**Tamoxigang 53** Roll up, roll up... Anyone with any cancer (or test-waiting) welcome!

[MarthaCostello]

Good evening all,

The old thread had nearly run out when I posted so I have taken the liberty of starting a new one before it fills up completely.

I hope the title is OK - there isn't actually that much room, I was trying to fit in that people should come along even if they haven't been diagnosed yet.

If you're new here welcome to the Tamoxigang thread. This is a great place for anyone with any type of cancer (it originally started out as those taking Tamoxifen for breast cancer, hence the name, but has expanded). Please introduce yourself and make yourself comfortable! You're more than welcome here if you haven't been diagnosed yet too, sometimes people find it helpful to talk through their fears whilst waiting for results. And we will hold your hand until you find out, and hopefully wave you on your way with an all-clear :)

There is almost always someone around to chat, or to answer any questions. Nothing is off-limits here. This is somewhere to offload any fears and frustrations, in a safe place where someone will have been there before.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the gorgeous summery weather

stormy
So sorry it's not good news, you are in my thoughts

It's really lovely to see so many familiar names popping back up this week.

stormy I'm so sorry to hear that your news was worse than expected and that you still gave so many unanswered questions. In a strange way you have arrived here at a good time though, it's been very quiet over the last few months but there is a wealth of experience here at the moment so just post whatever you like. Someone will have a relevant and supportive response.

lily I'm very pleased to hear that the chemo is doing its stuff and not causing too many uncomfortable problems.

nanny I really feel for you, being back in the system again, you seem to have had a bad few months. Fingers crossed for the all clear and plenty of time away from hospitals next year.

weebarra how lovely to hear from you again. I never thought the day would come when cancer wasn't my first waking thought, I'm so glad it came for you too.

wino, great to hear from you too, it's always encouraging to hear of people doing well several years down the line.

amber as ever thank you for your calm words and dedication to the research which helps us all so much.

marshy hope your pains get better this week.

Everyone else, thinking of you starting on this difficult time, but this thread got me through last year and I hope it will help all of you. Sometimes it's easier to open up to strangers than to confide in our loved ones.

Hello all
Just under month since I was diagnosed with Stage 1c ovarian cancer following hysterectomy and removal of ovaries and associated bits & bobs in September.
Due to start chemo (Carboplatin & Paclitaxel) in a week or so. Coming week filled with a visit to the dentist ( hate the dentist, but need a filling and gather better done before chemo), haircut 'as short as I can bear' according to consultant advice. Hair currently thick and below shoulder length. Less of a shock when it falls out. Pre chemo assessment too then a few days of liberty before it all starts.
Feeling scared, apprehensive but pleased for now to have a plan of action.

Hello sandra and welcome to the thread. You are heading for the treatment now which is good and preparing yourself for the next stage of the journey so fear nd anxiety of the unknown is an accompanying must :( once you start, it will be less scary. You know it is the part before anything starts that is the hardest, but you seem to know what to do and I trust you will soon be looking back at all this as something in the past :)
Best of luck and this is the plce to be to share, to rant, to ask and to reach out for support. We all have our different, yet similar stories, and nobody understanda better than those who have been there.

stormy sorry that you had to face unwlecome news, but treatment is on its way and shrinking that tumour is the start. Taking each day as it comes is a useful strategy and soon all this will be behind you. I still wonder at how much I have covered since being diagnosed in June!

mrs, you are so right about this thread. I am so glad I joined, for although we do not post everyday, it is so helpful to know this place exists and, yes, it is way easier to share with people we do nit really know personallg, but who understand because they are there or have been there. Talking to family and friends can make us feel guilty and anxious for fear of burdening them or worrying them.

stormy, holding hands is good and we will get through it. I have just had first chemo, when do you start yours?

Feeling much better today, pain in my biopsy scar is easing and the slight infection seems to be clearing itself- still not convinced that chemo should be two days after the sentinel node biopsy- it really seemed to throw healing into reverse. Anyway, hopefully by the next round it should better.

Anyone experience peeling skin after Tax? My face looks like it does after a sunny holiday with the very top layer flaking off, think I need to exfoliate!

Fresta, I assume they had given you antibiotics for the infection to allow you to go ahead with chemo. It is hardly likely they would start chemo if there was an untreated infection.
Did you mean Taxol? I have had discolouration in some parts of my body but not peeling. Invest in a lot of moisturising lotion. It helps a lot with the skin issues brought boyt by chemo.

No, I wasn't given any antibiotics. I didn't have any signs of infection before being given the chemo, but about 5 days in I statrted having pain. My breast care nurse has examined it twice and said it looks like there is a little bit of infection in the wound, but nothing much and my blood test didn't show signs of infection. She didn't want to give me antibiotics unneccessarily. She wouldnt even give me a topical antibiotic.

Can I ask, if any of you have been long term sick from work while having your treatment, how and where did you get your medical certificate/sick note for your employer? I just rang my GP and the secretary seemed clueless, she needs to get a GP to ring me. What a waste of his time, surely that's what admin staff are there for?

I had a Fit note from my GP. My consultant wrote a letter when I was first diagnosed, which covered surgery recovery time, but after that my GP was responsible, though my oncologist made the decisions. I'm not sure why he couldn't do the note himself I was signed off for my entire treatment, about nine months in total, and would've been longer but my contract had ended by then. I hated not being able to work, but it just wasn't realistic.

sandra welcome, though sorry you're here good luck with all the chemo preparation!

Re. pregnancy/hormones, I had some eggs frozen prior to chemo, and so been through various fertility discussions. During pregnancy the immune system is suppressed somewhat, so existing cancers can grow more easily. The IVF hormones may increase risk of some cancers a bit too. But the main risk is pregnancy if you have an active cancer. It's probably a bit more complicated with hormonal cancers though, I had bowel cancer and my discussions were focused on possible future treatment.

Amazingly, my work never asked me for a sickness certificate. I continued to work part time through my chemo and recovery period and was always available from home for anything my assistant couldn't deal with.
Obviously, anyone working in a hospital or as a teacher should not work because of the possibility of infection, but for others it is often possible to work some of the time if your employers are happy with that arrangement. On top of my job, I also have 4 hours of commuting into/out of central London every day and, though my Oncologist warned me against the Tube, I was fine.
I'm now commuting in every day whilst having another round of intravenous chemo (though this lot is not nearly as fierce as Tax).

Hi all.

I have finally got around to registering again. Lovely to hear from those who gave me so much support when I was first diagnosed and a warm welcome and big hug to those new.

Was just musing this morning that it was a year ago I was laid up after my double mastectomy and my hair was growing back very grey. My implants seem to be settling down and they are becoming a little less numb in places. I hope your op goes well Boobz. Like Wee I am now beginning to sometimes forget about the cancer, although the three weekly Herceptin injections act as a reminder. I am now able to have those at home which saves all the hospital visits and I only have 5 left to go.

Amber- thanks for your posts. You always help me feel much more positive about the long term.
Lily- glad the treatment is not being too unkind at the moment.
I was going to try respond to lots on here but that would make this post very long! Thinking about those who are about to start treatment- as it has been said before, it's not pleasant but it's doable.
Stormy- I hope work is going ok today. I actually found that being at work before I had to leave to start treatment helped me have another focus.

I can't leave this page and check who it was that has started Tax but I hope they are feeling less achy now. I got a prescription of codeine from my doctor which did help.

I have been putting off cleaning my bathroom but I really must go and do it now.

Thanks everyone- sorted the sick note now- GP lovely and did it over the phone.

Speedy, think it might be me that was achey, and yes, much better now thank you! I feel much more prepared for the next round now, knowing what to expect and can plan for it- ordered a huge squashy beanbag for in front of the TV, a hot water bottle and some stronger painkillers !

Fresta- glad you are feeling better. Stronger drugs are good. Make sure you let your team know your side effects as if they are too extreme they may lower the dose. I had a lower dose after the first one.

I was on maternity leave when I was diagnosed, then moved on to sick leave. My very lovely GP just did the notes when I needed them. The oncologist liaised with her about prescriptions.

Hi everyone - Fresta glad to hear you are feeling a little better. I don't know when my chemo is going to start yet. I rang the hospital today and I'll have an MRI plus an oncolagy appointment next Tuesday, a bone scan next Thursday but the appointment for the CT scan isn't until 30 November. I really hope the chemo will start before then. I just want to get on with it.

Not gone back to work yet as I've just been too emotional. I saw a lovely doctor at my surgery yesterday and she upped my anti - depressants and prescribed me some sleeping tablets. A good night sleep has made the world of difference today, I feel much calmer and more positive so I'm definitely going back to work tomorrow.

Love to everyone and thank you all for helping me feel less alone in all this.

It's tough isn't Stormy, your situation sounds so similar to mine. Glad you got a good nights sleep, it really helps. I am up and down too, it's the unknown lymph involvement bothering me, can't help thinking if the first 3 were cancerous, then where else it? Once you have all the scan results you should feel better, as a proper plan of action is then put in place. Things moved really quickly for me once the oncologist was involved and chemo started as soon as they could get the scans finished. That is a long time to wait for ct scan, I had mine within a few days of them deciding I was having chemo as they said they needed it before chemo could start as the chemo would then change things.

I'm off work now as work at a school with children and just don't want to be catching all the winter virus's off the kids- already caught a cough this week from dd.

Had radical short haircut today, I showed the hairdresser my wig and she cut it to match. Not sure I love it but at least I have time to get used to it before I need to wear the wig.

Fresta - I had my hair cut really short today too, think it'll be less shocking when my hair falls out. Out of the choices of freezing, wearing a scarf or a wig the wig has to be the best option but your right it's going to take some getting used to.

I dont blame you taking time off, we all need to look after ourselves to make this whole process as easy as possible. I work in a huge office and there's always loads of people coughing and sneezing plus all other winter bugs. Not sure what I'm going to do yet but my boss is fine with me staying off work for the whole time and has been really understanding so far.

Phew! dd liked the new haircut! BUT! Today it has started to fall out! It wasn't the hair on my head I noticed first, it was the hair down below which came out in clumps in the shower this morning, and just a few extra hairs as I pulled it with my straighteners this morning (head hair that is ). I thought I would have a couple more weeks yet, but hey ho!

Fresta might as well get it over with eh? :)

Fresta that's shit but at least you know the chemo is doing something, hopefully it's working that fast on killing the cancer cells too.

I have managed to change the date for my CT scan from the 30 November to this Saturday. I just hapened to ring the hospital 10 minutes after someone had cancelled an appointment.

All my tests will be next week now. I'm very relieved this is all suddenly happening so fast but it doesn't stop me feeling absolutely terrified.

Stormy what a relief! With all the scans ready you can start your treatment as they need all that info to plan the right regimen for you. Hopefully once you start it will no longer be so scary . Best of luck.

That's great news Stormy, hope you get some answers and a plan in place quickly now!

Stormy, things will start to get easier from now on. You're getting all your scans done, starting chemo and then everything will start to fall into place.

Fresta, I got my hair all cut off last week, on the day that I started chemo. I wanted a fringe as my wig has one and I don't want the kids to be too shocked. I then just let the hairdresser do as he thought and I walked out with a cross between a mullet and a page boy; if I wasn't about to lose my hair id have been distraught but I am just bemused by it. One thing that having cancer does is force you to get everything into perspective. Anyway, because my hair is so bad I'm not particularly dreading it falling out! My wig is nice but then I imagine it'll get hot and itchy so I might not wear it that often.

I'm already dreading the next round of chemo and it's still 2 weeks away yet. I think I'm a wimp; I can't believe just how shit it's made me feel although things are improving slightly day by day.