Very obliging husband
09-11-2011, 04:16 AM
#1
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Ft. Myers, Fl
Posts: 582
I have been borrowing my husband's desk chair because it is more comfortable for me when I sew. I have been having more and more back and hip problems lately. He decided that it would be a good birthday gift for me, and I agreed, so we went looking for one for me today. Unfortunately, we couldn't find one like it, so I am going to take his, and he got a different one for himself.
But we also went to JoAnn's to see if I could match a piece of fabric for my wall hanging, or at least find something that I liked as well for the background. No luck, but he helped me go thru a lot of fabric before I gave up. I did pick up more belt webbing for the girl's vests, and a few more 'miles' of muslin. Lol...I use muslin for everything including sewing.
I also took him thru a couple of thrift stores, looking for books and keeping an eye out for a sewing table or cabinet. I did see one old sewing machine with a great cabinet, but they were really kidding themselves on the price. The machine was so not worth it.
The day got hotter as we went along, and by the time we got home, I was worn out and tired. I took a long long nap, and he fixed his own dinner. Guess I will keep him, lol.
But we also went to JoAnn's to see if I could match a piece of fabric for my wall hanging, or at least find something that I liked as well for the background. No luck, but he helped me go thru a lot of fabric before I gave up. I did pick up more belt webbing for the girl's vests, and a few more 'miles' of muslin. Lol...I use muslin for everything including sewing.
I also took him thru a couple of thrift stores, looking for books and keeping an eye out for a sewing table or cabinet. I did see one old sewing machine with a great cabinet, but they were really kidding themselves on the price. The machine was so not worth it.
The day got hotter as we went along, and by the time we got home, I was worn out and tired. I took a long long nap, and he fixed his own dinner. Guess I will keep him, lol.
09-11-2011, 06:11 AM
#7
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Ft. Myers, Fl
Posts: 582
We found out in Sept 2008 that I had breast cancer, and I refused to deal with any of the doctors down here. I had taken a really bad fall in 1996, and they let me go for 7 months with a broken neck, even tho I kept telling them my neck hurt more than my shoulders did, but because it was a workman's comp injury...what did I know? Well, I knew enough that even tho I couldn't get a lawyer to listen to me, I did get the main WC reps not associated with Kmart to listen, and she sent me to a neurologist who found the broken neck. He told me something I already knew...that God must really love me - because one wrong move, and I would have been paralyzed. After that, I refused to go to other doctors down here, so I insisted on going to Washington U hospital in St. Louis. We live in Florida.
We were apart for most of a year, and he took care of his job, our house, two of our three dogs, called me every night, and worried himself to death about me. I was staying with my son and dil, and had Daisy with me. I went thru the chemo easier than most people do (God really does love me a lot), but being apart was really hard. I managed to make a couple of trips home, but it is a 3000 mile round trip, and I don't fly.
He arranged for the girls to stay with a friend, and he drove back with me before my surgery, and flew back, and because of that, he got a blood clot himself. But he never blamed me for any of the many problems that followed. I finally managed to arrange for my final treatments down here to take better care of him.
We may not be the perfect couple, but I don't know who comes much closer. We don't have a lot of money, but neither of us really wants a lot of stuff. He has his cameras, I have pretty much what I want, and if I really wanted something else, he would find a way to get it for me. Oh, and that cute little Molly.....she was my gift after all the chemo was over. He knew I really wanted her, so I got her.
We were apart for most of a year, and he took care of his job, our house, two of our three dogs, called me every night, and worried himself to death about me. I was staying with my son and dil, and had Daisy with me. I went thru the chemo easier than most people do (God really does love me a lot), but being apart was really hard. I managed to make a couple of trips home, but it is a 3000 mile round trip, and I don't fly.
He arranged for the girls to stay with a friend, and he drove back with me before my surgery, and flew back, and because of that, he got a blood clot himself. But he never blamed me for any of the many problems that followed. I finally managed to arrange for my final treatments down here to take better care of him.
We may not be the perfect couple, but I don't know who comes much closer. We don't have a lot of money, but neither of us really wants a lot of stuff. He has his cameras, I have pretty much what I want, and if I really wanted something else, he would find a way to get it for me. Oh, and that cute little Molly.....she was my gift after all the chemo was over. He knew I really wanted her, so I got her.
09-11-2011, 06:50 AM
#10
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Ft. Myers, Fl
Posts: 582
I am due for my follow-up mammogram in Oct, but I was just up in St. Louis, and right on up to Ind. for a family reunion this Aug, and I have to be honest, I don't think I can do it. The drive was hard on the car, which I have to take over to my mechanic on Monday. Now there is a keeper, too. He would have worried himself silly if he had known the trouble I had with the car, and I will probably get a stern lecture for not bringing it in sooner, lol. He is a real dear.
But the drive was very hard for me. My back, hip and right shoulder have been working together to see which can be the most annoying lately. Age and accidents and arthritis have been catching up with me. If it wasn't for cruise control, I would have never made it up and back, tho the reunion was worth it. But I just can't see making the drive again so soon.
But...we have Moffitt cancer center in Tampa, so I think I will call them and make arrangements to have my records transferred down here. I will probably be an interesting case for them, so should not have trouble finding an oncologist to take me on. I have dormant eczema, but as a kid, it was broken out on the inside of my arms. So when I developed a rash on my right breast, I thought it might be that. I had an aunt who did have it on her chest. But...I did ask the doctors down here if it might be cancer, and was told no.
Well, it spread, and itched, which of course, eczema does, and I treated it, and it got worse. I asked at the hospital for them to look at it, and they did and brushed me off. I kept treating it, and eventually, it covered the whole breast, and was really annoying. My grandmother had had it on her lower calves, and this was about like what she had. I tried all kinds of stuff on it, and it eventually covered the entire breast and stopped there. The breast was just about all raw, rashy skin. But no doc thought it was cancerous.
I guess God figured no one would believe it was, so he dropped a tumor on the top of the breast. Okay, now I may not be the brightest bulb, but I told my husband...this is not just eczema, and put a call thru to Washington U, and made an appt to see them. Then I got out my camera equipment and took photos. By the time we got there, the tumor was the size of my fist, and nasty looking. They were amazed that I came complete with photos, and could not believe how fast I said it had grown there. They were also surprised at the rash covering the whole breast....and worried that my whole body would be full of cancer.
They biopsied the tumor, and the rash, and then took tests of everything in my body. The rash was cancerous, but not the same as the tumor. And I had been treating it myself for SEVEN years. They wanted to know every last thing I had used. I went thru chemo, but not radiation. The tumor started shrinking as fast as it grew, with the very first treatment. The cancer was NO WHERE ELSE in my body. I have every faith that it will stay that way, too. But I will not go to a cancer doctor in Ft. Myers. I did finish up the herceptin here, and then fired the idiots who kept screwing up my records, and charged for services I did not get. Oh yes, you better believe I turned them in, too.
Moffitt has an excellent reputation, so I am not worried about going there. Not to mention, I have been well trained by my doctors in St. Louis, lol. I was able to help one of my cousins go thru her chemo treatment long distance without wanting to give up....even offered to drive all the way across the country to give her stupid husband a swift kick in the butt for not being supportive. I suggested what she needed to do with him, and after she did it, his whole outlook changed. Some people need to see what it is really like.
I know that they ask about how many people have family members who have cancer, thinking it is gene related, but I know more people who aren't related that have had or now have breast cancer. I think as other things progress, and people live longer, our bodies are subjected to more problems, and these things will be more common, which is why women need to take better care of themselves, and be more aware of what is going on.
The one thing that I have never seen mentioned in all the ad, PAs, etc as a warning sign is having your breast lactate. That would have tipped me off. Just think....such an obvious sign no one ever mentioned. And it only did it once.
But the drive was very hard for me. My back, hip and right shoulder have been working together to see which can be the most annoying lately. Age and accidents and arthritis have been catching up with me. If it wasn't for cruise control, I would have never made it up and back, tho the reunion was worth it. But I just can't see making the drive again so soon.
But...we have Moffitt cancer center in Tampa, so I think I will call them and make arrangements to have my records transferred down here. I will probably be an interesting case for them, so should not have trouble finding an oncologist to take me on. I have dormant eczema, but as a kid, it was broken out on the inside of my arms. So when I developed a rash on my right breast, I thought it might be that. I had an aunt who did have it on her chest. But...I did ask the doctors down here if it might be cancer, and was told no.
Well, it spread, and itched, which of course, eczema does, and I treated it, and it got worse. I asked at the hospital for them to look at it, and they did and brushed me off. I kept treating it, and eventually, it covered the whole breast, and was really annoying. My grandmother had had it on her lower calves, and this was about like what she had. I tried all kinds of stuff on it, and it eventually covered the entire breast and stopped there. The breast was just about all raw, rashy skin. But no doc thought it was cancerous.
I guess God figured no one would believe it was, so he dropped a tumor on the top of the breast. Okay, now I may not be the brightest bulb, but I told my husband...this is not just eczema, and put a call thru to Washington U, and made an appt to see them. Then I got out my camera equipment and took photos. By the time we got there, the tumor was the size of my fist, and nasty looking. They were amazed that I came complete with photos, and could not believe how fast I said it had grown there. They were also surprised at the rash covering the whole breast....and worried that my whole body would be full of cancer.
They biopsied the tumor, and the rash, and then took tests of everything in my body. The rash was cancerous, but not the same as the tumor. And I had been treating it myself for SEVEN years. They wanted to know every last thing I had used. I went thru chemo, but not radiation. The tumor started shrinking as fast as it grew, with the very first treatment. The cancer was NO WHERE ELSE in my body. I have every faith that it will stay that way, too. But I will not go to a cancer doctor in Ft. Myers. I did finish up the herceptin here, and then fired the idiots who kept screwing up my records, and charged for services I did not get. Oh yes, you better believe I turned them in, too.
Moffitt has an excellent reputation, so I am not worried about going there. Not to mention, I have been well trained by my doctors in St. Louis, lol. I was able to help one of my cousins go thru her chemo treatment long distance without wanting to give up....even offered to drive all the way across the country to give her stupid husband a swift kick in the butt for not being supportive. I suggested what she needed to do with him, and after she did it, his whole outlook changed. Some people need to see what it is really like.
I know that they ask about how many people have family members who have cancer, thinking it is gene related, but I know more people who aren't related that have had or now have breast cancer. I think as other things progress, and people live longer, our bodies are subjected to more problems, and these things will be more common, which is why women need to take better care of themselves, and be more aware of what is going on.
The one thing that I have never seen mentioned in all the ad, PAs, etc as a warning sign is having your breast lactate. That would have tipped me off. Just think....such an obvious sign no one ever mentioned. And it only did it once.
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