**Tamoxifen** the 30th thread !

[MaryAnnSingleton]

Am wheeling the trolley over....

Ooh bumped up to a suite - get you how lovely. I'm glad you had a nice break, even if it's back to the grindstone now.

Copthall - sorry but am at your hair going south during coffee morning small talk (not funny for you I know).

Will redress the balance with one of my embarrassing chemo stories. I was walking towards the public library (big courtyard front with steps), had just finished my last chemo, and a little toddler was kicking a ball about. It came towards me so I kicked it back as you do, but had totally underestimated my lack of strength and balance, I keeled over onto the ground like a sack of spuds, and had to be winched up by DH, which took several undignified attempts (not helped by me being overcome with giggles)

Ooh fancy, Sometimes. A suite sounds luverly.

Kurri, they're okay atm. Dad's physically frail, but mentally okay and Mum's physically great but mentally all over the place. Combined though, they cope. Hope your mum gets a buyer soon then. Must be unsettling for her all this waiting.

Copthall, I like the sound of your Onc. I'm nearly two years out of treatment now so a way to go, but will do a lot of celebrating if I reach five.

yes,suite sounds v lovely- glad you had a good break sometimes
Just having short break from drawing, listening to radio 4 extra in iplayer- nice extracts from a Kenneth Williams biog..
I feel a bit all at sea probably because of having to take my medication every day (rather than being given it,if that makes sense) and I know i won't be seeing onc and bcn for another 3 weeks. Actually,will see bcn just before appointment as am going to the secondary bc support group. Enough of me- hope everyone is doing ok and help yourselves to dh's cake- it's lovely !

kurrikurri Friend and I (another Mum at DDs' school diagnosed and treated at the same time as me and also 11 years on in spite of Her 2 Neu which in those pre Hepstatin days had a grim prognosis ) decided very early on to laugh at everything about our experience of Breast Cancer. It helps you not feel embarrassed if you are saving up the anecdote for the next glass of champagne and slab of chocolate!!!

at embarrassing chemo stories esp the mums coffee Mornjng copthall (and yes I think if name is a clue we could probably wave at each other).

Am reassured now about hair - now just need to sort leg as its annoying being unable to bend it properly and put socks on. MRI next week to see what is going on (they think its muscular but need to check it out).

mas hope support group helps- its a lot to get your head round and I found/find having to do any kind of treatment when been largely free of any hospitals (aside from when pregnant) was a big change. I don't suppose the trip next weekend is helping but hope have a nice calm week. How was ds day out in town?

sometimes did you get hold of little weed in the end?

kurri hope house sells soon - how is mad sis ? Keeping a low profile about all this?

Well I must be feeling bit better (despite long nap and montalbano reading session) as made some cheese biscuits from the Paul Hollywood book. Will offer those up to anyone keen.

Hi everyone and including new people.

Its an anniversary day for me - so thought I'd mention it here. Its 2 years since I returned to work after treatment. Lets hope I make it through the next 2 years cos then I can retire - yay! (or at least reduce my hours from full time down to something more manageable)

My cat Orlando is worried about the firweorks again - better go and cuddle him, as he's climbing on this keyboards.x

Yay, well done SR!! I remember you going back. Has it really been that long..? Hope Orlando doesn't get too stressed by it all. Ours isn't at all. He seems to actively like fireworks...

Glad you're feeling a bit better, Gig.

grabs cheese biscuits greedily... am really hoping the secondary group will be helpful gig
SR wow -2 years ! well done- hope Orlando isn't too spooked- Celeste seems oblivious-she's quite a laid back girl.

yay for sand

andi had been shut in the living room while we set off fireworks for dd2 and friends. He did escape though and went upstairs and watched from the window

Hi everyone!

It's been a busy half term, and i'm just catching up with all the news.

Hello to all the newbies - Hen...( several pages back - hope you are okay), Frank, and Copthall ( and anyone I've missed out).

I've taken Tamoxifen for a few weeks now, and don't think I've had any side effects yet. When do they kick in?

Could I ave one cheese biscuits please?

You might well be lucky and not have any side effects Invicta ! Hope you don't x

Well done on two years back at work SR - that is definitely a milestone.

Gig - have heard very little from mad sister, I have not seen her or heard from her, since my Dad's funeral, although I have been down several times. I suspect she is avoiding me good .

cheese biscuits sound excellent

Copthall - laughing defintitely the only way to get through the indignities I think!

MAS - I hope the secondary group is helpful for you, I'm sure it will be, it is always good to talk with people who understand your situation.

Invicta - I can't remember how long it took for tamox. side effects to kick in for me, but I started herceptin at the same time, and that is when ,my thyroid problems started, - so all the various delightful s/e's are a bit confused in my mind.
Mainly it was hot flushes and achiness I think from the tamox. It might take a few months for the drug to build up in your body so that you notice changes.

Old lady dog is so deaf, she has been completely oblivious to firework noises, even though they are going off in the garden next door. The lady who lives there (she is nice neighbour, not the mad lawn-laying, marquee-raising gits on the other side) has lots of grandchildren, so they've been having a big party I think.
Old lady dog has made a nest in the ironing basket and gone to sleep with one leg and her tail dangling out the side of the basket

Did anyone watch the Nigel Slater programme about sweeties on BBC4? - apparently Jelly Babies used to be called 'Unclaimed Babies' in Victorian times

I desperately want a Sherbet Fountain now, and some sweet cigarettes.

Sweet cigarettes - mmmm. I remember Aztec bars too... Lovely programme. Our dogs were all nervous wrecks during fireworks or storms, not fun for them at all.

Hi Invicta I didn't have any side effects other than that the fat started to collect around my middle instead of my hips, a bit of a spare tyre that didn't want to budge. I knew other people who had the same thing happen. However the chemo brought on an early menopause and that also could have that effect. I think the Tamoxifen probably helped spare me the worst of the menopause since I didn't any of the side effects of that either.

I have since found out that the bone density in my hips is at the level which at my age they would class as Osteopenia, one stop from Osteoporosis, the result of chemo and early menopause, so in all likelihood Tamoxifen helped put the brakes on that too.

It also completely got rid of the marbles in my other breast which would probably led to regular panics otherwise.

gigondas the name is a bit of a diversionary tactic but I am in the vicinity...
Good luck with getting a working leg to go with the hairdo. I still have my plans for a multi layered chiffon cake in the shape of the Taj Mahal with Turkish Delight jewels inspired by Paul and Mary ....

Hi sandripples congratulations on another notch in the timeline.

Morning everyone. Well smallest child has given me her cold which was kind of her , so have woken with a somewhat bunged up head. She seems perkier this morning though, which is good.

I missed Nigel Slater so will have to catch it on iPlayer later. We have an old fashioned sweet shop just around the corner from us which makes me drool every time I walk past it!

Morning All

Mas I think the group will be good , I wish there was something like that over here . But all the support groups seem to be for older ladies , and that made me feel a bit out of place .

They don't "do" bonfire night over here , so pig/dog spent a very peaceful night burping and farting on his new piece of carpet (left over from DDs bedroom make over)

Must I player that sweetie program , sounds like it might give me some nice cravings !

Still blinking freezing here . Just waiting for DD to go to school so I can get into a lovely hot bath !

Gigs any cheese biscuits left ?

Morning topsy - yes there are some biscuits left. I wish we had no bonfire night here as was very noisy (add into that big gig waking up and my noisy coughing was a bit disrupted ).

There is apparently a group here with younger people but am not sure they will be "young"enough for me not to feel totally depressed at being there.

Hope everyone else's pets coped with the fireworks.

That's a pain about getting dds cold frank- I am just waiting for everyone to get another one (and thankful that big gig doesn't seem to have passed on her tummy bug).

Quiet day for me- I have load of stuff to do but haven't even got out of bed properly .

I've stopped going to my Young Women's BC Group, as they were all either depressives who seemed to want me to be one too, or potential stalkers demanding to be my best friend. I think I was unlucky, but still. Go cautiously..!

Invicta, I'm not sure what are Tamoxifen SE's with me. I haven't had a period since chemo started (June 2010), which is when hot flushes started too. I have all manner of aches - especially hands and feet. I think that's common on Tamoxifen too. I find it harder to lose weight, but then that could just be because I'm through the menopause.

Just on all that, has anyone else on Tamoxifen been told they should switch? My team are saying that's the new wisdom, so two years on Tamoxifen, then if you're post menopausal after that you go onto a different drug. I had the blood tests to check a while back, so they'll tell me next appt apparently.

Sunny and crisp here. Lovely day.

I asked that smee at my penultimate 6 month check and surgeon said no,he'd keep me on tamoxifen as I hadn't been through menopause..but i do know other people have been switched to arimidex etc.. anyway, no more tamox for me.
Freezing here- am off to do some drawing with some hot choc..then collecting my girl from school and walking her home-staying until later today.
I never wanted to join the local bc group (it's called Brave Front,which put me off) also they seem old- probably same age as me but it didn't seem the thing for me. I think the secondary group will be better- bcn says some younger women there..hark at me ! I am still basking in the fact that oncologist thought I was around his age (I'd say 40 !!) rather than my true ancient age..

Morning all you early risers

Smee - I hadn't heard that about switching drugs, - I've been on tamox for 3 years now, there was talk of switching me to arimidex, as I was putting on weight - but it turned out to be the thyroid so plans were shelved and I stayed on tamox.

I have problems remembering side effects etc, - in fact the whole two years of my treatment are a bit of a blur and I get muddled. Chemo has definitely affected my memory, there are things that DH and I went to together that I have totally forgotten - I mean absolutely no recollection - it's as if the slate's been wiped. and he is astounded I don't recognise places we've been etc.
Most odd - could be old age of course

Frank - bugger about the cold, - hope you manage to shift it quickly.

MAS - 'Brave Front' would put me off too - where do they get these names from? I think the secondary group will definitely be worth a go - at the very least, there's bound to be tea and biscuits

I'm having a cleaning day again, - and I may bath Old lady dog if she's not careful - she's developed a bit of a whiff (she's currently asleep in a cardboard box she found and assumed was for her) She would be very of Pigdog's carpet topsy!

Anyone heard from Sparkle, OTM or Baskets lately? - have missed them on the thread - hope everyone is OK, and not feeling poorly.

I will ask my team for the logic when I go. Not until December though. They seem confused anyway. One Onc told me I shouldn't switch, the Surgeon told me I definitely should.

'Brave Front' ?! What a terrible name. Ours was the 'Young Women's Survivor's Group'. That word 'Survivors' always annoys me, not at all sure why.

Kurri, my memory's shot too. So glad it's not just me. Do you mix words up mid sentence too?

Oh yes - mix up words, and forget them altogether. And peoples names (I used to be good at remembering names). I try to do a crossword or word puzzle everyday to keep my brain ticking over - but it's not working

On a more serious note - I do genuinely feel like a slightly different person, my memory and ability to pick things up fairly quickly were things I could rely on - part of me. And I can't rely on them any more - it's weird.

Couldn't agree more. I feel like someone stole a part of me and it's never returned. I'd bet you worry about Alzheimers, as I do. I genuinely think the chemo drugs did it to me though. So bloody annoying..

Yes Alzheimer's always in the back of my mind too Smee - although I keep telling myself Dad was in his eighties when he became ill. But yes when you've seen it in someone close to you, you tend to worry about any little memory lapses.

I was doing an Open University degree when I became ill, - and I know I couldn't go back to the psychology degree I was doing, - I just wouldn't be able to retain the info, to pass the exams - there was a lot of science and statistics involved, which I loved at the time, but don't think I'd be able to cope with now. I might put my psych. modules towards a general BA one day - and pick some arts subjects because I'm more familiar with the arts.

But you are right - bits of your life get stolen, and I feel and about it sometimes.

I'm trying to forge a 'new me' with the art and craft work and so on - maybe that will be my new direction. I should view it as an adventure

On a good day it's an adventure, on a bad day it's just bloody annoying.