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

Taco, our trip has 3 phases. The first is we will be on a land tour of Switzerland for 8 days and will see the major cities. Then we will travel to Paris for a tour of it and the surrounds for another 8 days with an added on tour which means we will travel to London via the Chunnel. The tour ends there but we love London and have used it many times as a destination but also a layover. When we went to South Africa (winter in our summer) we spent a few days there, left our summer clothes in storage at our hotel and after our safari in South Africa and Zimbabwe, we returned to London for about a week. Then when we went to Kenya and Tanzania (winter in our summer) for our second safari we also used London as a pre-stop for a few days, left our summer clothes at the hotel and then returned to London for another stay. We like to go to the theater in London so we have about 5 days there after the Paris tour ends and this trip we will do repeats of my favorite musicals: Phantom and Les Miserables.

I am hoping my knee will cooperate on this trip since I will only be 3 months post-op on it. I am still having difficulty with steps; going up is less painful than going down due to load on the joint. So I won't be any activity that requires a lot of step use so I may have to skip churches/cathedrals that may be on the itinerary. PT will provide me with exercises that I can do while on the trip and I plan on keeping at it. My goal is to not walk with a limp after having done so for the past 2 years. Of course, the left knee has a slight limp and will until it gets done next April, but the right knee had a decidedly pronounced limp that was painful and noticeable.

Today is sunny, mid 70's and lower humidity, so pleasant. Done with PT for the week and feel like I am ready to be discharged next Friday. She has done her best to get my this far and still varies the exercises to promote maximal function.

Did not have time to brush Misty before I left for PT and she let us know she was unhappy by unwinding the roll of toilet paper in the powder room. The holder is mounted on the outer wall and there was a ribbon from there to the doorway to the laundry room which is next door. There was a big clump in the middle of the ribbon and then a single streamer to the laundry room. Not exactly HGTV but funny. She has destroyed the one side of my Queen Anne chair in the living room and I will need to see if Calico Corner can reorder this fabric to repair the chair or if I will need to cover this side panel, the back and the other side panel with another fabric. Of course, this is my favorite chair and the scratch pad (I have one in literally every room) next to it had been moved. For being so small her claws are really destructive. DD clips them for us but she hadn't done them recently. I will take care of this when I come home. Sorry if I offend someone, but I wish declawing had not been outlawed. Clipping at the vet has become cost prohibitive considering she needs it done monthly and it is not covered in her insurance. She can't jump our child (pet) gates but the entrance to the living room is too wide for the ones we have so I will be looking for a bigger gate to keep her out of the living room.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Trying pictures again.

Penn Yan, NY

Cindy - fantastic photos! I am really feeling the need to take a short trip or two prior to our cruise next February. We had hoped to take a few short trips over the summer but of course those did not happen, so DH and I are discussing our fall schedule and where we can fit in some fun.

Adversity is like the period of the rain. . . cold, comfortless, unfriendly to people and to animals; yet from that season have their birth the flower, the fruit, the date, the rose and the pomegranate.     -Walter Scott

Cindy - fantastic photos. Hope you went to the museums in Seneca Falls.

Betrayal - sounds like a wonderful trip. I'm sure you will find plenty to do that you are comfortable doing. We've been on several tours where they have events for "easy walkers" and those who want more challenging sightseeing.

Keywester - I call them my "happy pills." So glad you are feeling better about getting out.

Quiet weekend for us. Nice dinner out last night for a belated anniversary celebration. I really had a good day yesterday and was so glad we had postponed it by a week. Of course I got cocky and did too much and have paid for it today.

Just a few. Lots of wealth and also handed down through generations. So these large monied places, next door to modest places - all lakeside.

"Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good."

~ Ann Landers

Only 2 more days at PT, Wednesday and Friday this week and I am officially discharged. MY PT told me she will miss me and that made me feel good. I have been seeing her since March, pre-op and then post-op plus she helped prepare me for last fall's trip. I am hoping with my increased mobility that this one will be more enjoyable. Last year I could not participate in many of the walks in Italy because it is 80% steep hills and my knees said a resounding "no". Hoping the left knee will not protest too much.

Had a free appetizer offer at Uno so we went there for lunch. I had a buttered lobster roll sandwich and DH had a cheddar burger. I brought the wings home and we will eat them later. Very pleasant waitress, too.

Did not sleep well last night but due to neck pain and not the knee. It's hard to find a comfortable position with the neck and I find looking down is the issue. Took Tylenol but did not touch it. May try the tizanidine I use for back spasms and see it that works. Need a good massage.

Sunny and in the low 80's but warm. Hoping rain holds off tomorrow long enough for me to work in the one bed on the hill. It is full of weeds again and DH needs to build another chicken wire enclosure to keep the deer out. DD had gotten me 2 oak leaf hydrangeas which I planted in this bed and I am hoping they did not kill them. I have a small hibiscus I need to plant and would like to add it to this bed as well. It's a large bed but has enough spacing between current plants for at least this plant.

Taco, it is easy to overdue and I am one who has done it as well. I feel healed, do one task too many and live to regret it for several days. Even now I am still pacing myself. Mentally I think I can do it all and then my body says unuh! Recovery is therefore harder, so I give myself permission to reduce my mental limit to accommodate my physical limits. I feel good but realize I am only half way to that 6 month point when I will feel more human and 9 months until I am truly healed. Take those "happy pills".

cindyny, loved the photos and your lake cruise. The baseball game looked like fun as well.

I love to be on the water, though not necessarily in it, and when we are in London one of my favorites is the Thames cruise to Greenwich. We will do one of the Seine while in Paris so I may not do the Thames one this time but we'll see. It's just so peaceful on the water. Another favorite was from Sorrento to Positano and back.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Update for today.

Lil' Red now weighs 7 pounds and a bit. He is such a happy little dog. He has taken on a bad habit of barking at other dogs — seems to be a hello I'm excited your around sort of bark. The other dogs look at him like he is not all there. Anyway, he saw Dr. Tom today (Dr. Britts' other half). Likely mentioned before but Dr. Tom usually does the big farm animals and is generally only in the ofc. if he has no outside appts.

Dr. Tom just enjoyed Red so much. When he got done with the exam he held him and talked to him and loved on him and I started to think there might be a dog napping in progress — but he finally let go of him. He is a delight that is for sure. We feel in some ways like we are brand new having him in our lives now. Didn't realize for a while that we would feel so forlorn without a dog in our house. Definitely that is no longer the case.

I have an appt. with Dr. Kunigal on Friday and will get my Pet Scan results then. I was going to find someone to "read" my test for me, but got so busy I didn't get around to it so Friday is the day. Got my fingers crossed that all will be okay.

Many of us cannot grasp the truth that the time allotted to us on this earth is sufficient for all the Lord has planned for us to do. We don’t need one minute more or one minute less to get the job done:Our greatest fear is running out of time. So we hurry through life trying desperately to get everything done working overtime, eating fast food in the car, and racing down the freeway. . . . Today, this very day, why don’t you think of something that takes a bit of extra time to do and do it. . . . Maybe it will be an act of generosity, or a moment of kindness directed towards a loved one or a stranger. Perhaps it will be simply singing a hymn of praise and thanksgiving because your heart is so full of gratitude. Don’t wait for another time. Rejoice in this day and be glad.Luci Swindoll

Betrayal, wow, just two more sessions to go. You have come a long way and it sounds like in the end you can call it a major win. Hopefully, when you do the other knee things will go just as well. I do hope you will be able to do more walking up and down on your vacation. You have been so consistent and diligent in keeping up with as much 'exercise' with PT and on your own and giving yourself the best chance of a "fantastic" outcome. It is all about getting as much freedom as you can back.

Neck pain keeping you up is a definite bummer. I hope it is something temporary and will clear for you soon.

Cindy, sounds like the stye is going to be easy (hopefully not too time consuming) to deal with and sure glad there wasn't an infection. Hmm, about the FREE heat or cold pack. Someone up there put you in the place to do something good and get something exactly right for your needs. It always amazes me that so often things we have no idea we'll need just nearly fall into our hands.

Wow — it's 97 outside. I took Lil' Red out and had no idea then (happy about it now) that we were out there in that kind of heat. Don't have much going on for breezes either. So back in the house now and potty papers down. I don't think we will go out again until it's evening. Just yucky out there.

Reader, you are so welcome.

I hope everyone does well with whatever issues you are dealing with and I hope you have a wonderful day.

PT had a packet of exercises for me to do daily while on vacation. It is quite thick and I am to trial them tomorrow and provide feedback on Friday. Had the opportunity to talk to a woman who had her TKR surgery a week after me and is despairing that she is not back to 100%. Meanwhile her surgeon doesn't believe in PT for knees and made her wait until she was 7 weeks post-op to seek PT help. I think I know which group she used and I am so glad I decided not to go with them. I demanded home PT immediately post-op because my surgeon waits for 3 weeks post-op for PT and I did not want to lose ground. She thought she should be able to play tennis by now. Really? Failure to communicate that it will be 6 months before some activities will be able to be resumed and a year before you feel like you never had surgery. I will be 3 months post-op next week and think I have really progressed but realize I still must keep up the exercises even after a year so I have full joint mobility. Walking is my choice for exercise (and gardening) and I miss that I am unable to walk as well and as much I used to do but know I can get there once both knees are done.

There is so much road construction being done in this area, which needed to be done, that is creating driving nightmares. Could not get into the strip mall where the hair dresser is so we had to park at the next door bank and I walked over. I just got the ends trimmed 1.5 inches and she trimmed my bangs after making them symmetrical.

Made appointments for DH and I to get new Covid vaccine tomorrow afternoon. Glad we are able to get it before our trip. Have no idea if Europe is having issues now but know some countries did not shutdown during Covid. Will wait until October for flu shot to ensure it lasts for the flu season. Plus I do not want 2 shots in the same arm at the same time now.

It is only 88 degrees but feels like 100. Humid as well so not a work outside day. I will finish the living room and dining room today between loads of wash. I have to think about what I am packing clothing wise and start to pack. I do have some prepack items I can just check and then throw in the suitcase such as toiletries and hair care.

I am taking some genealogy materials that I can work on while on the plane. I want to write small bios on my ggf, ggm, gf, gm and some other family members using data I have collected so they become more 3 dimensional. I will also list areas of research that still need to be explored though so far they have drawn blanks or dead ends. There won't be any distractions on the plane so I should be able to get a few done.

Waving hello to Illinoislady, keywestfan, harley, minustwo, cindyny, petite1, reader25, carole and anyone else I have forgotten. Hope everyone ahs a great day.

This we know. The Earth does not belong to people; people belong to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth. People did not weave the web of life; we are merely strands in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. Attributed to Chief Seattle

Betrayal - enjoy your trip! Hopefully the neck pain will not be an issue.

Taco - thinking of you as you move through recovery

Jackie - sounds like Lil Red is capturing hearts every where he goes.

Petite - sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. Hope today’s appointment can help.

Chemo #6 did not happen yesterday as my platelets and neutrophils are too low. We’ll try again next Thursday. In the meantime, I’m enjoying feeling pretty good. We have several get togethers planned with family and friends in the next 3 weeks so I’d like to get this wrapped up. But it is what it is.