Hi Azuree - hope you are still feeling okay. I found the steroids quite hard on the system but I guess they are giving us a boost…so keep taking the tablets as they say.
lollol01 - I added a pin here especially to celebrate you and your dishevelled barnet 
Jo Brand eat your heart out. I’m just glad we’re going into Autumn as hats and scarves look less out of place. http://pinterest.com/yachtninky/stylish-scarves-and-headwear/
Hi everyone!
Just spent the last few days trying to forget about the chemo, finally getting out of the house!!
Just brought down to earth - my hair has started to fall out when I’m brushing or fiddling with my hair. Good to know I’m not the only one. Wish I could look as glam as some of keyfeatures baldy ladies. I too will probably get the Jo Brand look with out being as funny as her though.
Ah well out with ‘Wiggy’ and the hats!!!
I too am having moments with the positive brigade - I think we need some time to wallow in misery. If you can’t when you’ve got cancer - then when!!!
Grumble and misery now slightly over - time to face the family!!
We’re on our countdown to better year 2013!!! - trying to be positve!!! LOL
Hi hun. I was diagnosed with BC on 13th July, had my mastectomy on 27th July & am just waiting to see my oncologist on 27th September to get a start date for my chemo… I too am anxious about the side effects. I am a single mum to an 8 year old & the thought of going through chemo over xmas & her birthday (8th Jan) is worrying. However, i have explained as much as i can to her about how this chemo will affect me & although she is concerned, she seems to understand. I am lucky i have wonderful friends & family for support. Dont be afraid to ask for help - i am very independant but am most definetly gonna accept all offers of help, advice & support. I have been told i will have 6 sessions, so my Princess & I have decided to get 6 pieces of card, numbered 1 - 6, which we will decorate & each time i come home from hospital after a session, we will rip a card up! By #3 i will be half way through by #5, we will be ready for my last session.
i just keep telling myself by Easter i will be done. HUGE excuse for overindulging in chocolate!
Good luck with it hun… x
Hello to everyone and waving to Ribby, Azuree, Zingy and Heidi too 
Keyfeatures - I love your Pinterest boards, and will probably have to steal some pics - best is the bird’s nest!
I had my echocardiogram today, saw the onc nurse, had bloods done and picked up my wig - getting ready for blast off with first FEC on Tues 25th.
Ive gone for a wig that looks nothing like my overbleached, thin bob - so it seems completely surreal lol! My son thought I’d look great at an Abba night, but the dog didnt seem to care. I’d love to be brave and bald - but may bottle out when it happens and at least the wig is very warm 
Tippy x
Hi
I am popping in from the April thread and I have just posted on the October thread and thought of you Spetmeber girls so have copied here.
You are in the worst place at the moment, once chemo starts oddly it gets better, because you can control at least some of the little things. Joining the April thread was the best thing I did, we have laughed & raged together and it is fabulous to share with other people feeling the same. Campo’s spa has soothed us in our darkest moments and there has always been someone on a good week ( and you do have them) while others have been down. You will all obsess about the same things at the same time starting with hair (when should I shave) and ending with hair (is it growing back.
Get yourselves booked on a LGFB session they are fabulous & you get lots of free products, also headstrong are good for helping you tie scarves & try lots of head gear on to see what suits you before you buy. Water is your best friend drink gallons of it as it really helps.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, like Vanns I am 6 weeks post chemo, we held virtual hands all the way as we had chemo on the same day. Tomorrow I am going to Turkey on holiday & last weekend I went to a music festival and danced in a tent for several hours each night! I am still knackered on a regular basis, have no eyelashes or eyebrows but my hair is coming back and I am beginning to feel like the old me.
Also if any of you have a desk job & need to work for your sanity, it is possible. I am self employed so had no choice, but worked on average 2 days a week right through treatment & it kept me sane. I was lucky that my employer was very flexible but it is doable.
Hang on in there, hold each others hands & good luck.
S x
Hi everyone. Just wanted to say hope everyone has a good weekend- especially those of use due to have our second FEC next week. ( think some of us go wednesday -I go Thursday!). I’m not looking forward to it but at least it will be 2 down -4 to go!. Apart from the first 4 days after the chemo luckily I haven’t felt too bad. I’ve been out and about shoppping, dog walking etc so hopefully the next one will bring a similar result?. I had the cold cap and no hair loss as yet- don’t know if it’s still too early!
Good luck ladies
SZH xx
Hehehe and many thanks Keyfeatures you made me laugh - I could disguise all body parts with that hairdo (well a few anyway). My wig will be making an appearance sooner rather than later at this rate. People tell me I have lots of hair so can afford to lose some but not sure the hoover will agree. I took the dog for a walk yesterday and the wind felt like needles on my scalp so told the dog its the garden for him from now when its windy. I keep looking at lovely hats and scarves but nothing seems to suit me but I guess at the moment I have a choice so things may change when I don’t and it will be a case of ‘any port in a storm’.
Has anyone else who used the coldcap started to lose any hair? will be interesting to know what everyone else is going through.
Lol
lollol01 - glad you enjoyed the picture. Mine is all shaved off now as was coming out in clumps. Feel okay about it, I may go bare headed if hot enough but today’s look is a flapper-inspired buff/scarf combo with a couple of clip on flowers. Going to the first day of a poetry course and sitting there meeting new people with a freshly-cut skinhead feels like a step too far at the moment.
Keyfeatures - you sound pretty as a picture. Did you try the cold cap? and how long after your chemo did the hair loss begin?
No I didn’t do cold cap. I didn’t like the sound of it but found out they don’t offer it at my hospital anyway - so lucky I didn’t want it! I am now two weeks and one day after chemo 1. My body/pubic hair started falling out about five days ago I think, head hair really only started coming out significantly yesterday. I’d cut it short a couple of days before chemo 1 and I decided rather than worry about bald /thin patches and whether they were noticeable to shave it off. We have some wahl hair clippers as I used to trim the OH’s hair between visits to the barber. So he’s now returning the favour.
After all my comments re feeling good after my 1st lot of chemo I then went on to feeling really crap with sore throat, cough & headache, but it passed and I felt good enough to go back to work. In fact have felt much better this lst week and still have all my hair so there are times when the cold cap works - but it may still happen & so have the wig there as back up, in fact Simply Wigs website is a great place, very quick, good competitive prices’s & you can claim VAT back.
I don’t know about you but my hospital offfers massages which is great, very like a spa treatment & am booked onto teh LGFG course in November, here’s to next week when it starts all over again, good luck girls
Hi all, I went for my pre chemo talk today at the centre. Although I knew all the side effects, after being there today it all seems so real now. Feel very down,my head is pounding and I honestly feel like backing out and not doing it.
Hello you September Sirens!
I am Pixie, from the April thread "The easter Chemo Bunnies’… and shall think of you as svelt-like serenading sirens - luring bc onto the rocks!
Bc is a bugger and the treatment is a bigger one. but you know, it does pass so quickly. Once you get started, your life becomes very scheduled, you know exactly how you are going to feel on each day of your cycle. Our April thread, okay i am bias, is the most glorious one on here - mainlu becasue it is so blooming funny. Who would have thought we could have laughed through this? But we have. Okay we have cried and ranted as well, but most of the time we have laughed and just got on with it.
We have now all finished chemo and some of us have finished our rads too. We are having a terrific meet up at the end of October when we are traveling from all over the country to meet in person for the first time. goodness, we shall be heavy on the tissues that day. So i am sharing this with you, as vans, campo and southpool have said, it is do-able but it is not do-able alone.
Just a few pieces of advice:
-
Ask for a line putting in, either a PICC or a Hickman. saves all the hunt the needle fiasco and protects your veins. Chemo is very hard on the veins and can cause them to collapse or harden.
-
keep ahead of the constipation. I know, it sounds awful but believe me, constipation has been the constant problem for almost all of us.
-
Invest in an electric desk fan. you will not believe how chemo and steroids bring on the hot flushes - especially at night. having a fan next to the bed was a real life-saver for me.
I have worked all through my treatment, by taking one week off in three, working part-time week two and full-time week three. For me, being self-employed, i had no choice but am glad i did it as it is so easy to become consumed by cancer world.
the other thing i have done is get into fund-raising big time by making and selling happy bags… am sure each and everyone of you would like one. please send me a message and i will direct you to my website where you can read more about them.
Do read our April thread - it will cover all your questions and also make you laugh.
Good luck and much love
Pixie
xx
Heidi00123 - don’t feel down. It is a lot of information to get your mind around. Did they give you reading material to to absorb the information better when you are at home?
Everyone on the forum knows how scary the thought of it all is, but do read through the site info, or talk to one of the online nurses. They can answer your concerns. Not everyone experiences the same side effects, or to the same degree. It is not ‘a walk in the park’, but it can be done, and you are not going through it alone. This group will hold your hand and share experiences with you.
I think you would do well to talk to more people if you are so uncertain about chemo… do call the forum helpline and talk things through to help you decide.
Hello Heidi00123, Don’t despair I think we all feel like that at one point or another. Mine was day 3 after the chemo when I felt I wasn’t sure I could do it 5 more times. It helps reading everyone’s experiences here. Also being able to vent your own feelings here and knowing everone understands has helped me so much.
I think we all know deep down it’s right to carry on with the chemo and everything that goes with it. We are giving ourselves the best chance to live, it’s as simple as that. Doesn’t mean it’s simple to go through. So we’ll be there for each other!!
Good like with the first treatment, got my 2nd on Thursday!!! xx
That would be good luck!!! not like!!
Heidi001233 - I didn’t get a pre chemo talk because I was on holiday but I’m glad I didn’t because I think it would have freaked me out. The leaflets they sent were enough. Chemo is scary, but then so is giving birth (not that I’ve done that), and like giving birth people do it all the time, with varying degrees of complications and difficulties. They come out the other side and they recover. Remember, it is always your choice to accept the treatment but if you do go ahead with it we’ll all be here with you on the journey.
Best wishes,
Nicola
Heidi - I feel for you. This “before-chemo” stage has been by far the hardest part for me to deal with so far and makes the 10 day wait for my biopsy results seem a doddle by comparison (it wasnt lol) I didnt know I could be so emotional, and feel so out of control. I hope you can find some comfort from the experiences of the other women on here though - Im sure it will be easier once it actually starts, its the waiting and dwelling on whats about to happen thats the hardest x
Hi I can’t seem to write my own feed! I’m due to start chemo next Friday. I have grade 2 bc I had the tumour removed about 4 weeks ago. I am worried about chemo and weighing up the pros and cons of chemo I am onLy 24 years old and want the best chances for the rest of my life without cancer. If the cancer has been cut y chemo? The cancer was in my nodes but only a tiny bit all where taken. Is chemo the right thing? Y not just radio? Confused totally
Hi Confused.com
Welcome to the Breast Cancer Care Discussion Forums. While you’re waiting for replies I thought it might be helpful to post links to a few BCC publications just in case you haven’t come across them on the main BCC site:
Younger women with breast cancer:
www2.breastcancercare.org.uk/publications/diagnosed-breast-cancer/younger-women-breast-cancer-bcc66
Support for younger women with breast cancer:
Treating breast cancer:
www2.breastcancercare.org.uk/publications/treatment-and-side-effects/treating-breast-cancer-bcc4
Chemotherapy for breast cancer:
www2.breastcancercare.org.uk/publications/treatment-side-effects/chemotherapy-breast-cancer-bcc17
Please do also remember that the BCC Helpline is available, offering emotional support and information, Tel 0808 800 6000 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm and Sat 10am-2pm
With best wishes,
Anna, BCC Facilitator