Hello, another day at work, really glad I’m not working tomorrow! Definitely feeling stronger though, which is good. Last night I noticed my ankles swelling, for heavens sake another side effect, is there no end? Raised my feet on a bean bag and they improved, ok ish this morning but I see they are swelling again while I have been working. Grrrrr!
Rosie I hope you are safely home and on the road to Limassol to get those stitches out!
Right I’m off for a walk now.
I am back ladies but we have no internet at home! At a beach bar with free wifi on way to clinic. hopefully be able to catch up tomorrow ! X
Good you are home Rosie! Hope you feel less discomfort when stitches out!
Well, saw oncologist today, no more chemo needed!! Still annoyed though at all this palaver I have had, took steroids and had bloods needlessly after all!! Still very happy though!
Scan next Thursday on lump and surgery all being well on 29th august! Still hasn’t sunk in yet I don’t have to go for chemo tomorrow, feel institutionalised !!
Wildpurl, how annoying your feet have swollen, just as you start to feel better along comes something else!!
Glad you are back home safely Rosie and that your wifi is sorted out soon, also glad that Lovewine does not need anymore chemo.
I have been working about four hours a day this week but am still feeling v tired all the time, hopefully I should feel better next week with a few Devon cream teas inside me! I am really looking forward to getting away for a while, I will not have any internet access so will catch up in a weeks time.
Take care of yourselves C x
Thankyou everyone, am so relieved. Cassie I love cream teas!! Enjoy your break away and yes so nice to have a change of scene!!
Wildpurl, enjoy your days off, are you going to a national trust house?
Morning everyone, no trip to the chemo unit today!! Instead am going for a modest trip to shopping centre for dome retail therapy! Rosie, hope you get your internet sorted am missing your morning updates!! Hope the stitch removal went well and things are healing as they should be.
Have a reasonable day everyone whatever your plans. X
Typo error- some not DOME!
Lovewine, that’s great news, but what a shame you had to go through all the worry and start taking steroids. Hope your retail therapy was successful both in being enjoyable and productive.
Rosie, glad you are back, pity about the wi-fi. My i-pad has gone down again so I am going to take it back at the weekend and insist on having it replaced.
TiJ, hope you get good news from your echo tomorrow and are able to go on holiday with peace of mind. Glad your face is a bit better. How brave of you to shave all your hair off. My residual hair is growing and looking more and more like a tonsure. But just leaving it for the moment.
Wildpurl. sorry to hear about the swollen ankles; having done so well all the way through chemo it seems very hard to have these problems when you’re at finishing post. Pity too about the delay on your NT voucher; seems unnecessarily bureaucratic but it sounds as if you’re not too disappointed.
Jos, have you been given anything specifically for thrush? I had anti-fungal tablets which seemed to be effective. It is horrible.
Cassie, enjoy your holiday and especially the cream teas.
Things are moving on very rapidly for me. Saw the surgeon yesterday and I am having surgery on Tuesday! I was expecting it to be towards the end of the month. The reason, apparently, isn’t clinical, its to meet government targets to treat within 31 days. And since the surgeon has no space on his NHS hospital operating list within that time he is going to do the operation (on the NHS) at a private hospital. (So Jos, I am ahead of you now on the number of hospitals tally, this will make four).He only operates there once a week so all very rushed; I am going for a pre-op assessment on Friday. I confess I am a little concerned that something will get lost between the hospitals at some point or that although there might be some nice things about being at a private hospital the medical care might not be as good. I was dismayed, for instance, to find out that they have nobody who is trained to take bloods from a PICC line. So it has had to be arranged through the District Nurse at our local health centre and my husband has to go up to the private hospital today to collect the letter and the phials for the bloods and then we have to take them up tomorrow.
I was also rather cross that a) the surgeon wasn’t aware that an MRI had been done (ordered by the oncologist at a different hospital) nor was he aware that I had finished chemo over two weeks ago. In fact the first questioh he asked what where I was with the chemo. So much for their much vaunted weekly interdisciplinary and inter-trust meetings. I wonder what they talk about. Had that information been properly commuicated then presumably I would have had an earlier appointment, surgical time could have been booked and I wouldn’t have had the rush or the transfer to another hospital.
On the posItive side, although it is still rather uncertain whether a lumpectomy will be sufficient, the surgeon wants to start with that and see whether he can get clear margins. So I am not having to face a mastectomy in the first instance, which is a relief. Now I need to start looking more into lumpectomy, and no doubt get myself worried about the possible complications. I was so determined to prepare myself for having to have a mastectomy I rather put that on one side.
Hi ladies, just a modest splurge! A £12.50 top from marks and Spencer’s and a couple of food storage containers from pound land!! I am quite low maintenance!
Thankyou for your posts and sympathy over my chemo, am worried now it’s going to grow again until surgery on 29th, onc said it wouldn’t, but still worry,
Joan , great news a lumpectomy for you, I am going down same path as you - lumpectomy first with nipple removal and see if clear margins from it. Fingers crossed for us both and you too jos? When do you have your surgery booked? I was told I need an echo heArt scan too before I start herceptin shortly and also FEC can damage the heart too!
Wildpurl, shame about NT but something to look forward to next weekend! Hope you have a productive day.
Rosie, lovely to see your son and his family especially after the wedding and coming home, it can be a little deflating after all the build up to it, you did so well getting there and all the travelling about!! Hope D/h recovers soon too, must be uncomfortable for him.
Jos enjoy your holiday and you too cassie.
Tij, hope your skin has calmed down a bit now.
Hi Rosie, I am definitely out of practice with my shopping, am going to need a few more trips to get used to get used to it again !! When I started chemo and couldn’t drink much wine I treated myself to a tassimo machine and have never looked back!! I love it, even in the recent hot weather! I like the costa Americano pods and carte noire creme, nice and strong!! You can also buy refreshing teas for it too!! Happy drinking!!
Jos and Wildpurl regarding. Medi bracelets, I wear one on my lymph node arm, ordered mine from amazon for about £3.00, it is very clear, Also noticed my chemo unit did them for a donation!! I had mild lymphodemia a few weeks ago in upper arm, found if I did the exercises from breast care nurses it went within a few hours!!
All systems go jos for you ,Joan and myself!!
Hi Rosie
This link to the BCC glossary of terms will help with abbreviations used on the site:
breastcancercare.org.uk/breast-cancer-information/glossary
Best wishes
Lucy BCC
Morning everyone, good you are getting more sleep Rosie, I slept much better too last night! Wildpurl, hope the swollen ankles go down soon, it’s a little cooler here today too, just taken my dogs over the fields and it was really refreshing and pleasant, good luck with pottering! That’s what I will be doing after a couple of hours of work, my energy levels are gradually improving too.
Hope your sons flight isn’t delayed Rosie, you will be worn out otherwise, enjoy their stay!!
Rosie, I’m not surprised you are fed up. But at least you made it to the uk for the wedding and you can look forward to having some good times with your son and his fiancée. The holes do not sound nice, but I assume he can use them to drain any fluid or clot.
Wildpurl, if it’s any concellation, my ankles seem quite puffy as well. They seem quite bad first thing in the morning which doesn’t make sense to me, but I have just come back from my echo which was fine so I am assuming my heart must be functioning ok. Let’s hope it settles down over the next week or so.
My skin is slowly getting better. The spots are gone, just left with very flakey eye lids. Not a great look, and still very itchy, so I’m continuing with the bio oil.
Trying to ramp my chemo brain up to remember all the things we need to pack into the car for our holiday. Have to keep writing lists as the brain just can’t cope. We leave first thing tomorrow morning on the ferry and then drive to l’ile de Re, which is an island just off La Rochelle. The weather is looking slightly dodgy but as long as it doesn’t pour with rain we should have fun. DH really needs a break, so I’m hoping that even if I’m not up to doing anything too strenuous he can have fun with the kids and not have to think about work or his ‘sickly’ wife.
Not surprised Rosie you fed up with it all, yes having your son and fiancée visiting will be a good distraction, I think you mentioned in earlier posts your daughter is visiting too later in year? Think I got that right or might have imagined it! Enjoy your takeaway and hope you are not waiting to long for delayed flight!
I also have lost most of my body hair , eyebrows and lashes !! Leg hair growing a little and head hair resembles a coconut!
Wildpurl, you must feel really nice after a bit of pampering, in the words of l’oreal " you are worth it!",
Tijj, have a lovely holiday, enjoy the time away with your family, hope the weather is kind to you.
Joan, hope you get your ipad sorted out soon and also your pre op today went ok?
Morning Rosie, hope Your family have recovered from late bedtime, you would have been exhausted if you had gone, enjoy a quiet day today, I think you will feel stronger each day now !
My son and daughter in law arrive back from Paris today and we have been looking after their dog, so I have had 3 collies to walk ( which is where I am going in a minute!) am just waiting for my strong black coffee to kick in giving me some energy!! O/H and myself are going to drive to market harborough- nearest town to us , we want a digital aerial for kitchen t.v , this is about as exciting as it gets!! May go to our local pub early evening for a glass of wine too.
Hope all you ladies are ok? Jackie, haven’t heard from you for a while, not sure if you are away on holiday?
Thanks Rosie, you too! And yes agree, cancer is an expensive business, new t.v, tassimo machine, trip to Norfolk for morale boosting before surgery!! And you with added expenses , not to even start on loss of income !!be very nice for you to loll on your reclining chair!! Enjoy it and relax think you have earned it these last few weeks!!x
Enjoy your chilled wine Rosie, I am sitting here with a nice glass of red wine, didn’t go to pub, went for a second walk of the day instead, very nice , quiet and no one about just me, hubby and 2 collies now!
Wildpurl, hope you had a good day at gym and farmers market, I really like poking around them, lovely produce etc, I am worn out now, my legs don’t seem to like going up hills or stairs!! A long way to go yoe before I am anywhere near the stamina I used to have- very frustrating!!
Morning ladies, Rosie and Wildpurl, your meals sound delicious, hope you managed to taste them now? The national trust membership sounds quite tempting Wildpurl, am quite tempted to join with hubby. It’s pouring with rain here this morning, managed my dog walk just before it really started pouring, yes Rosie, it’s much easier with just my own 2 dogs now!.. I agree Wildpurl, autumn is my favourite season too, and yes I appreciate the small things now so much more.
Hope you have a nice day whatever you do, I am going to catch up with some chores as weather bad, might bake nigel slaters choc and banana cake and then eat it later!! Although son and daughter in law brought me back from Paris the nicest macaroons I have ever tasted!! Am limiting myself to just 2,a day!!
I now have a new iPad so posting on the forum is much easier. The last few days have been a bit hectic for one reason and another and not found the time to sit at the computer. Everything went well on Friday, the breast care nurse at the private hospital clearly very efficient and persuasive so no problem over getting bloods taken locally and all the pre assessment stuff done very expeditiously.
Argh, now can’t seem to bring up the messages. Will post this them sign out and hope to have more luck next time.