***Tamoxigang - thread number 40!***

[GoodbyeRubyTuesday]

Hello all! New thread as we have almost filled the last one. Help yourself to chocolate chip muffins from the trolley! :)

MAS - I'm going to ring up and see if i can get a place on my local Look Good thing. Had a look on the website and at my local hospital they run once a month and you have to book. So I figure if I ring this week I'm probably looking at September which would suit me as the kids will be back at school and I'll be scratching around for things to do. I lurvveee free make up .

Hi all - hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Ruby - well done on sparkly new thread - I'm glad the amytrip. is helping a bit, and hope you are a lot more comfortable.

malt - how are things, - it's good you have a voided any major sickness - that's great, I agree with others if you're going to get it in a big way, it usually manifests itself fairly quickly. And it sounds as if they've given you plenty of supplies just in case - i used to find that I got waves of nausea rather than actual sickness - and was told to make sure I take the anti sickness meds in anticipation, rather than waiting until I felt yukky. Well done for getting the first one under your belt.

Woo hoo lovely ned - hooray on reaching the year past treatment mark, - have a great meal and enjoy yourself.

MAS - welcome home, and definitely go to a look good feel better session - you don't have to have hair! My goody bag had stuff like clinique and Elizabeth Arden in it - not to be sneezed at, - I had to fight to stop DD pinching it all!

Hello Nonna, and welcome to the thread, although of course I am very sorry you find yourself here. You will be feeling very shocked and shaky atm. - it is very early days, once you have spoken to your doctor, and know it little bit more about you diagnosis, and your treatment plan, you might find you can get your head around it all a bit more.

Remember, cancer patients are treated for all the effects of cancer, not just the physical ones, so if you think you need any help sleeping or with anxiety, talk to your doctor about it and s/he will help.

At the start it is all a bit information overload, people telling you stuff, giving you leaflets about everything, and its hard to focus and take things in.
It does calm down a little bit honestly, so you can feel a little bit more in control. Be very gentle with yourself, and hopefully we can offer a bit of support as well and answer any questions you might have (or at least direct you to the right person at the hospital to answer them)
I don't know if you have a specialist nurse at your hospital for cervical cancer patients, - if you do, they can often be a great source of support and talk you through everything.

Waving to everyone - at mini Gig and the badger!

I got into mine easily Kitkat could have got in for August but already had an appointment on the same day
Thanks Kurri still feeling ok here, last day of steroids so hoping for a bit better sleep soon
Hope everyone's having a nice day bit fresher and windier here which is nice

I might ask 2 of my group whether they'd like to do this ...would be nice to have company...
Waitrose beckons !

when are you going then Malt?

Can't believe how well you have done. Yes, once you stop the meds you should better. You'll be the onc's star patient at this rate!!

3rd September kids will be back at school and ds will be on a pgl week away
I know it's just luck so far though and sure it won't stay like this !
Enjoy waitrose Mas you must keep them in business lol, I've just sent dh to sainsburys with a list

Oh and I washed my hair this morning very gingerly ! Hadn't washed it since Wednesday

MAS definitely go for it, I'm on the waiting list for August, I said I'd have finished my chemo and treatment by then but lovely lady said I'd still deserve a bit of pampering :) so seeing as you're having chemo you'll definitely be eligible, it'd be lovely if you can take a friend or two from your group as well.

Nonna welcome but sorry you've had to join us. This is the scariest time, soon you'll have a plan and you'll feel much more prepared to deal with it all. Frankly most of it is rather boring! :) if you have any questions feel free to ask. Absolutely do not google. People only go online usually when things are out of the ordinary and going especially badly, no one bothers to post "I have cancer and my treatment is going to plan", that's why this thread is so good :)

malt after this cycle you'll have a much better idea of how you react to the meds and when you are likely to feel rough so you will feel much more confident about things like going out on your own :) do you have extra anti sickness meds to take if you actually feel sick or do you just take them all routinely? If you have extra ones, take them with you when you go out in case the nausea strikes suddenly :)

trice have you got cream for your chemo bum? Cancer is so unglamorous isn't it! I can recommend Drapolene. It's in the baby section of Boots and also available on prescription. Otherwise a layer of metanium or Bepathen cream with Vaseline over the top can be quite good. Don't use anything too moist, like aloe vera gel or preparation H, or you could end up with a fungal infection

I slept through the whole night no pain, no loo visits, woohoo! That's the second time I've had a full nights sleep since November :) hopefully they'll become more frequent as things settle down. The side effects from the last cycle are really dragging on

I hope everyone is having a lovely day, and those who didn't sleep well are getting some rest :)

Thank you everyone. My doctor has already given me pills to aid sleep so I took some at about 1am and slept until nearly lunchtime. At least that's another few hours off my countdown until Wednesday.

Lovely dh has taken most of the dc out so I can do as I please. My biggest worry is my children. Youngest is only 6 and adopted. She has some attachment issues and needs to be with me at all times. She's upstairs now having refused to go out with the others. God knows how she will cope if i need a hospital stay. I don't want any (but especially her) of the DCs to know there is a problem until I can give them answers.

My mother is being I pain. We are very close and she is struggling with this. She is the kind of person who tends to make everything about her. She came round yesterday and started crying, when I told her to stop because the dc were around she wailed " you don't understand what it's like when one of your children is suffering". .

Tried not to google but failed, won't be doing that anymore it scared the living daylights out of me.

I hope you all have a lovely peaceful day. The sun is shining here, hope it lasts.

nonna -that's tricky with your mum - obviously very hard for her but not helpful. I think it's best to get all the info first before telling the children then you'll know what the plan is and can reassure etc. Yes, to avoiding Dr Google but easily done- I still do it !

Hi Nonna - sorry to hear that your DM isn't being helpful at present. I can see problem from both sides as DS was fairly recently diagnosed with leukaemia. Easy as a parent to break down but much better to appear strong and supportive, so I hope she can get over this and provide real help fo you.

You thought you could all hide but I found you and am marking my place

nonna welcome and really sorry you have to be here. Vent as much as you like, we've all done it and we all still have wobbly days but the girls here are great. You mum sounds a bit like mine. She really didn't cope well with my dx and has aged terribly . She did seem to tell everyone she met that her daughter had bc not sure whether it was for sympathy or reassurance.

mas glad you had a swell time and definitely go to LookGood. It was great and at mine there were women at all stages of treatment, some with hair some without.

at minigigs and the badger.

Good to see you doing well malt one ticked off the list.

Boys off to adventure camp this evening so peace and quiet for a week. DD and I are going swimming tomorrow. Squishy brownies for the fbs trolley and waving to all.

really tired today - think all the driving yesterday must have taken it out of me.

Just come back from seeing Monsters University with DH and DS and stayed away all the way through so it must have been good.

I have to say that my mum is being fab - she had BC herself 3 yrs ago (no chemo only rads - told me at the time it wasn't required but has now admitted that it was borderline so I think she chose not to have it) - anyway she is completely matter of fact about it all which is just what I need.

Just about to cook roast chicken as it's the first time in weeks that it's been cool enough for a roast

My mums finding it hard too it's the first time the family has experienced cancer so think that makes it more fearful
Just walked up to see mum and dad for a cup of tea and feel good for doing it will do a walk every day when I can
Kitkat not surprised you're tired that was a long day yesterday

Hellooo I am back from my road trip and throwing cave aged cheddar and scrumpy cider on the trolley.

Sorry to see you have joined us nonna but you will get a lot of support from the ladies here. I certainly did and do frequently.
Diagnosis is the worst time. I became hermit like and very selfish as I did not want to deal with other people's emotions. I did not see my parents at all which was horrible looking back on it but it was what I needed to do.
Just be selfish and get through it.

We had a lovely trip and I now want to go off again. I love my van.

Hi to Gracie nice to see you enjoy your quiet week x

Mmm to cider and cheese NJ glad you had a lovely time x

sounds fab nj - love cider, love cheese
Am not sure whether it's better or worse having experience of cancer in the family- probably both things are equally irksome. My dad had prostate cancer and my SIL had bc about 7 years ago -both very fit and well now thankfully, but my younger brother died of cancer when he was 10 -I think this makes my dx quite difficult for them, being secondary- first time round they were relatively blase or at least appeared so, but I can sense their anxiety about this.

Hi Nonna, welcome from me too

Your mum is making Mistake One in usefulness. I saw a really handy diagram about 'circles of support'. You have cancer, so you're in the middle. Round you, your closest supporter. Then famly. Then friends. Then acquaintances. Each circle cares for the people closer to the middle....and if they are distressed, only expresses that distress to the people further out of the circle. Care in...fear out. You are not there to counsel your Mum and she needs to understand that.

We're here to walk with you through this lot. If it helps, 95 out of 100 women with early stage go on to be fine, and it's still 8 out of 10 women even with the medium stages now. Very good treatments and genetic tailored stuff available.

Would a visual social story help with your young one with attachment issues? Pictures of you going to hospital, of clocks showing the time you will be in and out, times people can visit, what the ward will look like, etc? It works for me. Might help settle them too. Might not, of course.

'Evening everyone else

Evening all -nice but busy trip away so just dropping in and catching up.

Welcome nonna-amber puts it beautifully about support. Hoe we can do our bit.

Nj sounds great weekend. Hope you had a nice meal ned.

Waves to mas malt kitkat betsy trice picture jchoc kurri topsy Copt and anyone else I missed.

Copt doing her bit to distract me tomorrow over coffee as starting to get anxious about onc appt for scan results on Tuesday . Just want a stay of treatment so we can get away on holiday.

Gigs, keeping everything crossed for you for scan results on Thurs.

also fingers crossed for your results on Tuesday Gigs

does anyone watch Corrie - and notice how you can get your scan results immediately after the scan in TV world

No is that right kitkat? I am big archers fan and found that my bp went up in annoyance in hospital t some plot lines when I was being checked while listening.

I have been applying bepanthan to my bum thanks Ruby, It worked well for the dcs, hope it works as well for me. I wouldn't want an infection to set in.

Today I had a most disgusting cupcake. I cannot understand their popularity - I much prefer a fairy cake. That whipped margarine butter icing is vile and I don't want to eat glitter, it's plastic. It is one of those culinary fashions that no one will comprehend in a few years time, like a fanny craddock jello salad. I hope.