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!

Waving at every one.

Well done for the outings,What. I manage them about every other day.

DS is old enough, more than , but is an entitled teen. And has gone down with man flu. But to give him his due, his immune system is crap. Lousy genetics that had him a patient of gosh for ages. But at least I can just send him to bed with the dog, these days.

Leslie - thanks for asking! I'm fine. Still being monitored for five years, but I'm now down to annual ultrasounds.

What I had (Borderline Ovarian Tumour) is quite rare - 4 in 100,000. It was much more likely to be ov ca at my age, so I've been incredibly lucky. But it took me a long time to stop my mind going back to those worrying weeks.

Sleepy - DVD box sets were my salvation. I watched the whole of Breaking Bad in the run-up to surgery. Probably not the best choice for someone with a lung problem, but guaranteed oblivion for 2 hours every evening. Best wishes to you and everyone else on the thread.

Thanks Speedy, glad to hear yours didn't fall off! It's definitely the Tax that caused them. After the 4th cycle they were really sore and changed colour, like they were sort of blood-blistered underneath. They don't hurt any more though and the EC chemo I had on the 5th cycle didn't seem to make them sensitive, so fingers crossed (literally) they won't get worse. I have worn polish but not sure it really works.

I lost my nails on tax, but the new ones were already growing underneath. They hurt quite badly growing back in as I remember, but they didn't hurt coming off. I hope you keep yours Fresta.

Thymeout, im avoiding breaking bad but I do like documentaries on ancient Egyptians or tree frogs. I love my Amazon Prime, Netflix and iplayer.

Hello all. Thanks for asking about DS2. He is on the mend but DS1 has now caught the bug and i am back to nursing! It is soooo tiring. As if I don't have enough to deal with arghh.
Oh well.
Nails. Mine did not fall off but they developed a strange purplish colour underneath ( especially my thimbs) and have patches of disvolouation here and there. i hope they are not painful fresta? By the way I did NOT put any varnish on mine.i kept trimming them and that is just about it! They are still discoloured and I assume will take a while to clear up.
I am having to suffer from a very very painful corn on the sole of my foot( which I am pretty sure has something to do with the chemo effects) Never in my lifetime have I had corns and the experience is one I would love to forget! I am giving up on home remedies and heading for a chiropodist( or as they now call them a podiatrist ) because i can barely walk. That with the muscle aches from the chemo make me feel about a 100 years old.
Gotta go see the DC now. Both at home of course

Royal, sorry to hear your family are still poorly and taking up your energy, I hope you get a break from all this before the rads start.

I'm interested to hear about your corn. I've never had any experience of them but dd1 (22) has just developed one on the side of her foot. She works part time in a shop and I think the standing/wrong shoe combination has caused hers. Would you let me know what the podiatrist does/says? I'd like to help her get rid of it.

Thank you and yes of course mrs will do. Are you sure it is a corn not a bunion?
In the meantime your DD could try some of the remedies I tried, she may be luckier. Soaking the foot in warm water then using a pumice stone on the area. Also, using cream with urea to soften it. Another well known remedy is white vinegar. Soaking a cotton ball then attaching it to the corn all night( using a plaster). I tried the corn pads with salycilic acid and they do help a lot, but I guess mine is so deep. The main idea is to make sure the corn is not rubbing against anything by padding it.

Ok, appointment made for Friday. I am shitting it but know I can come back here if I need to and can I just say how much bloody better you have all made me feel already. Have had a long walk in the rain with the dog today followed by an episode of Sherlock and I plan the same for tomorrow to stop the endless thinking...

reikizen you can always come back here for sure whatever the outcome . Wishing you all the best for Friday

Reikizen, hopefully you will find out if you have anything to worry about or not straight away. The tricky bit is if they need to take a tissue sample because that involves more waiting, but absolutely doesn't mean automatic bad news. Distract yourself as much as possible. Do you have someone to go with you?

Royal, I think it's a corn, it has I little white centre. She is rubbing it down and using a foot ointment but I think the core needs to come out and I don't know how to go about that. I don't understand them at all. All those years I lectured about sensible school shoes and now this at 22!!

Hello ladies,
I would like to join all you lovely ladies if you'll have me
I'm a 43 year old a stay at home Mum to 2 Ds's.

I was diagnosed yesterday with a Grade 3 IDC, from what I understand I'm lucky that my tumour measures just 15mm.

I'm booked in for the blue dye thing and then a lumpectomy as well as having a couple of nodes removed for analysis.
I do feel better to finally have a diagnosis and a plan of action but I have a 4 week wait for the op. The consultant assures me that the wait will make no difference to the tumour but still, I just want it OUT!

I've been told I'm to have 15 sessions of radiotherapy, there is a high chance of chemo. I should hear next week if it's hormone receptive or not.

So that's me. I look forward to getting to know all of you in the coming months.

Hi scarymonster and welcome. Sorry to hear about you diagnosis but you've come to the right place. I had exactly the same treatment you're looking at about 18 months ago. My lump measured 17mm before surgery but once they got it out it was only 11mm and fully oestrogen responsive, so I avoided chemo.

My treatment took about 2 1/2 months from operation to last rads session, it was like being in a whirlwind but very doable. Obviously possible chemo will alter that timescale. I now take tamoxifen which I'm fine with.

If you do need chemo virtually everyone else here has had it or is having it currently so you'll get lots of advice and support. Ask anything at all, nothing too small it large. I'm 51 with two dd at university but still a sahm if that's possible.

Sorry for the typos.

Welcome scarymonster, but sorry you have had to join us

Good luck tomorrow reikizen

royalmama ouch! I hope the chiropodist can help. And I hope that you get a break from nursing duties soon.

Waving to all.

Hello All
Stuck in hospital again waiting for a red blood cell transfusion yet again. Hb down to 73 so not surprising I was finding stairs tiring! Hoping to get out in order to go to cinema this evening but it isn't looking promising!

Hi Lily, sorry to hear that. What should HB be? Hope you manage to escape in time to see your film, what are you planning to see?

Ah that's a pain Lily. I hope you get your transfusion soon and you get to the cinema on time.

Well transfusion is about to start so I won't be finished until around 9 pm! The film was a relay of liaisons Dangereuses

Haemoglobin level should be a minimum of 100, I think. DS2's is around 150 but he's a fit 24 year old (apart from the leukaemia).
So that's £13 wasted on a cinema ticket (relay from Donmar Warehouse) and an evening out with friends ... Boo hoo!
And this is at a private hospital ... though bloods have to be sent over from NHS Hospital in town.

Sorry to hear that Lily what a pain :(

Scary sorry you've had to join us, I also had to wait 4 weeks for my op and was shocked, I thought they would act quicker but they didn't seem concerned by the wait. Hope you avoid chemo but if not it is doable and we will help you through. I'm 44 now, gosh am I really ! Was 41 when I was diagnosed

Oh what a pain Lily, even more annoying as you were meeting friends too. I hope you can arrange an alternative get together soon.

How is your work colleague doing?

I've just booked a birthday trip to Dublin in April with friends, never been before and it's the first thing we have to look forward to this year. I wasn't going to book anything until after my check up in March but the flights were £9.99 so it seemed silly not to.

Good morning all. scarymonster welcome to the thread. You are indeed at the right place. I can imagine waiting dour weeks for surgery is annoying to say the least, but they would not make you wait if they thought it would out you at risk. Let us hope you avoid chemo
mrs i was going to see the podiatrist this coming monday but as DS2 is in bed with the flu and very poorly,I am not sure if i should go ahead.
reikizen thinking of you today!
mrs Dublin at £9.99 sounds like a dream! By all means go for it!
lily so sorry that your plans were hijacked by the blood transfusion. Hopefully you can make it up soon.
Thanks leslie and everybody else for your kind wishes. I am so tired from having to nurse the DC and I am praying I do not catch this nasty thing myself. I thought this break after chemo and before rads would be one I could enjoy:(
Have a good day all.

Welcome scarymonster and . My diagnosis is similar to yours but I won't bang on about it now!

Sorry you missed your evening out, Lily (and Dominic West). Hope you get a chance to make up for it soon and that the transfusion has given you a boost at least.

Hope your DS is on the mend this morning, Royal and that you can all have a as restful a day as poss. Sending you a host of golden e-daffodils.

Hope you managed a bit of sleep last night reikizen and very best wishes for today.

Dublin for under a tenner? Go MrsRhod!

Hope your nails aren't giving you too much grief, fresta, and wishing all comfy weekends with as unbothersome side effects as possible. Any tips on mouth/tongue sores beyond mouthwash or bonjela?

I had chemo yesterday so if I'm silent or more than usually grumpy for a bit, that's why. Waving to all.

Hi Dinster thanks for the wishes. DS2 still unwell but DS1 back to normal. I am cautiously optimistic about not having cone down with this virus yet!
I can absolutely understand your mood after chemo. Soon it will be over! I promise :) i never thought i would be talking about mine in the past tense!

Hi everyone
Dinster I hope your chemo side effects are manageable.
Good luck for today reikizen.
Lily I'm really annoyed that you had to miss out on a trip with your friends. Such treats are what helps keep us retain normality.
Royal I'm glad the DS1 is on the mend and hopefully DS2 will be back to normal soon.
Scarymonster sorry that you have to join us. I had my diagnosis in November and my mastectomy in December - about a 3 week wait for my op. I had positive nodes, so had a clearance in January, and will start chemo some time in February. So treatment can take a while to get going. Generally the doctors want people well recovered from surgery before chemo, so there will be about a 4 week gap. If you need two surgeries, you can have them closer together but mine were separated by 4 weeks.

My BCN thinks I need extra physio because I have not recovered shoulder motion and I feel a tightness in my forearm when I straighten it. I can't see any cording but I can feel it. Has anyone had cording or knows what the treatment will involve?