CRAZY TOWN WAITING ROOM - TESTS coming up? All Stages Welcome.
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Spinal stenosis surgery is extremely effective. My mom had been scheduled to have it in 2002 (in fact, I’d planned to fly down to FL to take care of her post-op) but the night before I left Chicago, she was hospitalized for the onset of CHF and over the next four years she never did get the surgery. (Obviously, I still flew down there).
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"You can still accumulate things no matter the state of your health, but accumulating experiences can become increasingly difficult and finite."
Ain't it the truth. So, I did something really crazy this week: I signed on to go with a group of my diving friends to Papa New Guinea next June. A bit more than a week at a resort on a deserted island in the middle of no where, and about eight days on a boat in Milne Bay. Yes, it is remote, yes, there be pirates, and yes, it takes forever to get there and costs a small fortune. But, one gets there through Australia, which I really want to visit again, I will be going with long time friends, and the diving is fabulous (so I've been told). Now I just have to figure out if this will be a retirement celebration trip or if I will have to work for another few years just to pay it off.....
Hubby thinks it is too much of a plane ride, but I am hoping to talk him into meeting my return flight into Brisbane, Australia for a week or two of decompression time :-) But you can bet that Gabe will be along for the full ride to keep me company...Lucy, should we try and meet up? (I know, a big, big country but I had the impression you are somewhere outside of or near Brisbane?) That would be a highlight of a trip of a lifetime!
My sister is about the same. It may be a long time before her short term memory returns, but her long term memory is just fine. Such a strange combo: she knows who she is, she knows me, knows my kids, knows how everyone is related to everyone else in the family, can give coherent information about each sister to the nurses when she introduces us to them.."This is my sister xxx who likes to scuba and lives in xxx and works at xxx". But she can't remember what she ate for breakfast, two hours earlier. Sigh. Thanks for all the good wishes and healing thoughts.
and may I just say TGIF! I thought it would never come this week!
xoxo to all
Octogirl
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Octo, Your trip sounds so exciting. I really want to get to Australia... hopefully in a few years. Last night I was looking into visiting Costa Rica... Hope your sister's short term memory improves as she continues to heal.
Sandy, Experiences and memories.... maybe that's why I love to travel. It feeds my soul.
Busy weekend ahead in our house. Saturday is my DHs birthday and we pick our youngest son up from leadership camp. Sunday is Father's Day. And to top it off, Monday is our 29th anniversary. Lots to celebrate.
I have another one of those pesky "every 6 month mammograms" scheduled for Monday. It completely snuck up on me.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! It's hot here in SoCal.
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Octo.. Yes.. I'd love to catch up !!! That's exactly where I am.. You and your hubby would be SO welcome to come and stay with us...😃
Poppy.. Happy Birthday to your DH...and enjoy your anniversary.. In your pocket for Monday.
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Octo: that trip sounds like the good kind of crazy. Do it@ and don't forget to report back, if you're still "here".
ChiSandy: yeah. That first post-treatment round of tests.
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Sandy, I hope all goes well. I hate the ramping up of anxiety before tests. Octogirl, wow what a great opportunity that trip sounds like! And to see Lucy as well? PoppyK, happy birthday to your DH and happy anniversary!! Oh my goodness it is hot here!
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Octo, sounds like a long road for your sister. Glad her long-term memory is intact.
Poppy, good luck on Monday. Hope it goes well.
One year ago, I was about a month into chemo, bald, miserable, and had a wicked cold to boot. Last night: the NY Philharmonic in Prospect Park, the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, followed by fireworks, a nearly full moon overhead. Made it all worthwhile.
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Hi Crazies!!
I'm so sorry for not checking in before now. I feel like we've been on the road 24/7. Seven new hotel rooms in seven nights! I'm doing this on my phone. Met some AMAZING crazies!!! Ducky, Shorfi, Blondie and Rainy. All in that order. What a wonderful experience!! Love you all so much. Welcome to any newbies that have posted!! I lost my glasses along the way so it's been difficult to keep up on this little phone. We are in Illinois now and we are heading towards Wisconsin . I've been trying g to take
pictures as we whiz by each state. Here is one I took along the way. I can't remember where as all the states, blend together. I'M not sure what this sign means. OK TO PEE maybe?Thinking of you all!! I will try to post more pics tonight. We are actually staying in Wisconsin for TWO nights!! I may even get to shower!! Haha
Love to all....quiet crazies too.
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Slow... that sign really got to me! I was sure I could find the answer for you on the internet, but no, i can't even find it here:
Every day this week when I woke up I thought, "I wonder where she is today?" You are moving Crazy Fast, as is appropriate for our beloved Mayor! Send more pics our way!
Happy Anniversary, Poppy! Thinking of you and Sandy with the upcoming tests. In your pocket. I have a mammo scheduled the first week of July. Not looking forward to it.
Queen: I can't imagine ever not being here. CrazyTown is always lurking, and the porch beckons...
Hugs to all;
Octogirl
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Slow where are you staying in Wisconsin? and are you coming anywhere near southern Michigan?
Edit: phfoo. you're heading west. Sigh.
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A mayor drive by!! Have the time of your life, Beppy.
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slow, looks like you are having a great time, love the pp sign, i make a point of stopping for lots of pp breaks
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Hubby a says it means Kitchen amd a pee pot LOL.
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Slow, it is a shame that I am not in my home state right now, I'd love to meet you. Especially if you were going to be in Northern Wisconsin
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Twinnie..Hey your roads don't look like ours.. Where is all the crazy traffic 😱
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Lucy, I will admit that I found Australia to be one of the more challenging places I've ever driven. Well, not as bad as the 405 in LA on a busy weekday, but surprisingly tough even though they were never crowded (outside of the cities). All those truck trains! Not for the faint of heart! But next time I come, I look forward to visiting you!
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Beppy, from my various travels that sure looks like Michigan. (All the county roads there are alphabet soup). Sorry you couldn't stop in Chicago, and we have too much going on tomorrow to drive up to WI to see you.
But I, too, lost my glasses--my favorite pair, photochromic/progressive/anti-glare. I carry a theft-proof microfiber purse with slip pockets at either end. Keep my readers (in a slip case) in one and alternate glasses & shades in the other. Occasionally, whichever pair in the latter pocket falls out w/o my knowledge--but have always managed to find it in the garage or a parking lot before it gets stomped on or driven over. Well. yesterday en route from a funeral, I stopped for groceries and when I was all checked out & good to go, I put my shades on and slipped the glasses back into that pocket. Or so I thought. Went over my car & garage with a flashlight, and dumped my purse out on the table. No luck. And two calls to the store resulted in “sorry, no glasses turned in.” So today, since I was having increasing trouble reading fine print (especially when doing crosswords & acrostics), I bit the bullet and went to Lenscrafters to be refracted, not just replace my lost pair. The assistant couldn’t get a reading on the retinal machine. The optometrist said she could barely see my retinas. And my reading correction (as well as distance) is exactly the same. (No wonder stronger drugstore readers don’t help--and play havoc with my astigmatism). The culprit? Two Grade 4 cataracts. Oh, boy. The optometrist says if I really can’t stand having to squint to read or use a magnifier for fine print, and am considering not driving rural roads at night, I should suck it up and call my ophthalmologist for surgery. (They’re both ripe--the R is slightly worse). Meanwhile, she suggested getting brighter lights, larger frames (they’re “in” now, anyway, and anything out-of-fashion makes you look older) which therefore have larger lenses, and going with advanced progressives to use that extra “optical real estate” for more reading-correction area. With the photochromic and non-glare, though, they couldn’t make them today. So I’m hoping they’ll be ready before our brunch res. tomorrow--we have to pay a shiva call afterwards. I’m wearing my barebones drill-mounts spares for now, but they’re too delicate for everyday. Of course, I will need a wholly new prescription (probably just for reading & astigmatism) after the surgery. For that, I can just go single-vision w/o the bells & whistles, and maybe even order from Warby Parker so I can buy American and not keep enriching the guy who owns the worldwide Luxottica monopoly. (Luxottica owns every commercial lens & frame maker as well as every chain optical store).
Bob and my derm talked me down off the ledge about my MRSA--it's still superficial and the doxy plus Hibiclens at dressing changes should knock it out w/o major lifestyle alterations. Still freaks me out, though, since nothing remotely like it happened with my lx or SNB incisions. I'm wondering if that elbow-scrape that took forever to heal back in March may have been due to a MRSA skin colony. One more reason to avoid skin breaks on my LE arm!
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Hello Crazies
I cross posted this in the AI thread -
I've been coasting along pretty well on the exemestane, but for the last week or so I've had swelling in both hands and feet. I've read this can be a concerning SE. Has anyone else experienced this?
Not sure what they do after all AIs have been tried? I'm feeling discouraged
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pennysgal, I have had some swelling but it comes and goes. I am on exemestane also.
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You guys are the best! Thanks for all of the kind well wishes! Here's a photo of my DH and his birthday cake with the correct number of candles! We laughed our butts off!
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Slow, Great to see you! Enjoy your adventure.
Penny, On my last MO visit, she told me that if I couldn't tolerate any of the AIs the next option would be tamoxifen. Although it isn't as effective, it is an option. I've read here on the board that generic AIs can have different side effects. Maybe trying exemestane from another manufacturer?
Sandy, MRSA and cataracts..... Wow.... seems like you can't catch a break!
Octogirl, You have travelled all over! Is there anywhere you still dream of visiting?
It's late... and still hot! Father's Day morning will arrive soon. The boys and I will be serving DH breakfast in bed. We do it differently than most people. We all pile onto the bed to have breakfast together. When the kids were very young, they didn't understand how breakfast in bed was supposed to work. They would pile in the bed to eat breakfast with the honoree... and that's how the tradition began.
Sleep well my friends! And to those down under.... enjoy your winter!
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Poppy.. I love your family's tradition of breakfast in bed :-)
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The county roads up where I was born in Wisconsin are like that too. Makes great fun to navigate for my hubby when we go back for a visit.
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PoppyK, I am laughing at the huge flame of candles. You have a fun family!
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Poppy, did you need to have a fire extinguisher on hand for an emergency? lol
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Poppy and Penny: yes, my MO also told me Tamoxifen might be the next option for me if I continue to have problems tolerating the AIs....but I am very leery of it. I wish that there were better options. At MO's suggestion I've been taking a break from Femara (after already switching from Arimidex), to see if my joint pain resolves, but honestly the pain is still there. I do think it would be better if I could walk every day (walking is a great pain reducer for those of us who have oesteo-arthritis, but sort of a catch-22: one should walk, but walking hurts, at least at first...). Anyway I haven't been able to walk much at all because of the damn burn on the bottom of my foot (which is healing, but still has another week or two to go before walking much really works)...so who knows if the knee pain is still Femara in my system, or just the arthritis. I am going to be consulting with an ortho surgeon about a possible knee replacement. I was thinking February, but now that I've planned another trip, it might be next July or September 2017 when I do it...Sigh. No good answers. and everything hurts. BC sucks, getting old(er) sucks. but then, the alternatives suck too.
Poppy, I have been very lucky to travel all over, much of which has been related to scuba. When I do go to these far off spots for scuba I try to spend some time on land too. But, really, there is no time or money to do both scuba travel, and lots of other travel (heck, I really can't afford to do the scuba travel but find a way to do it anyhow :-))...so...some places that may seem obvious to go to for a world traveller are on my 'still dreaming of it' list. Italy is one. I'd also like to see more of South America, especially Argentina/Tierra del Fuego and Chile...I've been to Ecuador and to Galapagos which is pretty much a 'once in a lifetime trip' but otherwise have not explored South America at all...so yeah, I dream of Italy and Argentina. Someday....I hope. And then, there is the one continent I've never been to: Antarctica. I sort of doubt if I will ever get there but I do dream of it sometimes. Perhaps combined with Tierra del Fuego someday....
But actually, my real lifelong dream is to do a much slower version of what our beloved Slow is doing: Road trip across the United States! (and probably part of Canada as well)...Alternating camping, friends' guest rooms, and cheap hotels, stopping at every National Park I can, taking back roads when I feel like it, eating lots of good, tasty bad-for-me food at roadside diners (have I mentioned that I LOVE roadside diners?), and visiting friends (Crazytown residents especially) wherever I can! It will have to be slower than Slow, because Hubby (who hails originally from PA) stubbornly says he has driven across the US once and has no intention of ever doing it again. So, my plan is to do it alone, but with lots of visiting stops, and to meet hubby for a few weeks part way through, somewhere on the East Coast. (and I might talk him into dong a leg that includes Yellowstone, as neither of us have ever been to Yellowstone and we both put it high on our list of NPs in the US we'd still like to visit). Let's face it, the United States is big enough and diverse enough that one could spend a lifetime exploring it (The only other country that I have visited and felt that way about is Australia).
I fully intend to take two months minimum to do this road trip, possibly three, and want to time it for late summer and fall so I can hit the fall colors in New England (while spending some time with my son who currently lives in Providence and says he is never leaving New England). Will head North first and South on the way home to try and hit the best weather in both regions...So given the time involved, obviously, this will be my retirement trip. And my dream trip of a lifetime.
ETA departure: either Labor Day weekend 2017 or Labor Day weekend 2018, depending on how work goes the next six months and what the ortho guy or gal tells me about a knee replacement. Mark your calendars and hold me to it! :-)
Where do other Crazies dream of going?
Sending hugs and love to all!
Octogirl
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Octo- the best leaf peeping (as we call it here) is in Northern NE. We don't see good leaf peeping where I am until usually around late Sept.- Early Oct.
Would have liked to gone to Wisconsin to see my family out there this year, but that may not happen with everything that has gone on this year. May have to think about it for next year, hopefully!
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Molly, Poppy and Octo, thanks for the replies. My hands and feet already feel better after one day of not taking it! I am thinking I will give name brand Arimidex a try - i was taking the generic before they switched me to Aromasin. I have also found that movement helps with the joint pain. I feel like i can deal with the joint pain, but the swelling I can't. I think probably the fact that I also have lupus figures into the mix. I'll see what MO says tomorrow. I really don't want to take Tamoxifen - and it seems MO prefers an AI for me anyway.
Octo, I would like to do a similar cross country trip. My husband is already researching vehicles. We were supposed to go see in-laws in Spain this summer, but I'm leery about the long flight and travel with my LE and pump. Schlepping that thing overseas seems too overwhelming, not to mention the worry about dealing with LE while we're there. Not the right time for me to go.
Happy Sunday to all.
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So, road trip all around it is then. We just need to remember to take turns, so someone's home!
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Octo, I want to do a similar trip to Maine from San Diego! We have done San Diego to Key West which was neat. Every few years we do a big road trip, then alternate with smaller trips to places like Moab Utah. Live road trips
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