CRAZY TOWN WAITING ROOM - TESTS coming up? All Stages Welcome.
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Yeah, every time my back spasms and doesn't unkink, I go hobbling to the urgent care center around the block (or get a ride to the walk-in ortho/sportsmedicine clinic at my cancer-center-affiliated hospital) for an X-ray, certain that this time it's spine mets. Report always comes back "no lytic or blastic lesions, no fractures; age-related degenerative disk disease;" latest one added "signs of beginning disk herniation." When I ask my MO if I need a PET scan, she rolls her eyes and writes me a 'scrip for 6 sessions of P.T. Our minds do go to dark, dark places over every symptom: is that red plaque on my leg melanoma? (No, it's just psoriasis). Are those zits on my scalp skin mets? (No, they're zits). Are those swollen glands lymphoma? (No, just from a sinus infection). Is that sore on the roof of my mouth oral cancer or ONJ? (No--it's a blister from the edge of my Invisalign).
The coccyx gets a lot more stress over the years than you think. It's relatively fragile (and sorta useless except to give us grief). I've fractured mine twice: once slipping on an icy parking lot loading out after a gig; and then a couple of years ago slipping in my dining room...on kitty vomit. (No more going barefoot). Were you on an aromatase inhibitor for your ER+ cancer? That stuff sucks the estrogen out of your body, weakening the bones, and bone-preserving drugs don't always pick up all the slack. Go to the urgent/immediate care center (unless your primary is nearby) and get an X-ray for peace of mind. Then go to the drugstore and get an icepack and a donut or cutout-seat cushion. (They DO help).
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well onco wants me to get an echo so off to the cardialogist today, dang but sure would like an off day!
Sorry about the back pain, been there, have you tried any otc treatments like biofreeze? It is temp but helps
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I love BioFreeze, and IcyHot roll-on lidocaine. CBD cream or ointment (especially if it has menthol) helps as well. Good luck on the echo--always fun to watch the screen, especially if it's in color.
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iris- how did your Echo go? Maybe tomorrow can be a rest day
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Hi everyone,
Quick check in. Iris, you are always on my mind. I am so sorry you have to try another drug. I hope the echo went well. I read all the emails so I feel like I keep up with you all. ❤️ I am waiting for my turn to go back for my colonoscopy and endoscopy right now. I dread it. I always think about Sandy's hubby when I think about colonoscopy. Otherwise doing OK. Missing my Wyatt terribly. This Saturday is his 21st birthday. We're h friends over to toast him. Anyway love you all.
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thanks for all your thoughts, echo was fine, no issues. I had one before starting treatment. Guess at least i have a good heart!
Resting today
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I have had three echos. Ejection fraction is the key number, and holds steady.
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Molly, hugs for Wyatt’s birthday. Also, know that what Bob had after his colonoscopy is extremely rare—fewer than two cases per thousand patients. Far greater risk of missing a cancer because of fear of colonoscopy complications.
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Iris ..so glad the echo went well !
Molly ..hugs ..thinking of Wyatt .. anniversaries and birthdays are so hard ..nice idea to have some friends over to toast him.
Hugs to all x
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Actually I will share a family photo ..last Saturday was my 60 th ( ugh ..how did that happen ?? ) We had 36 of us go out for lunch ..Photo is of Hubby and I, with our son , two daughters , and 8 grand-kids ..love them all 🤗 The little fellow pumping the air is my 6 year old grandson who was so sick a couple of years ago ..He made a full recovery .!!! Thank you all for your prayers ...and Octo who was staying with me at the time really helped me through it.xx
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Lucy-Great picture. Lovely family.
Molly-Special occasions are always the most challenging.
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Aww Lucy, you have a beautiful family. I am so happy that your dgs is doing well. Sandy, I know it's not logical but I don't find anything medical easy anymore. I made it through with no nausea thanks to the doctor listening to me. It was a nice outpatient endoscopy center. Great staff. I woke up halfway through the colonoscopy. Good news, no masses or polyps. I do have diverticulosis and hemorrhoids s. Endoscopy wise I have a hiatle hernia and my stomach is inflamed. I have to wait for the biopsy results. I also have GERD which I already knew.
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Lucy, great looking family
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Love the family photo, Lucy!!! you all look great. xoxoxox
Octogirl
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I went to the ER and was told this was sciatic pain. Sent home without any imaging done. Pain has decreased, but still there. Had my MO check up yesterday and he wants to MRI pelvic and lumbar area. He also saw a spot on my side that he wants a dermatologist to look at.
I'm starting to think that my anxiety and ptsd has gotten worse in some ways. The further along I get, it is harder to go to these appts.
I confessed to MO that I hadn't been taking my AI. He didn't seem surprised at all and offered me the last option. So I started last night and spent half the day seriously dizzy.
I seriously hate this cancer crazy making crap.
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Molly, we could be G.I. twins! GERD, hiatal hernia, a hemorrhoid & diverticuli--no stomach inflammation now, but back in 2014 I did grow a little ulcer "of probable chemical origin" from megadosing ibuprofen when weaning off Norco after my second knee replacement surgery. I think once we've been through breast cancer, everything medical scares the you-know-what out of us.
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well visited the eye doc yesterday. New glasses ordered since i am having trouble reading signs when driving. Not to mention reading the clock on the cable box which is on top of the tv. Trying to find out if this is age related or chemo caused? Doc says i have some sort of beginner caterats but not bad enough yet to treat. Since my glasses have always been strong, glasses are way pricey.
Deep breath! Today is visit to cardiologist as follow up to my echo last week.
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iris- I struggled with my vision during chemo. One month prior to my diagnosis I had one small cataract on my right eye. Upon completing chemo I required cataract surgery for both eyes. Dealing with the vision issues during chemo was one of the worst side effects for myself. I'm so glad you seem as if you're doing well. That's great news
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thanks jo, glad to know i am not the only one. I am 70 so cataracts are to be considered. My eye doc did not really have much info regarding the effe t of chemo.
So ordered cool new glasses!
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Iris, 70 is a good long run without having had cataract surgery. 50% of all people >age 65 will have at least one ripe cataract, and by 80 most people will have them. I had mine done at 65, and glad I did. My husband's first one was at 58, his second at 67.
New glasses can become an addiction, what with sites like Zenni.com. WarbyParker is pricier, but nowhere near as costly as designer frames at LensCrafters (or any other establishment in the Luxottica monopoly, which also makes most frames and lenses), or the optical boutique at your ophthalmologist's office. At one point, I was developing a wardrobe of different frames--which, even with progressive lenses, cost less combined than one pair from ForEyes or LensCrafters.
I had been warned in my late 40s that I had a cataract starting, What made me realize they were "ripe" (up till then, my ophtho would reply "you tell me" whenever I'd ask) was when increasingly, I was having trouble seeing street signs at night. I would sit in a restaurant or conference room opposite a sunny window, and the backlit person across from me was just a silhouettte. I played an outdoor concert on a tented stage w/o overhead lights, facing the sun--and I couldn't see the fret markers on my guitar neck. Push came to shove when I kept buying stronger & stronger reading glasses (which distorted parallel lines due to my astigmatism, which non-prescription readers don't correct) and still couldn't read shampoo & nail polish ingredient labels without a magnifying glass and would fill in the wrong boxes & spaces in acrostic puzzles because I was confusing similar-looking numbers and letters in small typefaces. I didn't want to drive down to my ophtho, much less make a far-off appointment, so I went to LensCrafters to be refracted. The optometrist examined me and said I probably didn't need any stronger reading correction; the reason I was having difficulty reading was that I couldn't see well enough through my cataracts. She said she couldn't complete the exam because she couldn't "visualize my fundi" (the surfaces of my retinas at the back of my eyes) through the clouded lenses.
You will find that after your first cataract surgery, you will be amazed by how "3-D" everything looks and how blue the color blue really is. (The clouding gives everything a yellowish-"greige" cast). You will wake up in the morning and be able to see clearly & sharply across the room without distance glasses. And when you get the second one done, it'll feel like you just dialed back the calendar five years.
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sandy, i remember a pal had cataract surgery a few years back and she said she dix not realize how bad her vision had become till it was done.
Gee, guess it is good to hear 70 is old fornot having had cataract surgery. Shows i have been slightlly side tracted with dang chemo stuff of late. Sigh, oh well
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Had cataract surgery Left 1st, wait 3 weeks, then Right in May/June 2016. Left eye was really bad, so they did it 1st - did not realize how bad! Considered myself lucky to have made it until 62. My 2 brothers and sister all had both eyes done before age 30! Not sure if it helped, but always wore high quality sunglasses and used specialty sunglasses when sailing. At my eye exam in Dec 2018 was advised I had beginning of macular degeneration. Anyone know if this is affected by AIs?
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I don’t think AIs cause age-related macular degeneration, because it afflicts men too. There’s a variant of a genetic mutation for it, according to 23&Me.
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hmmmm, guess i always just figured my vision was the pitts but now, guess it has been good.
Doc did not think i was ready for it yet so guess the new glasses will do for now
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Opthamologist diagnosed dry eyes, I had received that diagnosis 30 years ago, too. He taught me that blinking multiple times to smooth the layer of moisture sometimes helps. It does.
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mcbaker- I love old quilts. I cannot sew. I never learned and my mother was the worst. Being number 3 of five girls our clothes were passed down. My mom would hem pants and the legs were never even. My great-grandmother used to make quilts and she passed that tradition on to my grandmother. When my sisters and I were under 8 years of age. My grandmother made a quilt for each of us girls. We used these quilts throughout our growing years. I still have my quilt. It is full of holes and people tell me to throw it away. No way. I will continue to use this quilt until the quilt falls apart. I have collected quilts throughout the years. There is something about a handmade quilt which tells the story
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Jo, you moved the conversation to another thread!! My mother was the daughter of a tailor/men's clothing store owner/dry cleaner. She worked all her life sewing-- including beekeeper's veils and artificial tails for show-horses. I came by it naturally. But by the time our two sisters came along, she was too busy to teach them.
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My maternal grandfather (who died shortly after his hero FDR) came here from Belarus and was a master tailor. My mom's family survived the Great Depression not just by economizing, but because even though people couldn't afford luxuries or even discretionary purchases there were two things they absolutely needed: food and clothing. And with people unable to afford new clothes (off the rack or bespoke), Grandpa had plenty of business from clothes having to be mended or altered. Sadly, none of us inherited his talents: I used to sew some of my own clothes in college, but now it's a big deal if I can sew on buttons, mend a seam (by hand), hem a skirt or pants (usually by iron-on hem tape) or darn a hole.
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mcbaker- you are so right. I read people post from all different threads. By the time I respond I tend to respond to the person on the wrong thread. Sorry about that
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No need to be sorry. Just keeps us on our toes!!
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