My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
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Irish~ happy birthday beautiful may you have many many more. All my love! Sisters in cancer. ~M
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@goldensrbest Yikes your back procedure sounds as sacarey asI felt about my radio frequency ablation in my cervical spine facets in my neck vertebrae. They burned 8 nerves which is supposed to relive the pain for about a year or when the nerves grow back and I start back up with the pain ..
@mara51506 your black bean meal sounds interesting.🤔 quick question, how do you make your crispy lentils?
@intolight I hope you had a wonderful birthday lunch 🥰
@micmel I’m happy to see you and glad Gabby is doing so well as a BC trooper. glad chemo is over for her.
so I just wanted to share with you what I was shring over on the bone met thread. I copied it andwas wondering if anyone heard of this disease.
Today I didn’t do much of anything but sit on the couch in our livingroom where I usually watch the fish in our fish tank. I had my IPad and texted back and forth with my neighbor, who is bed ridden and has been in Hospice for a year and a half. She doesn’t want to live anymore so Hospice comes to her every day, I worry about her so much and I told her that today because of her constant bone and joint & muscle pain.When she found out I was Stage IV and going for treatments back in 2022 she had said she was also in treatment and had so many side effects. She was up and mobile back then and drove her car. One day we were talking and she told me she had decided to stop treatment, hated the infusions in her hip and said she was just going to hospice and die. I felt so bad because she was only 44 . I asked her what kind of cancer she had and she said she had a rare incurable disease that was the cause all of her pain in her bones & joints and everywhere in her body with high fevers and pericarditis around the heart and lungs., a painful salmon color rash on her limbs and torso….She said it was
“STILLS DISEASE”an Autoimmune disease. , And she was not understanding that she need to see a Rheumatology Specialist. So Over the next year she lost her ability to walk and lost weight down to 88 lbs. Last year when her DH told me she was so thin I felt so concerned for her because we were going thru another cold weather spell in Feb & March. I hadn’t seen her In many months. So when DH & I were shopping in BJ’s I picked up some size extra small warm fleece lounging outfits, and some lavender vanilla candles and a plush fleece blanket & slippers because I wanted her to feel warm and comfy and encourage her, and sending them hot meals over when I was in the mood to cook. My DH is close to her DH and they are always back and forth looking out for each other. But I just don’t understand that she won’t fight her condition just to get more quality of life for herself & her husband. In some ways I see that at 40’s is awfully young to be bed ridden and in constant pain. So I spent the day researching different Physicians in our area who treat Still’s and chatting with her DH and her about getting out of hospice and have a doctor who will treat the Side effects of her disease and scan her regularly. A few months ago she fell and broke her ankle and her hip. Her DH carried her into the car and brought her to the hospital.. She was in for a few days they had her in quarentine because of her skin lesions.. they treated that and sent her home to revive a little and come back for surgery to her hip. But she wouldn’t accept any kind of treatment after her surgery and just went back to hospice. Up until now the ones who’ve been dealing with her won’t give her opioids or help her end her life. So I just needed to rant and share this story with you here. Thank you for listening 🩵🌷
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@micmel Yay for Gabby! Almost at the finish line!
@goldensrbest I how the device works well for you. It sounds similar to something the husband of Ann or friend had - it was literally life-changing for him.
@intolight - Happy belated birthday!
@mara51506 - you are"The Little Engine That Could!" Keep on chugging along
Everything is ok here, except a stupid head cold. It's been a week, and I think I'm almost over it.
Waving around the living room - I'm too tired (or lazy!) to do the tags, but thinking of you all.
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@seeq Thank you and all the other lovely friends here for the wonderful birthday wishes. In spite of it being chemo day, I had a lovely birthday. We celebrated last night just in case, then my DH and I had lunch with his DB and his wife. This evening I had long chats on the phone with my two boys and my own DB. I feel blessed. I am headed to bed thinking of this lovely circle of virtual friends to add to my family.
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@goldensarebest The nerve stimulator sounds like a reasonable and not overly invasive procedure. My gosh dealing with pain daily really wears one down. I so hope it works very well for you.
@shanagirl Well hi gal. So good to see you. I hear you when you speak of the weather and pain. I wish we all had an answer for pain that doesn't involve more pills, etc. The two shots I rec'd in the back over 3 months span felt like WD-40. No help.
Hi all. Shanagirl has got the list of folks here in Mel's room and I have to applaud her for doing that. I hope this finds you in good spirits and less pain.
We traveled to the new hospital for the swallow test. It was fast and easy. Radiologist gave me a thumbs up. Yay on that part. The tech is recommending speech therapist to retrain my muscles. MS is the culprit.
Couldn't sleep due to having upset stomach, both ways. Maybe the barium? Should pass soon, I hope. Used zofron and gummies with ginger. Lots of cammomiele tea. Friday is pet scan. I am looking forward to a break in appts. in March. It all gets overwhelming and I have to sign up for radiation, again. That's a good 10 day commitment.
Well I think I'll have to start my flower garden all over. Lost a number of plants even though I covered them. Squirrels burying nuts did not help matters, the little buggers. We started to cut back to the line where the plant is alive. We are now underground on most. lol…Gives me a chance to start anew. More daisies, I'm thinking as they are hardier.
Night all and please take care of yourself…
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@irishlove Good morning. I had to get up to pee at 4:00 AM and usually I want to crawl back in bed and fall back into deep sleep. This morning I layed down and felt wide awake in the dark quiet and so I picked up my IPad and came into Mels Livingroom and sure enough You are right here with me., funny I am so comfy & wam It;s making me feel tired again, and my eyes are getting heavy so I probably will go back to sleep.
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@micmel So happy to hear Gabby is on the path to healing! You have all been through so much and I look forward to the day you post she is totally finished after reconstruction. You had the supermom strength to walk beside her each step of the way. I wish you all mental and physical healing from this, hugs.
@goldensrbest Fingers crossed that the stimulator gives you the relief you deserve.
@mara51506 Hope your appt and transit goes smoothly for you.
@shanagirl Well I hope your not extra sore today after PT and you get relief soon. Agree, this damp dreary weather goes right through your bones!
@intolight Hope your feeling well today and enjoyed a delicious birthday lunch yesterday.
@irishlove In your pocket for Friday…do we ever actually feel mental relief…sigh…it's tough! Sending positivity your way.
@threetree Thinking of you and hoping and hoping your fatigue is lifting
Hi to all here and hope you have a good day. Damp and drearies again here but I'm loving the extra daylight hours🌞
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@shanagirl For crispy beans or lentils, I spray my airfryer a bit with canola spray, put a thin layer of either one in. Set at 205 Celsius, that is the highest mine go. Set for 15 mins, good idea to check it periodically, especially with lentils, the machine reminds me to come back and shake them, I put on an ove glove and stir as well as shake. I check about every 3 mins, seems like overkill but that thing gets hot. It is also a good idea to add whatever dry seasonings to the air fryer before adding the food then as you shake and stir it will cover everything. I like them almost burnt when adding to a salad or nachos as an extra crunch.
Wound up cancelling my Paratransit and am going to cancel Herceptin, reasoning is 3 fold. Weather is a rainy, sleety and windy day, we still have unmelted snow as well, dangerous to walk on. I am also coming down with something, extra exhausted, wonder if that is still the skull knitting together, less pain but believe healing could take . Feeels almost like the last time I had the productive cough, going to meet everything head on, got mucinex so will take out any extra mucus and have a neti pot as well so no problem to boil some water, let it cool and use the packets that came with, keep nose clear, avoid the post nasal drip cough. I just do not want to bring it to hospital. No fever but today just does not feel safe. Will let the nurse know as much too. Perhaps next week.
For now, just waiting to phone in for Herceptin, hoping feel better by Friday and we will see when I can get back to the cancer clinic, need to eat well in the meantime, healthier, more veggies and eggs as well. My appetite is still unaffected which is good for me. Need to phone the cancer clinic to rebook the Herceptin but they are not open yet.
EDIT Did cancel today's Herceptin eventually but was able to get an afternoon appointment tomorrow, Paratransit was able to find rides as well for leaving home and being dropped off. Making sure I am in bed earlier. Feeling better after a couple smaller meals. Having some super crispy hot dogs, just tore them up and dropped them on in, heated for the full 15 mins at 400 f. I am doing the beans next, 10 mins at 400 F as well. Will use up some queso and actual. I will use the tostitos queso and some sour cream and lime to bind it, sprinkle of salt and that is about it.
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@mara51506 Thank You. I’m going to try your lentil recipe it this week😊
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@mara51506 Safe travels to Herceptin appt today and I hope you're feeling better today❣️
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@cookie54 I feel better than yesterday, just want to avoid the super thick productive cough, none of that yet. Herceptin gives me a stuffy nose too but still got plenty of Mucinex. I like the time release pill vs cough syrup.
I slept OK last night, may be part of feeling better today no doubt. I do not have to leave until about 150pm. I set the pick up time at 630pm. I would be getting a loading dose of Herceptin since it has been months since I had it last. They may also transition appointments to the afternoon, it was an offer made and of course I accepted.
Done first part of a wash, not doing three cycles unless cloths and my clothes require deep cleaning. The Lysol laundry stuff can handle stuff that is heavy duty cleaning of more soiled stuff, not the regular stuff used for wiping up dust etc.
I bought myself another automatic can opener, this one is a usb charge power which I like better. It was because I have a hard time with the manual Starfrit one, nice to stick on the wall with magnetic holder.
Will be having crunchy beans, little bit of lentils and rice. Possibly stick a hotdog in the air fryer as well. Rice will be made on the stove of course, small amount, while that happens will use air fryer multi times do up the crunchy beans first, Need a small amount of shredded cheese as well. Since things will be happening all at the same time, will likely need to be warmed in microwave. I will see. Option 2 with preparation, empty each ingredient into a bowl while heating up others. Then put the temp on the air fryer to around 80 C to keep all of it warm together without more cooking, should be able to warm the cheese and add queso and sour cream.
EDIT SUPER DELICIOUS. That description deserved caps. I did not separate stuff quite the way I described, still made rice first while doing 2 dogs in the air fryer and making them crispy, second thing added lentils and beans, just a spoonful of each, heated both hotdogs and the lentils and beans, about 5 mins at 392 F, max temp, stirred them around. Once that was done, added shredded cheese, tostitos queso and garlic and parm mayo, put back in the air fryer, only to melt cheese, once cheese melted, stirred everything and unplugged fryer but left it all in the basket part. Unplug to avoid additional cooking and who wee it was wonderful. Due to the fat content, took 2 immodiums and taking one more, since I will be at the cancer clinic a LONG time for the loading dose of Herceptin. Cannot really get out of bed. Reading it said a 90 min drip, 1 hour wait time post drip as well. Crazy.
Anyway, hoping all have a good day in pockets for all as well. Least it is not raining still. Wish we could have a couple sunny days to dry up all the snow and rain.
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@mara51506 Hope you have safe travels to your treatments today. We have multiple fires burning in the plains not too many miles north of us because of our high winds, temperatures and low moisture, but the temperatures have dropped and that has slowed the winds so hopefully things will calm down. Yesterday I braved the winds and went out and finally bought a new wig. My old one was ten years old and not right on me anymore. Even though I am 73 I have very little grey so it was difficult to find one that worked as all grey just wasn't good. I finally settled on one with no grey but it is lighter in color and looks natural. Everyone likes it but I need to style it. I opted for human hair so I can style it but it limits the mix. Back 50 years ago I had a cosmotology license and did that type of work so I am capable—I think. Anyways, I though of you while I was shopping!
This is day three after my chemo and the fatigue and SEs have set in so I shall spend the day quietly napping, reading or crocheting.
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@intolight The wig sounds lovely for sure and styling it will help for sure. I have 4 pixies all the same. Been wearing two for years, blond with dark roots, matches the bit of hair I have left. They are a short haircut as well. I don't add product to increase lifespan for me but did get a 30 dollar one I style and put all sorts of stuff too. Enjoy your wig.
Made a medium size chicken pie, letting it cool some and then will eat, taking mucinex, have a nasal spray arriving as my nose is stuff with the Herceptin and really not in the mood do disregard and let a cough set in. No thank you.
EDIT appointment was good, wound up waiting about an hour or so past the end of the echo but it gave me time to grab a sausage english muffin, chocolate dip donut and a ginger ale since it has no caffeine. It was good, went to wait for the ride at the front of the cancer clinic, yapping with other patients from there until ride showed up.
Was craving mcdonalds, decided to have broken up ramen, it is presently sitting with a lid on, added taco, sloppy joes seasoning and white salt. In the air fryer, making up lentils, hotdogs, two of them, heating for 15 mins. Once done putting in a bowl with a binder, probably mayo or something else, tiny amount of salt since the noodles will have absorbed the salt but it should be good. I still prefer breaking up the ramen.
Forgot to post, I do have left overs of the ramen meal, delicious meal, will see how to combine with eggs I think. Only have two hotdogs left in fridge, still have another package of hotdogs in freezer but thinking I would like to heat up beef from the freezer, I will see. The dog chunks done up in the air fryer are really quite good.
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@mara51506 Glad appt went smoothly and you had a nice treat for lunch. Sounds like you're really enjoying your air fryer and I certainly enjoy mine also,
@intolight Hope you have a bit more energy today. What are you crocheting? Many people in my family crochet, mainly beautiful blankets and they are the warmest! I never learned to do more than the basic chain my mom had a difficult time showing me being I am left handed. I admire the talent of all the beautiful blankets etc that are made.
Well supposed to be the calm before the storm here today, hope to get outside today. Possibly up to a foot tomorrow into Monday.. Was hoping for an early Spring but certainly doesn't appear that way. I'm having my daughter's bridal shower 3/8 so hoping we are done with the storms by then, fingers crossed.
Hi to all here and hoping it's a quiet nice weekend for all😘
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@mara51506 Happy that your appointment went well and that you have a good appetite. Fifty years ago I styled and sold wigs in a department store. It has been too long for me to know current products, but I will manage.
@cookie54 Currently I am crocheting a seat cover for my DH's office here at home. He feels the cold more and the leather chair is too cold for him. Then I am unsure what I will make. I am torn between using up my leftover stash or making something totally new. I have lots of blankets already. I have no energy to do much of anything right now.
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I slept pretty well, think was a combo of the mucinex and the cough suppressant to avoid dry cough. I really don't want to be super productive. So far, nothing much happening which is good.
Meals are pretty easy, leftovers from yesterday night, think I will add some black beans in but chop them up in some chips like doritos, I still prefer a smaller bean. I could also open up some peas and corn, make them crispy as well. Debating a small shop currently, use some credit balance on one of my cards possibly.
I put through an order at walmart for 35.00 plus fees so 50 bucks but got a whole bunch of burritos, couple of chips, I can use those if I need to chop in some beans instead of using the air fryer, I will see.
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Hi all!
This post is about nothing important so if you are feeling low on energy, save yourself and don't read it.
Micmel happy to hear Gabby is done with chemo and now onto the next stage, well, soon. Praying much healing and energy for her, and you!
Mara reading about you doing laundry brings to mind a fairly recent chore change for me. Since most of the laundry I do is Hub's and all of his clothing is dark and terribly dirty, I go a LONG time waiting to get a big enough load of lights to make it worth washing. While I wait, one by one, I run out of gonchies. I can have 20 pairs of panties in the laundry, two tea towels and a pillowcase and that is still not enough even for a small load in the washer. But there I am - gonchless.
So now when I have a bath (not a showerer) I toss my gonch that I took off into the tub with me and scrub by hand. Rinse and hang them to dry. By next day they're dry and I have an endless supply of clean underwear! I do not wash tea towels or pillowcases this way. But for panties it has been life changing. I never run out! I could literally survive a year on 4 panties. I know some people might wrinkle their nose at this but I also used to use, make and sell re-usable, washable period pads so handwashing underwear is not even something I think twice about. What did our Great Grandmothers do? They got their hands in the water and washed stuff ! I feel quite earthy as I lather my lacies. (they're not lacey, they're boring cotton)
Does anyone ferment? No, this has nothing to do with poorly washed underwear, although it could. I mean, anyone make fermented food?
Hub has been going through bad stomach acid - bad - and now has difficulty swallowing. Had a throat scope, biopsies taken, no bad things found, but extensive damage from unrelenting acid associated with his HIGH intake of pain meds. His ankles are bone on bone destructed and walking is endless agony. He takes meds to function. But they are eating his guts. So internet diving tells me that fermented food is the holy grail of gut rehabilitation. Okay… I'll bite.
I will dip my toe into fermented water by trying to ferment sliced apples. Follow instructions. Add cinnamon stick and whole cloves. The smell was divine! Let them fester away on the counter for a few days and opened at the appointed time. The enticing aroma had our mouths watering with spicy apple pie anticipation. No! No! That is not what happened! Oh, the horror, the disappointment, the spitting out of mushy, salty, VILE apple! How can people eat this ?! This is revolting! The salt sent my already high BP right into the atmosphere. I didn't feed it to the chickens or throw it in the bush where some hapless wild animal could OD on sodium. Into the garbage with that failure. Consulted FB group where many said, yeah, fermented fruit, big disappointment. Now I'm trying fermented carrots with garlic. After appointed fester time will make Daughter try them, because we're not going to do that again! If anyone has fermented food wisdom, I'm all ears!
Love, hugs and good sleep to all.4 -
@cookie54 and @shanagirl - wishing you both extreme safety and lots of warmth with your coming storm. I'm wishing the same for any and all others that might be affected. I only know directly that Cookie and Shana are in the path.
Happy Sunday to all. Hope everyone has a restful and pain free day! Hugs to all in the living room.
Edit: I think Mel might be set to get the big snow too, so including special wishes for her too.
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Good Morning@rlschaller(Rhonda) and all my lady friends on this thread, Yes we are also on the Blizzard “monster Storm Warning. Yesterday DH & I went to the wild bird store and picked up some millet, cracked corn and mixed seed with black oil sunflower seeds for all the birds 🐦.and he also nailed the Mourning Dove nesting box up underneath our Front porch over- hang for the nesting pair who visit to nest. There are also red cardinals living somewhere in our yard and they love the black oil sunflower seeds. I hope they all ate a lot to give them the energy and warmth to weather this storm inside the big Holly bush tree in our front yard yard.It’s so tall that the electric wires and cables are being reached by it. We wanted to take some of it down but it’s really on the property line of our next door neighbor who rents the house so it’s really up to her land lord. He used to own the property where our house was built on 5 yrs ago but he sold it to the the contractor who built it. And now I’m thinking we don’t want to reach out to him and offer to pay to take it town because this holly bushe tree as tall as the cable wires is home and shelter to so many birds inside the tree.So here at the Jersey Shore we are expecting 50 mph winds with the snow , Tomorrow I’m supposed to go to my follow up visit with my onc, and my XGeva & Fasoldex injections and most likely wont go because the road will probably not be cleared enough tomorrow, We did go the day after the last snowstorm on the turnpike all the way up. The roads were salted and bone dry so we had a clear path no traffic up to the Cancer Center last month and got in and out of the hospital right away because their was no wait……but if it’s still snowing we won’t take the drive up.I’m wishing you all warmth, a warm blanket and cozy fleece sweat outfits, and some warm comfy food to eat to everyone while you wait this storm out. I’ll be roasting a pork loin mashed potatoes and buttered carrots today. I love you all my sista’s and brothers in breast cancer mets. 🩵🥰1 -
@shanagirl - oh, that roast and veggies sound great for a snow storm. Sounds like you're all set, and can just cozy in, watch the birds, etc., and enjoy the wild weather from a safe place.
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@runor When feeling lazy about underthings, I either just stick them in a mesh bag OR hand wash in the bathroom sink with cold water, both with detergent and then the softener cycle. Option two is take my salad spinner for under things, wash in cold water, drain, do rinse cycle and drain water again, stick them in the spinner in one of the portable washers to spin. Might wash up bra and undies at same time.
I had a decent night sleep, just getting started on my own chores. Laundry, make bed, clear sink. Working on one of my burner steel parts, got baked on stuff from a spill I did not notice. Will be using my scrubber head, just pull it off and run it around, maybe give a nice soak in hot water first.
Planning to air fry leftovers from yesterday's lentil and ramen, might add an egg to the mix. I have an egg cooker that can make an egg softer and then dump into. If I choose to, I may just make a hashbrown with some lentils, heat them both up and make an egg in a mini griddle. EDIT eggs are going in my egg cooker, steams them, added butter and garlic butter, 1 tsp each. Once egg is done, grab my leftovers and dump in the air fryer, had to put air fryer on floor to make room but not a problem to do that. Once egg done, put on stove, put the air fryer back on, had the dropsies and lost stuff but since floor is clean,spooned stuff back in the air fryer. The leftovers are the ramen, hotdog and lentil mix back in with couple of hash browns. Tonight, am thinking of the veggie stir fry stuff, heat in microwave first then toss all in the air fryer
EDIT The meal I just finished was some leftovers from yesterday with ingrdients mentioned just above. Egg turned out nice, I did that up first but added to the leftovers and two hashbrowns broken up. I did spill the leftovers on my floor. I scooped it up off the kitchen floor, I did dump it back in the air fryer because floor was just cleaned and I do not use chemicals but diluted vinegar so not worried. It really was delicious. Soft boiled egg was nice too.
I do hope all have a good day, I tell you I am looking forward to dry side walks, can go to Walmart on my own when only need a couple things, book a ride about an hour and a half or two hours, we'll see. For now, just did costly shopping 40 dollars but do not always need a costly shop, maybe just a dozen eggs. I do not hit up bro because I gave him a break about the groceries. Easy to have delivered or will get myself.
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Runor, I saw a video of Wyzeguide making sauerkraut so he may have recipes for fermented food.
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Rumor, I don't know where you live, but around here, many of the natural food stores, organic co-ops, etc. sell a lot of fermented food. I eat fresh unpasteurized sauerkraut from a local co-op daily, and also probiotic yogurt. I think it's the reason I've had not too much stomach trouble with these cancer treatments. I've never really heard of or tried fermented fruit, but vegetables can certainly be good. My local co-op where I get the sauerkraut also has some fermented carrots with ginger, and they are really good too. A lot of people swear by kim chee (sp?), which is also available in a lot of stores, but I've never tried it. Just some thoughts.
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Got some microwave butter popcorn. I am thinking that they could be chopped up to stretch out a meal like beef, eggs or even rice, gives a massive boost of fibre and nice buttery taste.
Tonight I had straight up butter popcorn, it was very good with extra butter and salt.
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