*TAMOXIGANG* 43 *

[MaryAnnSingleton]

New thread !!

Malt - I have had the flu jab - arm was a bit sore for 24 hr but nothing really. You'll hadly notice vs Tax effects .

Waiting is over - I got my date to start chemo. I was initially told sometime this week or next week. I start 9am Monday. Yikes!

The good news is that the resulting 21 day pattern seems to fall well with regards to school half-term and Christmas holidays. My DDs biggest concern was that I would be sick on Christmas day. I told them I might still be if I get an infection.. But I have a good chance of not being sick. (Fingers crossed).

I also did flu shot on Wednesday this week. I had no side effects.

what chemo are you getting Mumof2?

kitkat 4 sessions of AC followed by 4 sessions of Tax. All spaced 21 days apart. I am dreading getting started, but also want to get it behind me ASAP..

Weebarra Welcome, but sorry you are here. I was diagnosed in August, so not that further along than you. Do you have a good support network of family and friends around you?

" I have had the flu jab - arm was a bit sore for 24 hr but nothing really. You'll hadly notice vs Tax effects"

I must admit when I saw that thread about flu jab planning mine for early Nov) my first thought was it can't be as bad as tax.

momof2 - the run up to chemo can be a but scary, but honestly, really honestly, it's not as bad as you anticipate (and I say that as someone who's had a fairly rough time with SEs) Any qus just shout. We will be here holding your hand.

Betsy you sound like you have all of your reasons covered to me and like you say you've had a few months to think about it, hope they let you go ahead
Mom of 2 you will be fine the thought of chemo is so much worse than the reality. The worst things got me have been the tiredness, the hair loss and not being able to work. We will help you through it all

Still don't know about the flu jab my mum had hers last week and has had a cough since but could be coincidence

Anyone got plans for the weekend ?

Betsy, my best thought would be not to do it, unless the team felt strongly otherwise.

Must not fall over kerbs; this is one of the perils of the treatment I had. I still don't have a full set of feeling in my feet, thus end up base over apex on a modestly regular basis. Ow.

Momoftwo - get ginger supplement stuff and start taking it. A good supplement for the three days before chemo reduces the chance of major sickness by quite some amount. Good research on this. I used sea bands too, which helped. And sipped ginger beer when needed.

Drink tons of water during and just after chemo if you can too.

Expect to be there bloomin' hours by the time they have done setup and made sure you're OK, so take entertainment, magazines, a calm mate, etc.

If you feel really nauseous, tell them. Do not suffer. They have nine types of antisickness stuff in various combinations and types that they can give to ensure that people have a reasonable time and not an eek one.

thanks amber I really value your opinion - I was also thinking the cons slightly outweigh the pros, even for my situation. I'll see what the surgeon says, but given he's not that keen on the bmx anyway I suspect it will be a no to the SLNB if I do actually manage to get the bmx agreed!

Betsy - I know you weren't asking me but I don't see a good reason to have a SLNB (the implications of not having a 'good arm' left are significant) I but like your list of pros for the bmx. Good that they have agreed to arrange a meeting for you with the surgeon.

thanks kitkat I should have said all opinions are very welcome of course, I just know amber is the font of all knowledge on stats/research front!

she certainly is

'flu jab for me on 26th,it's usually fine,bit red and sore. The only time I've felt awful after a vaccination was the pneumococcal one which wasn't fun.
Am feeling a bit gloomy as when visiting my mum (who was fine- just unable to move much) I ran into one of my secondaries pals who was looking and feeling very unwell- in pain and unable to eat. She might be going into the hospice for a few days for a rest - my other pal is having her lung drained next week- it's scary how quickly their illness is going- I feel weird and sad for them. And guilty.

Betsy As someone who is lopsided I can't say it is an issue versus the problems that would be caused by having two bad arms. I haven't really had any problems with my bad arm but I wonder if that would be the case if I had two, I know I break just about every rule in those leaflets but I have never had blood taken from it and I am a bit more careful with it, make sure I clean scratches, favour the good arm in lifting, don't put it under stress etc. My other breast was like a bag of marbles before menopause and Tamoxifen and I had little confidence it wouldn't go rogue as well, in fact given my sky high Estrogen levels it is a miracle it didn't go rogue as well, but it has been transformed by Tamoxifen and having no hormones to feast off, no dense bits, no lumps and no pain. With each check up I gained more confidence in it. Also I quite like that at least one side of me is normal, the removal of my lymph nodes has left a sort of hole and the fat collects in a bag behind it on my back, that bothers me far more than the missing boob and Dr geek says there is not a lot they could do about it but I could go on a diet and not be fat. I should qualify all this by saying I had next to no boobs, no cleavage, smallest prosthesis, so not really very lopsided, though I am now much fatter bigger. I am sure the fact that I grew up used to being flat may well be why I didn't have much in the way of a psychological reaction to losing my boob.

Good luck with your decision making.

Topsy Hugs but stern warning about picking scabs because I don't have a problem with picking scabs and probably won't be unable to resist the urge to find it on Sky+ I did watch one, the one with Susan Sarandon as a guru, and I was enjoying it taking the piss out of the Cancer guru thing when it suddenly turned around and went all schmaltzy after all so I haven't watched it again out of disgust.

gigs Glad you enjoyed it, I actually strained myself laughing.

KK I hear you on birthdays especially having to forage amongst all the "Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband" cards to find one more representative of my feelings. Luckily there is usually one humourous one the theme of grumpiness, farting and falling asleep on the sofa....

re JS I long ago came to the conclusion that just because someone is an amazing actor / comedian that they are not necessarily an amazing person, as a result of the crashing blow that was hearing Paul Newman being interviewed and despite having the most gorgeous eyes in the world being really really boring. I shall continue to enjoy her being funny but conclude she is probably not a particularly nice person (and Ade must be a saint) .

Struggling to get on computer as DH hogging it. Everything he does has to have a running commentary to me even if I am several rooms away. As my hearing is rubbish he has to do it at the top of his voice or pursue me up the garden. He is doing my head in, he has decided we have to surround the pond with big rocks to keep the heron away so this afternoon we had to set off old fogey style for a "run", around Surrey garden centres looking at rocks and I couldn't even fill the car up with plants Then on the way back when we encountered traffic he took great joy in showing me "short cuts" he has concocted around the back streets that take longer than on the main road and making out that all I needed all these years to have saved hours of time on the roads was to have him and his amazing route finding skills . I had a sudden sinking feeling as we hit the flyover towards home, that this is it now, like "One Foot in the Grave"..... He has to get a life of his own and leave me in peace or I'll have to get Topsy over to help bury him under his bloody rock strewn patio. Most of today's witterings have been finding a recipe for Thai fish dishes for tonight and instructing me how to cook it because I am not acknowledged by all my friends, and even Richmond Prep School Alpha mums, as cooking amazing Asian food I have sent him out for

Postscript, he returned, reeking of wine......

MAS That must have been very difficult for you but it is important to remember everyone's illness is different.

You bought the memories back with your post on Camping de la Plage and the mirror dinghy. That was where we used to head with a car full of sleeping bags and tinned food. The campsite was still there when we were down there 13 years ago, much smaller than I remembered of course. www.davidklyne.co.uk/camping_de_la_plage_83310_grimau.htm We didn't take our dinghy there but I can trump your overladen unlit boat with setting out from the beach in the Isle Of Wight when there was hardly any wind and being swept by currents into the shipping lanes. I was about 9 but remember wondering quite seriously what it was going to be like to die.

On train on way home.

Betsy you do have to be hugely persuasive to get preventative mx. Things I found helped were being clinical and forensic, which is what you're already doing and your list's great. I found on-line studies to show how it would decrease my chance of recurrence, so went with those and knowing them backwards, then simply asked surgeon if my findings were correct. When she agreed they were, I just said I needed psychologically to do all I could and that this was incredibly important to me. She keeled over, but it wasn't easy. On nodes I asked about that but was resolutely told not a good idea. Far too many negatives which seems right from all I've read.

Can't post more but waving to all from the train.

My parents were over today to see me and the DCs (in Scotland so half term). They've given me a v generous cheque so that we don't stress about money. My dad is a GP so has a bit of knowledge which is good.
Thank you so much for the good wishes - MN is great for this sort of support! I do have good rl support but I know from the antenatal threads how good online support can be too.

MAS, yes, eek. for you, methinks.

Shooting, for you also, to catch up with him. Blimey!

Pigeons is your DH related to mine? Talking at me all the time through walls,upstairs,despite TV or radio blaring out? Also has a speciality of waking up in middle of night and presuming I want to engage in conversation then. Yes to useless "time saving" detours but also loves to drive round towns for hours to avoid paying parking charges forgetting we might not want to hike back for a couple of miles with heavy shopping in the rain or snow!

Yes that's exactly what it means greeneyed- so shove them in.

pigeonssorry was sniggering about your DH. That endless boring conversation. My DP is obsessed with clothes and drones on and on about what he would like to buy (all hypothetical as we are skint) until I put my fingers in my ears and beg him to stop. He reckons chemo has made me grumpier, I say it's just that I can't tolerate his inanities any longer.

I was due to have flu jab the other week but after a night of no sleep I canceled and won't be rebooking.

greeneed glad your first week was ok although tiring. I recommend

Very interested in all the talk about DMX, that is what I was aiming for but had not considered arm movement and pain.

Evening all,

Had a massively troublesome morning with idiot GP but luckily a lovely nurse took pity on me sobbing and sorted everything out! :) she had had cancer too so wanted to make things as easy as possible for me, and even gave me a little hug. I am still feeling freakishly unbothered by my looming CT results, which is making me question my sanity again.

Made it to my afternoon lecture today

I'm toying with the idea of getting a takeaway for my dinner but it's only me so feels a bit sad!

Kurri I hope MrKurri has enjoyed his birthday and that you've had a nice day too. It's a tricky situation x

greeneyed I've been about the same length of time as you since end of treatment, but mine was more spread out so less intense, and I still feel exhausted and am having lots of issues, so can completely understand. It is frustrating that it takes so long after treatment, I really just imagined myself springing back to health well done for managing a full week at work, that's more than I could cope with! Have you had blood test recently? I found out a couple of weeks ago that I'm extremely anaemic, which explains the tiredness, and I'm now on tablets which seem to be helping. I'll take a turn on the paranoia box for you :)

weebarra how kind of your parents, that will be a weight off your mind I'm sure. And I expect it helps them too to be able to do something practical. It's definitely good to have both real life and online support. I've found that there's things I can talk about here that I wouldn't talk about in real life for fear of upsetting people! Plus there's some things only those who have been through it can understand :)

smee hope you've had a good journey home :)

shooting I'm getting annoyed just reading about Mr Pigeons! He must be driving you up the wall. Perhaps you can persuade him to get a hobby that takes up all his time and is out of the house?

MAS that is tough. But you have nothing to feel guilty for. You being well doesn't mean someone else has to be ill or vice versa, there's no link between the two. It is hard to see your friends in pain though.

betsy I hope you can get the op you want, it seems like you've got a good list of arguments.

malt I'd go for the flu jab. I had it last year and had no symptoms, year before I had it and had an achey arm and also leg on the side of the jab - that's never been reported before apparently so they were very excited! It went away fairly quickly though.

MomofTwo good news you've got a date, and the sooner you start, the sooner it'll be over :) good that it fits well around other dates too.

Right I'd better leave it there and go sort my dinner out one way or another :) hope you're all having a good evening x

Def have takeaway Ruby - even better on your ow n as you don't have to share.

Topsy, how are you doing now?

Ruby yay for lovely nurse hope you had your take away ?
I'm in bed reading, hoping ds is ok at cub camp he had a few tears when he left but it's quite usual for him to worry about things but then enjoy it.
Night all x