@Quarter Note I'm sorry that you find yourself in this situation. As someone who was diagnosed with stage 2b breast cancer a little over two years ago, I remember well the stress of processing the diagnoses and making so many decisions. I can also assure you that you can do this. There are brighter days ahead. Have you met with your surgeon yet? My first visit with my breast surgeon did so much to calm me. We had a plan and I felt more in control. The waiting really is the hardest part. Have you heard yet about the hormone receptor and her2 status of your tumor? ETA: Sorry, I just reread your post and see that you are already scheduled for surgery.

Oats and shelf stable almond milk might be good to add to your list. Also, have you looked into freeze dried food?

Pinterest showed this to me today. I found several nutritious, inexpensive recipes that I'll try soon. https://healthychristianhome.com/ways-to-use-rice-beans-pasta/

Yay! I'm so glad to hear that! There is a section on the breastcancer.org forum for benign breast conditions. That might be a helpful place to get information and post questions. https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/148

I'm sorry that you are in this situation. Many women who have had breast cancer will tell you that the waiting is the hardest part. Over the next few days give yourself permission to do whatever you need to do to get through the wait- take walks, binge watch your favorite shows, play games with your family, whatever works for you.

Even if the moderators don't catch it, our host has asked us not to engage in political posts on this forum. We can be good guests and honor her request.

There is no good screening for ovarian cancer, so it is usually not discovered until it is advanced. Also my surgeon told me that cancer is already present in 5-10% of prophylactic oopherectomies of women with a brca mutation.

My sister with a brca2 mutation but no cancer got a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction at age 54 and it was covered by her insurance.

If they like paper crafts, then they may enjoy making things with chenille sticks.

I'm sorry. This whole thing has been so hard for many people. When I got my second shot in April, I was so happy. I thought covid was coming to an end. It has been disheartening to realize how wrong I was. My family also has tickets to see Wicked in a few weeks in Dallas. We are all fully vaxxed and everyone in the theater will be masked. At the moment we are not changing our plans. I haven't seen any evidence that sitting masked and vaxxed in an audience puts people at high risk for covid transmission. If data comes in that days otherwise, we'll reevaluate our plans. We have a list of musicals that we are planning to take our girls to over the next several months. We're not buying our tickets in advance because of covid uncertainty.

My freeze dryer arrived two months ago and I love it! The quality of our food storage has gone way up. Dh and I have greatly increased our fruit and veggie consumption too.

I'm in the northern part of Tarrant County. I read about the Motor Speedway site the day after I signed up in my county. I wish I would have waited and signed up in your county because we're just a few miles south of the speedway. It looks like your county in getting lots of doses, probably because you have such an efficient way to distribute them.

My tier is open. I registered with my county two and a half weeks ago and I'm waiting for them to schedule my appointment. I was told it would take 3-4 weeks so I should hear from them soon.

Yay! That's wonderful news! I look forward to hearing that your liver ultrasound is also clear.

I so sorry that you are overwhelmed and scared. I highly recommend breastcancer.org to women who are facing more breast images or biopsy. There is an active forum, including a sections for women who are not diagnosed, but concerned. You can post your questions there, and very wise, experienced women will answer them. You may find it helpful to know that the majority of women who are called back for further imaging are then told that everything is fine. Mammograms can't get a clear image of everything, so sometimes further imaging is needed. If your spots are cysts, the ultrasound should reveal that. Even if you are asked to return for a biopsy, know that the majority of breast biopsies are benign. Radiologists will recommend a biopsy for any spot that is more than 2% suspicious for cancer. Waiting for tests and results can be so stressful. I recommend that you take walks, watch funny shows or movies, and enjoy the people you love. You have permission to spoil yourself during this process. Dr. Google is not your friend right now. Once again I recommend breastcancer.org for any questions you have. Besides the community, the have an extensive collection of doctor approved articles that you can search. I wish you the best!

For me it was easy because I had breast cancer and my nurse navigator highly recommended breastcancer.org. I was high risk for another kind of cancer and found a forum by googling "(name of cancer) forum" or "(name of cancer) community." For other less common cancers, I'm would imagine your local cancer resource center would be able to point you in the right direction.

I found it helpful to join a forum for people with my kind of cancer. I was in a group that all started chemo the same month and another group for radiation. I appreciated the opportunity to give and receive support from people who were going through the same thing.

I got the shingles vax and flu shot at the same time. I had a fever the next day but it lasted less than 24hrs. I didn't have any problem with the second shot. I'm glad I got the vax!

Thank you for your responses! Sounds like we got a dud and we're returning it.

We just bought a toaster oven/ air fryer and my first attempt at making sweet potato chips has failed. The chips turned out limp and soft except in the places that they are burned. They were cut very thin, and I'm sure that I set the oven correctly. My husband wondered if the fan was not working because we couldn't hear it. We think we need to take it back but I'd like to make sure we're using it right first. Any insights?

Ewwwww! No sink? 😲

Praying

Okay, thanks! Sounds like we're both anastrozole newbies. My oncologist told me there is something she can give me if I start to lose bone density. I can't remember what it's called, but she said that studies show that it reduces the chance of bone metastasis. For now I'm just taking a calcium pill that I bought at the grocery store.

Dd was a blessing in disguise last year.

Do you mind if I ask how long have you been on anastrozole? Was your bone density okay before you started the meds? I started taking it three months ago. I had a good bone density scan right before I started, but I'm concerned about bone loss.