MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Marple

elimar~are the sisters above any relation?  Or is it simply that they are 'sisters'?

elimar86861

That IS a picture of sisters.  No relation to anyone here, so just some generic, real life sisters to represent us B/C sisters.  They looked the right age and happy, so here they are.  :-)

justmejanis

Good choice for this picture Eli.  I have to admit the big plastic lipped women were just a tad on the creepy side! 

Marple

They are lovely looking sisters.  Nice pic choice.

Meece

Eli~ you know how to pick the pictures.

odie16

Have to agree with Janis on the picture. Green lips were creepy. Love the new pic!

Meece

We just thought it was funny, especially dressed up and her in her wedding gown.

Thank you!

odie16

Meece,

I am sure it was fun and I totally support good girl time silliness. Thank goodness there are no pictures of my girls & me with our boas singing into the curling irons while watching Mama Mia on the girls trip last year.....lol   

Please know that I meant no disrespect just thought the big lips pictures were a tad creepy... 

Hugs to everyone....Happy Friday! 

Anonymous

Thank you for the welcome, Janis, Paula, Sherry and all.  Yes,  a rought way to meet, but on the up side, if one has to get cancer, there is not better time, i suppose, and definitely no better crowd to hang with. 

A lot of good info on LE, am watching my arm, big arms on both sides but the surgery side feels thicker and heavier, underarm still swollen after 3 months. 

Eli - the surgery I had was lumpectomy instead of a biopsy first, and 11 nodes out, 1 cancer.  I am using DIM vs Tamox or Ari... and tweaking thyroid and hormones now, don't know where it will end up since thyroid worse than ever.  Seems I am mutifocal and dealing with that, reexcision, or MX or DMX or trusting my protocol for now.

DianeRose, give me laser anyday, in fact, wish I had thought of that and shopped around longer for the BS w the laser.    Will if there is a next time. 

Meece

Odie, no offense taken.

elimar86861

odie16,  No offense here either.  I do reserve the right to be slightly creepy on future occasions, because you know what they say.  One person's "creepy" is another person's hilarious.

Essa,   Sounds like there will be another round of surgery for you at some point.  This time, we'll be holding your hand (which I hope will back to normal size by then.)  I'm sure you have read tons on LE and you know sooner is always better than later to get some PT for that.  janis, who posts here, is currently having concerns about LE (truncal/body.)  You just never really know which lymph pathways are disturbed til the symptoms begin.  

If B/C is the "gift that keeps on giving," where's the freakin' return counter?

elimar86861

Today, I put an assorment of colognes from our youth at the top of the page.  Scent memory is one of the most powerful and primal memories.  Some of us were posting about the vintage fragrances that we loved on the "Middle-Aged Memories" thread. (You know, the one that I am always trying to recruit new posters for.)  So, if you have a minute to go down memory lane, go there and post your fave old scent.

KittyGirl2011

Eli, you made me start my day with a giggle!  Being in retail I know all about those impossible returns. I'll hop over to the new thread and check it out!  Thanks, Kitty

madpeacock

Seriously, can we mark BC as Return to Sender??? Not at this address! Undeliverable! 

reesie

Return to sender. Address unknown. No such number. No such zone.

Sherryc

I'd like to return the hot flashes to sender, no such address

justmejanis

Sherry, this is the second time my hormones have been taken away abruptly.  First a total hysterectomy 16 years ago, now the Arimidex.  I am not having too much trouble with hot flashes, I can fan them away easily.  It is the night sweats I hate the most.  All the covers have to come off and stay that way till I get cooled off.  Makes for some very long nights.

Dianarose

I would have liked the judge to have awarded my BC to my ex- He wanted everything else

barbe1958

Jean Nate for an old scent anyone???

Sherry, sleep on a beach towel all the way over your pillow too! You will sleep right through a flash.

Sherryc

Barbe how does a beach towel help?  I don't sweat I just get really hot and clammy.  The sad thing is I have been on Tamox for a little over a year.  At first the hot flashes were really bad and then they went away.  They have then come and gone but never anything bad.  Then all of a sudden they returned almost as bad as when I first started.

lisamarie68

Hi Ladies , back from Vegas and refreshed now back to reality and life as I know it .. lol .. appointment with plastic surgeon march 6th and appt with breast surgeon March 7th then i hope to have my surgery date for my PBMX wiIth immediate recon ..missed u all and will inform you as this goes on .. thank u again for such a wonderful bunch of ladies and a great group to be a part of ...

justmejanis

I am bonafide!  Went for my evaluation today with a licensed LE therapist.  I have truncal LE, she knew it the second I took my shirt off.  Of course she did a very thorough exam and also took a ton of measurements.  No doubt at all.  I feel so relieved.  My RO is just ridiculous to have me ignore this.  I begin treatment next week twice a week for three weeks.  Then she will see how I am doing after learning the self massage techniques she will train me to do.

I KNEW it!  Thanks barbe for making me pursue this, you really did help!

odie16

Dianerose - I love the way you think!! 

Personally I would love to return my BC - no refund or raincheck necessary...

barbe1958

Janis, I am SO glad you are being taken care of now!!!!! Phew!! My mission in life is over now...ehheehhehehe

lisamarie, I LOVE Vegas, we're hoping to go in May...

Sherry, if you get clammy at night, the towel wicks away the dampness and helps keep you dry. Also, being cotton, a towel is much cooler to lie on. Your sheets might be percale. Very silky to lie on, but because percale is part polyester, they are hotter to lie on.

Meece

I was reading magazine today and saw an article tha mentions "wicking pajamas"  I think they were called cool-jams.

marlegal

Wow, I had to read four pages, and that's a lot of info!!

Janis, soooo glad you finally got to a real LE therapist. I was on that bandwagon for you too! I didn't develop LE till 2 1/2 yrs post treatment, so I know it can happen any time - for the rest of your life. Mine is controlled with a sleeve/gauntlet that I wear every day, and will for the rest of my life. Ah....bc...the gift that keeps on giving!

To newcomers, welcome with all the platitudes that we'd rather not have you, but soooo glad you found us. You know what I mean.

Night sweats - I got a nightgown from a catalogue that dealt with camping stuff .. it's a moisture wicking material and honest to God, it works. Not that I don't still get night sweats, but once I throw off the covers, it takes way less time for me to get cool again, and the nightgown never holds the moisture. That catalogue doesn't carry them anymore, but there are lots of online sites that do. I'd recommend them!

NativeMainer...I love your posts for your honesty. I agree that once we're done rads, RO's are basically useless at best.

Again about night sweats, I'm lucky that I'm still physically able to be working full time, but the night sweats were killing me with lack of sleep. Finally it dawned on me ... go to bed earlier! I hate missing lots of good tv shows, but I started going to bed about an hour earlier to make up for the 4 or 5 times I'd be up either to pee or to throw off covers and wait for the meltdown to be over. For me, it worked out okay that overall I'd still get my 6 or 7 hours of sleep by the time the alarm went off, so I wasn't slogging through the day anymore falling asleep on my feet!

Love and hugs buddies.

KittyGirl2011

Way to go Janis and Barbe!  Hope you get the right care now for your LE.  Next time you see that RO be sure to stick you tounge out at him and say "I told you so"!

barbe1958

By sleeping on a towel I can sleep right through the worst of my flashes. I tend to sweat VERY heavy off my head, so the towel is imperative on my pillow. I use a single blanket to cover myself so that I can stick my legs out no matter where my legs are. My DH bundles up under all the winter blankets and duvets. I cuddle under my single blanket and use my own body heat to keep warm. I've been doing this since my Fibromyalgia got truly horrendous, about 10 years now. My own blanket and my own little thermo controlled environment on the bed. Cotton blanket in the summer and fuzzy one in the winter. The fuzzy one is SO light and airy it's hard to believe it can keep me warm, but it does. With Fibro, I sometimes can't stand the weight of a duvet on my body, that's how bad I got. A bed sheet used to sometimes put me out of my mind with pain. Fibro is my worst enemy - not breast cancer.

justmejanis

Marlegal....ah sweets, I knew you were in my pocket on this one!  I had so much support here it made a huge difference in my decision making.  I do not have LE in my arm, so just need to wear compression bras for now.  A great friend I made here sent me two!  I cannot afford them and I was so worried. She no longer needs them and I got them last week.  I took one with me to the appointment yesterday on a hunch.  She pronounced them fit as a fiddle!  What a wonderful thing for her to do and spared me a lot of worry.  That is what is so wonderful about this place....the love and support and the help of others.  I have met some amazing ladies here.  Hearts the size of Texas!  I am so very blessed.

I am having night sweats too.  I wear an old cotton V-neck T-shirt and plain cotton capris.  I do my fair share of blanket flinging throughout the night but nothing too bad.  I keep and extra T-shirt on my nightstand for those real bad nights.  Some nights idon't get a lot of sleep but I am unemployed so not on a strict schedule.  Glad you are able to get better sleep just going to bed earlier.

Wishing everyone an abundance of love, and healing ahead for all.

elimar86861

janis,  Great!  Now you can begin to do something about the LE trouble.  That RO was so useless, but you know we've got the good advice here, tell it like it is, and aren't afraid to hound you into getting the proper treatment if needed.  Barbe knows here truncal LE.  Also, there is a chance that, as some new lymph channels form (during the first year out) your LE may resolve permanently, and I do think that the manual drainage that you can do now can only help that to happen.

barbe,  my fibro doesn't add to my hot flash problem, but I am definitely on the one blanket program.  I could never stand for my (cold) feet to be hanging out before; now I'll have the feet out and maybe a whole leg.  That is if I haven't throw the covers off for the 20 min. cooldown that we all seem to do. 

I don't have the night sweating that much, now that I just use one blanket.  Maybe that is due to the Effexor I'm on.  It certaily has dried out my eyes and mouth, so maybe it dried up my sweat also.

My nose is drier too; I notice that in Winter.  While we have the fragrances at the top, I have to say that my sense of smell is much more acute in recent years.  I don't know if it's the drugs I have to take, the drier nose, or just another menopausal thing, but I am really getting an aversion to strong odors.  Foods, stinky shoes, or even lovely colognes can offend me now.  I can't even walk down the laundry detergent aisle in the store anymore.  Pee-uuw!