Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Morning little Mixed Bag! Man! I thought I was the only one that thought along the same paths!
I can't blame it on chemo, but I can blame it on that fall on my head, and amnesia. That's why I can't remember hardly any of my school years... Nothing comes through, no matter how hard I try!
But you guys with "chemo-brain".... of course it is real! Chemo affects every part of your body, trying to fight any cancer cells that may be lurking around there! As long as people understand, that's all that matters...
My head started working properly again after graduation from high-school, and meeting my "boyfriend" who is now my boyfriend of going on 57 years marriage...! We met about 59 years ago...!
Maybe me forgetting my early life was "intentional".... or maybe scrambling my brains, or traumatic crap going on.... but everything sort of fell into place years ago, thank GOD!
Cammi, if you and I ever got together, there ain't no way we could talk seriously! SERIOUSLY! You just crack me up everytime I read you, even being serious, or whatever you are! Okay, so now tell me about this "opinion" thing you had... We can HAVE those, but best to keep our mouths shut. And we have "time lines"???? Are you kidding me? You and I are the only ones who can make any sense of each other.... or what is it? Out of each other?
You are talking of conceptualizing chemo brain, and I thought you were giving us a disertation on the human attributes of spawning butterflies or something! I have to think this one over...
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Oh Chevy u'r using those big words again, don' have a clue, I just know a few yrs back my Drs. actually laughed about chemo brain, well they ain't laughing any more--It was my theory years ago and no one believed me, again I'm shot down, now I don't even get credit hahaha
Hey we're getting way cold again and some snow coming--we had a couple of inches yesterday, but I hear it was slippery driving==I'm telling u Chevy u'r weather is nicer than ours here. Hah right now I'm kinda doubled up with pain from my abdomen, but it also hurts on my side cuz some of my colon is there hahaha I laugh every time I think oh I'm in pain in my stomach oh yea now it goes to my side too,I have pain in my stomach/.side I think it's silly===These UTI's are getting worse Oh well they'll go away. See how much they like me Chevy I'm popular in the bladder area. I know u'r green with envy but we all have our limits of popular places.
OH OH my DD'1 no 1 friend came back to town nd is moving back--I love him so much, when they were teens they did everything together and thru college and on and on, the he moved to GA and theyd still go on vacay together every yr. and now he's back looking for a house and almost got one down the block from Jodie, I talked to him and hopefully see him soon only men (Nicky (my cousin and Dave) could make me laugh so hard I'd always pee, he was used to it. God he's 50 now, but we talked like we always did, I'm so excited and I do see Jodie's Husband jealous hahaha, but I hope it doesn't screw their friendship, he was like a son I never had--he's just sleep over anytime and Jodie just loved his parents forever--they were the perfect couple but they always just felt like brother and sister, his mom used to tell me why don't the just get married--we want Jodie in our family.
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"There is a calmness to a life lived in Gratitude, a quiet joy."
Ralph H. Blum
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Cami, I know how you feel about no one paying attention. They decided to rename the agency where I worked because the name said Seattle and we were really all over the place. I suggested Sound Mental Health and turned it in to the suggestion box. They hired a consultant, paid them the big bucks, and the consultant came up with Sound Mental Health. They could have saved themselves a lot of cash if they'd listened to me. We've all been telling the docs about chemo brain for years. I can't believe they thought hundreds of women came up with the same thing without there being some truth in it.
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OMG Cammi! Don't tell me, your married Daughter, that you are living with, has this friend, and HE is moving back CLOSE to her???? Oh good LORD! That would cause problems, and I mean a LOT! I know you love him, (along with every other guy) but I don't think SHE can have him too!
YOU can have that guy for a Son, but he can't have your Daughter....! I think that is in the back of his mind.... See, people like me, know what they are talking about! Don't let those two get close together! I don't care HOW old they are! Don't mean a thing!
I mean YOU would be better for him that your Daughter! Okay, now I have one MORE thing to worry about! If I were your SIL, I would sit by the door with a shot-gun. I have to think this over.... "Brother and Sister"????? Yeah, right!
Okay.... on another note.... I don't have another note.....
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I just had to pipe in about that "good ol' chemo brain." I am just terrible about names and I once was a real whiz about remembering names . The other night I couldn't even remember the name of the television show, The X-Factor which we watched faithfully all last year. It's really scary! My onc does believe in chemo brain but thinks that it improves with time. Well, mine doesn't seem to be getting any better....of course I'm getting older every day, too, so I'm just trying to work with it.
It was another lovely day in sunny FL. We spend the morning with a real estate agent looking at houses. Mr. D. is convinced that he needs a house down here to get out of the IL winters. I spent the rest of the day on the lounge chair by the pool, reading a John Grisham book. Such luxury! The cats love the screened in lanai around the pool and have made no advances toward the water. I think I could get used to this but it probably wouldn't be long and I'd be bored!
I have never heard of the magazine, Cure, but I'm going to google it and see what it's like. So glad you mentioned it, mommarch!
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Get online and order the magazine. It is really good
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Good Night to all the "chemo brains": I am confused? In the magazine Cure is there an article on chemo brain? If so what is the date? I believe I have the first issues or somewhere around the start of "Cure". I could be wrong, but I vaguely remember that. The article I am talking about was probably around 1995 / 1996. The concept of chemo brain was very new and few if any Doc's believed in or took the time to investigate the possibility there was such a thing as CB. In fact I would get little chuckles as to how silly can you possibly be to even entertain the thought of CB. I'm sure there would have to be more articles on CB in Cure or elsewhere. From what you are saying there seems to be increased awareness of CB than before. I think it would be interesting to see how they wrote about it then and now.
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Good Morning Ladies,
The weather here is cold and snowy. I enjoyed reading about all stories about the births. We had 4 children in 5 years. DH only made it in to the delivery room for the last child. A nurse delivered our third child after having a police escort that we picked up along the way to the hospital otherwise he would have been born in the car. I used cloth diapers for all the boys and breast fed all them. I loved all the chaos when they were all home and still enjoy it when they are all here together(which does not happen as often as I would like since some are out of state and with all the kids activities)
Rita, have fun in the sun!
Sandra, Have a great timeKaara, the little ones have so much energy I wish I had half of it.
Mommarch, glad to hear things are looking up. it is good t know your GD is in a good foster home. good luck with the home visit I hope it all works out for you.
Some called Chicago "Chiberia" when we were so cold before and I hear the temps will be back down in the single digits and below again.
Have a great day everyone!
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I am in competition with no one. I run my own race. I have no desire to play the game of being better than anyone, in any way, shape or form. I just aim to improve to be better than I was before . That's me and I am free.
Jenny G. Perry
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Chemo brain is very interesting. I sort of think it was hard to accept something like that as a se of chemo. I mean, most things are something like nausea, maybe a rash, odd pains, thrush and things that you can try to curtain totally or at least hopefully change drastically for the better.
My feeling is that it was hard for anyone to make the correlation for a long time that chemo could cross the barrier and affect the brain. So, it was ignored and I'm sure for a long time some Dr.'s thought their patients sort of weird -- maybe a bit of a complainer. I'm glad that it is so well recognized.
I feel un-bothered by it, and don't put myself in the category of having it, but did have a "spell" for a time. I also had these same issues surprisingly enough with my 'brain' functions after my thyroid blow- out and stroke. I called it transitory amnesia. Huge struggle to recall....sometimes couldn't recall the name of something when I was looking right at it. Very weird experience when you know, you KNOW but you just can't arrange your thought processes in a way that will get it out.
What issues I have now are tied into ( at least I think ) needing an answer quickly. Sometimes that doesn't work well, but doesn't happen all the time. I am comfortable in the spot I'm in but feel for those ( since I have not forgotten the helpless sensation when you recall has fled the scene ) who have this as a continuing part of their existence. Did read somewhere that chemo brain could last for 20 years. Well that hasn't a great ring to it. Makes me wonder if you can remember to be happy it has now cleared up after 20 years. Read MAJOR "SIGH" here. Just interesting.
We have an inch or two outside this morning and back to pretty cold temps. Make worse by a wind. Thank goodness it is no stronger than it is. Must have been wild out there last night ( wee hours sometime ) though. The top of the chimaera had come off ( thankfully bottom was way too heavy I guess ) and was on the ground from our high deck.....frozen to the ground. A chuck of lg. red brick paver was broken off and laying down there too. They are what the chimaera sets on and so come Spring we will have some work to do. There are likely branches from the trees though I haven't been out to survey the yard. Just more work to keep idle hands from getting to quiet. It's ok.
Hope you all have a good day.
Blessings,
Jackie
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IllinoisLady:
Love the quote of the day!!! LOVE IT!
....reminds me of another place on BC.org where a division happened.....and peopled left
I do not claim to know more than any other human....some are more educated than me and some less, doesn't matter in the game of LIFE....we all have life experiences that make us different human beings...but this is BCO, where I thought we came for support.....not junior high....where I need to choose a "LEADER"
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It is in the Dec. 2013 issue
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I woke up in the wee hours of the morning today with awful pain in the arm they took the lymph nodes from 23 of them. I have had this off and on since surgery March 6th, 2011. Today it has been unbearable.
I have done nothing but sit around, with the heat pad and take Ibprofrin. It is a tad better this afternoon.
If it presists I will make an apt with FP. I carried in alot of groceries yesterday, that may have contributed to it.
Hope all are fine.
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Mommarch, Is it swollen? With that many nodes you're high risk for LE. Try to sit with your arm elevated on a pillow or something.
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mommarch, hope your arm will soon feel better.
That must have been some wind Jackie. Did your roof make it through without issues?
Cami, are you okay? I notice that you have not responded to Chevy's comment about the friend. I am used to your humor bubbling up.
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Mommarch it is amazing sometimes we "forget" about certain things than after we have that reminder, some things just don't leave us.
And I think no one ever took me seriously when I was going thru chemo, after all I'd walk in and say I watched House this week and I think I have that disease or that program called Mystery Disease so I was mostly laughed at--but when I started about chemo brain they honestly thought I made that up, then I looked it up and sure enough they were finally recognized it but not as long as what is now could be. It was temporary then, Now it's maybe 20 years and the funniest part is tho it's called chemo brain if u have had cancer and u didn't have chemo u can still get it, cuz cancer (they think) has some connection to how our brain can react. So if u had chemo it's a greater chance to get it and the longer the chemo the more and longer u can have it. It's still kind of in it's infancy (sp) but it's there and I do know I have it.
Chevy rest easy--first it's my DD1 whom I don't live with, and more importantly her friend is gay--so there is no contest there. Years ago his mother and me wanted them to have a baby cuz they were such good friends and we thought it was a good idea and they laughed, Ha I bet they're sorry now, I know we are.
So there u have it--it's cold Brrr here and downtown Chicago got like 10 ins. of sno we got about an inch. but I think more cold is coming like tonite. Oh well
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Cami, good to hear from you ... stay warm. I have not had chemo, but I have noticed a change in my thinking patterns. Were you serious that cancer may cause a brain change even without chemo? If so, I wonder if the change might be related to the emotional load that all BCers have to assume.
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Oh Whew Cammi! Man I thought things would get interesting, and I was afraid!
I have been crocheting... A friend showed me how to make those pretty little "curly" twisted scarves, so that's what I have been doing! They don't take long either.... so Walmart and I have a close relationship here...ha! AND it keeps me off the streets, Cami.....
Mommarch, does Ibuprofen help you? I used to take that, like 600 mg evry 4 hours, for back pain, but I find now that 2 Aleve will get me through the day, or night when something really hurts...
Hope you guys out East, are staying warm! Nice here today, but supposed to change Thursday..... again......
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Hi Ladies,
Spent hours on line and on the phone yesterday. My brother told me he thought my e-mail had been hacked, trying to figure out what I shud do. Went to what I thought was Roadrunner and got referred to itOK, had them working on my computer on line. Then when it was all done and I had changed passwords, I started reading neg stuff about this site! Opted out of their security thing and hope I am all OK. This hacking stuff is scary!
SNowing here, but haven't gotten much. The city and Jersey and Long Is are really getting it. Hoping we can cover the grass here! Biggest thing here is the COLD!
We have started using Aleve also. Seems to work pretty good. Used to use Celebrex when the arthritis got too bad, but Aleve works OK
Chevy, a lot of the gals in our senior group have made those twisty scarves, quite the thing!
Take care if you're in the snow
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Sally I'm serious about the brain, no chemo stuff--I read it on a Mayo clinic site--and it might be an emotional occurance that the brain just does with the horror of hearing cancer.???
Chevy stay in and crochet, u'll stay out of trouble and who cares? I mean if u just stay in, it's winter for heavens sake---at least u'r hands are moving for the good of people around. whatever that means.
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After doing nothing all day and sitting with the heat pad and taking Ibfrofin. It is much better tonight.
If it gets bad again I will go to my FP.
Well our DD X husband is harasing her again because of what has happened. He has done this to her for 13 years. Due to her mental illness it gets her all off track. He is trying to get her to sign papers so that she will have no more visitation with her son. When she goes through the treatment and stays clean ( we pray for) he will not have a leg to stand on. He is a real PRICK and always has been.
Well arm is better tonight since I did not do anything today. Guess I need to learn to slow down.
Hugs Again
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Mommrch ht an ASS--he's trying to get her while she is still weak, clever, I just pray she holds her own and doesn't sign a damn thing, gets her like on track and and then he knows she tough to not let him get to her.
I'm glad u'r better, but it's true sometimes we do things then after we feel it. It's different.
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No sleep here....was fine today and went to work but had a total relapse of sinus issues tonight...watching tennis and am also watching the snow piling up out there. It's a foot or so, and will snow all night. temps are falling and winds are making drifts. Snow day WEdnesday...no work! Sleep late (if I ever get to sleep), watch movies...dream of warm places.
Mommarch, sometimes life gets so ugly. Hugs and prayers for DD's recovery and that her x cannot get in her way.
Bonnets, you are right - we are getting slammed with the storm. It is so hard to know what to do with the computer security stuff. I am not careful and I have no idea what can happen until it does. I also shopped at Target and Nieman Marcus so tomorrow I think I will cancel all my cards and ask for replacements. I have the day off and can make some calls. Good luck with your computer worries.
DS in Chicago was so sick with respiratory illness that he did not even mention snow or cold this week. Hoping all you greater Chicago-ans are keeping warm.
Ritajean, it is fun to look at houses and dream...enjoy your escape from the cold. We talked about retiring south this week. I guess a lot of people do after a winter like this.
Sally, looks like you just started Arimidex and that definitely can cause the "foggy brain" so many experience. I tell myself many times during the day to "focus" so I can complete a task, or remember why I went into a room. The emotional effects are probably bigger than we know. I used to be a huge multi-tasker but now it takes all I have to focus on one or two things. And this is since BC.
Termite, you remind me of how much I loved when the kids were all home and it was chaos...my favorite time. Now when they get together, it is still chaos and I have trouble keeping up.
Stay warm and safe!
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Morning all! Bonnets, sometimes our systems get worms, Trojans, and malware, and they hack into our "address" boxes, and will send everyone in there all this crap, and it is from "you!"
Sometimes it is even called "phishing."....
I have Norton, and also "Malware Bytes"... It is an anti-malware program that helps also.
You can change your passwords, but just send people in your address book a note, that you did not send that stupid email that said it was from you...and to not open, or more important, do not click on anything.
I have gotten several from MY friends... and as soon as I opened it, I could just TELL it was a "phishing" or computer generated hacker of some sort.
You guys doing okay with all that snow? And Joan, I read that sometimes, when we go through a door.... any kind of door, what we were thinking, actually goes away! And going back through that door, will help that thought come back, or make something ELSE go away, ha! I mean this was serious! Have any of you heard this?
So when you walk into the other room, hold tight onto what you were thinking, because it might be left behind!
Cammi I DIDN'T make this up.... honest! Yes.... multi-tasking, has it's place, but it leaves me with a lot of un-finished things scattered around in various places, Ha! I always feel so efficient, when I take stuff into one room to put away, but find another thing, that needs fixed, and I'm left with stuff in my hands, that I carry around forEVER! Only Cammi will understand this......................
Thinking of you Mommarch.... Can that guy be any BIGGER of a dick-head? Not possible... He KNOWS how your Daughter is, and thinks he can throw his weight around with her.... saying a prayer for your family.
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The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life.
It gives human beings a sense of destination
and the energy to get started. Norman Cousins0 -
Good chilly morning.....other than not having snow as a part of it, we are much like you Joan......very, very cold out and not at all easy to be out of doors too long. Doesn't seem like we will get snow, but the cold temps will be lasting yet awhile. Hate to complain but it seems we get a brief respite and it goes right back.
I'm not ready to go anywhere as this has always been home, but I can see why many would like to make a change. I think I'd be more inclined to find a warmer "winter" home if it came to that. Many people around here do......a lot used to go to places in Texas, and some to Fla.
mommarch.....hoping your DD stays strong. What a pathetic guy to use illness to get what -- out of paying child support. I always think of that quote that some of the things you are willing to do say so much more about you then the other party. I realize DD has issues, but for everyone's sake, very much the child's......taking advantage by kicking someone when they are down is despicable.
Working together over things tends to make everyone a winner, but we have so many adversarial people in this world and marriages that are not going well are high on the list. Prayers and fingers crossed.
Chevy.....interesting about losing your thoughts/good ideas when you walk into another room. Wow !!!! Do I see a big one room residence in my future......so I could solve that. Can't recall the last time I actually multi-tasked. I guess I can still empty my dishwasher while cooking a meal, setting the table etc., but likely only because everything is right there. I'm not going anywhere. Well, maybe all is not completely lost, but I do think walking around tends to make you see items begging in need of handling. I'm able to ignore a lot, but do find "things" I was doing or on the way to doing --- not being one of those begging...in need of handling. The thing is....no one tries to help by fixing, moving. washing or sweeping.....so I will eventually find it again.
bonnets....I think Windows 7 is a lot stronger about not getting infected. Of course, you still need something. I put in Windows Essentials ( so far, so good, ) with C cleaner. com which is free and a free Avast for back-up to the other two items. Some things have been caught and I do a scan and cleaning in between when I think about it. Hoping I don't get anything. Sometimes I get strange things from a friend.....and I just dump them as she does not email me.....has pm.ed me before, so I know when that comes to just dump it.
Onward for my day. See you all later.
Blessings,
Jackie
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mommarch, happy to hear that your arm feels better. It is so easy to get involved doing routine tasks and forget about overusing our arm. I aggravated mine pruning a bush the other day. Is your DGS able to advocate for seeing his mom so that his dad can't control?
Joan, I hope you are able to catch up on some sleep.
Bonnets, one time I found out my email account had been hacked when I found emails I didn't send in my sent account. Fortunately the techies said that I only had to change my password. The hacker had not sent emails to any of my contacts.
Cami and Joan, thanks for the foggy brain info.
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mommarch...hope your arm is better. Your x son-in-law is lower than low! Not what your daughter needs right now.
Today I am 65. My friend was going to take me out for breakfast but, of course, we have a snowstorm! And my husband developed the dreaded stomach bug at around 3:30 this morning so there goes my dinner out! WAH!!! Really, I do feel sorry for him, but know I will be getting it soon too. I found an envelope in my mailbox with a "Sky Bar" candy bar in it! Remember those? My neighbor must have remembered a candy discussion we had at a party a while back and I mentioned how much I miss them. Have no idea where she even found it! I will wait until a safe date to eat it when I don't have to worry about getting sick.
Going to go make jello for my poor husband! He told me we will go out this weekend to celebrate. That's sweet! Going to read and quilt all day...at least I can give myself that gift.
Oh, I swear by Aleve! I would even do a commercial for that stuff!
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