thread for middle age to older Christian women.
Comments
-
Good morning to everyone here!!!! It is such a comfort to come here and read all your wonderful posts. I wish we could all physically hold hands and pray together, but coming here daily gives me the sense of fellowship and community and most importantly His Presence. I appreciate every one of you and thank you for being here with your prayers, spirituality and friendship!!! Our Lord certainly had a plan for each of us when we came to this wonderful thread. I am so thankful to be here among so many wonderful Sisters in Christ!!!! God bless you all, and may all you have a great day.
0 -
I have been praying almost unceasingly today. I have been praying for all the ladies, whether not yet diagnosed, newly diagnosed, or those who have been fighting awhile, and for me, too. I'm glad it's not possible to wear God's ears out, since we are to pray without ceasing. Wherever I have been, in the bed all night, in the car, in the waiting room, close my eyes and pray. God Bless and help us all.
0 -
Dear Icm123, I am praying for you as well. We are all Prayer Warriors here. You are so right to pray unceasingly to HIM. You can anytime, anywhere, to anyone and He hears us all the time!!!!! God bless you, you will get through this!!!
0 -
Greetings in the name of the Lord! I was happy beyond belief to find a Christian thread. It makes such a huge difference to be among women who have faith in God! Cancer is something that is based in so much fear, and our God is not about fear but faith and trusting Him in all circumstances. I'm 66 years young, married to my precious husband for the past 32 years. We have a blended family of 5 children---4 sons and a daughter---two his, two mine and the youngest, ours. We have 8 grandchildren. Our children are spread out from Hawaii to Illinois, and we live in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon. I joke that I'm the traveling "nanny"!
I was diagnosed with ILC on January 25, 2012. I was shocked at the diagnosis even though I had LCIS diagnosed ten years ago. So on March 29th I had a lumpectomy and have been waiting for the staging for the last several weeks. The hospital in Seattle staged the tumor at a Stage IIIa; however, my pathologist and second opinion (Michael Lagios - The Breast Cancer Consultation Service in Tiburon, CA) is one of two top pathologists in the country for breast cancer, and he is saying the tumor is almost half the size of what they called it in Washington. They are saying 5.1 cm and he is saying it is no larger than 35 mm, which puts me at a Stage IIb rather than IIIa. The tumor was lobular, grade 1, estrogen + progesterone ? I got two different opinions on the progesterone (one said progesterone - and the other said 100% positive GO FIGURE!) To make a long story short, there has been a great deal of discrepancy with this. I pray and believe God is saying just trust Me and wait on Me, so I'm trying to be patient with this. This morning I got the score for my Oncotype DX test of 17, which is the high end of low according to my MO who says I probably would NOT benefit from chemo. The road so far has been "confusing", and I know for a fact that confusion is not of God. I am so thankful that I have Jesus and the Holy Spirit to lead and guide me through this. I don't think I could do this without Him. I'm learning to trust and obey more than ever, and I'm learning to wait on the Lord---a lesson in patience.
I will probably still need radiation and some kind of estrogen blocker for long term prevention. I'm truthfully scared about the radiation. I live in a very small town. We just built a cancer center here, so I've been thinking of looking into having radiation treatments here. The price of gas and the amount of time involved makes it hard to travel, but I've never wanted to go to any of the local doctors. Can anybody tell me what to look for when getting radiation treatments? Is there some kind of equipment that is the standard in the industry? How about the radiation oncologists, have you interviewed any of them? Maybe I'm being too paranoid, but I have had some bad medical experiences which have caused me to be skeptical. I would appreciate your input.
The Scripture God gave to me when things were looking very scarey was Deuteronomy 31:6 ~ "Be strong and of good courage; fear not nor be afraid of them; for the Lord thy God He it is that doth go with thee, He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." KJV
0 -
Hi Jeannie,
I just noticed you had surgery on March 29th also, and I noticed you're from WA. I live in OR but had surgery at the University of WA Medical center on March 29th. I also was diagnosed with ILC. So far I just had a lumpectomy, but I didn't get clear margins. There is what they call some focal involvement. It is small though and my second opinion doc told me to get another MRI to see if there was any residual disease. He said I may be able to avoid a second surgery and handle it with a radiation boost.
I've been reading up on radiation, and wouldn't you know I got something in my e-mail from Johns Hopkins online site and Artemis Newsletter a short while ago that is very scarey. It talks about radiation causing turning cancer cells into stem cells.
http://www.hopkinsbreastcenter.org/artemis/201203/12.html
After reading this I was at a total impasse even though the article specifically states DO NOT BE ALARMED IF YOUR DOCTOR IS RECOMMENDING RADIATION because it is still the standard of treatment. So how can you read something like this and not be alarmed?
0 -
Hi Jeannie,
I just noticed you had surgery on March 29th also, and I noticed you're from WA. I live in OR but had surgery at the University of WA Medical center on March 29th. I also was diagnosed with ILC. So far I just had a lumpectomy, but I didn't get clear margins. There is what they call some focal involvement. It is small though and my second opinion doc told me to get another MRI to see if there was any residual disease. He said I may be able to avoid a second surgery and handle it with a radiation boost.
I've been reading up on radiation, and wouldn't you know I got something in my e-mail from Johns Hopkins online site and Artemis Newsletter a short while ago that is very scarey. It talks about radiation causing turning cancer cells into stem cells.
http://www.hopkinsbreastcenter.org/artemis/201203/12.html
After reading this I was at a total impasse even though the article specifically states DO NOT BE ALARMED IF YOUR DOCTOR IS RECOMMENDING RADIATION because it is still the standard of treatment. So how can you read something like this and not be alarmed?
0 -
Welcome FrostyGal, Your mind must be racing with so many decisions to be made. You have come to the right place where all these lovely women will pray for you, me included. I am lifting you up in prayer right now, knowing that Our Lord is in control and He will be with you every step of the way. Also, I had chemo and radiation and I know the techniques are much better now. I am sure you will be in good hands!!! God bless you, Kathy
0 -
Hi everyone....I want to thank all you ladies who have joined in to pray for one another. It is such an encouragement to me.
Frostygal...I am like you with the excitement to find such a group like this. They say no one can encourage you like another person who has experienced cancer themselves but really no one can encourage like someone with whom the Holy Spirit is living. Then when they share the experience of cancer too, it's just such a blessing.
I noticed kindergarten is on the west coast and you Frostgal are as well. I'm here on the east coast. I just always find it neat when I'm praying for someone all those miles away how our God is right there with you all while He's right here with me. I guess that's kind of elementary but it's something I delight over.
Love ya'll and hope you all rest well tonight.
PrAyFulLy YoUrs
0 -
FrostyGal, I will Personal message you.
0 -
Hi Frostygal, I had radiation after a bi-lateral mastectomy. I was afraid at first, but then did fine through the boosts and bolus treatments along with the regular treatments. I currently live in eastern NC and am moving to western NC in a month. The medical care where I am moving is inferior to the care I have here, but I will travel back here to continue with my current oncology team as I'm not emotionally ready to leave them yet. I will be praying for God's wisdom for you and your doctors. Welcome to our wonderful sisterhood here on this thread.
Hi Icm, how are you doing? I'm praying for you and for God's strength and care.
Hi all other sisters. I've been away from the boards lately as I've been both busy and very fatigued. I am sleeping better, but still wake up feeling like I've been run over by a truck. Thank you for all of your prayers.
Loving You all in Jesus,0 -
Dear Rocket, I have been thinking about you and prayers are coming your way that your fatigue and stress will subside once you get settled in your new home. When my hubby and I wake up after a crazy night of not sleeping well, we say the same thing about the truck and add how big was that darn truck!! Hugs and prayers for everyone here!!!!! 0
-
It's good to hear from you, Rocket. I will continue to pray that God will give you strength, rest and good health.
Kathy, I love your posts. You have a good sense of humor and inspire us to trust Jesus and talk to Him like you do.
Prayers and best wishes to everyone! It's such a blessing to have a group of Christian sisters who know what it's like to have breast cancer.0 -
Dear Jeanne, You are the sweetest person. It is you that I look up to. With everything that you are going through, you still have time to post and inspire us. Your avatar picture is so pretty!!! What do people do without faith and prayer?? I thank Our Lord everyday for the Sisterhood we have here!!! God bless you, Kathy
0 -
Jeanne, ditto what Kathy said. You are truly an inspiration!
0 -
And dear Rocket, you are another one that I look up to, you have so much on your plate right now, yet you keep your sense of humor!!!!!! You are a wonderful role model for us all. God bles you, Kathy
0 -
Thanks---God enables me and I'd like to give Him the glory. I heard a Christian song today that reminded me that no matter how our circumstances change, no matter what I (or you) are going through, even if it's a storm, God hasn't changed. He is the same. He is always faithful, loving, always present, reliable, trustworthy and so many other wonderful things. Also, in the Jesus Calling devotional today, I was reminded that "time" is for us because we are weak and need to see only 24 hours at a time. Well, hour to hour maybe, or even minute by minute! God, of course, is not limited by time and sees everything, every cell in our bodies, every day of our lives here. We need to spend time with Him and forget about time for a little while. Those ideas helped me. I hope they help somebody else!
0 -
Frosty,
That is a single study out of UCLA...and IT even recommends getting rads if recommended by an RO. Because *some* women may develop therapy resistant stem cells, not all do (as is evidenced by all the women who've had rads and no recurrences)...this study is aiming at the women who DO have recurrence and how it might be mitigated.
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/radiation-treatments-generate-229002.aspx
0 -
Frosty,
That is a single study out of UCLA...and IT even recommends getting rads if recommended by an RO. Because *some* women may develop therapy resistant stem cells, not all do (as is evidenced by all the women who've had rads and no recurrences)...this study is aiming at the women who DO have recurrence and how it might be mitigated.
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/radiation-treatments-generate-229002.aspx
0 -
Dear Tonlee, I just finished reading the article about radiation. Yes, very interesting info and it also made me feel very encouraged about undergoing radiation treatment. Unfortunately, I can not undo what and how the radiation treatments may affect me in the future, but so far I am doing great and I am still being monitored very aggressively by the onc here in LA. She is in the UCLA system. Thank you so much for sharing.
0 -
I also did rads Kindergarten, lots of it. I find this study encouraging as well because it means they're looking into women whose cancer responds to rads by essentially making more cancer....that they even REALIZE this is happening is great and means they'll be working toward addressing this group.
I also read Herceptin actually destroys cancer stem cells.
Glad to read you are well
0 -
That's super encouraging Tonlee, thank you!
0 -
Have any of you heard the song "Blessings" by Laura Story? It really ministered to me.
0 -
Rocket I noticed you are in eastern NC. We lived in Mt. Olive, Goldsboro and Kinston for about 9 years before returning to SW Florida. Are you near any of those cities?
I would also love to move to the NC mountains but my whole family is here now including my fiance' who I met on Christian Mingle. Anything below 80 is cold to him and I hate anything above 78! So far that seems the main thing we disagree on.
But I really hate summers here in Ft. Myers. From June-October, we can expect it to be in the 90-96 degree range with high humidity straight through. Then, of course, we have our daily thunderstorms and the hurricanes to deal with.
Okay, I'm rambling.
0 -
Rocket, I just heard "Blessings" this morning on the radio, not for the first time, and bawled my eyes out. It's that kind of day. A friend was just diagnosed with bc.
0 -
Dear Rocket and Jeanne, I have not heard the song yet, but will look for it. In the meantime, hugs and prayers for you both 0
-
Dear Rocket and Jeanne, I have not heard the song yet, but will look for it. In the meantime, hugs and prayers for you both 0
-
Hi, Denise, don't ever worry about rambling!!! This is such a wonderful thread, with wonderful ladies that love to listen, read, and pray!!! My parents had lived in North Ft. Meyers. Yes, the summers there are hot. Have a wonderul Sunday!!!
0 -
Hi Denise, I currently live a half hour from Kinston. The weather here is so hot and humid and my bones and joints are really hurting. I am anxious to move, but will miss seeing my granddaughter every week. I will still come back to visit frequently though.
Jeanne, I'm so sorry about your friend. I will pray for a good outcome for her. I cry every time I hear the song "Blessings". It reminds me of God's sovereignty over all things.
Love you Ladies and pray that you are all doing well.0 -
Good morning!!! I just listened to Blessings by Laura Story. Oh, my, just beautiful. My DH just bought it for me on Itunes. I think I might have to listen to it everyday. Thanks, Rocket!!!!
0 -
Hey Jo - always good to hear from you. I do understand the lack of sleep, as well as the headaches, allergies, and fear! I'm sure we can all relate. My Bible reading today lead me to Job, where he states that he knows that His Redeemer lives! I was so humbled by the thought of Job's faith even though he had endured so much suffering. I am so weak by comparison, but alas I am loved by the Savior. Jo I am praying even now for your unsaved family members that the Lord would send laborers and that He would knock on the door of their hearts. I pray this prayer every night for my unsaved family members. This world is such vanity when we think in terms of eternity. I will also pray for relief for the headaches, stuffiness and for sweet, restful sleep. I believe in my heart that you will be just fine. Loving you....
0
