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7715. Wombat - 5/24/2012 5:05:20 PM Thoughtful,
I read that article when it came out. Since I am a long-time cat owner, I was particularly interested/apprehensive. Fortunately the article, while fascinating, was not as scary as the title... 7716. judithathome - 5/24/2012 7:23:45 PM VonK, I think it means that I will just have to take one pill a day for the next 5 years. 7717. Wombat - 5/24/2012 7:29:26 PM Excellent news, Judithathome! 7718. vonKreedon - 5/24/2012 8:24:31 PM That is excellent news. I'm so happy for you Judith. 7719. thoughtful - 5/24/2012 10:11:26 PM Oh I'm so pleased to hear the news J@h! That is really an excellent outcome. 7720. msgreer - 5/24/2012 10:37:24 PM Great News J@H..so happy for you. Now I could use some thoughts and prayes for my daughter. She had her annual mammogram, which then turned into an ultrasound of her right breast where the radiolgoist said he found blah blah blah. I heard the beginning of it..didn't like the size or shape he gave me but I didn't like him either..or the facility. J has to have a MRI of her right breast, scheduled for her BD, May 31st. She is scared and does not want this done on her BD..can't blame her. I had all her films one day air to Florida and the radiologist who has been reading her ultrasounds and mammograms for years. I am to hear from him tomorrow. I decided to go ahead with the MRI. It is no an invasive procedure. J took the news that I told her that the ultrasound just did not come out clear enough so we are going to take another picture fairly well. She just kept telling me she is scared and wants good news. She came right out today and asked if she had breast cancer.
I have been scaling back with my work and now that I am in the thick of it I see what good I did as an advocate. I could use one now because the facilities here can give a person a migraine. I can't even go into the list of errors that have been made not to speak of the sheer stupidity of the rules within the facilities I am working with. I have not slept for three nights. I did cry with my youngest sister. She is wonderful. I do stop myself from thinking in a negative manner. I just talk to myself and remind myself that nothing good is going to happen from me being negative and add to that my daughter picks up on my moods immediately. I can be scared and angry, which I am but that is where it has to stop.
The killer of it all is I am dealing with one of the best hospitals and cancer facilities in the country, Mass General and Dana Farber. Then again I am not listening well. I was this way when I got my dx of lymphoma. I have farmed out my concerns to other medical professionals I know and trust. There is a limit to what they can do now because as her legal guardian I have do most of the calling and all the running and sign for everything.. Rambling..need sleep. I look at my daughter and say no way..she has fibro cystic breasts and nothing is going to be wrong. I won't permit it. She literally is the best shape of her life. Please excuse spelling and the rambling. I am very tired...again I will seek my comfort from my comforter as soon as I pull it over my head. 7721. msgreer - 5/24/2012 10:41:18 PM Judith, I am sure in the next ten years all of us with most forms of cancer will just take a pill each day. I am thrilled to hear that is happening for you.
My NHL is more of a chronic condition like diabetes. If it shows up again I go back to get Rituxan and that is that. Luckily, there are two more drugs that work as a direct target on the type of lymphoma I have.
Now I have my home work..get my daughter in for the MRI before her BD. 7722. vonKreedon - 5/24/2012 10:48:27 PM Best of luck wrt your daughter msgreer. 7723. msgreer - 5/25/2012 12:58:45 AM Thanks, vonK. 7724. arkymalarky - 5/25/2012 1:07:02 AM Great news, Judith!
Msgreer, I hope y'all get a good report soon! 7725. arkymalarky - 5/25/2012 1:07:04 AM Great news, Judith!
Msgreer, I hope y'all get a good report soon! 7726. thoughtful - 5/25/2012 1:12:36 AM msgreer, please don't borrow trouble....it will find you soon enough. Just go with what you know...don't prelive the future or relive the past....life is hard enough one day at a time.
sending you and your daughter my thoughts of courage, comfort and ease. Putting it to the universe for your daughter.... 7727. msgreer - 5/25/2012 6:14:00 AM thoughtful, You're right. I had a better night. I spoke with one of her doctors who was reassuring. I need to work on handing it over to the universe.
It is sometimes difficult because the residence she lives in, and it is lovely, is still a facility. It is only as good as the people working there. It looks as if you are entering the most beautiful college campus when you drive in..but as I have said to those looking for a "Good" nursing home for their parents to take a tour with me before deciding. I take them on a tour..I tell them to bring a small pad of paper and a pen. Then before we get out of the car I tell them to write down what they see and what they like..look for people..how they feel..then when we get to the unit their loved one will be count the number of residences sitting in wheelchairs unattended and if they smell urine on the unit make a note of it..in other words write down all that you see and how it made you feel.
Without one exception people write down the lovely landscaping and the chandeliers and red carpet and the lovely offices the administrative folk work in and then they get to the unit. Many take notes while others just look.
When we finish our tour and the nice lady showing us around we go and talk about it. I tell them if the landscaping was a third of what the place had, that would be one CNAs salary for a year. Take each of those large shiny chandeliers..let's say there are four, I point out that you are looking at at least one RN salary or depending how they pay their employeess...two LPNs. Ask the lovely lady if your loved one is going to see the lovely trimmings...because they are not for them..they are for you. It is a form of seduction and when I tell them the ratio of CNAs to patients and nurses to patients there is a collective gasp.
This is how I feel when I am up here. It has been 22 years and if you don't pay a living wage you are going to get folks that possibly have to work two jobs or those who have no true experience.
This is not to say that your points are not well taken and welcomed. They are and I appreciate you could tell that I was wild when I posted earlier. It has been 22 years up here so I know my way around. What I can't understand is why do I have to come 1500 miles only to visit with my daughter and find so much wrong?
I doubt I will go the MRI route unless the Florida doctor who called tonight says to do it. It is a hard call because if I do am I over doing what she needs and if I don't am I putting her at risk?
thoughtful, I am so tired of the battle. I want one visit up here that holds no drama...then again power is a big need up here and flexibility is not.
I am seeing double but I am going to post this whether the words are spelled correctly or not. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. It helped. 7728. msgreer - 6/4/2012 8:46:44 AM I am thrilled to say my daughter is fine. There was no mass in her R breast. I did go back and discuss the incident with the original radiologist..the one who wanted her to have a MRI. We looked at the films together because I was forceful enough for him not to say no. If you looked at the films seeing the area he thought was a mass was clearly a cyst. I let him know what jumping to conclusions can cause a patie+nt to go through. Also, when he stuck his finger at me and said "Do you want your daughter to come back in a year with a huge mass in her breast"? No, doctor, I do not. What I wanted and what I did is get a second opinion from a radiologist who has read her films for over ten years. He was pretty quiet after that. The meeting was over. There are doctors that encourage a second or third opinion and those who believe their word is not to be questioned. I beg all my friends not to be afraid to get second and third opinions. I did for my lymphoma and it made a huge difference in my treatment. 7729. arkymalarky - 6/4/2012 3:06:03 PM Good deal Msgreer!
I go to the same place I've always gone and they screen with their eyes and use the computer to detect changes from one year to the next. Anything can happen and we're all mortal, but you at least want to feel the professionals you depend on put your well being as their top priority. I personally know the woman who does my mammograms, and that de-stresses me a lot. Her daughter and mine were good friends. 7730. judithathome - 6/5/2012 5:48:30 PM Saw the oncologist yesterday and I don't need chemo...just one pill a day for the next 5 years: Anastrozole.
I read the side effects and they sound grim but I realize they have to print every single thing that MIGHT happen in order to cover Big Pharms ass.... 7731. arkymalarky - 6/5/2012 7:32:10 PM Sounds good compared to the other. What did he/she say about the lymph nodes? 7732. msgreer - 6/5/2012 10:17:39 PM arky, thanks for your kind words. I believe the way you get your mammograms is the best way. You need to go on the lecture circuit or at the very least tell all your friends what you do. You really are in good hands. 7733. msgreer - 6/5/2012 10:24:21 PM Judith, As I learned the lymphoma is not going to kill me but the side effects of the treatment might. I hate to sound like a complete downer but just watch how your body reacts. The fat ass insurance companies do just as you said...they scare the living daylights out of you because they are covering their ass. From personal experience and experience with two girlfriends who both had breast cancer but needed chemo..that your body may not feel 1/10 of what you read. You have always been a positive person. Keep it up because I know that drug and yes, it can be tough but it is not for everyone. I wish you much luck with this treatment. Trust me, what you already know, you do not want to be IVed down in a cancer infusion room. Talk about needing to keep a positive attitude. Hey, I am so sorry that you even have to deal with this now. I really am...just remember your body may handle this drug easier than the hysterical people will tell you it will. As always, my thoughts and prayers are with you. 7734. msgreer - 6/5/2012 10:25:58 PM Cancer. Is it just me and my experiences or is there more and more people getting this wicked disease?
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