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.

Sorry about your windy bottom and big belly chewing.

Tutti, you are so right to be angry and frustrated. Cancer is such an evil bully indeed and doesn't really matter where you are at in the cancer treatment process, it is always tough. As for constipation try drinking warm water first thing in the morning.
Swear and stamp as much as you need to..it is the least we are entitled to!

Perhaps we should have a Lacies meet up where we can all swear and stamp our feet together

With wild hair and eyebrows and windy bloated bellies.
I'm sure that there would be loads of top quality hotels falling over to host such an event. We'd bring a certain je ne sais quoi to any location I feel. grin]

tutti have they talked about a full mastectomy at all? My tumour(s) are/were grade 3 Her2+ with cells dividing pretty rapidly. I went down the lumpectomy route after chemo last time and everyone was pretty confident it was gone for good (had clear margins and everything). Now of course we know better and there is a thought that the DCIS I had originally may have been more extensive than they had detected. I was on herceptin before surgery so that kept everything at bay but within the 5 months of me finishing it the cells were off again giving me 2 new tumours.

If I'd know all this was going to happen I would have gone for a mastectomy from the outset. These her2+ cells are aggressive little buggers that don't seem to want to give up without a fight. Just a thought that's all

I really don't want a mastectomy . It is a last resort for me from a psychological point of view.

I know Her 2 + is a thug.

Why don't they keep patients on Herceptin.... does anyone know ?

He's already said that the chemo is now going to be 6 months instead of the 4 he originally quoted.

Hi everyone!
Good news, they are going to look at the appointments again and swap as many as they can for a lunchtime one. I can't tell you how supportive you all are and I feel humbled because many of you are facing a much worse fight than me. So Rads start next week, for 20 sessions. Any hints or tips?

Oh tutti I'm so sorry to hear that , how shitty. You and chewing seem to be having a particularly bad time, also minty for it to have returned so quickly.

Royal, after a week of eating and drinking too much, plus a lazy summer I'm going to restart my gym sessions in the morning. I'm blaming age and tamoxifen but the weight around my middle is increasing. I just need to get back into the routine.

I'm officially old, I have arthritis in my collar bone so the big lump and pain are here to stay but I realise it could have been so much worse so I'm not grumbling.

Phew mrs at least it is nothing sinister ! Old is good..cancer is not:)
A meet up of us lacies with our wild locks, creaky joints and all stamping, cursing and bellowing should be enough to wreak havoc with oncology almost like wild witches out on halloween

MLaB, it's two years since I had my WLE and rads and I only had 15 sessions. With 20 you're likely to get pretty sore skin and you can get pain too. They'll check you each day so be sure to tell them if you have any concerns. It is far easier than chemo but can still be a bit daunting. The time it takes up gets exhausting, I hope you get plenty of lifts. Keep your skin well moisturised, different hospitals recommend different products for this. You need to keep away from perfumed stuff. But it's nothing to worry about, you'll probably just find it incredibly boring.

I think boobz was moving back to London, hopefully she's just busy with that.

tutti would you believe there are trials going on to suggest that herceptin should only be given for 6 months! It's not great for the heart so there's the long term risk of giving you heart disease versus the benefit of stopping cancer.

As for a mastectomy, it is easy for me to say now that I wish I could have had one originally but at the time it was the last thing I wanted. A lumpectomy was about the best I could deal with emotionally. But it would have spared me the extra ops and chemo and drugs.....

My chemo (for what it's worth) was 4 cycles of EC followed by 4 cycles of 'accelerated paclitaxol ' meaning I had a cycle every 2 weeks instead of 3. Meant the whole chemo treatment was to last 20 weeks.

MLAB well done for pushing for better appointment times. I had 15 rads plus 5 boosters but was lucky I didn't suffer too badly. Drink plenty, rest when you feel tired and use a suitable moisturiser. The effect of rads carries on for a couple more weeks after your last dose so just be prepared to carry on feeling tired. Glad you've fond it useful to come on here, it's certainly helped me over the last few weeks

chewingdo you know of any muddy fields we could go and have a good stamp in? Or would something more refined be in order?!

Thinking of you all especially leslie. I always think of you as the matriarch of our little group keeping an eye on all of us and yet I suspect you're probably the youngest one here! I hope the days start to feel a bit brighter for you

X posts with royal and mrs. I like your description of us wild lacies .

Sorry to hear you are officially old now mrs. Must be a huge relief though to know that it's not something much worse. Enjoy your exercise in the morning and good luck with getting back to where you want to be

minty I'd prefer a pub to a field - much more dignified
mrsrhod glad to hear that it's 'only' arthritis.
MLaB I will have rads after my chemo so will be interested to hear how you get on.

I was quite prepared for a full mastectomy and would have preferred that to the risk of it remaining. Now though I'm supposedly having no surgery at all so it just goes to show how things can change very quickly.

Tutti having a mastectomy is hard, but it was the only operation ever suggested to me, because of a large tumour in a small breast. My Her2+ cancer was very multifocal and there were at least 14 areas in my pathology report, so all in all I'm glad I had a mastectomy.

My chest is not pretty at all, but actually if you go for reconstruction you can end up with amazing breasts. I know that Boobz had a great cosmetic result.

In the words of mrsrhod, buggery bollocks!

About 8.30pm I received a call from a radiologist. I went into an absolute panic thinking they'd found something awful on my CT scan. It turns out they'd seen some clots in my lungs. Only in cancer land is that a relief!

Anyway he asked me to come in to A&E. They gave me a Fragmin injection and I'll need blood thinners long term to prevent further clots. Hopefully tablets rather than the injections as they bloody hurt! I'll see my oncologist(s) tomorrow to discuss it more. Apparently clots are quite a common side effect of cancer/chemo. I'm in hospital overnight. I don't think I'll be getting much sleep!

mrsrhod fantastic news that it's not cancer, but arthritis isn't much fun either. Will you have any sort of medication for it or anything?

royal very impressed with all the exercise!

chewing fingers crossed you don't catch the cold!

MLaB very good that they were helpful

Tutti completely understandable to not want a mastectomy. The half mastectomy sounds like a good compromise. It must be exhausting going through all this surgery. You can only make the best decision for yourself at the moment with the information that is available to you. I'm another who would have had different surgery if I knew what the future held, and I've been berating myself a bit. But when I made the decision it didn't even occur to me that my cancer could come back and I didn't know I'd have all sorts of complications and issues. Sorry your cancer is such a persistent little fucker. Hopefully that means any stray cells will also gobble up all the chemo and perish!

minty I like the idea of being the matriarch. The word always makes me think of an elephant documentary I watched once

Waving to everyone. I hope you are all fast asleep!

Leslie hope you for the tablets! Awfully sorry about being hospitalised because of the clots but glad they detected them and contacted you ASAP about them. You are now at least under professional supervision. Hope you managed go get some restful sleep after all this!
Lots of hugs.

Leslie, it was an elephant I had in mind . They're wonderful creatures and I'm always in awe of what the matriarchs do.

So sorry you're back in hospital and have another drug to add to the cocktail but pleased they're looking after you

Sorry you were both awake so early!

I hope you got back to sleep :)

I managed some sleep. Now waiting for breakfast.

I quite like being an elephant. They really are such beautiful creatures.

The wait for breakfast seems to be just that... a long wait! Hope they feed you soon

I'm on the tube now heading to Chelsea to get my port put in. Think I'm first on the theatre list which is good but despite living only about 15 miles away by using public transport I had to leave home at 6.20 to be there for 7.30! Still I saw the most beautiful sunrise on the way so that has made my day

As to the elephants we were lucky enough to go on safari in Zimbabwe many years ago and I have wonderful memories of watching a small herd complete with babies playing in the shallows of a river

Royal hope you got back to sleep!

Oh Leslie, Thank God they caught them in time. The Elephant is a lovely analogy. I agree, you are very much the Matriarch.

Hope you enjoy the waitress service breakfast.

Thanks to everybody for their wise words and support, I guess I thought I'd dodged the mastectomy bullet and that was my main concern at the very first consult. Funny how the focus changes as one goes through this bollocks. My feeling is (as it's a tumour on the other side of the original tumour margin) that perhaps it was always multi focus and this latest one was just too small to detect. Don't know and very much over thinking everything.So.....

Friend's coming over to play shopping with me for the morning and then I'm off to aqua and also going to have a really long swim.

Minty and MySillyDog. Thank you, and Chewing, thank you for being so "different"

Morning all. Lots of posts here so forgive me for missing anything.
Leslie hope you can leave hospital soon and get home for some 'proper' sleep.
minty hope all goes well today.
bobdylan best of luck with results today
I love elephants. I had one as my actual bridesmaid at my wedding - she was lovely

x-post Tutti
Enjoy your swim and try not to create a whirlpool
What do you mean by "different"?

I am off to get bloods done this morning for chemo next week. Probably one of several if past performance is anything to go by!

Just at the hospital but saw over a dozen of what must be the Queen's calvary horses out on the road presumably on the way back from exercises. Beautiful creatures.

Downside is the nurse has just come up to me and asked did I not get the message yesterday? Apparently I'm not meant to be in till 10.30...!!! Oh well, looks like I'll be doing the usual hospital wait (no breakfast for me though )

Chewing hope your bloods are OK this time, I have everything crossed for you. And I'm very intrigued by your bridesmaid!

Tutti I don't envy you the headspin. This bollocks has definitely changed my thinking the more I get into it

What a pain minty
I was married on an island in the Indian Ocean and paid for the elephant as an 'extra'. We rode down to the beach on her which was fun. The wedding pictures are a bit "different" from the norm