Cancer Support Thread #79 Newbies Welcome

[MrsPnut]

Welcome friends old and new, to the most supportive thread on Mumsnet. Everyone is welcome whatever stage you're at (fears, diagnosis, treatment). Introduce yourself and say Hi

Good luck to everyone having treatment this week. Hugs to all - especially if you're feeling rubbish (physically, mentally, or waiting for results - ugh

Thank you for the welcome @MrsPnut

Or what it's worth I love big knickers. And apparently post chemo - cheese bacon and potato. I go like the Incredible Hulk and feel like if I don't eat I'll have to hunt down a wildebeest to eat or something

Welcome newcomers to the thread - glad you've found us & sending virtual support to you

I went for a post-surgery bra fitting today as there's a lingerie place that does them in a nearby town and I've ordered a free "knitted knocker" to use as a prothesis. Volunteers knit & crochet faux boobs to order, with or without nipples - who knew?!

@MrsPnut & @Acinonyx2 Did you see any weight loss from having tissue removed? I always used to joke to my fitness instructor that my boobs must weigh at least a stone each; now I will get to find out in June. @thereisonlyoneofme You must have lost weight with everything they took out. Do you look and feel different?

Woo Hoo final chemo done! 6 more radiotherapy and 3 brachytherapy left. Burnt fooff aside I'm so chuffed

Welcome to the newbies. The wait is crap. Do anything you can to distract yourself.

Best of luck for everyone's treatment this week

@HauntedDishcloth I lost 8kg between being weighed the day of surgery (7th) and weighing myself with my drain bag hung on the back of the bathroom door on 12th April. I did weigh myself after the drains came out and I had lost another 1/2kg and I have lost one more since then.
I am trying to eat better though because having my boobs suddenly smaller makes me look like I am pregnant.

I have gone down two dress sizes on the top as well which means I needed new clothes.

@RocioMartinez regarding radiotherapy start now moisturising the boob. I have used E45 cream. Even though I have done that I'm still tender, it's like sunburn.
Also make sure that you continue doing your arm excersises as the arm needs to be in position for up to 25 minutes.
At the planning meeting before I started they gave me 3 very small tattoos for guidance of the machine. Mine are so tiny that the staff sometimes struggle to find them.
Drink plenty of water this helps to combat the tiredness, rest when you can. I'm lucky in that I have always been able to sleep anywhere and anytime.
I have 2 more to go. My left boob is nicely tanned pity they couldn't have done the rest of my body.
Good luck with your treatment tell the staff if you have any problems and hopefully it will be over soon.

Hi all again, thanks for the welcome. Quite frankly, all I can think about is my little boy. I haven’t processed it properly yet as I guess I don’t want to believe it could really be cancer, but I’m terrified too :(

@PhannyPharts, @RocioMartinez and @MamaOl93 welcome to our lovely friendly group with the kindest ladies on MN. There is always someone to help and advise on anything - oh and btw no topic is off limits!

@PhannyPharts for me I start stuffing away as soon as the first lot of steroids go in for chemo, I am starving! At my unit, there is a food and tea trolley which circulates on a continuous cycle full of really nice Costa style food. I always have a big pile of food on my table - I don't know how people have time to read or watch television there, I spend most of my time eating and drinking tea!

@FizzyOrange whilst my oncology team are wonderful the catering is not. I had a horrendously dry cheese sandwich and a strawberry yoghurt but it was free so I don't like to moan. You get better stuff in acute oncology but it doesn't seem worth the sepsis just to get mousakka

@PhannyPharts, that sounds dreadful compared to what I get! I would eat what was there rather than take my own though. One time I was there, a group of us patients were discussing our constipation problems and one man said he just ate soup the day before chemo to keep the issue to a minimum. I also noticed he didn't eat much whilst there. I am going to have to try this next time as my chemo constipation is horrendous but it's going to be really difficult lol.

@PhannyPharts @FizzyOrange You have to be early to get the better sandwiches at my place but there's usually something reasonable. Not like yousr though Fizzy.

I do get the steroid munchies but then I lost weight on my last chemo (9 lb in a week). I've heard that anorexia is common on the new chemo - my oncologist was trying to pitch this as a selling point

@MrsPnut yes with my smaller boobs it would be worth losing a few more pounds so I have a smaller matching tummy! I wonder if dh realises the clothing ie shopping implications of all this.

Are you getting your pathology back tomorrow? Hoping to get mine 7th and reeeaaally hoping for clear margins.

Yes it is 5.20 am. I can't actually lie down properly at all yet. I can't sleep lying on my back - I get a back pain so I sleep sort of sitting up which is OK for a bit but I'm hoping I can organise myself on one side maybe tonight.

@ChickandLamb I was asked to see a dentist and complete any dental work before chemo so do ask about that.

@MamaOl93 waiting is tough Hope for the best - but if it is cancer - there will be a plan.

Morning all. I'm off to get my second Covid jab. Timed to "perfection" so I'm fit enough after chemo to withstand it but giving me enough time to deal with any reaction before Fridays next dose of EC. Ive been dreading this - really made it into a thing in my head so fingers crossed it doesn't go pear shaped.

Wishing you all lovely days. With moments of peace in amongst the chaos

@PhannyPharts, I am also flapping about my second jab. I want to be recovered from my surgery but before my next chemo but not too close in case I get a reaction...I had the AZ the first time and had zero side effects, literally nothing so I was lucky.

@JeanLannes hope your first chemo went to plan.

@PhannyPharts My 2nd AZ is Sat May 8th so dh will have to drive me as I won't be driving yet. I just had a sore arm so not expecting much this time. I was seriously anxious about that though - as I was already sick enough with chemo TYVM - so I can see why you'd be anxious. How long did the effects last last time?

@Acinonyx2 they came on about 8 hours later and just felt like aches pains and headache - although my eyeballs hurt when I moved them. Went away with a paracetamol and I was fine the next day. But I just have it in my mind about the neutropenic sepsis symptoms being the same.

Jab is all done. So I'll let you know how the day goes. Hopefully without drama. I'm off to eat too much toast and marmalade.

I had my second AZ vaccine almost 2 weeks ago, the same day I had my drains out and dressings changed. Only side effect has been a small sore lump at the injection site.

@Acinonyx2 Hopefully pathology will be back for tomorrow’s appointment. Seeing the gynae oncologist tonight as well so will have had a rummage at both ends.

I’m sure I will miss my previous chemo catering. Not sure the NHS will run to scampi, chips and peas for lunch with lemon and poppyseed cake for afternoon tea. I shall have to go prepared for all eventualities but it shouldn’t be an all day affair like my last chemo was.

@RocioMartinez - I had same last year, except I’ve been made menopausal by monthly Goserelin implants and am taking Letrozole. I echo what Noidea2114 says about keeping up the arm exercises and the E45. I found aloe vera gel kept in the fridge was very soothing for cooling things down after each session. Do you know how many you will be having yet? I hoped to get away with 5 under the fast forward protocol but had to have 15

@PhannyPharts oh yes - that was my concern - that I'd get dragged in with the false symptoms of sepsis. As long you don't get a fever you should be safe.

@SigrunGard I've been told I'll be doing 5 sessions as per the new protocol. Fine by me - I read the study that supported the reduced number. Can't yet imagine getting my arm over my head though!

Found this for recycling old bras - and my goodness what a lot I have!

www.againstbreastcancer.org.uk/recycling/bra-recycling/?gclid=CjwKCAjwj6SEBhAOEiwAvFRuKNGaLjAzfUsjAYaAHjiJ5VpUhL6T6fThXBz3K-LW3OADs5licCzruxoCk8MQAvD_BwE

@Acinonyx2- yes, the 5 in most cases does seem to be quite sufficient ( and much more preferable from a time perspective- I got very bored of the M56/M53 to & from Clatterbridge!). Unfortunately they can’t do booster doses as part of the 5 day protocol, presumably because the dose is already increased, which is why I had 15.

You’ll get there with the arm, I’m sure🙂. Interestingly, my arm is much stiffer post-radiotherapy than it ever was post-surgery. Then again I was lucky and could get my arm over my head the day after surgery.

Lolling at 'not worth the sepsis just to get moussaka'.

Welcome new folks - there's no kinder more supportive place to be while you are undergoing this tunnel of shite. Sorry you have to join us.

Well I'm in hospital a day early for my 4th chemo round (mine is pretty intense with a 100 hr drip so I have 5 days each round as an inpatient.). Luckily I rang them to report in some symptoms on Monday as they wanted me in on Tuesday but no one had thought to ring and tell me, so that required a lot of juggling and drafting in of grandparent help yesterday as my husband was away for the day on his course.

More worryingly, I've now got symptoms which are pretty much exactly the same as before I was first diagnosed with lymphoma and blasted with 3 rounds of intensive chemo - swollen face, veins in my head, neck and chest all very pronounced and not draining properly so I am pretty sure the mass in my chest is putting pressure on my vena cava again. Despite having been admitted yesterday I'm yet to see a doctor but my mind is in running through all sorts of dreadful possibilities re the chemo not working. It's really not a positive mental place to begin a 5 day solitary confinement attached to a drip.

Food in here isn't dreadful but I am sick of jacket potatoes and macaroni cheese by the end of each stay. I do have a fridge in my room this time so will probably ask for someone to drop me some nice Waitrose salads or something to keep me going...

@SigrunGard oh wow! I'm nowhere near that - must try harder! How long after surgery is radio generally?

@HauntedDishcloth I weighed 77kg when I went in and 71 and a bit when I got home ! The week mostly nil by mouth probably helped but I do wonder what the tumours weighed! One 25cm and the other 10cm!
Unfortunately I seem to be eating myself back to 77 kg

@Babamamananarama that sounds rough hope dr turns up with a plan and relief soon. Also - hope you get some salad to keep things moving along (we are all obsessing about our bowel movements...). Good luck through the tunnel.

@SigrunGard did you have a complete clearance??