Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

Good news !  I think we will start warming up here tomorrow.  A slow climb and almost or maybe 50ish by the week-end.  Oh, summer for sure after what we have been having.  sure hope the weather man is correct.  I love how pretty the snow is but the Artic temps. we have gone through is not at all fun. 

Thank goodness I'm not doing chemo.  One of my se's seem to be feeling extremely cold all the time.  We had a couple days like this back then, but no consistency as has been the case now. 

Hope your weather gets better where you are.  Cam, sure hope yours does too.....your part of the state is generally worse then ours here.....so thinking of you a lot.  Hold on, Spring will be coming soon.  Hope it is really a nice one, don't you ?  See you all later.

Blessings,

Jackie

Sandra, There's no room left in my brain because it's all full of 50's commercials. I can sing them all.

Oh so funny---I might have said this before??? How ironic--But my sister read some kind of study that said exaxtly that--because our brains have so many things stored,  it does take longer to remember current things now, and it's very common for all of us the older we are the more that is stored. So says my sister.--who's older than me.

“We
all have the capability to make a difference, to accept what we are given, to
love with our heart and live life to the fullest, or not: it’s up to
us.”

-
Tracy Goodwin

So many of you have snow piled up...won't the mid-west have floods this spring?

Evening all,

Sittin here waiting for the snow storm and wondering how much we will actually get! Every station has a different guess. Shud be anywhere from 6 inches to 18!

Did you all see the Canadian study on mammos, that  a 25 year study shows that  long term  BC survival rates are the same whether it was discovered on a mammo or otherwise. What do you think? MIne was a mammo, and was very early. I have felt, because the statistics are based on 5 year survivals and we are discovering it earlier , it appears more women survive longer. Only problem is women like my daughter , who passed at 6.5 years aren't counted in the stats. Spoke with Musa Mayer once  and she seemed to agree with me. Shud we continue to  get yearly mammos?

Food for thought and discussion. 

Hope we don't get buried in snow, just have to wait and look out the window!

Jean

Jackie,

I know , when I spoke at our senior group, encouraging women to get their mammos, one man was quite upset. His wife had her mammo and her cancer was not found! She  had passed away this year from BC. I cud only say yes some are not found, but others are and hopefully earlier. But if the survival is actually the same, is it worthwhile?

I would also like to see the stats changed , to at least 10 year survival! I have known women with recurrences at 15 and 20 years! And I said  those who  pass at 6+ years don't count in the statistics. Jean

I do not think any one really knows for sure, not even the best of the medical community. Some cancers are faster growing then others.  My best friends brother died of prostate cancer at 61 and it was not even a year before he was gone.

It is a horrible disease and all we have is each other and our dear loved ones.

We had a call this morning from my husbands grandaughter from his oldest daughter from his first marriage.  She and our DD are only 2 weeks apart.  Her Daughter had came up missing as of Monday.  The Des Moines , Iowa Police found her today.  The DGD has alot of problems.  I hope they can get her the help she needs.  I told DGD that if she starts in on her tonight to call the police and have her taken to Juvie.

We also helped raise DGD and she told her DGF tonight that she wished she had never left our house.

Guess that is a pretty good testimony.

DD is having a hard time adjusting to the program.  I hope and pray that she can do it.

Is Carole still in Aussie Land?

Hugs

Yes....just in these few answers it seems just as much is missed as it found.  I think we have to use whatever TOOLS we have -- no matter what the statistics  are or what way they swing.  It seems that some will be missed and that is horrid --- families are left alone, children, husbands, sisters, etc.  But if not for the mammograms....maybe even more would be "lost".  We have to do what we can --- even if imprecise till we have something better.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but this time when I went for my yearly mammo they did not only digital which they have done since I started going there in 2007, but now they also do it with 3 -D.  The tech indicated that if there is anything there.......with 3-D digital it would be easily seen.  Well, I don't know.......about that for sure, but I would certainly assume that they get a much better image.  So innovations are coming.  I do think it sounds like it would be very expensive equipment and it makes me wonder if all the facilities that do mammograms will be able to have this sort of equipment fairly soon.  I also wonder Wren and Sandra --- would the second problems we had, have been in evidence had all facilities had the 3 D capability.

Back to feeling.....if a mammogram can save a life.....then its worth it.  Maybe newer and better machines will start "finding" tumors otherwise missed.  I too think 10 years is a better figure to use.  Many of us are taking suppression-type drugs for five years.....though I do know that many recurrences do happen anyway within a three to five yr. period.    I do think there are people that are working on many aspects ( like more reliable equipment ) and different medication combinations and hopefully detection methods that can screen people who are not at a stage yet perhaps where it would show by mammo's...................so I think maybe we just have to hang on and hope that we can make strides that provide better answers while we wait for a cure.

Blessings

Jackie 

I had my first Mammo early at 35 years old because of fibrocystic disease.  My 2nd (1st as baseline) was apx 5 years later, at apx 40 years old.  It was that 2nd Memmo my BC was diagnosed early. When "their" newest statistics would be released, the notion that Mammo's weren't effective in diagnosing BC, was to me complete insanity. But who am I?  If only a small percentage are diagnosed from Mammo's then isn't it worth it?  

If someone had asked me, "If you had BC where would it be"?  I would have told them exactly where they found it.  The area on my breast had always felt "funny". But no lump was found by touch examination both by myself and my Dr. only few weeks before the Mammo. It was meant to be as I had been putting off the Mammo, until I had the time off of work.  I had just been laid off and subsequently had the Mammo.

Dwill and Wren,

I was having a very painful nipple for two months after my lumpectomy and it was just so raw. I complained every week and finally the RO said he would give me some medication as long as I was sure it wasn't an itchiness. I never thought anything more about it until I just read your post. Please check with your doctor about that itchiness.

 Joan,

Yup, finally started to snow about 2 hrs. ago. We are supposed to get between 6-18 inches, depending on which channel you are watching!Time will tell.

Interesting to get everyones  input on the mammo study. What we need though is a CURE! Early detection is good, but a CURE is better.

Back to snow watching, stay warm. Jean

Hello to everyone!  I've been reading and reading to catch up on the posts.  We did not have good, easy access to internet in AUS and NZ, which was probably my only dissatisfaction with the trip.  Most of the hotels provided 30 min. of free internet per 24 hours.  Any additional was usually pricey.  DH had bought a notebook, some other brand besides the popular one whose name I can't pull up, and we weren't familiar with using it.  So I wrote very few e-mails to family and friends and didn't once check in at bc.org.  I missed all of you!

The trip was fast-paced and really a lot of fun.  We visited key places in AUS, travelling by plane from one to another.  And, no, you do not see kangaroos hopping around!  The only kangaroos we saw were in wild-life preserves or zoos.  We did see quite a few wallabies in the wild.  And hardly anybody sees the elusive and nocturnal kiwi bird in NZ.  We saw two in in captivity and saw them in darkness as we passed through an unlighted passage way.  The two kiwi birds were behind a glass wall in a natural setting for them.  They're quite large and have feathers that are like hair. 

In Tasmania, which is a very beautiful island, we saw Tasmanian devils, also in captivity.  They're an endangered species because of a disease.  They're feisty little critters that reminded of a small black pig.  The reason for their whirling dervish reputation is that it takes two of them to tear apart the raw meat that is their preferred food.  When they're feeding, it looks like two devils are fighting over the raw meat as they dash around and pull and tug, but they're actually helping each other tear the meat into pieces. 

The kaola bears were also in a wild life sanctuary but we saw them quite close up.  They sleep about 20 hours and wake up at intervals to feed on the eucalyptus leaves that provide them with poor nutrition.  They have very little energy.  Evolution has taken them down a questionable road for survival. 

After I get our pictures organized, I'll post a few.

It's good to be back.  I didn't miss any golf because it was cold and rainy while we were gone.  And the cold continues.  Today is gorgeous, bright and sunny and in the 50's. 

While I was gone, my niece with the 3 kids was in FL at another rehab hospital.  While there she did a turnabout and is back home with her kids.  For the moment she is "clean."  She'll be 32 on Sat.  I don't know how long this healthy phase will last but I will help her as much as I can.

Carole, welcome home.  I am looking forward to seeing pictures.

Mommarch, orange pound cake sounds delicious.  I bet the whole house smells wonderful.  Sending good wishes for arm healing and a good doctor's appointment.

Carole u'r home---can't wait for some pics. U sound like u had a wonderful time and I'm so glad and it seemed like u were gone so long to me but I'm sure not to you. And I'm glad to hear about u'r niece, praying all goes well.

And Mommarch how nice of u to take care of u'r neighbor in his hard times.