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.

Tulip I had both constipation and diarrhoea on chemo. The constipation came first and was caused by the antisickness meds. I always made sure I was having a high fibre diet and took lactulose starting the day before chemo. When things got very bad, I added a laxative and a suppository. Almost as soon as the constipation went, the diarrhoea arrived. I usually battled it out on my own. One evening it came suddenly on as I was out in a restaurant, which was awkward to say the least. Your best bet is to mention this to your oncology team and they will sort you out with medication to prevent this from happening. If you are switching to a new drug then the side effects will be different.

Welcome SoIsitandwai. I also hope you will have a very short time here, but we will all be available for handholding if you are wobbling.

Thanks, I will def start lactulose the day before now. My last round was like the experience you described so I foolishly thought I wouldn't need to worry. I also think general bloating played a part in my misery but I woke up (after very broken sleep) feeling almost human!

Thanks for the kindness everyone!

Hang in there wasp.

Welcome SoIsit hopefully you won't be here long :)

chewing what a palaver! I hope your bloods are OK for tomorrow

Tulips do you have Movicol? I hope you feel better soon

Tutti it's worth asking if your veins are bad. Though they may offer a PICC line rather than a port as it is only for a short time.

Good luck minty I love my port. I had it put in under local. I would definitely reschedule if possible.

Thank you Mysillydog I'm feeling about the same and I don't have the medication. My nurse is being really unhelpful I am hoping my oncologist will help when I see her this week!

Wilting To get your tummy working properly again, it might be worth getting some live Acidophilus. These are the good gut bacteria. Don't bother with the drinks etc. they generally only contain small amounts, get the cultures that you have to keep in the fridge from a health food shop.

The chemo will have killed a lot of the bacteria that make your gut work, and the bloating can be caused by the gas they produce when they're dead.

Go easy with it to start with, it can have a loosening effect on the bowel.

Morning Sol, you've come to the right place, pull up a chair. We have no rules other than no googling. The internet is very slow to keep up with current thinking and treatments so you'll scare yourself silly on there. Hopefully your centre will be efficient and send you home relieved it's nothing nasty. Usually if a biopsy is needed it takes about a week to get the results but if yours has the facility to look at them straight away that's fantastic.

I think it's normal to keep it quiet until you have something official to tell. So many people are touched by cancer and I'm so sorry this has already happened in your family. This is the last thing you need now.

Warm and sunny again in Yorkshire, but were decorating again so the light is good.

Chewing, you have the patience of a saint to put up with all this rubbish. Do you think you're actually going to get the chemo tomorrow?

Hi wilting, hope you're feeling relieved now. We won't be offended by a bit of constipation.

Hello to everyone, hope you're having reasonable weekends.

Thanks for all my constipation support

Go easy with it to start with, it can have a loosening effect on the bowel. sounds beautiful! I'll add it to my list! I'm on the movicol now (too little too late) and will maintain a sachet a day with acidophilus to treat the rest.

It was a beautiful Spring day in my part of the world, had a great day and I'm feeling much more positive!

Morning all.
Lovely and sunny here today too.
mrsrhod I do hope that I get chemo tomorrow. I was told there were no other slots available this week so delaying it again will not be great. We are in the midst of decorating too
tutti interesting about the bloating. I have had fairly mild constipation but frequently feel bloated and have put on a fair bit of weight. I will blame the dead bacteria rather than chocolate
Hope you all have a good day.

Hi just popping in after a quick read through - wilting sorry about the constipation I just wanted to say I was told very specifically during chemo not to have live bacteria yoghurts (acidophilus) as the weakened immune system can let you be overwhelmed by any bacteria, to ignore "good" or "bad" so it wasn't worth the risk. But everyone gets told different things!
I used movicol and senna and made sure I drank several pints of water/squash the day before chemo and forced myself to drink as much as I could bare after.

That's a bit worrying pepper [bemused].
I read over the back threads and looked at Amber's advise and reviewed my own supplements and asked BCN about:

Curcumin, Omega 3,6,9, Lactoferrin, Milk Thistle, Co-Enzyme Q10,Vitamin D and Acidophilus.
I don't know what chemo I'm getting yet and asked if it was worth getting them (quite expensive especially the lactoferrin); as I'd read in the Macmillan literature that some bacteria and anti oxidants interfere with chemo drugs. I got the all clear.
Thanks for that, I'm going to double check and email the oncologist direct.

I knew that Green tea & St John's Wart should be avoided so thought it sensible to check and before I wasted a shed load of money

Thanks for letting me rest my weary legs for a while.

Constipation is a bugger isn't it? My dc was on 8 sachets of movicol and 4 senna tablets twice a day at their worse. Now down to just 4 senna tablets once a day!

Consultant suggested making jellys using the movicol if drinking the sachets was too unpalatable. My dc did that once, and then said it was ruining jellys for them so went to gulping jugs of it down as quickly as possible!

The chemo nurse told me to avoid probiotics and live yoghurts, as well as various other foods. But I checked with my oncologist as I need probiotics (I have the only condition for which they're actually available on prescription) and she said it was complete bollocks

You need to avoid them as well as various other "risky" foods if you're actually neutropaenic, or if on certain more extreme treatments, like for leukaemia. Though obviously if you're concerned check with your team.

I don't take the prescription probiotics as they are really hard to get hold of and taste quite nasty. Now I take Bio-Kult, which are just as good :)

chewing fingers crossed you can go ahead tomorrow

mrsrhod good luck with the decorating

Green tea, should that just be avoided for those on chemo? I thought I'd read it was very good. My gp recommended 2 herbal remedies for my flushes last year and the bn then told me under no circumstances should I take them as they mimic oestrogen.

I have my six monthly check up tomorrow with the nurse, I'm feeling really anxious, feeling aches and pains all over. I've also finally got a date for my collar bone scan.

The decorating is finished for the weekend, another room completed. We've done six this summer, all repainting so not too bad. Two more to go then that will do for now.

Good luck mrs with your appointment tomorrow. I also have an end of treatment appointment with a nurse tomorrow and I have written a very long list of questions, but I'm sure I have forgotten some things. I also go back to uni and meet my new group. However, I still haven't got my professional membership back despite applying nearly 3 weeks ago. I think I will need to chase that up because I can't do any assessments without it. I had to make a health declaration and I'm really concerned that is holding things up.

MrsHodge The MacMillan booklet "Cancer and Complimentary Therapies" says that Green Tea is not recommended on Chemo; along with B17, (Laetrile) and high dose Vitamin C. It's very definitive on these, but anything else, it says consult your doctor.

Good luck with the check ups Mrs Hodge and Mrs Silly Dog; let's hope the aches and pains are all decorating related and the professional membership is sorted quickly.

The ones I'm taking are the ones that Amber had looked into (except the Acidophilus, I always just take that for a month after antibiotics; and you get a high dose with surgery). All of those have good scientific evidence that they have negative effects on cancer cell growth.

Seem to have developed a head cold; and have slept the afternoon away. I they likely to cancel the surgery do you think, if I haven't got rid of it by Thursday ?

Thanks tutti, I'm not on chemo but have drunk quite a lot in the last two years because I thought it was beneficial.

Good luck with your check up tomorrow mrsrhod

Green Tea is brilliant MrsHodge. There's a lot of solid scientific evidence to back up its efficacy.

I'm really hoping that you get the chemo today chewing.

Currently in the chemo armchair. Bloods slightly low still so another test has been done. Fingers crossed it will be high enough.

Good luck with the nurse mrsrhod when is your collar bone scan? I hope you don't have too long to wait

Good luck with your appointment too Mysillydog I hope you get answers to all your questions

Fingers crossed for your bloods chewing hopefully the weekend has given them time to recover

Fingers, toes and everything crossed for you chewing

mrs hope your appointment goes well and you get the chance you need to talk - and be listened to - about your aches and pains

tutti hope the cold hasn't worsened over night, would be a pain to have to postpone the op

mysilly good luck with your appt

soIsit I hope we're only going to be giving you temporary membership but welcome aboard. I'm so sorry that you have already had to tackle cancer and with your DC that must be tremendously hard for you

Hi Lacies.
Wishing chewing the best if luck! Silly, hope your follow uo goes well!
Mrs, hope your appointment today goes well and you are reassured.
Solsit, we all hope you are but a passerby here!
Waving to everybody else.

Leslie, hoping your bloods come back better second time round and you get that chemo done!

Yay - I have had chemo
Hope everyone else with appointments today have had good outcomes.
The relevant bloods level from Friday was 1.4 but needed to be 1.5 and luckily the test result today was 2.4. Renal function is a bit low so one of the chemo drugs was amended slightly after referral to onc. Because of this it took quite a bit longer than usual but I am just glad to get it done.

Chewing, thank goodness you've had success at last, I just hope you don't feel too bad afterwards.

Mysilly, I hope your appt went well today.

Tutti are you feeling any better?

I had a very good appt with my BC nurse. Most importantly the breast exam was ok. We discussed help for hot flushes and she is going to look into acupuncture for me locally after my disaster at Haven last year. She said it's safe to try cod liver oil or glucosamine for my general stiffness. She agreed that having a hysterectomy was a bit extreme at the moment and has arranged for blood tests in spring to see how my hormones are doing. Just have to tell the gynaecologist next month to put his scalpels down for now, unless the next hysteroscopy shows changes. The ultrasound on my collar bone will be in two weeks but she checked the X-ray report and agreed it looks ok. Two years on my scars and surrounding tissue still get painful, that's also ok and she's recommended brufen gel.

It's amazing really, my breast cancer was small and quickly dealt with but the long list of issues since is very surprising.

chewing what a relief! Now you can tick that off!
mrs very reassuring news. Now back to your redecorating I guess Yes, once diagnosed and no matter how small the tumour is, the ensuing procedures, tests, aches and pains just keep snowballing.