*** TAMOXIFEN * 12 ***

[KurriKurri]

Tada! A shiney new thread - get me with my fancy asterisks

Hello Iamseeingstars - welcome and very sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed. I am not sure what to say - people having chemotherapy will be more vulnerable to infections,so it depends on whether your coughing is infectious (if you have a streaming cold I suppose). Are all the other people at the same stage as you (ie recently diagnosed ?) or at various stages of treatment ? If you feel anxious about going then perhaps give this session a miss - you are welcome to tell us about yourself and things you might feel worried about regarding treatment- we can offer hand holding and cake.

Hello Iamseeingstars...I can't really help with your question as I don't know, but I wanted to say sorry to hear about your dx, but the wonderful ladies on this thread are very good at answering questions, hand holding........ and of course as MAS has said.....cake.

Now I got up early this morning to blanche and freeze peas, french beans, make raspberry jam and blackberry crumble, because we are swimming in home produce, got courgettes, potatoes, carrots, kohl rabi, pak choi, tomoatoes, cucumbers, chillis ready at the moment.....and more things coming. But you have to bear in mind we do this on a major selfsufficient scale and I am Barbara Goode in another life (sigh if I only had her figure)

Dh and I spent yesterday constructing broody boxes, and extra enclosures for our three new batches of eggs to be hatched and reared in by some of our hens. Quite a feat of engineering, using just scraps we had lying around...which dh is now using as an excuse for continuing to horde useless and tatty !!!! I am planning a big bonfire today.....little does he know the garage, fields and all the places he has stuff squirreled away will be much clearer in a bit. Sadly first batch of chicks are now fully grown and ready for the cull, pluck and pot. Enough of rural life for those of you who are urbanites?

Iamseeingstars - welcome but Having had chemo I'd say it would be best if you didn't go to the session, I think. Sorry, but catching things while on chemo can be very bad news indeed.

KK - hope your Mum proves to be OK.

Sorry to swing through so briefly. I hate the school holidays, which I know is a big shame.

Hello IAmSeeingStars, so sorry to hear about your DX. I'm afraid I agree with Cakes, - I wouldn't go, your cough sounds quite nasty (hope it goes soon) and anyone on chemo could get very ill from picking it up. Is there another counselling session they can get you into?

It is a shame if you have to miss it, because I found counselling very helpful, - so I hope you're able to go, perhaps at a slightly later date. It might be worth asking if you can have a one to one session with the counsellor instead. Of course, it is possible that everyone is at a similar stage to you, so they might not consider it to be too much of a risk if you went.

As MAS says, - anything you think we might be able to help with,or any support we can give, just ask - Kettle's always on, and cakes in the oven.

Sparkle - you've been busy! - slow down woman Vegetables sound wonderful though, as do the chickens (fingers in ears la la la about culling).

Cakes - they'll soon be over, hang on in there. Is there anything in particular you hate, or is it just the general never-endingness of them?

Will phone mum later and see how she's doing. Phoned sister and suggested x-ray, she said 'I'll try K, but you know what she's like!'

I'm waiting for the Dr. to call - he said I had to see him before my b-blockers ran out, (which is in about 10 days) phoned to make an appointment, to be told he's off today on two weeks leave, so they're getting him to phone me (between 11 and 12.30 - i.e. about 1 o'clock). Just as well I rang, - I'm sure if you don't keep taking them once you've started you drop dead or something,

hope things are ok with your mum KK and that the doc rings you back about your beta blockers !

Now you'll all be very pleased with me because at last I've booked my wretched smear test after much psyching myself up- it's not until 20th September (how can that be ? such a long wait) -was rather hoping to get it over and done wioth today,having made the decision to ring- bah !

Well done MAS, now it's booked, try to put it out of your mind until the day. have a and a piece of coffee and walnut traybake

Oh - meant to say, I hope all the DC getting their exam results today, have been happy with their results.

yes- hope all is well with A level results
I'm pathetic about the smear really,it's no big deal- am more fretful of the getting undressed bit and also it hurt last time (but the time before was fine,so I must bear that in mind)

Morning all. So proud of DS, who's got three A levels despite the huge struggles he's been through personally and with us as a family these last couple of years.

Eek - I need to arrange to have a smear done too.

yay for junior amber !!!!!!!!

Well done junior amber, - good for him, clever lad

Morning all.

Sparkle, your Goode Life sounds amazing. All that lot must keep you very busy.

Iamseeingstars, welcome to the Tamoxifen thread but sorry you have to be here. These ladies are a mine of information but we also have a giggle too so feel free to post whenever you've got a question. I agree with the others, I'm afraid. I caught an infection 3 times during my chemo and had 3 stays in hospital with an IV drip of antibiotics in isolation so know it's no fun to catch anything. I hope you'll be able to catch up with the session/counsellor if you decide not to go.

I read earlier about your mum's falling over, KK. I hope she's okay and nothing's broken. Good job you rang for an appointment and will get the chance to speak to your doc.

So glad to hear you've booked your smear, MAS. I hate them too but use breathing techniques to get through it all. Just a shame you have to wait so long but try to put it to the back of your mind for the next couple of weeks.

Amber, that's great news about your DS. No wonder you are so proud of him. Is he going to university?

Well, nothing exciterating planned for me today - just a walk and pootling around. I will be glad when I can start driving again. It's 2 weeks tomorrow since the op so will ring the insurance company and double check it's okay with them then give it a go. I'm not too sore, just a bit stiff really. Having the steristrip things off tomorrow. Hope it doesn't hurt.

Yay for junior amber!!!!

and double yay!! for MAS. It is booked. Hurrah!!!

The holidays are just such a trial - KK. Finding something to do for dd is awful - she needs so much input and stimulation, and it is impossible to work with her about. I am very busy this month which is good but, taking today as an example, she is here, she has friends about to arrive, who you might think would help but they find it impossible to leave us alone and play, we are dog sitting a friend's dog who keeps barking and scuffling about, and dh is conducting his business at mega high volume at the desk next to me. I am getting nothing done, and am highly stressed. I know that all sounds very me, me, me. Sorry. Ignore.

Cakes, just the dh conducting his business at mega high volume would be enough for me!! I know exactly what you mean about the level of input needed in the hols, but secretly( whispering so dc don't hear) I love the hols, I love having them around, I get next to nothing done, and ds in particular drives me to distraction with needing amusing, although thanks to smee that is a little better at the moment, but I hate it when they go back to school. Mind you although I am running the small holding, i am not attempting to run a business which involves thought and creativity (Good job, none of that here )

Close your eyes, and breathe deeply when they pull those strips off Figgy. I was such a coward with mine, and I only had the lump removed, not the boob. I removed them myself millimeter by millimeter.....twas agonising but only in my head.....didn't actually hurt really.

Sending good weather guides to our holiday gals, specially smee in tiny tent with dh and ds!

Oh sorry, meant to say junior amber.....very big congratulations!

Off now to chop down a bedraggled old hedge and have big bonfire, ds just asked me if we were allowed givenm that it is not bonfire night!

oh figgy-missed seeing your post- good luck with the steri strip removal - employ the same breathing techniques you've advised for me !

Whooa! Slow down sparkles, you are whirling like a dervish now! How do you find the energy????

Good thoughts for tomorrow figgy. Deep breaths and it should all soon be over.....

I don't have any energy....I am knackered !!!

one of my friend's ds has got his university place and his younger brother in yr 10 has got an A in his AS Maths- he is a bit of a genius. Phew !
Sparkle- I'd be rubbish at running a smallholding and managing more than 1 dc

I think the high volume goings on at the next desk would be enough to tip me over the edge Cakes, well done for staying sane!

Good luck for tomorrow Figgy, I don't remember the steri strips being too bad, don't worry

Well done to your friends DS and his brother MAS. One of my friends DS will be getting his today, - he passed his driving test on Tuesday, so hoping fro good results today too - this is the friend who is starting her taxotere, - she's got 6 hours of chemo tomorrow, because they are starting her herceptin as well, so actually not expecting to hear much from her for a few days.

MAS has your ds appeared from his room yet today? Sometimes 3 dc are easier than one, as they entertain themselves and eachother.....sometimes not

Brief pause in hedging and bonfires......nearly 2/3 gone, plus some extra bits too....thinking of extending the area cos it looks so much nicer without the scrappy thing. Benefit of living in rural rural england, no boundraies with neighbours to worry about, no boundaries with roads either, plenty of space to plant new hedgerows too, which we have already done with native old engish species, so you twitchers out there need not worry that essential habbitats are decreasing, we have already sorted that!

Kurri - I hope your friend is coping through the next few days, exams and uni issues are enough stress without throwing chemo in there too

hope all goes well for your friend tomorrow KK - and of course for exam results !
Ds is currently in his room- he appeared at about midday to eat his breakfast - I made him a wrap for lunch and have left it in the fridge.I was going to suggest he went out for a walk today but it's unbelievably wet out. I will take him out tomorrow with his new camera ! Meanwhile,I must venture out to the bank...eek.

No, DS isn't off to Uni this year. Having a year out to contemplate what to do next.
I'm very soggy after venturing outside. Think some Thorntons choc slice is called for. Anyone else?

oh yes please -before I go out !
Ds has requested a doughnut 'and you can have one if you like'...he's having lunch now.
Are you celebrating the good news amber ? Am still waiting to hear from another friend...

at you can have one if you like

Sorry you have got rain, it is still dry here, not supposed to hit us for another hour, but looking at the sky that is unlikely.

Brief pause for refreshments......managed to get a hawthorn thorn embedded deep in my shin, went straight in and broke off about 1cm below the surface, no hope of getting that out. Blardy hawthorn, it will become infected, and will need cutting out, don't feel up to home surgery so having instead and contemplating it. I have always thought hawthorn should be more haw and less thorn.