Being Called Back After a Mammogram

What happens when you get the call that further tests are needed after your normal annual mammogram? It happened to me. (If you need to catch up on my story, you can read this and this.) So there I was in the waiting room, just having had another series of views of my left breast. I fidgeted with the various magazines on the table and wrapped my too-large gown closer around my body. It was cold. I was told that the images would be read immediately and then someone would come and tell me if an ultrasound were needed. That … Continue reading →

Soy and Hot Flashes

If you have suffered from hot flashes, you know you would give almost anything for a cure. Some say soy is the answer while others say no. I know when I first started experiencing hot flashes, I tried soy milk. Actually, it didn’t taste that bad, but then the hot flashes subsided a bit and I quit drinking it. But, did it work? One study at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine said that soy isoflavone supplements didn’t work. Researchers spent $3 million and two years following women ages 45 to 60 within five years of menopause. The … Continue reading →

Lifestyle and Menopause

I had always heard a woman can judge when menopause will occur based on when her mother went through it. I, however, don’t have that luxury because my mother died before going through menopause. And, I also think I have read that that’s an old wives tale anyhow. So what can we know about menopause and when it will hit us? If a new study is correct, the lifestyle we lead in our early years can dictate when menopause occurs. The study was conducted at the Institute of Cancer Research in the United Kingdom by Dr. Danielle Morris and colleagues. … Continue reading →

Getting Some Breast Answers and the Next Steps

Getting a late morning call to come back in to the radiology department after I had just been there for a routine mammogram was very unsettling. It took until the next day to get some answers from my doctor’s office. My doctor’s nurse called the next day, and I missed the call. I had taken my kids to the library and the park. Life goes on, right? I did feel less inclined to run around through the maze of the playground and more inclined to sit in the sun and read a book. Inevitably, though, there are one or two … Continue reading →

What is Going on with My Breast?

I debated about writing this post, giving away too much information, but then I thought that however things unfold, the post might help another woman. I am further inspired by all of the courage and candidness of my fellow blogger, Tammy, whose own journeys through cancer have helped many, I’m sure. So here goes. Yesterday morning I had a routine mammogram. My doctor prefers screening annually after the age of 40. A couple of hours later, I received a call at home from the radiology department. “Mrs. Romans, the radiologist wants to take another look at your left breast. We … Continue reading →

Menopause and Mental Fog

My best friend and I both turn 49 this year. After discussing our various aches and pains, our phone conversations often turn to “Do you ever feel like you are losing your mind?” We usually discuss how we can see a word in our mind, but can’t say it or we just can’t remember someone’s name that we know we know. We discuss whether we need some type of testing, and then write it off to menopause. As it turns out, we may be right. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago finished up a study recently that shows … Continue reading →

When Hot Flashes Don’t Mean Menopause

While we usually associate hot flashes with menopause and peri-menopause, they are sometimes caused by other conditions and factors. If you are experiencing hot flashes and don’t suspect the cause to be a normal sign of aging, you might be right. There are many non-menopausal causes of hot flashes. What Are Hot Flashes? Hot flashes are usually characterized by a sudden, intense, hot feeling on your face and upper body. The hot flash may also be accompanied by other symptoms, such as sweating, a rapid heartbeat ,nausea, dizziness, anxiety, a headache, a weakness, or even a feeling of suffocation. Usually, … Continue reading →

Can Menopause Affect You at Work?

As if those of us staring menopause in the face need any more bad news… A recent study may show a connection between menopause, a decline in work, and an increase in sick days. The study was conducted by researchers at the Nij Smellinghe Hospital in Drachten, the Netherlands. Approximately 200 women between the ages of 44 and 60 who either worked at the hospital or a close by home-care organization were included in the study. The study tested something called “work ability.” That is, how one’s job demands correlate with her abilities and how that may predict her job … Continue reading →

More Fun With Menopause

When you are a breast cancer patient and you tell your doctor that you are experiencing menopausal symptoms they tell you they cannot give you any of the hormone replacement therapies that they give non-cancer patients. The reason they cannot give cancer patients hormone replacement therapy is that there are a lot of cancers that feed on and grow from hormones. Giving any hormones; even artificial ones; is not a good idea. This was great news for me and my poor husband and kids. They get to deal with the moody mom for who knows how long. The doctor did … Continue reading →

Chemo Induced Menopause

I was reading a fellow blogger’s entries about menopause and it got me thinking that I had not talked much about the chemo induced menopause that I went through. OK where to start? When I was getting ready to start chemo therapy I did a lot of research on it and read that it could possibly put me into menopause. I mentioned it to my oncologist and he said well yeah that is a possibility. Well did he not think to tell me about that? Could it be because he is a guy and just did not think about it? … Continue reading →