**TAMOXIFEN** 4th thread

[MaryAnnSingleton]

here we go !

I think after rads you have to be a bit careful in the sun,which is probably quite obvious !
Am glad onc visit was good smee and that you have a plan - plus she sounds great !
Good luck with dentist - am sure she will take everything into consideration and be gentle, even if she is a bit brusque.
My visit was good -he managed to salvage the tooth -he is amazing ! A filling without anaesthetic too -all neat and tidy and cost me £69 which is considerably less than the crown I feared I needed. I think he knows I'm an impoverished artist !! He was telling me about a Harley St colleague who has 'the most expensive dentist' embossed on his stationery- an implant costs £10,000 apparently.

Hi all sorry to have dissapeared again, I have had a sudden splurge of energy and a feeling of 'must get x, y and z done NOW'! So far we are mid bedroom redecoration, I have sorted the back garden, and I am going to finish my open university degree in accountancy and ethics (which admittedly, usually the two do not meet, I am yet to find an entirely ethical accountant lol)
hope you are all well xx

Good to hear about the reprieved tooth, MAS!

£10k???? Some people have more money than sense....

Hiya RWU - good to see you back, I hate it when you're quiet. That is quite an energy surge! You could clean up as the world's first ethical accountant! Good luck!

yay, lovely to see you RWU and good on you for getting on with your degree -am sure you will be scrupulously ethical.
Am so cheered up about my tooth !

Glad the tooth was sorted MAS - am at the worlds most expensive dentist. RWU - could you become his accountant and set him right in his ways? .

Lovely to see you around RWU, and glad you've been dissing us for altogether far more interesting and useful pursuits!

LaLaa - OMG, thank you so very much for taking the time to write all that for me. You have articulated exactly how my experiences of groups and BC forums (fora? and pedants care to advise?) have been. They do try so hard to be supportive but if they miss the mark then they're almost a hindrance! I am so glad to see how well you are now - I remember when you were going through it all - and you an inpsiration. I didn't know you could have herceptin at home so i will look into that. As for the post radiotherapy holiday I think that is a very sensible idea. I might book myself into a health spa for a few days and get some gentle exercise, some spa treats and a bed all to myself!!!

Smee - so glad you get on well with your Onc. She sounds much like mine. Mine's a mad Dubliner with a razor sharp mind and a quick wit. Love her to bits. BTW I think you mentioned the Young Womens Breast Cancer Forum in June. I might go - will you def be attending?

SR - I think you're right about the effect of chemo being cumulative. Whilst I was on the AC stuff, by the end of it I felt really pretty poisoned. The Taxol is so much easier to bear.

Still hopelessly in love with my allotment. Dragged the family up there at the weekend and set DH to work with a fork! Like all men though he lacks a certain finesse to bring the allotment equivalent of Cath Kidston in arrangement so earlier today i went again to break up the large clumps he'd unearthed and I'll be back there again later to carry on the good work. It's lovely to have the radio on and do hard physical work in the sunshine! On a less attractive note any exertion seems to make my nose run like nobody's business and with no nasal hairs to stop the flow I think I could do with a couple of tampons up each nostril to stop me sniffing non-stop. Mmmmmmmm. Attractive.

Gah sorry. Didn't mean to forget everyone else. Just replying on from Lalaa's post.

Hope you're all well.

Blimey everyone except me seems to be surging with energy!!

Cakes and others - thankk-you for the encouragement.

Pennies - I'm seriously impressed by your digging! Interesting how much better you feel on Taxol. I just hope my second combo is a bit easier but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

MAS - your tooth was indeed a bargain - what a relief.

RWU - you're amazing. Didn't even realise you'd started an OU degree.

I'll go and mow the grass to try to keep up with you lot now. (goes off muttering 'digging - showing off - honestly!')

Sr- tis a postgrad masters- I want the full set of letters after my name sounds impressive but I haven't got very far, I only got my BA last year (I have a BSc as well ) as much as I would love to get a doctorate the chances of managing it are fairly slim!
Glad the tooth is fixed mas, I am going to go and catch up with all your recent antics!

Gosh - a lot of posts too catch up with, so apologies if I miss any one out!

Pennies - v. of your allotment, you will get such pleasure from it, - and I bet your girls will too. And pleased the lovely message for Lalaa helped - I also didn't know about the herceptin at home, - I think that would be great if it is available to you -save the 3 weekly hospital trek.

Smee your onc. sounds great, makes such a difference if you get on well with them - much easier to discuss anything thats on your mind. Very good luck with your chemo. next week. (Oh and about your little boy's tomatoes - how mean!)

Sorry to hear you are feeling a bit knocked out at the moment SR, but you do brilliantly with all your walking and grouting etc. - just remember not to overdo it DH has written a little paragraph about biochem. which I will post this evening - is it OK if I post it here? - It can always be deleted once you've taken anything you need from it, so it doesn't clutter the thread.

RWU - OU is brilliant isn't it? I was doing a psychology degree with them before my DX, it was good fun and really interesting. Lovely to hear you are feeling full of energy - don't got too mad though - does your course start later in the year or can you just start now? (I don't know anything about masters with OU). It sounds like hard work but fascinating.

Very pleased you got your tooth fixed MAS - a bargain, I'm going back to have my crown fitted next week. I've got ear ache at the moment which I think is emanating from this tooth. So existing on pain killers until it gets sorted.

I went to a talk on nutrition/diet at the Big 'C' today. There was a woman there who was irritating me because she kept saying she was doing really well because she had a really strong will and positive outlook. I didn't say 'what bollocks' I just thought it I did point out that luck might play a part, amongst other things. (Felt a bit guilty, because she looked rather put out, but I hate the idea that if you struggle you are somehow not positive enough.)

Regarding hats - I had a brilliant sun hat when I was on chemo, which I got from a market stall. It had a draw string inside so you could make it smaller to fit a hairless head. It never blew off!

love to all xx

SR, hooray for your arm, though I feel for you on the exhaustion front. Mine's good mostly. Not as before, but I have pretty much full mobility so am pretty chuffed with that at 4 weeks. How many more Chemo have you got left? Hopefully not too many.

MAS glad your tooth is restored. That would cheer me mightily too.

RWU, as a masterful ethical accountant am sure you'd be unique! Great you're going back there, though it does sound a curious mix. I'd bet there aren't many doing that combination.

Pennies, I've done nothing about that forum day - mostly for all the reasons you've posted about groups. Am really not sure how I feel about it all. Can't remember when it is exactly, so will see how it fits round the chemo. I'm having mine on Fridays and the Forum is on a Saturday, so am guessing going to it the day after treatment might be a bit optimistic. Will see if it looks vaguely viable and get back to you. Be nice to meet though am feeling a touch inadequate what with your digging and all.

KK - I'd feel annoyed by that woman too - and would feel like saying bollocks ! it's all that fighting talk - I suppose to be fair it makes her feel better,so we should keep quiet !
RWU - you are mightily qualified !! 2 degrees ! I have but one.
Love to everyone -am trying to remember everything everyone has posted but my mind is a bit fuzzy this evening (a glass of wine earlier)

Errr. can I point out that the size of ground that was dug by me today equates to roughly the size of a single mattress. I'm no bloody superwoman! I'm wiped tonight as a result too!

SR here is a little bit of info DH has written - hope it's a pointer in the right direction - good luck to DS in his exams. Apologies to everyone for posting it here - but wasn't sure where else to put it where SR would see.

A Career in Biochemistry?
The career path is: GCSE?s, AS+A2?s, Biology degree specialising in Biochemistry(three years), PhD in Biochemistry(four years but you?ll get a grant), then a job. A biology degree involves lots of lectures, practicals and assignments. Very different from school. Jobs in a range of medical companies, hospitals, government institutes or universities.
It?s probably a bit early at 16 to know exactly what part of biological science is going to interest you most, so aim towards the best grades you can get at school. Biochemistry as the name suggests combines biology with chemistry, so they are the most important, but mathematics is also important.
All scientific research is about understanding and discovery, having ideas and using experiments to investigate and prove theories. Go to some university open days as soon as you can and have a look around. Most have career advice centres that can help you. See if you can get some work experience in a laboratory.

Pennies - a mattress sized bit of digging is pretty good going - you will be tossing the caber next!

Too much energy about on this thread today. I feel about 106 so I shall just slope off for now (with a mental note that I did too much swimming yesterday and I need to Calm Down A Bit)

see, you did swimming Cakes, I did nothing !!

I feel seriously rubbish. I have had a pain in my left foot, all up my leg and into my hip for 2-3 years now. I got physio for the foot and leg but told the hip was nothing to do with it, and told to take anti inflammatories. Clearly I am not going to do that for ever more . I can't lie on my back becuase of it and, just lately my back is also bad - so now it is my lower back, one hip a lot, and the other one a bit as well. It is worse when I lie down so i am taking painkillers to get comfy and get some sleep. It's depressing.

I know I have a longstanding back condition in the place that is troubling me, but it has not played up in years. Now it is and I am tired of it. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and boring you lot, and go to the doctors, don't I? (Especially now I have a fab new GP)

Sorry for self-indulgent post. Just fed up of seeing doctors all the time.

Hi all, Thank-you very much KK for posting about biochem - please thank your DH as well from us! Its useful to have these pointers from someone actually in the field. We'll do a lot of research over the coming 12 months of course, but this is a helpful start.

Exams seem to be going well so far. 2 down, 7 more to do/complete now, and by Friday 2 more will be over. I am providing good healthy food and encouragement and not minding picking up clothes off the floor for a couple of weeks! (Quite useful having this time off work in this respect, as I'm more tolerant!)

I am feeling pleased (not smug mind you, just relieved) because I have phoned the hospital about being assessed for a line today and I'm going to see them on Friday. The whole veins issue is getting me down and I really can't go through another 8 times like the last one. I even had a nightmare about medical stuff last night - has never happened before. Reflecting now I think it was a mix of a hospital soap I've seen recently plus my own treatment! I'm not usually a jelly about treatment but the veins problems started right at the beginning when I had the infection and a vein was badly hurt and then thrombosed due to the antibiotics, or possibly due to the cannula being wrongly positioned. One of the nurses did ask if I'd thought of having a line, last chemo time, so I guess that was a cue for me really. My wrist is still bruised and puffy 11 days after last chemo so I decided I needed to be more decisive.

Smee - that's good about your arm too then. If we ever meet we could have a game of tennis

Energy - yes, I did the walk and the grass mowing yesterday to keep up with everyone so having quieter day now - will go to do a bit of light shopping, inspired by new recipes in pile of mags a friend has given me. I'm also enjoying reading 'The Hand which First Held mine ' by Maggie O'Farrell - I like her books. Better go, then I can chase the boys back to work when I return.

Cakes - we X-posted. Sorry to hear about your back. Yes, go to the GP (and perhap also an osteo if you have one?) GPs didn't help me much with my back and this converted me to an osteo.

Hope the seriously rubbish improves soon. X

RWU - we're all in awe of your quals now! I have a few but only one degree! So preen away!

Sorry you're feeling rubbish Cakes, constant pain is terribly draining, especially if its also affecting your sleep. Do you think more physio on the hip and back would help? - Its so frustrating when they just say take pain killers, as obviously that in no kind of long term solution.

I got up early to day to read through DD's essays which she'd emailed me. They are handed I today at 12. - She is such a last minute Mary. So was trying to get my head round Miles Davis' influence on the development of jazz and Schoenberg, Debussy and Janacek's letters - are they a reliable source of info about the composers (or something like that). Subjects about which I know nothing! However its done now. She has exams starting tomorrow, - a marked recital tomorrow afternoon, and a conducting exam. Rather her than me - she is v. nervous about the recital poor soul.

After yesterday's dietician talk, I am experimenting with smoothies. So far I can tell you that banana, strawberries, blueberry juice and plain yogurt make a very yummy smoothie (dribble, hiccup)

So my dentist was lovely!! First time ever. I knew cancer must be good for something. Apparently my teeth are in good shape, so at least something's working. Rather bizarrely she tried to cheer me up with tales of patients with worse cancers than mine.

Pennies am wondering if maybe your describing the hole as mattress size was wish fulfilment. Could a bed be what you focussed on whilst digging?! Am still mighty impressed.

• Kurri, I'd have felt the same about that woman. Am sick of people telling me being positive is half the battle. As if that was all there was to it. Gah!

Thanks for sympathies and good advice. I was wondering about an osteo: I think I'll get it checked over first and then consider again: I think an osteo might knock it all into place. Similarly physio would help - I was given exercises about 20 years ago, but then told they were the wrong ones, and I never pursued again as the pain went away by itself.

SR - hope you get a line, I know how depressing it is having them stabbing around vainly for a vein. Hope GCSEs continue well.

KK - daughter sounds a brainbox. Crikey!

Smee - good to hear your dentist can be human: gruesome cancer stories possibly ill-judged though.

The power of positive thought. if only that was all there was to it! Doh!

SR - x-posted , glad Dh's bit was of use. Will keep fingers crossed for you getting a line - its horrible if you are dreading that bit every time, would be great if they could sort that out for you. Your DS will be relieved when his exams are finished - does his school have a 'prom' at the end of the year? They seemed to start gaining in popularity when mine were at school.

Good news that the teeth are in good nick Smee, at your dentist's 'encouraging' anecdotes.

Glad you all agree about positive thought woman, I felt a bit mean for disagreeing when she's obviously pleased with her progress, (although I wasn't nasty) but there were some very poorly people at the talk, I thought it was a bit off for her to say that.

I x-posted too - blame the rather gorgeous builder who needed the keys to next door. mmm...

Cakes, poor you though. Is it mostly sciatic pain or more indeterminate? I don't think you should wait. Am speaking from dire experience here, so possibly biased, but GP's haven't a clue about backs, so go see but push for a referral. If it's anything like where I am you have to go to be assessed by a physio first anyway and that can take a while to come through. I had four years of sciatic plus lots of other pain due to a severely degenerated disc. I couldn't sleep either and thought I was going mad I was so tired. I had my spine finally fused just before Christmas and it's astounding how effective it's been. I now have no pain most of the time. Still can't run or bend forward easily, but I'm getting there. Go to the Osteo as well if you want, but the NHS grinds slowly for backs, so overlap them. Sounds like you might need an MRI to diagnose what's causing it to me.

SR great that exams are flowing. Must be hard to do the right thing at such fraught times. + tennis sounds fab. I got into the school team way back, but only because I could get a serve in. I was the only girl out of 30 who could! Though with my back as it is for now it might have to be ping pong.

Kurri, I hope your daughter appreciates you. She sounds very impressive and I wouldn't have a clue on those subjects either. What's she playing for her recital?

Thanks, for the advice, Smee. I am seeing GP tomorrow. I have a sponsylolisthesis, which as you may know (!) as you have a bad back is a disc that has slipped out of line or possible (in my case) grown in the wrong place to start with. This is what i know is there, I am assuming it is this that is causing the trouble (to be fair to the GP I saw before, it has been so long since it flared up, and my back was not hurting then, it was more the hip and leg, that I did not connect the two and did not tell him I had the disc thing. It is only now I have lifted a large bag of soil - doh! - and the back has kicked off, that I have put two and two together.

To answer your question, I think it is a sciatic type pain. I think we also have to get referred to a musculo skeletal place that can take a while, but if the doctor is happy that it is what I think it is, I will book an osteo appointment. I have looked online for info about the condition and I have many of the symptoms.

Bloody hell, another long and self absorbed post. Sorry.