Wow @elle16 thats super fast, thanks for the advice xx
@swk1981 have the best time I’m so jealous!
Hx
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@swk1981 have a fabulous holiday - you so deserve the break. Isn’t it fab to get rid of the PICC line- I loitered in a bubble bath fir far too long once mine was out! The bliss! Learn to appreciate the little things 
Laura x
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Well I’ve just been to the dentist on the instructions of the oncologist, due to the jaw pain, which is really bad today- he’s not prepared to x- ray until I’ve had some time to recover - so he’s booked me in for x-rays and hygienist in September when I’m back up here for herceptin jab. He says he’s impressed how I’ve maintained my dental hygiene. His one piece of advice was not to let my mouth dry out and that’s more likely to cause decay. So the oncologist will have to wait!!
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Hope it all goes OK tomorrow @elle16 as you say it’s good to get it started. How many sessions do you have? Sorry if you have said already. I can’t wait for no more hospital appointments although that seems a way off yet. Everything seems so much more complex than a simple op, 5 days radiotherapy and some pills for a few years that they told me at the very beginning!
I had my dental check today and she advised using 5000ppm Duraphat toothpaste whilst on the bisphosphonate treatment which she mentioned in my letter to oncology, she said it can be prescribed as repeat prescription. Just thought I’d share that.
Hope everyone is doing ok
x
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Hi Emma, I’m having 9, 5 plus 4 tumour bed boosts, hospital just rang again to say the Machine I should be using has broke today and won’t be working tomorrow but as they really want to start me tomorrow they want me to use a different machine and made my appointment a little earlier, I shouldn’t think it will make much difference 
I actually hate the dentist and I’m more anxious about that then anything,
Ive also had a telephone appointment come through for my oncologist in September so feel a little unsure when I will start taking tablets/injection/drip, they did say I should hear this week about bone scan so I’m assuming an appointment will come through once that’s done.
@swk1981 so jealous of your holiday, sounds like the perfect way to spend your time between treatments, they have told me that I could go away 2 weeks after radiotherapy finishes but I’m unsure what to do at the minute think I’m just going to play it by ear and maybe book last minute if I feel upto it.
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Thanks Laura, all went ok thank you, was in and out within 15 min, completely painless 
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@isthisreal oh that is awful I didn’t even realise it was a thing!! How can you have to go back to chemo? I may have to go on Kadcyla plus herceptin if there are cells left. I bet that’s really knocked you for six. Hugs xx
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I hadn’t realised this either till I spoke to my BCN last week and asked if I would get my Hickman line out before or after surgery (mainly as I wasn’t sure if I’d need to keep it for administering the general anaesthetic). She said that I wouldn’t need it and went on to mention if I didn’t have a complete response to chemo then I wouldn’t need the line in as they either do more chemo via oral meds or more targeted treatment (I.e. phesgo for longer). She specifically said I wouldn’t get more IV chemo (but that may just be my own HER2 positive, hormone negative type). I also didn’t realise it was a thing. I know they probably don’t want to overload us with info at the start but I personally would prefer a little info about what actually happens early on so that we’re not caught off guard by it being mentioned months later just when we’re finishing chemo!
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I’ve heard of Kadcyla but don’t know anything about it unfortunately. Totally get what you mean…. I honestly would rather get the info up front to set expectations so you know from the off what happens at each stage and that certain further treatments may be possibilities. I’ve kind of found things out either by accident or in dribs and drabs. I’m not meeting my surgeon till 7th Aug and have so many questions as all he said at the start was he would be able to do a lumpectomy but it’s only through reading up on stuff myself that I even found out about the SLNB and margins etc so I’d like a lot more info about the full process and what to expect after they have the pathology report
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OMG, I had no idea this was an option, not what you want to hear, completely understand how this must make you feel, keeping everything crossed that this won’t be necessary for you 
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@isthisreal - I was told this too but he said it would be oral chemo (just a tablet) and although it has side effects it’s nothing like the chemo we’ve already had! The main side effect is hand / foot syndrome which can cause redness and peeling skin on your feet but no hair loss!
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Oh how frustrating to hear, I hope your post surgery biopsies are successful and you won’t need further treatment 
Sometimes half an answer sends you off down a rabbit hole instead of being the reassurance we crave.
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Just catching up in the messages. Sending you big hugs and let’s hope all margins are clear and no nodes positive. Also hoping that your oncologist is able to explain things a little more in a less stressful way! Friday is still a big celebration as you have come to the end of one chapter and you have come out fighting H x
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I hope your meeting goes well on the 7th August not too long to wait now. I’m sure they will be fully prepared for lots of questions from you. I wrote a lot of mine down as I always forget in the moment! I hope you are OK, try not to stress too much. You have got through a lot in the last few months, you can do this! H x
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Dosed up with immodium as bouts of 
overnight and on our way to Somerset to collect the keys to our new house 
2 nights in a hotel as no furniture yet! Actual move next Wednesday - didn’t want to do it all on one day, too much stress!!
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yes many groups have used the pm function to swap numbers and set up a WhatsApp group. Our Oct17 chemo gang had a weekend in London together after treatment and we still speak each day and get together a few times a year as do a lot of he other groups who set their WhatsApp groups up but do se the pm function to all keep safe 
Shi xx
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I think that’s a lovely idea @isthisreal It would be good to keep in touch having gone through this “together” (even though I struggle so much to remember who said what and when, I do read every post and think of you all often) Anita x
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I had my minor surgery today - as Mr B told me, it was quick and straightforward! I was in the hospital at 7.30, was the first down and even with some funny delays I was less than an hour in the theatre and the Day Surgery team couldn’t wait to discharge me!
I even managed to find some humour in the day:
Persuading them that I was certain I wasn’t pregnant 
Listening to the nurse telling the surgeon to come and tell Anita himself (not sure what that was but it made me laugh to think she might be afraid of the baldy woman in the green stockings 
The look on the Junior anaesthetist’s face when she realised that, even though the other woman said yes when asked, she in fact wasn’t me - fortunately she checked her wristband before taking the carpal tunnel lady to the breast team 
But the best bit was the handsome anaesthetist assuring me that he wasn’t interested in whether I could climb the stairs without becoming breathless - “after only finishing chemo 3 weeks ago, I can judge your fitness by the fact that you held a conversation with me while we were walking down the ward, and you are carrying a weight in one hand Anita” I’ll take that 
Sorry for the rambling, I think my brain is suddenly in overdrive!
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@isthisreal Good luck today your last one whoop whoop!
@altoan I did laugh when I read your post! Glad you are ok.
@gromit12 hope the imodium worked and that you collected your keys Ok
I had chemo number 10 yesterday, 3 more to go. They gave me some Nystan for my mouth as it’s been so bad so hoping that will help. Somehow my toes infected too so got a month of antibiotics.
Trying to focus on only 3 more but it’s feeling like it’s still a lot at the moment. Urgh I feel like I’m so boring talking about these things that I’m actually boring myself these days!
However the sun is shining so trying to stay positive.
I think it’s a great idea to all stay in touch and get together.
Helen x
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