MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
Comments
-
I had my lumpectomy and CNB, no nodes involved, but then had CTs of head chest , and the one of abdomen and Pelvic area, also the EKG, Pet scan etc... after th BX. They did know that I had the agressive BC, but I thought it was also to give a baseline before chemo.
0 -
Meece..What is Pet Scan? Didnt have that either.
0 -
Hmmmm-I had a breast MRI prior to surgery. I had a bone scan for baseline prior to starting Femara. I feel like I had sufficient treatment at the time & now I wonder. A matter of trust in my team I guess. No appointments until Sept with anyone, so I will just continue the way I have been.
0 -
Digging the thread avatar Elimar!
0 -
Hope everyone had a good weekend!!
Hi....good lord it is hot here in NYC...and we have not gotten new AC's yet. Not very condusive to unpacking.
My mom is doing a bit better. She was admitted to the hospital a few days ago, and it turns out she has a fractured pelvis. They gave her pain meds which made her happy. I still think the dependency could be an issue.
I even got to go to a 4th of July party!!
Strange q...are you more fungus prone? I have a nail fungus, and I get an arm fungus sometimes.
0 -
Well Happy Birthday Regina and a belated birthday wish for you too Joni. Sorry I missed it earlier:(
Thank you all for the well wished for my DD. She is doing great. She has a room full of flowers. I guess getting popped in the nose comes with flowers but I don't recommend it. Today we go back for recheck and little cast removal.
Omaha-63 years, ya'all ain't doin sompan right!
Keeping the Faith-Glad you found your way here. There is tons of great information and loads of caring women who have gone through what you are currently going through. One thing I have learned that I would like to pass on, is educate yourself, but don't worry about things until you need to. It's a waste of precious time. From your name I can easily tell you have the Faith and you already know it's all in His hands.
No scans here until after surgery and chemo. They did one CT scan before Rads. and I think that was more for measurements during radiation treatment.
Elimar-Love the pic. All dressed up on a Sat. night waiting for the phone to ring. They get tired of waiting and say to Hell with it and take off their girdles, pearls and silly hats and paint the town RED!
0 -
A pet scan could be where you take your dogs and cats and have them looked at to see if they have BC, but it's not.
PET stands for Positron emission tomography. They inject you with a radioactive material. A PET scan measures important body functions, such as blood flow, oxygen use, and sugar (glucose) metabolism, to help doctors evaluate how well organs and tissues are functioning. In the case of cancer patients it measures the way sugar is metabolized because as I understand it, cancers use sugar faster than normal cells. After the injection, you wait an hour so the radioactive stuff can go through your body. Then you go into a CT or MRI machine. It takes an hour or so, but they scanned my entire body , tip to toe.
0 -
and they found a cat hiding behind her left lung, a hairless rat in her hip joint and two squirrels and an English Mocking bird in her cranium.
0 -
They always said I was a bird brain.
0 -
Paulding I LOVE your interpretation of those 3 chicks in the avatar! I thought of them as "Charlie's Angels" waiting for Charlie to phone....
0 -
Thanks For My Birthday wishes! Love all the cakes! I ate some of Joni & now working on mine. That was so cool. Hope you all enjoy it too.a friend off face book sent this! I wanted to share with you all!
Hope you all are feeling Stronger evryday! Hugs Gina
On this day, God wants you to know ... that you've been driving yourself too hard lately. Sure, there is time to invest yourself fully into work, but there is equally important time for joyful resting. And for you, this time is now. What is the absolutely most wonderful little treat you can give yourself? Do it today. 
0 -
They make me think of Charlie's Angels waiting for the sexual revolution! And the invention of the cheese puff!
0 -
PauldingMom, LOL and a hee-hee-hee!0
-
hmmm, "time waits for no man and neither do we!" Love it PauldingMom excellent interpretation!!
0 -
They look like their husbands are late coming home from a fishing trip and the ladies are ready for a "promised" night out. The phone is strategically placed in front of the door and the first words out of the ladies mouths as the husbnads sheepishly walk through the door won't be words at all. It will all be said in a look with the phone for emphasis meaning - "You could have called, you're late, tonight we are ordering a la cart so bring your credit cards, Honey. By the way, we will be drinking champagne and you are most certainly getting cleaned up, dressed up (and I mean in a suit), and there is no way on God's green Earth that you are bringing those fish within 30 yards of my kitchen. Understood? Good. Let's go."
0 -
HI, all! I'm still working on getting the brain to track multiple threads, that's why I'm a bit behind here. As far as the "reveal" I didnt realize I was looking at new breasts until 3 days after surgery! I LOVE the new girls, even if they do still have the Bride of Frankenstein look to them as the glue and ink and such wear off. First, there are TWO breasts!!!! SEcond, they are the SAME SIZE! Oh, not exact matches but I can't tell in a cami even without a bra (not alllowed to wear one yet, may never again!) Third--they MOVE when I do! Fourth--if I brush my hand or arm against my foobs they DO NOT FEEL COLD! THEY FEEL WARM! Oh, and I took 2 of the last 3 drains out today, too.
0 -
NM...excellent news0
-
Wahoo NM-back on track; My vote for myself is no bra unless it's a situation where unrestrained may cause unintented focus.
0 -
so anyhow....the latest breaking cookie gal puffy arm news:
MD thinks my arm bubble was "probably" LE....says it can present as big blister bubble, though LE therapist disagrees. He also says the electrode test is not always reliable.
He says just be glad the swelling has gone down and try not to worry too much. However, he was very concerned about the red spotches popping up all over me, and almost sent me to urgent care. Must see derm tomorrow. Have already been twice in the past 3 months trying to get to the bottom of this.
I suspect the husband in all this, men seem to always have a fungus somewhere!
Sorry to be so freakin' whiny this week. I just want to unpack, and it's hard to rest the arm and just look at the piles of boxes!!
Good news though.... our bed arrived this morning, the first item of furniture we have ever bought together. Woo hoo!
Also can not wait for the new AC to arrive Thursday, the old ones barely work! And it hit 102 here today.
OG...have you melted yet? You will have to come visit sometime!
Still I am so happy the move is over, and glad the swollen egg seems to be going away. They do have a sleeve on order for me, and I guess I will need it. Might get it tomorrow.
Possibly drug-dependent mother is doing a bit better, and will be moved to a rehab for fractured pelvis soon.
I think ice cream(possibly sandwiched between two cookies) and a trashy movie in the theatre is in order!
Have a good week!!!!
NM...wish I was on MDI right now! Yea for the new boobs!
0 -
Cookie, lymphedema can certainly present as a single puffy area, and the "electrode thing" (which is a bioimpedance meter) is proving to be sadly inaccurate. How about a second opinion from another lymphedema therapist? Here's the information about how to find a well-trained one near you:
http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Finding_a_Qualified_Lymphedema_Therapist.htmGoodness, what a struggle!
Hugs!
Binney0 -
Hi Native Mainer! PM me and fill me in on everything, I don't quite know what forums to find everyone all the time, so I am usually behind in all the news.
Ladies, while I have you here. Are any of you just not feeling well and trying to figure out if it's your body reacting to all the BC surgeries and/or maybe menopause symptoms are now thrown in? My oncologist tested my menopause status last fall and I was very close to menopause, but was still considered perimenopausal.
I don't think I bother my PCP much, but I feel like he thinks I'm a hypochondriac. I was in good health before my cancer. I had some set backs with my breast cancers, but I never had chemo or radiation and I'm not on Tamoxifen. I know most doctors hate it when they know you have been doing research, so I think they may tend to minimize how you're feeling or think your pains are just stuff you have to live with.
Months ago I asked for the 25(oh) vitamin D test and he insisted on doing the 1,25. It came back okay, but I still wanted the other test. About 6 weeks ago I began having real pain in my fingers and some muscle aches in my legs. I never had this before and it seemed to come on quickly. I met with his PA last week and asked for a Lyme disease test and she also ordered Rheumatoid factor tests. The RA tests came back okay, but the Lyme report wasn't attached and my PCP enclosed a letter stating the results had no clinincal significance to my health and that frequently these abnormal results are in tests reported by the lab which are not used in routine patient care. What the heck does that mean? I'm hoping the office will give me some clarification.
I know the tightness around my chest from the mastectomies and my LD flap will take some time, but is anyone else feeling frustrated by any of these other symptoms? Is severe joint and muscle pain common to menopause and if so, does it subside?
Can some of you share if you have had similar issues?
Candi
0 -
Binney, that is a good suggestion. Since the swelling is gone for now, I'm not sure how much the 2nd would do, I hope it stays away.
One concern, I have been wearing compression on my breast due to swelling there, it has gotten a lot better, but could the compression be pushing the fluid out into my arm?
It's a shame, this LE therapist is the department head at a big NYC cancer center, but I must admit when I told her I read that LE can present that way on here, she was dismissive, told me to stay off the web and relax.
Anyhow, she did order garments for me which I will get tomorrow....perfect for the heat wave!
0 -
Hi everyone! I'm new to this thread, but just reading the intro sure hit home. I'm 57 but can honestly say this is the first year I've actually felt it. It's been an exhausting roller coaster year. I was first diagnosed with BC in October 2002 (left), then again in May 2009 (right). Had BMX 7/22/09, made road trip with DH to Cali in Sept. 2009 to youngest son's wedding (painful trip 6 weeks out from BMX but beautiful, fun wedding), went to oldest son's wedding in Oct. 2009 here in WA an hour or so away, my Dad (79 and with early Alzheimer's) was hospitalized in 11/09 for emergency gallbladder surgery, I started the reconstruction process in 12/09, my Dad's wife died on 1/1/2010 of cervical cancer, DH had shoulder surgery 3/5/2010, I had exchange surgery 3/31/2010, and our daughter's wedding is this Saturday! In the meantime, my Dad was put on Coumadin for his heart, and I've been taking him to his doc appts and taking care of his meds as well as going to my own appts. DH is still off work from his surgery and in PT, but I've been working full time again since 6 weeks out from exchange. Our daughter and her 5-year-old son from her first marriage (our adorable grandson) have been living with us for the last 6 weeks until the wedding Saturday. We also have a rental house DH and I getting ready to sell or rent again. It's been stressful, and I'm only 3 months out from my exchange and have a real tender spot in the left breast I'm concerned about. Still have my Dad to help and worry about, but DH and I do see a light at the end of the tunnel...35 years last month we've been married. I LOVE my DH, but I truly think men have it a lot easier in life than women and couldn't do all we do. Men get to rent a tux and show up at the weddings! Anyway, thanks for letting me vent a bit. I know many of you have similar stories, too. Thank goodness for BCO! Next week I'll be able to relax a bit more!
0 -
Welcome, Janathan. I am sure you could fit one more thing in. (Do you have another child to marry off?)You are woman, I hear you roar! My unprofessional opinion on the tender spot is that you are still healing, but you certainly should talk to your BS about it. Good luck his weekend, but take it easy.
Meece
0 -
Let me extend a gracious hello to a few more Middies!
I can tell from their stories that they fit right in...from the ongoing situations of being part of the "sandwich generation" to having "middle-aged aches and pains" cropping up. On top of a little thing called B/C. Sisters, we are right there with you.
Baxter, so many of us have had doctors give us that line, "These things are normal for middle age. It might be something that you will just have to learn to live with...?" Well, I'm not buying it. I am on a quest that won't stop until I feel the way I want to feel, and I will know it if I ever do get to that point. Don't give up striving to feel good, I say.
Oh, and Cookie, healing wishes to your mom. Been following your moving event and now look forward to the continuing tales of "Cookie On Broadway."
0 -
Taking a break from moving myself, well sorta. My oldest DD called from college on Tuesday and asked if she could move back home and commute to school. We. of course, told her sure. Then she said she would need to be out of her current housing by FRIDAY! So I have spent the past two days moving all the stuff out of the spare room. It's always something isn't it.
0 -
PM...it must be hot for moving there!!
Hi yall!!!
More medical adventures today. My PT and OT could not see me until I am cleared by a derm so I went this morning.Basically good news, no serious infection but he did biopsy my tummy. Well it is so hot here, after I left the office my bandaid sweated off and I blead through my favorite white blouse.(Which I had worn to responsibly protect my chest from the sun.)
LEish arm is better, therapist said "big red" the boob was a lot better. She is trying to invent some sort of new comprssion bra for me with this new ribbed fabric. Right now the fabric is stuck in my bra, I give her credit for trying.
Since ac comes tomorrow, I am sitting in said bra by window on broadway, eye level with tour busses. We have tinted windows, but who knows I may become a site on the Grey Line.
Anyhow, since I will most likely be going back to work in a month, and my shoulder is still frozen, I begged for another cortizone injection, and will be getting it tomorrow. So I am super hopeful this will kick off a new round of healing, I need to be able to drive in 4 weeks!!!!
Anyhow, on a happy note, 3 weeks untill BC Retreat in Wisconsin!!
Hugs and healing to all....melted cookie!
0 -
Only two more shopping days until my "cancerversary."
0 -
congrats Elimar on you cancerversary!!!!
0 -
Is there such thing as a chemoversary? I had my 1st T/C a year ago today. Glad I did it; more happy that it's been a year since I did it!
Elimar-I think a great present for you would be a shot to be on "Last Comic Standing". You slay me!
0
