<p>And good grief – I sure hope you’re not going to work today. You were up until 3:00 AM citing all your – your – citations. Get some sleep, girl.</p>
<p>You <em>must</em> be feeling better. Isn’t it nice to stay up all night arguing with people on the internet instead of staying up all night worrying about a lump? ;)</p>
<p>[xkcd:</a> Duty Calls](<a href=“http://xkcd.com/386/]xkcd:”>xkcd: Duty Calls)</p>
<p>Donna, I rarely post, but I always read. I worried last year when you were sick. And rejoiced with your happiness with the new apartment, with J’s visit, and when Ziggy didn’t get sick from the broken light bulb near the food dish. What I’m trying to say is please know you have many, many friend here in the CC Cafe. More than you know. I wish you a wonderful holiday season, and a bright, happy, AND healthy New Year.</p>
<p>That’s a really nice post, marigold :)</p>
<p>Donna – You go, girl! Ditto what Marigold said.</p>
<p>I am in the medical field, and while I think it helps to understand the terminology and know what questions to ask, it by no means qualifies me as expert. As my children have gotten older a number of issues have come up and I will ask them as I dont really dont know how things are viewed. For example we have had a number of discussions about the way being gay was viewed in my generation as opposed to now. THINGS CHANGE as people and cultures evolve(hopefully) My D always keeps me up to date and helps me to understand. I have had breast cancer 3 times and I would be very irate if someone told me (who hasnt had it or worked with it) how it feels or how I should be. I think Donna is the expert in this case on her physical being. I cant tell you the times I have had to “teach” my gyn on my issues as a result of BC and treatment. If they dont deal with it everyday, they dont know necessarily.
Anyway ignore it Donna, so glad you dont have cancer and can have a happy holiday!</p>
<p>I beg to differ, people are more involved in their care and have broader knowledge than ever before. some people do not want to know about their illnesses, most do. In order to advocate for yourself you need to know exactly what your issues are. I dont know what your capacity is but you cant be very effective with anybody you work with , because you dont respect them. Trust me I know more than i ever wanted to know about the breast cancers Ihave had. Donna knows more than you or I would know about her issues as well. I think she is the expert on what the current terms are.
Actually this is a wonderful community, except for a few spoilers. Yes I agree sad.</p>
<p>Marigold, that was so sweet of you to say. I’m really touched.</p>
<p>Donna, I don’t know what happened between you and your doctor, but I had a very rare cancer (chondrosarcoma, 800 cases/year in the whole US), and I have found that I need to be extremely aware of research and followup–because I know more than my doctor. She simply doesn’t have the time or resources to learn about EVERYTHING. </p>
<p>There’s an old saying in science: if you hear hoofbeats, it’s probably not a zebra. My cancer and your surgery are both zebras, however, and that means we need to make doctors aware that those hoofbeats they hear might not be horses…</p>
<p>So glad to hear that it’s NOT cancer. I was worried.</p>
<p>Medical Zebra here, too. Spent a year being misdiagnosed before someone finally ran a CBC and saw my white count was through the roof and I was dealing with an orphan disease (i.e., one that is very rare). Have to educate my docs all the time. I have learned over the past few years that I am the only one who cares that all the dots are connected and various contraindications/complications addressed. Noone will ever care more about your health and well-being than you!</p>
<p>Donna, hoping that all the current medical issues are easily resolved and that you have a wonderful holiday break with your S!</p>
<p>" I have learned over the past few years that I am the only one who cares that all the dots are connected and various contraindications/complications addressed. Noone will ever care more about your health and well-being than you!"</p>
<p>That is so incredibly true. I tell you, we have all heard horror stories. A dear ex-neighbor of mine recently died from uterine cancer. When talking to one of her current neighbors, that person told me that she had gone to the doctor with heavy bleeding about 4 months prior. The doctor said, oh that’s the start of menopause, here’s some pills to control it (menopause in her mid forties)?</p>
<p>When I googled “heavy bleeding menopause” over 100,000 sites came up. And every one that I looked at told me “Heavy bleeding is not a sign of menopause. It is a common sign of UTERINE CANCER.” It took me about a minute to find that out. She has three sweet children that are now being raised by their father alone.</p>
<p>To reiterate Countingdowns quote, “No one will ever care more about your health and well-being than you!”</p>