Pauline - Good on you for updating your profile, looks cool - well done!!
My final shave is postponed until Thursday. So I may well join you then!
Good luck to those starting tomorrow I hope you have an easy time of it.
My 2nd cycle starts tomorrow…its come around quick, hope thats a sign that it’ll all be over quick too!! Dont know about everyone else but I am pleased I dont have to work through this treatment…my memory and concentration is terrible at moment.
Amber, Debra - hope your doing ok, this hair loss is rubbish for sure but unfortunately out of our control, hang in there I hope your nearing the end of this cycle’s SE’s.
Had appointment for Spacer fill today, thats the first addition since surgery on 20th Feb. It was completely painless. All helping toward the reconstruction…although quite a bit down the road yet - one step at a time!
Hi Debra,
I just seen your post, I am so sorry that your cold cap did not give you better resullts. I met a lady at the LGFB class the other day who said the same happened to her. I really feel for you, I hope you feel better about it soon, not easy but hang in there.
Take it easy, thinking about you love Lori x
Hello Angels,
I’m new to all this. Hope you’ll all accept me into your gang. I wrote a lovely long post earlier today telling all my trials and tribulations but I posted it in the wrong bit! Thanks to Lola I have now found where I should be. I start chemo on Thursday 18th April. Don’t feel too bad at all but that’s because reality hasn’t hit me yet. I’m on 6 x EC then 15 rads and 5 years arimidex all because my early 15mm clear margined lump with no nodes or vascular involvement turned out to be grade three and ER+. Last Thursday, three and a half weeks after surgery, I met with my oncologist and here I am five days later having had my pre chemo visit, ready for the big day on Thursday. My preparation includes having read everything all you angels have written, buying half the local chemists shop, having my nails acrylic-ed and painted bc pink, eating some of my favourite foods - crab, prawns and brie, and tomorrow I’ll be going with my two daughters to try on wigs at a nice wig shop in Leeds. Well it’s late and I should try to sleep cos I dont think I’ll be doing much of that soon enough! Take care everyone, Moira
Fec cycle 1 day 3 -
don’t read further if you are eating.!
looks like i have oral thrush which I think is an SE of Chemo.
do ineed a trip to the docs? what do they treat it with?
thanks!
x
Hi Spudgirl
talk to your chemo unit and they will either recommend something or ring your GP…don’t go to GP’s as too many bugs there. If you tell your GP reception you are on chemo and you want a call from GP they should sort it out for you and then GP can organise a prescription. pineapple ice cubes/lollies apparently help with the soreness so worth having some of those in the meantime!
kate
xx
Hi girls:)
fec-t cycle 1 day 16
was very tired yesterday and had terrible stomach cramps last night woke this morning and thank goodness they’ve gone. I was out for coffee with a friend and had a couple of lattes so im thinking that too much dairy was the culprit, anyone else had similar. Off to aberdeen today with a friend to pick up some scarves and look for new shoes for a friends birthday party next week! Oral Thrush now gone, no more acid indigestion and no hair!
Spudgirl - contact your gp and get them to prescribe over the phone, i got a gel called daktarin oral gel to take 4 times a day. I had to go to surgery form mine but it was emergency appts only and there was only 1 other person there, if it had been normal surgery i would have not gone, its took risky being in with ill people!.
Debra- sending hugs, im so sorry that your cold cap didnt work, just keep in mind that hair loss means the chemo is working and that it is just temporary.
Amber - im glad that you enjoyed lgfb it sounded fab. My hubby also works offshore, it seems we have more in common all the time. How do you fancy meeting up for coffee and a chat on friday? I was thinking we could go this week before chemo next week. I have review in abdn on mon and cycle on wed if everything is ok!
Hope all you other angels are coping well and keeping your thoughts positive
Christine x
Well done Pauline for taking the plunge with your hair. It looks good.
Good luck to all those starting cycle 1 this week. I’m having my first one tomorrow and getting very nervous now! I was mentally prepared for it last week, but with it being postponed I seem to have become more agitated as the week has gone on. I’m also having strange mood swings, which I don’t know if they are due to anxiety or coming off the Tamoxifen to start chemo. Has anyone else experienced this?
Mel
Morning Angels, Pauline- looking good! Maybe I need to take the plunge Christine have pm you re Friday Lori, Kate and Angie - good luck for today and Mel for you tomorrow Moira welcome to the gang Debra- sending you big hugs, sweetheart Linda - glad you got you’re leg problem sorted Off to see my Oncologist later for my first appt since chemo started xxx
Morning ladies, well as you can see I changed my profile picture - i done it last night and didn’t realise it would change the pic in all my previous posts - thought it would change once i done a new post today!! Anyway, I thought I would share my nearly baldy with tiny mohican (you can just about see it with the AAAs and other BC sisters. I’m not intending to ‘go public’ with anyone other than family and close friends. Guess I just wanted to hopefully encourage some of you ladies who will find this part really tough - it really wasn’t that bad for me and taking control myself really helped - quite liberating really not to mention sooo much easier in the shower
Feeling quite good today, think I have def turned the corner. Cold much better and mouth def inproving - Spudgirl - i got fluconazole for thrush ( I had it bad) it worked a treat - just one pill similar to caniston!!
Lori, Kate, Angie, Mel - good luck this week, be thinking of you all and sending virtual hugs x
Welcome Moira - sorry you have to be here but hopefully you will find some support , Debra - hope you feel a little better about things it must be very frustrating having tried the CC
Amber - good luck today with Onc and as above, def a good feeling to take control x
Morning ladies
Day 1 wasn’t as traumatic as I expected. I did feel sick in the afternoon And early evening but the supplementary anti-sickness tablets sorted it out. I slept until around 3am and then read for a couple of hours before falling back to sleep. I finally got up around 10.30. Feel ok today but have a strange sweet taste and my mouth feels a little sore. I’ll just have to see what else developes over the next few days.
Pauline - love the new look, like you I think I will get rid of my hair as soon as it starts to fall out.
Lori, Kate, Angie, Mel good luck this week.
Moira - good luck tomorrow, you are on the same treatment as me and if we both keep to schedule we will most likely bump into each other at St James for our radiotherapy. I’m having my chemo at the Cavell unit at Dewsbury where are you having yours? good luck with the wig shopping, I went to the wig shop inthe Victoria Quarter in Leeds on Saturday and they really lovely, and I haLolita to choose from. Finally decided on danni from the Natural image collection in auburn mist. They are keeping hold of it until my paperwork comes through from the hospital.
take care everyone
Morning ladies
Day 1 wasn’t as traumatic as I expected. I did feel sick in the afternoon And early evening but the supplementary anti-sickness tablets sorted it out. I slept until around 3am and then read for a couple of hours before falling back to sleep. I finally got up around 10.30. Feel ok today but have a strange sweet taste and my mouth feels a little sore. I’ll just have to see what else developes over the next few days.
Pauline - love the new look, like you I think I will get rid of my hair as soon as it starts to fall out.
Lori, Kate, Angie, Mel good luck this week.
Moira - good luck tomorrow, you are on the same treatment as me and if we both keep to schedule we will most likely bump into each other at St James for our radiotherapy. I’m having my chemo at the Cavell unit at Dewsbury where are you having yours? good luck with the wig shopping, I went to the wig shop inthe Victoria Quarter in Leeds on Saturday and they really lovely, and I haLolita to choose from. Finally decided on danni from the Natural image collection in auburn mist. They are keeping hold of it until my paperwork comes through from the hospital.
take care everyone
AC cycle 1 day 1
just got back from receiving my first dose, it went okay except it took a whlie to locate the portacath as its still a little swollen but once in the drugs were administered no problems. My urine has turned red as expected so I’m working to their plan so far!
i was told to get some liquorice as it reduces the chance of getting a sore mouth and also reduces the potential constipation…has anyone else been told this? I love liquorice so I’m happy to go with it but wasn’t sure if its likely to work or just nice to eat!
Kate
xx
TCH cycle 1 day 9
(Taxotere/Carboplatin/Herceptin)
So far so good. Very few side effects, and the ones I have are mild. Dry mouth (sorted with Cordosyl Mouthwash), strange taste with some foods but not all. The worst one is a churning bowel contraction warning me to dash to the loo. This happened up to 6 times a day but is abating now, and is sorted with Imodium, although I have only been taking an Imodium if I am leaving the house. Sleeping and eating well, no nausea, and no pains. My hair is still intact for now.
I did have a panic yesterday as I found a lump in a vein in my leg, which was red and sore to the touch. It looked like an insect bite, and started to spread along the vein. My GP came out to see me and gave me prescriptions for antibiotics, Ibuprofen, and a precautionary blood thinning injection. She also arranged for me to visit the DVT clinic this morning. I was tested and examined, and am delighted to say no DVT, and my lump is Phlebitis. Phew!!! It may not even be chemo related.
Well done to those who took the plunge and cut off their hair. That’s just what I did a few weeks ago. It has given me chance to get used to my close cropped hair and my head. I feel very empowered and don’t even notice when I catch site of myself in the mirror. Go for it girls!!
I agree, please do not go to your GP’s surgery. This is the worst thing you could do. Be assertive with the receptionist - and if necessary play the chemotherapy card and throw a tantrum. Your GP will have been given a detailed list of your treatments and possible side effects. If he is comfortable prescribing over the phone, he will. If not, he will come out to your house. However, your fist port of call is your chemo unit during the day, and your emergency number out of hours.
Hi Kate
i can recommend the liquorice for constipation. I take codeine based painkillers for an ongoing hip problem and liquorice wpreally helps. The bags of soft eating liquorice at Lidl really do the trick.
kim
FEC T cycle 1 day 10
Thanks Caz and Pauline for your advice. I haven’t heard that about liquorice Kim but I might try it. Glad you don’t have a DVT Linda.
I went and got a wig today from a really helpful shop called Trendco who I would highly recommend. I had already seen the NHS wig people but they were so rushed I came out feeling that I had been bullied into accepting the first one they put on my head! But now I feel much better. Although still going to try with the cold cap.
Have a sore mouth and scalp, but otherwise starting to feel much better, and this sunshine really helps
xx Zoe
did you go to Trendco in Hove? I had a squeezed in appointment with them last week as my sister and niece were here to go with me…it was great and we didn’t feel rushed at all. I have a full appointment with my OH on 27th so hoping to keep my hair til then…or at least the weather to be cold enough for woolly hats!
Kate
xx
thanks for all the info on oral thrush. cant get doc appointment until tomorrow. however now i remember my onc said i could only have antibiotics if i toldhim first and i think oral thrush treatment is antibiotic? wouldn’t be a problem except explaining to reception in onc dept is always an adventure when i try to explain in my best French - partic as the French for"oral thrush" wasn’t a phrase i remember learning at school.
Thanks for the tip re licorice for constipation, i think ill be taking trip to Lidls too then. These SEs are just so glamourous!
Mel A - i also came off Tamoxifen a couple of weeks ago . i think the only thing i noticed was i got more hot flushes and foot cramps than when I was on it! i do hope you are feeling better!
Linda - glad to hear your leg is okay!
Pauline, I’m loving the hairdo. i am getting mine cut tomorrow in pixie cut. i dont need to yet of course but i just wanted to get it over and done with. bit nervous just because i have always had a fringe.
Mel A and Spudgirl, thanks for the heads up re coming off Tamoxifen, have my last pre-chemo one tonight, never occurred to me that I might get withdrawal symptoms! Xx
