Tamoxigang cancer support thread 54: A new thread for a new year!

[WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo]

Welcome one and all to the wonderful Tamoxigang thread! May 2016 bring us all health and happiness

If you are new here, then an extra big welcome to the club nobody wants to join. The thread is for people with any type of cancer, and also those who are waiting for results. So don't be shy. We are more than happy to hold your hand while you are waiting for a diagnosis, and we will be here to celebrate or commiserate, whatever your news

No question is too big or too small, someone will usually have an answer, or an idea of where you might find one. You can laugh, cry, shout, swear, and, of course, eat chocolate it is a bit of a safe haven from the mad world of cancer, the head-tilting and talk of bravery, and all the nonsense that comes with this diagnosis :)

So feel free to introduce yourself. And oldies, feel free to re-introduce yourself if you'd like.

We only have one rule here and that is no Googling!

I have had a nice day walking in the winter sunshine today. I did some Elsa/glitter glue art with my three year old niece. I took dd roller skating, I drank a glass of wine snuggled up on the sofa with my lovely dh watching a bad western. And now we have lovely snow. A good day.

What a lovely report to go to bed on, Sleepy!

Thanks as always for the steadying good sense, Amber.

Glad you have Centerparcs ahead, Sunshine. And let our chins be up, down, side to side or wherever we damn well choose!

Apologies not Sunshine - Summersun! How are you doing on day 5/6?

Good morning all. Hope everybody is keeping nice and warm:)
fresta i get that so much and from most of the very limited people I have told!
Can I ask for those who has rads after chemo, how long did you wait for the rads to start? I have been told not longer than 6 weeks gao between both. I could start within three weeks, but I am considering asking to start after DC's half term holiday, as there is nobody to stay with them with DH working. That would mean five weeks since my last chemo dose. My medical oncologist said this was ok as long as it does not go beyond six weeks. Any thoughts? Could i be jeopardising my treatment effectiveness with this delay? i will be asking the radaition specialist when I go for my initial consuktation, but would be good to hear from those of you who have been here.
The fact the rads are daily will be a bother and I feel I need to start when other stuff is sorted out, like the DC's hols.

Hi All, sleepy, a lovely summary of your day- cheered me up!
Amber- great advice as usual.
Sandwich- are you on your second chemo? Was it easier than the first as you knew what to expect? Or are the side effects cumulative? I felt OK after the first one physically, but mentally in a fog! Just feel like I'm coming out of the other side now. Hopefully that means 2 good weeks before the next one! Does anyone know when hair starts going?
Royal, you must be so happy to get to the end of chemo- it's great to see someone come out of the other side. I am already counting down. Last on on the 27th June. Two days before my 40th birthday!! 😀

Morning all
We have snow, love it !
Sleepy glad you had a good day
Royal I had my node clearance inbetween chemo and rads so it was a couple of months, I think 5 weeks would be fine
Summer I think they normally say about 2 weeks after chemo
Fresta I hate that too, you're so strong etc arrrgghhh ! Then when you lose your hair and it grows back they say I love your hair short it really suits you when you actually hate it and just want your old hair back !
Wrap up warm everyone and have a good day X

Hello all...bit of snow here but not very much at all. DD is so excited though and has grand plans for a snowman and/or a snowball fight!

royalmama my last chemo is this Tuesday 29th and surgery is 27th February. Radiotherapy will be some time after that. I don't know when exactly.

Still trying to make a decision between mastectomy and lumpectomy. Each time I think I have decided I waver again.

Yes cancer changes everything. It consumes me at the moment. I guess that's normal. I mean I am still living as normal a life as I can - I'm not taking to my bed (well I have a few times) - but it's there all the time, in the wig, the chubbier face and body, the achey legs, the worry.

Good luck today Dotty

Summer don't feel you have to try and be positive. If you feel happy, that's good. But if you feel sad or angry or worried then allow yourself to feel that too :) whatever you are feeling there will probably be someone here who has been there and understands.

Mysillydog I hope you are allowed out today!

Waving to everyone. We had a little bit of snow here, but it's already melting.

Morning all. Am on here avoiding doing all the planning I need to do!

Dinster- I completely empathise with you on FEC. I felt exactly the same. Please tell your team as they tried lots of different anti-sickness drugs with me and hopefully there will be one that works for you. I used to eat little bits through the day to keep on top of the nausea.

My silly- fingers crossed for good bloods.

Summer- you are allowed to feel anything you want. I used to get fed up of the adverts portraying all these people 'fighting' and being brave. Some days I felt like that but on other days I just curled up and wanted it all to go away. Hope today is a 'good' day for you but if not just yell on here.

Happy- totally normal for it to consume you. I remember reading on here people who reassured us that in the future it wouldn't take up so much of our head space and just couldn't envisage it. However, they were right. I am nearly two years post diagnosis and it isn't the first thing on my mind when I wake up anymore.

Very jealous of the snow- nothing here and since I managed to purchase some bargain snow boots in the sale I doubt it will!

Morning Everyone- lovely snow here too, it really brightens everything up after the dark gloomy rainy weather of December. Was lovely to see the kids on the street all having fun it yesterday evening.

Happy, are there any pro's to a full mastectomy? I am hoping I will be given the same choice after my chemo and unless they give me any clear advantage of mastectomy I would prefer a lumpectomy, really want to keep my cleavage if I can as the lump is in the outer quadrant, don't really know if that will be possible though.

summer that is great! you are almost through with chemo too! And to all who are just starting chemo or about to start: it actually does come to an end!
I already had surgery prior to chemo, so the gap is a welcome break but I just wonder if it may affect my prognosis having 5 weeks not three.
happy i has a lumpectomy, but I now wish I had considered a mastectomy because of the fact I had so many positive lymph nodes. I think if the picture had been really clear then, I would have opted for a mastectomy to be on the safe side. Have you discussed al the pros and cons with your oncologist?
Waving to everybody else. Enjoy the snow!

Royal, why do you consider it better to have a mastectemy with lots of positive lymph nodes? I think lots of mine will turn out positive so interested in your thoughts on this.

Well, it is not that I have any medical basis, but because the cancer had got to my axillary nodes ( in fact to their extensions too) i feel now that maybe eliminating any future risk of the cancer showing up again in that area might have been helped by having a max father than just the lumpectomy. It is more to do with my thoughts and feelings than with anything my doctors said.i have absolutely no medical proof to substantiate this. In my case i did not discuss this properly with my oncologist, so I advise you to have a good talk with yours about the pros and cons. At least your decision will be informed.

Thanks for that advice Royal- i'll definitely be asking lots of questions. From what I understand so far a lumpectomy has just as good outcomes as mastectomy when combined with radiotherapy.

Hi everyone
Dotty I hope your colonoscopy went well today and you get your results quickly.
My bloods were good yesterday so after a long pharmacy wait I got home last night, and this morning woke up to snow
When I was admitted a week ago it was unseasonally warm so it's strange to feel the cold weather.

I'm back to the hospital for my results tomorrow, and then see the oncologist later in the week to discuss chemo timing. They are very kind at the hospital but I don't like being defined as a patient. I used to be a student, a worker and a parent.

Teams are definitely the people to ask about lumpectomy/mastectomy. We had a study out on Nov 20th 2015 that looked at people with a lot of lymph nodes affected. When they looked at the survival statistics, it didn't make any real difference whether people had lumpectomy or mastectomy. Both did equally well. What makes a difference is good radiotherapy and chemotherapy/other options. So those are the important decisions to talk through with the team.

Hello. summer yes on second chemo, don't feel nearly so wiped out with it this time round although I was very ill prior to starting chemo initially which probably made a difference. My hair started coming out 2.5 weeks after first chemo and is now falling out quickly, it is quite thin now.

Hi summer, the first chemo definitely felt the worst for me in terms of immediate side effects like aching, brain fog etc. However after four rounds of Tax some of the accumulative side effects build up. The water retention built up for me and may nails are really affected by the last one, sort of tender and discouloured.

I'm feeling pretty ropey after first round of EC on Friday, tired and sickly feeling, although not been sick. Taken lots of anti- sickness. How long does this feeling last in others experience?

Thanks for that info Amber, very useful.

Hi All,
Glad you made it home Silly. Hope you get your results and a plan for chemo soon.
Fresta, I think I started to pick up after 4 days, day 5 was better and 6 even better. Is good to know the second experience is a bit better. Hope you feel better soon. Are you able to relax and recover?
Sandwich- glad second chemo was more tolerable. I hope my hair stays until next weekend as my Dd has her birthday party on Saturday. Fingers crossed!
Amber- great to have someone knowledgable around. Royal- good luck deciding.
Hope you are all having a relaxing evening. We are trying to decide whether to get a dog. Would love to rescue one and girls would love one too but not sure with chemo etc going on...

Happy, I will have a mastectomy next week. The are microcalcifications what feels like everywhere on the mammogram. If I didn't need it anyway, I would probably still go for it in my case. It would be really difficult to follow up later. Maybe you can have a chat about the remaining breast tissue and follow up?

Posting from my bed, I really should get up!

Feeling queezy still and enjoying being waited on by Dh. Should I worry that I haven't been to the toilet since Thursday? I feel ok but not sure how all the meals Ive eaten are still sitting happily inside me. Tried a strong coffee as that usually gets things moving but nothing happening.

Hope everyone ok this morning.

Hi Fresta
Sorry that you are feeling poorly. I have lactulose and senna to help with constipation from pain killers. Can you use similar medications to help you?

I had really good news at the hospital today. They took 14 nodes from my armpit and none of them had cancer. So it's just the 2 nodes that they took from the sentinel biopsy that were positive. Although the recovery from the surgery is difficult, I don't regret getting it done, because this was the only way for me to get the peace of mind.

Fresta, dried apricots help me a bit on that front, though still a bit sluggish... Glad your DH is looking after you and hope the queasiness passes soon.

That's good news, mysillydog! How are you doing post surgery now?

Mysillydog, that's wonderful news, I'm so pleased for you. Hope the recovery is going well.

Fresta I'm surprised you're not feeling pretty shocking. Definitely time for some intervention and maybe a little walk when you're up to it, gravity and all that, sorry tmi.

mysillydog that is very reassuring and good news!
fresta have your team prescribed any laxatives? Try drinking warm water first thing in the morning.
Hope you get some reprieve soon:)