Sarah, I’ve got several jars of Manuka honey waiting to be opened and was taking it regularly before chemo started but with my chemo tastebuds I can’t bear the taste of it for most of the time. It makes me feel ill just to think about eating it, so it’s just sitting on the shelf 
Jane xxx
Hi guys
Where you all gone? have a couple of days off and you all disappear. Hope you all okay anyway.
Just about coming round now after nasty feccer 3, and boy was it a feccer.
Manuka honey - good stuff or it would be if the smell didn’t send me gagging to the kitchen sink every time i open it. Do you think the old trick of holding my nose would work or should i just put it on the kids toast in the mornings to get rid of it lol.
Sarah - thank goodness your getting the injections next fec, got to keep up with us honey, can’t have you slacking <smile>. What’s this super strengthening eyelash gel you,ve been using, think i could do with some. I,d try anything not to lose them, though a few have disappeared from the corners. </smile>
Maria x
Oh dear maria, hope you’re feeling a bit better now. I usually quite like Manuka but it really doesn’t go well with chemo SEs - yuck, yuck, yuck.
I’ve got FEC3 on Wednesday and really not looking forward to it - it seems to have been rather nasty for quite lot of people.
Jane xxx
Yes, name of the eyelash stuff please while I still have some! I’m hoping to get up to Brum city centre on Tuesday for the meet-up, so I could brave a cosmetics counter or two to look for it.
So far my facial hair is still with me, just a bit thinner, but I’m watching anxiously this week and the next. Body hair is thinning as well. My scalp is still fuzzy.
The LGFB DVD turned up towards the end of last week, and I’m glad the makeover ladies took their scarves and wigs off so everyone can see a couple of patchy scalps. I don’t think you quite anticipate what happens between thinning and bald. Well, how can you, unless you have a friend or relative willing to show you?
Cheryl
good morning ladies,
well still no taste buds, grrrr i love my coffee, i have tons of chocolates and i will not open them and waste them,
Sarah, i too would love to know what the name of the eyelash coating gel thingy is too, ive been using rapid lash from boots, i would so love to keep my eyelashes and brows.
ive not washed my hair for a week, i wont even comb it, been using cold cap but strands still come away, must get over it, must get over it,
but i cant…
jane, lots of luck for 3 on wednesday, ive not had 3…
take care
love and hugs
Donna
xx
Right, having heard many comments about how bad fec 3 is, i have decided to give it a miss and move straight on to fec 4 thank you very much… I have to admit,i am 3 and half weeks now on from fec 2 and i do feel almost absolutely normal again, so hopefully when we do all get to the end we shall be back to being human again fairly quickly.
The eyelash/brow gel is made by a company called Talika, google it, or there is a link on the LGFB website… I have zero hair anywhere on my body apart form a bit of fuzz on lower legs, but facial hair still intact… (i dont mean beard and whiskers!!!)… It is expensive, but seeing as i have been buying kids beanie hats from Asda in the sale i think i can justify the expense… LOL
Donna… i would say, bite the bullet, wash the hair, see what happens… i know they say that if you leave it long enough it will wash itself but i remember when i had my recon surgery and was in hospital a week, by day 6 i was literally BEGGING the nurses to get me to the sink to wash my hair, i couldnt bear the smell… the body odour i didnt mind Ha Ha, but the greasy locks, no way… Good Luck ! xxxx
well i washed it and it went into a dreadlock, panic mode set in, tears set in, etc etc
i put loads of conditioner on and combed it carefully, but loads has come out,
would i be bald now if id not used the cold cap?
sorry feeling sad
Donna
x
Donna, now that your hair has dried, is it just thinner or are there patches? If it’s only thinner, perhaps you will go on with a head of hair for a while. Sorry you’ve lost so much.
Cheryl
Hi Donna. i also am having cold cap and had FEC 3 last week. initially thought my hair was ‘safe’ but started shedding about day 20 FEC 1. used to wash my hair daily,(it was my crowning glory!) so when started falling out i was devastated and wondered if it was worth continuing with the cap. i now wear a headscarf as i have a bald patch on the top and i rarely wash it or even comb it, just cover it up. i am going to continue with the cap though as my way of thinking is that when the chemo has ended, even if i only have 20% left, it won’t take as long for the regrowth to ‘knit’ in, as it would if i was totally bald. may sound quite vain but the change of image has been very stressful and still gets to me. i have never looked so ‘ugly’ in all my life. but on a plus, halfway through now, the end is in site and looking forward to the day when i can ‘safely’ wash, brush and style my hair again. Joanne xx
Hi everyone
How you all bearing up?
Jane are you gearing up for fec 3 tomorrow, drinking plenty, etc,etc,etc.
How is your hair looking now Donna? I,m on fec 3 and have used cold cap. I found it thinned alot on first fec. Woke up one morning and had a matted birds nest on either side of my head. When i tried to de - tangle it, it just came away in my hands. I was horrified. I looked like bloody Worsely Gummage( only with nice teeth)LOL. It had to go! Got it cut really short and although i’ts not how i like my hair to be, it’s now presentable. As Joanne says if you can keep up with cold cap it will be better when it’s starts to regrow.
Well i,m feeling better, but not quite my old self at the mo at all. In a bit of the ‘cup half empty’ mood. Thought i would be glad that i,ve got fec 3 out of the way, half way through and all that! Now i,m finding that another 3 seems like way too many!
Anybody finding they,ve got excessive thirst,that can’t be quenched? Am sick of drinking.
It’s nice and sunny here today,so am going to take my moaning dog Paddy out for a walk ( He,s been a bit neglected the last 5 days, only been able to take him round the block). Hopefully i’ll be full of the joys of spring when i get back, fresh air will have got rid of my headache and i’ll have loads of energy. Gotta try!
Maria x
I don’t know about excessive thirst, but I get a dry sensation in my that seems to go right through to my stomach, and I estimate I’m drinking nearly twice as much as usual. I go on the theory that my body is telling me I need extra fluid. During my first pregnancy I was perpetually thirsty. I could drink a couple of big glasses of water and I’d be thirsty again a few minutes later. (It was the infamous hot summer of 1976.)
Cheryl
Well it’s took me a full week to feel anything like normal. yippee i feel ok today!
Cheryl i remember that summer well, My mum was heavily pregnant with my brother.
I,ve finally done it - Gillian made her debut(wig). Went out for something to eat with some friends and thought i’d bite the bullet. Went ok, but what i didn’t realise is how wigs don’t like hair (however minor). Could feel it gradually slipping back as the evening wore on. It wouldn’t have took much for people to realise that i was wearing a wig, as i spent the whole night yanking it back in to place hehe. My friends thought it was hilarious. Going to the theatre for my birthday tomorrow night,so Gillian is making her 2nd appearance. Going to be lots more people about this time. I,ll have to get an elastic band to go under my chin to keep it on lol.
How are all you feccer 3’s doing, hopefully your fairing better than i did.
Maria x
Hello all!
FEC3 was a bit nasty yesterday - my veins have just about given up now so they had to use a really dinky one at the base of my index finger and IT HURT. Having a Hickman Line put in before the next one (TAX1), thank goodness.
Definitely worse SEs this time - came so close to being sick this morning I don’t know how I escaped. it was 5 minutes after I’d taken the morning pile of pills as well, so I was really determined not to lose the lot!
I’ve spent most of the day sleeping and have eated spag bol tonight, so hopefully it’s all a bit more stable now!
I can just picture you Maria - Gillian held on with a big shiny strap like the ones on old fireman’s helmets… very elegant!
Jane xxx
Just lost what I had written!! I found FEC 3 quite tough to get over. Spent alot of time horizontal the first week. Feeling good now though. Maria, well done for taking Gillian out and about. I’m very conscious of mine riding up at the back and me frantically pulling it down, Sainsburys or the High Street I seem to keep one hand free to adjust it as necessary. To be honest I’m more comfortable in a hat. Hang on to that spag bol Jane. I won’t be sorry to leave FEC behind for the early SE’s. Bit scared of TAX though. I have read some horror stories lately.The Hickman line will be a relief. No more sore arms. x
I,ve done it, I,ve done it - shaved head,miles better, no more cold cap for me. AND went nude to the theatre (without wig i mean). I feel liberated. Poor gillian, to be relegated to the back of the cupboard after just one outing.
Well done Jane and alto for getting through fec 3. 3 down 3 to go, yippee! Can’t you tell i,m now one the up side of fec 3,he he much more positive.
Maria x
I also spent most of the first FEC3 week horizontal–just sitting to rest wasn’t enough, my feet and head needed to be at a similar level, and if I felt very dizzy my head had to be flat. At least that was only once or twice and brief at that.
I still find my wig a bit uncomfortable, but my head is covered in fuzz. I’d shave it again and try to get closer, but the fuzz is shedding, so there doesn’t seem to be any point. Why couldn’t FEC take out the hairs on my chin first? At least the wig doesn’t seem to slip on the fuzz.
Does anyone else find that they need a bit more sleep, even during the good weeks?
You can get nets to go over any remaining hair and keep a wig from slipping, and I think someone said that you can improvise them from old tights, which is probably worth trying if you aren’t going the cold cap route.
Cheryl
I also spent most of the first FEC3 week horizontal–just sitting to rest wasn’t enough, my feet and head needed to be at a similar level, and if I felt very dizzy my head had to be flat. At least that was only once or twice and brief at that.
I still find my wig a bit uncomfortable, but my head is covered in fuzz. I’d shave it again and try to get closer, but the fuzz is shedding, so there doesn’t seem to be any point. Why couldn’t FEC take out the hairs on my chin first? At least the wig doesn’t seem to slip on the fuzz.
Does anyone else find that they need a bit more sleep, even during the good weeks?
You can get nets to go over any remaining hair and keep a wig from slipping, and I think someone said that you can improvise them from old tights, which is probably worth trying if you aren’t going the cold cap route.
Cheryl
Thanks Cheryl - i may try the idea of old tights, but i think i,m going to keep gillian for times when i really need to look less thuggish ha ha. I didn’t really - wore plenty of make up and i still managed to look femanine. OH thought i really suited a bald head. He always had a thing for Siguorney Weaver in Alien.
I know what you mean about facial hair, i,ve got fine downey hair all over my face that i never had before treatment, and i,m really miffed that i still have to shave my legs. It was the only good point of chemo. Same with my under arms.
Seem to need sleep at regular intervals now, but can’t manage a lie in.
Good luck with the dizziness, hopefully that will wear off shortly.
Maria x
Fortunately the dizziness wore off around the end of week 1, but it still took longer than with FEC2. I hope the low blood pressure stage doesn’t increase each time.
I’m wearing scarves and hats more than the wig, but I get cold if I don’t wear something on my head.
Cheryl
hi guys
Anybody else having problems posting. Not going to be able to post after today anyway. Don’t know what i,m going to do.
Maria x