*Tamoxigang Christmas Party* - 45

[Tiny100]

Morning All!

We're nearly in December, so let's get the festivities started.

[adds mince pies to the trolley]

Yes that's right I had holidays in July and October that had to be cancelled due to chemo, I found it really hard thinking we should be at the airport now, we should be on the beach now etc looking at the canaries for Easter but I need to find out how careful I have to be with my arm after node clearance. I know you're not meant to get it sunburnt but I don't know if you have to keep it out of the sun altogether

Kitkat I have one up and one still in bed !

malt - i was wondering about sensitivity to the sun in general - I'll be 4.5 months post chemo so not sure if i'll need to be extra careful or not. No idea about node clearance having any additional effect. You definitely need an Easter holiday if you are still planning on going back to work for the summer term .

Current staus is 1 up and dressed and 1 up but on the computer whilst still in PJs!! I'm going to be lonely tomorrow - it will be a long day.

Tiny DS has the form of leukaemia that is controlled very effectively by a tablet (Imatinib and more recent drugs). Before Imatinib, it would have been a very different story. It was pretty grim though when he was first diagnosed (he went to A & E with a sports injury) and we didn't know about the miracle treatment. Wish there was a miracle pill for us!
KitKat I agree about the post-chemo tiredness. And if you are already on a hormone pill ... one of the SEs will be tiredness. I'm not planning a mountain walking trip in the near future, but a bit of light sightseeing, in between sitting in/outside cafes/bars/restaurants, especially if the weather is decent, would be fine.

Hello, Happy New Year to you all.

Not been about for ages and ages as quite frankly couldn't stomach the thought of 'cancer chat'. Just concentrating on getting through chemo, and thinking about what the future may hold had stopped me sleeping, hence removing myself from here. But wanted to let those of you who 'know' me that I'm still about, lurking occasionally. I've now had 5 chemos (3 x EC and 2 x Paclitaxel). So, 2 more to go, which takes me to the end of Jan (I'm having chemo every 2 weeks). Then 5 weeks of rads.

I'm doing ok, but having lots of SEs (was interested to read about the eyesight problems as my vision has become blurry intermittently), one purple toenail so far, hair like a newly hatched chick (hasn't quite all fallen out yet but I'm sure it will), bi-weekly acne and occasional phlebitis, and aches and pains in places I didn't even know I had. At least the nausea has stopped. Lovely.

So I'm waving to you all, lurking and sending love. X

Oh No, KitKat and Malt - hopefully all the 2014 holidays will go to plan. My Chemo Sister said that you are more sensitive to sunlight after treatment, I hope that doesn't mean staying out of the sun altogether. I am sure you will look lovely KitKat, new boob = a good reason for lots of new bikinis! As for my holiday, I was thinking of lying on a sun lounger for a week with the only exertion bing eating! All the grandparents want to come along too, so we will have lots of childcare. It is just how to fit it in, as I want to proceed with surgery quickly, which will incldue node clearance.

Lily - I cannot imagine how awful that must have been - thank goodness for that magic pill. Best wishes to him.

Happy New Year Handbags and GreenEyed!

Handbag another fellow ECer here - I am onto docetaxel next though. Good Luck with the rest of your treatment, your on the home run now as far as chemo is concerned. I am also interested in everyone's chemo related eyesight problems. I can't see without my glasses, hate to think I am not going to be able to see with my glass too.

GreenEyed - Bet that announcer will still be laughing at her mistake tonight! With regards to node clearance I know I need it, although don't fully understand what is involved. I think it relates specifically to BC, I am sure someone will be along to explain.

We'll have to find out about the sun Kitkat !

Handbags good to hear from you

Greeneyedcat I'm sure it's normal to worry about every little symptom I know I do ! I had node clearance because it's fairly common for breast cancer to have spread to the nodes under your arm, so they do a biopsy of the first or sentinel node and if it's positive they remove all of the other nodes as it's the only way they can tell if they contain cancer or not. All cancers are different as you know so don't worry about your nodes I'm sure if they were concerned they would do something about them
Lol at the carrots !

Tiny - what about a holiday after your surgery? Is it just a node clearance or are you having mx/lumpectomy/reconstruction as well?

I had chemo all summer and got burned the first time the sun came out so had to spend the lovely summer in the shade . In fact I am sure the heat made my tiredness worse.

Funnily enough my mum is coming on holiday with us as well - my DCs are old enough not to be too much bother (and as you know they are usually asleep!!) but another pair of hands always helps.

I had lots of plans for when my chemo finished but it's hard to explain how completely exhausted I was - I was quite upset at how long the SEs and tiredness were lasting. My surgeon had said he would do my reconstruction in his first surgery of the year (he operates every other Friday at the private hospital) but when we were confirming it before Xmas he said 3rd Jan was too soon - and believe me I'm now very relieved to get an extra 2 weeks recovery time.

Good to hear from you handbags - I have been wondering how your 2 weekly chemo has been going - good to hear you're surving and only have 2 to go. Hopefully your nails will hang on!!

and hi greencat - I also only know about lymph nodes with regards to BC - presumably in your case they zapped them with chemo and rads instead. Possibly not all nodes can be so easily taken out.

Has anyone seen any sign of Wren - it's 2 weeks since her Christmas Op but I haven't spotted any posts from her.

And finally i took DH to get his hair cut today and the hairdresser told me that the best thing to increase hair growth is to massage your head when washing - it stimulates the folicles apparently. And Malt she said that semi-permenant dyes do not usually cover grey hairs. I'm not wearing my wig at home anymore as I'm convinced the hair will surely grow better if left uncovered .

Just got back from seeing the rad. Oncologist. I have to have an MRI as I failed part of my neurological exam. I have also developed vertigo and my memory isn't really recovering after chemo so it is for the best- better safe than sorry etc. Feel pretty eeek about it all though.

kitkat and Malt - I was warned to use high factor sun block after chemo and not to take my node-less arm into hot tubs but otherwise I have been fine. I don't think that radiation had an issues re. Exposure to sun. I am sure that an Easter break somewhere with sunshine would be fine.

hi UKsounding - what a pain to have to have more tests and wait for results. Will keep my fingers crossed that everything will be Ok for you.

greeneyed did you have any surgery to remove your tumour? If so, they probably took nodes out then. I had bowel cancer and they took my tumour and lots of nodes out at the same time. As I understand it, in breast cancer the nodes affected are mostly in the armpit area, removing them can cause problems in the arm and so best avoided, that's why they do the sentinel node biopsy and then only remove nodes if the biopsy is positive (I think?) also the nodes are further from the surgery site as in the armpit etc. whereas in groin bowel, it's easier to take them out with one incision if you see what I mean. Plus as far as I know there are no major risks associated with the removal of groin/abdominal lymph nodes. Certainly no one has mentioned any to me and they've been quite on top of everything else.

Were you given a TNM grading for your cancer? If so, the number after N is the number of lymph nodes affected. N0 means no nodes, N1 means 1-3 nodes and N2 means 4 plus nodes affected. Mine is N2 but there's another bit after in the letters which says 4/22 which I think means that they checked 22 nodes and only 4 were affected

Am I right in remembering you also had chemo and radiotherapy? If so, they may not have removed the nodes but zapped them instead.

Hi greeneyed I'm sure that it's been well and truly zapped :) but good they're keeping an eye on things anyway, I expect the GP is just being cautious - they'd rather send everyone to the onc for any concerns and it be nothing than miss the one person where there's actually something wrong

And I know what you mean about the worry. I was just double checking my facts for my previous post about nodes and happened to discover that my cancer was actually stage 3c not 3b, because of the number of nodes involved, even though it was only T2, I didn't even know there was a 3b so had a brief moment of panic. Normally cancer is far from my mind and I don't really have any health concerns, I think I actually worried more about my health before I had cancer

Thank you Malt and Tiny. I did ask who and when will read my scans. According to Cheery-faced CT Girl, the doc responsible is on annual leave until 29/1. But Flitty-MRI Girl said they'd be looking at my MRI tonight. Somewhere in between then, I presume
The longer the wait, the further away the op. That's the only plus ;)

When I went in the sun last summer I turned into a giant mass of freckles. Everyone thinks freckles make you look healthy, so all summer long people were telling me I "looked so well".( Pretty annoying when you feel shit).

I had node clearance and make a point of going in hot tubs, gardening, sewing and sitting in the sun whenever possible. So far I haven't had a problem. Life really is too short to give up things you love.

I seem to have lost the ability to sleep on these letrazole pills, it's maddening.

I can answer the sun thing, asi chatted to my BCN about it. Both chemo and rads makes your skin more sun sensitive (chemo all over, rads where you were zapped), so you are more likely to burn than before, so slap on the high factor. Burning is never a good idea of course, but burning (or injuring in any way) the arm with node clearance is a particularly bad idea due to the potentially restricted flow of lymph in that arm. Extra fluid would flow to any injured site to help healing/fight any infection, which may not be able to drain away properly = lymphoedema. Hot tubs, saunas etc can have the same effect, which is why they are on the avoid list too. There is a handy lymphoedema risk calculator here, mine works out at 22%, which made me feel less panicky about it.

I should add, if I'd needed rads to the armpit that it would be 64%, so I'm very glad I could avoid rads there!

Betsy - how long do these effects last?

Ooo -I got 10% but should be less then that as there wasn't an option for only Sentinal Node removal. Although to be honest it,s not on my radar at all .

I haven't done it yet as I can't remember my weight in kgs, only that it's a lot ! I did a big of googling yesterday and it was all a bit depressing. Trices attitude has made me feel a bit better though.

Kids back at school today so I'm back in bed with a cuppa. Off for some retail therapy later, feel I've let myself go and am living in leggings and long tops as they're comfy

Hope everyone has a good day

BCN said chemo sensitivity gradually gets better but you are quite likely to remain a bit more sun sensitive than you were. Rads area sensitivity is usually permanent as is lymphoedema risk.

Well, Rome is off for now, tried a couple of specialist co's but was going to be silly expensive for insurance during chemo. So, we're going to Bristol instead, booked a suite in the Hotel du Vin. At least it's a whole other country...

I think the important thing with lymphoedema is to seek help at the slightest hint iof any trouble - so any swelling to your arm/hand/fingers, however slight

I must admit I'm like trice too, I'm not stopping things u live, just being more careful where I can eg I've bought a bug gauntlet style oven glove as I'm known fir burning myself in the oven shelf at least once a week

(Just passing the time while I wait for rads, they are running half an hour behind today as one of the machines (there are 7) had a fault earlier...)