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!

Hi everyone, it really has been busy here over the last week, hello to anyone new.

Nanny, it sounded like your boss was being very supportive before Christmas so I'm sorry she has thrown a spanner in the works. I wonder if someone has been bending her ear over the holidays. I also think this is too important to postpone and so would she if she gave it bit of thought, you don't mess about with cancer, however inconvenient. I hope she is understanding.

Nanny, yes, I'd say that your team should be looking to find out about possible further cancer spread very soon. Especially after you had the liver mets and the brain bleed. I'm surprised they haven't booked you straight in for a biopsy the moment they saw any sort of lesion on the initial scans. I assume you are in a very remote hospital that isn't used to cancer.
Speedy, I've been through the menopause twice. Strange but true. First time when put into it artificially to treat endometriosis. Second time caused by chemo. It's been doable. Hot flushes aplenty, but they have almost stopped now (more than four years later...).
Waving to all.

no hospital would treat suspected mets so casually - I have mets and am monitored carefully every three months for progression or further spread.

pink This is exactly how my hospital are dealing with things!

fresta and mrs thanks for the useful/kind comments. Wishing you both a Very Happy and Healthy New Year 🍷💐

royalmama sorry your chemo was delayed, it must be disappointing when the end is in sight. I hope the UTI clears up quickly and the extra week gives your body some extra recovery time.

buggerpink I hope your mets are behaving

amber always lovely to see you, our resident Cancer Expert!

Has anyone heard from trice recently? If you're reading, I hope you're getting on OK

If I don't get a chance to post later on, happy New Year to everyone. May 2016 bring you luck and health and happiness

I have been pondering how many people must have passed through these threads over the years. I've been here about three years now. If any oldies still lurk then I hope you are well. It is lovely that people recover and no longer need the thread. I'm also remembering those posters who have died and thinking of their families as they start another year without them

Hopefully 2016 will bring more progress in treating cancers, especially secondary cancer.

lovebeingananny it is a shame that your boss is not being more helpful, though perhaps unsurprising as so many people do not understand about secondary cancer. I don't know how much you've told her about your medical history, so she may not realise how important the tests are, I suppose, though it's not exactly something people do for fun!

I have several friends with secondary cancer, one has also had successful surgery on her liver, so she has problems with people thinking she is cured and not understanding the anxiety of monitoring etc. I wonder if your boss is similar? Hopefully if you tell her you cannot wait a month she will be OK with it :)

still, it all sounds very strange to me. I can't believe that there is so much 'wait and see' Metastatic cancer is what kills you.

Nanny, given that you told your team about bone pain back in October, and you had scan results in mid November showing bone lesions.... no, it's not usual for teams to mooch about vaguely making appointments for MRI scans or similar for weeks and weeks later. They'd logically have you in there faster than a fast thing. Teams are taught to biopsy very very fast indeed when there is a chance of new mets on scans in a patient who has already had a stage 4 diagnosis. Given your history of being Stage 4 cancer, your team seem mystifying. I've lost a good few lovely friends to cancer over the years, and fast treatment is what can stop that from happening.

PS, not a cancer expert. Just someone who has spent five years reading through the thousands of oncology/surgery reports on a daily basis, and sharing life with so many other wonderful people at all stages of cancer, for many years. And concerned when I read about a team not doing a normal set of things.

nanny, I am sorry, I didn't realize you had already been diagnosed with liver mets, and that makes it shocking that your team were considering delaying checking out the area on your breastbone, I cannot understand why they were willing to 'wait and see' at all!

Happy New Year everyone, hope we all get the best news we can hope for in 2016 and make a whole load of good memories for us and our families xxx

I've just spotted that today's "Blog of the Day" (over on right hand side of page) is about breast cancer. It's here if anyone is interested. I'm generally not a fan of blogs, I find they are often a bit self-indulgent or trying way too hard to be funny. There seems to be an odd trend for talking about bowel movements not something I would want to discuss publicly myself! This blog looks OK though, perhaps if anyone is feeling down after treatment, it's about her feelings towards her body after her surgery.

I really must stop mooching around in the computer and get on with my day! Have a good one everyone

Thank you everybody for your kind words. I do hope my UTI clears up and I get to finally breathe in relief at completing the chemo ..what do I have planned? Nothing yet! It may be nice to go out with the DH and DC for a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant
nanny your boss may not fully understand your situation and is falsely assuming she is being taken advantage of? Do have a talk with her about the absolute importance of this scan.
Reading above about people who used to be on this thread who have passed on has saddened me so much. I have always wanted to ask about this but feared to know:(
From the bottom of my heart I wish each and every one of you a happy, peaceful and above all healthy new year whether you are a regular, lurker, passer by who no longer needs to be here or a past member who stops by to check on us.

Hello everyone. I've not posted here for a long time but thought I'd stop by and wish everyone a happy New Year.
Waving to Amber, Leslie, Marshy, Malt, Pink and Nanny and hello to all those who have joined during 2015.
Hi to Trice if you are lurking

It's been 2.5 years since my diagnosis but seems like a lifetime ago and I struggle to remember how I felt which is very weird as at the time it completely took over my life. I drop in and read posts occasionally but am very busy at work (changed jobs 1 year ago), and with life in general.

Nanny - have you thought of changing hospital or consultant? As it's been over a year since your stage 4 diagnosis (actually is it 2 - can it be that long ago that we were both having treatment ), it seems neglectful that you are not having the 3 or 6 monthly consultant visits/scans etc. that seem to be standard for patients with Mets so maybe the time has come to look at alternatives. Good to hear that you have kept well though and haven't had to have any other treatment since your liver op.

Good to see this thread is still going strong - it was a life saver for me in the dark days (and nights) of diagnosis and treatment - so although no-one wants to have to join it is a wonderful community.

Hello all - Special hello to Kitkat.
As a stage 4 person with bone mets I am scanned every three months or so and generally see my consultant at least once a month.
Back in hospital this pm for yet another blood transfusion as Hb level was low. Then home tonight for Chinese duck and a glass of champagne!
Happy New Year and may there be more and better treatments coming in during 2016.

It must be the day for popping in!

Huge waves to Kitkat and Lily my chemo buddies :) Also waving to trice, malt, amber and any of the other old hands that are still lurking. This thread was a lifeline to me when I was diagnosed in May 2013.

I've not posted in ages either. I'm also two and a half years out, and so far so good as they say. There are actually whole days when I don't think about it any more. I never thought that would happen - as kitkat says it takes over your life for a while.

Fingers crossed for all those at stage 4, I hope you stay well for a very very long time.

Hi (another oldie here) just to say that I had 4 Fec and 4 tax back in 2006/7 but that was because a) I had triple negative bc and b) because the dose was spread out over the treatments. Fec/T was still quite unusual for primary bc without lymph node involvement. I was only given it because I used Health Insurance. However, before my treatment finished, my oncologist told me that it would be routinely prescribed on NHS for tnbc.
I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2016.

yes, just popping in as haven't really posted for so long and waving to all- jolly brilliant to know this thread is still going strong after all these years ! Waving to those lovelies who know me and sending joyful New Year wishes to newer members. xxxx

Waves at Betsy
Great to hear from the oldies who show that for most that cancer is an unpleasant interlude in life but there is plenty to look forward to once treatment ends.
Still waiting for my blood - if anyone has some B+ or compatible blood, please send it over ASAP!

Hi to Lily and Betsy - how could I have missed you out earlier

Goodness yes, it is nearly two years since you had that diagnosis of stage 4 cancer, Nanny, with the 3cm liver tumour - March 2014. I agree with Kitkat about the possibility of changing to a team that do a standard pattern of follow-ups and are proactive about biopsies for possible new mets.

Wishing all of you a wonderful New Year and a minimum of medical eek ahead.

Nanny, I also didn't realise you were stage 4, how have I missed that? Even more reason not to delay.

I'm off to a party later so I want to wish you all, old and new, good health and happiness for 2016 and a huge thank you for all the support so far. Wouldn't have managed to cope with the emotional side of this without you all.

Wishing all a happy new year - and healthy of course - goes without saying for us lot really....

Lovely to see old faces - waving to kitkat and betsy! ( how are the boobs and nips kitkat? ) and thinking of others at this time of year, especially firethornuk, his dearest beccajoh and their dc. I hope the woolley hug love is still doing its magic.

Lily I am O Rh-ve universal donor and would gladly let you have an armful of mine but I think I'm banned now

I've had a bit of a crap day at work today but y'know, in the bigger picture, it doesn't really matter. I am at risk of going all Facebook now and using the 'blessed' word so probably best to stop.

Love to you all

Happy new year everyone. Good luck to everyone waiting for treatment and scans.

It's a strange new year for me, because there's a lot of appointments and hospitals to come. In January I have my lymph nodes out, and February will be the start of chemo. Today I saw my oncologist for the first time and she was lovely. She discussed chemo options, and together we decided that the trial of no surgery is probably not for me, because it would make me feel too anxious worrying about if the cancer is still there. She dismissed the surgeons being unsure if I'm fit for chemo, but will consult a haematologist and cardiologist about my management. Hopefully I will get herceptin but I need some heart checks.

The plan is for 6 rounds of chemo. Radiotherapy and CT scans to detect spread will depend on if I have 4 or more positive nodes. I guess that's another good reason for the axial clearance, because my management will differ according to the results. But I'm feeling a bit sore after my mastectomy and would prefer to be left alone.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all managed to celebrate in some way :)

Waving to Betsy and kitkat, it's lovely to see you both too.

Lily I hope your blood arrived soon after you posted! I'm B+ too

Mysillydog I'm glad your oncologist is nice and has a sensible plan for chemo, and that you reached a decision about the trial. It must feel overwhelming right now with all of it ahead of you. I found that chemo flew by once I'd got started, hopefully you will too :)

earthy I hope you're OK

royalmama it is incredibly sad, they were all such fabulous ladies I wasn't sure whether to post that or not, but they were a big part of the gang at the time. I didn't mean to upset anyone

It's suddenly turned quite cold here, we've had a frost for first time in ages, I hope everyone is warm and cosy

HNY to you too Leslie

Frost here too last night. Have a good day everyone

Happy 2016 everyone.
mysillydog sounds like your treatment plan is sorted now which is very helpful and will hopefully offer you the best options.
leslie of course anybody who was part of thsi thread at any given time is part of its soul. It is sad but it is not fair to forget or iverlook the fact these people were once amongst us. My prayers go out to their loved ones and I am sure they were just as lovely as the rest of you all here. Blessings.
naany do ket us know your latest.
mrs sounds like you had a lot of fn over the holidays:) good on you.

I am a slightly bit concerned about my UTI although the symtpoms are all but disappeared now, but worried if they test me and find infection is still there that they will delay my chemo yet again. I am concerned about how this would affect my overall treatment, as I read a study about the negative effect of more thn one week delays during chemo. I guess I will just have to wait and see. In the meantime I feel like a buoy bobbing about with so much fluid inside of me
Have a good day all.