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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited April 2011

    Chrissy, we're excited here when it gets up to 58!!! It was there on Thursday and we were walking around without coats on!!! hehehehehehehhe   This temp at the end of summer seems like the end of the world, but now, it's the beginning of Spring! woo hoo!!!

  • BarbaraA
    BarbaraA Member Posts: 7,378
    edited April 2011

    At 58, I would have long pants, sweatshirt and socks on. I have had the windows open for the past couple weeks and the highs are around 82 and the lows in the mid 60's. LOVE this time of year!

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2011
    I am following you around BarbA.....not really but you just seem to be in front of me today on posts.   FB is all messed up again for some reason and I have been messing with that.  Computers are just not my thing....Skype is a poor connection, FB has just disappeared, my posts get lost half the time.....and here you make a living with them !!  Ah well, different strokes for different folks as they say.  ZUMBA!!!, 3jays!   Are you serious?   I have watched them do that at the Life Center my Dad goes to and then they were doing a demo at some festival I went to last summer.....that is one heck of a workout and not something I could do, that's for sure.  Barbe, know exactly what you mean about temps....it is all relative...what seems warm in Spring is cold in Fall....guess we have been conditioned to think that way.  Yesterday I had lunch with a friend from highschool at a restaurant on the river and we ate inside because it got too hot out on the balcony.  But this is a teasing time of year and probably we will get one more snow shower before Spring is officially here....however the trees and flowers do not know that and it looks like Spring. 
  • duckyb1
    duckyb1 Member Posts: 13,369
    edited April 2011

    Dragonfly.......This Sour Cream Pound Cake is amazing.......If you want the recipe let me know and I will "post it" for you.......Dinner was fantastic.  I must list the desserts for you all, and keep in mind there were only 6 people at the table.

    1 birthday cake...my son-in-law..White with choc icing

    1 birthday cake..my son-in-laws-mother, her birthday is today..choc with white icing

    Crumb cakes ....to die for

    German Butter Cake.....heavenly

    Sour Cream Pound Cake...always the big hit

    Pineapple Upside Down Cake....homemade by me.

    We all felt sick after we tried each one.....but what fun getting to that point.

    My son-in-laws mother is 75........at 52 she was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 1988. She had a mastectomy, followed by Chemo and Rads and Tamox for 10 years, not the usual 5 the treatments were  very hard on her, but she got through it Tamox was no problem....14 years later she got cancer in the other breast.......again removal, and at that time they put her on a different drug (can't recall which one), then they switched her to Arimidex and she has been on that for 2 years................I asked her if she got any SE from it............Now this is funny......she said "no, none at all"........I said , Gee that's great..........not even joint pain, nothing?????.........Then she said "I feel good".. I said "you don't have any joint pain, or hands and feet hurting......................She said "oh yea, sometimes I have to put my hands in hot water to make them feel better, and when I get up to walk in the morning my feet really hurt till I get going, but that is it, and that is old age................I said "Nancy that is probably from the medicine, how long have you had it.............she thought and then said "gee, since I've been on the Arimidex........we both laughed, and I said  "well that is what the Astra Zeneca website said could happen..........................She said "oh I never read those SE pamphlets that come with the medicine, if I did, I would probably get all the symptoms, just from power of suggestion alone......................................I thought to myself...........ok, who is the smarter one...................me who reads every SE on every pamphlet of every script I am given.......or her who just takes the crap, and doesn't know the difference.....But anyway she is 23 years since diagnosis, and is doing fantastic, and her tumor was big.

    You ladies have really given me some "food for thought" with your posts......I came home last night and read them until 1am, and slept on everything that you said........You truely are good friends........Who knows any better then the very people who have gone through all this.  I think to myself at times............I TRUST MY BC FRIENDS MORE THEN I TRUST THE MEDICAL PEOPLE................Hugs on this beautiful warm and sunny day in my town.....

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited April 2011

    I had bulbs one year that didn't know what to do! They would start to open, get snowed on and close then start again....and the cycle went on. Finally it was too hot for them and they never grew! We had no Spring that year - went right into a very hot Summer.

  • Mandy1313
    Mandy1313 Member Posts: 1,692
    edited April 2011

    Hi all!

    Have a nice day!

    Mandy


    PS. Please post the sour cream pound cake recipe. :-)  I like nothing better than pound cake!

  • 3jaysmom
    3jaysmom Member Posts: 4,266
    edited April 2011

    hey  gals, up all nite, so wanted to jump in when i got up.my son is THE worst; we've tried calling..no answer..so, we haven't a clue when the "babysitting" commensences. i ve decided that 2 is usally bedtime, so we'll go get him soon. he can nap(or not) then, the pool, and a movie here. dinner is made, needs to be warmed up. so, with no communications, thats' the plan. so, im sure NONE of that will happen. we'll just be ready to roll, as need be. we ;ove spending time with the wonderboy, so its' all good...

        anyone having a hard time at night, theres' anew thread "for insomniacs" so check it out.. there's a few die hards, and ple drop in..

       sorry the weather has turned on you, Chrissy, but i always say the same thing.. good for the garden. not so good s

  • 3jaysmom
    3jaysmom Member Posts: 4,266
    edited April 2011

    sorry, hit some wrong key.. trying to get used to the laptop.. anyway, Marybe, ill E Mail you... the MRI is scary, but don't be an ostrich too long. what needs to be done, is too imp to ignore!

       if it turns out to be alzheimers( slim chance ) it will show up clearly on the scan. and there's GREAT meds for early onset, that aren't so good later..

        my  guess lies closer to the fact that  they've used so many chemos keeping the BEAST at bay!!!you're a tough lady, and when you're  ready, you'll do the neccessary things.. i  can tell you, the questionarre they give you for the memory test is pure, BS!! ive had it 2xs, and ppassed. it gives you a good idea how you think cognitively, but not so much memory. we can time you online, if we're on our phones. so email me...

       gonna go get ready to pick up wonderboy.. Alyson..what bird is that? is it a kiwi?? love love....     3jays

  • duckyb1
    duckyb1 Member Posts: 13,369
    edited April 2011

    Ok Ladies here goes

    10/12 inch tube pan, grease and flour, 350 degree oven........Bake 1hr-1hr 10 minutes....judge yourself for doneness.

    Sour Cream Pound Cake

    2 sticks soften butter

    3 cups sugar

    3cups flour (sift)

    1tsp vanilla

    6 eggs (room temp)

    1 cup sour cream

    1/4 tsp baking soda

    1/2 tsp salt.

    Cream butter and sugar, add vanilla, add eggs 1 at a time,

    Combine, flour, b. soda, salt

    Add flour mixture to wet ingredients alternating with sour cream, and ending with flour.

    Put in the tube pan, smooth, and bake for 1 hr. to 1hr 10 minutes...........Cool, then remove from pan.

    Sprinkle with 10x sugar...........Enjoy

  • QCA
    QCA Member Posts: 1,539
    edited April 2011

    Ducky, that looks a lot like Paula Deen's recipe for pound cake (her grandmother's recipe, actually).  If fact, before it was mentioned on this thread I was searching for a good sour cream pound cake recipe and I'm making it tomorrow!  Thanks for posting this. It's great to already know how good it's going to be.  

    Terrible weather here this evening, thunderstorms, wind, lightening, hail and rain.  Something happened farther down our street, saw and heard 3 firetrucks going  by.  Dont' know yet what it was but imagine lightening struck something.  Calm now, and I hope the worst is over! I just plugged my computer back in but may have to unplug it again before the night's over.

    Hugs to all.

    Kathy

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2011

    QCA, Maybe the recipe is one and the same.  I always thought the fudge my grandmother made was her recipe and then I found it somewhere, exactly and it was Mamie Eisenhour's fudge recipe.  Whichever, it sounds like a very good recipe and I will have to make it sometime...I mean how can you go wrong with two sticks of butter. We had the thunder storms also and buckets of rain.

      I could relate to much of your post, Ducky....I like your son's MIL do not read about the SE's....they give me the papers at the onco's when I start a new drug and I will glance at and think Oh, these are about the same ones they mentioned with the last one, but have found from my own experience I often had the opposite of what they tell you to expect.  Like on this one I said to my onco, I thought you told me I was going to get diarrhea and he said I told you that you could get diarrhea....well, let me tell you I have never been so constipated in my life...also this one is not supposed to cause neuropathy, but something is making my feet go numb again and I have one heck of a time with buttons.  When I was on tamoxifen about my only complaint and believe me I voiced it when they weighed me each week, was weight gain, but I know many who have been on it and did not gain a pound, in fact one of my friends actually lost weight while she was on it....and I did have the aches and pains when I was doing AI's, but I didn't realize it at the time and can't remember if they never told me that would happen or if I just did not pay attention or what, but I honestly thought I had arthritis....I was actually taking arthritis meds and got rid of a coupe I had because it was just way too difficult for me to get in and out of it and I remember having people help pull me up out of a chair if it was too deep and my feet hurt all the time.   I just never put it all together and it was not until after I was off the AI's and the symptoms went away that I thought Ah ha, it must have been the meds.  It came on so slowly that I  just sort of adjusted to the aches and pains and they weren't so terrible that they kept me from doing things or going places or being able to work.  And for me, they really worked..with me they were being used as treatment rather than preventative.....tamox shrunk my tumors by 50% and kept me in remission for several years and the aromasin worked best of all for me....took my tumor markers all the way down to 18 and I was on that one for I think three years.....faslodex I thought a snap because all I did was get a monthly shot so there was no danger of me forgetting to take my pill and I must tolerate shots well because getting the injection never really bothered me( maybe due to the fact, I have lots of padding) ....the nurses would always say Sorry and I would say, it's OK, really. We all react differently....for some of the women on these boards, the SEs were awful and I know some of them quit the hormonal drugs, but there are others who sail through their 5 years. Nancy soulds pretty resilient and 23 yrs is great.  In looking back I often wonder IF I had done tamoxifen as a preventative if I would have avoided mets, but that is something I will never know.  I did not have rads, nor did they ever suggest them after I had my mastectomy so I am afraid I cannot help you with that one.  

    Hope you didn't wear yourself out today 3jays.  I am not being an ostrich....the MRI is already scheduled for the 18th....I just don't like to think about what they might be looking for so that is what I am avoiding, thinking about it, but that is easier said than done.  Today I went shopping since that is always good therapy. So far as the memory test goes, I know I would fail it....I can tell you the lyrics to most songs from the late 60's, early 70's, what I wore on a date, but I can have things by the door that I want to take to work with me and I walk right by then and don't even remember I forgot them until I am getting out of the car.  I am what my grandmother would call addled.  Maybe I will check out the insomniac thread tonight.   Where is our fearless leader this evening?...remember that from Rocky and Bullwinkle. 

  • dragonflymary
    dragonflymary Member Posts: 356
    edited April 2011

    Ducky, thanks for the recipe!  I may make that for our Easter brunch we always have.  It would be a good base for a shortcake kind of dealy too.  Hope everyone is having as good a weekend as possible.  Tomorrow I'm going to get seriously lazy and watch birds fighting over food all day.  For now, I'm eating my favorite thing in the world, Top Ramen!  For dessert I'm having gummy bears.  Don't tell anyone!

  • QCA
    QCA Member Posts: 1,539
    edited April 2011

    Dragon, I'll never tell about the gummy bears if you won't tell anybody that my favorite supper in the world is creamed dried beef on toast!  Yes, the Armour dried beef in a jar.  My dad loved it, so I just grew up with it.  I also like dried beef sandwiches on white bread with lots of mayonnaise!  But, I haven't hed one of those in a long time.

    Now that strawberries are coming in, I agree that that cake would be a great shortcake base.  There are a lot of places around here where you can go and pick your own or they'll pick for you.  

    Hey, Marybe. I don't like to read too much about side effects either because I'm a very suggestible person.  If I read it, I'm likely to have it.  Like your grandmother said, I also think I'm addled.  I'm notorious for leaving my grocery list at home, and even when I take it I often leave out things that were on the list.  I'm glad you got the MRI scheduled and I hope it will do nothing but relieve your mind.  I'll be thinking good thoughts for you, and many hugs!!

    Looks like the bad weather is over now, but we did have another storm with more hail since my last post.  Tomorrow's supposed to be sunny and hot--86 degrees in April!

    Kathy

  • duckyb1
    duckyb1 Member Posts: 13,369
    edited April 2011

    Hi Ladies..............Just reading my messages.........Was over my grandaughters to see my 6 week old twin great-grandaughters............Lord they are so damn cute.......

    Got my pathology report in the mail today, and I guess I can quiet myself down now.. I was annoyed that the surgeon took out 8 lymph nodes, and they were all negative.  I said "why did he have to do that considering he did the SNB............Well I found out tonight (even though I'm sure he told me, but I was not asking the kids again cause they would have shot me at dawn after telling me many times why"..............Anyway on the report it said "very little radioactivity so sentinel node could not be identified"......................I should have known the BS knew what he was doing by taking more, and they were all negative.....

    I am going to ask the RO if it is possible and would it change things with the hormone meds, if I had my ovaries removed...........Christ I am 76 what friggin estrogen could I have left in this body that requires blocking it................Now my theory is..........if estrogen comes from the ovaries, and that is what feeds the tumor..............will removing the source of the tumors meal allow me to not take the hormone.................My son looked at me like I was nuts when I even suggested this, but it does make sense to me............He said "you are not really going to ask that question are you".....................I said  "why not"................If my ovaries still produce estrogen, and estrogen is my enemy, lets get rid of the source.......................He said "oh great, then you will grow a beard"...................I said "what the hell, I pluck chin hairs now"................He then said "do me a favor and ask that question when your being examined so I don't have to be there then to see the look on the Dr.s face when you make that suggestion............Well I thought it made sense......................I haven't told the other 5 kids yet...................Seemed like a good idea to me...............Maybe I'll ask my GYN.

    Ok ladies enjoy your pound cake, and keep me posted on how it turns out.  Hugs

  • Dilly
    Dilly Member Posts: 655
    edited April 2011

    QCA you made me hungry.  I too love creamed chipped beef.

  • QCA
    QCA Member Posts: 1,539
    edited April 2011

    Lost, I KNEW there was somebody else in the world like me!!

    Kathy

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2011

    Many women do actually have their ovaries removed so it was not a stupid thought at all. 

    The chipped beef on toast is called S...on a Shingle right?   

  • QCA
    QCA Member Posts: 1,539
    edited April 2011

    You're right, Marybe, that's what it's called, but my DH told me that in the Marine Corps it was made with ground beef, not dried (chipped) beef. 

    Kathy

  • 3jaysmom
    3jaysmom Member Posts: 4,266
    edited April 2011

    oh, here i am in the middle of the night again. two hrs in the pool with Fischer, and when he went down, so didn't we. one hot flash, and here i am!

       Marybe; i know how scared you are to hear any bad news. i was terrified, as you know.. but, finding anything is wrong, you'll get to fight it. my prayers are we're just getting to be old fogies; and our memories are failing us.

       my therapist says PTSD comes with the territory of chemo; for sure, and you've done the gamut there, girlfrined. im thinkin your just fiine, and we'll be celebrating being just old farts with short memory loss soon!!!

        had a ball today, but am really pooped. I worked for Richard Simmons for years, disabled classes, wheelchairs, and overweight.. ya know; ladies like me.!! so, i've gotten really good at changing the excercises to fit my abilities.. i bought the DVDS from HSN: so i have 30 days to try it an see.

       i love to dance, esp merengue and salsa, so i think i'll really like it!

       went to the LE therapist friday, and got 5 new excersizes to do. some for LE, tweo for my hips. didn't know how frozen they had gotten in the past two years. im always moving, stretching.. its' what i have to do to stay out of the chair..these new exercies are tough ones on the knees, and i'll have to watch them with zumba, but im excited to try..

         i did rebounder for awhile, but ive had ms so long, ive lost the ability to "launch" myself for a jump. it got to be a pain to try....

       good to "see" all you ladies..    3jays

  • 3jaysmom
    3jaysmom Member Posts: 4,266
    edited April 2011
    i was hoping i could find good ole porky pig!!! night... 3jays
  • Alyson
    Alyson Member Posts: 4,308
    edited April 2011

    Sleep well 3jays.

    Sunday evening here after a very pleasant day with little stress. Went out after church and had lunch at a cafe then wandered down a little wharf and watched some classic yachts racing on the harbour and came home the very long way.

    I just get so uptight aboutr being made to feel quilty when its my house and we are supporting my sister because of choices she mad in her life. It's not my fault she is in the situation she is in. If she wasn't here she wouldn't be able to do half the things she does. Sorry needed tovent.

    Full of aches and pains tonight, not sure if its the RA, SEs or what. Never mind a good bath will lift the spirits - I know I shouldn'e with my LE but it does the arthritis a lot of good.

    Tomorrow is Mainly
    Music with my wee girl, that's fun and I get to see a cousin I had lost touch with. She takes her grandson so we have a 'Granny corner'  as there is quite a group of us.

    Hope your days are all restful.

    Big hugs.

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2011

    Alyson & 3jays....I went to that latenight chat last night, mostly younger women, but nice.  I saw you pop in ALyson, I wrote ALyson!! and poof you were gone.  What do you have to feel guilty about....is she trying to make you feel guilty?  I would tell her she is lucky she has a place to stay and not that is any of my business, but how long is she going to live with you?  I am driving to my Dad's today...taking a neighbor with me who is always saying she would love to see his house and the changes I am making....we will have lunch with Dad, I will drop off things I bought for the 3rd floor bath and bedroom and if the little junk shops are open I will take her there and then we will come back home.  Have a good day everyone. 

    Kathy, how about corned beef hash and fried mush?(not together, but you could I suppose) ....those are two other things we had when I was growing up that bring back memories and I still love. 

  • pj12
    pj12 Member Posts: 25,402
    edited April 2011

    ducky,

    Removing the ovaries to reduce estrogen is a common practice in pre menopausal women.  So you asking about it is not silly at all. Quite smart for it to occur to you. However, when a women is truly post menopausal they are not really do ing much. Estrogen is also produced in the  adrenal glands and fat cells and that is where we older women are getting it from. I do not think the ovaries are an issue anymore... but do check with your doctor as I could be wrong. 

    So losing weight is a good thing. Especially if you store it around your midsection. Avoiding soy which is a natural way to raise estrogen levels helps. There is a lot of  info in the natural girls thread about this subject. Exercise is supposed to be good but I  do not know why or if it really lowers estrogen or just is a generally healthy thing to do.

    Let us know what your doctor does say about ovaries in us older women. I would like to know.

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited April 2011

    Exercise is to lose fat. I don't lose weight when I exercise. I just use more pain meds. Doesn't work in my book.

  • pj12
    pj12 Member Posts: 25,402
    edited April 2011

    Oh, I got it, Barbe! Exercise turns fat to muscle... so less fat to make estrogen. But not necessarily resulting in weight loss.  Makes sense. 

  • BarbaraA
    BarbaraA Member Posts: 7,378
    edited April 2011

    Well, lucky for me BC took care of my weight problem. I had weighed 125 Lbs for the past 25-30 years and what with BC and all the tx, I am at 108 now and can't seem to gain any weight. Not a bad thing, actually. So I am 5'2" and have a low BMI. Need to do more exercise, though, just hate doing it.

  • pj12
    pj12 Member Posts: 25,402
    edited April 2011

    I usually walk 2-3 miles each AM but I twisted my ankle a couple months ago and it keeps swelling so trying to limit activity. I am not a "natural" exerciser but boy, I miss my daily walk. It really seemed to help me get pulled together physically and mentally each day. Plus I have a walking buddy and we talked the whole time... nearly had all the world's problems solved. So far I have not gained weight but I am  watching the scale closely :(

    DH says he was taught a woman should weigh 100 lbs at 5' tall, then add 5 lbs for every inch more. So you are pretty close to ideal, Barbara.

    I was wondering... you know how we tend to shrink a little as we get older? Does that mean we have to lose 5 lbs if we lose an inch? I have always - always - been 5'7" but was just measured at the Dr's office and am officially 5' 6 1/2" tall. I don't like this!

    I am on the lean side so I feel pretty good about that for BC reasons. But it is true that a little extra fat fills out the wrinkles. I could use a little plumping up in my face and maybe my arms. Could they move the little pouches around my waist to my neck? 

  • Mandy1313
    Mandy1313 Member Posts: 1,692
    edited April 2011

    duckyb1: thanks for the recipe. i have already copied it and put it in my recipe folder.

    Marybe: sending you a big hug.

    And hugs to all my other friends on this forum too.

    Mandy

  • Dilly
    Dilly Member Posts: 655
    edited April 2011

    Marybe, I love fried mush with maple syrup. Yummm!

    Exercise: BarbA, doesn't all your "on the go" count as exercise? Your briefcase as weight-bearing? Rushing through an airport as heart-thumping? I dunno, but in your pix you look pretty fit.  

    pj, I wish I had a walking buddy. Hope your ankle gets better soon!  I love to walk, but not so much alone, and my walking buddy-neighbor's knee gave out.  So I walk laps in our driveway.  I'm lean too, and had planned to gain a few pounds at this point in life to fill out the wrinkles, but now that plan has gone out the window.  Wrinkles it is.

    We live in the mtns and mainly heat with wood, and we spend lots of time raking & yard work, garden &c, so I don't worry too much about exercise - haven't found any I could stick with.  Mopping my wood floors raises my heart rate; hauling wood counts as weight-bearing...and so on.... But, I do things like ankle weights or wrist weights during some days, just to add some extra oomph...especially if I'm stuck inside. We'll see as the DXA scans progress!

    SoCal Lisa, when you took AIs, did you supplement with calcium? How much? 

    Alyson, your sister is very fortunate to have you!  She probably resents you because you made better decisions and now she 'has' to rely on you.  

    Anyone remember the old grasshopper and the ant fable? The ants worked during the summer while the grasshopper played; and when winter came, the ant was cozy while grasshopper froze? Something like that - CRS!....

    3Jays, I love your comix and sense of humor, and your courage.

    Have a very pleasant day, all.  

    p.s.  Last week I took 6 boxes, 140#, of old paperwork to the document shredding place! (cost $33)   Still working at cleaning up "my old life.".... Hah.

  • dragonflymary
    dragonflymary Member Posts: 356
    edited April 2011

    QCA, yes I remember the creamed chipped beef on toast--my Mom's go-to dinner for right-before-payday!  If it was Friday it would be creamed tuna on toast (Irish Catholics).  After my surgery I had no appetite at all but still craved tuna cassarole for some reason.  And it had to be served with peas.  A good thing about growing up without money--you savor every meal and almost everything tastes great.

    Re:  chemo and PTSD, I think my husband has a bit of that after having chemo for colon cancer.  It seems like his whole purpose in life has become staying cancer free and he always brings up chemo as his worse dread.  Others I know diidn't have it as bad.  He had never been sick before in his entire life and was only 53 so that made it a real shock for him also.

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