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**TAMOXIFEN** 4th thread

951 replies

MaryAnnSingleton · 28/04/2010 07:24

here we go !

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Cakesandale · 19/06/2010 10:14

Mentally willing cloud out of the way for MAS's tea - hope the icing is going well and you can resist licking the spoon.

Is it me, or is that man doing the Heimlich actually Chris from CBeebies?

You are all right about aches and pains, I know. I think my problem is bras. Since surgery I don't think they sit right on the still intact boob. But I am too busty not to wear one so I have to alternate. I wear a bra for a few days to stop unslightly drop of boob to knee, but it rubs, so then I wear a vest for a few days, and get sore ligaments from jiggling. I feel I shall have to go and get some sage bra advice from a proper shop (and bore my onc again, of course )

I second cupcaked's approach to hair loss, taking control will probably make it a slightly less miserable experience. Clippers in one hand, large glass of something consoling in the other hand, or cake, whichever hauls your flag up the mast - and go for it.

We are dog sitting this weekend. She is big and hairy but no trouble at all, apart from licking our faces in the night. [puke emoticon] She likes it here - when she arrived we could see her bouncing up and down outside the front door

sandripples · 19/06/2010 11:21

hanks for the Heimlich pic. Hadn't understood you had to use the back of the chair .

Yes I also definitely felt better when I got a hairdresser to shave my head. Well, cut it to 1/2 inch anyway. It was a relief and much more comfortable and then as RWU advised me at the time, the rest just washed off in the shower.

Have just managed to make a loss at car boot sale - almost no=one there to buy anything! About as good a performance as England football team Doesn't matter - at least I've collected clutter together for throwing out/giving to cancer shop.

Sending extremely positive vibes to MAS for the grand strawberry event!!

KurriKurri · 19/06/2010 13:29

Sending sunshine vibes your way MAS - hope you have a great day.

CC - hope you are feeling better now and seroma under control. Noticed you posted in the wee small hours - disturbed sleep at the mo? or just a late night

Dog sitting will be fun Cakes am smiling at dog looking forward to her weekend break

Sorry about the CB SR - its ages since I've done one, but sometimes you just get a bad day and no one seems to come. Never mind.

No more news from DD yet, hoping to hear over the weekend, other wise will text her. (I don't want to come over all anxious Mum and plague her with texts!)

Off to do some weeding, love to everyone,have a good w/e.

XXX RWU

smee · 19/06/2010 13:58

MAS, when you said you didn't want to see another cupcake, I read 'cupcaked' and thought you'd turned psycho! Am sending sun vibes too. Just brought some strawberries, so am with you in spirit!

I know it's grim, but you've all cheered me mightily with your anxting over all and any twinges. Me too! I really don't seem to trust anything these days. Hooray for this thread to normalise it a bit.

cupcaked and cakes, my hair is thinking about it. Can't think of another way to describe it. Washed it yesterday (day 15) and long strands shredded, but today just a couple of individual hairs and the rest feels normal I'm trying the cold cap because I thought I may as well. Not really expecting it to work, but thought it might give me hair for a bit longer than the norm. You're right about shaving it all off though. Have no intention of doing a Bobby Charlton.

cakes, dog sitting sounds a mite crazy. Hope long walks wear it out so you get some sleep.

With the bra thing, maybe ask your Breast Nurse if she knows anywhere. Mine told me of a fantastic small shop. The woman there measured me and was very obviously used to women who'd had mastectomy/ breast surgery. She was so matter of fact, I felt my breasts being lopsided was normal. I now have just one very comfy bra. Am holding off buying more, as was told not to wear underwired for a bit. Not sure how long that advice sticks for. Does anyone know?

SR, you made a loss? What a pain. At least you've de-cluttered. I need to do that, though it's hard with a son who insists everything is essential. I have to sneak things to Oxfam when he's not looking..

Better go. Rain about to kick in here and there's a mountain of washing on the line. Oh the glamour of life..

sandripples · 20/06/2010 10:33

Hi. KK I hope you hear from yr DD soon but I'm sure she'll be having a great time. I find I just have to forget about my DD as otherwise I'd be in a wild panic much of the time, esp. knowing her wild streak, nocturnal timetable, penchant for the unusual etc.

MAS - looking forward to report on how the evnt went. It was windy here so I hope the weather was kinder where you are.

CC - My DS's GCSEs finish on Wednesday although he seems to have given up any work now! He's got Systems on Tuesday (60% courseowrk - builing a working robot - lots of soldering I think - he was good at that - I think years of Warhammer painting gave him great practise at very detailed careful fine motor skills!)then German reading paper on Wed. Most of his pals seem to have finished already and I remember it being hard to motivate myself for the last couple of papers!

Cakes - I hope you're staying well away from any bayleaves - perhaps they should have a safety warning on the jar?

Those of you who lost hair but have seen the return - how long did it take to start growing please? I'm hoping I might see a few early fuzzy shoots in July ie 6-8 weeks after finishing the Epirubicin?? Am I being too optimistic?

MaryAnnSingleton · 20/06/2010 14:37

Hello everyone - am exhausted and bruised but very pleased that the strawberry tea went so well -we raised over £300 (need to check it all today) and about 24 people came -we are still surrounded by cake and scones as kind people baked brownies and cakes and scones ! I was icing cupcakes until about 20 mins before people arrived and was consequently quite flustered.I got flustered because then everyone turned up and it's odd seeing people from different bits of your life all together. My bcn came too which was lovely. The tombola went well,and the tea looked wonderful,will put them on my facebook page and link to it. Weather was fine-slightly cooler than desireable but no rain !
I didn't eat a single thing as I was so overwhelmed !
The bruising was from falling up a tiny step from our garden on to the patio in the morning - I got garden grit over my clean trousers, scuffed my newly painted toenails and grazed my arm...when i went to bed i noticed a huge bruise on my hip -ow ! Worse though,I scraped and bent my beautiful,treasured silver bangles which dh gave me-they are delicate and I love them so much - he was impatient with me for fussing about them !
Hope you have heard from dd by now KK and sorry that your boot sale made a loss SR
Have some strawberry cupcakes or maybe a caraway scone....

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sandripples · 20/06/2010 16:34

Well done MAS - that's a great total! Sorry about your scrapes, bruises and fluster though! I completely sympathise and hope you're recovered your poise today now that its all done.Hope also that your hip is not too sore? I look forward to seeing the pictures.

BTW I bought some perfume yesterday - think its the one you might have mentioned a few months ago - Shine by Dior? Its lovely. I wanted a treat that didn't involve hair, clothes or eating!

KurriKurri · 20/06/2010 16:53

I just wrote a long post and some how deleted it

Well done on your tea MAS - you worked so hard and it was obviously a great success. Lovely that your BCN came too.

But OW about the fall - are you OK now?, - you might get one or two other bruises appear in the next couple of days. What a shame about your bangles - are they repairable do you think?

SR - I had a covering of light coloured fluff on my head about a month after I finished all my chemo. And after 2 months I had what looked like a very short crop (so fairly respectable).

No word from DD as yet - so will text her this evening.

Have spent the weekend digging and clearing a very overgrown patch of garden, and planting out my bean and courgette plants. Have also put in potatoes, spring onions and salad leaves. Am now shattered

DH off to the gammy knee clinic tomorrow, to find out what's wrong with his leg.

Love to all, hope no one's feeling too bad today.

MaryAnnSingleton · 20/06/2010 17:13

have eaten 2 wonderful brownies made by friends, one of my cupcakes and am going to manage a scone with jam & cream now - have taken cakes to more friends today.
Bruise and ribs a bit sore - bangles bent back into shape but sad that they are scuffed. Hope dh's leg is ok KK and that you get a diagnosis.
SR - it was Dior Sun Sweet bronze or the other way round - in a big brown bottle ?
love to everyone having treatment this week x

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cupcaked · 20/06/2010 17:23

KK and MAS, I so admire your industriousness, and so sorry to hear about the bruises and grazes. Just what you do not need at that time!

It was a late nite out MAS, great fun but paying for it since. Next chemo tues and I was trying so hard to get some dissertation submitted before then but can't find the words. Think some of my brain has been deleted with chemo.

Enjoy the perfume SR, have to say I have gone off strong smells of any sort, turn my stomach a bit.

I am much more not looking forward to chemo 3 than either of the first 2, despite the fact that it doesn't really make me feel terrible. Is it because the novelty has worn off? Or becos I know the vein hunt will be harder this time? Or becos I am tired with partying and prob anaemia? Feeling bit grimmer than usuAl
anyway, hunting for my Attitude but it seems to have gone interrailing with KK's dd!

Better get off sofa and cook

reallywoundup · 20/06/2010 18:13

Hi all! Wow, you've all been busy!
Well done MAS, sounds like it went really well.
I'm just finishing what has been a very busy weekend, we had an anti-footy girly BBQ on Friday, which turned into a slightly drunken "I will survive" karoke event
yesterday we went on a family trip to the butterfly farm and lost ds2 (he was eventually found and returned back to us lol!)
today has been a lovely sunny day here in west Wales so I took the kids on a walk to the waterfalls, I am absolutely shattered, I had to pinch ds1's scooter to get home!

I can't remember where everyone is with treatment ATM, i'll have a read back and work out what everyone is up to!

Cakesandale · 21/06/2010 09:45

Well done MAS, £300 is great!! - if bangles are still scratched I bet they can be polished up a treat by a jeweller - I had my wedding ring made bigger (bah!) a few months ago and it came back all buffed up like new. Worth a go.

Car boot sale a LOT ef effort if you are maing a loss, SR. Sometimes it just isn't worth the effort - except of course that clutter has gone.

Ref the return of hair - my last chemo cycle finished third week in Oct last year - at the very end of November we went away for the weekend and I risked taking the acarves off as I had a reasonable dusting of hair and wanted to know if anyone would stare if they didn't know me. They didn't, really, so I never put them on again.

Good advice ref the bras - I will see if i can find a decent specialist shop.

great to see you RWU! Sounds like an energetic weekend! We just took the dog with us wherever we went (she is 9 with a gammy leg so needs gentle exercise not huge hikes) - mainly this was the Leamington Peace Festival which is great!! DD (7 later this week) is now the proud owner of a rainbow flag from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender Alliance (or summat like that). I wanted to try Gong Therapy but no-one would wait with me so I can't tell you if it works or not.

KurriKurri · 21/06/2010 12:20

Lovely to hear from you RWU - sounds like a lovely weekend (apart from DS disappearing of course) I speak as a woman who has been seen in the London science museum running about like a maniac shrieking the name of her (then) 3 year old son. - He was found 'driving' some sort of priceless steam engine - Stevenson's rocket probably!

We're helping DS shift his stuff to new flat later today.

Also had a text from DD (prompted by a text from me) saying she's in Paris, visiting Notre Dame today, then heading for Provence.

Love to all - anyone having chemo/other things this week? - good luck for anyone on treatment. How are the rads going SR?

MaryAnnSingleton · 21/06/2010 13:00

oh Cakes - dd's flag made me laugh !!

Good idea about having the bangles buffed - I found them on a designers website and asked her for a price and she sent me the trade price so I ordered them (they are three really thin delicate oval shaped bangles, one with a little gold loop,like a petal) She realised her error but kindly let me have them for trade price ! I wear them every day and love them so.
Lovely to see you RWU but eek at ds2 going walkabout - ds did this once on holiday,aged about 3 -he went of hand in hand with little friend aged 2 along the Dorset Coast Path (we were staying in a cottage right next to it) I remember looking in the stream beside the house - some bemused hikers found them quite a way along -fortunately friend's dad was looking for them up there and retrieved them - the walkers must've thought we were hopeless parents.
My brother aged 3 also went walkabout with a candlestick trying to visit me in hospital in Hammersmith - he'd got as far as Kew Bridge..bless him.

KK -good that you've heard from dd even if prompted and good luck with ds moving

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MaryAnnSingleton · 21/06/2010 13:04

my bangles

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Cakesandale · 21/06/2010 13:08

DD went missing in St david's cathedral aged about 3: loads of people saw her so we kept getting "she went thattaway" type comments, but no-one stopped her (prob scared of being called a molester) - glad RWU's experience ended happily.

Good luck with furniture moving KK - bit hot for it today.

Who asked about underwires earlier? I meant to say - I think they are generally NOT recommended from a breastcare point of view - irrespective of whether you have had BC or not. But check with BCN.

Cakesandale · 21/06/2010 13:08

Ooh just seen the bangles Definitely worth enquiring about a buffing

KurriKurri · 21/06/2010 13:23

Ooh beautiful bangles MAS, hope you can get them buffed, - how are the bumps and bruises today?

Also at your DD's flag Cakes - and Happy Birthday to her for later in the week. Any party plans?

My mum is 88 next week, - she has asked me for a book about tortoises! She has one which is even older than she is. (tortoise not book)

MaryAnnSingleton · 21/06/2010 13:36

wow about old tortoise (Lovely critters) -happy bday to your mum KK and to Cakes dd
The bruise look spretty spectacular today and discovered another on my ribs, apart from that my left arm is a bit stiff,so probably jarred that too. Clumsy.

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Cakesandale · 21/06/2010 13:38

Tortoises - bless! How old is the tortoise??!!

DD's birthday - afraid there are two parties. A family one at the weekend at the Road Dahl museum in Buckinghamshire somewhere, and then a swimming party for friends, but not until 11 July [full diary for a couple of weeks - we have a village festival that takes up a couple of weekends, what with fetes, bands playing in the pubs, and carnival floats to parade about upon]

Cakesandale · 21/06/2010 13:40

Watch those bruises MAS, what a swine. I wonder at what age we stop bouncing up harmlessly, and start doing ourselves harm like this?

KurriKurri · 21/06/2010 13:55

Ouch MAS! Do you have any arnica, or 'bruizeze'? (think that's the name)

Roald Dahl Museum sound fun Cakes, and all the other celebrations.

Vet reckons the tortoise is about 100, we've had it for over 50 years. It's an awkward bugger, has to be hand fed etc. on special tortoise stinky goo food. (I think its too lazy to feed itself) It charges round the garden quite happily though so presume it's healthy.

Mum keeps threatening to leave it to one or other of us in her will.

Cakesandale · 21/06/2010 14:26

Yikes! Tortoises are sweet but they give me the creeps a bit, not sure why.

Strange to tell, I have just fallen over myself! Went for a quick swim (you can tell how quick, I posted less than an hour ago), and fell off the kerb. Grazed knee and bruised ego. Ho hum.

KurriKurri · 21/06/2010 15:29

Good heavens - it must be falling over season hope you are OK Cakes and not too sore.

MaryAnnSingleton · 21/06/2010 15:37

oh poor Cakes - it's a shock more than anything !
I was thinking that if my mum fell as i had then she'd have undoubtedly broken something - I have no arnica but dh has some nice massage oil for his knees which I might rub on - think it looks worse than it is.
We had tortoises as children - I love their surprisingly pink tongues.

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