thread for middle age to older Christian women.
Comments
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Ellen, I am so sorry to hear about this betrayal. It is worse when it is in the church. I have been in your shoes as a pastors wife so I understand. But I know God will bring you through. He is always faithful and has a redemption plan for you and your pastor husband. Praying for a shining miracle for your future. Chri
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Ellen, You know I am praying for you both as you recover from this total shock. These times when we feel like the rug has been pulled out from under us are times that God will use. I know that sometimes we cannot see the forest for the trees when this happens and it is a process of trusting how God is going to use it for good. I will continue to pray in this healing process.
I am glad Cal is adjusting to sharing the limelight with his little sister. I imagine watching them together is very precious.
I am actually going to a funeral downstate so I am not sure yet if we are taking my Mom or not. I have a feeling we may not as it is so hard for her to ride in the car for any length of time and we have to use the bathroom so many times it makes it very difficult in situations like this. I haven't been able to reach my sister to talk about it and then I remembered she was going to be gone all day and night so I guess I will find out tomorrow. We may be get several inches of snow tomorrow so that is a shock. Driving in snow for a long trip and the first snow I am not relishing but I pray I will get there one way or another.
I will be praying.
Love
Nancy
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Praying for safe travel Nancy. Love, Jean
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Thanks Jean. I did make it to my Mom's house without any problems considering the weather was pretty much non stop rain. The funeral was nice seeing so many relatives I had not seen in a very long time. The weather was horrible and we had record snowfall for Halloween which was the same day as the funeral. My Aunt and Uncle's tombstone is directly across from mine and my Dad's. The same summer as I went through treatments I decided to go ahead and purchase my tombstone so I had it placed next to my parents. It does feel sort of strange seeing it but I am glad I went ahead and did that.
It has been a tiring time here and not feeling the greatest. My lung condition is still rearing it's ugly head and even though my primary doctor thought I didn't need to use the inhaler anymore I have had to use it a couple of times and still coughing. That is very disappointing.
I took my Mom and we both got our flu shots today. Hoping for NO reaction. My Mom's facility is near this beautiful area of the lake. I took this picture after leaving her apt tonight. I am glad that God has given me this outlet which is great for my stress.
I hope you all are doing okay and those fighting sickness, I am praying you are much better.
Love,
Nancy
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Nancy, I'm so glad that you safely made it to your Mom's and to the funeral. Weather has been problematic in so many locations this year. Halloween in my area was wet and cold, so very few trick-or-treaters were out and about. We have lots of leftover candy, so I will take it to work for the adults to devour (my husband and I certainly don't need to be partaking!). Nancy, your sunset photo is gorgeous. Thank you for posting it. I do so enjoy your photography.
Praying for a blessed Sunday for one and all.
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Thank you Hershey. I am glad I made it to the funeral. We spent many holidays at my Uncles' house growing up. I may have mentioned my Mom and her sister married my Dad and his brother and this uncle who died was my Dad's brother. My Mom is the only one still living of the four. I was actually trying to get some pictures of the White Pelicans migrating through this area. Unfortunately with the terribly cold weather that they are not used to they have been huddling together for several days trying to keep warm. I sure hope they make it to their destination. Here is a group pic of the Pelicans. This was taken from a long distance away. The sunset was a more photogenic pic afterall. Thank you for your nice comments on my photography.
I am going to a new church today as my Mom and sister's church closed in June. So sad. This church is in the same building.
Have a great Sunday dear sisters.
Love,
Nancy
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Nancy, I am thankful you made it safely to the funeral and to your mom's. Hope your lung issues are clearing a bit. My Dad's brothers are all gone and I miss the family gatherings (there were 6 brothers.) I still have two of my mom's sisters and get to visit them occasionally. They both send me cards and little gifts since my diagnosis. It is wonderful knowing they are praying for me.
I lived in Colorado for 20 years and got used to the cold and snow but they are already getting hammered this year. It makes me appreciate San Diego even more although it is very dry and the fires are a bit scary. It was still 70* Halloween night so the kids were out without jackets.
I am still coughing a bit from this cold and now my DH is struggling with it so we stayed home from church so we don't pass it around. I have to do better avoiding my DGD when she is sick, but it is hard.
Sabbath blessings.
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Chris, praying that you will be completely healed from this sickness. I am still coughing from ??????? My lung issues are still apparent but hasn't been where I have had to use the inhaler everyday.
I need to run as I am finishing laundry and have to get over to my Mom's before it is too late.
Take care everyone. I am returning home tomorrow so will have more time to post.
Love,
Nancy
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Hi everyone,
I am back home now and just had a swim session and praying nothing bad is going to happen with my lungs. The weather is like January now so it has been a rude awakening. It is sunny and that always seems to help.
I hope everyone is doing better.
Love,
Nancy
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Moses was talking to Joshua and the people of Israel about taking the Promised Land.
As we are promised heaven to those who believe in Jesus we can take these words and relate them to our present circumstances. Who is "them" in our present day? You could fill in the blank. Anything that takes our eyes off of Jesus and is a distraction to that goal is "them" I think. I pray that we all can keep our eyes on Jesus and focus on Him and not the problems, worries and challenges we are facing. It doesn't make all of those things disappear but He equips us to go through these things with Him leading the way and not we ourselves and in our own strength trying to slay our enemies. May God go with you this day and may you be aware of His presence going with you today in all of it's challenges.Love,NancyDeuteronomy 31:6 New International Version (NIV)
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
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Nancy, thank you for that encouraging word - it just now showed up.
I had a long note to you all but it didn't post - nor did my sunrise photo. So here is the photo (yay!) that reminded me of yours, Nancy, with the sun rays.
Sabbath blessings,
Ade
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Ade, beautiful photo. I was just about to post some photos and saw yours. Yes it does look similar to mine. Yours is beautifully framed by those posts. Nice composition!!!
I took these tonight and it was so cold my eyes were watering which makes focusing a big challenge!! This is the Healing Field of Flags. There are appropriately 2019 flags. People can buy a flag and then add a tag to the flag in remembrance of someone special to them. It is always a moving scene. The structure is our Carillon all lit up.
I hope you are all doing better.
Love,
Nancy
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The comforting thing about this scripture is that God gives us strength according to our needs for that day. He is there to equip us for whatever challenges we face. We don't need to face a day knowing it is going to be full of challenges with our own strength. Many times we get very discouraged knowing our strength is not enough and guess what.........it is NOT enough. We can only get through this life with Jesus infilling us with that strength we need to face our daily challenges and circumstances. Going it alone is going to be a very lonely and very treacherous path that is going to lead to unnecessary problems. Plug into your source this day and stay connected to Him throughout your day. That is how to live victoriously in Jesus.
Deuteronomy 33:25 New King James Version (NKJV)
25 Your sandals shall be iron and bronze;
As your days, so shall your strength be.New King James Version (NKJV)
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Honoring all of our veterans on this frigid Veteran's Day in Illinois.
I took this from the warmth of my car on my cellphone. Unlike the above pics where I froze outside for 2hrs dealing with all of the fancy equipment!
I have never seen this display of flags with snow so this was a first. The wind made the flags all open which was pretty neat.
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Amazing picture Nancy. It was 70* here in San Diego today so we took a walk to the beach taking a break from cleaning out some cupboards. This is the first day I have felt better from my cold and I am trying to get things organized before the busy holidays. I have a scan on Friday and I am trying to keep extra busy. Such is my life... Glad you are safely home.
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Hello... I'm so glad to find this area of Christians walking thru this journey together. I'm very new to BC for myself, but have been a hospice nurse for the last 15 yrs of my 41 yr nursing career. I retired a year ago. I really don't have any questions right now but I'm just glad to find y'all. My husband isn't a big talker and my kids are super busy so I lean on my church family a great deal.
I have a seroma after my lumpectomy and that set me back some, but will have my first appt with the MO next week , then hopefully on to radiation.
I look forward to learning and reading your posts.
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Chris, I am glad you are finally feeling better. It has been a long time coming. I will be praying for your scans on Friday. I had to get a refill on my inhaler which was disappointing that I even needed to do this but I finally got it after sending in a request to my doctor last Wed. It got held up until tonight and I didn't realize Pharmacists could just change a script for it to clear insurance. Apparently the original script was changed and I didn't realize it. Oh well. I have it now if needed. Still coughing and not sure if it is the lung issue or possibly a side effect to another med.
Glad you liked the photo. I wish I would have had my camera but I had just come from the Y and wanted to see the flags in the snow. Such goofy weather. In several days they say it might hit 50 where as tomorrow it will be below zero wind chills.
Welcome Margo. I am sorry you are dealing with this in your fairly new retirement. Our stats are somewhat similar. I too developed a seroma after my lumpectomy and was pretty miserable until my surgeon manually drained it. I hope you got some intervention if needed. Congrats on a long career in nursing. I am sure that your work with hospice was difficult but rewarding. We have a mix of ladies here as far as their cancer journeys and stages of the disease. I am one of the fortunate ones that I have now finished all treatment and drugs and am now dealing with other medical issues that have been a challenge. One of our newer ladies is in radiation right now but she hasn't posted for a while. I think she was doing 16 treatments. I did 33 which was the standard in my area in 2014 but it seems like things are changing in radiation duration. Please feel free to post anytime.
Love,
Nancy
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Thanks Nancy for your encouragement.
I had the seroma drained twice and took two rounds of Cipro and two rounds of Clindamycin....ugh! Scary stuff! Also had cellulitis around the area and on my chest. All that is slowly resolving and off antibiotics for 10 days....
Just wondering now what to expect at my first oncologists appt next week. I know they will have the genomics tests back by then. Trying to learn by then what to even ask.
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Margo, it sounds like you have had a rocky period which I hope will be over and radiation will be a breeze. I am single and I bought a voice recorder and taped all of my cancer team when I would see them. There is a lot of information and some important things I might have missed if I hadn't done that. You may have family with you but even so it is good to hear everything. Of course I had to asked permission from each doctor and they all had no problem with this.
Your radiation oncologist will tell you the number of treatments probably and you may have options which in my particular case I didn't. There is more than one way to do radiation for bc. Your Medical Oncologist will probably discuss putting you on an Aromatase Inhibitor which we call an AI here. You are estrogen positive and there are choices of AI's for that. For me that didn't happen until three weeks after my radiation treatments were over. The duration for the AI is at least five years.
Do you have a nurse navigator? If you do they are worth their weight in gold.
If you did the Oncotype test that will tell your Medical Oncologist whether you need chemo or not. If you didn't have any lymph nodes coming back positive you more than likely will not but if you do that test will help determine if you need chemo.
Hope this helps.
Love,
Nancy
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Margo, welcome! Please know we will lift you up in prayer for your walk ahead. We haven't all had the same walk of course but we fight the same fight and our trust is in the Lord's loving hands. (My husband James is a retired R.N) Feel free to post anytime here, as I said, you are welcome here.
Chris, I am thankful you can see a light at the end of your illness tunnel finally. Don't overdo just because you get to feeling better (and I am sure have plenty to do!)
Joanne - SO glad to see God's miracle working hand upon Michelle! Thank you for the pix of her beautiful family. May each one come to know our Lord as Savior. I continue to lift you up in prayer also.
Nancy what amazing flag pix! How cool that the Lord, on that blustery day, provided a wind to unfurl those flags too! I pray you can get the pharmacy snags worked out and that you can get a correct diagnosis and treatment - AND HEALING! - for your lungs
It is COLD COLD COLD here - in the lower 20s! For US that is EXTREME! It has been a bit crazy lately. Our daughter-in-law had to go to the E.R. with abdominal pain so I watched the girls while our son was with her. James stayed home in case it was something contagious, since she had vomiting 24 hours before the pain. They did gall bladder testing that showed no results (but that isn't a reliable indicator) and sent her home with pain meds. Then when I got home I found James curled up in bed with one of his MONSTER "ice pick" migraines! Those come on all of a sudden and feel like severe stabbing pain. That was one of the longest lasting ever and ran into the night. Again - that VA doctor has him on the lowest dose of preventative AND pain management (Imetrex) even after James TOLD her it wasn't enough! We petitioned for a new doctor but it has to go through a committee!!! Haven't heard anything back yet on that. Since the lowest dose is 25mg. and it is available up to 75mg I gave James 2 tabs (50mg) and that didn't even touch it. I gave ginger, which is supposed to help, and ended up finally giving an extra strength Ibuprofen prescription pill that my friend gave us. The VA cancelled our last appointment as we were about to leave the house - so now we head to Midland tomorrow. It is called a C&P exam where he will be evaluated to see if he qualifies for more than the paltry 10% disability for migraines that they gave him upon discharge from the military in 1975. Please pray - 1) That he is well for the trip (I can't drive in that awful city traffic and it is a 3 1/2 hour trip!) - 2) For safe travel, 3) for Divine favor with the examiner. This is REALLY important for us! And 4) for healing for Marissa (daughter-in-law) Thank you so very much!
Lord bless and keep you all,
Ade
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Praying for ThisIknow as she goes through radiation treatments. Praying for Margo as she waits to find out her treatment plan as she recovers from surgery.
Nancy B. How about sending some Hawaii weather our way!!!
Ade, praying for you and James as you make this LOOOOOOOOOOOONG trip. Hang on to this verse as this VA journey may be a process that takes some time.
Ellen, praying for you and Clyde as you seek God's will. Praying for healing after the hurtful time you have been through.
Faith, praying for you as you deal with PT, not feeling well and entering a very busy time I imagine with your church choir.
Chris, praying for scans on Friday.
Joanne, praying as you wait on a surgery date for DH.
Hershey, praying you are able to be a light in your challenging workplace.
Debbie (Foots) praying you are doing well. Give Faithful Grace a hug for me.
Jean, praying you are doing well.
Gumdoctor, we haven't heard from you in a long time. How are you doing?
I am sorry if I have left anyone out which I imagine I have.
Have a good day dear sisters. I am off to an oncology apt.
Love,
Nancy
Romans 15:13 New International Version (NIV)
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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Let God be your rock today. Lean on Him. Take ALL of your cares to Him who is more than able to
sustain us even when we feel we burdened and weak.
Love,
Nancy
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Hello again everyone, sorry I've been MIA lately, it's been an exhausting and stressful time for me but things are slowly improving. I've been doing PT for my back and sciatica and progress is slow. Some days are better than others and doing the exercises at home also takes time. I'm not sure what I've mentioned but my tests have all been ok so I'm grateful for that, especially my blood work and normal tumor markers. Praising God for all His blessings!! He really has been by my side through these last days. I had a good visit with my MO this week and we discussed the side effects of my AI. I had found some research about the half life of Letrozole and asked if we could consider an every other day dosing schedule. Since my cancer seems to be very slow growing, he agreed. While it's a little scary, I need to try this and trust that God will be with me in this also. Your prayers are most welcome while we see if my QOL improves.
I not sure if anyone remembers my asking for prayers for the husband of a dear friend who had esophageal cancer. He passed away about two weeks ago and it was one of the saddest funerals I've been to. I joined the choir for his service and it was hard. He was a really great guy (only 70) with the sweetest wife. Praying for Kathiand her family's comfort and peace.
Nancy, I've really enjoyed your beautiful pictures, especially the Veterans Day flags in the snow (UGH!). Your banners have also been so timely, thank you for being so faithful with them and to this forum.
Echoing Nancy's prayers for all of you. It's been a long day and I'm saying good night but keeping you all in prayer.
Love,
Faith (in the future)
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Faith I pray things can settle down for you and you get a chance to catch your breath ad have some quiet time with the Lord. I am so sorry to hear of your friend's DH's passing. With the holidays coming up I pray the family will cherish his memories and feel God's comfort and healing.
Nancy, how did your appointment go? How is your breathing? Did your mom take your uncle's passing ok or was it very difficult for her? Thank you for yesterday's banner & words of encouragement. I need those!
We got to James' appointment safely and it went well. However he was running a fever so our son (bless his heart) drove us. Yes the fevers are back right on the heels of some really severe and sudden "ice pick" migraines that bring tears to his eyes. He has a few "well" days in between but is in bed now with 3rd day in a row of fever. I have the flu/cold stuff (caught from grandaughter when I babysat the girls when their mama had to go to the ER with abdominal pain) and I feel awful but manage to take care of his needs and often nap with him. Not a great time for us but the Lord will see us through. He always has.
Lord bless and keep you all,
Ade
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Nancy, thank you for your continued prayers. I did ok at my scan today although I struggled physically getting enough strength to get there. Now for the waiting.
Ade, I am praying for James. I can't believe you don't have an answer for this. I have just recovered from getting sick from my granddaughter and it took me a month! I pray yours is shorter.
Faith, praying for God to send you rest and blessings.
I thank God for the support of everyone here. Chris
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Ade, thank you for your prayers, especially for my friend and her family. I'm sure this will be a very sad holiday season for them. I'm so sorry to hear of James' continued fevers and migraines. How awful for both of you, I'll continue to pray for you both. I do hope that when you are finally able to sell your house and move back to Ohio, you will get some answers. You said a while back that the sickie still gets to take care of the other one. You are so right. We are so blessed to have God help us through it all.
Chris, thank you for your prayers. I will pray that you have all good news from your scan and NO progression!
Hope everyone has a blessed weekend.
Love and prayers,
Faith (in the future )
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Thank you Nancy for your encouragement..... it’s been a good week for me , especially emotionally as I have dealt with mild depression a lot in the past, especially during the winter. Here in Alabama, we went from a 100 degree terrible drought straight to winter! But at least there is rain. ...I’ve been staying busy decorating for Christmas ( wayyy to early I know), grandchildren and my sons basketball 🏀 games... He is a coach..
I see my oncologist on Thursday.... I’ve heard a lot of great things about him.... They should have my Oncotype or Mammaprint study back by then. ... I did have my seroma drained twice and had cellulitis on top of its and it’s still a tiny bit red, even after a month of strong antibiotics. It’s been very slow to heal even though I have always been a rapid healer. So I don’t know what he will say about that.
Do they give Tamoxifen or similar drug after radiation or during or before? Doesn’t it cause joint pain? I have bad joint pain already.
I hope everyone has a great rest of your weekend
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thank you Ade for the warm welcome!
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Hi dear friends,
I have been busy and didn't have a chance to post. I hope I can trust my memory of all the posts because I can't scroll back.
Faith, I am so glad to hear that your tumor markers and your scans have been good. I do pray that you will be able to do just fine with you AI every other day and feel better doing that. I know PT is a drag but I hope it is helping you in the long run. I have decided to postpone mine until after the holidays. Financially it would make more sense to do it now but realistically it doesn't make sense with me going down to my Mom's so much. I am sorry for your loss. Unfortunately the older we get the more funerals we seem to be attending. I do hope this sunny day in IL lifts your spirits a bit.
Ade, I just really hate to hear about you and James. I continue to pray for you and I hope that James will get some answers. I am glad your son was able to drive you. Did you get any satisfaction from the VA. I have continued to have the burning of the face and hands and today was another episode. I have chalked my situation up to no one is going to find out what is the problem move forward. My oncologist said we could go down a rabbit hole with tests for that but she said if you are dealing with it and I said yes I am and don't want to go down that rabbit hole. I am praying that James situation WILL be able to have a solution give the right set of medical eyes and ears from your doctors. I hope you feel much better. Be the caregiver when you need a caregiver is very tough and I can identify with that. It will get better.
Chris, I sure hope you can start to feel much better. I pray that your scan results will be good. My oncologist had to wear a mask as she examined me because she had been sick with this stuff. Praying for much better days.
Margo, I am glad you are having a good week. I actually have used a light box during the winter months for many, many years as I am affected by the shorter days and less daylight. I just saw my oncologist and I could not remember my Oncotype score exactly but it was 16. If you are post menopausal they will probably suggest one of the aromatase inhibitors. I was on Anastrozole (Arimidex) but I have had some friends that was leery of the joint pain and they were put on the other drugs in this class. I started my AI three weeks after I finished radiation. That was the choice of my Medical Oncologist. However different doctors may chose a different path for reasons that may pertain to your individual case or just their protocol. I finished my AI at the end of July. I was on it for five years. Some are on it for ten years. Tamoxifen is usually given for menopausal women or for women who do not tolerate the AI's very well. I had lots of issues with pain going into it but I really didn't notice things getting worse. I had other issues. Everyone is different. Exercise can help with the side effects and I am a lap swimmer.
I hope your cellulitis heals and that you have good direction once you see your oncologist. It always feels better once your plan is in place. We tend to gear up for the battle and of course the Lord gives us the strength we need to get through it all.
When I was my oncologist a few days ago she was a bit concerned because I am still coughing. She is VERY proactive and she put in her notes that I can see in MyChart and made it very clear to me that she wants to know if my coughing persists in the next 2-4 weeks. If it is still there she wants to do a lung CT scan. I am still coughing and I am curious if it is coming from my blood pressure meds. or acid reflux or who know what else. I was happy that other than that I don't have to see her for a year. First time EVER!!! So I felt like skipping in the snow out to my car. LOL
I got a letter from the VA yesterday and I was afraid to open it. It was basically the SAME letter I got several months ago with one additional thing in it. They obviously are not aware that my claim is in a huge pile with the other gazillion claims. So we wait and hope my Mom's money doesn't run out in the process. Trust. It all boils down to trusting in the Lord for ALL things.
Have a good weekend dear sisters.
Love,
Nancy
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thank you Nancy! I will be praying that your cough will resolve🙏🏻soon
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