**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

Thankfulforeveryday

Thank you for sharing your experience. I appreciate it. I heard about this diet but never looked into it. I will now.

Cratos, I can really understand your interest in alternative, more natural based treatments for cancer. There is no offence in my opinion in what you are proposing,but the trouble is with no conclusive proof of a successful diet plan to combat cancer, not everybody really wants to waste time on trying, especially when their life is at stake and every day, week and month matters. If only there was conclusive evidence, nobody would choose to have toxic chemicals injected into their bodies. I struggled A LOT with the notion that I was with full capacity of sound mind, going to allow doctors to inject poison into my otherwise heathy body. The mere thought kept me awake for hours before I started chemotherapy, but what works for one cancer patient may or may not work for another, and this applies to all treatment options. I went through tht phase of self questioning about what it is I did wrong to "get" cancer, but I know for sure in my mind there is no easy, straight answer to a question like that. Why do some people live longer than others for example? Who knows for sure? All we get is endless theories and every year or so some new study comes out claiming this or that. I can speak for myself when I say I am eager to be around for my boys cause they still need me, so I will do whatever it takes to try and wither get rid of this cancer or keep it at bay and buy some more time. it may be that the big companaies are making money out of the despair of cancer patients who want to live on,but I doubt all those who work in vancer reserach, the doctors, nurses, specialists, etc. have the same attitude. I wish, I so wish there were answers to all our questions, but there aren't. The good thing is we do still have choice. We can choose where to be treated, how to be treated, even whether or not to be treated as you rightly question. To be very honest, if I did not have children, i may have gone for other alternatives. This is how I feel, but I couldn't be certain!
Do keep us posted on any subsantial findings you make.

roselover welcome and sorry you've had to join us too. I had NHS treatment and they were utterly brilliant. Good luck for your MRI

Cratos sorry if I am getting in a muddle, there have sadly been quite a few newbies recently but have you been diagnosed yet?

If not, and I really do not mean this rudely, perhaps try and take things one step at a time. There's not much point trying to second guess the diagnosis or treatment plan. Often cancers caught very early do not need chemotherapy anyway. Some people on the thread have had just surgery and radiotherapy.

Waving to everyone

Morning everyone. I think when reading on the internet some of the alternative therapies can sound really convincing. I myself will probably try a few of the less extreme theories of diet modification, supplements, avoiding chemicals etc. However this link www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/central/ seems to put many of the myths into perspective.

sorry wrong link, meant it to be this! scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/03/24/dont-believe-the-hype-10-persistent-cancer-myths-debunked/

Thank you Royalmama and WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo

I don't know what I have got at the moment and what I would do for treatment necessarily.
Even before all this happened I was always interested. I had the fear since I had close friends and relatives impacted.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Ooh thanks for the link fresta, that's quite interesting and very sensitively/sensibly written too. I hadn't heard some of those myths, my mind is boggling at cancer being a fungus and at the poor sharks!

Yes thanks fresta really interesting stuff!

Thank you for the information link Fresta

Interesting information.

Had quite a good, non weepy day yesterday but not so good today. My elderly parents are both unwell so it's been tricky to keep my mind off bad things - my dad is fading quickly after strokes, he's in a care home, and mum was very weak and vulnerable today. She has had bad test results but won't be told until next week. I need to be strong for them but I keep thinking that, if I'm so crap even before a diagnosis, how will I deal with it? Also, with being bipolar, I can feel things fizzing away, telling me negative stuff. Bit of a juggle just now. So many of you are so strong, I'm in awe!

Perfidiouspanda, i amever so sorry about your parents. I can imagine just how difficult it is for you to have to deal with so much and yet try to maintain some normality. To do so you must be exceptional.i. Am not being nice. I mean it. As for being strong.nonody chooses these battles, but we findaswe start treatment that we have to dealwith mattersand this can make a cancer patient look almost superhuman, but there is nothing super about it. It is human instinct. Survival and the need to move along deapite the odds. Even with your bipolar condition, you have it in you to deal with what you assume is beyond your capacity. My wholehearted. Advice: take each day as it comes. Do not jump ahead or go back. Just deal witheavh and every day as it comes. I call it the instalment plan:)
Trust me, we all have to deal with bad days, with pain, with anxiety, with fear...but it makes a wholw lot of difference when you can tlk bout it to people who know what you mean. Please do not feel like you have to be "brave" or "strong".
Be good to yourself :)

That is such a kind and thoughtful message royalmama, thank you so much. I just feel so sorry for them - they both look very vulnerable and lost; neither will be here next Xmas but neither are they really in a way that they can enjoy this one.

You're right in that we all just have to deal with things, I do, in my heart of hearts know that. I'm diabetic too (this all sounds like drip feeding, but I didn't want to do a massive long history when I first posted), and the number of people who have said over the years, 'oh, I could never stick needles in myself!' And you think, well of course you could, and you'd do it quite a few times a day too, because there isn't another option. Same with this I guess.

Before this happened, I had been thinking that I could do with a wee break from tricky stuff and then wham! This does seem like somewhere I can be honest though, and that means a lot just now. Thank you again.

Hello all,hope you are enjoying the weekend. I noticed the hair on my head is growing back ( sort of fluffy baby hair nothing spectacular) although I am still not done with the chemo. When I researched, I found hair does tend to grow back with the 12 weekly Taxol dose which I am doing. However at the same time my eyebrows and eylashe are pretty much gone which has me looking gaunt and sick :( I have also read that, for some people, the hair grows back swiftly after chemo is finished, but that it can fall and grow several times during the first year after chemo. Anybody care to tell us of your experiencience with hair regrowth following chemo?
Power to all.

Hey Royal - my hair is a state at the moment. I cold capped and managed to keep about 60% of my hair I would say, but it really thinned right on the top of my head. I finished chemo on 7th Oct and so now just over 2 months later, I have a full covering again, but the new hair is obviously much shorter than the rest of my hair that survived, and so I have lots of sticky up bits as it sprouts through. I don't think it is going to fall out - it feels pretty strong, but it does look silly. And there is grey.

I knew it looked bad when DH helpfully suggested I go to the hairdressers to sort it out. I went along for a consult (and even asked about extensions to help thicken it up!) but the lady said they can't do extensions on the top, which is where I really need it. She said I just needed to be patient and try to get the shorter bits to about 4 or 5 inches, before going in for a chop to cut the rest of my hair to match, so it's all the same length and can be cut into some sort of style. And dyed. So despite it looking awful, I will leave it now until about July next year and then get it cut properly before returning to the UK in August to start my new job. That's the plan anyway.

Some photos to illustrate my point - one is when I just sort of brush it and use hairspray to keep the sticky up bits down, the second is where you can see the new hair coming through and how much shorter it is than the rest!

Oh and eyebrows and eyelashes came back surprisingly quickly - I still use my eyebrow pencil to fill them in a little bit, but I can get away with not doing it now, if I forget. I started wearing mascara again about a week ago, now they are long enough!

The funniest part was drawing eyebrows on mid chemo, then going to a gym class with my mate and by the time I was done, they had both sweated off which did freak him out a bit before we headed to the changing rooms. At least I don't have that issue anymore!

PerfidiousPanda you have such a lot on your plate hopefully you will not have too long to wait for a clinic appointment, and it will turn out to be something harmless.

If it is cancer, you will feel a lot more in control when you have a treatment plan. Most people seem to find this waiting and not knowing part the hardest.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend

It took my hair the best part of two years to get back to normal. Then I started more chemo and lost it all
It had a tendency to defy gravity if I didn't use loads of conditioner. If you colour your hair you are advised not to to use the usual chemical treatments for six months but you can use some gentler, less permanent products. .

boobz thanks!
I could never tell from those pictures! I think your hair looks quite good in them to be honest. The bit about your eyebrow pencil after sweating really made me laugh i keep wondering if that will happen to me when i am out and about:)
lilly having to lose your hair twice is such a downer i can understand:( didn't you consider cold capping like Boobz did, this time round?
I must say I am loving how smooth the rest of my hairless body is though:) i have never had such soft and shiny skin all over! I wish they would come up with something like this chemo for all the unwanted hair!
Take care all.

Royal I seriously thought about the cold cap but the secondaries I have are in the bones/bone marrow and cold capping would affect the chemo getting to the skull
The glowing skin without the usual face down/moustache/beard ... is one good thing but you do wonder what is going on in the non-visible parts of the body! Chemo also cured my fungal foot problem unlike the proprietary treatment.

Good luck today Cratos

I'm hoping to be discharged today. Last night my test results were not quite where they need to be. The doctor on call said he wasn't happy to discharge me and wanted to wait for my team to review me. So unfortunately I didn't get my roast dinner yesterday. Dh is struggling on his own.

My Mx site has very little pain but feels a little tingly. My brain also hasn't quite programmed in that my breast is missing so when I move my hand or arm across my chest it is strange.

Morning all, hope everyone had a nice weekend.

I have my fingers firmly crossed today, as I am hoping my BCN will call with my results! Even if it's just to say it's all clear or not! I've emailed to say I will understand if she can't give out full details, but I would like to know if it's clear! 😕

Hopefully I will be back later with GOOD news 😉 xx

Fingers crossed for both of you - good luck!

nanny sending all the most positive vibes your way!
mysillydog staying at hospiatl sucks for sure but at least you are being monitored and cared for. Hope you get discharged soon and enjoy being back home!

mysillydog hope you're home soon .Try not to stess over those left at home struggling .Mine did struggle but actually it was good for them .

nanny feel so much for you . Think you should phone BCN ( constantly until you get through ) ,email is like asking politely and quietly .And one thing I've learnt is that those who shout LOUDEST get dealt with .

I'm only saying this because I have a horror of " making a fuss " ,bordering on the pathological and sometimes it's not served me well .

My work colleague has gone in for her lumpectomy. She said she would be back at work on Friday ... her boss told her she wasn't expected back until at least after the New Year. I expect then she'll have rads but she thinks she can work through this. Any views? I've not had either. She lives quite a journey from work and is having surgery in a private hospital near work. The rads could probably be done there too - not sure whether she would otherwise have to travel to a regional centre for these.