@swk1981 - really hope things are easing off for you. I was also told to take dioralyte when my diarrhoea was really bad to help with rehydration.
Here is the advice I saw on another page on here last week which may help:
I’m going to try it if the diarrhoea kicks in again as it really is so debilitating and I need all the help I can get! Please let us know how you are getting on, Emma x
@SL255 i think it depends if it is dose dense (I.e over 4 sessions) or weekly as people with weekly doses seem to have slightly better responses with their hair on Paclitaxel from what I’ve seen/read.
I was told Docetaxel is less harsh and looking at the Paxman website there is a higher chance of keeping hair on it but tbh it seems like your luck of the draw and what your hair prefers so I’m bracing for this too as I know I’ve been ok on EC except one big shed and subsequent shedding that slowed down (with no bald patches) but no idea how I’ll react to Docetaxel
@swk1981 i hope you’re ok!!
Morning everyone @hc1973 good luck today and hopefully all goes well for you🤗
@swk1981 I hope you’re feeling better or have even managed to get help and get this under control. I only ever had this once and that was enough. Sending you 
.
Hopefully everyone else is well or well as can be expected.
Seen my GP yesterday about these falls, he did all the neurology and reflex tests and said everything was grand.He Phoned our regional cancer centre and they’re gong to phone me with an appointment for a spinal MRI. They’re using that word ‘ it’s just belts and braces’ again. I do understand they have to check these things out but now I’m absolutely petrified imagining all sorts. Normally I try to stay as positive, I’m putting up a front for my family brushing it off as I really don’t want them to worry but have hardly slept thinking about it.
Hopefully today I get my head round this and get back to thinking it’s just weakness with chemo as my GP said this also.
Sorry for the long rant, I just feel at times this is the only place I can be me xxxx
@pollyanna1 it’s good that they’re being thorough but I get it, just another anxiety, and “what if” to add to the already increasing pile 
what a bummer this chemo life is. Hang in there, hopefully you’ll get the MRI quickly and all anxieties will be relieved. Laura xx
@SL255 i wore the cap for 4 x EC but lost quite a bit of hair, so decided to stop for the longer infusion regimen of paclitaxel. I had my whispy strands cut by my hairdresser then and I would say that nothing else has fallen out since. In fact my husband has said a few times that there may be regrowth on the monks spot on top. I don’t know about that but wonder if your hair loss is from the end of the AC?
Never apologise for sharing your feelings or these worries @pollyanna1 
I feel blessed not to have had such terrible experiences as you and others on this forum, so the least I can do is virtually share the load and think about what you are all going through, wishing you the best and sending virtual hugs
@pollyanna1 - I’m so sorry to hear this, what a worry for you. Please let us know how it goes. We are all thinking of you and hoping that it is just another horrible chemo side effect 
@pollyanna1 i understand completely where you are coming from, I’m going on Saturday for a brain scan for my headaches and after my visit to a&e because all my problems seem to of been in my face and head, but I’m trying to constantly remind myself that they are crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s, and hoping I will feel a million dollars once it’s done and hopefully get the all clear, so really trying to think of it as a positive thing and not let the little doubts overtake all my thoughts.
Hope your appointment comes through quickly and you can move on with some positive news
@elle16 @pollyanna1 I’m sorry to see that you both have all this extra stress going on with the scans. I hope you both get on ok, and hopefully it is a case of ruling things out. It’s good they’ve got you both getting in and fully checked but I understand it must be really anxiety provoking!
Thanks @altoan and @belle1
Yep feel like keeping hair gives me a sense of control and impacts my privacy so slightly obsessive about it. I am doing paclitaxel every two weeks and think this seems heavier than AC on hair so feel it’s this one. Showing no signs of slowing either.
But this pales when considering scan anxiety I always go to worst case scenario myself so feel bad thinking about hair when people have way more worries. So hope @pollyanna1 you are not stressing too much and best of luck with the result hopefully it will be a weight off your mind. So much of medicine is ruling things out and being thorough so hope it goes well for you. X
@SL255 - just to reassure you that after my initial big shed of hair following my switch to docetaxel, it’s now eased off. I’m hoping it will continue to slow down so I can get through the last treatment and keep most of my hair
I think we all have our focus and worries during this whole hideous process. I really wanted to keep my hair if possible as my youngest son was so worried about me losing it. Obviously I realise it’s not that important in the scheme of things but I will be gutted if I lose it now - just as I’m reaching the end of chemo! Good luck with yours, Emma x
Just seen the oncologist- he thinks the tumour has shrunk 
Confirmed 2 more chemo to go, and my PICC line comes out on final chemo day. Will prescribe me stuff to stop me feeling so sick during chemo next week. Will see the surgeon again in next couple of weeks, and surgery could be as early as mid August! 
So all good news. And he couldn’t believe my 18 mile run on Sunday!! 
Yes @ivy-cat I am the same and also it impacts ability to get my life back in lots of ways. I haven’t told many people and as such the hair is the big tell all. I have come this far and feel like falling at last hurdle will be hard. But hoping against hope it will slow down. On plus side symptoms from Paclitaxel are so much easier than AC no nausea appetite normal and can even enjoy a coffee. Also less brain fog. So it’s strange that the hair is going in opposite direction but it must be because it’s dose dense.
@gromit12 - so pleased to hear this! Gives me hope for my surgery! And such good news that the tumour has shrunk, Emma x
Just got home from my first Abraxane chemo and it all went to plan thanks for everyone’s support earlier.
@gromit12 amazing news so happy for you. Helen x
Hey everyone,
Sorry for radio silence. Last night was brutal diarrhoea and ended up taking Loperamide for it today. No other signs of NS so doctors aren’t worried for now but have really struggled to be hydrated today. Could do without the weather too!
Met my other Oncologist tonight and Radiotherapy and that is starting on 19th August, 3 days after we return from Spain. He was amazing and has suggested I also join a trial with him and my other Oncologist to be given Abemaciclib for 2 years alongside Tamoxifen. It’s a kinase inhibitor and used for metastatic disease but they’re trialling it on Stage 2/3 BC now and it’s looking like it adds 6% to prognosis so I agreed to it, especially since it seems to tolerated well and it’s ‘only’ 2 years.
On the radiotherapy front, they’re doing to chest wall, axillary cavity, supraclavicular fossa and he also added in the internal mammary chain between the boobs as he said that can be a leapfrog risk area. I agreed since they’re already blasting me anyway across a large area. Told me about the breathing technique and that it’s unavoidable that they will catch a little of the lung and cause scarring but it shouldn’t cause issues. The main thing is breathing in to shove the heart to one side.
For those who were worried about wait times, I asked him about optimum timings. Because mine is through my work insurance, I could have had it 4 weeks after chemo ends so he had no reason to lie but he said that 4 weeks is the absolute earliest as you need to recover and 6 weeks is perfect however, he said up to 12 weeks makes no difference from 6 weeks and it’s only after 12 weeks that you’re losing time. I see loads of people on here worrying about 8/10 week waits so thought I’d mention it as it may reassure them.
He agreed that ovary removal makes complete sense for me rather than Zoladex but they’ll start it at some point until I can have surgery after radiotherapy. Will hopefully book a date for that next week but it’s looking like cancer treatment may spill into 2025 a little (excluding reconstruction) if radiotherapy takes me too long to recover from. Urgh. Hey ho.
@pollyanna1 and @elle16 Im so sorry about your scans. I hope yours goes well this week Elle. Pauline, do you have a date for the MRI? I have been super wobbly and my balance has been off and I’ve had some near misses. It’s been worse on the Taxane than it ever was on EC so fingers crossed it’s just the toxicity! X
@SL255 I’m the same as @ivy-cat in that I had an initial shed (which I’d actually say was more like a completion of some dead hair that was just hanging around) after first Docetaxel. Since then, it’s not done a big shed again and I’m past the point on the 2nd Docetaxel when it happened on the 1st so would have expected it by now! Hopefully, that’s it for you! Hair is growing on Docetaxel a fair amount and I’ve noticed facial fluff coming back and leg hair a bit too. Annoyingly.
@gromit12 that is the BEST news! Well done you!!! That must feel like such a relief to get some good news after such commitment to this process! I’m so happy to hear it and it’s so nice to see positive news on here!
@hc1973 so pleased the Abraxane went well! I hope you get a good sleep tonight and feel okay tomorrow!
I’ve decided that the greatest gift anyone could give us would be an IV to use at home. Life would be so much easier if I could just have 2L a day of fluids running into my veins. I feel pathetic but I find my whole day is based around bloody water and mouthwashing and everything is such a chore. I hoovered today and mopped the floor. It took me 5 times what it should have and I had to take breaks because I was sweating. It’s starting to become a lot harder that my contribution to life is so small. I know it’s temporary but it’s getting a little harder to climb out of the mental hole of “God I’m useless!” each cycle. I guess that’s the cumulative fatigue but I’m not sure I can imagine being a go-getter ever again after such a long malaise. I’m sure I’ll get there but I just can’t imagine it. Night sweats tonight don’t help. They make me feel all old and compromised.
Wow, that was a long one. Sorry if I missed anyone! X
Crap, one more thing I gathered for everyone is about Tamoxifen/AI’s. I asked why people only do 5/10 years and he said that that’s just the way it’s done. I mentioned that it seems to be rife to see recurrences within a year of stopping them and he agreed that, for hormone receptor positive cancers there seems to be a link. I asked how easy it would be for me to stay on Tamoxifen for life and he said “Not a problem at all. Any GP should agree to it because it’s such a cheap drug!” I asked why people are turned down and he said that anyone should pester their doctor for it if they want to stay on it and they should eventually get their own way. Thought it may be useful to know! He’s put down for me to be offered it for life now and I feel like it’s taken a weight off me!
I slightly fell in love with this new Oncologist if I’m honest. He had really thought about my cancer and me before I got there. He had an inquisitive brain that was obviously wanting to optimise everything. It felt fresh and new to have someone different looking at me from both a targeted therapies/hormone therapies and radiology point of view. He’s a Professor of Clinical Oncology. It seems there’s a difference in that Medical Oncologists do the Chemo bit while the Clinical Oncologists do the Radio/Targetted Therapies/Hormon Therapies bit. I was sooooo nervous about starting the journey towards Radio but it turns out it’s a whole new world with some cool options. X
Good morning @swk1981 do glad you are ok, was a little worried, 
Thank you so much for all that information as usual you are a fountain of knowledge. I’m going to write some notes from your information and take them with me to my oncology appointment next week 🩷
I know it’s tough at the minute but you are so nearly through this disgustingly cruel part of the treatment, before you know it you will be lying on a beach in Spain with this time being a memory. You’ve got this !!! Xxx
