Any 40-ish survivors?
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I hope you get some pain free sleep Eema. It's still day here, nearly 7pm. Lovely story about your little boy and your magic powers. 6 is a sweet age - my 6 year old still believes in the tooth fairy and Santa. My 9 year old - not so much.
Sarah, I've read The Help and enjoyed it a lot. It's on at the cinemas at the moment and I hear the movies good too. I will probably wait for it to go to DVD before I see it.
My girls finish school tomorrow for 2 weeks school holidays. I'm taking next week off work to hang with them. We are also popping over to Melbourne, Australia for 4 nights later next week. Some of my husbands relatives will be in Melbourne as part of their0 -
I hope you get some pain free sleep Eema. It's still day here, nearly 7pm. Lovely story about your little boy and your magic powers. 6 is a sweet age - my 6 year old still believes in the tooth fairy and Santa. My 9 year old - not so much.
Sarah, I've read The Help and enjoyed it a lot. It's on at the cinemas at the moment and I hear the movies good too. I will probably wait for it to go to DVD before I see it.
My girls finish school tomorrow for 2 weeks school holidays. I'm taking next week off work to hang with them. We are also popping over to Melbourne, Australia for 4 nights later next week. Some of my husbands relatives from the UK will be in Melbourne so we are catching up with them. I'm quite looking forward to the break.0 -
Somehow managed to post that last post twice. Deleted the duplicate.
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Enjoy the break, KiwiMum! And since you have no more chemo to look forward to, it should be a celebratory experience!
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Hi everyone..
Betsy...that is really amazing...I hope your walk for your dad goes well too...that is so great to be able to do that. Hope you meet some wonderful people.
Kiwimum...OMG...oww. I know we all gain some toughness but that does push it. I am glad you got rid of that port. I don't know why...but it seems resting is a bit easier without the port. Enjoy your time off with the girls
Thought I would get you all with the jam...sounds awful,but it is really good. It is from Southern Living Magazine years ago. I make it every year.
Eema....It is really time for good health...I wonder if there is a such thing as enough already!!! Then we will all live our happy healthy lives again....I have to think YES... I am sorry you have had to go through all that you have. I really admire your ability to keep yourself in a good place,to make others feel good ..that is a gift ( I think) We WILL get there.
readingmama...I wish I could answer that question, I don't know how they do that either. I continue to think of you as I know the others are as well. Scar tissue is what I'm thinking.
Today is the last day of school - then a short little fall break. We will be hanging out at home. It is nice to slow down a bit.
Thinking of you all
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Nice to hang out at home with your fam. That is a true gift!
But, I don't understand--do your kids go to school year-round? When does the new year start again?
Be well, ladies! I'm going to go to bed now--had a horrid night's sleep...
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Good Day Everyone,
Eema...hope you had a good nap. In our case ...we used to have a full week off for Fall break. Now he has 2 - 1/2 days which serve as parent/teacher conf. then three days off for teacher in service days. Many people take this time to travel south to Florida or wherever ....Some of the public schools still have the full week. The school year is Aug thru May. As you said though so nice to have a small break and be home with the family Yes it is a wonderful gift... Hope you are feeling better.
Back to the PS for me in the morning ..been trying to get the last couple of stitches out of my newly formed ( you know whats)....and I still have a bit of a scab in spots. I don't want to aggravate that area. One of my BC friends ended up with an infection that way. Will be good to see what is next...
Hope you all are doing well
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Hey women. Tons of posts--I'll catch up on all later, but I want to let ReadingMama know--
I've had an MRI-Guided biopsy. On my stomach, and the radiologist comes in and makes some marks on you. Then, you have a few times where they slide you in and out and in and out while they make sure they get it right....and yeah, he can raise the table up higher after it slides out, but he was pretty low to the floor on a stool. LOL.
It is a bit as ridiculous as you're imagining! The things we go through. 2nd of 4 AC treatments today--half way through!!! woo hooooo!!!!!
Betsy, thanks for the 5k...every penny raised for BC feels to me like a gift just to me--I'm so lucky for the treatments we have today.
Love to all!
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Wow Betsy! 5300! That is great! I know you will do well on both races. Just take your time and enjoy the scenery.
Eema- I hope you got some good sleep. I know I don't function without my sleep.
Profbee- congrats on being half way through. I know it is a relief to see an end in sight. Here's hoping for minimal side effects.
Kiwimum- sorry you felt the cut, but at least it is out now. I know I sleep better without it being there.
Have a great afternoon, All!
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I will keep you all posted on this weekend's Altzheimer's walk, which is my warmup to the Avon walk... of course, Avon is 37 miles longer...
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Hey girls - I hope you are all doing well. I have not been around much lately. Been busy. I pop in now and then but have not posted much due to time. I skimmed some of the earlier posts. I can't remember who all has what going on but here is what I remember:
* Burley - sorry about your child's friend. That is so sad. Suicide is so very difficult to understand and probably the most tragic sort of death in my mind.
* Kiwi - I think you are done with chemo - if so, yeah!! I am very happy for you. Now on to getting back to normal.
* I can't remember who, but someone has a new lump. I sincerely hope it turns out to be nothing. It is the greatest fear of all of us that this monster reappears. Keep us posted.
* Betsy - congrats on the walks. I am impressed.
* Facebook - I am Lisa Richardson in Atlanta. My pic is football helmets (a seasonal avatar!). Feel free to add me. One condition though - most of my "friends" do not know about my diagnosis. I am happy to chat on facebook about everyday life stuff instead of the cancer stuff here, so I welcome the new friends. Just keep the cancer talk for here though. Thanks! I know its weird, but I keep that sort of thing very private, mainly for work reasons.
So, I have a question. I hope this does not ruffle any feathers. I don't think it will as the women in this thread generally fall outside of the group that I am about to comment on. Do any of you find this board to be overly whiny and judgmental at times? I just got into it with a couple in the steve jobs thread which prompted this, but I have thought it for a while. Nothing in this thread, which is great and positive and not so "woe is me" as many others.
There was the attack of that journalist recently because she had the nerve to say that early detection is the key to a cure. People were actually facebooking her to tell her that early diagnoses can die too. I found this so upsetting because (a) she was generally correct and (b) her point was to encourage people to be vigilant in screening, which I would never oppose.
The woman from GMA was subjected to an equal attack for - no joke - saying she is going to beat this. The complaint . . . maybe she will, maybe she won't and a positive attitude does not make a difference. WTF?!
Then there is my personal favorite . . .bitching about pink october or anything else pink. Yes, it is commercialized. Yes, it is annoying pink. Yes, it employs phrases like "save the tatas" which do not bother me but I can see where some may find it distasteful. But in the end, all of the pink and cute slogans serve the purpose of increasing awareness and funding for research. How is that a bad thing?
Now some woman is complaining about steve jobs using up a liver that could have gone to a non-cancer patient who stood a chance to survive. Wow. So now we are complaining on the basis of a cancer patient's life being less valuable than other lives?! No way I can get on board with that one.
Okay, rant over. Sorry. I am just worked up and wanted to vent. I am also on the first day of my now third period, so maybe I am a bit bitchier than normal. But yeah to the continued normal periods.
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Lisa: I'm not in the appropriate age group to belong to this thread but your post caught my eye. I have to say I agree with everything you said. Like you the attack on Andrea Mitchell annoyed me. It was bad enough complaining about it on these forums but some people described commenting on her Facebook profile. But I think a new low has been reached today with the comments on Steve Jobs which started before he was even dead for 24 hours.
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Lisa! Hey girl! I saw your post on the Steve Jobs thread. I tried to turn it to something positive early on in that thread and say it's a reminder to to me to ask friends to be organ donors since I may not be able to (since found that after a few years some blood and organ donation places will take our donations, and it's very likely corneas and maybe skin could be used--what a gift!) I think my comment got some feedback but was mostly lost in the back and forth. Sad.
So, yeah...I've noticed some of the hostility. I feel like you do that the pink stuff has made my cancer a "popular" cancer, and I have completed benefitted from that attention--especially as a HER2 positive young woman who can now look forward to a life because of Herceptin and other drugs. (I did a chemo trial before my surgery and my onc said today---complete pathological response--best 3 words EVER!). But I do get that reminders of my disease everywhere could get tiring and fake pink stuff that doesn't say where it sends any money if it even does is pretty awful and empty. I'm sure if things weren't going so well for me, I may want to bitch too.
So, I try not to judge the people who do and try not to read those threads! Y'know, there are real people on here. Can you imagine getting this many people together and liking them all? I've been amazed, uplifted, brought to tears and laughter, supported, advised, and cared for on this board, but I've also seen some real insensitivity and ignorance...that's the world.
That said, I think you rock!
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Thanks Mary. I hate to complain about complaining (ah, the irony), but it just wears on me. For me, cancer has cause me to quit sweating the small stuff. Honestly, when dealing with this, who really cares if someone calls your breasts "tatas." And by the way, I personally prefer "boobs."
breasts is so clinical and serious to me. Ha! I totally get that other people feel differently, but when someone comes on here saying they want to CRY because they were offended by a tatas poster, it is all I can do to not say "get over it." And the facebooking of that woman. . . I was mortified. 0 -
Hey prof - I agree about people needing to complain. I do it too. I guess where it bugs me is when the complaining takes an irrational or unfair turn. For example, I have actually seen people say they are boycotting Komen because they want a cure, not awareness. I have read posts about contacting the pink ribbon companies (yogurt, maybe . . . cant remember) and asking them not to do the pink ribbon thing because komen does not contribute enough to a cure. I too am all for a cure, of course. But while we are trying to find a cure, the best course of action is awareness. And really awareness will remain the best course of action forever, but it would be nice to have the cure as well when early detection does not happen or fails.
Can you imagine getting this many people together and liking them all?
Ha!! No, I cannot. One of the things I learned from being in a sorority . . . 150 immediate new friends . . . once you get a group of more than about 5 or 10 people together, there is going to be someone you don't like!! It is inevitable. That is why I almost never sweat it of someone does not like me, because Lord knows you can't like everyone. It really takes the pressure off once you realize that.
It is also why I should not get worked up over stupid stuff like annoying comments, but I do.
It reminds me of a funny cartoon I saw somewhere. Going to try to find it and post a link.
found it:
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Hi Lisa, I was surprised recently when I found out I can join the DIVA Thrive Well program at a couple of fitness centers. The program is NIA, Zumba, Yoga, and nutrition classes - it is sponsored by the Komen foundation and free to cancer patients and survivors. Sometimes we just don't hear about the little things. Keep smiling!
Hoping my periods return to "normal", two months on, one month off, one month one.....
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Lisa, HILARIOUS cartoon!!!!! I totally hear you. I'm appalled when I hear people going crazy enough to want to STOP money-making campaigns. Hubby and I had a long talk about this--about how it takes money to run a successful company. I mean, people need to be employed to run a successful charity. We can't just wait on people who have the opportunity to work for free. Like I've said before, every nickel earned feels like a gift to ME. I'm going to live to see my son grow up! I've got to believe that now, and if I had to wear a pink ribbon every day from here out to remind women to check themselves and to thank people for raising money and to remind them the fight is still going on, I will!
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I'm smiling, girl!
Does one month on mean you have a period that lasts one month?! If so, I am so sorry!! That would be miserable. Other than some extreme symptoms (oh, the cramps) with the first one, mine so far have been very normal timing-wise and in all other respects. I hope it stays that way.
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hmmmm... I am not one to wallow in my cancer or be critical of anyone trying to raise awareness or early detection, which hopefully will lead to a cure... This is my first October as a cancer survivor and its all a little in my face, but its ok... and to boot, I have raised $5300 for Avon, which states they help fund tests and treatment for the less fortunate. I look at my cancer journey as one where I am lucky... lucky I caught it early (ish), lucky I have insurance, lucky I have supportive friends and family, lucky to have survived this year... and others aren't as lucky... I say my positive attitude, self awareness and diligence have helped me to be where I am today... and my goal is to help others prevent and treat.
Anyone being critical of Steve Jobs, or a nit picking over cure vs treatment isn't seeing the big picture... Of course a cure is the ultimate goal, but it is a process, and I trust researching for a cure is at the forefront for all supporters.
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I so agree with you about the awareness, diligence and positive attitude. My docs probably would tell you my diligence was annoying. I pushed for an immediate ultrasound when they wanted to wait a few weeks. I pushed for an immediate biospy when they wanted to way a few weeks - although in all fairness, that was not so much diligence as I was losing my mind and was not going to make it a few weeks. I was clear that I wanted that thing out of me immediately. It was 17 days from first doc visit for the lump until surgery. . . . there have probably been some who have moved faster, but not many. And I am glad I did it because I had one nasty-ass, aggressive tumor (TN, metaplastic, 98% ki67).
I will admit that I was not too positive for the first month or so after diagnosis, but once I snapped out of it and got started with treatment, I made every effort to be positive and live my life normally. I think it saved me. If I had wallowed in it, I would have never made it.
Everyone is different, but I believe attitude does make a difference. If nothing else, it makes a difference in the quality of your life, if not your prognosis.
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It really brakes my heart to when squabbles, personality clashes and negativity takes over a thread. I am one to avoid confrontation and rarely ever express my opinion because I am not the most articulate writer and written words can often be misconstrued. I tend to avoid threads that turn nasty or when personal attacks start.
I do agree that there times where I roll my eyes at the drama but then I have to remind myself that I have no idea where this person is coming from, what life experiences they may have had. My cancer dx was traumatic and overwhelming but I am a private person (unless I am face to face with someone - then everything goes) and have a hard time sharing my thoughts, fears and pain. Another person may be an open book on-line but very private in person...
Will admit I do get royally pissed off at all the pink washing, only because it has become a cash cow for so many corporations who proclaim they support BC awareness (does the world need any more awareness) or BC research (please God lets find a cure) when in actuality they 'use' the pink ribbon to increase sales (some, not all corporations). I also believe that all the pink washing makes BC look all pretty and easy and warps peoples expectations/understanding of the disease. I actually thought "Ok! I have BC! I'll have surgery, get reconstruction, finish chemo and life will go back to normal" WOW!!! The reality of BC was so different then my expectations. I never expected BC to take over my life, change the way I think, how process information, my relationships and bring the physical limitations I now have. My experience was far from pretty and pink!
I think it is amazing that we can have this site! Be able to share experiences with women and men from all around the world. Discover we are not alone in our fears, pains and joys and be able to learn how to advocate for our selves and others. Like profbee said, this site represents a world of women and men, brought together because of a common disease but from so many different backgrounds, countries and experiences. We have the good, the bad and all points inbetween.
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Hey Michelle - how are you? I have not seen you in a while.
You raise a good point about the use of the pink ribbon to increase sales. Personally, I don't think it makes that much of an impact on their sales. Otherwise, we would see it on far more products than we do. That said, even if there is some ulterior motive, I can live with that as long as a percentage of the increased sales are going to BC causes. It is a win-win in my eyes.
I do have to disagree with you about awareness. I think we still need more of it. I know we all are VERY aware of it, but really, until I was diagnosed I was not. I would really like to see a push for earlier screening ages. There are far too many women getting cancer under 40, myself included. I was lucky that my tumor was in a location that made it plainly palpable. You could literally see the lump. Otherwise it may have been several months until it was found and could have done much worse damage.
I am not sure how I feel about false conceptions from the pink washing. I have not seen anything that I felt was misleading in the all the pink stuff, but I really do not pay it much attention.
ETA: Not sure what is up with the font change here. I did not do it as far as I know. Probably my Mac. Damn that Steve Jobs.
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Hi Lisa, no the period is coming and going - if I was on for a month as heavy as they came back - I'd need a transfusion! lol. I started taking Krill oil, really helped with the cramps - the first month it came back I had to miss a day of work - I have never missed worked because of a period.
I really don't care about the pink thing....I realize the money has to come from somewhere for all the research that has taken place. In 1998 my mom had 40 lymph nodes removed - they were all negative....I had the snb....just one example of how far the science has progressed.
On a contemplative note, I'm sure my cousin 41 years old when she passed from adrenal cancer would have had pink all over if it meant they could have made advances in treatment for her. She was diagnosed one December, and passed away the very next March. The cancer she had has a very good prognosis if the doctors can find it fast - they never find it fast.....
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It seems (from our diagnosed perspective) that awareness is everywhere, but in reality many turn a blind eye... and its a shame. I think some of the best ways to get people to pay attention is from US, not advertisements... Our friends and families see what we are going through and can hear our stories and encourgament to get screened... which is far more impactful than an ad or a garment...
In addition... I do believe raising funds can help in the right hands.. I like supporting Avon because:
The money raised goes to the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade, a 501(c)(3) public charity whose mission is to fund access to finding a cure for breast cancer. The focus is on medically underserved women, the under privileged, the elderly, and the under- or un-insured. Funds are awarded to 1) medical research into the possible causes, prevention, treatment and cure of breast cancer; 2) clinical care for breast cancer patients; 3) support services for patients and their families; 4) educational seminars; and 5) early detection programs. The whole picture cause, cure, care and support.
I just copied this from my website... I know too many women who have avoided seeing a doctor fearing what they might learn, but have faced their fears with my support (and prodding).
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Thanks Lisa! I am doing well...maybe PMSing a little but otherwise good
I totally agree that we need to make it easier for women under 50 to get screening. There are so many young women in their 20's, 30's and 40's being dx'd and many of them being dx'd with later stages because the medical community keeps blowing them off as 'too young' to have breast cancer. I started asking about mammo's at 35 but was told I was too young...found my lump at 38...
Maybe your Mac is in mourning and is just messing with you tonight...
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Do you know what kills me. When I was about 37 (I think) I was at the doctor for my annual exam which of course included a breast exam. She said she felt some "fibrocystic changes" but she was not going to recommend a mammogram since I was under 40. The area where she felt those changes is exactly where my lump was. At the time, I was all for no mammo - who in their right mind pushes for an early one, right? That was one of the reasons I was dreading 40.
In retrospect, I also had some clear discharge from that nipple in the year or two prior to disagnosis. It was only occasionally and in extremely small amount and was clear, so I did not let it worry me. Turns out this can be an early sign of cancer.
I also have always been under the impression that a family history was the most important risk factor, which kept me from being more reactive to those early signs. Now I find out that only something like 15% of breast cancers are genetic. Awareness . . . not so much for me.
I hope we caught this thing earlier enough, but it drives me nuts sometimes that it could have been caught much earlier if I had more knowledge of these things.
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Hi to Everyone,
I wish us girls could sit around and talk with a glass of wine- cup of coffee or tea....I wish the words I type could be heard so that you all understand my meaning....so hard to do. Just wanted to say I am able to understand the views of just about everyone. I understand so much more now about so many things...not just BC but people too. I can't figure out why I have stage 3 breast cancer when I was a good girl,did everything the way I should, but I will and I have preached to the women I know to self check. I hope they are listening. I try very hard to see good in what I have around me and I steer away from what could be not so good people/situations. Life is too short to fill myself with trouble....I want to laugh and I want those around me to feel good to be near me. I want to make you girls here feel good today. Then tomorrow ,do it again. Just so important to feel good inside...I hope this makes sense. I hope you all know I really do understand what you are saying....I think I said not long ago ...my brain does not function the same so I have to chose which things are important today and try to tackle that so I try not to let all the other stuff fill up that space that needs to focus on what and who I love... I really hope all that makes sense and I hope no one will feel badly about my views here.
Went to the PS today and everything is good. I do have a teeny bit of rippling still,but I'm ok with that. In 3 months we will look at tattoo. Sounds weird but I like the color now so if this stays I will be done with this crazy stuff....My great grandmother lived to be 101 she was ornery and she ate bacon grease in her green beans (flavor) and biscuits with sausage gravy ....I'm hoping us girls will be ornery little old ladies hitting the bottle sometimes...and who knows maybe taking little old lady cruises together Bingo!! We'll play BINGO together...
I'm happy to know you all even if I can't see you...I love your views
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Wow, I'm so glad I didn't look at the Steve Jobs post. Who is to say who deserves a transplant and who doesn't? I know someone who was a cronic alcoholic and literally drank his liver out of commission. This man is the same age as my DH... someone close to me who has known him since he was a child wondered aloud if he deserved the liver cancer since he did it to himself... It made me sick. Maybe he did drink himself sick, but does that mean he should die because of it? To make a long story short, the man got his new liver, got in alcohol treatment and AA met a nice woman and today is a happily married man with a job, contributing to society. The person who made the nasty comment has a very short memory span, because that person NOW marvels at what a blessing the transplant was. Really? Because two years ago you wished him dead. Now he adds to the economy by working, so he is worthy of the transplant... gross, just gross. This is the same person who asked my why I don't have all my skin removed along with my breasts, since I had melanoma... I just imagine these people have some sort of mental illness and can't help themselves.
But I can't stand Pinktober. I have already expressed myself here, so I wont drag that back into play. What bothers me is that people buy pink ribbon flip flops because they think it is 'cool' to support a disease. I don't mind if someone just happens to like the color pink, in fact I have a pink Yankees hat (but I don't wear it in October!). It just galls me that wearing a color to support a disease overshadows the disease itself. And breast cancer is a 'sexy' disease, so we support it over other types of cancer that need more awareness and are really underfunded.
Lisa, I found a mammo rec in my purse from 2009. After seeing it, I noticed it had an X on a women's frame to show where the area of concern was--of course it was right where the cancer was. I remember the head of a well known breast center in my town told me that yeah, I did have something there, but they were just going to watch it and see what happens... Fast foward to 2010: I was very sick and hospitalized all told a month over Oct 2010-Jan 2011 with a mystery illness that turned out to be angioedema (facia and neck and throat swelling to the point of closure) fuled by estrogen. My cancer was 95% ER+. I was in the hospital a MONTH and they couldn't figure out what caused my illness, and when I complained of severe pain in my breast they gave me an echo and tried to give me nitro for a cardiac condition. I told them I had pain in my breast, not my chest, and they IGNORED me! I woke up in night sweats (again, an estrogen response) over and over again and no one put it together. I told the doctors I thought I needed a mammo, that there was something wrong in my breast, and they told me to do it when I got out of the hospital, EVEN THOUGH THEY DID MAMMOS RIGHT IN THE HOSP!!! You know who told me I had cancer? My allergist!
I'll stop here. I'm worked up and going to a support group for the first time in a few minutes. I need to laugh before I go or I'll blow up.
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Oh ....forgot mamchick love the new picture...what a great smile...and Betsy best wishes for your walk this weekend ...you are motivating me to do something like that...I will start looking.
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KiwiMom - that scares me that you felt the cut!!!! I will be getting my port out in December I imagine and that would be the worst!!
Profbee - Thank you for telling me about the MRI guided biopsy. The RN called my yesterday and basically said the same thing, that the radiologist was on a low stool and I would go in and out of the MRI machine.
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