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

ChiSandy

Ugh--tis the season to be wheezin'. Dontcha just hate it when you exhale and your lungs keep on squeaking after you think you're done with that breath? Feel better--and real chicken broth (canned is okay as long as it's from a chicken) will loosen the secretions so that when you do cough you can bring them up and out of your lungs. Also, you can close the bathroom door, put a camomile tea bag some eucalyptus bath oil or a blob of Vapo-rub on the bottom of the tub, turn the shower on full-blast and breathe (from outside the tub).

MinusTwo

Sandra - thinking of you & Mike & the kids and sending hugs.

IllinoisLady

Free will is not the liberty to do what one likes, but the power of doing whatever one sees ought to be done, even in the very face of otherwise overwhelming impulses.There lies freedom indeed.

George MacDonald

IllinoisLady

Puffin, glad you were able to have the camping experience, but also that you got some help so you can get back on your feet. Bronchitis is rotten and I think Sandy can you some excellent home remedy advice while your waiting for your meds to take strong hold.

Looking forward to today -- maybe the last nice day for a bit. Storms may be coming, but the heat is too. Glad when all that gets settled. I'm back on regular schedule today after my stint taking care of my patient, my employers' house and their sweet little pooches. I'm very fond of all so there was no question that I would do it --- though some things for me go on hold. In a couple of weeks I'll start my friend with the kitties and do them for her while she is gone on another tour. I enjoy it all and we developed a working system and relationship some time back so it is all good for me.

Anneb1149

Morning all

I am finally back in one of "my" homes- the one in Ga. I am physically and emotionally exhausted. Last Wed, I woke up in NY, and went to bed in NC. Fri, I woke up in NC and went to bed in SC. Yesterday, I woke up in SC and went to bed in GA. Although I was in NY for a lousy reason, it seems like that was kind of a wake-up moment for everyone and much of the time we gathered together for meals or just hanging out. The only family that did not participate in the gatherings was my brother's family. His wife is still getting transfusions weekly and they are no closer to to a DX than they were the first time she was admitted. And they just kind of circled their own wagons to rest and regroup, as much as they could before young Bill headed back to Germany with his family. Noreen went down to the city on Fri for a consultation at NYU. NYU has cutting edge technology which they hope will give them some answers.

I posted when Noreen was first admitted to the hospital, and Bonnets replied that her husband had gone thru the same type of thing until they finally realized it was a deer tic bite. She said there seemed to be a large increase in that situation this summer,where she lived at least. Long story short, her husband was treated at the same hospital as Noreen. I told everyone what she had said, and they all thought that was not possible for Noreen. Then I posted my brother's obituary and how incredible the viewing was, with a never ending line for over 8 hrs with a small break for dinner.

Bonnet PM'd me saying that she thought maybe her SIL's father knew my brother, because he, too, was part of he Goshen FD. It took some back and forth, but not only did her SIL's father know both my brother and my cousin very well, but the SIL had gone thru HS with my cousin's daughter Dede, AND Dede's husband's mother, and Bonnet's SIL's mother were sisters! The SIL's father had been at both the viewing and funeral. Small world. We are hoping to meet the next time I go up.

Being back in Ga means major grocery shopping and menu planning. My DD had a second skin cancer removed last Thurs and is so swollen she can't open her left eye completely yet, so her husband was happy to drive halfway to Charlotte so he could turn over his nursing job (mostly waiting on her, and her emotions) to me. He is still in charge of cleaning and dressing the bandages daily. She had a real crying fit of frustration justbefore he left to get me and he said "Nancy- 10 minutes- 10 minutes and I would have been on my way to get your mom! You know I can handle the medical and physical needs, but you know I can't stand to see you cry. 10 minutes!! You couldn't wait 10 minutes!". Of course, round trip was closer to 3 hrs, but he would have been out of the house.

Anne

bonnets

Anne, Sure wish they wud try treating her for the Anaplasmosis, Babseosis etc, with antibiotic. The CDC recommends that , even when no diagnosis, if it is a possibility. It can't hurt! Does Noreen have a low platelet count? That was one of My DH symptoms. That effects blood clotting!

IllinoisLady

Bonnets, I truly ( not that my opinion matters ) agree with you. As long as the dx has not been made things that are possible to do should be done. No reason for a person to have un-needed and un-wanted medical issues and as long as she is anywhere, where it is possible to have this problem, I'd try, rather than to 'search' so long for what seems to be a highly evasive answer.

Anneb1149

Bonnets, I have mentioned it to everyone possible. I agree with you and Jackie. The problem is that right now, Noreen is retreating from everyone. I texted her several timeswhile I was up there, and she answered thru my sister. When we were leaving, my brother told her to call him if she needed anything. Her first response was "You're 700 miles away, how could you help me?" and when he said if she needed him physically there, he'd be there in 12 hrs. Her response to that was that she will continue to use our sister to keep us updated. So, not really open to suggestions from us. I understand that she is beyond overwhelmed with Bill's death and her medical issues, but is shutting everyone except her daUghter out. The hardest thing for me is that I went thru the same thing with my husband. He didn't have cancer, but he did have a very slow death over a long period of time. I think I could offer her some support. I have done everything I can, And will continue to suggest the possibility to everyone up there, but that's all I caN do.

DaraB

Anne, so sorry for al the hard family times right now. I'd offer a suggestion to just keep trying with Noreen, maybe send her little cards saying you're thinking of her or maybe a small box of cookies or tea or something she likes. We sometimes push people away just when we should be pulling them closer. She'll know you are there, and hopefully things will ease for her. Hang in there. Dara

Jo6202

Jiffrig, my radiation schedule was everyday Mon-Fri for six and a half weeks. 33 treatments total. Best of luck with your treatments.

Jo

IllinoisLady

We the decent people of the world stand for the kind of life that will be good for all of the people, all of the time, everywhere.We believe that this is a beautiful universe and that it is made for love and not for hate; for peace and not war; for freedom and not slavery; for order and not riot; for compassion and not violence; for happiness and not misery.We believe that the ultimate decency is to help people and never harm people, to lift people and not degrade them, and to respect the dignity of all people as individual human beings. -Wilferd A. Peterson

IllinoisLady

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." ~ Rumi

Puffin2014

Looking forward to getting together with Carole today for lunch.

IllinoisLady

Be brave enough to live creatively.The creative is the place where no one else has ever been.You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition.You cannot get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and by not quite knowing what you are doing.What you will discover will be wonderful:yourself. -Alan Alda

MinusTwo

Oh Puffin & Carole - hope you have a great lunch. Looking forward to hearing about your meet up.

IllinoisLady

Hope as well Carole and Puffin that you had a great time at lunch and enjoyed every moment. I'm with Minus -- inquiring minds want to know.

Puffin2014

We had a wonderful lunch at the India Palace, After lunch we visited the Roger Maris museum in a wing of a nearby mall (he was from Fargo), and then they took a tour of my yard before heading back to their campground. No Segway rides this year, Segways not working well. Carole's hubby took photos so she'll be posting those.

sandra4611

Mike is better! His lab counts are still terrible but the paralytic ileus has resolved for the most part and he was able to have food. He said mashed potatoes and ground prime rib was the best thing he'd ever had. His emotions are on the surface and he gets teary-eyed often during the day. He holds my hand and says, "Maybe I'm not going to die after all." We've been here in Houston six weeks now but with any luck, things will progress and his counts will rise enough to get the final chemo. What he had a month ago is called induction and the upcoming one is called consolidation. Since it will lower his lab counts, it has to be delayed until he is better. But he's progressing so fast, it might not be long. Mike doesn't remember much of the past month. Just as well. He was so sick. Now he is cracking jokes, staying awake for hours at a time, and taking supervised walks. He can't get out of bed by himself, but once helped to stand, he shuffles along with a walker. His physical therapist follows with his IV pole and a wheelchair. Invariably, at the end of the hallway, he'll give up the walker and "ride" home to his room.

If all the pieces fall into place, we could be discharged in another week and stay in Houston for one more week after that before heading back to San Antonio. Our hospital will manage his care for a couple weeks but we will have to come to Houston for two days every month for the foreseeable future.

There is hope!

MinusTwo

Oh Sandra, what wonderful news. Joking, laughing, eating!!! You must be so relieved at this turn of events. Did your daughter & Ryan go back to their respective homes? You are always in my thoughts.

IllinoisLady

If religion commands universal charity, to love our
neighbors as ourselves, to forgive and pray for all
our enemies without any reserve; it is because all
degrees of love are degrees of happiness, that
strengthen and support the Divine life of the soul,
and are as necessary to its health and happiness,
as proper food is necessary to the health
and happiness of the body.

William Law

IllinoisLady

Puffin and Carole -- sounds like you had a wonderful time together. So glad of that as experiences shared adds good dimensions to us and gives life an overall wonderful life.

Ah Sandra !!!! Great picture of your wonderful, adoring half and marvelous words to go with it. Mike is probably the better off that most of his preceding weeks are something of a blur. He doesn't need anything now to drag him down even a little and slow any progress which sounds fantastic indeed. Never really know which way things will go -- it is just up to us to cherish what comes and accept that we are not in charge. Both you and Mike are inspirations and I hope for whatever health and happiness there is to speed its way to you and stay as long as possible. Hope is a special thing -- a great anchor to the life the good Lord gave us.

Anneb1149

Sandra- so glad things seem to be turning around. Enjoy Mike's return to his world. Just being able to converse with him, and have him participate by telling jokes must be such a burden off your shoulders. What a blessing!

Haven't got much going on here in Ga. I am going to be helping Michael fill out college applications this weekend. I am a little upset that they weren't done earlier. His acceptance should not be a problem, because he is in the top 3% of seniors nationwide, and has 14 college classes already completed, and is taking 5 more this year. He is only applying to local Ga schools as he is incredibly unsure of himself on his own. His brother is a freshman this year, but thinks he wants to go into some type of forensics, and was asking me what sciences he should take for that. I have no idea, so I suggested he ask his guidance counselor. He was so adamant about saying no way to that, he almost fell off the bed.

Unfortunately, I think that shyness comes from me. Victoria suffers from it as well. I would never have approached anyone in authority on my own. Or talk to anyone I didn't know. That is something I still have to a lessor degree, but not quite as bad as when I was younger. I got over some of it being a foster parent. It didn't take long for me to realize these kids didn't have a voice. The severely abused had guardian at litems who visited them once a month, but were strangers who the kids wouldn't really open up to. The social workers were too busy to get to know them,so I had the most accurate info on how to he kids were really doing, so I started going to court on their behalf. One March, three of the kids we had were cleared to go home-a sibling duo whose mother had repeatedly put the kids in care, then would move to another state to petition to get them back, and a 10 year old who had watched his mother murder her husband, then been sent to his grandfather's who sexually abused him nightly for almost two years. The younger one of the sibling group was deaf, and we had petitioned the court to allow him to go to the St Augustine school for the Deaf that Oct. The improvement in his academics and sign language skill was amazing. When the courts ruled that they could all go home( the abused one was going to an uncle in Virginia) I went straight to the judges. I explained that I was not fighting their moves, just wanted to wait for the school year to end.The boy who was going his uncle had been in 10 elementary schools when we got him and he was only a second grader. The deaf boy was making such good progress in St Augustine, I asked the judge if he could order the mother to enroll him in a boarding school in Ohio, so he could have stability in his life, no matter what was happening in his mother's life. The judge agreed. His sister was in 5th grade and had been with us since Feb of fourth grade. I told the judge she already had so many plans for the end of the year. There was the Fifth Grade Dance, followed by a sleepover, an end of the year field trip, etc. it was only a six week delay I was asking for. The judge agreed in all three issues. So I learned how to speak for others when needed.

I am still very shy in person, and was always amazed at my husband at church coffee hours. He could approach anyone, known or unknown, and have a half hour conversation with no problem. I, on the other hand, unless it was a close friend, could ask how someone was, and mention the weather, and then was lost. Many, many times I stood next to Bob, pretending I was participating in his conversation. I go to church now, with some of the hose same people, but avoid coffee hour.

As you all well know, my shyness does not affect my printed words.

Hoping.you all have a great weekend

Anne

ChiSandy

Sandra, such wonderful news about Mike! Glad to see he’s back to being a “meat & potatoes guy.” May he continue to mend, take that next chemo and bounce back from it too. How nice for you to see homecoming in your futures!

bonnets

So happy that you got some good news about MIke!

DaraB

Sandra, that is so very encouraging about Mike. That looks like a huge plate of food! His smile speaks volumes! Continued good thoughts send your way! Dara

ElizabethAM

Sandra --- Awesome news about Mike !!!

Teka

Odd-Ms and Jiffrig, Hi and Welcome!!

Sandra, nice to see Mike being cheerful.

IllinoisLady

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
- John Muir

Wren44

Sandra, So wonderful to see Mike doing better. It must be a big relief for you.

Anne, I knew someone so shy she couldn't say boo to a mouse. Then she got involved in keeping health benefits for the poor and ended up speaking at conferences and to the press and legislature. Amazing to watch. It was the same thing as you, it wasn't about herself.

termite

Welcome to all the new ladies. This is a great group of ladies.

Sandra, great news about Mike!

Puffin and Carole, It sounds like you had a great time together.

My bil had a new valve put in his heart two weeks ago. That was the second one in two weeks because it was leaking. He is still in ICU unit and drs. told my sister it was still leaking and there was nothing else they could do and be sure she has POA papers and things in order.  He is too week for open heart surgery since this is his fourth valve(but the second one in three weeks). Wish I was back home to help her with things but she says not to come home yet. Her ds is with her and nothing can be done yet.

We are finally getting neighbors by us on this new street in this community. Four houses near us are all from different parts of Illinois. A few are widows, a few couples. We have met some of them and on the 18th we will have a party at the club house for full time people on our street to meet each other. When the seasonal people come back we will have another party to meet so everyone can meet from our street. (our street is just two blocks long)

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.