MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

barsco1963

Dianarose - beyoooootiful granddaughters! And now a grandson coming in Sept - how wonderful for you!

Jo - I might just hitch a ride to Maine with you. Would make for a great road trip!

Mac - so very glad your DD is safe and sound.

marlegal

Diana,agree about gorgeous g'kids. I have two so recognize the awesomeness!



Mac, so glad your loves ones are ok



Love and hugs to all going through anything this coming week

heartnsoul76

Oh, yummy Diana! Those look delicious! I'm so glad you decided to "go for it" as far as owning your own bakery. Sounds like an ideal location, too. I bet you'll find it very fulfilling. And your granddaughters are beautiful! How did you like flying? Did you take any LE precautions?

Marlegal - thanks for the kind words about my son.  Yeah, he's the light of my life. Even though he's in college, he lives at home so he still keeps me busy.  

Yesterday, he and a friend wanted to go to an Apple Museum exhibit about 20 miles from here.  I gave him the simplest route to go and printed it off.  I didn't print return directions, because come on... you just reverse everything.  Well, he and his navigationally-challenged friend ended up driving all over the place and circling the city before finally heading in the right direction to their college.  I was on the phone with them and said, "Where are you now?"  By the airport.  Aargh!  I said, "There's no exit ramp to your school coming from that direction."  At which point his friend screamed like a woman because they had been driving for hours already.  I had to laugh at that.

elimar86861

Nothin' sez lovin' like something from the oven........

                                                  

Mmmm, That Hawaiian bread would make a nice piece of toast for with my morning tea.  Dianarose, Congrats on the soon-to-be addition of a boy grandchild into the mix, and glad to hear you had a great (and I bet exhausting) visit with the girls.

Mac, Hope your prep is not too torturous today.  Guess what?  My husband prepped yesterday and I am taking him in at noon today.  I finally wore him down to go and get a screening.  His prep liquid was GoLytely and I tasted that because it was different than the (mothball) one I had.  His wasn't bad at all.  Then, he completed his prep in three hours only, start to finish!!!  Seems he had it way easier than I did.  His take on it:  "I guess I'm just not as full of sh*t as you think I am."  Ai-yi-yi!

I don't know if it will be there when you look, but as I write this, there is a "Breaking News" bar at the bottom of the page that says 25% either don't start of don't finish hormone therapy.  I'm in that 25% now.  I did three years of the Tamox., but got taken off when I got my non-B/C Dx.  Have not posed the question to doc whether he would want me to go back on it at some future point, but I am feeling like my Tamox. days are over for good.  I was premenopausal when I went on it.  Now I am menopausal, and I don't have a lot of body fat, so whatever estrogen I am still making has got to be a lot less than before, right?  I am feeling like after I complete my chemo, I want my liver to take a nice long vacation and not have to deal with any nasty chemicals unless there is a proven need for them.

On the chemo front:  My sensitivity to cold and the jaw spasms S/E's lasted a full week, but lessening each day.  Now, after just one chemo round, I feel good.  Good enough to have been on my bike a couple times over the weekend.  If only the chemo didn't build up on a person, as I know it will, then this wouldn't be too bad at all.  I only had a day and a half where I felt flu-like and had bad enough stomach irritation that I didn't want a regular meal. 

Here's a mini-poll:  When doing chemo, how many of you felt like mashed potatoes were just about the yummiest thing on the planet?

Momine

Eli, my thing while on chemo was pancakes and crepes. Mashed potatoes would work too.

staynsane

Dianarose- Congrats in so many ways; for having a lovely, expanding family that feeds you, for being so talented, entreprenurial and brave in setting up your own business and for feeling good enough to move on from cancer and make your goals your reality.  

Now PLEASE, stop posting pics of yummy food!  Eli jumped on the bandwagon with her pic at the top and we all get excited at the mere mention of tasty treats.  But I try not to partake, and bakery goods are among the hardest to ignore.

Dianarose

http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/bread/sweet-bread/hawaiian-bread-4.html?utm_source=spop&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Whats%20Cookin%202013%20-%20April%2021%20(1)&utm_content=

Link for the recipe for the Hawiian bread. You can join just a pinch recipe club and they send you recipes every day. It's great.

Heartnsoul- I did wear the compression sleeves and gauntlets when I flew. I haven't had any trouble with LE so far and prefer to try to avoid it at all costs.

elimar86861

staynsane, Here in the virtual world, we partake of many, many things that our real life consciences would frown upon.  In fact, we all know that our virtual food fests (as devilishly delicious as they look) are always nutritious, low in calories, hormone-free, homegrown, vitamin packed, organic, gluten-free, unprocessed miracles of saintly scrumptiousness.  Just say yes to the virtual treat!

This thread is like the "Mystery Spot" of eating.  No worries.  Here, the food pyramind is a trapezoid of treats...

                                                   

Spiced Carrot Muffin is a moist, inverted trapezoid laced with carrot strands that comes topped with pistachio streusel.  Mmmm!

elimar86861

                                                                        Happy Earth Day!

                                                 

In counter balance to our heavily treat-laced thread, allow me to present the 2013 update to the "Dirty Dozen" & "Clean Fifteen."

Loral

luvmygoats

I read through and saved the dirty 10/clean 15.  Depressing.  Our grocery is doing good if it has organic salad mix and maybe carrots.  Forget things like strawberries or grapes.

Hand over that carrot muffin!!!

marlegal

Eli, I had very few food problems on chemo. I had a fondness for chicken caesar salad though! I stopped taking any nausea meds after my 2nd chemo. I did the pre-meds but nothing after. I was very tired and lethargic on day 3 after each one, and taxol was not good to my bones and muscles, but thankfully that did stop very soon after my last taxol treatment. I hope to never go through it again, but I was fortunate that my side effects were tolerable and temporary. I wish you the very same.

elimar86861

Sometimes I just cry about my cancer.  That doesn't make me weak.  It just gives me a wet, salty face for a short time, you know?

Starynights

LOL mashed potatoes or potatoes of any kind .....ICKY ICKY ICKY ! But I can put away some pasta !

Starynights

Elimar...I cry too...This entire thing just ticks me off to no end. How dare this BC interfere with my life. I guess thats better than crawling in the bed and having a pity party!

elimar86861

Sometunes (quite often, really,) I am truly confused by the conflicting information out there regarding this disease and its treatment.  (No, I don't mean Wiki-info. either...I mean results of studies published in JCO.)

kaza

I guess they do not know all the answers....such a complex disease, we have to be vigilant, and do the best we can regarding diet, exercise etc!!!!i still have tearfull days, but not so often. We all have each other here, i dont know how i would of coped without the support of lovely ladies here. hugs to all . kaza xx  

barsco1963

Tears are put inside us so that we can cleanse our souls at a moments notice and provide us with emotional release. Some days I cry for me, wishing I could wake up from this nightmare. Some days I cry for those around me that are having a rough time with treatment, or facing a tough decision or just having a bad day.

Cancer seems to enhance a multitude of feelings. Recently I have been experiencing a lot of guilt for various reasons.  I came across this article today that really brought some things home for me. Some great advice from the article is to "put yourself in a friends shoes" for none of it is our fault! I hope that someone else gets out of this what I did. It will help me to be less harsh on myself and enjoy things just that tiny bit more. (hope the link works)

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/laura-price/coping-with-cancers-ugly-sister-guilt_b_2060752.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=4021353,b=facebook

elimar86861

Sometimes all I can do is laugh, appropriately or not, and move forward, because I'm not dead yet.

elimar86861

Welcome, kaza!

Barsco, thanks for sharing the article about guilt (one of the many feelings that goes with cancer.)

jocanuck1951

Welcome Kaza!



That was a great article, thanks Barb!



Xoxox Jo

heartnsoul76

Barsco - "Tears are put inside us so that we can cleanse our souls at a moments notice and provide us with emotional release."  I love that, that's exactly how I feel when I cry. I feel purged of built-up tension.  It's not very often, but it's usually sudden and unexpected. Then I'm fine again with just a wet, salty face, haha.

I don't feel guilty, though, about my cancer. Even when my son was taking care of me I didn't feel guilt, I felt it was more of a strong, bonding period of our lives.

If anything, I want to assign blame to my abusive ex-husband, mother and brothers. Thankfully, I had a loving father in my life but he passed away 10 years ago and it's been a free-for-all since.

My favorite food when I had chemo was something I haven't touched since: Stouffer's Baked Chicken and Mashed Potatoes. But yeah, Elimar, it was those mashed potatoes I really wanted.

cc90118

Elimar and Starynights, I'm glad I saw this. Sometimes I cry and the people around me try to be sympathetic, but they don't really understand why I'm crying and I feel too selfish to explain. I get pissed off that the general plans I had for this summer are going to get screwed around with my treatment. I'm sorry about the language, but I'm just so frustrated. I worked seven on seven and the last 3 years my days off have been filled with my granddaughter. I'll spontaneously burst into tears, and someone will be like your going to be ok, it's going to be ok. I don't feel like I can respond, that's not what's bothering me. (of course it does bother me, just not to tears) What is bothering me is I don't see how I'm going to fit 15 days a month into swimming, fishing, or just going to the park and and goofing off. And the other thing that scares me to tears is what I have passed down to my dear daughter and granddaughter. What a legacy. now I'm crying again. lol

heartnsoul76

cc - I'm sorry your summer is being ruined with treatment!  Treatment can be a hard thing to go through, but hopefully it won't be as bad as you think and you will still have some fun times this summer.  

Ladies, I have a question.  I have been sick since last Thursday with a cough and chest congestion.  When you get sick do you go to your MO or just a regular doctor?  I seem to remember my MO telling me to come to her when I get sick but that was so long ago, I'm not positive she said that.  And when I do go to other doctors, they always defer to my MO when I ask about something.  I don't feel like messing with her for this, but am I supposed to?

kaza

Barsco....thank you for sharing this article, rearly makes you think x

kaza

Thank you all for such a warm welcome, warm hugs to you all x

NativeMainer

heartnsoul--go to your MO about the cold. 

Loral

My MO doesn't want to see me for colds or flu. I had to get a Primary Care Dr./Family Practice Dr.

barsco1963

Welcome kaza and cc90118. Glad to have you aboard (although not so crazy about why you are here). Hope you join us often. We middies like to have fun, share everything and anything and are here to support one another to no end.

hns - I go to my PCP for most everything as she is only 20 min away and my MO is 2.5 hrs. My PCP will order tests etc if she thinks them to be necessary. (MO is copied on all results)

elimar86861

Welcome, cc90118.   I, too, felt like I had to give up (some) control of my life to cancer.  Anyone with the least tendency of the control freak in them will not tolerate that aspect very well.  Not that I am saying that the pissed-off-ness is exclusive to control freaks only.  It just makes you mad that your time is no longer your own.  It becomes like a job you hate, except no one is paying you for it. 

------------

Thoughts...

Chemo-bald or flat-chested B/.C women:  Have obvious symbols of cancer treatment, as they move through the world in their daily lives.  It's like signage that you are going through/went through something pretty awful.  Others give you the pity looks.  It's an even split between whether you get a kind comment, hear something dumb, or get awkward silence.

B/C women with no outward sign:  People oblivious to your plight unless you mention it, which you are not sure you even want to do (see three reactions above.)  Even people who know, think "well, she looks good, so the subject is closed now."

Both:  Most others (in the non-B/C world) are clueless that there is still a mental battle going on.