Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
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Hello Gill,
Thank you once again for your post.
With reference to the lock-down, I do agree that it was inevitable, but it should have been done two months ago and, as you say, there are too many exemptions. Today I had a look at gov.uk and saw that it had been updated and starts off "Guidance New National Restrictions from 5 November". Raymond printed off for me the 8 pages as I find it easier to read that way, rather than on the screen. The first page lists the 12 contents that are dealt with, so it makes easy ready. However, exemptions always complicate things and can be open to interpretation. This is a typical government document!
Of course, although it says that it is National, it only applies to England. It is quite mad that we go into lock-down on November 5th (very appropriate!) and Wales comes out of lock-down on November 9th. I am not quite sure what Scotland and Northern Ireland are doing, but it will not be the same as us.
I was speaking to a friend of mine in Exmouth today and she was telling me that the raid on the shops seems to have begun. I suppose people will live it up for the next 48 hours.
I have had a quick look at the Chris Woollams latest email and have marked off the numbers of particular interest to me. They are 2, Insulin resistance, 3, The pill that increases cancer survival, 4, A little pill that makes a big difference with Covid, 5, How a lack of social ties affects women, and 9, A new factor discovered in dementia.
I do have doubts about statins. They have terrible side effects and I would never take them. Raymond was put on them while in hospital, but as soon as he got home he quickly got off them. I think Big Pharma is trying to medicate everybody. Raymond was given Atorvastatin which is a very cheap pill. I do not have faith in that research, but that is my own personal opinion. The women who survive the longest may have survived anyway without the statins.
I was interested to know that you do go back and read earlier posts. If you read the first ten pages of our thread, you will find them interesting and there are names that stick out in my memory, such as Josephine. She was very informed and worked in a hospital lab, I think, but she was having a lot of problems.
I agree with you that not much has changed and that treatment is basically the same, especially for TNBC.
Did you happen to see Spitting Image on ITV1 at 10pm on Saturday?
Raymond and I took a rest from Covid, Trump and doom and gloom and watched Legends on Spotlight TV, one hour of Elvis and then Channel 5 9 pm Elvis the man that rocked the world. We did not see that through to the end because we got too tired. We think Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash are among the Greats.
The weather has been dismal as usual. Thank you for the hard work you are putting into the thread.
Love and best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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hi Sylvia
It's somewhat a crazy day, election day here and the polls are very busy. I stood in line and this hasn't happened before in the very small town where I vote. That job done, and dropped Buddy off to play, now I am in line at Electronics store. I need a new tablet gizmo, so it's a job I don't like doing..
This will be a short message. Tomorrow Buddy will be recuperating at the vet's office after neutering, and he will spend the night. I will get back here and report on election results tomorrow evening.
I hope you and Raymond are well, and everyone here. I see UK is going back to Lockdown. This idea is unpopular here no matter what you see on your TV. I suppose it's fine for people working from home, but it's too drastic for most I know. Because then when lockdown ends it's the same thing all over again, and more businesses gone under at the same time. What a mess, this Covid.
Talk to you later , hopefully tomorrow!
Love, Mary
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Hello to all
Ive been away for a while. Off the boards. Gardening and crafts have taken up a lot of my time.
I've reached the 5 year mark this month. It is bittersweet. I finally don't think about recurrence every time I have an ache or pain.
Special hello to Sylvia and Mary for keeping this thread going. It gives so much support.
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Hello Mary,
I was so happy to see you back on the thread and I hope you will stay with us. Gill and I need your support.
I have been following your election off and on today and it all does seem a bit crazy. The system of how you end up the winner is quite complicated but then our election system is just as crazy and the procedure is not exactly democratic. I do wonder anyway if there is a democratic system in place anywhere. We need to get rid of our first past the post system, and constituencies. We are still very Medieval and there is too much nonsensical ceremony. I believe in one person one vote and adding up the votes and the winner must have more than 50% or we go to a second round.
I do hope all will go well with Buddy and I look forward to hearing from you tomorrow.
Raymond and I are plodding on but are getting very fatigued with the coronavirus and Brexit.
I can understand that lock-down is unpopular where you are and I think that here the government has left it too late. With a lock-down my understanding is that you have to do it when the number of cases are low the government has gone against the advice of its experts and delayed, so it becomes more costly for the health service and for the economy. We are going to be in debt for ever. As you say, lock-down is alright for those working at home.
That is about all for now. I hope to hear from you tomorrow. Do not get election fatigue!
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Valstim52,
It was a lovely surprise to hear from you. Congratulations on reaching five years since diagnosis. The five year mark is a big event.
I was glad to know that you have been gardening and doing crafts. I am sure that you will have got a lot of pleasure out of doing that.
It is always good when some of our American ladies pop in to share their good news with us, especially when we have not heard from them for some time. You American women have contributed so much over the years to the thread. InspiredbyDolce (Debra) popped in to see us not so long ago. These names stay with me.
Thank you for your kind words about Mary and me. We have strong support from Gill as well. She is a fellow Brit. I am not sure she was on the thread when you were posting.
Very best wishes. Keep well and keep safe.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Sylvia,
Apologies for not posting earlier, I needed to do some last minute cataloguing at the archive before lockdown. I needn't have been in such a rush as Michael and I have an underground office at the Cathedral, well away from everyone and have been given permission to carry on working if we wish to do so. We're in our own little world down there amongst shelves of boxes, old books and assorted treasures.
I agree that the whole of the UK should have gone into lockdown at the same time. If the Government had listened to its scientific advisors we could have closed down completely for two weeks - no travel, schools and universities closed, in fact no exceptions except for essential food shopping.
The journey to and from the archive yesterday was slow, with the roads close to the city centre blocked by cars as everyone wanted to visit the shops all of a sudden. Apparently some stores were open until 9pm for Christmas shopping before lockdown began. Someone wrote to the local newspaper saying that the main shopping street in Norwich looked like Christmas Eve, people everywhere. So much for saving the NHS.
Norwich has its fair share of people who are sceptical about the pandemic. A friend told me he thought it was all a storm in a teacup. Someone else thought it was fake news and they would be carrying on as normal, visiting family and friends whenever they wanted. I despair, particularly when essential surgeries are falling further and further behind.
I had a telephone appointment with a GP yesterday. He had the results of my spinal MRI which was clear of mets and just showed wear and tear. He wanted to prescribe pain meds for the burning sensation in the front of my left calf. I refused as I think it's probably a side effect of chemotherapy and something I have to get used to. He didn't seem to know that I'd had chemotherapy, when I explained he said I should discuss it with my oncologist. We don't see our oncologist again after treatment, at least not here. He was probably a new GP, very friendly, very keen to help, but didn't have much idea about life after chemotherapy.
It was lovely to hear from Mary and Valstim52. Always good to hear when someone's reached the five year mark. Mary must be exhausted by following the election results, they're so close and very complicated. I've been looking at the news at regular intervals. Meanwhile, in Parliament Prime Minister's Questions was a bit tame. I really think Starmer needs to ask about the corruption that has been so much a part of track and trace, the provision of ppe and so on. Johnson cannot legally bypass tendering processes to hand over multi million pound contracts to his friends/Tory donors. This has cost lives. Too many people are making a great deal of money out of Covid.
It's dry here today and I really should go out and tidy up the garden. I'm not going to though, as I just don't feel like doing much at all.
Keep well both of you.
Love,
Gill xxx
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Hi, Sylvia and all
I was going to report on election results, but these are still up in the air, they are still counting in some states. Some states allowed changes to their election laws that loosened requirements to fill in mail-in ballots. These are in addition to absentee ballots. Absentee ballots are perfectly legal, and require a notary public to verify ID before putting in the mail. Mail-in ballots can be filled in by anyone and dropped in a box or mailed in, and then supposedly have to be verified before counting by the very-overworked poll workers. Usually the gap in votes for the candidates is large enough to discount the smallish number of mailin ballots. But this year Covid and, dare I say, cheating has caused a very large number of them and there is a great deal of suspicion on both sides. It seems numbers of ballots are turning up in dumpsters and basements and so on. Its just crazy, election lawyers are out, and lawsuits blossoming in the contested states.
Other than that, things happened as usual, except for the very large turn-out. The large cities in our country usually go with the Democrats for the most part, and the rural parts go with the Republican. We in the country assume the "city people" are used to people telling them what to do and want more of it, whereas we in the country would rather be left alone. That's in a nutshell, of course it's probably more complicated.
A few days ago I was listening to a program on Satellite Radio, there were Docs who were going to discuss Breast Cancer; Estrogen-driven Cancers, HER2, and Triple-Negative. So they spent a half-hour on the Estrogen+, and about 15 minutes on HER2, and then moved to Triple-Negatives for about 2 minutes. Then one of the Docs broke in and said we must answer all the phone calls that have backed up. The rest of the program was consumed with phone calls, mostly from people who had connection with someone who had a DCIS Cancer. So I learned absolutely nothing new there. I think I did read somewhere about an Immunology Drug that was working for Metastatic Triple-Negative, but don't remember the name of it.
I have a Mammogram and ULtrasound coming up on Friday, hopefully this will be uneventful and won't lead to a flurry of more tests leading to a biopsy which happened the last time.
And the Covid, my opinion is that since school started we have had an explosion of infectons. The very large portion of these are not serious at all, I am beginning to think that almost all of my friends either have had it or had a close family member or members with it. They have all survived with mostly very mild effects. School opens and closes on different weeks. What the school managers should probably have done, in my opinion, is cancel sporting events for this year. That did not happen, I think that's where a lot of this spread started.
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Sylvia again,
I posted the first part of my screed so it wouldn't get lost, I have taken no precautions with writing it so wanted it to go.
Anyway, nobody asked my opinion about school sports, so they went on as usual with very large numbers of kids and parents mingling and mixing. So it's not surprising there's is a spread of Covid.
Like you, I think it's going to be around from now on. Like the flu, whlch actually kills a lot of people every year. Oddly enough, haven't heard of anyone dying from flu lately. Covid became a political football during the election season, so now that that's winding down I hope it gets treated in a more sane fashion.
As for election results, I personally hope Biden loses, and Trump wins. I know that most of your media paints Trump as the Very Bad Orange Man, but he has actually done many very good things. Did you know he has 3 Nobel Peace Prize nominations for his work in the MIddle East relations? The Media does not like to talk about his achievements. And unfortunately, his own mouth is his worst enemy at times, and he makes statements that his enemies pounce on and blather about instead. If one looks for anything good about Trump on Google, one would have to go to Page 20 or so before finding anything. It's all very twisted.
Enough about that, we are having a balmy week, but it promises to turn colder next week. Then it will be Firearm Deer Season, which is an unofficial Holiday around here. Hopefully it will be a good distraction for people who are burned out by election and Covid and shortages and etc.
I see that Jags has posted, and Helen, and Marias and Valstim. I wish too that Marias would repost. That did not look good. Helen does indeed have the best attitude for someone who has gone through all that she has. And Jags, in this age of Covid, to have come down with Typhoid! So glad she is better.
i am off for now, and will be back.
Love, Mary
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Hi Valstim
It's good to see you again here, I haven't been here for a while either. I decided I should have a puppy since it was lonely when the Covid shutdown first happened. I was surprised by how much time this puppy takes up, he has kept me very active but housework has suffered badly.
In election news, You are living in one of the contested states, can't imagine what that's like. My state is only 9 electoral votes I think, so nobody is ever very interested. Or maybe 11. We did have a very heavy turnout.
Isn't it nice not to be consumed by thoughts of TNBC? I am always rather brought up short when it's time for tests and Oncologist visits, it brings it all back, ugh.
Congratulations on the 5-year mark, that's a big deal!
Sylvia is indeed amazing how she keeps everything going here, and Gill too is a reliable and fascinating poster. Thank you both!!
Love, Mary
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Hi Gill, I now have a picture in my minds-eye of you and Michael in your underground lair working your way through dusty treasures. It sounds very interesting, I'm sure you come across some fascinating stuff.
I think everyone in the world must have Covid fatigue by now. Here the Chiefs of Everything are telling us not to gather with family at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I think most people are going to ignore this advice. As I told Sylvia, I know so many people who have already had it, and these people are really going to do as they please. I actually don't think I have had it, but also don't know for sure. I have been plagued by allergies since last spring and got tested for Covid at one point because I felt so bad. since then I lay my woes at the feet of allergies and try not to get too down about it.
All the talk about shutdowns has made people dash back out and start stocking up again. It's quite crazy, when I go out I am amazed by the traffic and how fast everyone is driving, it seems very hectic. Joe Biden has promised to shut down the USA completely if he's elected, so nobody knows what's going on for sure. The times they are exhausting!!
It does sound like the burning sensation in the front of your calf is nerve damage. Does it come and go? It probably is a result of chemo. The Doc sounds as if he was at least kindly. Yes, when one has CIPN (chemo induced peripheral neuropathy) it's a lonely thing to have, not much to do about it and your Oncologist won't be any help either. My Onco said all chemo is out of your body 6 weeks after ending treatment. The end. So off you go. On some evenings when I sit down to rest my legs begin to have very uncomfortable feelings, I must move them constantly or they drive me crazy. Usually I go to bed, for some reason once I lie down they are okay, quite strange.
I am off, must make hay while the sun shines!
Love, Mary
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Sylvia
The Election drags on. I heard an elderly man on the radio say he was amazed that election results were quicker when he was young, before all the computerized gizmos were on the scene. He has a point.
The stock Market is happy today, not sure why. It's possible that it's because Biden is probably going to win this Presidential contest, and yet against all odds, the Republicans did very well across the country in other elections. I have heard that the Stock market likes balance, we'll see.
Something Trump did I did not like was putting tariffs on China, some on Canada and other places he thought had too big an advantage over us. It made the cost of doing business much more expensive. I do not like the thought of higher taxes, which Biden has also promised.
Yesterday I felt fatigued, today is better. I will have to leave soon and pick up the puppy, then I will have to try and keep him quiet for a few days, which promises to be a challenge!
Love, Mary
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Hello Mary,
I have just been reading through all the posts and I have read them all with great interest. I am now starting from the last post and going through them until I come to where I last posted. I shall then make it a priority tomorrow to answer them all in more detail.
I think we have had all the 'excitement' of the election in the US, mixed in with all the absolute confusion and fatigue of the second lock-down here and hints of the problems that Brexit is going to bring in less than two months.
I feel I have been up and down like a yo-yo, trying to keep things up to date in the complex where I live, answering various emails from friends, trying to keep looking at the score from the electoral college, and trying to listen to the latest exceptions for the 'complete lock-down'. Boris Johnson seems to get in such a muddle!
Welcome back my friend and thank you for your kind words.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mary,
I am now looking at your second to last one to me.
I shall write more tomorrow and we can have a good discussion about our views on the coronavirus. A lot of the time over the past weeks I have been ranting on here about the lack of common sense of our government, politicians in general, not to mention 'experts' and so on and so forth. As a former high school teacher I cannot understand why the schools and universities have been left open during the second wave.
I am very concerned about the lack of care here in the NHS for cancer patients in general. The hospitals are flooded with coronavirus patients.
As I said, more tomorrow.
Take care and keep safe.
Love from one over-excited country to another!
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mary,
I am now reading the first from last of your posts and I have a cup of tea going cold so I shall write more tomorrow.
Lots of love.
Sylvia and Raymond sends his best wishes. xxxx
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Hello Mary,
It is 9:30 am and I am trying to get stuck in with answering posts and sorting out sundry things here. I listened to the 7 am news this morning on Radio 4 and could hear myself sighing. Once again, it is all about the American Presidential election and the lock-down! I do wish all the speculation would stop until the votes are counted and we know who is now the President of the US.
As for the lock-down, which is not really a lock-down, because there are too many exceptions, I think we are all fed up to the teeth with hearing about it. It is going to be a long dreary drawn out four weeks until December 2nd. The government is, above all, concerned about saving face with the NHS because it cannot cope after years and years of underfunding and cutting beds.
I think much more attention should be paid with what is happening to cancer treatment here. It is all being neglected because of the virus and people are dying because of neglect. The same goes for heart patients. I think it will take years and years to catch up. However much Boris Johnson likes to drivel on about all these doctors and nurses that he is going to produce, we do not have anywhere near enough. Yesterday it was announced that 30,000 nurses and staff in the NHS are off sick. Testing is still a failure and we now hear that today the whole of Liverpool, which has the worst numbers for the virus, is going to be offered tests, which will give results in an hour. The army, navy and air force are going to be called in to help. Apparently the test is called a lateral flow test but the person carrying out an interview with someone from the army did not even ask what the test involved doing. Watch this space to see whether this works.
As far as we are concerned, we have been told that we have to stay home, except for essential shopping, prescriptions and a short walk. We cannot visit my brother at the end of the road, he cannot visit us, and only one of us can meet him in an outside public space. Of course, it is still social distancing and wearing masks.
Like you, I think that the virus is with us for the long haul. Apparently in Denmark there has been an outbreak of coronavirus on a mink farm with minks bearing the virus but it is a mutated form and can be taken up by humans. 17 million minks are having to be culled. I thought people were not supposed to be wearing real fur these days. This link between the virus, animals and humans is not being taken seriously enough. We know that the fleas on bats started this virus and that it was transmitted from bats to pangolins to humans. The virus has also been found in dogs and cats and I read that it was difficult to test them. I think we have intruded too much on animals and nature.
Are you finding time to do any reading? I try to fit some in but I find my time gets taken up with other things.
That is about all for now. Once again, I am glad to see you on the thread. I am very concerned about Marias and I do hope she will be in touch. Her last post was difficult to interpret but I felt she had some serious problems.
I do hope that Kath and Helenlouise will be in touch to tell us what is going on in Australia and that adagio will let us know if she has made any progress towards getting her surgery. While you were absent, Peter (PeterandLiz) posted quite a bit but he has disappeared again.
That is all for now. Take care, keep safe and do not overdo things.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi Mary,
Really good to hear from you. Always enjoy the news from your neck of the woods. By the way, people here are driving very fast too. Must be one of the more obscure side effects of Covid.
All church services in England are behind locked doors now. Many are live streamed. After the service, the doors are opened for private prayer and confession (Catholic only) and a priest is available in the church most of the time. The Catholic Cathedral here has a cafe which people flock to after the 10 am Mass, it reopened just two weeks ago and has now been forced to close again. So no cup of tea and a scone and very little in the way of interesting gossip until the great reopening on December 2nd.
Completely agree with you about oncologists not being interested in the long term side effects of chemotherapy. I too had the tried and tested 'all chemo is out of the body in six weeks' brush off. I'm going to assume that the burning sensation in my leg is neuropathy, I don't see much point in having endless tests for something that can't be changed. Everything I know about chemotherapy and its possible side effects has been learnt from either this thread or the internet. I'm beginning to think that oncologists take an oath of silence.
So long to count the votes in your election! Then they'll be the court cases. My daughter is finding the whole thing particularly irksome as her husband seems to be 'over invested' (her words) in the results and is glued to the internet until the early hours. She's been going for long walks and baking bread to stave off the irritation.
Like America, we don't know if we'll be called upon to have Christmas without a family gathering. A lot of people here say they will carry on regardless. You have Thanksgiving in three weeks and I'm guessing that people are already well on with their preparations. What a mess we're all in.
Hope the shoulder is behaving, the Rocky Mountain spotted tick bite now just a distant memory and both mammogram and ultrasound are clear. Writing that last sentence made me (and probably you) feel really old. I should have said, we'll soon have a Covid vaccine, the world will open up again and everyone on the thread will have a virtual party together. There, that's better!
Love,
Gill xxx
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Hello Gill,
Thank you for your latest post.
I think that as far as the coronavirus goes, we just have to deal with the present situation. We are in lock-down (not really proper lock-down) until December 2nd and we just have to get on with it and hope that Boris Johnson pays for his ineptitude at the far off general election, unless he packs it is before or somehow has to resign. I think this latest panic is more to do with trying to save face with what about thirty years of underfunding has done to the NHS. There are not enough beds, not enough doctors, nurses and other staff and the government knows this.
I give up on people who will not do their own little bit to try to help to stop the spread. They are in their own little world of what is good for them and they will bend the rules to suit themselves. We are in a very selfish society. As you say, all the exceptions make a mockery of the so called lock-down.
I have just been looking up the test that is supposed to be offered, from today, to the whole of Liverpool. I looked it up after listening to an interview on Radio 4 about the proposed test and was in my opinion inadequate. This interview was all about Lateral Flow Tests. My research showed me they are also called Lateral Flow Immunoassays (LFIAs). These tests are for use in mass community testing evaluation by doing a finger prick self test. The labs then do blood and serum evaluation looking for the presence of antibodies.
According to what I was reading, you can buy on line a Universal Lateral Flow Assay Kit.
I shall follow what goes on in Liverpool with great interest. How many people actually take the test will be interesting.
I was interested to know that you had a telephone appointment with a GP yesterday and that he had good results from your spinal MRI. It must have been a great relief to know that you are clear of mets.
I can understand why you did not want pain medication for the burning sensation in the front of your left calf. It is a bit much that he did not know you had had chemotherapy but this comes from not having regular doctors any more who follow your health patterns. I refuse to see anyone but my regular doctor, not that I involve myself with doctors very much, because their answer to everything is a pill.
I heard on the news that we are very short of MRI scans etc. and there are plans to install these types of scans in shops and malls!
I do agree that it was lovely to hear from Mary and Valstim52. We do miss people when they are absent and we do feel concerned for them. I still think about Hanieh and wonder what has happened to her and I am very concerned about Marias.
I do hope we get the result of the American election soon and also that the news etc. will cover other important issues. I do not like what is happening to cancer patients and try to put myself in the position of someone newly diagnosed with breast cancer and not being given the necessary care. It is just not acceptable.
I agree that PMQs on Wednesday was tame.
That is all for now as I have various things to do.
Regards to Michael and do not spend too much time underground!
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Sylvia
I also saw the articles on infected mink in Denmark. My antenna went up immediately; as you recall probably, when we first heard talk of the China virus it was far away and of no interest to us. I don't trust a bit that any government can protect us from this
I have read several articles on this, it seems the main market for the mink fur was in China. China again! I think anytime people crowd animals together like this it will be troublesome. Sadly, therehere are many mink farmers who will lose their livelihoods. I only hope the virus can die with the minks. Altho 12 humans already have it.
My shoulder is okay, I'm sure it will not be as it was years ago but it's functional with minor aching. I had mammo yesterday, the nurse showed results to radiologist and he said no need for Ultrasound. Hurray! I don't think about RMSTF anymore, hopefully it's gone by now.
I noticed another thread under the "TRIPLE NEGATIVE" topic. It is relating to the latest drug for metastatic TNBC. Trodelvey, or something like that. That was the new immunotherapy drug I had heard about. It is good to remember that with all the turmoil in the world there are researchers still trying to find answers to Cancers questions.
Someone reminded me that in 2000 the Presidential election here dragged on till mid-December. So I am not paying much attention. I am quite cynical, I think the Democrats will keep finding ballots until their man wins. If the other side can't prove chicanery then it's over, eventually.
We're having another balmy day, one more and then it will get cold, so I better get outside do a little work.
Maybe Marias will speak today. I only know a little Spanish but her last post didn't sound good.
Talk soon, love, Mary
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Hello Mary,
It is Monday morning here and I thought I would answer your latest post before I get involved in other things and the day disappears.
The news about the mutated coronavirus on the mink farms in Denmark was on the main news this morning on BBC Radio 4. It looks as though, that having spread from minks to humans, the same virus is now spreading from humans to humans. We now have fleas on bats, bats to pangolins and who knows what else? We also have the virus in dogs and cats but I think that this will be kept very quiet. The latest news I had here about the virus in the UK was last night and it was that about 20,500 cases had been reported in the last 24 hours and that there were about just over 200 deaths. We are supposed to be in lock-down but I get the impression that, because of all the exceptions, it is being ignored.
I also heard on the news yesterday that the day's tally was over 100,000 in the US and that worldwide Europe had the most cases.
I am so glad that the US Presidential election is over as we had over the top coverage here and a lot of speculation. I thought it might calm down but now it is non-stop coverage about what Donald Trump will do.
I was glad to know that you are managing with your shoulder and that you had good results from your mammogram. Congratulations!
I have also noticed the posts about the drug Trodelvy (brand name) but I do not take much notice of all the drugs coming out lately. They will all have nasty side effects. I do not believe in a magic cure for cancer.
I find I am becoming more and more distrustful of politicians and think they are egocentrics interested in their own careers.
I picked up some bits of information yesterday that I thought might be of interest to you. They are as follows:
71% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country.
An RCP poll finds that 49.1% of Americans think Trump is doing a good job on the economy.
The Pew Research Center thinks the economy will be weaker in 30 years time in the US.
It is yet another dull day here and so lacking in sunshine.
I do hope that Marias will get in touch. I have a good knowledge of Spanish and her words did not make complete sense. It was almost like an alarm call for help. She is in such a difficult country that I do worry about here and the same goes for Hanieh.
Do you think that Donald Trump will now concede?
With 290 in the Electoral College for Joe Biden and 214 for Donald Trump. I cannot see that he has a choice. I also understand that the Republicans have a majority in the Senate of 53 versus 47 to the Democrats, but that the Democrats have the majority in Congress. Does that mean that everything will be at a standstill?
I think these voting systems are too complicated. Ours is certainly not democratic and needs urgent reform. What with the House of Lords, titles, archaic rituals and a Monarchy, we need a new enlightenment and reform.
Take care, keep safe and do not loose your sanity in an insane world!
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi all, borders are easing here in the land down under. Victoria has recorded several days without a case or death now. I think the local hotspot approach will be taken moving forward. They seem to have a good handle on contact tracing. I am also glad the US election is all but done. It has dominated the news here like never before. I know it is a major global power but the media coverage is overkill. I’m off for ultrasound tomorrow. MO has also ordered a PET (Thursday). No biopsy until results of those. I have been having some weird muscle twitching left side. Hopefully it will all be nothing so fingers crossed until we know for sure. Will let you know down the track. xx
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Hi, Gill
I think I had posts mixed up, I headed one to Sylvia but answered your questions. I did think it odd that Sylvia was reporting on the Catholic Church. So, I'm sorry that your church is locked down again. I did get very tired of the TV Masses. Although it did make it rather easy to nod off during a dull sermon. Our services so far are still the same, we wear a mask in and take it off when seated. If one gets up then the mask must go back on. Biden, who has declared himself to be President-Elect, has said he would start up a nation-wide lockdown. If that's so, then I guess we will be the same as UK. I think any Leader will face strong opposition if he trys to start a severe Lockdown again. People are sick of it all, and most people would rather catch the virus than do this again, especially the young ones. I know so many people now who have/had the virus, I feel rather like an anomaly. Most of the older people I know who have/had it have gotten it from their adult children, who come to visit unknowing that they have the virus. Some of these are quite ill and in the hospital, so this socializing is risky business.
Yes, Biden has declared himself to be President-Elect, but Trump is still doing legal manuevering so I suppose our election results are ongoing, not sure what's going on at this point. Your daughter's husband sounds as if slightly obsessed with these goings-on, I am very sorry our elections have come to such a pass. I think elections should be as originally intended. On one day! It's Election Day, after all, not Election Month. Absentee Ballots are easily available, and One can get an Absentee Ballot by never leaving one's house. Then fill it out and send it back well before Election Day. Otherwise, go to the Polls on Election Day. Anything else makes for funny business, and way too many dead people voting, and people who have moved away.
Today looks to be the last balmy day for a while, so I will rouse my creaking joints once more and attempt to make some headway on outdoor chores. The dog has spotted a squirrel who seems to be frozen in fear so he is going a little crazy, the day has begun.
I will talk to you again soon, Gill
Love, Mary
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Hello Mary,
I was just checking the posts again and read your last post to Gill. I chuckled about the mix up you had with the posts. Was this a Senior Moment? I definitely would not have been reporting on the Catholic Church or any other church, because, as you know, I am not religious and I think that politics and religion are definitely subjects to be avoided as they can start a lot of trouble. We can have our likes and dislikes but we do not have to get into fisticuffs over them. I have two good friends here, one is Catholic and the other is Church of England, but we do not discuss religion!
Gill and I have made it clear we do not like our Prime Minister but if other people do, so be it. Live and let live.
I do think we are all suffering from coronavirus fatigue, elections fatigue and Brexit fatigue! I know that this year has drained Raymond and me, and to switch off it all, on Sunday evenings we have been watching Spotlight TV on Freesat. We bought a box a few years ago in order to get French television, which was then taken off. Afterwards we discovered the music programmes. On Sunday evenings there is one programme entitles Legends and last night it was Ricky Nelson. They have also had, among others, Elvis, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly and Cliff Richard. They also have Down memory lane, classic, 60s and 70s, as well as a 50s programme.
That is about all for now.
It was good to see Helenlouise and I shall answer her later.
Love and best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Helenlouise,
Thank you for your post. I was so glad to read that your beautiful country down-under is doing so well with the coronavirus. It is amazing that Victoria has recorded several days without a case or death. If only in this strange part of the UK called England, were in that situation. We seem to mess up so much. We had 20,500 cases yesterday and just over 200 deaths. It is always lower in Wales and Scotland, but then they have very small populations. Northern Ireland also has lower numbers but, again, a much smaller population. It seems mad that England has just locked down and today Wales is opening up after 17 days lock-down. None of it is really lock-down as I understand it.
It is good, too, that in your country there is a good handle on contact tracing. Here it has been a disaster.
Like you, I am glad that the US election is all but done and I definitely agree that the media coverage has been overkill.
I do hope all will go well with your ultrasound tomorrow. Be sure to let us know how you get on. I also hope that all goes well with your PET scan on Thursday.
I do hope that the weird muscle twitching on your left side turns out to be nothing about which to worry. The body always seems to be throwing out things to worry us or wonder about.
From time to time I get a heavy feeling in the right arm where I have some lymphoedema. I just do some stretching exercises and light muscle massage, as I was shown how to do many years ago.
The other thing that is long term with me is peripheral neuropathy in the feet. Most of the time it does not bother me and I just make sure that I keep the feet well moisturised with a urea rich foot moisturiser and regular visits to a podiatrist. My oncologist told me way back when that neuropathy in the hands or feet was a permanent side effect of the taxane drugs. I have also read that they cause lymphoedema.
That is about all for now. Look forward to hearing from you soon and I hope we shall also hear from Kath. I would think she has an enormous amount of work to do, what with coronavirus and flu.
Have you heard about the spread of coronavirus from minks to humans? It is all in the news hear.
Take care and keep safe.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Kath,
I was wondering how you were getting on. I imagine that you are very busy because of the coronavirus and seasonal flu. Raymond and I had our flu jabs done by the pharmacist whom we know in out small pharmacy in the town. It was done without any fuss or bother and in peace and quiet. We have had no side effects and all seems well. We would love to know what strain you think we would have had.
Today, there has been a lot of hype on all the news channels about a coronavirus vaccine by Pfizer. I think it was, perhaps, overhyped and may have given people listening a false sense of security. What do you know about it? We are being told it has been tested on a lot of people and has been 90% successful. It still seems to have a long way to go and a lot of hoops to get through. We were also told that two jabs will be needed. Apparently a person will have one jab and then wait three or four weeks before having a second jab, and then waiting two weeks for it to be effective. Of course, we were not told of any side effects or whether this would have to be a seasonal procedure or whether there would have to be more jabs after the initial two and how long the protection lasted. Above all, we were not told what was in the vaccine and that is very important.
We would love to have your opinion.
I do hope you are keeping well and safe and that you are taking care of yourself.
Love and best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Marias,
All of us on the thread are very concerned that we have not heard from you since you sent a short note sometime ago now.
We all hope that you are managing to cope and we want to support you as much as we can.
Please give us up-to-date details on what is happening to you. We care about you.
Love and best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hola Marias
Todos los que estamos en el hilo estamos muy preocupados porque no hemos tenido noticias tuyas desde que enviaste una breve nota hace algún tiempo.
Todos esperamos que se las arregle para sobrellevar la situación y queremos brindarle todo el apoyo que podamos.
Por favor, bríndenos detalles actualizados sobre lo que le está sucediendo. Nos preocupamos por usted.
Amor y mis mejores deseos.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi, Sylvia
Maybe it was a Senior Moment, this Pandemic is not instilling mental health as far as I can tell.
I find this mink virus frightening. Experts say it could really spoil the progress we have made on vaccines. Just today Pfizer announced their vaccine is 90% effective, with very low toxicity. It's not yet approved by FDA but I'm sure it will not be more than a couple months, if all goes well. The last thing we need is another weird virus.
I have quit watching Covid numbers, it doesn't mean much to me anymore. I know many people who have had this virus but didn't get tested. Cases of hospitalization seem to me to be more telling.
I do not think Donald Trump will concede until all of the legal work is done. There has been seemingly a very large amount of chicanery that happened to win votes for Biden, and now witnesses willing to come forward with what they saw have appeared. This will not be a quick process. Joe Biden was declared President-elect by one of the TV stations, how is that proper? Al Gore, a Democrat, sued George W. Bush for 30+ plus days back in 2000, so this could all go on a while. Inauguration Day is January 5th of next year, so there will not be a new President officially until then.
A few Senate races are also up in the air, since they are involved in the legal cases going on. Right now I'm not sure where that all is.
I find most polls just so general. I have so much mistrust for the Media in general that it's hard for me to trust any polls they are blathering about.
I share your distaste for most politicians, Power and greed seem to be the names of their games.
The Electoral College numbers may change before all this is over. That's why Joe Biden being called President-elect was premature. If transgressions are found in the affected States' voting system, then it's possible Biden will lose some of those votes he thinks he has. In my opinion, the Democrats are just trying to ram this through, and the Media is trying to convince us of what we should think. It is all disgusting and corrupt.
I have no idea what is going to happen.
I'm very glad you wrote Marias again, I do hope she answers.
I will try to keep my sanity! I wonder if we'll ever be "normal" again. Whatever that was.
I will talk to you again soon, Love, Mary
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Hello Sylvia,
Again, apologies for the late response. You've been very active this week so I'm feeling more than a little guilty. I do agree that Marias' last post appeared to be a cry for help. I think we're all worried and hope that she'll get back in touch. We're probably asking ourselves if Marias has someone with her, access to medical care, drugs, pain relief - things that many of us take for granted.
Lockdown in England doesn't look much like lockdown at all. The confused rules/laws/people will use their common sense(!) approach from Johnson has resulted in too many people just doing what they like. Had he listened to his scientific advisors, lockdown would have been earlier, shorter and with the exception of medical services, total. We now have hospital after hospital saying they are at capacity. Surgeries, once again, are for emergencies only in many areas. Now isn't the time to be diagnosed with cancer and my heart goes out to anyone who has been or will be.
I wonder what you think about Covid vaccinations being offered to people in the next few weeks, or at least before Christmas? People in residential care and those who look after them are at the top of the list. I've looked forward to a safe vaccine and fingers crossed, this is it. However, I do have concerns about the usual trials being cut short. I wonder if Kath has a view on this? I've emailed my daughter to see if she has anything to add.
Like you, I was hoping that once the American election was over we might only have Covid and Brexit filling the newspapers. Well, it seems that's not going to happen. In the meantime, our Prime Minister is panicking because Joe Biden isn't at all sympathetic to the trading needs of the UK. Johnson expected Trump to win and having deliberately wrecked talks with the EU and insulted just about every country in Europe - so certain was he of establishing strong trading links with America, he and Cummings now have to come up with a plan B. If plan B fails then there will almost certainly be a shortage of necessary medicines. This is likely to affect most of the population at some point. I'm not sure if or how this might impact on chemotherapy drugs or other longer term cancer meds. You can be certain that NHS doctors will be kept in the dark until the last minute.
Michael and I have to spend the rest of today at the archive, though we should be working on the garden or at least painting the dining room. The furniture has been taken out and is providing an interesting adventure play area for the cats or a dangerous trip hazard for the humans. Michael doesn't like redecorating and I'm not that keen either, so this is likely to drag on for a while.
Best wishes to Raymond, hope you both have a peaceful week.
Love,
Gill xxx
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Hello Mary,
Thank you for your latest post.
As far as the vaccine is concerned, I think once again the media is jumping in and over-hyping everything. I do not pay much attention to anything they say. They jump from one sensationalistic headline to the other. The Pfizer vaccine still has many hurdles to overcome. I doubt we shall see it delivering injections for many months to come. We now have a race on amongst certain countries to see who can get there first. I do listen to the scientist Jonathan Van Tam who is very down to earth and says it like it is.
As for the Covid numbers, I think they are very much politicised in this country and I do not take much notice of them. I think there are probably about 65,000 deaths that have happened in this country, but who knows what the real toll is?
I suppose it will not be long before the media finds another sensationalist headline.
My main concern in all of this strange world of Covid is what is happening to cancer patients and other patients with serious illness. Everyone is being neglected and we are all getting worn down by the power that governments are taking over the people. I do hope patients will post in to us to let us know if they think they are getting a raw deal with their cancer treatment.
That is about all for now.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Gill,
Thank you for your latest post.
There is still no news of Marias and I am seriously concerned about what may have happened, because that last post of hers was very odd. It was almost like somebody beginning to speak and then passing out. Let us hope she will get in touch.
I do agree that lock-down in England is not lock-down at all. From what I am hearing lots of people are not taking any notice of it or interpreting it in whatever way suits their own personal convenience.
This morning I got a phone call from a friend to tell me that a briefing was taking place from Downing Street. I put the television on but the briefing was winding down. It was headed by Professor Van Tam whom I do respect and two other people and, thankfully, Boris Johnson was nowhere to be seen! It looks as though vaccine has now overtaken everything else!
I am pretty weary of the American election. As far as I am concerned, it is done and dusted. As for this country, everything is a mess. The name UK is a misnomer as the four parts of it are dis-united and are doing what they like. It is all very political. Some people I know blame it onto devolution but I do not. We cannot have England acting like an Empire over the other three parts. It seems to me that we should have a devolved English parliament and then a Federal government to keep it all together and not situated in the Palace of Westminster, which should be turned into a museum. The devolved English parliament should be in a modest functional building, as should any Federal government. I think we should have proportional representation and an end to all this medieval fawning ceremonial. The House of Lords and titles should have been got rid of long ago! These are my own personal opinions but there is no hope of seeing them in my lifetime!
I am thinking a lot about how awful, living through all this, must be for newly diagnosed patients, those waiting for treatment and those going through it. I am also concerned about what this is doing to children, especially those in care who are not getting proper care, and for all the people who are not getting the care they need and deserve and to which they are entitled.
Enough of my soapbox!
Take care and look after yourself and Michael.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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