On My Mind

My day went really well, my brother that I had a huge falling out with 2 weeks ago was extra nice. The argument was about moms mental decline. Anyways he was also really nice to her, so I think some of what I said, is sinking into him. Even if he won't admit it, that's ok.
Then my son and his gf, haven't seen mom since xmass came to me, noticing a huge decline. Which is very sad but I feel so much better, that I'm not the only one, that see it. FINALLY

I mean it's sad, and it really sucks but I feel better in the sence that others see it too

Happy Easter. HE is risen.

Very much on my mind, R got a phone call this morning that his 1 year post prostate cancer surgery bone scan was clear, bless God, but he has an enlarged lymph node so they will call him in this week to start hormone therapy. His psa has risen a bit. Poor guy has had a lot to deal with this past year and we were hoping that 2024 would be free of health issues. The news could have been worse but it could have been better. Strangely somehow I am not surprised. He just hasn't looked quite himself at times.

We would appreciate prayers for his healing.

Golden, I always pray for my friends on here but I'll add extra for your R.

Golden, May The Lord God Almighty touch Rs body and give him complete healing. I will continue to pray for you both.

Gershun, I am with you, I pray for the posters here and you have been much on my heart. May The Lord touch you in your trials and give you victory as an overcomer.

Golden: Prayers for R and you, too.

Thank you Gershun, ITRR and Llama. We appreciate all prayers. Still waiting for the call for therapy to start. I'm glad there are treatments.

Golden, my thoughts with you and your beloved.
Do know that I had TWO positive nodes with my first cancer.
The second one didn't catch me until 35 years later.
Nodes are now considered SO UNRELIABLE as precursors that in breast cancer surgery many surgeons have stopped taking anything but a few sentinel nodes, and some take none.

Glad the issue is being addressed.
All the worry does "change us" and the anxiety is a real thing, but you are on this, and it sounds like you have good followup and good docs. My best to you both and am thinking of you.

Golden,

Sending hugs your way today. Know that you and R are in our hearts.

Golden ,

I will keep you and R in my thoughts .
Glad to hear the bone scan is clear.

Thank you Alva, Need and way. We are relieved that the bone scan is clear. I am glad they are starting R on hormone therapy quickly. I believe the doc is good.

I started to be concerned about the side effects of hormone therapy - less energy etc, but decided that I am not going to worry about it. We will deal with what we have to as it shows up.

Mainly I am feeling bad that he has to face the uncertainties that came with the results, has go through yet another treatment, and one that will likely affect his ability to continue his preferred very active lifestyle. However, on the bright side, he is recovering very well from his knee surgery. Something to be thankful for. And he has remained very active much longer than most. Maybe it's time for him to slow down.

Thanks again to all.

Golden, everyone's different in side effects. With the therapy he isn't going to be feeling particularly
"studly", but would bet he isn't feeling that anyway. Perhaps a bit of weight gain. Perhaps tired. You will get the whole long list, but do remember if you take a baby aspirin daily the readout on side effects for THAT would make a nice tableclothe as well.

Try to take it a day at a time. Those of us dealing with the Big C gotta do that; no crystal ball, and worry about stuff too early, before it shows up if it is GOING to show up, will drive one nuts. My worst time is 4:30 to 6:30 a.m. when I can awaken and "go there". I have learned either to get up, pound away here, or listen to a podcast.

Don't know if he can make himself become a facebook lover, but they have great groups --my flat and fabulous crew is wonderful--and there's just so much support. You feel less alone in the "alone times".

Golden: You're quite welcome.

Alva - thx for the information. He starts with an injection this Friday and has been alerted to the side effects. His response was that he will just have to exercise more. He spoke of the staff at the Cross Cancer Institute as being very accommodating and supportive, This is what my dd found. I think it is important.

I know that side effects are unpredictable. When my dd was staying in the house available for out of town ca patients people's reaction to treatments were from soup to nuts, One older lady who smoked like a chimney had no side effects whatsoever. One young gal had very bad effects from radiation. Dd had little effects from radiation but the chemo hit her very hard. We will see.

R handles stress by working hard outdoors and spending time with his horses - his normal lifestyle. He is off today to a welding shop for the part for the recalcitrant tractor and to a tire shop to get his studded tires changed over. He has me and our families for support and we share the same faith. One of his bros had prostate cancer and is fine now but needs a bag. He is on face book but doesn't spend much time there, but thanks for the suggestion and I am OK. I do belong to a fb group "Women Over 80" and they are very supportive as are people here 😊 and as are family.

He recognizes the importance of a healthy diet, not that his was that bad before, but he likes sweets. I'm working on satisfying that need in a healthier way and incorporating more fresh fruits (berries!!!) and veggies. We needed to do that for his blood sugar anyway. You do what you can and trust in God for what you can't.

I found your comment "Nodes are now considered SO UNRELIABLE as precursors that in breast cancer surgery many surgeons have stopped taking anything but a few sentinel nodes, and some take none" very interesting. Do you have some references you could share with me? R has had none of the symptoms of recurring cancer. His nodes where clear at time of surgery and for the follow ups except this 1 year one. I have read that 2 out of 5 men have recurrences. It is what it is and he is getting treated.

We will plan a little holiday once the dust settles from this and some business he has to deal with. It will be a small one but a few days away in the mountains would be a nice break. Something to look forward to. There is a good musical at the E'ton dinner theatre and I want us to go to that. We have always enjoyed an evening out there but haven't been since covid,

Life goes on...until it doesn't

Golden:
Forgoing Lymph Node Removal Doesn’t Raise Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence - Cancer Health

Type the above into your search engine and you will find at least one article.
Forgoing Lymph Node Removal Doesn’t Raise Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence
Skipping axillary dissection did not have a detrimental effect on recurrence-free survival, but it did lead to less lymphedema.
February 5, 2024 • By Liz Highleyman

 

 Women who avoid or have less extensive lymph node removal along with surgery for early breast cancer are not at higher risk for cancer recurrence or death, according to findings presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS 2023). However, as expected, those who had fewer lymph nodes removed were less likely to develop lymphedema.
The usual treatment for early-stage breast cancer is surgery to remove either the tumor (breast-conserving surgery, or lumpectomy) or the whole breast (mastectomy). Patients may also receive neoadjuvant medications before surgery or adjuvant medications afterward. As part of the procedure, so-called sentinel lymph nodes around the armpit—the first ones the cancer would spread to—are tested to see whether they contain malignant cells. Women with detectable cancer in their lymph nodes have traditionally undergone axillary lymph node dissection, or removal. But more extensive surgery can lead to worse side effects, including lymphedema, the buildup of fluid in the arms that can occur when the flow of lymph is disrupted.
30-Study Meta-Analysis
To assess the effect of axillary lymph node dissection on breast cancer outcomes, Gurdeep Mannu, PhD, of the University of Oxford, and colleagues with the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group performed a meta-analysis of 30 randomized trials with a total of more than 20,000 participants. The trials compared axillary surgery versus no such surgery, more versus less extensive lymph node removal, or axillary surgery versus radiation therapy. The studies were divided into those conducted before and after the advent of sentinel lymph node biopsy in the 1990s.

Over a median 10 years of follow-up, rates of local/regional cancer recurrence in the breast or nearby sites did not differ significantly between women who had more extensive axillary surgery and those who had fewer lymph nodes removed. This was also the case for recurrence at distant sites, death from breast cancer and all-cause mortality. These results held for women with both node-negative and node-positive disease. But adverse effects did differ: Women who underwent more extensive axillary lymph node dissection were more than twice as likely to develop lymphedema.
Looking next at axillary surgery versus radiation in five relevant trials, the study authors found no significant differences in terms of local/regional recurrence, distant recurrence, breast cancer mortality or all-cause mortality. Here, too, women who underwent axillary lymph node dissection were almost twice as likely to develop lymphedema compared with those who received radiation.
SENOMAC Trial
Randomized controlled trials are considered the gold standard for medical evidence. In the SENOMAC trial (NCT02240472), Jana de Boniface, MD, PhD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues enrolled more than 2,500 people in five countries who had primary breast cancer with up to two positive sentinel lymph nodes. The median age was 61 years. About a third had lymph node extension, or cancer that had broken through the surrounding node capsule.
The participants underwent breast-conserving surgery (64%) or mastectomy (36%). Nearly 90% then received nodal radiation therapy and adjuvant hormone therapy. In addition, they were randomly assigned to undergo completion axillary lymph node dissection or not.
After a median four years of follow-up, recurrence-free survival rates were similar in the two groups: 89% of those who underwent axillary lymph node dissection.........
And etc.

Golden, see my comment below.
Tried to get one link to you and only can get part of article and title with my copy paste methods. Computer illiterate here.
The gals on Flat and Fabulous were discussing this in the last week or so.

Interesting how far research is coming, and how they work with, grade and label things, and how treatment is changing. The doctor, a fellow (close to graduate--month away from hematology-oncologist) following my own case is speaking of how differently cancers are being treated. Grading has changed so much. So many fewer treatments being done that were so lethal and tough to take. She LOVES it, says it is the most exciting field in medicine. Go figure. She like my surgeon looks like she is about 13 years old.

Anyway, what is true to cancer of one type certainly not necessarily true of another type. Remember when radiation was 6 weeks for breast cancer. Now, for me, were I to choose to have it, it is ONE week, total of 6 treatments. Go figure there as well.

Anyway. On we go, and as to me, the best cure is HORSES. I will live long as I live, but never get over my years with my little barrel racer, Lady. Long in the tooth, loved potato peels, and was a pure joy in my childhood.

Thx Alva I got the gist of it. As you say "what is true to cancer of one type certainly not necessarily true of another type."

Barrel horses!!!! R breeds quarter horses! Great memories I am sure.

My horse sure was no quarter horse. Just a little mongrel bay nag who was very long in the tooth (aged). But she could do those barrels, and I could lean into them with her! We did real well! Grew up a real wild child in the hills and hollers of Missour-ah. My poor parents bought Lady, then called Boots from a young fellow, with saddle for 50.00 in the 50s. Seems a bargain until you realize she was so long in the tooth she needed a special diet of bran mash, ha ha. I sure had fun on that one. She would try to bite me in the back every time I tightened the cinch. Guess that was good practice, at age 9-14, for back-biters everywhere, right?

thanks for the stories Alva! 😊

(Sigh) Horses. (Sigh) I hadn’t ridden in years. Visited my cousin’s daughter 2 years ago and she insisted we trail ride. I put on a full support bra. She brought out a step stool for me to get on and off. Was I ever awkward! But I thanked her and the horse so very much.

AlvaDeer: Barrel racing?!?! WOW!!!

Ana.

I was a baby! We had a saddle club. I was 14 when we moved from Missouri, so I was young indeed. We are talking 7 decades ago.
I was a tomboy and a daredevil and used to run my horse under trees, grabbing limbs to dismount, pretending I was Audie Murphy! Look him up. I honestly just cannot imagine.
I think it wasn't until Robert Wagner came onto the scene I knew I was a girl. Love will let you know.
Would have been--what in the world in these days? I guess gender fluid? Too funny to think of, especially when my daughter turned out to love jewelry, barbies, perfumes, clothes, and all things girly!

My wake up that I was a girl and liked boys was Lorenzo Lamas, on Falcon Crest.

I think I was 11, Randolph Mantooth, on the show Emergency . I like ( coolish ) nerds. 😂😂
My DH even looked similar to him when he was young . I guess I have a type.😜

AlvaDeer, we sound very similar. Except my first crushes were Kermit the Frog and Alice Cooper. I like interesting characters. My husband looks like Gandalf.

So a lot of you and others around me have suggested antidepressants, it has been on my mind to try them again, on and off the last year. I took paxil many years ago, didn't like it at all, but figured maybe it's time to give them another shot.

So I did, first day I took a half of pill, felt horrible, so dopie. It was the horrible feeling, but I stuck with them, started maybe feeling a bit better, then had to start taking the whole pill. Felt awful again, the 3rd day on the whole pill I started feeling very detached. I was walking through the house actually wondering what death feels like. Only way I can explain it is if you go to you freezer and wonder if you want vanilla or chocolate ice cream. It was like do I want to die or live, with absolutely no feelings or emotions about it at all

So 48 hours drug free now, and never will I try a SSRI again.i feel so much better . I will never judge anyone on them, because they truly do help some. But they are absolutely not for everyone. I went into this with an open mind , but they are absolutely 100 not for me.

Just want to share my story, and if anyone thinks they want to say, maybe I should try a different one, they can save there fingers. Cause I'm never trying that again. My doctor approves of my cannabis use, and that's going to be my only anti anxiety drug from now on

Just saw oldest son, J, off on the last leg of his journey to his new home. His furniture is being unloaded today. He and his cat spent the night here. His partner is already in E'ton. It was great to see him though I did an double take as the older he gets the more he looks like his younger brother. I hadn't seen J in several years between me living in the north and covid and him not driving. I told him to get an Uber as it started to snow last night and at 86, I am very careful about driving. Before he left he gave me a great hug and said now I will be able to see more of you. I know it is part of the reason for their move.😊
.
The cats got along OK. We kept them separated mostly.

Golden ,

Glad you had a nice visit and things with your move , being closer to family, is falling into place .

Thx way. It is happening. I am relieved that Uber is available between here and E'ton. It is so much less costly than a taxi. I intend to "practice" driving to/from and in the city once the weather is good. I know the routes I need pretty well from the past. The drive to my son's new place is pretty straightforward from here. There's just one major switch that I can't quite visualize and want to do that when the weather is clear and the traffic is low. Just being very careful!!! I haven't driven in the city for over 5 years but would like to again now that the kids are moving closer.

@nacy - we are all different. There are many routes to the same end.

Golden,

How wonderful that you can see your son more often now.

Hoping that everything will work out for all of you. Will say an extra prayer for you.

Sending hugs your way!

Thx Need. We all are looking forward to being closer and able to see each other more. It's been a long time...

God has given me peace about the cancers in the family.