Tamoxifen - advice please !

[MargaretMountford]

Am going to be starting Tamoxifen shortly, was just wondering whether anyone else is on it and can tell me what it's like ! thanks !

'ello- i'm still just about in the land of the living- but feel as if i'm clinging on by my fingertips !
Blast of various toxic chemicals has wiped me out for the first time ever and the furthest i've been since thurday is the loo opening my new (i heart hubby!) laptop has been a bit of an effort- have another steroid-y jab in the morning and iron something-or-other doogemywotsit so will hopefully feel part of the human race again soon.

i have spongy legs/fingers/head very weird feeling all over- hard to explain but when i first wake up i feel totally stoned- that i like , its the next hour til i drop back off to sleep that's not so fun !

Anyway- love to you all, will catch up soon- Morph- jump in and join, we don't bite...... much

ooh,new laptop !! so sorry you are feeling so vile thoughxxx

Hi everyone, I'm newish to mumsnet and have been wanted to join this thread for a while (gathering courage but sure i don't need to as you all sound so friendly and kind.) I got my DX just over a year ago, I was devastated at the time, but now learning to live with it and regaining my joy in life. I still have the odd tearful day though.
Morphfan, I had a mastectomy, followed by lymphnode clearout, chemo and RT, and am now on herceptin and tamoxifen. If there's anything I can help you or anyone else with please just let me know.

hi KurriKurri and you are more than welcome - sounds as though you'll had a plateful

you've had I mean !

Hi all

back again and feeling like i have been robbed all day - £106 to got to London and back!

Wow this thread has been busy. Excellent!

MAS - nop I definitely did NOT mean your post was miserable and self indulgent, only mine. I have been a bit like that recently.

Good to see you up and about(ish) RWU - it does sound a bit grim, hope the various injections etc bring you further back into the real world.

And for MorphFan and KurriKurri - Hi, fellow travellers! it is all a bit grim isn't it. I am sure you will be just fine MorphFan, but a horrible, horrible time for you, I know. Share it with us, we are all (including KurriKurri by the sounds of it) VERY used to it now.

have just finished my last chemo. I have to have GCSF white blood cell count boosting injections daily for a week after (not sure if anyone else has these also, they are to do with a wound infection I had, and making sure it does not reassert itself during the chemo cycle). it has to be done at the same time every day (ish) - so today, having had to go to London, I found myself in the novel position of having to shoot up in a station toilet. Was like Trainspotting

Then I had nowhere to put the needle so had to carry it around all day and remember not to flick it out of my bag when I got my pen out..

checking in (in fact i'm trying to type to convince myself that my hands are still attached to my body )! Been downstairs today was a bit of a journey but i made it there and back without the need to sit down! What an acheivement [useless sodding body] anyway tomorrow i plan on seeing the outside world- if only for an hour and for an onc appt!

Hope all are well and welcome to new poster- forgotten your name already (i am seriously drug addled at the mo in my defence!) Welcome- i shall look forward to getting to know you when i am back on the planet!

Love to you all x

hey RWU - hope the brief outing to onc is ok tomorrow - hope there'll be fresh air and that it's not too rainy !
at your Trainspotting episode Cakes !!
Am contemplating a trip to London to a meeting with my agent and my fellow illustrators - think it's not quite as expensive a journey from here - I do love trains though..

Hi MorphFan - sorry not to answer this before - just a lumpectomy and a lymph node clearance here. Finished chemo last week (and now feeling wrecked, but it has generally been not nearly as bad as I had feared so take heart!). About to start radio and tamoxifen.

Hope things go well at the oncologists RWU and that the trip out will make you feel a bit more human. VERY jealous about the laptop, your DH really is a peach, ins't he?

I did enjoy London really, just paying for it with tiredness a bit now. I too Lurve trains. And by the way MAS, you really should charge your old neighbour. I bet the work is lovely. And if it isn't what she wanted, she could so so. So if she wants to pay - LET HER!!! You can always give her a friends and family rate - but make some money on the deal I bet you worked hard enough for it!

xx

Sorry that should be - she could say so, not so so.

ah thanks Cakes - will charge her something of course,for paper,ink and p&p etc and a token fee for design -I just feel bad because our printer is a bit basic and I was worried the finish wasn't as nice as I'd wish for - I had to print each one separately (50 sheets ) as it was smudging - so I have spent a bit of time on it ! designing stuff isn't really my thing though,but she's a nice old stick.
Hope visit to onc. was ok RWU and that you are ok too MorphFan.

Yay!

Got flipping tooth fixed. Life is looking a whole lot rosier! Plus I have sorted out some of my horrid work issues for now at least. I think I can hear a choir of angels singing.........

off out now to get a pirate costume for Book Day. oh the joys!!

let's hear how you are RWU, and MorphFan, and KurriKurri - I imagine everyone thinks you have got past it all now, whereas of course, you have not, completely. I should think it gets hard sometimes when life returns to normal. So come and vent here!

oh I didn't mean to leave KurriKurri out !
Glad tooth is sorted Cakes

Hi all, thanks so much for welcoming me yesterday. Sorry I've only just got back to the thread, I went out for the evening yesterday, and this morning went to a Yoga and aquafit session for women cancer patients. I'm starting to aim for a fitter healthier lifestyle than I had before -trying to get back a bit of control over my life.
Well done for getting through the chemo Cakes,RT is not so bad, just a bit tying going into the hospital everyday. Hope everyone is having a reasonable day it can be a bit up and down sometimes can't it? I've got an oncology appointment tomorrow afternoon, so will have to practice my yoga breathing so I don't get too tense
Better get the kettle on for DH, he had an exam this afternoon and was a bit nervous about it, so may need a bit of TLC when he gets home!

Hope the exam went OK for Mr KurriKurri, don't think I could do an exam any more. Too long in the tooth and brain dead now.

I have heard the radio isn't too bad, tho' poor old MAS had a bad time with burns. But I am glad to be moving on to a new stage, it seems positive. Tomorrow I am going to take all the unused drugs to be disposed of at the chemists as a sign of a new phase. Yay!!

I have got my aqueous cream and my aloe vera gel, and I shall grit my teeth and get on with it. And I WILL book one of the alternatve therapies the hospital offers if it is the last thing I do! Always seem to be too busy, but it seems like too good an opportunity to waste!

I think it's a great idea to be getting fit and healthy: I have spent too much of the summer partying, if I am truthful, but it has been good for my mental state (feeble excuse). I plan to get into some yoga and healthy exercise asap (honest ) The diet is pretty good, but I could cut out some of the wine...especially as I seem to remember RWU saying it does not work well with radio.

Thanks Cakes, the exam seemed to go well, or as DH puts it 'I don't think I made a complete arse of myself'. Although he got half way to the centre (an hour away) and realised he'd forgotten his glasses, so had to come home and get them.
Hope the RT goes well, do you start fairly soon? I had some soreness and burning, but I think people all react differently to these things. Just be liberal with the aqueous cream,and tip from my radiotherapist - wear loose t-shirts inside out (so seams don't rub your skin)- obviously not always practical though! Radiotherapists at my hospital were all lovely and caring, and one advantage of daily visits is that they can keep an eye on any skin problems you may have. Good luck with your new stage of treatment, this illness certainly helps you get to know your local hospital doesn't it

I'm sure I couldn't do any exams now either !! hope MrKurriKurri has done well
I just used aqueous, but probably not as liberally as I might (in fact I'm using it still on my neck and chest as a moisturiser as my usual Dr Hauschka rose day cream made me itch !) I stuck to dreary old simple soap and no shaving under that arm or deo. I stuck soft hankies in my bra too when it was a bit sore and weepy and then got really good non-stick dressings from bcn which did the trick.
As for drinking -hmm, don't think I deliberately cut back,though I don't usually drink during the week- you're meant to have lots of fluids though.

my radio burns always got worse if i had a drink- more to do with dehydration that alcohol causes than anything else though i think- also at the time i rarely felt like drinking so a small ammount had a big effect !

I saw the outside world today [yey] more acuratly i saw the cheery (?) interior of Brongalis Hospital, but then had lunch out with a good friend and took dd to toddler group after getting the go ahead from onc- as long as my temp doesn't start rising or i feel bad i can carry on with doing a little bit here and there, we only go to one group and it is a very small gathering of hand-picked mums and babies . I did get for the first time someone asking about my health, i sort of fielded the question and quickly got in the car!

Not sure if word has got out as i know for a fact that one of the other mums is a mn'er and i'm pretty sure that even with the name changing i've done recently she'd track me down- but in a way it would be an easier way if she did know and quietly told the others i guess- i'm not entirely sure how to broach the subject otherwise

So i'm feeling a lot better typically just in time for tomorrows onslaught of chemo, head is really itchy and i am horribly constipated but dh is planning prunes and orange juice for breaky! My radio starts a week on tuesday- but i am on every other day including weekends. Oncologist was hopeful that something is happening- but we should know more in a month or so. Oh and the joys of having to trot down to the path lab or docs surgery every morning with a wee sample awaits- would just love to get stopped by the police, "what do you have there then love?", "oh just this mornings wee for the doctor!"

Hope everyone is well and keeping spirits up- will catch up with the thread in the morning! x

RWU - really hope the prunes worked and you are feeling up to the chemo - lots of luck with that today.
I daresay word will get around about you - it's surprising how these things seep out - which might make it easier than your having to say to individuals what's happening...it must be very difficult to tell people,particularly if not close friends etc as people's reactions are hard to handle I think - if they are upset,that's awaful,or if they are then really worried about you,equally awful - very tricky all round.
I ran into a very nice woman who I know from my son's junior school (on PTA /school gates etc) and she asked me how I was as she'd heard I'd not been well -I can't think how she knew,apart from another mum who knows a friend of mine,but my friend hadn't told her friend ifswim,though the friend seemed to know anyway !!
Thinking of you today anyway RWU x

Poor old Mr KK - just the thing you don't need before an exam - and exactly the thing that would happen to me as well. I am 47 and haven't done an exam (unelss you count those little computer conpetency things) for 25 years but i still have nightmares about them.

Hope he has done OK.

Good luck for today RWU. Afraid the news does have a habit of seeping out: I have ranted about this before, but I guess sometimes it is easier if people find out without you having to tell them. As long as they handle it OK

One woman I know volunteered herself to come with me to an appointment. She said it would be OK as she knew what to expect, she had been with her Mum - "when they told her she had BC I couldn't stand it, I ran out of the room screaming". Thanks for the offer, love, but I think I'll go by meself....

Thanks for all the tips ref radio. Will dig out the old t-shirts, of which i have loads, and start slathering on the aqueous (VERY jealous about MAS's Dr Hauschka though....)

GOOD LUCK TODAY RWU!!! WE ARE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!!!

Dr Hauschka is lovely (and I save up for my tube and buy on ebay) but I can't seem to use it at the mo..last time my neck came out in a really weird rash,plus under my eyes where I generally put it, so am not risking it ! Aqueous though plain seems good and a tin of vaseline for under the eyes !!
at 'helpful' woman offering to come to appointment !!

On the under eye thing - have you tried Clinique 'All About Eyes'? Bought some a few weeks ago, and even allowing for the fact that i am knackered and on chemo there is a definite improvement. And while I am coming over all make-up-ish and girly, I have also bought that new L'Oreal eyelash serum and it is definitely helping. Quite a tall order when you consider the mess that they have been recently.

can you tell I am at a loose end while I wait for a client to approve or amend his flipping newsletter??!! poor old DH - who does the layouts (I am just a words person) is doing his fruit! If client doesn't do it in the next hour and a half he can kiss his deadline goodbye. We will be stuffed!!

oh I do love a beauty product ! my favourite things are scent and perfumes though...
am just downstairs having started painting a few things - I have to have mini breaks you see ...then I can go back and see what colour I need next ! hope the client gets his arse in gear for you

Mini breaks a must here too! (Just been to bank a cheque)

Hey MAS! Quick!

Take a look in the freelancers section - someone is looking for an illustrator who can draw penguins!!

Ciould be cash in it if you move quick!!