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

mcbaker My mother and her older sister were both seamstresses. My aunt did alterations for one of the large department stores in Pittsburgh. Mum made a lot of my clothes before she was diagnosed. I still remember one dress in particular. I’m sure she would have made so many clothes for my kids. Unfortunately I didn’t inherit that talent. Your clothes look wonderful. That is such a talent to have! 😊

l1ttlec, welcome to the group no one wants to belong to. I had 5 nodes removed, and that dang incision bothered be more than the one in my breast. I’m not very religious, so for me to be comforted I research the heck out of everything that came my way. I don’t recall being fatigued after surgery, nor during rads, but after it was all completed there were times I was tapped out of energy. I’d go lay down for a nap to rejuvenate. Hoping your PT gives you some relief.

Carol, I watched Macy’s fireworks and enjoyed them, and also think the cameras could have been better placed. After that ended I was able to see the last half of a local firework display televised. Then I stayed up for the DC fireworks that kicked off at midnight. I did giggle, the fireworks were on 7/5, but DC had a beautiful display from what I saw. Although, I muted it as I found the singing distracting and the stage with neon red/white/blue rotating border migraine inducing. All in all, for not leaving my house I saw quite a bit of fireworks.

I had wanted to go to a nearby spot where I could see our local fireworks event, without getting stuck in traffic down there. But a friend of SO called just as we started to eat dinner. He was being released from the hospital and wanted to be picked up. SO said he would come get him, but not until after we had eaten. We ate and SO left. Turns out they hadn’t even started paperwork to release him. SO was over there 1.5 hours waiting. He didn’t get home until it was going on 10 pm.

With my neighbors son and some of his buddies in his back yard … with the fire pit burning, I didn’t feel safe leaving my house. (newer folks, last August my neighbor burnt down his fence, my fence and caught my garage on fire with his unattended fire pit).
I sat out on my pool deck, viewing about 3 different neighbors firework competition. But I kept my eye on the college kids fire too. At one point it got very high - and I see today a bottle of charcoal lighter fluid sitting out there, then very soon after that someone poured water on it. Sad, but I will never trust these idiots.

Chris, your creations all look very flowing and cool.

Betrayal I’m glad you enjoyed your trip, even if less full than previous years. I look forward to seeing the birds!

I did get my new low voltage lights set up yesterday. It was the first day it didn’t feel 100+ out. I had to cut the old ones off. Between dirt, corrosion and my lack of hand strength it’s the only way I could do it.

I was super happy they worked.

Today I started taking apart a linen closet - I sound like Betrayal! I wanted to reorganize and purge any old stuff. But then I had to go to my nieces to let her dog out as they were away at a ballgame. So then I started looking in another cabinet for graphite, as her door lock sticks. It was nearly the last thing I found. I left the house with 2 cabinets pulled out and laying all over the place. Went to her house, got the dog outside, and spent an hour there. Came home and got one cabinet organized - tossed stuff, recycled stuff and moved stuff that didn’t belong. BUT I still haven’t finished the linen cabinet! I’ll do it tomorrow.

I did grill a steak for dinner. Then later went outside to dead head a rose bush on the side of my house. I think it’s call AVOIDANCE. ❤️

l1ttlec - sounds like you really need time to process what's going on. I suspect your family history adds to your anxiety. So glad your daughter is already being monitored. Not having information about your cancer and a treatment plan may be why you can't find a group. "Starting rads on July, 2026" may be open. My "starting chemo Feb, 2017" still communicates occasionally. Something like dealing with AI's is certainly there. I know I was on two threads for them before I quit taking them 7 years ago. Not having chemo is certainly a choice one can make but have you gotten enough information about what drugs you would get and what the SE's are? Drug therapy is changing rapidly. As Chris said, for those of us who are HR2pos, herceptin was a game changer.

gurney22 - looks like you are new here too. Welcome. Fell free to express your thoughts and anxieties. We've had different experiences with BC and will try to help even though we do stray into other things, like sewing, gardening and fireworks. And that's just for this week.

Chris - great style show. How did you ever get the idea to use saris?

Have a good week everyone. Hugs to all who need them.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

Dalai Lama

Doctor's prediction confirmed. Low grade noninvasive carcinoma. So glad it is gone.

I have been lazy for the past few days due to feeling heat drained by our extreme temperatures. I really haven't ventured out of the house much either. I focused on clearing out some crossword puzzles that had been piling up from the newspapers and dabbled on Ancestry a bit when DSIL sent me some info about a cousin's daughter. Mostly self-care days and I have been lurking, just not posting.

L1ttlec, they do delay radiation until your surgical site has had a chance to heal so while you are eager to start, let your RO determine when it is safe for you to start. It is not uncommon to have a wait longer than 4 weeks. As far as AI's, there are 3 that are available for treatment and they do have SE's but responses can be individual and as carole said, it can depend upon the binding agent used. You may not experience any SE's. Your RO can help you if you do have them, just let them know. They can also lessen over time so give them a try.

cindyny, I admired your new lights and that area looks good. Laughed at your comment about your linen closet and mimicking me. Did you finish the linen closet yet? However, I did do a closet exchange today, moving winter sweaters to my DD's former bedroom closet and moving the summer tops and pants to my primary closet. I do need to declutter this closet and figure I will do it when I am forced indoors for several days. I have to winnow down what I own and keep only what I have been wearing and not keep the "just in case" stuff.

I wore a pair of sandals that I have had for quite a few years on the 4th. I hadn't worn them in ages due to my knees not tolerating anything other than flats. Now that I can wear wedges again, I dug them out. DD and I decided to watch the fireworks display put on by the country club every year. The best place to see it is from the side yard or front porch. We were watching from the side yard when it began to downpour, The terrain is at best rough due to rocky soil and we sprinted to the patio and back into the house. We then finished watching the show from the porch. Later I found bits of cork on the floor and discovered that the wedge of my sandals was disintegrating. I think they were dried out, so they went into the trash. I have several other pairs by this company so it will be interesting to see if they, too, will fall apart.

Chris, elated with the news and hope that follow-up treatment is doable. Loved the fashion show and you are so creative. You said you use a serger that you use to sew them, I have one, but never thought to use it on delicate fabrics. Do you have patterns for the items you created?

petite1, great news on the labs.

carole, that storms sounds scary. We had bad storms on the 4th and 5th overnight that caused some damage as well as flash flooding in some areas. We were lucky that all we got was the sound my mother used to call "God bowling". A lot of noise, claps of thunder, and lightning. Regan heads to the basement when the thunder starts.

gurney22, thanks for stopping in. Are you a lurker or new to the forum? If the latter, welcome and continue to post as you like.

taco, glad you are back to golfing. How is the knee?

Waving "hi" to everyone and hoping everyone has a great day.

l1ttlec, I’m not sure you’ve mention having had met with the RO for mapping. That’s done prior to starting rads. I had surgery in early Nov of 2017, and actually started rads on 12/26/17. As Betrayal mentioned, your incisions needs to be fully healed.

Betrayal, I did complete the linen closet. I can no longer buy anymore liquid hand soap. HA! (I have 10) I have a ziplock bag full of masks made with cloth material - early COVID; a sealed package of masks like what you get at the doctors; and of course KN95 masks. (masks were put up higher into a storage cabinet) I also have too many shower curtains - I need to use 2 at a time because it’s an “L” shaped shower rod.

Carole, I’m glad the golf tent was the only damage you suffered from that storm. We’ve had some bad storms, but south east of us - 70 mph wind sheared off trees.

Chris, best of luck at tomorrow’s appointment.

Petite, good news on your labs!

Gurney22, I’m a snowbird NY to Florida for 5-6 month of the year.

It rained all night, into today. We ran around today. SO had to get his car in for an oil change, we dropped his car off. Went on to the post office; then the airport to pick up a friends car, they left for Aruba for 2 weeks this morning. Back home and out just about immediately to pick up SO’s car.

Tomorrow morning the siding is getting put on the garage! Sorry ladies, no red and yellow stripes. I haven’t seen it but I think it’s a light gray. My alarm is set for 7:30 AM, because they’ll be here between 8-8:30. I did take “before” pictures, and I’ll get “after” pictures too.