MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Meece

Absolutely love your pics, Eph.  One day maybe we could meet in SF, you think?  You really know how to have fun and I want in on it!

How are you doing, Eli~?

annemarieh

OH Eph!!! Wonderful pictures!! You look so happy, and refreshingly happy!

Eli~rest up! Hope you feel better soon!

MENA1954

Eph, what beautiful pictures. It really shows that everyone was havinga super time!  I can't wait  for my cruise in April!  Which Cruise line and ship were you on?

Mena

Eph3_12

We were on Holland America's Nieu Amsterdam!  It was FABULOUS!

marlegal

Eph, that pic of the three of you where you're a little dressy is soooo pretty. Worth every penny you had to pay, and I've been on a cruise, so I know that's not insigificant!! Love the shots of Rory and Nemo too - you'll smile every time you come across those pictures in years to come.

Eli, I hope you're feeling better each day.

Journey, forgot you were doing weekly chemos, so yes...that explains no Neulasta.

Valjean, you know we'd come hunt you down if you stopped coming in here! Don't even think about it And Happy Birthday!

Valjean

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

HnS ~ 9 more ish-iness years!! Love it! Heck, I can hardly say that fast without drinking!

Well, you guys are stuck with me then! I know I wouldn't get far if Eph was on that zipline tracking me from above!

E~~ I so hope you are doing better every day..... how's the 'other' end coming along?? I can't see the picture you posted so I will view it with my iPhone & come back here. Later.....

Valjean

Strange..... I went to BCO via my iPhone & logged in to see your picture, E~~ , & then returned here & I don't have to log back in while using my computer. That's a first, usually I do. That'd be cool if it stays that way. I hate having to log back in here (bco) on the computer after I've been here on my iPhone. By the way, I still can't see the picture no matter from where I try.

annemarieh

PSSST~~got my exchange date today...AND a bottle of wine on the way home!!

Eli..hope you are resting regaining your strength!

carollynn79

Eph great pictures the hammock brought back great memories of when I was there with my Mom and sisters!  The pics are great you look so happy, wonderful!!

El hope you are gaining strenght every day, you are an inspiration!

Val ya you are stuck with us we will stay middies together for many a year!!

annemarieh good thoughts hope all goes well with teh exchange, wine is always good you can celebrate!!

Valjean

E~~ I can finally see the picture. Love it!! Love the Depp man, too!!

And, I will take some chocolate soaked in Rum!

Meece

It took until today for me to be able to see the picture, Go Figure!

elimar86861

Sorry, I didn't notice that the picture had disappeared at first (like they sometimes do for no apparent reason) so I re-inserted it yesterday for all to enjoy.

I think I kind of turned the corner on my S/Es and tiredness.  They went together in another way...I have a whole slew of different medicines for intestinal distress, some even have opiates in them so when I have to do all day dosing no wonder I am extra sleepy. 

Meece

Good news, Eli~.  You need to stay awake enough to eat good stuff and gain your strength!

Valjean

E~~ Good to hear, we'll take slowly limping along, won't we?

Did you "see" or "experience" any exciting stuff while dosing??!!  Give it up now!

Eph3_12

Valjean, I think she must have.  Check out her photo at the top of the page

Dianarose

Well I had my checkup with my MO today. I went in feeling good and positive and left depressed. It was like he was doom and gloom. He said he was concerned with my outcome because I was first diagnosed at an earlier age than most woman (43). He said he really doesn't do any tests or blood work from here on out, but justs waits to see if I get any pains in other area's such as back or bones, etc.... and hopes that it is localized and they are able to remove and treat it. He already has me with one foot in the grave. He said my path report was so all over the place and not like others. Well excuse me for being different. I know Eli, you can appreciate the fact that he had no answers for just about all of my questions, but knows all. hmmmm. I am not doing any of his trials or hormonals until I have a break from all this shit. I am going on vacation in April and will decide what my next step will be when I get back. They missed my cancer for over 8 years and now it is so urgent to make a decision on which drug from hell I will be taking, seriously.

I am going to go back to being positive and move on with my life as I was this morning. I am not going to waste my life worrying about what might or might not happen. I can't live like that.

Eph3_12

((((Dianarose))))

jocanuck1951

Good for you Dianarose!

elimar86861

What I don't quite understand is how there are some MOs who will scan the heck out of Stage Is & IIs and go after their blood like vampires, and other docs (like Diana's) who are hardly concerned with the Stage III women.  I don't get it.  Not every Stage III is a "closet" Stage IV, but I would think that if someone did get mets, would it not be better to discover them at a small size, or at one site, rather than wait til the mets are larger and at multiple sites because there are some instances where an early surgery or rads could be successful if the mets are very limited.   I would think that now that Diana has had treatment, it would be a good time to get a baseline scan as a reference to anything that might arise int he future.

Well, Dianarose, the way I heard it explained before is that sometimes you need to have a PAIN, even if you don't truly have one, in order to get a diagnostic to ease your mind.  I don't agree with that in principle, but I also don't think it is right to not give a Stage III woman the peace of mind of a clear scan, so you may have to manufacture or "play up" symptoms to get yours.

I look forward to reading other replies, particularly because I don't feel like I am thinking very sharply lately and because I think this might be a controversial topic.

Dianarose

Eli- I like how you think even it is not the proper way to get things done. I am going to deal with my reg. doc verses the MO. She seems more sincere and positive. I just missed the metformin trial and the MO won't prescribe it. He said to ask my primary. He said they won't have the results for probably 5 yrs yet they already have some proof it works. I will ask my primary to prescribe it. I don't want to be a statistic on my MO's list.

marlegal

Diana, are you limited to quality oncs in your area? I realize you need a break, but maybe you could scope out oncs in your area? Perhaps if you could switch, you could at least have an appt set up with a fresh, new doc once you get back from vaca.



Eli, I also like your suggestion! Again, that way at least something proactive would be going on in the not too distant future.



And Eli, I am soooo glad you're finally starting to feel better, even if it's because of drugs right now

barsco1963

Diana - I too think that perhaps a new onc might be in order. I also deal with my family dr a great deal. She has ordered many a test/scan for me.



Eli - good to know that the drugs are helping you to feel better.

MENA1954

Dianarose, just a suggestion...Can you find a female Oncologist?  I find that for some crazy reason women are so much more understanding about BC than men are!  Just my opinion based on my experience!

((((hugs)))))

Mena

heartnsoul76

Dianarose - I'm with Elimar. Your onc confuses me about the idea of no more tests or blood work.  I disagree completely with that thinking.  My MO sees me every 3 months and does tumor markers each time.  I'm glad for that, if for nothing else it establishes a pattern to see if they're reliable for me or not.  And like Marlegal said, make an appt with a new one (mine's a female, too) before your vacation and come back and hear a new perspective.  I'm mad at yours!  You've completed chemo and surgery - you damn well should have a bounce in your step.  Go back to being your regular happy self - forget about him!

Elimar - glad to see you out and about!  I saw that picture on top and thought I hope you don't feel like that.  Although it does resemble me after a few drinks and I'm feeling good!

Just got a notice my dishwasher might catch on fire.  If they only give me some $$ towards a new one I'll be mad because I don't need a new one other than THEIR problem.  Of course, I don't want a fire so I'll be a couple of hundred out for another dishwasher. Crap.

Momine

Diana, sorry about your onc. He does NOT sound like a keeper. My docs are not perfect and they annoy me aplenty, but they do blood every 3 months, with markers, and they do scans and generally try to stay on top of things.

Dianarose

I don't think they have ever done a tumor marker test on me. Is it just a blood test? I have an appointment with my primary in  a few weeks and will ask her about it.

Got up to -6 degree's and frozen water pipes. Not sure how to fix that problem today as I am off to work. I really need that vacation.

Momine

Diana, yes, tumor markers are done with a blood test. My doc tests for 3 different ones. They are somewhat controversial, because you can get false positives and also false negatives. So they are not 100% reliable or anything near. However, for stage III, I think it fine to cover all bases with whatever we've got, even if it isn't perfect. Frequent scanning is also controversial, because it is nuclear. In the beginning I was all gung-ho for scans all the time, now I am not so sure. The scans are not super-accurate anyway. But the blood tests, both for markers and for things like liver function, calcium levels etc, just seem prudent to me and are minimally invasive.

They also say that it doesn't matter, in terms of survival, if you catch mets early. But, I have concerns other than simple survival and I tend to think that catching certain kinds of mets early may well improve QOL, even if it doesn't extend survival.

mumito

DianeRose after reading your posts not getting regular blood work makes no sense.Even ,a yearly bones scan, should be ordered.I would discuss this with him and if he refuses then tell him you would like to switch doctors.If he. Thinks stage 4 is in your future then he should be right in its face.That is the way my MO is handling me.((hugs))good luck with your battle.

elimar86861

Momine, I have heard that also, that early detection of mets does not increase overall survival; but then you hear that the meds have a better effect when the cancer is not as established (and the tumor load is not as great,) so I am not even sure how both can be true. 

Momine

E, that is what I find sort of confusing as well. But my thinking is also that I would rather live whatever time I have with a small bone met that can be kept in check without bothering me a lot, than have to deal with extensive mets with pain, broken bones etc. But I grant you that my understanding of how this all works is very limited, and I sincerely hope it stays that way.