**TAMOXIFEN 18**

[MaryAnnSingleton]

oh my,we're starting our 18th !

Sorry, that was supposed to be 'Hurrah' - stupid phone.

smee at Wake for Breast + breast-inspired snacks. A brilliantly mad idea. Wish I'd been there! Hope you have fun with DS. If my DS was organising, would be party rings + hoola hoops :-)

MAS hope you enjoyed sandwich (and Galaxy).

Camel - sorry bloods were fine (iykwim). Still holding out for it all to be fine. Am feeling surprisingly fine after node op btw. Drains are annoying but arm almost back to normal + not sore :-)

... [apologises for excessive use of word "fine" in last post. Back on phone again and v distracted by wait for consultant and path results!]

Hello all,

Happy Birthday to LaLa, I think I remember being forty

Happy birthday for tomorrow Smee - I think I remember being 46

Ha ha KK, I have done that too I once saw a woman wearing the same dress as me who didn't look nearly so nice in it (get me), then found I was walking towards a mirror .

I like the idea of wearing jinglly things to exercise in

Edwin D was indeed very dark. I think that's why I kept getting the men confused with each other.

No, the techno talk is just me catching up with the rest of the world, don't worry I am not doing anything groundbreaking. And I have yet to actually twitter, i just set up the account so far.....

oh you two are very hard on yourselves
My marmite bagel was lovely and so was the choc...now to go into town to buy some supplies and to see what else I might get for my mum's bday...
Piano later for the boy,and then to nudge him to revise for his biology exam tomorrow (part of his gcse module thing- physics ,chemistry and an important geography GCSE (25% of his final grade) next week...eeek.

Yikes. I don't envy him his exams, poor boy

Afternoon all.

Hurray for Digs brilliant news. Bloody fantastic.

and another Hurray for Jane on being discharged from oncology.

Topsy, sorry you're having skin probs - mine went black too, under the armpit and it was a pain for a week or two. I had to have a few days off to air it. But it's all back to normal now. Hopefully you're able to catch up on your sleep during the day and it won't be long before you're feeling better. Chin up, girl.

Oneineight, hope the sickness has subsided. I had it for about 6 days each cycle and the only thing that kept me going was the thought that it was only temporary.

Camel, glad preop went okay but shame everything came back 'normal'. I know you're desperate to find out what the problem is.

Marmite, boo about the stolen lead, what a pain. Hope you're not going too stir-crazy. Fingers crossed the drains come out soon.

Sometimes, any biscuits left? I have a Twitter account too - DS1 showed me how it all works and I follow him and a few other peeps but have only Twittered (or is it Tweet?) a couple of times.

Smee, was that a vatte of lat?

Hello KK. I love the sound of the jingly skirt and Zumba. I've done that too, seem my reflection and had a bit of a shock. I still see myself as about 21 and a size 12.

Waves madly to everone else. My memory is shot to pieces and can't remember anything else I've read this afternoon. I'm not ignoring you, honest injun.

I'm having a quiet afternoon after a hectic one yesterday and am planning a healthy menu for the rest of the week. Not a FBS in sight .

Loads of biscuits, figgy. Take a handful x

Noooo, Sometimes, I really mustn't. I will sniff them instead. I'm resisting all FBS at the moment and finding it extremely difficult but am hoping my waistbands will seem a bit lot looser in a few weeks time.

My Great Aunt used to chew treats, then spit them out to lose weight. Worth a try Figgy

figgyroll I'm pretty sure I know 'what' the problem is going to turn out to be based on what has been found so far and on what they're thinking and on the letter to my GP in my file I sneakily read when the nurse had her back turned, but yes very desperate for an official answer so that I can get on with things. They could be wrong, but the evidence doesn't look that way, unfortunately.

Spitting? Moi? I'm a lady dontcha know.

Hope the revision goes to plan, Mas. I wish DS luck for tomorrow, in case I don't come on here before.

Figgy, six days? The pills have the sickness under control for the moment but I only have three days supply for the stronger ones. Did you need to keep up the anti-nausea tablets for longer?

Figgy, Great Auntie N chewed for one hundred chews, then spat. Go on - you know you're tempted.

OneinEight, you're unlucky if it goes on for six, but if it's still going on and you're near last day of the pills, make sure and get some more..!

Only on this thread would we have the word "spittoon" ! such a great word smee

I had thorntons mini chocolate brownies this afternoon with a friend. Excellent fbs, and made me feel good. . .

Have decided not to Facebook generally, but have messaged about 6 of my closest friends. Feel better for having told them, particularly 2 very old and dear school mates. My cousin just posted "xxxxxxxxx love B" on my wall today. She found out from her mum yesterday. Made me cry a bit, but in a nice way. A friend of DH wrote a beautiful 2 page letter. Equally lovely. Feel like I am feeding from the positivity of others, when I have so little of my own. . .

aw that's nice ned

ned so pleased you are getting lots of loving!

Well I am finally done here: 2 of my 3 drains have come out and we have the path report - the bugger was 2.8cm with clear margins. Was estimated to be 3.3 - so a bit smaller (every mm counts!!). They examined 6 nodes and 2 were affected. There was also another tumour under the nipple (which luckily I've had removed). ER and PR both positive. HER2 status not yet known. So chemo definite but might avoid rads.

Phew! Waiting for DH to arrive to take me home. Might be a bit of a wait as putting DCs to bed (then my mum will watch them).

Is allowed when you've just been discharged does anyone know??

is allowed if you feel like it marmite. Honestly whatever you feel like's allowed on a day when you get results. Glad you know it all now, as you can get on and through to the end. Clear margins is worth a huge hooray and 2 out of 6 nodes, though obviously not as desirable as 0 out of 6 is still okay. Means it was trying to spread but your body was holding it back. (I had 4 out of 22, so have thought about this a lot!) If you're ER and PR positive, I'm guessing you'll be on Tamoxifen too, which is a plus as it's an extra layer of defence. So all in all, lots of positives.

Ned, that is lovely. Does make you weep when people are so kind. Am glad you like spittoon.

Enjoy your , marmite - glad you've escaped :)

for marmite yay for clear margins :)

:) at spittoon. The victorian pool that the meanies at the council have just closed had those...

Please can I join you lovely ladies? Was dx Nov last year, completed 6 rounds of chemo in March and had mx in in May. Have lurked around this thread for a bit and thought it was time I said hello! I am now on Tamoxifen and will shortly be having reconstruction (diep flap).Wondered if anyone had been through this?

Nice one marmite sounds all quite positive,i think? Hope you feel job well done. Definitely worth a

Will they not do rads if HER2 negative? I've been told they're going to do chemo and rads to me, regardless. Might change for me?

I can't wait for my surgery. Really want to get on with it now, just want skanky lump gone and then I can start getting better.

Feeling smug as have finished all year 6 reading assessments. just Maths and writing to finish off. . .

MAS hope DS revision going ok. Fingers crossed for him.

eight how you feeling today? Hope side effects not too bad for you.

Nice one Jane glad to hear hospital have sent you on your way. Great day indeed!

Perhaps could start a challenge to come up with cool words like spittoon?! Anyone interested?!

Marmite hooray for getting home, and clear margins is great

hello Sun and welcome to the thread. You've obviously been through a load of treatment - I hope you are starting to feel better now and getting back to some sort of normality

I had a MX in 2008, and have just been referred to the plastic surgeon for reconstruction. I don't think mine will be a diep flap (that is the abdominal one isn't it?) because I've had a lot of abdom. surgery in the past. I have got a couple of friends who've had this type of reconstruction. The little I know about it is that you get very good results (I've seen my friend's and it looks fabulous), but it is a very big op. - bigger than the MX and you will need a longish recovery time.

Where I live in East Anglia, there is a charity called keeping Abreast - which is for women waiting or reconstruction, I think it might only be local, but they do have a website (just google keeping abreast), and there may be info on there which would be useful to you.

Ned - It's good you have supportive loving friends and family - it makes all the difference. Have you got a date for your surgery? I know how you feel, I just wanted to get on with mine too, and once you've had your op. that's a big chunk of treatment under your belt.

Good luck to DS for tomorrow MAS , my obnoxious nephew has his science exam tomorrow too.

hello sun and welcome !
marmite -hooray for clear mrgins and nasties being smaller than expected...
thanks for good wishes for the boy tomorrow- hope he has revised enough- didn't push him this evening -have checked his exam pencil case and gave him nice fbs when he got in from school.
HER2- means that you won't be receptive to herceptin, and as far as I know it doesn't have any bearing on whether you have rads or not (if that makes sense)
Must get to bed-am knackered. xxxxxx