Cancer Support Thread 84 - gently crunching our way into autumn

[mowly77]

New thread as old one about to be full. As those who have been around far longer than me have said: Welcome. Pull up a chair, help yourself to a biscuit, a large gin, or a detox tea. Or all three. This is a supportive thread for anyone with cancer to discuss how things are going, ask for advice etc., vent, scream, or discuss life in general.

Please feel free to join for support if you are going through tests as well, hopefully they will come back all clear, but if not we are here to hold your hand through the journey.

Some questions for those who have finished chemo….

I’m 2 weeks out from my last session. I’m still super tired! Is this normal? I didn’t actually have any fatigue until session 5 but it hasn’t really improved in the 2 weeks since my final chemo. I thought I’d be bouncing back to normal by now.

Secondly, my hair is trying to grow! But, all over my legs and my upper lip I have loads of tiny bumps, like very small spots but I think they’re actually where the hairs are trying to come back through and they’re almost like ingrown hairs. What can I do?! I’m exfoliating daily now but is there something else I should do?

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend, we’ve put the tree up today and I had my works do yesterday, wore heels and my wig for 12 hours and was fine! It was really lovely to feel normal again for a bit.

Hi @AGreatUsername, we are at a very similar position. I finished chemo (hurrah!) on 29th Nov, so almost 2 weeks ago. I too still feel very tired a lot of the time. It doesn’t take much to wear me out. I’ve just decided I can’t do anything about it so am giving in to it a lot and lounging around a lot.
Can’t advise much on the hair front. Weirdly I didn’t lost my head hair on my second round of chemo, although body hair went very quickly. Body hair not started to come back yet.

My last taxol based chemo was 5 weeks ago, I skipped the taxol on the last round so that’s why my hair is trying to make a reappearance now. Never thought I’d be excited to see leg stubble appear 😂

I’m glad it isn’t just me with the tiredness! I’m still being quite active, doing all the same things daily I would do before cancer, but by tea time I feel so ready for bed!

The only good thing about this sorry debacle is the lack of body hair!

I just looked at my legs @AGreatUsername and I think I can see some little bumps in some places, so I am a week behind you. I am also pretty tired. And I am in complete denial about Christmas, I have done nothing so far!

@AGreatUsername the tiredness is completely normal don't worry. I was told that it takes a full year to recover from the OC surgery and chemo we have both had, I was worried as I was still feeling so tired months later.

I’ve finally had my date for my CT, this Friday afternoon. Not sure when I get results though. They didn’t say. Full on scanxiety now, can’t think of anything else.

@thereisonlyoneofme how are you doing?

@EachandEveryone Have you got your results appointment yet for your MRI? Are you coping okay?

@mrswooster I haven’t seen a post from you for some time, since your lung issues. I’ve been thinking about you (you were diagnosed a few months before me but I followed your CA125 thread in women’s health while waiting for my own diagnosis) and really hope you’re feeling well for Christmas.

Sorry to hear about the scanxiety, @AGreatUsername . I'm guessing the results might be slower because of Christmas too - hoping you can find some distraction.

I have my next chemo tomorrow, and am feeling pretty fragile emotionally still. I've applied for some counselling via Macmillan, and am waiting for that to be arranged. I think it might help rebuild my resilience and perspective. We'll see.

@AGreatUsername Thanks for thinking of me ! Im in bit of a downward spiral at the moment. Balance problems and issue with loss of hearing in one ear, apparently Ive also got B12 deficiency and got to start injections.

The CT scanxiety is awful isnt it, hope you get a good result.

Sorry to hear you are struggling @thereisonlyoneofme . If it helps I lost my hearing in my left ear back in July, mainly base tones, and I was hearing a semitone flat that side for a while which was very strange. Thankfully the MRI showed nothing and they decided it was due to chemo drugs affecting the nerve. I was convinced I had brain mets of course! I hardly notice it now. These things are very common and not just in people with cancer. Hopefully the vitamin B12 will make you feel better soon. Thinking of you and your dog.

@dotty2 I worked out that you don't need to feel brave when you go in for chemotherapy. You just need to turn up. The nurses are very good at building you up. I hope you can find somebody sympathetic to talk to.

I went for my LAST CHEMOTHERAPY today and bonded with the lovely chemo nurse who was into Ultrarunning and has run 18 x hundred mile runs! He was very sweet and said I had inspired him for his next run! I was so happy to walk out of the Unit knowing that if all goes well I won't have to go back, but I said that two years ago and here we are again. Now I just have to get through this round of side effects and relax. I'm chilled about Christmas as nobody expects much of me. I can't do anything about my other worries until I know what the post surgery pathology reports show so I am going to park that train of thought until February! I think that is my coping mechanism, I just put my worries away in a box and ignore them.

Sending strength to all
Top x

@AGreatUsername thanks for thinking of me. I went for a colposcopy today even the gynae consultant was shocked I was there as Ive had a full hysterectomy. The examination wasn't pleasant but necessary. We went through the CT scan report. There was nothing alarming in it. I have a colonoscopy on Saturday afternoon. This sounds crazy but I hope they find cancer. Im terrified Ill have CUPs. Lets pray the MRI scan results show something. Its next week on the 22nd. What a xmas gift😃 im not sure if I will even get to see my family in Yorkshire because of the rail strike.

@thereisonlyoneofme Im sorry you’re feeling rubbish. My sister in law has B12 injections and she says they make a massive difference to how she feels in herself. Maybe they will help you too. No advice on the hearing sorry, mine is definitely slightly damaged from chemo but only to the level of mild annoyance.

@EachandEveryone I really do hope they find your primary? Have they spoken to you about CUPs? I don’t know much about that but would it be bad if so? They can test the cells and determine best course of action still I hope?

Congratulations @TopOfTheCliff on getting through to your last chemo. I hope you can relax and keep those worries in a box. When one of my DDs was quite little, she used to get very anxious and we bought a book for children about how to worry less and one of the ideas in it was to put your worries in a box and visualise what the box is like (then you can choose when you want to open it - I guess it's a CBT technique simplified for children). We used to sit with her in bed describing the box and how it was decorated. I hope yours is wrapped up in shiny Christmas paper with a big red bow (but no opening it on Christmas Day). Meanwhile, I do like the thought that we don't have to be brave we just have to keep showing up.

Sending strength and sympathy to everyone having a tough time, especially @thereisonlyoneofme and @EachandEveryone - I hope you at least manage to get back to Yorkshire for Christmas. When I was younger I lived in London and my parents lived in Yorkshire, and I well remember Christmas Eve train journeys north.

Can I join in for a moan? Halfway through chemo for non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and had my chemo delayed for neutropenia for a week, then not rebooked, then delayed again for neutropenia so three weeks delay. Going in for bloods and picking up G-CSF injections on Friday. Just frustrated at the delay and now think if I have chemo next week Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be at peak side-effects for Christmas Day.

I have two children aged 4 and nearly 2 and it's hard work sometimes. We've all had conjunctivitis, colds and a stomach bug in the last week 😳 Not feeling Christmassy at all ☹️ I just want to feel normal again.

Hi @Aestas , welcome. Sorry to hear about your delays, I was lucky and never had that but there’s lots on here who did. It sucks that you’ll be at your lowest for Christmas, poor you.

Totally with you on wanting to feel normal again. Not sure I ever will. I so miss being ignorant to this side of life!

Hi all ,
I just wanted to ask if anyone suffered with terrible migraines or headaches during chemo. I have been suffering from terrible migraines with aura although i am taking codeine for it, it seems to return after codeine has worn off. I started codeine just two days ago so it can't be rebound or can it?

Yes @Makemineadecafplease! I was mainly just getting the aura on paclitaxel and carboplatin. I googled it and I asked the oncologist but couldn't see what the connection was. I have had these before, but not for five or six years, it could just be stress related I guess. It's stopped now I've stopped chemo though, but around my fourth cycle I got one a day for just over a week then a few days off, and then a couple more. Because I only got the aura I didn't need to take anything but it was quite disruptive.

Last day of SABR radiotherapy today. Hurrah. I am shattered, not so much from the treatment but it’s a five/six hour round trip.

Thanks @SierraSapphire i really hope I don't get it with the next cycle.

I hope everyone is looking forward to the holidays. I have been reading stories on cancer research uk and taken some positivity on board. I think this will be my way forward for 2023.

And congratulations @Gileadhope the holidays give you some time to rest up.

Well done @Gilead time for a good rest!

@Makemineadecafplease I got migraine with docetaxel so bad I felt I was dying. It was mostly dehydration I think. I took electrolyte solution and that helped.

Thinking of you today @Aestas and hope the bloods are okay. Welcome to the thread

I am hunkered down here getting through the last lap of filigrastim injections. I’m either half asleep from the gabapentin or keeping the house warm with a nice log fire. I’m nicely sedated so nothing is worrying me at the moment.

Sending strength to all
Top xx

Morning everyone, and welcome to the thread @Aestas . It must be tough going through this with small children. Mine are teenagers, so it's much easier, but there are lots of others on this thread with little ones. A tip I was given when my children were small was to think of Christmas as a season and not a single day, and spread treats out over the whole week or longer. Maybe that might take the pressure off on Christmas day itself?

My DD15 had nasty dental surgery yesterday for a tooth which had fused to the bone and pierced her nasal cavity so she is very sorry for herself. She doesn't want to get out of bed yet but when she does we will be hunkering down on the sofa together watching cheesy Christmas films.

Hi
Hope it’s ok if I put my head around the door. This week has been something of a shock for me as I was recalled after my first mammogram. The breast assessment clinic was very thorough and I’m now waiting for the biopsy results. I’m pretty sure the radiologist thinks it’s cancer and I have an appointment next Friday to get the biopsy results. She was lovely and said the area is small (7-8mm) and the ultrasound showed nothing suspicious in my lymph nodes.

I still feel as though the floor has dropped out from underneath me. Part of me wishes I hadn’t been for the mammogram although I know that’s irrational!

Hello and welcome @KefaloniaKid . Sorry to hear about your recall and biopsy. Remember, it still might not be cancer- quite a large percentage of suspicious biopsies turn out not to be. But if it is, it does sound as if should be small and very treatable- still a massive worry though, obviously, since there's always the possibility of cancer throwing you a curve ball. So keeping fingers crossed for you, but you will find lots of support here either way.

Hi @KefaloniaKid
I know exactly how you feel, because exactly the same happened to me in August - even down to the size of the dodgy area! The people in the assessment centre told me that the area was 'more suspicious than not', but that it was eminently treatable.

I had my lumpectomy on 21st September (our wedding anniversary!) and finished five days of radiotherapy a couple of weeks ago. The only problem I have is a fairly large and stubborn hematoma, but it's not really caused any problems. Don't tell DH but I think I may have contributed to it because I felt so well, I probably did too much straight after surgery.

My cancer was ER+ so I am on Letrazole for 5 years, which so far I'm tolerating well.

When I come on this lovely thread, full of totally inspirational people, I feel a total fraud, as it's been such a straightforward path for me. I wish the same for you.