Feb 22, 2009 11:18PM GramE wrote:

Happy Birthday, Karol.  Welcome to everyone else.  Susan, old lady disease... my onco said since it took me 62 years to get this, I could live to 100.  AND, my mom is going to be 96 in April - she is a 47 year BC survivor, had bi lat mast back in 1962.   

I fear what will happen with Medicare once I reach 65. BTW, by the way, my last "amount due" was $ 18.60, for over $18 K worth of treatment.  

Have you all had surgeries?  I had lump and SNB in December, after 16 rounds of chemo.  Herceptin is every 3 weeks with my latest tx last Thursday.   HUGS,  Nancy 

Feb 23, 2009 07:47AM kmccraw423 wrote:

Gosh, it is great to hear about women surviving until their nineties and beating breast cancer.  My grandmother had breast cancer when she was 40.  I don't remember much about it because I was a little kid but she died from a hospital infection 40 years later which had absolutely nothing to do with her breast cancer.

Mrscrj:  I loved your opening line.  If you don't mind, I am going to use it!

Feb 23, 2009 10:13AM klp wrote:

I don't remember getting hot flashes where I was really bothered by them even when I went thru natural menopause at age 50...

Feb 23, 2009 10:33AM GramE wrote:

No hot flashes here in  a LONG time - maybe  10 years ago.   I did not have Arimidex.  I like the term "seasoned", gonna use it instead of "senior citizen".   

Feb 23, 2009 12:18PM samedaynurseJan wrote:

This is so very good.......I feel so in touch with each of you !

Paula, you and I had our surgeries on the same day.....12/12/08....wondering why they suggested a mastectomy for you....location ? and JO how comes they did a full axillary node dissection ? You know, we try not to second guess ourselves , and I was very confident in all my decisions but you do wonder what formed other peoples decisions.....

I too would love to retire and play with my three little grandsons more but the health insurance is like a huge neon sign in my head flashing 24/7

My husband has been amazing throughout all of this.....totally my rock maybe our *seasoned* marriages have a hand in making that happen .....he changed disgusting dressings and cried with me and for me and really never left my side throughout the worst parts of this journey. Now that the worst is over things are more *normal* whatever that means, but we have a new closeness that will never change. He and I went to High school together......

I am on Arimidex and so far am experiencing NO side effects at all....I didnt have many hot flashes when I went through menopause, in my line of work, I meet a lot of women my age who are on Arimidex and most of us who are post menopause seem to have more of the joint and bone pain than the hot flashes....Im prepared for that and Im religiously taking the supplements that were suggested to me by my Drs.

A good friend of ours just lost his wife to her bc.....but the fight and the story are good....she was diagnosed in 1977 had her mastectomy and her chemo and her rads and had no reoccurence whatsoever for 26 years....her reoccurence was treated successfully for another 5 years and that all started back in the days when there was one surgery and one chemo and everyone got it no matter what. I believe we live in the age of good things......and this thread, will be a very good thing :) DH did well with his surgery this AM......back to work for me tomorrow

jan