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.

Sleepy, it's so lovely to hear from you, I keep thinking about you and am glad your picc line is helping. I hope the chemo works. How old are your children sleepy? Are they very young or are they old enough to understand your situation. I think it sounds as though the counseling is something to consider, especially if they are older, but only you know what is best for your children.

Have the best weekend possible everyone !

Sandwich that's a really kind offer, thank you. I am hoping to get one very similar to my current hair (just below shoulder length). But if I don't have any luck, I will let you know :) how are you getting on?

helly lovely to see you. How are you?

minty not surprising you're fed up. What a rubbish day. I hope you had a relaxing evening

My face is now covered in these horrid little pimples. They're so itchy. And it's very hard to resist squeezing them! They are just like normal little whitehead type spots. I feel gross. I've got a hydrocortisone cream to use, which seems to be helping a bit.

Leslie I'm having rads at the moment feeling ok but v tired. I hope you are managing your chemo ok and the cream helps your skin.

Hello all.
Leslie, I sympathise with you! But on the plus side, you can boast about being a teenager again, spots and all!
Those on rads, wishing you well. I had a rough time myself, but that was only because i had many more sessions ( 28) and my skin reaction was nasty.
If you want some great skin relief, go for virgin coconut oil. It saved me! I can not recommend it enough for radiation treated skin.
Sleepy, wishing you the least reaction to the chemo and as a mum, I echo what many have said about only you knowing what is best for your DC. Could you ask to be shown and told what it is they would be telling them and maybe have a think about how it may go down with them?
Waving to everybody else.

royal, is your skin better now? I'm grateful I'm only having 15 sessions and my skin is really good with only one to go, although they have said it could continue to get worse for a couple of weeks after. It's just slightly pink right now.

Hello fresta, yes my skin is fine now. I only wish I had used the coconut oil earlier!

Coconut oil, oooh might try that. I've been told off by the consultant radiologist for using aloe vera on mine, I think it's been helping, but he says I shouldn't use anything until treatment has finished , I think I'll just not mention it to them and carry on.

Hi everyone
I had a great time at the ball and was told I looked lovely by lots of people
Just relaxing today before the test results and SNB injection tomorrow and surgery on Tuesday. Better out than in.

Fresta, using creams etc on radiation treated skin is fine and it surely made the difference with me when my skin was at its worst, but some still stick to the classical advice of not using anything.
Chewing, lovely to read you had a ball literally makes so much difference doesn't it!

Just popping in to wave, and say yay for chewing's night out glad you had fun! Fingers crossed for you for tomorrow.

I had a fun Saturday night in A&E. My temp got up to 38.7 and I had a sore throat. I barely had time to sit down before I saw the triage nurse, then only a few minutes later was in a bay. Some looks from others in the waiting room as I look perfectly healthy. I held my chemo record book rather ostentatiously all very efficient - we were there about three and a half hours. My temperature had gone back to normal, but my heart rate was a bit crazy so I had to have a heart trace. Thankfully that was fine. Then some IV antibiotics and steroids and sent home with more. I'm feeling a bit grim today, but my tonsils are already looking much better so I'm really hoping this week's chemo won't be delayed...

royalmama people have only just started believing I'm not a teenager!

Thinking of everyone but feeling a bit too groggy to reply individually

Oh yes, forgot what I wanted to ask. During chemo do you/did you all check your temperature routinely or just if you feel unwell?

Sorry to hear about your A and E trip Leslie but I'm glad they sorted you out and didn't keep you in. I only took my temperature if i felt unwell I think. Fingers crossed this weeks chemo is not delayed. Hope you've got your feet up this evening x

I never checked my temperature, I would have if I had felt unwell though. I think you would know, like you did, that you might have raise temperature, it tends to make you feel rubbish.

I check my temp every morning and evening as I have a fancy thermometer that is pretty instant. I have had a couple of infections and it is best if they are caught early.

I think you generally know if you have a fever as you feel so rubbish, although it can also stop your brain working properly!

I was told to check every day and additional times if I felt unwell. When I was hospitalised for febrile neutropenia I didn't feel that bad.

Leslie hope you are feeling better and that your chemo goes as planned.

Good morning all.
Leslie, sorry to hear about your fever and good to know they tackled it at A&E.
when I fist started chemo, I was rather obsessed with checking my temp( the whole matter of rushing to A&E if it is high scared me) but as the weeks dragged on I became a lot more relaxed and only took the thermomenter out if absolutely necessary like when I had a UTI but funnily though the tests did detect an infection then and my chemo was delayed for one week, there was no fever.
I had my follow up tests and am now going to wait for the results. I did lots of reading ( only the relianle sources) about follow up tests and the bottom line is unless the cancer has in fact grown into a big enough Tumour that is detectable, not much to do. Even the tumour markers are not 100% guaranteed to detect cancer.
My oncologis is on leave, so I have already asked that someone else contact me regarding the results seeing as we are supposed to be going away on holiday before he returns from his leave.
Have a good day ahead everybody.

chewing, I've been thinking of you all weekend. Glad to hear you were the belle of the ball and I hope that you got some sleep last night. All the best for the test results today and hope the injection goes well. It stings a bit but is entirely bearable

leslie, sorry to hear about your a&e visit. Hope the sore throat improves and that chemo is still on course. Seems bizarre in a way to wish to have poison injected but I remember when i was faced with a potential delay (the pharamcists had sent the wrong strength drugs) I lost the plot! A controlled timetable was my only way of getting through it all

waves to everyone else, hope you all have manageable weeks

Thanks minty How are you?
I am dreading the results today but also relieved that I will know one way or another as it's been 2 months since I first saw the doctor about the lump. I am cheesed off that nothing seems to be straightforward with me but que sera sera. Hope all you lovely lacies have a good day.

Good morning everyone.

Good luck today chewing I will be thinking of you too.

royal I hope someone gets back to you soon with the results. Fingers crossed for you. I don't know anything about breast cancer markers etc.

minty how are you feeling today? Yes, I am keen to stick to my schedule, especially as at the moment it fits in well with my holiday in August :)

Thanks everyone for temperature advice! I think I'd better ask my oncologist what she wants me to do.

Part of me wants to only check when I feel unwell, to avoid hospital trips, but then of course it's better to catch things early. And like you Mysillydog I didn't feel that ill with the high temperature. I'd actually gone upstairs to get a cardigan when I decided to check. Whereas I've felt much worse with a lower temperature. So it's perhaps not the best indicator. Hmm.

I have an ear thermometer. That's what they recommended when I had my first chemo. Now they all use tongue thermometers instead. But I hope the ear one is accurate enough.

I hope everyone has a good Monday!

Good luck chew and Royal with your results this week.

Just popping in to wish you well today chewing Your virtual support team are clearly all here
I'm off to my first rads appointment in a little while so a new chapter starts for treatment, then it's a quick visit to the wig lady to see if she can rescue my remaining hair so I look like a grown up, not a bag lady!
sleepy lovely to hear from you, hope your treatment is going ok and leslie fingers crossed yours remains on track.
I took my temp quite a lot but mainly because DH constantly asked me what it was! He was more worried than I was I suspect.
I have already been to a school thing this morning for DS2, didn't quite manage to draw my eyebrows on before I went and I noticed that several friends who normally ask me how I am, this morning they touched me on the arm as well as they asked me - I obviously looked a bit odd. Under huge pressure DH has admitted that I do actually look like I'm maybe ill now (which deep down I knew obviously, but I guess it creeps up on you slowly)
Bored of the hot flushes though as I'm really losing a lot of sleep every night - if they are bad on chemo do they get worse on tamoxifen and letrozole does anybody know??

Hello everyone, sorry to intrude. It's me again; I was here about 8+ weeks ago. Was referred to breast clinic with very severe pain in one boob and dense area. Biopsy and ultrasound all ok and prescribed meds for pain. I am here again as GP worried me last week as my biopsy bruising had gone but I now have a faint shadow/bruise on the sight of biopsy/dense area and she is concerned. My breast pain now is horrific (pins and needles , anything touching breast is agony) I have also developed slight swelling and pain on my upper breast/collarbone. She wants to leave it 4 weeks and then possibly re-refer as she is concerned about the shaded area and level of pain but said collarbone is too high up to b breast related?Does 8 weeks seem like too long for biopsy tenderness & discolouration to still be there? She seems certain that it will just fade but she is the same doctor who told me in January that my breast pain was a pulled muscle?? Also hubbie (who never worries ) googled last night and searched discolouration, breast pain collarbone pain and asked it to exclude any sites with the word cancer in and nothing came up, he now wants me to go private as is terrified 4 weeks is too long.

Thank you so much for reading. I am very scared only 8 weeks after being so relieved that everything was OK.

mishmash I've not been here long and not an expert but my biopsy bruising and tenderness went after a few days. If you are in horrific pain then definitely don't wait 4 weeks. It might be worth going to a&e as you will then get seen and referred if necessary.

Well, my roller coaster ride carries on. CT scan appears to be clear but I need to have MRI and bone scans to be certain. One lymph node appears to be enlarged. Today's injection and the op tomorrow have been cancelled.

The plan is to now zap it with chemo as the type I have usually responds well to this. Seeing the oncologist tomorrow and have been told that chemo will probably start next week.