thread for middle age to older Christian women.

bandwoman1234

Mini1

Amen.

bandwoman1234

SA8PG

Good evening dear sisters. We took this picture tonight & I thought of all of us on here. God's promises are true, He does not change. We still trust in Him.

My apologies for not being on here much. A dear friend named Sarah, age 32 with 4 young children and a homeschool mom like me passed away this last week and it shook me pretty hard. Her last words to her mother were "I still trust God". I feltlike tonight someone on here may need to hear that too. So to my forever friend Sarah and to my pink sisters; may we all chose to say the same thing. We still trust Him.

God bless you all.

bandwoman1234

G, I am so sorry for the loss of your friend and at such a young age. May God comfort her family and friends. I am sure you were a blessing to her. Love the moon shot. I saw what looked like a full moon behind clouds as I returned to my home on Saturday night from my mom's. It was so beautiful and I am still excited when I see God's creation. If God created the sun, the moon and the stars He is able to handle our lives and our path. Yes, it all boils down to trusting Him and His will. He is the I AM and we are not. God Bless you dear sisters.

Love

Nancy

zjrosenthal

Ok, I think I need to start posting things I am grateful for again each day. Some of you ladies may like to join me.

Today I am grateful for a day of warm weather. Also for my granddaughter Alexia being in rehab. May God bless her time there. I am grateful for the provision of an ortopedist who will give me a shot to help my knee pain later. What wonderful access to medical care we have here. Thank you God. Thank you Jesus. Love, Jean

auroaya200882

Good idea Jean! Today I'm grateful to be alive to celebrate my grandson's 5th birthday!

Aurora

Ade

It is SOOO refreshing to see Christian women expressing their faith and encouraging one another here! I just found you today. I had read in the guidelines that expression of religion was not allowed when I first found this forum so was just content with gleaning news about the medical issues - but this is a delightful surprise!

I'm 65, married to my best friend for 44 years, mom of 3 grown children, and grandma to 13 grandchildren and 2 great grands. ( I AM BLESSED!). Born & raised in Ohio, my husband and I retired here in Alpine TX 4 years ago (under the Lord's direction) and are at peace and blessed to have an awesome church family.

I could not live in this ol' world were it not for the Lord keeping me going and loving me. When I was diagnosed with cancer on 12/17/15 I kept it quiet as to not put a damper on anyone's Christmas, then I had to tell everyone as my surgery was the 29th. They all were amazed at how calm I was and I was blessed to give God the glory - as I still try to do. I had a second surgery 8/5 because the "leftover" tissue was growing. Praise God it was just suture left in & festering and not more cancer!

I would ask your prayers for my husband, James. He has had fevers off & on for years and tests showed nothing. This last one lasted 2 weeks and his temp hit over 104 degrees at one point. He was referred to an infectious disease specialist who drew TWELVE big vials of blood, asked MANY questions & ordered a CT scan. James was put on a cousin to the statins for high cholesterol and had a really bad reaction in his muscles. This may be a muscle wasting immune system disease. His arm muscle has dropped way down on his arm and he is painful and weak. I have never seen him this bad. Though I took the cancer verdict pretty well it is harder to do for him. God knows what is the correct diagnosis & treatment & I pray for the doctor's wisdom & God's healing. We return to the specialist 10/31. Thank you so very much! Blessings, Ade

Faith-840

Ade, Welcome to this thread but I'm sorry you had to have cancer to find us. This is a loving, Christian group of ladies who care and pray for each other. We will pray for you and especially for your husband right now. Its tough when one of you is ill, its much worse when its both of you. Praying they find an answer for your husband and that your second surgery turns out to be nothing new.

Today I am grateful to be alive to celebrate my grandson"s 20 th Birthday. I am also grateful that the meds I've been on seemed to have worked on my lung infection and I'm feeling better and coughing less. Please God, i continue on the right path for wellness. Our gospel yesteray was all about being persistent in prayer as Nancy has so often noted. God works in His time, not ours.

God bless you all and hold you in His loving arms.

Faith (in the future)

Faith-840

P.S. Aurora, your grandson is adorable! Happy birthday to both our grandsons.

Blessedteacher37

Good evening ladies;

Nancy, I'm glad you made it back home from your mom's. To all of you, thank you for your care for me and for each other. Prayer does change things....the peace of mind we have in times of crisis is because we KNOW who is in charge of all things .praying that everyone is seeing some of God's blessings as you fight this disease. Blessings too for the folks who take care of us and encourage us.

I get so frustrated at the news...but a couple of days ago, I read an article by Max Lucado about what the world will be like on Nov. 9; talk about putting things in perspective! Read it if you get a chance..I found the link on Fox News.

Ade, glad you found us...will pray that the doctors will be able to give you some answers about your husband's illness. So frustrating when they are so sick and no one knows what to do!

It's official...I checked in with my Ortho surgeon today and will be having hip replacement (left) soon. XRay showed right one is doing great; left is bone on bone with spurs. Getting to the point where I'm tired of the daily, hourly, pain when I move.

God bless you all with a fantastic week!

Ellen.

bandwoman1234

Welcome Ade to our thread. I am glad you found us. I think many feel like the Lord lead them here as this thread is not easy to find. I am glad you are doing well and we will certainly pray for James that they can find exactly what is going on with him and that there will be a solution. It is so hard watching our loved ones going through things. There are many wonderful woman on this thread. I hope you can be a part of our little online prayer family and support group.

Aurora, your grandson is so cute. Did you start rads today? Praying all goes well with your treatments.

Faith, so glad to hear that your lung infection is better and your treatment for that is working. Praying for the other things as well.

Jean, I remember when we did the 50 days of gratitude and that was a great thing.

I am grateful today that my 2017 Butterfly Calendar became a reality and is in a gift shop as of today. It has gone over so well I may have to order more calendars. I can't tell you how thrilled I am as I was able to have my story included in it. My desire is that people who need hope will buy the calendar and then be blessed by my story of hope in it besides the photography.

Praying that the Lord will give each one of you hope in all of your challenges this day. I know there are some very big challenges represented here but I know that we have a Big God who is still in control no matter what the situation looks to our human eyes. I keep hearing that Hillary Scott song running through my head..... Thy will be done.

Love,

Nancy

Ade

Faith thank you so much! We all have so much to thank the Lord for. Yes we surely need to persist in prayer and thank Him for the everyday blessings. God is good ALL the time. These trials just serve to bring us closer to Him and trust in His love. Blessings on your day & happy 20th birthday to your grandson!!!

bandwoman1234

Good morning or afternoon dear ladies,

We are having some days of glorious weather which will quickly change but I am enjoying it while it lasts. Remember that God knows exactly what you are going through and He is allowing it to fulfill His purpose and will for your life. He is excruciatingly slow but always on time. He whispers to each of us just trust Me.

Love,

Nancy

Ade

Nancy, thank you for the warm welcome and prayers for James. We should know test results the 31st. Congratulations on your butterfly calendar and may it and your testimony bless and encourage many hearts. Ade

zjrosenthal

I am grateful today for my counselor, for the gorgeous fall colors, for getting a shot that will hopefully take away my knee pain. Praying for all the needs here to be met by our awesome God. Love, Jean

Ade

Beautiful post - thank you Nancy! We are from Ohio (transplanted to southwest Texas) so we know well the beautiful glory of fall leaves. Just think - The Lord did not have to make the seasonal splendor - or sight so we could enjoy it. . . but He did out of love. We never take our blessings for granted. Not many fall leaves here in the high desert - but the warm sunshine feels good on the old bones. Ade

Ade

Ellen (my middle name), thank you for prayers for my husband. I pray the Lord will guide your surgeon's hand, grant him/her wisdom, that the surgery will go perfectly, your healing be swift, that you have complete recovery with no complications and your pain is gone - to God's glory! Ade

mysunshine48

Hello all, I have not been online for several weeks as I am in Hawaii visiting my son and his family. Having a wonderful time, but am exhausted at the end of every day....but a good tired. My sister and her husband came for two weeks so we have had a houseful and I have been able to get away and do some sightseeing.....even went snorkeling ans saw sea turtles! Even though I do not get on here and read daily, everyone on this thread are in my prayers daily. I do not just pray at night.....I thank God and pray many times during the day. He is so good.

Love to all,

Lynn

bandwoman1234

Thank you Ade. In my prayer time today I was expressing to the Lord exactly what you said. HGod puts on this display of fall colors for our enjoyment. I was thinking of the dead of winter but quickly comes the rebirth of spring to renew our hope. He uses the seasons of the calendar to show us how he works in the seasons of our own life as well.

Joanne is from Ohio and will be glad to meet you when she posts. Her family is going through a very rough time and it has been extremely stressful so she has not posted as much.

Ellen, hopefully you saw my PM. Praying your trip goes well this week and praying for your knee pain while you wait for your surgery.

Jean, glad you got your shot and I hope it works miracles for your knee.

Ladies. let's remember to lift up G in your prayers. She has some unspoken needs and I pray that you would all lift her up for comfort and that her issues will be nothing serious.

Have a great evening dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

Mini1

Welcome Ade! These ladies are amazing. I find so much encouragement here.

I am thankful for the amazing fall weather we are having. It's only supposed to last another day or two, but it's been glorious.

Blessings

tatatootsie62

Hi my name is Patty, otherwise known on BCO as Tatatootsie62. I am 62 and newly diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma in

the right breast. I am the only person in my family that has had an occurrence of breast cancer. If you told me that I

could have been the one in 4 out of 7 or the one in 3 out of 5 that would get breast cancer, I would have told you that

you had rocks in your head. I am a Christian and I was raised to have a reverent respect for God. There is nothing more

important in your life than your dependence upon God....for it is His hand that is higher than ours that decides what

happens as well as His hand guiding the surgeon's hands to perform their so-called "miracle". And I say miracle

because I have been in medicine for the last 35 years and I have seen much improvement to our advantage. Breast

cancer no longer has to be a death sentence because surgery has made advancements, oncology has made great

strides in treatment for those of you (us) who have been diagnosed, whether or not we have lymph node involvement.

It sounds wonderful and promising I know, but the truth is that I am frightened....despite my faith in the Lord. It is

difficult to remain totally objective when you are the patient, but my faith in God is what will take me through this

ordeal. This website is "providential" for me as I have found it and several other women in nearly identical circumstances

have helped boost my morale, allay some of my fears and helped me see the "light at the end of the tunnel". We will

all reach that point at sometime in our own circumstances, but the key is while we are all able to share we will

edify one another with or triumphs and victories because of the bountiful blessings from our divine Creator.

Godspeed to you all (and I hope to see some new posts made sooner than 2012). Gals, we are all in this

together. HUGE HUGS TO ALL !

tatatootsie62

So Sorry....I retract that last statement....I was looking at the date that some have joined

BCO....and not the most recent post. I humbly apologize....my BAD ! I am not

in my right mind right now.

bandwoman1234

Hi Patty,

Welcome to our "current" thread. Other than you being in the medical profession your post sounded very much like mine when I first started my journey. I was diagnosed at the same age as you and very similar stats it looks like except I have IDC and not ILC. When my radiologist called me on the phone to tell me I had IDC I said those very words to her. I was the last person I ever thought would get cancer. I had done all the things I thought were healthy and the bottom line is anyone can get this. I remember my mind spinning the first few days trying to figure out why I got it and then very soon woke up to the fact that I was asking the wrong question. I needed to ask how was I going to get through it. I got through it with a lot of prayer and lots of support from my friends and community around me. My family lives downstate and I am single and live alone but I did not feel alone at all. I felt very surrounded with support which helped me tremendously. I was someone that kept a lot to myself but I realized early on that I needed to tell as many people as I could of my diagnosis. I look back at that decision and I have to believe the Lord was in that because I definitely needed support since my family was not able to come up and help out.

It is VERY normal to be scared and to have fear whether you are a Christian or not. I am glad you found this website. I didn't find it until I was almost finished with my active treatments. It was a Godsend for me. There is a wealth of information here and a ton of support. This is a thread that supports in prayer and emotional support. I have a feeling you are going to do just fine in your treatments. If you have an upcoming surgery date let us know and we will be sure to pray for you.

Feel free to post anytime and it won't take us four years to respond, I promise. LOL I couldn't resist.

Love,

Nancy

tatatootsie62

Nancy, I deserve it (LOL); I do not know where my mind is sometimes. Please know that all

of the "guardian angels" of this website who unselfishly share their experiences will be in my

prayers tonight. HUGS, Patty.

Lita57

Tatatoot: Do they have a treatment plan mapped out for you yet? Once they get the ball rolling on that, it gets easier.

No history of BC on either side of my family, but I was diagnosed right out of the gate with advanced Stage IV with mets to my spine, other bones, liver, pancreas, and other organs. Talk about being scared to death...40 years ago I would probably already be dead, or at least a "dead woman walking" on death row. But w/all the medical advances, hopefully I can get a few more "quality of life" years. I won't lie, things aren't that great now - I had to quit a job I loved for over 21 years because the pain got too bad, plus the side effects of my chemo have given me neuropathy and neuralgia in my hands and fingers (I have no more feeling in them, and simple things like putting on pierced earrings or opening a simple jar are a nightmare), and my back hurts all the time. I'm only 57, but I have to depend on a cane and even a walker (if I have to go long distances). It's my "new" normal.

Did God give this to me? No! The toxic, polluted environment in which we live, and the chemicals in the food supply have contributed to this. Nevertheless, God "allows/permits" these tragedies for HIS purposes. "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.

With my extensive mets, and if I didn't have my faith, I probably would have given up and asked for the barbiturate cocktail already. (California has a "Death with Dignity/End of Life Options" law, but you have to jump through a LOT of hoops to get that. You make a formal request, there's a waiting period of at least 2 wks, then you have to be evaluated by TWO outside drs (can't use your own), and then get a psych eval. before they'll get you the drug...gees, you could already be gone by then .)

That's not how I'm planning to go out...it will take too long! I'll know when it's finally time for the Lord to call me home. And when that time does come, I'll do what my friend's mom did: No more Tx, no more food, no more fluids, just HARD CORE pain meds to keep me comfortable, and the Lord can take me when it is HIS will. Don't mean to be morbid here, but when you're Stage IV, your perspective changes. You now have a "chronic" disease for which there is still NO CURE. The chemo/rads/AI's can keep it in check (hopefully, until the cancer mutates and outsmarts the drugs), but you will never be NED or "cancer free." But the time I have left COUNTS very much.

I read a little inspirational Christian booklet called "Don't Waste Your Cancer." I wear my "Stupid Cancer" hat and buttons, and people ask me about them. I want to be a beacon of light and share how God is working in my life. Everyone is usually shocked, and they say, "But you look so healthy and happy." And then I tell them, "That's the Holy Spirit working in my body, keeping me going so I can still walk."

Ladies, this is very important: Don't be afraid to share your stories. TELL people you have/had cancer. If you are Stage IV, like me, believers and non-believers alike will be watching how you navigate these treacherous waters and how you cope. You never know who you will inspire and who you will bring to Christ through your actions and your indefatigable, cheerful faith.

I've got a scan coming up in the next few weeks. I'm not scared...God already knows the outcome, either shrinkage or progression, and He'll get me thru it.

God bless you all and help you stay strong,

Lita

zjrosenthal

Welcome Lita. Praying for you.

Today I am grateful for hubby bringing me coffee this morning. The leaves are beautiful. Hoping to take a walk later.

My granddaughter Alexia took off on Monday and we don't know where she is. Rehab reported her as a missing person. Please pray for her. Last night God told me..."You asked me to save them. Now let me do my job!". Love, Jean

Faith-840

Welcome to all the new people here. I'm sorry you have to join us but it's a good place to be to share all our fears and sorrows and joys and hopes.

Jean, I'm praying for you and Alexia and the family, I'm so sorry she has left rehab. I pray that she will be found and get the help she needs so badly.

Today, I'm grateful for another beautiful fall day and a good night's sleep.

Godbless you all, hugs

Faith (in the future)

bandwoman1234

Lynn, you sound like you are having a great time in Hawaii. Enjoy your time with family and sightseeing.

Jean, praying that Alexia can find the right path and that God can do a healing work in her.

Pray for G and for Joanne. They both need your prayers.

Have a great day today dear sisters and try to find the many blessings the Lord has for YOU today no matter what you are going through.

Love,

Nancy

ARCats

Hello everyone,

Haven't posted in a while but I do read and pray for the needs. Welcome to all the new people and know that God is in control of everything.

I will be going Nov. 1st for my 6 month Mamo/US and I've placed it all in God's hands, and I pray that all our petitions be answered according to God's perfect will.