MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Valjean

It's been a while for me.......

I know I've missed some PP's, very sorry. Please know that I am always there in spirit. Always.

Not much to say right now.

Just wanted to let everyone know I think of you often.

hugs

marlegal

We've missed you too Val. Hope things are okay hon. Hugs and love.

Loral

Have a great one........

carollynn79

Hello everyone been lurking but not a lot of posting,good to hear from you Valjean, hope you are well.  Hope everyone is doing well, been a long summer lots of tests procedures and biopsies but now that all is done, I remain cancer free, yea!  They really suspected uterine cancer, they did find a large 2" polyp but it was benign!!  Checking blood to see is I can switch to Arimidex (spelling?)  Has anyone here switched from Tamox to arimedex and if so any changes to expect?  I am off all righ now and sleeping better so do NOT look forward to starting again but oh well. Hope everyone has a great weekend, we are BBQing, cannng, and relaxing. 

barsco1963

Mame and Val - good to "see" you both again.

carollyn - glad to hear that all of your tests etc are over and done with and that you have the all clear! Woohoo!

marlegal - sounds like you are not having any issues relaxing and enjoying your vacay - extra long weekends are the "bomb"

Thanks all for the pre-birthday wishes. I have had a terrific, wonderful, busy weekend! The bbq was so much fun. Just great to be able to get so many of my family and friends together to let them know how much I love and appreciate each and every one of them. The weather cooperated and we had a beautiful sunny day for our get together. Ended Sunday evening with a trip to the beach for some live entertainment at the bandshell and a fantastic fireworks display. Life is good!

marlegal

Barsco, I'm so glad you enjoyed the day. That sounds like a pretty perfect time to me too.



Carolyn, I went from Tamox to Aromasin once I was post-menopausal. I had way fewer se's on the Aromasin but I know others who did fine on Tamox. Another area where some react differently than others.



Still waiting for a check-in from our girl Eli. Hope she's enjoying the visit with her bff.

carollynn79

Marlegal Thanks, hope I have less SE's too!

elimar86861

                                                             

Here I am, back again.  My whole road trip was a smashing success.  Here is the breakdown version:

The good:  Visiting with my DH's side of the family whom I have not seen for about over a decade.  Visiting with my bff (has also been about 10 years since I saw her last) and our husbands & kids hit it off nicely too. 

The bad:  My son's college apt. is not the greatest, but I think that you just take anything the first year and then have a year to find a NICE place to move into after that.  Also, I miss him already.

The ugly:  The driving in NYC/NJ areas and then the Boston area.  It took 40 min. to go one mile on the Mass Pike.  Why?  Because it was move in day for all the colleges in the Boston area.  Every second car had a mattress on top.  Just a nightmare!  Report from son is that traffic is down to normal proportions now.

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

I did give my chemotherapy a lot of thought during my travels and my bff said she would take the final two chemo rounds.  My in-laws were a little horrified that I would consider skipping the last two treatments but, guess what?  Mentally, I am DONE.  I am ready to move on to my "reversal" surgery to reconnect the plumbing.  I just truly feel that if I do get recurrence, then I probably was in the 20% group that would have recurrence no matter what and I would not feel like, "Guess those last two rounds were the deal breaker." but more like, "Those first ten rounds were a lot o' poison for nuthin'."  So, I'll break that news to the MO staff next Mon.  Then should come a CT for a look see before my surgeon can bring my franken-colon back to life.

Happy to see that the discourse has gone on nicely while I was away, but sorry to hear that you are suffering with the Arimidex, Dianarose.  The docs must help you in bringing those S/E's under control because you cannot endure that indefinitely.  Yes, you might settle into it over time, but maybe they can offer help to get through the first few hellish months so DO give them feedback of your misery.

Lots of vacaction return stuff to do, so I'm off again.

barsco1963

Eli - welcome back! Glad you had great visits with family and friends. Lots of catching up to do after 10 yrs. A bittersweet time for you having your DS going off to school. We are so proud to see our kids grow and become independent, but it's ohhhhh so hard to let them go.

I am happy for you that you have come to a decision about chemo. You have obviously thought long and hard about it. Wishing you good luck as you move forward.

marlegal

Eli, welcome back...you were definitely missed We might pretend to stumble along okay without you, but it's a struggle! I am so glad you made your decision and enjoyed your time with your bff. I hope you adjust to son's absence without too much pain. Onward and upward with taking charge of your body again, as much as you can anyway.



Diana, I hope you got a little break over the holiday weekend to charge your batteries, and that your side effects are lessening one way or the other.



Going for my annual bloodwork and chest xray this week. I don't need a pocket party for either, but some happy thoughts for boring results wouldn't be turned down

Valjean

E~ Welcome back! Time to move forward - no looking back, right?

marlegal ~ Happy thoughts on the way. hugs!

barsco1963

marlegal - sending you happy thoughts

momto7

Hi ladies August went by to fast hope every one had a great Labor day weekend! I went to my daughters and cooked out and had a good time now it is back to work ugh!  Oh well have to make the money lol  the weekend is almost here again We have a huge craft fair here this weekend I will be going to see what is there.

Dianarose

Marlegal- more happy thoughts

marlegal

Thanks buds. So I decided I'd go for the chest xray today. Except...I apparently lost the scrip with that and the bloodwork on it! Luckily I did hunt for it before leaving my office so I knew it was missing (as opposed to not finding out till I was at the hosp!) I see doc the 25th so I'll just wait till then and get new scrips. I'll hold onto all those sweet good wishes and happy thoughts, I promise

Loral

Marlegal.....

elimar86861

When it comes to scans, the more boring the better.  Best of Luck on yours, marlegal!

elimar86861

In the chaos of my travels, I forgot to memorialize our good friend Marybe who passed one year ago on the 4th.  Just sitting at the computer, it sometimes feeels like she is still out there "lurking" this thread and just not posting.  What I liked about her was that she hardly ever let cancer run her life AND she was never "stageist" in her comments to the early stages.  I do miss her.

                                                        

I put these balloons up to remember because she had them released by family and friends at her memorial last year.  Also, have to point out to the newer Middies that the little cookie icon up at the top/opening post is symbolic for her and her baking mania.  :-)

elimar86861

Speaking of forgetful, I don't think I even commemorated the 4th Year of this thread, which began on Aug 22.  Four years and still rolling on.  I like when Middies who have moved on stop back in just to give an update and say hello.  That is most encouraging that moving on is possible...someting that seems so impossible in that first year of Dx.  By all means get back to doing what you were doing before cancer reared it's ugly head, even at Stage IV, if you can.  It is so worth it.

Another reflections I have is that in my first year or two, I was not too interested to meet others IRL.  It seemed like it would be too much cancer concentrated in one location!  But now, I have met a few BCO ladies and it is a nice experience that I hope to continue.

barsco1963

Eli - a year gone by since Marybe's passing. Seems like she was here just yesterday chatting with all of us. I was lucky enough to actually be a recipient of some of Marybe's cookies when she mailed them out to a few of us. What a treat!

Congrats on 4 years of the Middies thread! I have yet to meet anyone from bco, but I am hoping to change that at some point.

Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend. I had a fantastic girls weekend with all but one of my sisters. We had a blast! I can honestly say that they are not only my sisters, but my best friends also.

Going for routine CT tomorrow morning. No need for PP  - but could sure use lots of positive vibes sent my way.

Loral

Barsco

macatacmv

Eli, welcome back! I was doing the old shopping for DS's new apt last Sunday as well. We were south of Btown, but we know the hazards of Move in Day, well.

Boy oh boy, shopping with a son is so much fun. me "What color curtains do you want?" him "Black, I want to keep the sun out." me "They are light blocking curtains, how about these light green ones to match the kitchen cabinets?" him "Whatever, I'll take the blue ones". Much more fun with someone who cares. He is happy in his new manly apt, tho. No roomates to distract him. 

barsco, you still celebrating? Positive vibes for your CT. Girls weekend sounds like fun. How many sisters do you have?

I miss Marybee, too. She was so welcoming and interested in everyone. I miss the pet therapy thread. 

carolynn, I have been on arimidex and am switching to tamox. It's all so different for us all. I am post menopausal but had a tough road on the AI. We can just compare notes along the way. 

Whooeeeee!!!!! 4 years of words, comfort and encouragement!!!! (I'm not mentioning the swearing, sobbing and seething) (or is that a diffferent thread?)

elimar86861

New article, telling us what we already know about early mammograms.  Duh, right?

barsco1963

Thanks Loral and Mac - just have to wait for the final verdict now.

mac - your shopping story made me laugh. Typical male shopping style - lol. I have 5 sisters - just one of them missing on the weekend. Lucky to all be within close enough proximity to get together.

elimar86861

This morning, my MO appt. was with my favorite (the PA.)  I like him because we go way back to when he had the task to tell my mom it was time for hospice, and his demeanor for that tough task was exemplary.  Anyway, I told him I was anxious to move forward and that I was mentally and physically done with the chemo rounds.  There was absolutely no argument from him, and what he did say about it was supportive of my decision.  (Not like they are there to have a full blown argument with you, but still, they will make their frowny faces if they don't like the direction you are headed in.)  Basically, he felt that I had received a good amt. of the poison and was in agreement that (with me having done neoadjuvant) I had probably gotten whatever benefit it was going to give me.

I also got an interesting answer to a question that had been bugging me.  So, neoadjuvant had shrunk my 5 cm tumor down to 2mm x 6mm; but I wondered WHAT did it do to the cancer in the nodes?  They told me six still showed active cancer after neoadjuvant.  Well, the PA said that the path. report even read like that, even if the cancer cells were necrotic and dying, even if they were there but not viable.  I had been thinking that the cells that survived in the nodes surely must have been damaged and hurting pretty bad.  I had a very good response to that neoadjubant.  So now, I did 10 adjuvant rounds out of 12, six with the platinum drug, and I have to believe that it took care of any strays, if there were even any in the first place. 

I feel great.  Yes, there was skipping.  Now, going to get a CT this week, and I'm waiting to hear if my surgeon can bump me up a month for surgery in early Oct.  I am ready to heal, heal, heal.  Get thee behind me, cancer!!!!!!

                                                                      

Loral

Congrats Elimar....

marlegal

Barsco, I hope for good CT results. Sending my positive thoughts/prayers belatedly but no less well intentioned!

Eli, I'm so glad you had a good appointment. Like you said, it's not supposed to be an argumentative occasion, but positive reinforement is awesome. Hoping you get that surgery scheduled as soon as possible to keep on keeping on

Meeting BCO sisters in person ... I've been very very luck to meet up with about 5 locals semi-regularly and have taken trips to various locations with larger groups. This year, I'm going to meet up with 45+ women in Vegas and I've only met one of them before in person! My experience has been overwhelmingly positive - very little time devoted to cancer talk and lots of time devoted to fun and living and sharing in general.

Four years of this thread? Wow! I missed about a year in the beginning I think until someone pointed me here. I don't post nearly as often as I'd like ... damn that whole working full time thing! I treasure so many of you though and read the posts daily.

barsco1963

Eli - glad to hear that all went well at your appt today. Is great to have your MO concur with your decision. Onward and upward for you!

marlegal - thanks for the positive vibes. It's never too late.

elimar86861

Loral, it is my sincere hope that I can move from "awesome" to "priceless."   Can I really be that lucky?  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

heartnsoul76

Elimar, so glad the PA saw it your way.  Now it's time for you to heal - and be priceless!

barsco - more good vibes for a good CT coming your way!

Diana - hope your SEs have settled down some.  These hormonal drugs are the pits. I've been on Tamoxifen for 2 1/2 years - at first my problems were minimal.  But I feel like they're getting worse now.