NED!!!

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lynn1950
lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
This is going to be a long post. I got home about 20 minutes ago and just got on the computer and saw the postings wondering about me. Thanks so much for your concern (and prayers.) Guess what. They worked. I feel you as real, tangible people although some of you look like dogs and cats! :)

So here is a snippet of my day. I live 6 miles outside of a town (the county seat) of less than 900 people. There are only 2 towns in our whole county (maybe three if you count Indian Valley). When folks from here go "down below" we're talking 1 1/4 hours to the nearest small city and 2 1/4 hours to the nearest real city (Boise). Since my appointments were near the 1 1/4 hours away small city, a friend and I decided on celebrating my good doctor visits and tests by.....going shopping ("down below")! But, first I had to get a tire with a slow leak fixed at Les Schwab in the small city. Then we drove about 45 minutes to our nearest Sierra Trading Post where my friend, who is also a breast cancer survivor, bought new Sauconys. We were unsuccessfully looking for a dress for her next class reunion in August when we landed at Savers (a big thrift store) where we found all kinds of goodies - including a Steven King pop-up book (who knew?), football cleats, a china rice bowl, a Hoover vacuum cleaner (14.99) and (the BEST)a DAK bread machine. And my friend found a beautiful two piece top and skirt outfit. We also went to a big grocery store where I bought flax, basmati rice, and bran from big bins; such stuff is unavailable in the provinces.

Now for city folk, this is hohum and I know that because I grew up in Chicago, but when you live almost an hour and a half from the nearest movie theater, these things are important and joyous occasions! We forewent ( is there such a word?) Harry Potter to shop. (Never fear, I will be down in Boise all next week for some teacher training, so I will see it then.)

Everything looked good to the docs - even my lymphedema is not measurable. I have some joint pain and stiff fingers from the Arimidex. This is just what Arimidex does and I can live with it for now. I asked about the markers and my oncologist strongly discouraged me from going there. He feels that they are very unreliable for someone who is 3a and often cause a lot of needless worry and tests. There are many false positives; sometimes the medical folks can't figure out why the blood work comes back so high. At one point he said that the markers are only reliable 66% of the time. I jumped on that and said "Well, what if I am one of the 33%?" Later he admitted that he pulled that statistic out of the air. He also said that he wouldn't have the markers done for him if he had breast cancer, nor would he have them drawn for his wife. I like him and trust him, so I have decided to go without the markers for now unless there is compelling evidence otherwise. He really is fastidious and keeps up on the research. I know he orders tests for markers for people with ovarian and colon cancer; these, he feels, are reliable. I would be interested in hearing about your experience, RE (if you are still with me here :) ).


All in all, a very satisfying day. Again, thanks for your wishes, prayers, and rays of scintillating golden light. I am one happy camper. Lynn
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  • Aortus
    Aortus Member Posts: 967
    #2
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    YAAAHHHOOOO!!!!
    Moopy and I have been fretting over you all afternoon and all evening, Lynn. What wonderful news... I'm a happy camper now and Moovis will be too when I tell her in the morning! You must be beat, but I bet you'll be sleeping like a log tonight.
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #3
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    Aortus said:

    YAAAHHHOOOO!!!!
    Moopy and I have been fretting over you all afternoon and all evening, Lynn. What wonderful news... I'm a happy camper now and Moovis will be too when I tell her in the morning! You must be beat, but I bet you'll be sleeping like a log tonight.

    I am beat and also so happy and
    busy catching up on all the posts with my glass of red wine (for resveratrol, or whatever the good stuff in red wine is, of course). And you are awake too. I'm glad that Moopy is getting good rest. Please tell her I said hi when she wakes up. Night. Lynn
  • Akiss4me
    Akiss4me Member Posts: 2,188
    #4
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    Lynn...
    Glad everything turned out so well that it was worth celebrating. That was my wish on an earlier post when we hadn't heard from you. And who says wishes don't come true!! You must be exhausted....rest, rest, rest!! :) Pammy
  • tasha_111
    tasha_111 Member Posts: 2,072
    #5
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    Akiss4me said:

    Lynn...
    Glad everything turned out so well that it was worth celebrating. That was my wish on an earlier post when we hadn't heard from you. And who says wishes don't come true!! You must be exhausted....rest, rest, rest!! :) Pammy

    Glass?
    Bugger that! You need the whole bottle to get the goodness! Happy for you. Hugs Jxxxxxxxxxx
  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
    #6
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    tasha_111 said:

    Glass?
    Bugger that! You need the whole bottle to get the goodness! Happy for you. Hugs Jxxxxxxxxxx

    Wonderful
    Wonderful news!!!
    Good for you.

    Hugs,
    Margo
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #7
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    Well, the one glass turned into 2
    Do I get points for that? What a gift you have, Tasha; you can always find a way to make people laugh. Lynn
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #8
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    Akiss4me said:

    Lynn...
    Glad everything turned out so well that it was worth celebrating. That was my wish on an earlier post when we hadn't heard from you. And who says wishes don't come true!! You must be exhausted....rest, rest, rest!! :) Pammy

    Long distance wishes
    Truly, Pammy, who says they don't come true. I note your post time is 1:46! I went to bed at 2:00 and here it is 5:44. It one way it's good, because it is hot here and I have cookies to bake. On the other hand, have a 50+ year history of needing 8-9 hours of sleep per night. Maybe this is a part of the new normal.

    Hope you have time (and take that time!) to nap during the day. That little tanning booth is an energy sucker.

    Lynn
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #9
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    tommaseena said:

    Wonderful
    Wonderful news!!!
    Good for you.

    Hugs,
    Margo

    congrats to you too, Margo
    Yes (sigh of relief). Thanks for your support. I don't know why my posts are skipping all over the place. Maybe it makes it more interesting. But I reply right under the post and my post bumps down to the bottom...Hope you find this. xoxoxo Lynn
  • CR1954
    CR1954 Member Posts: 1,390 Member
    #10
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    Dear Lynn.......
    I'm SO HAPPY that your check-up went well!! Although, I knew it would, given the fact that I had everything I own crossed for you! LOL!!

    Btw, the Steven King pop up book...take care of it. It will only go up in price, and I am sure that you got it for a mere fraction of what it's worth. I only know this because a friend is a Steven King book collector/dealer.

    Love,

    CR
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #11
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    CR1954 said:

    Dear Lynn.......
    I'm SO HAPPY that your check-up went well!! Although, I knew it would, given the fact that I had everything I own crossed for you! LOL!!

    Btw, the Steven King pop up book...take care of it. It will only go up in price, and I am sure that you got it for a mere fraction of what it's worth. I only know this because a friend is a Steven King book collector/dealer.

    Love,

    CR

    Steven King
    Oooh, didn't know. Just bought it because I love books and it was such a weird thing to find. I think Steven King is a great writer, but he gives me the willies, so I can only take him in small doses.

    Thanks Cindy for your concern and for the contortions you went through on my behalf yesterday. Sorry it took so long to post.

    Love back, Lynn
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #12
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    lynn1950 said:

    Steven King
    Oooh, didn't know. Just bought it because I love books and it was such a weird thing to find. I think Steven King is a great writer, but he gives me the willies, so I can only take him in small doses.

    Thanks Cindy for your concern and for the contortions you went through on my behalf yesterday. Sorry it took so long to post.

    Love back, Lynn

    Congrats Lynn!

    Congrats Lynn!
  • Kylez
    Kylez Member Posts: 3,761 Member
    #13
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    lynn1950 said:

    I am beat and also so happy and
    busy catching up on all the posts with my glass of red wine (for resveratrol, or whatever the good stuff in red wine is, of course). And you are awake too. I'm glad that Moopy is getting good rest. Please tell her I said hi when she wakes up. Night. Lynn

    Congrats Lynn!

    Congrats Lynn!
  • Moopy23
    Moopy23 Member Posts: 1,751 Member
    #14
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    Happy Camper!
    Lynn, I'm out there camping with you! So happy and relieved for you, my friend.

    Your message was wonderfully detailed and interesting. Shopping info--always entertaining and informative. Not sure what Saucony shoes are...if they're for camping, I'm in trouble. Will look online. Congrats on being excellent, savvy shoppers, you and your buddy. By the way, I haven't seen HP6 yet, either. Joe bought me HP5 so I could "review" it before seeing the new one. My plan for the weekend.

    Thank you also for sharing your oncologist's view on cancer marker tests. I am 3A also, as you know. Definitely, I want to avoid unnecessary tests and the strain of waiting for results that may be unreliable.

    Well, gotta go. My tanning bed awaits!
  • Jeanne D
    Jeanne D Member Posts: 1,867
    #15
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    Moopy23 said:

    Happy Camper!
    Lynn, I'm out there camping with you! So happy and relieved for you, my friend.

    Your message was wonderfully detailed and interesting. Shopping info--always entertaining and informative. Not sure what Saucony shoes are...if they're for camping, I'm in trouble. Will look online. Congrats on being excellent, savvy shoppers, you and your buddy. By the way, I haven't seen HP6 yet, either. Joe bought me HP5 so I could "review" it before seeing the new one. My plan for the weekend.

    Thank you also for sharing your oncologist's view on cancer marker tests. I am 3A also, as you know. Definitely, I want to avoid unnecessary tests and the strain of waiting for results that may be unreliable.

    Well, gotta go. My tanning bed awaits!

    Lynn
    CONGRATS LYNN!
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159
    #16
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    YAY YAY YAY
    Whooooo de hoooooo!!! NED is making the rounds again, and weren't you happy to see him??

    It sounds as if you had the BEST day~ friends, shopping, and grand medical news!
    (btw..no loss on missing the latest Harry Potter movie; it is a disappointment, by far the weakest of all the heretofor exciting, fun movies. In the opinion of Claudia, that is!)

    My oncologist concurs with yours regarding Tumor Markers for Breast Cancer. Though he gets those numbers routinely when he does my blood draws, he too says they are pretty arbitrary in determining BC. He sorta, kinda uses it as a baseline for me, but he never relies on it for anything definitive. Good to know my doc isn't the only one with that mind-set! :-)

    So, congrats on your great news~ as I always say, (when I make it all about me) I was turning blue from holding my breath, and blue is sooo not my color! Thanks for allowing me to exhale~ I feel much better now! LOL

    Hugs,
    Claudia
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #17
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    Blue Group
    Sorry blue isn't your color, otherwise a funny, 50ft blue woman would be a real asset to the Blue Group.

    My oldest daughter (who lives in Boise) saw the new HP on Saturday and she shares your opinion. I thought "Prisoner of ..." was pretty hokey and the quality keeps going downhill. I love the books and I love the audio version. If you haven't listened to HP on CD, you are in for a treat. The narrator is over the top.

    Thanks so much for your sharing and caring. I always look forward to your posts. Lynn
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #18
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    Jeanne D said:

    Lynn
    CONGRATS LYNN!

    Thank you, Jeanne
    Hope all is well with you! Lynn
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #19
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    Moopy23 said:

    Happy Camper!
    Lynn, I'm out there camping with you! So happy and relieved for you, my friend.

    Your message was wonderfully detailed and interesting. Shopping info--always entertaining and informative. Not sure what Saucony shoes are...if they're for camping, I'm in trouble. Will look online. Congrats on being excellent, savvy shoppers, you and your buddy. By the way, I haven't seen HP6 yet, either. Joe bought me HP5 so I could "review" it before seeing the new one. My plan for the weekend.

    Thank you also for sharing your oncologist's view on cancer marker tests. I am 3A also, as you know. Definitely, I want to avoid unnecessary tests and the strain of waiting for results that may be unreliable.

    Well, gotta go. My tanning bed awaits!

    Saucony is a brand of running shoe like Nike
    Hi Moopy, from other posts it sounds like the tireds are getting to you. But you are near halfway, hallelujah! It won't be long now and you will be on the mend. I read that Joe bought a big jar of Aquaphor. I didn't know there was such an animal. Just keep slathering generously (except before rads). Where you are at you can't even say: "It's not the heat; it's the humidity." It's both. So I hope you can keep cool. I know that you are going to be fine: you have an army of warriors pulling for you (plus Joe, of course).

    You probably know that rads increase lymphedema risk if you have had nodes removed. My brain, I don't remember if you did or not. So be very careful with that poor sore arm. Rads is when my lymphedema kicked in. It has always been mild and yesterday at my appointment, it was not even measurable! My arm feels fine today too. Life is good. xoxoxo Lynn
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    #20
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    Awesome, Lynn - ALL of it! :-)
    I'm fabulously happy and relieved for you! ALL good news! Thanks for sharing, and loved reading about the details of your day. Importantly, I give to both you and your friend a grade of A+ for your Retail Therapy practice yesterday!

    Again, YAY!

    Kind regards, Susan
    Born, raised & lives in Chicago -
    (the CITY, not the suburbs!)
    Always will...
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #21
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    Christmas Girl said:

    Awesome, Lynn - ALL of it! :-)
    I'm fabulously happy and relieved for you! ALL good news! Thanks for sharing, and loved reading about the details of your day. Importantly, I give to both you and your friend a grade of A+ for your Retail Therapy practice yesterday!

    Again, YAY!

    Kind regards, Susan
    Born, raised & lives in Chicago -
    (the CITY, not the suburbs!)
    Always will...

    I know the pride of living in the CITY, not the suburbs
    even though Dolton was just over the Calumet River a block from my "growing up " house. :) I always thought of the Calumet Park and Blue Island kids as somehow inferior.

    How did you know that I am a grade hogger? Because I confessed my nerddom? Thanks for the A+. I am just SO puffed up with pride - look out Claudia!

    xoxoxo Lynn

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