Posted by ItsMe123 on 5/23/05 3:44pm
Msg #39762

Not Notary Related---For the ladies must read--men good too

Hi all--hope all is well

This may be considered to be a post that is "not notary realted" and it is just that. However, I am posting it anyway. The reason is that all the women here seem to busy ladies and probably spend a great time of time taking care of everyone else's issues and not enough time taking care of their own. If this defines you, please read this. If you are a man and it describes you also, please read it and translate my message subsituting "female heath" into "men's health"---you know, the private parts. Listen to your body and take the time to investigate what it might be telling you.

Ladies, Ladies, Ladies, I know we all hate the "female health checkup" and we think of a million reasons to not make appointments, to cancel our appointments and to sometimes ignore what our bodies might be telling us. I am begging all of you to not do this and find yourselves where it looks like my mother is now.

My mother, who is a nurse no less, is post-menopausal and is on hormone therapy. She had some bleeding awhile back back and it went away so she paid no regards to it. Well the bleeding started up again and it was "so annoying" she went to her ob/gyn late last week. Now we are looking at a possible diagnois of uterine cancer. The ultrasound doesn't look good and the MRI isn't good either. Tomorrow AM she has surgery and we will know alot more. She now thinks of her fatigue and the "bloated" feeling that she has had that she notices most when wearing a seatblet. She also realizes that maybe taking ibuforen for her ongoing side pain without consulting her doctor probably wasn't in her best interest. This is the same lady that rides and rides her four children about getting this and that checked out. At this point we are praying for a diagnois of fibroids. Please ladies, if you have beening "skipping" those dreaded pelvic exams, stop right now and call and make an appointment or do it FIRST thing tomorrow morning. Men if you haven't had the prostate and the other male parts examed, stop and make that appointment for a physical.

Make and keep the appointments---If you really want to do something for the children you love and spend all your time and effort on, do this for them. Although we appreciate everything our mother does for us and her grandchildren, we really wish above all else, she would have taken a moment for herself and made and kept the appointment.

Please send a prayer up for us. She is a wonderful woman and we want to be able to have her with us as long as God wills.

Reply by SamIam_CA on 5/23/05 3:56pm
Msg #39772

Best wishes and healing prayers to your mom and your family!

Reply by ERNA_CA on 5/23/05 3:56pm
Msg #39773

My prayers are with you and your family. Taking hormones is a no no. I would never conceder it. After subscribing hormone therapy for women for many years they are saying now that it could course cancer. Menopause is a natural thing and women have dealt with it through the ages. NOW LADIES DON'T SLAP ME LOL!!!...Hormons for life stock, hormones for women. Its messing with nature and can have all kinds of adverse effects.

Reply by ItsMe123 on 5/23/05 4:33pm
Msg #39796

Regarding Horomone replacement

Erna

Why I can respect your opinion, I must take exception to it. There are many medical procedures/medications that function to increase the quality of life for conditions that have been "dealt with for ages". Adminsitering pain meds during a birth, viagara for impotence (that has been shown again and again to be dangerous to the cardiovascular system), are just 2 I can name off the bat. There are also meds that are shown to act as a preventative nature for one cancer but may increase the chances of another-- tamoxifen--for example. Tamoxifen is known as a preventative med for breat cancer but is known to increase the odds of other cancers and also places one at risk for blod clots. Medicine is a practice of the risk to benefit ratio.

Horomone Replacement Therapy is not just for comfort by any means. HRT significantly decreases cardiovascular disease in women and cardiovascular diease is the number one killer in women. It also greatly helps with osteoporosis, reducing hip fracutes a whooping 25%. HRT is no made to be a "life long drug". It is made for 5 years or less. While I do agree HRT does increase risk in some aspects of diease, it is shown the risk to benefit ratio for women using HRT for less than 5 years can greatly improve their health in numerous areas.

I guess my point is that all too many want to call HRT a medicine that is used soley to quiet the symptoms of menopuse but that is just one of the benefits it brings to women. It is between a woman and her doctor and it depends on her overall health picture and the things she is at risk for.

Would one tell a woman that is at high risk for breast cancer to not use tamoxifen when it has been shown to increase the odds of other cancers? It is all risk to benefit--a roll of the dice with a hope one doesn't "crap out"

Best Regards

Reply by ERNA_CA on 5/23/05 7:05pm
Msg #39854

Re: Regarding Horomone replacement

Yes its to each his or her own when it comes to medicine. We can only make decisions for our selfs and after looking at all the pros and cons, hopefully make the right dissuasion. I only decide for me and that was just my feelings on the subject. Personally I don't take anything unless my life depends on it. Hormone therapy is something that might enhance your life through menopause and also help with other things, but in my opinion it is double important to look at the risks as well as the benefit's. I was horrified at what a doctor described for my sons condition, he was better off finding alternatives. Its our life and well being so we best not make hasty decisions. It just scares me that Doctors usually don't explain the side effects of drugs.

Reply by JanetK/CA on 5/24/05 2:11am
Msg #39943

Re: Regarding Horomone replacement

Whatever your mother's diagnosis, I wish a good outcome for her -- and that she has the loving support of her family, whatever ordeal she faces! And good for you for bringing up a very important subject... (Don't forget annual mammograms after 40 and monthly self-exams even for the very young!)

Regarding HRT, you are right that it's all a question of risk/benefit, but I disagree with your comparison to Tamoxifen. The increased risk of uterine cancer from Tamoxifen is very slim (in the area of 1%), and similar for blood clots, while the benefit for prevention of breast cancer (or recurrence) is *very* significant. Similarly, the amount of benefit of HRT for cardiovascular disease I believe has been called into question in recent studies. It is certainly a quality of life issue and a decision a woman should make individually with her doctor's input, but I think it's a big mistake to minimize its risk or over emphasize its benefit. (BTW, there are other drugs out there that can help with osteoporosis, as well as other ways of achieving all the other benefits that might come from HRT.) Just my 2 cents...

Reply by Ernest_CT on 5/23/05 6:41pm
Msg #39843

Our prayers are with your mother and her family. Would you give us her first name?