Hello story so far, spooky, june22, sukie nicola etc
Dont forget me with my 6 fec!! you lot seem to have some crappy se’s with the tax tho, is that all to shrink what you have.
nicola, nice for see your post, and you being upbeat help keep me going. you had a good time at the network thingy,
June22 i had a real teary day about christmas a few week ago, i normally love to be organised, but i just have no interest or ideas. luckily i have a small family and i am trying to accept it will just be simple and we can have other years doing all the usual stuff.
Have been trying to be more positive in the mornings, still pretty low and spend too long thinking when i should distract myself. sorry everyone, iknow its something i have moaned about before.
but i should be grateful that i am sleeping really well, find a positive
lots of love
anne x
Anne, we wouldn’t forget you! You can be the September FEC Queen… but that doesn’t sound so nice 
Glittery flowers are a lovely gift to cheer you, though I know it is difficult to chase the blues away, especially on such dull wintery days! Difficult to distract your thoughts and emotions when you can’t really concentrate well either. I’m sure the drugs we have to take mess with emotions, so don’t worry - this isn’t the real you. You will be back to yourself soon enough… hang in there.
I have a small family too - no kiddies so just me and my OH and a friend for Crimbo lunch. I think I will manage to provide a meal for just us three even if I feel unwell. Last Christmas we went down with a virus on boxing Day that laid us low for a month! It was a reall horror - so I am keeping away from crowds so I don’t catch anything similar this year!
We stopped buying gifts for family a few years back when we agreed we all had whatever we needed, and the stress of thinking what to buy was spoiling the time we should be sharing with family! So, Christmas shopping is a small thing for me too now. My OH and I just buy a few small surprises for each other, and it is enough. I thoroughly recommend being this way - you enjoy the holiday time and don’t need to go back to queue in the shops with unwanted misfits!
Of course, children are the exception and the gifts and magic is saved for them.
My particular Chemo mix isn’t to shrink my tumour - that particular 2cm charmer was removed (WLE) in July before I started chemo.
My treatment is due to my tumour being particularly agressive at generating new cells, and triple negative (no treatment other than chemo and Radiotherapy will work on it), so basically they are mopping up any cells that might be in my body and hoping to zap them before they settle down and make themselves cosy. I am most fortunate in that my tumour hadn’t spread to the lymph nodes.
Felt a bit brighter today… it has taken ages to build up my energy again since FEC #4.
June22
have taken the plunge and clippered hair all over. felt really crap about it, but family say it looks more natural. had wispy stuff everywhere.
but you know i was about to be negative and sad about my head but watching the news with the floods, i just think shut it, Anne they have more to deal with than me. poor poor people. how scary.
take stock and be grateful.
anne xxxxx
You may actually get used to being bald- or baldish!
I wear my wig only when I want to go out without people realising I have cancer. And I wear a wig rather than scare or concern small children.
Otherwise, I mostly wear a wooly hat, and let others deal with me as they see fit! My eyes are too sensitive to wear makeup right now - the lashes have all gone. My eyebrows are almost a memory - just a few straggly hairs refusing to leave me expressionless. I did use make-up to add eyebrows when I wore my wig last, and it worked okay.
As you say, so many are going through so much worse than losing their hair! … that doesn’t make it any less of a significant issue for you to deal with and come to terms with, but does kind of change the perspective on how you look at yourself and feel about the changes ahead.
Positive attitude is good… but it is okay to feel a bit fed up about it too.
I felt so relieved once I had got rid of my hair. Knowing it was going to happen but not knowing when, was hard, and I felt more in control once I had acted to remove it all myself. I cut it all off at first sign of it falling out (the lengths went off to a wig charity), then we clippered my head - but it itched as the short hairs were still coming out, so I got OH to shave it.
As friends in USA had their Thanksgiving this last week, I too though how much I had to be thankful for.
Having Cancer isn’t great, but it has made me realise how many lovely people there are out there, wanting to help, and willing me forward - no matter what I look like without hair!
Welcome to the ‘fuzzy head’ club.
You might need to wear a sleep hat, or you’ll find you stick to your pillow!
June22
Thanks june22. it was cropped already and i had lost loads, and i have a sleep cap which gets thrown off at some point.
we are all fuzzies!
as for the wig, i dont think it will get many outings, i like my morfs, and I dont mind who sees the bald head, they only look for a minute . i posted that on this thread before. quite confident when i went out before the clippers
xxx
Hello all. I’ve enjoyed catching up on all your posts, glad some of you have found the Tax better than FEC (not the case for me unfortunately) - also, welcome to Story So Far.
Had my pre chemo for Tax #2 today. Due to my side effects they have decided to lower my dose for the next one. I have very mixed feelings about this, and tried to downplay the sore hands and feet (skin on hands is now flaking off), but the oncologist said that my reaction was unlikely to improve and her priority was to get me through the treatment without any really damaging side effects, and apparently the reduction is not massive. I guess I have to remember that my benefit from chemo was not huge anyway but I had to have Tax so that I can have herceptin for HER2 as this is how it has been trialled. On a positive, it hopefully means my side effects will be less gruesome this time. I’ve also been given tramadol this time for the aches and pains so fingers crossed for an easier ride.
I’m glad people are enjoying browzings - I think I’m right in thinking it was me that recommended it, but apologies if I’m taking credit where it’s not due. I’m also quite lash free now (there are a few stragglers) and ventured into falsies for the first time in my life a few days ago. I’m using eyelure naturalites. They do look pretty natural and make me feel a lot better. It’s pretty hard facing the big hairless head in the mirror first thing. I cut about six lashes off the strip as there are too many for my eye otherwise, then cut these into sections of three and use these extra bits as fillers on other days. Makes them go a bit further especially since the first time I forgot to take them off before my shower and managed to wash a set down the plug! Also my false eyelash holder / applicator from Poundland is really useful for putting them on.
Another beauty tip that I picked up on a Haven makeover day is to put a little bit of blusher on the end of your nose. You’d think this might make you look like Rudolf but actually so long as you don’t overdo it, has the effect of making you look healthier and more glowing.
And on a healthy eating note - the dietician at the Forum I attended in Brigthon said that research shows eating linseeds is really good for reducing recurrence risk. Crush them for maximum benefit as otherwise they are too tiny and just pass through the system whole.
Wishing all the Sapphires minimal SEs.
Nicola x
Hi Nicola,
Just a tip about tramadol (as I’ve been on it for years due to arthritis)-it can affect your sleep in that you might feel v relaxed but find it difficult to sleep. In my experience its better to take it earlier in the day if possible. Also beware of constipation.
Thanks for the tip re; linseeds-I do take them but had no idea that its better to crush them. Hope your next tax treatment is better.
Thanks for that sukiem - don’t need anything else keeping me up at night, and my inclination would have been to dose up at bedtime in order to get some kip as last time the aches and pains woke me up. They’ve given me some extra strength laxative pills as my anal fissure (embarrassing illnesses!) is ongoing and gets triggered by constipation.
Hey…it’s Real Housewives time.
Re the flax - you can buy bags of ‘flax meal’, which is just ground up flax seeds. I make a porridge of oat bran and flax meal with a tiny bit of dark brown sugar - yum!
Hi Nicola, I know for some people tramadol has the opposite effect and makes them really drowsy. Hopefully it won’t effect you like it does me. Its a pretty powerful drug but effective in my experience. It definitely makes you feel quite good and ‘floaty’!
Missing Real Housewives today as back at work-I’m not keen on the new recruits though. Thanks for flaxseed info Pegglass
sukiem- what’s with all the new characters. Hadn’t watched for a couple of days and they’ve got all these awful people in it that just aren’t up on the bitch factor. Where’s psycho-blusher Alex and her attention-seeking husband? Where’s Kelly? Where’s yappy Jill? And there was another dark haired one who was a bit dull anyway so quite glad she’s gone.
Would quite like to be at work for a couple of days this week just to attack my blossoming trash TV addiction - I should be making it not watching it!.
Pegglass - Where do you get the flaxseed meal stuff from? x
Thanks Nicola, i wasnt sure if we could use false eyelashes with nothing to stick them up, will be checking some bargains after this on ebay, also the linseeds. I will be really thinking about all the good foods when all this crap treatment is done. already on my list, is watercress and manuka honey, which i have to dissolve in hot water, cant get it down.
and yes, it probably was you with browzings cos i remember asking for the info! take the credit xx
still havent watched a whole real housewives episode, thats my bedtime with book hour, cos oh stays down here.
and today despite being p**d off, i stopped my shitty anxiety by just making a phone call to school secretary to distract me. just told her to talk rubbish and help me calm down.it worked.
love to all our sapphires,
and nicola for your tax, good luck
sukie how was the mattress? x
june when is your next trt?
i wonder if the dodgy 10 -14 days still count if you get given the tummy injections? which is where i am this week
Hi Anne - with the lashes you need to put some eyeliner on your upper lid to hide where they are stuck on - I use a no 7 felt tip style liner as I find it a lot easier to use than liquid liners but gives a nice sharp line. I usually soften it a bit by going over with an eye shadow brush. You also need to curl them first. It can be quite tricky putting on a long strip, if so cut into smaller sections which are more manageable to apply. Personally I don’t think it matters if there are some gaps as most people don’t have perfectly even lashes. It’s a bit like wigs, messier looks more real. Beauty | Health | Pharmacy and Prescriptions - Boots
Nicola x
extra thought? linseeds or flaxseeds. do they have any bearing on hormones,? so if you are going to take tamoxifen after treatments?
anybody know? and any other superfoods that we should stuff ourselves with to fight back, we should have a list.
anne xx
My Onc told me to take one dissolvable vit c tablet a day n quarters to ease sore mouth? Confusing with all the mixed advice as I have also read somewhere that Vit C is not good???
Flaxseeds are the same thing as linseeds Anne, think it’s just what Americans call them. The dietician mainly mentioned eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. She also suggested eating some low fat dairy was a good idea - although I’m personally going to stay avoiding dairy. Also getting enough vitamin D is important. There were quite a few ‘supplements’ that really need to be avoided during treatment as they can reduce the effectiveness of chemo - the main one that worried me was Vit C because my oncologist had told me my vitamin sachet was okay but it contains a lot of vit C and apparently this ‘may’ inadvertently repair cancer cells during chemo and radiotherapy (yikes!) so think I’m going to give it a miss for the remaining cycles and also radio. Other ones to AVOID include garlic (supplement not actual garlic), echinacea, gingko, ginseng, grapeseed, soya.
Nicola x
Thanks Nicola, thats good advice, i asked about supplements too and was told there wasnt a lot of point with chemo killing all the good stuff. whats the deal with echinacea though that was a surprise on your list?
Jayne M - my oncologist also approved my vit C heavy vitamin sachet but the talk by the dietician at the Breast Cancer Care forum has worried me. Although looking at the reseach myself it seems the stuides that have caused concern are only on cell cultures and small rodents, not human clinical trials. Also the form of vitamin C used was not the same as that found in supplements. This is quite an interesting article I’ve found. It really is confusing getting lots of conflicting advice. The dietician also suggested that having some lowfat dairy may be beneficial - but I’m still going to avoid it.
Anne - echinacea may block the effectiveness of chemo. Worst of all is St John’s Wort which can reduce effectiveness by 50 percent. nx
Hi keyfeatures,
If there is anything you want to discuss further regarding what the dietician at the BCC forum said, then please give the helpline here a ring and have a chat.
Kind regards,
Jo, Facilitator