Math Class is Important In Determining Your Cancer Prognosis
Who knew math class would be so important later in life? Here ' s the problem: You get a cancer diagnosis and your doctor starts spouting numbers at you. You survival rate is this, but if you do this treatment it could be more like this. All of us sit there in a daze looking at the numbers and blindly staring at your doctor and trying to make a decision.If you are lucky, your doctor says ' take all these numbers with you and go home and think about it ' . If you are unlucky you forgot all the math you ever took and can ' t decide if a 60% survival rate is better than a 40% death rate. And if you are afraid of math, skipped...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - March 10, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: breast cancer treatment cancer risk doctor questions numbers Source Type: blogs
I Need A Vacation
After a lot of deep thought, I need a vacation. I mean a real vacation which does not involve medications, doctor appointments, and any aches and pains. I would prefer it include a beach, warm sand, and the feeling of health.Just a thought. (Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog)
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - March 9, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: blogs
Why Bother?
For some reason I have had a similar conversation with different women on the same topic: why take tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors after initial breast cancer treatment. Aromatase inhibitors are Arimidex (anastrozole), Aromasin (exemestane), and Femara (letrozole)The conversations all boil down to:What if I get side effects? They have heard they are awful and could cause them some real problems. But if you don ' t even try them how will you know if you will experience the side effects?What exactly do they do? They don ' t really understand that they would reduce their recurrence risk by being on themWhy do I have to be o...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - March 8, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: doctors medications side effects Source Type: blogs
Once Again I Wasn't The Patient
And it was nice. I went to visit my brother for the weekend. And didn ' t really see him. He had a kidney stone (and a lot nastier word to describe it) that caused him intense pain.I did get to go to Lowes with him to get parts of his upstairs sink. I also ran and emptied his dishwasher twice. Drove his children all over the place and visited him in the hospital. I fed his cat several times. I walked his girlfriend ' s dog a bunch of times - including in a snowstorm. I let the dog hog the bed one night and then I let the cat snuggle the next nights. I had dinner with his ex-wife and two of the children one night. I also dr...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - March 7, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: being a patient family fatigue travel Source Type: blogs
What An Oncologist Should Not Say to a Cancer Patient
We hear all about good doctors and not so good ones. But every so often we hear about the one ' s you really do not want.Yesterday someone told me about the recent visit to her oncologist for her breast cancer treatment. She brought her sister with her for moral support and to help her out. I think she said her sister asked the oncologist something about that after chemo the tumors would be gone. And the oncologist replied with ' unless there are any other tumors ' . I don ' t remember the exact words but the point is NEVER say that to a cancer patient.Seriously, what was she (the doctor) thinking? You want your oncologist...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - March 3, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: being a patient breast cancer treatment doctor questions uncertainty with doctors Source Type: blogs
Some Kinds of Cheese Can Cause Breast Cancer - Really?
Okay, I am done. I do not care what about any more news about what can or can ' t cause breast cancer. I am done. The latest info is thatconsumption some kinds of cheese can cause breast cancer. That would be American, cheddar, and cream cheese. I never eat American cheese - because its basically ' fake food ' - but I probably make up for that in the amount of cheddar and cream cheese that I eat.But that ' s it. I am done. I quit smoking because it causes cancer (and it smells). But that ' s it. I no longer care about what might cause cancer. If I listened to all the advice that is out there, I would be living in a cave ex...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - March 2, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: cancer cause carcinogens food Source Type: blogs
I Am Not A Warrior
I cannot begin to tell you how much the tv commercial for theAvon 39 annoys me. " Warriors Wanted " is so awful on so many levels.The woman in this ad who is the ' warrior ' doesn ' t look anything like your typical breast cancer patient. She is too young and looks too healthy. Maybe she is supposed to be walking for someone else. But sorry no. Also, wearing a low cut tank top is not the best attire for a long walk. You want sun protection and a hat. I think the Photoshopped ' pink ' does nothing for her as well.Finally, the whole idea of being a warrior is so out of touch. For me it has the same implication of the s-word....
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - March 1, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: labels s-word Source Type: blogs
Talking About Medical Crap
This morning I briefly had the opportunity to read a wonderful blog post about why the writer writes about her medical issues. It was a great post that clearly spoke about all the issues us ' less than healthy ' people have in our lives. Now I can ' t find the link to it but it definitely spoke to me. So here are my thoughts on this, in a less well written post.I talk about my health issues because there is no reason not to. I am not going to be job searching again so I don ' t need to worry that a potential future employer would learn how unhealthy I am and therefore choose to never hire me. There is no way I am every goi...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 28, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: communication health issues unhealthiness Source Type: blogs
My Capabilities
I just want to make a statement about my capabilities. I have been ' accused ' of only doing what I want and ignoring my responsibilities. That is wrong. I only do what I can. I need rest. I need time to recover from doing anything.Saturday we went to the beach for a couple hours. I mostly sat there and then we went out for an early dinner. When we got home, I was exhausted and lay down in bed. Yesterday I was too tired and we stayed home and I took a nap.I have to make sure not to over exert myself. I don ' t ignore my responsibilities. I just try to do as much as I can without exhausting myself too much. Topic closed. (S...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 27, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: exhaustion stress Source Type: blogs
I Love Social Media
I am active in social media. Believe me, I blog, I ' m on Facebook, my blog is posted in a bunch of different places. I am Google+, I can ' t list all the places I can be found online because there are so many. I get feedback and comments from lots of places too. I get comments from friends and also from people offering all kind of ' miracle ' cures provided I send in a few (hundred/thousand/million) dollars to help. And every so often, I hear from some very ' odd ' (odd, in the weirdest sense of the word) people.So yesterday I wasn ' t very surprised to get a comment back on "Call Me Ms. Grumpy" . It read:" stop bei...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 25, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: death self pity Source Type: blogs
Call me Ms. Grumpy
I am very grumpy these days. I think part of it is juggling my medical issues. But its also that I have been dealing with a lot of pain, and in new body parts. I am still on that never ending roller coaster of ' wait its another doctor appointment ' each week. Also, my stupid CPAP machine doesn ' t help me. I have given up even using it because the mask doesn ' t work for me.Last night I almost cancelled all my plans for today to stay home and pout. But I realize pouting never got anyone anything so I ditched that. I did get some good sleep last night which helps. And my reward today is getting my nails done this afternoon...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 24, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: ailments crabbiness stress Source Type: blogs
Hobbling Around
Yes, I do hobble around. Some days more than others. But yes I do hobble. Why do I hobble? Because of my bursitis in both hips, my arthritic feet, my bad knees, my bad back, and more. (Occasionally I have been known to ' hobble ' if I was getting dirty looks because I use my handicapped placard.)However, hobbling along I get to go lots of places, provided I can rest routinely and amply so as not to stress myself out. As I hobble I get to places like the grocery store, the gym, my knitting group, and, of course, doctor appointments (can ' t have enough of those).I sometimes even meet friends for coffee or other stationary a...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 23, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: back pain bursitis feet hobbling knee pain Source Type: blogs
So What Causes Your Depression?
Today at my therapist ' s, she asked me if I thought my pain issues cause my depression. I don ' t think so. But we had a discussion on the subject.I think my emotions have been screwed up since my thyroid cancer diagnosis in 1981. Honestly, don ' t you think that a cancer diagnosis without any emotional support wouldn ' t cause depression? It just took a long time for me to realize how screwed up I was. Then at my second cancer diagnosis I decided I needed to be proactive about getting emotional support.Then my health collapsed and you wonder why I still am depressed. Add some chronic pain into the mix and a bunch of othe...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 22, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: depression emotional toll therapist Source Type: blogs
I Need to Stop Reading Medical News
I usually like to read the latest medical news. Mostly because I have a lot of medical crap going on. I like to see what is going for advancements and research. I mean maybe some day someone will find the cure for me and all my ailments and I can go back to being a healthy person.But sometimes the news isn ' t what I want to hear and isn ' t very good. Liketoday." Fibromyalgia Worsens Function in RA " This is not what I wanted to hear. Also there is a higher prevalence of fibromyalgia in patients with RA. But there are treatment options for patients with both RA and fibromyalgia.But still, I don ' t like the part about wor...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 21, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: fibromyalgia medical crap medical news rheumatoid arthritis Source Type: blogs
We Can't Be Mad About Our Cancers (Ailments)
I read someone ' s blog post or article about someone else who died so mad about her cancer. This is wrong. I can tell you from personal experience. When you have cancer, you do not have the luxury of being ' mad ' about your medical crap. Its not worth it.There are the five stages of acceptance. One of them is anger. We need to get past this as easily as possible. By working on our emotional side as well as our physical we can more quickly get past the anger and then learn what it is like to live with cancer.When first diagnosed with cancer, I did everything wrong. The biggest thing was I never talked about it, discussed ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 20, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: acceptance anger breast cancer coping Source Type: blogs
