TAMOXIFEN -the third thread ***

[MaryAnnSingleton]

here we are- will put a link on the old thread.

Hi Burning Bright nice to hear from you. I can appreciate your sadness, - as you say its yet another thing to have to come to terms with, - what stage of life you are at when diagnosed can make it all a very diferent ballgame .

I'm off to see the oncologist this afternoon, so feeling slightly nervous as usual.
On a lighter note - I'm wearing a pair of red deck shoes, so am having to put up with DS saying 'when are you off to the Emerald City' and 'if you click your heels three times will you just find yourself at the hospital'

lots of luck KK

Good to see you BB. Hard decisions, but you sound like you are doing well in yourself. It must be tough to wave goodbye to the prospect of enlarging your family (if you ar ematernal I mean, it was never an issue for me, I like to forget the whole experience).

They aren't wasting any time getting you started on the treatment, are they, you must have a very proactive hospital.

Hope all goes well with the oncologist KK: I have just been for a routine mammogram. that put me a bit on edge as well. Jaunty shoes mught have helped, though!

And today I got a phone call from a lady who can't go to a function I am involved in next week, as she has been found to have a breast lump and needs to go for the biopsies/scans etc instead. Apparently it runs in her family I did send her a nice email but hard to do much more as I hardly know her, don't want her to think she has a stalker to add to her worries.

Thanks folks - am back and all seems well - The oncologist made my day by referring to me as 'young lady'. And he reassured me that all my little niggles and aches and pains are normal SE of herceptin.

It sometimes hard to know what to say to people to be helpful isn't it? you don't want to force yourself on people, but want them to know you're there if they need a sympathetic ear.

Which reminds me - I don't know if anyone remembers me telling you my DSIL had been diagnosed last year? Just wanted to report that she is doing well. She is very private about the whole thing and doesn't really like talking about it, so I've not wanted to mention her treatment. But so far so good

excellent news about your DSIL KK and that onc. visit was reassuring...
Cakes -sorry about your lady having to go through biopsies and stuff-but am sure she won't think you are a stalker -an email was a nice thing to send.
Am due to go for my first mammo after dx at end of April -did it hurt (more than normally I mean) on your bad side ?

Hi Wubbly, glad to hear that you are home! Good to hear from you too BB and also that KK got on OK at the oncs.

hello,can i be in your gang????

Hey Ebbie, I was just about to go to bed and noticed your post - how are you doing?

Off to bed now - but welcome to the thread Ebbie- its a nice supportive little corner

Good morning all. I'm a bit tired of visitors now!! Its been lovely but I need of quiet time to myself. Will get this for a few hours before more arrive tomorrow. My social life never used to be so full. Its a good thing really.

Welcome Ebbiee22 - am wondering if you've had a recent diagnosis? If so, or even if its not so recent, this is a helpful thread to be. I was DX in December and find it very supportive.

Wubbly - hope you're Ok and resting, resting as your op is still very recent and you will still be sore. Nice you're home. My left breast is feeling sore this week in a new way - don't know why. I'll be interested to hear about what a mammogram is like as I suspect I'll be having one next week. Have to go to clinic to see surgeon re next op - the axillary clearance but I think he'll want to take a look at everything.

BB for you. This whole things makes you realise the things and options we took for granted about the future doesn't it. But 42 is not old - hopefully you will still have options. Are you definitely freezing some eggs? I have a friend who had her 1st babe at 47.

My hair is still here! perhaps the drugs aren't working My brain seems to be bit befuddled tho, so reckon something is happening. Got slightly lost in a town I know really well yesterday!

I heard worrying news yesterday about a local lady whose DD is a close friend of my DD. She has advanced BC - it was picked up only because she'd had a swollen arm. However she is working and having treatment so I hope her condition can be managed for a long time.

I'm going to a leaving do for someone I work with this evening. Hope you all have a nice week-end.

welcome ebbie22 !
SR am sure the drugs are working-don't fret !

Glad all went well KK. And welcome ebbie 22, jump right on in!

For MAS and SR, who want the gory details of the mammogram - it was OK, just like normal really, no worse at the time, but a bit hot afterwards.

The area around my surgery scar is a bit red and hot generally, TBH, but the radiographer said that's the radiotherapy and it can be like that for 2 or 3 years . So that's something to look forward to, my bra band rubbing on a hot patch of skin for the next 1095 days.

SR - Am sure the drugs are working. When the hair starts to go it goes pretty quick so there will be no mistaking it. The confusion is a dead giveaway as well - I remember dh telling me something and me saying 'you have told me that about 12 times' and him saying 'yes, but that's how often I have to tell you everything now' That wears off, but not as quickly as we might like, I am still a bit unreliable memory-wise.

Have a good weekend, all!

Quick hello, hope everyone has a good weekend. My hair didn't go missing until just after my second chemo SR, and at the risk of TMI - I lost it in other places before my head! So don't panic. Hope everything goes well with your surgeon appointment next week.

Sorry you are feeling sore Cakes - I have a kind of rubbing bit round the front under my scar. I'm thinking of experimenting with sewing some soft fabric on the inside of my bra strap.(I'm such a fashion queen).

DD comes home for the Easter holidays tomorrow. - She's organising a bake sale to raise money for a cancer charity local to her uni. - so I shall gobble up any left overs!

Welcome again Ebbie - as Cakes says do jump right whenever you feel like it

KK if the soft thing works remember to let me know - comfort is everything (even if you do look a bit odd )

When I was having rads I was told to put a piece of silk in my bra where it rubbed - got some silk scarves from mum and tried it-seemed to work..not sure how practical in the long term !

Hi all, funeral was today, it's been a stressful day but we got through it ( note waterproof mascara is NOT waterproof )
just wanted to comment on the silk thing, if you use bourette silk it has natural healing properties, bourette or raw silk is used in nappy liners for bum rash and works a treat, hth x

Also fabric with silver thread is also good, I ordered a couple of nappy liners in silk and a silver one and chopped them in half. Have a scout on washable nappy sites and it will give more info on both!

Thanks MAS and RWU, good tips, I'll check it out.

Glad the funeral is over RWU, it's a bit of a limbo until that point. Hope dh is bearing up.

Waterproof mascara is hopeless with tears, should be banned.

Hello and welcome Ebbie - this is a really friendly thread!

RWU - are you allowed a G&T?? Think you deserve one!

Reading all the bits re silk with interest as I am starting rads soon..

Sorry about your tough day RWU, -it must have been very sad for you all.

Do you have a date for your rads yet Haggis? -What great progress you have made, you must be glad to be moving on with your treatment

I will see if I can get some of the silk RWU mentions and 'road test' it

lots of love to you today RWU

Hope you're feeling a bit better soon RWU.

V useful to read about silk etc. Just have to add a tip from a friend who has finished her rads today. Don't know where she got this from but it has worked for her. (Have a wee before reading any further in case this tip affects you ...)

You take a savoy cabbage, keep it in the fridge, remove a nice fresh green leaf off now and again, remove stalky bit and put the rest in your bra -- very cooling apparantly

Perhaps if we do this and the lovely silky thing, we'll be in luxurious comfort?

I have just had a very nice evening out with lots of colleagues past and present. Have a good w/e if you can.

Hi All,

Welcome Ebbie - I'm sorry you feel you would like to join us, but it's lovely and very supportive thread. I use it more than any other forum for Breast Cancer.

Sorry to hear the funeral was tough, RWU. They are such difficult occasions but often bring such comfort nonetheless.

Had 2nd chemo yesterday and was utterly floored with exhaustion afterwards - went to bed for 2 hours at 7pm because I couldn't stay awake. I was asleep before the children and DH still wasn't back. Not great, but luckily they seemed to just play in their rooms before they crashed out.

Hair is definitely falling out. I can pull it out in handfuls. I wore a sleep cap last night to catch any that fell out at night so the bed's not covered in hairs. I asked the DDs if they wanted me to shave it all off (my preferred option TBH) or if they wanted us to wait for it to fall out. They went for the second option annoyingly, but if it makes this most visible of the SE's easier for them then I'll do it.

I found the whole first batch of chemo very doable really. Obviously the neutropenic sepsis wasn't ideal, but at the time I thought we were making a song and dance over nothing. However, yesterday my consultant showed me to blood comparisons between blood taken yesterday and blood on my admission last Sunday, and it showed there was definitely a problem and it was the right thing to do.

I'm quite anaemic though. Am going to be scoffing iron rich foods to try and help sort that. Mmmmmmm fillet steak tonight!!!

well done Pennies and hope you are feeling perkier very soon..the children probably find the idea of your gradually losing hair less drastic than suddenly seeing you shaven.
Savoy cabbage is good for mastitis isn't it ?
Hope things are ok in the RWU house and that Mr RWU is holding up - it must be a very difficult time.
My aunt is staying this w/end with my parents and is very keen to talk about operation details and other gore (she loves that kind of thing) -she had a mastectomy a few years ago.

Well done Pennies - 2 down! Hope you'll feel stronger in a couple of days. You'll be perkier by the time I have my 2nd on Friday!
Your DDs might change their minds about shaving if you start to look odd?!

I tried one of the scarf tying suggestions on one of the sites one of you mentioned, and it was a nice different style. Makes a sort of scarf bun shape at the back - I think styles which give a bit of shape and weight at the top or the back are more flattering than flat styles IYSWIM.