MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011

    In all my cancerversary excitment, I forgot to say, Welcome janinnj!

    mbjmiller, maybe things will improve over time.  If not, I hope they can come up with a solution that is to your liking.  I don't like the idea of women having to settle for something that might be "better than it was" but still not the end result that we had hoped for.  

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

    Here is your mystery pic. There were no stains used. It is from a picture I took up here in Canada:

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

    I didn't dodge the question e, I said 'dead'!!!

    Why can't we say remission if we can say NED? Remission just means a holding pattern.....like it could come back or not. A lot of people say 'so, you're alright? Right?' 'they got it all, right?'. It's THEM that want the assurance!

    FYI, it took 37 minutes for me to figure out how to crop that pic and get it postable on this forum!!!! I need a teenager to figure it all out for me...anyone?

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  • blondiex46
    blondiex46 Member Posts: 5,712
    edited July 2011

    I was in remission for 14 years and now for the past year and a half it has been active and it doesn't seem to be changing....

    When you are NED, cancerfree or in remission, do not take it for granite, make memories for you to carry and for the people in your life....you never know what is around the next corner or the next mammogram or the next drs. appt.

    Sorry not feeling much of anything these days....

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

    Blondie, I hear you loud and clear. That's why I always say, we are just one test result away from Stage IV. We all have the chance of being where you are today. God bless you, sweetie!

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011

    How am I celebrating so far?  Well, I already walked about 3 miles on some nature trails this morning, and saw three colorful birds...a bluebird, a goldfinch, and a cardinal.  I saw a young deer too.  Then, there was the less pretty...catfish, big turtles, a snake (where's my hoe!), and some turkeys.  A nature-y mix.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011

    Barbe, your answer of "dead" does not stay in context with my question, "What do you call someone who stays cancer-free their whole life post treatment?" which followed your statement to jo that we are NOT cured.  My point is that if a person's cancer never comes back, and there is no evidence of it, I do not have a problem with the label "cured" as it would apply to that person.

    If you, personally, choose to never use the term, fine with me.  A rose by any other name would smell as cured.

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  • reesie
    reesie Member Posts: 2,078
    edited July 2011

    Oh I forgot to say welcome janinnj. Do you live in NJ?



    Congrats E! I declare you cancer free! I'm not ready to give up hope that it's possible :)

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

    e - my word was REMISSION. That brought up another whole bunch of posts. I like remission. It sounds like something in a car that can be fixed. It lets the asker know that all may not stay the same forever, but has a MUCH more positive spin on it than anything else I've heard. It also seems the most acceptable to people as they know the term. So that person was 'in remission'.

    I have heart disease, too. I may die being hit by a taxi, but I still have heart disease. Doesn't change my diagnosis just because I didn't die of it.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011
    The heart disease analogy is not a good one.  In that scenario, you would still have evidence of heart disease, even if the taxi mowed you down.  In the scenario where I would be o.k. with calling someone "cured," there would be NO evidence of disease, but maybe the same taxi.
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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011

    Can we agree to disagree on which terms we would use, Barbe?.  I don't think we are that apart in actual meaning.  I do agree that I am one scan away from being Stage IV.  Mind-blowing and scary as that is. 

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  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 16,818
    edited July 2011

    I really don't need to worry about the scan thing........I'm already there!

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited July 2011

    Whew.........it's hard to keep up.

    Paula66 - Yuck!  Hate ticks, but do love camping.

    Reesie - I had a BMX in 09, then received a letter a year later reminding me of my annual mammogram.  Gotta love it!

    Jan - Welcome!

    Mjb - I am so sorry that you're not happy with what you're seeing.  I don't have experience with recon so I don't have words of advice, but sending you a big (((Hug)))

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011

    Chrissyb, you can give me a reality check any time!

    The mystery pic...I have been staring and thinking about whether anything natural is that pink  It looks like a plastic something, or maybe a design pattern on a lycra or spandex swimsuit.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011

    Now celebrating by relaxing on the deck with a frosty drink (iced tea.)   Surprisingly no Cheetos today, and since I don't have any in the house right now, they will remain conspicuously absent on my cancerversary.  Poor planning on my part. 

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  • janinnj
    janinnj Member Posts: 89
    edited July 2011

    Thanks everyone for the welcome.

    On the subject of if you can be cured?  My MO said from the beginning he was going for a cure.  But that was when we just thought I had DCIS which was all that showed up in the first biopsy.  I think that remission is when you still have identified cancer but it is not growing and causing other health issues.  Ned is when they cannot find anything at all.

    Mjb. Has your surgeon offered any advise as far as creams or anything to help the skin firm up?  After all you have been through you have a right to complain and ask for more if you are not happy .

    reese- yes I live in Mays Landing, NJ.

    Got to go pick up my Grandson for the rest of the weekend.  He is 5 and the light of my life.

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  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 16,818
    edited July 2011

    Here you go Eli, you can share mine!

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

    Elimar,  I came to see what the mystery pic was for this weekend and read a little and want to congratulate you on your cancerversary.  I have to think awhile on the pic....looks like a slide on a microscope to me, but  you did say, no dye used, right Barbe?   I will tell you what I think someone who stays cancer free their whole life post cancer treatment is.....they are blessed.....very fortunate and blessed. 

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  • leisaparis
    leisaparis Member Posts: 587
    edited July 2011

    barbe - kinda looks like a blood culture slide...or... a very pretty piece of material. Can't decide which. I stated on the previous page, that I too go with remission. For me remission & NED mean the same thing, but for others I have to explain what NED stands for & they get remission with no explanation.

    I suppose you use whatever makes you more comfortable. Kinda the same as for the cancerversary. I don't have one of those yet. I haven't really put much thought into what date I'll actually use. I guess for one thing my dr. has never come right out and said I'm clear. Of course I've never really asked either. However a while back I did have a lot of testing done to see if we could find out where all my pain was coming from. No luck there. Just living with it. The tests did come back showing no signs of anything though. So that's a plus. Cuz we thought it might of progressed into bone mets. Haden't, so that's good.

    I'm also still on the trial drug right now. Guess I'll decide when all this is over and I'm just down to living my life again with no treatments of any kind. Time will tell.

    Have a good day everyone. Hope someone comes up with a better idea of the mystery pic cuz boy does it have me stumped. Good one Barbe

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  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 8,543
    edited July 2011

    Mystery pic guess - exotic flower petal

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011

    Mmmm, Chrissyb!  Wonder who I am sharing the Cheetos with (that hand?)

    Mystery pic...is it a Jello parfait?

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  • walker2222
    walker2222 Member Posts: 558
    edited July 2011

    Thanks all for the kind words. This whole recon issue has just left me in a deep funk. I will be asking about lotions and about revisions.



    Gone to movies with DS to see Green Lantern. New Harry Potter looks great.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011

    Forgot to say I am also celebrating by starting on the Effexor today.  Woo-hoo, par-tay!  Just kidding, but I did get a little spacey (spacier?) in the head already on the first one.  It may be some days/weeks til I feel the full effect of pain relief and hot flash relief.

    Thanks Everyone, for observing my 2-year cancerversary.  It may not be much, but it's all I've got so far.  Going to keep moving forward, not looking down 

                                         

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

    I didn't realize we were disagreeing elimar! I thought you said potato and I said potato.

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  • OG56
    OG56 Member Posts: 897
    edited July 2011

    I don't care what you call it as long as BC  never shows it's ugly self  again :)  I left my Dr's office after completing rads still pleasantly naive believing I was "cured" just like he said. I stayed that way for a whole wonderful year until they opened Pandora's box with a MRI.

    E, congratulations on the 2 years!

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  • Paula66
    Paula66 Member Posts: 1,728
    edited July 2011

    Elimar Congrats on your 2 years.  Whatever you want to call it I hope you have many of them to come!

    Reesie I have a good one to.  Last year when I found my lump, I called my NP to get in to see her.  I go to her instead of the Doctor because I dont like him.  But insurance says I have to have a primary so he's it in name only.  Well I called, she was on vaca, I was to worried to wait until she came back, so I bit the bullet and seen him.  Well 2 days later I had my mammogram and the dude reading it wanted me to come in for a biopsy because of an issue.  So 1 day later I was getting my biopsy done.  Well Monday afternoon they call, its cancer.  So I went back to the BS and started the ball rolling.  Well 3 2 weeks go by and they PCP nurse calls me and wants to know if I followed thru with the mammogram. I had to tell he yea and I have cancer.   Mind you the BS and PCP are all in the same clinic.  Freaked me out, because at first I thought maybe they made a mistake and I was ok.  No she just didnt take the time to read the whole report.   Give me a break, do your job and follow thru before you make calls like that.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited July 2011
    Don't forget to check out Mystery Pic on page 418, and get your guesses in.  It's very pinkly puzzling this week.
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  • heartnsoul76
    heartnsoul76 Member Posts: 1,648
    edited July 2011

    Happy 2 year cancerversary, Eli! 

     

    I like your picture, very apropos.  But, as you and I love our music so much, it also makes me think of Leon Russell's "Tight Rope".  This whole BC thing is a very delicate balancing act! 

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  • carollynn79
    carollynn79 Member Posts: 654
    edited July 2011

    I am going to guess a speckled pink lilly.

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  • heartnsoul76
    heartnsoul76 Member Posts: 1,648
    edited July 2011

    Oh, that's horrible Paula! I would have thought the same thing! Why can't they just do the job they're paid to do? How can they be so careless?

    When I had my 1st - and so far only - follow up mammogram, I thought I was very lucky to get an experienced technician.  After it was over and she took the films to the radiologist, she came back and said, "He's not sure about what he saw; he wants you to come back again in 6 months for a re-check." I said, "What's he not sure about?"  She said, "Well, he saw some architectural changes since your last mammo.  It could just be from the lumpectomy, but he wants to make sure." I thought, well, duh, a lumpectomy and a missing tumor would change things up a bit in there.  I've never seen anybody else here have their docs come back with that dumb retort. So now, because of them, I can't rest about my mammo because they planted a tiny little seed of doubt in my head.  Thanks a lot, experienced technician. 

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