Cancer Support Thread 92 - Christmas Happy Hour at the Patience Inn 7pm tonight 🎄

[LemonDrizzle10]

Old thread nearly full!

@Enigma52

I'm having Cyclophosphamide, Epirubicin, Paclitaxel, Carboplatim.

I have triple negative breast cancer. Stage 1 and grade 3.

@tothelefttotheleft you are most welcome. We all had to learn as we went along so soon you will be sharing pearls of wisdom with nervous newcomers.
I wish there was as useful a thread for Hip replacement. The only one I have found is very short and quiet. I’ve had a wonderful late night shopping spree buying big pants and a nightshirt. It’s a bit like those 2am steroid fuelled chemo shopping sprees we know and love.

@tothelefttotheleft I had paclitaxel and carboplatin. Some people say cut your hair because some will fall out even if you cold cap, and it's easier to manage, was it that?

My second BC was the same as yours @tothelefttotheleft . My hair fell out 18 days after the EC. I never bothered cold capping though. I just wanted to get it all over with as fast as possible. I had the dose dense two weekly schedule which got it done quite fast.

@TopOfTheCliff

Everyone's been lovely and really helpful when I've posted.

I'm just used to helping others so asking for help and having nothing to offer in return seems strange.

I like M&S big pants. Think they are £7 a pack. The bigger sizes seem better quality to me. I had 14 and 16. The bigger ones were better.

Was told it was because of the weight of it. I don't have thick hair though.

@tothelefttotheleft I did cut mine from just beyond shoulder length to chin length, but it's for the management of falling out hair not the effectiveness of the cold cap so entirely your choice!

@tothelefttotheleft don't worry about having nothing to offer in return - give it a short while & you will do. We all had to start somewhere & you'll pick things up quickly.

@SierraSapphire

Luckily my hairdresser is going to come and chop some off on Monday.

I don't know anything either

I just come on and moan about my own circumstances, expect lots of attention and sod everyone else 😁

I love those steroid shopping trips

I bought a puppy 🤣

I feel like I'm on the back foot all the time.

I'm not a look things up in advance kind of person. Unfortunately that means I'm finding things out last minute or too late.

My macmillan nurse told me my lumpectomy would be "a nothing". I don't look it up just parroted what she had said to me back to people who asked. I had incredible swelling , awful cording, seroma and an infection.

Another instance of lack of preparation I had no idea I'm expected to injection myself with something for bone marrow ( Filgrastim).

@Tilllly

I don't need any tempting to buy a puppy!

I am sulking in my Premier Inn room

Have brought youngest back to university, and I usually bring him back myself and stay over in my premier plus room, and have a lovely evening with a face pack etc

But obviously not allowed to drive now, so DH has come with me

He's sitting quietly with his book, but it's not the same

And I am sulking anyway

@Tilllly

What are you sulking about? ( other than your dh ruining your alone time!)

One of mine just said to me wish we were in a premier inn. We've done premier inn hubs and ordinary rooms but not a plus yet.

@Tilllly , leave your DH to it, book yourself your own room and pretend you are on your own.

@tothelefttotheleft the plus rooms are lush

Posh toiletries
Lovely lighting

And a MINI FRIDGE

Coffee machine, chocolates, bottled water

I love it

Just sulking because I should be here alone

@TopOfTheCliff John Lewis knickers / own brand £10 for 5 are fab full size soft cotton

I buzz ed my hair at a 2 or treatment as couldn't be in hospital Any longer than needed to be for the cap cold.
Just finished ( despite another fever drama on the day) EC and still have famous last words hair. It has fallen but also grown and trying to grow like feathers , still have eyebrows this last one may get rid of them and some of bottom eyelashes have gone completely white on one side!!
But last one I hope..... Before the surgical. Consultation , and more scans. Feel like it s all going to slow down now because of scanning and the overwhelmed system and just want to get on before like pre first surgical had too much time to think!! Another hiatus then

@Tilllly we will make the next thread all about you! Everybody will have to say how wonderful you are before they can post their own trivial concerns. 😂

@tothelefttotheleft one thing it might be good to know about is that the filgrastim injections can give you weird bone pain. The first time I used it I ended up in A and E with chest pain and a fever ( during Covid lockdown no 1) and got treated for sepsis before they decided it was just the filgrastim side effects. It felt like a swarm of bees buzzing in my sternum and in my neck. Some people get bad hip and leg pain with it. Others get none! Some say you should take antihistamines like cetirizine with it.
My DH got a real kick out doing the injections. He will love it that I’m going to have blood thinner injections after my hip op. Weirdo!

That seems reasonable and proportionate

@TopOfTheCliff

I'm really worried about ending up in A&E. I was there for someone else three times last year and it's not an experience I'd want to repeat.

@tothelefttotheleft I had the same BC as you (triple negative, stage 1, grade 3). Also had terrible cording, seromas and now mild lymphedema. (had mastectomy and DIEP reconstruction all in one op plus lymphnode biopsy - the latter caused all the grief). I was also told to cut my hair before cold capping to reduce the weight. Mixed results from cold capping. Big bald patches but enough hair left sticking out of a hat, so nobody could tell who met me outside. This was good as mere aquaintances never knew. Now I have an absolute mess of multilength hair, but don't really care. Its the least of my concerns. I had a different chemo regimen (TC) but I did have the injections which gave me terrible bone pain. Just took paracetamol and ibuprofen for a week each time which made it bareable. Best of luck! And moan away. This is a good place for that!

Your cold capping experience sounds exactly the same as mine @isaxx - I liked the privacy for acquaintances about having some hair, and also the multilevel growing out being much more difficult than I ever thought about. No regrets though, I'd do the same thing again, and 14 months later my hair's nearly where I want it.