Dumb Things Cancer People Hear
I know I am supposed to be away but this one resonates... Some people are just plain stupid. Read ithere. (Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog)
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - August 4, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: breast cancer bonds stupidity Source Type: blogs
The Great Off Line Experiment
In the next few weeks I will do some travelling. During that time I will have limited access to the internet. I will have my phone and will mostly be where phones work. But I may not have access to the holy grail of wifi for good portions of it.Personally I do not think I will have that much of a problem with being off line. I think its healthy to disconnect. I will have things like books (the paper kind), knitting, one of my looms for a portion of it, and a crossword puzzle book. There will also be time for things like ' conversation ' without any emojis. We may or may not have TV either. But we will have swimming in a la...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 29, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: technology Source Type: blogs
Surgical Drains
I think everyone who has ever had a surgical drain can only think about them with a shudder because they are so awful. I hated mine. It was awful. And full of really nasty looking stuff. When they took it out, it hurt so much that the surgeon even apologized several times after.We have two cats. Boots is the good cat. He likes to cuddle. He likes to have his ears scratched. He likes to sleep on me at night. He wants attention. He is very nice.Then there is ZDpot a/k/a Evil Kitty. Why do we call him Evil Kitty (or EK for short)? Because he is the food stealer, fight starter, etc. And he basically does what he damn well plea...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 28, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: cat drain patience Source Type: blogs
Cancer Spans Everything
Cancer brings us together and rips us apart. Cancer knows no boundaries - it crosses race, age, sex, families, and even politics.Cancer can bring people together. To those with cancer, it is an instant bond to others with the disease. You can walk into a chemo waiting room, a support group, a fundraiser, or whatever. All of us with cancer instantly have something to talk about and unit together. It can join a family who is faced with the impending death of a loved one to repair broken or damaged family bonds.Cancer can also rip us apart. For those selfish or inconsiderate enough not to care about others, they do not notice...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 27, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: cancer bonds communication family friends Source Type: blogs
How Soon To Start Treatment?
I never realized how important starting cancer treatment quickly was. I remember my surgeon telling me at one point I had plenty of time to wait before making decisions for my treatment. I guess that wasn ' t true.There is a new study (because we always need new studies) to focus on the TTI (Time to Treatment Initiation) from date of diagnosis. As that increases, the cancer death rates increase as well. How nice. So don ' t wait, start NOW!Research by the Cleveland Clinic showed a increase from 21 to 29 days showed increased mortality." Longer delays between diagnosis and initial treatment were associated with worsened ove...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 24, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: breast cancer treatment cancer research Source Type: blogs
Mammograms Under or Over Diagnosis?
There has been a long debate, since mammograms were put into use in the early 1980s, if they over or under diagnose breast cancer. Now someone has finally decided totake another look at all this data. There are two main parts to this issue: Are small tumors that would never grow into something ' bad ' being over diagnosed and over treated? Are too many other tumors missed in mammograms? This group of researchers examined data from 2001 to 2013 and determined that:" The results showed that most overdiagnosis occurred in older patients with biologically favorable, slow-growing tumors. "These tumors are ones that will notbeco...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 23, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: breast cancer cancer diagnosis cancer research mammogram Source Type: blogs
Determination only
Yesterday, I was talking to our cat feeder and her husband as they were walking their extremely large, muscled dogs past our house. We need to catch up on the latest cat issues (they are on a diet) before we leave on vacation.While we were chatting, their dogs were looking at our lawn very intently because they know we have cats who are often outside. They can ' t chase them because they are on leashes. One of them is actually scared of the cat they have at home. But they can look. And bark a bit until they are stopped.Boots is my little tag along. If he can find me, he will follow me. He loves me because I feed him, and b...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 20, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: cat determination quality of life Source Type: blogs
The Most Important Part of My Health
Last week my husband has accused me of being cranky several times. My back has been hurting more than it is supposed to (considering all the medications I have to stop that). I have not been in a good mood.Saturday night I didn ' t sleep well. I am blaming the (damn) cat for that as he insisted on spending the night out and I got up four times to see if he would come in. My husband tells me that he will be fine when he spends the night out but I know we have coyotes, fisher cats, bobcats, and foxes who would be happy to make a meal of him. And he still doesn ' t have enough life skills to know about all the potential peril...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 17, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: crankiness lack of sleep medical advice Source Type: blogs
Another'Oops, We Forgot To Tell You This '
Another little bitty oopsie. Many women after a mastectomy for breast cancer get implants to make them more even again. Then there are the hundreds of thousands of women who seek implants to enhance their bodies. And then comes the oopsie.There isa rare cancer which is caused by implants." The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says around 550,000 women last year received breast implants, but the FDA published a report this year linking a rare cancer to the implants.So far, there have been 359 reported cases globally,including nine deaths.The risk is low, but one in 30,000 women with implants could develop it,... "Nice! ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 14, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: breast cancer treatment cancer risk side effects Source Type: blogs
Thursdays Are My Favorite
This morning I realized something. Thursdays are my favorite day. Why? Because I have my knitting group.I really like my knitting group. When we moved a year and a half ago, I wanted to continue to do something cancer support related. Not necessarily something to provide me with support for my cancer crap. But more for something to connect me to the cancer community and other cancer people.We didn ' t really move that far. Probably only 10 miles as the crow flies. But in little New England towns, that can be far, far away. The town where we lived is much larger geographically than our old town but has fewer people. To get ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 13, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: cancer support support group Source Type: blogs
Too Tired
I was going to write I am too tired to blog. But I will squeeze a few words out. But this is my life. I felt okay this morning. Did some weeding in the heat and 100% humidity and then went to the gym in the air conditioning. After I cooled off I took the car for an oil change at the dealer.I had to wait standing up at the dealer for a good five minutes to get checked in. That makes me tired and cranky. They were very nice about it and even told me about a bakery where I could get a snack while I waited. It was a five minute walk. That was too far for me to walk so I sat at the dealer.Now that I am home and have had somethi...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 12, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: tired Source Type: blogs
Stop Changing Your Mind Please
[A breast cancer tumor imaged with a technique that highlights aspects of its microenvironment.NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE/UNIV. OF CHICAGO COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER]I really wish they would stop changing their mind. I know several women who have had chemo before surgery to reduce the size of their tumor. If you have a woman who has a fairly large tumor and chemo before surgery has the benefit of reducing their surgery - maybe from a mastectomy to a lumpectomy. This is actually a huge benefit. The surgery is so much less drastic. " The main goal of pre-operative (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy for breast cancer is to shrin...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 11, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: breast cancer treatment cancer research disappointment Source Type: blogs
Over Reactions
I have no idea why my body has changed so much but it has. And I tend to blame chemo for the changes. Since chemo, I have reactions to tons of things. The list of things I am allergic to has grown immensely. I am even allergic to Benadryl....I will say its been a very long time since I was stung by a bee. That is approximately 1986 when I stepped on a bee that had come in through the wall of our kitchen in an apartment. I remember it as being extremely painful because there is no flab on your toe to absorb the venom. I ended up calling the pharmacist to ask for options.... But I also remember it going away mostly by the ne...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 10, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: allergens annoyance reactions Source Type: blogs
Its Not Just A Cold Anymore
I got a cold last Sunday. This is day 8. While I feel better mostly, I know better than to push myself. Hence I stayed home mostly for a week. I did not go to the gym. I did not contaminate my knitting group full of cancer people who would not welcome germs. I didn ' t take my 88 year old father to his doctor appointments. I skipped all July Fourth events. I didn ' t do much of anything beside catching up on my knitting and going on an emergency kleenex run when I ran out. (And getting stung by wasps when I inadvertently discovered the wasp nest six feet from our front door.)I did all that on purpose. My goal is not to be ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 9, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: boring germs just a cold Source Type: blogs
Its Not All Peaches And Roses
Life as an unhealthy person is not all peaches and roses.... Wednesday I wroteabout Claire the amazing woman with CF who is full of energy and fun and talks about things we don ' t want to talk about - like dying. Anyway, she says she wants to wrote a book but not one about a ' happy sick person ' . There are a lot of books out there about ' happy sick ' people but reading them doesn ' t necessarily make you feel happy for them.Honestly who can put a perky spin on being sick? One of the many downsides of life with chronic illnesses is that a little thing becomes a big thing. You have no idea.Anyway, the world is papered wi...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 7, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: ailments books coping Source Type: blogs
