TAMOXIFEN 9 *********

[MaryAnnSingleton]

Starts here !

Oh b*m re it nipping out into a lymph node. Grr. And bit of a mystery re the wotsit hiding in your liver?
Yup, mine shrank by 73% after 5 weeks of chemo, so they've put marker in the middle of it in case it goes altogether (which we're hoping for...).

oops x-posted

We are Tips'R'Us!

The nurse was only able to give me a glass of those huge bucket-shaped ice cubes which completely filled my gob, then tried to talk to me!

The thing in my liver has variously been described as a cyst, haemawhatsit (some kind of common benign liver tumour), and an 'internal birth mark' in their efforts to stop me from worrying!

Wow! That shrinkage is amazing! How do they put a marker in the middle of a tumour?

They used a bloomin' great big hollow needle and an ultrasound doctor to aim it . Bingo, one marker in the middle of the lump.

re them trying to talk to you at the same time as feeding you ice cubes - it's like the dentists!! Why do they have to ask about holidays just as they've got half a dozen instruments in place??

The marker thing sounds a bit ouch amberlight, but its great your tumour has shrunk so much, that must be very encouraging

at the huge ice cubes LJ, - you must have been pretty cold with the cold cap as well. I'm glad it seems to be working so far though - will be great if you don't lose your hair.

Waves to all, as am back. Was utterly, uttlerly fab, so will doubtless bore you with enviable detail v.soon

So much to read, but glad to skip through and see all those on chemo are through to the next one. Welcome to amberlight from me too.

Hello all - I'm back too but haven't been anywhere nearly as fabby as Smee. Yes, you've guessed it, on Sunday I ended back up at A&E with a temp of 39.4 so have been stuck in isolation for a few days with the iv antibiotics. I also have a cough and a snotty nose which may have contributed somewhat.

It would seem, at first, that the Filgrastim injections hadn't worked because, on arrival at A&E, my neutrofils were 0.2. However, on Wednesday they'd gone up to 3.2 and are now a healthy 5.3. The docs think they worked - but just a bit late in my case.

To avoid any more hospitalisations they've said they will have to consider reducing the doses for the next 3 cycles of FEC. They've reassured me that the outcome of the chemo wont be compromised but I don't see how it can't be. I'll talk to them about it in a bit more detail at my next appointment.

Will do a proper catch up later.

Hi Smee - nice to see you, glad you had such a fab holiday - let us know all the details (when you've had a chance to unpack )

Figgy - you poor thing, you must be pretty sick of the sight of hospital. What a shame the injections didn't work immediately, - I was hoping they wouldn't get you through this cycle without any mishaps

I had to have my dose reduced I think it happens quite a lot, - so try not to worry about it too much, have a good chat with them about it and hopefully they can reassure you.

Just want to say Happy Easter to everyone.

And hello to Amber - I went rhough treatment last year and was on here several times a day but now I'm well again and back at work I'be turned into a bit of a lurker

Lime - have you tried one of those furry things you can clip round your seat belt witha piece of velcro? We called mine the ferret - might help with your port problem?

Everyone- I hope you're managing to enjoy this totally amazing weather even if having treatment. Its unbelieveable here! We still have Polish uni teacher staying with us - I was beginning to make grumbling noises afer 3 weeks so he and DH have spent whole day in garden doing horrible jobs eg removing huge invasive cloudberry bush, and edging the lawn. So they're back in my good books now.

DD arrives shortly. Only saw her last w/e at lovely family wedding but will be v nice to have her at home for a few days before the dreaded finals loom up.

Enjoy your eggs, buns etc everyone!
XX [busmile][busmile][busmile]

ljb...omg your so brave using the cold cap,im to much of a wimp to even have tried using it lol.

hi amber... welcome im another one on chemo before surgery and just had my second cycle on monday,i also had a marker put into my tumor my oncologist insisted before treatment started.everyone here is so nice and very supportive.

kurri..the constipation thing is the same as last time suffer for a few days then turns to the opersite grrr.

smee...welcome back.

figgy...oh no figgy how annoying,i hope they manage to put your mind at rest.

sandripples..i also have my daughter back from uni its so lovely to have her here.

managed to muster some energy today to go and get the kids their easter eggs so had a little potter around town with my daughter,still a little shakey but not to bad.also brought a new hose for the garden came back and dropped the spray gun and broke it,im so clumpsy at the moment.still struggling with the food thing only seem to have the taste for lettice and butter so had the most oddest dinner with chicken,couscous,mushroom salad and toast

pinkstarlight, yup re the food thing. I'm eating foods I wouldn't normally touch, and hating foods I used to love. Very odd meals indeed!

Was told not to bother with the cold cap by my specialist, so it's wigs for me. Enjoying wearing them, to be honest.

Hope everyone gets to enjoy the Easter holiday sunshine today...

[busmile] [busmile] [busmile]

Morning all. Sorry not to have said "welcome" before, Amber. I only skimmed a few posts in my haste. I too am having chemo first before an op. I've had my third out of six so am half way through.

During the first two cycles I only temporarily lost my sense of taste but could still smell food so I enjoyed the sniffing process before putting it in my mouth but this time I can't smell or taste and it's just a case of eating food to keep fit and healthy and my body topped up. I weighed myself again and have lost another half a stone which is one bonus of feeling so grotty.

Still feeling a bit fragile but it was lovely sleeping in my own bed last night. I hope everyone has a super Saturday.

[busmile] [busmile] [busmile]

Welcome amber (I used to be cakes, but changed temporarily to spongebob). Great news about the shrinkage - hang in there!

Figgy, if you have lost all that weight (a bit by the way) you may well need to have the dose reduced, it is worked out on your weight at the start, so if you lose much weight you are getting too much chemo!

Smee - i want holiday details, and lots of them. Welcome back!

It turns out that I may have bitten off more than i can chew again. There was an unpleasant incident a couple of weeks back when three 13 year old boys started to bully dd one evening in our local leisure centre about her Tae Kwon Do and, when another boy (God bless him) weighed in to help dd, he got punched in the face So it was nasty, but I only heard about it after it was over (i was nearby, honest) - and I have been gunning for the kid ever since. Dd said I shouldn't mess with him (bless) and i came over all macho and said there was no way I was scared of a 13 year old, or his mates.

I nearly dealt with him two days ago when I saw him in the street, but he was with the daughter of a friend of mine and I didn't want to embarrass her, so I left it. Now, I have discovered that his Dad is in jail for murdering a witness in a drugs case, and his family have been housed here temporarily by the police to keep them safe from reprisals. So I may, in fact, be a bit scared of him and his mates (and, frankly, his family) after all

Spongebob's runaway gob strikes again!

Have a lovely Easter, all! x

Crikey, Spongecakes, I think I would steer well clear after finding out that nugget of information about the family. Best to be safe than sorry, even if it grates that the little bully is getting away with it. I think the best thing is to try and get him banned from the leisure centre for his aggressive ways.

About the weight, I'm weighed each time I go and then they make the drugs up so I am guessing it's weight based.

Ooh SpongeBob - I think I would keep well away too. I hope it hasn't put DD off her Tae Kwon Do.

I think with eating Figgy, amber and Pink - its just eating whatever you fancy, and trying things you previously weren't especially keen on is a good idea. I used to find that I could eat better if there was only a small amount on my plate to start with (and have a bit more after if I was still hungry) - too much and it just looked really overwhelming.

I'm handing out a very bossy reminder for sunhats and suncream - I have an attractive patch of lobster red on my shoulder where I must have missed with the suncream.

My mum lost her tortoise last week - it was eventually found sunning itself on a neighbours patio

Hope everyone has a lovely Easter -and all the children enjoy their eggs.

That's good advice, figgy! I'll scuttle back to my corner like the wuss that i am [bublush]

Hope you stay out of hospital next time round, and I am mighty impressed they weigh you each time. They only did me at the start. And I am still a bit envious that you have lost 7 lbs, even if it is not in the way that I'd personally like. Have a lovely Easter break.

Cakes - yes I'd also give that family a very wide berth!!

We have been making Easter eggs here - and vegan cupcakes omg. CHocolate and icing all over the kitchen.

Have also been to laocl farm with DH and we got 4 sacks of lovely manure for the garden. At my request I'm getting garden stuff instead of chocolate for easter [bugrin]. So we also bought a pieris, a camelia, a vine, and a little rosemary. O and a clematis - lost to creep up the back fence beside my fan-trained plum tree which has survived the winter very well and thriving. (I suppose I should move over really onto the Gardeners Worls thread but I know at least some of are gardeners too!)

Off to see Submarine now. (Partly to escape our still-here-visitor. Mind you he is helpful with garden labouring)

Happy Easter again. [bugrin]

omg im still struggling with the food thing i mean how can chocolate taste of nothing its so stupid,spent days craving a mr whipphy icecream to find it tastes foul.nice full roast dinner for everyone else while i ate plain rice and chicken,aww well least the dog enjoyed the ice cream.

Ooo no I can taste choc, but not bread or cheese. V odd...

It's horrible, isn't it SR? I still can't taste or smell anything. It usually all comes back by now (day 14) and I'm worried it might be permanent. I am having a little tiny bit of what everyone else is eating (because I can't be bothered to prepare anything else) and it all tastes the same - of nothing, even chocolate (like you said).

feeling a bit happier today stopped taking my sickness med yesterday and woke this morning and my mouth seems so much more less cacky,i ate toast for breakfast and lunch and it didnt go off like a bathbomb in my mouth still not quite right but so much better.

I'm back hooray !! missed you all - no internet access in the wilds of Nottinghamshire...welcome to amber and I must try to catch up with the posts... we had a lovely time,managed despite my anxieties -fab weather,nice food- forgot to get hotcross buns though ! Had my first chocolate at 7 pm on Easter Sunday and have been very restrained- don't want to get hyperglycaemic ! or is it the other way round...
The SIL wasn't lalaa -she is my side of the family- managed to get MIL in the car and she was a whole lot better than we'd imagined from the reports !

Hello MAS - good to have you back, and I'm glad you had a lovely time, and that MIL was much better than you'd heard. I bet the choc. tasted nice

Sorry to hear about the taste problems that those on chemo are going through, - it is one of the horridest things. My onc. told me to suck peppermints to help - not sure that's much of a solution, but might be orth a try. I remember when I was in hospital, I kept asking if the dustbins were just outside my window, because everything I ate tasted of bins. (they weren't it was just the taste thing. I think it is at its worst when your white blood cells are at their lowest. It does go when you finish chemo, so try not to worry - but when you're going through it, I know you feel as if nothing will ever taste normal again.

My laptop made an awful grinding noise last night, - on examination there turned out to be a ball of dog hair caught in the fan.

I have done loads of gardening yesterday and today, I'm trying to pot up some stuff to take to DS next weekend, he and his DP are trying to get their garden sorted.

We might go fossil hunting at Walton on the Naze tomorrow if the weather is nice, - its lovely there.

fossil hunting sounds nice ! Thought of you at Watford Gap services when I picked up a North Norfolk guide -wish we could go there again...no holiday for us this year

It is lovely up in N. Norfolk MAS, - a friend of mine has gone up to Blakeney for the week - we used to go when the children were young, and get the boat out to see the seals.

Sorry you aren't going away this year . I'm planning to go down to my parents' with my sister, because DH is going to Canada in August, and DD is planning to go travelling with her friends again, and I don't want to be left on my own