TiJ congrats on reaching the end of chemo and all your treatment apart, of course, from the longer term medication. Your veins sound really painful, is there anything you can use to help? Hope you have an easy time with the side effects and get to enjoy some of the good weather. Lovely to have a holiday to look forward to. Where are you going? You mentioned a while ago that you were planning to produce a booklet. Have you made any progress?
Rosie, great news that you’re home at last. Sitting by the pool sounds lovely. Sorry that you had complications till the end and what a pity about your veins too. I had a PICC line put in at the beginning because my veins were so poor but having then developed a clot and having to inject myself daily for at least 6 months with blood thinner I have wondered from time to time whether that was the right decision. I guess it’s always going to be a question of weighing up the pros and cons. It sounds a good idea to have plans B and C in the background but I hope you don’t have to use either of them. You deserve to get to this wedding, we are all rooting for you. Sorry you didn’t manage to get much sleep. I really hope you’re wrong about not sleeping much till Friday. Are you able to doze in the day? Hope the constipation breakfast has worked and you don’t need to have recourse to the Go-cake.
EAM, sorry that your mouth is so painful. I know you are taking lots of medication but is there anything you can take to numb the pain. I did ask about using Tyrozets when mine was bad. The doc wasn’t keen because they contain antibiotics but said occasional use was OK. Other people have used a solution of salt and bicarbonate. Don’t know if you have tried that.
Lovewine, glad you enjoyed your Look Good course. Hope you get a lot of pleasure from the goodies and make use of at least some of the new techniques.
Wildpurl, glad you are feeling more energised. I rested up most of yesterday so I could get to my last evening class on American literature which has been such a wonderful distraction throughout chemo. Like you finding it too hot to sit outside.
Cassie, great that you too are nearly there and that you managed more than a full day at work. Don’t do that too much or your colleagues will think chemo gives you extra energy.
Finally, has anyone experienced numbness other than in feet and hands with TAX. I always get this but this time I am also feeling a bit numb in my face, legs and elsewhere. Wondering g if it is the Tax and if so whether I can look forward to skin peeling all over-great for being on holiday- or whether it is a side effect of the medication I am having to take for the cold sore.
Hi ladies suffering a bit in the heat but feeling more normal had some good news last week only got to have 3 weeks of radiotherapy not 5! Yippee normality beckons Rose I think you should change your login to Captain Scarlet you are indestructible!! Thinking of getting ringtone for my phone!
Well ladies as the chemotherapy fog lifts and we embark on a cancer free life has anyone decided to change things? I am thinking that I want to do more cause we all get our heads down and another year has gone in the blink of an eye. This journey really makes you take stock doesn’t it?
Louise , what good news on 2.less weeks of treatment! Having your life back beckons! Rosie, you sound like you are doing well, hope plan b and c are not needed! Managed to not look too bad on my return with a dolled up face apart from my eyeliner had given me panda eyes as I had sweated so much in best, prob will leave that off tomorrow! Eam tried hard to resist the Jordan look, and they say less is more!! And yes have been definitely living up to my name and hitting the wine, made me feel much better though! Hope you Are doing ok, end in sight now! Are you planning on going to a ball!? Be very nice for you if so.
Joan, evening class must be a great distraction, keeps the brain active too
Wildpurl, I too have had a dip in energy this week, the hot weather doesn’t help either.
Sorry to hear that Rosie, hope things get moving soon! Go cake usually works for me, it really makes you feel miserable when bunged up, dried apricots are good too! It seems one thing after another doesn’t it with all this cancer crap, and yes I think the novelty of trying to look glamorous is wearing off already! Xx
Morning everyone, Rosie, sorry you are not getting any relief, you do need it sorting as it will hinder your recovery, caddie, blisters on feet sound very painful, hope you can enjoy a nice day off today,
I didn’t have hardly any sleep at all either last night, mainly due to being so worried about my appointment today with surgeon, feel like every time I go for an appt the bad news seems to ratchet up, am worried about my lump not shrinking on chemo- onc said it was shrinking , but had " thickening" , really, really worried my lymph nodes are now cancerous too despite a clear SNB in march, in fact totally worried all these weeks of chemo haven’t worked at all!! I just wonder how us ladies seem to cope with the stress and worry we all live with.
Hope all you facing appts and chemo get in ok, Rosie, hopefully you can get better medication sorted too. X
Lovewine, keeping my fingers crossed for you today.
Rosie, thanks for the post about the numbness. I rang the hospital and was told that it is not unusual for it to affect other parts of the body and usually happened towards the end of treatment. Today it’s spread to my backside. I hope you had your constipation sorted, compared to all the other things we go through outsiders might feel its minor but it really is horrible. On a lighter note your post to Cassis contained a lovely typo which made me laugh- I just loved the image of you walking around the house without saddles in the summer and picturing your household when it’s colder. You never know what people get up to in the privacy of their own homes.
Cassie, good that you have received your endriconology appt (apologies for the spelling). At least you will soon know where you stand and hopefully the news will be better than you fear. Your feet sound really painful, I’m amazed you are actually able to go to work.
Louise, brilliant news that 2 weeks less of radiotherapy.
Wildpurl, yes, I am planning to keep up with the nail care, although probably not with the purple varnish and I think I shall to learn how to paint them myself, not sure can justify weekly expense. Having decent nails, virtually for the first time in my life, is one of the few positive things to come out of all this. If they pack up on me ow thT chemo has finished I shall be mightily bleep off.
I managed to misdo my Zarzio injection this morning. Don’t know what happened, it really hurt putting it in, it didn’t retract and when I took it out there was still quite a lot left in (which stupidly I only found out by expelling it. Talk about chemo brain. Hoping one won’t make that much difference. Can’t face ringing the hospital again, already rung them twice this week.
Hi everyone, am very relieved to report I had a scan on enlarged lymph node and it is a seroma, so they drained it off!! Was convinced the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes, surgeon has said if oncologist decides not to do the 2 extra chemos then my surgery is booked for 29 th august, I am waiting for a phone call anytime! I think I will have at least 1 more, as it will make it a 6 week gap between last chemo and surgery and it starts growing again apparently.
Rosie, how are you getting on now? Hope you have sorted out constipation, also hope everything goes well for you tomorrow and you get on that plane on 28th! Am really willing you on!
Wildpurl, hope you enjoyed spending time in your garden with O/H it’s nice to have company, hope you have more energy too today .
Joan, I think you deserve a treat with a weekly manicure, if it makes you feel better it’s worth every penny! Hope your numbness subsides soon.
Cassie, at least you have appointments through, it seems a long way off, but can’t quite believe it’s august next week, we seem to have lost spring in a chemo daze.
Hope you are all doing well, Eam are you back to normal yet?
Wow, Lovewine, that is great news. It must be such a relief. Now just the surgery date to sort.
Hope everyone has survived the heat today. We must be beginning to compete with Rosie’s Cyprus heat. How did your reflexology go today Rosie? Hope you enjoyed it and the constipation is sorted.
I’m not feeling too bad today, just very tired. Went to friend for a chat this morning, but came home tired and fell asleep for a couple of hours. Hope I perk up next week as I’ve got lots of lovely kids taxiing to do next week.
Great news lovewine congratulations Rosie your experience with the constipation sounds very uncomfortable blimey I don’t know what I would do trying to get appointment with my Dr takes weeks i would have to get Dynorod!
So glad so many of us are on the way up
Thankyou ladies for your concern today, your best wishes and thoughts mean a lot to me- thankyou! Xx
If I have to have more chemo then I am resigned to it, but still hoping I haven’t, breast care nurse said today they may do more because I am young(52 !!) and also because I am HER2 + , so will wait and see.
Rosie, celebreties and others pay a fortune for colonic irrigation- sounds like what you had today!! Hope you feel relief now and can sit down!! Reflexology sounds nice too, hope you both have benefited from it too.
Wildpurl, maybe a day off tomorrow would be nice for you! Enjoy your garden and company of your menfolk!!
I too have thought of my work/ life balance and have decided to cut back on my workload in the future, I have been working very long hours to build up my business, I think now at the cost of my health, when faced with our illness you assess what’s important and what you can change, I still will work hard , but maybe not 12 hour days!!thankyou again ladies for your words of support today??
Good morning, all the best Rosie for being untrussed today, you must feel very uncomfortable, enjoy friends visit, I find it tiring too- i have a friend dropping in tomorrow so I know I will be tired in evening! My son also wants to take me to a antique furniture shop that has some great bargains , he enjoys stripping down and re painting, so am hoping to find some gems!!
Wildpurl, enjoy your day off! I too am taking most of day off have about 2 hours of work and then thought I might call in to waitrose and treat myself to a yumyum and some nice food!
Cassie hope you get on ok too,
Tij, sounds like next week you will be busy!! Hope it maybe won’t be quite as hot! Maybe you have a cooler breeze living on an island?
Have a good day everyone, Joan I have forgotten- sorry, do you have a surgery date yet?
Lisa, you chose a great week to go to Cornwall, hope you are not sunburnt!!
Glad to hear you are a little more comfortable Rosie and that your dressing and stitch removal helps even further.
Lovewine, good to hear your news, not as worrying after all, we will all have our hair growing back gey at this rate!
Thanks for all your support ladies, I am off to work again today, my last day before pre chemo checks, Oncology appt and radiotherapy planning appointment on Monday. I am then off to devon for a week, it amazing I still feel guilty about not being able to go into work, I think the fact that I have two appointments on the two days that I am due back to work, it does not help. A CT scan for thyroid and then my radiology starts.
Hello again, have just seen the news regarding radiotherapy breakthrough, one blast at time of operation instead of weeks of daily treatment! Expected to be available on Nhs soon as just been cleared by NICE, don’t think it will happen in time yet for all of us, but wouldn’t it be great not too have to go every day for same results???
Rosie, great news you can go to wedding even with stitches! Cassie is right we all will have grey hair when it grows back with all the worry of all our dramas!! You will look great in your proper bra and softies, your outfit sounds perfect too and what an achievement and strength of character you have Rosie to be there, hope you are not in too much discomfort?
Wildpurl, I like knitting too, not in this weather though! Misspent youth sounds rather exciting- at least you had different experiences in life!! I too had a bit of an hedonistic lifestyle in the 1980s when I was in my twenties and it was damn good fun !! Wish it would rain here, it’s almost unbearably hot, didn’t sleep hardly at all last night, combination of heat and being so het up and worried about my scan on enlarged lymph node even tho it was good news the worry takes a while to leave.
Hope you don’t get rain on the wedding day though Rosie! Cassie, that’s a shame you didn’t get to be used on the trial, what a difference it would make having just one targeted blast of radiotherapy,
Most annoying, did a fairly lengthy post this morning but am now told ‘authentication failed’. The web site seems to have changed, I had to sign in on a different way. Anyone else had this problem? I’m just going to send this to see if it works.
First night trying to do without sleeping pills. Hopeless. Had a really busy day: nails, trawl around local community bookshop (to assuage my guilt for buying so much stuff on Kindle), PICC Line flush and dressing (painful, new district nurse managed to snag the line, I think they must have heard me yell out in the waiting room) then couple of hours at a shopping mall, then cooked proper supper for first time in several days. I should be exhausted. And I even had a lovely glass of Kir before supper. Ah well, it gives me a chance to catch up a bit having lost my post.
Cassie. Rain, how wonderful. We’re still sweltering. Pity you didn’t get to have the radiotherapy in the trial. Enjoy Devon.
Rosie, sorry you’re still bound up, even if not quite so tight. It will be wonderful to get the dressings off on Sunday and have a shower. Such simple pleasures. Then at least some staples out and you’re good to fly. Amazing. Great you’re also unbound in another way too. Your GP sounds a star and your husband has certainly been getting an education. Glad you and OH enjoyed the reflexology.
Lovewine, great news about your lymph node. I do t have date for op yet, assume I will get it when see surgeon on August 6. Any news yet about whether you will be having more chemo?