**Tamoxigang thread 51**... no more sangria, but maybe some mulled wine!

[MarthaCostello]

Hello all,

The old thread has nearly run out so I hope no one minds me making a new one. And am I allowed to mention the Big C... Christmas?! our last thread was started in July so I reckon this one might take us into December.

In honour of that, I will lay out some mulled wine, mince pies and I have wrapped myself in tinsel.

A warm welcome to jomidmum, but sorry you've had to join us. No one wants to be in this club, but this thread is a rather nice place to be. Wishing you a speedy recovery from your op, and hoping the pain eases soon.

Massive hugs to beccajoh

A big yippee for Marshy, what utterly fantastic news.

Sitting on the paranoia box for ConsiderablyBiggerBuns, I hope your MRI results are good - when will you hear?

Waving and sending love to everyone else.

I wonder if seeing as we are on a new thread, it might be worth just giving a bit of history for new posters? I will put mine anyway, and then others can if they want to. I am coming up to two years since my bowel cancer diagnosis (grade 2, stage 3c, T2N2M0R0). I had major bowel surgery and six months of chemo.

Shrew, I really hope chemo went well yesterday and your side effects are manageable. It's good news they are moving fast and I am sure that amberlight will be along shortly to tell you that those quick growing tumours are often the ones that respond best to chemo, soaking it up much better. Do keep posting, we've all been where you are, and I hope you get a closer date for your CT scan too. How is your BCN? Is she a good support?

Minty, you sound so amazing! I am so so delighted by how well the chemo worked for you, how lovely to describe yourself as 'cancer free' woohoo! When and where are you having your rads? I think we may well be rads buddies as mine will be starting around 9 Feb - 15 blasts.

Love to all, I am still lounging around awaiting my final round of side effects...

Name changed from Driftwood999 in 2011/12
Diagnosed 2011 from an invation mammogram aged 48 - no symtoms whatsoever.
Blindsided to be recalled.
ILC, 15 mm - nodes clear.
Radiotherapy.
Tamoxifen 10 years.
The emotional side of things took it's toll but I pretty much recovered from that with the help and support of friends/church. Distressed to say that at the time my family's response with one or two exceptions hugely irritated me.
Declined follow up mammogram the following year but went ahead in January 2014 as I wanted reconstruction.
Mammogram was clear and had reconstruction June 2014 Licapflap, which has given me back the lost tissue. Pleased and very grateful.
Follow up mammogram due at the end of this month.

Husband critical of my weight gain so am feeling very pulled down.
That's my story.

Hi cleanas, I had an 8 week delay between op and chemo (needed chemo as lymph nodes involved). They would have started a week earlier but organised dates around my amateur theatricals.
chatelaine pleased to hear your recon was successful. Husbands can be twonks, mine hasn't so much as given me a hug, without me asking, since my BMX and made no secret of the fact that he found my baldness repulsive. Well, I am back in control, my hair is growing and I am on a fitness kick - nearly back to pre-chemo weight. I'm doing it all for me - not him! Is licaflap the procedure where they take tissue from elsewhere?

Thankyou for your good wishes, mum has another scan to check hasn't spread to other organs and then treatment plan. I am avoiding Dr Google but have looked at Macmillan.

Thanks for replies to my questions.

Best wishes for your mam Myrtle.

Chatelaine after all you've been through it shouldn't matter if you've put on a few pounds I'm sorry your husband doesn't understand that

I'm off to see the Oncologist later today. I usually have to see him every three weeks before I start next cycle of Capecitabine, but he decided I was sensible enough to have a break from seeing him between November and today. So, fingers crossed that tumour markers are going in right direction, that bloods are generally OK and that my dry, elephant skin feet (side effect) aren't so bad that I can't carry on the treatment.
Never thought I would be wanting more chemo, but if it keeps me going, needs must!
Best wishes to all on the thread.

Hello all, have had a pretty rough couple of days with vomiting, started really quickly after I had my chemo and continued for 24 hours. I couldn't keep any anti emetic tabs down which didn t help. Much better today although the constipation has started! Just feeling quite tired now. Oncologist has managed to bring CT scan to today so that's good although nervous now.

Good luck lily, I have everything crossed that your bloods, markers and SE are ok and you are able to go ahead with your treatment. Let us know how it goes.

Chatelaine, sorry to hear that you didn't get the support you needed from your family and that your DH is continuing to lack empathy. It doesn't help your emotional well being when you feel like you're having to deal with it all on your own. Good luck with the mammo later this month though.

Buns, well done you on the fitness regime and weight loss. That's fantastic! As soon as my treatment is over I can't wait to start working on my own as I've never weighed this much before nor been as unfit. Grrrr.

Elporto, we could well be rads buddies! I think the guideline is to start within 31 days of surgery which would be 8th February (Sun) for me, so logically starting on the 9th. Fingers crossed I'm all healed up by then. The WLE scar is healing well but the node scar is thick and hard and I'm still feeling sore all round my armpit. Will need to get going with bio oil I think!

I've just had my appt through for the mammo to check whether my marker is still there. It's only 8th July, exactly a year to the day of my first hospital appt when I was told that I had cancer :(. Might be a very tough day

Shrew, x posted with you. Oh dear about the sickness. I didn't actually get sick but retched loads of times within hours of my first cycle of chemo. And then I had the constipation and severe acid reflux to deal with :(. Next cycle make sure you ask for Emend. It's not routinely given out on the first cycle but should be given to people with severe sickness. It didn't completely take the nausea away but stopped me retching at least. I also took myself off to the GP to get some lactulose to help with the constipation.

Good luck with the ct scan, I had to have one just after my first chemo and could really have done without it. I reassured myself that I didn't look quite as grey though as a couple of men waiting in the queue...

lilymaid hope results all good today x x x

ConsiderablyBiggerBuns and others, thanks for the hand hold :) Yes the Licapflap takes tissue and blood supply from the back, swings it round to the underside/outside breast area. I'm pleased with the result as I had quite a bit of tissue loss. Best wishes to all on the journey X

Lily hope it went well today

Shrew sorry you've been sicky hope you're over the worst of it now, put your feet up and find something trashy to watch on tv to get you through it

Virtual glass of wine here for anyone who needs it x

Consultant appointment was fine . Tumour markers going down and other blood tests OK. Consultant and nurse said I looked really well. Only problems were the one hour wait to see him (and this is private not NHS and he had started clinic on time).
My experience of nausea and vomiting on chemo has included unblocking sinks in hotels after too rich meals. I seriously thought about bringing the drain rods with us when we went away, but a more sensible approach is to be sick down the loo rather than a wash basin. Probably TMI so apologies to all!

That's great lily, well apart from the wait

Much of my appointment was spent with consultant hairing off to the ward to find my meds. Nurses had not given me the oral chemo when I had the blood test as they were concerned about my feet. They promised faithfully that they would ensure that the consultant would have them to give to me if he was happy that my feet weren't too bad. I should have phoned the ward to double check but foolishly thought they would deliver! Meds eventually found in the back of a cupboard on the ward so treatment back on track. No wonder the consultant's appointments are always way behind schedule!

Hi All. Great to hear everything is progressing according to plan lily. Sorry to hear about the sickness shrew, that is pants. I was very lucky and didn't suffer at all with nausea, it was the thing I was most bothered about so not sure if they gave me strong anti sickness from the start. I do know that the onc teams really don't want or expect you to be suffering like that so will do their best to counteract. As far as constipation goes, from cycle 2 I proactively took laxido (prescribed) by GP and Senna (bought from the supermarket) on day 1 of treatment and that stopped the worst of the symptoms. I checked with onc and this was fine. I forgot to take it on cycle 5 and had problems again. I also had the awful indigestion but omprezinole (spelt something like that ) prescribed by GP relieved it pretty quickly. I found that the indigestion got better with each treatment and stopped after cycle 3. Hope you are felling better now.
elporto hope you are coming through the worst of your symptoms and ready to really enjoy the fact that it is finished.
I have a CT scan today to look at the pesky spots on my liver. They hadn't changed size after the chemo which was a good thing but as they had ruled out most others explanations as to what they are the decision was to keep an eye on them for any changes. Have similar spots on my lungs. I'm not worried, just a pain that it interrupts my Saturday as I live quite a way from the hospital but work just down the road from it.
Hope everyone manages to have an enjoyable weekend.

Shrew, make sure the team knows you've been sick. They have a huge number of alternatives to the tablets you've had so far. No need for being sick on chemo these days.
Waving to everyone else and keeping you in thoughts.

Hello all, well its 5 days since chemo and I feel ok! A bit achy, horrid taste in mouth and constipated (thank you Buns for advice) but a part from that all is good....! So if next time the sickness is sorted out, it will be a breeze ;). Am I being completely naive and should I expect an imminent crash? Am going into work tomorrow as DH and I are driving each other mad and arguing about how we look after the children! Sooo, time for a bit of normality I hope.
I had my CT scan on the day after chemo and am convinced I was bumped up the queue as I was very green on that day!
Amber, they know I've been sick so fingers crossed all will be fixed next time

Hello all from me too. Now day 10 after first lot of tax chemo. Horrible first week and have been feeling a bit sorry for myself. Pain in legs and back, oral thrush, no taste, sick for the first time, sore nose and bloaty waterlogged stomach. Think I need to ask for a safe diuretic. My upper belly is ballooning. Would love them to say I don't have to do the next two lots of tax as everything has now shrunk enough for surgery....does that ever happen? I have my meeting with the surgical team tomorrow and a list of questions ready, mostly about scarring, recovery and after care.

Shrewandroo for constipation I've found sprinkles of ground flaxseeds (available in asda) can be added to loads of stuff and do the business.

Shrew, yeah! Well done on getting through your first cycle :). Fingers crossed that they can get the sickness under control and the next one will be just as good. I felt ill within hours of chemo and for the first 3 cycles felt dreadful for 7 days, after the 4th that stretched to 10 days. But do you know what, rejoice in feeling better now, take each week as it comes. You feel good now, you might not next time, but that's next time. I too worked in between cycles as much as I could and for me it really helped getting out the house and seeing people and being 'normal'.

Dontask, tax chemo can be brutal, I hated the pain and the bloody nose. I didn't have my last 2 tax but that was down to peripheral neuropathy :(. (I should have had 4 cycles but ended up with 2). As you will see from an earlier post of mine, the EC chemo beforehand had worked so well that the tumour had shrunk massively. When I had surgery 2 weeks ago all they found was scar tissue and 2 small areas of DCIS. I had a WLE and SNB and am still quite sore and swollen. Although I'm trying hard to remember to do my exercises I still can't raise my arm fully comfortably. Hopefully it will all start to improve over the next week or so. Good luck with your appointment

Just a quickie for minty, two weeks after surgery I couldn't raise my arm fully. I could by the time I had rads six weeks later, probably took about a month to get it up properly so don't worry. Just keep stretching gently. Even now 8 months after it doesn't go back as far as the other one due to tight scar tissue I guess.

Shrew and dontask, sorry to hear you are having a rough time. It seems to affect everyone differently but the message seems to be don't suffer in silence.

Dontask I had 6 x Tax ( no FEC). Week 1 was always difficult - tired, sick, no taste, nose bleeds etc etc but Week 2 was better and Week 3 was more normal. I always had a treat at the end of each cycle but can remember that around Cycle 5 I was very fed up with it and the thought of the next low.

Hi shrew and dontask that is the first one down, it's grim but doable, right? Make the most of the well weeks. shrew I felt fine(ish)by day 6 in the early cycles and did work when I could, however, it is all relative to how you felt last week so don't overdo it.
minty are you still suffering from the neuropathy? My chemo was also changed (dropped the T bit) for the last cycle because of it but nearly 4 months on, I have to admit that the tingling sensation has almost gone.
I am 9 months post op and still have restricted arm movement - totally my own fault as didn't follow the exercises, however, I have taken up swimming and after about 4 sessions of 20 minutes of breaststroke plus daily wall walking am already seeing an improvement.

Mrs thanks for the encouragement. I guess I just had in my head that as I've not had as major surgery as a lot of the ladies on here I wouldn't have such a tough recovery but I guess cut tissue is cut tissue no matter who it's on. I'm trying to keep up with the exercises but now I'm back at work (returned yesterday) it's a bit harder to squeeze them in.

Buns, I'm having a real tough time with my fingers at the moment, probably down to the cold and central heating. It will be 2 months tomorrow since my last chemo and I'm still getting really stinging fingers. They're also red, swollen and throbbing and my feet play up at night time too. In fact I'm feeling pretty miserable with it all today :-(

shrew and dontask, hope you're both still doing ok :)