MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

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  • glennie19
    glennie19 Member Posts: 6,398
    edited October 2015

    omg,, Elimar,, I'm glad you found that site too. I am going to my endo on Thurs to check my thyroid nodules. After reading your post,, I pulled out my labs, and my calcium level is 9.8. It is not "high", but last year it was 8.9,,, so is that a concern? You can be sure I'll be asking!! Cuz it would explain my fatigue and crankiness,,,, of course, surgical menopause might explain it too, but I digress,,,, Thanks for the link!!

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    glennie19, I have a nodule on my thyroid also. I don't know what that nodule is. Still, no one ever indicated that it was an overgrown parathyroid, so I don't have reason to think it is but I may go back and pose the question. Never hurts to ask, so go ahead and see what you can find out about yours. Going by what that website had to say, 9.8 is a good number...we are supposed to be 9.0-10.0 in our best health. Also, the thyroid and the parathyroid are horses of a different color. A problem with the thyroid can also be the culprit of fatigue, but that level can be checked also.

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  • glennie19
    glennie19 Member Posts: 6,398
    edited October 2015

    elimar: I have 4 nodules,,, 3 of them are nice and round and benign looking,, the 4th one is iffy. We decided to repeat ultrasound which is this Thursday's appt and see if any change,, and we'll go from there. But I will ask if any significance of my calcium level being close to 10,, and if she thinks repeating labs for both thyroid and calcium would be good idea. Maybe repeat in 3 months or something,,, I realize they are different organs,, but it never hurts to ask, as you said.

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  • Dianarose
    Dianarose Member Posts: 2,407
    edited October 2015

    Elimar- I have the tumor marker every 6 months. It was too stressful to do it more often. Yes I am baking just for competition now. My hubby competes too. He has kicked my butt several times. I keep giving him my good recipes. We have won a lot of prizes and money too.

    I hate needles. I can't watch. My doctor prescribes me numbing cream. I put it on the one good vein I have an hour before and I don't feel a thing. No fear anymore.


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  • quiltlibrarian
    quiltlibrarian Member Posts: 174
    edited October 2015

    Very good idea to get your thyroid checked out. Just to let you know that I had lots of nodules on my thyroid and had to have removed 5 years ago. Still have the para thyroid. So every year thyroid blood tests. Not to scare anyone, but they did find low grade cancer. I was lucky/blesses not to have any treatment besides a year of getting levels normal again.

    Wishing all the best.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    So, it's Pinktober, right? I decided I would spend a little more time on BCO and do some outreach to Newbies just diagnosed or those waiting for a Dx. Boy, it is hard to read all that panic. I remember it well.

    What strikes me is that there are so many questions and the providers must not be answering them. My own Breast Center gave me a big notebook. Twice as thick as a Steven King novel (like The Stand, not Carrie) and five times as scary. There is so much to know. I bet if every cancer center had a hotline for questions, that phone would be ringing off the hook.



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  • Tomboy
    Tomboy Member Posts: 3,945
    edited October 2015

    .....And why DON'T THEY??!??

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    Yes, because you can only remember to ask so much in your OV, and the doc does have other cancer patients besides you, so it would be nice to have someone knowledgable to field the questions as they come up. It's one of the reasons that BCO is so popular. People are looking for answers and they want them NOW.

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  • glennie19
    glennie19 Member Posts: 6,398
    edited October 2015

    I didn't get big notebook. I actually got zero information. Had to look everything up myself. Maybe cuz I'm a pharmacist, they think I know everything,,, not!

    I have to admit I have envy of those whose MD's will take email questions. That would be so handy.

    BTW: Elimar,, I saw my endocrinologist today. She says not to worry about parathyroid unless calcium level is over 10.2. Mine is 9.8, so I was worrying prematurely! And my thyroid nodules are stable,, so that's good. Back in 6 months,,,

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    BTW, glennie19, I have to say "I told you so" that 9.8 was a great calcium level; plus you know better than to worry prematurely around here because we have enough actual deserved worry to keep us busy.

    My calcium has been 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 ad 10.4 (not necessarily in that order) and that website (link on previous page) claims all are high readings for those 40+ in age. This is why I felt a PTH test was in order. MO's office was all for the old "wait and see." The docs from the parathyroid.com website were all, "don't fall for the old wait and see." I'm still waiting for my results, and I'm ready to deal with any kind of result but really, really, REALLY, hope they don't have any weird ambiguity to them. That is the worst. So, keep your fingers crossed for me that I get a definite answer.

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  • glennie19
    glennie19 Member Posts: 6,398
    edited October 2015

    **fingers crossed for you***

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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited October 2015

    Crossing my fingers too Elimar. You don't need anything else.

    I too had to do my own research. I kept reading about people who had a "nurse navigator" or a group. Not for me - although I did demand a tour of the infusion rooms the week before I started. This site was & is a wonderful thing.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    On a different note...we never thought the day would come BUT I HAVE FOUND A RIVAL FOR CHEETOS.

    Before all you Healthy Hannas jump me, I know that I am still talking about a highly processed food, but it is lower in fat, sodium and calories than the little orange wonders. It's gluten-free and has some protein coming from actual legumes. I'm talking about SNAPEA CRISPS, and they are yummy. I saw them at a health food store (not that that makes them legitimate!) but they are also nationwide at your local WalMart. I like the Caesar ones!

    image

    We can all take our icebuckets into Hell now. It surely must have frozen over.

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  • molliefish
    molliefish Member Posts: 723
    edited October 2015
    We have the black pepper here. They are pretty good. Kinda salty for my but my kids love em'
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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    Guess I have to report the blood test results since I gave it the big build up. Well, my calcium was 10.1, and the PTH was in the upper end of the normal range. According to the parathyroid.com website, that is not normal. According to everyone else, it is normal. Ambiguity! Just what I was hoping would not happen. That means I must read, read, read and try to figure it out.

    Already I have come across conflicting info. about now taking Calcium with D3 supplements. Some say should, some say shouldn't, given my blood results. I don't want to get it wrong.

    image

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  • Loral
    Loral Member Posts: 932
    edited October 2015

    Yep, I have some results that aren't normal but the Doc says it's my normal...Go Figure!

    Happy reading.

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  • glennie19
    glennie19 Member Posts: 6,398
    edited October 2015

    UGH!! Booooo on ambiguity!!

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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited September 2016

    Normal = not worth bothering with

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  • beergirl63
    beergirl63 Member Posts: 15
    edited October 2015

    Elimar, iIt's so very frustrating to think you are doing things right, then to find out that not everyone agrees.... Sorry to hear you're dealing with that BS.

    I haven't been on in a while. Sorry I've not been here to support you ladies and to keep you updated with what's going on with me. Maybe someone can benefit from my experience.

    I'm one of the second-time-around gals. My first tumor was found at my routine mammogram. I was stage 1, hormone receptor positive. I took tamoxifen for about 1 year, then started having uterine problems, so I had a hysterectomy about a year and a half after the cancer diagnosis. I was cancer free for 6 years after a lumpectomy, sentinel node biopsy (2 nodes - both negative) and radiation. Then, this past March they found a tumor in the same breast at my routine mammogram. Lefty is definitely trying to kill me....

    So, I had a unilateral mastectomy in April 2015 and had a tissue expander placed. It was stage 1 again, 1 node (negative), and I'm taking Arimidex. The radiation caused all kinds of lovely issues, as many of you know, so we had problems getting the incision to heal right. (Plus I pushed it a little too soon and played softball...ripped a 1 1/2 inch section of my incision open. Oops!) In June, a few weeks after the softball episode, the tissue expander had gotten infected, so we removed it. I kinda missed the little magnet - it was funny sticking things to it! I never even got a single fill, since we were trying to get the radiated skin to heal right. Even after the tissue expander was removed, I had issues. My last drain lost its suction, so I had to pack my open wound and leave enough medicated gauze hanging out that it wicked the fluids out of the wound. Oh, well....

    I did come upon a treatment that really helped that pesky radiated skin. I had been going to physical therapy for my knee and they were doing a soft tissue treatment called Astym - it's designed to deal with scar tissue and promote blood flow, which in turn promotes healthy tissue growth. So, I decided that ex-Lefty should get that Astym treatment, too. It was 10 treatments (2 per week). When I started, the scar was prominent, and the skin was adhered down to the muscle and bone and didn't move. Now, it moves, it's soft, it looks like skin and I can even feel some. I highly recommend it for anyone with the same issues I have been dealing with as a result of the original radiation.

    My reconstruction is 2 weeks from Wednesday - November 4. I am having DIEP flap reconstruction. I'm pretty excited! I LOVE my plastic surgeon - he is AWESOME!! I've been getting iron injections (IV) and have to start giving myself Lovenox injections next Wednesday - it's an anticoagulant. I hope I will dodge the bullet on the whole clot thing, since that seems to be the major complication from the DIEP flap surgery. Well, that and the recovery for the incisions on the 2 parts of the body.

    Well, sorry to have written a novel. If my situation and my experience can help anybody, just give me a shout out. Thanks to all of you lovely ladies for sharing your experiences and for being so great about being here for one another.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    Thanks, bg63, for mentioning the Astym. That knowledge can be passed along to those trying to overcome healing/scarring issues. I had always known that ultrasound therapy helped with softening up scar tissue, but it is not allowed with anyone who has grown a cancerous tumor since it does stimulate growth of tissue. The Astym must be different since they allowed it.

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited October 2015

    image


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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    I have asked sas-schatzi to remove the post above which solicits $donations$ for BCO. As you all know, there is a "Donate" link button at the top of the page which you can feel free to use any day of the year, should you care to provide monetary support to BCO.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    NEW ACS RECOMMENDATIONS for Mammogram Screening: ACS Throws Women Under Age 45 Under the Bus

    Well, the question is, how many under-45's can be considered "average?" Would it be the 85% who do not have BRCA + whatever percentage do not have cautionary benign breast disease that might require monitoring; so, what does that leave...probably a WHOLE LOT of younger women who are now receiving the recommendation to wait until 45 to get mammo screening. AND, the ACS is not even advocating for CBE anymore, so what do the under 45's have left?

    Supposedly the mammo leads to a lot of false positives in this age group. That would be the result of younger ages having denser breasts. Why is the ACS not advocating for ultrasound screening (more ideal for dense tissue) across the board for younger women? Where is that recommendation?

    The only good here is the reduction of radiation exposure. Some of us who followed the old recommendation, to get radiated yearly beginning at age 40 are now left to wonder if we got any bonus cell mutation for our compliance. If you got BC in your 50's, could it have been courtesy of the 10x mammos in your forties? I notice the article fails to talk about this.

    Oh, what a tangled web...


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  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited March 2017

    You got that right!

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  • Loral
    Loral Member Posts: 932
    edited October 2015

    Hospitals/Doctors here are already saying they will not change, and continue to recommend Mammo's at 40. They want to save the lives of women 40 and up.....

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  • beergirl63
    beergirl63 Member Posts: 15
    edited October 2015

    Seems like the "experts" don't really address everything they need to. If I had waited until I was 45-50 to start doing mammograms, it would have been too late.....

    Seems like just another confusing web of information for us to wade through in making decisions about our health.

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    I left a riddle on another thread of this topic...

    Q: What's left for women under 45, under the new ACS recommendations?

    A: Next of Kin

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  • beergirl63
    beergirl63 Member Posts: 15
    edited October 2015

    LOL, Elimar....sad, but true....

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  • BookLady1
    BookLady1 Member Posts: 253
    edited October 2015

    Hi - pulling up a broom tonight before my 1st diagnostic/3D Mammo since BC. Been putting it off since August so I will get this behind me. Definitely going in with the witch theme and not the good or pink kind. have a peaceful night, Linda

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  • elimar86861
    elimar86861 Member Posts: 7,416
    edited October 2015

    BookLady1, How did the 3D Mammo go? They do give you the results right away, don't they? Hope it was not too uncomfortable on the treatment side. I really feel damaged from the rads on my treatment side. This particular year, I have been feeling sore ever since they squished me way back in Aug.

    The other thing is, supposedly I have seven surgical clips around my SNB region and that area has always been sore. Does anyone else have this? (I'm thin and maybe I just don't have enough flesh padding in the area, but I swear I can feel right where they are! Wonder if anyone gets them removed, although who wants more surgery and I cannot see insurance paying for that.)

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