the 16th ***TAMOXIFEN***thread

[MaryAnnSingleton]

...here we go again

KK - best wishes for you treatment next week and what all that involves, so just consider yourself hugged.

Never heard of that treatment before kk , what is it ? If it needs isolation it must be horrible .

Have put make up on and painted my nails .
Just need to decide what I am going to wear .
Time to do a topsy and fling all my clothes around the bedroom . What does one wear to a beer festival ?
Sigh .

thanks all, - I'm not too worried about it - its an inconvenience more than anything. topsy - it's for my thyroid (which is overactive) the radioiodine destroys part of the thyroid, hopefully getting it back to normal, or slightly under (which is easier to treat) IT gets taken up by the thyroid mainly, but your do excrete a bit of it in urine/sweat etc. So i have to have my own loo, towels, crockery and cutlery, and sleep apart from DH. I am allowed to be in the same room as others, but not closer than a metre, and not for long. No going on buses, or in car for long. But its only for a short amount of time really.

Its years since I went to a beer festival, you will have a fun night Not sure what the fashion rules are, but I don't think it'll be too posh (NO point wearing your best gear of you're going to be downing pints )
just for you

I'm not an expert but I do think we all have this great drive to survive as human beings and a will to overcome difficulties (unless there are severe mental health problems of course or overwhelming physical pain). So that intense energy as a response to cancer sounds like the by product of that effort to drive forward and succeed in the face of a threat.

Some of us will be cancer-free physiologically. My onc said three weeks ago, "Consider yourself cured" but he and I both know that's not quite the whole story. But that is a very worthwhile psychological frame of mind to try and remain in and is what I keep on thinking and believing as far as I can. But.....the disease will always lurk somewhere in my life - in my mind, if not my body.

Getting a bit introspective here - will get back down to earth and clean out the hamster cage

Will you glow ?!

I had half my thyroid removed 4 years ago (benign tumour) but no problems or medication since. Hope it all goes well.

I hope I glow Dee - that would be very cool. I don't know what is at the root of my thyroid problems - but I'm having a scan on Wed. as well, so will maybe get some answers.

I think what you say is right, priorities change and you do a lot of rethinking (well I did, I can't speak for everyone) I've become very much seize the day in my attitude, - the problem is DH is not quite on the same page yet

hope there is glowing ! what if you only have 1 loo though ?? (i had an awful loo anxiety dream last night)

I wondered about the loo problem too MAS (luckily we have two) The instructions I have do say 'you must drink lots, void often and double flush' (It's along time since I was able to use the word 'void' in a post )

lordy ! will your wee glow ?

- that would be even cooler MAS!

We've only got one loo, so glad it's not me. Kurri, if it's cold, will we be able to warm our hands on you?

Dee, glad you're all tatted up and ready to go. It will fly by honestly. What you say chimes for me. It's never very far from my thoughts, but Kurri's right, it really does get easier as you go along.

Am mighty amused by our Topsy at a beer festival. Belfast beware.

Cat forgot to say, but I like the sound of your date. Carpets and breakfast. Top romance.

Had a weird time of it today. Felt incredibly down, but not in a normal way - can't really describe it, but it felt dark and a bit scary. I haven't been sleeping at all well and my DH persuaded me to finally try the sleeping pills the GP gave me about a year ago. Have taken them for just two nights, but suddenly connected the two and wouldn't-you-just-know-it the leaflet says a side effect can be mood change. Am mightily relieved tbh. Would rather not sleep than feel like that again. DH says a glass of wine might help. Very wise, my DH.

oh smee- definitely a glass of wine..

Oh its horrible when something like that happens Smee - sends you into a panic wondering what is going on when you suddenly feel low. Your DH is wise, wine is definitely what I would prescribe (is he a Doctor too? )

Hi all. Just popped in for a catch up.

KK, make sure you've got plenty to read while you're in isolation but don't get addicted to day-time tv - it's very easy to do. My mum had cervical cancer (got it at the age of 70) and had to go to a London hospital where she was in isolation for 6 weeks as she had a radioactive rod or tube inserted and we couldn't even visit her. She had her food left on a tray on a shelf and the nurses all had to wear huge iron aprons. It did the trick though.

Dee, you are now officially a "tattooed lady" . Welcome to the club. Glad it went well today.

Hope Topsy's behaving herself at the beer festival. I hope she's wearing her new shoes and her furry coat. I'm not a beer drinker as such but every now and then DH gets me to taste-test a new one - some of them are lovely.

Oh Smee, I'm so glad you realised why you were feeling gloomy. Thank goodness you read the list of SEs. I would rather try and find another way of getting to sleep than feel down. I'm sure a glass of wine will help but there are lots of other things you could try as well. I hope you find something to help.

Well, my "bra hunt" was a success. The M&S lady was lovely, measured me up (40DD ) and brought me a huge selection (haha) of bras. I got a bit despondent when each one was a poor fit which just goes to show how different the sizings are. She said "I've only got one left and it's a really boring, plain old bra - you wont like it" and guess what, it was a perfect fit so I bought two in white and ordered a black one online. Actually, it's a lot prettier than the ones I've got so I'm really pleased. We had lunch out and now we're watching Children in Need.

What have you all got planned for the weekend? Lots of treats I hope (and and FBS.

He's not a doctor, but he does dispense well. I think me and sleep is a bit of a lost cause. All went pear shaped when DS was born, and has never been the same since.

Yeay for M&S'S big bras. for you Figgy.

Oh #*@ Just motivated myself to finally make the topping for the caramel shortbread and dd has almost used up the golden syrup making flapjack! Will just have to bung everything I do have in a pan and hope it turns caramel... oops.

Hurray for m&s bras figgy :)

recipe on side of tin of condensed milk doesn't mention syrup anyway, phew.

Just opened an email from work and it looks like the gvt is cutting funding even further. Another 600 ftes to go. I got my assimilation letter from last years s166 letter the day I went off sick, so I haven't worked one day without the threat of redundancy :) Not telling dh, expect it will be splashed around the local news tomorrow. Some things are just not worth worrying about until they happen!

Figgy - glad you got a bra that's comfortable - I've spent years trying to get something that fits really well - must go and get professionally measured sometime.

Smee - I've literally just taken my first Tamoxifen and glanced through the list of SEs and goodness me! One of them is "breast pain"

Glad you sussed what was causing your dark mood - frightening. Hope you find that special something that does help you sleep through. You've probably already tried hot milk with a dash of whisky haven't you?

Flu jab tomorrow in prep for rads.

Wishing you all a REALLY GOOD night's sleep

hooray for bras figgy !
Must try to go to bed v soon,so see you all tomorrow- sleep well smee x (btw think I'm going to start on your picture !)

jane..i hope everything gets sorted in time for your mum coming home.

drift...i hope your seroma settles soon i know how horrible they are.

cakes...thats great your getting more work,must be tough trying to get it all done on time.

smee...i had to have my chemo stopped at the end of may because i had a bad reaction as they overdosed me with taxotere,at the time i was really poorly one of the side effects was my skin on my hands,feet and elbows all turned thick cream coloured bubbled up died and the skin shreaded its self very much the same as a snake does then i lost all my nails to.bone aches have become really strong again and now my thumb has started to bubble up im hoping its just going to be a patch and not have to go through all that again. glad you found out whats caused your low moods.

kurri...by the sounds of it will be well worth it,does that mean you can get out of the cooking cleaning and have total control of the remote.

i take it back that my physio therapist is hot i now say hes a sadist,front of my shoulder right up to my neck is really hurting and its pulling on my chest.course ive been poking and prodding then thinking omg is that a lump or is that a bone. i only had a scan about a month ago so i know im being silly paranoia is a horrible thing to live with.

Pink, that's really rough being overdosed and having that bad reaction - horrendous. Are you going to see someone about your thumb? Did the physio warn you it would be sore after treatment? Hope it settles down quickly and the dark thoughts away.

Getting the leaf blower out today to tidy up the garden and pub lunch later. Have good day everyone.

poor pink - a friend of mine is having physio by a mutual friend and she says she's really stern and tough- I think they have to be...eek though.
Dad full of praise for NHS yesterday - his next lesion is being cut out rather than frozen which makes me feel a bit queasy.

Morning All

topsy is back from the Beer Festival and she survived !

pink my friend calls them physio-terrorists

Am looking forward to finding out if kk glows .

Can't stop , have to get the DC to their gradings .
Love to all , have a great day , will be back later .