**24TH** TAMOXIFEN thread !

[MaryAnnSingleton]

here we go...

No am going to try it this weekend gracie. -love that you can do cheese scones too.

smee start date is 6 June as that is earliest available date. Have bought scarves and a wig in readiness as undecided about the cold cap. Having said that, I'm trying the wig out, only been wearing it half an hour and have already got a bit of a headache. Also getting a bit itchy now!

gig - great that you have only one more rads appt but not good about the soreness. Hope there's something they can recommend that helps?

ned - hope you're getting some rest and this cycle passes uneventfully.

Makes a nice change to have some sunshine :)

smee tap is being fitted on Monday !
Am looking forward to the concert ned- ds off on 5th June- so dh and I will have a week on our own-he's taking time off -will be lovely.
Ooh wedding sounds fun gracie ! what kind of dress would you like ?
gig excellent that you're on to your final rads ! Hope the soreness doesn't last long.

WHY didn't I know this thread existed until today?!

Hello all . I've just turned 28 and I'm two weeks post radiotherapy and I started my tamoxifen on the 1st May. I was diagnosed with grade 3 breast cancer last August. Luckily it was found early so it hadn't spread to any lymph nodes. I was treated with a lumpectomy, 4 cycles of epirubicin chemo, 4 cycles of CMF chemo and three weeks of radiotherapy treatment that encorporated a 'boost' dose at the same time as part of a clinical trial.

I'm trying very hard to adjust to life after treatment, which is proving harder than I thought it would be as I'm still very fatigued. I've also managed to create a wound underneath my breast because I've scratched at the sore skin from radio, so I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself at the moment and angry for feeling sorry for myself because I swore I wouldn't!

smee have sent you the scone recipe. Enjoy.

mas mmmm what sort of dress would I like? Something gorgeous which makes me look fab. What will I end up buying probably something that fits which when you are my size is never an easy thing.

bubble Hi, sorry you find yourself here. I'm sure you are glad that you are nearly at the end of your treatment. I hope your sore skin heals up nicely. Could you leave it bare for a while each evening as that would probably help it heal?

I wish that would help, but being, um, a rather large-breasted lady, my boob touches the skin underneath. For the air to get to it, I'd have to be topless and keep my arms above my head, hehe. I'm not wearing a bra and I've folded a clean muslin and tucked that underneath my boob so the sore skin isn't touching and that's helped a bit. I think it needs dressing - waiting for the hospital/breast care nurse to get back to me.

Warning to everyone - don't scratch at your skin immediately after radio while it's still healing. Doh.

gracie thanks for the scone recipe. Will report back once I've tried it.

1step, bet you just want to get started in a way. Horrid to have it on the horizon. Am no expert on wigs, as I never wore mine, but I remember Figgy saying she'd got hers on too tight and it gave her a massive headache. Can you adjust it maybe?

MAS have fun at the concert later. Will be weird when your DS is away. Is that the longest he's ever been gone for?

BubbleBobble, hello Glad you've found us, though sorry you're with us too. I think a bit of self pity's fair enough you know and you're definitely allowed to moan on here. You might be better calling the rads people, as they have special dressings - mine gave me all sorts when I had problems. Hope they sort you soon.

So very hot..! DS flaked out, cat looks ragged too. Have been digging out summer clothes and realising they're a) incredibly scruffy, b) don't fit, c) I hate them all! Am wearing cropped trousers that I bought 10 years ago. Not sure they'll last another summer..

Afternoon - 1 down 5 to go woo hoo!

Is this the calm before the storm because at the moment I feel fine! Do you think i should venture out for picnic in park or will I crash imminently.......

Drugs fine, took anti sickness (3 lots) from 8am so they were well in me by time I got there and took 2 paracetamol. Also took 2 Ibro at 2 as was getting fuzzy headed from cold cap

Cold Cap very bearable. First 20 mins very icy and cold. She dampened my hair and put some conditioner on to move it about to get in place. I actually probaboly forgot almost I had it on in middle of treatment. Last hr was bit tedious but got though it. DH thought I wouldnt' be able to stand it but did.
He was great making us laugh and would like him to be with me again.

And MEGA RELIEF, Nurse said Onc passed on message to say my bone scan was all clear!!!!!!!! I am so so relieved and decided to let everyone know by text but maybe shouldn't as there#s been few relations bursting into tears in traffic and co -op's today!!

I promise i'll be a good thread buddy form now as less rushing around.

x

Welcome bubble glad you've got through your treatment. The ladies are a lovely suppport on here x

YEAY FOR SNOOPY. That's fantastic news on the scan. Just got to slog through the treatment now then. Really brilliant, am so pleased. xx

Snoopy - that's brilliant news about the bone scan. If you feel up to it, then picnic in the park sounds like a plan. We went to the park last night, didn't take any food, but it was nice just to enjoy the fresh air.

Welcome bubble and congratulations on completing your treatment. I've found everyone to be really supportive and I'm sure you will too.

That's good snoopy and you enjoy that picnic .

bubble speak to rads as they will suggest stuff (suspect it will be keep it clean til wound heals - which is what I did), I can suggest something soothing for when it does heal- aqueous cream with 0.5% menthol is super soothing as its cool.

hooray for snoopy for first one down and clear scan - yay !!
Welcome to bubble - am glad you have finished active treatment, it does seem to take a while to adjust afterwards so take it easy. Am sure BCN will recommend suitable dressing- I wish I could remember the ones I used-they were great as my skin broke down badly afterwards.
It will be the longest ds has been away from us - will be very odd. Ok,best get myself sorted...xxx

great news snoopy and gig! Feel better soon with the pain gig x

bubble sorry to hear what you're going through emotionally but well done on getting through your treatment!

smee I was the same with our kids' summer stuff! Can't find a decent pair of shorts anywhere! they looked like they belonged to no-one today!

waves to all i have missed

Resultsof CT tomorrow. Going alone. Scared as a fly in a web.

MAS A week of alone time with your DH? Jealous! Enjoy!

Does this make sense to anyone? I feel like the apprehension I have is pissing all over my best days. it's the same kind of trepidation that I had when going into labour and getting married. Y'know, counting down the hours. I know they're not the same experiences but apprehension apparently feels the same no matter what it is and i am not impressed!

Yay for snoopy, fab news on the clear scan. :)
Hi to bubble - I had some mepilex dressings which stuck over the sore bit under my boob, they were not too sticky and really helped. I'm sure the hospital will sort you something out. I was dx last August too, had lumpectomy and snb radiotherapy and tamoxifen. I'm back at work and thought I was fine, but been miserable the last few days - think it may be totm. Also a bit worried that we are going over to new ways of working - ie just grab the nearest desk when you get to work. Bit scary for someone who finds it hard to cope with distractions...

Oh Autumn, yes makes total sense. But tomorrow will be different, simply because you know the CT results. Knowledge is power I reckon, even if sometimes it's not the news we hope for. What time's your appt?

jchoc, sorry you're down. Not surprised though, you've hurtled through a lot of late.

hugs to jane xxx
And autumn -will send special vibes for scan results xx
We are going to do lots of nice things when ds is away-cinema ! exhibitions! lunch out !
Concert was great- in the quad,lots of people and v good singing. Mum didn't come and was very upset-she just isn't up to it

Waiting for something to happen is the worst Autumn, I agree with smee, knowledge is power.
:( about your mum not being well enough to see T in his concert, so hard to watch. Sounds like you are going to enjoy lots of treats while he is away :)

You are all so lovely, thank you. I was given a card by one of the radiotherapy people (I have no idea whether she's a nurse, doctor, or something else - I've seen so many people I can't keep track!) to call if I had any problems, but I lost the card. I called my breast care nurse because I had the number to hand and left a message, then it occurred to me to call the hospital switchboard and they put me through to the radiotherapy people. The person I needed to speak to was in clinic this afternoon and I should get a phone call tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've wedged a clean muslin cloth underneath my boob and that is stopping the skin from sticking together. I'm actually allergic to the creams that gave me (yep, I'm allergic to aqueous cream and E45!) so I was told not to use anything other than water and Simple soap. I had to get special permission to use aloe vera gel because it went against the hospital's treatment protocol or something, even though the person I was speaking to used to recommend it when she worked at a different trust! Hilarious.

Autumn - That makes a lot of sense. I don't think it matters what the thing is that's coming up. It could be something minor-ish like a blood test and you could still have that horrible feeling of 'argh, do not WANT'. I know I practically breezed through some fairly traumatic things, yet got hung up on the 'small stuff' that should have been easy to get through. I hope I'm making sense.

Stupid iPad split the post.

For those of you that have finished treatment, how did you adjust to life afterwards? I'm signed off work until August, which quite frankly, I don't think will be long enough as I expected to be fine immediately after treatment and use the time to mentally recover. It's not worked like that, I'm still ridiculously fatigued and goddammit, I WANT to be physically well enough to have some semblance of a life back before I go back to work. Does that make sense?

bubble it sounds really sore :( I hope that you feel a bit better soon.

MAS Sorry about your Mum :( but I'm g;ad that you enjoyed the concert :)

smee and jc you are both correct. I will feel better when I know what's going on. Do you think that they will have alraedy looked at my scan and decided on a plan before seeing me? I hope so. My apointment is at 9:25am. DH will take all of the kids out when the bigger 2 go to school and nursery so that I can just go. Both the school and hospital are 5 minutes away from the house so, even if I have to go alone, I'm still close to my home and to all of my babies.

Almost certainly they will have autumn

Tons of good vibes for you tomorrow

:) You all give me the warm n fuzzies. Much neede at this time. I'm starting a blog tomorrow to help me verbalise everything and have a place to keep it. It would be good to be able to read and review.

Even though it has killed me gig I have stayed away from Dr Google. I know I could sherlock it to death and still not actually know.

bubble I didn't have chemo so didn't have that to recover from and physically sailed through my treatment,even illustrating a book through rads-it has been more the psychological fall out that has been a problem- a lot of unresolved stuff brought up by dx and stuff that was troubles anyway- it's been good in that it has allowed me to sort out a lot of things though- so bc is good fot something ! 3 years on I'm pretty ok really- a whole lot better than before and working like a demon (which is great- am so mucgh better when being creative !)
Blog sounds a good idea autumn - I have recently started one for therapeutic purposes !