@swk1981 noooo that is just so typical, I hope you manage to sort it out!
Just wondered what everyone had done about jaw and tooth pain, mine started yesterday the side of my jaw started hurting then last night my back teeth were sore. I hate the dentists but I know this can be a side effect and just wondered if anyone had any good ideas to help. I’ve been using the poly balm too but today all my fingers feel bruised.
H x
@hc1973 so sorry you’ve got the jaw pain, it’s something else isn’t it 
adding codeine helped- you can get either paracetamol and codeine or ibuprofen and codeine - I went for ibuprofen and took it regularly for 3 days. I also had food that wasn’t too hard to chew. The oncologist wasn’t surprised when I said how bad jaw pain was xx
@swk1981 absolutely typical about the travel insurance 
I think the annual ones that just renew automatically catch you off guard. Hope you get it sorted x
Oh well done!!! I’ve got Sports Day for the entire Senior and eldest 2 years of Prep on Friday and, judging by the small interactions I’ve had so far, I’m worried some people’s heads may actually fall off their necks on Friday! 
Hi Helen,
Are you on first cycle Docetaxel? My jaw pain was at its worst in that cycle. Still have it in second but nowhere near as debilitating. Mine eased around Day 10 of Cycle 1. I couldn’t take anything except paracetamol due to the antibiotics hammering my stomach but I’d probably have reached for something like ibuprofen. Also, Gelclair and mouthwash helped weirdly as they’re both analgesics.
Maybe ask someone to gently massage your shoulders and neck too to release any tension through your jaw. I found a cold damp flannel helped ease the pain, even if it was to sit there and watch a programme and not feel consumed by the jaw.
Keep going on the Polybalm as many times a day as you can. My nails feel like each one has been hit with a hammer and it’s worse this cycle but they’re holding firm still for now and I think it’s down to the Polybalm as they weren’t doing well until I started. X
I’m on Nab-pacitaxel as I had 2 anaphylactic shocks to the docetaxal. I’m on my first of 9 as having them weekly. Unfortunately they said as I’m diabetic I may suffer more from the neuropathy side effects. All very boring!
Thanks for all the advice @swk1981 i will put a bit more poly balm on I think too!
I hope your sports day goes Ok and you sort out your travel insurance. H x
I wonder whether the ice gloves would help at all? They may also give you some pain relief between cycles perhaps? I hadn’t thought to use them for that but may give them a go. Could double up to help with the random sweating I seem to get too.
I hope you have a nice chilled weekend and that you’re not in too much discomfort. Weekly must be so very hard and consuming. Xx
Thanks and have a wonderful time away @pollyanna1 
As regards Abemaciclib this is definitely worth asking about. Not sure I will qualify for my cancer, as approval is stringent but will push to see as it has had a lot of success.
I have been recommended to use a company called all clear, however as we are away Sept next year, it’s too early to try & get a quote for my dates
Hope this helps - Laura
Good morning ladies, hope everyone is doing well today
Does anyone know if Abemaciclib is for ER positive only or is it being used for PR positive too, my breast cancer scored 8 for ER but also scored 7 for PR, just thinking it would be useful to know before my appointment on Tuesday, I’ve tried to google it but not having much joy,
Brain scan complete yesterday and no news means good news so hoping not to hear anything for 2-3 weeks 
@pollyanna1 hope you are enjoying your holiday and that the sun is shining for you 
Hi @altoan Well you’re an inspiration. Your hair looks great and very natural so you did a good job. I can believe it does feel like you’re acting a part but hopefully one day soon you’ll be able to look back on it and smile. 
Hey Elle,
It’s for HR positive so seems to cover both ER and PR. Have read around it this weekend and it doesn’t seem to be for the faint hearted with quite mega side effects. They also don’t know if it only works while you’re on it and there’s some discussion around any cancer cells remaining being more aggressive afterwards. Am going to discuss in more detail next time I see them! X
I’m also not sure whether, to qualify, you either need lymph node involvement, a large tumour or a Grade 3 cancer. It seems it’s for ‘high risk of recurrence’ people rather than say a Stage 1, Grade 2 cancer if that makes sense.
Hi @elle16 my breast cancer was 8/8 ER and 7/8 PR I’m being offered Abemaciclib as I have a high rate of recurrence. I was also unusual as I found a lump which was invasive lobular cancer when I went for the mammogram and testing they found another lump in the same breast which was mixed ductal. So 2 different kinds, I also had a full lymph node clearance as lymph nodes involved.
So not sure which bit triggers the reason for it.
I’d ask away and see what they say!
I hope everyone has had a nice weekend and enjoyed the sunshine.
@swk1981 i was thinking of you earlier, I hope you managed to get your insurance sorted x
Yes that makes sense, mine was grade 3 so an aggressive little shite, I’ve wrote it in my questions to ask on Tuesday so will see what they say xx
Thank you, I was lucky mine hadn’t got to my lymph nodes so didn’t have to have full clearance, think they took 3 but I did have high grade DCIS too,
A lot of the medication is about blocking oestrogen but does the same medication block progesterone? This is another of my questions, there doesn’t seem as much information about PR blocking, not sure if I’m just getting confused by it all xx
Gromit12 do ask at your local MacMillan as well as running number in here, think there’s a place on the forum too where other forum members have posted about travel insurance 
Shi xx
It acts differently to Tamoxifen. Tamoxifen blocks the cancer cells from absorbing oestrogen. Abemaciclib is a kinase inhibitor. It effectively disrupts the cell progression by blocking the kinases that it needs to grow. There are two other drugs that are similar (palbociblib and ribociblib) but they only work on CDK 4 and 6 whereas Abemaciclib works on loads more CDK’s which is why it’s such an exciting drug.
So it’s not really about the hormones (although it works on HR+ cancer cells because they are dysregulated in some way which makes it easy for the drug to infiltrate the cell and inhibit the CDK’s). It’s about the HER2 status for Abemaciclib I think as you must be HER2-ve.
It seems that Progesterone is the hormone they haven’t got a blocker for but, arguably, if your cells require Oestrogen then blocking oestrogen will prevent them from growing surely? Worth asking the consultant about whether blocking oestrogen alone is enough. Sounds like Abemaciclib would add another thing to your armoury though although be prepared for diarrhoea by the sound of it. I’ll do anything for an extra 6% so I’m going to take the 3 months of sporadic diarrhoea as it seems to settle for most after that initial time. Urgh.
Hopefully that kind of explains the difference. I’m sure your consultant can explain it better! X
@elle16 - generally they focus on blocking or inhibiting oestrogen as that seems to be the hormone that ‘drives’ cancer cells. My cancer is progesterone + only which is really unusual and I’m worried that there won’t be any ongoing treatment available. They’ve said that progesterone alone isn’t a driver for breast cancer but I had a fast growing grade 3 tumour so something was driving it! As yours is oestrogen + too, they will focus on dealing with that and they won’t be too concerned about the progesterone, Emma x
Thank you @ivy-cat and @swk1981 for all the information, think I’m just having a wobble going forwards and not really getting my head around everything, feel like I can’t retain any information, my appointment is tomorrow so hoping for some reassurance from the consultant too xxx
Just realised I meant Emma and Sarah 
see wheat I mean about my brain not working, done a quick edit xx
