**TAMOXIFEN** 4th thread

[MaryAnnSingleton]

here we go !

And good luck to KK's dh for the doctors appt

Crikey you lot - you must stop jumping about and damaging yourselves! Hope all bruises mend soon.
Thanks for info re hair - this seems to mean it doesn't grow back while on CMF then? Shame! Still, it might do apparantly, but not for everyone.

Rads going OK so far thanks - I noticed a slight discomfort yesterday but its gone again today and nothing serious at all. Have a feeling I know where I might have troubel though now, if I have any. IYSWIM. It does take 3 hours out of every day though as there is usually a delay unfortunately.

Good that DD contacted you KK - my DD did aswell yesterday as she's in the UK for a week but not coming up here . Still, she sounded great.
BTW we've had 5 lots of salad for two of us from our leaves - they're so enthusiastic about growing we can hardly keep up! I need to plant out courgettes but really need to put some compost in the soil first, so am delayg a bit. Courgette plants have got surprisingly big in 1 inch of soil!!

Cupcaked - I know what you mean about the thought of chemo getting more difficult. I have also found this. Indeed I think I now have Pavlovian response to the chemo ward even though I have a line in. The whole thing is just yukky for us all.

RWU - good to see you and so glad you had that walk - it must have been beautiful. I hope to return to Borth in the next couple of months.

Wow, a tortoise 100 years old - a friend down the street has one about 60 yrs old. I am slightly put off by the fact that as soon as it sees anyone wearing trainers it rushes over and tries to hump one- a trainer, that is [ blush]. But I saw wild tortoises in Turkey which were nice and they presumably had enough other creatures around that they didn't fancy our shoes....

link to my facebook fan page for my illustration work A few photos from Strawberry Tea on here - ds was asked to take photos but got bored and fiddled around taking arty enhanced shots of cakes in bizarre colours -some feature on his new camera- so this is really all i have - no lovely display of all the cakes as I'd hoped....

SR - not sure if hair grwos back on those other drugs you are on, I took FEC, part of which is Epirubicin and as I understand it, that is the main one that takes your hair out. But am not sure, so ask the chemo nurses, they are pretty smoky on this stuff.

Tea looks like it was fab, MAS. And I am drooling over that plate of cakes.....

MAS - Cakes look yummy - well done you.

thank you

[Waving emoticon] to all have been off socialising for what feels like days. A whole run of friends staying, so masses of washing now but all great to see, even if it did involve too many glasses of wine and v.late nights. Feel a bit bleury now.

MAS £300 is excellent. How brilliant. Shame you fell though, those bruises sound a bit scary. Gorgeous bangles. Can see why you're so fond of them.

Cupcaked, am hoping the third chemo wasn't as bad as your dread of it. Think it's today, so hope the SE stay away. Are you moving onto Tax next? I can't remember..

RWU, pleased you're scooting. Even if you're tired, it's goot to hear you're out of bed and getting out there.

No time to post to all, so apologies. Just saying hello.

hello smee ! and good luck cupcaked

oh is it today cupcaked? - sorry, best of luck. You are getting through them now.

Hiya smee - like your style: friends and wine are a godsend on chemo

I think I over did it Cakes. Was taking advantage of the last few days before the next cycle, but now feel v.addled!

Yes, but it's a life-affirming sort of addled (or that was my experience, anyway). When is the next cycle? How's the hair?

I have it on good authority that a blast of chemo wipes away the worst hangover (I am not recommending this, obv, and haven't tried it myself either, but it's worth holding in reserve as a thought in case a good night out beckons and an inopportune point in the cycle )

Good luck CC - sorry rather late , have been out all morning. Hope it goes smoothly for you.

Have been having a big old financial discussion with the bank - oh joy! Took all morning, and they only offered us a glass of water - would have thought they could stretch to a coffee.

Took some stuff over to DS's flat last night. It's lovely - a big four storey Victorian building - an old guest house I should think along the sea front from the days when Lowestoft was a resort. But great view and loads of character.

More trips over the next couple of days I think.

Hope you're not too worn out Smee - its so good when you have a few good days, - very tempting to cram in as much as possible.

All morning at the bank? Bloody hell, I think I'd pass out from nerves (and possibly also boredom)

Ds's flat just gets to sound better and better...

Dd's birthday tomorrow. Got the presents sorted by the skin of our teeth - need to dash out and get a cake pronto tomorrrow...

PS First sweet peas of the season picked today. Absolutely lovely. I bought a variety that is mixed but all dark magentas, plums and purples plus white - and massively gorgeous scent. Am in heaven.

happy birthday for tomorrow Cakes DD !
Dh has planted sweet peas in our old bath (in the garden -cast iron with feet) can't wait !
Ribs hurting today :-(

Cakes, you're right. Far more life affirming, though maybe I shouldn't have done quite so much affirmation.. Next lot's on Thursday, so I have a day of feeling okay left.

Hair's still moulting, but still very much present. I have a v.thick head of hair, so that's why. Will persevere with cold cap this time at least. Need to give my hair a chance to work out if it's all going or not.

How old's dd Cakes? I've lost track of the age of all our offspring. Happy Birthday to her. Am jealous of your sweet peas. Must do that next year.

Kurri, your son will have to watch it, or we'll all move in. Sounds like a wonderful place.

MAS, poor ribs. Hope the bruising fades soon. That's turned out to be quite some fall.

Just back from Inverness - had a great weekend and drank far too much home made raspberry gin.
Good to hear from you RWU - hope you have recovered from an eventful weekend.
MAS - how are your btuises? Well done on raising so much cash!

I can't recall who mentioned buffs but they were my main headcovering while completely bald. I have been finished chemo since March and now have a head of baby hair! Re the Chillow - yes I love my Chillow and will be packing it to take on holiday with me when we go to Norway.

Lovely weather here today but couldn't get out and about as had to wait for delivery of wardrobe doors - all the way from Birmingham. One such door had to go all the way back to Birmingham as it was scratched...

glad you had a good time haggis - raspberry gin sounds most appealing !
I saw some buffs on the bcc site in the shop, but they were screaming bc on them (being promotional things obviously, which might not be what you'd want to wear)
Am slathered in arnica gel and dh's massage oil for good measure -but it's mighty sore..trie4d to do some sit ups (my only 'toning' type thing) but too hurty.
Have a good day everyone, esp if having treatment

have a great day today, smee - see if you can affirm life in a more holistic way! And positive vibes for tomorrow.

DD is 7 today. It's a big relief all-round. For some reason she never wanted to be 6 and cried for weeks before the big day. She said she thought something bad was going to happen to her when she was 6.

At the time I was having chemo and a bit fragile, so it spooked me a bit - normally I'd have realised it was just the sort of wierdness little kids get into their heads from time to time, and there's no point dwelling. But it still feels a bit like a can breathe a sigh of relief. Is that wierd? Probably.

Ouch, MAS your poor ribs, that's quite a fall, then.

Good to see you back, Haggis. Norway - that's a great choice for a holiday. Where's everyone else going? For us it's Arran in August and Cornwall in October. So we should be safe from sunburn, at least

Just to add - prob. some of those on chemo aren't going far, or for long. So sympathies - we had to do the long weekends rather than the full-on weeks last year, so if this is you, I feel your pain - but I can tell you from personal experience that you can fit quite a lot of fun and naughtiness into three or four days if you plan carefully and pace yourself. Go on, you know you want to!

Actually Cakes, that's a bit spooky, as am sitting here with chemo dates plotting good things for the summer. Will ratchet that up for naughtiness then. Sounds like excellent advice.

Not surprised you were fragile when your DD said that. Though am sure you're right, as that age is the time for strangeness. My son's just 6, so they're not that far apart. Last night much wailing as ladybird he'd put in a jar died. He told me it 'was a disaster of epic proportions'. Was v.hard not to laugh, but to him it really, really was. Happy Birthday to your DD then. Here's hoping 7 is a year she loves.

MAS, don't exercise, as you'll make it worse. Sore ribs sounds like an excellent reason for reading a book in the sun to me. Almost medicinal even. Hope they calm down soon though.

A disaster of epic proportions. How sweet (and what a great vocabulary).

Plan in as much fun as you possibly can -we had about five or six long weekends and they were a total godsend. Set me up a treat before each new cycle started.

Thank you smee - I will cease doing sit ups for the forseeable !
Happy 7th Birthday Cakes dd
ds at 7 went through an odd stage of writing thoughts down on pieces of paper which he would leave for me to read (sometimes I wasn't allowed to read them) they were things he thought were bad and he shouldn't think ( he likes Billie piper for example was one-it was at the beginning of the new Dr Who) - nothing really awful,but he was very worried about them...if he had bad thoughts about a friend or something... he also used to worry a lot about 'not making it through the night'which was sad- we'd just moved,so I guess that was the cause.

Poor ds. He sounds a bit like my dd in a lot of ways, very sensitive. Dd has worries like those.

On the upside, she is very tuned in to other people's concerns and she likes to try and defuse them. So for instance she says things like 'Mummy you are so slim' because she knows I am fat and desn't want to me to worry.

Happy Birthday little Cakes - hope she has a lovely day. I remember for my 7th birthday an elderly Aunt sent me a copy of 'Now we are Six' (actually a lovely book which I still have, but made me laugh at the time).

Weekend sound good Haggis, and Norway I'm sure will be wonderful. Have never been, but my niece lives in Oslo and seems to enjoy life there.

Smee - for your DS losing his ladybird. But at 'disaster of epic proportions'! Great idea to plan treats for good days - keeps you going.

MAS - don't want to be a flapping old bat, but is it poss. you may have cracked a rib? I hope it starts improving soon anyway.

Have spent the morning at yoga, then swimming then having a birthday lunch with a group of friends. Birthday girl had brought a cake with a photo of us all printed on it- didn't stop us scoffing it pretty quick

DH has taken afternoon off to watch the match. (He's not even English so no excuse really)

Love to all, hope everyone on treatment isn't feeling too bad today.