Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Comments
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Thanks for the tip about not taking calcium before the DEXA. I never knew that.
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I was never told not to take calcium before the dexa.
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Puffin - you look wonderful!
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Puffin, you do look wonderful.
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Carole how do u feel today? I get dizzy from time to time and have been checked but they think it's a combination of all my meds--cuz I take 12-15 different types a day and some more thn once nd my Card. said the meds from him are keeping my heart OK so they don't really know I think, But everyone of my meds says could cause dizziness so they go with that and as long as they didn't see another problem OK.
Puffin u look amazing. Like people say u'd never know. LOL
Jackie I love to read u'r posts u'r so uplifting, I agree with a lot , but of course not everything, but that doesn't matter to me at all---there's a line--that says we make our choices and choices make us---it's old but being used again but u have such a good quality of thinking and don't ever stop spreading u'r feeling I think they make us think more and this I could discuss forever but it's not likely we will.
I hope everything goes well today for everyone.
Oh Chevy just face it skip the dexa--u'r bones are old and that's it.
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There are but two roads that lead to an important goal and to the doing of great things: strength and perseverance. Strength is the lot of but a few privilege people; but austere perseverance harsh and continuous, may be employed by the smallest of us and rarely fails its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with time.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe0 -
Love the look, Puff!!0 -
Oh Cammi! You little Brat! I KNOW I am old, but my bones are not! So there! I have the bones of a 25 year old.... same with the brain.... And we can all meet somewhere and play Hop-Scotch!
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Puffin, You look great! Your wig is my actual hairstyle and I love it. I'm not willing to do much to my hair, so I keep it short.
GG, I think you're OK eating cheese. I think they mean calcium pills.
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Whew !!! finally caught up. Usually there are not so many posts on here. I think we are all waiting with a little un-expelled breath for Carole to post again. I hope her dizzy spells have either cleared up or that she has gone on ahead and had them checked.
Knock on wood ( sure glad I'm not superstitious ) I so seldom have anything happen to me and I feel very fortunate that it works that way.
Puffin....you do look fantastic just like everyone says. Hope too that you get lots of good dietician tips to keep you feeling as good as you can through your chemo sessions. I don't know about anything else, but for a queasy stomach usually easy to digest foods are a good thing. White food, like boiled eggs, rice, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese etc. How that would go down with the diverticulitis I'm not sure, but at least nausea should be less of an issue.
We are in the midst of our major rains. It poured last night and we are getting ready now at 1:45 p.m. to have some more. Well, we could use it, that's for sure. Should keep it a lot cooler too. I think we will play hooky today and not walk at the rec center. I just don't want to be out and about in the rain.
I'll be back later, then.
Blessings
Jackie
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Hi all
Puffin- love the hair wish I could everhave gotten mine to look that good. Now it is about an inch long on top, trimmed shorter on sides and back and there's not enough there to even comb, much less style.
Update on SIL- we (he and I) house hunted all day. Saw 5 houses, he picked the 3rd one. It's a 2/2 older but in decent condition. It will take up to a week to see if the offer is accepted, no idea how long till he can move in. Luckily, it is in decent enough shape for him to move in, then he can make whatever changes he wants.
After deciding all of this, he says he doesn't know how he will come up with closing costs. As far as the break up, he denies any responsibility for it and says Tracy was just drunk and in a bad mood. She wasn't drunk yet, she had just gotten home from work, and she has not wavered one bit on her decision. He is driving us both crazy, being so sweet, and even joining us one night to watch Wheel of Fortune. He hasn't watched TV with us since I got home at the beginning of June.
Tracy has cut way back on her drinking and is using Chantix to help.
Will keep you updated
Anne
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Anne I'm glad to hear about u'r DD and that she's trying , it's so difficult for any addiction or just desire to have something. I hope the rest works out, how is he going to get the money??? I hope there is a way. What a mess.
Chevy let's face it both of us can only do the scotch for get the hop, unless it's hops for beer.
Jackie I know what u mean about Carole, kinda waiting here too.
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Something I found that I thought you all might like:
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Chevy, like Cami said.... Forget the hop, but I'll join you with the scotch.
Had my dexa scan today, now I just have to anxiously await the results. Wren, when she said no calcium for 24 hours I specifically asked if I could consume milk products like cheese and she said "No. No calcium."
About meeting up on August 28... I can do the afternoon. I have a Dr. Appt in the morning, but no commitments after that. I'm not familiar with Hotel FIVE but I'm sure I can find it - especially with the address in hand. Please PM me with the particulars as sometimes i get behind on a thread and simply leap to the current page...
Wish we were going on the cruise with you. I'm definitely up for being waited on right now. We haven't been on a cruise since my Dx. Maybe next year. My time is not my own again until November now.
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Ended up spending most of the day at the chemo infusion center. Within
3" of starting the taxotere I had a reaction - felt weird, face got
flushed and red as a beet, breathing didn't feel normal, stomach felt
strange. Had 5 nurses hooking me up to oxygen, a BP cuff, stopped the
taxotere, gave me benadryl and called the physician's assistant to check
me. She ordered a dose of solumedrol, and after all symptoms had
subsided they restarted the taxotere at a slower rate so it infused over
3 hours instead of 1, and then I still had the cytoxin to go in, didn't
leave until 3 PM.
After getting only 4 hours of sleep last
night I needed to nap and just couldn't chew my ice for the 3 hours so
hope I don't get mouth sores. That also means the remaining 2 sessions
will also be long ones.
Got the OK to start probiotics to try
and keep my diverticuli calmed down. The dietician also came and she had
some good suggestions too.
With all the extra steroids I got
today my feet have swelled up again, Lew just brought me extra pillows
to get them elevated on my recliner, and just gave me the most awesome
foot rub.
Now have to drink, drink, drink to flush the poison out of my system over the next 24 hours.0 -
Puffin, I am thinking of you and hope the toxins get flushed out quickly. You were very brave today.
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OMG Puffin, I hear of more allergic reactions here than I ever saw in person. I think when I was getting chemo everything was slow dripped cuz Id start between 9-10 and finish between 4-5, but I did go weekly and met all kinds of people cuz I went for almost 2 yrs and never saw anyone get a reaction. How scary, I think I would have gotten hysterical--I'm glad it turned out all right, Well at least they reacted really fast and then everything was all right. I hope u can rest tonite. I did love the steroids tho I felt like I was on a high best part for 2 days and when I worked I was a whiz for 2 days only. hahaha (BTW I just worked the first 4 months) not after that. I was hanging on to a full pay check as long as I could. I didn't work to be tuff or anything like that we all know that. Keep us up on how it's going.
GG I was never told not to have any calcium before my dexa and I just had another one a few months ago. ????
Jackie that was so enjoyable to read.
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I was also told to not take my calcium, my vitamin D or multivit with calcium in it prior to my dexascan, but I can't remember how many days I had to hold them, this was about a month ago.
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It seems to weird that we all get such different directions. I was told no calcium for 24 hours. Not a word about Vit D. it seems others are told 3 days, but just calcium supplements, and others yet no word about calcium at all. Seems like they should all be on the same page.
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I was in the hospital once doing a gall bladder prep. They brought me a bunch of pills and said to take them 7 mins apart. So I dutifully timed them with my watch and took as directed. The next morning there was a group of us in the xray dept waiting for our turn. We started talking and some had been told 3 mins apart and some 10min. When the nurse came in we asked what the deal was with different times. She said, oh we just tell you that to get you to take them all.
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assholes
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A lot of it is convenience for what's being done. And what the Drs. way of thinking too. But ud think all the Drs. would be of one mind when it came to certain tests. They are with a colonoscopy.
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Hey ladies, I'm checking in to say hello. I missed 4 days and have 5 pages to read...only read 2 so far.
There is so much to catch up with here.
It's late and I need sleep...hope to finish reading tomorrow.
Thinking of you all.......0 -
Good Morning Ladies---
It's Friday for anyone who cares, most of us don't but some do. Anyway has anyone heard from Rita? I don't seem to remember any posts from her--Maybe she's just having to much fun.
Carole I missed u yesterday, I don't remember u on here either--Ohchit I don't remember much anymore anyway. Just thinking about u'r dizziness.
We might have some rain, but so far no rain so who knows, it'll wait til Saturday for the outside party my DD's having, that's the usual way.
Hope today goes well for everyone.
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Morning gals!
Anne, glad that things seem to be a little calmer
lately.... I wish the best for your DD also..... I don't think those two will
EVER get together on a manageable course, with at least one of them
drinking.It sounds like he is doing everything he CAN to get her
back, even going through you guys... and I think he wants help with the closing
costs?I have just known enough people who make all these
promises, to get what they want, and then they are back to their old habits
again... I lived with this... growing up, things never changed.. I hope your
Daughter stays strong!I just love the name "Tracy"..... sometime I'll tell you
about it... our little neighbor girl!Cammi! I can tap-dance, with my cane! Ha, ha! I did
when I was a kid, and Shirley Temple was dancing in one of the movies I watch
with DD, so I said "I can do that!" And I DID! She just sat there laughing!
I was still using one about a month after the um...... "mis-hap".....! You know
every time I go down the alley, I get the shivers! I just KNOW a rock is going
to drop out of the sky and land under my foot!Carole! Are you alright? Can you take Meclazine? I keep
it handy, just in case it happens again.Jackie, that was pretty, and so true!
Okay, because of YOU guys, I am going to take Calcium and
VitD3, and all the OTHER vitamins I have that I didn't take! And THEN I will
get some of those other ones for bone strength? Just in case.... tell me again
what they were.... and THIS time I will write it down.So SORRY Puffin! You are an anomaly! Just glad they got
you straightened out.Something like that happened to me once, with an
injectable "standard Western allergy SHOT" to see if you really ARE allergic to
allergens in this area!!! To see if I really DID have allergies! It was a
shot, not an infusion..... and this damn Doctor was trying to kill us all!We left there, and waited for a reaction.... about an
hour later my eyes, face, lips and my whole FACE doubled in size! I called
back, and they said "We told you that if this happened to take all 6 of those
pills at once!"And it WAS Prednisone!.... That was the beginning of all
those allergy shots I used to go in for....But THEN I found a "REAL" Doctor, who specialized in
allergies, of all things, and HE got me straightened out! Twice a week....
then weekly, for I forget how many years I got those shots! Then HE died!I'm now "Desensitized!" That is the official term for
having enough of the stuff that I am allergic to, injected into myself, that a
minimal amount will not hurt me.... Ha! But then I got Asthma.... But now that
I am older, even THAT is better!Littlegardens! That was funny! Short but so
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Morning Ladies
Surprised I was able to sleep till 5 after all those steroids yesterday.
It was very reassuring to see how well the nurses worked as a team yesterday when I had my reaction, everyone knew what to do and within a minute everything was taken care of and I was feeling better. Since they had to slow the taxotere down and run it over 3 hrs, no way could I chew ice chips that long, and after the additional benadryl I had to take a nap. So being extra careful today to do my mouth rinses. Legs are swollen up again so keeping them elevated.
Had a good talk with the dietician, goal is 70 gm protein during chemo and radiation, do 15 gm lower soluble fiber foods 1st 4-5 days after chemo and then increase by 1 higher insoluble fiber food a day after that and I've gotten the OK to start probiotics. So at least there's a plan in place to try and avoid the diverticulosis attack again. Probably wouldn't hurt to do some tai-chi and gentle yoga too!
I get my neulasta shot this afternoon so I'm drinking my Carnation Instant Brk drink and taking my Claritin.
If you can get to a Look Good Feel Better class definitely take advantage of it. There were 5 of us ladies in the class and we had a ball. When you register they ask you your skin coloring (lt, med, dark) and your makeup bag is chosen accordingly. Glad I got light. You each have a little mirror and your makeup bag has about $200 worth of free make up in it from various name brand companies. They walk you through foundation and concealer & powder, drawing on eyebrows, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara (I was having trouble till I realized there weren't any lower lashes left to color), lip liner and lipstick. Once we were all glammed up she demonstrated different ways of using the scarves and combining them with hats, and sent home pamphlets and booklets with diagrams to follow so we could tie them at home. Even had a scarf that's made by cutting an old t-shirt off under the sleeves and using the remaining tube part as a scarf by rolling it a certain way. I'd brought my wig along and thought it needed the bangs trimmed until she showed me how I was wearing it wrong. She said most people wear their wigs too far down on their foreheads, that they should be positioned way back along the edge of the forehead, and how to push in the built in metal tabs to help make it stay put.Looks like Lew is up, time to eat some breakfast, sort clothes and get washing done while I still feel pretty good.
Hope everyone has a decent Friday.
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Puff u'r sounding good this morning after that crap yesterday, but like u said they know what to do and are fast and I;m glad the benedryll made u sleepy, that was another thing I loved I felt it coursing thru my veins and of course I would tell everybody and it felt so good and relaxing. So now they know how to treat u and that's a good thing.
Gee Chevy I always wondered if u could tap dance, been really on my mind for a long time. So thank you for unlocking that mystery for me.
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Puffin, so glad to hear you sounding upbeat this morning and happy that you could sleep.
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Trial and triumph are what God uses to scribble all over the pages of our lives. They are signs that he is using us, loving us, shaping us to his image, enjoying our companionship, delivering us from evil, and writing eternity into our hearts. Be happy through everything because today is the only thing you can be sure of. Right here, right now, cherish the moment you hold in your hands. .Barbara Johnson.
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Puffin, count me too as being thrilled you have a great team who handles things quite well. We are well along in how to treat people with chemo and I think there are fairly standard fixes for just about everything.
Glad you are able to be active and have a good plan to keep yourself moving along. The great thing about chemo is that it has an end, so having to deal with it is a temporary complication that needs to be endured, to give you a huge opportunity to get to NED status and stay there.
Glad you are extolling the virtues of the Look Good classes as well. I was late to mine and most had a half hour start on me ( had to work late that day ) and when I think of what I almost missed, I was horrified. Gave me so much more confidence to be in the pasty, sallow, looking sick in an odd way situation that I was squarely in. This description says it all....my chemo went down in pretty rough fashion, but knowing it was temporary gave me the drive and determination, while the Look Good class helped me prepare to face the world and look a whole lot better while I did, no matter how I might feel or how sallow it was making me. I too can't say enough about that wonderful group.
Even though I was late, one of the ladies stayed behind a bit and worked with me one on one to master some of the make-up tricks. Boy that was such a kindness to me and I hope she knows how much it meant to me and how I appreciated it.
Still waiting to hear from Carole and feeling antsy. Sure hoping all is well.
Will return later to talk more.
Blessings
Jackie
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