Dana Farber on Hormone Positive BC - A midnight special

As you may remember, I don't always find Dana-Farber articles clear, and sometimes doubt how they fit with other famous hospitals' findings.

You may already know a lot on the hormone positive cancers from your own research.  Even so, if you missed this article today that I found on Twitter, you might check it out because there is a video on what's new with hormone positive BC.  Or a recorded speech or... something.  I'm moving and haven't read that part yet,

http://blog.Dana-farber.org/insight/2016/02/what-is-hormone-positive-breast-cancer/

You knew I'd say ... check out another hospital or the leading MDs on TW to see if they all agree.

My DCIS was hormone positive for estrogen and progesterone, so I still take Tamoxifen.

That's all I have the energy for tonight.  It's yours, typos and all.

I wish you health.

BC: WHAT IS THIS DOCTOR TALKING ABOUT?? Coffee Break Edition

What did the doctor just say?  How can I take notes if I don't know what that word is or how to spell it?  Is it something horrible?


TODAY I learned something from skimming this glossary that Jo Taylor ‏@abcdiagnosis pointed out on twitter.  A real service from Breast Cancer Org. UK.

Search bcc or Glossary of  breast cancer terms  if this link doesn't get you there.

https://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/glossary#Z

I wish you health.

BACK TO PT -- the worst thing and the best COFFEE BREAK EDITION

Yesterday I went back to the same place for physical therapy.  This time I had requested, upper body, balance, and confidence on stairs.   I have more peripheral nerve problems now plus some leg fatigue and aches that started 2 weeks after Prolia.  What I always have are rather short legs for a 5'2 person.

The worst thing about the visit was a problem I have almost everywhere:

There is not a chair or bed that room that I can sit on without pain.

I filled out a bushel of paper work, most of it standing up, some of it balancing the clipboard on part of their equipment.  

The new PT is not going to be my best friend, I felt somewhat talked down to.  And she gave me some bad news.

The best thing:

On my purse, I had tied a length of bright yellow elastic used in the upper body workout I had expected.  A nurse or therapist, maybe from inpatient, came up to me when I was in the hall leaving. She teased me a little - "I want you to use that yellow tape at home, don't just take it home."  After a little chat, she showed me how to fasten the tape to a door knob or even (if I can reach) the top of the door.  She made me laugh and made me feel at home again there.

Two employees, same day.  Such a "small" thing made such a therapeutic difference.

I wish you health.

SECRET OF YOUTH for you who skipped the exercise post ...COFFEE BREAK EDITION:

COFFEE BREAK POST

Casey Quinlan, Dana GoldmanPHD made me laugh on Twitter this morning; I needed a laugh so much.

"We already have delayed aging drug.  It's called exercise."

Osteoporosis, spine injury - read the part of yesterday's post on exercises that are not recommended for us with these problems.

I wish you health.

OSTEOPOROSIS - HOW NOT TO EXERCISE plus Photos to show the doctor MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

This site from International Osteoporosis Foundation is the mother lode of photos of exercises real people can do:  Show the doctor the pictures and get a strong on.

CAUTION:  If you have had or need spine surgery, some of these are not for you!  In fact all of them need to be shared with a doctor, and then with the very finest Physical Therapist in your county.  (Not everyone with initials is good at what he does, I've learned the hard way.)

Be sure to add the whole link into your browser.

http://www.iofbonehealth.org/exercise-recommendations#Recommended%20exercises%20for%20patients%20with%20 osteoporosis ::

And with all the advice we get on line, I was delighted to find a section on

EXERCISES NOT SUITABLE FOR PEOPLE WITH OSTEOPOROSIS

Of course, curling up tighter on the sofa is also not recommended for us bone people. And here I am doing the other bad habit - leaning toward the laptop screen instead of moving the chair closer.

I wish you health.  

OSTEOPOROSIS - BUILD BONE, Proof of the old nagging

My doctor said the other day that if my feet weren't so bad, she'd prescribe vigorous exercise.  I reminded her that I climb stairs some days, that I want referral to the great physical therapy place I went to last year, and that sometimes my feet let me walk 25 minutes. But...that isn't 5 hours a week, even counting household chores. Besides, it's so cold out there that the wind on my face aggravates my rosacea.  I'd like some proof payoff before putting on mittens and venturing out even in Texas winter.  Then along comes the article from Mone Zaidi, MD, PHD and Mt. Sinai professor, working with researchers from Italy. How Might Physical Exercise Stimulate Bone Synthesis? One sentence hit me right between the eyes:  "Conversely, off-loading muscle, such as in astronauts, can lead to bone loss."   Good timing!  Just last week, I learned a new word Sarcopenia -- astronauts are not the only ones. Older people offload muscle, too!. .  Wikipedia calls it degenerative (a word I hate.)  Worse Wikipedia says we might lose as much as 1% skeletal muscle every year after 50.  So if I've lost 17%!!! Holy cow !  What to do? The doctor and some Italian researchers have found what I hope is a magic molecule: irisin. You guessed it:  Irisin is "released from muscle after exercise."    Giving mice low doses of iricin, the team found increase in muscle strength and strength of cortical bone. And the part I like to hear:  they aren't quitting with lab learning on what irisin does.  They suggest that treatment might be possible for osteoporosis and Sarcopenia. No more 90-pound weaklings?  I want to be one of the strong ones.  Gotta get up off the chair! I wish you health. The short, easy to read article is from Mt. Sinai Medicine Matters.  I just Googled Medicine Matters iricin

PROLIA SHOT- So easy I could almost forget what strong stuff it is. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

Thursday, January 14th

Off to oncologist
1:15 Pay my Medicare deductible
1:30  Blood pressure (not high considering I'm nervous).  Weight
Nurse assures me I want this in "your gut" as in front of my stomach.  "Everyone wants it there because it doesn't hurt as much."
Proceed to chairs in tiny corner across from Infusion Dept. desk
She hands me a tiny cylinder, about 1/90th of what I expected. "Hold this.  Keep it warm."

Five minutes later, she's back.  Tells me to pull up my sweater.  First time I've ever displayed my bare midriff in a doctor's hallway, with a somebody's hairy son sitting right up against my knee.

It doesn't hurt at all.  Over in 2 seconds.  No bandage.  Nothing. She tells me I don't need to sit and wait to see if I'm allergic (unlike the flu shot).

Home again.

Yes, it would be easy to say I'll do this every 6 months.  Not so sure. I still remember all the research I did on possible side effects.  Effects my oncologist has never seen.  Still, I might want a little
vacation to get my osteoblasts and so forth back to normal, before I get another shot in 6 months.

Anyway, time to thrash that out next summer.

I wish you health.