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

carolehalston

Teacher, weddings are a big industry. I remember when dh's niece got married about 20 years ago and the price tag was $20,000. Now I hear it's $30,000 and up. I'm from a blue collar background and can't quite see the value in a big "production."

The deck is coming along. DH is taking a break because we're having to charge the battery for the drill. I'm hoping he doesn't tire himself out too much to play golf this afternoon. I have a 3:36 tee time at Blueberry Pines golf course. The greens fee gets cheaper after 3:30.

Wren44

Termite, You might try another browser if you have more than one. I can post from Firefox but not from Safari.

shuf

Hi guys just returned from Nantucket where we relaxed for 7 days. Beautiful place and the oysters are great! I also loved watching the seals in the ocean right off beach area so cute. We went for our ann. which was in May. DH having some heart problems so that has me in worry mode. My sister has taken my mom for a few weeks so I don't have that worry. Back and forth to dr's for him and Me so we really needed the break. Thinking of everybody! Shuf

IllinoisLady

Welcome back, Shuf !!!!  Your Nantucket vacation sounds very fun and very relaxed.  Glad the medical issues you each have didn't prevent you from going.  I hope these issues can be resolved to a point where each of you can be comfortable about each other. 

I maybe wouldn't have cared for oysters but have to tell you --- I can't recall ever truly eating any ---save maybe for what you might find in Thanksgiving dressing.  They never did too much for me in there -- but maybe I wasn't really tasting much at the time.  Sort of terrible to say you don't like something you haven't truly eaten.  Well, maybe I just feel sorry for the oysters.  When I was little I think I felt like the oyster was being "hounded" for the pearls they had --- and that may have turned me off the idea of eating them -- like someone was hurting them so they could steal from them what they had.  I just never wanted to try them. 

Don't do lobster for much the same reason --- hearing them "scream" when put in boiling water.  Funny -- I only heard about the "screaming" and never heard it for real myself --- and it is not really real, I don't think --- but first impressions when they come at the wrong time ( when you are so young you don't know ) can leave a real mark. 

Anyway --- just glad it was a great get-away for you and you have a little alone and catching up time now that you are home.

Jackie

carolehalston

Shuf, glad you had a great vacation. Hope your health status and your dh's both improve.

See you tomorrow, Puffin!

Joan811

Jackie, I love your quotes especially "I am Happy…."
Carole and Jackie, I am glad you have stayed with BCO. You bring so much to others.
Carole and Puffin, so nice that you could get together – I think today's the day.

I had 11 days straight of overlapping family visitors and it was great.I had my last day of (easy) evening work Tuesday.I counted 40 days remaining until I return to work.I vowed to use them well – even if it meant hanging out and doing very little.I got my hair cut yesterday and left it long – I have a wedding Sunday and thought it would be nice.

Speaking of summer, we all know how "quickly" it seems to fly….especially if we are going by academic schedules which "end" summer by mid August or Labor Day.However, as of today, we are in day 19 of official summer and there are 65 days left! Enjoy!

I have a new kitty – no name yet – she is a purebred, about a year (?), but she is a rescue. The shelter told me they were waiting for just the right setting for her…no other cats, no small children, and lots of snuggle and brushing (long haired cat).I am so blessed as I always wanted a long-haired cat but did not want to "buy" a cat from a breeder. She is a sweet little bundle of mushy love.

We are going away (planned before kitty arrived) and now have the dilemma of where she will stay. It is much harder than I thought to find a place and to even think of leaving her.

Jackie, I admire your dedication to the dear animals who depend on your caring and giving.

I have read all the posts I missed, so will write a little more later.

carolehalston

Joan, what is your kitty's name? You'll have to post a picture.

You sound happy. That makes all of feel good!

carolehalston

And I haven't forgotten lunch with Puffin at Detroit Lakes!

IllinoisLady

Spirituality is a flower with a

thousand petals:  every act, every

thought, every talk, every movement

of our heart is a part of it.

Robert Muller

IllinoisLady

Morning from rainy, soggy southern Illinois.  Not minding the rain tooooo much --- though partly due to knowing that we are getting good sun in-between the storms.  Keep me up a bit better about the dreaded color of gray that goes along with the rain.

Great to hear from you Joan and the news of your new friend/companion -- very welcoming.  She sounds like a lovely lass for sure.    Of course, I'm such a push-over for animals that I'll be clapping about this news for days.  That said --- I am doing my level best to not rescue anymore.  I always have too many here -- though as they all have different personalities most of the time I keep up ok --- but it is just ok. 

Duty calls and I have to take Dh to work but I'll be back to finish right after.

Jackie

Ok, back again.  Dh is still waiting for the transmission work on his truck.  Terrible thing happened yesterday --- Dh kept my car leaving me at work.  When he picked me up my car didn't want to start, but finally did.  Came home to fill out bills to be paid --- and Dh checked the battery and all seemed fine.  So, when we left to carry the checks around for my bills -- car once again not wanting to start --- so Dh was with me --- and I sat with the car running while he ran in and left the checks for the bills. Then we turned into the alley-way of the garage where Dh gets his work done. 

How great -- the owner and major employee were out there just then.  So -- told them how my car was acting --- they both said --- sounds like a starter.  Turned out that was it --- and they were able to have one delivered right then -- as my old one was taken out ( for core charge ) and within less than an hour --- back on the road again.  I had visions of both our cars being in-operable at the same time --- and lastly, I now have to stop saying my car runs great all the time.  It has --- up to now, never needing more than tire changes, batteries, oil changes, or gas.  Fingers heavily crossed that this "list" now started stays this short for a long, long time.

Looking to have a quiet day here -- suits me though the rain will stop  soon and thinking we won't get any more today.  

We will be eagerly awaiting those pics from Puffin and Carole  won't we?   I think it is always amazing when there is an opportunity for  anyone to get together with the friends they have made here.  Would always be nice if the 'bond' starting us all out had not been cancer --- but then, since I feel like there is a reason for all events, encounters, and life in general --- it likely doesn't matter so much about the why behind the fact that we all came together.  My view is just to treasure it now that its here. 

Hope you are all having a dry day without too much heat involved.  Our weather is just crazy everywhere lately it seems.  Talk to you all later.

Blessings

Jackie

mysunshine48

Joan, Check with your vet about people who come into your home to take care of animals when you are away. Aldo, I have used Care.com. Look up pet sitters. Never had a problem giving my house key to someone to care for pets. Always good.

Wren44

Joan, We need a photo of your new fur baby. Rescued cats are the best! I saw a bumper sticker that said "My favorite breed is rescued" with cat and dog faces.

Joan811

mysunshine, Great idea to try care.com. I tentatively have her set for another local vet who comes recommended. They have a staff for 12 hours per day there just for the boarders. I will check it out Monday. Meanwhile, I have a call in to a recommended pet sitter. Either way, the vet will check her out.

Jackie, Carole, Wren, it is comforting to have her here. The guys at my job are creating a very difficult time for me and an email I got upset me. The next day, I found the table I have been wanting for months in an outlet in really good shape for half price. Smile.... that same day I found our Kitty on line and made the inquiry ... and got approved! Bigger smile! It put things in perspective and showed me that I have much more important things to focus on. Now, the sweetness and comfort Kitty gives makes my days end happy.

She is allegedly purebred...I had listed myself for a long-haired domestic but every one I tried to adopt was taken. I have had many in/out long and short-haired feral cats but am now ready for an indoor kitty. Our house is quiet which is what the shelter was looking for. We gave a donation that covered her spaying and shots and care.
As per your requests, here is Miss No Name.

Wren44

Joan, She's beautiful. Animals will always treat you better than people.

bonnets

Joan love the kitty. We lost our "Holstein" kitty this spring. She was the smartest cat I ever had, understood so much. I'm finally disciplining myself to NOT get another til we stop traveling so much. Last time I lasted 2 weeks, doing better this time! We love them so.

Beautiful today, pulled some weeds and sat in the sun a while.

Joan811

Thanks Wren, so true!!

Jean, So sorry to hear about your kitty....sounds very special and a real family member. You will know when you are ready to commit to another. I checked with the vet when I was there with our last kitty who was 16, and it was 2011. The main reason we did not get one is lots of travel and working long hours. Not much has changed, but we are hoping it works out.

Cable guy here for 3 hours so I did not get out. But I still have a few hours of daylight to be outside.

sandra4611

Just dropping in to catch up on everyone's posts. Goodness, there were three pages to go through! Love the beautiful kitty. We are down to two now with the oldest of those, Jeffrey, soon to leave us. He is 17. My blind kitty Rosie died several weeks ago. We'll soon be left with only one, ten year old Emily, who is a long haired grey girl. Her middle name is Poupon...after all she IS grey. (LOL)

Daughter Allison is still here with me and our list of finished home and garden projects is impressive. She leaves to go back to Chicago in about two weeks and of course I will miss her terribly after six months here. She'll be taking her two fur babies, orange domestic short hair cats Toby and Joshua, with her. We will surely miss them too. Mike is doing so good that his oncologist thinks he might be able to go another six months or maybe even a year before needed the bone marrow transplant. Allison will return home and get a job to replenish her bank account. The plan is that she will return when he has the transplant.

The oncologist is amazed that Mike's lab numbers continue to stay stable and he has not required any more blood transfusions since he began chemo six months ago. He will have a second bone marrow biopsy next Friday. Hopefully the percentage of cancer cells in his bone marrow will still be low enough to keep him from the second diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. We know that's where he's headed since there is no cure for him, but so far the percentages have been low enough to limit his diagnosis to one, Myelodisplastic Syndrome. The docs want to wait until he shows signs of worsening before "pulling the trigger" on the bone marrow transplant. Apparently he is one of the most successful patients they've ever had, especially considering that his stage was the worst one of the four in January and they felt he had to get to transplant within 3 months. No one could have predicted that he would respond so miraculously to chemo. With his disease, chemo is not really a treatment. It often doesn't work at all but usually will help the lab numbers to stay stable for a period of time. The docs say it generally takes three or four months to see any signs of stability but Mike responded within weeks of the first chemo.

The docs have given Mike the green light to do some traveling which is something I never thought we'd be able to do again. Of course his immune system isn't the greatest so we aren't going to be around crowds, but we are going to have a bit of a holiday in the Florida Keys in October. He made the plane reservations today. We have friends with a vacation house in Marathon - about half way down the Keys and about an hour and a half north of Key West. They will pick us up at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale and we'll drive to Marathon. Afterwards they will drive us back up to St. Petersburg and we'll spend a few days working on the house I inherited (my daughter Stephanie lives there) before flying back to San Antonio.

I'm still half-amazed that I'm actually saying that we are taking a vacation. The prognosis was so grave for Mike in January. Just goes to show you never know what will happen.

Missing posts from Di and from Mimi.

Puffin2014

What a fun time today visiting with Carole and her DH in Detroit Lakes - we talked for 3 hours! More road construction than we were expecting but luckily the road by our cafe was open. Afterward lunch we walked along the lake and found a shady table to sit at in the park. We're going to find another time to get together this summer when Lew can join us too, and we'll give them a lesson in riding a Segway. (Carole's on the left, I'm the short one on the right)

bonnets

Always neat to meet your online friends!

Puffin2014

Sandra, we must have both been typing at the same time, such good news about Mike, so happy for you.

Joan, what a pretty kitty.

IllinoisLady

Gosh, don't know where to begin.  First I guess --- such fantastic news about Mike, Sandra.  It has been said that the Lord works in mysterious ways and who of us really knows what is meant to be.  I correspond with a person ( she was dx. Stage IV ) who has turned up being NED for 18 yrs. now.  So, we don't know who, and we don't know why and we can't do much about it but relax and enjoy it.  Seriously though --- that is very good news and I'm so glad for you and certainly for Mike. 

Wonderful to see you two Carole and Puff.  What a great picture.  Learning Segway's sounds like lots of fun. 

Joan , what a gorgeous kitty.  I don't know if it is the camera but I love the vanilla tinges  in her hair.  I am not too good at cat naming.  Seems though I did read once that cats seem to respond best to names that end in an  E sound -- like Kitty, or Bitty.  That left me a bit surprised as the last cat I took in not so very long ago -- couple of months now was named by her former deceased owner, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth knows her name really, really well and will always look at you when you say it and usually 'talks' back a little to you --- so much for what will get a response name-wise.  I'd say it seems that it won't matter what sound comes at the end.  If you love her and she knows it, I think she would respond to anything. 

By the way, it still feels a bit weird to call a cat Elizabeth.  It's awkward, but she knows the name so we just keep it that way.   Well, I went back up and looked at the picture and she looks so pensive though totally at ease.  Maybe she is a Gracie or a Carly, or a Ginger.  You'll know later on.  Whatever she becomes for you --- she is perfect.

Jackie

Joan811

Sandra, thanks for the update on Mike. Many of us think of you often and know this is a difficult time for all of you. I am sure you will miss Allison and the kitties, too. Great news for you -- Mike's progress and a vacation! Wishing you all the best...and I love "Poupon" - how perfect!

Thanks, Jackie, the kitty is a creamy color with tinges of tawny reddish color. I like your naming hints. I had thought of Grace, but did not think of Gracie. I like that....
Your Elizabeth is a mouthful....but a special name for your special kitty.

Carole and Puffin, I just LOVE your photo. You two look like school girls. I am so glad you had this special day.

Blondie, I hope you are having the best time ever in Florida. Wishing you good health and great memories while you are there.

Nite all...

mommarch

Good Morning, I had my CT on Thursday and saw ONC on Friday. Not good news. The Xeloda was not working and liver mets increasing in size. They are trying to get me into have a port put in this next week and start taxtore infusion chemo on Friday July 17th. Needless to say the Dr. was very disapointed as was I. Don't know how long chemo will last. I will have it every three weeks and at the 9th week another CT to see if it is helping. Will not have any bad hair days again, last time I just wore the turbins and that worked out good. I may look at getting a wig this time around. I am going to have my friend shave my head after the first chemo. I do not want that scalp pain as the hair folicals dye.

Hope everyone is doing good and have a good weekend.

IllinoisLady

In a noisy world, seek the silence in your heart. And through the power of silence, the energies of chaos will be brought back to harmony--not by you, but through you, as all miracles are. When we visit this silence regularly, particularly in the morning, then the days of our lives become lit from above. Darkness and fear are cast from our midst, slowly at first, one moment at a time. Ultimately, all darkness will be gone from every heart.
 
Marianne Williamson

IllinoisLady

Mommarch, I am so sorry to hear your news.  I go on another cancer blog  along with this one and many of the women there are Stage IV though plenty are not -- they have a Stage IV side so some post to both.  The point being that many of them have also used Xeloda  with decent results.  Not sure though if it was ever first in the line up.  I just wish you had gotten better results.   There are lots of chemo's and you will/should get the results you are seeking.  Hopefully the Taxotere will do the trick.  That was one that I took.  Had A/C combo first which is Adriamycin and the "red devil " Cytoxan -- or maybe I have the two backward --- but here's hoping you just knock that stuff down like it was never there.

I applaud your hair removal plans.  I had lots of scalp pain  ( seemed as though you could feel every little individual hair follicle ) and my hair as it was dying looked awful  (it looks dead which it is ) and felt  horrid.   Sort of really greasy hair that had dried out but had this odd thick dry feel to it, but you couldn't really comb it or make it look good.  It was just hanging there -- not moving and you could feel the limp disconnection.    Anyway, I'm glad you are not going to have to go through that again. 

Jackie

Puffin2014

mommarch: I'm so sorry about your latest report, sending out {{{hugs}}} and prayers that the chemo takes care of it for you.

carolehalston

DH and I both enjoyed our time with Puffin. She is a VERY interesting person with the energy of the energizer bunny. Lew sounds interesting, too, so we're looking forward to meeting him. We were chatting with a couple here in the campground who live in Fargo and we told them to be on the lookout for a couple riding segways around town! They were intrigued at the notion.

Joan, your kitty is adorable. I think Gracie is a cute name. Trust Jackie to know about naming kitties!

Sandra, you sounded good in your post. It's great news that Mike is holding his own. I hope the two of you enjoy your vacation in FL.

Mommarch, we're all disappointed that your chemo fell down on the job after causing you a lot of misery. Sure hope this next one does the job. You sound like you're dealing with the situation in your usual level-headed fashion. Healing thoughts will definitely be focused on you.

Jackie, what a good thing to have your car's problem diagnosed so quickly and the repair done right away.

I drove the 1-ton pickup into town this morning and worked out at the gym. I could tell how much it was needed because my heart rate immediately got up into the 130's when I was on the elliptical. This small Anytime Fitness gym is immaculately clean. You have to take off your street shoes just inside the door and change into athletic shoes. There are wipes dispensers everywhere to clean the machines wherever you've made hand contact after you've finished with a machine. There were few people there on a Saturday morning. I think the gym will work out fine for the summer.

We had 50 per cent chance of rain today and didn't get more than a couple of drops. The grass needs watering and the dust needs to be settled on the road in the campground. I'm hoping we get the 50 per cent rain tomorrow and not the 50 per cent no rain.

Missing Chevy, Cammi, Mimi, GG, Rita, and others. Rita is probably resting after the grandson's visit!

Joan811

Carole & Puffin, I am so glad your visit went so well! It sounds like you will be meeting again.
The gym sounds nice, Carole. I like clean, quiet gyms! It sounds like you get plenty of exercise on the bikes. Enjoy your days.
Mommarch, I am sending prayers your way for finding the right treatment so you can see good results. You have done so much for your family, always ready to travel and help out...I believe now it is time for your miracle.
I never knew about that the hair shedding could be painful. I did not do chemo, and I am always amazed at how so many women continue to deal with this difficult life interruption.

I have been telling some people that I am 3 years out from diagnosis; but I realized this week that it is really four years. I guess time flies...and my brain doesn't always get things right any more.

Puffin2014

Carole, I went to our Fargo Anytime Fitness for a couple years and found it to be very clean as well. After the Livestrong program I switched to the Y, they had more group classes during the day and approved me for a $25/month scholarship membership.

IllinoisLady

Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren't any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn't be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life's challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person.
  Buckminster Fuller, 1895 - 1983