MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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If only I had had the time to think things out and research. I don't know if I would have done anything different, but it would have been nice to have a game plan and go in armed with information.
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Here's my latest, a re-post from the Vit. D thread:
Long story short: After doctor ordered wrong test in Jan., got the correct (25-OH-D) testing done last week. The Med-Onc, who drew the blood, referred me to an endocrinologist due to severe low level of D2. HE DID NOT KNOW HOW TO READ THE REPORT CORRECTLY. One line had D2 at <4.0. Next line D3 at 39. Last line (that was total, but did not say total) said Vit. D 25-Hydroxy and had 39 again. (Normal range is 25-80 ng/mL.) Between the Vit. D thread and Google, I knew I did not need to see a freakin' endocrinologist.
I asked the Med-Onc. to make a simple call to the lab., just to ask about interpretation and whether the third line WAS, in fact, A TOTAL. They would not even do that. I called both my local lab and Mayo, where it was sent out to. They confirmed that, yes, the third line was my total, and within normal range. WHAT A COMEDY OF ERRORS! So, I'm going to sun and supplement to get closer to the upper range of 80. I'll get my level checked again in six months. Losing confidence in and respect for my Med-Onc unfortunately.
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Other than that, just celebrating the h.s. graduation of "Thing 2," my younger son, my baby. Geez, I'm getting old. (In this context, make sure to pronounce that like the "geez" in "geezer.")
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elimar,
Congrats on your sons graduation! My "baby" will be 20 in August. It's truly amazing how quickly time goes...
Linda
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Well gang o' mine: I will be off the grid this weekend. Going to Eugene, OR tonight to visit my sis & then tomorrow AM, taking my daughter to Willamette University in Salem, OR for a leadership conference. She was chosen from her sophomore class to represent her school at the annual HOBY conference. Fairly big honor & will look good on college aps. While she's doing that all day, I'm traveling around to a couple small towns in the area that my paternal side of the family is from & visiting cemetaries to take photos of tombstones etc. to give to my dad, who is in mid-stage Alzheimers but remembers events, with clarity from years ago. I think he will be able to appreciate them still. See ya later-have a great weekend! Joni
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Good for your daughter! Enjoy your travels, Eph3_12.0
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Elimar, how quickly they grow. My baby just moved out about 10 days ago. I thought the day would never come, but now the days are flying past.0
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Elimar - love the picture!! We look well!!
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thanks for the responses. 'Pre-cancer', hmm hadnt quite gotten to that place yet. Was still thinking in terms of 'high risk'. Sounds so much more eminant. Though I know its not, even 'high risk' still brings me to the place of wondering what to do. Do I wait , getting regular exams and mamos and wait, potentially lettting something get out of hand? Weighting the emotional long term stress of always wondering if my world is going to change with a biannual check up.
Theres also the question for me that arises because of the "pre" part and not faced with the 'have to" is the actual complications from implants. Theres always a choice to not have to get them of course, not sure I could do that. Am I putting myself a risk for other cancers by putting in implants. Theres definately issues with implants on their own. I know nothing, its not all done though is it? Do you have to get mamos after masectomies? with implants? Does it make it more challenging to detect? Do you have to have them changed (shelf life)?
lol It did make me laugh reading someones tag "Of course there fake! My other ones tried to kill me! " but as I type this, its making me cry.Crap.
Thanks for listening,I know I've got it good compared to others, I have time and options.
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Blushing *** That was your quote Kate33! Thank you! It made me smile.
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Blushing *** That was your quote Kate33! Thank you! It made me smile.
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Back home safe & sound. Rachel had awesome time, met highly motivated kids from across the state & even got to see a girl who used to go to our church, but moved away a couple years ago; she was representing her school. And while I was waiting for it to get over, the parents of that girl came into the building & we got to enjoy a mini-reunion. I found all the relatives in their respective resting places, got photos of those "happy" things and then pics of my dad's grade school & high school, our old house, etc. Very grateful that I had the opportunity to do this-Dad's bday & of course Father's Day are next month, so I'm chomping at the bit to get time to do some scrapbooking!
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How neat Eph3 12 for both your daughter and for your dad. I know how difficult dealing with and Alzheimers. We lost my DH dad last year to kidney failure and he had advanced Alzheimers. He kept telling the same story over and over again and towards the end he didn't know who we were but that we were there to help us. He loved his pictures and each one came with a story.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Did yard work in 90 degree temps. and jumped into the neighborhood pool. I wouldn't go near it last year on chemo and it was nice to get back in the swim of things.
My kids are growing up and we have a few milestones this week. My middle one turns 21. She is in Daytona with a group from school and went to Disney yesterday. My oldest is moving away for an internship in California. I am so scared and yet excited for him. He's driving from Ga. to Cal. and he doesn't have much idea on the internship. He's a screen script writer and I guess in LA it's pretty much show up and go. I need to cut that apron string but it's been hard.
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My yard looks so good after a full day of work on Saturday. My shoulders are beet red and sore. Guess the temp was pretty comfy and I didn't even think of sunscreen. I finished my beet crop so I have an open plot, what to plant, what to plant?
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Don't like the sunburn - we had a beautiful weekend and my college teen worked all weekend outside - he is also beet red. I gave him some of my cream from radiation to help heal his skin and then did my USUAL reminder about sun block. You'd think that at age 19 and after two years working this outside job AND after a year in college he actually would have improved on the smarts!
Have you planted peppers Meece? Those are my favorites!
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I was pruning and mulching too, but there's always tons more to do. There is as much yard work here as I care to do on any given week throughout summer. I've lowered my expectations on getting it to look great, and settle on either "pretty good" or the old standby "better than it was."
It's a losing battle for me with the weeds and insects. That's why I don't have much of a garden. Love homegrown tomatoes. For years I could only get a few; they would die off just as the fruit was coming on. Found out that the giant walnut trees in my yard, with their giant canopies were responsible. You can't have tomatoes planted anywhere within the drip line of those trees because the natural walnut chemicals are like a poison to the tomatoes. I'd cut those trees down, but I like the shade and even one tree would cost hundreds to fell. I can hear you thinking: Container gardening. Tried it, but the tomatoes were small and I don't think they tasted as good either. Love zucchini. So do the vine bores.
This year I have some herbs out there and green beans. The only thing that puts the beans in peril are the bunnies and they can be fenced out. I envy Meece (or really any of you that has black soil to plant in) 'cause her garden sounds fabulous. I have another hobby. Making rock gardens. From rocks that come out of my garden.
Meece, later in the year, you should post a picture of your garden.
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The only gardens I have are flower gardens and it's a fight with the deer every year for the flowers. Like Elimar, can't do veggies and have tried every which way. We have a lovely farmers market in town on Thursdays and the city market in Lansing is open everyday so I'll stick with the local farmers veggies. We have 10 acres (a lovely piece of property) but have to keep the flowers close to the house so I try to do easy to care for perineals. I also have a couple of rock gardens and they are very nice!
I would like to see a picture of your garden too Meece.
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We finished up our garden planting this past weekend. After all the rain we've had, our pole bean seeds are finally pushing through the soil. It took them 2 weeks. The tomatoes are looking iffy but our lettuce, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower and spinach are doing well. We decided to plant several flowers this year and most of them are taking off. We need a serious amount of sun to give them a kick start. Needless to say, the garden is surrounded by deer fence. Bambi thinks it can eat anything and everything in our yard.
We've put several solar lights, some are butterflies, around the property and it looks all twinkly at night. Now all we need is SUN!
Linda
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Elimar-I like the welcoming committee today!
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I like (top pic) how the one with the cap is rubbing her mastectomy side 'cause the scar itches, and the dark skinned woman has one boob bigger than the other. Almost like us in real life! (I'm second from the left...as you can notice my mouth going.)
I wanted to welcome some newbies. Huddie, I hope someone jumps in with the answer to your question...if they do a mammo on a mastectomy? Do they mammo implants, or what? Is more difficulty involved (if any?) Don't know those answers, being a lumpectomy gal myself.
BTW, I've written 1,000 posts as of this one (not just on this thread, of course.) YOWZA!
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Too funny, Elimar!
Suz, are you talking about Biafine? I never thought about that, but I wonder how it would work on sunburn? Yes, I have bell peppers planted. Maybe I need to plant a cherry pepper. I have carrots coming out my ears. What can you do with them in bulk?
I was looking on Google maps, and check the sattelite pic of my address. I could actually see my garden, and recognized that it was my garden from 2008.
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Huddie - Sorry I didn't answer, I totally missed your question, glad Elimar reminded us about it. I had a right mastectomy and I only have a mammogram on the left nothing on the right. The doctor does palpate the right and left every appointment but that's it. Don't know about the implants, haven't decided if I'm going that direction or not.
Meece - I used the Xclair for radiation and it is also good for other burns. I didn't want to throw the cream away so figured it would be good to have around for sunburns - I even took it to Cancun with me in case of a burn and it came in very handy. And, BTW, send me the carrots, I'll eat them
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I gave up with planting anything in the ground here. Way to many racoons, possums, and armordillos. I've had to put everything in 5 gallon pots. We should all post pictures. I'm going to reward myself by posting pics. Tomatoes have blossomed and I hope to get some grape tomatoes soon. I got some 10 cent seeds from the dollar tree and for goodness sakes!, they are doing great.
I miss our that Michigan black soil and all the lovely worms. We have clay here and you have to add much peat moss, lime and manure to it to get stuff to grow well . Off to take a few pics.
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Ooooh - garden envy! I have no space, suspicions about what's in my soil, and too much heat and too many bugs to go outside much. Please post pictures of fabulous gardens so I may live vicariously through you! I would KILL for a home-grown tomato, although it's hard to eat the plastic grocery store stuff after you have one.
Band trip update - it was actually a total BLESSING that my daughter wasn't in my group. My friend that they chose instead was all over them like a bad rash, leaving me to look nice and normal while giving my daughter tons of space away from me. And my daughter rose to the occasion. She assembled a "kit" of things to help the other kids - bandaids, neosporin, extra sanitary supplies, ibuprophen, benadryl, etc. Her suitcase was a marvel of organization - for the bus ride, competition, Six Flags outing, first night's hotel and second day's drive she had everything layered in a carryon with her and didn't need to dig through her big suitcase like the other kids did. She had every little thing she needed. It was hilarious - like I'd spawned a little mini-me chaperonelette. (We've done a lot of road trips, though, so she's actually had years of preparation for this.) She was virtually the ONLY kid who didn't get a sunburn on our beach day. She wore a bikini and board shorts and she's really fair, but she actually applied her SPF 85 sunscreen and had someone do her back. Other kids were FRIED, most using that spray sunscreen that they seem to think you can just disperse close to your body like Febreeze and get protection. Meanwhile, the group that was assigned to me was a self-sufficient and amusing group of upperclassmen, mostly drum line or band council kids. The Wanderer, the Curious ADD Boy, Bambi & Candy (gorgeous, tiny bathing suits and deep faux tans), the Drummer Boys, and Romeo and Juliet (mostly stood near me holding hands and looking star-crossed). If the kids didn't pick me themselves (not knowing who I was), I'd have sworn someone underestimated my abilities and loaded me up with easy kids.
We had a chaperone with a broken foot (Six Flags), another with a destroyed wedding ring from a ride (Six Flags !!!), a drum line boy with a broken foot (last day - not my kid, though he fell down stairs on the USS Lexington right behind me), a girl with crazy panic attacks that held us up twice, and rumors of a senior girl piercing boys' ears. Not too bad for 139 kids, 13 adults, and four days on three buses! I've almost recovered. The killer was leaving at 1:20 am on Saturday and then closing down Six Flags that night. The bus was viciously uncomfortable, so with the exception of a few cat naps we were all mostly up for 36 hours (Friday morning through Saturday at midnight).
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Love the plant pics! I actually cut some greek oregano, chives, and thyme from my garden the other day to season steak with. Got to get out there and get more work done on it, but it's already over 80 degrees here and I'm exhausted from the Pre Admission Testing and blood donation trip to Boston yesterday (left home at 4:45 am, got home at 11:30 pm). so I'm not going to do much of anything today, and enlist some help from some friends later in the week or next weekend. It's amazing how much help I can get for little yard projects with the promise of burgers, potato salad and home-made wine! Kleenex--I take the bus to Boston, only about 3 hours but on the way down got a wicked uncomfortable seat, so I can begin to imagine what 36 hours of that was like!
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So glad you survived Kleenex. Our children do surprise us sometimes although if you think about it they learn a lot from their mamas! Sounds like a good time - I feel your pain regarding the bus, hated that part - fond lifelong memories though.
Paulding - I do have a bumper crop of worms along with ants and spiders and bees. I'll try to get my DD1 to take some pictures of flowers that look nice. Hostas are going nuts!
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Too hilarious, Kleenex! ROFSH (Rolling on Floor Snickering Hysterically) about your Shakespearean couple! The tale was so vivid, I almost feel like I was there, without the tan or sleep deprivation. Hope you have more outings planned so you can keep us amused all summer long.
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I second elimar's critique! Kleenex, you are a picture writer!
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Great post Kleenex, took me back a few years to a few trips with my teens.
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Kleenex, I love that it worked out for you.
I took some pics yesterday, but left the card in my purse...clear on the other end of the house. My garden is spread all over. We are keeping the main garden area clear so we can get a backhoe in the yard soon. So I have a strip of potatoes, strawberries, garlic on one side, asparagus, brussels sprouts, onions, peas, strawberries, carrots and tomatoes on the other side. Squash, cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes (Grape, pear and cherry) in another area. Peppers and tomatoes in 10 gallon pots. Oh, well, they all taste wonderful no matter how disorganized they may seem.
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