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

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Comments

  • wren44
    wren44 Posts: 8,075
    edited March 2015

    GG, Happy Birthday! Hope you plan to celebrate all week.

  • carolehalston
    carolehalston Posts: 9,013
    edited March 2015

    Happy Birthday, GG!  Hope you have a wonderful birthday and wonderful days afterwards!

    Jackie, what a pretty cake.  It's too pretty to eat.  Almost! 

    This was day two of the 3-day golf tournament.  I am tired.  There was a time when I would play golf and come home and work in the yard or the house and accomplish things.  But I guess that time has passed.  Or maybe I'm just lazy.  But dh is out playing golf this afternoon so there's no one around to see whether I'm sitting or doing something.  But then I guess sitting IS doing something. 

    The view through the window is pretty.  The sun is shining and the leaves on the trees are that pretty spring shade of green.  The temperature is up about 80 degrees but we're supposed to get a couple of days of cool weather this weekend. 

    Chevy, I'll bet you have been busy in your garden.  You'll have to post some pictures when your plants start blooming. 

    Hi to everyone.

  • Teacher64
    Teacher64 Posts: 402
    edited March 2015

    Sandra...I remember the mimeograph. My student wold inhale the stink of the purple on the paper. I always hated it because of the purple on my fingers. So glad those days are far behind me. A friend tried to talk me into subbing to sve for a cruise, but subbing is not in my future. No way

  • Chevyboy
    Chevyboy Posts: 10,258
    edited March 2015

    I didn't ever use one of those machines, but I always had carbon paper around.... Ha! Isn't that funny? An old typewriter.... and to make copies, the black carbon paper, and one of those little wheel/brush erasers!

    Not to mention those old phones, with a party-line? With a cord? And they weighed a ton!

    Sunshine.... all treatments are different, because all of our cancers were different.... Different stages, sizes, grades, and node involvement. You might not even need chemo! Find out after your surgery.... after the final path report. Ask for an Onco test to see if you NEED chemo. I was afraid not to get it, but they said it was up to me.... that the small size, and the other determining factors said I could do without. My Onco score was 19..... a low- intermediate... so it was up to me.

    Di! That's funny.... "cancer cooties"..... Hah!

  • anneb1149
    anneb1149 Posts: 821
    edited March 2015

    Hi Sunshine

    I am sorry for any misunderstanding. I had chemo first, then surgery, then radiation. My tumor was quite large, much more than 1cm -I don't know where I got that number from, and it was in more than one place in the right breast. I met with both my MO and BS the same week and saw my BS once a month until surgery. If there is one thing I have learned, it is what Chevy said- everyone is different and each Dx and tx are also different. It took my radiologist over 5 weeks to plan my treatment, which ended up being 9-10 blasts a day, each lasting close to 30 seconds. From what I hear, average is 3-4 blasts of 10 seconds or less is the norm. My best advice is to check out your Drs as much as you can, and when you are sure you have the best available, trust them to know what to do.

    Anne

  • minustwo
    minustwo Posts: 13,798
    edited March 2015

    Sunshine - the MO is usually the guy who coordinates all the other treatment so I don't understand why you aren't going to meet yours. I insisted on meeting with MO before 1st surgery to get his opinion & guidance. The first time around I didn't need chemo or rads but my MO is the one who found my recurrence during follow up care 2 years later. He already had all my records & took my tests to the weekly tumor board consisting of a number of MOs & ROs, and also my BS & PS. The 2nd time I needed two different kinds of chemo - both before & after surgery - and rads too. So glad I had him watching out for me.

  • sandra4611
    sandra4611 Posts: 1,750
    edited March 2015

    Sunshine, even two women with the same diagnosis, same size tumor, etc. will often get different treatment. You will learn here that there is no standard treatment for breast cancer and doctors have completely different ideas about what is "right and wrong."

    GardenGumby, hope you had a wonderful birthday.

    Di, I'll be thinking of you tomorrow and just know it will go fine. You've been through way too much.

    My husband's sister Lisa is on day two of the bone marrow stem cell harvest, which takes about 6 hours a day for two days. She has been a champ through it all and fortunately has had no side effects. The photo was yesterday. Next to her is the machine that filters the stem cells out of her blood via centrifuge, then returns the blood to her body...all within seconds. They got 6 million stem cells yesterday! I haven't heard how many they got today. Mike will need the 6 million for the transplant. The rest from today will remain frozen in case he needs a second transplant. Lisa will meet with the doctor tomorrow, have a few more tests to make sure her body is back on track, and then if everything is ok, she'll have the apheresis port removed. She flies back to So. Bend, Indiana on Saturday.

    image


     

  • shuf
    shuf Posts: 79
    edited March 2015

    sunshine, good to have you with us. I agree with anneb1149 believing in your dr is #1. I don't know what I would have done without him. Also taking one step at a time sometimes things change and that seemed to throw me off and I had to reboot. Cancer cooties is a hoot!

    Hi to everyone and I see you all are as wonderful as ever. Sandra thinking of you and your family. By the way the child my dh and I had when we got our aarp cards is getting married (destination wedding aboard) only thing is that they are getting married in Turkey! Lol on the no stress side. Started Femara Monday so good so far.

    Keep the laughter. Shuf


  • mysunshine48
    mysunshine48 Posts: 915
    edited March 2015

    Hi everyone, You know, I was told I would probably meet with a MO 2 weeks after surgery, but I had met her at a meeting with a nurse navigator about a month ago, along with a RO and a surgeon. I ended up checking out another surgeon and going with him, but from reading these posts, I thought, you know, I think I will go ahead and make an appointment with the MO ahead of surgery since my surgeon said I would be needed chemo based on my Mammoprint. I want to see what she has in mind and sort of get a feel for how she thinks. So, I made the appointment as a new patient and will see her next Wednesday.

    Today I went to the kidney doctor and guess what? The lab did not do the test they were supposed to on the 24 hour urine test, so now, I have to do it all again! Geezzzz, drink another gallon of water, stay home and pee pee in a container for 24 hours. What is wrong with these people? Oh, well, could be worse I suppose.

    Did have a nice dinner and movie with a good friend tonight. One day at a time. 2 more weeks until surgery.

    Sending up prayers for all of us. Have a Happy Friday!

  • gardengumby
    gardengumby Posts: 4,860
    edited March 2015


    Thank-you, ladies.  I had a great day.  Hubby bought me a really pretty cake.  Mostly I just rested and beached.  :)  We went out for dinner last night and lunch today, as he had to attend a meeting this evening.  I'll try to get on here a bit more often than I have been lately.  :)  Big hugs to you all.

  • di2012
    di2012 Posts: 871
    edited March 2015

    Happy Birthday GG......Hope your day was great! I must of miss how your cruise to Mexico was.....which ports did you go to?

    B-Day hugs!

    Di


  • di2012
    di2012 Posts: 871
    edited March 2015

    Sandra...thank you....I am shakin' a bit but in 9 hours I will be in the hospital and waiting to go to sleep for my 3rd revision surgery. will be having my exchange to new implants after almost 2 years with these implants. I will have lipo and fat transfer too, both in the FOOB area so there was no mention of compression garment, today as I was marked with a black sharpie by my PS tday and then went to the hospital to get the hospital required CBC and while there I went through registration and all my labels and arm band arm ready for tomorrow morning.

    Jill a revision/scar revision is usually covered by insurance if it is related to previous breast cancer, and is NOT purely cosmetic.

    I have heard that medicare does not cover 3-D areola/nipple tattoos (medicare did not pay for my PS created nipples and they may or may not come off tomorrow.....".repossession of nipples"

    Sandra

    So happy that stem cell harvesting is going well. I had read a lot about myelodysplastic sydrome when I was told I "Probably had MDS"...

    Going to bed as I need to get a little bit of shut eye

    Hugs, Di



  • Chevyboy
    Chevyboy Posts: 10,258
    edited March 2015

    Wow Sandra! That looks like Mission Control! I'm just amazed at what advances the medical profession comes up with! She is a trooper, that's for sure! How is Mike doing now?

    Thinking of you Di! Let us know as soon as you can..........

    And yes LittleGardens! I forgot to tell you Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had a great one!

    image

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Posts: 46,506
    edited March 2015

    "Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." 

    Lao Tzu 

  • puffin2014
    puffin2014 Posts: 979
    edited March 2015

    Di: sending good thoughts your way for tomorrow's surgery.

  • carolehalston
    carolehalston Posts: 9,013
    edited March 2015

    Hi to my good oldies friends.  Day Three of our ladies golf tournament was interrupted by a hard downpour about 10 am.  Most of the ladies returned to the course after the rain but I went home.  I do not enjoy playing golf in sloppy conditions and I wasn't a contender to win anyway.

    This rain is bringing in a couple of days of cooler dryer air.  Then it will warm up again.

    Tonight we're going out to eat with a couple who live next door.  We like them a lot but don't get to visit with them very much.  Their sons have been taking care of our yard during the summer for a number of years but we've come to the last boy, who's a senior in high school this year. 

    Hope everyone had a good Thursday.

  • gardengumby
    gardengumby Posts: 4,860
    edited March 2015

    image

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Posts: 46,506
    edited March 2015

    What a beautiful and extremely yummy looking cake GG.  When it looks that good you can want some even if your not hungry.

    Jackie

  • carolehalston
    carolehalston Posts: 9,013
    edited March 2015

    That is a gorgeous cake.  I would love a slice.

  • shuf
    shuf Posts: 79
    edited March 2015

    me too. Shuf

  • di2012
    di2012 Posts: 871
    edited March 2015

    Hi.....Sore around armpits......and FOOBS........got home around 3:30pm....surgery was 4 1/2 hours....had a scop patch and did not have any nausea....LOVE those patches, for operations AND cruising!!!!!!! IV in my foot today, this was a first for me!! Thee IV nurse said it was the first for her to do a foot and she was thrill she got it in ONE POKE.....I told her I was thrilled too, as I am hard stick......told her I LOVE her and she said this was a memorble moment for her !Hugs to all....nap time again for me

    Hugs,

    Di




  • sandra4611
    sandra4611 Posts: 1,750
    edited March 2015

    Di, glad it's over. Please DO wear as much of a compression garment as you can. It makes a huge difference in how you feel in the donor area.

  • sandra4611
    sandra4611 Posts: 1,750
    edited March 2015

    image

    Know what these are?

  • di2012
    di2012 Posts: 871
    edited March 2015

    Sandra, I CAN"T as they are harvested ajacent to each other From very thick to paper thin...



  • wren44
    wren44 Posts: 8,075
    edited March 2015

    Sandra, Drive-in movie speakers.

  • Chevyboy
    Chevyboy Posts: 10,258
    edited March 2015

    Ah what sweet memories! Just making out the whole time, and not even knowing what was playing... Ha!

    And THEN taking our little girls all bundled up in the back-seat to the movies, with their PJ's, pillows and blanket, and THEN we watched the movies... Ha!

    image

  • mysunshine48
    mysunshine48 Posts: 915
    edited March 2015

    Di, It sounds like you have been through a lot. Sending prayers up for healing and recovery. Rest.

    I have a sister in Oregon and a niece in Seattle....you live in a beautiful area.

    Lynn

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Posts: 46,506
    edited March 2015

    You will find, when you look back upon your life, that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.

    Henry Drummond

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Posts: 46,506
    edited March 2015

    Di -- whew !!!!  Hoping for great success with this surgery and that recovery is smooth, gentle and fairly fast.  The foot I.V. sounds interesting.  I'd be thrilled too if my veins always wanted to hide.  So far that has not been much of a problem with me.   Sending lots of healing energies to you.

    Sandra,

    I did know those were speakers -- but mainly due to my age.  Use to go a lot to the drive-in --- just for the reasons that were in Chevy's graphic.  You could take your own refreshments, smoke if you wanted, not worry about making comments etc.  Just wasn't as restrictive as the indoor theaters.  That being the case -- I'd probably still enjoy going now if they still had them.  Not to smoke -- I gave that up a long time ago, but to take our own refreshments.  Getting anything at the indoor theater these days is pretty pricy.  They say ( except I don't know who THEY actually are ) that the popcorn, candy and soft drinks sales really boost the take at the theaters.  I wouldn't doubt it.  A $30.00 price tag for one movie ( if you get refreshments ) is not at all out of the question.

    myshunshine/Lynn, I have always heard a lot about Oregon and knew several people from California who 'retired' there.  Their descriptions made it sounds really peaceful and beautiful. 

    Wanted to let you all know that as of 3 p.m. today I will be going to work and staying there for at least 24 or just slightly more hours  The Dr. and his wife feel the need of a short overnight break so I'll spend the night and all day there.  I will be very late with my quote --- but I'll be missing all of you and my routine.  Us oldies you know pretty much feel a bit adrift if we are not following our daily pattern. 

    Anyway -- you will not get rid of me.  I'll be 2 censing again before you know it.

    Blessings,

    Jackie 


     

  • wren44
    wren44 Posts: 8,075
    edited March 2015

    Jackie, Movies cost even more here. DD gave us movie passes for a gift. The senior discounted price was $12.00 each. So we don't go very often.

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