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

I had a fitful night's sleep, kept having images of Lew laying on the sidewalk in the puddle of blood. Did finally fall asleep and slept until 5:30. Called the hospital for an update, he'd just gotten back from his head CT, he's moving both legs and his left arm, not moving right arm even to pain which is concerning. Blood pressure still normal and his temp is back to normal. He's still sedated. I'll go in to the hospital about 8 this morning, hope they have the results of the CT by then, and I'm preparing my list of questions for the doctors.

Welcome. Seedsally. Getting diagnosed is never easy, but I believe that at our age we actually cope better.

Sandra, hoping that tomorrow’s transplant marks a new beginning and an upturn for Mike.

Puffin, prayers that Lew continues to improve neurologically--moving legs and one arm is promising; the right arm sounds like something musculoskeletal rather than neuro is going on (spine is likely intact because at least one arm can move; ability to move both legs rules out stroke). Rotator cuff, maybe? As awful and painful as that can be, it is also repairable. My friend--with severe COPD & a brittle diabetic--broke her hip in Nov. and was initially placed on hospice. She was discharged from hospice to assisted living, her hip is healing to the point where she’s using a walker, and she’s preparing for a trip to L.A. in a couple of weeks to visit her son. (And she will be discharged from assisted living come summer to move in to her & her husband’s new single-story home). So time can be a healer!

Just absolutely and totally thrilled to see you, my old friend ( well not in age just time as friends ) Chevy back on the bestest board/forum/thread at BC. Org. Ok, I made that up on the spur of the moment because I know we are ALL special to each other. We are having some difficult issues right now with Puffin ( Lew ) and Sandra ( Mike ) but sending tons of positive requests to the Universe --- God, all the Angels and Guides --- to stand by with all the good healing energies needed for the best outcome for both men. Lots of positive hope for our great friends Puff and Sandra to get through the next coming days as best as one can. We will be holding you all in our thoughts, prayers and supplications for the best of outcomes.

Sharon/Seedsally --- it is an age thing in many ways. Older people seem to often do REALLY well because our dx. comes so much later than others. That said, oh how sad we do feel for the younger women --- many who have you children to consider. I'll be glad when this disease is all but wiped out, but I sure wish along the way that the younger of us could be spared until they are older if it must happen at all.

It is raining here today. Ick !!!! I may have to set up my special lights that mimic the sun. Too many things just now, but will see what the latter part of the day is like.

Will be back later after work.

Prayers, hugs, lots of love and sure glad to see you back Chevy.

Blessings,

Jackie

Ahhhh.... it's good to be "back"..... just been posting on other threads, but this one is my "home-place".... Ha! You too little Jackie... It's fun to meet with you all.... . AND Rita and Anne and Termite! How are YOU doing?

Yes, it's warmer here also! Just put some tomato seedlings outdoors.... But will bring them in every night until the weather stays above 40 during the night-time....

Going to meet youngest Daughter Janie for lunch at some Mongolian restaurant ..... It HAS to be good, right? Then stopping on the way home to get a bunch of red mulch, and brown, to make my yard "fancier".... At least the garden areas.... I'll take pictures when it is finished.... like in about 5 years....

Chevy - and some day I will come to Colorado again!!! And we will meet. Thanks for your posts.

Morning gals... Cactus... You will be just fine! I started on this thread in 2009, and now it's already 2016 ! I was sooooooo afraid, when I posted the first time... but listening to what the gals told me, really helped!

Jackie, Carole, Rita, and a few others are STILL here! I've posted on other threads, but this is like "home-base"....

You know, it's so much easier to talk to each other here, rather than family sometimes... Because they are already concerned with what is going on with you, and they can be more afraid than you are....

And SOMEtimes we talk about everything ELSE except breast-cancer.... and that's okay too! Just hang in there... grab yourself a cup of coffee, put your feet up, and think about how you can make every day the best there is !

Now this one reminds me of my younger Daughter....she is 55... And we have the most FUN together. You know what sounds FUN? Some rainy day, in the Summer, going for a little run or a skip, with her out on the grassy parking, holding hands, and laughing with each other !

Yes, I know about breaking my hip, but it's FINE now....... and by holding her hand, we could hold each other up.... possibly....

Sometimes a poem is every bit as good as a quote. I love this little poem that says so much to me.

I do not ask to walk smooth paths
Nor bear an easy load.
I pray for strength and fortitude
To climb the rock-strewn road.

Give me such courage I can scale
The hardest peaks alone,
And transform every stumbling block
Into a steppingstone.

Gail Brook Burket

Chevy!!! You little devil. Where have you been? Nevermind, we don't care. We're just glad you are back. Missed you bunches.

Puffin, how is Lew today? Life-threatening situations for our spouses are certainly nightmare fodder. The "not knowing" part is the worst. For me, information is power and it gives me some control over my emotions by knowing exactly what is going on, what is the worst that can happen and how can it be fixed or helped. When I am surprised by something I didn't expect, I feel out of control and frantic. Hope you get some answers today. Please keep us posted.

Today is called Day plus one (Day + 1.) The bone marrow stem cell transplant was yesterday. It went fine. Those people really know what they are doing. It was like a choreographed dance. There were 2 doctors, 2 RN's, and 2 med techs surrounding his bed. Each had their own particular job to do. The med techs brought in a huge mushroom shaped canister on wheels that contained his sister Lisa's stem cells. (Go Lisa Go) They were collected last March and frozen. (Good for 10 years and enough for 2 transplants in case this one fails.) The doc took out one of the "pouches" and read off the identifying info on it for double checking with the nurses. (There was a mound of paperwork to be done at each stage and stickers to be peeled off one thing and put on another.) The med techs had a cooler full of bags of warm saline. They filled a sterile metal basin with the saline and the doc, who had taken the stem cells out of two protective covers with surgical precision, put the little bag in to thaw. He handed it off to the nurses who prepared it for infusion into Mike's PICC line. All the while, the med techs were checking Mike's vitals and the nurses were busy with other meds hanging on the IV pole. He got drugs to prevent seizures and and allergic reactions. One RN administered the stem cells while the other watched monitors. At first Mike said his face was hot, then his ears were burning and he was having some labored breathing. The doc said to slow down the infusion, the bed was adjusted so his feet were higher than his head, and the reaction faded away. Apparently this is common when the cells are infused faster than the patient can deal with it. Once the cells were in, the med techs began the same procedure again with the next bag of stem cells. There were 5 bags in total and it took 2 hours. As the cells were going in, I visualized them as a band of little yellow Minions, rushing in to save the day. (Go Lisa Go!) Mike's vitals were checked every 15 minutes for 4 hours, then every half hour for another few hours. No problems! He feels great. Today he went down the hall to the gym to work out for awhile. Somebody tell this guy he is sick! The doctors and nurses are amazed that he got through the heavy chemo preparation over the past week with no side effects. Most people can't get out of bed.

Whew !!!!!! and just for good measure, Whew !!!!! Sandra, you are incredible and I am so very, very happy for what seems to have been a well handled and executed procedure. I am also very happy for Mike. It is hard for those who wait --- because there is absolutely nothing to do but fret and worry, but it is also not a great time for a patient in many ways either --- as they must worry a bit too.

Big sigh of relief and continued prayers that the excellent beginning become a fantastic result.

Love and blessings,

Jackie

Sharon, you are wished well. It is always so much better when you know what you are dealing with in total and can get a plan of action that is pretty much all encompassing. It always feels better to be doing something --- rather than the waiting. You feel a bit more in charge whenever there is "some" plan with a good start date. Then day by day, tx. by tx. --- no matter what the tx. may be, you are working toward regaining health.

I always found it to be the strangest thing ( and not to upset ) but usually when you are diagnosed, for the most part, you may have never felt better. I was, or so it felt, really at a great point. Of course, with my dx. there was a lot I needed to do -- including 6 months of chemo and 7 full weeks of rads. The lumpectomy was a cake walk, but some of the rest gave me some issues. They passed, but it took me a while to "feel" truly well again. All's well that ends well though -- so one day a time, one foot in front of the other --- and all the hopes, prayers, well wishes, great care and encouragement from all your sisters here because there is life after tx. and it can be a new normal and another chance at a do-over that is wonderful. In your corner.

Blessings,

Jackie

Oh Sandra...so good to get your wonderful report on Mike. He is such a trooper! Continue to keep us informed and I will continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers. I found the process very interesting. I really had no idea what was actually involved in the procedure. Thanks for posting the pictures and describing the procedure. Just amazing!!!!

Seedsally.....I wish you all the luck I can send. Sometimes I think that all the tests, waiting, and decision makings are almost worst than the treatment.. We will be your cheerleaders!

Carole, I look forward to seeing the pictures of your placemats and totally admire you gals who are so creative!

Loved the poem, Jackie! You're right. It speaks as soundly as a quote!

Chevy.....So glad you are back! We've all missed you!

Sally, the socks are really cute. How did you do the fuzzy tops?

Sally, rockin’ socks! I didn’t necessarily feel more alive when I got my dx (just felt more urgency to pay attention to living). But at the time I got that annual screening mammo right up till surgery, I felt stronger and in better shape (especially my knees) than I had in at least 20 years. How surreal is it to feel healthier than ever yet simultaneously be the sickest you’ve ever been? At this point, except for having to watch my weight more, getting night sweats (not really hot flashes, but as my PCP calls it “my own personal summer”) and take LE precautions I feel more like myself again than at any point since surgery. I didn’t have any problems other than breast enlargement and painless redness during radiation. And since the cancer center is only 20 min. away, it was no big deal going there every M-F. (The little detours to Hoosier Mama Pie Co. en route home are another story, however).

Sandra, you and Mike are amazing! Those little “minions” are getting right to work as we speak, rebuilding his bone marrow and strength. Working out right after the transplant? Wow!

Puffin, continuing to send good thoughts of healing energy to Lew. Any more news?

Bob has suggested I occasionally pop a Xanax at bedtime if I know I’ll have pressure to get up early the next day (that always weighs on my mind and keeps me from falling asleep). He has a stash of them (and Norco) he stockpiled from his surgical adventures of last summer. (He never likes to take anything stronger than Aleve and his blood pressure meds & statin--I have to nag him to take a probiotic if he hasn’t had yogurt. I usually take half a Norco if I need it for sleep, but the Xanax does help. He had suggested trazodone (Desyrel, which was the antidepressant that got me through my PPD 31 years ago), but I looked it up in the PDR and found a “major interaction” warning with Bupropion (my maintenance SDRI since 1999)--the combo can cause seizures. Thanks, but no thanks.The Bupropion keeps me from downing a pint of ice cream and half a buttered baguette at a time--just the guilt of cheating to that extent would keep me so awake at night that no amount of trazodone could knock me out. My safety valve when I start on a diet, BTW, is the “cheat dream.” I wake up in the morning, horrified that I ate an entire pie or sundae or whatever, until I realize it was only a dream. Far easier to recover from than an actual “cheat day.”

Carole, hope you & yours are still high & dry down there in LA!

Morning gals........ I'm just so glad it is SPRING, and warmer days, and I can fool-around outdoors again! I mean once it gets light out!

Hi Cactus! My folks in Richmond California had this HUGE Cactus, that only once in awhile would bloom, this beautiful big white flower...sometimes a couple... I had taken my little Grandson, about 10 at the time... out there after my Mom passed away....

And Dad's cactus BLOOMED the night before we left! Chase knew it was going to bloom... So from then on, it was Dad's "Chase" cactus... Ha! I still don't the name of it... Maybe I can hunt for one of those pictures, and one of you will know the name of it?

Jackie, you were talking about the Dollar store....(email)... And THAT is one of my favorite stores.... THAT and Super Walmart AND ROSS! Yesterday I bought a LITTLE bottle of vegetable oil, instead of like that 2 liter size I usually get! And I found $17 more treasures at that Dollar store! So it is more like a $20-30 dollar store.... Hah!

I also like their little "reading glasses"... diabetic socks, make-up, and their fragrance's.... I use them for bathroom spray.

SANDRA! OMG what are you guys still doing?? I read your post, (like I understand it) and can't beLIEVE how they are taking care of Mike! ... I am just not familiar with that procedure... probably most of us aren't.... but WOW, thank God for technology...right?

Morning Carole... How is your foot? And your Mom doing okay?

Seedly, Monday will be here and over and done with... You can probably watch what they are doing, on that screen... And they might leave little "clips" in there, to mark the spot.. It's like they are making their map... and then their plan after they analyze your tissue... Yes, like Jackie says, there is some point when you feel relieved... that this is all being taken care of!

Hi Rita! My favorite poem was "Foot-prints in the Sand"... My Mom had little quotes and poems saved all over their house... But when she passed away, that is the one that brought me closer to her.... I brought home, so many of her "special little things".... even 5 of her little diaries... She started them before she met Dad... And kept them up, every day, until my Brother and I got older... Then she had her hands full... Ha! But reading about her when SHE was very young, and going with Dad was magical.

Seedsally... Okay if I just call you Sally? I LOVE your little socks! I crochet... It's an obsession... a habit.... a something that I can't shake. But I AM slowing down... Hah! I don't do anything fancy, just plain old crochet, but it's relaxing...I have made a LOT of those ruffled scarves, and given a lot away to the gals at Assisted Living where my friend lives... I've given a lot of little blankets away to those ladies, and they get SO happy! Some of them have NO-one to come visit them... So when we go, I take chicken-pieces for little Abby... ("Wilma's little poodle") and scarves or blankets for the other gals...

ChiSandy! I love your name and Avatar... Chicago, eh? See how swift I am? I KNEW it, then I looked, and sure'nuff... Chicago! I see you are on Femara? How is that treating you? The Onco wanted me to try that, after I quit Tamoxifen, but I declined her ever so generous offer... and haven't taken anything else.