MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Hi barbe - Thanks for the welcome!! I'm glad I found this thread. If you are here, it must be a good one!
Oh no - noone has mentioned an MRI to me - just finished rads two weeks ago. I have had many surgeries and lots of needles, so that part does not bother me, but lying face down, does. Hopeully I can have a pillown under my stomach if I have to have an MRI - I get severe backpain if I lay on my stomach for any period of time - I have for years. I will definitely need valium or something to help as I do get claustrophobic to some degree. When I had a mummogram (for heart function before chemo), I started to panic a bit when the machine started to circle me - the tech assured me that I would not be enclosed - whew - that was a relief.
Darn- look at me panicking already when I do not even have one scheduled. I do have a mammo scheduled for May. My med onc is not big on scans (even though my insurance is awesome), so maybe he will not order one. What is the criteria for having one done?
Damn BC - I am asking for a saling-ooph. and the thought of surgery is not bothering me that much, but the thought of an MRI is. How silly is that? Sorry - just got up and my mind is racing. Grandchildren will be here soon - that will get my mind off it for awhile.
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....ok - just put choc chip cookies in the oven for my grandchildren, lit some candles and turned on music - I am just going to chill-out. For those of you are not familiar with my posts, I usually do not panic - I do rant on occassionally about healthcare profs and 17 year old radiation machines that break down all the time - so, please do not dread me being here. I am often upbeat and funny - promise.....Sher
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OMG...I'm middle-aged. Hadn't ever thought in those terms until just now! waaaaaah
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Jo I hope they can get you taken care of. This dang stuff has got to let up sometime.
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Re: the breast MRI - when I had mine they had me lie on what they termed a "car ramp". Your knees are bent and then you drape over the openings for the breasts and rest your head on a padded face mask. No pressure on the low back - a problem for me - and your arms come around and rest on bars near your head. Actually it was pretty comfortable, compared to some of the other fun things we go through!
I'm 49, and will be the last one of my group of friends to turn 50 this October. Just went to a surprise b-day party on Saturday for the next to last one. There were several recent cancer survivors there in the group (I was the only BC), so talk naturally turned to tests, radiation side effects, blah, blah, blah. Did I feel old talking about health issues all night??? Yike!
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Thanks for the info., madpeacock (Love your name!) Somehow, being on my knees sounds better than lying flat - I think.....at least for my lower back.
Sorry the party talked turned medical - I can relate - I was invited to my son's girlfriend's parents for dinner - They are very casual people, so I looked forward to a relaxed get-togeher. All turned-out well in the end, as I kept changing the subject - (actually, I spent as much time as possible playing in the snow with my grandchildren.) I expected people to ask me how I was doing, but I did not know a lot of the people there and barely knew the others - instead of people asking me about treatment, if they had to, in a more private conversation, it was asked as a general topic of conversation - I have spared my adult children many of the details of treatment and was so uncomfortable discussing it in front of strangers and my son. I declined all invitations to Christmas get-togethers and was glad I did.
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Welcome, Galsal! Think of it this way...no one really knows your age, so you could have passed yourself off on the 30-something threads, but your cover would be blown the minute you started talking about chin hair, your upcoming colonoscopy, and how you don't like to drink Red Bull.
lwarstler, We haven'theard from you too often lately. Hope chemo did not take too much out of you, but IT"S OVER NOW, so happy dance, you did it!
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elimar - Thanks for the new photo - It awesome.
Sher
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LOVE the new pic too! My body type USED TO BE the second from the right but I LOVE the far right gal!!!
I was on a ramp for my breast MRI as well. Very comfortable as blood didn't rush to my head. Then the idiot tech guy started dancing around me saying "vascular invasion" and clapping his hands!!! Can you believe that???? Like something out of Monty Python.....idiot!
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barbe - What an idiot - I bet you wanted to slap him!
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Yep...especially once I went home and Googled 'vascular invasion and breast cancer'!!!!
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....must be naptime for me.,...I was just imagining you slapping him upside the head with a big fish. (Did you ever watch Monty P,? The Swedish Fish episode? If not, nevermind, and please do not think I have completely lost it!)
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Yep, I know the sequence and that's pretty much how I pictured it too! Visualization helps a lot of my anger issues...hehehehehehehe
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That pic of fashionable ladies is from the Roaring Twenties. They are totally fab, but is the one second from left wearing an underskirt or is her flimsy frock giving everyone a peek of her gams? Shocking!
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I'm shocked at the shoes. They all have Mary Janes on!
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Ananda, my back is a total mess, and I did not have a problem during the MRI.
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I also love the new pic. Like barbe, I like the far right dress. I may make myself one like that. My body type is more like the far left chick, just with no boobs anymore
Love Monty Python and LOL on the Swedish fish.
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And everyone is wearing a hat and pearls!
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Wow you gals have been busy.
Jo the MRI's have never bothered me and I have had several. I do not have a claustrophobic issue. They gave me earplugs and the rhythmic noise kinda puts me in a trans almost sleep. the breast ones have you laying down but that did not bother me either, the contrast dye was kinda cold running in my veins but did not hurt. I'm sure you will do fine.
I finally got my MRI results and no mets to my neck. PCP still thinks it is arthritis and after I researched cervical arthritis I do agree with him, plus my old neck injury I don't know how I could escape having arthritis. I realized last night that this neck pain started after my last surgery when I started back on tamox and it has gotten worse. I asked him about taking a holiday form tamox for a couple of weeks and doing another steroid pac. He thinks that is very reasonable to try but he wants me to talk to my MO about it and see if he will give me his blessing. But then said you have to make the decision and then call me back if you want the steroid pac. So I see my MO on Friday and will talk to him about it but will be taking a Holiday with or without his blessing. If none of this works then he will send me to a spine doctor to maybe try some injections to get off the hydrocodone, but he knows I am trying to take as little as possible.
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Thanks Momine!
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Thanks everyone for for the info on the MRI. Like I said, I have never had some and I don't think I am claustrophobic. I do have a severe fear of needles and just the thought of someone coming at me with an IV really raises my anxiety level. My BS knows of my fear and maybe he will give me something to calm me down before I have to go.
Sherry - Congrats on the good MRI results. At least you now have a better idea of what you are dealing with.
Been of Tamox for 5 days now and I can't believe the difference in the muscle/joint pains. What I am left with is this darn nerve pain. I so wish I could get that taken care of. I try not to whine but come on. Isn't it enough we have other issues to deal with? Still makes me angry that this is an SE rads and my moron of an RO won't even admit it even though I have documented proof it can and will happen to some. It is wonderful how much information you can get by way of Mr. Google these days.
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What is with so many RO's and their poor attitudes. (I know that some of you have been fortunate enough to have very compassionate, understanding RO's, but I have read that many people have not!)
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Anandagram - I have no idea but mine was so bad I have told myself I will never, ever do rads again. It is not worth it. Way too stressful and hard to deal with emotionally. It is not good when you go everyday and there is a big knot in the pit of your stomach then you feel like a number and herded in and out very quickly, no question/answer time and then get to the car and have a good cry before making the 30 minute trip home. I still have nightmares about that and I finished rads on Dec 3rd, 2010.
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Oh my goodness, jo - so sorry you had the same experience! Your description is mine, exactly, except that I had an hour drive home. I especially hated Mondays, as that was RO visit day. I agree. I have vowed to never do rads again - But if I ever decide to break that vow, I will drive 2 hours to a center in VT!
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Anandagram I think it is because the RO knows they (probably) will not have a long term relationship with their patients. They see so many of us revolve in and out every 6 or 7 weeks. I had a relatively good experience, but couldn't help feeling like one of a herd of women being shuffled in and out.
Sherry I am reading your posts and trying to decide how aggressively to look at my new pain...have been experiencing worsening back pain (have had it for years, but it is spreading and intensifying) and some pain in my thigh bones above the knees. I should probably dip back into the tamoxifen thread to see if this is common. I don't have an MO visit scheduled until March, so I will have to decide for myself. Oh, I am so tired of doctors and tests.
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I at least had a very nice good looking RO but I still hated rads all the same. Ended up with nerve damage like JO. I have vowed never to do rads again either. Whole breast rads is way too harsh on the body.
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My MRI experience was uneventful, but the U/S was a nightmare. As my left breast lit up like the proberbial christmas tree, the dr ordered the ultrasound and the rad doc exclaims "My that looks invasive!" I was in tears during the subsequent u/s guided biopsy!
I had quit smoking 14 years prior and this was the only time I wanted a smoke!
Trish
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I also hated rads. I had not felt sick during the entire journey until rads. Then, I felt like I'd never feel better. The two hour round trip each day didn't help, and my RO was very dismissive. Fortunately, almost three months out, I am getting my energy back and feeling much better. I know that it is the standard protocol, but I wish I had done more research on options before I agreed to rads. On the other hand, I hate BC worse than rads! I feel like a wimp as I was lucky enough to not need chemo (and I know some of the terrible experiences you ladies had with chemo), but I know this discussion group is ok with an occasional wimp rant. Thanks ladies.
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Ceeztheday- Rant away - and no, you are NOT being whimpy. I absolutely hated rads - in some ways it was not as bad, physically, as chemo was. But, going everyday, feeling like I was part of an assembly line, being drawn on, allow my body to be irradiated, the noise from the damn machine, etc...it was so bad, emotionally! I finished two wks ago and am still exhausted and have pain. I was fortunate that my skin held up well. I am supposed to go for a skin check tomorrow - I will leave a message on their machine that I am canceling. Rads are done for me - no more skin checks. I just cannot go there one more time. Now who's acting whimpy- lol
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Forgot to say, Barbe, that tech was a moron and a ghoul! Prayrv, same goes for yours, what a moron. Isn't it ironic that we have to play such games to get our own health info. given to us, but then are confronted with blabbering idiots that just blurt out these distressing findings that hit patients like a ton of bricks? It's insane!0
