**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.

elporto good luck for tomorrow, hope your SEs stay minor.
speedy good riddance to the drains! they don't exactly help you feel glamorous.
malt I will PM you. I joined Facebook a couple of months ago specifically so that I could hook up with some of you and then didn't get around to it.
I have physically been at work for the first time since chemo started in June for the last 2 days. Not intending to start going in regularly until January (all being well), I currently am working reduced hours, from home, but was good to feel 'normal' , Knackered now, though!

...nipping in to say four year checkup says still no sign of cancer returning

Amber DELIGHTED for you.

FEC 2 yesterday went fine, thanks for all the good wishes. My blood results have all come back better than before FEC 1! It must be all the vegetable juicing I am doing I am delighted to be doing so well, I knew I was feeling fine so it's good have it corroborated by the numbers.

Just sitting around waiting for side effects to kick in, resting and trying to eat well.

Brilliant news Amber!

Rest well Elporto, glad your bloods are ok.

Fab news Amber

Happy to hear you are doing well elporto

Whilst lying around and not having chemo drugs thoughts are beginning to turn to supplements etc. I know amber has said about vitamin d and curcumin. Have read a bit but don't know how much of these things I should take/is safe to take? Anybody take anything like this?

I am taking Vit D3 and calcium for my bones but am also interested in a recap of vitamins etc that it might be helpful to take. And advice on brands/where to buy would be great!

Hi Amber, that's fantastic news, thank you for sharing.

Elporto, glad you are feeling ok again. I'm intrigued by your veg juices. We have a new juicer but haven't used it yet, do you have any favourite combinations?

Supplements - always talk to team, of course, but yes, Vit D in a goodly amount (standard issue Vit D supplement tablets from supermarkets etc).
Also curcumin.
And lactoferrin.
And omega 3 can be handy.
And a COX inhibitor such as low dose aspirin (definitely talk to a doc about that, as there can be very major side effects from long term aspirin use).
And some scientists are talking about selenium being handy. There's two forms of selenium and they have two different cancer-slowing-down effects.
None of these cure anything. But they can certainly slow stuff down in a reasonable number of people and help improve survival odds, according to the current mainstream science.

Thanks Amber for your useful advice, as always.
Great to hear of your check up results ... Keep the good news coming!

Ladies I'm so scared. I've been off my meds for a few days because of side effects, all doctor approved, but I've suddenly developed terrible back pain in the last 48 hours. DH is on the phone to the hospital and they've been asking about weakness in my legs, which I've got - like they're going to buckle under me. I'm so scared it's because the cancer has got into my spine somehow.

Thanks amber.

Becca- sorry you are feeling scared. There might be lots of other reasons and they have just asked a list of questions which they don't explain to you. Are you able to get to speak to/see someone? Can you insist you need to be seen (easier said than done I know). If you have only been off the meds a few days that seems very quick for it to get to your spine. I don't have any answers but am really thinking of you. Holding your hand from here.

Holding your hand too Becca, we understand. I'm no doctor but if it's come on quickly after stopping your meds it could well be to do with that. Good that you're getting checked out.

Elporto glad to hear about your bloods, good for you for the veg juicing is it nice ?

amber good news about continuing good results.

becca I can understand you being scared, but as others have said this seems to have come on v quickly. I think the question about legs would be asked with any back issue. If I were you I would be inclined to go to A&E

By the way I meant go toA&E to rule out any cancer related issues rather than e cause it sounds serious.

Great news Amber and thank you as always for the good advice. With regard to the cucumin and lactoferrin, do you know where I can find out about doses or brands or info like that please?

Just to agree with others Becca, it really would be a huge coincidence for the back pain to be anything sinister as it happened so soon after coming off your meds. I hope you manage to get some answers from the medicl people as soon as possible.

Hope your SEs are manageable elporto.

It's a year ago today that I had my first chemo! With 6 months of it ahead, plus surgery and rads. It seemed like forever. And here I am, back at work, albeit totally shattered, hair looking as if it's meant to be this short and (hopefully) only the tamoxifen to take. It's been a hell of a year!!

Huge hugs to anyone just starting, or in middle of treatment and hope everyone has a good weekend (and half term if appropriate)

becca sorry to hear you have this new worry, I hope you manage to get some help and reassurance this afternoon. Why do these things only happen with a weekend approaching?

wine, quite an anniversary for you, are you planning anything special to mark the date?

We are taking the dds for a post birthday trip to see Paulo Nutini tomorrow in sheffield.

We were going to open a bottle of fizz mrsh but am so, so tired and fighting off a cold so will save for another night!

Sorry meant mrsrh

Hi all
wishing everyone a good weekend. mrs that sounds like a good night out! Me and dh went to global gathering just for the day with dd in the summer on the day that the Prodigy were on. It was bloody brilliant. But best.of all were the high 5s we got from all the young people for being the oldest there! They were lovely

wine high 5 to you! Enjoy your celebration

elporto hope you're feeling ok.

malt I deactivated my facebook account a couple of weeks ago which is a shame as I would love to have a real life connection.

becca hope you are ok and getting the help you need.

Oh, and off to Holland and Barrett tomorrow - thanks amber !

Oh becca I hope you are able to feel less scared. Of course there are loads and loads of different causes of back pain and I always feel wobbly in my legs when I get a sore back. I feel so sorry that you should be tormented with this when you need a break from all the worry. Thinking of you xx

Thank you to all you lovely people who were so reassuring about weight loss and alcohol. It made me feel so much more cheerful! I started chemo today and it was fine. I felt sick but domperidone took care of that so I braved a glass of wine - it made me feel awful, so I don't think I'll be tempted to overdo it just yet! Instant mashed potato with butter, on the other hand, was the most delicious thing I've ever had and helped me choke down a fair few vegetables. I'm wondering now, though, because I have got to take cyclizine (sp?) later and the instructions say it doesn't mix with alcohol. Do I have to stay up late to let the wine clear from my system?

Also, I have had to cancel a much anticipated event tomorrow because I have to wait for the district nurse to come and show me how to do my daily injections :( All these are little things really though because the unit was lovely and so were the nurses and the whole thing so much less scary than I thought.

I did try the cold cap but it gave me a thumping headache and after 5 minutes I decided even if it went away that was 5 minutes too many and the whole thing was fiddly enough as it was! Besides, I kept seeing women in headscarves and they looked pretty so I thought going bald wouldn't be that bad after all. Round here, I live in a very diverse multi-cultural area so lots of people have different hairstyles and headscarves for different reasons, some of them religious and others just for fashion or to cover up a bad hair day.

I feel so safe on here. I wish each and every one of you a very good night, sleep, peace, happiness, sweet dreams until tomorrow xx

Glad you've got the first one out of the way snowflake, and hope that you get few side effects. If you are worried about anything do post on here and someone will be able to help

Thinking of you Becca hope you're ok

Wine look how far you've come, well done

Hope everyone has a good weekend

How are you today Becca?

First one done snowflake and glad drugs are helping with nausea.

Hope you get your fizz wine.

Am going to attempt a walk to the shop to get some steak to boost my iron levels. Have a good weekend all.