Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
Comments
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Hello Kath,
It was nice to hear from you.
Your work sounds really interesting and you seem to be doing very well with your nurse practitioner programme.
I was glad to read that you are doing better physically. Keep away from dark thoughts. They will serve no purpose.
I hope all goes well on Tuesday.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Jags56,
I do not travel much any more. I have travelled in the past but really only in Europe and Canada and a little bit in the US.
I am quite a busy person. I am a volunteer director of the apartment complex where I live and that takes up a lot of my time as I have many duties. I have spent a lot of time on this thread which I started in September 2010, so it will be 8 years that I have been doing this in September this year. the rest of the time is taken up running our home, which my husband and I do together. I like to read but at the moment I do not have a lot of free time. I am interested in literature, and all kinds of current affairs, not to mention history and geography. I have a great love of French and Spanish, although my Spanish is a bit rusty. I enjoy talking to people as well and love gardening. Naturally I am very interested in health and good nutrition. I do avoid all medication and try to keep healthy through good nutrition.
I am sure that being with your granddaughter is great therapy.
I do hope you get some rain. We need some here in Exmouth as well. The ground in the flowerbeds is so hard.
Take care.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mary,
I do hope you have not broken your toe, as I think it takes a long time to mend.
I am so sorry to read that you have been having these mishaps. I hope the cuts above the ankle is not too bad. Dishwasher doors are quite heavy.
I do hope your family break will be relaxing and therapeutic for you. Be careful what you are doing.
Talk soon.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Sylvia, Thanks for the advice about icing. I do have ice and heat packs and wondered if either of those would help. I shall ask ahead of the first treatment. I was told to contact them if I experienced any tingling and got the impression that the dosage could be adjusted if it looked like a problem.
Not all my eyelashes have gone yet. Some people in the unit have lost all theirs and it does look a bit weird but it's no time for vanity.
I don't know why my vitamin D levels are low as I have taken a Multibionta tablet every morning for about 20 years and it claims to have the full RDA for D.
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Hello Everyone
It's been a busy spring, and so far a toasty beginning to the summer season. It's in the high 80's and low 90's already with high humidity. Once again I'm cooking. Experimenting with cool fresh minimal recipes. Using herbs and veggies, very little meat. We grill a lot of fish( only sustainable, and wild caught salmon, Atlantic or northeast america) and seafood. South Carolina (USA) is close to me. They have the best shrimp. In addition some chicken. I do enjoy once or twice a year(well maybe more) a steak with all the trimmings. Not so much since having BC.
My stroke therapy has ended. I'm left with recurring pain in my hip area. It's manageable as long as I stay active. My lymphedema is another story. It has been up and down progress with therapy, and the Flexitouch machine. the machine is a gentle but firm massage. It has different programs depending on where the lymphedema has arisen. interestingly the swelling did not start right away. At the 2 year mark it began in earnest.
This is the first year I have gardened close to prior dx. My friends and family says I never slowed, but this year they understand what I meant by having slowed down. I'm now back full swing with gardening.
I've done all the planting for vegetables: squash, lettuce (3 varieties) carrots, beans, peas, watermelon, peppers (4 varieties) spinach, cucumbers and tomatoes. My potatoes (in a raised garden bed) . I had some baby potatoes(that had eyes on them) planted in a burlap bag, it yielded a few dozen. I have my herbs in a raised box garden. Some do well, the only one that does not, is cilantro!!! I use it a lot in salads and cooking, but can't grow it. I've tried pots, box garden, in the ground nothing. It burns up!!!!!!!Argghh...
My darling daughter #3 is 7 months pregnant with her first child. So I've been crocheting up a storm. I've made blankets, hats, booties and a few dresses (it's a girl). I've always knitted and crochet, but the fervor is different. I have a grandson who is 9, and aside from a few blankets, and last year his own blanket for his room, that was it. Now a girl... oh boy. lots of options.
I've enjoyed everyone's adventures and wonderful pictures. I'll try posting pics of my garden, and of my creations for my granddaughter soon.
So happy to hear from Marias and others that have not posted in a while. Grateful to Mary and Sylvia for keeping us updated and answering us. This is by far the best thread in my opinion on BCO. We need a positive and helpful thread. Some threads are 'hijacked' in my opinion by those with strong opinions or biased views or they belittle the feelings or others. . BC is horrible, debilitating, depressing, but we can support each other without being mean spirited. We can vent, cry, but only if you feel it's a safe environment to do so. Thank you to all for keeping this a great place to read, lurk and post.
Val
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Hello Susie and Val,
Thank you for your posts. They make interesting reading. I hope to have more time tomorrow to devote to our thread.
Yesterday was very hot and heavy here and I did not feel very energetic. Today has been cooler but I have been very busy with my work as a volunteer director.
Thank you, Val, for the kind words you said about those of us who started the two main threads here. I often wonder what has happened to Titan and always hope she will pop in to say hello. I think of Annie with great sadness and I wonder, also, what has happened to Meadow. I do not think she has been on the threads in quite a while. Cathytoo was always very active and I hope she is well.
I thall write more tomorrow.
Best wishes to both.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hanieh - I hope you do not mind me asking where you stayed when you visited Turkey - the reason being that my husband has been invited to a conference in Nevsehir and after that we would like to go to Istanbul for 5 days. Can you suggest a good hotel which would be close to the historic parts. I am excited to visit Turkey and then after that we will go to Croatia and VIenna - it will be a long time away from home, but it should be very interesting.
I hope that your health is continuing to improve and that you have found a way to deal with your many stresses. Take care of yourself.
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Hello i Will take a plane yo Madrid Tomorrowland. My mother get sick and sheis un the hospital.
So will go there on saturday .
I said googbuy to my travel around granada y Sevilla.. i Lost money because i don't by with segured.
I hope every goes verter with ver
Abrazos
Marias
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Marias - so sorry to hear about your mother getting sick. I hope that she will be OK - praying for you and your mother. Family is so important! How awful that you had to cut your holiday short, but you are doing the right thing going back to your Mom.
Keep us posted.
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Sylvia, Maryna, Hanieh, Kath, Pam, Marias and all the new people on the thread - Just a quick post to say that all is well. Family life is busy and next week starts a series of house guests which will make it even busier for me - but thank God I do have the strength, energy and health to deal with it all.
We had a lovely little getaway to one of the Gulf Islands called Saltspring Island - it was so serene and was a real balm for the soul. We stayed at a bed and breakfast with a beautiful view over the ocean - the weather was not wonderful, but we still enjoyed our time.
Just starting to plan our next trip to Croatia, Vienna and now Turkey - we will be away for a month. The worst part will be not being around to help my daughter with her little one - especially that she has returned to work and is finding parenting and full time work very challenging. I go every Friday and help with childcare and it is so wonderful to develop a special bond with my granddaughter - she is a sweetheart.
I have been busy in the garden putting in new shrubs and moving others - it is rewarding work, but very dirty work especially since the soil is so dry - but we did get some rain last night which was wonderful. My vegetables are coming along nicely and next week I should be able to start having salads from the garden.
I do check in regularly to see how everyone is doing. It has been a busy thread.
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Hi, Sylvia
I am back and can report a very good time. My family went to a large house near Nashville TN, and spent 6 days. Our numbers fluctuated from 18 to 26 as people came and went. The house was once used as a bed and breakfast, once a spa, and now is rented to groups.
I had had a stressful week of meetings and 2 funerals, and was exhausted when we got there. I did not leave the grounds for 3 days, I would wear pajamas, almost-pajamas or a swimsuit. I did a lot of relaxing, floating around in the pool, watching little ones have fun, and cooking for whoever showed up, and at night we would sit around a fire and play guitars and sing. For us it was a perfect way to have a get-together. Nashville is a mecca for country-music musicians, so one afternoon 3 of us of the older generation watched 7 little ones while their parents went into town. That is quite a job, fortunately for us they behaved very well. It was my idea so I am very glad nobody got hurt!
My one complaint was that I didn't get enough sleep. The curtains and blinds in the many bedrooms were quite light, and the morning light would flood in and wake me much too early, because I would stay up much too late! The obvious solution would be to go to bed earlier, but I might have missed something! In my own house I use black-out curtains in my bedroom. I will try to catch up now that I'm back.
Now back to BC and latest reports: the ONCOTYPE test is not brand-new either, I think it's just now getting the nod to be widely used. Like you, I wonder about the scores that end up in the middle, I think it would add to the stress for the women involved, and they would wonder if they are getting the right treatment. As I said, that test was mentioned in my hearing while I was going through chemo as a possibility. Now I know it is to be used before, to help decide whether or not people need chemo.
You brought up the subject of the shingles vaccine, I am seriously considering having it. I don't like getting shots, but since I already have neuropathy I am concerned about what would happen if I got shingles. I know many people who have had it, and they say it is very painful, hard to recover from, and the nerve pain is ongoing. Scary! Here we are considered eligible at 50, but it is most effective on people over 60.
I am going to have to stop for now, I have an appointment with acupuncture doc. I have not seen him since April, and he will probably tell me my meridians are all out of whack! Time to get balanced again.
Talk to you soon, love, Mary
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Hello Mary,
I was glad to know that you had an enjoyable time during your family break and that your were able to relax.
As for the oncotype I do agree that it has been around before. I must admit that I am sceptical about all these numbers that the medical experts keep trotting out. They could be in trouble if they tell people they do not need chemotherapy and then with hindsight it turns out they should have had it. I did mention in a previous post a letter I read in the i paper from a woman who was suffering from metastatic breast cancer after not having been given chemotherapy treatment.
I tend to think that manipulating all these numbers is for the benefit of the drug companies. I recently read that here the experts want to put everybody 50 and up on statins. That is a nice little regular earner for the drug companies. They tried to put a friend of mine on them and she said that they had not even tested her cholesterol. She suggested they did and it turned out her cholesterol was very low.
Very recently I read that here in the UK the experts wanted to change the blood pressure level of 140 down to 130, following the US. Above that and you are on horrible anti-blood pressure pills. I think it said this would put 7 million more people on these drugs. I think it is disgraceful.
You mentioned shingles. It is quite a rigmarole to get a shingles vaccination here. It is Alice in Wonderland or the Theatre of the Absurd. At the moment you can have it on the NHS if you are 70 or 78. Working out the other ages is like a Chinese torture.
If you happen to be born on September 1942 you are not the flavour of the month. You could not have it before, even if you were over 70, and now you cannot have it until you are 78!! Just do not catch shingles in the meantime!!
That is all for now.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello adagio,
I was glad to know you have been enjoying your summer with family visits and doing some gardening.
I hope you are keeping well.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Marias,
I was sorry to read that your mother is unwell and in hospital. Does she live near you and have you been able to visit her?
I am not sure what has happened about your holidays. Did you get your plane to Madrid?
Are you not going to Granada and Seville now? Have you had to cancel?
I am sorry to ask all these questions but it was not quite clear to me in your post what you were doing.
Keep well.
Abrazos.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Val,
I was glad to know that you are keeping very busy and experimenting with cooking.
You must be glad to know your stroke therapy has ended and I am sorry that you have been left with recurring pain in your hip area but glad to know it is manageable.
I was very interested in what you had to say about lymphoedema, given the fact that I have it and it came back last year after 12 years. We do not get much treatment here, really. I shall have one visit a year to the hospital and have had only two since October 2017. All they really do is measure my arm. The arm does not bother me that much and I find there is not much difference whether I wear my compression sleeve or not. There is not that much difference between my right arm where I have the lymphoedema and the left arm. I do my manual massage and I do exercises that help the lymph to get moved around.
What I have found is that since the lymphoedema I have developed a varicose vein in my right leg and lately some staining on both legs near the ankle. I saw a doctor about it yesterday and she said it was nothing to worry about and said it was venous eczema, which I have found elsewhere to be called varicose eczema. She said there was nothing to be done about it or the varicose vein. It seems to me the visit was a load of hassle for nothing.
I think with the lymphoedema the most important is the manual massage, the exercises, keeping hydrated and keeping the arm well moisturised and propped on pillows when sitting.
I was glad to know that you are back to gardening. I do quite a bit of it and find it keeps me active.
Keep well. Take care.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello SusieW5,
I am posting to say that I hope all is going well with your treatment since you posted at the beginning of the week.
Try not to worry about the lack of eyelashes and eyebrows. They will come back.
As for vitamin D what is the dosage in your vitamin D tablet? Most of the standard vitamins Ds put 400 iu but from all that I have read this is totally insufficient. I am taking Solgar Vitamin D3 capsules, 4,000 iu.
I hope all is well with you.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Vidya99,
I had mistletoe in the form of Iscador and I took it in oral form for five years from diagnosis in 2005 until 2010. I did it under the care of a homoeopathic consultant at the Royal Bristol Hospital in the UK and with the knowledge of my orthodox medical team. I was told not to have the injected Iscador because I was having chemotherapy at the same time. I did not have any IV vitamin C but I did take vitamin C in tablet form of my own accord during treatment.
Whether this alternative treatment or orthodox treatment prevents recurrence I cannot say.
All I can say is that on June 20th this year it will be thirteen years since I was diagnosed and I have not had any recurrence so far.
I hope this helps.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxx
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I've been prescribed a weekly Vitamin D tablet of 20,000 iu. Don't know why that's preferred to daily dose.
I'm not worried about any hair loss. In fact, I no longer have to tweezer tough hairs out of my chinny-chin-chin. Result!
All well.
Susie xxx0 -
Hi, Sylvia
Wow, commenting on your friend who was prescribed a statin without a cholesterol test: hard to believe that a doctor would try to prescribe a statin without checking cholesterol, that sounds totally stupid. Like the doctor I went to about 3 months ago that had no idea how to help my knee pain, because another doc in that particular complex had given me a knee shot and it did not work at all. So, without my agreement, he prescribed me.......(drum roll) an anti-depressant! His nurse gave me samples, and I told her I wasn't going to take them, but a while later the pharmacy called and said I should pick up my refill. It's really infuriating, when you think about how many people probably just take whatever the doc gives them. Side note: a few weeks after that I went to my usual doc, who had been on vacation. I told him what had happened and he gave me another shot of his recipe, right now I have very little knee pain. While saying that, I know it will wear off, but I hope to get one more from him in August before he retires. His retirement is regrettable, he is not old (he is my age, haha). His wife is insisting he retire, he tells me.
Yes, our acceptable blood pressure levels keep getting lower, I didn't think about it being due to drug companies, but could be. It's also odd to hear the NHS won't approve a shingles shot till one is 70+, I have heard the pain is so debilitating, and it would be even worse the older a patient becomes.
For all of our friends here who are going through treatment right now, and recovering from treatment, you don't have to worry about all this. I send you all my best wishes, and I remember those treatment days well.
Sylvia, congratulations on your 13-year survival, and on being a constant inspiration.
Val and Adagio, I will respond to your messages too, probably tomorrow.
Hanieh little sister, I hope you are well, and I wonder what the weather is doing in Tehran.
Susie, I hope all goes smoothly, and you will recover quickly when finished. I agree, the hair is not very important right now, it will come back.
Marias, I am sorry that your mother is ill, and I hope she will get better. I'm also sorry that you must interrupt your vacation. Best wishes!
Jags56, thanks for condolences. I was not surprised by the death of my cousin, but was very surprised at the death of my sister-in-law. (not the one I travel with). Death always is unexpected when it comes, it seems, hard to prepare for it. How old is your granddaughter? It's wonderful you have so much time with her. We are hot here too, in my part of the Midwest. 98F today, I don't tolerate it well.
Kath, is hemangioma off your face? Sorry it is upsetting you, and hope all is well. I am interested, too, in the Conference you attended, as I said before, we get the flu vaccines next October that were started in Australia in your winter. We are now very hot here, ugh.
Talk to you soon, love, Mary
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Hello Mary,
It was good to hear from you again. I think that with orthodox medicine, especially over here, GPs probably always feel inclined to prescribe something. In our apartment complex of 21 it is unbelievable how busy it is with pharmacy vans arriving like parcel post vans with parcels of medication for the residents! So many people seem to be on statins, blood pressure pills and goodness knows what else.
I was not at all surprised to read that you had been given antidepressants for pain relief. I think that is quite common. I think it was suggested for an elderly friend of mine for the pain of shingles and she was also prescribed anti-epilepsy medication. She did not take the medication. I did some research and found that capsaicin cream and lidocaine anaesthetic in a tube would help. The capsaicin (made from chili peppers), put on the nerves that were hurting and then the lidocaine put on over it to dull the pain would do the trick. She managed to get the capsaicin cream from the GP but was told that there was no lidocaine available. Apparently all the lidocaine is being sold to (wait for it!) tattoo parlours! Can you believe it? Now, about three years later, that very elderly lady is still suffering from the nerve pain from shingles. It is probably permanent now. She uses the capsaicin but I think it is quite harsh without the lidocaine.
What a cheek that you were prescribed antidepressants and given samples and then you had a call from the pharmacy to pick up a refill. I think you are right that a lot of people take whatever they are given.
I am not a frequent visitor to the GPs surgery but I had to go a few weeks back to arrange for a prescription on the NHS for two compression sleeves. I had a gut feeling it was going to be a hassle. I had a letter from the lymphoedema clinic to hand in to the receptionist at the surgery. I know it was correct and simple to understand since I had a copy of it. I went and handed it in to the receptionist and told her I needed the GP to fill in a prescription form using the details in the letter, sign it and I would pick it up the next day. I took the prescription to the pharmacist and he sent it off to the company involved. He phoned me some days later and I learned that the GP had not filled in the prescription accurately and that the wrong compression sleeves had come in and he had to send them back. I had to phone the surgery and go line by line with what the GP had filled in, only to discover she had not completed the form and left out vital details. I had to get another prescription done, went back to the surgery, check every bit of the prescription, took it to the pharmacist, went through it with him, left all the details I had with him, and he sent off for the compression sleeves. I eventually got the right ones but with all of this mess up it had taken about three weeks.
I was glad to know you ended up with what you needed and that you are free of pain.
I am sorry, but I have to stop now. I shall write more later.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello all,
This thread is getting busier and knowledgeable.Well I never heard of oncotype before nor did my doctor even suggest it. I have also not heard from others in the hospital. I had my treatment from one of the best private hospitals. It's a very expensive hospital just like five star hotel.Here we have good government hospitals but the waiting is too long unless you know some powerful person . The waiting is six months or more.
Mary it's nice to know that you had a good time with your family. These type of outings bring family close. My granddaughter is three years old and is very naughty .I get to look after her as my daughter and her husband both go for work and leave her with me.
Sylvia it's very nice to know that you are working as a volunteer in your society. It must be something you like to do. I also like gardening but in the city here we don't have much space for a garden. We have independent house.I do keep some plants in my balcony .
Maria's I hope all is well with your mother and pray for her good health.
Adiago if I am not wrong you visited India .How did you like it. It's nice that you travel and will be visiting Turkey. My husband had been to Ankara and really liked it.The people are very friendly.
Best wishes
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The London Times reported today that patients are being urged to query the every-greater loads of medicines we are being prescribed. Personally, I have always done this but many people are intimidated by doctors, especially when they have only 7 or 8 minutes for an appointment and the doctor spends most of that staring at a computer screen, desperately trying to get up-to-speed on a patient they've never met before.
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Hello again, Mary,
I am continuing from where I left off yesterday. I think all these numbers that are thrown at us are to put more and more people on medication. I think the drug companies probably motivate the doctors to push their drugs. I firmly believe what a doctor on one of his television programmes said and that was "All drugs have side effects. There are no exceptions."
What I want to see more than anything, especially with breast cancer, is for patients to take command of their bodies through treatment, and question everything that is offered them. The worst thing is to be a silent patient who accepts everything and questions nothing. It is your body and you must decide what is best for it.
Have you read the latest Chris Woollams' newsletter? It is entitled "Six things your Doctor is unlikely to tell you" and is dated June 10th. I have read the titles of the eight sections in the email but have not gone much further. He has a section on certain compounds in grapefruit that can concentrate drug effects or dilute them. I read about this some years ago. What surprised me was to find in this article that he is saying that the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (Taxol) should not be taken with grapefruit or grapefruit juice. He said that they had looked up the drug on the manufacturer's website and had found that "do not eat grapefruit" was written clearly on it.
I suppose that if you should not eat grapefruit while going through chemotherapy with paclitaxel, the same would apply to docetaxel (Taxotere) since it is a taxane drug. Nobody mentioned anything to me about grapefruits and taxanes. There is a long list of drugs that react with grapefruit and I noticed that cyclophosphomide is on it and it looks as though most of us, if not all of us, get that in the different chemotherapy regimens.
There are also common statins on this list!!
I shall wait to hear from you about this latest email when you can get to it.
Thank you for your kind words. I am just two days away now from 13 years. It does seem a lifetime ago that I was diagnosed and the shock and trauma of it all. I have found the past months since last October when I reluctantly had that flu jab, the first since 2005, and then had all the problems of the lymphoedema in the right arm and then the mole and all the frustration and anxiety. I really have not been myself since that October 10th 2017 and the eight months have been long and stressful.
I phoned the surgery last week because I wanted to know what the reddish-brown staining on the bottom of my legs was, worse on the right leg. I got a phone appointment with my GP and I was talking about the lymphoedema as well because she said that it was caused only by my surgery and radiotherapy. I told her that I had read in Let's Talk Lymphoedema that the taxane drugs could cause lymphoedema and that since chemotherapy is systemic it could cause lymphoedema anywhere in the body. I think the varicose vein that arose on my right leg following the lymphoedema is somehow connected. To cut a long story short, I went to the surgery, a different doctor had a look at the staining and said it was venous eczema and that it was nothing to worry about. She said it was common with varicose veins. I researched it and found out that it is also called varicose eczema or gravitational eczema or stasis eczema!!! I also found out you need to keep the area well moisturised, although she told me no need!! I do get very confused.
I do hope you are settling down now that you are back home. Here in Exmouth we are desperate for some rain. All the nonsense continues over Brexit and I think everything is going to drag on until 2022 when a General Election is due and a load of promises will be made and then broken!
That is about all for now.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi, Val
I am glad you can do all your work again, and I am very impressed by your description of your garden; I used to have a large garden every summer and I know how much work it is, but it's all worth it when you get your harvest. I stopped doing it the summer I was doing chemo, and then I injured shoulder and my husband passed away and now there doesn't seem to be much reason to do all the labor out in the heat, not just for myself. Many people around here garden, and give surplus away, and my brother gardens, and there are farmer's markets. But it is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, to harvest and preserve the food you know was grown clean.
Sounds like cilantro doesn't like your southern heat, maybe it would grow earlier in the season? I did try it too, with mixed success, I like to use it in my home-canned salsa. I used to have timing problems with basil too, I like to cook and can my own marinara sauce from my own tomatoes and basil, but they would never be ready at the same time, so I would freeze the basil leaves and they were still good that way. This year I only have one large pot with a tomato plant, I hope to get tomatoes from my brother and do a little canning for myself.
All your fresh ocean fish is very enviable, something we don't see much of around here, ours comes in little bags in the store freezer! People do a lot of fishing here however, we have catfish, bass, crappie and perch, many people eat carp and redhorse, and other suckerfish. The secret to eating the suckers is good prepping, since they are so bony. One of our rivers has sturgeon, I have had caviar from the eggs of that fish, and it is fabulous. Frog legs if we are lucky too.
You have certainly had a lot to deal with, lymphedema on top of everything else. From what I have read, it can strike at any time after surgery, especially when lymph nodes are disturbed. It's amazing all the things we have had to learn since our diagnoses.
Congratulations on becoming a grandma again, I hope your daughter has an easy time of it and all goes well. Yes, little girls are much easier to play dress-up with!
Thanks for kind words too, I have found so much comfort and support here over the last few years and feel I have friends here who know what I have been through and understand the grief, fear, and sadness, and the joy when we find we can do something we enjoy again.
Talk to you soon, love,
Mary
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Hello Sylvie i came.to visit.my mother.in sweden..she is getting better.eveyday she.go.out oficina.the hospital today. I can went todo Sevilla And granada thinking in muy mother at the hospital. So I cancelede the trip.
I'm getting better too.
Abrazos
MARÍA S
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This seagull is daily visitor to the top of one of the roofs of our apartment complex.
Ceanothus
Carnations
Hebe
Convovulus
Rockery with various plants
hebe
Gerbera
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Hi, Adagio
I saw your post to Hanieh where you inquired about Turkey, I am interested in how that is too. Our Mediterranean Cruise last year was supposed to have a stop in Turkey, but it was changed because of unrest and upsets going on. I do hope it's better now, I confess I have not been following that area's news lately.
I did think Croatia was beautiful and the parts we were in were pristine, with much new building going on, and road repairs. They are really working on becoming a primo tourist destination and there is much activity going on along their beachfront, with people building there. And yet up in the mountains the small towns and countryside are very peaceful and lovely.
I would like to go to Vienna, and Prague. Several people I met on the last trip said Prague was their favorite European city.
I'm sure your bond with your granddaughter will pick right up where you left off when you come back from your trip, and you will have stories to tell her about your adventures.
We are having very hot and dry weather, I do hope we have a break in this soon.
Have a fabulous time, I'm sure you will!
Talk soon, love, Mary
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Hello Jags,
It is very hard work being a volunteer director of the apartment complex in which I live and it is a very responsible position. You have to be elected by the owners of the apartments on a majority and have to stand down each year and be re-elected. It is very time consuming. You cannot please all of the people all of the time. I shall have been doing it for eight years in October and Raymond was doing it the eight years before that. This covers all the time we have lived here. I have to make sure that all kinds of inspections are carried out, that all the finances are accurate and deal with all the contractors who come to do various things here. You have to be objective and fair and legal. I do a lot of work in the grounds here for my own pleasure and give instructions to our gardeners about what needs doing when they come every two weeks.
Needless to say, it is very different from my work as a High School Teacher but that was also very demanding. I did enjoy teaching whether I was teaching French as a second language or English as a second language. I did teach in Morocco for three years and found the students very able and very keen to learn.
How are you feeling these days after having finished your treatment? Do you have any chronic long term side effects?
Is breast cancer becoming very common in your country and what do you think is causing it?
Sending you fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Susie,
Thank you for your post.
I was very interested in what you said had been reported in the London Times about patients being urged to query the ever greater loads of medicines being prescribed.
I do think that doctors are prescribing too many medicines and that they are not very beneficial to patients because they all have side effects. I am horrified at the number of pills the elderly especially are swallowing down.
This morning I saw the headlines on the Daily Express and it was the same. The article said about all the money it was costing the NHS and how patients would be so much better off without all these pills. Mentioned in particular were pills for diabetes 2 and heart disease. It stated that patients would be much better off eating healthy food and being more physically active. It is awful that so many people prefer to swallow a pill rather than make an effort. I cannot understand people who have had heart attacks and carry on smoking. I have never seen so many overweight people.
Like you, I am not intimidated by doctors and I do speak up. We have a duty to ourselves to defend our bodies and protect them.
You are definitely right about how short appointments are and I cannot see much of use can be done during such a short time. I do not like either doctors sitting staring at computer screens and I have had wrong information about myself go on a computer.
The other day I had an appointment at the surgery with a doctor. I arrived, gave my name, told the receptionist the doctor I was seeing and at what time. The receptionist came back with I was seeing a nurse for an assessment. I said I was not and she said well just go and sit down and wait. The nurse came and I told her I was not booked to see her. She went to sort this out and I eventually got to see the doctor, who squeezed me in between other appointments. It turned out that the doctor and the nurse both had the same first name and that was how the appointment had been muddled.
We are becoming numbers and not people. I do hope that patients will learn to speak up and ask questions. That is the only way to make progress. I do hope that with breast cancer in particular patients are asking questions about their treatment and especially chemotherapy drugs.
That is all for today.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Marias,
Thank you for your post. I was very surprised to read that your mother is in Sweden. I assumed she was in Colombia. I was glad to read that she is getting better every day. I was glad to read that she is leaving the hospital today.
I can understand that you could not go to Seville and Granada when you knew that your mother was in the hospital and so you cancelled your trip to Spain.
I do hope you will have a holiday some other time.
I am so glad that you are getting better.
Abrazos.
Sylvia xxxx
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