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 !

yay - welcome back Morph !!

Yay MorphFan - welcome back! Hope things are continuing on the up - fill us in when you are up to it.

KurriKurri - thanks! I am not as bad as I thought - I had clocked that you were on herceptin, but I had NO idea you had to be admitted each time for it, and that it made you feel so bad. Crikey. I hadn't heard much about it, except when I was earwigging a nurse's conversation with someone when she said it was "pretty well tolerated". So what you said has come as a bit of a surprise. Suppose it shouldn't, nurses always say that, don't they?

How much longer have you got to have that for? Sounds horrid. (Cakes breathes sigh of relief that herceptin is not indicated in her case)

I volunteered to run the school book fair last night for three hours and- for the second time just recently - I ran into someone who wanted to use the opportunity of my being unable to run away (being tied to watching the cash and all) to get gory info out of me - and then cry all over me. Either my story sounds a lot more scary than I thought, or I know a lot of very emotional people.

And I found myself nominated as treasurer of the PTA!! How the hell did that happen? I deliberately didn't even attend the meeting where they hand out the jobs!! (On second thoughts maybe that's it - I wasn't there to object!!) Rats! My cunning plan has failed and a total financial numpty will be in charge of the books. Aargh!!

am so happy that now ds is at secondary that there is no more PTA stuff to be dragged into volunteer for - yay ! And no more helping out either, though I did stay on a committee last year even though ds had left (it was an interesting thing I'd been involved in from the start -a landscaping steering group)
Do hope today finds you feeling perkier Morph - indeed hope you are all feeling fine.

PTA- i give them the 'look' when they mention it- if probed further the simple comment of "seriously 5 kids and cancer- do you think i want to help?" usually they scuttle off

Glad we've got Morph back- looking forward to hearing the gory details that you are looking up and not in too much pain

Ooh the PTA thing is a bind, isn't it - glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. have got to shadow the outgoing treasurer for a new months to see how it is done (and as it is someone I swore at disagreed with recently during a traffic congestion incident near the school a few weeks ago, 'tis not looking wholly promising).

RWU - glad to see you have been released from Flamesparrow's loooooong birth thread back into the community. Hope you are feeling good! Baby looks very lovely.

MAS - still OK on the tamoxifen?

I have looked more into the phyto oestrogens thing - it appears that they are NOT A GOOD THING for people who have had breast cancer - at least, they are OK as part of a balanced diet, but we should not be aiming to eat loads, or taking supplements of them. Just thought I'd share...

thanks Cakes for phyto oestrogen info - I guess it's really just moderation in all things really - a bit of soya stuff here and there can't hurtI think
Tamoxifen seems to be going down ok - am feeling physically fine though my mental state wobbles around a bit, but again I think it would be without tamoxifen !

Hi all, nice to hear from you Morphfan, hope you're not feeling too grotty.

I'm feeling a bit better today. Managed to go to Yoga this morning. I was told herceptin is well tolerated too, but I think that may be 'nurse talk' for 'stop moaning'. Actually sometimes its OK and sometimes its not - I've no idea why that is.

All this talk of PTA's is making me feel very elderly Its a while since I was at that stage, mine are grown up now - I keep hinting heavily for grandchildren but no luck so far !

DS (24) has just had his driving lesson, he's got his test soon, so he had a mock test and managed to do fairly well. He's found it quite hard to learn, he's dyslexic which makes it a bit more tricky. But it will make a real difference to him if he can pass.

Oh forgot to say Cakes, herceptin is for a year. I've got about nine months to go on it.

Bet you are no older than me KurriKurri - i just waited until I was 40 to have dd - don't have a maternal bone in my body really, but dh was v broody and could put it off no longer.

Nine more months of herceptin. Crikey. Sorry it is such a long old haul - i think nurses do tend to whitwash it all a bit so you feel too bad to let on you feel crap. But on the other hand, when I asked my consultant about lymphoedema he said not to take any notice of the breastcare nurses - they put the fear of God into everyone about it apparently, when he reckons they hardly ever see it nowadays. So it is all a bit of a mystery - all we can do is try it all, then come on MN and moan. Which is fine, we all have a go at some point.

Still have no date for my radio, and none for tamoxifen. I reckon they have got sick of me

How long is it since you finished chemo Cakes? I started radio and tamoxifen at the same time about two weeks after chemo ended. Actually would have been three weeks but my last chemo was delayed. Have you had a planning session for radio yet - tattoos etc.? Always worth ringing them up and giving them a bit of a badger if you want to get on with it and think they're taking their time.

Yes, I think I will - thanks!

I had my last chemo three weeks ago today. I have not had the tattoos yet but have seen the radio consultant, he said he would try to hurry things up but I got the impression they were a bit behind. I do want to get it done and dusted though- so shall start being a nuisance tomorrow!

I am not maternal either, not one bit,consequently waited until I was 38 to have ds !! but am very glad I did get around to it (I'd've probably tried to have a baby earlier but dh is 7 years younger and he wasn't ready ) Having said that am irritated beyond belief by ds this afternoon - he is being hideously annoying, but my nerves are fragile,so am reacting badly.
I was swiftly into rads after surgery -2 months after I think and was meant to start the tamox. at same time but because I was unsure about it (hence this thread !) I asked to delay until September. However,the onc. appointment after rads which is meant to be about 6 weeks afterwards hasn't come through yet - they are running very behind I have been told (it's been about 3 months) I have my appointment for surgical check up though which will be in April. Anyway, off to take the boy for a hair cut -fresh air will calm me I hope.

Wow MAS has a toyboy! Good on you, girl!

We had DD's parents' evening last night - they said "If anything she is even more confident than last year, answers loads of questions and asks even more: sometimes we have to tell her to stop interrupting" Hmm tell me something I don't know!

at Cakes dd !!

bless your dd! at least she's interested in learning i always love the masked comments i get from teachers "DT1 is a bright spark isn't he"- thus meaning "does he ever sit down and shut up?"

My lot have the Infant Schools Co-operative disco tonight so small children from all over the area will converge on the school hall- first time all the schools have met up and done an event so could be interesting (was arranged by the pta )

I still have the flu- now whether it is piggy or otherwise is unclear, but i have had my flu jab so either it is just a sniffle and i'm being incredibly pathetic, or it is flu that has got past the jab or it is piggy flu- for which i am due a jab next week- so sods law i'll be over it before i am called in for my jab!

Ha Ha!! We get a lot of those veiled comments as well. Last night I said "She never stops, does she - imagine how we feel come Monday morning!" and one of the teachers (job share, but both turned up - bless'em) looked decidedly queasy

You aren't going to the disco are you? Sounds like hell on earth!! esp. with flu!

You definitely don't strike me as the pathetic sort, so I bet it is flu and not just a cold - have had the piggy sort, but it didn't seem much different from common or garden variety, so just hang in there and see if you can get your sainted DH to provide snacks and blankets. Tamiflu does help, but makes you go to the loo a bit, so is quite antisocial

Hope you feel better soon!!

Am waiting for some update from MorphFan - hope she is OK and just pampering herself a bit.

Have chased up hospital ref radfio and tamoxifen this morning, just waiting for a call back.

Oh woohoo!!

Have got a planning appt for radio tomorrow morning.

Good to be getting on with it!!

yay !!

Have got my tattoos, my start date (9 November) and my tamoxifen. Woo flippin' hoo!

Don't think I'll take any tamoxifen until after the weekend though - going away and don't fancy any of the gastric upsets that I have been told to expect. What a waste of money that would be!!

have a good weekend all!

xx

hooray ! What brand of tamox. is it ? My mode of getting through this is not not expect anything in terms of side effects -am channelling my mind into not noticing anything untoward ! Have a lovely weekend away

temporary Halloween name change ^

as you were...someone else is already Maleficent

thanks teatotal, will do

maybe i'm just a cynic- but 'teatotal' has just posted somewhere else about said book- me thinks i smell a rat (no other posts btw!)

Anyway as you were

oh, what do you think that's about RWU ?