Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
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Hello everyone
I hope that all of you following this thread, but not posting, are finding it helpful and of some comfort.First of all, I would like to wish all our American ladies a very happy Thanksgiving Day for next Thursday November 24th. I remember what a happy occasion Thanksgiving was when I lived in Canada and it was celebrated in October. Remember to eat up plenty of your veggies and go easy on the pumpkin pie and pecan pie. That is what the dessert was in Canada.
The following are a few snippets of information that I have begun to put together. If there is repetition it is for the benefit of any newly-diagnosed patients joining the thread. We are talking about triple negative breast cancer, which is breast cancer that is oestrogen, progesterone and HER2 negative. When you are newly-diagnosed you need to know your status so that you can understand your treatment.
The first snippet of information mentioned on the site I mentioned, in my previous post, is that, because TNBC is hormonal negative, it does not mean that hormones do not influence this type of breast cancer. For example, it states that women with metabolic syndrome (which involves distorted hormonal interactions) are more likely to have TNBC diagnosed than women who do not have metabolic syndrome. On the site you can click on metabolic syndrome to get more details.
Although there is hormonal influence, drugs such as Tamoxifen and Arimidex that reduce the production of oestrogen or block its effects on the body are of no use for TNBC. The most effective treatment is surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Metabolic syndrome characteristics are obesity, high blood sugar levels, impaired glucose tolerance, high blood cholesterol and triglycerides and high blood pressure. Metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of TNBC. When these factors were examined separately, high triglycerides, HDL cholesterol and glucose levels were found to be especially significant in the development of TNBC. If you click on the page that details this you will find more details and mention of BMI (body mass index), the anti-diabetic drug Metformin and beta-blockers. Once again, Metformin appears to be mentioned as helping survival rates in non-diabetic patients with TNBC.
It looks as though when we are diagnosed with TNBC we should also be checked for metabolic syndrome. I feel this is important because it is something we can help to control and help with our TNBC. I had never heard of metabolic syndrome when I was diagnosed, but I have never been over weight, have no problems with cholesterol or blood pressure or glucose levels. However, I did have unknown to me an over-active parathyroid gland and I cannot know what that may have done to other hormones in my body. The one thing that I would love to know is how I ended up being diagnosed with TNBC. I am sure it is the same for all of us.
Is anyone reading the thread taking Metformin for TNBC?
As far as beta-blockers are concerned, it is mentioned that they could enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy during treatment for TNBC.
I think that is enough information for today.
I have also received the latest e-mail from Chris Woollams at CANCERactive. This latest one is all about how your body can be creating a thriving site for the development of cancer. I shall try to post some information at a later date, as I do not want to get into information overload. I would suggest that if you want to be really informed then you should sign up for his e-mail newsletter. It does not cost anything and you learn so much. He has also created a new blog entitled Chris Woollams "junk science" blog. I am going to be looking at it later on.
To bak94: I was glad to know that your scans were clear. I hope you will get a lot of rest before your bilateral mastectomy on November 30th. It is less than two weeks away now.
To christina1961: I hope all goes well with your eribulin tomorrow Friday November 18th.
To Suze35: I was wondering how you are and hope things are not too bad.
To Maria_Malta: Have you started radiotherapy yet? Are you back teaching?
To sam52 and Karen3: How are you both? How is the teaching going?
Best wishes to everyone.
Sylvia0 -
Hi Sylvia, thanks for thinking of me.
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Hello sam52
I just wanted to say thank you for your PM. When you have the time have a look at the latest information from CANCERactive. I get it as an e-mail for which I signed up. The newsletter is entitled "Is your body hostile to health, but friendly to cancer?".Enjoy your weekend.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hi Sylvia and everyone! I do read the posts daily, but have been mostly posting in the surgery thread lately. I am impatiently and nervously waiting for surgery, just wanting to get it over with. I am finally starting to feel stronger since my last chemo 3 weeks ago, I have gradually been increasing my time on the treadmill and did 30 minutes tha last time, this is up from 10 minutes!
My blood pressure went up from chemo and it was decided I needed medication. I did the research and asked to be put on a beta blocker because of the info out there about it. I think I have suffered from metabolic disease, is there a specific test for it? I have a high bmi, high cholesterol but my triglycerides have always been normal. I have to go back through the post to see where you found the info. I think I want to ask to be put on metformin. I am working on losing weight but it has been hard during treatment and I have basically maintained. I would like to get off medications rather than add them though!
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Sylvia, I was reading some past posts from this thread, I do not know where October and the first part of November went! I want to say I am sorry for your loss of your aunt and I hope future Octobers are better for you. Seems like you have had many losses in October. My mom passed away in October in 1989, when I was only 21, so I understand October being a bad month.
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Hello bak94
Thank you for your two posts. I was very glad to hear from you again. I feel close to the small group of women that post regularly here, so if I do not hear from you I do feel concerned that all might not be well.I was glad to know that you have been reading the posts daily and I can understand that you have been posting in the surgery thread lately, given that you are waiting for surgery. I did not know that there was a specific thread for those waiting for surgery. This forum is so big and has so many threads that it can become mind boggling going through them. I tend to have a look regularly at Active Topics but tend to concentrate on the triple negative threads. I am also very interested in the alternative threads because I think a lot of what they say is true. I do not believe that alternative treatment can cure breast cancer but I do think some of the suggestions can help through treatment. Of course, I do not believe that orthodox treatment can be said to cure cancer either, but it appears to be able to send us into remission for a long time.
I can understand that you must be feeling nervous and impatient about waiting for surgery, but it is fast approaching and will be over soon. We shall certainly all be thinking of you on Wednesday November 30th and wishing you well. Just remember that Maria_Malta went through a bilateral mastectomy recently so she can guide you through. She should be having her radiotherapy by now.
I was glad to know that you are finally beginning to feel stronger with chemotherapy three weeks behind you. It certainly takes a toll on patients and I do hope that in the long run an alternative will be found to chemotherapy, because it causes too much damage to the body.
I do admire you for doing 30 minutes on the treadmill. Please do not overdo it.
I was glad to know that you have been catching up on the information on this thread. I do not know if there is one specific test for metabolic syndrome, but I would think that the individual characteristics that make up metabolic syndrome would be tested individually. They are fairly common characteristics, obesity, high blood sugar levels, impaired glucose tolerance, high blood cholesterol and triglycerides and high blood pressure. Even in the UK these are tested fairly routinely and most of them we can keep under control ourselves. I think people have to watch all of these things on a regular basis.
Has your blood pressure gone down now? Have the beta blockers helped? It is only my own opinion but if I had a blood pressure problem I would try to control it through lifestyle. I know that doctors here are very keen on putting people on medication to get their blood pressure down. I try to avoid taking any medication. On the website I mentioned which is full of information, it does say that use of beta blockers is associated with improved relapse free survival in patients with TNBC and also that beta blockers enhanced chemotherapy treatment in TNBC. These are things that have to researched carefully. If you Google "Latest research concerning triple negative breast cancer prognosis" you will find all sorts of information.
I can understand that you want to take less medication and not more. I feel that we must let our immune systems fight for us and keep our bodies free of everything that seems foreign and unnatural. I do not know what to say about metformin. It seems to be mentioned more and more with reference to breast cancer and on the website I was reading it does say it is associated with reduced mortality in TNBC. I think we have all got the message loud and clear from all our readings that sugar is the enemy when it comes to breast cancer. I think we all know that sugar promotes tumour growth. Common sense shows us the connection between high blood sugar levels and development of cancer. I feel we need to keep our blood sugar levels under control and tested on a regular basis. Here in the UK we are inundated with sugary products. In the supermarkets, especially near to Christmas, we have floor to ceiling displays of sweets, biscuits, chocolates, cakes, alcohol and goodness knows what else. Most of the stuff in supermarkets is not part of a natural diet.
I would be very interested to know what your consultant has to say about metformin in the treatment and prevention of breast cancer and other cancers. Of course, it is not without side effects, but is a cheap and useful drug in the treatment of diabetics. I have been wondering whether diabetics who have trouble controlling their blood sugar levels will therefore be more susceptible to TNBC or other cancers.
Persevere with trying to lose weight but if I were you I would do it slowly, perhaps just eating smaller portions, but not drastically cutting out meals. With your cholesterol, do you know what the ratio is? You probably know that you want higher HDL, the good cholesterol, and lower LDL, the bad cholesterol. Again, in the UK, I feel doctors are too eager to dish out statins to everybody. It is only my opinion, but I feel that cholesterol should be controlled through lifestyle.
I do admire you for trying to help yourself rather than swallowing more pills. A lot of people want the easy option in the form of a pill. This is what has happened with antibiotics being overused and given out for health problems for which they are of no use. Now we are being told that nasty bacteria are afflicting us and they are resistant to the antibiotics that are available. Here, in the UK, we have all sorts of nasty bugs in our hospitals, such as MRSA and C-Difficile which are killing people and even apparently even worse ones are on the horizon. Even worse, drug companies do not wish to develop new ones, because there is no money in it for them. Where are the ethics of these big drug companies?
Thank you for your kind words about October. It is certainly not my favourite month. I was so very sorry to hear that your mum had died in October 1989 when you were only 21. That must have been a terrible loss for you.
I hope that everything is a bit easier at work. Will you take some sick leave following your surgery? I hope you are having a good weekend.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello everyone
I am posting the latest information that I have just been reading on my newsletter from CANCERactive. I thought I would do it now for I feel it ties up with what bak94 and I have been discussing about metabolic syndrome and the problem of too much sugar.In this latest newsletter there is information about dealing with cancer on three levels. It starts by saying no one ever said beating cancer was easy.
Level 1:
It is stated you need to consider what caused your cancer and thus what might still be present and driving it.
Level 2:
It is stated you need to understand that cancer is a multi step process from irritation and inflammation to tumour development and metastases. A multi step response is needed to deal with this multi step process and thus it is asking a lot for a single drug to knock out a cancer completely.
Level 3:
It states that this one is of particular concern. Over the years a cancer patient has built up inside their body an environment which is hostile to health and friendly to cancer. The body has low oxygen, is acidic, has high levels of growth hormone and glucose, damaged gut flora, impaired immune system etc. This status has to be reversed. In this particular newsletter the matter being looked at is glucose, the favourite food of a cancer cell. You need to reduce the blood glucose levels and starve the cancer to death.
In the newsletter it is stated that research studies have been published over the last three years showing that people with high glucose levels survive less. To help beat cancer you need to cut out glucose from your diet, glucose meaning refined sugar in its various forms, not the natural sugars found in fruit and vegetables etc.
If you are interested in learning more about anti-glucose treatment, go to the CANCERactive site and click on Dr Gold and his cheap 'anti-glucose' treatment.
I think that is enough information for today.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Morning Everyone,
BAK94 - Just wanted to say I'm glad your starting to feel better, my last chemo wore me out as well. Glad to hear your starting to exercise again, when I started on my eliptical about 3 weeks out from my last treatment I was devastated to find out I could only do 15 min with 2 breaks. I've really decided to push myself and have added 5 min everyday, now I'm up to an hour and 10 min every day, I won't increase that time but I do increase the resistance, I'm amazed at how fast I was able to spring back once I started.
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Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to say that cancer was in the headlines again today on the news on the radio. It was all about much better survival rates today compared to forty years ago for most cancers. It is still bad news for lung, brain and pancreatic cancers,not much different to forty years ago.
There was mention of the standard treatment and concern about the long term side effects of this,especially fatigue, infertility,heart and lung problems.It was openly stated that chemotherapy etc is poison going into the body, but there was optimism about targeted treatments for the future.
There was also mention about doctors being better able to tell patients how long they have to live.Do we want to know? There are always exceptions.
Best wishes,
Sylvia.
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Hello Bak94 and mcrimmon 324,
I just wanted to say congratulations to both of you for the way you are exercising. Keep it up.
Best wishes,
Sylvia
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Hello everyone
I am posting just a few snippets of information that I have found in the press this week.I have just read an article about the development of a new breast cancer treatment that kills cancer cells through heating them. This procedure uses a targeted electrical current to heat tumours to 70-90 degrees centigrade (160 - 190 F). Apparently the cancer cells are killed very quickly, ten minutes, and the patient can then leave the hospital. This treatment is known as Preferential Radio-frequency Ablation. It can be carried out under local anaesthetic and is being pioneered by doctors at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
It is stated that this could become an alternative to surgery to those women with early stage breast cancer.
I would think that this would be enormous progress if it could work for those women with small early stage cancers. Just imagine what it might be like in future if women could avoid general anaesthetics, lumpectomies and mastectomies. Apparently this treatment is already being used to treat kidney, liver and bone cancer.
It is stated that with this treatment the cancer cells are killed off and the surrounding tissue is left unharmed. The treatment is suitable for small tumours smaller than 2 cms and is painless. Only one treatment is needed. There are several follow up scans and checks for a year and then every year to make sure the tumour has not spread. If there are any problems then you can have normal chemotherapy.
A small group of patients, over eighty, have gone through this treatment, as part of three studies and it has been shown to be effective. After two years none had had any recurrence.
It is stated that this new technology could be useful for women with slow growing breast cancers who are unable to undergo surgery for various reasons. It is also much cheaper than surgery. Apparently this could be main stream treatment within five years.
I would be interested to know what those of you reading or posting on this thread think of this. I think it would be good if it proves to be effective in the long term. We all know that metastases or recurrence can spread long after two years. Only time will tell.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello everyone
I thought you might be interested in an article online in the Daily Mail on Monday November 21 2011, entitled Why living in a city makes you fat and infertile, not to mention causing blindness, depression and even cancer. It can be found at:-Xenoestrogens are once again in the news.
Can anyone explain to me why, on another thread, there were postings about having shingles injections?
Someone was asking about Ayurveda alternative treatment. I recommend reading the Cancer Directory by Dr Rosy Daniel. I know that something called Carctol is used. I think this is a combination of Indian herbs.
I have also recently read about the problems caused by use of the contraceptive pill. It appears that oestrogen from these is passing through urine into the environment and is being connected to problems such as prostate cancer.
I have read today that there are eight thousand to eleven thousand new cases of TNBC each year in the UK. In percentage terms I have read that is anything from 15% to 25% of cases. The drugs used for this most frequently mentioned appear to be Taxanes, Platinums and Avastin. I have also seen mentioned the monoclonal antibody olaparib (a PARP inhibitor) and the drug ixabepilone, also known as azaepothilone. This is an epothilone analogue drug. These are a new class of drugs for the treatment of breast cancer and are said to have milder side effects than taxanes.
I think that is all my snippets for today.
Once again, happy Thanksgiving to our American ladies. Hello to Bernie and Maria_Malta. I hope that Maria has fully recovered from her surgery.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello bak94
I saw that you had been for a massage for your birthday, so I just wanted to send belated greetings. I understand that a massage can make you feel really good. I hope you had a nice time shopping. I can understand that you are getting nervous about your surgery but keep telling yourself that in about a weeks time it will all be over. I know I was very frightened about having a mastectomy and having to stay in hospital, but I got through it. A friend of mine made me feel calmer by telling me that once I had the anaesthetic, I would know nothing about what was happening and that when I woke up it would all be over. Those words helped me tremendously.
I saw on the TNS thread that there is another woman having to deal with breast cancer again after eight years. Are we ever going to be free of all this?
Sending fond thoughts your way.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hi sylvia, as usual your research is so informative. I totally agree that city living has such an adverse effect on our health. We need to step back and see what is important and adapt our lives accordingly. You know I already believe that the stress we undergo in our lives lowers our immune systems and keeps our bodies in fight or flight mode.
Communities used to hold everything but now we are all spread far and wide. These forums help keep me together.
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Hello Sylvia,
I was interested to read about the preferential radio frequency ablation you mention in your post above; my good friend is a breast cancer oncologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden so I will ask him for further details about it. It would indeed be wonderful if that were all that was needed for removing smaller tumours.
I would also like to tell you to look at the thread entitled 'high blood calcium levels'; one of the posters who had parathyroid disease was told by her endocrinologist that it definitely was implicated in developing breast cancer.I know you have long suspected this.
I had a blood test last Friday to see what my calcium and PTH levels are (this is for research purposes for John Radcliffe Hospital where I had my parathyroid surgery); I will get the results in about a week and am of course hoping all is still normal.
You are still doing a brilliant job with this thread.Thank you for the information about the CancerActive website. I have only had a cursory look because of time constraints, but will look more thoroughly when I can.
With love
from Sam
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Dear Sylvia and friends,
I haven't posted for some time as I seemed to fall into a bad patch a couple of weeks ago...about 3-4 weeks post op, I think I'd hoped that I'd feel a lot better than I in fact did..feeling more sensitive than usual I started to find these forums quite tough to deal with and kept getting upset reading about women who had already battled once with this dreadful disease and then found that it had recurred...I was also reading about different treatments, diet and life style changes, etc etc and I think was getting into a pretty obsessive mode! So I decided to take a back seat, took a break from these threads (including the games!) and just tried to take things easy and concentrate on feeling better and reading travel books, or silly books, instead of information about the latest cancer research!
In fact I'm much better, have been driving for almost a fortnight, am back at work (not teaching but admin) and physically I suddenly seemed to get much better... I haven't yet had radiotherapy because my new areola/nipple is still not 100% healed, but I should be starting next week. The hematoma on my left side has gone completely now, and the exercises the physiotherapists gave me have really helped and I can raise my arm and have pretty extensive movement. So I re ally can't complain.
Glad to see that you've finished BernieEllen
and v impressed with your exercise Mccrimmon...have started some mild Pilates at home, I have a cd, and planning to return to my yoga class next week..won't be able to do everything, but will play it by ear. I feel VERY unfit!As usual, thanks for all the brillaint info Sylvia, and very best wishes to all the ladies here, and sorry for being absent for the last couple of weeks..I'll now have to read (and remember, which is much more difficult) the last postings...
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Hi Maria, great to have you back
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Hello suze35, bak94, christina1961 and mccrimmon324
I just wanted to say to you four fine American ladies have a happy Thanksgiving Day and enjoy every moment of it with your friends and family. I think it would be good if we had something like it here in the UK. It is a good time for reflection and enjoyment and to count the positive in your life.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello BernieEllen
I was glad to know that you found the article on city living versus rural living informative. I found it was so full of common sense. We all enjoy the comforts that the industrial revolution in the UK brought with it, but it also brought plenty of negatives, such as the exodus from the countryside to the crowded living conditions of the city. I do think that today's modern lifestyle has a terrible effect on our health. I agree with you that we have to sort out what is really important and adapt our lifestyles accordingly. There is more to life than this constant pressure to buy and consume. We are such a throwaway wasteful society, and it seems to get worse each year. Modern life is stressful and I am sure that we are both right in believing that it lowers our immune system and therefore our resistance to disease and keeps our bodies, as you say, in fight or flight mode.As you say, community spirit is now very weak and there are lots of lonely people out there with no one with whom to pass the time of day.
I was glad to know that these forums help to keep you together. I think they are a very useful way of communicating with people. I think that the secret of making them beneficial for a person is not to try to read too many and to post all over the place. If you do it makes it difficult to remember all the different names with their personal problems and situations. At least that is what I find.
What are your days like, Bernie, now that you have finished treatment?
We do not have to focus on TNBC all the time. We can talk about absolutely anything in our everyday lives.
Have you anything special planned for the weekend?
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello sam52
Thank you for your post. I was glad to know that you found the information about the preferential radio frequency ablation interesting. I know that I did. I was so interested to know that your good friend, who is a breast cancer oncologist, works at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. I remember your having told me that you had a friend who was a breast cancer oncologist but I did not know that he worked at the Karolinska Institute. I know the person heading all this was a woman, so she is probably working with your friend. Please keep us posted about any information you may obtain. As you know, I firmly believe that knowledge is power.It looks as though we now have heat and light as ways of treating breast cancer. I remember reading about photo-dynamic light treatment for small breast cancers sometime ago. It was being carried out at a private clinic in the UK but was very expensive. I actually looked into it but could not have afforded it and my tumour was too large. Do you know much about this?
I am certainly going to look up the thread entitled "high blood calcium levels" and put it among my favourites. I keep so busy with this thread that I have not looked at the calcium one for ages. I was so interested to know that one of the posters had been told by her endocrinologist that her parathyroid disease was implicated in developing breast cancer. When I see my own endocrinologist I shall certainly pass this news onto her. I did send her all that information from Sweden when she was treating me. I remember her telling me that my over active parathyroid definitely pre-dated my breast cancer. It makes me even more convinced that testing for parathyroid hormone level should be part of regular blood tests. After all, they regularly test for thyroid levels and calcium, so why not parathyroid hormone levels? I remember my GP telling me, the first time I asked for one, that he had never been asked for one in all his career and had never treated anyone with parathyroid problems.
I have just looked at the clock and have to go out. I shall post this and continue later.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello again sam52
I am back home again now and glad to be back in the warm again. It feels chilly and damp in Exmouth.I was interested to know that you had had your blood test last Friday to check what your calcium and PTH levels are as part of the research in which you are participating at the John Radcliffe Hospital where you had your surgery. I shall be most interested to know what the levels are and hoping that all is normal for you. The last time I went for a routine blood test with my GP my calcium was 2.08 and the PTH was 5.0. The GP said the calcium was on the low side but I consulted my endocrinologist and she said it was in the normal range and that the PTH was fine. The normal PTH range is 1.2 - 7.6 and the calcium is 2.05 - 2.55. I thought this might help you.
Thank you for your compliments about the thread. I do so want to make it helpful and as informative as I can. I know that we can read a lot of awful stuff on the internet about breast cancer, especially TNBC, but I tend to ignore all the negative stuff. We have to go through treatment if we want to survive and we can survive it all. I believe in being informed and think that no one can now face a cancer diagnosis and remain in the dark about it all. There is too much information.
I am sure you will find the CANCERactive site very interesting and informative. I have nothing but admiration for Chris Woollams who heads it and I do agree with a lot of the information that he gives.
I am going to finish my posts and then look up the "high blood calcium level" thread.
I have just bought the latest Jeremy Paxman book, entitled Empire, what ruling the world did to the British. As you know, for a long time now, I have found it difficult to read fiction. However, I saw the latest by PD James and it sounds very interesting. She is a crime fiction novelist with a difference and her books always have great depth. The latest one is Pemberly. As soon as I saw it I thought of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. Sure enough, it is about Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett and their life after marriage, until suddenly there is an incident.........
All the best
Sylvia0 -
Hello Maria_Malta
I was so glad to see your post and completely understand your need to take a break from these forums. I wish you a warm welcome back.I can understand that you had a bad patch about three or four weeks after your surgery. I think we all understand that during treatment we have ups and downs and that we are all very impatient to feel normal again. It takes time to recover from each part of the treatment and then it takes time to recover when all the treatment is over.
I realise that it can be upsetting to read on the threads about women who are having to deal with challenging problems such as recurrence, metastases, or new primaries. You have to focus on the positive and think of all those who do not have these complications and of all the women that have recovered from breast cancer, lead normal lives and do not post. I understand too that you can get confused and upset about different diets, lifestyle and treatments. I think the secret is to read it all, or even skip it if you feel the need, and do what you think is right for you. I made up my own mind how I would deal with my own cancer diagnosis and life after it. I have more or less kept to that for nearly six and a half years, but there are days when I do what I feel like, and do things that I would not normally do. The things that are consistent for me are that I do not eat meat but I was doing that before my diagnosis, I have not had any alcohol for more than seven years and I did not drink much before. I eat plenty of fruit and veg and have been drinking lots of green tea, decaffeinated, ever since diagnosis. Of course, this is not for everyone. Follow your own instincts, Maria, and do not do anything that takes away from what you consider to be your quality of life.
I was interested to know that you had been following the games threads, because this is something that I have never done, but, when I look quickly through the active topics, I can see that these are very popular. Did you find them relaxing? This bc.org is a huge forum and I do not think it is productive to look at too many threads and try to post. I think you end up with a muddle in your head.
I hope you feel better for having a break with the threads. Remember, we do not need bad stress in our lives. You were right to switch off and take things easy and I do so hope you are feeling better for it. I was glad to know you have been reading travel books, or, as you say, silly books. It would be interesting to know what they are. We cannot spend our lives reading books on cancer, especially as a lot of the information is contradictory.
I was glad to know your life is back on track and that you are doing normal things in your everyday life. I hope you will soon be able to start radiotherapy and put the treatment behind you. You will then find that breast cancer will go to the back of your mind and it will spring back when you have to go for check ups.
I do admire all of you women who are getting yourselves fit through exercise. Keep up the good work. I am doing mainly gentle walking and some gardening, although it is getting a bit chilly for gardening. I continue to relax by listening to all kinds of music and reading whatever takes my fancy. I do some reading in French and Spanish as I like to keep up to par. I often look for things to make me laugh on the television.
Why not have some "anything but breast cancer" days, when we post anything we like about our daily lives. Today my husband and I went out for lunch with a good friend and had some laughs and relaxation. We had a drive along the seafront and saw the usual crowd of kite surfers. I admire them but could never do anything like that. They look so vulnerable in the middle of the sea and some look so far from the beach. They must have a lot of energy and enjoy the adrenalin fix of the adventure.
With very best wishes, Maria
Sylvia0 -
Hello Sam 52,
I have been trying to find the thread for high blood level calcium, without success. What forum is it under? I have been through the active topics,but cannot find anything. Help!
Best Wishes, Sylvia.
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Hello everyone!
I had chemo yesterday rather than this Friday due to the Thanksgiving holiday in which many places are closed both today and tomorrow. There is a tradition of "Black Friday" which is a sort of shopping frenzy that I avoid at all costs. I prefer to shop online because I don't like crowds.
I worked yesterday following chemo and felt pretty good. I am starting to wane, but this evening at six my husband and I are headed to my sister's house for Thanksgiving. We will have about 15 family members there. I am spending today resting and taking care of the cats. I have one curled up on each side of me now.I will probably work from home Friday but am looking forward to having the next few days with some leisure time. I am actually reading a true crime book right now on my iPhone for distraction purposes -I don't think reading books like that really have much to offer other than distrction- but my next planned read is probably going to be The Social Animal by David Brooks. From what little I know about the book, it seems to be a kind of sociological/psychological look at what makes us tick. I've also rediscovered sewing and have been making cat and dog beds. I find this incredibly relaxing plus the dogs and cats don't mind a few mixed up stitches.
I hope everyone is doing well!!
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PS to Sylvia and all-
I love thanksgiving! It is probably my favorite holiday because it promotes giving and thankfulness - something I believe our "buy, buy, buy" society tends to erode. I feel very fortunate to live in a part of the world in which I could have all these treatments, however difficult, that have so far prolonged my life.
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Hello Sylvia
The thread you are looking for ' High blood calcium levels' is in the forum : 'Not diagnosed with a recurrence or metastases but concerned'.
I was told to wait a week for the results of my blood test, but I think I will leave it until Monday, and will let you know what transpires. Thank you so much for letting me know the 'normal' range values for both calcium and PTH - I did note it down somewhere but now I won't have to go searching for it!
I will write something longer in a pm when I have time....sorry, I always seem to be in a rush with a hundred and one things to do!
Take care,
Love from Sam
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Hello christina1961
Thank you for your posts. Have you now had four treatments of eribulin? When will you finish? You are doing so well to be able to manage work as well.It sounds as though you had a good get together with fifteen family members for Thanksgiving. I do remember about Black Friday after Thanksgiving in the US and all the shopping frenzy. Like you, I do not like crowds so I can understand why you order things online.
I hope you had a good rest in the build up to Thanksgiving and I hope you will have a good rest this coming weekend and have time for lots of leisure. I was glad to know that you are reading a crime book for some distraction. I think that we all need to switch off regularly from the routine and stress of our everyday lives. I am sure it must work wonders for the immune system.
I was interested to know that you are planning to read The Social Animal. It is a book that has been much in vogue here for about six months. Apparently our politicians were taking it off with them to read during their summer holidays. I found, when I tried to read it, that it could not hold my interest for some reason, so I shall be interested to know what you have to say about it. I think we would all like to know what makes us tick. I do know that injustice and unfairness makes me very angry.
I was interested to know that you have rediscovered sewing and have been making cat and dog beds. I think that anything that makes you feel relaxed and happy must be good for you. You are dead right when you say your cats and dogs will not mind a few missed stitches! I do not have any pets but I know how important they are to some of the people I know.
I do agree with you about the negative effects of our consumer society. I think that all the stores in the UK are over-stocked and go completely over the top especially for Christmas. Shopping seems to be an addictive and inane pastime for a lot of people. It is all so unnecessary.
Have a good rest and relax and do whatever you feel like doing.
Best wishes
Sylvia.0 -
Hello Sam
Thank you for your information about the forum that I needed to look up. I had completely forgotten about the High Blood Calcium thread. I have just been down memory lane on that thread as I went back to page 1 and discovered all my postings about hyperparathyroidism. Of course, this is where the two of us met when I started looking for information about hyperparathyroidism. I must have had a "senior moment" to forget that thread! When I discovered breastcancer.org in 2009 I was not looking up information about triple negative as my treatment was behind me, but I was concerned about having to have surgery for the parathyroid problem. I found the post where I restarted the thread after it had not been used for a year. What good friends we became through that thread. I shall now look at it regularly again.Having reread all the posts I still remain convinced that there is a connection between hyperparathyroidism and breast cancer. It may not be the only cause but I think it should be considered a risk factor. Of course there remains the possibility that there is another factor that has caused both. I remember in the Swedish research that it was thought both could be connected to mass X-rays in childhood.
It seems a lifetime ago that I had the parathyroidectomy but it was just two years ago November 11 2009. It was just under a year later that I decided to start the TNBC UK thread because I really wanted to help and support people. It has become an important part of my life. I did start threads in 2009 about light exposure and BC and also hyperparathyroidism and BC but I accidentally deleted them from my favourites and they disappeared from the forum.
I do hope you will have time to relax this weekend.
Love
Sylvia0 -
Hello all,
Thanks for your long reply Sylvia.. I don't actually post on other threads much, with the exception of the October surgery thread, and a couple of others very rarely... apart from the games that is..that's how I clocked up so many postings, as I enjoy word games and such like, and post surgery it was an amusing way to pass the time without having to actually interact (sounds horrible I know, but I'm sure you all know how sometimes everything's too much of an effort!)
I'm going to take up Sylvia's suggestion and I'm NOT going to talk about bc today, but about my wonderful Kindle my husband gave me as a present a few days ago... i just LOVE it. I 'd thought I'd miss having a book in my hand, but in fact I don't, and the magic of being able to order a book and have it appear on the screen within a couple of minutes is almost too good to be true. Trouble is of course, it's all so easy that you can spend large amounts of money without realising it..and while several classic novels can be downloaded for free, contemporary novels are not always as cheap as they would be from The Book Depository, from where I usually order books on line (UK company which deliver to Europe for free).Christina 1961, I read all sorts of things, and crime/espionage are pretty much my favourite genres for 'light' reading. Some of them are really well written, and offer much more than traditional 'whodunnits'..I'm thinking of the English novelist Kate Atkinson, who is a cut above I think. And recently I've been reading a Swedish writer in translation, who created a character called Inspector Wallander. The writer is called Henning Mankell, and I think the TV series is showing on TV in the UK at the moment. InspectorWallander is a great character..permanently exhausted, surviving on bad cups of coffee and junk food, but constantly promising himself to eat more healthily when he has the time. Obviously, that time never comes because he is always overworked and stressed out. Anyway worth a read if you like this kind of fiction.
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Hello Maria
Thank you for your post. I know that the games section of the breastcancer.org forum must be very popular, according to the number of viewings. It must be another way for people to switch off, relax and just have some fun.I do understand that people are not always in the mood to post. I really do believe that none of us should let BC take over our lives.
I was very interested to know that your husband had bought you a Kindle and that you have really taken to it. I know that it is very popular over here. I do not know whether I shall ever get one as I do love books and to read, and for the moment, I cannot see myself reading with Kindle. I can understand how useful it must be to have books appearing on-screen within a couple of minutes.
I am not really into all the latest technology and do not spend a lot of time on the computer, but I do find Google very useful, as I have a very inquiring mind.
I was interested to know about the Book Depository and must admit I have not used it. I find that Amazon is often the cheapest place to buy new books with free delivery. Like you, I have a wide range of interests when I read, but lately I do not seem to read as much as I used to. I often find it difficult to find a new book that really attracts my interest. I seldom read fiction these days but in the past I read the bulk of the English classics, not to mention French, Spanish and American classics. I really liked Russian writers and Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky is probably my favourite book.
I used to read all the P D James crime fiction but have not read any of late.
I do not think it really matters what you read, as long as you enjoy reading it. I have read Kate Atkinson in the past and she is very popular here in the UK. I was interested to know that you have been reading the Inspector Wallander books. I have not read any but I do know that the TV series here in the UK is very popular. I have not seen the series, but given your description of Inspector Wallander, I think I might start watching it. I would think there are many people in the UK suffering from work exhaustion and existing on cups of bad coffee and junk food, with vague promises of a healthier lifestyle. I have just heard on the radio that women in the UK are top of the charts for obesity in Europe, with 25% of them being obese. Men in the UK are not far behind at 22%.
I hope everyone will have a good, relaxing weekend and switch off from everything they find stressful.
Best wishes
Sylvia0
