I'm 71 - A goodly long life span - have a wonderful retirement that I sometimes doubted I would live long enough to see. (I loathed my job, but it takes good care of me in retirement.)

A recent mammogram turned up something that isn't supposed to be there - a nastiness that is to be removed on Wednesday morning. It apparently isn't any big deal. A day surgery, even.

I asked the doctor, "do they still make you take those pills that make you puke all over the place and make your hair fall out?" He replied that the effects of the medications are not as severe as they used to be. (which, when you think about it, tells you little or nothing.)

I have been somewhat dazed since then, which my family seems to interpret as normal. Actually, I'm scared silly. Most of my longtime friends are now gone; same with trusted relatives.

"Everything looks good," (Isn't that what they always tell you??) and there will be a normal course of radiation and chemo and whatever else they do. Can you read while this voodoo stuff is going on? I don't sit well for long periods of time doing nothing.

I've never been a cancerized person before. I'm not sure how I am supposed to behave. Breezy? Preoccupied?

I want to bury my face in my Grandma's apron and cry until the tearsdon't come any more. But of course, those precious aprons are long gone.

I'm trying to be witty and brave for my kids and husband, but inside, i'm hollow. And bloody damned scared.

Survival suggestions? I know many of you have gone through this.

*HUGS* my dear. I have three friends who've been through this sort of thing over the past few years. They're all doing great now. It may be easier said than done, but try not to panic before you get some clear answers.

I have no suggestions, catnip. I have friends who have been through this trial and are healthy and happy, but I don't know which of their experiences are relevant to you.

What I do know is that you have my deepest sympathy and best wishes. That goes for your family as well. This cannot be easy for them either.

my friend who is much younger then you just had a double mastectomy without reconstruction. she is cancer free and still actively participates in our sport. she was in hospital for 12-15 hours. she is totally back to her normal self. I think her case is much worse then yours.

I wish you luck. my friend is 60.I think you will be fine. just don't use your arms if you can help it.

I have a friend like that. Breast cancer runs in her family, and at a young age she was stricken and had a double mastectomy. That was over 15 years and two children ago.

She does watch her diet very closely. I am not sure if that is standard practice.

Oh, I am SO sorry. I'm your age, and understand about the trusted friends and relatives being gone and feeling all alone in a traumatic situation. It's a darn tough time of life, even if we are financially secure.

Maybe some posters with experience with cancer will be able to give you some advice. There was a recent thread on the subject. I'll look for it.

I'm sorry you're facing this. I don't know how you are supposed to feel. I had a mammogram on Tuesday and they want to reimage this coming Wednesday. Just about every woman on both sides of my family has or has had breast cancer. I'm scared too. I go from the complete calm that everything will be okay to writing my obituary. No one realizes it's all I think about. I think we're both normal. Unfortunately just in an experience that sucks. Good luck.

Being male I cannot completely identify with you but I am 76 and a 25 year cancer survivor (prostate). It was very scary after first diagnosed but I had good care and got through the surgery with no long term issues.

I know treatment for breast cancer has improved and I would expect your chance of a good prognosis to be very high. There is life after 71 and I wish you well.

Catnip, first of all—get a second opinion. Lots of false positives with breast cancer.

I had a small cancer, went with double mastectomy, was considered cured in surgery, no radiation, no chemo. No reconstruction and didn’t care.

But get that second opinion.

They seem to be pretty sure of what they are dealing with.

I love you guys. Thank you for being there!!

Hey Catnip. I'm pullin' for ya. Cancer is so terrifying.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2018 09:39AM by Lethbridge Reprobate.

You could have them cut it out and afterward refuse to take chemo/radiation.

Isn't that what Suzanne Sommers did?

She took Iscador instead.
You may want to read her book on how she handled her cancer.

Note that I'm just throwing this out as a thought,given without knowing you, your life or your diagnosis.

A breast cancer survivor where I worship told me about a local nurse who went that route. She didn't take the doctors recommendations for post-surgery follow-up. She thought she was cured with only the surgery being as it was caught early on.

Within two years following her surgery she succumbed to the cancer because she wasn't cured by surgery alone. And she was a nurse of all professions! She refused the radiation/chemo and any medication post-surgery.

Long story short, don't go it alone without close medical supervision. There are so many success stories today, but without medical advances we wouldn't be there now.

I am really sorry, catnip...I feel for what you are feeling right now.

When I deal with a crisis situation, I reflexively go into "practical mode," and this is my way of caring, so...

You need three things, all taken at the same time with each other:

1) turmeric (the spice...for the curcurmin content, which is the anti-cancer active ingredient, and which needs to be ABSORBED by your body)

2) black pepper...which helps with body absorption of the curcurmin

3) fats/oils which are NOT canola oil, soy oil, corn oil, or several others...you can take the curcurmin/black pepper combination with good quality fish oil capsules if you want, or with a teaspoon of olive oil, or a teaspoon of coconut oil. Coconut oil is a good-tasting solid at room temperature. Alternatively, REAL olive oil, if you can find it, works well too: at Costco, the Kirtland (this is the Costco house brand) Toscano/Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil, in a tallish, square, dark green glass bottle, is generally accepted as 100% genuine olive oil, but when the annual olive oil production in Italy sells out for the year, you won't be able to find it in the store until the next year's season comes in. In other stores, with other brand names, the labeled words: "organic, extra virgin" olive oil will, at least often, get you to genuinely REAL olive oil.) [It turns out that, for legal reasons I do not understand, something other than "real olive oil" can be SOLD AS "real/genuine olive oil" when it is not.]

If you go to your local GNC store, they have a turmeric combination (in capsules, I believe) which has black pepper in it. Take it with ONE SINGLE TEASPOON (no more than one teaspoon of coconut oil per day!) of coconut oil (which is also available at GNC stores if you don't want to look elsewhere), or you can take it with organic olive oil in larger quantities (in salad dressings, using olive oil to gently "fry" fish, etc.).

I hope this is of value to you!

I, and I know that everyone here, are with you!!

Thanks for this, Tevai. If you don’t buy the pills, but mix it yourself, how much of the turmeric and black pepper do you use per day?

Also, Lucero’s Olive Oil, grown and processed in Corning, CA is internationally award winning, reasonable, and they ship.

kathleen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for this, Tevai. If you don’t buy the
> pills, but mix it yourself, how much of the
> turmeric and black pepper do you use per day?

First, the background (because it makes it easier to understand what would scientifically be considered the "dosage"):

At some point in the past few decades, some medical researchers realized that cancer rates in India (and in places where high amounts of traditional Indian-from-India food are eaten) had, by First World standards, abnormally low rates of cancers of all kinds (including breast cancer).

Scientific investigation eventually discovered that at least most of this positive "abnormality" was due to the very high use of turmeric (the spice which gives the intense yellow/orange color to curries, etc.) in Indian food...

...and further research revealed that the active ingredient in turmeric which was creating this apparent protection to, and intervention against, cancer (of all types) was curcumin.

Additional research revealed that it wasn't JUST the curcumin which was important, but almost equally important was the fact that the curcumin consumed by Indian-food eaters was (essentially without exception) always, simultaneously, accompanied by both black pepper and traditional Indian cooking fats. (There are no Indian dishes I am aware of in which turmeric/curcumin is not also eaten with black pepper and Indian cooking fats IN THAT SAME dish.)

[One of the things scientists now know is that the curcumin/black pepper/cooking oil combination makes it extremely difficult for cancer cells to reproduce. If cancer cells appear, growth of those cells within the curcumin/black pepper/cooking oil biological "environment" is basically stymied.]

But it also turns out that curcumin (the "cancer-preventive" component of turmeric) is, by itself, extremely difficult for human bodies to absorb and use properly without the simultaneous ingestion of both black pepper and the proper fats. Somehow, going back a couple of thousand years or more, people eating what we now think of as Indian food discovered these facts, and made it a sort of universally observed, but unwritten, rule that when you add turmeric to food you are cooking, you make certain that it is accompanied by black pepper and food oil.

[For more information, Google "curcumin and cancer"...or: "does curcumin affect cancer rates in India?"]

I took one of my Super Bio-Curcumin capsules (from Life Extension, www.lifeextension.com) and emptied it out. The contents of one of these particular capsules is one-quarter teaspoon, but the content in the capsules is not "just" curcumin [derived from turmeric], it also includes the other components of the biological complex necessary for easy/easier absorption.

So my suggestion is: begin with one-quarter teaspoon of turmeric, and make sure you accompany this with black pepper, plus high-grade food oils...

...with the emphasis on "extra virgin, organic" olive oil--but could be: coconut oil...

...or fish oil--either in the form of capsules of fish oil, or salmon which is specifically labeled as "wild salmon". This means: Do not consume so-called "Atlantic" salmon, which is a misleading marketing term for FARMED salmon which is NOT, in fact, wild.

Those who eat Indian food as the major part of their normal, daily diet are probably consuming a minimum of one-half teaspoon of turmeric a day, plus the accompanying black pepper and cooking oils (such as "extra virgin, organic" olive oil).


> Also, Lucero’s Olive Oil, grown and processed in
> Corning, CA is internationally award winning,
> reasonable, and they ship.

Thank you! I will check this out, and I greatly appreciate this information!!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2018 01:31AM by Tevai.

Catnip, it isn't clear to me by your post. Have you actually been diagnosed with breast cancer? Or was something on your mammogram that is being removed and biopsied to see what it is?

That said,

https://community.breastcancer.org

Great group of women (and some men) who support each other on all paths of BC.

Look around at the different forums.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2018 05:15AM by angela.

It is scary, catnip, from someone going through it as we speak.

Like angela asked, are you sure it is cancerous, or will it be a biopsy you'll be having done?

There's over 262,000 Americans being diagnosed with breast cancer every year. That number keeps climbing but so do the survival rates of those hearing that news. Your chances are very good for a full recovery if you have it. The planning for your treatment will depend in how advanced or early stage the breast cancer is discovered, and how aggressive it is.

There is a chemo pill for some patients. Most early stage wouldn't need chemo. Each case is different. I would have preferred chemo but since mine was early stage with other factors I'm on hormone therapy in place of chemo.

Look for a breast cancer support group where you live. They provide great resources and a support network of others who've been through it or are going through it with you.

Sending my love and shalom for your full healing, and recovery. ❤️

Survival rates for breast cancer that is caught early are excellent. Yes, it is scary, but you will get through it. Take it one step at a time.

This time is all about YOU. A lot of wives and mothers are really bad at taking time for themselves. Pamper yourself during this time and take shortcuts (i.e. on meals) where you need to. Take the time to heal and rest. Focus on getting well.

We're here for you, catnip. Post about this whenever you need to.

Hi Catnip. I feel your anxiety. I had it myself several years ago when I had to have a follow-up biopsy after a mammogram. The uncertainty was terrible. Thankfully, mine turned out ok with no surgery.

My mother had breast cancer at age 81. The doc gave her the option of a lumpectomy or masectomy. She went with the masectomy and later said she wished she'd gone the less invasive route. She lived to be 93 after surgery. I know treatments are getting better and better all the time.

We will all be thinking about you and wishing you all positive and healing thoughts.

Sounds like they got a pretty good handle on it.

Thanks again, everyone, for the encouragement!

Just remember this. "Breast cancer"is an umbrella term, covering over 20+ different kinds of cancer*S* that effect the breast.

Then there are subtypes to those 20+. And then there are subtypes to the subtypes.

Until you know exactly what *YOU* are dealing with, hang tight.
Sounds like they don't even know positively that you do have it. There will other testing done to see, if it is cancer, what kind it is, stage, grade, etc and from there, what kind of treatment recommended.

Things like hormonal receptors, HER2 status etc.

"Breast cancer" can be semi-misleading. Not all cancers are treated the same.

Topping for Kathleen and catnip...

...and for anyone else who might find benefit.

Thank you, Tevai.
:)

My condolences. I understand the trauma. Let us hope that everything will be alright.

Catnip and Goatsgotohell,

Wednesday is going to be a critical day for you both. Here's what I always do: set your thoughts in Thursday as if you're looking back on those procedures. And Voila! you're looking back on them. For me, it's been a great psychological trick.

That trick takes care of a lot of anxiety. Let us do the worrying for you, and be as calm as you can.

For me, the care I received made the process--not necessarily easy--but one that wasn't the worst catastrophe I've seen.

At the time, there were bigger things for me to worry about. Here's a whacky story to illustrate that in my life:

My sons (and even my ex, oddly) insisted I get reconstruction for the sake of my self esteem. Meh.

One son was overly emphatic about it, thinking that when I was at his house, in his swimming pool that I would be embarrassed. I assured him that I'd still have a modest swimming suit. He kept it up about reconstruction and me in the swimming pool, and my poor self image, and his kids wondering blah, blah, blah...

Finally, I told him that my worst problem in his swimming pool is that I can't swim.



Remember, these are wonderful times we live in with lots of hope. Take care.

The surgeon was wonderful. She went over the situation and showed me the results of four years of mammograms showing the cancer growth. At least I was glad it was very slow growing, but I was furious that no one had told me anything for four years.

The surgeon gave me a stack of materials to read and I didn't have the guts at first to sort through them and absorb the implications. I decided I'd spend ten minutes twice a day trying to look at her booklets and printouts. Eventually, I waded through most of it.

I didn't want people to find out the diagnosis until I could deal with it better. They were rather judgmental and I felt they were blaming me for my situation.

"What?! You didn't even know you had dense tissue? You didn't know that doctors don't tell patients that this is a problem? You actually thought that mammograms indicated cancer for people like you?"

So, I'm sure everyone else knew all of that, but yes, I actually thought if there were a problem the ones doing mammograms wouldn't just send me the same form letter for years stating that everything looked normal. They might have let my general doctor know, but she didn't say a word about it to me.

Wish I could tell you how to deal with this, but I think I just muddled along and somehow got through it.

It might help you to know that I survived and I'm doing well and I think you'll handle the whole thing better than I did because I think almost everyone is better at this than I was.

I've read your posts for years and admired you. You're smart and have a good heart. You're strong and courageous. All I can say is to take it a day at a time and know that you'll be fine and that it won't be as bad as you might think. In fact none of the days I remember were bad like the day I was hit with the overall news.

Love and good wishes to you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2018 02:05PM by Cheryl.

Dear Nepeta cataria,
I'm sending positive thoughts and good vibes your way. Don't be scared. Face this challenge like you've already beat it. You are an amazing person and will overcome this. Stay strong, girl.
Your pal, edzachery

catnip dear,
I understand your fear. This is out of your control, and it's life-threatening.
But you have competent doctors working to make you well, and you have the support and love of all of us here (and many others!).

You hang in there. And yes, that seems entirely appropriate for a feline-nicknamed user (remember that '70's poster?) :)

Catnip,

Where I worship at our table following services each week on average there are around 5-7 women sitting there. Some with their husbands, more without (widowed, divorced or never married.) Out of that group of women, there are four of us having gone through breast cancer and survived.

That's easily more than half of our little group. They're doing well. I'm the newest "inductee" going through treatment presently.

They're older than me, except for one of them. Her mother survived Auschwitz, and sits with us too when they're here.

It's an unexpected support group of sorts. You'll likely find yours too where you live. Cancer survivors are all around us. They may be our next door neighbors. And they are us.

:-)

Keep us posted. I'm very sorry you are having to deal with this. One of my greatest fears all my life.

You are strong. Tough. Beautiful. Resilient...

I could go on an on
And that would be fun but
Time
K.

We never know what the future holds. I'd say! Fill your time. Well. Always invent-reinvent/ renew/ refresh. One day, moment, at a time. These answers always fall short.

Keep moving on
Love

M@t

Catnip and GoatsGoToHell,

Here's hoping you both got better than expected news today, and that you are able to relax tonight. Please know a whole bunch of people here on RfM are waiting to hear how you're doing--when you feel like it, of course.

And you too, Gheco.

Love you all.