***Tamoxifen 32***

[MaryAnnSingleton]

step this way dear ones...the trolley will be here in a sec...

Kurri, what were you washing?! That'll teach you to do housework..

Gig, you are allowed to punch head tilters. It's the only way they'll learn. Hope it goes well. Meal with your DH sounds by far the best part of the day.

Another here who's had boiler problems, MAS. Hope they can see what went wrong and fix it. How's the cold today? Hope a bit better.

Waving to all. Cycled and been for a swim .

It was just washing up Smee - hot water dirty plates and fairy liquid - the gloves look disgusting. But you are right I definitely need to stop the housework, it could be dangerous - I have had cancer you know

Gig - we should all be on a mission to rid the world of head tilters - smack away

Kurri.

That's my fave "get out of doing anything/everything" KK
I just say "I couldn't possibly do that , I DO have cancer you know"

Hello everyone!

I hope your afternoon at the office has gone well Gig. I had a look at your friend's blog and she lives really near me by the sounds of it! We have been treated at a couple of the same hospitals. I hope she is doing well :)

KurriKurri washing up sounds terribly dangerous. You probably need a lie down on the sofa for the rest of the day!

smee well done on your cycling and swimming. I love swimming and can't wait to be able to go again! :)

I had to have two staples removed from inside my tummy button this morning. They were left behind from my surgery in November.

Then I bought a beautiful dress in the Monsoon sale. I'm going to wear it on Valentine's day.

And a lovely friend popped round for biscuits and a board game. What a fabulous day :)

I hope everyone else is having a good day too!

That sounds like a lovely day Asho , - I bet those staples were getting uncomfortable by now - must feel good to have them taken out.

Can you link to your new dress so we can admire? Monsoon have some lovely things - my DD bought a prom dress there a while back, it was gorgeous.

I have finished the washing up and survived (just) I have prepared the meal, and now I am going to sit down and plan what seeds I am going to order from my catalogue

How did you get on today Gig?

ooh yes, let's see dress ! glad you had a lovely day...
Where are you going for dinner gig ?

Are you having pancakes tonight? Glad you survived the washing up, it's a risk business

I can't find the dress on the Monsoon website so I will take a photo of it tomorrow and upload it. It's beautiful, black with coloured flowers made up of sequins. I was admiring it before Christmas but couldn't bring myself to spend £149 on it, so was thrilled when I found it reduced to £44 then there was further 20% off everything in the shop today!

ooh wow - that sounds a real bargain Asho!

yes we had pancakes - DD and I made them earlier, but they kept going wrong and turning into a big soggy lump of batter in the pan, but we managed to get a few that were edible

DH can do the after dinner washing up, I've decided it's man's work

Bargain, Ashokan. Yes, we demand photos. Sounds like you had a lovely day.

Pancakes tossed amidst lots of giggling and the cat nearly got one on it's head. DH away so missing out, though have saved him some batter. Do you think it will last? DS says he's full. He never says that. Mind you, he did eat at least 6..

mmm had some pancakes with lemon and golden syrup. Off for a swim a la smee now :)

When is he back Smee? I would make the pancakes and shove them in the freezer for when he gets back, not sure how long batter keeps.

Enjoy your swim Jane

At uni I used to keep pancake batter in an airtight box in the fridge for a few days. It just needs to be mixed again as it starts to separate :)

Top tip Ashokan. Will try that. He's only away until Thursday.

Feel sick
Tummy may explode
Made a huge pot of roasted vegetable and chicken soup , and just ate a big bowl with 1/2 a loaf a wafer thin slice of tiger bread .
Don't think I even have any room for the pancakes I just made .
refuses to acknowledge the fact that its the second batch I have made today

How was your day at work Gigs ?
Did you hit anyone ???

Ooooooh I think I might have to go lie down ....

last chocolate eaten,and a cup of hot choc (will miss that I must say) and nice pancakes with maple syrup and vanilla ice cream...

Still am hour and a half to go Mas

Mmm a 4am start with a vomiting dd and my ds is up and coughing.
I was planning a lazy day today as have been feeling really tired. I can see my lazy day will not happen now.
Oh well at least there will be no packed lunches to make and no school run to do.
I had major wobble last night. The oncology nurse told me my treatment is longer than usual after surgery as the department is being refurbished. The paranoia got bad last night. No oncology appointment yet.

Oh bum pen what a way to start the day. Can you all bundle on the sofa today?

get well soon junior pen

For all ESP pen- sorry that lazy day plans spoiled. I will sit on paranoia box for you.

First day at work ok and had no head turning- oddly two quite normal chats with people both of whom knew long term cancer survivors so didn't do the head turn thing. It will happen tho as Suggested that mention it in email saying am back to get it on the table so stop all the comments and deal with it directly. Seems to have worked ok for another poor guy with colon cancer who is in treatment at minute hence this approach.

Had physio which was brutal as usual but is working- they are going to change my pain meds as reckon shoulder pain now nerve rather than muscular. Then had lovely meal out with dh with so actually was a good day (but no pancakes).

Second morning in so will see if novelty wears off today.

Good morning everyone,

I hope your children feel better soon Pen. Perhaps you could all have a lazy day watching DVDs or something?

It's a bit annoying that the renovations are delaying your treatment. Could you phone them for some reassurance? Mine was quite late after surgery too so I decided it must be a good sign as I figured if they were worried they would have rushed it :)

I'm glad your first day went well Gig and that your colleagues were understanding. What is the head turning thing that keeps being mentioned? :)

I'm seeing my oncologist today to discuss how the first cycle went. I have lots of questions for him and hopefully he will be lowering my dose and prescribing me some more lovely drugs. I've been off the tablets for over a week and things have still not returned to normal so I dread to think how ill I would be if I had continued, as I would be taking my final dose this morning.

I ended up reading a few blogs by people who have bowel cancer and whose treatment is going badly. Two of them died. It got me a bit down but I keep reminding myself that so far everything is goin to plan and I'm in a much better starting position than they were. It's just such a horrible disease in future I think I will avoid blogs that are not about food!

I had a look at some thyroid cancer forums and it frightened the life out of me. Perhaps the most prolific bloggers / posters are those that are having a bad time so does not accurately represent people with that diagnosis. That is what I tell myself and don't look any more.

We are all still in pyjamas watching TV.

My consultant said the initial treatment is the same if it has spread or not and I won't know if there is any spread until I have the scan at the end of the treatment then a repeat in 4 monts. Not sure how I am going to cope with the aftermath when treatment is over. My focus is on treatment and really fear paranoia will take hold when that focus has gone.

Ashoken, about those people, but the thing with blogs is that often people only write when they're struggling with something, as it's a way of sorting your fears and anxieties for many. When people are healthy and happy, they tend just to move on so you never hear those stories. Here's a more cheerful one for you though, as I have a very dear friend who had bowel cancer three years ago. She e-mailed me last night to say she's just brought herself a new wetsuit as she's learning how to surf.

Gig, what no head tilters? Am impressed by your office. Hope day 2 goes well too. Where did you go with your DH?

Pen, hope the DC are better soon. Will sit on paranoia box for you. Go cuddle up with the kids. Can't remember how old yours are, but hopefully big enough for you all to watch a good film together.

Hope you had a nice swim, Jane.

Topsy, been meaning to ask, but how's the lymphoedema? Did you talk to BCN about it?

No news from AtoZ, so am hoping she's okay.

Sunny and spring like here. Not me, the weather. I have backache - not bad, just niggly, but DS thinks its from tossing pancakes.

Yes that's definitely true about forums, I hadn't thought to apply the same thinking to bloggers. I had a temporary ileostomy after my first surgery and I looked at a couple of stoma forums and it seemed like everyone's stoma went terribly wrong. Then my stoma nurse pointed out that people who have a perfectly functioning stoma don't really have anything to say about it so wouldn't bother going on the forum. Just like I suppose no one comes on Mumsnet to post "everything in my life is great"

I know what you mean about after the treatment is over. Each new stage seems scarier than the last! Nothing reassuring to say I'm afraid but hopefully someone who's been through it will have some words of wisdom :)