Illinois ladies facing bc

IllinoisLady

When you live in the present moment, time stands still.  Accept your circumstances
and live them.  If there is an experience ahead of you, have it!  But if
worries stand in your way, put them off until tomorrow.  Give yourself
a day off from worry.  You deserve it.  Some people live with a low-grade
anxiety tugging at their spirit all day long.  They go to sleep with it,
wake up with it, carry it around at home, in town, to church,
and with friends.  Here’s a remedy:  Take the present moment
and find something to laugh at.  People who laugh, last.

Barbara Johnson

IllinoisLady

Tim and Cam and anyone,

I'm with you on the PRICE of good health too.  Too much has changed through the years about how we do things, especially where food is concerned and so many of the products we buy.  We haven't been self-sufficient for a long, long time.  Our grand-parents and great grand-parents made do like making their own soap and having huge gardens and I think often raising and butchering their own meat.

Now we depend on suppliers that have to make lots of money and like any "family" they have to figure out how to mass-produce which results often in very poor quality. 

I'm thinking.....it may partly come down to survival of those whose body can build up a certain amt. of tolerance to substances that should not be going into our bodies at all.  So...I think all we can do is maybe find out which are the WORST offenders and stay away from those products as much as possible.

I considered not putting this here, but for many ( myself included big time ) the price of things -- whatever they are, is a big consideration.  So, if we do what we can and stay away from anything that  seems off the charts, I think all we can do is trust that our bodies will be able to adapt to what we use.

Blessings

Jackie

Timbuktu

Great quote Lady.  I feel as though that woman knows me!

Timbuktu

When my in-laws moved to America in 1959 the big shock was how cheap food was.  I think it's gotten cheaper and cheaper thanks to to these methods of growing and raising and selling food.  

Around the turn of the century, when the FDA was formed, The Jungle was written, the government got involved in insuring the safety of our food.  I think it's time for more reform.  We know so much more now!  But even as write this I think of how horribly corrupt the government is and I wonder.  I guess it's up to us?  Individually?  I don't know the solution.  I just know that estrogen should not be in our shampoos!

lago

 For years I've been using Alterna Hemp repair shampoo for color treated hair. Don't know if it has estrogen: linky  

"Free of: Parabens, gluten, synthetic color, DEA, TEA, phthalates, mineral oil, PABA, paraffin and petrolatum"

kjiberty

Here is a pic of me and 20 other ladies I met on BCO 2012 April/May chemo starters group in Tampa last weekend.  I can't begin to tell you the love we have for each other.  It's the way I feel about you ladies too!

ritajean

What a great-looking group of ladies! 

Timbuktu

Ditto!  Just beautiful!

IllinoisLady

Rita...you beat me to it.....was looking at the picture and thinking wow -- how great these ladies look.  Sure seems like what brought everyone together added another dimension to everyone.  Just fabulous.  I'm so glad you got to go Karen. 

Blessings

Jackie     

camillegal

Karen what a picture and I'm sure u'r time with each other was just as beautiful.

corpor

I've been interested in what we're eating and putting on our skin/hair for a few years.  It seems funny to me that a new source of delivering drugs is through patches on the skin, but there is essentially no regulation of lotions, etc that are also being put on the skin.  I've made a lot of changes (very little plastic in my house, I use canning jars for leftovers, etc.) but my sanity comes from the 80/20 rule.  If I'm intentional about what I'm eating and putting into my body 80% of the time, then I don't worry about the other 20%. 

I've been away for a few days and am catching up- so CONGRATS Tim!  Wonderful news!!!!

Corpor

fgm

I agree. You are all looking good.  Wonderful that you could all get together!

lago

They all look so happy!

IllinoisLady

Nature always takes
her time.  Great oaks don't become great overnight.  They also lose a lot of
leaves, branches, and bark in the process of becoming great.

Andrew Matthews

IllinoisLady

corpor.....I think you have a fantastic rule.  It is akin to being moderate in all things.  As most of us are not chemists and so, so many would find it troublesome to read and re-read every label ( manufacturing processes often change just when you're accustomed to a product ) then I think I certainly could live with the rule you use. 

Blessings,

Jackie

Timbuktu

corpor, sounds as though you're way ahead of the game.  One question, how do you avoid plastic?  It seems to be everywhere.  I do buy milk in glass bottles but if I want spring water it only comes in plastic.  I suppose I should buy fruits and vegetables that come without plastic...  

lago

Yes I too and frustrated by water coming in plastic containers. I wish I could put a filter on my kitchen sink but we can't. All the Brita type things are made of plastic too. Granted I don't buy the individual bottles. I stick to these: 

IllinoisLady

There are some companies that will put in a water dispenser at your house.....I don't know the cost but betting it could be rather high.  We have a triple water cartridge system under our sink.  It is hard to change but seems to do an excellent job. 

Blessings,

Jackie

Timbuktu

The water dispensers are plastic!

Is the ice mountain container the supposedly safe kind of plastic?  We used to get water deliver by Oberweis in a container just like that.  Then we stopped delivery and went back to the faucet.  I'm a little leery of the filters too.  Don't they use carbon?

I get so confused trying to figure these things out until I just throw my hands up and say fuggedabout it.  But I can't do that anymore!  

I also live near high tension wires and have a cell phone tower aimed at my house!  They are about 500 feet away which is supposed to be the safety zone.  I once talked to the health dept about all of this.  He said there was more cancer near the wires but they don't know the cause, it could be from all of the herbicides they use under them.  I said something about moving to the country and he said "Then you may have well water than is downstream from an abandoned lead mine."  Ahhhh!

lago

Tim I have no Idea but I assume that there is less plastic than in individual bottles so maybe less will infiltrate. I think the real issue with plastic is if it's exposed to heat or acids. That's why I buy pomi tomatoes instead of canned and do not microwave with any kind of plastic. If I need a cover in the microwave it's wax paper or paper towel. Always glass container.

corpor

I do the 80/20 rule with plastic too.  So I use a filter that attaches to the sink but the cartridges have less plastic (don't remember the brand).  I just try to be intentional about what I'm using.  If I have to use plastic I will, but I try to avoid if possible.  It is possible a lot more than I thought!  Just switching to canning jars made a big difference.  I don't make myself crazy about it, I just make an effort to be conscious of what I'm doing.

Corpor

BoatinGirl

Have not been on in a few weeks, and was so intrigued by this discussion of food and health & beauty product safety, as I was just having this same discussion with a friend yesterday.

It did also remind me of an exchange I have with one of my sisters every couple of months.  She always asks how I am feeling and what my docs are doing to ensure I have no re-occurrence of cancer.  My answer is always what my MO's assistant told me:  check in with them when I experience something out of the ordinary, on a persistent basis.  

I'm just curious - is that all there is?  Beyond my blood work and my annual physical, is that really how we are monitored for re-occurrence?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

P

lago

BoatinGirl yup. I get "felt up" every 6 months (I have boobie prizes no boobs) and take my little pill. But 2 of the most important things you can do (other than that pill) to put the odds in your favor is exercise and keep a healthy weight. I also like to add keep stress down but that hasn't been studied. My gut says that will help too. Exercise will help with stress too. Also keep your alcohol intake low.

From what I have read there is no difference in survival if they find a recurrence before or after you start having symptoms for distant mets. Regular scans only expose you to more radiation, and too much radiation is carsinogentic.

IllinoisLady

Trials, temptations, disappointments -- all these are helps instead of
hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fiber of
character but strengthen it.  Every conquering of temptation represents
a new fund of moral energy.  Every trial endured and weathered in the
right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.

James Buckham

IllinoisLady

Boatingirl,

It is hard to have a lot of confidence once you encounter a bolt from the blue like cancer.  Sometimes I "suddenly realize" from some little twinge or odd feeling that my mind has gone back to  -- how were my last blood tests and am I really ok.  We just have to learn to try and live life with the same flair and hope while doing what we can ( Lago's good advice ) that we stay as fine as we usually feel.  Being this far out....I'm just assuming there is always a tiny bit of a shadow and now and then it might cause a little apprehension. 

I try and chase that shadow with grateful thoughts of being still here and still living a good life and in many ways a far richer life for the friends I've found who have filled my life with love, joy, and all good things.  Hope you can find a comfy spot inside of you that helps you cope with as little apprehension as possible.

Blessings

Jackie

BoatinGirl

Thanks Lago - with all the inconsistencies in post-op treatment protocols, it is reassuring to know at least this direction is somewhat consistent.  Now if only my sister would accept it :0)  I do hate how BC impacts our family.

lago

BoatinGirl you can try to give her one of my famous lectures:

seat belt speech:

You don't assume you will get into a car accident every time you
get in your car. You do put on your seat belt and drive carefully. Same
with breast cancer. Eat right, maintain a healthy weight, exercise,
and take your hormone therapy (if prescribed). No reason to think you
are going to get mets until you actually have a symptom. You don't go about every day thinking you're going to have a heart attack or stroke either.

also my 

shit happens speech:

Some people win the lottery and become millionaires too but do you
really think that's going to happen to you? Shit happens. Sometimes
good shit, sometimes bad shit, but most of the time shit doesn't
happen. Don't assume shit is going to happen to you. Granted I am still waiting for that lottery win shit to happen to me

fgm

Lago-excellent advice. (But there is that negative little voice that creeps into our thoughts every once in a while.)

corpor

Lago I LOVE the seatbelt speech!  That makes a lot of sense.

lago

fmg of course it will always be there but it does get better. I'm not saying I never ever have concerns. Sure I get a headache but then take the Excedrin and it goes away. But that little voice is still there at times. Now that I am 3+ years I feel much less concerned about it coming back. The highest risk for recurrences is in the first 2 years. Each year you remain NED your risk goes down after that. It will never be 0 but really your risk of any disease is never 0 when you think about it. I wouldn't want a stroke either!