cardiologist) says he sees a lot of “broken heart syndrome,” usually in those recently bereaved—and more often in widowers than in widows. Yours may be partly panic attacks from PSTD, which is not rare in people blindsided by a cancer dx and all the stress of treatment. Could be a SE of Arimidex, or even excess calcium (which in high enough amounts can be cardiotoxic—Bob wants me to take a “calcium vacation” for a weekend every couple of weeks or so).
I’ve had three palpitation episodes—the first was when I was about to go on tour to CO, WY and OR. Bob insisted on schlepping me to the ER for an EKG and troponin levels. However, they couldn’t get an I.V. started (on either arm—this was pre-bc), and by the time they drew a blood sample, the EKG showed plain ol’ sinus rhythm. Maybe I’d been apprehensive about how I was going to be able to transport my instruments in-flight (and I’d had a couple glasses of wine at dinner). Went on tour as planned. The next time was a few months later when we were visiting NYC. My partner & I had driven down from the Catskills, where we’d attended a folk music conference, to Garden City, LI, to meet up with Bob & Gordy. (I was still on a Medrol dosepak and a Z-Pack for a nasty case of allergic bronchitis uncontrolled by my inhaler & nebulizer). We went to visit the family graves in Flushing and Plainview, and then Bob & Gordy flew home. My partner & I went out to a Portuguese restaurant in Mineola, ate like horses and still had leftovers. We also split a half-carafe of vinho verde. Got back to the hotel and a couple of hours later felt a bit peckish and was about to nuke some of my food when I had a palpitation episode. I chalked it up to the stress of having to transfer the data from my dying MacBook Pro to a new one we’d bought that afternoon. Half an hour later I was fine. On the way back home, we stayed overnight in a hotel in Clearfield, PA…next door to a hospital. I joked that if I had another episode, all I’d have to do was walk across the parking lot. Fortunately, nothing happened. But a few months after that, I had a really bad early spring chest cold that turned into bacterial bronchitis—and back I went on the Z-Pack. At an Oscar-night party, with several glasses of wine, I had the palpitations again. Told Bob, who said not to drink while on Zithromax. It never happened again. But last Feb. when I had bad bronchitis again, my PCP was on vacation, his on-call sub was about to prescribe a Z-Pack, and I casually mentioned the palpitations. Thought he’d just tell me to avoid alcohol. Instead, he said that at my age Zithromax could cause a serious or even fatal arrhythmia, and I should never take it again, period. Great—that makes FOUR antibiotics I can never take again (penicillin, sulfa, Cipro or Zithromax).
Chevy, ouch ouch OUCH! How’s your knee now? Gonna see an ortho just to make sure? Did you know that last week an NFL player was fined for making snow angels in the end zone, as “excessive celebration?” Oy.
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Sandy, your info about the z-pack is handy to know , with my tachy and palpitation history. The Saturday episode lasted from 2 til I went to bed. Never had one last like that, plus tachy, which has been sooo much better, since no caffeine! I have had z-pack with no side effects, except when they added prednisone, bad tachy from that one.
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Yeah, I don't have those episodes anymore! Not even when I take an antibiotic for Asthma/Infections! They always give me the Z-Pack also....
But I landed on so many places at once, nothing hurts! NOT like when I fell on my hip. Man that hurt! I could have just laid in the alley, but I felt like such a "help, I can't get up" person, that I HAD to get up! It's rather difficult, when something is really broken. But we got it fixed.
THIS time when I fell, it was frontwards, but I rolled over on my butt, like where the black-top dipped, and I was up against the fence, like in a recliner! And no way I could get up! But I'm sure if I had to stay there long enough I would have figured it out.... even if I had to scoot around ..... It's funny now, because I didn't get hurt! There was so much ice, I couldn't get any traction.... Hah!
Sandy, I saw that Bronco player SLAM down the Quarter-back, AFTER the play! A 15 yard penalty wasn't enough, I don't think! Some of those guys are just jerks! For what they get paid, I would expect a little higher standard for these guys! Oh! And then what's-his-name the "MVP" for whining about his "girl-friend" wanting to make money off of THEIR sex tape???? He okay'd the taping, but resented being extorted???? These MEN need lessons in growing up. (Brandon Marshall) MVP....???? Hah! Yeah, he is an MVP alright..... just not in MY book
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I believe that life is given us so we may grow in love, and I believe
that God is in me as the sun is in the colour and fragrance
of a flower--the Light in my darkness, the Voice in my silence.
Helen Keller0 -
Morning --- some sun out there but it is 4 degrees. Well might I just say brr. Most of the chores are done save for going out soon and feeding feral cats. Had a great afternoon yesterday. Went and visited with my Aunt --- all that remains of my family as far as Aunts and Uncles on my Mom's side. Likely the other side too. In Oct. my Aunt was 98. She lives in a Sr. retirement center here in one of their duplexes. They are quite nice actually. She gets around fine though does not drive anymore and hasn't for some time. Sharp as a tack still. Hard to believe out of 7 children in the family --- she is the one left.
Some negative news this morning as well. Dh was to go to work at 1 p.m. today but his boss called just a short while ago. The store burned down last night. Too soon to know for sure but one side of the store was a "Mattress Mart" so plenty of 'fuel' I guess for the fire. Sure changes our outlook on things. I know that the owners have been doing some dealing on the hometown store here in Centralia. Maybe those negotiations might bear fruit now, and if so hopefully a lot quicker than it has been going. Fire Marshalls are still looking for the problem so we won't know much for some time I guess.
At any rate --- we are in a holding pattern for now. No un-necessary expenditures. We will do okay, but it will be tight.
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I'm so sorry Jackie! Yes, we never know what tomorrow will bring! Things can change in an instant..... Just like when I told Janie, when she was struggling.... Don't buy any magazines, subscribe to anything, or buy anything you don't need.... especially on any credit card. I remember buying groceries for 2 weeks worth of meals.... And making a menu to use for planning meals, and just how much we could spend.
I remember when I had back surgery years ago, and I had I think 3 charge accounts at stores! When you aren't working, you can't pay them! That's when I learned to pay off EVERYthing, and never open another charge account. Also cut up any charge cards you have.... or hide one for an emergency. If you can live with only one card, it would be a debit card.... money coming from an account that you have money in!
My older neighbor lived that way.... She had SS coming in, but thought charge cards would help her more... She finally had her house foreclosed on, called into court for her credit card debt. THEN she tried to rent out her house, after she moved into a section 8 apt. but the BANK said, 'NO you can't do that.... it is ours now!" She really was smarter than that, and had been a Realtor, but she tried to get away with something....
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Jackie, bummer about the store burning down. I doubt it was arson from the mattress store next door—because mattress stores have the lowest overhead of any brick & mortar business: no inventory necessary, just floor samples; no stockroom; only one employee on the premises; and contract with an outside delivery service. Between the bedbug epidemic and the b.s. that you have to replace your mattress every 8 yrs. (so why does Tempur-Pedic have a 20-yr warranty?), mattresses practically sell themselves. And you typically see those stores in clusters—when people shop for mattresses, they rarely buy the first one they see, and nobody wants to lose a sale to a store two miles away. Sorta like “auto row" of yore.
Got down to -8 by the lake (-13 inland!) this a.m., but we're outta the deep-freeze for at least the next week (and NY & DC will be in the low 40s when we're there). We’re looking at a wet Christmas no matter where we are this coming week.
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It's possible to have too much in life. Too many clothes jade our appreciation for new ones; too much money can put us out of touch with life; too much free time can dull the edge of the soul.We need sometimes to come very near the bone so that we can taste the marrow of life rather than its superfluities.
Joan Chittister0 -
Okay -- my panic has lifted. Dh got a job yesterday and will likely be coming back to the Hometown store here. The owners of the one that burned ( while likely continuing on in business ) are not sure if they want to renew having a hometown Sears store or just go back to a "Mattress Mart " only. They have had a "Mattress Mart" for many years as it is quite lucrative. So, that is still to be determined. Dh talked with them yesterday before applying at the Hometown store that remains here.
It seems the people here are, as is so often the case, as in need as anyone for 'reliable' people who pretty much know the overall business inside and out and only need to learn "owners" preferences within that. So, I do think he will be able to go back to work. He won't make as much money ( in ways that may not be bad so we can stay maybe in a better tax bracket ) as he did in Mt. Vernon since he won't get the high commissions that he was getting by selling the mattresses. Sort of yells big mark-ups to me, but whatever.
Like many people, I bought a new set a few years back ( like maybe 5 ) and pretty well knew from the first that I would also buy a three inch memory gel foam topper for it which I did. So only slept directly on it one night --- and it wasn't a good night at all. I'm on my 2nd. gel memory foam too. I had the other one all over the bed. I think I would get extra wear and tear if I could train myself to sleep on both sides of the bed but some things elude me.
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As a television or radio antenna stretches upward to capture symphonies from the sky, so you, through meditation and prayer, can stretch your spirit upward to receive God's immortal music in your life. To be spiritually vertical means to keep constantly stretching upward toward life's highest good—towards love, faith, courage, hope, and joy. - Wilferd A. Peterson
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Just caught up on a couple of days of posts. Chevy, I'm SO relieved that you didn't hurt yourself falling in the snow. I agree with those who said that having you and Ducky around is definitely a pleasure.
Jackie, good news that your dh quickly found another job. I would guess that he's a very good employee.
Our forecast for Christmas day is now high 70's maybe up to 80 degrees. My sister will probably be running the a/c.
My mother is running a low temperature today and complaining of a sore throat. I hope she's feeling well enough by Sunday to join the family at my sister's house for dinner.
Today I need to go to the supermarket with a list. Yes, Jackie, I rely on lists at this stage of the game! My youngest brother, his wife and daughter will be in town from OK for several days and they are invited to dinner here on Friday night. Also, I will be cooking for Christmas day's meal. I'm planning to get some of the preparation done on Saturday and the rest on Sunday morning.
Happy Wednesday to all.
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Puffin, I forgot to say that dh and I think of you when we see the weather reports on MN and ND.
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Was 12 degrees when I got up! Now its up to 40! Been wrestling with my prescription company to cover my Flo Nase for my allergies. DOn't want to try a new one, since I seem to have palpitation/ tachy with steroids, and I dont have any problem with the Flo nase. Im in the dreaded donut hole, plus found out the generic is more expensive than the brand name! Really weird!
Tried to get an appt for a haircut. My 25 year beautician retired and I still haven't found a replacement that I like. Since I cudn't do that I baked Gluten free chocoate chip cookies for Christmas. Tried one, yummy!.Quiet Christmas, wish more of my family were near.Got the presents wrapped. DH always says, when I ask what he wud like," Don't need nothing", so this year I found a gift, marked a jar of NOTHING! I hid his presents and will give him that first. Want to see his reaction. He is always joking, my turn!
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"Maybe the reason nothing seems to be 'fixing you' is because you're not broken. Let today be the day you stop living within the confines of how others define or judge you. You have a unique beauty and purpose; live accordingly."
-- Steve Maraboli0 -
Jackie, congrats on DH's new job (and your ability to see the silver lining in everything). What a difference a few days makes: Monday it was -25 wind chills (-13 air temp); this morning when we left Chi it was in the 30s--and landed in NYC with the temps near 50! We'll be walking to Ruth's Chris 1/2 mi. away (because of you-know-who's barricades, a taxi would take longer) to have dinner with our best man/Bob's BFF since HS.
Definitely in remission from my LE--didn't wear compression on the flight and my ring slipped off!
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Yes, what a difference a few hours or a day can make. We had a beautiful day today -- just fantastic. Not too hot or cold and not much for wind and there was plenty of sun. Just my kind of day. Sounds like you have weather to be happy with as well C Sandy and what can I say --- I don't have lymphedema and hope I never do, but I've always had my ring finger grow in size --- usually through the night. So, reluctantly I got it enlarged a size bigger, but often have to watch out. I have knuckles that generally hold the ring on though it sometimes twirls quite nice. Glad the LE gave you some peace. Wonderful when that happens. Enjoy your dinner.
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Morning gals...... Well it's a little warmer this morning... 23 so far! It's funny, how anything over 0 feels so much better! We don't get that many days of that frosty weather, but just thankful when they are gone.
Have to run back to Costco.... Ordered my new hearing aids there, but evidently I made the check out wrong.... Both places on the check have to "match", and when I wrote out the amount, I must have done it wrong! They didn't catch it, until that afternoon... I'll try agan today... Either I need a lesson in making out checks, or I need my eyes checked! Maybe I'll just take my debit-card !!! Or have them fill out the check electronically! It makes it harder when it isn't an even number.... And how do you write out $ Two thousand five hundred and 93/100 cents???? Isn't that right? Or is it Two thousand five hundred dollars and 93/100 cents??? She said the amount, and the written amount have to match.... I thought they did.
I'm sure I'll LEARN! I NEVER use checks! And don't you hate to get in back of someone at the check-out line, like me for example, and they don't have their checks already made out except for the amount? Hah!
Congratulations to you Jackie and your DH! And for my Daughter too! She asked for a transfer to a store right by her house, and GOT it! She has 37 years service with King Soopers mostly in Floral, and a gal was leaving, so she asked for the transfer! Now instead of driving like 20 miles a day, each way.... she could WALK to this store if she HAD to!
Okay Sandy, and any of you other gals.... I've been wearing compression stockings for maybe 5 years now... because my LEFT leg, same side as my Lumpectomy side, has always swollen up... On top of that I then fell & broke my hip on that side, and after the surgery/rod/screws, it was even worse. Isn't it possible that it IS Lymphedema, and not Edema? If I go without the compression stockings for a day or so, sometimes my lower leg, on the outside, gets so sore, and it swells down into my ankle. I wear them day & night usually. I was afraid it was a blood clot... but she said it wasn't...
Seems like when you ask a PC about something, if you aren't having a flare-up, they don't have a clue.......
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And no, I took a check out of my check book, so I didn't have a carbon "copy" and I don't know what I did.... Hah!
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Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind.
To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy,
is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
Calvin Coolidge0
