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

Hi all,

Here are two before pix of my DGS's dorm room at the University of Georgia

And here is the finished product.

These are my two grandsons, sitting on the futon under Michael's bed. It was so much fun putting it all together, especially since his roommate is his best friend, So everyone knew each other. We bought stuff for both boys and so did Chris's mother. Much easier than having to work to fix half of the room and hope it works with the roommate. I can't think of anything else they could need. Most kids, we found out, raise their beds up high to basically get them out of the way. Chris's Mom found a futon that fits under Michael's bed and there's a mini fridge, microwave and Kuerig under Chris's. They probably won't use the dishes much because the dining halls (there are six) offer a major variety of food. Michael will never complain that there's nothing to eat again. They may use the bowls for ice cream late at night, but that's about it. They have a kitchen on the first floor, but I don't picture them using it much.

The biggest concern I had was getting to his room on the fourth floor of a building that has no elevator, and it wasn't too bad. My DD wanted to go somewhere to eat, then come back to make their beds. Luckily, everyone else wanted to finish the beds, then go to eat. It was obvious our guys wanted to meet up with their friends for dinner, but Chris's mom said they will be with their friends every day and they could have one last dinner with all of us, which they did, and did it gracefully- not upset at all. I'm sure they met up with friends as soon as they got back to the dorm. There are about six of them at UGA, with four of them being friends since 5th grade. It was a fun day.

Ducky, Kaileen is on my church prayer chain. Praying everything clears up and she and the baby go home soon.

Anne

My housekeeper got hit with a double whammy. First, now that she’s about healed from her bunion surgery, her knee is alternately locking up & giving out (and in pain of course). She made an appt. to see an orthopod at Rush tomorrow but doesn’t want to do a TKR (or any more surgery for quite awhile), and will probably get cortisone &/or hyaluronic acid shots (I hear they’ve improved since mine were unsuccessful back in 2003) and maybe a custom-fit offloader brace. But yesterday, she got a call that her husband was in the ER across town in Melrose Park. He’s a long-time Type 2 diabetic, prostate cancer survivor, and has had at least one stent. His kidneys aren’t quite at dialysis-level yet but they’re not good. He felt shaky and faint in a restaurant bathroom and next thing he knew he was on a gurney being loaded into the ambulance. Thus far, there are no clues—his kidneys are “at 20” (my housekeeper didn’t say whether that was an enzyme level or percentage of function) but “28” is the low end of normal. Glucose normal (or as normal as it gets for a diabetic). EKG negative for heart attack, carotid Doppler neg. for plaque. The working hypothesis is something is causing hypoxia, and last I heard he was being taken to Nuclear Cardiology. Will know more about him (and my housekeeper’s knee) tomorrow. Meanwhile, they could use some prayers (they’re devout—he’s a "preacher’s kid").

Sandy, Hope it's good news for your housekeeper and her DH.

Velvet, That sounds like Baylor all right.

Ducky, Hope things are going better.

(((( --------- ))))) Sandy for your housekeeper and family. If I didn't feel the struggles of living tend to have needed lessons I'd be so against them. It is difficult though to get several "issues" at once to work through. Here's hoping really good answers and fixes for all turn up.

Still praying, Ducky.

Housekeeper’s knee is officially bone-on-bone; she had a cortisone shot and feels much better. Got fitted for an offloader brace and may try hyluronic-gel shots down the line. Still can’t figure out her husband’s syncope—glucose, BP, O2 sats, electrolytes normal. Yet he had a dizzy spell and fell in the bathroom again (fortunately, the nurse’s aide was right outside the door).

There are deer ticks in the suburbs, and in the forest preserves. But not in the heavily urbanized Austin neighborhood on the W. Side. And he doesn’t spend time outdoors. Not sure if they run a Lyme titer as a matter of course.

Good mornin' all,

Ducky, so sorry Kaileen is still experiencing these problems. You said she is a NICU nurse- this is probably one time when that doesn't help the situation. I fear she knows all to well what is going on and focusing on all worst case scenarios. Sometimes ignorance is truly bliss. 🙏🙏

Sandy - sorry your housekeeper and husband are having a rough time. I don't know if the shots she got are the same as the ones I got for my back, but if they are, she should feel relief soon. My husband was a type 2 diabetic, and he passed out a few times, either from low sugar levels or low blood pressure. Very scary.

Jean, my 8 yr old nephew in Monroe has Lyme disease. I asked my sister what kind, remembering your advice a year ago, but as usual, my sister got totally defensive and dismissed what I was saying before the words even got out of my mouth. She did the same thing when I called her to tell her about our Aunt's memorial service being in Fl in Oct. She immediately said "Well, I'm not going to Fl" She again was so nasty, I said" I am not telling you you have to go. I am just passing on info." I had said to my brother that once the weather cools down some in Fl, wouldn't it be fun to get Margie down and we could hang out together, going to beaches, etc, making sure she knew there was no hidden agenda, we wouldn't say a word about what she did or did not eat, etc but guess that's not gonna happen.

My DGS is LOVING his first week at college. First night there, after dinner with us, they ended up in Nicole's dorm, watching movies till 2am. The RA came to Nicole's room because another room on their floor had called to complain about excessive noise. Nicole wisely invited the RA in, to show him they were all quietly watching a movie. The noise was two rooms away. They were then rudely woken up the next morning when the smoke alarm went off in the room next door to them. There's some question about why the alarm went off. But they were awake, so decided to go have breakfast, then to explore the campus. My brother and I are going over to have lunch with him tomorrow before we leave on Sat.

Hats all from here so far today

Anne

That's good news, ducky - home is the best place to recover! And that Kieran - what a cutie! Being with him will do your granddaughter world of good.

MJ

Wow, I'm here after once again some computer woes. I can't imagine what it would be like if we had not bought the 'Assure' service from Microsoft. We bought it several yrs. in a row, but they forgot to notify us this last time. Sssh, that may have been a ploy to get us past the date so that we would have to pay full price again. If you re-sign there is a discount. Since I got the new Windows 10 computer -- we felt like we needed the service. It has been a god-send but I can't seem to shake needing them to adjust things. Hope this darn thing gets my act together soon.

Also all are in my prayers and hopes that good medical answers are found for all the current dilemma's that are taking place. Big surprise to hear Mom and baby are home-bound, but I do think it could be of benefit. Hopefully Kaileen will be able to relax and enjoy her baby -- and 'break' the cycle of spiking blood pressure. I also think there is wisdom in checking for tick-born disease. It can't hurt and if the first test is neg. I'd wait a short spell and retest. Here's hoping because life can be frustrating enough and not getting answers on top of that just makes it difficult to keep your spirits positive.

ChiSandy,

As a Type 2 diabetic and also anemic, your advice is right on target. I have been reading a lot and gave up on the ADA recommendations. My last HA1C was 5.8 since I changed to this new way of eating. It has never been below 7 in last eight years following the ADA recommendations.

J

There are six principles of abundant living which, when woven together,
produce a tapestry of contentment that wraps us in inner peace,
well-being, happiness, and a sense of security. First there is gratitude.
When we do a mental and spiritual inventory of all that we have, we realize
that we are very rich indeed. Gratitude gives way to simplicity--the desire
to clear out, pare down, and realize the essentials of what we need to live
truly well. Simplicity brings with it order, both internally and externally.
A sense of order in our life brings us harmony. Harmony provides us with
the inner peace we need to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us each
day, and beauty opens us to joy. But just as with any beautiful needlepoint
tapestry, it is difficult to see where one stitch ends and another begins.

Sarah Ban Breathnach

What a pretty morning here. Had to rewash my car yesterday. City came out with the extra white chat ( I've no idea why ) and of course there are many ( like most ) people who just put the petal to the medal. Anyone wishing to attempt to keep at least some of it off their cars won't stand a chance. I'm trying to look kindly anyway because there are some things that you can't influence.

Otherwise I intend to have a gorgeous day -- not sure what I will do but I'm sure I can dig up something to occupy my time. I hope you will have a fantastic day too.

Sunny, mild, mid-70s today. Probably resign myself to waiting in line at the hand car-wash (the drive-thru ones set my collision-avoidance system off, and I can’t deactivate it). Maybe walk the lakefront trail, either around here or drive to Dempster Beach & walk to the lighthouse (used to be my X-C ski route back in the day).

Hello, I fit into this category and would like to keep this discussion going, please. I'm 67 and my diagnosis is below. I'm de novo with mets to the bones, was diagnosed in October 2016, had a bilateral mastectomy and highly hormone receptor positive, thank goodness, so I'm being treated with Letrozole (Femara) and Palbociclib. So far my tumour marker is still high, at 480. I live in Australia.