**TAMOXIFEN TEN***

[MaryAnnSingleton]

brand new shiny thread....our tenth !

yes totally normal Topsy, - the onc. is the medical side of the treatment, as opposed to the surgical, so s/he will cover any other kind of treatment you have (whether it be chemo, herceptin, or tamox.) and if you have radiotherapy (and that is likely) you'll probably get an appointment with a radiologist.

Thanks MAS AND Cakes
I know really , this is a good thing .
Just such a short time from diagnosis (11th May) to sitting in an Oncologists office on Monday !
Still don't think I really believe it's all true !

Thanks Kurri .
So that's another brown envelope to look out for .
And to think all I used to worry about , coming in the post , were bills

The radiologist one generally turns up towards the end of chemo Topsy, if you end up having that, but sooner if you don't. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow

get used to being at the hospital a lot for a month or two, topsy. I swear my car could get there by itself.

And as for the speed of the thing - you do get whisked along by it all, really. It is hard to find time to take stock and really gather your thoughts until the end. It's no wonder we all tend to get a bit antsy after treatment finishes. It's the first chance we've had to really take it all in.

the onc might deal with any chemo and radiotherapy -in our hospital she does both

Topsy at your wine. Definitely medicinal . Onc appt is totally normal. They do motor on, which I suppose is good but does feel terrifying when you're in the whirl of it. I had Onc, then met Radiology person later.

Cakes, I had my spine fused in Dec 2009 and honestly it changed my life. It's so brilliant not to be in constant pain. Hasn't been a total fix, but it's made a massive difference. Hope you don't have to wait too long.

And MAS, hope you can be seen tomorrow. Horrible to have something niggling away at you like that. No wonder you're not feeling too good.

Healthy car vibes for Kurri and speedy chemo vibes for Amber.

Got to run - sorry if I missed anyone. Sunny here today, which makes a nice change.

Thanks, smee -I thought you had, but wasn't sure enough of my ground to ask. That sounds highly promising then They have said it should sort most of my symptoms, though probably not all but hey, I'm not greedy. Unless it's cake, chocolate or wine.

Did you have to stay in? Was there lots of time spent lying around afterwards? Quite keen that there shouldn't be. I know nothing.....my own fault for not asking, of course

Aaaaaaagh !
Hurry up tumble dryer .
Stuck the cover for my "softee" in for a wash this morning along with all my post surgery bras .
Have a school run to do in 40 minutes , and it's going to be a close run thing !
May end up duct taping a bundle of socks to my chest so I don't go out looking weird .

Why are you only given 1 softee ????

The single softee is one of life's great mysteries Topsy - I spent a long time searching the house for my second one before I realised only one had been provided. -madness.

Sunny day here too Smee (though I am stuck inside making bags [grrr])

Oh what a shame On the other hand it did make me laugh. Sorry.

Wear a baggy jumper, or an anorak, it always rains at pick up time anyway. No-one except you will notice.

There seems to be water coming from the bottom of my fridge Its not the electricity or plug because the fridge light is still working. Oh joy - I don't think we can manage MOT and new fridge in one month.

Is it a frost free job? Sometimes if the drip channel at the back, inside, near the bottom, gets full of gunk then the water backs up and runs out forwards instead of to the back of the fridge

Oh could be - I'll have a look - also a slattern so quite possible

No its not that, amazingly its clear. It doesn't feel very cold in there now , bum and assorted swear words.

Phew , tumble dryer has beeped , am saved the shame of a 1 breasted school run !
And wouldn't you know , its actually a sunny day here today , so no rain coat or strategically placed scarf needed !

Was going to suggest the drip drain at the back of the fridge too .
Confessions of a fellow slattern .........

Sometimes you need to poke a wire in, it needn't be a lot of gunk, just a bit will do it

I'll try the wire, thanks

well I got a bit of gunk out (eeeurgh) but it doesn't feel cold inside.

What can I make for tea using a lot of yogurt, some cottage cheese and some spicy bean pate?

Tough one! Damn that diet plan!

Many, many swear words!!!!

Slattern here too - definitely worth clearing out the gunk. What bags are you making then? Have I missed something.

Hooray for Topsy's tumble dryer. I have no softie, but I do have an upside down implant, so am permanently lop sided. Ah, the comedy of Breast Cancer.

Cakes, not sure how much I can advise, as I had something a bit unusual. A newish fusion which they do in the States - one of the advantages of being in London near the big teaching hospitals is they used me as a guinea pig. It was called Axialif - if you google it's findable. Instead of scaffolding type pins around the spine, they drilled up through my coccyx, and put a large screw between the bottom two vertebrae. The bone then grows/ fuses round the screw, so it's inside the vertebrae rather than the more unusual pins outside iyswim. Is yours the bottom disc too? If so, might be worth at least asking about, as it's less invasive because it doesn't go through soft tissue, which means shorter recovery time too.

I'll look. Thanks!

The bags are just to store the puppets in Smee , so they don't get damaged- I meant to get them done last week, but ran out of time, so will post them to DS. They aren't very hard to make, so its not a huge chore.

Have e-mailed DH regarding the fridge - that will cheer him up!

I'm back! All's well. Bloods good. Effortless finding-of-the-portacath. Don't feel sick. Hurrah!

::puts out plate of dark choc covered ginger thins, in case anyone wants any::

cracking news amber !!
KK - grrr about fridge -mindees huge fridge freezer at her house was beeping when we went in yesterday and a stern warning on it saying' use all the food today' (it has a digital thingy on the front giving temperature etc) but everything seemed frosty and cold. Hope yours is just a bit bunged.
Am off to collect her from dance club shortly,then I think she wants to walk into town to poke around the shops.
Ds home and grumpy -was a maths exam today - he has disappeared to his room.