Tamoxigang -the 39th thread ***

[MaryAnnSingleton]

cooee ! we're over here - just in case the current thread hit 1000 without our noticing Bring the trolley !

Hi picturethis, I envy you living near the sea. I love the beach.

I changed my diet after diagnosis. It felt like a small corner of control I could take over my body. I started with the zone diet during my first chemo. After finishing chemo I ate too many sweet treats and ended up two stone over my ideal weight. This made my arm inflate with lymphoedema. So I went paleo for two years which was great, I got back to ideal weight, my arm went back to normal, I had loads of energy etc. But then my cancer came back. I am now attempting a ketogenic diet.

My blood sugar levels are very high, pre diabetic territory, I try to keep them down with a very low carb diet. I eat lots of kale and spinach and berries, I drink green tea. I don't eat sugar and I don't drink more than one glass of wine . I walk as far as I can two or three times a day. I work really hard at it but I am still the most unhealthy person I know. It sucks.

Mas hope you can get some rest today
Picture beach sounds lovely you're lucky to live hear the sea, it takes 3 hours for us to get to a beach !
I haven't changed my diet, well only that before I was always trying to lose weight but now I think sod it if I want something I will have it

Er I did go on a diet and cut down on sugar. Took up running and lost a lot of weight. Felt better for it but new job and emotional eating and injured foot mean that the weight is creeping piling back on now. :( must go find mfp again... Annoyed with myself as found it really easy to lose weight when I was off work and put my mind to it. :(

Morning all,

Grim night here, was up and down all night as my skin felt like it was on fire, it's improving now as I've taken some tramadol, fancy having to take tramadol for a sore bum though I can't work out what to do for the best as it's not just from "contact" is too widespread for that, so cream on surface doesn't really help and even tramadol doesn't help that much. Soon it will all be over though :) and such a gorgeous day, hard to be anything but happy!

KK lovely to see you! Hugs to you and hoping things continue to improve :)

jchoc fountain sounds fab, I hope the funeral goes as well as it can

I'm eating less healthily at the mo to keep tummy happy during chemo, but have switched to all organic eggs and dairy, and some organic veg. I tend to follow Susie Orbach's "rules" and eat what I want, stop when I'm full etc, rather than trying to go on specific diets. The cancer has made me more aware of being happy and enjoying my food is part of that :) I did read Anticancer by Dr David Servan-Schreiber which had lots of dietary stuff, I will read it again when I'm finished my chemo I think. Reading it made me feel much more in control :)

Sorry I've rambled on lots and I can't tell if it makes any sense, blame the drugs am rather woozy!

Hugs to those who need them :( hopefully you'll find there will be days in the summer when you feel fine and can do fun things.

ruby hope you feel better soon - just keep reminding yourself this is the last time :)

picture sounds like we have the same plan for the summer hols (we live about 10mins walk from the beach - about an hours walk from the sea for most of the day, but that's another story ). I've just been online shopping (again...) to get a new hat with a huge brim (difficult to find due to my 60cm head ) and a UV throw, so I can hide out of the sun while the kids play.

In terms of diet DH recently purchased the Zest for Life book (he heard a programme on R4 about it around the time I was diagnosed and liked it because it is science based. ) I'm looking to add some of the tips in there into my diet (eg I'm eating loads of mushrooms at the moment + manuka honey as they are good for boosting your immune system). TBH we eat pretty healthly anyway, so I'm just trying to "up" the cancer-fighting foods and make sure I don't have too many of the bad ones (I'm not giving up occasional treats, no way!)

Ruby - is Aloe Vera gel any use? I had a nasty groin area (definitely TMI) last week and found it quite helpful. It has now cleared up - but just something not to look forward to for the next chemo round.

Ruby phone your bowel nurse !
That's not right , you shouldn't be suffering this much .

I've just had Greek yog with honey and strawberries for my breakfast .
It was delish , and just right for this hot weather .

I've not changed my diet as such since diagnosis .
I've prob been more "ah well , what's the worst that can happen" ?
I do eat a lot of veg (mainly salad) anyway .
But these days I feel if I fancy something , I shall have it !

kk !!!!
So lovely to see you around again .
Hope life is treating you fairly .
We miss you !

Jane I hope the funeral goes as easily as possible today .

I'm sitting in my living room in my pants (with the blinds closed !)
It's sooooo damn hot !
And me sitting in my pants was not a pretty sight , even before I had a boob chopped off ...

Averts eyes from Topsy in her pants, but waving enthusiastically to Kurri the Terminator... come back soon xxx

MAS, could you snooze today. A power nap in the garden might top you up?

Gigs, how are you today? Hope feeling a bit better? x

Ruby, definitely call nurse and see if there's something other than tramadol. Even if they say no, at least it's someone to talk it through with. xx

Hope the funeral's as good as these things can be, Jane. You take care xx

Trice, how are you today? Hope not too annoyed by being home alone.

Picture and Malt, you never know you might be able to do more summer holiday things than you think. I had my chemo over the summer too, and once I got to know my cycle and when I was hit, we managed to go away camping for weekends, I even swam in the sea in a defiant up yours to cancer sort of way. It's horrid, but you can still do things I promise.

I haven't modified my diet, other than to try not to drink in the week. I've always had a healthy diet, never been overweight, never smoked and still got cancer. So bloody annoying!!! Only thing I have done is to stop drinking mid week. We used to have a glass of wine most nights with our meal. Just drink at weekends now, unless friends are here, like tonight.

For those on chemo, or about to start, it zaps your iron levels, so watch that as the last thing you want is anaemia. Eat loads of iron rich food if you can, as it really helps. Go gnaw on a beetroot.

This is becoming a bit epic. Waving to all those I've missed. Hope you're all okay.

Thanks for the nudge, I shall contact bowel nurse, I hadn't even thought to do that what a wally.

Thanks for the suggestion lily but I used an aloe vera based gel a while back and ended up with a fungal infection as it was too moist but it is so soothing, very tempting!

at topsy in your pants! It is so hot.

betsy Zest for life sounds interesting, I shall look that up :) my oncologist is determined that nothing works apart from exercise and eating five fruit/veg a day but the other onc I saw was much more positive about new research!

smee makes a very good point about anaemia, I have it and it's not fun at all, so if I could eat my greens I definitely would :) still waiting for a date for my next blood transfusion!

Just had a little nap which was nice :) my aim has been to sleep through as much of the past six months as possible, and it has definitely helped!

Good morning all from the office of HND. Looks like there is a bit of an epidemic of "downness" at the moment ..... I had a really down day yesterday for no real apparent reason ... I got home and changed into shorts and a vest top and went bra-less whcih accentuated my wonky knockers and that gave me a further punch :(

I know I am very lucky in comparison to a lot of you here and then I start feeling guilty about moaning :(

I went to see the Tissue Viablility Nurse this morning (regular dressing appointment). I had noticed this morning that the skin in a crease caused by the tissue breaking down and escaping, had broken down and there are now two new 'holes' (wounds) near to the wound on the outside of the skin graft from the reconstruction.... the nurse says there are interconnected and that I will probably lose that area of skin ..... I am so gutted :( everytime something positive happens, ther is another negative to set me back. Six months after my surgery date and I am STILL not healed.

Sorry for the pity party but feeling a bit crap :(

:( HND no need to feel guilty about moaning, it's not a competition of who deserves to moan the most, and anyway it is completely understandable that you would feel down. What a nightmare about the wounds, I'm really sorry you're going through this so long after the op. Lots of hugs for you x

Hugs and about wounds - it's an absolute pisser isn't it hnd and mine not been going on anything like as long.

I had my lovely massage lady come round to do some reflexology which was wonderful - not least cos she does some kind of magic with arrangement of cushions so I was comfy and even had longbit of a nap after.

I feel a bit better for this .

Hnd sorry to hear that but don't feel guilty about moaning at all
Gigs reflexology and nap sound lovely
Ruby sorry to hear that you are sore
Waves to everyone else
I've been out for lunch again , jacket potato in the sun with friends and was good to catch up
Now inside as I think I look a bit pink it's baking today wish we lived near the beach like some of you

Moan away HND. Must be incredibly frustrating for you. What are they going to do about the mismatch? Have they offered anything on that front?

Glad you had your reflexology, Gig. Could she come more often?

Ruby, did you call the Nurse??

Waving to sun-kissed not pink at all Malt.

Today I had a check-up with my oncologist. He seems happy with how things are going and agrees with me that my lump has most definitely shrunk. :)

He has also said he will give me some stronger anti-emetics for the next cycle and the ondanestron for longer. I also have my Emend now, so I can take it an hour before (as it is supposed to be taken, as last time I was half way through the drugs before they gave it to me) which he is confident will make a big difference. So fingers crossed I won't be so sick this cycle.

What got to me again was the fact that the waiting area was full of old people. I know cancer is a git at any age, but it seems just so unfair we have to deal with this when we still have (non-adult) children. One lady was talking about her daughter bringing the grandkids round later and I'm sat there thinking I don't even know if I'll get to see my own kids grow up, never mind see any grand kids. It's just so depressing sometimes...

HND moan away, I've just joined you in a moan

gigs glad the reflexology helped

Betsy all sounds positive
I have had the same thoughts about being too young for this too but then I look at how young and positive ruby is ( that probably sounds horribly patronising ruby I don't mean to be) and I also thank God it's not one of my children instead of me

Betty - understand about the "old people" bit - DS2 has a chronic form of leukaemia and has to go to the oncology clinic. He's 21 and a tall handsome hunk, so must look pretty incongruous there!

very true malt very true - thank God it's not one of my children instead of me. One of my friends lost her nephew to cancer aged just 7 a few years back - he was first diagnosed aged 2, and had all sorts of treatments, but nothing worked in the end :(. I can't even begin to imagine how you cope with that as a parent.

Betsy I used to think that too and still get oap rage but that has been tempered by sharing ward with lots of People like Lily's ds.

Back in bed with junk novel and air con but did get up for long while and have Physio appt booked.

lily sadly lacking in young tall and handsome hunks today, now that would make sitting in the waiting room more interesting

Sorry for being tactless lily

Oh and I forgot the update on my qu about doing chemo first.

He said he likes the surgeons to do their bit within three weeks of the last chemo . At that point there would still be some of the drugs circulating in my system and any cancer cells left in the tumour should have been bashed sufficiently by that point to make them dormant for a while anyway. (obviously said using the proper medical lingo) So basically what smee said :)

Betsey sounds as if your chemo is working well - that's good news
HND - massive hugs, you have had such a rotten time, you are perfectly entitled to have a moan, it must make you very fed up

Gigs - reflexology sound lovely, am glad you felt so relaxed afterwards.

Ruby - did you call the nurse? hope you have been given something to help. Poor you, it sounds horribly sore. But nearly there now - you have done brilliantly

topsy -did you ever get dressed, or are you still sitting in your pants?

waving to all.

ooo thanks for the info Betsy - ties in with my surgeon having told me he will operate 3 weeks after the last chemo - nice to know there is some consistency. I like to think of them being bashed (not the surgeons).
I know I shouldn't be but I am a bit disappointed to have no change in my lump - maybe something will happen after this next lot of chemo.
I'm been losing a few strands of hair today - not lots but a bit more than would normally come out I think. It will be 3 weeks on Thursday since first chemo so makes sense for it come out now - will have to wait and see if the cold cap has done it's stuff or not.