**TAMOXIFEN 18**

[MaryAnnSingleton]

oh my,we're starting our 18th !

Waves to figgy - am very envious at prospect of clean oven.

Not surprised ds isn't keen, MAS. What 14 year old would be?

Figgy - I'm just the same - I get stressed over 'occasion wear' too. - I htink its because its people I don't know very well, - if it was something with my friends, I'd just ask them what they were wearing.

Your nurse may give you some of the surgical pants if you mention them to her - how are things on the scar front? gosh you must be fed up of it

Just googled the Rosa girl - she was katherine Howerd in the Henry viii thing they did a while ago - (she was a bit irritating in that, - but then Katherine Howerd probably was a bit of a twit IMO)

MAS - when does DS have his big choir trip, is it this summer?

I think Katherine Howard is her kind of role - she'd need to up the raunch quotient though, I should think

She wasn't all that raunchy in it IIRC - she sort of twirled and floated about and talked in a tinkly voice

Hellooo! V quick flying visit to sing to smee [clears throat, assumes brisk falsetto, sends everyone else running for cover]. Hope you are having a lovely day - and have a good 'official birthday' tomorrow. Did I miss cake?

Will read through + catch up later but from what can remember camel good luck for tmrrw. topsy are you now done with rads?? (hoping so - hooray!!). Hope all DCs with exams doing well + not too stressed.

Knackered + mainly in bed today but must get up as DS1 due home + excited that I'm back!

not surprised you're knackered marmite
Hope ds isn't too put off by choreography- lord knows what they'll be doing. He is off to NY at beginning of June and will be there on his birthday- rehearsals are quite intense too. He also has his grade 4 singing exam coming up in March,so I have top remind him to revise,practice singing and piano - argh !

Ooh ta, Marmite. Hope your DS's aren't too bouncy. I found it both helped having to be up and about for them, but was also quite hard some days.

Virtual cake being handed round to all. DS and I went to shops and bought Cheese Balls too. mmm...

Gosh you have been busy on here today!

Oh dear Topsy fetching attire you have - at least you have finished now.

Lovely sunset this evening. Just came back from a bike ride and wished I'd stayed out longer.

Have been signed as fit for a phased return and my sweet boss has done a very gradual schedule starting with one half day next week. Looking forward to it :)

Blimey, I've no way to keep up on here so shall just put out some for people.

Gosh, you lot have written a lot today!

Welcome, Sun. Sorry, I don't have any advice/help and don't even have BC. I am the stray interloper, here :)

ned You're sounding quite chirpy today :) When does your DH go to Edinburgh and is your pre-op on Monday?

Topsy Hurrah for last rads, that's awesome. Are you going to be having a celebration dinner whilst rocking your new crotchless surgical pants chic look?

MAS How did your DS' exam go?

KurriKurri Go in whatever makes you feel most comfortable - you'll look your best that way and, hey, if you don't at least you'll be comfy and not care

jchocchip That's excellent news for you about work :)

marmitesandwiches Hope you're getting good TLC and rest.

Figgyroll & sometimes (and everyone) for the good luck wishes.

smee I hope you have had a lovely day :) Yes, I am relieved that tomorrow is almost here. Although a full report will take a week, I believe that it's sometimes possible to get results after 4 or 5 days and really hope that's the case. I only have to be there at 11.30 (which means I'm allowed breakfast before 6.30, yippee!) so guessing I'm on an afternoon list.

I'm usually pretty strict about what I eat (although I had cake (!!) today, my boss took the piss out of me for a good 10 minutes after that), but am thinking WTH this weekend and have spent all day considering what my FBS of choice should be. I've reached the conclusion that what I really, really want is mince pies. I know it's January, but think an exception can be made this once, can't it? I went on a little reconnaissance mission at lunch at found mincemeat at Waitrose, so all set. Mmm, FBS

I think you deserve whatever fbs you like camel !! Will be thinking of you tomorrow and sending many good vibes your way. My results were through in a few days,so hope yours are quick.
Ds seemed to think the exam went ok - it's difficult to get information out of him though
Cheese footballs smee ?? are they still around in the shops ?

Thanks MAS.

Speaking of results, I was supposed to get the results of the breast lump FNA yesterday. At last week's appointment they actually said they'd text them to me, but then they weren't worried about that at all. Haven't heard anything (which I'm not going to worry about) so presumably I'll get those ones tomorrow. By tomorrow, I'll have racked up 3 biopsies, about 10 blood tests, a GA and 5 hospital appointments all by the 13th of January and all of it a surprise. And I had such hopes for a chilled start to the year ...

June - that seems close now MAS - I remember when you first said he was going it seemed a long way off, - it's come round quickly - how exciting!

I'm glad the exam went well, - haven't heard how my nephew got on with his.

Camel - mince pies sound very nice - I didn't have any at Christmas - didn't get round to making them - I'm pretty sure they are allowed in January

Will be thinking of you tomorrow and hoping you get given your results and can start moving forward, it's scary but at least the stress of uncertainty will be removed. xx

Cheese footballs = perfect party food Smee, has DS chosen you a nice cake?

Have been speaking to a good friend of mine today (she was the one who felt my lumpy boob and told me to get it checked out) . She has been given an urgent referral to the breast clinic after her GP detected a mass in her boob .
So positive thoughts for her please ladies .

Loads of good thoughts coming her way topsy, I hope it all turns out to be OK for her.

Camel, I had the most delicious mince pie ever over Christmas, but I think that the large dollop of double cream on top might have had something to do with it...! Will be thinking of you all tomorrow. Hope it all goes to plan and they don't keep you waiting around.

MAS, that's good news then - if he thinks it went well, it probably did.

Topsy for your friend. I hope it's nothing, but if it is well she'll have your wisdom to gain from, which I'm sure will mean much.

Amber, don't stress about posting. You've enough on your plate and it's just nice to see you here.

Jane, your boss sounds lovely.

Yes, cheese footballs here - drastically reduced for skinflints and so light they surely can't be a fbs. We had an eccentric tea made up of things we like, so a whole punnet of tomatoes, raspberries, chunks of cheese, pistachios, olives, then Mr Kipling's fondant fancies and all polished off with tangerine jelly and raspberry ripple ice cream. Feel a bit 'ick now.

Wow ladies - I only miss a couple of days and you just move on PAGES!
Welcome to Sun. You sound like you have been through so much already.
Ned How lovely your son showing you how to take him to school . Teaching is just such an un-family-friendly job from the point of view of never being able to book any annual leave or even a couple of hours to just do the simple things like taking your own dc to school once in their lives - see, this must be the silver lining in the cloud that is BC.
I think I'm pretty unusual on here, in that I told everyone from when I first got the diagnosis. I'm not on FB, but when I told someone, I asked them if they would 'let people know' as that would really help me, so I actually didn't have to tell many people (word travelled fast), but have received such support from so many people, it's helped me a lot - some practical offers, some prayers, some letters and cards, some e-mails and phone calls, some flowers, some visits, some thoughtful little gifts such as magazines, or one friend who came round with a pile of DVDs for me to borrow for as long as I needed. It's just helped me so much to have been surrounded with love in all this. Still, I guess we are all different, and cope in our own ways, but I've been so touched by everyone's support, I certainly wouldn't do it differently.
I spent yesterday in A&E, having had a call from ds's school. He's managed to break his thumb. He is most concerned this means he can't use the X-box controller, and apparently it slows him down considerably with his texting. I seem to be the only one concerned that this might affect the 2 GCSE written exams he has this month!!!

poor ds backforgood Maybe he could do the exams on a keyboard ?
smee that was some birthday tea combination !! sort of thing I'd have
Sending special thoughts to your friend topsy - hope all will be ok.
xxx to camel

Keeping everything crossed for a good outcome for your friend, Topsy.

Smee, what a blow-out tea. Sounds fab - all my favourite things too.

Ouch!! for your DS Backforgood. Maybe school will give him a bit of 'extra' writing time? It's worth checking out.

Scar is still a pain, not literally though thank goodness. I'm having trouble now with the sticky backed plaster-type dressing which goes over the silver and gauze dressing. The stickiness of the last dressings wasn't enough for them to adhere to my skin and kept rucking up and the new ones are so incredibly sticky they pull dreadully when being removed which has resulted in soreness and redness. I need an in-betweeny type dressing. I think I've got more than the local health clinic.

Oven is shiney-clean and 'as new'. No-one's noticed yet so I shall just keep quiet and let everyone think I've done it.

My Head at school has agreed I can have a weeks unpaid leave so DH and I can go away and relax for a week, probably in May. It's easier to arrange care for our DS2 who has Downs while he's at college and his training centre rather than go in the holidays when it will be harder work for anyone looking after him. He has bags of energy and would be quite demanding for a whole week, day and night. And then tonight he's come home from a night out with his support worker with a letter from the care agency saying they will be taking some service users away for a week to either Spain or Greece in May for a week. So, if I can get the dates confirmed and it suits my Head then we could go away at the same time as DS2 and not have to worry about him (although I know I will). Fingers crossed it all comes together but, if they haven't got any room for him, I will make arrangements for him to be looked after at home in the morning before college and when he gets home until DS1 arrives home from work. Either way, it looks like we'll have a week somewhere not too hot and sunny.

Good luck for today camel . Hope all goes smoothly .

A holiday to look forward too , hope it all comes together figgy and you can have a good break without worrying (too much) about DS .

Up at stupid o clock again today . 4.20am this time .
Think I will get the DC off to school and go back to bed for a while .

Thanks topsy

It's miserable not being able to sleep and waking up so early and going back to bed sounds like a good idea. Hope everything is ok with your friend, too. When is her appointment?

Thinking of you too here camel. Big hugs coming your way. I did have a good day yesterday-spent most of the morning on here, swapping silly words! Got pre op on Monday- DH in Edinburgh on Monday for the day, so he'll be back Monday evening. Then it's all go for the surgery on Wednesday. Can't bloody wait - can't come soon enough!

Holiday sounds great Figgy hope you can make it all fit in Ok with DS2's time away as well.

Got evything crossed for Topsy's mate too. What a worry for you both. When is she going to be seen? Soon, I hope. . .

great auntie Kurri any sign of baby?! How exciting!

Poor junior backforgood - I guess texting is more serious implication for DS than his exams just at the moment!

Waves to Amber!

Today's word is undercarriage- DS thought it was hilarious when dog came in and I said she had a soggy undercarriage.

soggy undercarriage is funny !
figgy -holiday sounds a lovely idea and do hope that it can coincide with holiday for ds or at least some outcome where you won't be feeling too anxious about him.
Sending good vibes to camel and will be thinking of you on Monday for pre-op ned
topsy grr about waking early - back to bed for you I think.

Morning all! Time for a then a walk up pen y ghent for me with dh. He is scared of heights so we are going up the easy way which doesn't involve any scrambling!

Good luck to camel and anyone else with appointments today.

I'll have a with you jchochip
Yes, ds considers texting and playing x-box FAR more important than writing / schoolwork / exams. School have been fab - he was given a laptop from the start of day yesterday and he's been told he can use it for his exams and that he'll get about 10mins extra per exam. We're off to Children's Hospital this afternoon for their "hand people" to look at it!
Best wishes to anyone witha appts today, or just anyone who is struggling or just having a bit of a 'low' day.