MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
Comments
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lynniea, that's great that your nodes were clear!
annettek, sounds like you are working with a reasonable PS, and so far so good. Happy Healing to ya! Thanks for writing a synopsis of your experience here. We have a real smorgasboard of experiences on this thread for sure. It's for my convenience really, since I am a bit lazy to get over to the many reconstruction and T/E threads. Appreciate your sharing..
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Welcome chelemybelle and JeanneR to our little thread. You may have B/C, but youe don't have to have B/C ALONE. Plenty of Sisters here for you.0
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annette - hope you are sleeping now! Sounds like you are doing great - good to hear. Thanks for explaining the procedure - is this called a DIEP? There are so many options for reconstruction I just lose track of which is which.
lynniea - you did it! I hope you are sleeping now, too!
Good job, ladies! Onward and upward we go!
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I am up but slept for 3 hours when got home. Doing pretty well still have a little headache going to take some more Motrin. We are soldiers of the army of the Lord. Would I be without him. Thanks for the prayers and thoughts (((((((((((((((((LADIES))))))))))))))))
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Where would we be without Him is right! I hope your headache goes away - be sure to drink plenty of water. And let your family wait on you - that can be hard to do sometimes, but you need it and deserve it!
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Annette & Lynn - You two did it. Great news.
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Congrats Annette. Take care in the next few days. I cant wait for m time.
Congrats Lynniea. God is good! Take care and let everyone wait on you. Just sit back and take it easy. Drink lots of water.
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Yes I did not so bad there are a lot of great people there. My shot tomorrow. Going to rest now. Good night and God Bless.
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Hi Middies,
I have lots of catching up to do but will do over the weekend.
annett and Lynnia glad to hear you are both ddoing well.
Round 3 of Ec did hit harder than the first 2. ONC warned me an he was right. Much more tired and Lynnia I also get headaches from the antinauseas, have to take a tylenol as soon as infusion is over. the headaches and naps after wok kept me off the boards most of the past 2 weeks. When recovered we lost power so no internet and the figure I needed to use my "good days" to do tax prep, don't I know how to have fun! I did manage to get a girl friend birthday dinner in Monday, they scheduled around my chemo so it was fun to actually go and eat out.
Today was crazy at work, trying to get everything done before Chemo break and the e-mail system went down.....and now I cannot connect to work e-mail at all...I think God is hitting me on the head right now and telling me to slow down! Last EC is tomorrow! The 4 Taxol - no antinausea med for most people - so headaches go, I know we trade for other SE but we take it as it comes.
Good night all.
Jean
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Barbe1958.......nope...William Shatner went to high school on Montreal!!! Both my parents were born and raised in Montreal....I came early and surprised them when they were on a visit in Peterborough, ON.....still have lots of extended family in Montreal and some in ON......We moved to the states in 1967.....My DD and SIL live in Toronto....SIL's family are long time Torontonian's....I have dual citizenship as do my children.....
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Annette and Lynn.....Yay!!!! congrats girls on passing GO! You did it, and you did it well. Now you both need to rest and heal. Welcome to the newbies!!!...
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Lynniea one down, check. Sorry for the headache but glad your first one is over. God will carry u through.
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Thanks ladies I know God will carry me through. Shot today than church tonight YEA. A little nausea this morning but headache a little better. Thanks for the prayers.
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Annette and Lynn: Rest, and take it easy. When I had my exchange surgery - I felt much better than my bilateral with TE.
Lots of pillows ..
Cups, plates and saucers on the counter, don't want to reach up, and pull a stitch
Milk, water and other daily used heavy containers on middle fridge shelf
I did not - have drains after my exchange, so I did not have to worry about those annoying drains - milking them, flushing the tubes, measuring the discharge .. etc
Please don't get discouraged when the bandages come off.. as I felt like my new ta-ta's looked smaller than I expected. We get used to those darn football shaped tissue expanders that move around. Somehow my right expander -- ended up under my arm -- uneven and lopsided! Glad those days are behind me, now.
Rest, Relax and Enjoy your new 'girls'.
Vicki Sam
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Yeah to all of us! For our various points of recovery. I slept well last night considering, actually about 6 solid hours which is pretty good. Pain on chest-dead center but that is where I believe most work was done adjusting this time around...wee the doc at 1 today and I will take a peek!. I did actually peek a little from the top obviously but am too scared I will somehow dislodge something so I will wait til 1. I am trying to get my mind set that no matter what "they" look like, it is where I am now. I don't miss my natural breasts in the regard of being somehow less...all things considered, I would rather be back at the place I was last summer when I decided breast augmentation was not something I would do..that my 36 "longs" (I stole that line from another thread:) would just have to do with the aid of some cool pushup bras. I had my mind completely made up as it was something I was toying with since hitting fifty and gravity. But I decided nada....then enters life with a BC smackdown. So, it became easy to say, fill 'em up-what the hell...I am alive and at this instant in time-happy and hopeful. That is what I think we could all benefit from....savoring the moments. I read a great book, Search for Serenity, many years ago and it has come back to me thorugh this whole BC journey. To paraphrase...That we treat great joy and great terror for the two imposters that they are...neither lasts forever and will pass as surely as we are convinced they will remain. Two islands we swim back and forth between. And that we must be cautious in believing or embracing too strongly either one. For the fear of losing the great happiness will offset it's immediate benefit and result in our not truly enjoying it and then on the other hand the fear of being mired in terror extends that horror long after we have sailed back out. The goal being somewhere in the middle floating along with a balance and savoring the ride as much as we possibly can. Yep we will bump into terror and glory islands, but our ships will sail again. So, what that leaves me with is that I am to draw in the good to fill my sails. We so often miss the good moments. I am guilty of that with my personal self. Long before BC. How everything will be ok or somehow better when *this* or *that* happens. That if only I had this or that, or how it is good but could somehow be better. I am slowly starting to realize that how could I know happiness if I don't allow it when it is from something that may be very brief but real? Off to float....
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HeartnSoul- no, mine was tissue expanders (TEs) followed by fills and then a swap of the tissue expanders with implants. They call it immediate reconstruction although it is a months, sometimes year or more long process. The immediate part is putting in the tissue expanders following the mastectomy.
As for the flap surgeries that is way over my head of knowledge, i think they all entail utilizing skin and tissue from other parts of your body.Some of the pics I have seen have given the women excellent results. For myself, I was not a candidate but I doubt I would have chosen it as I am ok with the surgeries in the same area (my chest) but would not want to start involving other parts of my body. Neither is right or wrong, personal choice and what your body dictates as well.
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annetek, thanks for giving us the perspective of that book. One of those simple concepts that makes sense but hard to put into practice consistantly, however, we can TRY. Happy sailing!
I was also reflecting on JeanH's comment "no time to have fun." Well, I felt that way too. I know we have heard from a few Superwomen that did not have to alter their lives very much during treatment (and that's perfectly cool,) but many of us got pretty wiped out from surgery, chemo and/or rads. During that time, however, it is *very* important to try and have whatever fun you can muster. You just CANNOT let it be all treatment, chores and resting. You won't even feel alive.
I didn't have that much energy, but I could start this thread, make new friends, and write about my Cheetos addiction. (By the way, I have rehabbed a little and have taken to snacking on Cheetos Puffed Corn--the methadone of Cheetos.) Have I thanked you all lately for being my fun and diversion?
So ladies in active treatment, I encourage you to think about those less taxing (why did I pick this word during tax time?) things that make you feel good and happy and DO THEM. Keeping your spirits up during this time is a neccessity.
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Oh yeah...
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
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So, speaking of sailing between those islands of joy and fear, my biopsy came back B9 with ALH and more LCIS. Since in spite of the Arimidex I have very busy breasts I must once again ponder the DIEP
Thanks for all the well wishes, you all have been holding my hand for quite some time now and I really appreciate it.I wish I could sleep like my grandson is in that picture, I hate not having the luxury of sleeping well anymore unless drug induced LOL
Annette and Lynnia, congratulations on moving ahead in your treatments.
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OG56, happy for your B9 results, but it does put you in a gray area. Are the docs steering you one way or another? In any event, it does give you time to become thoroughly informed on all your options. I'm also wondering if your body is making full use of that Arimidex? There is the utilization test for Tamox., but I don't know if there is a comparable one for Arimidex. Maybe another AI would be more effective?0
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Stayed home from work today had a major migraine. Stayed in bed with closed curtains most of the day. Had my followup with RO yesterday don't have to go no more, bad grammar I know.
Annette/Lynniea sounds like you both are doing good today. I pray that your recovery and the rest of chemo go well too.0 -
I confess that I haven't been here for 6 pages!!! You kids have been busy little bees this week
Not even going to pretend that I'll get around to back-reading, that never seems to work, so if I missed any major announcements, please PM me, okay? I'll just add to what Eli and others said above - try to find something during treatment to take you away for just a little while. I'll never forget the gorgeous fall day my daughter came over and asked if we could go for a walk. It was the "off" week of chemo so I was feeling as good as I'd feel and we walked all around the neighborhood just talking. It was one of my favorite days Eli, I didn't realize that's when you started this thread - kudos on that hon.0 -
annette - thanks for that insightful perspective! I knew to embrace happiness whenever it appeared, but never thought about the bad times being fleeting, as well. Definitely need to learn to look beyond those! And I'm going to read this to my 21 year-old, who is of course convinced things will NEVER get better - LOL. They are so dramatic at this age!
Great news, OG!
Glad your migraine is petering out, mjg - I get those hellacious things, too.
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I was reviewing the topics on my iPhone and deleted from my favs. Hate it when that happens. Doing better but neck is stiff.
Marlegal I remember the first day I was able to get out after my second surgery and was walking around the lake in the park next to the house. Was experimenting taking pictures with my phone. Captured a rainbow in the waterfall, walking in nature was one of my best days.0 -
MJB- here is hoping that migraine is gone...(soft hug)
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annette, who is the author of that book? sounds like the one i enjoy.. "In the Meantime" by an idian woman. ill get her name and post it in a sec. i LOVE her books.can never even SAY her name, much less spell it, but im sure some of you have read her books.. Iyanla Vanzantis her name....
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Good Morning Middies - Haven't posted lately, but have been keeping up with everyone.
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You said it, Jo!
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