Our oldest son called last night & asked me to contact his daughter who lives in Texas & tell her of my breast cancer surgery . He wants her to contact her other grandma & ask her about family health history . Granddaughter's mother is in a nursing home & unable to give her the information . I sent a private message to her on facebook & asked her not to mention it on facebook or say any thing about it to our daughter . She agreed she knows how emotional her auntie gets .

Mary, I like my coffee strong and black, too.  How did the icy hot work?  I've always enjoyed Shaquille O'Neil's sense of humor and enjoy the icy hot commercials also Buick ones.  He doesn't need the money, but I'm sure he doesn't do it gratis!

Jane, good luck with the packing.  I'm sure you're getting anxious to get on the road.  How long will you stay this winter?  I've had to go to a new dentist, too, since I can't drive myself down to Union Springs.  I'm using Tim's dentist and mostly see the hygienist who cleans my teeth.  The dentist comes in to say hello when she's almost finished.  I already have fillings in almost every molar and some in the front, so unless something dire happens, I don't think I'll have anything more done before I leave the "earthly realm"!

Sharon, I'm glad you're home and on the mend.  I hope you'll be 100% soon.  I don't remember if you mentioned therapists visits at your home?  I had 6 weeks after moving back home following my fall.  They really helped and I did them diligently after the therapists quit coming.  I still have the cumbersome brace on my leg, though.  That's a pain!  I'll try to remember to send you the address of Wreaths Across America.  Tim took the paper work home with him yesterday as my printer isn't working.

Alpiner, it's good your son let your granddaughter know about your upcoming surgery.  Did you know that men can and do get breast cancer, too.  After my surgery and recovery, our sons and I were living temporarily in an apartment, waiting for my husband (a Navy pilot who was deployed to Sicily) came home to help us move to Key West.  A young man who was living in the same apartment complex developed a lump on his chest/breast area and had a cancer there.  His mother came from another state to help him during his recovery.  We moved away and I didn't hear from them after that.

Darlene, I'm with you on the outrage about the Texan who killed all those people during a church service.  What a terrible tragedy.  I'm so sorry for all the victims and their families.  Things like this just boggle my mind!

Marilyn, I hope you're having a good day.  I hope Keith is, also.

GinnyAnn, I'm still hoping for a post from you.  I hope you are feeling better.  Are you still getting sunshine up there?  If so, try to get out on your deck when it's warm enough.  I think it helps.

Have a good day, Every Buddy.
Sue

Sue, the day I wore the Icy Hot patch, I didn't have much pain, but one try doesn't prove anything.  It could've just been a good day.  It was all but impossible for me to place properly (on my lower back) by myself, so I haven't tried it again.  My appointment with the spine office is on 7 December.

alpiner, not too much longer to wait.  Lots of hugs and good thoughts going your way.

jane sorry the dental cleaning is traumatic for you.  I'm always glad to get that done.  Fortunately, I've rarely had any problems with my teeth, and to me, the newly cleaned teeth/mouth always feels good.

Ginny Ann, I agree with Sue - sunshine always helps.  John had some problems with depression, and he was always affected when he couldn't get enough sunshine.

Sharon, so glad for your home PT.  It really is necessary.

Hi to Marilyn, Darlene, Jeanne, Joy, Bubble, and whoever else checks in.

I woke up about 4 and couldn't go back to sleep.  I got up about 5, ate some cereal, and headed for the chair.  There, I slept hard until after 8!  I really had to make myself get up, get dressed, and go to Silver Sneakers.  We had a lovely hard rain this morning - nothing severe or windy, but almost an inch.

Hi Gals, I'm still hurting a lot but slept well last night.  John is doing very well as a nurse.  A neighbor came by with a pumpkin pie & whipped cream for us.  Yum.  She stayed and visited a bit.  HH nurse was here too.  Ive done 3.5 hrs on the machine.  More to go.

Mary, if the icY hot doesn't work, you might try Salon Pas.

Alpiner, I'm thinking of you and hope you sail through it fine.  Sharon

I know about that one, too, Sharon.  The problem is getting it applied.  I really can't do it myself.

I did some grocery shopping this morning for easy to fix meals I think my husband can manage to make . Son will be here to help also . I bought boneless chicken breasts & hamburger which I made into patties , froze both meats . I made peanut butter cookies & will bake & freeze them this afternoon . I'll make potato salad tomorrow .
Granddaughter said she saw my private message to her on facebook  when she got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night . She said she cried . I should have waited until morning to tell her . She will contact her other grandma to check on family health issues which I am glad to know .

Sharon...you are sure working faithfully on your PT!

Alpiner...your granddaughter may find, as many of us do, that there is no family history.  My husband's niece, an identical twin, had bc, but her twin has not.  There are hundreds of different kinds of breast cancer, and a few are genetic, the docs say.  The important thing is for your daughter and granddaughters to have regular mammos and visits with their doctors.  There are families who have some genetic problem.  A woman I knew through work had a family in which every female had had breast cancer....Mayo was studying the family...and this woman had a double mastectomy before being diagnosed because it was virtually certain, she felt, that she'd also get it.

We'll all be thinking of you on the 9th and looking forward to seeing your posts when it's all over.

Dentist visit went well.  I had a different hygenist and she was much more gentle on that gum probe thing and the scaling than the one I usually have.

Jane

There was no breast cancer in my family . However my cousin had a double masectomy at an young age (our mothers were sisters )  her father had cancer . My 1/2 sister also had breast cancer ( we had the same father but different mothers ) . I was on hormones when I was a young woman . I heard hormone treatment could cause cancer & I stopped taking them .

Alpiner....you'll find that "they" say a lot of things can cause breast cancer.  I used to worry over that, and then gave up on it.  If you watch and read enough, something or other "causes" everything. I was never on hormones, because I was still having periods at age 48. And my tumor was not estrogen receptive.  Why did I get an aggressive form of it?  Nobody knows.  I now just take care of myself and my sister has regular checkups.  I could drive myself crazy trying to figure it out.  Why does one identical twin get an aggressive form and the other doesn't?  Let your close female relatives know and then just take care of you would be my advice.

You'll also hear a ton of "horror" stories from other people.  TUNE THEM OUT.  Listen to your doctor and not all the other "advice" offered by people who've never been down this route.

You'll be in our thoughts and prayers tomorrow.

jane

My thoughts and prayers will be with you tomorrow, Alpiner.  Believe me that a lumpectomy is not all that bad.  Not something you would choose and of course, it carries lots of fear, but as surgeries go, it's not a bad one and I've had a lot.  I took premarin and my tumor WAS estrogen sensitive. I was 61 when I was diagnosed.

I'm waiting for the PT gal.  I didn't sleep long enough last night.  Trouble getting the pain down and then the fire alarm started chirping a little before 7 this AM. I went to the bathroom, put in an earplug, but still couldn't get back to sleep.

Mary, my physiatrist said that sometimes those pads burned or irritated the skin if you put them directly on it, so she suggested purtting it on over my panties.  This might also solve your problem if you stuck it to the outside of your panties and then put them on. Just a suggestion of something to try.

Jane, believe me, PT is not something I want to do, but I figure it is the only way I'm going to return to normal function.

All for now. Sharon   (Brian's 49th birthday was yesterday!  He's my baby!)

Good morning, Buddies.  I have had breakfast, walked in my neighborhood, showered
shampooed and am partially dressed for bridge at 1:00.  Libba is picking me up about 12:45.  It's almost 11:00, so I'll fix lunch shortly and finish drying my hair and dressing for bridge.

Mary, I guess we can all be thankful for one day which is pain free, but we sure would like to have more!  And yes, I can expect December, January, February to be cloudy and rainy and that does depress me.  However, I will continue to walk every day that I can as that helps ward off the depression.  Hopefully we'll get sunny days more frequently this fall and winter.

Sharon, I'm glad you've had at least one good pain free night and I hope you have many more as you recuperate.  It's so nice to have good neighbors.  Congratulations to Brian on his 49th.  Jon is my baby and he was 52 in May!  Bill is 58 and Tim is 56.  Jon was a BIG surprise when he was born.  I was having so much bleeding that I thought were periods and I was actually threatening miscarriage.  However, all was well and the birth was easy.  All 3 weighed over 8 lbs and Jon weighed almost 9!

Alpiner, you are wise to prepare meals for the freezer before your surgery.  I'm sure you'll be glad you did when you come home.  It's great that your grand daughter is checking on her family history, but as Jane mentioned some times it doesn't run in families.  I'm the only one of my sisters (I have 2) who has had B.C.

Jane, how is the packing going?  I think you must be getting anxious to travel.  Have you had much snow at home yet?  So far we're having a very warm fall.

Not much else to report except that I'm playing bridge at Terri's this afternoon.  Libba is subbing so she will pick me up.  She's my "back yard" neighbor.  Olyne has several of her girl friends from Orange Beach visiting yesterday and today.

GinnyAnn, I'm still looking for a post from you.  I hope you're feeling better and will post soon.

Have a nice day, Buddies.  I'm off to fix some lunch now.
Sue

alpiner, along with the others, I'll be there with you tomorrow.  I was 69 when I was diagnosed in 2005 - found a suspicious area on my mammogram.  I had been on hormones since a total hysterectomy at age 45, which  I stopped as soon as I got the bad mammogram. I had a lumpectomy, one lymph node taken with no involvement.  I had 6 1/2 weeks of radiation treatments, but no chemo.  My tumor was not estrogen receptive, and I declined the followup medications.  I've had no problems since then.  There was no cancer in my immediate family, except for one aunt who had colon cancer.  My girls all started getting mammograms after my diagnosis. And I second what jane said, too, about not listening to horror stories.  Every case is individual - absolutely no two are ever the same.

Thanks for that suggestion, Sharon - I may give that a try with the Icy-Hot. Usually the chirping with the smoke alarm means that the battery needs to be changed - was that the problem with yours?

Sue, I hope you have good cards.

Cloudy here today, and much cooler (only 56 as I write).  The excitement for the day was getting my mani/pedi. The tech is so good to me - takes such good care of me.  She even carries my bag (phone, tablet, keys, etc.) and coffee cup out to the car when I leave.

Good morning, Buddies.  I've had breakfast and made my Kroger grocery list for tomorrow.  I'm expecting a friend to pick me up later to take me to the nearby Great Clips for a haircut.  I'm looking pretty shaggy! 

It's dark and drizzly outside.  So I'll probably be skipping my usual walk time.  I have to take my cane when walking outside and it will be hard to manage an umbrella in one hand and the cane in the other.

Mary, I had so-so cards yesterday and came in the middle, so didn't win any money.  However, as usual Terri had a yummy dessert and the company is always very good, plus a nice afternoon out.

I'm planning to read most of the afternoon.  I'm ready to start a Michael Connelly mystery starring my favorite, Harry Bosch,--THE POET.  I don't recall reading it previously, but may find that I have.  But I don't mind rereading favorites if I'm out of other books to read.  I'll walk over to the library on Saturday to check out new ones.

Alpiner, thoughts and prayers for you today from me in Alabama.  Let us know the results ASAP.

Have a nice day, Buddies.
Sue

Mary, sounds like you have a gem in the mani/pedi girl!  Now you're all pretty.  I had to remove all polish before my surgery. I have put my pink strengthener polish back on, but nothing special.  Yes the chirp was telling us that the battery was dead. Just a pain in the neck. Have to bring in the 8 ft ladder to change it.

Slept fairly well last night. Waiting for the home health nurse now.   Thinking of Alpiner and hoping all goes well and is much easier on her than she has feared.

Sue, our kids are 54, 51, 49, so yours are older than ours.  He has started his new job at Scott now, but it's early days.  He did know several of the men he'll work with--other retired colonels and Lt. colonels.  Scott AFB is only about 20 mins from his house. It's rainy here today too. YOu're wise to skip your walk.

Hi to everyone I haven't mentioned.  Sharon

Sharon, I hope you're not planning to get up on a ladder!!!  Re the nail salon - all the folks are great.  There are two sisters and the husband of my "gal".  They are all very kind and caring - with lots of regular customers.  So they must be doing something right.

alpiner, you're in our thoughts.  Hugs!

It 's mostly cleared off here now, so I guess Sharon and Sue will be getting some sunshine before too much longer.  My girls are older than your kids, at 61, 60, 58, and 56 (it was a busy few years for us).

I think Alpiner is on the west coast, so she may just be going into surgery.  THINKING OF YOU, ALPINER!

It's cleared off here, but we have warnings of very cold for tonight. My woman was here to clean and we had a chance to chat.  She'll be the one who collects the mail here and checks that house when she's in town for her cleaning service.  It relieves our worry about stuff going wrong and nobody checking while we're in TX.  She also sorts our mail so it's easier to get through 3 months of mail when we come home. I gave her the fob for the alarm system, so that's all set too.   I have autopay for all the bills, so no need to forward stuff.  Another thing to cross off the TX to do list.

Time to get clothes from the dryer.

jane

jane, it's great that you have such a trusted surrogate to take care of things for you while you're gone!

Yes, it is, Mary.  With no family closer than 250 miles, it's a necessity.  We don't want to impose on friends for 3 months, so it's worth it to pay this woman to check.  She likes the $$ and we like the satisfaction of knowing she's checking.

jane

It was a long day , didn't get home until 7:30 p.m.  I had a difficult time   waking up , then breathing . The dr. thinks she got it all .

Hooray, alpiner!  Glad it's over.  Now, get plenty of rest and sleep off the anesthesia.

Woo Hoo, Alpiner!  I'm glad your surgeon thinks she got it all--that will certainly relieve your mind.  When will you go back for a follow up?  I am happy for you.

Hi Mary.  What are you doing on this sunny Saturday?  (at least it's sunny, but cool here)  I woke up at the usual time and showered/shampooed after breakfast, then did my usual walk.

Jane, you are fortunate to have the cleaning ? lady to pick up your mail and keep it safe for you.  Much better than leaving at the post office for 3 months.  I've never stopped mine more than 3 or 4 weeks at a time--and when I was traveling, I had a wonderful mail lady, so knew it would be OK.  Now that she is retired I don't know the new mailman--they seem to be trying different ones.

Mary, after many years of picking at my snagged nails I finally have had some luck with growing hard ones.  I think it's the Levothyroxine I take for my bones. I don't let my nails grow very long, though.  And I've never worn nail polish, except on my toes in the summer when I wear sandals.  I've not worn sandals since my fall, though because of having to strap on the leg brace and must wear heavy sneakers for that.

Tim came by about 10:30 as I wanted to order Wreaths for Gordon Nakagawa at Arlington and Dave Snyder (Kris's Dad) who is at Ft. Mitchell, a national military cemetery in eastern Alabama with some graves in Georgia, I think.  We went to lunch at the Mexican place, then to Kroger, and then to home for order the wreaths.  I usually order wreaths for all 3 kids from the same place, but I could see he was becoming frustrated and will go back to the website and order their wreaths on my own.

I've been invited to a young friend's home (she's a church member and in our circle) for dinner tonight.  So far I haven't been able to find a ride, so will call Bonney later as she usually naps until 3:00. 

I started reading The Dust Bowl Girls this morning.  It's the selection for this month's book club.  It looks fairly easy and is less than 300 pages, so should finish it by Sunday afternoon at the latest.  It's about a women's traveling basketball team during the 1930's.  It should be interesting.

Have a nice Friday and don't forget tomorrow is Veteran's Day!
Sue  (actually, Auburn celebrated this morning at Veteran's park, but that coincided with our lunch and grocery trip).

Hi Gals.  Alpiner, so glad your surgery is over and apparently successful.  Now rest up and stop worring.

I've been busy today. Took a shower, ate breakfast and read the paper then got on the machine for an hour before the PT lady came.  The HHN came just as she was leaving and removed the aquacell from my knee. Next week, they will remove the staples.  All was fine.

John went to bridge for the first time today since my surgery. He left the door open for the girls and fixed lunch on a try which one of the girls carried back before they left.  Since they left, I've gotten 2 more hrs on the machine, started a book, and written some thank you notes.  Speaking of which, Brian & Traecy sent me a lovely get well pkg with both French & Belgian chocolates, Body butter, lavender flower petals for the bath and I think that's all.  Nice surprise!

John just got home.  I'm doing better each day, but still have a lot of pain. I wish I could get comfortable in bed!

Jane, that sounds like a wonderful arrangement on your mail.  So nice to have someone to count on.

Mary, no, I'm not about to use a ladder!!  Are your nail people Vietnamese?   Mine are and they speak very little English and chat among themselves in VN, so not as friendly as could be.

Hi to all.  Sharon

Sue - oops - it's Friday - and a lovely chilly day it is, too.  It's great to see such a clear autumn day.  I went to swimming and coffee - but that's about it for me today.  My nails are really pretty flimsy - have never grown long.  They're doing SO much better now that I'm wearing gel polish (not artificial nails) regularly.  Of course, I'm not doing any housework or washing dishes, etc., so the polish almost always lasts the full three weeks between my appointments.  I don't get polish on my toenails.  My feet are horribly misshapen and ugly, and I never wear shoes without socks (except at the beach - where my family teases me and complains that they inherited my ugly feet.  LOL).

Sharon, glad most things are doing well.  The gal who used to live next door to me here had a knee done Tuesday.  She's getting her PT at home, too, and is doing well.  She's already scheduled the other one to be done in December!  My nail folks are Vietnamese, too.  They sometimes do speak Vietnamese between themselves, but it's not a constant thing.  They're mostly speaking English and chatting with the clients. When I first started getting pedicures, the gal was Thai and was really very good.  But one day, she spent the whole time I was there talking on the phone to someone in Thai, and that was the last time I went to her.

The folks here at the Terrace have put up a Wall of Honor across from the dining room, with photos of our veterans, back in the day, in their uniforms.  There's a special party tomorrow morning to honor them.  We even have a woman who served in the Air Force during WW2.

I've placed a pick-up order from my local Walmart and will pick it up in the morning.  I absolutely LOVE this service, and haven't been in the store in several months.  Plus there's no charge!

My left knee started aching , I thought it was sciatica  then a nurse from the hospital called this morning & I mentioned it to her . She told me to call the surgeon, that it might be a blood clot . I called & left a message , she called back & said to watch if it swelled up . But she thought it was from how I was laying on the table in surgery . She said I could take ibuprofen . I did & its feeling better . I'm surprised there is no bandage , but now I remember she said she would use some sort of surgical glue .
My husband has been great !  He washed the dishes by hand this morning , He says he would rather wash them , than run the dishwasher .

alpiner, glad the surgeon was able to ease your mind about your leg pain.  Love your husband doing the dishes by hand.  My John always had to be reinstructed on how to use the various machines (washer, dryer, dishwasher).   

HURRAH for Alpiner being home and the lumpectomy is history!!

Great she could close things up with surgery glue...amazing stuff now in medicine.  Good, too, the IB took care of the hip thing mostly.  I hope you can be up and walking around which, as I understand it, cuts down greatly on the chance for a blood clot.

They'll only hold our mail here for 30 days.  I don't want it forwarded to Tx because of all the tax stuff I'm afraid could get lost...and those who've done that say it's a problem, often. So...we'll see what the mail situation is at the new condo place and, if necessary, get a PO box for our family only...not all our mail.

We're to have a "wintery mix" today...so I plan to stay inside and catch  up on football games and laundry.  There is a dedication of a new veterans memorial, but the guy they're having speak has early signs of dementia and rambles all over the map.  His wife says she has to quit work to keep an eye on him.  Why she let him take on this speech, is beyond me.  But, the old doc who's appointed himself LEADER of this thing is 93 or so...and insists things be done his way. 

Have a good Saturday!

jane

Mary, I can see why you left the Thai girl, but almost all the VM are constantly talking among themselves in VM at my shop. I don't like it, but then I don't get them done frequently.  The gel polishes are so pretty but my nails are so fragile, the one time they used it, they had to practically dig it off and my nails were really bad afterwards.  So, I only use colored nail polish for something special, otherwise the strengthening pink polish.  I have ugly feet too, but I've found that with polish on my toenails and pretty sandals, they look pretty good and are much more comfortable than closed shoes.  They have a whole wall of plaques of Vets and a display of various war memorabilia going back to WWI.  This is in our new amenity center entry area.

Jane, I probably wouldn't have thought of the problems of losing tax forms, etc by having them forwarded. I think you are wise to do it the way you do.

It's about 59 here, but sunny.  John is out, poking around doing something.

I got another care pkg today, this one from Mel.  2 containers of homemade cookies (1 for Nurse Ratchet) and several special magazines.  It's nice to feel loved.  Sharon

Sharon....thoughtful kids...nice to get when you're hurting.

Sharon, funny you should mention "Nurse Ratchett".  I was thinking about her just yesterday and wondering if I mentioned the name, how many folks would recognize it.   

My husband says he knows when I am getting better because I get picky how he does things or make comments on his cooking .  He said he now realizes how much I do & cooking is not easy but looks easy when I do it .