*** TAMOXIFEN * 12 ***

[KurriKurri]

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

Ouch Sparkle, have you tried magnesium sulphate paste? - you get it from the chemist, its for drawing out splinter/infection - might help.

Hawthorn thorns are horrible, - it used to be my job to dig them out of my dad's fingers with a needle after he'd been working in the garden!

I will get some of that tomorrow, thank you Kurri, I prefer that idea to the option of having to cut it out. They are horrid aren't they, very effect deterents for animals pushing through hedges, some of the thorns have been 2" long today.

Well a good day, have finished outside for now, and we are knackered. My FIL was a trooper and helped too, otherwise we wouldn't have got it all done in one go.

Hope you have all got on all right today with working at home during school hols. I am putting the kettle on, anyone for a ?

[faints ]
Appalling weather- soaked. Got him a doughnut with pink icing and hundreds and thousands- resisting having one myself ! He's now returned to his lair with a cup of Earl Grey...tsk.

Yes please to

He has excellent taste, Earl Grey and pink doughnut.......

Still hasn't started raining here yet......it is going to be bad when it gets here then? I am going to have to go out in monsoon conditions to lock down the chickens for the night......definitely down side of country living.

sparkle passes round and english muffins with homemade raspberry jam, fresh this morning.

Homemade raspberry jam - yum!

Terrible rain arrived here (NW) about an hour ago. But it can't rain on our parade today as DS got 4 x grade As in his Ass so we're all delighted. Unfortunately since I got home from work he's been asleep! The work experience for 3 days has obviously been too much! (He is rather funny when describing his work actually but I'd better be discreet)

Sparkel - have you had chemo? You're supposed to waer gloves at all times in the garden you know! Hawthorn sounds v sore but the produce is extremely impressive. Didn't know (or had forgotten due to sieve-like brain) that you ran a farm. Pennies who used to be on here and might be lurking, also ran a farm on the side.

Figgy - its great that you're recovering so well, I'm sure steristrips will be a minor detail.

Amber - well done your DS! What subjects did he do and what might his year out consist of? (Just being nosy)

Cakes - o dear. I think in some ways working away from home makes hols easier as I just had to get chilminding sorted for the eeks when I was no on leave. It used to be a military operation but with friends and the occasional boot camp/summer musicschool/enforced tennis etc we got through.

Trying to work with all that going on at home sounds a nightmare. Can't you and DH take turns at being the Entertainment Officer or something?

Iamseeing stars - I may have missed an earlier post, but hope you're coping. This thread is very helpful in my experience. Do jump in.

KK - hope the news re your mum will be ok.

MAS - well done on yr booking in. Some lady on another thread was talking about putting the gadte for a smear in, by herselfIYSWIM. Sounded ghastly! Think of the angles

wow ! clever junior SR too - well done A level dcs all round My other friend's dd got the results she needed too
I think I'd pass out if I had to do the device myself - eeeeeeeeeee

Do a smear on yourself!!!!! and I am not phased by smears normally.

Well done SR junior, whar fantastic results. I hope he woke up at some point in the evening so you could celebrate with him.

So how is it possible that the rain could be torrential in London, travel up the country and arrive in the NW, but miss us completely in Staffordshire? We had literally a few drops, not enough to wet the terrace. We so need rain, I am going to have to start irrigating if we don't get some soon.

SR we don't have a farm, that would be too grand a title, but we do have a smallholding, which we run to be as selfsufficient as possible. Dh goes out to work, and I run it here to keep us in as much food as possible, all organic and free range of course. DH gets to spend all this weekends and holiday time doing the jobs that are too big for me, or we need done to establish the next phase of development. We are still building it up, we only started 4 years ago, ooo aniverary, 4 years ago this week we bought this place.

I promise I was wearing gloves,thick ones too, and thick jeams and boots but hawthorn is a b*er, and can get through anything. In addition to my leg I have found several little thorns embedded in my fingers, am typing with only use of left hand and ring finger on right! No chemo here though, I just had surgery, so no worries on that score.

Figgy, I will be thinking of you and the steristrips removal today, it will be fine I promise.

Morning all. Thanks for all the good wishes for today. I'm sure steristrip removal is nothing compared to everything else I've been through .

Congratulations to all those with brilliant exam results.

Sparkle, your smallholding sounds fab, albeit hard work. My older brother tried it a few years ago but gave up competing with the rabbits, rats and other foraging animals. He knew when he was beaten.

The kettle's on for anyone fancying a .

good luck figgy !

Today I intend to get the boy out of the house- so earlier breakfast and lunch and then we're off !

Good luck with the steri strips Figgy - you will be fine (do you have nice cake lined up for afterwards? )

Well done to SR junior - what brilliant results!

Sparkle - I love the sound of your small holding, I think my sister is going for that in a few years - they currently have a farm, but as they near retirement age I think they want to scale down, ad live somewhere where there's not so much snow! (currently in NE of Scotland).

Have a lovely day out MAS, - anywhere planned, or just go where the fancy takes you?

DD is off to a nature reserve today, to help her friend who is a voluntary warden there,- weather looks OK atm, fingers crossed.

Have discovered a new circle of Hell - living with a husband who has an important talk to write, but has decided instead to mend his computer. (Having bought two old computers off e-bay, one he had to drive up to Lincolnshire to get) so there are 3 dismantled computers, bits in everyroom, DH muttering and swearing under his breath, me saying 'Shouldn't you be writing your talk' him saying 'stop stressing me out'. Hey ho, what joy!

definitely needed I think.

That does sound a bit grim KK. As a major procrastinator myself, though, I know where he is coming from.

Hope you are going somewhere nice, MAS. I had plans to work til lunch then take dd to Mary Ardens' Tudor Farm this afternoon, as it's not far, but she says she'd rather walk the dog, which will come out rather cheaper. Happy Days! It's a nice sunny one here, and a bit more peaceful than yesterday (I still have 3 kids here but DH is mercifully out). Life is on the up!

Here's my thought for the day: do kids get too much these days? Answer - Yes. The kids we have here today are going on holiday later this pm. I have asked them if they are excited - they are not. They have been on holiday three times already this summer and they don't want to go again.

3 holidays already - yes they most certainly do get too much !! They sound very jaded ! I'm sure kids are quite happy pottering about much of the time.
Any news from your mum KK ?
We'll go to Basingstoke- then ds can use his panoramic lens for the buildings there - for some reason he loves them (not terrificaly exciting in my view)Then we'l go and look for bigger t shirts,maybe jeans- he is outgrowing his things lengthwise alarmingly,and if I'm brave maybe look at school shoes. I can keep his interest going by the promise of a doughnut

Oh no - school shoes, you are brave MAS!

No news from mum today, she didn't go and get an x-ray yesterday, insisting she is fine and had too much to do I guess my sister is keeping an eye on things, so will have to assume all is well.

DD's trip was cancelled, - her friend is disabled, and woke up in a lot of pain, so has to have emergency physio today. - It often happens, poor girl.

hope so KK - am sure if anything was broken she'd be in lots of pain.
What a shame about dd's outing- poor friend
I may well chicken out of the shoe quest - we also have blazer quest which I'll do next week I think- the school uniform shop is in town- this one should do him until he leaves school.
I might look at shoes for me - my favourite red ballet shoes are falling apart sadly.

Go for shoes for yourself, MAS. So much more fun.

Ouch, KK. I think I remember you telling us something abut that friend of dd's before. The poor girl.

I have just found out that Coventry was outed earlier this week as the rape capital of the UK, and by a quite convincing margin. No wonder everyone around here goes on holiday so often. Who wouldn't?

Afternoon ladies. Just a quick update on visit to my sturgeon . He is very pleased with the path lab reports and says I responded very well to the chemo. 2 out of 16 nodes were affected and, out of the 4 lumps in the breast 3 had no traces of cancer and the 4th had a small trace of 8mm. I have to see him in 6 months and now just waiting for an appointment to see the oncologist for radiotherapy. We felt really relieved when he relayed all that information to us and had a lovely lunch to celebrate.

He says it's not the hospital's policy to do scans etc. He explained research showed it wasn't condusive to a patient's recuperation or their quality of life, having to wait for scan results etc. and that they recommend just dealing with any symptoms as they arise. Not sure what I make of that, really. What to they do in your areas?

Oh dear, KK. It looks like you need to stay out of DHs way for a while even though your intentions are honourable. I hope he doesn't leave it too late to write his talk.

Three holidays, Cakes? No wonder they feel a bit jaded.

MAS, enjoy your day out. I'd be tempted to get school shoes now, before the awful rush as school beckons. I remember leaving it till the last couple of weeks and having to buy my boys whatever was left in stock.

Great news, figgy!

I think regions do vary a lot on scans. Here they do them sometimes, but not in my case. The onc said it is always a bit like chasing shadows anyway, so they don't do it without good reason, it just stresses patients out and gives results that are not always meaningful.

I am glad you got to have a lovely lunch. x

Yes great news Figgy, - well done - lovely lunch is just the thing to celebrate.

They don't do scans here as a rule - for the reasons Cakes mentions.

You are right about DH, I should just keep out of his hair. He and DD both leave everything to the last minute, - they seem to need that deadline stress to make them do things. I can't bear to do things at the last minute, - I have it all planned etc etc [anal] .
He's supposed to be putting in a new bathroom sink this weekend as well - I don't think that will be happening!

Cakes - it is the same friend, she has had so may problems in the last few years, it is awful for her. She in pretty much constant pain, and they can't seem to do much about it. But she has started uni this year (locally so she can love at home) which is great, she's a very, very bright girl, but had to give up three years ago, because of her health.

DD is going round to her house tomorrow instead for a natter and a DVD

so many

Figgy - great news !!! I don't think they scan routinely here either.
Am glad that dd will still get to see her friend KK

I need and possibly cake - am totally worn out. Ds had fun on the roof of the car park doing shots of lovely Basingstoke -then I took him to the Gap where he was incredibly uncooperative- had to hold up tops and jeans against him to guess whether they'd fit -he did grudgingly try on a hoody,which is enormous (I've just tried it on -it fits me-and says 13 yrs on it ) Then I took him to Jones the bootmakers to see if there were any shoes I liked (none-not any I wanted in any shop ) I asked whether they still measured boys feet after size 6,(had been told not by Farnham branch) So,with much huffing he was measured and fitted for new school shoes- he makes it so difficult ! It's very miserable-making having a sulky teen in tow.
Placated him with an icy coffee frappaccino and a Krispy Kreme doughnut...

Figgy, that's really good then. I sometimes wonder if I needed all the chamo - I had 3 or 4 nodes affected and they went for the full regime. Anyway all done now.

Sparkle- delighted to hear you had gloves on - I confess I have to remind myself about this.

DS did wake up eventually and seemed very pleased, which was nice. Will have to wait till he can fit us in for celebrations though

A bit of being bored and plenty of pottering time is very good for DCs I agree - helps them learn to be creative and self-sufficient. Think this is why DS has got interested in cooking in fact.