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

IllinoisLady

Gloomy here today although I don't ( hope-hope ) think it will rain. We could get even a bit of sun in the afternoon. I hope we do, as a little blooming would be appreciated. So, I'm laughing about thinking it is Wednesday. I hate to admit how often I have to check about which day it is. My computer doesn't say which day --- but it does give a date -- and I keep a calendar close by. Personal post it notes so to speak.

Actually, I think it will be awhile before we get any truly nice weather. Well, I will just have to buck up and turn my sunshine lights on inside and I will do ok.

I hope you all have a good day. Stay safe and healthy.

petite1

ChiSandy, I gained back the cancer weight loss and still have the wrinkled arms and thighs. I know what you mean. Landsend makes a swim shirt and little shorts and skirts. I read that on one of the other threads and bought a nice set. It covers my wrinkles and my scar. My tumors were located in the far left outer quadrant of my left breast. It is visible with any traditional swimsuit or sleeveless top.

Carolehalston, I will check out that shampoo after I get my haircut. Thanks

mistyeyes

A lady I work with stopped dying her hair and it is a beautiful silver color and she uses some brand? of purple shampoo and sometimes it gives her a slight tint that just lovely.

Wren44

My flab is mostly due to age although I did lose about 15 lbs after dx. I have a mastectomy top from Lands End which has a higher neck and armholes than their regular tops and this year bought a pair of swim shorts. On me they're almost knee length and look hideous, but after I shorten them about 4 inches, they'll hide most of the flab and look ok. Side benefit is they'll be long enough to walk to the beach if I ever make it to Hawaii.

I'm getting ready to chop off some hair this morning before my shower. DH actually offered to cut the back if I wanted. He has always resisted before. I like it short enough to blow some lift into the top. If I can find our thinning shears (and they actually work) I can do the back in layers with those.

I don't have the patience to have my hair colored. I did it once and that was enough. At 79 it's still on the dark side of salt and pepper with a little bit of gray in the front. I wish I could put in a gray streak right in front, but DD says it will just turn red. MIL used a blue shampoo on her prematurely gray hair and looked awesome. FIL used to cut it into a pixie.

CeliaC

Stopped coloring and gradually went to natural silvery white almost 4 years ago. The purple shampoo prevents any "yellow" tones in my hair and brightens the color, but does not give me any purple tone. Currently using Joico Color Balance Purple and used Matrix So Silver as well. Salon uses L'anza Healing Color Care Silver Brightening, which is sulfate free, but pricier than others. I do believe the salon shampoo is superior and may switch when I run out of my current one. Since I only need to shampoo once a week, unless swimming in the ocean (not gonna happen until next year due to COVID), I may switch to L'anza next time.

I saw something on the news yesterday about the "no blow drying" at salons. The thing I love most about getting a haircut is the styling, so if I cannot have it styled, guess I won't bother with a haircut until my ends get "wasted". Will just carry on letting it grow & trimming bangs as needed at home.

quinnie

CeilaC: Yes in Cincinnati, they are not doing blow dries. I finally have an appointment next week. I still color and i really need it. I have been cutting my bangs but doing a horrible job. I love the pampering at the salon and now will be rushed out. Hopefully not for long but who knows. This weather here is also making thing worse. I love to be outside but this rain has put a damper on everything. Every day I go to radiation it is poring so look like a drowned rat!!

ChiSandy

My salon can let my hair towel-dry (I would stay in my car), or maybe rush home to blow it dry and then return for flatiron styling. I do have a Dyson AirWrap which I finally learned to use. I definitely need that bangs & ends trim--we'll talk about whether to keep coloring now that I have more salt than pepper. The difference between roots & ends is much subtler than it used to be. Bob still likes my hair long--it's higher-maintenance, but I never had any luck with short hair (especially when I was fat, I needed the length & volume for balance). I have a backlog of "Brazilian Blowout" brand shampoos & conditioners, which came free with my keratin treatments; but if I begin to travel again, I would be able to use hotel shampoos & conditioners despite their having sulfates & sodium. So no need to pack any. (Of course, it'll be forever before I'd feel safe boarding a plane again at my age).

Electrician threw me for a loop today--the path from where the garage power line goes into the basement wall on its way to the exterior runs through the jam-packed basement storage room we call the "snake pit," and a tight little sleeping loft built for a 7-yr old by the previous owner of the house (who, having 6 kids, turned every conceivable space other than living room, baths and kitchen into bedrooms). My band used to rehearse in what is now the storage room, but 33 years of accumulating stuff have taken their toll. The other way to route the power line is to run a new one from the breaker-box, through the hose/meter shed wall and around the outside of the house till it can be directed along either the underside of the deck down one of the posts, or atop the concrete below the deck down to the buried line in the yard. And the first alternative might require a crew to jackhammer the concrete. Meanwhile, more rain is scheduled from Sat. night through all of next week (hopefully, not as intense as last weekend). At least our streets didn't flood--unlike Lower Wacker Dr. and many, many suburban streets--which are still ponds and rivers. The Willis/Sears Tower is still dark, but Com Ed crews plan on being able to access its basement tonight to see if it's safe yet to bring the building back on line. But it's nothing like poor Midland, MI (and, inevitably, downstream). Two burst dams have that city under 9 ft. of water, knocking homes off their foundations and floating away. Amazing that there is not (thus far) a Katrina-level loss of life. So many there were already dealing with the pandemic--now they're in temporary shelters on higher ground, where social distancing is well-nigh impossible. (Many families are preferring to live in their cars in the shelter parking lots).

I put on a pair of denim leggings (size XL, which a year ago were so tight I couldn't pull them up) and a similarly sized T-shirt today (I try not to stay in my scrubs--which I use as PJs--all day), and my housekeeper said she hoped I wouldn't go out in such baggy pants. "Girl, you need new clothes," she said. I answered I was afraid I would regain my lost weight. "I know you--you won't. And even if you do, it wouldn't be enough for your size 12s to be too tight." To my surprise, Bob agreed. The only clothes I've bought (other than a couple of new sleep bras and new sneakers & socks for Bob to replace his hole-y ones) since this stay-home thing began are a T-shirt my singing partner designed and is selling on Redbubble, and a pair of size 10 denim Bermudas. So I bought a bunch of size M Bombas tees, 3 pr. of size 10 Levis jeggings (same colors as my 12s), and 2 more pr. of size 10 (chino) Bermuda cargo shorts. Bob says that in the unlikely event I can start swimming again, I should just wear my bra-size tankini/swim-short and my size 16 Speedo suits, wrinkly sagging skin and all. "You still look great for almost 70," he said. Icky is in the eye of the beholder...as long as I don't look at puddling flesh that are my thighs. Weight training might partly fill in my "bat wings" with muscle, but my inner upper thighs are a lost cause.

As for skin-removal surgery, I am not convinced it's worth the pain of recovery (especially since it'd take multiple rounds for different body parts), nor the risk of major surgery. Medicare would cover a tummy tuck or panniculectomy to ameliorate fungal infections, and a L breast reduction for symmetry and back pain relief, but I'm on my own for the rest of it. We have the money, but I'd rather use it to fix the house and maintain our std. of living (and bail out Gordy should his employer go under); we have enough to--should we wish to risk flying--buy an entire row of 3 coach seats for each of us, or maybe rent an RV to drive cross-country and see places we've never been (or I've only driven through at 75mph between gigs & music conferences). But for vanity? Maybe if I were 10 years younger and elective surgery weren't so risky. I'm still on the fence about getting ingrown-toenail-relief/prevention surgery.

carolehalston

Sandy, I'm with you on avoiding non-essential surgery.

The last couple of days I feel like my years might have caught up with me, causing some aching joints. Even with the walking, I've been doing less exercise since we stopped going to the gym. Those Silver Sneaker classes were great for keeping the whole body moving.

On the What's For Dinner thread I learned today that one of our former posters Susan, a great cook, Stage 4, has died. I feel sad but am glad I got to know her and admire her many talents. BC.org is such a wonderful place for communicating with so many different women from all over the world.

carolehalston

I forgot to say that the shampoo I mentioned does not tint gray hair. It brightens it and removes any yellowish hue. I'll find out the name when I have my hair done on the 29th.

IllinoisLady

Teach me to feel another's woe, To right the fault I see; That
mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me.
--Alexander Pope

petite1

Good morning, ladies. I am a lump today. The calico cat, Miss Felix, woke me up too early and I am moving slowly. I am hoping when I get my hair cut it will look white again. I stopped coloring it when I retired and like the white hair. If that doesn't work, I will try to "brighten" it. Today I am trying to contact long lost relatives to inform them of Mom's memorial service. I have only heard back from one cousin.

MCBaker

I have been using this for several years. https://www.amazon.com/Jhirmack-Shampoo-Silver-Plus-Ageless/dp/B00BSE4HXI/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3OH1VNNH1OLCP&dchild=1&keywords=jhirmack+silver+brightening+shampoo&qid=1590075949&sprefix=Jh%2Caps%2C202&sr=8-3 I got a haircut yesterday, and the curls are much milder.

carolehalston

I found the shampoo in a cabinet. I bought it at Sally’s Beauty Supplies

IllinoisLady

The shampoos look interesting. I do not have gray hair yet. I will be 75 in Sept. so I'm not sure I'm going to get much. My dad always kept his hair in a buzz cut so towards the end when his hair was a whole lot thinner I could not tell what color it actually was. It was lt. brown all his life. I think his side of the family did not gray quickly at all and maybe I won't either. Now that I've gotten this age and while I'm glad to still have my brown hair, I really doubt I'd get too annoyed/excited if it did turn gray. The thing is, don't have to do anything to even it out or anything. Just wash and wear pretty much.

ChiSandy

Mayor Lightfoot warned that Chicago will not be ready to move to Phase 3--or at least the al fresco dining part--by a week from tomorrow. She says likely "some time in June." A number of local restaurants are somewhat relieved, as Gov. Pritzker's announcement yesterday took them by surprise and they would need much more than a week to get ready for that. I haven't heard back from my hair salon (Alchemia), but I am still on the e-mail list for the Lincoln Park salon (J. Gordon) I used to use--they plan to reopen a week from Sat. They detailed all the measures they will be taking, but didn't say anything about blow-drying. If Alchemia goes under and blow-drying is allowed, I'll probably get my keratin treatments at J. Gordon--which was the first salon at which I had a "Brazilian Blowout." Definitely get my color there too. Only problem is that there isn't anywhere to park, and I'm nervous about taking transit or rideshare. Maybe if my HK can drive me down and pick me up (I'd have to wait outdoors, of course--indoor waiting areas will have gone the way of the dodo).

RCN guy came today--said that the router between the TiVO cable & modem failed--and that rebooting the modem & router on my own wouldn't have worked and I did the right thing by requesting the service call. Had to reset my eero "mesh" network, but all is well now.

CindyNY

Good evening ladies! I think if I let my hair go, white would be my color. LOL My mom was coloring her hair all my life I think. Dad was still more dark brown than gray at 87. We always teased him it was from Vitalis!

I met with 2 girlfriends, sitting 6+ feet apart in ones backyard. It felt so good! We stayed talking for about 3 hours. And we've made plans to workout together, in the same back yard, far enough apart, next week.

I also ran to Home Depot for plants. Had my mask on and carrying hand sanitizer. I was able to get 8 hanging baskets full of inpatients at $5 each; tag $10.98. A great deal, probably ahead of memorial day sale. I take them out of their basket and put them in my own planters. May add a spike and vinca vine to the pool deck planters but that's it.

Pool cover is draining. I've moved on to outside work as you can tell. Pool opening kit is next on the list. We've also got a screen house to put up. We've had great weather too, which helps getting motivated getting the yard ready for summer.

Everyone have a good peaceful night.

Taco1946

Sandy - I'm surprised your nutritionist didn't tell you to get rid of your "fat clothes", OK maybe keep the 12's. I lost 30 pounds with WW about 7 years ago and ditched a wardrobe. It's been a real incentive to know I will have nothing to wear. I'm within 5 lbs. of the weight when I stopped going (I had plateaued forever and wasn't finding the leader very helpful or supportive) and notice when they start to get too tight. That's been hard during the pandemic. Too much time on my hands and not enough exercise. I usually gain in the summer as it gets too hot to get out so will have to really watch it. Even Mutz wants fewer walks!

We have a perfectly lovely indoor walking track, state of the art exercise equipment and classes (although all that is still closed) but I haven't been very motivated to use them even when they were open. I really enjoyed a stretch and flex class when I was in treatment, but with my bad knee, getting up from the floor exercises would be a real challenge. I do continue to play golf in the summer but I've noticed that now that we are in separate carts, I do less walking even when I golf.

I too have a fear of flying. We missed out on a great trip in April and I have my doubts about the sailing ship through the Panama Cannel planned for November. I'm not even certain we will get to Maine to help our daughter celebrate her 50th birthday in August. There are no non-stop flights between Phoenix and Portland. Have to go through a hub city no matter which airlines we fly. Right now, Maine is requiring a two week quarantine and we never even stay that long.

But we are healthy and I'm grateful. I'm sorry if I sound whinny tonight.

ChiSandy

I don't fear flying per se--just in this day and age before there is either a vaccine for the virus or sure-fire treatments for COVID. (Sort of like those drugs that lower viral load so dramatically that HIV+ patients can now have unprotected sex without spreading it). Flying coach has been a PITA for the past 20 years, but at least planes weren't the airborne Petri dishes--at least not for fatal pathogens--they've been since the beginning of this year.

Bob wants to take a vacation in early fall (I'm afraid that's when the virus will start to spike again). We will likely drive. There is already a run on rental RVs. But if we choose our hotels carefully we might be okay. He's never seen the Rockies--and neither of us has seen Canada between Toronto and western B.C.

By Sunday temps are predicted to be in the 80s, even by the lake, and humid Sun. & Mon. with occasional storms...every day next week, in fact. Good thing our A/C fliters are clean, and we have a treadmill, upright bike & hand weights if the weather becomes too rotten to go walking.

My PCP, while still in the ICU, is improving slowly: vitals stable, chest X-ray getting clearer. But he did get a secondary infection from being intubated. Not sure if he's still on the vent.

petite1

Oh happy day! My cleaning lady is here!!!

IllinoisLady

Happiness consists not of having, but of being, not of possessing, but of enjoying. It is the warm glow of a heart at peace with itself.

Norman Vincent Peale

IllinoisLady

Long day today. Saw the Urologist Thurs. He has decided that it is time to have a look around. Means being put to sleep so on short notice yesterday we had to plan a quick trip to Marion VA for today. I needed some fancy blood work and a chest X-ray. I am low on potassium so will take it for a week. So, the hitch is the aneurysm. It is not big enough to operate on and stent -- but Dr. B wants to be very sure about that. Also had to switch to decaffeinated coffee to see if that would help with the blood pressure issues as well. I think it will all work out but we have done nothing bur run today. I'm babysitting two adorable cats in the next town over and go there twice a day as well. So, took care of our household, then went to the next town over and took care of those cats, then headed out to Marion. Stopped and got an egg salad breakfast on the way. Back to home to take care of our animals. Then over to Sandoval to care for the kits there. There is also a mother and three babies under that house that I'm feeding. So, it's about 6:15 p.m. and I'm pooped. Tomorrow will be so much better.

Hope you all had a good day. Sun here and up to 80. Warmer than I thought but the house stayed cool inside. No heat on, no air on, and it stayed just fine. The sun we had was muted most of the time and we are under lots of trees here. The only asphalt is a mile away. So -- all is good here. Looking forward to a relaxing evening.

ChiSandy

Jackie, where is the aneurysm? Hope it's small enough to just keep an eye on. As to decaf coffee, do you have a grinder? Metropolis Coffee & Tea in Chicago has an insanely good decaf called "Xeno's;" they roast weekly, and ship on fairly short notice. I think they also will ship it to you pre-ground. It's not cheap, but brewing a cup or two a day (and not wasting any) can be a non-extravagant luxury. I got lazy using a Keurig and a Nespresso; but since this stay-home stuff began, I rediscovered how delicious pour-over or press coffee can be--and the Xeno's (unlike Peet's or Starbucks decafs, roasted way too dark) actually tastes like coffee. You can order it online at Metropoliscoffee.com.

petite1

Good morning, ladies. It is warm this morning and will roll into hot. I need to walk early. Have a nice weekend.

IllinoisLady

Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues. -John Stoot

IllinoisLady

Sandy, the aneurysm is in my chest. From what I understand it is bigger at the top 4.2, loops downward and smaller 3.1 at the bottom. So, can't do much with it. We drank Sanka for many yrs. I'm not sure they sell it anymore. At the time we used it we could not tell in any way we were actually drinking it. I haven't looked if it is still possible ( we don't recall seeing it in stores around here for a long time ) to get it anywhere. So, I just may look into Xeno's. I think if I get used to not 'getting' the caffeine 'boost' from it I definitely would likely not drink much -- which would make it more affordable. We are getting by with the decaf from Aldi's right now. Interestingly, it tastes better with creamer which is opposite of what I expected. Anyway, I'll look it up later. I'm late to get to Sandoval today.

Betrayal

Jackie:

Walmart carries Sanka. Don't know if you have access to one but Amazon also carries it. I would imagine most grocery chains still carry it.

Taco1946

IllinoisLady - if you drink much caffeinated coffee, be prepared for several days of headaches as you make the transition. Hoping all goes well.

Taco

ChiSandy

Sanka is dreadful (even the non-instant version). My mom hated decaf but had to keep some Taster's Choice decaf on hand for friends who came over. Until she started getting Starbucks House Blend mailed to her, she drank only instant--and her brand of choice was Maxim. She made her local Publix order her a case of it. When she died, she still had half a jar left. The only instants I can stomach are Starbucks "Via," in little single-cup packets; and Nescafe in Israel (for some reason, it's the only coffee they put in even luxury hotel rooms--I guess when Israelis aren't drinking lattes in coffee shops or Arabian coffee, they have a "thing" for instant--if you want drip in a restaurant, you have to order "caffe filter," pronounced "feel-ter"). Haven't tried Via decaf, though.

IllinoisLady

The value of all service lies in the spirit in which you serve and not in the importance or magnitude of the service. Even the lowliest task or deed is made holy, joyous, and prosperous when it is filled with love. -CharlesFillmore

IllinoisLady

We do have a Walmart here ( a super one ) and maybe I've just missed seeing Sanka there. I will look for it and maybe check on-line too. I don't know if it has changed any since the days ( quite a long time ago ( likely 30 or more yrs. ) since we had to switch to Sanka. We tried several decaf brands ( Yuban, Folgers, Maxwell House ) and didn't care for any of them. Then we tried the Sanka and fell in love. I think it may have been their brewing method ( not sure after all this time ) but we were more than satisfied.

Taco, I have had some heavy feelings in my head, but I wasn't drinking a lot of coffee beforehand so I have been able to ignore the ( heaviness ). I haven't asked Dh. He sort of guzzles it. Had to work very hard to get him to quit trying to drink it for supper. He is a light sleeper and that has only gotten worse as we age. He likely is feeling it but takes a lot of pain meds, so maybe not suffering too much. My blood pressure was better today. Hope that continues on.