thread for middle age to older Christian women.
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Hello Ladies,
I love coming here to read your encouraging words and to see the beautiful pictures, even though I don't post often I remember your names in prayer. I have a question, I am on Arimidex for breast cancer recurrence and because I already had osteoporosis my MO had me say that I would take a bone drug to offset the Arimidex side effects of decreasing bone. I have read a lot about naturally increasing your bone density without drugs and about all the long lasting bad effects of the bone drug on your bones. I'm wondering has anyone said no to bone drugs and kept on with the AI inhibitor (Arimidex)? On the humorous side I read your posts and I knew wan an MO was, but never what a DH was, and maybe because I'm single, but I think I've figured it out that it is a dear husband
Is that right many blessings!
Wheatfields0 -
Thank God for Godly Men
To the dads who cared during hard times, and cheered for us in the good ones…
To the men who showed us what it means to work hard and show up consistently…
To the father figures who offered us timely advice and practical support…
To the men who continue to support, encourage, and inspire us…
Thank you for showing us what it looks like to be a godly dad. You are seen. You are called. You are valued. You are loved.
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That's really beautiful, Ade,
Thanks also for the Wellness Report.
Blessings,
Esther
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Wheatfields, yes, DH is dear husband. DD = dear daughter, etc. Somewhere I saw a list of common abbreviatins used on this website but I can't find it anymore. I struggled at first too. Just ask...maybe someone here has the list?
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Hi dear sisters,
Besides not feeling well we had an EF3 tornado rip through our town close to my part of town. Several major power lines went down one street over from mine and we were without power last night into the early morning. Today I had no internet, phone or TV all day into the evening. 130 homes were damaged and much tree damage just one block from us. I saw barricades next to my house saying road closed ahead.
So it has been pretty crazy. I am feeling extremely fortunate that there was no damage in my neighborhood at least that I know of. Obviously feeling bad for those suffering injury and damage to their house and property. We have a great town full of many who help out and that part has been inspiring.
I will have to respond to posts later. It is 2 AM and I was having trouble sleeping. I have prayed for the needs mentioned and will have to post hopefully tomorrow.
Faith, I am praying for your needs, dental work and colonoscopy coming up.
Love,
Nancy
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Nancy, I am so glad you are ok - safe! I am praying for those affected by that awful tornado, thanking God you're ok, and praying for you to feel better.
I apologize for the LONG post yesterday. I know you're all busy and don't need that.
Blessings,
Ade
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Nancy, I'm glad you are safe, but sorry for those who suffered damage. I lived in Illinois for two years when I was around kindergarten age. I remember having to go down to our basement a few times, but never actually experienced a tornado. Now in California, it's earthquakes and wildfires.
Hoping you get some sleep. Praying for those with tests and procedures coming up. I see my MO tomorrow and have my scans next Tuesday, the 29th. Am holding onto Proverbs 1:33 - "Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without the dread of disaster."
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Nancy, I am thankful that you are safe and am praying for all who were impacted by the tornado. I hope you are able to get some restful sleep soon.
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I just had my mastectomy and have test I have to next week really nervous. I have Praying and asking God to let it be ok. They told me I would have to have chemo and radiation. He checked 18 nodes in my arm and 13 was cancer. I am 60 years old. I’m glad to find someone who loves God
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I loved your long post Ade, about His eye is on the sparrow, and took it with me yesterday for a 2 year CESM. It turned out clear which was an answer to prayer. I'm so thankful you shared your experience. Praying for all of you!
Wheatfields
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I loved your long post Ade, about His eye is on the sparrow, and took it with me yesterday for a 2 year CESM. It turned out clear which was an answer to prayer. I'm so thankful you shared your experience. Praying for all of you!
Wheatfields
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Thanks, Wheatfields. The Lord wants us to share His goodness ("forget not His benefits") with others. SO thankful your CESM was clear!
My Aunt Dottie was in her 90s, on no medications, and living alone until she went Home on Friday night of pneumonia. I never saw her angry, she never spoke a bad word about anyone, she had ailments that she talked about but never complained, she was a knowledge seeker and very intelligent even in her later years, and best of all she was a prayer warrior. I pray I can leave even half of that legacy. She is in the Lord's arms now. Looking forward to seeing her again.
Blessings on your day, sisters,
Ade
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Hi Dear Sisters,
I specifically wanted to say welcome to Mel11. I was up in the middle of the night and saw your post for the first time and wanted to respond when I was more alert. I know you shared you had a mastectomy and was really nervous about what was to come since you had so many positive nodes. You mentioned chemo and radiation. I am sorry you deleted your post. I usually respond daily but I have been sick and am trying to catch up. Please feel free to post again. This is a very caring group and many are going through some really hard things right now. We will be praying for you.
Wheatfields, if you scroll up or maybe down on the left there is a blue section that says help with abbreviations. I know when I was a new member here I had to quite often check that out. In fact I need to look up CESM that you mentioned. The fact that it was clear sound like a great thing. I am afraid I might lose my post if I click on that blue section now but will later.
Thank you l ladies for your words of comfort. Yes, I don't think I realized how fortunate our neighborhood was. Actually the road that had been closed opened up and I was able to drive down it. It was as if something just went down the whole street and mowed down the trees. Some of our houses do back up to that street and they lost precious parkway trees. This tornado must have been massive. It touched down and stayed on the ground for 16 miles and was 600 yards wide which would have put my neighborhood right smack in the middle of that path. There were 140 mph winds. I had some of my flower containers knocked over but that and quite a few branches and many leaves on the ground but I was very, very fortunate. After seeing videos from the news helicopters that were hovering yesterday for quite some time some peoples homes were absolutely obliterated. I also realize that I did not hear the first tornado sirens that went off the first time but I heard the second one which at that point was right when our power went off. It is going to take a long time for people to recover from this damage and the true miracle is no one was killed but several injured.
I am feeling some better today but had an AC guy come today and didn't get enough sleep. Hershey thanks for your prayers for rest because I have had several nights of troubled sleep.
I pretty much forced myself to get outside and do some mulching before the days of rain that are predicted happen. Normally I would have not done that as I was still not feeling well. When I finished yesterday I was so fatigued that I knew I am weak from laying around for several days and doing nothing. It is strange that Cammie, my cat and I have had similar issues. I am still trying to find the right balance of meds for her. It has not been easy. She is doing much better though and thank you for those who prayed for both of us.
Carol, praying your scans will show your treatments are working. I know going into those are scary for all of us. What part of Illinois did you used to live in if you don't mind me asking. Actually my cousin who just died had their house totally destroyed in an Illinois tornado many years ago. They had to live out of a hotel for many, many months. I don't have a basement in my townhouse now so my safe room is my quarter bath which does not allow for much room if I have Cammie in there too. I didn't have a chance to get her this time as the power went out and I was running around trying to find a workable flashlight. Lesson learned from this experience. I did find one in my car and thank goodness for flashlights on cell phones.
Thank you Ade to your tribute to all the men on Father's Day and for sharing the info regarding alternative medicine.
Esther, I was heavily into integrative medicine when I got my cancer diagnosis in 2014. I remember saying to my breast surgeon at the initial consultation after the diagnosis was confirmed what if I choose to do nothing. I said I don't think my integrative doctor would be on board with some of this. He said I am pretty sure he would be and doing nothing in his mind was NOT an option. So I went into my surgery and radiation and cancer drugs kicking and screaming initially. I started to see things differently and especially hearing of ladies on this BCO site that had made decisions not to do certain treatments only to have the cancer come back and now they are facing stage four cancer was a real eye opener. Also knowing that stage 1 cancer is not an ironclad guarantee that the cancer won't come back. We have some ladies on this thread that have experienced that. So I say all of this to say please pray about your decisions as I am sure you are.
I am trying to remember all the posts and I can't scroll back to see them all or I will lose this post. Jean, I do remember all the stress you had mentioned and that as a praise you found a hearing aide. That is a true miracle. Those are so expensive to replace. Hoping things are going okay with your DH and his memory issues. Are you doing VBS again this summer?
Terri, I think you were having your dental work either yesterday or today. I have prayed about that and I hope everything has gone okay. I remember you were concerned about the sedation. I do pray for you regularly and I just wish that you could have relief from all of the anxiety and now panic attacks. I know you have been resistant to taking some meds and I just pray that God will give you the wisdom to know what to do and when. I know this has been a very long time you have not been feeling well. Is DH doing any better in his recovery from his knee replacement?
I apologize if I have left out anyone. I will scroll back as soon as I hit submit so I can be praying about the needs mentioned.
Take care dear sisters and I do appreciate your prayers so much.
Ester, I finally got my cascading fountain up yesterday after painting and sealing it over a two week period only to have it not work. It is solar and it could be there was not enough sunlight on the panel yet but I suspect it was something just gave out in storage over the winter so I ordered another solar kit. I hope you are enjoying your sound track. I have music channels on my smart TV and there is a soundscape channel I listen to alot because it is do relaxing.
Ade, how is James doing now? I suspect they may never find out what causes this just as the doctors don't know why I have these recurring face and hand burning episodes. I have discomfort for about 40 min and that is nothing to what James is enduring with his migraines but probably both things follow into the category of we just don't know why this is happening. How are you feeling? Is this new Covid treatment working to where you feel back to your normal self?
Take care and know I am praying.
Love,
Nancy
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Ade, we were posting at the same time. Your Aunt Dottie sounds like a wonderful woman who lived a rich and long life. I am sorry for your loss. The angels are rejoicing in heaven now over her.
Chris, I am glad the wildfires in AZ are no longer a threat for your new sister. Nice that they could take a little trip in the meantime in their RV.
GB Have you had your surgery yet? I know you were very anxious about getting Covid before. Let us know how we can pray for you?
Over and out.
Love
Nancy
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Nancy, I don't mind at all. We lived on Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul. I went to kindergarten and first grade there (I'm assuming it was on the Base). It was a fun place to live as a kid. Lots of other kids as neighbors and cousins living in Indianapolis.
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Carol, I have a memory from Chanute Air Force Base. I lived in a music sorority house in Bloomington, IL where I went to college. I don't remember much details but somehow we must have been invited to a dance at the base. I went and met this guy. A few days later my sorority sisters are yelling at me saying look outside there is that guy in a red mustang that you met. He had somehow found me. I don't remember what became of him but I do remember the shock of seeing his red car parked in front of our house. That feels like a lifetime ago! I guess for you as well being in Kindergarten there too. The base has been closed for many years now.
Have a good day dear sisters. I have just had my prayer time and I do pray for each one of you.
Love,
Nancy
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Why is breast cancer so "Choose Your Own Adventure?"
Recurrence plus two positive nodes (one was busting out a little too at 5mm plus extension outside the node). I was given a chemo choice. I have the weekend to decide. Oncologist is leaning towards it because the second tumor happily grew and traveled on tamoxifen alone. My husband and I are leaning towards it too, but I'm terrified of side effects. I already have preexisting rectal issues so I'm picturing my body totally destroyed by this. I guess lots of miralax but I don't know if it'll be enough.
Not to mention my mother is now on hospice for her stage 4. I can't travel to see her. I don't want to end up like her. These are terribly difficult times for us.
Clinging to how God's grace is sufficient, because that's really all that's left here.
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gb, I can't imagine how difficult this decision is for you. I am very sorry to hear about your Mom and you can't travel to see her. I was never put in a position to choose my treatments. Once I decided to go the traditional route everything was pretty much decided for me. I thought most oncologists recommended chemo if any nodes were positive but it is true that every individual may have a different set of circumstances to consider. May God's grace lead you to the right decision for you. Our prayers will be with you during this most difficult time.
Love
Nancy
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Hi Nancy...she's big on the genomic testing. My oncotype was intermediate, so not super clear on chemo need. Hence the choice, but as we were talking through it she eventually said it's what she thinks I should do. Surgeon wanted me to do chemo We didn't do chemo 5 years ago when I had it the first time. I had a low risk mammaprint but one positive node at the time. Now it's back, same spot, now 2 nodes instead of one. Still hormone positive but percentages were a bit lower.
I suppose it should be a no brainer, I'm just picturing irritation so bad I can't sit (my reality much of the time), or worse, infection from it all. But the stakes are high. Metastasis risk is real. And it's already come back once. I suppose problems down there can eventually heal better than distant metastasis can. I would imagine those in stage 4 would encourage me to do this and treat side effects as best I can.
I have a call out to her nurse to talk through this a little. I need to hear that they see these problems and that people get through it.
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GB, do you know what chemotherapy your oncologist is recommending?
My dose dense AC was rough, but Taxol was much easier for me. Others have told me it was just the opposite for them. Everyone is different.
There are many medications and treatments available today to treat side effects, so do not feel shy about asking your medical team for relief.
I will be praying for you and your mom.
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gb, I was having a senior moment when I posted the first time and I couldn't remember the name (oncotype test) because I was wanting to ask you if you had that test and now I know you did. If I were in your shoes I know what I would do but it is not my decision to make but yours. I would agree with Hershey about more meds to treat side effects. I have not had chemo but radiation and an AI for five years so I can't share any personal info on chemo. I had major surgery several months ago and went into it thinking I would have a terrible time with the pain meds which in the past I have not tolerated very well. They gave me nausea meds (which in the past did not play well with my AI) while in the hospital and everything was manageable. So things do change and things you think might happen may not end up to be a factor at all.
I just finished my prayer and Bible time and I have prayed for you for wisdom. We will all be supporting you through this.
Love,
Nancy
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Thank you for the kind words. I had a nice chat with the nurse and she's going to talk with the doctor on Monday and get back to me. I imagine she's going to say that, that there's things they can do. I just need to hear it from her.
Hershey kiss, it's ACT...would be 4 treatments of AC and then 12 of T.
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Nancy, thank you for asking about us. James has been able to catch the most recent migraines with medication before they got too bad - a blessing. We are much better after taking the treatment we had read about (just 5 days) and we are so sad that the politics are withholding it. Many don't people make it (as high as 85% we read) because when you get covid you aren't given any of the things already proven to help - just told to go home and go to the hospital if you can no longer breathe. Actually our last prez bought enough for 5 million people and now it is just stuck in warehouses. That's just wrong isn't it.
GB, I pray the Lord will grant you wisdom as to which course to take and peace upon reaching that decision. Remember, it is HE that does the healing no matter which course you may take so trust Him with all of your heart (lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.) Pr. 3:5,6 paraphrased May the Lord be with your mother too in these hard times.
Praying for you,
Ade
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Thank you Ade, that is so true. With these impossible decisions it's true that the Lord knows beginning to end. I can only make the best decision with the information I have, and trust that He is in the details.
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GB, I'm praying for clarity as you make your decisions this weekend.
I've seen it written many times on this site that you don't have to be brave, you just have to show up. AC + T is an aggressive regimen, but it is manageable. Your medical team will make treatment adjustments if necessary to give you the best possible outcomes.
Praying for you and your mom.
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Ade, I am glad that James has been able to stop the migraines before they get really bad. Is this a new med he is on? Yes, a blessing indeed.
My vet called me yesterday to give me results of Cammie's blood work that was sent to TX. Her labs revealed chronic pancreatitis besides irritable bowel disease. The problem I am having now is not knowing if the new prescription food is giving her diarrhea or it is the change in food or the meds which is an appetite stimulant. The vet wants to retest to see if the new food is working to help the problem but can't retest until she is totally off the old food. I am mixing new with old to help stop the diarrhea but it is only a guessing game at this point. I am still not feeling well and still having intestinal problems too.
I did have a zoom meeting today with my niece and my sister on how to move forward on our house we will put on the market hopefully soon. Agreeing on the best plan of action has not been easy so hopefully once the realtor is on board she can give us some clear direction.
We did have some tornado damage to my little subdivision after I could get out and see what was going on. One of our board members had some house damage but it was mainly trees that got demolished and had to be cut down.
After being in a drought we are now experiencing torrential rains and expecting six inches of rain this weekend.
Faith, how are you feeling after your oral surgery? I am praying for you.
As some of our new ladies are recuperating from surgery and others deciding treatment options and others dealing with side effects of current treatments and those having a terrible time with anxiety many needs are represented here. I pray that the Lord will give peace, strength, wisdom and patience as these roads many are traveling seem insurmountable at times. May God help each one of you on your individual path with your own unique set of challenges. Facing fear doesn't mean you are not feeling feeling fear. You just move forward in your fear and before you know it you have conquered it with the Lord's help. As Hershey said you don't have to be brave you just have to show up. May God give you the courage to show up!!!!!
Love,
Nancy
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GB my heart goes out to you and I will be praying for you as well. I trust the Lord will give you wisdom and discernment and a real sense of peace with whichever decision you make and He will bless you with the very best possible. We will also be praying for your mom.
Nancy, the "abbreviation" list to the side is very helpful - thank you. I did notice my "CESM" wasn't there, but it's the abbreviation for a contrast mammogram.
I am praying for each one of you dear sisters.
Wheatfields
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Nancy, James is on the same ol' med but catching a migraine early can thwart it so that's the goal. Oddly enough mine start in the middle of the night when I am so drowsy it's hard to make myself get out of bed to take a pill, then I wake up with a really bad one. (Same med he is on but his are SUPPOSED to be 50mg.) I am so sorry to hear your gut miseries continue as well as Cammie's. At least you have a diagnosis (hopefully treatable) with her. You have both been under SO much stress. Lack of good sleep complicates and magnifies stress and kitties and dogs feel and react to their owners' emotions too. I surely pray that you can have some mental and physical peace and the house sale will be resolved soon and amicably by all parties. I thank God that tornado damage to your own property is NOT added to your stress list!!!
We all pray for the folks and relatives involved in the terrible condo disaster in Florida. How awful to have a loved one missing in that rubble or to BE in it, and for those who have lost everything!
Praying for all of you,
Ade
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Praying for each of you. There is so much "life" going on and sometimes it just feels overwhelming. I just keep (trying) to hang onto the promise in Proverbs 1:33. Anticipatory fear can paralyze us. Am praying for God's perfect peace for each one of us.
I just had the song, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" come to mind.
"Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow"
I think I'll have that song going through my head today. Not a bad message, right?
Love, hugs and prayers to all,
Carol
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Carol, today I am tightly holding on to that verse ("but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm). I've received a callback for diagnostic mammograms, one for each breast. Areas of asymmetry were seen on my screening mammogram. I am very high risk for recurrence (previous pathology + family history), but the callback was still disappointing. My appointment is this Friday afternoon.
Ade, thank you for posting the prayer.
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