INSOMNIACS place to talk in the wee hours
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Sassy, I will just have to see Essex vicariously through your oh-so-vivid posts! DH's problem is probably the NASH, fatty liver disease, or whatever it is that he has. Good news on that front is last week's blood tests show liver enzymes close to normal and he is behaving himself on the diet stuff.
Jazzy, I am also a big fan of Diana Krall. Never got into EC tho. I have very eclectic tastes in music. My playlist includes opera, classical, jazz, musicals, folk, rock, and blues. And some that defy classification. I have close to 2000 songs on my phone, and a lot more on the computer, not to mention boxes of CDs not ripped and a collection of vinyl. I almost always have music on. DH is going to get a Bluetooth speaker for the shower, of all things, and I know it's for me because he doesn't listen to much. He's more of a tv addict. Not that he pays attention but it's always on. White noise I guess.
Queenie, please share, if you will, about your brush with ovarian cancer, because I also had one.
LMG, OK is not that far from north TX. Although, I still do not have wheels. I wonder if DH thinks I will take off and never return? Fat chance! But I think he does like the fact that he always knows where I am. Oh well.0 -
Queenie - I think the article (a Yahoo one I think, even worse at being "real") linked it into sedentary lifestyle, weight gain, estrogen.
https://www.yahoo.com/health/sitting-down-for-this...
But lots of other link are available also. This was just on my Yahoo feed.
http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20150714/too-much...
Actually lots of link to "sitting causes cancer".
I had been thru 4 years of being incredibly active - had gone back to nursing - when I was diagnosed. Maybe mine was fed more by stress than the sitting I wasn't doing so much of - pardon my sentence construction. My surgeon I and had a talk about sitting yesterday. His alternative was leading the old fashioned farmer/rancher life and then launched into discussion of gory farm accidents. His theory is most people didn't survive long enough to get CA.
OK up to clean out dog crate with lots of icky spidery stuff in it. Dog is already suspicious of what is happening.
Mags - see your post. Eclectic music - I just ordered an Ed Ames Christmas CD. DH will be sorry he got that AmazonPrime. No OK City is not that far. Driven myself to Norman from here several times. Easy drive.
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Oh Queenie, how funny that you posted that while I was asking!
My story is a little different. In my late 20's and early 30's I had several episodes of ovarian cysts, always on the left side. An ob/gyn discovered my left Fallopian tube was deformed. Fast forward to 2011, one day I had a horrible pain there which was exactly like what I remembered the cyst felts like. Saw my PCP and she ordered a vaginal ultrasound.
You know how the technician's face and voice and demeanor change when they find something that shouldn't be there? And you know something's wrong but they can't tell you and you just have to go home and wait.
It was a Friday afternoon, and I knew my PCP took Friday afternoons off. At 4 PM she called me and said, get thee to an ob/gyn, stat. That weekend I called my friend who is nurse to her ob/gyn husband. (We've known them well, for over 15 years. Their daughter interned for me. They're also who shepherded me through BC.) She said, come in first thing Monday morning. DH went with me. By then Doc had the u/s report in front of him. Did the exam. Sat us down in his office. "There's no easy way to tell you this. You have late stage ovarian cancer." We all cried.
They found me an ob/gyn oncologist and she agreed. They couldn't biopsy without endangering the integrity of the masses on the ovaries, which were estimated to be about 10-13cm on each side, and allowing the cells to invade the abdominal cavity. But 10 years into menopause, there was nothing else that would have caused it. It had to be cancer.
Surgery was scheduled and I went home to wait. It was a month from the u/s to the surgery. I wrote a lot. Worked through it all in my head. Found peace. No one ever (then or with BC) suggested a counselor, or psychologist, or anything.
Surgery happened. I woke up in the hospital bed, DH standing there smiling. Pathology found no cancer. Docs are amazed, both of them say it was a miracle. Who knows.
We know there is a link between ovarian and breast cancer. Now I wonder what all happened.0 -
LMG – I love Ed Ames!0
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I deleted part of my post but here it goes. Gyn has been pushing last year/this year for genetic testing. I read the guidelines last year, meet none of them. So this year he insists I ask MO;MO asks me #1 what age was I when DX (59) #2 any close relatives (?1st degree) with BC/OC - no no relatives with any those. Printed off same guidelines gyn did last year. Nope - don't meet them. Guess I need to message gyn and let him know. Gyn's only response to my ? of why test now was that there are so many more genetic markers out there now. Nuttin I can do about it. I hear a song - Let it Go.
I have one of those YouTube top tracks thingies for Ed Ames. Only trouble is they took a couple of my favs off.
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My box of Avon goodies from the June contest came a bit ago and I am soooooooo happy. Got a few things that I can wear or use and a few business tools!
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Magdalena: (eyes large as saucers) Thank you for sharing your story as well. Yes, I absolutely understand the change in the technician's face. It was a month between the initial MRI and the initial consultation with my oncologist, but...at least she made clear that they weren't SURE I had ovarian cancer--the fact that I was so completely asymptomatic did push my diagnosis closer to the "something else" side. And this time my PCP did do a quick evaluation for depression, and offered to refer me, albeit after the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Luv: (boggles, then takes the Lord's name in vain in several imaginative ways) Well, my opinion of WebMD dropped even further. By that logic my PCP should have continued on the path of correcting my spinal issues! (I'd been in enough pain/dysfunction that I had trouble standing for more than a few minutes, though swimming was OK.) The connection between physical activity and general improvements in one's health is unequivocal, but shunting me to the oncologists was the only ethical thing to do.
Does your gyn. have a background in genetics?
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Hmmm. Interesting about the ovarian stuff. In 2000, they thought I had ovarian ca and did a complete hysterectomy. My ovary was twisted and becoming gangrenous. The surgeon was so sure I had cancer that he inspected every single inch of my intestines and washed out the abdominal cavity and sent that to the lab. I was very happy, of course, and additionally glad to have no more periods. That was also when I discovered I hallucinate on dilaudid.
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Wren: were they at least interesting hallucinations? I was somewhat in the other camp: I didn't want to fall off the cliff of surgical menopause, though in retrospect, I might have been able to convince the surgeon to take my uterus but leave the other ovary. Not that that would have done diddly for my breast cancer.
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Mags- I had numerous cancer scares around ovarian including when I got diagnosed. The last time around the bc diagnosis they found a mass that was the size of a grapefruit. I was told I had likely had Stage IV ovarian. I figured it was all over with and was thinking about where my will, power of atty, and other things were. My surgery found a ruptured appendix with an abscess that formed to catch the infection (otherwise I would not be writing to you right now.....). I did not have ovarian cancer. I remember my friend poking in me in the recovery room telling me it was good news, I did not have cancer, but a ruptured appendix. It was the most lift threatening situation I have ever been in.
I have had other friends who were told similar things. You have a large mass in your abdomen. It is probably Stage IV cancer and it wasn't. They scare you to death with the speculation. I guess they have to prepare you, but they get your head in a bad place. I am learning not to panic even when the doctors are......
Queen- I think one of the most critical things missing from the cancer treatment process is having that resource available right up front to ensure folks have counseling support if they want it. We all know you get your dx, and then get dragged through all the tests, apts, etc. and there is no time to think. So many people have to process it after the fact. My sister was told about support groups and other things by her doctors, I got none of that and found this site on my own. The whole thing is traumatizing and you need that support. I think places like the Cancer Treatment Centers of America have that type of thing, but often those places are for people with more advanced or rare cancers. The whole process is disjointed. PTSD is a common companion to many here.
Smarty- I have known many people through the years who have had cancer. I won't say before I went through it myself I understood exactly what people go through or how to help. But now my attitude is "pay it forward." I told myself when I knew someone who got a dx, I would step up and help that friend. Last Dec, a friend who was not a super close friend got diagnosed with endometrial cancer. I sat down and told her about my bc, and that I wanted to help and could be someone to discuss the process with her if she needed it. She finished treatment in May and is beginning her recovery. We went out to celebrate her end of treatment recently now that she is feeling a bit better. The door may open for you to help someone in the future.
Mommy- congrats on winning the goodies! You are doing well with your AVON sales!
Going to listen to more music shortly. Wishing everyone a good evening. Hang in there friends going through the tough stuff (okay, all of you!)
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No Queenie, I don't think gyn has genetic expertise but I could be surprised. Not sure my insurance would cover it anyway.
Which is onto another subject. Last week when I was in MO's office they were going to arrange Prolia injection. Decided I'm going to wait until next bone density in April to see what Fosamax has done ($3.99 a month what a deal). Have I heard from them, heck no! I want to at least find out what the insurance would pay. Think DH's insurance may be changing this fall. Bet it's going to high deductible, health savings account.
OK dog has some intestinal infection. Not parasitic per se. Now on Flagyl, probiotics and 1/2 of a Zantac. Was running a fever but it is awful hot out there even though car ac blasting and she's an inside dog so prob. was truly fever. I declined any lab work for now. Doc was truthful, looking for CA in results. We'll see how she looks next week. Today she acts/eats like normal but geesh I had to mush the Flagyl suspension up into peanut butter. PTL it must not taste that bad. No way could I give it to her 2x/day without the peanut butter. Now to try to get the probiotics the tech says her dogs just lap off their food. May have to buy some canned stuff. Never had any in the house. Since I started this I got the probiotics in her. Licked the bowl clean ha ha.
Mommy -
Glad you got rewarded.Jazzy - I got a bagful of literature from the mammo place and then from nurse navigator - competing hospitals. BCO was one of them but I found it after drifting around Komen for a while. I know my onco office has counseling but never outright offered to me. Also dietitian and social worker. I finally used one of their accessory services, talked with pharmacist about Metamucil and Femara interaction. Thought I had paid my money to them so she could look it up.
Big fire going on in LA. Not really close to 2nd Time at all. But prayers needed for them. Not looking good at all.
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"Does my insurance cover this?" has rather been my refrain for the past few years. That and the insurance company's purpose is to say "NO, your blueness!" (we have blue cross blue shield)
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Goats, try pill pockets. Most all stores carry in pet supplies. They look and feel like Play Doh, smell vile. Dogs snarf them, and the pill right down. Think they're made by Greenies.
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Queenie - I really haven't stressed ole Blue too much. They got away easy last year, didn't even meet my deductible. I do get fairly frequent calls from Express Scripts. The one time I talked to them I wasn't really satisfied with answers. I don't want my Femara changed monthly to whatever generic brand they happen to have at that time. I have my local pharmacy trained. Otherwise they could do anything they want with my other meds. I think it would save me money. Hmm maybe next year. I did have to do mail order with CVS with one job I had and hated it and I was only on one BP drug and one eye drop. It would be a nightmare now.
Thanks Spookie. Dog takes pills like a champ, loves peanut butter. Giving suspension was like wrangling a wild horse. Stirred it into peanut butter and she ate it. There's a medicine I can't remember what very good for a goat parasite. One version is just nasty judging by the goats objections and the other is banana custard flavored. Yum.
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They wanted me to give my cat a medicine that kills off all parasites. Good luck with that. I got one dose down and then he proceeded to show me how well he could cheek the liquid and then spit. Judging by how much I got off the floor, he didn't get very much inside. Even the kittens fight that one. It must really taste terrible. He will take capsules in pill pockets -- yum yum.
My strategy with health problems is to get thru one thing at a time. When they came looking for me to go to the operating room for my hysterectomy, the tech showed me the slip because she wasn't sure how to pronounce my name. It said prob ovca. Gave me a moment and then I decided I needed to concentrate on coming thru the operation in good condition. Then if it was ca, I could concentrate on it then.
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What a night of music! We got to meet and hang with all the smooth jazz artists after. Peter White put on the best show, and surprise guest artist was Greg Karukas on keyboards. What are all these people you speak of Jazzy? Smooth jazz peeps extraordinaire!
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Nice Jazzy!!
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I would like to share a passage from " A time to live" written by Barbara Karnes, a hospice RN. I hope I am not violating BCO's rules and that this won't upset anyone.
"Dying is very sad, but it doesn't have to be bad. Death is normal and natural. In fact, life could be called a terminal illness. From the moment we're born, we begin to die. The only difference between a healthy person and a seriously ill person is that the seriously ill person is reminded every day they aren't going to live forever. The healthy person (and we really don't know just how healthy anyone is) lives with the illusion that they are going to live forever.
It will never be OK to die...so don't expect acceptance. We can, however, reach an understanding-an understanding that everyone dies, including ourselves. With that understanding, perhaps we can accept our gift- our gift of time....It isn't until we begin to lose something that we find its true worth...You have been given the time now, each day, to focus on what has real meaning for you....You have been given the opportunity to say I love you, to amend the mistakes...to say good-bye."
She ends with a quote from Ecclesiastes:
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What does the worker gain from his toil"
Tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone of us. May we find our purpose in life.
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I know the craziness of trying to give a furbaby a med. I have no problem getting my dog Jackson to take a med for his joints, but to get him to take a calming med before whatever drives him bananas is a whole other story. I have to put peanut butter on it in order for him to take it
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Who knew that cats could spit at all? But I swear Cat #1 (he who provided my username) was a champion cherry pit spitter in a previous incarnation. None of this sticking it in his cheek and skulking off to drop the damn thing in some inconvenient (for the humans) spot. But my sympathies to you, Luvsgoats: I can only hope that large animal veterinary science has found better ways of administering parasite medications in the twenty-five years since my horse died.
Wren: Prob Ovca? Jesus. Be glad she had to come find you rather than just calling your "name" from the entrance! But at least reassured that I"m not the only one with both reproductive system issues AND breast cancer.
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Speaking of cats, someone did NOT want her picture taken at the zoo last night.
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Morning OWlies, another day in Paradise. Had a busy few days. DBF quit his job Tues. Started a new job Thursday. I had to find him car insurance, a new cell phone, and transport him all over. You know I can't do anything without research UGH. Finally just pushed the buy buttons and passed out. The phone I'm most likely going to get MOTO G announced yesterday that a new phone is coming out at the end of the month. The plan is Republic Wireless. Plan charges vary, but 5$, 10$, 25$. I'll work with it for awhile and let you know. It's a second tier company. All the second tiers are trying to improve their share of the market. What they were even two years ago aren't what they are today.
Saw Gyn doc this week. Reason: The path report of the biopsy in May, final dx written as CIN(cervical). Should have been VIN (vulva). They are completely anatomically different areas. I wanted to know why. Gyn said he had reviewed his notes when he got the report back and not to worry, he knew where the bx was from.
BUT BUT I had reviewed five path reports from the same lab prior to meeting with him. Three of five had something wrong. The pathologists (multiple) misidentified location or source, or dx didn't match location/source. The president or VP over that area will be getting a call this week. May have to take it to JACHO. Or the National accrediting Laboratory organization. This is a different lab from the one where the pathologist twice failed to identify thyroid cancer
One person. SEVEN path reports. Five of seven reports wrong. Three of five if you exclude the thyroid errors as incompetence.
I know how to read reports as a nurse. The way all medical stuff is to be read is--Check name, date of birth, date of procedure. Then the diagnosis, specimen submitted, dx. Last check before completion(signature) is the same. Making sure all the info is correct. Obviously this wasn't done by multiple credentialed people.
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Gah. Mis-done pathology reports. The errors may or may not affect the information contained therein...but the mere existence of the error(s) raises red flags like whoa! I'm lucky that my stepfather's (a neurologist) is willing to look over my pathology reports--different specialty, to be sure, but he has a far better idea of what to look for than I.
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Queenie, you betcha. Shit's going to hit the fan on this one. The internal review is going to shake up allot of people. I have decided to take it to the national accrediting laboratory agency. The process will keep people working for years. They will go over the HCOwith a fine tooth comb, discover root cause, revise procedure, train, re-evealuate, retrain----that's at least three years right there. Then the national body will make rules and evaluate all departments that are accredited.
This HCA(health care organization) owns 4 hospitals, all kinds of ancillary facilities, >5000 employees, and the insurance company.
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Lovely - I could think of no policies you could have violated on BCO. Very lovely quote says this former hospice/palliative care nurse here. Beautiful sheep/goat picture. Mine are real cuddlebugs in the winter. The little outcast goat I hand raised even made a buddy with her 1/2 sister this past winter.
I might coulda gotten the susp. down doggy but DH leaves house at 6:15am and is no mood to assist with 2x/day doggy meds. Peanut butter still doing it's magic. I figure whatever bit of med I lose is better than getting it squirted on my foot which is what happened yest. and my foot does not need medicating lol. But I will say dog licked bowl clean from probiotics. Smelled a bit yeasty maybe, maybe just the way it smells since mine is in caps with no odor, whatever she loved it. Appears to feel better. I had given her her heartworm med about 10 days ago maybe a bit less. I use those individual dipper things of Jif, thought maybe it was old - it was down to the very corners - so tossed it and opened new one. More expensive using these but barely make a dent in even little cheapo jar of peanut butter.
Wow Jazzy you had a night. What are you doing today to top that lol?
Geesh Sassy. Now they've given you a different diagnosis to really screw up your insurance was my thought. Try erasing that from your medical record.
Don't even get me started on EMRs. Not seeing that great an improvement from paper records. I have 5 docs in the same practice group and they can't seem to find c**p in there even when I tell them the date/when it was sent from consultant. If their version is anything like my patient portal they are in deep doo. I have to search 10 minutes to find stinking lab work. And to top it off my PCP was the head of the EMR migration.
Called DH's dental insurance. Denied a $35 claim. I know peanuts in the grand scheme but I detest insurance and believe most are trying their best to rip off the consumer. Large bits/small bits I'll argue for any of them. Dentist has billed 3 times in the last year for an evaluation. Will only pay for 2/year. He does it again gonna make DH have a talk with him. Don't even know how many more times he has to go. He "forgot" to call dentist this week about resolving infection. His tooth, his call, his problem.
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Sas: Good good a thousand good for you's. Though there's a strong "No sparrow falls unobserved" element here for me--it doesn't matter how many patients are affected by this problem--the sheer numbers going through THIS organization means a potential shitstorm an order of magnitude larger than if the same happened where I'm being treated.
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Yay LA area is getting some rain today.
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On to other things.
Loverly Hugs, thanks for sharing your story. No placating words. It all sucks. We never forget the beginning. Analogous to where were you on 9/11 or when JFK was shot. The emotional pain changes, but it takes time. Not sure if you knew DH of 38 years was dx'd with lymphoma three months behind me. He passed in 2010. I agree, my belief and ability to pray got me through that time. Can't conceive, how I would have made it without Him.
Loverly lovely pics. Funny nurse cartoons. One of our OR jokes(remember we are a strange breed). "Never say oops on a local circumcision"(we only did adults). What drug for Tinnitus. Never heard of any. I'll do a search later on the vibration. I started doing it after searching a few years ago.
Wren glad to see you wondered if something was up, you usually pop in more
BLONDIE where are you? Happy Thoughts
What up? You go home the 22nd according to my calendar.Mommy Helllooo, sorry you are having chit with the boss. Suggest you write the name of the company backward. We will know what you are talking about. Reason when someone gooogles the company name. Google will pull up your BCO posts.
Queenie, what everyone said & read the topic box for stuff about sleeping. Keep up with the counselor. I still go to mine(6 years) --now once a month. I keep him as a safety net for the next thing to go wrong. Not to imply you will have more. I have a bad gene.
Littlegoats, sorry about your butt. I can empathize. You know my poor lady part problem since the RAI131. April 21st till now. Better, but not ready yet to declare it healed. But light years ahead of the day I prayed to die. Bottom parts are so uncomfortable. ....Soory about Terra, it's going to be tough. She's your baby. You lost so many in the last few years. Tough to go through each time. HUGS (not gently, very hard)
Smarrty hadn't seen that about the mammo thing. The dickdocs are working again. They recently convinced Medicare that testing for the most common Cytochrome450 malfunctions didn't have value. Medicare will no longer pay unless a short list of drugs are the reason for testing. The real reason is they would have to spend much more time learning their drugs and how they work in the body. Criminal........... On a happier note. I've decided to send you MY Mary's very old hem measurer. It stands on the floor and has a ruler type thing with an attached bulb that puffs chalk. It's going to be an odd long packing thing. The ruler measure is 24 inches. I have no one to hand it down too in the family. Your IT!. Please, make sure it goes to a sewer like yourself when you are ready to hand it down. My Mary was my moms first cousin that I took care of for years. She had no children. When I broke up her estate, I tried to give all the families something from her besides what was gifted. She was born in 1908 and passed in 2001. Sewer extraordinaire. Everything except her bras. It's anywhere from 50 to 100 years old. Now must search the markings on the bottom LOL.
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