Life expectancy thoughts

You get diagnosed with cancer and saving for retirement gets lower down the list of important things to do. Then you get diagnosed with cancer again and it really becomes less important and sometimes even slips into the category of  'why bother'.

But then you bounce back and start thinking long term again, slower than before, but still making plans seems worth while. Or should I just save my money and have a really huge party for my memorial service propped up in the corner in a casket?

Life expectancy charts are for other people because with a couple of cancer diagnoses and friends dying from cancer around you, your life expectancy is different.

That is the little chain of thoughts in my head.

Then I find out that rheumatoid arthritis no longer affects life expectancy as much as it once did but can put a damper on it.

Then I found an online life expectancy calculator. It does not ask how many times I have had cancer only if first degree relatives have had certain types of cancer. It says I have a 75% chance of making it to 83, a 50% chance of making it to 94 and a 25% chance of making it to 102. But since it does not take into account all my health issues, you may call me skeptical. 

So where does that leave me? I don't really know. I'm still here and I guess I am happy with that.

Changes

I am going on vacation again (and a note to burglars - my husband is not and will stay home and be protected by the cat while I am gone). This time I am going with a friend who I have often vacationed with over the years and have known for more than 30 years (now I feel old). We have gone on various adventures in the Northeast and Midwest over the years. These have included a trip to Duluth (with a Deliverance moment), a trip to Bayfield, WI and to see the headwaters of the Mississippi in Itaska, MN.

Just last year we went (with our men - they are not always allowed) to Boothbay Harbor, ME and took a day trip to Monhegan Island where my husband and I hiked all over.

This week we are heading to Burlington VT to look for soap makers, cheese  makers, yarn, glass blowers, potters and weavers and will stop at Basketville and Webs on the way home.

In the past we have been relatively energetic and able to do things like go for a walk and go shopping without a break in between. The difference is that this year I do not have the energy and strength I had last year to do much. This will be a change. I will not be up to not nearly as much activity.

I have realized my body has changed significantly in the past year. I am not able to do what I used to. I have to take a lot more breaks and rest a lot more. I went from feeling like a 30 something most of the time to feeling like a 70 something way too often.

I know its part of getting older by  my aging went way too fast.

Life expectancy thoughts

You get diagnosed with cancer and saving for retirement gets lower down the list of important things to do. Then you get diagnosed with cancer again and it really becomes less important and sometimes even slips into the category of  'why bother'.

But then you bounce back and start thinking long term again, slower than before, but still making plans seems worth while. Or should I just save my money and have a really huge party for my memorial service propped up in the corner in a casket?

Life expectancy charts are for other people because with a couple of cancer diagnoses and friends dying from cancer around you, your life expectancy is different.

That is the little chain of thoughts in my head.

Then I find out that rheumatoid arthritis no longer affects life expectancy as much as it once did but can put a damper on it.

Then I found an online life expectancy calculator. It does not ask how many times I have had cancer only if first degree relatives have had certain types of cancer. It says I have a 75% chance of making it to 83, a 50% chance of making it to 94 and a 25% chance of making it to 102. But since it does not take into account all my health issues, you may call me skeptical. 

So where does that leave me? I don't really know. I'm still here and I guess I am happy with that.

I overslept or life with fibro and RA

What an exciting blog post you say? She over slept. She is boring. Well I never claimed to live an exciting life. I really don't. I am boring in general - except for the medical stuff. My life is a veritable snooze button.

Yesterday I was exhausted. I mean I worked longer than I normally do and felt exhausted. I drove myself to the gym and actually worked out - through some miracle. I came home and put on my pjs and got in bed at 5pm. I did get up and eat some left overs around 7, watched Jeopardy and was back in bed at 8. Then we  overslept.

I did not hear the alarm go off repeatedly. My husband is in charge of the snooze alarm. We only over slept by about 30 minutes but that has a (what's the word I want - one little issue turns into giant ones?) effect. No homemade lunches today. My husband got a pear for breakfast. I will have a banana and yogurt which I will eat either in the car (the banana) or when I get to work (yogurt) - it is not possible to eat yogurt and drive.

I was looking for an excuse to get take out for lunch today anyway and now I have it.

One of the advantages of my current job is that I can make my own schedule so I won't technically be late. The biggest problem in my commute is school buses,  Once I motivate I can get out of here fairly quickly.

Because of fibromyalgia and RA I need a lot of naps. I did too much for the past few days and ran out of nap time. Even if I don't nap, I need time to lie down and do nothing to recover from grocery shopping or something.

The fatigue levels I hit are pretty amazing. Sort of like being back in chemo again where napping and sitting around in a daze were considered quality life. But the Fibro/RA lifestyle does not allow the fatigue to go away, ever.

I am still lying in bed - but I have read my email, caught up on FB, and am now blogging so I am productive - drinking coffee. Shortly I will hop in the shower, go to work, then the farmers market, and then get my nails done. That will require a brief nap before going out to dinner to celebrate.

Today is my birthday (I'm 37 if you must know, but I was 37 last year and the year before and the year before...) and we are going to celebrate. Out to dinner tonight so I have to be able to stay up until 8 pm.

I used to think when I hit 40 I would start opening up about my cancer, but I didn't. Procrastination at its finest. Why do something now when you can put it off for 20 years? Then I said when I hit 50 I would. But life interfered and I got breast cancer and started opening up much earlier.

Now I think everyone in the world knows how unhealthy I am and I appreciate birthdays more. But I don't believe changing the number is important each year - its just one more thing to remember in life - so I used to be 29 and then I eventually moved on to 37. At some point I'll pick another age an stick with that one.

But in the meantime, I will enjoy my life with fibro fog, RA pains, chemobrain, and celebrate the day, now that I finally woke up.

Too many of us aging

We are getting older so will there be enough doctors to care for us?  Especially for cancer care?

And will we understand our options?

Us baby boomers need to stop aging to doctors can catch up with us. We are reaching the, and I quote, 'tumor prone years' as a generation. (I hope I have already had my share of tumors, thank you.)

In addition, oncology is a quickly evolving medicine these days - personalized medicine being on the forefront - as scientists are racing to find a cure for cancer. The doctors have lots to keep up on.

Patients do too. They need to stay informed on their options and understand what treatments are curative (good word) vs. which are palliative (bad word). We need new ways to help patients understand their options.

Finally treatments are getting more complex and not necessarily very helpful. "Of 13 cancer treatments approved by the FDA last year, only one was proven to extend survival by more than a median of six months, the report said. The drugs all cost more than $5,900 for each month of treatment."

Ouch! (That's over $70,000 per year... but wait no one is living long enough to take it for a year.)

Finally, here is a list of recommended questions for patients facing a cancer diagnosis:

• How long does the average person with this cancer live?
• What is my likelihood of a cure?
• If I cannot be cured, will I live longer with treatment? How much longer?
• Will this care directly treat the cancer?
• What are the side effects?
• Am I eligible for trials?

If your health team does not have answers, “you need to find another set of providers,” Ganz said.

So if we all could just stop aging, and let the medical world catch up, we might be better off. I am still 37 so I am doing my part.