The Great Cancer Recovery part 5

[Topofthecliffs]

Amazingly we have now filled four threads and are ready to start again. How time flies when you are being purposeful! Come and join in.

You may have finished active treatment for cancer, be in remission or NED. You want to look forward not dwell on the past. You know you ought to be eating well, exercising more and picking up the threads of your old life. Join us and share the ups and downs of recovery. We understand!
Here are some resources we found helpful:
The Mountain Lion
https://www.cancerpal.co.uk/post/what-it-s-really-like-to-receive-a-cancer-diagnosis
Peter Harvey on Psychology of recovery:
https://workingwithcancer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf
Resources from Penny Brohn:
https://pennybrohn.org.uk/our-approach/resources/
Breast Cancer Now Moving Forward:
https://breastcancernow.org/information-support/support-you/moving-forward
Get your Oomph Back with Carolyn Garritt
http://www.oomph.london/home.html
Charity providing treats for cancer patients:
https://somethingtolookforwardto.org.uk/
Exercise is good for you:
^https://www.webmd.com/cancer/features/exercise-cancer-patients^
Any more suggestions? Post them below

(There is a thread for those suspected to have cancer, or newly diagnosed and facing treatment, and also a thread for those with Stage IV cancer who want to talk to others in the same boat, and you are welcome on any or all of these)

Looks lovely @MrsSqPenguins The hard work was worth it!

Thanks very much @Zoopet Here are the silkies, they don't need that much space, they are quite small chickens and like to huddle together. When I was doing the lawn 2 of them came with me and kept bashing their fluff into me.

Thanks @BatshitCrazyWoman

Looks like a lovely garden @MrsSqPenguins Very spring!

Back to work today after a week in the Lakes. Really CBA. Opened my email & wanted to scream “I don’t care!” Anyone else feel like that about their career after cancer? On one hand I’m bored, on the I’m grateful for a supportive & flexible employer & job I don’t really need to think about as I’ve been there so long! Do I have the energy for either a new job or a career change? I don’t think so at the moment. I think my manager still isn’t giving me the scale of work I’m used to, so I’m doing all these little bits, of which I seem to care very little about. Maybe I’ll get my mojo back eventually.

The car went for a hug in a crusher today. It had given up & was going to cost £800 to fix - it’s been a workhorse was 20 years old - so it’s gone to car heaven.

Sorry about heartburn @Topofthecliffs . I sometimes have to sleep upright because of it, so annoying and painful. Hopefully it calms down.

@MrsSqPenguins your silkies are gorgeous!
Lovely photos!
I have had a white, a blue and a black silky in the past as well as other small breed bantams- they were great company.

Hi all I haven't been on in a really long time what with one thing and another. Hope you all had a lovely Easter and the silkie photos are lovely @MrsSqPenguins . How are you getting on with the puppy @Littlecaf?

I've been having some problems, I think with tamoxifen - last 2 periods put me in first hospital overnight and then A&E due to level of bleeding. Now have blood loss anaemia so haven't been to any of my exercise classes in months. Oncologist has paused tamoxifen until my hysteroscopy in 2 weeks. There is possible talk of zoladex and medical menopause, so I can take letrozole or another AI.

Anyone experienced the zoladex route? Other than that, I'm enjoying work at least, with a new client on board and just building up exercise to proper dog walks. Hope to make my gentle dance class maybe Monday!

Thanks @Littlecaf Sorry about your car.

Thanks @Zoopet Silkies are lovely though we are having to keep them off the new lawn at the moment as they were pecking at it.

Thanks @PaperbackWrighter Glad you are enjoying work, hope the problems can be solved easily. I take Tamoxifen since 2022.

@PaperbackWrighter gosh that sounds terrible, tamoxifen can be awful. I hate that we don’t know what we’re gonna get until its started. I had a couple of awful fibroids a few years ago which landed me in a&e with ridiculous bleeding and it’s super scary. I hope for you it get resolved. I wish this hormone therapy didn’t have so many dramatic side effects.

Things I have learnt this week: second hand cars are expensive; mortgage rates have gone through the roof; hot flushes can return even if you haven’t had them for a year; I like spring; I’m looking forward to going to the theatre with friends this weekend and hanging out with pals for lunch on Sunday.

@PaperbackWrighter oh and I do the Zoladex & AI (exemestane) route. Pros - for me it has less side effects than tamoxifen and for me is generally fine - Cons - I have to remember to book & attend a Zoladex injection every month the GP, my side effects are joint pain (it can be really bad) and now it seems the hot flushes are back. But both are much better than the bleeding/migraines/anxiety I had on tamoxifen.

That sounds horrible @PaperbackWrighter, I hope things improve. The hormone treatments sound unpleasant and I'm glad in many ways not to have had those.

I've had my scan results and there was no evidence of cancer which was a relief. I've had a disc prolapse so am being referred on to look at ways of managing that.

@LittleCaf cars are very expensive aren't they. Your weekend sounds fun, enjoy!

Great news about the clear scan @demivolt Hope prolapse can be managed easily.

Lovely weekend @Littlecaf

Taking DD and all her stuff back to Oxford this weekend for final term of year 2. Also getting a new tap for upstairs bathroom so can sort that. New lawn looking good still.

Welcome back @PaperbackWrighter and sorry to hear of your woes with Tamoxifen. Your blood count will take a few weeks to recover so go gently!

@demivolt hooray! That is such good news.

@MrsSqPenguins I love your Silkies. We used to keep chickens when the kids were small. We had five different ones. I think there was a Maran, a Buff Orpington, a Salmon Faverolle and two others I forget. I can’t believe your DD is nearly two years through Oxford.

@Littlecaf I like your stocktake of things you learned. I can add that Ecover stain remover is great, and it’s easy to apply for Power of Attorney on the Gov.UK website.

I started the sailing season last night. We had a great sail except I made a rookie error and went the wrong way round a mark which dropped us from 2nd to 4th in the race. How we laughed 🙄😂 It was lovely out on the water though.

Today I am scrubbing a dirty rug and doing recycling. Such a glamorous life but I am quite content. I have discovered one of my neighbours is unwell and has hoarded her house up to a dangerous level of clutter. She is a tricky character but I shall offer some help. Hard to know what to do really. She was bereaved a few years ago and hasn’t coped since.

This weekend is looking busy, but there should be time for some outdoor fun.

Hello all, it’s lovely to read everyone’s updates( except for the challenges with treatment) Your garden and silkies look lovely @MrsSqPenguins Hope the combination of showers and sun we seem to be getting help your lawn establish. Everything is growing like mad at the moment- it’s lovely to see all the bluebells and spring blossom.
we’re redoing parts of the garden so a lovely friend who opens her garden for the ngs invited me for a raid- I came home with at least 30 cuttings and bits of plants I’ve potted up and seem to be surviving!
I’ve enjoyed some great theatre trips which feel like a real treat. Death on the Nile and to kill a mocking bird.
Getting back on the water must feel great @Topofthecliffs
I’m really looking forward to a trip to the coast in a couple of weeks.

I thought I remembered you were on tamoxifen too @MrsSqPenguins I hope you've found it doesn't have many side effects for you.

@Littlecaf I thought I was fine with it until 2 months ago (had no issues for 17 months) - now I'm so glad to have paused it and want to try an alternative. Thanks for sharing your experience and sorry to hear you were also in A&E with bleeding. Very scary like you say. I've had periods for 38 years and for the first time in my life I'm scared of them! Sounds like the Zoladex/AI combo could be preferable for me too.

Thanks @demivolt and I'm very glad to hear your great scan news though sorry to hear about the disc prolapse and hope for as speedy a recovery for you as possible.

Thanks @Topofthecliffs - it's great to be back and pleased to see you are living life to the full as ever! Ha, unlike me for now, but I am taking pleasure in the small things - sunshine, a takeaway curry, coffee with a friend, and Bridgerton (!) which I'm late to but rollicking through. And yes you're right - I need to go gently. I have a habit of running before I can walk. You're very kind to help your neighbour - it sounds a tricky situation.

And also @Littlecaf enjoy theatre and lunch - sounds lovely!

Thanks @thesandwich Hope you have a wonderful trip to the coast. Glad the garden is going well and sounds lovely.

Thanks @PaperbackWrighter hope you can get the hormone treatment sorted. Yes I've been on Tamoxifen since August 2022. I've not had any real side effects that I know of, the ovarian thing always worries me a bit with zero checks and the teeth but so far so good with teeth.

Lovely to be back sailing @Topofthecliffs

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. DH and I have had Sunday lunch, and then spent 2.5 hours gardening trying to keep off new lawn. Let silkies out for a bit. Watched Race Around the World. DD back tomorrow. Magnolia and apple tree now in blossom.

How was everyone's weekends? I continued with my Bridgerton marathon, can't believe I'm now on season 4. Who knew I could enjoy historically inaccurate froth so much? Anaemia improving but am now worrying I get the next flooder period just before the hysteroscopy next Wed. But gynaecologist has asked GP to prescribe me norethisterone and for me to start taking 3 days before procedure, which I guess will stop any bleeding. What a drama the whole thing is.

I find it slightly odd not being on endocrine treatment too for the moment - I know it's temporary and won't make a meaningful difference to recurrence overall, but slightly disconcerting all the same.

The sunshine is wonderful and really lifting my spirits. Also feeling loved and supported by many friends at the moment, which is also very uplifting.

Wouldn't let me edit, but have just discovered norothisterone is synthetic progresterone. I've emailed the oncologist about it but even if she says yes I'm not keen. Had lobular BC which is highly hormone driven, and my progesterone score was 8/8. So frustrating!

I'm joining the hysteroscopy gang. Had a TV scan today and the gynaecologist was a bit alarmed 😬. Hysteroscopy booked for a couple of week's time.

Hope you find out from your oncologist if you can take norethisterone @PaperbackWrighter All of this is such a faff and a worry.

@MrsSqPenguins I love your chickens they're the fluffiest ever 💖

Sorry to hear you have to have one too @BatshitCrazyWoman - glad they've booked it quickly. Sounds a lot better capacity at least than my trust where the TWR pathway became 3.5 then when it didn't work went back on the TWR for another month!

How are you feeling about it?

@PaperbackWrighter I think I'm still pretty numb about everything, and just thought 'oh well'. I had one before, at the beginning of the year I was diagnosed with breast cancer, (what a great year 2024 was 😂) so know the actual procedure is fine. I'm just plodding along taking one day at a time.

@BatshitCrazyWoman Totally get the numbness - it’s a lot. Really hoping the hysteroscopy is straightforward and gives you some clear answers xx

Theatre and lunch was lovely - Devil Wears Prada at the West End and lunch in a posh place - it was my friends 40th so was a treat. DP and I also went to a local political radio broadcast event - and I was very happily surprised about how liberal the audience was - we live in a traditionally conservative area that has swung Lib Dem recently but also Reform keep popping up a little too much to for comfort. Was interesting.

I’ve struggled this week with a friendship that I might have to let go of. It’s sort of cancer related but maybe the end has been coming for years. I’m not a storming off type of end of friendship but I think I might quietly let it fade. It’s someone who I’ve know since I was 12 so it’s a bit weird. Some people step up when you have cancer and some don’t. It’s made me sad. I’ll always be here but maybe just not expect anything from them anymore.

Hi all can I join?

I’ve not long been diagnosed with grade 1 endometrial cancer.

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind and my head is all over the place, I had scans mid-February to check for fibroids, they showed an enlarged womb. I then had a hysteroscopy last month where polyps were removed and biopsies taken and I got the news about a week and a half later.

The MDT met to discuss my case last week and I now have a meeting on Monday to look at the options to see if a hysterectomy is the best way forward. I have a few other health conditions (as well as awful health anxiety which as you can imagine is spiralling right now) so I am worried they won’t want to do it for my own safety.

@Tarkan

Welcome to this thread. Sorry to hear you've been diagnosed with cancer. Cancer is terrible for anxiety, but we all understand that here x