MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Love the pic...the gang's all here!
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well, sign me up on the non-fan list of NCBx-mine hurt like hell. But I was so clueless back then. You gals are my search engines!
Love ya, Joni
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They were checking on growing calcifications so they used "vacuum assisted" CNBx. I think they only punched twice and then sucked around. I also have the tumor marker clip.
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Elimar, thanks! I'm just starting to navigate this site and now I know how to sign up for the July RAD group.
I'm off to bed, but the wine is chillin' and cheetos are bought.
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Just OWNING Cheetos is helpful.
My vacuum-assisted CNBx wasn't fun, either. They numbed the "point of entry" for the gun thing, but the area from which they were taking the samples was SO not numb. Way unfun. Quick, but still. And I too was shocked at how bruised and icky I felt. I'd envisioned a quick little nothingless procedure and a little bandaid. Instead, it was "don't do much for about 48 hours, and here's a little ice pack." It wasn't hideous, but I felt like I wasn't prepared for what I was going to experience. I do NOT like surprises. If it's going to hurt, SAY so.
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On another subject....having nothing direct to do with bc, I hate moving.I am glad to be healthy enought to do it, but I always hated it. I turn into a crank, needy, whiney, baby.
Now with frozen shoulder and "maybe or maybe not" LE I really really really hate it. (Latest opinion is I may have boob only LE, unless it's still reacting to rads, but it's swollen for sure.)
On the other hand part of me thinks when I move cancer won't be able to find me. I mean we all know cancer loves the upper east side, cancer clusters and hospitals, maybe it doesn't do downtown.
I suspect I will sound like a broken record for a while.
Hugs to all
Have a good weekend all!
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hang in there, cookiegal, a new place, and ur thinking new job, too, right..might just be the thing. a fresh new start! i moved into where iam, and 3 mos later, i was still unpacking, was having dblmx, chemo..im ready just now, to start unpacking again. But, i dont have near the strength i had, and a good case of le 2 boot. ive been paying for storage over 1 1/2 yrs now. anxious and not, to get going..am having issues again, polops removed, dont look good, waiting for path.. lots of screwed up topside gi wise from chemo.looking at stuff again..and clean up surgery fro scarring, etc. with pm july 6th.. hope all goes well w/ your move, and its a good one for you !!3jaysmom
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Cookie-I hate moving too. I hate packing up, but I don't mind unpacking so much, at 1st. Initially, I'm all "OK, this time I can set-up the kitchen right & have everything where it needs to be." etc, but of course the reality is, once you get to the new place, it's unpack, throw it into a drawer so you can be done with it already!!!!! Good luck girlfriend!
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Moving is hard, Cookiegirl. No matter how positive the move, it's an upheaval. Please make sure you don't overwork yourself!
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Kleenex, I ditto your account. I was surprised that they made an incision first then put steri-strips to seal me shut again!
Cookie, I hate moving, too. When I first got my dx, I moved the following month. I moved one month after chemo ended, then 11 months later another move, and 9 months later moved again. That was 4 full moves in 31 months. I'm gonna stay put for now. I still have boxes to unpack and we have been here four years!
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Moving a whole household is so stressful. I only had to do that once. All together I moved just five times in my life. (Six times, if you count moving someone else's household.) I'd make a move right now if all that work was not a factor.
Good Luck, Cookie!!!
The "average" person makes 11.7 moves in a lifetime. It works out to once every six years or so, but I think that is actually skewed to more moving done at a younger age. Thought I'd post those fun facts in case anyone want to see how close they come to the average.
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Between birth and finishing college my family lived in 5 different houses, all in the same town. My parents got a new house as the family grew. Lots of messing around places with college etc then DH and I have been in the same house for 23 years - our first and only house!! I definitely fit the move when young scenario.
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Moving is ALWAYS a pain in the butt, no matter what the reason. Especially if you've been somewhere for a while first, OR if you are downsizing, OR if you either have to pay for the move yourself or worse, do all the work yourself. I had a wise friend tell me that "you're going to pay for it either way - you either pay someone to do it for you, or you pay to try to repair the damage you did to your body doing it yourself." Very wise. Take care of yourself and play the "C" card to get out of things that aren't fun. There has got to be an upside to being dealt the C card...
Love the "maybe cancer can't find me" idea!
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I lived in the same home for the first 19 years of my life. I lived in the next location 2 1/2 years, and the next for another 19 years. I now have lived 7 locations an average of just under once every 7 years.
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We moved 5 months ago and just found a box yesterday that had everything we could not find. Moving is humbling, but change is good. Hang in there, Cookie. Remember- it's okay to throw things away, makes room for that which you need and the things you want. And of course, remeber to pack the Cheetos.
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If I don't count moving into dorm rooms as a "move", then I have moved 5 times, the last time was in 1993 when I bought the house. I don't have any plans to ever move again, but then we all know what happens to plans like that! One thing I have been doing while getting ready for recon (7 days, 5 minutes, not that I'm counting) is a lot of deep cleaning and purging--and my standard is "if I were moving would I take this with me?" If the answer is no--it goes in the trash. It's amazing how much junk I've gotten rid of and how good it feels to have it gone! I've always been of the "don't throw it away I might want/need it for something sometime" school. Problem is, I can never find it when I do need, IF I remember I have one! Hang in there Cookie, and do play the "C card" as often as necessary, and I hope the beast can't find you once you get settled!
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NativeM, I'll countdown with you to your reconstruction. I remember when you got it scheduled and on the calendar, and now the day is almost here. You have a good plan to keep busy now in the final week, and get things out of the way so you can relax and recover without having to strain yourself. I hope "Lasagne Man," or another friend or two will be stopping by with some carry-out, so you don't have to worry about meals for a couple days. Do you have some helpers lined up?0
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Many doctors and nurses see online sites, such as this, as a place where a lot of misinformation is exchanged and a lot of "doctor bashing" goes on. I'm afraid that I will have to prove them right once again as I have some "bashing" to get off my chest (breast) this morning.
My PCP, who I like, has really let me down. He has not been an active part of my "cancer team" but I did have copies of all cancer reports go to him as well. In February, he started me on Cymbalta, partially for anxiety over the terminal illness of my mom but even more because I had fibromyalgia (?) pains in hands and feet. I remember asking if I should discontinue the Tramadol that I had been taking for the fibromyalgia and he told me they should not be taken together. I remember asking him if it was o.k. to take with Tamoxifen and he said it was.
Just over the weekend I was online looking up drug interactions with Tamoxifen. OMG, there was Cymbalta under the heading of drugs that have a moderate interaction with Tamoxifen. What Cymbalta does is reduce the effectiveness of Tamoxifen, raising my chances for a recurrence. Now that is the LAST thing I want to do. What was my doctor thinking?
What was I thinking? Because I like my PCP, I took his word about drug interaction. Sisters, and breast friends, allow me to be a cautionary tale for the rest of you. No matter how great your doc is, and how fond you might be --- do all your own drug research. Go online, read the labelling or instruction sheets from the pharmacy, talk to a pharmacist, everything you can do for yourself. This is not even the first time something like this has happened to me, so I should have known better myself.
O.K., that's my "bashing," but I just think of it as a first person account true story. I feel like crying tears of frustration that I have been compromising the effectiveness of the Tamox. for the past four mos.
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Remember that they don't adjust the dosage of Tamoxifen based on ANYTHING - we all take the same amount - and you're not that big of a person, so the "net effect" of your "moderate interaction" is probably negligible. The rest of your five years will more than make up for it.
That's kind of what happened to me with Benadryl, which was "fine" to take with the Tamoxifen according to the oncologist. Um, NOOOOO. Part of why it helped me sleep so well is the same thing you experienced: it interefered with the Tamoxifen and therefore reduced my hot flashes. I suppose if you took it once in a blue moon for allergies, no problem. I was looking for a nightly sleep aid, and had LOVED the non-addictive nature of Children's Benadryl for this purpose. Then someone on a thread mentioned that it was a no-no with Tamoxifen, and sure enough, I found it on a list. Allegedly operates on the same pathway. Bummer.
In a not-very-heartfelt-defense of medical personnel, it seems that over the last six months to a year LOTS of new information about drug interactions with Tamoxifen are being revealed. But shame on them for not being up to date.
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im so sorry the learning curve has been so steep for all of us. just reminds me to be ever so grateful we can band together here in this "gang" see top pic, and warn each other, or cry together, and yes, pray, and rejoice with each other!! more and more, the outside world just doeasnt seem to "get" it.. be well all of u.. catch me up. maine..what surgery, and when? i ll count with u too, if u like... light and love, 3jaysmom
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elimar--Yes, I've got a whole list of projects to do to keep me busy between now and Sunday when I leave for Boston. "Lasagna Man" has been helping me with the heavier/bigger projects, and will be continuing to help with things like yard work. My church is providing 2 weeks of meals, I have another week's worth of meals ready to go in the freezer, just thaw and cook. Got lots of other help with everything else, too. I'm using the Lotsa Helping Hands site and it's really helpful. As far as "doctor bashing" I think you have a real reason to be upset. If I, as a simple nurse, can use the free software available to physicians to check drug interactions, then there is no excuse for doctors to not do it. Nor is there any excuse for the pharmacist not doing so. It is just WRONG that we have to take on that responsibility after paying a doc to do just that task. As far as docs and nurses thinking sites like this are for exchanging misinformation, but when the info we get here is more up todate and CORRECT, then they better just get used to it!
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Woops, hit submit before reading all the posts--
I'm having right prophylactic mastectomy, bilateral DIEP reconstruction at Beth Isreal Deaconess Medical Center in Boston on June 21 (one week from today--specifically 6 days, 16 hrs, 16 mins, 32 secs).
I'll take all the prayers you are willing to give--especially next Monday between 6 and 7:30 am--the time between my checking in and surgery starts. I'll need the support to get through the IV start process in particular. I'm terrifed and needles and a very hard IV start, so I'm not looking forward to that part of things.
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Hester Hill is the chief of oncology social work at BIDMC and she wrote a really good book on BC. I was just in Boston last week!! I hope it all goes well, and you love the results!
Are you staying over the night before?
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Hester Hill is the chief of oncology social work at BIDMC and she wrote a really good book on BC. I was just in Boston last week!! I hope it all goes well, and you love the results!
Are you staying over the night before?
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Sorry 'bout the double post.
Does anyone live in Atlanta? If you do and want to participate in a hair-brained scheme PM me!
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CNB, FNB I do not like either but at times they are a necessary evil. I had the CNB on my BC and the FNB on my thyroid. I had 5 done on my thyroid and the freeze meds did not work well, finally told them to get it done!!!
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Yes, my mom, stepfather and I are going to Boston the day before. I have to be at the hospital at 6 am, and it's a 5 to 6 hour drive to Boston from home, so overnight stay lets Mom & Dick get some sleep the night before. I don't expect I'll sleep any, going to read the night away, I'll get plenty of sleep duirng the day!
As far as I'm concerned, FNB/CNB all involve needles, therefore are to be avoided at all costs, and will require large amounts of pain medication/sedation/restraints to ever be done on me again! I cannot imagin having to go through any of that again! I can barely get through a "routine" blood test! Show me a needle and watch the panic attack start. I'm actually going to ask the anesthesiologist to put me to sleep with gas and start the IV after I'm asleep. They do that with kids all the time, no reason they can't do it for me!
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I'll be thinking and praying for you NM - especially on Monday morning. Isn't it funny but I'm horrid with needles on myself - I always say I can give them but I sure can't take them. I'm starting to send the positive vibes your way!
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Thanks--if they can't put me out before the IV, pray that they get the IV started in the first few tries--last time it was 6 sticks to get one started and I was totally freaked. The more people praying and sending good vibes my way the better off I'll be, I am totally sure! Thank you ALL!
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done! remember to breathe....did you have the anesthesiologist do your IV last time? they should be the most experienced...sending you good vibes!!!
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