**T*A*M*O*X*I*F*E*N 11 **

[MaryAnnSingleton]

new thread here !

Jenny, I am not on here every day but I used to be while going through treatment last year. So I pop in now and again and this time just wanted to send you hugs and virtual support for you and yor sister - what a truly awful year for her (and you).

I didn't have the same drugs regime but I would expect that your sister is likely to need you for say 2-3 days each cycle - I agree with others - effect was cumulative for me, and each person has to see how they react. But a lot of support/hand-holding is vital for the forst few times, in my opinion. I would have found it extremely dsifficult to manage without my DH last year.

Cake - I feel very on your behalf - that's really so stupid of the school. Can't help wondering if they've got even bigger problems with the girl and other children you might not know about - why else would they put her with your DD? Mind you that assume a degree of thought and logiv which is probably lacking in the decision-maker....

I am very excited as two friends from New Zealand arrive on Wednesday - this is a woman who was my best local friend here till she emigrated 5 years ago and her youngest son. Have made the beds up and wanted to tidy garden but rain defeated any hope of the latter.

Hope KK has had a lovely day - report awaited!

Jenny, heck and triple heck re her situation.... :-( As you say, what a year...

DM alcohol research report thingy - all the good data so far suggests that alcohol affedts ER+ bc but not ER- so not at all sure how accurate their figures are. Can't find the original data anywhere online at the mo.

Feel a heck of a lot better than a few days ago, thankfully, but now have the streaming-eyes thing, which is surprisingly annoying

Cakes - eek re school. They have a duty to take bullying seriously so I hope they do.

SandR - hurrah re friends visiting!!

Oh crikey jenny, your poor sister. Thank God she has you. The hospitals do tend to brush aside things like childcare and other issues: I think they are trying to make people put themselves first and concentrate on their health. But, of course, you can only do that if you know your kids aren't stuck uncollected on the play ground. It is hard.

Thanks all for good thoughts about dd. Smee - the teacher is a bit of an unknown quantity at the moment. SR - i hadn't thought of that, there may indeed be worse problems with this kid, she is definitely not quite right, she seems to be absolutely full of anger, she goes absolutely black in the face - quite literally, I have never seen anything like it - and then just lashes out.. Very sad in a little kid.

I am off to review the BC link....

Can't get into the link but I have just had a look at The Sun online, and I can see the story that MAS must have been interviewed for, but there is only one photo there, and i DON"T think it's MAS .

Hello all - gosh there are a lot of posts to catch up on, - I'll try to summarise,

MAS - well done on website, and get you being in the Sun (I'll have to flick through it in the shop as I won't buy Murdoch papers)

Cakes - well done fro keeping your hands to yourself for once and for you about DD being with that awful girl again - good for you for letting HT know what you thought.

Sparkle - good luck with the potty training(I love 'one in the potty, two on the carpet' - bless her ) Good luck with the letter too.

SR - enjoy your NZ guests - they sound so much more fun than PG.

Smee - hope you enjoyed the apprentice, - I love Margaret, - her interview with the slightly sinister Jim was brilliant.

Pink -Sorry about the nail - how horrible, but on the upside great method of child control

Amber - I'm glad you're feeling bit better, hope it continues today

topsy - how lovely to get a letter from your auntie, it really does help when you know people are thinking of you

Right - I'm going to do a few separate posts otherwise my yabblings get a bit cumbersome

Jennyt -welcome and I hope you can find some support here Your poor sister has been through an dreadful time, to have to deal with this illness after losing her husband

I am sure she will be very grateful for any help you can give her, especially looking after children. When I was on FEC, I used to have my chemo on the tuesday, and would feel increasingly lousy towards the weekend, - nausea, sore throat and mouth, diarrhoea, extreme tiredness, reaching a peak in the 7-10 days vulnerable time when white blood cells are at the lowest. Then I'd pick up a little bit.

But as others have said everyone is different, you don't know how you are going to react until you have your first one. I hope very much she doesn't have too hard a time of it. She needs to make sure she tells her unit about anything she is finding hard to cope with, there are lots of side effects - and lots of solutions to them which the hospital can provide, - so don't suffer in silence, ring the unit.

I wish her well, and of course if she felt like coming on here for a chat, she'd be very welcome, and I hope you are OK too - its hard for family members.

KK - spill the beans! How was the graduation? Are there photos?

Is it me, or is MN offline a lot just recently?

Oh - I posted a long post about the graduation and its disappeared - I must have posted just as it went off line [grrrr] (You are right cakes - it is happening a lot)

Right - we had a fabulous day and I was so proud seeing DD in her robes, - she looked beautiful.

The rain held off most of the time, and when it did come down, DD got her robes and went to have her official pictures done.

We got lots of nice photos - I'll try to put them up at lunchtime - they are currently downloading and taking ages for some reason.

DS clapped like mad - he's very proud of his sister, and even agreed to be in photos (although he wouldn't smile - preferring to look aloof ).

One and a half hours of clapping is hard work!

After the ceremony, we went to the music dept, and all the 'musos' stood together for photos including the traditional throwing hats in the air, - there were only about 40 in DD's year so they all know each other really well which is nice.

Went to a drinks and nibbles reception afterwards. DD said its only just sinking in that she's finished 'I guess I need to get my finger out and do something' she said

I dealt with my very red sore face, with anti-redness make up (the green stuff), concealer, a lot of foundation and a thick coat of powder for good measure - I don't think I've ever worn so much make up in my life . Seriously I think that horrible cream has burnt my face - the skin's all peeling off and its very sore - not a good look!

We got back about midnight having dropped DS at the station as he's working today and had to get home. DD is still fast asleep,- she managed not to fall over despite wearing tottery shoes So all in all a successful day

aw,it sounds brilliant KK - bless ds and his clapping
Am very much looking forward to photos !
We didn't have a graduation as such (though I know that they do these days) -instead we had a degree show -our work was put up -everyone had separate sections and fo r about a week it was marked by tutors and external examiners (Quentin Blake being one !) Then on the final day,the resul;ts are pinned up - we get dressed in posh frocks and have a private view -and for a week the work is up and on display to the public-and that's it. I remember feeling really quite lost afterwards.
Waiting now to hear from website designers-they'ree presenting the concept to the client today -am hoping they'll like what I've done and I won't need to do too many alterations

It sounds fab, I shall await pics with interest.

The skin sounds a right royal pain though. With apologies to MAS who hates even the mention of the stuff, Eucerin is quite wonderful for sore skin and there is a facial one (and even an eye one now).

Cross post. I bet the web people will have loved what you have done.

urea -eew !
Sore face must be horrible- poor KK
Thanks cakes - i do hope so !

kk sounds like it was a fab day . Sorry your skin is no better though . I had quite bad psoraisis , but 1 dose of chemo seems to have cured it ! Go figure ?

How soon did you all start losing your hair ?
I was just poking at my grey strands this morning , and have noticed that if i run my hands through it , it is coming out quite heavily .
Didn't think it would happen this quickly . Am nearly 2 weeks post first FEC dose .

Topsy, it's one of the few positives of chemo as it detoxes you. I had amazing skin on FEC. Very weird..

Kurri, your day sounds fab. Photos please.

MAS, will keep fingers crossed for the website. I'd bet they'll like what you've done though. Will you hear today?

Amber, glad you're feeling better, though the eye thing's a pain. Didn't you have some drops which helped last time? If it makes you feel any better, my eyes got back to normal quite soon after Tax finished, so you're nearly there.

SR, your visitors sound excellent. Have a lovely time.

Jenny, thinking of your sister still. Really hope she's not hit by too many side effects. Let us know if we can help.

I've got my SIL and niece staying for a couple of days from tonight. DN is 13 and very excited by the ideas of shopping, so they're heading for places like Camden Market, so I thought I'd give her some money. Do you think £20 is okay for a 13 year old as a treat?

Topsy, x posted. Two weeks is bang on for hair loss. Have you thought what you're going to do? Are you going to just shave it all off and be done with it or wait and see if any stays? Hope it's not making you too down.

topsy I lost mine two weeks after the first cycle (I was having a cycle every two weeks, so I remember as I was going for my second one it was starting to come out.) then a few days later it all came out - a bit distressing but I'm telling you so you are ready, mine came away all at once, came off like a hat. Others lose theirs a bit at a time aver several days I think.

I'm glad its helping your soriasis. - I think chemo can improve the skin it did mine (actually its the least it can do considering how many horrid side effects it has )

x-posted Smee - I think a 13yr old would be very chuffed with £20 pounds

I agree, £20 v generous for a 13 year old. I hope you all have a nice time.

Topsy, 2 weeks here as well. it goes very fast, so i hope you have your cover up ready. I seem to remember you investigating the wig options. Unlikely as it may seems, it's quite a reiief when it's gone, at least you aren't waiting for it to happen any more. And on the plus side, I too had great skin on FEC. You can't lose 'em all

lucky dn -£20 will be very welcome I'm sure.
I expect I'll hear later today-everything's on a pretty tight deadline !

Glad I am "normal" then
Have a wig already , but think I will pop out later and pick up a few scarves .
I don't think it is bothering me . I have never been overly worried about the outward surface of me before .
But then again , I have never been bald before !
My hair is presently scraped back in a scruffy pony tail . I shall take it down shortly and try brushing it , to see how much comes out .
If it comes out patchily , I think I might have to take DHs clippers to it .

smee I too agree £20 is very good .

It is quite a lot isn't it. I was going to give her £10, but then realised that she probably won't get very much for that. I don't see her very often, so I want to spoil her.

Topsy, scarves etc found and just drying - thought I'd better wash them for you! They'll be on their way asap, I promise.

Kurri, are you going back to the doctor? That cream they prescribes sounds toxic.

I should go back Smee, but its not very convenient today. I'm feeling slightly sceptical about it all - first I was misdiagnosed with impetigo - had a vile anti biotic which made me very sick, and of course it didn't work. Then a new DX and this vile cream I used it on thursday and friday, before I realised what it was doing, I'm not sure I want something else to put on my face - its so sore I just want it left alone. DH is going to try to get some of the eucarin cream Cakes suggests.

I should take a picture so you can all see it in its gruesome glory

mm,it does sound as though they've got it all wrong for you KK - I'd be a bit mistrustful.
Am wondering whether to just put up with hip and other aches rather than go back to gp after this lot of ibuprofen- I posted on the BCC forum to ask about bone density scans etc and the responses were a bit sniffy and suggested it was probably age related (I know i'm getting old- but even so) So now i'm thinking that I should just shut up -I'm boring myself about it even !
Righto- off to town in a mo.

I don't think you should put up with it MAS - but I do also think it may be tamoxifen. It does make you achey, i have had this conversation with oncs several times and they don't seem at all surprised. Personally I'd go back and see what the GP suggests. If you don't like it, or don't want to take the Ibuprofen, you can always decide not to.

Topsy - great attitude. I am glad you are not bothered. Once it has gone I think you'll be fine (although you might want to hit a few people who give you the Pitying Look).

Thought I'd share this thought with you - My back surgery is probably going to be this autumn (had the MRI a week ago in preparation) - I have it on good authority that they put you on all fours, with your bum in the air, to get flexion in the spine. My friend says she is going to come round the night before and draw a face on my bits in readiness.

But really, good grief. There is no dignity left, is there?