Louise wise words, unless you have been /are in our situation it is impossible to appreciate how hard it is to be upbeat all of the time, it really is a crap disease.
Rosie, thinking of you this evening, hope everything is going well and you are not too tired! All the very best to your son and daughter in law for a long and happy life together!???
Hope everyone else feeling fed up today is ok and maybe feeling slightly better- am still in the fed up corner myself!
Thank you all for your supportive responses to my moans and commiserations to those of you also in the grumpy corner, whether because of uncertainty, the trots, fatigue or being fed up with feeling ill and not able to do things. It is such a lifeline having this forum where you can be honest about your feelings.
I managed to escape the gloom for most of yesterday when we went to the theatre in Stratford with friends. It was one of Shakespeare’s lighter plays-Two Gentlemen of Verona- very well done and apart from a couple of occasions when thoughts about surgery intruded, a good distraction. So I am planning to stay busy for the next few days, grandchildren this afternoon, a work meeting tomorrow and a friend coming on Tuesday. In between I will try to get my head around reconstruction options in case it turns out to be mastectomy.
Rosie, hope you had a wonderful time at the wedding and are not too exhausted today. I was thinking of you yesterday and hoping the weather was fine, it poured rain most of the day in Stratford but then just before five the sun came out. Since the weather normally travels from the south west maybe you got the sun a bit earlier. On the way back we saw pockets of what appeared to be either snow or hailstones at the side of the road. That’s British weather for you. I hope breaking the news to your mother in law went OK and she wasn’t too overtly emotional.
Lovewine, Wildpurl, Tij, hope you have a better day today. Tij, it’s horrible when not only do you feel unwell but the effects of the chemo are visible to others, especially on the face. I developed a cold sore in the middle of my cheek and felt really unclean.
Cassie, Jos, Nellie, hope you are starting to feel better.
Rosie, so pleased everything went so well, even the weather. You will have some lovely memories. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
What a lovely day Rosie! I think every wedding day has a minor hiccup with dresses/ rings etc, well done for lasting until 11.00p.m too!! Enjoy your time with your family today and like Joan says you have some lovely memories and some nice photos too?!
Eldest son is taking me to a vintage/ antiques market this morning so hoping to feel a little happier! Trying to put the uncertainty to back of mind today- can’t bear the thought that maybe next weekend I could be lying on sofa after my 7th chemo feeling like s…t!!
Take care everyone.
Rosie, so glad you had a great day yesterday. That must have been a real panic with the zip. Are you going to have a relaxing day today or are there more family gatherings?
My spotty face is looking less angry this morning but it is doing what it did last cycle which is to get very dry and peel. It’s quite sore and very itchy, particularly around my eyes. I have been putting Bio oil on it to try and stick my skin back on! Makes it feel better for a while. We are going to some friends for supper tonight so I hope it feels better by then.
My good news is that there is definite evidence of ‘five o clock shadow’ on my head. The question is, what shall I do with the remaining straggly Bobby Charlton combover? Should I get it shaved off and start again or wait till the new growth gets a bit longer?
I enjoyed the vintage market very much, it was nice to spend time with my son who is 25 and got married last September, my lovely daughter in law has gone to London for a couple of days with her friend so he’s at a loose end, they are off to Paris on Wednesday for a few days- lucky things!
Rosie,enjoy the carvery and some time with your dad tomorrow, it seems to have flown by this past week!
Tijj , hope you sort out the hair situation, wildpurls suggestion sounds a good idea, enjoy your supper!
Wildpurl, glad you are feeling better and managed some gardening, being outside I think makes you feel more uplifted.
Joan, your visit to Stratford sounds a nice distraction , it’s a really nice place to visit I think, also I like leamington spa very much too.
Yes what a relief it will be Rosie to get those stitches out now! No surprised you are all tired! Weddings are emotional and that is very draining!
TiJ, hope you enjoyed your evening with friends and that the bio oil helped. I hadn’t realised that the skin on your face had peeled last chemo. I was miserable enough about my peeling hands and feet so I feel for you about your face. But good news about your hair coming back. Too soon yet I guess to know whether it is different from your normal hair in terms of colour or curliness. People seem to have been very keen to tell me that mine will come back curly.
Lovewine, glad you enjoyed your vintage market. Did you buy anything?
Wildpurl, glad you are feeling a bit better and more energised.
Rosie, not surprised you’re tired. Hope the next few days go well and you get the blasted stitches out at last and start feeling more comfortable. I hadn’t realised you had family traveling down the M5, we saw miles of almost stationery traffic on the southbound carriageway as we were going to Stratford.
My challenge for the day is a meeting with a couple of colleagues to begin to plan a research project. I feel so remote from work I am wondering whether I will be able to contribute much at all. On the other hand it will be a distraction and the interval between having an idea and getting funding (if you do) is so long that if we don’t start now I won’t have much of a job to go back to.
Thankyou Rosie, hope you have a stress free trip home! Good luck also with stitch removal etc!
Have a busy day at work today, as have to continue this week as if chemo definitely on cards for Thursday , even though I won’t know until Wednesday!! Bloods tomorrow.
Hope everyone is ok today x
Joan, hope your meeting proves to be useful, my lovely son bought me an old watch , I love old jewellery, brooches etc so I really love it! My son has a real interest in antique books particularly Victorian ones so he picked up a couple of those so he was happy too!!
Rosie safe journey.
Lovewine you and I are on the same journey this week re chemotherapy bloods etc good luck
Tlj so sorry your face is sore hope u find some relief
Joan impressive that you can even find the inclination to attend meeting I have been providing holiday cover for a few hours per day and I have been knackered plus very forgetful
To all you other lovely ladies here’s to another week closer to ending this
Oh and John Lewis have some masectomy bras on sale by Royce
Morning all, jos what a dreadful experience, how discouraging to find yourself in hospital right at the end of the process but it was the right place to be and you are recovering now. Good to hear about the hair and eyebrows, like the sound of operation build up!
I’m at work today, feeling much better and with more energy than last week and had another good nights sleep. I have decided to have another long weekend and am only working till Wednesday so that suits me. OH is also off Thursday and Friday so plan to do some more gardening and activate our one month National Trust membership which was a Xmas present and go somewhere with a lovely house and garden to walk around.
I am definitely feeling a lot better and even a bit stronger today so hang in there guys we are all coming out of this place.
Hello all ladies,
I am glad to hear all went well and the weather held out for the wedding Rosie, well done for managing until 11pm.
Wildpurl I know wht you mean about energy or the lack of it I have been out twice over the weekend once with my younger daughter for a bit of light clothes shopping which did not last very long I quaked a bit in the heat and returned early. I meet up with my younger brother yesterday for a pub lunch as I felt I needed to get out, all this staying at home is making me a bit stir crazy. We met up but I coud only eat maybe half my lunch as my taste buds are still not working which really was a shame. I walked back home down Highgate Hill which was nice but then gave up at Archway and got on a bus for the last two stops! I think it will take quite a while for all of us to feel fit again and its really frustrating, even my walking is slower, I feel about 80 at the moment.
My hair is still there but dropping quite badly at present, I hope to hang on to enough for the next couple of weeks then hopefully it should start to grow back, to be honest I have got to the stage that I really don’t care what anyone else thinks. Volterol seems to be helping with the aches and pains in the neck and shoulders at night (I have had enough of tablets) and the drop in temperature is definately helping with sleep.
Lovewine, sounds like my idea of heaven spending time with one of my children shopping for something interesting. Sorry your treatment has still not been finalised yet!
Hope we all feel better soon, it will be odd when we all start to drift off into our own worlds again, hopefully cancer free…
Oh Jos, what a shame to end up in hospital at this late stage. I had to go in with neutropenia after my second chemo but was lucky that the only bed available was a single room, to have to cope with feeling so rotten and not to be getting any peace and quiet just makes it all the worse. Take it easy, it left me feeling completely limp for several days, I didn’t even have the energy to read or listen to music. I hope your taste buds recover soon. Good news about your nails and eyebrows. Did you do anything special eg paint them with dark nail varnish? I fear one of mine might be starting to lift although the rest still seem OK. It is the finger that has been most affected by the numbness though so I am hoping that is the reason.
Cassie, it’s good that you are getting some relief from the aches and pains, hope they will soon disappear. Only 80! I definitely feel I have been practising for old age.
Wildpurl, glad you are feeling better but it sounds a good idea to do a 3 day week. Enjoy your National Trust visits if that’s what you decide to do. Which houses are near you?
Rollicarpit, glad that radiotherapy is going well apart from the tiredness. Have you used anything to prevent skin damage. A friend of mine has just finished her course but developed very sore skin. I think she used aqueous cream. Other people have mentioned bio oil.
My meeting went well and we have the germ of a research proposal. My colleagues are keen to get it in by November but thankfully are happy to do the spadework with me just commenting. I feel incapable of any original thought at the moment. I came home and fell asleep for two hours on the sofa. However that gave me enough energy to bake a cake for a friend coming tomorrow. Trouble is, we won’t eat much of it so the temptation to have a piece with coffee or maybe while watching TV in the evening is likely to prove irresistible. One good thing about FEC, it put me off eating, which was very good for my waistline.
Hi Joan I have been using aqueous cream that the hospital gave me a couple of times a day… No sign of any skin soreness yet. I’ve had 6 sessions, day off tomorrow as the machine is being serviced !
Hi everyone, jos, hope you are feeling a little better? How awful to be in hospital after all the chemos and to be kept awake by noisy people. I am trying to do a pre operation health boost too! Have even been drinking beetroot juice and eating pumpkin seeds instead of sweets! Don’t think it will be a long term thing!! But anything to help at the moment.
Rolicarpit, you can see the end of treatment on the horizon!! Is it leicester general you have to go to? Hope cyst is sorted out, it’s market harborough that has the market, it’s only small but you can find some real gems!
It’s on every Sunday in market hall, yes we must meet up for that coffee, maybe next week or following week, depending on your treatment and my chemo/surgery!
Cassie, know what you mean about no energy! I have had to cut short shopping trips as just ran out of steam, it makes me angry I can’t do what I used to do, hope your aches and pains start to improve that will help.
Wildpurl and Joan sounds like you have been busy working, must say a visit to a stately home sounds a lovely day out.
Rosie, hope all is well with you and D/H.
All the best to you ladies, hope you are recovering from S/effects as best as can.
Thankyou for all your supportive comments on my chemo/ no chemo issue!! X
Morning everyone, just been for pre chemo bloods so will be on edge now for rest of day! Louise, you are in same boat too, hope your week goes ok .
Rosie, sad your dad is not so good, at least you managed to see him, but it must be very hard leaving family behind, at least you have sons visit to
look forward to soon!
Hope everyone is doing ok.
Afternoon ladies, glad you got to see your Dad Rosie and I think you are now at the airport waiting for your flight home. Safe trip and good luck with the stitches tomorrow!
Well done on taking part in your meeting Joan and I’m sure you did make a contribution and that your team were glad to have you there. One thing I have noticed is how pleased people at work have been to see me back, it’s very nice to see.
Jos I think your plan sounds good and pleased to hear you are feeling a bit better.
Lovewine, you are being very strong about this whole business and I really admire how you are handling it. Of course this will be the one time your bloods will be absolutely fine! I am really hoping you will not have to have another chemo and I feel upset on your behalf that you will have to have steroids tomorrow. I hope you can enjoy this evening and tomorrow anyway.
I’m at work and have had meetings all morning then went for a brisk walk. I’ve got a quiet afternoon and have some work to get on with now. I’m so glad I decided to take Thursday off! I can manage one more day…
Hope everyone else is doing OK
Hope everybody is feeling OK, particularly those that are building up for another hit of chemo.
I had my implant ‘inflated’ this morning. Painless procedure other than a small prick. The surgeon seems very chuffed with his handywork. The new boob is looking pretty similar to the old one, so I doubt whether I’m going to bother having the other one hitched up, but will decide when I go back to see him at the end of September.
My face is still itchy, although I had some piriton last night and that seemed to calm it down and meant that I had a great night’s sleep!
DH decided my hair would look better if I got rid of all the straggly bits, so he set to with his beard trimmer on my head. This was 2 days ago when the skin on my face was looking very angry. Initially it looked terrible. I looked like someone who had been in a concentration camp or a creature from a scifi movie! Fortunately, my skin is not so angry now and I think I’ve got used to my complete lack of hair so it doesn’t look quite so bad. I’m hoping the new growth will come in quickly so I can get rid of the scarves. I wish I had the guts to go commando as I find the scarves a bit annoying in this warm weather.
I can’t believe how unfit I feel. I’m slightly concerned that when I go for my echo on Friday they will find something wrong, which will be a right pain as we leave for France on Saturday. Let’s hope it’s normal.
Rosie, I hope you have a safe trip home and the stitches come out without any more dramas.
Hi everyone, Rosie, hope you enjoyed your day today, safe journey home!
Wildpurl, thankyou for your kind words, must admit I feel pretty depressed at taking steroids tomorrow, feel in limbo at the moment! Enjoy your days off, hope you get to a national trust house!
Tij, poor you with having to put up with a rash as well as everything else! I had straggly wispy bits of hair and cut them off! My hair is starting to grow now though thankfully.
Jos, yes beetroot juice is quite an acquired taste!! Trying hard like you to be operation ready!!
Louise, hope your bloods are ok, all the best for onc and chemo too.
Joan , hope you are ok, rolicarpit, hope radiotherapy going ok this week too, cassie, hope your energy is picking up a little more now?
All the best ladies x