MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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my re-stored faith in my doctors was short lived. I picked up my prescription and decided to read the paper that comes with it. The anti-biotic she prescribed is a quinalone which I am deathly allergic to. It is in all my files. Do they ever really read the papers they make us fill out over and over. I am so glad I didn't take one before reading. I really don't want to go to the doctors anymore. I am starting to fear them even more than before.
Eli- I thought the mermaid had lost a shoulder pad. Remember when that was the style?? I remember cutting them out of my clothes.
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Eli - here's an assortment of nice cool summer drinks for you to enjoy. I had a great time making them and would gladly make you more once you finish these off. Enjoy!
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Gosh Dianarose - so sorry for the kidney stone and docs/pharmacists that cannot read/comprehend. How's the pain doing now? I hope you are keeping well hydrated to flush the stone/stones out. Ask pharmacist (when you find one that can read) about prophylactic probiotics - as to timing around antibiotics. Don't know if added ones in your gut will help yeast infection down there but worth a try. NativeMainer might know more. Not endorsing this method since not familiar with it but googling did say you can use live cultured plain yogurt down there. I wondered if you couldn't. Someone into natural methods of treatment could probably address this.
Hopefully you will get your antib. situation sorted out soon. Maybe just tincture of time is the best thing esp. if your pain has resolved.
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Barcso - wow, aren't you the good little bartender? Umbrella drinks for everyone. Thanks and thanks on Eli's behalf.
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The answer to that is NO, D-rose, if you want them to actually read your chart, that will cost extra. Let me know if they rebate you for doing the background check on yourself...I know I never get the kickbacks I deserve!
One more thing, I'm sure no one here thinks I would be frivolous enough to request a break just so I could enjoy some cold treats. No, it was more. The chemo was building on me to the point of several days of visual disturbances, calf pain/pre-cramping that made it painful and possibly dangerous to go down a flight of stairs, bottom of feet sore to walk on, and the weight loss, of course. All in all, this was getting a bit much for me. Finally, my WBC has been low for weeks, and lymphocytes too, but this week, the granulocytes took a plunge as well, so the MO might have been more amenable to my taking a break, and not just crumbling under my strong will. I'd still like to think it was my strong will. Just because.
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Hi Cricketsandfrogs. Sorry that you had such a difficult experience with your MO. There are other MO's, and you really do need to trust this person with your life, so if you need to get a second opinion, or a third in order to find someone you are really comfortable with, then it is money well spent.
Given all the things he was spouting about difficulty getting pregnant, and being at risk for diabetes, did he by any chance mention polycystic ovary disease?http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/polycystic-ovary-syndrome/DS00423
If he thinks you have that, he might not be a total jerk, since it could play into the treatment choices you and he make, but it sounds like he could use a refresher course in how to interact with patients.
It is a very delicate balancing act helping a teenage daughter feel included and that you are not hiding any bad prognosis from her, and not having some doctor scare her out of her wits. Hopefully if will get easier as she sees you doing well. It did for my daughter.
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Yum, yum, barsco! I will drink them, virtual booze and all. In real life, I would drink them all virgin. See how nice I am to my liver? (It's working day and night for me as it is right now, sweet little liver.)
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crickets - good to hear that your prognosis is good - hooray. However, two thumbs down for the MO who seems to think that he knows all and needs to tell all. Apparently no filter there.
Dianarose - WTF is going on with the medical profession? Thank goodness you checked things out before you took any of the antibiotics. I hope that you have or are planning to call the doctor and remind her that you have a file for a reason. Good grief!
Got a great phone call today after arriving home - I am the lucky recipient of a mini spa treatment and facial for myself and 3 of my friends! I hardly ever win anything! Made what started out as a sad day become a bit more pleasant.
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Hi PatMom - My MO didn't mention polycystic ovary disease. I clicked on the link (thank you!) and it didn't really seem to fit. I always assumed that it took me a couple of years to get pregnant because I was in my late 30's when we first started trying!
I have calmed down quite a bit. My DH was also there with me. His take on it is that the MO really knows his stuff, but has some "social quirks". I know this MO has gotten a lot of people I know through this cancer junk.
I guess I had a pretty thin skin today and it all really hit me wrong. I am playing with the dogs and enjoying our northwoods evening and breathing in all the wonderful smells.
Elimar - I am joining you in being nice to my liver with a HUGE glass of ice water!
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Eli - of course none of us would think you would take a chemo break just because you wanted to actually be able to tolerate and enjoy something that you put in your mouth. But since all indicators and SEs are leaning toward needing a rest, then of course you should take advantage and partake in a few tasty treats. Perhaps you will even be able to find some of those lost pounds. It worries me that you are fading away. What does the doctor say about the weight loss?
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I met a Stage IV breast cancer lady today at my chemo appt. Wanted to share the weirdness her story, just cause in the four years I have been here, I have not heard a one like this.
For her, it started with a couple tick bites, a particular one under the bra band that was super itchy. After some scratching, it showed signs of infection, red line travelling down a blood vessel, etc. So she sought a doc and some antibiotics. The tick bite formed into an annoying keloid scar and her doctor said it would be irritating right there at the bra line, but a dermatologist could fix it, so she went to have it excised. Derma sent it out to the lab (as was their standard on all lesions removed) and it came back that it was B/C, mets to the skin. Stage IV right out the box. It was lobular, never spotted with mammo. She also had mets in bones and liver, without symptoms. That's not unusual, but presenting with the skin mets is kind of unusual. Just sharing.
I did mention this site to her and she seemed interested but I think she might be older than this age range, so I'll probably never know if she joins this community or not.
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Lobular is such a sneaky thing. Cancer is so mysterious sometimes.
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Yes sneaky it is. Damn cancer! Instead of "now you see it, now you don't" it seems to work the other way around. A friend that I met through a bc support group on fb passed away on Sunday. She found out only last Wed that her cancer had spread - and it spread with a vengence. It was very shocking to hear of her passing. Ironically she was a big (NY) Mets fan.
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And speaking of flip-flops. I wore a pair to my chemo yesterday, and purposely walked around making the loudest flip-flopping noises I could make with them, just for attention-seeking fun. If I ever wore the other "thong," who knows how I might have to draw attention to THAT! And don't worry, I'm probably already known as "that annoying patient," so there was no additional stigma risk to my extreme flip-flopping either. Walk on, sister!
p.s. Sorry, Barsco, I wrote a silly post and forgot to add the serious part about your friend. That is just another shocking story about the unfathomable ways of B/C. Very sad.
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Bought my stove and 3 bay sink today. I am looking at a mixer tonight. It will feel good to have all the equipment in place. I was so tired of looking on Craigs list.
My low back still hurts today, but it is not as painful to pee. I did call my doc and she apologized and CVS gave me a refund. I don't think the tech at the pharmacy realizes what a big mistake that was. I am in their instant alert system so this doesn't happen. The trust factor is gone now.
Eli- can you eat any fruit? I had a Fuji apple today. It was so flavorful.
Barsco- sorry about your friend. I think it scares all of us. F'n cancer.
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Dianarose, the doctor prescribed the antibiotic, so isn't she the one that the buck stops at? The pharmacist certainly should have been aware of the allergy, but I don't know that my pharmacy has ever asked me if I'm allergic to anything (I could be wrong about that-I've been there for about 4 years & I've had chemo since then
) I am going to check next time I do a re-fill. I'm not defending the tech by any means but I think the doc is the one to be most upset with.0 -
Dianarose, nope no lightning here. Not even a rumble of thunder. Stop hogging all the good storms and send a few my way!
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Hi ladies! I am 50 and thought I would put my two cents in this thread. When I take antibiotics I always take acidophilus. Every time I take one abx I take 2 acidophilus and never got the yeast infection again. I an addicted to Fuji apples! Gotta back into work so have a wonderful day everyone :-)
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HLB - welcome to the Middies thread!
Haha, now I'm craving a Fuji apple! Boy, the minute you find out you can't eat something, you start craving it. I've had food poisoning twice in the last 9 days so I'm going to make myself avoid fresh fruits and veggies for a week or two. The first time I got sick I believe was the result of cross-contamination with raw fish. Five days later I had some fresh veggies and dip from a platter I ordered from the grocery store for a party and I got sick again.
Elimar - I love your list of icy cold treats! Have you had any yet? I can imagine you've been craving them for a while now. I'm so happy your MO is giving you a break on the platinum drug and I hope it puts everything back to normal before you have to have another dose. Glad to hear you are being the annoying patient - the way I look at it is you are providing the entertainment! Another thing that doctor's office owes you for, haha!
So fresh fruits and vegetables are high in antioxidants and good for the immune system, yet I have to avoid them for now because my immune system is apparently weak and can't fight off food poisoning. I remember puzzling over that ad nauseum during chemo, lol.
barsco - I'm so sorry that happened to your friend! Cancer is so sneaky - I guess we should all be aware that something as sudden as that can happen with this horrible disease. Things like that keep me on the Tamoxifen, in spite of all the pain-in-the-ass side effects.
Speaking of which, the other morning I woke up and lazily stretched in bed, pointing my toes like a ballerinia. All of a sudden, a calf muscle cramp just grabbed my left leg and locked it in place like that. My muscle felt like a rock and hurt like crazy. I was screaming (glad I was alone) and practically lifted my leg out of the bed, put my foot on the ground - with the intention of standing up and walking around - and the minute I put weight on that foot the cramp just went away. So the lesson here is I found out the best way to straighten out a cramp is to stand on it.
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That is terrible about the food poisoning! Here is tip I read in a great old book called Vermont Folk Medicine. Take a spoonful of apple cider vinegar before meals and you won't get food poisoning. Never tried it but I would not be surprised if it works. I've read so many things that acv is supposed to be good for but I just can't choke it down so I bought some acv capsules from swanson. Idk if they work as well but they were cheap. I know it works for my mom for reflux.
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Thank you all for your thoughts. Judy's passing makes me even more determined to speak out about mbc and the lack of $$ that actually goes into research.
Diana - so glad that you are feeling better. And that the bakery is filling up with all the equipment needed to whip up those yummy treats!
Eli - I can just imagine you flip-flopping your way through chemo. Strut your stuff girlfriend!
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Home last night from Colorado and had a voice mail from my MO re the MRI I had last week. She is referring me to my surgeon because the "lesion" on my pancreas is "slightly" larger than the last one. I'm waiting for the call for an appt. ......."I'm NOT going to worry....I'm NOT going to worry.......I'm NOT!!!"
Dianarose, forgive me if you've already posted, but do you have an opening date for the bakery? It sounds wonderful!
Barsco: congrats on the Spa day! So sorry about your friend.0 -
Chacha - I am NOT going to worry with you. Hang in there!
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Chacha--I'm NOT worrying with you, too!
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chacha I am joing the not worrying club!!!
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Chach, Do your best to keep the worry away. A lot of the imaging techniques aren't even that precise when they measure our tumors. So many times ladies reported that, at surgery, the tumors turn out bigger or smaller than seen on the imaging. I know this is one MRI compared to another of the same, but a slight variation in size can just be something quirky in the imaging technique itself, don't you think? No, it can't be ignored. We don't have that luxury anymore. Still, we can definitely give ourselves a break not to worry that somethig might be something, when it is really nothing. Gonna wait for your surgeon to tell ya something good. Let us know.
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Proof positive...my platinum drug is the devil. I feel GREAT about taking a break from my platinum drug for this two week cycle because I did not have vision disturbances or the leg cramping this round, and eating has been much less of an ordeal. I am sure I can get a few pounds on this cycle and feel much better about heading into the second half of my chemo. Last, but not least, that Frozen Coke(*) I had the other night tasted like HEAVEN!!!
(*) Also known as an icee, slushie, slurpee, etc.
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Just got the call and Boston comfirmed it is mets. It is better than a new ovarian cancer. It was contained inside of the ovary and fallopian tube from what I was told. It was not my MO who called as he is on vacation. It did however say the HER2 was positive again. Now that is 2 who say it is and one who says negative. WTH
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I would never think mets is the lesser of two evils, Dianarose, but I do like the sound of contained, and I hope that means that since the ovary and tube are out that you might have gotten rid of it once again. Of course, you will probably have to follow this up with some kind of drug therapy but until they solve the HER2+ riddle, I guess you don't know if that will be Herceptin or something anti-hormonal. Did you get both ovaries out or just the affected one? Sorry, I've mentally lost that info. if you mentioned it before.
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Eli- I had them both out. The intent was purely prophylactic. No one saw this coming. I am going to be going on some AI or another next month. I have a ct and bone scan scheduled first. I am going to ask the MO about Bazedoxifene though. I think I will go with the guy who says my her2 is negative. I am starting to like him.
My son and I picked strawberries this morning. We picked 30 pounds in about 25 minutes. Hulling them now. I am half done. I don't know why, but it seemed like a better idea this morning. I will make jam tomorrow and I think I will treat myself to shortcake too.
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