August 2024 chemo starters

@lilly123 sorry to hear about your mother in law. I hope her treatment is minimal and effective.

Spring is round the corner and hopefully better times for us all ahead.
I’ll be glad to finish the RT chapter and no more two hour round trips from next Thursday. The three weekly Phesgo injections will hopefully be manageable. I’ve to discuss bone strengthening meds with Onc next Tuesday, fingers crossed for something with minimal side effects.
Best wishes and hugs to all xx

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Hi everyone :wave:

Was looking for some insight and some advise please - anyone else i could ask wont fully understand and i feel its unfair to even ask for that same reason:

I have suspected, but now I’ve confirmed it, I’m definitely losing my hair again, even though i finished chemo on 20/12/24. Does anyone know if thats normal? I’m too much of a wuss to google it i admit.

For those who’ve had mastectomies already, what should i ask the consultant and the nurse before surgery? Been racking my brain but coming up empty… just mastectomy no reconstruction for now.

Thank you for your wisdom and insight, hope everyone is having a restful and healing weekend xx

Hey @dhmb

I can’t answer the question about mastectomy but in terms of hair loss I don’t think there is a specific time frame in which hair falls out and grows. What I would say is it is only just 3 weeks since your last chemo and side effects can go on for some time. Mine is very random, I have kept my eyebrows, leg hair and half my eye lashes! No underarm or pubic hair left! My head Some of it’s growing and some of its falling out still. I epilated my legs today and it didn’t feel like the hairs were properly attached as they came out so easily.

I’m getting a wig to see me through the next few months as I start to feel better again I know I’m going to want to have something.

Did you cold cap? Xx

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Hi @lilly123, I did yes.

Reason why i ask is because my hair was growing back and the short hairs you can feel them almost like a man’s beard after 2 days not shaving… so seeing my hair fall out again was unexpected and unsettling to day the least but yeah now that you put it that way … light be right. I lost everything apart from very few eyelashes … oh well… it will grow back eventually i hope.

Thank you for your insight @lilly123 how have you been?

Hey
Mine is growing back in places as well and then losing it still in others, it’s quite frustrating as just want it to be all even but think it will be patchy for a few months while getting thicker.

I managed to get out for a little walk today which was amazing. Feeling a little under pressure to be well again! As soon as my partner and son see me doing something they assume that all normality has resumed :weary: getting tired of repeating myself now about how I’m feeling too them. Lol xx

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Exactly.how i feel too about the hair… think i just panicked a bit to be fair :pensive: We’ll get there @lilly123 fingers crossed :crossed_fingers:

I can relate to what you’re saying… i can’t get up a flight of stairs without being breathless… went to the shops yesterday to get groceries and yarn to finish a 0roject, just 2 shops and by the time i got back to the car was absolutely knackered… i feel bad for not being able to do more and definitely nit lazy but i can understand how it looks that way.

Today i put the washing in the machine and then into the dryer and i feel exhausted… these days if im able to do one thing then thats a plus, but doesn’t feel like much to be honest. Most days i think: oh I’ll start having daily walks today, just up the road and back but i dont have it in me and since i started in December working part time from home… well you get the idea…

How are you coping @lilly123 ?

Sending hugs xx

Hi all and Happy New Year! (well fingers ćrossed!). Re the hair I had kept some straggly bits throughout, but suddenly they have disappeared! However I do now have a very short maybe 2mm covering of new hair! I was so relieved that it has reappeared and that it is my usual darkish brown colour :blush: However I started letrozole on 16th Dec and my legs are killing me! especially going upstairs. Please tell me it gets better! Also the other drug they are ‚offering’ is abemaciclib and one of its possible side effects is hair thinning so I’m really unhappy about that - maybe it won’t affect me :crossed_fingers:t3::crossed_fingers:t3:. Seems we all still have issues despite chemo ending. My radiotherapy starts on 6th Feb so will be good to get that done! Good luck with your nails @songbird1 and @lilly123 - mine are improving now but weren’t as bad as yours seem to be. Sending lots of luck and good wishes xx

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Hi @anne3 :wave:

I hope your radiotherapy goes by in a flash with no further issues, fingers crossed :crossed_fingers: and thank you for sharing in regards to your hair :blush:

Wishing everyone a positive week,
Hugs xx

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Hi @dhmb and thank you! Am also disappointed at having bit of a heart problem now, found during the echo, so now have several pills for that! One has possible side effects similar to abemaciclib which the bc team want me to have after RT, so a few unknowns there, don’t want a double whammy! but then this whole thing seems to have a lot of unknowns!
Good luck everyone with your next steps, radiotherapy and operations… keep us posted! :blush::two_hearts:

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Hello everyone

Today I had my final radiotherapy. I feel another milestone has been reached and surpassed.
I have stocked up on aveeno and flamigel . I await the fatigue kicking in.
So now it is Herceptin injections every 3 weeks, and letrozole for the next 5 years. My consultant has mentioned what he called “bone medicine “….I will no doubt have more medication to take soon, but I do feel as if I am getting my life back.

Best wishes everyone xx

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Oh @bigpickle so happy for you, well done :clap: :clap::clap:

Hi @bigpickle so glad you’ve got radiotherapy done and dusted! Gradually getting there… Hope the letrozole goes smoothly (I have it for 10 years so will be late 70’s when I finish!!)
Just read today that prunes are good for bone strength but I will be having injections for that too (but not your three weekly ones - are they for your bones?)
How is your hair doing? :two_hearts:

Hi @anne3
My 3 weekly injections are because my cancer was HER2 positive, in fact I was triple positive, PR and ER 8 (the highest :see_no_evil:). They can have side effects but I have had 4 so far and not suffered anything. I will have 17/18 of them so a while to go yet. I believe it’s the letrozole which can cause bone thinning, hence the need for bone medicine ! I quite like prunes but in moderation , had enough bowel issues to last a lifetime.
My hair began to come back before I finished chemo. It is very sparse on top, but thicker at the sides. It is mainly grey and crinkled. I did see a couple of posters on the July chemo starters had put pictures of their hair growth. They finished chemo in October, so 2 and 1/2 months ago……I think it will be a slow process and I will be in my wig and headgear for a while yet!
How is yours?

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Hi @bigpickle
I was HER2 negative but will have 4x 6 monthly Zometa (zolendronic acid?) injections to help my bones as I’m also on letrozole as I was ER+ and PR+ (can’t find the numbers for that).
In addition will have abemaciclib for 2 years if I tolerate it :face_with_diagonal_mouth:.
My hair only started being visible a couple of weeks ago so about 6 weeks post chemo finishing, but it’s definitely my old colour, thicker on top, thinner on the sides and back but only about 2mm so far! Still wearing hats etc but my false fringe started itching my forehead so am giving it a break! Same with my wig…
Glad your injections are going well, definitely on the road to recovery! Take care :two_hearts:

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@bigpickle well done getting through the treatment and finishing RT, it’ll be a relief to get that out of the way. I get my last round on Thursday along with my Phesgo. My three weekly Phesgo carries on until end of July.
My Onc told me today that they would scan me to see that they’d managed to get all the cancer in April when lymph’s have recovered from RT.
I’m so looking forward to less appointments and recovery. Although braced for RT fatigue hitting at some point.
Sending best wishes to you all xx

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Yay! Last radiotherapy this morning. I was quite emotional on the lead up (having to get half naked dealt with my emotions and I went straight into practical mode). So glad the chemo and RT is behind me and I just have to hope the ongoing phesgo does its job and keep fingers crossed for clear results form the scan I’ll get in April/May.
They warned me again today that fatigue is likely to kick in in a couple of weeks but for now I’m so happy to be through that leg of the journey :blush:
Wishing you all well as you work through your journey xx

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@songbird1 ….congratulations. I did actually ring the bell when I had my last one as I felt that a large part of my journey is now over. I know what you mean about the being half naked. Moisturise and moisturise some more. So far I have had a bit of warmth from the treated boob, but no soreness. Hope the fatigue isn’t too bad but if it means having a nap then so be it.
All the best xx

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Yahoo @songbird1 !!!

Happy dance :dancer::dancer::dancer::dancer::dancer::dancer::dancer:so so glad to hear that and a bit emotional too not going to lie.

May long the happiness continue :grin: a huge hug of congratulations :confetti_ball:

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@bigpickle and @songbird1 Congratulations! It must be great to know you’ve got all that behind you! :+1::tada::two_hearts:

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