Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Well I wrote a whole bunch and neglected to submit. Mostly welcome to Deb and good wishes to Sandra for a smooth week ahead. Although I am a widow my last name is still O'Neill. So I made myself a cup of Irish coffee, am sitting with my lovely pup Peggy O'Neill and raise my cup to all of us. And now for the blessing for you all from a clown named Sweet Mimi.
May the light always find you on a dreary day.
When you need to be home, may you find your way.
May you always have courage to take a chance
And never find frogs in your underpants!0 -
Good luck with your upcoming surgery Sandra. It sounds like you have been through alot. I know this sounds dumb, but I don't remember what kind of cancer it is. They don't believe it has spread to the lymp nodes, but are going to test a couple to make sure. They still didn't have the results from the receptor tests. I have asked for someone to call me tomorrow. I am having pre op the 28th of March and April 1. I believe I am scheduled for April 9 for the lumpectomy. I am using a large county hospital. They have a large patient load. I have had a whirlwind of confusion, but intend to get it all worked out.
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Hi Mimi!
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Okay Debz, be sure to write down any questions you have, so you can ask them either on the phone, or when you go in. And don't forget to write the answers down. See, when so much is going on, our little brains go on "over-load" and sometimes short out, and we don't get things straight..... I'm speaking from experience here...ha!
Geez Sandra..... I had no idea you were going through so much! Sorry about all the infections, and the problems they caused! I know, once they get started, it sometimes takes a couple different types to fight it... But then your NERVES, and MUSCLES.... Yikes!
Mimi, that was cute! I hadn't heard of THAT one....
So Cams! Are you insinuating (whatever) that I even HAVE a past? Ha, ha! I met DH when I was 18.... I NEED a past.... I didn't get one before... All that rowdiness and pole-dancin came later in life... And tripping in the alley stuff... So we get to make up a past now...
Except no-one would care, or even notice! How is your phone-job going? Just behave.... don't go losin' any customers... And tell Joey "Hey"! Okay? xoxoxo0 -
I know, St. Patrick's Day was yesterday, but I just found these.... !
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Oh I love Irish blessings, they're always uplifting, Italian ones are always something ending with a curse.
Sandra again--OMG u poor thing--and now u know u have to have another one. Some of the BC women have so many surgeries I can't believe it--it's got to be a PITA for u.
Deb don't worry before long u'r b talking like u've been in medicine for years--so just take it easy.
Mimi I never heard that one and it's cute--how are u doing with business?
Chevy u have a past u'r just quiet about it after all their are LADIES on this board and the less said the better.
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Sandra, you have been through so much and are going through so much still. I admire how you seem to travel, if I remember correctly, between health issues. You are in my thoughts.
Deb, there is so much to learn in the beginning. Does your hospital have a nurse navigator for breast cancer patients? My nurse navigator encouraged me to call her when I had questions, and she was very good at getting info and answering questions.
Mimi, the line "may you always have courage to take a chance" is a wish I need to add to my dream board. I have turned timid about about getting out and about since this Dx.
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Good morning Chevy and Cami. The page "turned" so I missed you two when I was posting before. You two are such a joy with your banter. You bring me so many smiles. Humor is a gift.
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Over the years I have come to believe that life is
full of unchosen circumstances, that being human
has to do with the evolution of our individual
consciousness and with it, responsibilities for choice. Pain and joy both come with life. I believe that how we respond to what happens to us and around us shapes who we become and has to do with the psyche or the soul’s growth.Jean Shinoda Bolen
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Ah, someone who thinks like me.....or I like her. Sandra, maybe this really fits you. I often wonder why I'm having some of the things that happen to me. Later, sometimes a few years, I look and think.....wow, I learned so much and lost a lot of fear and learned to love even more and care more than that.
I have in fact, since my diagnosis learned to love the Earth so much and learned a whole different sort of appreciation for all that is here. I look at things often ( like a tree or grass ) and if I really think on it a bit, seem to be able to feel the almost constant energy that continues to create life in everything around us.
Chevy -- you are a comfort -- Cam, you too. Joy and laughter are such positive flows for us and you are always showing up with some. Thank you.
On to work, and later a couple mile walk, and home to work some more.............but so grateful it is my life. Carole, I too am a little stuck and losing slowly......I know, I need to lay off the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and just as soon as they quit producing it....I imagine I'll do just that.
Blessings,
Jackie
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Hi everyone,
Enjoyed the brooms, especially the wedding broom!
Sandra, sounds like you have really had a rough road thru this. Hope all goes well for you this week.
Debz, where are you in TX? I have family in the Austin Kyle area. My daughter was treated for BC in Austin, though that was over 10 years ago. She had a great oncologist, but wud have to do some research to find his name! Old age doesn't help on memory.
My diagnosis was the same as yours also. I was diagnosed in Sept 2012, had rads and am now on Arimidex.I kept all the paperwork I got together in a file, and asked for it if they didn't volunteer it for my records. Had a great radiologic onc, already knew him from my DH , when he had prostate cancer. I was blessed to find rads easily doable, went in early in the morning, so I had the rest of the day free. Treatments are so fast you will probably say is that all?! Everyone at our Breast Center is very open and helpful.
Hope the sun is shining where you are.
Jean
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Older people do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists believe.
Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full up, so to do humans take longer to access information, it has been suggested.
Researchers say this slowing down it is not the same as cognitive decline.
The human brain works slower in old age,� said Dr. Michael Ramscar, but only because we have stored more information over time
The brains of older people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more.SO THERE!! We Are All Brilliant
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No argument from me.
Jackie
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Another day whizzed by. DH and I went to the gym this morning. This afternoon we went to my mother's house to do a repair for her.
Tomorrow is golf.
Spring has sprung around here. Trees leafing out everywhere except for the pecan trees. They're the last to believe the cold weather is really over.
Tonight's dinner is home-made pizza. Yum. I have been hungry for pizza.
Sandra, hope your surgical procedure goes well.
Hi to everybody.
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Hi all,
We got up yesterday morning at 7 and decided we were going to make the 250 mile journey one way to Leakey, TX to the Auld Cedar yard and pickup cedar sticks for broom handles and walking sticks. We got there about 3:30 PM loaded and then we went to Junction, TX and spent the night. Had a great dinner at a place called Izaks. I have a friend who I graduated with in Iowa and his wife who live in Jct. We got together for Breakfast. Spent a couple of hours together. Was good.
Got home about 4:30 PM. We are tuckered out.
Everyone have a great day tomorrow.
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You will find, as you look back upon your life, that the moments that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love. Henry Drummond
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Today was a very pretty day, sunny with temp. in the low 70's by noon. I played golf, badly, and treated myself to lunch afterward.
I have been picking up paint chips, bringing them home and taping them on the living room walls. Yes, I'm gearing myself up to repaint the living room. DH picked out the current color, a mint green, and I am tired of it. Never was really that keen about the color. I'm also planning to paint the room that was my office and is little used now. It's a nice large room and our guest room is very small. So we're going to swap the furniture and have a nicer guest room with a queen size bed instead of a regular sized bed.
So where is everybody?
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Guess I overdid it Tuesday having fun and being busy. So sleepy today I napped am and pm. Hope this is not the radiation fatigue I've heard of. Cloudy and cold doesn't help. Lovely leftover salmon in the fridge made a great WW supper. Spring tomorrow! Ready, set, come!
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Hi everyone--Carole we're on the way to u'r house as soon as u get everything get done. Wow u are in the spring mode. It's still chilly here and we're supposed to have a warm day Friday then cold and some snow yet--so it hasn't sprung here yet.
Chevy what do u read the same crap my sister reads and she believes that too we have o much info in our brains that we seem slower, I believe that to be true for people who actually used their brains in their life, but not every has used it to full potential--OK I''m guilty/(shut up Chevy)
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Well, the pre-op jitters have started. It's not too bad yet but I feel like I've started a fast vibration in my core. That's the anxiety. I'm still sleeping ok, so that's a first. Usually by now I'm alternating between sleeplessness and nightmares. Although surgery #4 isn't until Friday morning, I'll get a PICC line tomorrow. I'll be on IV antibiotics for a week or so after I come home so the PICC is perfect. My veins are temperamental sometimes and with the IV antibiotic twice a day and blood tests every other day, my veins tend to collapse and hide. With the PICC, it's one procedure and no more sticks or worries that they won't be able to find a vein next time.
Yesterday I went into the chemo clinic for an all-day iron infusion. It almost didn't happen because they couldn't get a vein. The first nurse tried twice and called in another nurse, who failed too. They start looking all over my forearms, hands, and wrists and I can feel myself getting faint with anxiety. It's so darn painful to be stuck again and again. They finally got it, but it took TOO long and I'm a pincushion again. Hate it, hate it, hate it. A week ago I had a pre-op blood draw and the lab tech got it the first time. Yay! Wish it was that easy all the time.
So that episode yesterday started the anxiety brewing and it's building today as I do all the "nesting." Why do women feel this compulsion to clean and have everything in order before a big event? Getting the PICC tomorrow will make me emotional and I'll have a feeling of it being too late to get out of it! Gee, I hope these surgeries end soon. I know there will be one more, but then it's GOT to stop. One infection has caused so much misery with three surgical repair procedures so far.
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Ph Sandra I feel bad for u. I think the emotional part is worse than surgery--why--I don't know but I have to say I never felt like cleaning--NEVER hahaha. And when u'r vein are hard to get it's awful I think, but with the PICC u won't have to worry about that right?
Prayers are coming u'r way and if they gave u something to calm u'rself take it now or drink warm milk really. (((HUGS)))
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Had a long day, driving to south to Marion V.A. today with dh. He had to see the GI Dr. for his G.E.R.D. Was good though as we stopped at Sam's after and stocked up on some things. Then had all the junk stuff to do when we got home a little after 5 p.m. Just finishing my second load of clothes. Emptied out the dish washer, then started refilling it with the dishes I used for supper. Have to be at work tomorrow.....sigh !!!!! I do love my work though and it will not be hard. Still.....these long days when so much gets put off.....sort of make me antsy and feeling a little un-productive. Did not get to walk at the Rec Center either....but will again tomorrow. Never usually less then 2 miles.
That is a bit over 10,000 steps which I'm told will lead to wt. loss if you can do nothing else to promote it.
Sandra...it really does sound like a real ordeal when you need to use your veins for things. I do know since I had all of my chemo through my arm veins that it gets tricky. I was not offered a port ( didn't know to ask either ) but since I got all my cancer txs through the V.A........and felt so blessed there was somewhere for me to go......I didn't question much and tried not to ask for things not routinely offered. My rt. arm ( interior vein area ) feels sore to the touch to this day. I hope it all will go smooth for you and I too will send out a few intercessionary prayers on your behalf.
Mimi.....if you feel you 'need' a nap, by all means. I only had radiation fatigue once or twice. It was weird. Made me feel like I could not possibly put one foot in front of the other and just simply had to lie down and sleep.....no if, ands or buts. After that, even with just a mild feeling of tired....I would go for a short walk and that seemed to do the trick for me. I'm glad it only happened twice. For me....it was beyond fatigue somewhere.
Carole....your projects sound so rewarding -- well, when they are done of course. I like your idea too of a good sized guest room. I have thought of doing some painting here but there are so many things ahead of it. We painted our three bedrooms and the living room 10 years ago.....and it all feels sort of outdated now. The un-painted rooms are just as much so......sigh. Well, no matter what you do or how much.....there is always a project somewhere waiting.
Blessings
Jackie
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Sad news from earlier this week. The Kissing Sailor, Glenn McDuffie died. I met him once and here's a picture of him kissing ME!
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Sandra: Hope you can get some drugs to dampen down the anxiety. My thoughts will be with you for an easy & successful surgery Friday.
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Sandra .... thinking of you.
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Sandra, waiting , whether before or after is always so hard. Hoping all goes well and this is the last time!
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Morning gals.... We're thinking of you Sandra.... Glad when all this is over....
I'm always trying to do something "over" too! Carole, I "ragged" our walls once, and I've loved it ever since, and just won't ever change it! I had to put flat-white on first, then the pale, sky-blue, then the ragging mixture.... I did this about 20 years ago, and it still looks new! It washes/cleans very easy.... Our living/dining room is 27 feet by 60... But I did this in sections, so it wouldn't tear down EVERYthing... It was a lot easier to do a little at a time... Then I did all the door-ways, and finishing up.
I'm going to move our sofa, back where it was, because it is easier to SIT in than the recliner....
And it gets dusted and mopped all the time that way! 0 -
If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,
if a blade of grass
springing up in the fields has power to move you,
if the simple things in
nature have a message you understand,
Rejoice, for your soul is alive.
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Eleanora Duse0 -
Thinking about you, Sandra. Hugs.
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I'm home from getting a PICC line put in. Now I have to clean everything in my path and do all the laundry.
I didn't sleep much last night and probably won't tonight either, but my anxiety level is reduced now that the PICC is in. Plus, I'll get plenty of sleep tomorrow! Thanks for all your support. 0
