The Hyena Chat thread: Everyone's welcome!

[tinkermell]

Good Morning Hyenas!!

Today is my day to watch the grandsons. Also have to figure out a craft tonight for my preschool class at church. I usually get around 17 or so children. They are soooooooooo cute.

Have a great day!!

 

[sameyeyam]

No, actually it's very helpful.

I feel like I should understand this better, every woman should, but especially someone with family history. Maybe it's just being an ostrich with my head in the ground, I don't know.

Well, part of it, maybe a large part, is that my mom just doesn't talk about it. I don't know if she just doesn't like to, or if she feels she's burdening me. I hope it's not because she is afraid I would think it's burdening me, or that I'm disinterested, that's not the case at all. I've asked a few questions and she gave me just enough info to answer the question, but she doesn't say much else, and doesn't offer anything.

Don't worry about not knowing very much about breast health issues. It seems like new things are popping up every day. Heck, it's hard for me to keep up with everything. I know a lot of people think that we've dumped so much money into finding a cure, why haven't they found one yet? But you would be totally amazed at how much better and how much more they know about treatments than even 2 years ago when I was diagnosed. So much research money is pouring in to breast cancer that they are able to literally fine tune the treatments. Not only is this helping breast cancer, but it's helping all cancer.

Remember 10-20 years ago if a child had leukemia they had a poor prognosis. Now most children with leukemia survive. Why? Because money poured into finding a cure for leukemia. But, they learned so much about cancer treatment that it spilled over into breast cancer. Now money is coming into breast cancer and a lot of the things they are learning are spilling over into other types of cancer.

As amazing as this sounds, if I had been diagnosed 10 years ago instead of a 75% chance of survival I would have had about a 10% chance with my type of cancer. Odds are right now that I would have been in the end stages of cancer. Don't think that doesn't pop into my head all the time now. Even though there is not a cure, the treatments have come so far in a short time that it's mind boggling.

If I could give you ladies one piece of advice that is become very familiar with your breasts (oh and buy a Neilmed Sinus Rinse). Don't worry about doing the formal breast exam each month. When you take a shower or bath each day, soap up your hands and run them over your breasts and get to know the lumps. Yes, they are lumpy! But trust me when you discover a new lump you will know it. If you notice anything out of the ordinary see a doctor and INSIST on a biopsy. Oh and don't forget your yearly mammogram because even though it didn't find my tumor, it does find a lot. If you have lumpy breasts or even a distant relative with breast cancer try staring your mammograms around 35 or even earlier. The Komen message board is literally full of women in their late 20's or 30's with breast cancer.

I bet half the women on the Komen board see doctors for a lump and the doctors tell them it's nothing to worry about. Then a few years later they discover it's cancer and has spread. Needle biopsies are fairly easy, IMO easier than going to the dentist. No big surgery or anything, done in the office, they just numb the area with Novacane. I worry very much about my sister because she has a small area of calcification in her breast and lumps. She gets a mammo & ultrasound about every 6 months and they are watching it very closely, but at this point it's to small to biopsy. I haven't really had the heart to tell her that odds are it will turn into breast cancer. I've seen her exact story so many times on the Komen Message Board. For right now she seems to be content with watching things closely, so I'm pretty confident that it will be caught very early. I do wish her doctor's were a little more aggressive than they seem to be. Maybe in the next year or so I can convince her to go to a breast center where they take things a little more seriously.

Alex, don't worry that your mother doesn't say much about breast cancer. It's very much a generational thing. 20 years ago the word breast wasn't even said in public. We've come a long way. Some of the older women don't even tell their grown adult children that they have breast cancer or are going thru treatment. They will only come and talk about it on the Komen message board because they can remain anonymous. It is still very much a stigma with a lot of women over the age of 55 or so. Some of the women don't want genetic testing because they are scared of the results and scared that they need to tell their grown children they might carry the gene. Komen has a new shirt that I just love..."Now that we've made it ok to talk about breast cancer...let's make it unnecessary".

 

[sameyeyam]

Good Morning Hyenas!!

Today is my day to watch the grandsons. Also have to figure out a craft tonight for my preschool class at church. I usually get around 17 or so children. They are soooooooooo cute.

Have a great day!!

Good Morning Melody! Sounds like you have a busy day and evening ahead of you. Sorry, but I have no suggestions for crafts. I'm craftistiartistically challenged.

 

[staley7580]

Morning gals! Just getting ready to go to the Dr. AGAIN. Wont be long before I am going once a week.

Sooo... I was watching this show on Discovery Health last night.. It was on Freebirthing. Having an unassisted birth at home. Okay. I am ALL FOR homebirthing. It is something I would have love to been able to do. BUT.. Unassisted? I dnt think so! I dont know.. They all seemed happy with the out comes, but still.. I think having a midwife there would be better.

Alex is really into watching the birthing shows with me.. He was sitting there, I dont want you to have our babies at home!!!! Then he saw all the blood and ickies, and was asking why the woman was just sitting in the tub with it all.. I explained it to him, then I asked if I could have the babies on his bed. It was too funny.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Good morning, hyenas!
Another beautiful, sunny day in the neighborhood today!

Tinkermell, maybe you've already seen these holiday crafts from Family Fun?
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/halloween_ms_crafts/

There were several I thought looked easy enough for preschoolers and wouldn't be too hard to gather supplies quickly. I liked the finger puppet bats, the pipecleaner spiders, and the horrible hands!

The horrible hands are the clear plastic gloves filled with "fingertip" candycorn and then popcorn, and tied with a ribbon (twist-tie would be easier for the kids, though.) Of course since this craft is edible, you'd have to provide lots more popcorn for snacking while they do the craft.

 

[Smiley.Socks]

Hello..?

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Remember 10-20 years ago if a child had leukemia they had a poor prognosis. Now most children with leukemia survive. Why? Because money poured into finding a cure for leukemia. But, they learned so much about cancer treatment that it spilled over into breast cancer. Now money is coming into breast cancer and a lot of the things they are learning are spilling over into other types of cancer.

As amazing as this sounds, if I had been diagnosed 10 years ago instead of a 75% chance of survival I would have had about a 10% chance with my type of cancer. Odds are right now that I would have been in the end stages of cancer. Don't think that doesn't pop into my head all the time now. Even though there is not a cure, the treatments have come so far in a short time that it's mind boggling.

I do indeed remember the poor prognosis for leukemia. This boy in our small town had it. We used to tease each other on the walk home from school; I'd deliberately mispronounce his name, he'd pretend growl, I'd bet him he couldn't catch me, and he'd chase me home.

We found out he had leukemia just before school got out, I think. We went on a two-week trip to the Midwest in August that summer, and when I got back to school I asked my friends where Willie was. They gasped, because my family didn't know that he'd died while we were gone. I was so sure he was going to make it that it really hit me hard. I've never forgotten him.

I know that so much has been learned from the human DNA mapping project, which was a tremendous undertaking by the scientific community. A lot of people thought it was a frivolous waste of time and money, and we have already learned so much in the way of fighting or even curing diseases, it's amazing!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Hello..?

Hi, Smiley!

Gotta run to pick up my youngest from preschool ~ See ya later!

 

[Smiley.Socks]

Hi, Smiley!

Gotta run to pick up my youngest from preschool ~ See ya later!

Ookaay!
Traa

 

[MotoXPrincess99]

Oh Pix, you're so Old School. J/K! While the Sunday paper is a good source, you can get them online now. Try Coupons.com or if you have a product that you like, go to their website and many of them have coupons. Even if they have no coupons, send them an email and tell them you like their product and odds are they will mail you really good coupons or free product.

I bet you could even find a coupon for the Neilmed Sinus Rinse.

I am always writing to companies and restaurants about their products or the service we receied. I tell them good and bad stuff. DBF makes fun of me but he's not laughing when we get to go out to eat for free or get free stuff in the mail.

 

[sameyeyam]

Hiya Ladies,

I'm just sitting down grabbing a quick bit to eat for lunch...bean soup.

 

[sameyeyam]

It's a beautiful sunny day outside, but a bit windy. It would be a perfect day for a walk at lunchtime, expcept I forgot my tennis shoes. Let's just say that strappy sandals don't make good walking shoes! Also supposed to be 70 degrees this afternoon.

 

[funnygarcia]

I was reading on a kidney support board ( Ihatedialysis.com ) that if kidney disease had the fundraising and public image as breast cancer, there would be more research done. Increased public knowledge that would prevent thousands of people from ever living tethered to a machine to stay alive.

Frankly, kidney disease and other illnesses (Celiac Sprue, Inflammatory Bowel, Arthritis, Lupus, MS, etc...) are not considered "sexy" in the public eye.

National Kidney Foundation is a small fish compared to the various breast cancer organizations.. I mean really, how often do you hear about kidney disease compared to the sea of pink products flooding the shelves of your local store?

Another biggie, Autism afflicts 1 out of 150 children.. shouldn't that concern the public to find a reason why? And to change how we fund the services that make a difference in those children's lives? I read that Autims Speaks organization is pushing to make laws in several states to require insurance to cover ABA therapy. As much as I think what they are doing is great for families.. I see the concerns of the insurance industry and acknowledge that there is little we know about Autism and its treatment. To force companies to shell out money on something we are not 100% sure if it is effective treatment ($50,000 per year, per child) is not a cost effective way to run a company. It increases the costs to the consumer too, more coverage means more money .. means higher premium costs for families that barely can afford the insurance now.

And we have some exciting news coming out of stem cell research, but they too are tied by legislation and lack of grants. Some day they can grow new organs, a sign of hope for the 100,318 people waiting on the UNOS list. But it will likely be too little, too late for these people.


I'm not wanting to sound bitter about the research that has been done in breast cancer. It's much needed and appreciated for the thousands of women who have benefitted. We wouldn't have Alison among the hyenas without that research. And that would be a sad thing indeed. I mean .. who else would tell us about the Neil Med Sinus Rinse?

Just think of the non-sexy diseases too.

Pause and wonder.. "why ?"


And perhaps "What if ?"

You too may be a tad irritated by the sea of pink. And little evidence of the "non sexy" diseases in the public eye.

 

[sameyeyam]

So would Bernice turn me over the the authorities if I walk outside in my bare feet and it's only 57 degrees? Could I expect two men in white jackets to be knocking at the door this afternoon?

Speaking of which, do you ever do anything defiant just because you couldn't do it when you were a kid? If so inquiring minds want to know. Personally I wear socks outside all the time. That is socks, with no shoes on. I was always being hollered at as a child because I would wear socks outside in the mud and rain or even on nice days. Not that I don't like shoes...I just like not wearing shoes better. Anyway my parents always used to lecture me...socks don't grow on trees (well technically the cotton grows on a plant, however that little comment got me in trouble one day), we pay good money for these socks (but aren't socks cheap? The way I look at it the shoes cost way more than the socks, so aren't I saving you money? Got in trouble for that one also!).

I also don't serve liver at my house. Never have and never will!

 

[funnygarcia]

I like your logic.

No problems with bare feet outside, hubby refuses to wear pants unless we are going out in public.. like beyond the parking lot. He is wearing shorts, crocs and T shirt.. rare day for him to wear socks.

Mind you it's a drizzly grey cold day here. And mid 50's here also includes a blustery wind of cold air blowing across those bare feet and legs. brrrrrr.

 

[sameyeyam]

I was reading on a kidney support board ( Ihatedialysis.com ) that if kidney disease had the fundraising and public image as breast cancer, there would be more research done. Increased public knowledge that would prevent thousands of people from ever living tethered to a machine to stay alive.

Frankly, kidney disease and other illnesses (Celiac Sprue, Inflammatory Bowel, Arthritis, Lupus, MS, etc...) are not considered "sexy" in the public eye.

National Kidney Foundation is a small fish compared to the various breast cancer organizations.. I mean really, how often do you hear about kidney disease compared to the sea of pink products flooding the shelves of your local store?

Another biggie, Autism afflicts 1 out of 150 children.. shouldn't that concern the public to find a reason why? And to change how we fund the services that make a difference in those children's lives? I read that Autims Speaks organization is pushing to make laws in several states to require insurance to cover ABA therapy. As much as I think what they are doing is great for families.. I see the concerns of the insurance industry and acknowledge that there is little we know about Autism and its treatment. To force companies to shell out money on something we are not 100% sure if it is effective treatment ($50,000 per year, per child) is not a cost effective way to run a company. It increases the costs to the consumer too, more coverage means more money .. means higher premium costs for families that barely can afford the insurance now.

And we have some exciting news coming out of stem cell research, but they too are tied by legislation and lack of grants. Some day they can grow new organs, a sign of hope for the 100,318 people waiting on the UNOS list. But it will likely be too little, too late for these people.


I'm not wanting to sound bitter about the research that has been done in breast cancer. It's much needed and appreciated for the thousands of women who have benefitted. We wouldn't have Alison among the hyenas without that research. And that would be a sad thing indeed. I mean .. who else would tell us about the Neil Med Sinus Rinse?

Just think of the non-sexy diseases too.

Pause and wonder.. "why ?"


And perhaps "What if ?"

You too may be a tad irritated by the sea of pink. And little evidence of the "non sexy" diseases in the public eye.

Howdy Bernice! I totally agree with you. There were actually a few threads on the Komen message board about "how much of this pink stuff is enough?". To be honest, while we are all very appreciative, it's very difficult for some bc survivors to even go into a store during October and some of us even think that it's time to start helping and focusing on other diseases as well. I know that Safeway also does a prostate cancer drive and I usually donate more to that then I do breast cancer.

My boss and I were having a discussion on politics the other day and I stressed that I am now voting with my "health care" concerns first. Truly if you don't have your health, you can't have all the other things. I think Health Care needs to be our #1 priority right now. As one of the richest nations in the world there is no reason why so many are without health insurance, no reason why the government can't be funding more research and providing better treatments and cures for some of these diseases.

 

[funnygarcia]

pssst

I wear socks outside too.

And down to the laundry room, picking up the mail.. have I mnetioned I hate shoes? All I own right now are crocs, yesterday tromping around the windy downtown .. the idea of shoes with no holes was appealing, except I HATE looking for shoes. Hate is one of those strong words that I try not to use.. but really, hate applies when I try to find shoes that fit comfy (no toe squishing) and don't cost me my last dollars in the checking account.

 

[sameyeyam]

Filled out my vote by mail form last night. You will be happy to know that I voted for my DH 3 separate times.

First I voted for him as the commissioner of the public utilities department, because he said he would enjoy working for them.

We also had about 10 judges to vote for...they were all running unopposed. 8 of them submitted a statement for the voter's pamphlet, but 2 of them apparently couldn't be bothered. So I filled in DH's name instead. If they can't even spend a few minutes and let me know a little bit about themselves, even if they are running unopposed then they sure aren't earning my vote!

I was kind of undecided on President. Was going to write in DS's name. Then if he does grow up to run for President, I can say I voted for him twice! But finally decided to vote for a real person. Besides, doesn't the president need to be at least 35?

 

[sameyeyam]

pssst

I wear socks outside too.

And down to the laundry room, picking up the mail.. have I mnetioned I hate shoes? All I own right now are crocs, yesterday tromping around the windy downtown .. the idea of shoes with no holes was appealing, except I HATE looking for shoes. Hate is one of those strong words that I try not to use.. but really, hate applies when I try to find shoes that fit comfy (no toe squishing) and don't cost me my last dollars in the checking account.

See, we're just using our resources wisely. Tennis shoes use petroleum products in their production whereas the socks use fully sustainable, renewable cotton! I have no idea what I'm talking about. I just hate wearing shoes and bras.

 

[funnygarcia]

Howdy Bernice! I totally agree with you. There were actually a few threads on the Komen message board about "how much of this pink stuff is enough?". To be honest, while we are all very appreciative, it's very difficult for some bc survivors to even go into a store during October and some of us even think that it's time to start helping and focusing on other diseases as well. I know that Safeway also does a prostate cancer drive and I usually donate more to that then I do breast cancer.

My boss and I were having a discussion on politics the other day and I stressed that I am now voting with my "health care" concerns first. Truly if you don't have your health, you can't have all the other things. I think Health Care needs to be our #1 priority right now. As one of the richest nations in the world there is no reason why so many are without health insurance, no reason why the government can't be funding more research and providing better treatments and cures for some of these diseases.

Thanks

I was worried about offending you in particular. ( I think I offend other hyenas on occasion.. but hey not my problem.. I am what I am.


I haven't looked at numbers.. how many have breast cancer vs how many with kidney disease.. might be interesting to look into.

I know that dialysis is a huge expense to Medicare.

It wasn't that long ago that there were limited amount of machines. Hospitals had committees to choose who would get dialysis.. and who would not..based on age, family, contribution to society. Thankfully it's not that way now, but yet if you don't have good insurance, you are limited in the type of care you receive.

I know our tranplant center would not accept E until we had insurance beyond Medicare. They know that people can't afford the 20% co pays, the hospital would need to eat the costs.

Got billing for July and part of August for home hemo $1717 , this was after medicare paid 80%. Does not include the doctor bill of $115 (after medicare) and medications. Of course, this is not the whole amount.. they "accept assignment" from Medicare. If he didn't have medicare, the orginal bill would be higher.

It's beyond time to rework health spending