MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Kd6blk

I nursed three babies for at least one year...I was a small B cup before and DD while nursing...and I did have Mastitis..a few times. I had wondered about it. I had also been whacked hard in that breast as a teen...who knows..I think it is a combo of things and I am betting on diet...processed foods and hormone tainted meats...

NativeMainer

Kd6blk--there are lots of things that are associated with the risk of bc, but the reality is that medical science doesn't really know all that has to happen for a cancer to start.  I get really irritated with the whole "blaming the patient" thing--if I ate correctly, if I wasn't overweight, if I didn't enjoy a drink now and again, if I exercised more than I did I wouldn't have gotten the rat ba$tard. Yeah, right.  You can't promise me a cure, so it must be my fault in the first place.  I'm not buying that!  When medicine can tell me exactly how I got it, THEN I'll accept it was my own fault.  YEESH!

justmejanis

Native Mainer I so agree. There are so many different women here who all got it. 

I am fresh out of the hospital from my neck surgery.  I am feeling really good.  I have to wear a collar but it is not uncomfortable at all.  My son informed me I had the exact same surgery as Peyton Manning did.  Being in the Denver area he is a lifelong Bronco fan so of course thrilled that Peyton is our new QB.  I don't think I am ready for tryouts just yet.  Peyton took a year off.  The graft does take time to 'take'.  I have titanium plates and screws.  The good news is titanium doesn't set off metal detectors! 

I am so far behind reading.  I hope that everyone is doing great.  If I missed any pocket parties I apologize!  You are always in my thoughts.....the hospital Chaplain came to visit me yesterday and pray for me.  I asked him instead to please pray for all of my BC sistas who struggle with this illness.  So there are now a lot of prayers coming from Idaho for you great ladies! 

barsco1963

Sherryc - glad that your exchange went well. You must be thrilled that everything looks so great! Have fun shopping for those bras!

Janis - good to hear that your surgery went well also and that you are not having a lot of discomfort. Hope the healing goes well and quickly. Prayers all around!

Well, the final weekend of summer is here - the kids will all be going back to school on Tuesday. Will be the first yr my DS will not be going back to school. Guess I'm getting old - lol

Meece

I nursed three babies and had mastitis with the first two.  I also went from a B cup to over a DDD (I didn't have a bra that would cover me up and stay around my ribcage).  I also have had Fibrocystic breasts since I first developed breasts.  My breast tissue is dense, but I was really surprised when my NP at my last MO visit was reviewing the results of my MRI with me and she said "and you still have dense breast tissue." Does dense breast tissue go away with time or age?

elimar86861

janis,  So that is where you have been!  So, you're saying neck surgery was easier than breast surgery, then?    Glad you are feeling no pain.

Meece,  Supposedly, women our age are get less dense in the breast.  The lack of estrogen after menopause is supposed to shrivel our milk lobes/ducts down some, leaving the less dense fat tissue.  Guess yours did not get that memo.  Mine neither, so far.  Unfortunately dense doesn't mean firm.  Ironic that one can be both saggy and dense. Oh yay.

NMainer,  How you doin?   I agree about the complexity of B/C.  Women who do everything "right" get it too.  'Course we can't forget that a lot of stuff that is "right" is only a new study away from being "wrong."  With so much contradiction out there, who knows what to do anymore?  

cmbear

Janis so glad everything has gone so well, Sure hope this gives you the relief you deserve! Hope you are back to dancing form soon

barbe1958

Rocky Horror Picture Show??

elimar86861

Young Frankenstein?

comingtoterms

I don't fit in here all the way - I have grown kids plus an almost twelve-year old at home! I am still menstruating! But I am 52, so I fall in the age-part! I am intested to know if anyone here is still menstruating and if so, if you have been told you are at an increased risk of recurrence because of it?  Tammy

cmbear

Yes Eli, the late great Madeline Kahn. I've seen that movie 100 times. At least. Never understood why my favorite line was "why what big knockers!!"

Welcome Tammy! Of course, you fit in!! Our membership requirements aren't that strict, we cyber hug, support, and throw some killer pocket parties! I'm sure someone will answer your question, not me, tho, its been two years this month since I last saw Aunt Betty or Aunt Flo or what ever the heck her name is! Is that a reason to celebrate? Can we have a party?  

elimar86861

Welcome, Kd6blk! 

Welcome, comingtoterms!   Many in this age group still have their periods, but chemo and/or Tamoxifen can change all that.  I was perimenopausal when I started my Tamox., and may have entered into menopause a little earliy.  Hard to tell.  Did you have to do chemo?  Many get "chemopause."  At this age, if you get chemopause, it may or may not reverse itself when chemo is done.  To answer your question, I believe it is said that women who continue to menstruate during chemo DO have an increased risk for recurrence.  I have not heard this about continuing to menstruate while on Tamox.  I am sorry that I don't have this info. bookmarked, and it is just something from memory...SO I MAY BE WRONG ABOUT THIS.  My middle-aged brain is not as reliable as it once was.

Anonymous

I've missed you all!!! Somehow this thread disappeared from my favorites and I just found it!



Katharine2411: Thanks for the Huffington post article. What insight!



Welcome to all the newbies....this is the thread to laugh, cry and get educated ..l.all with some pretty awesome pocket parties!



Speaking of crying....I do most of mine in private. Everyone around me, my DH, DM, friends, we're crying and I couldn't......felt like I was "strong"......then late one night I left bed, went into the living room and just started bawling uncontrollably. .....loud and messy boo hoos. My DH came out later and held me.....and said he was starting to worry about my lack of crying.

I cry at the weddings, funerals, movies, and all those acceptable social events...but crying for myself has always seemed too selfish to indulge in.



I have a CT scan scheduled for Sept 11th. I know it's just part of the monitoring protocol with my MO appt on the 27th, so I'm not real worried, yet, but would appreciate positive thoughts from my peeps.



Hope you are enjoy the holiday weekend. Blessings!

Momine

Comingtoterms, I was 47 at DX and still menstruating. After chemo, I had an ooph and started femara. Has your onc not wanted to put you on meds against the estrogen?

Cindyl

Continuing to menstruate while on tamoxifen is actually a good thing per my MO. You shed the uterus lining that can cause problems by thickening, so having your period means you have fewer worries about uterine cancer (which is rare anyway)

olgah34

I was menstruating last year, and I was 53...My oncologist said, my body thought I was 40 and it is why I got so aggressive cancer...HER2, GRADE3...But after DMX and chemo I stopped my periods.I am on Tamoxifen now.

juneaubugg

I'm 44, and had my second round today. My period came last night...right on schedule. Shit. Perfect timing aye?



As for The mastisis thing.... I never had children never had do much as a cist....no family history. I don't drink anymore; ever, I don't smoke anymore. Not sure it means anything, but I'm going to leave it to the universities with grants to hopefully help our loved ones in our lifetime.

Paula66

Even after all these years they still can't come up with anything better the some of the stuff thats been around the www on what they think causes it.  Well let me tell you this much I'm so frickn tired of it.  I've gotten to the point where I'm about ready to roll one, smoke it, get the freakn munchies and enjoy a whole freakn cake, then they can say that because I'm over weight and because I burned one, that will cause it.  Guess what I wasn't over weight ever until after I went thru chemo and Tammo.  I had stopped smoking ciggs 2 yrs before BC came along and had quit drinking 7.5 years before that!!!!

elimar86861

Clearly, it was just too much clean living on your part, Paula66!

That gives me an idea for a new bestseller:  Party Your Way to A New Healthier You!   Even if it turned out to be the same size crock as most of those crock-y self-help books out there, it would be a heck of a lot more fun than all of the ones based on "don't do this" and "don't do that."

                                                            

                                                                                        Happy Labor Day Weekend to All!

odie16

Welcome to the newbies! 

Comingtoterms- I was 40 at diagnosis and continue to have my monthly curse every month. Not quite as regularly as before Tamoxifen but thus every 18 or 30 days depending .....  I also have grown children....

Janis - Glad to see you are doing so well post surgery. My husband had that surgery two years ago and is pretty much back to normal. Hope you do just as well.

Chachamom - Welcome back! I too have a hard time crying for myself. Thus most of my "moments" were brief and usually during a bubble bath! Sending positive thoughts for the CT scan and will be happy to hang out with the lint in the pocket if you want a pocket party...

Hope each of you ladies has something fun this weekend or plenty of rest planned. I have work, fun & laziness all planned into my weekend...  

patriciahurtado

Hey my ladies....i hope you guys enjoy your holiday....relax rest cry do it all....so we start a strong week......what is the pocket party and where !!! i wanna go....i havent started any of my treatmenst but i will get my port on 10 and i guess chemo after that...but for now...lets enjoy this weekend!!

Eph3_12

So, as most of you know, I lost my mom recently (June).  It was a short intense 90 days from diagnosis to death & I've been reeling.  Well, I had vacation time that I needed to use up so Mon-Tues-Wed I went to Reno, by myself! After 48 hours of intense eating, gambling, drinking, going to a show, & naps I came home with the same amount of money that I left with!!!  It was awesome & I had a blast. 

Tomorrow, DD & I drive 2.5 hours north to one of my best buddies, daughter's weddings!  I am also driving my friend's 88 yr old early Alzheimer's mom with us.  Argh!  Love her to pieces, but she can be a handful & her repetoire on any given day is 4-5 stories that a repeated incessentantly!

But it's all good.

Paula, I was born in Il.  Always wanted to visit; let me know when you are ready to burn one & eat cake!!!!  

marlegal

NativeMaine, I so frequently "side" with your posts, and the one above about "what did I do to get bc" so hit home. I hate that crap - I want to smack people who wonder about it - I have little emphathy even for posters who say they should have eaten better, or done something else better. I'm so behind the idea that hey - tell me it's cause of this, and prove it, and then I'll take the blame. But till then, screw you pal! No one asks a man "why" he got prostate cancer. No one asks why for lots of diseases, because we know there's no answer. So stop already ... I know a healthy lifestyle is optimum for me, and everyone else. But until you can tell me that something in my past led to my diagnosis, don't ask "Why do you think you got it?" you moron!

Okay, apparently I needed a vent for some reason

marlegal

Patricia, welcome!!! Pocket Party - whenever any of us is going for a test or scan or other procedure where we'd like to have a little support, we call it a pocket party. It's amazing how many women can fit into pockets when we really, really try. We put on our spanx and damn, we all fit with lots of room to spare! We bring food, and games, and treats of all kinds. Below are a few of the things from recent pocket parties ... please feel free to join any time you hear mention of someone needing a pocket party (usualy just said as PP) and bring anything that means something to you Hope you bookmark us and join the thread often.

juneaubugg

WHERE IS THAT DAMN "LIKE"!?! Button.... and it's counterpart:

"REALLY FUCKIN' HATE"



2tx in BGC yesterdary. Feel like mister Magoo! Eyes jjust keep getting blurrier. Taken plenty of waster and she gave me additional fluids to try to help the headaches.



It's four and my alarm wakes me for peanut butter coasted saltines and a quart of H20 washed down with with decadron and zoloftt. Ugh!



Anyway, two down.... Two to go. I'm in the last lap. (((hugs))) sleep well.

SusannahW

Juneaubugg, yay, 1/2 way done! I love your attitude, and have been following your story.

Dakota212

Hi girls-



Quick question if anyone can weigh in. I am do to have bmx at the end of the month. I don't really sweat that much and I am not really smelly under my arms, but the last week or so I notIce my body odor way more. Am I just brewing paranoid or has anybody else had this experience.

barbe1958

Dakota, your body is probably in "fight mode" with adrenaline coursing through rather rapidly. It's like when they say animals can "smell your fear"; right now animals would smell a fighter!!! It will settle down as your time nears and you go into survival mode. I had a BMX and was astonished at how little pain there was!! My hysterectomy brought me to my knees, literally. But my BMX left me without even using Tylenol 3's!! I didn't do recon, are you? If so, that brings it's own discomfort... For just the masts, there are no muscles, bones or organs moved around, so very little pain. Good luck!

Paula66

Joni wow Reno by yourself!  Sounds like you had a blast!  Just pm me when your coming and I'll have it all ready.  Heck if we decide to skip the cake I'll have plenty of cans of frosting to eat, lol!

Juneaubugg, 2 down yahoo!

Eli I like the new book!  At least it would be a lot more fun then the don't do this or don't do that book!

I really just wish they would get the facts down on what really does cause breast cancer.  I mean really after all of these years this is what they have come up with.  Let alone all the billions spent to tell me that its because of my lifestyle choices.  Seriously then how come my granny, auntie, and my cousin, (who by the way) all lived clean lives, had it. Heck even my onc who is a healthy living gal had BC the same time I did.  What is really frosting my cookies is how the last few years all the medical talk shows are spouting all the natural things that you should do and that will guarantee that you won't get BC.  They need to be held accountable for those statements because they are sending a message that can potently cause more harm then good.  Do they not get the fact that there are women out there who get sucked into this kind of message then some of them get BC.  I'm sure that's when the mental part comes into play.  They are like huh?  Did I not take enough of this or exercise enough, oh and my personal favorite lets blame your past lifestyle choices that you made in your youth for it.  OK I'm of my rant now. 

Dakota212

Barbe-

Thanks for sharing. I am have recon immediately with the hopes like everyone of lymphnodes! Just getting nervous and feeling everything to see if things are swollen!!!