About 1 in 100 breast cancer cases are men

[daugen]

Harv, David's thoughts about just being there and being her advocate rings so true with me, having gone through all this with my wife.
Simply making sure the pain meds are brought on time in the hospital can be a huge help to your wife. I always took donuts in to the floor nurses and kept them well fed; my wife was a RN and got good care anyway but feeding the nurses really works...

The nausea issue is very real. Second day of chemo the retching usually starts, particularly with the chemos with platinum in them. You can alleviate it to some degree with serious medicine but it will make your wife very sleepy.
So many people survive and do well today, and Texas has the top rated cancer hospital in the country.

One of the things that was hard to remember going through this process was remembering to see the forest through the trees. Each medical challenge was a tree, but the time we have together with our family, our forest of life, is so special that it helps, if possible, to compartmentalize the cancer and try to go on with a normal, though different, life. You need to live, but you need to live too...

Lastly, absolutely yes to being there for doc appts. Drugs have cognitive impact and can leave one confused. Emotional burden on patient is huge, particularly fear going into meetings when test results are announced. Nothing you don't know by now, but holding your wife's hand and constantly reminding her you love her, priceless.
Best wishes for both you and your wife. Drew

 

[Sigarms]

I'm thinking about doing a blog from the male caregiver's perspective, what do you all think?

Great idea.

Let your wife know about caringbridge if she doesn't already. My wife found out about it after her diagnosis. It's a site that allows a person to write down their journey, and you can give access to only those you'd like with a username and password.

My wife is a great person (better than myself in most aspects) and also a great writer expressing her thoughts. She did admit it does get tiring trying to keep up with who she has told what, and where she was at in the process. This way, through this website, people who wanted to view what was going on with her would get notificiations via e-mail if my wife updated her "blog" on the subject per her and breast cancer. It was a GREAT way to keep all family and friends updated. She's also shared it for support groups so women can she what she went through. If you wife is interested in the read, let me know via PM.

Per the tomoxifen, getting sick wasn't my wife's issue, it had other things it was doing to her body, like swelling and sever aches. My wife, being the technical/analytical person she is, ran her own test and had myself verify what was happening to her body on and off the drug. It was just interesting how the oncologists office informed her that it was NO WAY it could be the medication they were giving her, only to find out two friends had the same issue. One of those people went to Texas of all places to look at an non traditional alternative, and I believe he is a doctor himself (I know his wife is).

My wife has come to the conclusion that with cancer there are no guaranteed odds, and it seems the medical profession can "scare" you into doing what they want you to do. She (my wife) has now been on a interesting journey looking at alternative medicinces for cancers that actually have some interesting results, but that medicine is neither endorsed by the traditional medical association nor is it coverered by insurance. Seems unless your a big drug company supplying the medical profession, insurance really isn't interested.

Again, you aren't alone. Prayers for both you and your wife.

 

[Bird]

Per the tomoxifen, getting sick wasn't my wife's issue, it had other things it was doing to her body, like swelling and sever aches. My wife, being the technical/analytical person she is, ran her own test and had myself verify what was happening to her body on and off the drug. It was just interesting how the oncologists office informed her that it was NO WAY it could be the medication they were giving her, only to find out two friends had the same issue.

Yep, doctors seem to sometimes have a hard time believing the side effects of the medications they prescribe, even when such side effects are published. My doctor started me on daily statin pills (simvastatin, atorvastatin, pravastatin) more than 8 years ago. And for the last few years I've had aching arm muscles and joints, especially when I sit still or at night in bed. I first thought it was just age and arthritis, but finally got to reading and experimenting, and finally concluded it was just those statins. I don't think the doctor still believes it, and he doesn't know that I've quit taking those things. I may have high cholesterol, but at my age I figure that's better than the statin side effects.

 

[Sigarms]

Bird

After dealing with the medical community per my wifes issue, both my wife and I are coming to believe that the pharmaceutical companies play a bigger role in this than we thought possible.

I get the fact that money has to be spent for research and testing, but the amount of money spent on pills in our medical community in our nation is mind boggling.

My wife made the comment that if they ever found the cure for cancer, it would put a lot of people out of business or they wouldn't make the money they're now making.

Thanks to Jinman for starting this thread. RIP brother. In some ways, it's nice to think he's still with us with this thread still going.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm thinking about doing a blog from the male caregiver's perspective, what do you all think?

I think after following your writings here over the years, you'd be naturally good at it, and, it may help others that are or will have to deal with a similar situation in their lives. Plus, it might help you to write stuff down, cathartic, perhaps?

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I think after following your writings here over the years, you'd be naturally good at it, and, it may help others that are or will have to deal with a similar situation in their lives. Plus, it might help you to write stuff down, cathartic, perhaps?

Cathartic, most definitely!

Today is a pretty huge day in this journey. Hopefully today the drains will be removed and next week the chemo will start. The oncologist said we will start with four treatments separated by three weeks each. Then we will go on a weekly treatment schedule. She has Her2 positive cancer so she will be taking Herceptin and that treatment will be for 12 months.

Glenda and me seem to have had our pathes cross and we've exchanged trails. I've been bent to find out all I could and accepted the worst as the most probable outcome. She has been on the rosier trail ignoring the harsher facts. I'm now more inclined to do the most with what we have and depend upon the experts. The reality of the situation hit her in the last couple of days and it has made her very emotional.

I believe we will do what we have always done with adversity, we'll grab hands, match our step, and continue forward with optimism and humor.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Great idea.

Let your wife know about caringbridge if she doesn't already. My wife found out about it after her diagnosis. It's a site that allows a person to write down their journey, and you can give access to only those you'd like with a username and password.

My wife is a great person (better than myself in most aspects) and also a great writer expressing her thoughts. She did admit it does get tiring trying to keep up with who she has told what, and where she was at in the process. This way, through this website, people who wanted to view what was going on with her would get notificiations via e-mail if my wife updated her "blog" on the subject per her and breast cancer. It was a GREAT way to keep all family and friends updated. She's also shared it for support groups so women can she what she went through. If you wife is interested in the read, let me know via PM.

Per the tomoxifen, getting sick wasn't my wife's issue, it had other things it was doing to her body, like swelling and sever aches. My wife, being the technical/analytical person she is, ran her own test and had myself verify what was happening to her body on and off the drug. It was just interesting how the oncologists office informed her that it was NO WAY it could be the medication they were giving her, only to find out two friends had the same issue. One of those people went to Texas of all places to look at an non traditional alternative, and I believe he is a doctor himself (I know his wife is).

My wife has come to the conclusion that with cancer there are no guaranteed odds, and it seems the medical profession can "scare" you into doing what they want you to do. She (my wife) has now been on a interesting journey looking at alternative medicinces for cancers that actually have some interesting results, but that medicine is neither endorsed by the traditional medical association nor is it coverered by insurance. Seems unless your a big drug company supplying the medical profession, insurance really isn't interested.

Again, you aren't alone. Prayers for both you and your wife.

We will look into caringbridge this week.

We were talking this summer in the mountains camping off grid about doing a blog with both of us contributing. I would be the crazy artist and she would be the caregiver. LOL

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Bird

After dealing with the medical community per my wifes issue, both my wife and I are coming to believe that the pharmaceutical companies play a bigger role in this than we thought possible.

I get the fact that money has to be spent for research and testing, but the amount of money spent on pills in our medical community in our nation is mind boggling.

My wife made the comment that if they ever found the cure for cancer, it would put a lot of people out of business or they wouldn't make the money they're now making.

Thanks to Jinman for starting this thread. RIP brother. In some ways, it's nice to think he's still with us with this thread still going.

I too have been looking at alternative cancer treatments over this last year because the doctors wanted me to start Enbrel injections last year for my arthritis pain. He said to plan to start the first of Nov 2014 and that was the first of Aug.

Having read getting off sugar could help with pain I tried to taper off for two months and FAILED. 30 days before I was to start on Enbrel I left all grains and most all sugars COLD turkey. By my doc appointment 30 days later my plan levels had dropped from 7-8 range to 2-3 so I told him NO to Enbrel injections. He thought I was crazy and dismissed me.

Now over a year later my pain is still managed be leaving off all grains and most all forms of sugars. I have lost another 30 pounds without ever going hungry and my blood numbers have improved greatly.

Because I was going to start on Enbrel knowing the cancer, etc risks were high I had started to studying alternative cancer prevention/cures from around the world where the AMA union is not in control. Most of what I learned came out of practices in Germany and Japan for the most part. After to losing a friend to pancreatic cancer I went full bore on research and implementation of cancer protocols on myself and so far none that I have tested have hurt my health but all seemed to have boosted my immune system.

The first one was using BioBran (Japan) that has been on the market for about 20 years with real research behind it. I still take it as it boost one's natural ability to kill cancer cells. In the USA it is sold under the the name PeakImmune4. Google on BioBran for more about how the produce works medically speaking.

The last protocol involves Apricot (bitter/raw) seeds and Wobenzym N enzymes from Germany. Apricot seed usage is very Controversial to say the least and I do not promote them. Based on some research out of Japan it was reported it would take more than 30-50 bitter raw seeds a day to trigger side effects. The amygdalin in them has been researched quite well with mixed published papers and is the reason I think people need become very well read on the subject before eating them to say the least.

Now the Wobenzym N is another story. It was developed in the USA starting in the 50's by Dr. Wolfe and another person. He started the production and testing phase in Germany to sidestep the FDA I read. This brand of mainly plant based enzymes has been on the market for 40 years and is very popular with MD's outside if the USA. There is like 40+ double blind, placebo controlled studies in print on Wobenzym so one can know what he or she can expect from this product to treat/cure many diseases including cancer. There has been no toxicity reported at any level of usage. It was reported one person did eat 2700 tablets and develop the need to be nearby a bathroom for a day or two.

Wobenzym is just a blend of systemic enzymes from different food sources you will see if you google the subject.

After researching cancer cures for over a year now I did just watch the Ty Bollinger video series call Truth about Cancer that covered a lot of stuff I had just learned over the past year.

Warning: Cancer is a word that triggers one's emotions most often. Where one is talking with a local MD or someone promoting alternative treatments take the time to do some reading and research before leaping into the deep end of the pool so to speak is my suggestion. We are told most any cancer detected has been in us for the last 7-15 years so another 24, 240 or even 2400 hours may not require any action treatment wise. Getting our wits about us is a good thing I think. While cut, burn and poison has been used in the USA since WWII there are other treatments in Europe and Asia that are medically interesting to me.

At this point in time curing cancer is a wild card based my mind/research.

However at this point in time I think cancer is 98% preventable after 15 months of research after I had to personally come face to face with the real risks of cancer and just watching a friend die from cancer over a long period of time. Now at the age of 64 did I start too late on preventing cancer is still unknown.

Feeding a kid in a way that can lead to Type 2 diabetes we are told can increase the risk of cancer in that kid down the road by 300%. This is something we can teach the kids, grandkids that can help.

Because we know cancer can only feed on sugar (carbs) and not on fats makes it simple to cut our risks of getting or curing cancer.

With full health of our immune systems it seems is the best way to prevent cancer of most any type. Getting our Vit D levels up into the 70-90 range and help control cancer growth per some I have read.

I may die of cancer some day but I no longer fear cancer.

 

[Sigarms]

GH

I went with my wife yesterday to a integrative medical office (the doctor there is a MD but gave up on "traditional medicine" some time ago).

You and my wife now sound very similar.

My wife has told me if she would of known then what she knows now, she would of taken a completely different approach.

My wife is 100% certain she won't go on the tomoxefin now.

The best way I can be supportive is by changing my diet at this point in time. I will admit, it was very interesting listening to this doctors "orientation" (per integrative medicine). It's also interesting how insurance plays into what people generally do and don't do. My wife also noted that it was interesting that if something was deemed a "cure", it was regulated by the FDA.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

The drains came out today and we start chemo Monday. Before the surgery the oncologist had said that we wouldn't start until after Thanksgiving because a week or so wouldn't matter and it would be nice for her to have the holiday uninterrupted. Yesterday he told us we would start the chemo immediately after the drains were removed. But Monday? Evidently he learned something that motivated him to get the fire hose out instead of the yard hose.

She is getting a special bra tomorrow. I volunteered to take her to the appointment but she demurred. She said I would be embarrassed. I laughed at about me being embarrassed. She then told me that having me in the store would make other women uncomfortable. So an old friend is going to take her instead.

Yesterday was pretty tough on her. Then today she met some women with a much tougher row to hoe and she has decided she's got this.