Storm Riders/A Town Called Determination

Public Archive
1321

Hi everyone

Sorry your having a tuff time again Ross, hope tomorrow will be better for you.

Gen, why not just book it, then he’ll have to go. You deserve a break and it sounds like if this opportunity is missed, it will be a while before the you get another chance.

Carole loads of positive vibes coming your way for tomoz. Will that be you half way done?

At my last appointment with onc, I asked if Tamoxifen didn’t bring menopause on, would they want to remove my ovaries because I have read stuff about it on here. She said there would be no reason to do this and did explain why…I’ve just forgot what she said Doh!!

Sal, seems to me like you do a pretty tuff job. Getting up at the crack of dawn in all kinds of weather and then standing on your feet for the best part of the day. You have every right to moan. Your right, there isn’t much out there but you have the perfect opportunity to do an on line course and have a complete change. You never know, it might be fun.

Great news about the cast going Old One and even better idea about having a lightning strike etched on your stick.

Heading for the saloon now. Going to get me a large one before bed time.

1322

I’ve been thinking…

I know, dangerous stuff, that was the ticking sound you could all hear…

I’ve been thinking about all the hoo haa about Jade Goody and the crys to lower the age of cervical smear testing again from 25. The reason why the age was increased was because younger women commonly have transient cell changes which self-correct. These were being unnecessarily treated with laser therapy and some of these women were going on to have later miscarriages because of it. The incidence of cervical cancer in women under 25 is something like 5 in 100,000.

Now routine breast screening doesn’t begin until women reach 50. Yet the risk of breast cancer under that age is WAY higher than the risk of cervical cancer under 25. Just think how many women on this site are under 50. Loads of us. I know mammos don’t work so well on younger people, but mine showed my cancer very clearly at the age of 41 and ultrasounds work better too. If I’d had a mammo at 40 my cancer would most likely have been caught while it was still at the DCIS stage (it was a mixture of both when I was diagnosed) and I’d have been looking at a probable complete cure. However, I now have (had) invasive breast cancer and am looking at a miserable (and expensive) year of treatment and a potentially reduced life expectancy.

Where’s the sense in that? Why doesn’t breast screening begin at least at 40? Why aren’t there marches on Downing Street in favour of it? I want Max Clifford as my PR!!!

1323

Now I’ve had my rant I shall say:

Sal - ditch the job and do a bit of practising what I preach on the selfish front. Yes I know, I should follow my own advice lol

Val - so pleased you and your leg are freeeeeeeeeeeeeee. A lightning bolt on the old stick is surely a necessary accessory?! :smiley:

Carole - last epi tomorrow you lucky, lucky duck. I know it’s wishing time away but I so can’t wait to get these blighters over with. I hope it all goes swimmingly and you get the easiest ride yet.

I’m having me a big old glass of wine tonight. Just watch me! Feeling feisty!! :smiley:

1324

Way to go Ros. Rant in capitals, if it makes you feel better. I also had a thought - me and you both Gennie, wow. Anyway, Ros, is there anything that you always wanted to do but never did because your husband would have disapproved, or laughed, or just because he didn’t want to join you? If so, what better time to do it, or plan to do it, than now? I’m sure we could help you come up with some whacky ideas.

Gennie, I don’t know too much about the incidences of bc under 40, but as you say there are difficulties with reading mammos in younger women. Mind you, they had trouble reading mine and I’m an old bird. lol. Having said that, you don’t necessarily get your first mammo at 50, just within 3 years of hitting 50. I had mine at 52 and 4 months. Luckily for me, I suppose, as at 50 I suspect the bc probably wouldn’t have shown up. What I’m saying is, if the age at which you started to have mammos was 40, you wouldn’t necessarily have had one before you were 41. So really, there’s still a lot of luck involved. Incidentally, when I was talking to the bc nurse about having a daughter and her risk etc, she said that my daughter could ask for mammos from 40, as I have bc.

Yes, I know what you’re all saying regarding the job, but I’m still looking for that perfect job. You know the one - 2 days a week, £50,000 a year, six weeks holiday, free BUPA, free gym membership… Have I forgotten anything?

Well, I’m off to pour myself a large glass of wine. Medicinal of course. Good luck for tomorrow Carole.

1325

Oooh Sal I want a job like that too !

Good luck for tomorrow Carole,we had better get that congo line up and running again…da da da da da DA ! My appointment at 11 then having lunch and comparing notes/scars with one of the women that had same op at same time as me then 2 hour journey home…catch up tomorrow night then !

1326

Fiesty in here tonight. :smiley:

Right, where to start. Val - fabuloso on the leg! Let’s get whittling on that lightning strike on the stick.

Ros - I completely concur with your sentiments and would add a lot more @@@@ and a few XXXX and a sprinkling of ~~!!/. Not to mention an 'ing or two here and there.

Sal. Shooting pains. Yes. Get them at ovulation and all through the period. Sharp like someone’s pushing a big needle through the operated area. Inside so you can’t get at it to rub it better. Darn cactus needles get everywhere. Grrrrrrr. And - Pack…in…the…job… You know you want to, you know you can smell it in the air. Sometimes the next thing doesn’t come along till the runway’s clear for it to make a decent landing.

Mary, so PonchoCat took off to the creek for a bit of fishin’ for the day. Mmmmm, sounds good. Laid back under the tree, hat over the eyes, little fire with a nicely roasting fish and a bottle of beer. Easy living. :slight_smile:

On the OH fronts. I think the place for your Manuka honey Gen is in his pants, then sit him on top of a bee hive. Heh Heh. That’ll learn 'im. And if Sandra’s can’t stack the pots and pans then he shouldn’t get to use them, or get anything out of them. OH’s - can’t live with 'em, can’t freight 'em to Alaska (at least not cheaply). :smiley:

Yep, last Epi! Yayhay! Quack, Quack, and a quick Scoooooby Doooby Doo! Had a thought on the eye bother (if we all have any more thoughts the universe might implode with the shockwaves - Erk, too much responsibility). GP thinks it’s probably the chemo, but if it’s not getting better by the end of the week to go back and get an appointment with the eye doc. However, if the scalp got sore before and during hair shedding, and my lashes and brows are now shedding big time, how coincidental is it that my eyes are sore? A bit I think.

Would chat more about the whole menopause, scanning thing, but had wine tonight, so must now go and drink a litre of water before sleeping.

Good luck tomorrow too Sandra!

Sleep well all. Fuzzy smoochy night night kisses to everyone. Particularly Messrs Depp, Pitt, Clooney, and Farrell, oh and Messrs Banderas, Freeman, Hartnett…

1327

Morning everyone…:smiley:

Nothing much to report here - couldn’t sleep at about 4am as every position seemed uncomfy but obviously must have dropped off eventually lol

1328

Morning all!

Catching up, missed the bar last night!

Gen, liking Carole’s suggestion for placement of honey, but would suggest NOT the madly expensive variety; budget supermarket brand should do the trick! And, yes, agree with everyone else - time to be selfish and do something for you. (ooops, just checked my spelling - changed selfish from shelfish - no, don’t be a prawn, Gen!)

Val, glad the leg is mended, how is your daughter feeling this week? Hope she is picking up as well.

Ros, oh, the joys of corporate email policy! Good job it doesn’t apply here, CAPITALS AS MUCH AS YOU NEED, ROS as well and as many
*******s as needed.

Sal, when you see that job advertised, send a few application forms out to us - think you had the main requirements covered!

Good luck to all you with treatments to cope with this week, feel incredibly fortunate that (at least, if all goes to plan - touching wood frantically)it seems I will be “just” surgery + rads, chemo sounds a complete bummer, and you all cope so positively, - Respect!!

Love
Lizzy XX

1329

Lizzy - was your tumour hormone negative then…? do you have your herceptin results yet…?

Theresa

1330

Hi Theresa
I know nothing yet!
Other than mammo showing microcalcifications, and core biospy showing DCIS, which, I have to say my surgeon is VERY dismissive of! Along the lines of “Well, if it wasn’t for all this screening, we wouldn’t be finding all this early stuff, and only (!!!) between 30 - 50% goes on to become invasive…!!” Really feel he liked the “Good Old Days” where he only had to deal with “proper BC” when it was established! He doesn’t have the best communication skills - but IS an excellent surgeon, which, as I’ve said somewhere else - best way round to be! Think the term I may be looking for is “Dinasour”

So, suppose I can’t be sure till the path report following Thursday’s WLE, just from what he said originally? ie, Op + rads.

OK, one step at a time, Lizzy!

Cheers
Lizzy

1331

Steel dragged herself off her horse holding her hand to the back of her head and pushed the bunkhouse door open. She dropped onto her bunk with a groan.

What’s got you? asked Riviera. Supplies not at the store?

Hmmph, grunted Steel. Didn’t see 'em but it’ll be the Boss’s boys. Whacked me on the head as I went round the back to pick up the grain sack.

Mule jumped to her feet. Why those dirty, no good, scum spawn! Wait’ll I get my hands on any one of 'em!

Calm down there Mule, said Scotia, We don’t know which ones did it, and you’re no use to us locked up for a week for indiscriminate @ss whuppings!

Let me see that, said Riviera, and pulled Steel’s hand away. Ouch! Good job you’ve got a head harder than your name. That’s some lump coming up. You’ll live though. Here, hold this over it.

Steel took the cold cloth from her and lay back down.

I was thinking, said Casey, the Easter festival’s coming up. There’ll be a lot going on, a mighty load of distractions. Could just be an opportunity to have us some extra fun. What say we do a bit of planning?

The rest grunted and grinned their agreement. Oh yes, the festival would be a great day out.

…

Yep, low wbc count. They got me, them dangnabbit Boss’s boys. Delayed till next week. Och well, I didn’t feel like it today anyway. Now I can walk the dogs while the sun’s out, get some stuff done without Black Canyon, and April’s a great month to finish Epi.

But I’ll still let out a small AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGHHHHHH!!! Just a small one.

1332

Hi Girls

Have had fun following this thread and thought I would just post a few things.
Diag Jan 2008 6.5cm tumour right breast with node involvement, 6 lots of TAC chemo (a real killer) followed in July with bilateral mastectomy (had DCIS in left breast in 2004 cleared with lumpectomy only) with axillary clearance right side followed by 3 weeks rads. This time triple negative with 5 out of 19 nodes affected along with surrounding tissue. All in all not good.

I do work 2 days a week Tuesdays and Thursdays, not £50,000 a year with all the trimmings though, it keeps me in the ‘real’ world.

I go to Senior Aqua Fit every Friday in an effort to get fit after 12 months of ‘couch potato’ and try to get into Town for shopping therapy at least once a week.

My husband would not go away anywhere on holiday or up North to stay with our children (we live in Cornwll) so I went on my own. My sister moved to Crete to live three years ago and I fly there on my own. Travelling in October last year 2 weeks after finishing rads. What a trip that was!

I try to be upbeat, but my odds are not good so I try to live each day to the full. My husband gets very upset if I try to discuss the future with him so I go to my local McMillan outreach centre, The Triangle Centre, so I have people I can talk to who understand the journey I am on.

I have various friends who have BC but not triple negative, they have their medication to take which at least means they are doing something constructive to avoid the disease returning. I am drinking Japanese Green Tea like it is going out of fashion, eating blueberries by the bucket load, eating a low fat diet, taking vitamin D3, Cod Liver Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, Odourless garlic, glucosamine, if I ever have to run for the bus I am sure I will rattle. At least it makes me feel I am doing all I can to avoid a recurrance.

Had a chest X-ray last week as I have a pain in my back just under my shoulder blade, Doc thinks it is gall stones I can only hope he is right! Ultrasound next. Hey ho such is life.

Love to all
Keep up the happy banter
Jennie

1333

Hey Jennie, good to meet you and welcome to the Storm Riders’ world! Wow, you pack a lot into a week, and that’s not including all the supplements. lol. Am I understanding you correctly, that at the moment you’re clear and trying to avoid a recurrence? Hope so. I reckon it doesn’t matter what our odds are, once you’ve been dx with this you get a new perspective on living life to the full anyway. Shopping therapy is very high up on the To Do List. :smiley:

Let us know how the ultrasound goes. Fingers crossed it’s gall stones. The things we actually want to have now, who’d have guessed! :smiley:

1334

Hi Jennie and welcome to the storm raiders…:smiley:

Sounds like you have had a hell of a year…
My husband also refuses to talk about the possibilty of things getting worse - I think it is his way of coping - the daft thing is when his dad had terminal stomach cancer he used to critise his mum and dad for not admiting what was happening…

Here’s hoping the changes you are making with diet etc are helping… I’ve got hold of some of that strong dose turmeric i was telling the others about last week… Obviously i am hoping i just keep taking it “for no reason” as the cancer never spreads… lol

Theresa x

1335

Oh Carole what a bummer to have to wait a week, although I have to admit I fully anticipate it happening to me at some point because even after one blast my levels only just crawled into normal range. Did they call you to let you know or did you have to schlep to the hospital to be turned away?

Hi Jennie, good to meet you and I hope you continue to stay well. Fingers crossed for gallstones! And I never thought I’d ever be saying that to anyone lol

My eye is getting worse and is bright red under the lower lid, but I think I’m probably reacting to the drops (I’m allergic to some of them) because they were starting to sting so I’m trying something else I was given for conjunctivitis at the back end of last year. It seems to be settling it.

Also I have discovered that we have critters in the attic. I was having trouble getting to sleep last night and kept hearing this funny rattling noise, it sounded like the noise our (now deceased) hamster used to make at night. So I went out onto the landing and realised what I could hear was the sound of something gnawing away at something above the ceiling. I gave the ceiling a bash and it stopped for a minute or two and started again. Then I woke up at 4am and I could hear it above my head in the bedroom. Ewwww. Is it meeces or ratses? I’m irrationally phobic about both. I may need to move house. Meanwhile I will be sending Mr “Stayathome” up there to have a look around.

The upshot of this is that I am feeling very tired today but can’t seem to manage to get to sleep. I’ll be grumpy as all hell later.

1336

Thankfully they called before I left. Boy would I have been under a thundercloud if I’d gone all the way up there. Anyway, the up side is that while the wbc recovers the rest of my system also gets a wee bit longer to heal. I think it needs it. Getting decidedly tired in the legs. So, not all bad really, and it’s only a week.

More likely to be meeces. Ratses aren’t likely to be around unless there’s a good food source nearby, ie an open compost bin, grain store etc, which would attract them to area then they might find their way into the house. If “he who shall not be named” goes up, mouse droppings are very small, adult rat droppings are more “woah, what is that!” Think pinkie nail. We’ve permanently got a meece or two in the house. For such tiny feet they sure wear big boots. Got a bit infested last year and had to start putting out poison, which I hate doing. It seems really unfair. Rats in the barn off and on, although we seem to have got rid of that colony for the moment and thankfully they didn’t get into the house.

Take care of that eye. Fingers crossed it’s cleared before your next dose. Is that next Wed?

1337

Hi Gennie

We have no access to our loft as it is a very, very old cottage and we had noises in our attic a few weeks ago. When hubby took a look at the roof from outside there was a squirrel peering out of a little hole under the slates! It had built a nest like place out of grass and newspaper, we waited until it turned up at the bird feeder after peanuts then hubby got up a ladder and sorted out the tiny gap it was getting through.

We now have problems with crows trying to nest in the chimney pots. I came home from work last Tueday and there was a crow sitting on top of the wardrobe in our bedroom! Talk about panic, and that was me. I got it by by the window and opened it wide and pulled the curtains across and it flew away, thank goodness.

It’s surprising what tries to share your home with you!

Love to all
Jennie

1338

Carole - sorry to hear that they cancelled on you. But as you say will give your body an extra week recovery time…

Gen - hope the other drops start to help your eye.

No critters here - although we did have a huge colourful pheasant in the garden on saturday - looked up and there he was staring in through the patio doors… for some reason he hung around our garden for a good couple of hours. He kept squarking and Nigel thought that he was probably shouting for the missus lol

1339

Yep it’s next Wednesday, if the wbc has recovered. I must say I’m feeling a bit jaded today so I won’t be surprised if it’s not quite there. It’s got another week though, I guess. Funny how a few vials of pink liquid can knock you about so much isn’t it? In fact, not funny at all. What was it you said Ros? I will echo your expletive and raise it a *&^! :smiley:

Now a crow in the bedroom I’ve never had, what a shock!! We do get doves cooing down the chimney at us and they occasionally dislodge stuff that drops down into the grate but they’ve never actually made it down yet. I did wonder about squirlses as we have a lot of trees at the back of the house and there is a little grey chap who likes to scamper along the fence.

I suspect most likely meeces though, yes. We had them in the grot student house I lived in in Brum. They used to come up from the cellar into the kitchen and leap out of the swing bin at you. Argh!!!

DH has just emailed with an compromise suggestion for the weekend. Camping on Saturday night. I’m not really a camping sort, but the kids will love it. Negotiations continue… ;o)

1340

My mum had a pheasant(ess) nesting in a bush just outside her patio doors last year. She had babies but Mr Fox got them all. :frowning:

We sometimes get a pheasant in the garden here and a rather pretty woodpecker too. I do like living in the country. Even if there are critters in my attic!