Maxwell 35: Choosing The Right Vest For an Extended Family Member

[scoutsadie]

19 hours ago, usmcmom said:

Yes! Our tabby is the most loving kitty we’ve ever had. She is just all about cuddles and purrs. Our tuxedo cat is so SO goofy. He makes us laugh every day. 
@JermajestyDuggar your new furry friend is SOOOOO beautiful. 

Scout was a sassy tuxedo girl and Sadie was a cuddly brown tabby.

Congrats to you and Elliott both, @JermajestyDuggar ? ?

Edited February 26, 2020 by scoutsadie
moar

[Hane]

On 2/25/2020 at 8:20 AM, anachronistic said:

The Maxwells need to stop wrapping the babies in cheesecloth. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, it makes the baby look like a big toe wrapped in a bandage.

OMG. The blue cheesecloth makes the baby look exactly the way my big toe did when it was bandaged up after ingrown-toenail surgery.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Now I’m just going to call them bandaged toe babies in my head from now on. 

[SPHASH]

Still no word on Amish Anna.

[Giraffe]

2 hours ago, SPHASH said:

Still no word on Amish Anna.

I’m not surprised. They may need time to digest the results. 

[browngrl]

22 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

His name is Elliot

That is a very fine  name for what is clearly a very fine kitty or in the words of Trailer Park Boys "that's a fu*&ing nice kitty you have there" 

[HereticHick]

22 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

His name is Elliot

One of my colleagues has a feline headship named Eliot. Both sound like very good boys

[Queen Of Hearts]

1 hour ago, Giraffe said:

I’m not surprised. They may need time to digest the results. 

Yesterday Anna Marie posted that they had not received any results yet. Hoping that is still the case, and not that the news wasn't good and they are still digesting.

[JermajestyDuggar]

15 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

One of my colleagues has a feline headship named Eliot. Both sound like very good boys

He’s perfect for our family. He’s super friendly, playful, and puts up with manhandling by my kids. 

[theologygeek]

On 2/25/2020 at 12:47 PM, HereticHick said:

Me too. Although Holland Paine doubling as a some sort of floral centerpiece is a personal fave of mine. I hate-love it:  

 

Oh I love that picture and think it's so pretty!  I'd be afraid of it falling though.  

[Odd1Out]

14 minutes ago, theologygeek said:

Oh I love that picture and think it's so pretty!  I'd be afraid of it falling though.  

The photos look like they were done by a professional and in that case they would place a large pillow/bean bag just underneath the baby and it’s either cropped out of the shot or edited out. Most likely there are a pair of hands really close by that have been edited out. And possibly this shot is taken looking straight down on a flat surface and the baby is positioned so that it looks like it’s turned outward when really it turned upward and the eye is just fooled. 

[theologygeek]

1 minute ago, Odd1Out said:

The photos look like they were done by a professional and in that case they would place a large pillow/bean bag just underneath the baby and it’s either cropped out of the shot or edited out. Most likely there are a pair of hands really close by that have been edited out. And possibly this shot is taken looking straight down on a flat surface and the baby is positioned so that it looks like it’s turned outward when really it turned upward and the eye is just fooled. 

I figured there was either someone or something underneath.  Either that or it was on a flat surface.

[PennySycamore]

My first cat was a tuxedo.  There used to be a poster of a tuxie and it looked just like Nalley so naturally I had two copies of it: one at home and another on my dorm room wall.  We've had two white angoras (Molly II and Heidi). a regular black and white tuxedo (Ling-Ling). a dilute tortie (Bianca), a "morning coat" cat named Adagio and Snorpi, our brown tabby and white Maine Coon.  Daisy is our current cat and she's a regular, not dilute, tortie with plenty of tortitude.  

Molly the First was a black shorthair and Sylvester was a brown tabby.  My girls liked to put this blue doll's dress on Sylvester.  He looked just like Mrs Tabitha Twitchett from the Beatrix Potter books.   He didn't mind getting dressed up either.  He'd fall asleep wearing that dress.  A morning coat cat is what I call a grey and white tuxedo cat since a morning coat is often grey.  Ling-Ling, btw, was named after the National Zoo's panda because she, too, was black and white.  Ling-lIng wandered up to the house not long after we'd moved in so she became part of the family.  Interestingly, she was part Siamese as was Nalley.   I don't know if there is any correlation, but cat coat genetics is so fascinating.  

[HoneyBunny]

I was surprised when Anna posted that they would have pathology results in 1-2 days, only because I waited much longer (like 2 weeks) to receive my full results and recommended course of treatment. I hope this just means they’re too busy praising and celebrating to take the time for an update.  
 

Waiting is the worst part of cancer, I think. I just came from my diagnostic mammogram. After the first four images and waiting, the radiologist ordered five more images of the breast that had cancer and specifically my lumpectomy site. Those additional 8 minutes of waiting were hard; I guess it’s no surprise that Anna entered my thoughts in that timeframe. But I am fine, all is well and we’ll be happy dancing tonight. 

[OhNoNike]

She has posted an update.   I’d been checking all day and accidentally clicked on it.

Stage II

The important parts (minus the biblical stuff):

Spoiler

We just met with our family doctor and learned the basics of my pathology. It is Stage II cancer; it sounds like it was just beginning to spread to the lymph nodes, and margins may be questionable. “Margins” refers to how much clean tissue surrounded the tumor when the surgeon removed it. Because of its size and location, mine had a very small margin—but we don’t yet know if that means there were cancer cells left. 

The good news is that it sounds like this type of cancer is fairly responsive to treatment. We have an appointment with our oncologist on Monday and will find out more information and next steps from there.

Meanwhile, my recovery from the surgery continues to go well. The doctor said the incision is looking good, and my pain has been minimal. We’ve been blessed with lots of help which makes it easier that I’m not able to use my arm normally quite yet. My parents and sister arrived yesterday. It was special to introduce them to Simon Peter, and we are enjoying having them around.

 

Edited February 27, 2020 by OhNoNike

[anjulibai]

I'm glad it's only stage 2 and that it's a type responsive to treatment. Hopefully the treatment won't be too hard on Anna. 

[SPHASH]

Stage 2 is better than Stage 4 but still disconcerting.  If anything good comes out of this is that all the Maxwomen start getting mammograms and pelvic exams and the men get tested for prostate and testicular cancer.  Glad to see Amish Anna's family came to visit.

Edited February 28, 2020 by SPHASH
ETA

[Dandruff]

2 hours ago, SPHASH said:

Stage 2 is better than Stage 4 but still disconcerting.  If anything good comes out of this is that all the Maxwomen start getting mammograms and pelvic exams and the men get tested for prostate and testicular cancer.  Glad to see Amish Anna's family came to visit.

Doubt any of them would get pelvic exams, at least before marriage, and who knows if that will ever happen.

[Bethy]

18 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

Doubt any of them would get pelvic exams, at least before marriage, and who knows if that will ever happen.

Yes, I'm sure they would view pelvic exams as only necessary if one is sexually active.

Never mind that the same appointment would also provide a breast exam, and if I'm understanding risk factors correctly, the unmarrieds are at higher risk because they've never had a chance to give birth and breastfeed.

(Obviously birthing and breastfeeding didn't prevent it for Anna...but statistically...)

[HoneyBunny]

Stage 2 is far, far better than Stage 4, but it will be interesting if she posts on the blog whether it has gone into her lymph nodes. Also, it sounds like the surgeon got all that she could, but the margins might not be negative. If those two things (lymph node involvement and no negative margins) are confirmed, chemo is a very real possibility. 
 

If she ends up on tamoxifen, will they use birth control to prevent pregnancies for the next five years or so?  Real life isn’t as black and white as Steve and Teri might like to think it is. 

[freethemall]

21 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

Doubt any of them would get pelvic exams, at least before marriage, and who knows if that will ever happen.

Its really fucked up to think these women in their 20s and 30s have never gotten pelvic exams because they're not married.

[scoutsadie]

52 minutes ago, HoneyBunny said:

Stage 2 is far, far better than Stage 4, but it will be interesting if she posts on the blog whether it has gone into her lymph nodes. 

First, congrats on your latest clean bill of health, @HoneyBunny!!

Second, Anna mentioned in her post that "it sounds like it was just beginning to spread to the lymph nodes."

[mango_fandango]

I tried to have my first Pap smear on Monday. I say “tried” because it had to be stopped partway through because it was fucking painful. I’ve never been sexually active, so I’m not used to having things up there. I understand that pelvic exams are much more than just a smear, though. I’ve had the HPV vaccine so I’m very, very low risk. It’s difficult, though, because I acknowledge how important Pap smears are, but I know I’ll be nervous about them in the future, even when I become sexually active. Taking painkillers an hour beforehand made no difference. 

[kpmom]

2 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

I tried to have my first Pap smear on Monday. I say “tried” because it had to be stopped partway through because it was fucking painful. I’ve never been sexually active, so I’m not used to having things up there. I understand that pelvic exams are much more than just a smear, though. I’ve had the HPV vaccine so I’m very, very low risk. It’s difficult, though, because I acknowledge how important Pap smears are, but I know I’ll be nervous about them in the future, even when I become sexually active. Taking painkillers an hour beforehand made no difference. 

I've had very painful pap smears, too.  I've tried breathing exercises, etc, to not much avail. The last one I had the doctor changed mid exam to a much smaller instrument and that helped somewhat.

Don't hesitate to speak to your doctor ahead of time about your pain and your fear. 

[mango_fandango]

12 minutes ago, kpmom said:

I've had very painful pap smears, too.  I've tried breathing exercises, etc, to not much avail. The last one I had the doctor changed mid exam to a much smaller instrument and that helped somewhat.

Don't hesitate to speak to your doctor ahead of time about your pain and your fear. 

The nurse I had it with was really nice about it. When I go in the future I’ll definitely mention it, and hopefully a smaller instrument will be easier. 
The Maxwells probably don’t talk much about bodily functions. The girls may have had a basic chat about what periods are, but nothing beyond that I’m guessing. At least my mum and I are fairly open. And the Maxwells have been super isolated, they haven’t had the chance to really even talk to a guy let alone become sexually active. Even when (if?) they become active, I’m guessing there won’t be much chat about that kind of thing... sex is purely for babies doncha know?