Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

Puffin! That would be the WORST! Next time, try and go with someone? Or tell those cemetary people of all the trouble you have had... And have one of them go with you?

You could make a movie of that experience!

Hi Jackie, I hope you had a good day.

Bonnets!  Welcome back, Jean.  Have thought of you often --   I have had some issues with the AI SEs but nothing quite as you describe.  I had to switch because of some angina-like symptoms I had with Arimidex.  I am glad that your tests are negative so far.  It may be worthwhile switching to another AI drug to see if that helps. 
It's great that you got to TX to spend holidays with your daughter's family.

Lucy, I think we should house-swap for a few weeks.  You can enjoy snow and I can enjoy the warm humid weather! 
Actually, I like snow.  I just don't like going out in it when it's icy damp and cold.
Tomorrow morning it is back to work.  It will be about 9 or 10 degrees and many roads are still snow-covered.  There is a little more snow on the way, and that could hide the icy spots.   
I wonder what the deer are doing in the woods during all this snow.  I have not seen them out yet...snow is too light and deep for them to walk in it. 

Ohio, I will be getting your frigid weather tomorrow...thanks for sending!

Puffin, your locked-in story sounds terrifying ... I have learned to always take my cell phone, keys, and wallet whenever I leave my car.  I'm glad you had your phone.
I got locked into Home Depot's ladies room once and had to call the store to have someone open the door.  Nobody heard me yelling for help.
Chevy thanks for the reminder about ID safety.  I have a low limit card for online shopping, and I try not to use a debit card anywhere.   Pay pal is good because no one can see your payment method.

Sandra, it is good to hear that the patient is responding.  I like the Victory Cruise plan.  It will be great.  I hope you are taking care of yourself as best you can.

Bonnets,

How nice to see you again.  This can somehow ( though it has only happened to me once ) get out of favorites and the only way I managed to get back then was going to the active topics and finding a poster I recognized under 'older ladies'.  Then got it back in favorites. 

I used Arimidex and never had anything of  weird heart rhythms but towards the last few months I took it ( maybe 10 or 11 months or so ) I discovered that I was very quick to get angry over things.  Even then I didn't think to read up on se's until about 4 months before I stopped taking the drug.   I was so glad in a way to be able to stop because it was starting to get to me -- I am not normally an angry type and I wasn't liking myself very much and didn't think anyone else would either.  I bet I had an almost permanent scowl. 

Good thing you went to the ER -- and glad they found the embolism.  Strokes are not fun at all.   I hope you can get it all ironed out with your Dr. 

Off to bed, but will see you all some time tomorrow.

Blessings,

Jackie

Hi gals.... Yes Wren! That reminds me of being careful when you go to an ATM machine, like at night, inside the doors of your bank?

People DO wait outside in their cars, watching just for that! And when you leave the machine, they are there to take your money.... It's really not good to shoot them on the spot... but you FEEL like it....

And there were cases of going to the gas pumps, and leaving your purse in the seat? And while you are filling up, the thieves open your car door, and take your purse...

It's like you don't even think about it, until it happens to you....

So Morning Bonnets, Joan and Jackie!

Bonnets, you have been having a TERRIBLE time...! Some of us HAVE had strokes... Jackie and I.... both different, but it CAN happen! And I think it IS from something we are taking!

Tamoxifen caused my "small infarct" in my brain-stem, near the 8th cranial nerve, causing me to lose my hearing....Warning labels on Tamixifen DO mention possibility of strokes.

But I stopped the Tamoxifen, and got hearing aids...

Do you wear compression stockings? My Doc said I DON'T have a clot in my one leg, even though it has a sore spot, and my one ankle swells up like a balloon, but I keep it down by wearing compression stockings from Sigvaris! I mean all the time.... Even sleep in them, because I'm so afraid of a blood clot...

Years ago, I had about a year of Tachycardia episodes! After all the tests, and Holter monitor, it gradually went away, but it was caused by STRESS, and then drinking coffee, anything with caffiene... THAT combined with overwhelming stress from losing my Mom, then my Dad, but it finally straightened out.... Those rapid heart beat periods came with such dizziness, I thought I would pass out.

Chevy, When I was in the ER mon. night they did a Doppler on both legs, found nothing there. I went to the ER because of 2 hrs of a weird pain in my left calf, the leg on the same side as the pulmonary embolism. Haven't had any swelling or anything but had flown to TX 2 days before the clot in the lung was discovered. The tachy that time was extreme , with shaking all over. Worst episode I'd ever experienced, that's why we went to the ER in TX. They said the tachy cus be a symptom of a clot. I did get compression hose and wore them on the flight home though. I had 1 tachy episode 4 years ago, before Arimidex, but have had a number since going on Arimidex, and always at night. They have even woke me up!Never seem to be triggered by anything! Luckily the clot in the lung was small and has apparently absorbed now, on CT. Will be on blood thinners at least 6 months though.

Need to see if they make compression stockings for short people, they make lg and ex lg sizes, I have fat legs, but I found they bunched up on the flight. Almost had a tournequet by the time I got off the plane! I figure Ill wear them when we fly , even though he hasn't suggested it.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/J55S38xwxnQ?rel=0

Gosh gals! I stay away for a week (we had company from Illinois visiting us) and I find PAGES of posts awaiting me! I guess that's the sign of an active thread! :-)

First of all, Cammi....I am so sorry about your brother. Such losses are alway painful. Hugs!

Termite, I'm also sorry about your uncle.

Sandra.... Wow! You have had some stressful times with Mike lately. I hope they get this under control quickly.

Puffin..Great picture! I agree with Wren. I would NEVER have survived your "locked in" experience! I would have lost it big time. I hate to be enclosed in anything. You have grit, gal!

Carole....take care of that foot. You have lots of golf waiting for you. What diagnosis did they give you and what did they tell you to do about it?

Chevy...thanks for identiy theft info. That's really scary stuff.

Joan....oh my gosh! That snow picture is horrendous! That's a lot of snow! I must admit that I love the white and fluffy stuff in FL much better. In fact, we went to the beach when our friends were here so we could hunt shells. It was so lovely and peaceful.

There was so much more that I wanted to comment about but my feeble mind can't remember it all and I don't want to lose this post by going back so I'lll sign off for now and be back tomorrow!

More later....

Rita

I can feel myself kind of "caving in" inside so I guess I have officially overdone it. When I sat down last night my legs were cramping and I was nauseated. I was asleep by 9 p.m. Being strong is hard. We are making the first positive steps towards making one room in the house a "clean room" for Mike. The floor was measured and tile will go down within the next two weeks as soon as I can find someone to do it that I can afford. The room is now my dining room and I have cabinets full of lovely crystal and china and antiques from our years living in Europe. It all has to be packed up carefully so a group of my daughter's friends can move everything out and into a rented storage room. Some sheetrock repairs need to be done and the whole room has to be scrubbed. There's just so much to think of, so much to do, so little time. My daughter Allison will be back from Chicago Wednesday night and I think I might just be like the witch in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy pours water on her. I'll just melt.

Mike was released from the hospital this afternoon and he is quite happy to be in his comfy chair with his cat, Jeffrey. Now that he is feeling better, he was ready to go AWOL if they didn't let him out. He's tired from being awakened every couple of hours for a week. The infection is getting better I'm told, but it sure doesn't look like it. His chest is still red and swollen from the 2" incision on his chest up to the 1/2" incision on his neck. The internal medicine doc told us the infection is staph arelias (sp? are-el-e-as), can be quite dangerous, and people die from it, which is frightening. He had a PICC line put in and will continue the IV antibiotic for another ten days at home. I'm in charge of the PICC care and administering the antibiotic but that doesn't scare me since I've had many PICC lines & home IV antibiotics before. It's the chest wound that has me concerned. The doctors didn't stitch it shut. It's left open to "drain" but all I see draining is lots of blood! There is a clear sterile dressing over it so it looks frightening to see a big splotch of blood on his chest. He is very sore there and it hurts him to have the dressing removed. I was taught how to change the dressing. We both have to wear masks and I use sterile drapes, and a sterile dressing kit. Oh my, I feel such responsibility not to hurt him and not to introduce any new kind of infection.

We heard from the hematologist that they are going to start Mike on chemo next week, even though they first said they weren't because it wouldn't help extend his life. Unfortunately his illness is progressing too fast and he is now requiring blood transfusions every 5-7 days instead of every 2 weeks. Even then, they can't get his hemoglobin up past 7.7, hematocrit 24. So the chemo will buy a little more time to complete the donor search.

I can't cry. I won't ever stop.

Oh Sandra if only we could do more to help. I just read you last post and can see how many details you have to take care of. Redoing the room is something I would never have thought of when thinking about transplants.

And Puffin - how scary to get locked in a mausoleum. You could have been there for days. I guess that's a thought for all of us. Keep your phone with you and charged. Don't lock doors needlessly if the locks are unfamiliar. I have always had a certain fear of unlocking unfamiliar stuff. I'm just not key coordinated in general! I was a little afraid you were going to write your phone wouldn't work inside the mausoleum. Glad it did!

Sandra,

I know how scary it must be for you. I had my hubby home after open heart, and even with a nursing background (many years ago) I was scared. Do they have a visiting nurse coming, if not ask about that, at least for some support for you. May God give you the strength you need. Jean

Even a small star shines in the darkness.
~Finnish proverb

Sandra,

Like everyone else, my heart is breaking for you and Mike. My one piece of advice to you would be to pick one person - your daughter, a friend, - and hand over to them all details except for being with Mike. Let them delegate chores to friends who want to help but don't know how. Let them shop, cook, do laundry and most of all pack up and then set up the "clean" room. Your only tasks at this point need to be your own well-being and Mike's. Emotional exhaustion can be just as debilating as physical. If you don't have anyone to take charge, eliminate as many physical chores as possible- send the laundry out, check with Meals on Wheels for dinners, hire professionals to handle the "clean" room. I know it sounds expensive, but it is critical that you let go of the daily tasks while Mike's health is so unstable.

I totally understand you not crying because you are afraid you won't be able to stop. Been there, done that. Just know that we are here to support you in any way we can. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help- maybe pay for someone to clean the house or for the setting up of the clean room.

Sending lots of hugs and prayers your way

Anne

Sandra - I echo Anne. Allow others to help so you can be with Mike. Thinking of you

The "new" guest room is finally ready for our first house guests.  It was a lot of trouble for the whole process of turning the old guest room into office (little used now) and my former office into guest room, larger and nicer.  Most of that work was accomplished early in 2014 and is now largely forgotten.  Yesterday I hung some little window valances and made up the new queen-sized bed and vacuumed.  The room looks really nice.

I sniffed the new blanket and it probably should have been washed but I put it in the dryer for a few minutes instead.

DH's cousin, who came to New Orleans last weekend to run in the marathon, and her dh, who ran in the half marathon, are supposed to return from a cruise Mon. afternoon and drive across the causeway to our house.  They will probably stay a couple of days and then go home to WV.  We enjoy their company despite the age difference.  She's 58 and he will soon turn 60.  They retired in 2014.  Both had good jobs and they didn't squander their money.  Nor did they have children.

I've been having my own private little pity party for no good reason other than feeling down about a friend in FL who is a few younger than me and is under Hospice care.  And a couple of minor failures in my life like poor weight management and playing poor golf.  Oh, and my foot ailment that isn't getting better.  Nothing to complain about in comparison to what Sandra and Blondie are coping with. 

Yesterday I talked with an old friend on the phone.  She's a retired nurse and lives in TX now.  She advised me to go to an orthopedist instead of a podiatrist.  I think I will follow that advice.  First I want to get some recommendations for a good ortho dr.

The sun is out and I plan to take my overweight body to the gym this morning.  I will do some housecleaning chores later and also prepare a pork roast to cook tomorrow morning for noon dinner at my mother's house.  DH just got up.  He's suffering with a third round of the "crud" that has gone around this winter.

Thinking about Mike and Sandra and Blondie.  Happy Saturday to everyone.