The Lacies are back for cancer support thread 56 - all welcome!

[WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo]

Hello again, and welcome to our 56th thread. Some of us have been here ages and others have just joined. I hope you've all made it safely over to the new thread.

An extra special welcome to anyone who is lurking and feeling a bit shy. We are all quite friendly and we definitely don't bite, so please do say hello if you'd like to.

All are welcome here. We started off as a breast cancer support thread many years back, but all cancer types are welcome and at any point in the "journey", even if you haven't yet been diagnosed. We have all had different experiences but there's almost certainly someone here who will understand how you are feeling.

Our previous thread is here.

I have started the new thread a little early, and I will explain why in a moment.

royal welcome home. Very pleased to hear you enjoyed yourself and had some cancer free moments. I imagine it will continue to fade into the background as life starts to become more normal again. Good luck with your oncologist :)

chewing good luck to you too my chemo went fine thanks. I was first there and last to leave, but not as late as previous evenings. I was going stir crazy by the end though.

Fresta that definitely makes sense. It's such a complex disease. I feel lucky in a way to know for certain why I have this. It saves any of the blame that some people seem to inflict on themselves (not meaning that I think anyone deserves cancer, whatever the cause). It's good that your mammogram isn't until after your summer of fun. I have a CT in Seotember too and was very pleased that it will be after the summer.

Sleepy that's an impressive amount of fluid. Like carrying around a whole bottle of Evian. I hope that's eased your breathing difficulties. I don't want to make you feel queasy so please ignore if you'd prefer not to relive it, but how is the procedure performed? Also grr at the PICC line incident. I hope it is still usable. I noticed that my chemo nurse this time cuts the tip off the index fingers of her gloves. She was snipping them during quiet moments. Then she can peel dressings off and stuff more easily.

minty definitely not on. Stupid nurse. I don't know why they say that sort of thing. It's not like there's anything to be done now anyway, unless she happens to have a time machine I'm sure that most cases are a complete tangle of different factors. Good that you've got some visitors. I hope your parents are a help rather than a hindrance...

Waving to everyone. I'm off to the seaside for a week tomorrow :) we were meant to leave today but have to wait for my pump to be removed. We will be all packed and ready to set off once the district nurse has been. I'm very excited.

I expect I'll pop in over the week, but I'll be thinking of you all even if I'm not posting. Best of luck to everyone with appointments or treatment or anything else unpleasant coming up

Leslie, they just suck it out with a big syringe guided by ultrasound. It is quite painless but feels very odd and squeamish making.

I have been caring for a poorly dd all day since 4 am , she has just fallen asleep poor lamb. It was nice to have the cuddles. I can still cuddle

sleepy hope your dd feels better soon. Cuddles are good
My hair appears to have started to fall out today as I have had to brush quite a bit off my shoulders and also when I drained the bath there were a lot left behind. At least it means the chemo is doing what it should be I guess.

In other news I was delighted to get a text over the weekend to say I have been nominated for 'Woman of the Year' at my Slimming World group. I have been searching for some 'before' pictures to take along to the next meeting and have found a few horrendous ones
Hope everyone is ok and enjoyed their weekend.

Leslie enjoy your week at the seaside - hope the weather stays good for you.

Good morning all,
Sleepy, hope your DD wakes up feeling better today.
Chewing, what great news! Congrats!
Mrshod, It seems to me you and your doctor have reached a sensible and good decision. Suregry is never an easy option. Let us hope you never need it.
Leslie, i hope you are enjoying your get away. Nothing like the seaside to wash away the bothers.
To those who have completed rads, well done!
To our newbies, welcome but wish you did not have to be here! We will however be your closest allies in this journey. Come here to talk or rant or ask!
Chemo lacies, it will soon be over. You think it can't but trust me it will soon be!
Waving to everybody else.
Sorry this is so short and quick. It has been crazy since we came back from our holiday and I am trying to juggle things whilst feeling quite tired!
Have a good day ahead all

Hi all, hope you're going well. I got my results after lumpectomy and I feel they are as good as can be, clear margins, no
Lymph nodes affected and hormone receptive. I will meet with oncologists next week. Maybe I am in denial, but I am feeling very optimistic that I will come through this ok. I hope I'm not being totally naive. I know I have a tough road of treatment ahead but felt these results were good.

Motherlondon, trust me that is EXCELLENT news. So pleased for you really! I had so many affected lymph nodes despite my tumour being small. You have a lot of good sound reason to be optimistic as medically speaking your chances of living a long and cancer free life ahead are statistically high.

Thanks royalmama, I felt like I exhaled for the first time in a week when I got the results. I don't want to be gloaty though when I know there's people reading this thread with nastier results.

You caught it really early and that is great for your prognosis. Don't worry about being relieved! You have the right to and any cancer no matter how it stands medically is alarming. Go and do something nice today! You have earned it

Thankyou. Xx

Afternoon lacies.
mother that is brilliant news so pleased for you
I have had blood tests done today ready for the next lot of chemo. Also had a call advising that I am having another biopsy at the end of the week to check out the micro calcifications again. The last biopsy wasn't clear one way or another apparently and they want to see if they can avoid surgery. Seeing oncologist tomorrow so will find out more then. The roller coaster continues.....

Yes chewing, once the ride starts it seems like it will never stop! Hope all goes well for you. How many more chemo sessions for you?

I've only had 1 so far royal. The next lot is later this week then another 4 cycles after that.

Hi,

Brilliant news mother ! Hope you did go and do something lovely .
Hope you're having a great break at the seaside Leslie
Woman of the year . . . Congratulations chewing . I joined last week, I feel like I have eaten enough fruit and veg to keep a family of 4 feasting for 6 months Have you been able to put your name down for a look good feel better session ? I enjoyed mine , kind of wish my date had come through sooner as boy did I struggle to put on some brows ! Although I did find the less I thought about it when doing them the better they looked !
Hope it's good news for you tomorrow and for anyone else who has appointments etc. this week.

I know nothing about a look good feel better session Stila. Tell me more please.

Oh I am not Woman of the Year just yet. A vote is taken at our next meeting and I don't know how many others have been nominated but it's good to get this far

Do you have a 'Magies' attached to the hospital where you are being treated ? I'm not sure if how it works outside of being held in Maggies ( I'm sure someone else can help there) . One of the ladies there told me about it (and I totally forgot about it) and about a month after my chemo ended I had an invite . They help you with skin care , make up techniques. There were about 10 of us in my group and it lasted a good couple of hours . . . .here look under workshop dates .

Thanks Stila. There are no centres near me but there are regular workshops held at hospitals fairly close to me. I will definitely look into this as it seems to be something I would enjoy

Hello all
chewing the charity at the radiotherapy /regional hospital ran ours, and I thoroughly enjoyed my Look Good Feel Better session, met some lovely other women and a very generous bag of freebies to take home. Best wishes for your oncology appointment tomorrow.
mother very relieved for you, good news for your results
stila I still haven't quite got the hang of brows! Luckily mine are beginning to re-grow now so I haven't been bothering for the last week or so.
royal glad you had a lovely break and a proper holiday, hope the tiredness passes!
leslie enjoy your seaside sojourn and hope you are able to relax.
sleepy hope your DD is feeling better today and very glad you got lots of cuddles. My DD is sporting dip dyed pink hair after my sister treated her to a trip to the hairdressers. She's thrilled and I'm a bit but she's so happy and frankly this year has been a bit pants for them so far. If you can't have pink hair when you're 7 well, when can you! On the PICC line thing, my hospital used to measure the line every time to make sure it hadn't moved too far, hope you've got it sorted.
Waves to everyone else

Welcome home Royal, glad you had a lovely holiday.

That's good news mother about your results. Hopefully it means you can have a less harsh treatment plan.

sleepy, I can imagine how chuffed your dd must be with her hair, mine would LOVE that!

Hi to everyone else, I hope your treatments are bearable this week.

I'm busy getting ready for my hols, the first stop is the balloon festival in Bristol- v. excited about that! Then the plan is to visit somewhere in exmoor where there are supposed to be great clear views of the night sky so some star gazing in on the plan, before a week in Cornwall. Can't wait to get away.

Definitely look into it chewing .
pepper brows are hard work . . . I was terrified of ending up with the 2 slug look ! Mine grew back white , then practically overnight they went dark !

Good morning all.
Fresta and pepper, thank you so much. Fresta I hope you have a very enjoyable holiday. Sounds really lovely!
Saw my oncologist who now wants me to have a CT scan as well as my first follow up mammogram. He says the radiologist recommended a CT scan of my chest after seeing something on a rib on the affected side when I had my ultrasound in July before I went on holiday( I am glad nobody mentioned that then!) My doc was dismissive saying that, whilst he can not ignore this recommendation by the radiologist, he does not think it is anything to worry about and kept telling me not to worry.... Yah right
It does not help that the scan and mammogram appointments are booked for the end of the month.
Oh well. I do not want to worry but I have this nagging feeling now. Of course post treatment is another journey and it is not going to be an easy ride but I have to busy myself and not dwell upon the ifs ...well I will try!
How is everybody else doing today?

Hi everyone
It's mysillydog and I have decided to resurrect my Olympics nickname.

Royal I hope you are doing ok. I'm also reallly pleased that you went on holiday unaware that you would need more scans. I'm afraid it will be nearly impossible to follow your oncologist's advice and not worry, so I guess try to stay busy instead.

I hope everyone else is ok and that Sleepy's dd has bounced back. I don't get too many cuddles from my 13 and 15 year old, but every now and then they surprise me.

My rads are going fine, only one more week. My hair on my head is slowly coming back, maybe a number 2 now. However, my eyebrows are returning a treat. I seem to have a unibrow, and my legs are getting hairy, so that's delightful.

Fresta I hope you have a lovely holiday and the weather is kind to you. I can't remember a summer which has been as nice as this one. Recent ones have either been a wash out or too baking hot to do anything hope I don't summon the rain.

Hi all. Just seen oncologist. Bone scan seems clear although need another scan on base of spine. Oncologist is not concerned and thinks it's just normal wear and tear. He is pleased how I am getting on with chemo as most people have a bad start with this type. All quite positive which is good

Sorry pepper, the comment about about pink was meant for you not sleepy. sleepy, hope your dd is better soon.

royal, I'm so sorry that you have more worry and scans, but hopefully it's just precautionary and all will be well.
Do most people still see their oncologist regularly? I've been told I won't see mine again but just stay registered under the breast surgeon who (or one of the breast care nurses) gives feedback on yearly tests etc.