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!

Thank you for the birthday wishes everyone. Actually feeling a bit better after reassurance from the hospital and a good portion of lasagne and queasyness eased now somewhat. Had a lovely chat with friends during DDs ballet class and wafting round in new perfume too. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better.

Welcome to the thread *reikizen, I hope it is just fleeting visit, and Amber always has good grounding advice so listen to her.

Glad you got a bit of birthday niceness, Fresta, and hope today's a goodun on the feeling better front.

Welcome reikizen. The waiting-worrying time is awful but just hold on till the clinic appointment, distract yourself if you can and post here rather than googling!

I came home early from work yesterday as suddenly totally washed out. Does anyone else have those kind of daytime conk-outs where sleep just overwhelms you? Nighttime is a different matter!
Sending cocoa to all...

Good morning all. dinster oh yes i have had that! I feel like a zombie during the day wanting to sleep but then struggle to sleep at night. I used to be able to sleep a food 8 hours striaght before the cancer...once upon a time!
fresta glad you had some cheering up!
I still have a sore throat but in general not feeling as bad as yesterday. Hoping my post chemo body can deal with this without me having to go to the hospital.
Was told at the rads dept that my skin would probably be affected by the rdas because of the position of the removed tumour. I am NOT looking forward to that:( i am checking iut how to get that cream many of you recommended Moogoo. Might as well stock up on it! No harm in that.

Wishing you a good day.

I sympathise with the lack of sleeping, I am a rubbish sleeper at the best of times. I've got an appointment for a mammogram in a couple of weeks and that is keeping me awake at the moment, keep thinking stupid things like I don't want to lose my hair again or have to cancel things that I've booked in the next few months

Royal if your skin does break down they will give you dressings and cream at the hospital. Mine did but it soon recovered.

Hope everyone has a good day

Thanks mumto2. I was wondering do they ket you wea any creams during the radiation session itself?

Oh dear sorry ! me and my rubbish typing:) that was supposed to read : let you wear!

I'm always making typos ! No you can't wear any during the session but you can put stuff on afterwards :)

Hi everyone
Happy birthday for yesterday Fresta. Of course you shouldn't cook on your birthday, even if you are feeling well. I hope you are feeling a little better now.

Welcome Reikizen. You are going to have a tough few weeks, but hang on and keep posting even if it's just for handholding.

Lozwil I know you are also waiting. It's awful not being able to plan things properly. I hope all goes well with the cardiologist. Most heart stuff can be managed, if there are any problems.

Royal I hope your sore throat hasn't developed into anything nasty.

Waves and hellos to everyone else.

I've had lots of hospital appointments this week to plan my chemo. The cardio is happy for me to be treated as an ordinary patient, and to have echos every 3 months - which I think everyone has on my treatment. The oncologist is proceeding with planning for FEC-T with herceptin and tamoxifen. She said I'm not healed enough yet to proceed but I am to return next week to sign consent and do bloods. So probably chemo to start in 3 weeks. I will also be having radiotherapy. She offered to put my details into a statistical package and give me a prognosis both with and without treatment. I said I was happy for her to do the analysis, but wasn't sure if I wanted her to tell me the figures. I would let her know. Dh thinks I shouldn't because it might upset me. Next week I see the haematologist to discuss how chemo and other therapy will affect my warfarin and then onto the chemo team.

Oncologist also said she would plan her treatment around my holiday and not to worry about it. When I booked it I didn't know about radiotherapy. I think it will clash but she was unconcerned. She's very lovely.

That all sounds positive Mysillydog, you have a plan and you can do it,

I have taken no medicine today. This is the first day in 8 years I haven't had pills with breakfast. I have to have 28 days totally drug free before the trial starts. I feel a bit wobbly about it. I wonder what difference it will make.

Sleepy, I can quite understand you're feeling anxious about dropping your daily meds, that must be quite daunting. Roll on 28 days until you get the new drug. Are you having to travel to a different hospital to usual to take part in this?

That must be strange, and maybe a bit scary because we get it drummed into us the importance of taking medication every day. Does everyone on the trial get the new treatment?

I am having to go over to Leeds mrsrhod which is a bit of a pain, the coffee is terrible and the facilities are not remotely as nice as Harrogate. The staff seem nice though.

The trial is for a drug I would have had anyway mysillydog but with a 50% chance of an additional drug which may or may not help. I get lots more scans and tests though which is a double edged sword in itself.

I still haven't passed all the tests to get on the trial, and they kick you off when the tumours grow anyway so I may not be making the trip that many times. It's impossible to predict. Very stressful.

Morning everyone. Feeling scared, DH gone to docs as he has found a little lump in his neck. Doubly worrying as his brother died of Non-hodgkins ten years ago. Logic says it's probably just a cyst, and we can't possibly have any more bad luck but very worrying just now.

That all sounds positive MySillyDog, it's good when you get a plan in place and you will get through it all.

Feeling a bit better myself, although still wobbly, convinced it's low blood pressure but they didn't seem worried about it at the hospital. I just keep eating as that makes me feel better (every hour or so).

He's back, the doctor thinks it's probably nothing to worry about. Just to monitor it. DH has insisted on a blood test though.

Fresta , I'm glad he is getting it checked thoroughly. I think once you realise the unthinkable is possible it opens the door to all sorts of new worries. I hope the results come back quickly and set your minds at rest.

Ah, sleepy, the Bexley wing, I had my rads there. It's very austere. I didn't realise you were in Harrogate too....unless you're the other Harrogate poster but have name changed? The new oncology centre in town is very nice, much nicer than the rooms in the main hospital. I wish they would put the surgeons in there too.

Fresta, sorry you've had some added stress with dh but hopefully it will turn out to be something simple. Glad you're feeling a little better too.

We're taking dd2 back to university tomorrow, the Christmas break seems to have gone on forever, I will miss her all over again.

Hi all, just checking in. Been quiet as it's been a funny week. Was due to have final chemo Tuesday but had a bad fall while walking (rushing) to school with DD and got a v bad knock to my forehead. Got to hospital and they said no way were they risking it and gave me 48 hours to recover. Went back in yesterday but white blood cells were very low plus I have a chest infection and still bad bruising so was sent home. Back to see oncologist Monday and hopefully final chemo will happen Tuesday. I look horrendous, bruising has gone from forehead down to eyes - literally two purple eyes. It looks pretty grim with lashings of makeup so you can imagine how bad it is without.

Fresta, hope all is ok with your DH. Fingers crossed.
Sleepy good luck with the trial.
to all the rest of you

happy what a dramatic end to your chemo:) hope all is well and you can finally say goodbye to the doses!
sleepy wishing you all the best with this trial.
fresta i can imagine how concerned you are! Let us hope the blood tests banish all worries.

Waving to everybody else.

Hi all, good luck to those of you waiting for test results. Having good and bad days but managing to get out for short walks in a I good day. Those of you who have been through chemo, how did it affect your skin? Mine seems to have gone really dry and I'm not sure of the best thing to help that.

Moisturise, moisturise and then moisturise some more. Hands are worst. If you are anything like me, it is the one time in life when you actually go in for a decent skincare regime! Oh, and don't forget to keep drinking loads of water!

My skin is dry too, but it's the only time I've ever had completely clear spot free skin too . I reckon that's due to fact that my periods have completely stopped so I guess it's hormone related, that pesky oestrogen has been depleted. Lots of moisturiser is the only answer I guess, and make sure you use gentle products for cleansing. I've also found I have a lot of dead skin after each session so gentle exfoliating has helped too. Agree about hands, mine look like the hands of 80 year old these days if I don't constantly apply hand-cream.

I am pretty bad at moisturising normally so I shall have to become better!

Good morning all. Was up all night nursing DS2 who has fever. Funny how no sooner did I finish my chemo do the viruses start invading us:)
I understand about chemo skin. For me the "glow" was fascinating but then there is the unprecedented case of callouses and corns on the soles of my feet, the discoloured and scaky nails, the wrinkly skin on my hands and the odd itch here and there. I try to use as much moisturiser as I can too , but when you have other issues like fatigue or abdominal issues, you tend to worry least about your skin!
Wishing you all a restful and pleasant weekend ahead.

Hope your DS is feeling better soon Royal, and hope you manage not to catch it.

Finally feeling somewhat better, I really felt as if I might never feel normal again. Manged to get out and and about and had a lovely birthday meal and spot of retail therapy with DD and DH.