MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Kay_G

Barbe, hope you're feeling better. I agree with everyone else, all are different. Take it easy until you feel up to more. I believe that is what your body is telling you to do.

BarbaraA

A  tree stump?

Hauntie

Barb - I hope you're feeling better soon. Everyone's healing process is different. Anesthesia can really take a toll on you. Then, once it wears off, and I start feeling the full effect of what's been done to my body, I usually feel like I've been run over by a mack truck. Take it easy and rest up. I know, it must be hard to be out of comission, especially for someone who loves Christmas as much as you do. Sending lots of good healing vibes your way.

Paula66

Barb thinking of you right now.  Get lots of rest!

MP is a stumper for me.  I say its a turle shell!

samsue

Barb, I hope you feel better soon... remember you had major surgery! Even though the scar will be small you had a lot taken care of.... don't lift is one thing I definitely learned. Take it easy just because it doesn't show on the outside you have to heal "inside"  Now is the time to be pampered!

leisaparis

WOW !!!! I guess I've been off here longer than I thought. That or you ladies have been really talking a lot (lol,lol). I've missed @ 115 pages. I know I've missed a lot. Hope everyone is doing well. As well as can be expected for the situation we are in that is.I see the mystery pic is still going on. My guess is the same as some others. Either petrified wood, a moths wing, or a rock. However my husband walked into the room and said "What's that?" I told him it's the mystery pic, what do you think it looks like? He said, "A cave." So since wood and wing are taken, I'll go with a cave.

I've been having lots of problems lately so that's why I've not been on here much. I've only checked like 1 thread a couple of times. Had to have more testing to see if they could find my pain problems. So far no luck. Went yesterday and had a retest, from the scans I did last week they said my ovaries & uterus were enlarged and wanted to take a closer look. Got in there, they were going to do an ultra sound on my pelvis. Couldn't see 1 of my ovaries, so they did a vaginal ultra sound...what fun...N O T. I already have an appointment for the 16th so I'm just gonna wait till then to find out the results. Stupidity is BLISS.

I know I missed telling everyone HAPPY THANKSGIVING, so just want to do that. Hope everyone had a good holiday. I'm sorry I'm going on & on, just trying to catch up. Hopefully I'll be able to stay on top of things now. Have a good day everyone.

elimar86861

leisaparis,  Good to see you, and very sorry your pain has not been helped (or even identified yet!)  LovesChristmas (Barb58) just had the ooph/hysterectomy.  If something like that has to go down for you, there a few more here who have been through it.  Worrying won't change things, so I hope you can focus on family and the upcoming holiday til the 16th, and I'll be hoping your results are nothing serious.

barbe1958

leisaparis, my one remaining ovary disappeared!!! Transvaginal ultrasound KILLED me too!! I almost passed out from the pain as she dug around trying to find the ovary...stupid lady!!!!

LovesChristmas-Barb

Thank you everyone for the encouragement. I'm not as tired today but still very sore and I am feeling so emotional which I hate.  My husband will still be home tomorrow thankfully but then he has to go back to work and I'm dreading that though I'll still have our 18 year old son at home. We adopted John when he was almost 2 years old and he was severely malnourished which affected him mentally but he is such a sweetheart and I know he'll be sure to help me out.

I hope everyone is having a restful peaceful Sunday.

mostlymom

elimar - are those roasted chestnuts in the pic at the top?

elimar86861

Yes, mostlymom, they are.  Did you ever have them?  I bought some earlier this week and roasted them in the oven yesterday.  No one else in my family likes them.  The ones I got at the store were about $10 a pound.  Yow!  That would make all those in the picture be about $100 worth.

chrissyb

Well, the winner of the Mystery Pic is.................drum roll please..........................

Noodle6 with Cmblastic a really close second!

It is indeed fungi

noodle6

Yea, I'm a winner! ;o) Someone remind me to post a MP next week as I may still be in a fog. Now to start thinking of what it will be, hmmm....

WaveWhisperer

Noodle, congratulations on winning. And Chrissy, that was a good MP!!! 

Loves Christmas, I agree that you shouldn't worry about not hopping up after surgery. You had MAJOR surgery, no matter how the surgeon performed it. I've read that it sometimes takes up to 6 months before anesthesia fully leaves your body, and it can easily take up to 6 months or more to gain back all your strength and energy after major surgery. I've had a few surgeries (before the lumpectomy), and the doctors always told me that everyone's recovery is different, to take it easy, and that it could be months before I regained my energy.

Good luck. 

cmbear

Ok guess I have to postpone my own PP. my surgeon's office just called and rescheduled my port removal from this Thursday to Dec 22, two weeks from now. So, I have been waiting a year to get this darn thing out what's two more weeks? A LIFETIME!!!  but there is some serendipity about the chance. My last chemo last year was on Dec 22, and now I will be getting my port out exactly one year later. Merry Christmas to me!!

Now who is scheduled for PP's this week?? I feel I have neglected my duties!! Roll call ladies!! 

LovesChristmas-Barb

Thank you everyone for the encouragement. I think part of me is just sick of thinking about my health, if you know what I mean. I'm feeling a bit better today but I know that this is going to be slower than I expected. I also keep waiting for the instant menopause stuff to kick in. No hot flashes yet.  I did get a bit weepy last night for my poor husband but I think I probably would have cried even if I still had ovaries!

We're also having our kitchen renovated so we have no kitchen! They started on it the week that I found out I needed the hyst/ooph and they're supposed to be finished two weeks from now but today the painter is here so I'm hiding out in my bedroom while my DH deals with him. We had planned on doing it in the summer but put it off when I had my cancer diagnosis. Now I think it would have been easier to deal with during radiation than this. Oh well...

barbe1958

Claire, I'd like to book another PP for Friday at 8 am my time. That's when I see the ENT for the thyroid tumour. I called my docs office and told them to forward the results to the ENT's office so he could go over it with me on Friday. I don't really want my PCP calling to give me the results. Even if this isn't cancer, it has to come out as it is affecting my breathing, especially when I lie down at night.

prayrv

I need to book a PP as well.  My 6 month check up is on Thursday morning.  Since my last check up in June I broke my foot and developed lymphedema in my left hand.  Hope they don't find anything else (things come in 3s....?)

Trish

YaYa5

ok ... i need to ask ... what does PP stand for?  (i'll probably figure it out before a response!)

LovesChristmas-Barb

Pocket Party!

jo1955

YaYa - PP stands for Pocket Party - and we have a lot of those around here.  Whenever someone is going for a test or an appt, we find out what time this is to take place and we jump in that person's pockets and go along for support.  You must join us for one - they really are fun.  Sometimes we even have food and drinks - on occasion - eye candy.

YaYa5

i've been around for pocket parties, but for the life of me, i couldn't figure the PP out.  duh.  it makes sense now.  thank you Barb58 and jo!

marthah

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ladies!

Sorry I've been MIA since Thanksgiving, but life has been super-busy the past 2 weeks. Along with all the good holiday stuff, I came down with a stomach virus I picked up from the grandbabes over Thanksgiving. It didn't present itself until the following week when I was trying to care for my DD who'd just had arthroscopic knee surgery. Ugh. I hadn't thrown up in years! Even through chemo. Blech!

I start the tamox train today...here's to ZERO SE's. 

Missed you guys! And welcome to the new folks who have joined while I've been in abstentia. 

Okay...off to bed...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hugs to everyone!

Paula66

Hey Marthah join us at the Bottle of Tamoxifen. We have a good time and the gals are helpful too!  Some of the gals here also post there too!

Hope all is well with everyone today.  Been going thru a blue time since my daughter left.  I tried my hardest to get her to stay but it didnt work.  I am so sad again.  I even broke down in the airport as she left.  Im sure all the people walking by thought I was a crazy woman, but I dont care.  That is a piece of myheart that got got on a plane that day and I was sad.  Even tried some auction therapy but that didnt help either.  I just wasnt feeling it.  I was still numb from here leaving.  I cant go into her room again.  It breaks my heart so. I just try and focus on the time we did have. 

WaveWhisperer

Got my Oncotype score yesterday -- an 8. My DH and I were ecstatic until the MO reminded us that the scores were for women with node-negative BC. She said for women like me, with node involvement, the standard of care was chemo/rads/hormone therapy. But she gave me 3 choices: 1) chemo; 2) no chemo; or 3) a clinical trial in which half the women would be assigned chemo, half not. It's a trial to help docs determine, down the road, how to deal with node-postive, low Oncotype score women, to see at what point (score-wise), the chemo does no good.

I slept very little last night, but I think I'm going ahead with the chemo. T/Cx4. My thinking: If I ever had a recurrence, I would wonder whether it would not have happened if I had had chemo. I know there's no guarantee, but I think I don't want to take that chance. 

Any advice?

cmbear

((((((((((((PAULA)))))))))))))) remember the fun you had with your daughter--that will always be in your heart--and look forward to the next time you are together.

Marthah--welcome to the Tamox train. It took me a few months to acclimate, and now I don't know if I feel weird just cause I'm 50 and getting older or cause of Tamox. . . .

Wave-what a decision you have. I think the thing you have to think about is your node involvement. Personally, I wanted the kitchen sink thrown at mine but we are all different. Chemo is doable--as much as I HATE that word--I can't think of another way to describe it.Good luck with your decision.

Leisaparis--i hope they find your pain and soon!! Having had a couple of TVUS myself, I understand the major discomfort. Ye--oww!!!

Eli-what do the chestnuts taste like? Last time I was in NYC in December, there were roasted chestnuts on every corner. I'll have to say  that I wasn't too fond of the smell--so I didn't try them.

Have to shop today---my son's band concert is tonight and he has grown out of his black pants. Skinny and tall, can't figure out who he is related to!!

cmbear

So I forgot to bitch. . .  woke up this morning with a very badly pulled muscle in my chest. It hurts to breathe. Trying to figure out what I did in my sleep that would cause me so much pain. Trying to remember what I dreamed about. . . .

reesie

Hey everyone just checking in. Glad all the testing and appointments are going the right way. Hope it continues. Welcome newbies this is a good place to vent if you need. We've all been there done that in one form or another so really get it.

Kay_G

Matthau, my fellow October rads buddy, I started tamoxifen a couple weeks ago. I am reading on the tamoxifen thread. A lot of good info and good ladies there. I agree with Claire, not sure if the things I am experiencing are from tamoxifen, Herceptin or just getting older. My biggest complaint is joint pain. I have some mild hot flashes. I know this is weird, but I am always cold and actually like the hot flashes.



(((((Paula)))))), my DS went back to grad school in Minnesota, I know how you feel.



Barb and Trisha, I will be there for your pocket parties, sending all the good thoughts I have and keeping fingers and toes crossed.



Wave, tough decision. I honestly don't know why anyone would do the study. I guess they just figure they can't make up their minds, so they let chance do it for them. I didn't have a choice, and I have some of the more serious side effects, but so far, have been recovering from them, and still don't regret doing chemo.

barbe1958

Wave, why the HECK did your MO put you through the test if he figured you needed chemo anyway??? What a swing of emotions you must have felt in a very short period of time....!!