**tamoxifen the 13th**

[MaryAnnSingleton]

here we are- anticipating halloween

topsy...aww thats fantastic news and im pleased their going to keep you on FEC as its working. mine was changed to taxotere halfway through and messed everything up for me from that point because of side effects they ended up giving me a big break then abandoning chemo.my surgeon was furious they changed chemo being i was having such good results from FEC.

mas...i also have to sleep like that or flat on my back using a pillow to rest my elbow.

earth...that fluid can also cause you alot of pain.

cakes..the ridges look awful so glad to hear they grow out.

smee...at last someone else who knows what im talking about when i say the finger tips and toes are sore,thank god for my new boots im going to be living in them.if im going to be ok in a few months time might be a good excuse to buy lots of new shoes. great news that your not priority that must have felt good.

ILGC...thinking of you and your daughter hope everything runs smoothly.

kurri...thats a great idea thankyou im going to look for those, i bought some lovely new shoes the week before in the sale and i just cant wear them because of the tips of my toes.

Sore toes? Yikes! Hope it passes quickly

Pink, I think it's the Tax which makes you ache like that. I used to try and see it as a sign the drugs had worked. Not sure if it's true or not, but it helped.

I'm going to a Young Women's Cancer group tonight. I went once before, but didn't go back, as they all seemed slightly unhinged. BCN has persuaded me to give it another try, but am hoping there will be different women!

smee.. i think you might be right i still get bone aches now,good luck with your meeting tonight lets hope you meet some errr more normal ladies.i met a couple of nice ladies in hospital who had breat surgery when they left asked me to keep in touch ,you have just reminded me i must send them a txt.

son came home really hyped up he had bought coke from the shop with his friends,omg he was bouncing everywhere even the poor dog got toilet paper bows round his neck,told him to go out with his mates and not come back till its worn off. hes gone to play football phew

mas.. its a pain in more ways than one

Hello all! Back from the Cotswolds so have enough broadband signal to load Mumsnet at last!
Smee, had to laugh re you and the unhinged ladies! Hope you get some normal ones..
Hurty toes and fingers? Yup, still got that from the TAX. And ridged fingernails.
Topsy, yay!!!!!!!!!!
Two days to go till op. Feeling ok about it.

I am back now .
Dinner is simmering on the stove (meatballs and garlic bread again)
DH and DD are out walking pig/dog .
DS is upstairs doing his homework .
And now I finally get 5 mins to come back on the laptop .

Today was a good hospital visit .
My (multiple is all I was told , now I finally picked up the courage to ask !) lung nodules have reduced in size significantly . Not gone , but under control .
So next is another 3 courses of FEC at a lower dose . Then another ct scan . And repeat cts every 3 months untill something else shows up .
I think , although they are pleased with me so far , they think it's highly likely to come back in some shape or form .
But for now it's all good .
No radiotherapy . I think that's because it's "multiple" nodules , and therefore too much to zap .
But hey , it will be great to have no more chemo for a while .

They did tell me I am herceptin positive , can anyone tell me what this means ?

Hoping everyone is having a good day today , am going to go back and read all the posts now . Forgive me for doing it all in the wrong order !

Is it too early for ???

Sniggering at smees unhinged ladies . Surely you are used to that from this board ?

re unhinged ladies - I resemble that remark, now I think about it!

Herceptin thingy = bc was (partly) caused by cells responding wrongly to a chemical in the body called HER2. So they will offer Herceptin which is like chemotherapy but different. Same principle - you get it as an infusion via a drip every 3 weeks. Much milder than ordinary chemo, but you have about a years' worth of that regime. Some people find it makes their heart weaker for a while so they monitor that closely. I'm HER2+ as well so will be starting herceptin soonish.

welcome back amber, hop you had a good time in the Cotswolds, and it wasn't too rainy.

topsy - HER2+ here too, it means you will be offered herceptin, usually a years worth of a drip every 3 weeks, - you will not feel ill like you do on chemo, there are a few SE's but they are generally mild and you can carry on with normal life while having it . I went to the hospital every 3 weeks, but friends who have had it more recently have had a nurse come to their house, so hopefully you will get that - it must reduce the time it all takes. (actual drip + flush takes about 45 mins, but hospital faffing can make it a couple of hours). Are you getting yours at home amber?

main problem for me was diarrhoea, - but I had a lot of bowel probs with chemo, so a might have been a bit sensitive to it, hopefully neither of you will have similar probs.

hope not hop , - I'm not having a good day with the typos

Topsy that really is good news and, as amber and KK said, herceptin is very much more patient-friendly than the chemo you have been having. So it is definitely not too early for wine, this is a cause for celebration, after all.

Smee, I hope the ladies are a bit less mental this time around. I am not sure I would like to go to a group like that, but I can see that they may potentially be supportive as you wait for your next op: but don't go again if they make you more stressed out than before.

Amber: glad you are feeling positive about the op. Only two more days and it will be gone. Yay!

I have been speaking to my RL friend who had a lumpectomy a while ago. I think she is still going through the post-treatment mad stressed out, can't relax phase that is so clear in my own memory. She just can't let it lie and believe that she as a great chance of being OK. She is convinced that she has missed out by not having chemo, nothing I say can make her believe that if she wasn't offered it, it was because she really didn't need it.

Not started herceptin yet - think it happens some time after the op (I seem to be doing everything the other way round to other people!!)

Cakes, ooo, tricky re your RL friend. If no chemo was offered, they must reckon they've vanished it completely anyway. But I hear that a lot of people are worried after the treatment when they get to the quiet bit at the end.

KK, sunny nearly all the time in the Cotswolds!! Brilliant.

The Onc did say something about heart damage from Herceptin , but he also said that Herceptin damage is completely reversable . Whereas damage from the chemo is not .
I am not getting Herceptin for the foreseeable future though . I kind of get the opinion they are saving it for the next outbreak !

But I am choosing to interperate all this as positive .
It means I have more weapons in my arsenal for later

Wish I was in the sunny Cotswolds . It's blowing a gale over here .
We have the tail end of Americas hurricane !

Yes the damage is reversible topsy - I had borderline heart damage, but its completely back to normal now.

It is blowing a gale here too. I went to Somerfield at lunchtime, and was in danger of being hit by conkers being blown off a big chestnut tree in the car park. (I couldn't resist picking some of them up to keep -they're so beautiful and shiny )

Oh kk , we have a houseful of conkers and acorns .
DD keeps collecting them . Pig/dog keeps trying to eat them , does anyone know if they are poisonous ?

Just cycled back from the BC group, through the high winds, though I'd bet they're far worse where you are, Topsy. Was better this time, as top two annoyances from last time weren't there. Not sure if I'll go again, but it was okay really. Bet you can't guess which inappropriate venue they choose for the meetings though? (I'm not sure if I mentioned this before or not, but it still staggers and amuses me!)

Topsy, Herceptin's good news, as are shrunken lumps. Hope you have treats tonight and remember to tell Pig Dog to sleep through.

Cakes, I think I get where you're friend is coming from. I was relieved when they told me they'd like to throw everything at me, as I kind of instinctively knew I'd worry if they didn't. I'd guess all you can do is listen and show her life goes on. Sad to hear she's stuck on it though.

Waving to Amber. Glad the Cotswolds proved sunny. And the op will be fine, am sure. Easy to say, but I'd bet you'll feel better once you wake up and know that's another marker through. Have you got a bag packed yet?

Kurri, we met my parents on Sunday and went on a long walk. DS has a huge carrier bag full of conkers.

Oooh a guessing game
Will there be prizes ?
Most innapropriate place to hold a Breast Cancer Support Group ?
A bra factory ?
A Gentlemens Club ?

I can't think of any more .
Please tell me , I am agog !

I think they are poisonous topsy, so I'd keep them away from pig/dog, they are keen on them though aren't they, my dog rushed up and started snouting about in my bag because she could smell them.

Someone told me conkers are suposed to keep spiders away if you put one in each corner of the room. Sounds like an old wives tale worth a try.

Where is the venue Smee? I love inappropriateness I'm glad they were less barking this time, I've met some strange people at these sort of things, - I suppose there's the same proportion of loons amongst cancer patients as there are any where else (about 30% IME)

A topless bar

, but wrong. Actually it's a bit of a shocker, as it's at the local hospice, so not really amusing, though I chose to take it that way, as it's beyond ridiculous.

Blardy pig/dog !
If he wakes me up at 4am again with his puking , there will be war

The conker/spider thing doesn't work I'm afraid . DH has a mortal mild fear of the 8 legged beasts , and has tried every method known to keep them out of the house . And conkers most definitely didn't work .
DH actually threw DS at a spider once , he was so scared of it

Hahahahahahaaaaa
Some people would be offended at that , but I find it funny !

My treatment is being carried out at the Belfast Cancer Center , I always laugh when I see the sign for it . Not exactly subtle naming eh

Ha ha - that's very inappropriate.

Also at your DH throwing DS at a spider.

We have had some monster spiders in over the last couple of weeks. One that DD found dangling near her piano was apparently 'as big as your head mum'

Our cat loves to crunch the big spiders. They really do go crunch too. Sounds like he's eating crisps.