For Older People with Sense

Barbe I have wondered about those stats myself. Even at 2B with a node and grade 3 I wish I had a bilateral M and the only reason I didn't was because we were moving and the recovery was longer.

I would have been too scared to have no radiation or chemo even with the serious side effects those can have. It feels like a crap shoot sometimes although I know there are statistics to tell us differently.  

Hugs Ginger

kaara,

please don't misunderstand what i said earlier. i in no way mean to belittle your dx. please know you are among friends here. i was only hoping to lend you whatever hope i could in a crappy situation. 

:::hugs::: kaara

Karra

The hardest thing for me to do was tell my 2 grown sons.Like you I was always healthy,I think it all came as shock to them..That was five months ago.Please share the info from your GD.We will all be here for you.The ladies here are so helpful and supportive.Take one day at a time.

Good Morning Everyone:  I really appreiate the support and encouragement from all of you.  Everyone has a different way of expressing themselves, and I have not heard one comment that I would take as anything but positive.  I have been on this site since Sept 1, waiting for my testing and dx to be complete.  I read and researched a lot.  I was prepared for a cancer dx, so I wasn't as shocked as my kids or my boyfriend who refused to talk about it until it hit him smack in the face.  I know that when I go into surgery that my dx could be completely different than it is right now...I'm still just hoping and praying for the best outcome.

What I've done while waiting is prepare my body to be in optimal condition for whatever I may need in the way of treatment.  I'm on a gluten free diet, eat lots of raw vegetables and salads, juicing several times a day, exercise, and so on.  A side effect of that is I lost about 7 lbs that I wasn't really needing to lose, but it's ok.  This has kept me busy and focused, so right now I'm able to get through the days fairly well by doing something positive for me.

What really saddens me is when I go on other threads and see all of the young women who are trying to raise their families in the midst of these bc challenges.  As a single mom raising 4 kids, I don't know what I would have done!  That is when I feel blessed to have been able to reach 71 years with little or no health issues.  I have a lot of great memories (I've forgotten the bad ones) and I hope to have many more!

Tonight I'm meeting some girlfriends for dinner, and I'm not going to spoil the evening by giving them this news just yet.  There is still time. 

I have noticed that the best concerts, plays or parades that I have attended have been the ones with one or more of my children participating.

My mother always used to say that she wanted an "orchestra" of her grandchildren playing for their 50th anniversary. There were about 10 grandchildren then, four or five of whom could play some instrument but all the four families live in different cities. My daughter transcribed the music of "happy birthday" for each of the instruments and took them down to the parking garage to have their one and only rehearsal (apparently it had great acoustics). The little ones lined up in front to sing while the musicians played "happy anniversary to you" - twice  - because Mom liked it so much. I'm so glad that they made that effort because Mom only lived about six weeks more.

Three Jays I had a lumpectomy, then both chemo 4 AC and 2 of 4 Taxol (ended early due to neuropathy) and then 38 rads. I had a lumectomy and that calls for rads. Yes our Dx is very similar. DId you know that a grade three has three parts to it, I didn't until my rads Dr explained mine and said the part that indicates agressiveness was a two not a three. I was glad to hear that. Still I would rather not be a three, in fact I wouldn't have minded skipping cancer all together. LOL

There is still alot about all of this that I don't understand. Can you imagine if they tried to explain all of it to us at once? It was so hard to take it all in. Still is. 

GInger

I let DD take on Christmas about 4 years ago...the best thing I ever did. At long last I get to have some  time to get ready, decent clothes to get out and wear, and I make the most of 'my poor old back' and find a comfortable chair to sit on and watch the proceedings from. I always remember my Grandmother doing just this ! The last 2 years I haven't needed to trade on my back...I really HAVE to sit down, I just can't stand up for long !! I never really wanted this 'aged parent' thing to come along and slap me in the face, but it ain't that bad now it's here.

One of the best things about not doing Christmas is just no rushing about shopping, and then the cooking of it all. My cooking rates about a 1/10 so nobody really misses my efforts ! I always used to make a very big thing of decorating the house, decorating the table, fancy crackers and small table presents for everyone... 2 or 3 different wines, now I am free of all this hassle. DD and SIL do it their way now. Last year they put on an absolutely magnificent meal. I complimented them afterwards, and they both looked at one another and cracked out laughing....they'd got EVERYTHING from the frozen food store (DD hates to cook, like me ) and I had no idea at all, it just tasted the same to me as fresh food would have done !!! 

Kaara...did I say welcome, can't remember. Sorry if I didn't.

lassie, the orchestra your grandchildren put on sounded lovely.

Phyllis, ditto !! Your daughter did you proud. I remember driving everyone mad with my rendition of Baa-baa black sheep, as I got going on the violin...still have the thing somewhere...must look it out, might be a Stradivarius, and I will be a millionaire !!!!!

Isabella.

Just want to say I love the little flower fairy photos, Alyson & 3jays. Such delightful little girls. And your flowers, Alyson, are Bee-u-Tee-ful.

A special welcome hug for Kaara.

My CRAP levels seem to be lowing, too! How do you check yours Kaara? I tend to go with how I feel at the end of the day....hehehehehe

Think my levels are always low - have become a really grumpy old lady especially when people are idiots. Its only morning here, think I will have to do something about coffee before I go on a church outing!!!We usually avoid such things but couldn't find an excuse this time. We are going to do a sculpture walk whic should be interesting. I will take the camera.

Hope you all have a great weekend

I wonder, Mo2 if you make a mistake and say, 'backspace' or 'delete' does Dragon type that into the message?

Sheila.

Good morning, Ladies.   Seems to be a lot of laughing going on here the past few days and that is always a good thing.....it is the best medicine as they say.  Kaara,  I am glad you had a nice day out with your girlfriends...I think friends are so important, especially women.....even if they don't have BC, they understand what you are talking about and where you are coming from in a way a man never will.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and that you have fun on your outing, Alyson...am not sure if it was this thread or not, but that one rose you posted a pic of, the one that looked like velvet was gorgeous.

Cyndi's memorial service was absolutely packed and really a nice tribute to her.  I am glad she is no longer suffering because even though she always tried to make the best of it, she had a really rough few months. 

Not much going on here, but next week will be action packed, getting Thanksgiving dinner together.  I am still off treatment and feeling fine....hope this continues through the holidays and then once they are over I will be ready to get back in the saddle.