MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Anonymous

woo-hoo, page 900:

And Eph3_12, I had to look back about the cupcakes

Anonymous

NBI, TEs bring lots of pain, I refer to them as devices of torture, so much of the pain disappears after exchange. I couldn't get a restful nights sleep or only in small amounts. Being constantly exhausted didn't help the healing process either. PT and MFR (myofascial release) changed so much for me, I'd check into that if you can. 

Momine

Sorry about the TE troubles. In hindsight, I am so glad I was not a candidate for immediate TE placement. The docs were presenting the whole recon thing as a piece of cake, but I know now that the process would have driven me completely batshit.

lovewins

Hello ladies...I just want to say happy Sunday to all. 

NBI (I hope it is ok to refer to you by nick name)  I too am glad they found the nodes but sorry to had to go through more pain.  I felt the same way that I couldn't handle an MX....I had a lumpectomy.  I guess I should not take comfort in my nodes being clear....that was quite a surprise to read that but I have to admit deep down I always wondered if the Sentinel node could be clear and other not.

I bought The Hungry Girl Diet this week and am gearing up to go on it.  So far I am like 50/50.  I know it is not the healthiest diet but I have come to the conclusion since I am er + it is best to get weight off as best I can.  Besides my joints hurt now after chemo and that is driving me nuts.

Have a wonder day all....M

elimar86861

Nine hundred already?  Why it seems like just yesterday it was only 650.  I wonder if we'll get to page 1,000 by the big 5-year anniversary of the thread?  Y'all better get posting! 

<<<<-------That's me as a young lass.  Some things never change.

Notbuyingit

TE's definitely torture devices - obviously invented by some man like i've said about the whole experience - there has GOT to be a better way. Can't even imagine you ladies handling two! I went up to 850 cc in a 450 TE & it was barely out there - resulting in my new barely A's >sigh<

but it is definitely amazing that I am able to feel like I have ta-ta's again! I know it will never be the same & probably always there will be some pain/discomfort but it's a step closer to feeling human again.

now if this hair would just grow!! comin in grayer than gray - lite with a streak of dark on the left side like a skunk!! wonderful ha! just can't WAIT to ditch the wig completely!!

Eph3_12

143 days (give or take) to rack up 100 pages; let's do it Middies! 

Anonymous

Lovewins, good luck with the diet! I need to find something to lose my tonnage. 

NBI, it does come back but different. All it requires is (wait for it): patience. It will happen for you too.

Tall order for posts! That's like 3000 posts? Wow, that seems like a lot.

Notbuyingit

me three on the diet! i've lost my boob camouflage there's a whole nother ring I never knew about!!lol

went into town for the first time without wig or hat (just to the gas station) man, did it feel good to feel the breeze in my stubble! it's been a long winter!! in SO many ways

lovewins

Thank 2TA I am rather excited about it and I am embracing a change for a change.  I am easing my way into it learning a new way to cook and keeping my calories intake around 1500 calories.

I hope you find something that works for you, I figure if I can do chemo and radiation, I can find a way to lose weight!

I think this is a cool idea!

macatacmv

Anonymous

Mac.... Neither is 112 (graduated HS) or 121 (graduated college). Back then my metabolism was so high I could eat anything and not have a problem. It soon caught up with me, though

Notbuyingit

someone once told me - we were designed to put on a little more body weight when we reach middle age - to fight off all the diseases that strike at that time...guess she wasn't far off

elimar86861

NBI,  Hey, thanks for sharing your (avatar) picture.  Dat you rockin' at Coachella last year? 

I went on the chemo and radiation diet and lost 20 pounds.  Don't recommend that one.

Back in the day, I had some success with the "fruit and reggae diet."  I ate a lot of fruit and went out dancing to a friend's reggae band 2-3 nights a week.  I used to dance a lot more.  Really need to revisit that form of exercise because it is FUN and not boring.

Of course that fits right in with the best diet advice ever (courtesy of MadTV):  Eat Less, Move More.

luvmygoats

I own somewhere a pair of size 4 or 6 jeans I wore when met DH in 1975. I keep them for laughs. I never seen them as they are stored in a gigantic suitcase that I got as HS grad. gift that is too big for anything but storage - well moving into college campus by car worked OK at the time.

How about the sit on your a$$ less and move more - directed at me and not at anyone else. Pry my fingers off this keyboard. I'm addicted to eagle cam watch. But I did dig in flowerbed some and had great stress therapy breaking off loads of dead redbud tree branches. It's just barely within watering range and has not had any supplement in 2 years.

lovewins

Lots of good suggestions...I need to keep it moving.

Only in an effort to create more posts I am going to psoe a question I am curious about.

They have this plastic surgeon commercial on the radio I listen to every morning and they talk about man boobs and how they are on the rise...and this got me to thinking about the hormones they put in food now especially meat and dairy.  They also said they prescibe pills to cause their bodies to not produce estrogen so they will not come back.  This caused me to wonder if this is caused by those hormones and if breast cancer is on the rise for men...

I know this is a very complex issue...but just thinking out loud.

elimar86861

We can only wonder what has been perpetrated on our bodies from the hormones given to animals (and the additives in our processed foods.)  WE are are the guinea pigs for many of these chemicals that were introduced into our foods from the 1950's forward.

I wouldn't doubt that men's hormones get disturbed to the point of developing man boobs but, with Americans heading further into obesity, it could just be due to the extra body fat. 

Anonymous

I tend to think all the extra hormones in our food supply has made a huge difference. I works as an instructional assistant for years. It was amazing the amount of girls with big/huge chests in elementary and intermediate/junior high schools. Nothing like when I went to school. Not big busted on my side of the family or DH's but my daughter is slim (size 0 or 1 pants) and quite endowed. Has always make me wonder what negative impact it's had on our bodies. God says to quit messing with Nature.

Eph3_12

Male breast cancer facts

• Male breast cancer is rare and accounts for only about 1% of all breast cancers.
• Breast cancer risk in men is increased by elevated levels of estrogen, previous radiation exposure, and a family history of breast cancer.
• Infiltrating ductal carcinoma is the most common type of male breast cancer.
• A lump beneath the nipple is the most common symptom of male breast cancer.
• Male breast cancer is staged (reflecting the extent of tumor spread) identically to breast cancer in women.
• Surgery is the most common initial treatment for male breast cancer;chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy are also administered.
• The prognosis of male breast cancer, like breast cancer in women, is predominantly influenced by tumor stage.

This was on MedicineNet today

Notbuyingit

there are so many thing that they are attributing cancer to that have been developed within our lifetime - frozen entrees, water bottles, ultra-protection deoderants, diet pop, even pumping gas (yes, someone attributed there BC to that) not to mention all the new prescription meds.

I do worry about the next generation also - they seem to be "partying" til a much older age than us - and the energy drinks are frightening to me - have you seen the commercial for 5hr Energy where it's the young mom with the young children? And then there's the constant electronic usage....who knows?

let's get back to dancing & dieting  

macatacmv

scary, scary stuff all the food additives and modified molecular structure crops.

I have no idea what I weighed in high school. I have been working hard on losing some pounds. Now people say I look like my sister or my DD. What about me, don't I look like me? I am finally beginning to feel like me again. 

but isn't everyone "aware" of bc now and will be so much more on the look out?

apparently not, a mother of one of my DS's friends is 56 and was just dx, she had never had a mammogram, because there is no history of cancer in her family. She is in shock. We've been talking a lot!!!

staynsane

Luvmygoats- I too was gifted suitcases for my HS grad present!  And I thought I was the only one...I used them right away.  Not that my mom and I didn't get along; more because I was a 40 year old trapped in an 18 year old body.  Now I'm a 55 year old trapped in a  40 year old body.  I hope the trend continues...

elimar86861

mac, You would think the big Pink-splosion in recent years got everyone's attention, but apparently some failed to get the memo.  I hope her cancer was not too advanced and that treatment can wipe it out.

Weight in high school?  I wasn't even full grown to my adult height yet, so that weight is not a good goal for me.  (Maybe it is, if I shrink down an inch in my osteoporosis years.)   I think I am heavier than in high school, but definitely lighter than when I graduated college.  My extra weight came from taking BCP, and no matter what I did, that weight would not go away.  Once I got off "the pill," my body found a weight it liked and stuck to it (5lbs+/-) for 20+ years.  

Here are some links you can play around with:

Ideal Weight Calculator

CDC Weight Assessment

Momine

Wow, that first calculator wants me to weigh anywhere from 60 (132 pounds) to 70 kilos (155). I weighed 70 at DX, and I had actually gone to a doc a few years before, when I "only" weighed 67 because I thought I had some sort of metabolic problem. I feel good below 60. After I had dd I weighed 61 for many years, and I felt awful, nor could I get the weight off for anything. I suspect my hormones were all screwed up. Once I got rid of the cancer and the ovaries, my weight stabilized in the range that is comfortable for me and has stayed the same for 2 years.

Anonymous

elimar86861

I feel foolish that I forgot the date today!

lovewins

Elimar....well then the day was successful!

April fools...

Footballnut

hi all!  Happy to find this thread. I just turned 50 last July and thought of myself as a 20 year old in a 50 year old body with a few extra aches and pains. And now cancer!!  My bio explains it all!!  :-)

Who knows what has caused this increase in bc. In my area my dr dentist and home care nurse have all said that bc has increased especially in young women

What I personally find funny is how the "experts" are jumping all over the place about healthy eating.  Eggs are good for this but bad for that. Chocolate is healthy if it's dark but not good for this. Red wine helps this but hurts that

I can't see things like wireless beams steroids in foods etc etc as being good for anyone

However if I have to go through a modified radical mastectomy and most likely treatment I do know that I will still eat my junk food and gave a few drinks every now and then

I look forward to participating I the forum and look forward to getting to know you better!

So far the positive of my diagnosis has been making new friends and being able to watch my favourite sports without having to get up early for work in the morning!

I also look forward to playing more guitar and writing songs which my job had kept me from doing!!

Have a good day everyone!!!

:-)

elimar86861

Footballnut,  Oh, you had my hopes up there that you were referring to soccer, but it looks like the other kind of football jersey you are wearing there in your avatar.  Darn!  But we take all kinds here, so welcome!

I read your bio.  Never heard of that twist of fate before, to be one breasted since birth.  How do you mentally feel now to have both sides match up?  (But you probably wore a prosthetic for righty up until then, didn't you?  Now what?)

Now you do not mention your cancer spreading any further than the nodes, so maybe the nodes were doing their job and the cancer didn't get any further.  In that case (and with treatment) you could have plenty of years ahead of you.  Are your other organs clear?

As far as junk foods...Do you see a little Cheetos icon up there in the original post?  It does actually stand for Cheetos; but more generally portrays our attitudes on not giving up every last guilty pleasure.  I think we all have made some changes to live healthier after getting the BC diagnosis, yet liberally allow ourselves to indulge in a few things from the no-no list now and then.   As far as virtual foods and drinks (that we might post on this thread) we are shameless gluttons!!!

Footballnut

elimar hello!  U r right. I had an implant on the right side since being in my mid 20s. 3 to be exact. The first was a silicone mound that started coming out the day after it was put in. Approx 2 years later I had a saline implant and approx 15 years later had to have it changed because it starting leaking

To be honest it dies not bother me to lose my left breast the funny thing is that I'm not flat because the right side is now sagging as a result if the skin having being stretched over the years as a result of the implant!!  So now I have a mini boob on the right side!!  Lol

When I had the implant on the right I was never balanced anyhow so I'll just get prosthetics. I'm cool with that

As far as the cancer all I know at this stage is that my bone and CT scan showed no cancer. 

I hope to get more details from my surgeon tomorrow.  Hoping for the best!!

:-)