Hi just, Wendylouise and sugar8 thank you so much for your encouraging words means a lot.
And I’m so glad for yous that things have been going ok.
Hopefully I will follow suit, however right now I feel like running for the hills.
Joanne xxx
Hi Karen2609. The oncologist prescribed lansoprazole so I’m on it already but only have 3 days of anti sickness cover except domperidone as needed.
Gosh Horseslave I didn’t realise you’d had it so rough, lots of those lovely cyber hugs flying their way to you, and anyone on else who needs one right now. Xx
Hi Everyone insomnia again as dosed alot during the day so catching up with my support network.
Horeseslave and Pennyfarthing I am so sorry to hear that you’re having a rough time. Try and deal with it one step at a time. You will pull through it, even if at this moment in time you might feel despondent. Remember IT WILL GET BETTER!! Rest rest rest. That what worked for me,and cry if you want. You will feel better after a tear. Remember you are the important one in this journey.
Oh Joanne76 I can empathise with the feeling to escape ((hugs))
Thanks for the cyper hugs pennyfarthing. I Always need a hug. a little hug goes a long way :smileyhappy:
For the nasty taste in the mouth I am brushing teeth at least 3 times a day with an aloe vera toothpaste I bought from Holland and Barrett. Also using corsodyl daily mouth wash regularly and salt water gargles before I try to eat. It seemed to have worked. Day 9 and the film’s going. Did you suck the pineapple lollies during chemo? I forgot to but will try them next cycle and evaluate.
Take care of yourself everyone x x x x
love
Sugar8
Hi pennyfarthing. Don’t get despondent, i had all your side effects, just not bad enough to stop me in my tracks. Lost all the hair in the shower this am, blocked the plughole 4 times over, and that’s with a no 2 squaddy cut! Just didn’t realise how much there was, will be fun cleaning it tonight?.
really hope you have a good day today and you get out for that long needed walk. Take care of you. Hbunny
Is anyone awake?
Hi Ladies
CathC If you medical health allows you to take it. Have you tried Ibruprofen? I always find that works better for me than paracetamol. Spring cleaning eh? mad thnig :smileyhappy: I am quickly discovering like you that i cannot take control of the chemo. It has to take control of me to be able to work and toreally listen to what my body is telling me :smileyfrustrated:
** Wendy. You are right Wendy re my regime so i am hoping that next cycle will be easier :smileyvery-happy: **
hbunny, Great to hear you’re doing well.
Pennyfarthing, Hope you are coping better with SEs . I found like you , rest and painkillers was the best way forward. Loved your humour re cold cap
Rach . Sorry for your loss of your dad and glad his funeral went well. Silent night eh? How poignant. He must have had a good sense of humour. Your oncologist is obviously a wise man. He appears to have laid out the cards on the table better than mine and given you the full picture re your drugs. That’s so much better for mental preparation and coping with the SEs post chemo. It’s the feeliing that I have just put my life on hold that gets to me and that’s making me emotional. Although I feel I0 times better when i went out for a gentle walk the way my body reacted on Day 9 made me sad. It like that with you I see? Thank you for the encouragement . I am Day 11 today. Roll on Day 14!!! Hope your temp settles and your kitchen will be completed soon. I bet you look lovely with or without hair. x x
have a lovely weekend ladies . Don’t forgt us taxotere ladies need to wear dark nail polish and at least factor30 suncream .
Take care
Sugar8 (Clare)
You are all doing so well. Can I just recommend cranberry juice with ice. It is the most delicious thing imaginable. I also wanted to warn against too much pineapple juice as it makes you run to the loo!
Day 9 I think for me. Nausea has subsided thankfully. I do think hospital heat, smell etc makes you feel sicker.
Some lovely scarves from Annabandana arrived, very trendy. I expect I will burn them at the end of my treatment though… In this heat, the prospect of losing my hair is actually not really bothering me that much! We have put a gazebo up in the garden, with a sun lounger under it for me to recline in the shade and watch the silly ducks playing. So, life is good, not perfect, could be worse. The lady in the bed next to me in hospital had cancer gone to her spine. She was so cheerful and upbeat and made me feel ashamed. I will keep her in my thoughts when the feeling sorry for myself moments creep in and kick myself up the arse. Her name was Cecilia.
Hi Cath
It’s much better if the paracetamols works for you as the NAIDs can cause stomach problems. so I think that’s good.
i suppose so many years of night shift hasn’t helped my sleep pattern but you know what? I will catch up today as I am definitely listening to my body. Fortunately my 2 sons are now grown up and have flown the nest so I can focus on getting better. Saying that one’s coming round with his girlfriend today but they shall sort themselves out when they arrive. They are both very independent adults.
I feel sooo much better today.
Hi Horseshoe. Thanks for the recommendation re cranberry juice. That’s good to prevent urine infections also, so a win win situation :smileylol: Perhaps you shouldn’t be ashamed that sometimes you will feel self pity. As long as you don’t wallow in it forever It’s normal, esp when you will feel your worse.
lovely weekend everyone x x x
Clare
Good morning everyone,
I read all your posts since I have been on it last and some of them made me chuckle so much Rachel you are so funny. Glad to hear that most of you are coping with the side effect well and get the hospital help when needed, they do say to call even if you think it’s silly or don’t want to bother them. I followed their advice and kept my hot water bottle at home or heat pack whilst at work this week and my PICC line arm feels so much better, I even think the hot wheather helped to keep my veins dilated so the tube doesn’t rub against.
Apart from this, a few days with headaches, so keep taking ibuprofen (paracetamol doesn’t work for me), but the sore mouth symptoms seem to be there to stay and I am just using Bonjela cool to take the edge of them.Last night though the teeth on my left side seem to feel really painfull deep inside the maxilar, no temperature though so I don’t think it’s an infection, but very uncomfortable, Will keep an eye on this one, has anyone had similar sensations?
I have still got my hair, day 12, but I used to have long hair and cut it pixie short when I found out I need to go through chemo just so it’s ready for the shave. As much as it feels liberating to have short hair, I realised I actually hate it, so in a way I can’t wait for it to fall so I can wear my long hair wigs, as I don’t feel it’s justified to wear a wig beforehand. I know… I am a little strange…
I wish you a lovely weekend, we are going for a little trip to Norwich tomorrow to meet up with hubby family and I am thinking about also booking lunch at Jamie’s Italian, inspired by Rach :smileyhappy:
I can’t stress enough to all of the ladies that feel unwell, rest, rest, rest, take it from the Energizer Bunny, I don’t know how to rest and relax, but had to learn very quick last week when I felt poorly and it had put me in good sted for the week.
Sending you lots of hugs and you are all an inspiration :heart:
Flossie
morning all
I had my new chemo regime on Monday, and the SEs are awful I feel like I have been hit by a bus, every bone and muscles in my body hurts, I got no energy.Eating and drknking is a chore, brufen not helping anti sickness helps a little ,and to top it off I am back at work feeling useless.
Sorry for the moan just feeling sorry for myself
Hi everyone, not checked in for a while, but I just wanted to ask if anyone is using the cold cap? I used it in my first session and it’s day 18 after my first session and my hair is coming out. I know my hair will thin but I’m not sure if the vast amount I’m losing is normal or if the cold cap isn’t working. I have thought of getting my hair shaved but I don’t want to do that if I have a chance of keeping most of my hair. Anyone been through this? x
Thanks Sodastream, you’ve put my mind at rest. I too have a bob so hopefully it should cover any thinning parts, and thd dry shampoo is a great tip. I also saw an advertisment in my magazine for a touch-up spray for your roots, this might be useful for all us ladies that cannot dye our hair at the moment. The spray is coloured and covers grey etc.
You’ve had a terrible time of it Sodastream, I also had really painful mouth ulcers for over a week, I still have them. My BCN gave me Gelclair which is a gel that coats your mouth, and it’s great for pain relief and clearing up your ulcers, perhaps you could ask them for some. I totally agree that you can only take one day at a time with this treatment, be kind to yourself and rest when needed, I get my second dose of FEC-D on Tues, hopefully things go ok xx
Hi ladies,
I just wanted to share my amazing day yesterday … I decided to have my head shaved off this weekend as quite a few ended up in thursday nights tea (gross) and I know the inevitable will happen.
I nwe of very old fashioned 1950’s style barbers shop in holt in norfolk and as we were going over for the weekend decided to go for it. Doug my barber was amazing , he shaved one side off the the other and made me feel a million dollars . We took loads of photos of the inside of the shop , the big old fashioned chairs and Mirror and the barbers dressed in 1950s gear, mad me of cause . I didn’t stolp smiling from beginning to end, and you know what ! I love it , I’ve been out tonight with nothing on my head and I feel great. I know obviously this is not how everyone is going to feel but just wanted to share my good experience as well as sharing the bad xx night night xx
Hi ladies,
Well I’m three days after my first FEC session. I was very anxious at first and had a bit of trouble with my veins but was okay once they got a good line in. Bit anxious about having a port fitted on 1st Aug, not sure how it will feel… I’ve tried the cold cap and didnt find it too bad, although I’m not holding out much hope as I was told not to bother wetting my hair and I’m sure the cap didnt fit too well. I’ve got a wig fitting Tuesday and also ordered some great bandanas from Anna Nandana, highly recommend them.
Re side effects, I’ve been okay so far. Slightly nauseous at night, very metallic taste in my mouth and as you’ll see from the time, trouble sleeping. It’s my daughters birthday on Monday so I’ve got everything crossed that I’m still feeling well enough to take her out for the day. She’s 19 and been an absolute tower of strength.
Thanks CathC, WP23 and Sugar8 for your wishes this week.
Stay strong all you lovely, beautiful ladies. Together we can fight each day as it comes.
Sending positive hugs to you all and hope your SE’s aren’t too bad
Xx
Morning all. Weather promises to be hot and humid again. In this heat it actually makes me want the hair loss to speed up. Day 11 and I have noticed hair starting to fall… Oh well diddly dee. I shall call me, ’ mini me’
Morning ladies, hope everyone is okay xx. Day 5 of fec and am feeling better, 1st few days has sickness but seems to have gone now. All I have is a slightly sore mouth and little taste. I have a question, are symptoms same after each treatment or do symptoms change ? Tia Rachel xxxxxx
Hi shoes220
I think we can all understand what you are going through but as others have said before the anticipation is probably worse than the actual chemo. I felt pretty rough for few days after but now on day 16 and feeling absolutely fine, I’m even enjoying a glass of wine as recommended by my oncologist!
Hope all goes well for you , lots of ladies on here seem to have had minimal SE’s and everyone I met at chemo unit was very upbeat and helped put me at ease.
Hope you don’t mind me poking my nose in, I finished 6 rounds of fec-t in December actually had my last dose on Xmas Eve, Merry Feccing Christmas 
Anyway I’ve been reading that a lot of you have been suffering from nausea on fec, I was given emend, Granesetron and cyclazine, the cyclazine being the as and when. The Dexamethasone are steroids which help with nausea and also make the chemo more effective.
My advise is take every tablet they give you, take them before you feel sick cause if you wait it’s too late! And very importantly water water water, my 2nd and 3rd fec I drank 2 to 3 litres the day before, the day of and the day after chemo and oh my what a difference that makes.
Good luck xx
Good advice Nikki. I tell you what, i never want to be sick like I was in hospital last week, ever again. They are likely to up my meds as a consequence for chemo 2 ( doxy stuff) and I fully intend to take every drug thrown at me lol!
Water, water, water - despite tasting utterly vile to me, I intend to fully take your advice on that one.
Hair really falling out now, wow… Day 12
My son brings me ice cream floats too and cranberry juice mixed with lemonade and ice.
I have a recipe for non alcoholic pimms to liven things up too! Fluids have to be made more flavoursome for me to indulge…
Hi Wendy,
Glad you had a good weekend. To ask the ladies starting our going through treatment this week sending you lots of hugs.
I ended up in hospital last night with a high temperatures. They admitted me at 6 an this morning and say I will be here for 5/7 days getting anti biotics.
Not a happy bunny.