INSOMNIACS place to talk in the wee hours

Hi folks- sorry I have missing from here for a few days! I got in the throes of tax prep for my business and had to do end of year tax payments. Made good progress but more to do! That was mostly my weekend, plus a few errands and some exercise. I think I was a boring girl this weekend! Back to work tomorrow and have an on again/off again schedule this week with mid week holidays.

One of my new years goals is NO MORE PILES! 

We have very little known cancer in our family. A distant cousin on my mothers side who had some kind of cancer (maybe lung) and died in the 1950s, and I had a paternal uncle (fathers brother) who had prostate cancer and died from it in 1994. We come from the heart attack, stroke dementia family. There is so much dementia in my family, that I always thought that was the bigger thing to worry about. And since I am only 53 years old, that could be in the future as well. But I do think cancer is everywhere now.

When I my first baseline mammo at 39, they saw calcifications and I ended up with a surgical biopsy. It was negative. I have had many lumps through the years they have watched (mostly cysts), and then in Sept 2012 they saw something on the film and said it did not look right. I could tell by the look on the radiologists face right then that it was probably cancer. So when the call came after the biopsy, I was not surprised. 

My sister was diagnosed two months before me and she found her lump. My sister never thought we were at risk for cancer (she is a doctor and said "we don't come from the cancer family.") But there we were, two months apart with our diagnosis. Our mother had died earlier in the year and it was the end of a grueling 8 year period with her health issues, moving her to CA, taking care of her finances, etc. We both believe that contributed to what happened to us. But perhaps there are some genetics at play too? 

OMG who can keep up--Jakie u'r like me but I read ll the posts, ecept I forget tem by the time I finish.

OK Chevy---A torte is similar to a tart which I know was u'r nickname but this is pastry not u woman. Now all this camp fire, and rangers talk--I was kicked out of Girl Scouts and when I helped with Brownies when my girls were little I was asked to not help anymore. I think they thought I was a threat to the Nation at any age. That was from my Dad cuz I would say things like Let's talk bout the real American History that u don't read in the books. I guess I was a threat to freedom of speech too. My kids still remind me of that.

Nicky I love what u did, thought about it and moved to France--that's adventurous not even knowing the language--I do occasionally go to a Mexican restaurant where that challenges my English but that's as far as I get.

Sas all of that is so right up u'r alley, (not the alley that Chevy worked in) but I think u can contribute loads.

Sas.... Memory lapses------brain farts. Old timers disease?

Family history for me, pretty much unknown. I was adopted. I've had to write that so many times, the looks I get. Unreal. Like I'm a leper. Health info wasn't included with the kid way back when. But I did find my birth mother, and met her. I can't describe how it felt to meet somebody who looked like me! I did find out she was diabetic. But we moved to Fl so I lost what little contact there was. She passed in 2000. 

I have 1/2 sibs up north, they don't know about me. Don't want to find them. Cancer there? Could be. 

ha ha ha Thanks Chevy I hope this new boobs settle and the skin shrinks a bit so the lose skin improve, I am happy so far, a bit weird i used to be a DD, now a bit flat but hopping after a months after the pain ends and things settle it ll be better. Sure i will try no bra lol 

Sue I don't know how old u are, I'm old--senior citizen--but like my mom I really had good skin just a few wrinkles around my eyes, my skin is so bad now I slather with lotion and it's still dry within minutes, I use argon oil on my face--I might as well use nothing, I never had these problems and hair coming out everywhere except my head--I didn't have recon so I have no chest, u'd think in this vast wasteland a hair wouldn't grow, but I found one there. Oh well.

Spookie it's got to be difficult filling out all those forms cuz now they ask for so much history, of course u have it, u just don't know it. Well I sometimes wonder what it means tho, cuz my grandparents died young and all they ever said was a heart attack for everyone????My mom was closing in on 90 as were her sisters, and my dad was 96 which were 1/2 of his siblings 80,s or 90's--I'm sure if they had medical treatment like now for all the grandparents it would be different. Probably. Do I make any sense? (CHEVY. zip it) 

Wren and Cami try adding some humidity in your house for your skin. Winter and the dry heat from furnaces just sucks it out from skin. We had a humidifier on our furnace in Ohio. I don't have that problem here, was about 70% here today. Yuck

I don't know, I was adopted. Then you get The Look. I hate that. 

The only upside to it is, we don't have to spend 1/2 hour writing it all, and wracking a stressed brain trying to remember who had what!

I'm 63. I noticed it more after I had my gallbladder out in march. 

Enerva-you look great, I wouldn't call your new girls flat!  That's what I wanted from my breast lift, never happened!

2nd, welcome back girl...

Hi, Maddy... good to see you here. I knew you'd come up for air soon.... watch your email for a surprise! 

~~~

One really good thing about this thread - you can always find it - somewhere near the top of "Active Topics"!

Well, we're not cancer people, either. We're heart attack and stroke people.... (Kind of like on that show "Mad About You" where the husband and wife assumed her parents' identities and went on a cruise and made up entire stories about themselves and one of them was "We're Circus people...."    but I digress!!) No real family hx of cancer, so the Geneticist I spoke to said it wasn't even really relevant that Mom had BC, and that there was no need for testing me.

However, in addition to BC, Mom had Parkinson's, which makes me a tad nervous when I get a twitch....

OLD? Sheesh - I lost a ton of weight last year and was soooo happy - I looked so young!!! Then came the Year Of The Estrogen-Sucking Drug, and it aged me ten years. Seriously. Only four more years to go... wonder what I'll look like THEN? 

Hope all my little Owlette sisters had a nice relaxing weekend....

xoxo

Smaarty, I'm also 63 since November. 

Spookiesmom, I was born & raised in central Ohio (Columbus area) but lived in Cocoa Fla. on the east coast for about 5 months in 1991, then moved to Land O Lakes Fla. about 30 miles north of Tampa. We moved back to Ohio in 1994.

Thanks to all my Pocket pals.

Paula

for 2nd

No plans, just a shot in the boobs. (Pinch)

Just hold your finger on it and it should ask if you want to copy.

I have a friend who just finished her chemo, turned 40 and had her first mammogram. She has IDC and will have a lump and recon next month, than rads then maybe more chemo. She has a group on Facebook that people encourage her and post these kind of things all the time. Very inspirational.