Hi
Thanks Nicky, I am really appreciating your support this morning and will gladly go out there and eat ALL for the next few days, just for you. I did hear about vit E cream and was pleased with the results on one of the first 2 scars already. It shifted all the glue out the wound, which seemed to be stopping it from drying up. Taken the decision to have no pain killers and have a happy tummy and that seems to be working better for me. I hope my stomach appreciates this sacrifice to prepare it for chemo!
Anyone watching ‘women doctors’ on sky from 9 - 10 on the morning on living 2 channel. I am really hooked and fascinated to see the American system for BC on some progs. One was asked what chemo she wanted out of AC or CMF and chose one that would be finished in 3 months!! Lucky her, mine is 7 months
Lily x
Hi guys
Glad to hear that your more comfortable lilly. Nicky your so good with words of support thank you. I am feeling better today, More energy and looking forward to having a massage tonight. Got a few gentle things planned for the weekend.
I watched dvd last night “in to the
wild” highly recommend it but it will make you cry. I wonder where we get all our tears from.
Have a good weekend girls
Love Maggie
Hi girls
Glad we are all supporting each other here, it’s definitely helping me because even tho my OH (what is an OH by the way? I only knew of a DH - dear husband) and 2 daughters plus friends are really supportive they’re not going through all this and really can’t have any idea of how it makes you feel. Plus you don’t want to moan too much at them whereas we can all have a good moan to each other and get it out of our systems.
I had a great visit from one of my closest friends today. She is also a district nurse so I got her to check I was doing my temperature OK, glad to say I passed! We had a laugh about my wig, which she says looks fantastic by the way. When we were at college together many moons ago we used to go out a lot for drinks with each other and were often mistaken for sisters. Something we also used to play up to as we had a similar taste in clothes so looked very alike. I said that I was getting 2 wigs the same as I could get the 2nd half price and they may get a bit ropey if I had only one. She suggested we both go out and wear a wig each and see if we can convince people we’re sisters again! However I think we’ll stop at the chatting up bit (we should be so lucky) as both OH’s wouldn’t be too happy! The other thing that shows what a great friend she is, and as close to a sister as I’ve got, was that she thought of shaving her head in support for me but realised she might scare off some of her patients! Her lovely husband said he would shave his instead but as he’s already 80% bald and 20% No 1 grade and grey I didn’t think it would be too much of a sacrifice. We’ve therefore decided if he wants to support me he has to wear a full on wig, or better still, a dodgy toupee so that he can experience the extremes like me! We had a good giggle about that as he would look so odd, but let’s see what happens.
Hope you (we) all have a good weekend and watch out for the wee germs Maggie - it’s our lowest immunity weekend - yeah!
Nicky x
Nicky
I am curious, what foods and drinks are off limit? They must give that chat on the first day I guess. What a great story with your friend, my hubby offered to shave his legs. Not quite the same gesture so I will settle for devoted slavery when I am yuk. Half way through May!
Lily x
Hi Lily
I was given a leaflet from our hospital and it seems really strange there’s no national guidelines on what to do and not to do as we’re all dealing with the same effects. Ours is particularly strange as I have to boil any tap water I use. So tea, coffee etc is OK but to drink it cold I have to boil it and cool it - what a fag - but this is down to a type of bacteria that’s been found from time to time which could be really nasty during chemo when we’re not so resilient. Anyhow the rest of the NO list is:
Unpastuerised cheese or soft cheese with a rind or blue cheese - all have bacteria in or on them
Probiotic yogurts/drinks
Undercooked meat eg rare steak
Soft boiled eggs
pate
Any raw meat, seafood and poultry (yuk)
(Basically what they now recommend for pregnant ladies)
Also keep very high kitchen hygiene, use anti bacterial sprays, disinfect cloths regularly, wash hands all the time.
Throw out all foods gone past their use by dates.
Reject any dented cans.
Only keep un-used tinned food for max 48 hours in the fridge and only keep it in a different container.
Wash ALL veg and fruit before eating raw and preferably peel fruit and veg 1st
These ones above are fairly usual ‘rules’ I suppose but I’m making an extra effort to be more hygienic than usual. So no picking up the dropped stuff and eating it anyway!
Have a good weekend and make sure your hubby knows the rules of devoted slavery - maybe he could have a practice this weekend ha ha!
Nicky x
Hi (do not read further if you are off food at present)
Nicky thanks for that information. I am going to go and stuff my face with pate and soft eggs and everything else I like that you mentioned. Eggs are my best ‘getting better’ food and one of the only things my hubby can cook!! Well looks like I will be one of the few that lose weight on chemo, the only other menu he offers is salad!!! Bearing in mind what people have said I have eaten for England today including spaghetti bolognaise covered in grated cheese and 2 whole packets of caramel shortcakes and at least 10 small cakes plus sweets and I haven’t finished yet! What a pig!
I mentioned your comment to my DH and he said he was going to bed. So I guess the restaurant has closed for tonight.
Enjoy the weekend and sorry if I made anyone feel like puking.
Lily x x
Hi Lily
You go girl! Glad to see you’re eating for me as well! I had a good pig out day today with a doughnut from the local bakery, some cake that my friend had brought round on Friday and, after eating our evening meal my hubby and I had a slice of cheesecake each. What bliss! We never really eat puds etc but it was great! Luckily, despite the extended menu yesterday, I haven’t been hit with a need to over eat which seems can be a side effect (another one?) of the steroids given for anti sickness. In fact I lost weight in the 1st few days after my chemo as my appetite was much smaller and for very plain food.
Well it’s looking like a lovely day today so I’m off for a walk a bit later to get the papers and then down to the pub this afternoon to meet some friends. As last weekend was my ‘lost’ one in the 3 week chemo cycle I’m determined to make the most of the good ones!
Hope you have a good day as well and, having seen your thread about being a chemo buddy, you know we’re still here and only half a cycle up on you.
Take care
Nicky x
Hi
I was looking back at some of the comments on this thread and just wondered how Angie, Nikki, Ushanaidu and clarabel34 are doing?
I hope you are all coping well with your treatment and having more good days than bad.
Nicky x
Glad to see you’re all surviving treatment… despite all the things you’re not allowed to eat! I shall have to work my way through the fridge this week.
I haven’t even started the chemo yet. just over 2 weeks ago they said it would be around 2 weeks but I’ve not heard a peep or had the heart scan yet. I’ll leave it till the end of next week and then find out what’s happening. I’ve made an executive decision that I am not starting next week. There’s a chance to go see my Nan on the bank holiday and she doesn’t know about my BC yet as she’s diabetic and does worry so my mum said she would rather tell her when she’s got time to explain it all and answer her questions and then I can go over and see her which will be a weight of my mind. That and I really need another week working on the campervan and my websites. I figure they’ve made me wait in the dark for 3 months since my op what’s another week!.
So hopefully will be joining you all sometime soon to get started on the chemo route. It’s been a long old 3 months and I have come to the conclusion that all this waiting in the dark is actually quite cruel, so I shall not dwell on it and enjoy this time as much as possible.
really hope you’re all doing well, you’re all really amazing ladies to deal with this as well as you appear to be. I know you’re bound to be having bad days too but you’re still amazing.
Lots of love
Angie
Hi Guys
I think that the waiting is the worst bit of all and I get mad when I hear that different areas have different waiting and approaches. I had to wait 2 lots of 10 days for results of bi ops but I know someone who has recently had a bi op on friday and is getting results today. She was talking about how unfair her wait of a weekend was and I struggled to keep my mouth shut. My heart goes out to her as we don’t want others to go through this experience.
Ranting about differences it was not pointed out about food that should not be eaten. I have been stuffing my face with goats cheese this weekend.yum yum yum. I have been forced to eat plain food and started looking at all food with the thought will this food cause me pain and discomfort. Yesterday I bought a small bottle of red wine (one glass) my favourite. I had it all planned I would eat and then a glass of water and then my wine. Big mistake as it tasted horrible, guess I will not be doing that in a hurray again.
I was lying in bed this morning day dreaming of lying on a beach with the warm sun on my back…then I got up and put the heating on again!! roll on summer as I am freezing.
Nicky loved reading about your fun with your friend, friends are so much better than husbands ( not that I have one, a husband…i exchanged him for friends).
Lilly thinking about you and wish you well for tomorrow.
Love maggie
Hi there,
just a quick message as I am going to have the last biggest giantest feast for lunch in a local pub with my 2 BC friends. My son has just come in from Maths GCSE exam and said it went ok, so all in all not a good day to think back on while in chemo tomorrow. Thanks everyone for supporting me and love to you all. Hope all goes well with you today
Lily x
Hi All
Just reading your messages - you’ve all given me some inspiration that maybe it is more doable that I anticipate - fingers crossed. Hope you all had a nice weekend and good luck
x
Hi guys
I had a really bad day yesterday, did not get off sofa much and spend most of time in tears. Today is better ( finally gave in and put the heating on) and I got a lovely suprise present from my daughter of a beau beau head scarf It is already tied and the fit is good, lovely aqua colour and wonderfull packaged. I felt that I was opening a very special present. Gift card with I love you Nanna was icing. It lifted my spirts and I breathed a sigh that I have something nice to wear when the time comes.
Hope you enjoyed your lunch lilly and your doing ok.
Remember to watch how to lok good naked tonight, channel 4 @ 8PM.
take care
Maggie
Hi Maggie
I was about to ask you how you were doing. Your poor thing feeling so grotty but a good idea to warm yourself up. It really can get you down and I know what you mean about being in tears, it’s so frustrating to feel like it. I really hope you gain strength and feel much better from now on but remember to take it easy if your body is telling you to. At least you had a lovely surprise with your head scarf and more importantly your little note. It’s things like this that help us and, as you say, lift our spirits.
Take care
Nicky x
Hi Nicky
I am feeling much better, been out and about a bit more and will try to make more of an effort on low days. Is there any sign of your hair coming out. My scalp is very itchy but so far so good.
Lily how are you doing after your 1st session?
Maggie
Hi
Maggie hope you are ok and everyone else.
I am fine after first epi, drugs are doing their stuff and I am feeling very fortunate. Long may it last!!! It went wrong on the day as they could not get into the port so had to use my ‘unusable veins’ which were fine, just meant I spent 6 hours in the unit. I would gladly do that again if the payback is an easy time after. Today I have a red face so everyone keeps asking if I am ok and have unexpectedly slept a lot so perhaps entering a new set of symptoms, really glad to avoid sickness
Take care everyone
lily x
Hi Maggie
I’m so glad you’re feeling better, it makes all the difference doesn’t it? You should be careful not to overdo it on your low days, I’m certainly not going to make the effort! I think it’s our bodies telling us to slow down and let them recover.
I was going to ask about the hair situation. So far so good for me and I’ve not had any itching or tingling. I do keep giving a few strands a bit of a tug and it’s still quite solidly anchored in! I now realise why I’m a Pisces (as if I hadn’t before!) as I’m in 2 minds about the cold cap. I absolutely hated the idea of using it again at first but now I’ve gone back to my old shampoo and it’s looking a lot better than the 1st few days, especially as I didn’t wash it then. I think I’ll see what happens during the next week (is it only a week to go?) and if it’s not dropped out by the handful may give the cold cap another go.
Also my sense of smell has calmed down, has yours? It was so acute to begin with that it was worrying me more than other side effects. If it does calm down in between sessions that will be great as I won’t be so sensitive to smells and tastes. I’ve even got back to having cups of tea, something I couldn’t stand in the first 5 days and, again, didn’t want that to continue.
I was also going to say how are you sleeping. After day 1, with the steroids when I didn’t sleep well, and after I got over the nausea I’ve been sleeping better than I have for years. I expect it’s the old body still repairing itself but it’s quite nice to sleep so deeply when I normally wake up at drop of a pin. However the bl**dy cuckoo that sits outside our bedroom doing it’s best clock impersonation at 5am deserves to be shot! That definitely wakes me up.
Have your veins been tight/sore? My arm was really sore about 5-6 days after and I had to put arnica cream on the vein lines which helped. I was careful that an infection didn’t start but it’s not got any worse, just not sure what happens next and if my veins will stand up to 6 treatments. So many things to ask the nurses!
Again, glad you’re feeling better and hope the bank holiday is good for you, even though the weather looks rubbish.
Glad you’re still doing OK Lily, sleep when you need to, you must need it.
Nicky x
I swear by Arnica cream. That’s homeopathic in case you didn’t know but I know a recovery nurse who said they used i after surgery.
My onc has said it’s ok to use after chemo too. It usually used for surface level brusing.
I also use hypercal cream for skin that’s grazed, dry etc.
Glad it’s worked for you, 1 less fear for me 
PS went to see indiana jones at the movies tonight. If you’re an indy fan then I highly recommend it. T’was much much fun.
Hi Angie
We’ve booked to see Indy tomorrow and really looking forward to a bit of escapism! We saw all the others at the cinema many moons ago when Harrison Ford looked so lovely! Hope I’m not disappointed but I guess hubby won’t care how Indy looks!
I use quite a lot of homeopathic stuff and I’m going to try arnica ‘tablets’ before chemo next time to reduce any bruising before it begins. Also I took nux vom ‘tablets’ this time when I wasn’t ready for my next dose of anti sickness tablets. I’ve used them for years, especially for a hangover!
Hope you’re moving forward with your treatment plan and have either got a date to start or know soon.
Have a good weekend and hope the sun shines for you - not much hope where I am in Hampshire.
Nicky x
At last someone else who’s heard of nux vom. I’ve used that for nausea for years. Did it work on your chemo related nausea?
I’ve just got a letter and my echocardiogram is booked for tuesday so I guess the next bit starts soon. gulp. Am getting scared now, have been having to take gelsemium for anticipatory nerves or I won’t be able to keep anything down.
I also use ABC from helios for on set of colds etc so it’ll be interesting to see if aconite helps my immune system stay up. Although because I’m going to be doing manuka too if it does work I won’t know which did the trick, but who cares if it works right 
Any of you taking coQ10 to keep the old brain cells in tip top condition. I started it at the begging of this week. AI believe all the homeopaths in my mum’s class used it to help cram for the exams (It was an accelerated 4 year course in 2 years, youch).
Anyway Indy was brilliant and I’, still humming the theme tune. Great to see the old cast, and they are much older now but showing that youth doesn’t = attitude
I feel like I’m 33 going on 60 but if I’m that fiesty when I’m 60 I don’t care
Lots of love and hope you all have a great bank holiday and feel good rather than dodgy.
Angie