38th tamoxifen - waiting for summer in the bus shelter

[Gigondas]

New thread.

hey snails nice to see you !

Hi snails always good to hear from someone who has got through this and is now busy
Mas m and s treats sound good

Feel a bit down today, tired I think plus it's 2 weeks since my op and I'm still waiting for results. 2 more days. Plus I'm bored! Moan over

Can you not get stuck into some crap tv or a crap book malt? I re read Jilly cooper when waiting on results. What about towie or made in chelsea to take your mind off things. I would avoid the orange one who loves his kids as he goes on about his brother too much which isn't what you need to hear.

Hi snails - nice to hear from you.

Mas- do you have to ask about snacks? The answer is obviously yes.

Hello all,

So many posts I will never catch up! :)

But malt to reassure you my chemo experience isn't typical, most of my side effects are from the combination of chemo and the bowel surgery, which they wouldn't normally do together. The nausea is pretty manageable, I'd just got a bit behind with all my medications :) most people who have chemo do better than me, according to Dr W anyway

EMIN hope all goes well today. What a nightmare with transport! Glad you're feeling positive today. Just a warning one of the anti sickness drugs they do by IV might make it feel like there's ants in your pants! it isn't nice at all but goes away fairly quickly.

betsy sorry to hear about your colleague, what an awful shock :(

MAS yay for only two exams! M&S treats sound a good idea :)

Welcome makingdoo please do ask anything you and SIL need :) good that she has supportive family as that will definitely help

My sister has just gone to airport, she's off to Indonesia for three weeks with a few friends, so yesterday was busy helping her pack etc. hopefully they will have a fabulous time but I'm going to miss her horribly! :( I'm focusing on the fact that by the time she gets home I will be all finished with chemo and we can start getting on with our summer

Waves to everyone, I hope you're all having a good day so far :)

malt definitely watch some rubbish telly or do you have any magazines? Otherwise look in Mumsnet classics there are some hilarious threads!

I'm watching this morning they have caprice on later who's pregnant and expecting a baby with a surrogate.
I'll be ok just a bit fed up, if I had an office job I could have gone back to work which would have been easier
Ruby hope your sister has a great time thanks for the chemo advice I will be asking lots of questions when it's my turn I'm sure
Gigs will avoid this morning tomorrow as the orange one is on doing a piece called my cancer diary

Earth Sending positive vibes for your chemo. We are all here holding your hand :)

ruby hope you are feeling better today

snails it's great to hear your similar story :) Did you have many hoops to jump through to get the prophylactic mx? It is something I'm most definitely considering. Not sure about recon though. I definitely don't fancy implants and the other types of recon are major surgery (and me being a little mad odd, I quite like the idea of a choice of whether to wear my boobs or not ) They haven't mentioned rads at all yet - I didn't realise it would depend on path results post MX, it would be good if I didn't need them.

smeeI hope you are healing well from your op (still in awe of you cycling to get your drains out!) All reminders of folks who are still here fit and well are greatly received :) Did you have any particular problems on FEC or Tax?

malt two more days....waiting definitely sucks!

Well my scarves arrived from annabandana today, it's all starting to get quite real now. Just waiting for my onc appt at 16:15 - any top qus I should ask? I've been googling for info on the Dr I'm seeing, he seems to be at the forefront of research and training in my area and I've not found anything bad, so hopefully that's a good sign It really is a case of "my life in their hands" so it's kinda scary...

Good luck for your appointment Betsy. Can't think of any questions other than the usual about side effects, dos and donts, when you need to worry etc

Waving to Snails, helloooo... Lovely to see you. Don't worry about keeping up, none of us can really. Just nip in whenever.

Malt, rubbish tv not as good as a box set - I am genuinely astounded how much misery and cancer is on daytime tv. I mainlined 'West Wing', seem to remember being quite obsessed with it..

You're bound to miss your sister, Ruby. I'd bet she felt a heel leaving you too. When's your last one start?? Must be soon. Exciting!

MAS, hope you got some M&S treats. What's DS going to do with his summer??

((((hugs for Betsy)))) scarves arriving is quite a moment. See what Onc says on Fec/Tax, but they should talk you through possible side effects. There's a fair few of us on here who had that mix. Most common problems are nausea on FEC, and bone aches on Tax, mixed in with mouth ulcers/ change of taste - the chemo kills off fast growing cells and there are lots in your mouth. I didn't like FEC, but that was mostly because I am weird I reacted badly to all the anti nausea drugs, so they didn't work or they had to stop me taking them. Hugely unusual to be like that though. Tax was okay for me. Most women are like me, so get through it all and still manage to enjoy life as they do. I kept working (work from home, so it's easier), went away for weekends, even went swimming in the sea at one point on NE coast. Life's ahead I promise. Just a bit of a trudge through, but you can do it. x

Good vibes for later- ask him to say when your flat period (period of low immunity) as I found it helped to plan for Internet shopping, gentle things to do at home in those days.

Wtaf? Orange one has a cancer diary? Forgive me if I am wrong but wasn't his poor brother the cancer patient.

And isn't caprice expecting twins? Not that I should know this stuff...

Just met the lovely Copt who brought brownies- had a lovely long chat with her and she is as lovely , funny and wise in rl as she is on here . Also had some excellent amusing alpha mum tales.

Smee is much more high brow than me watching Howard's way.

Gigs it's a nice story about caprice, she was quite emotional telling it. She had a mc then lots of failed ivf so found a surrogate, then after the surrogate became pg she found herself pg naturally. The 2 babies are due within 4 weeks of eachother

Bet meeting copt was lovely

Smee I will look for a good box set

Been out for a nice walk in the sunshine, good job as its gone really dark now and looks like rain

It was great meeting gigs who is also lovely funny and wise, wonderful to meet a nice person in Twickenham . If feeling creaky she looks on surprisingly good form given the ops and infection, though disappointingly the bionic bits do not show but then a Borg in Twickenham would stand out a bit. And I am totally in love with little gigs, if that ship hadn't well and truly sailed I'd be getting broody. She is such a sweety.

Betsy I too shied away from implants and a serious operation and I am twelve years on lopsided and boobless on one side. I could still have the operation and there are times mainly when on the beach when it appeals, but most of the time it really isn't an issue. It's definitely an option, and one that my Consultant thinks is best in terms of your body if you can live with it psychologically.

You can also add in the choice not only whether to wear your boob but also whether to fling it across the room, a fairly unique party trick

Ruby What are your plans for your chemo free summer with sister? I think it probably needs minute planning, until she gets back.....

I hope all has gone well for EMIN

oh and Betsy with one node involved and a MX I wasn't recommended radiotherapy

oh I'm jealous at this meeting of gig and copt - I could whizz up the M3 and join in
smee didn't go to M&S in the end (lazy person) but there are choc chip cookies left from yesterday ! I think T will spend the summer slothing about -though will plan some trips to London town etc. We're off to Suffolk in July too. I don't think he'd manage a holiday job somehow- will need to get him in a practical mode for the next holidays so he can get a job.
I am craving some crispy snacks that resemble wotsits but are thinner and taste of peanut butter- used to get them at a local farm shop but that burned down and haven't seen them since.

Next time MAS! or we could whizz down...... btw meant to say you are not weird at all, or we are as well. Possibly that second point is true....but then you would be one of the less weird ones

ooh ! yes,let's eat cake somewhere !!

Dashing in to say Hi, - sorry have not been around - I seem to have a lot on atm. and DH is away so am busing everywhere. off out in minute to a committee meeting (fortunately getting a lift!) Hope everyone is OK, - will catch up on all the posts asap. xx

am of all the meeting up and cake eating

Just back from first chemo everyone was spot on. The first one was absolutely fine, no pain and it went smoothly. I had the flush out thing, then something for infection I think followed by the chemo and another flush to finish.

When we went in we had a long talk with my nurse who went through every side effect I might display and she gave me some mouth spray and anti sickness pills.

My session (1 x weekly) 16 in total doesn't sound too much so we're up and running. Is it ok to have I will share

Can I sneak back in with my tail between my legs ? Work has overtaken me and I am back on that treadmill of work, children, housework etc etc etc. I hate it !

Having a dip today as I have remembered that I had / have (?) cancer and need another scan in a few weeks. It has hit me hard as I sort of worked hard to forget about it and be 'normal' it but it has all come back and is not over.

New estate agents today so hopefully the house will sell soon ish and I can get off this treadmill.

Sorry I realise I have been thoroughly miserable. I promise to be more jolly next time.

ned isn't it about time we had a lunch ?

Glad it all went ok earth

So have returned from meeting with Surgeon. Still seems likely mx to ensure clear margins (I'm all for that) but he says it will be chemo then op with temporary reconstruction, then a month off, then 1 month of rads, then 6 months off and finally permanent reconstruction. That's more than a year away - I know that's not all treatment time but it just seems an age.
I had clear nodes but having rads anyway due to size of tumour.

Malt - I have been working from home but went into the office today and I feel so much better for it so I really feel for you having to be completely signed off. I am going to make the effort to go in more often - now I've done it once and answered some questions!!
Mind you I went from work then to shops then onto appointment and by then was very concious of my stinky armpit!! - now the dressing is off I will shave (with new electirc razor) and use deodorant tommorrow

Hope it went well today EMIN - I'm keen to get your update

Betsy - I'd not thought of googling my consultand and onc - off to do that now

great news Emin - what regime are you having? I'm so new I thought everyone was on a 3 weekly cycle

Earth glad it all went ok bet the next time it won't be so scary ? How long did they say it would take for you to get side effects if you get them, fingers crossed you don't

Kitkat it does seem to be a long haul doesn't it but I guess you will be able to carry on normalish life in between things. I do feel very guilty not working and getting bored there's only so much shopping and having people for coffee you can do !

Kurri lovely to hear from you x

NotJ lovely to hear from you soon good luck with the house sale and don't apologise for being down

Mas those peanut snacks sound yum I love peanut butter !

Waves to everyone else have a good evening

Kitkat I'm clueless about a lot of it too ! Have you got a date for your op ?