Heya Ladies
Bike rides, barbers and clippers, it’s all go here.
I caved. I calculated that I should be safe for a macD’s and did it, I had the big mac. But I’m only on day 4 and OH said better to cave today than next week when the neuts drop so I did. Fingers crossed.
I’m becoming preoccupied with these anti sickness tablets now. Had last steroid earlier and the Ondemet says twice a day for 3 days, well that’s today then so that anti sickness and the steroids are done for this cycle… woohoo I think.
As I haven’t touched the other ones I’m not sure I want to now as I haven’t needed them and the only nausea I had was honestly for 10 mins on day 2 and I swear that was more of a slightly empty feeling that was easily remedied with a biscuit and a pill.
I think I mentioned before that I fought against my stomach for nearly a decade, nausea was the curse of my life but I found a homeopathic remedy that worked for me and learnt something very important. If there’s a risk of nausea do not let your stomach get totally empty, just a half a rich tea or something if you start feeling gurgly. And the flip is true too, don’t eat so much you feel bloated. I’ve found if I stay between these states I don’t have a problem so I’ve stock to that. I don’t know if the same would be true for you but knowing how stomach acid works it makes sense that it would be.
So with the benefit of hindsight that you have and me not having touched the second anti sickness pills would you take them anyway or would you wait and see? I’m really torn. Don’t like taking pills if I don’t need them but how do you find out.
I do have my homeopathy if I don’t take them and find that I need to, it’ll buy me enough time for them to kick in I’m sure. I love my Nux.
Gulp, what’s next 
Angie
Sorry if I seem needy right now, a little nervous now that the steroid are done.
Hi Angie
From my experience if you’ve not needed the others don’t bother. You’ve coped really well with very little sickness/nausea so you must be one of the lucky ones - by the way I hate you Use nux vom if you need to as it seems to works, and did for me. If you do get the yuk feeling you could always start them knowing that the 1st dose might not be effective but then take them before you feel ill for a day or so. Don’t know if this helps.
My motivation for feeling better is a glass of wine on day 6 - or sooner if I can taste it OK. Glad to say passed that test again this time with flying colours!
Keep well.
Nicky
ps to the earlier comment about periods (which I can’t go back to else I’ll lose my posting) I had one as ‘expected’ about a week after chemo - even though I didn’t want it, but it did last longer than usual so, for me, I’m hoping that was a last ditch effort from the ovaries and they can now go to sleep. Having said that I’m not looking forward to my 2nd menopause as I had a chemical induced one when I was 1st dx in 2003.
Hi All
Had my second FEC this morning. All went well just feeling woozy and tired, so if i drift off plz excuse me…Zzzzzzzz… Opps there i went!!!
I have a tip for all thoughs “Chewy Meringues Lovers”. I couldn’t get to M&S for the meringues so i went to the Co-op. Saw some meringues(pack of 8) and thought i would give them ago. Theirs are really chewy also. So if you get the urge and run out, there is always a Co-op at nearly every corner… and there open late too!!!
Hugs and kisses and hope everyone is doing okay
Kirsty xxx
Well I’ve just scoffed my face with a nice big roast turkey dinner. I froze all the bits in one of my batch cooks (saves ages BTW, tell me if you want tips).
Am still doing OK. It wasn’t rich, nice simple white protein and vegs. Yum.
I don’t have a co-op on my street corner, but the corner shop that doesn’t sell much does do meringues IIRC.
Nicky… please don’t hate me. It’s only day 4 we’ll see yet
Second menopause, that’s just cruel. I hope this one isn’t so bad.
My mum just sent me a homeopathic goodies box (I know other people get chocolates but you don’t see complaining) and she put in some solaris bush remedy. She said she just sprays it on and it calms and cools rapidly and as it’s not taken internally should be fine with the chemo.
She also went to see her mentor who’s currently got 6 patients on chemo and has made up a homeopathic tonic for me just in case… nothing herbal that can interact so that’s good.
sorry had to copy some files around the network am back.
Anyway just wanted to say that my Mum has personally found relief from hot flushes with the solaris remedy.
But movie time for me now before I just fall asleep completely.
Lots of love
Angie
Hi everyone
the beasty site just lost my posting, so I will type much quicker this time.Has anyone else got hair, because I have lost track. It is such a worry waiting for it to happen but as I used the cold cap I don’t know whether it will or not. Day 16 I think now. Every morning I just touch my head really carefully. Lolly I am so glad you like your hair, it is bound to look great on you being young and wrinkle free. I bet you look like the children’s big sister now! Lisa hope yours does as it is told so you can have a great time on Sat without worrying. Although from what I know of you, you will still have a great time anyway no matter what and take it in your stride. Did you get to wave at the Queen and how did it go with the BCN? Kirsty, well done for getting another under your belt and hope you are not too bad over the next week. Had your blood counts changed by much this time?
Regarding tablets, I took the ones exactly as told for the first few days. especially after reading about a poor lady on here not taking them second time and really regretting it. After that I just took things when needed but that was only for acid in the stomach which lasted longest apart from the horrible gum problem which lasted ages. I did not take any more anti sickness tablets.
Keep getting better everyone and Lolly and Lisa have a great last few days, bloods on Monday for Lolly and I
Lily x
Thanks guys
I didn’t take another antisickness last night and have slept well. Just had some dorset cereal (thank’s mum good call it’s yummy) and it seems I haven’t gone off milk. I was surprised to read on one of my pill packets that it can cause lactose intolerance for a while… phew that hasn’t happened.
Hope you all having a good day today.
Hi Angie
Hope you know I didn’t mean it! And thank for the info about Solaris Bush - I hadn’t heard about that one before but will definitely investigate once the dreaded hot flushes begin. It’s like having an ‘on tap’ homeopath with you and your Mum’s experience!
Have a good weekend to everyone recovering or getting ready for the next round and keep those blood counts up - I’m sure meringues are the way forward!
Nicky x
hi everyone
have lots of you gone of tea and coffee, i find even though nausea as eased i still feel queesy at the thought of tea or coffee. so just op;t for hot chocolate, with cream and meringues instead (those meringues turn up everywhere).
nicky
i too had period after first chemo, waiting to see what happens this time, nurses said you sometimes still get them at begining and they can even be heavier(lucky for me mine werent). they said it is later when they seem to dwindle.
i have been having walks in the country to ease the fatigue. last night me and my sister where hounded by two hungry swans on our local nature reserve, we laughed so much we wet ourselves. (disgusting but true) maybe i can blame the chemo for weak bladder,
i was given sickness tablets for 3 days each time, the ones i took this time, were really good, i will tell you the name later. also tried the ginger biscuits someone said they helped too.
true whats said about sore head,i just have little hair left and it is so sore to lie on at times.
have a good weekend girls plenty of sunshine and laughter. x
hi everydaymatters
I have gone off tea and coffee, taste like metal!!! Does the hot chocolate taste okay? Might give that ago instead.
Had my second cycle on thursday and today the nausea was really bad, taken anti sickness tablets which has eased it a little. I am just drinking lots of water to help flush the system out.
Hope everyone else is okay and big cyber hugs from me.
Kirsty xxx
Hi Everyday (and everyone)
Yes, hate tea for about a week after but then I gradually get used to it again but it is a bit metallic. Don’t drink coffee so that hasn’t bothered me. After my 1st FEC I had an Ovaltine one night and that was a big mistake, tasted awful so haven’t tried hot chocolate yet.
On the chocolate theme I’ve always been a bit of a chocolate chav and only like Cadburys, although I don’t tend to have it very often. About 3 days after this FEC I thought I’d treat myself to a Twirl, one of my faves, imagine my horror when I couldn’t stand the taste! I seem to remember thinking it either tasted of cats or cat food can’t remember which!
Also my tastes/preferences have changed from FEC 1 to FEC 2. I enjoyed spicy things after the 1st one but want blander things this time. Also have gone off toast and honey this time in favour of cereals. Have a craving for strawberries (without meringue as I luckily find them too sweet!) which has been great at the british ones are now in the shops and taste so nice. I did read this week that strawbs are very good for liver detoxing so I wonder if my body is telling me to eat so many? I’m up for it anyway!
The name of your anti sickness tabs would be good to know. I can’t complain that mine don’t work but they don’t get rid of the feeling completely and I definitely notice when my next one is due. Also I suffer from wind (both ends!) and mild heartburn so may ask for some heartburn tabs next time as other ladies seem to get given them as a matter of course.
I did read on a website about the individual chemo drugs that was linked to a thread here that one of the parts of FEC is likely to stop your periods, the other 2 parts don’t have that effect. I’m hoping it will as I’m very hormone receptive but Tamoxifen has stopped working for me and I’ll go onto Femara after chemo but need to be post menopausal to have it.
Have a good weekend everybody and enjoy the lovely sun. I intend making the most of it as it’s one of my ‘good’ weekends
Nicky x
Heya Everyone.
Hope today’s a good day for you, especially you Kirsty. I’m sure the copious amounts of water I’ve been drinking did help. Forgive me for being so crued but my pee ceased to be red (from the epi) after a mere 24 hours I drank that much. Hope that wasn’t a bad thing. I was thirsty.
Nicky. Have they talked to you about oblation ie shutting the ovaries down with rads. I’m going to consider that after the chemo and rads is done. I’m triple neg ie not hormone responsive and also hormone responsive. I know it’s an odd set up but I had 2 cancers at the same time that were different so it makes things complicated for me a bit.
Anyway, have a good day everyone. I’m off to the library to get some good books to read. You should check yours out, mine has some great books on getting through chemo and nutrition etc. I only joined up again at the start of the year, forgotten how good they are.
Angie
hi everyone
dont seemt to be affected by the metal taste you all talk about (lucky for me hey) but the nausea is just like morning sickness aint it, i will put the name of nausea tablets on one day, (too lazy to go downstairs and get the name).
keep up drinking the water girls they reckon it really helps. ( i havnt drank so much this time though, just cant seem to make myself
. lime juice seems to go down ok though,
nicky
like you say your tastes change from one session to the next, was off choc first session, but am well and truly up for it this time.,
and for breakfast normally love cereals, porridge etc, but unlucky for me, seem to be fancying bacon. nurse said just go with it, so im doing as im told!
anyone had the strange dreams, ( i think its the steriods, in the first few days.
good night have a good weekend( i intend to, like nicky its my good one.
Hi
Angie - the ovary debate is my biggest annoyance with my onc since my 1st dx at 41. I had Zoladex for 2 yrs (as usual time for this treatment) and she seemed to think I was so near my natural menopause I wouldn’t get my periods back when that finished. Well, she was wrong and despite requesting for ablation almost every time I saw her at follow up appointments both she and my consultant surgeon seemed to think you had to think of the big picture and that I may get osteoporosis if I had them removed and that would affect me more. Well guess they were wrong! My bc has come back to haunt me in my bones and as I’m so hormone +ve I can’t say this is a big surprise - even though it was when I found out. This will be my battle after chemo is finished and I will make sure I have a blood test to show my ‘fertile’ status and if not post menopause will insist on rads or surgery - which is usually keyhole. My view is that since my body became awash with hormones again it’s no wonder a stray cancer cell has managed to turn into something bad that I now have to deal with. Other women, both on here and others I know of, have been recommended to have this op in very similar circumstances to my own and I really can’t get my head round why my onc did not want this to happen before. Having said that I did accept their opinion at the time and I was a very low risk for bc returning so just goes to show. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
Everyday - definitely enjoying this weekend heaps better than the last one, I wonder why? I agree with you about lime juice, it’s not too sweet but also takes any odd taste out of the water. I’ve now progressed to drinking tea again and this counts towards any liquids you have so not relying just on water at the moment. Also like Coppella apple juice as it’s not too sharp and as it’s pressed rather than concentrate it counts towards your 5 a day fruit and veg. How are you doing with the hair bit? The areas that ‘worked’ with the 1st cold cap are still hanging on and growing like crazy whereas the bits that started falling out before my 2nd FEC are getting bigger. I expect the rest to fall out next week or so as I didn’t use the cold cap this time so they will all be affected. Kojak here I come!
Have a good weekend all of you lovely ladies, especially those due treatment next week - hope it goes ahead and you recover quickly.
Nicky xx
Morning Everyone.
Well it’s now 6 days since my dose and I woke up with a sore throat. I think it’s just hayfever but the thermometer is at hand now.
Everyday… I don’t have the metallic thing either. I didn’t have it when being dosed either, The chemo nurse said not everyone gets that one. Lucked out again 
Went to the library yesterday and got a few books that are brilliant.
* A guide to tapas (that was the last of the steroids having their say)
* Coping with Chemotherapy (brilliant, know I know what’s happeneing when, how and why, amazing stuff, well worth the read and it’s pretty short, about 100 pages)
* Optimum Nutrition for the Mind by Patrick Holford (This man knows his stuff for sure I’d say the person to read about nutrition from)
Will share interesting tidbits with you ladies if you want.
Niki. I can’t believe they tried to put you off oblation, that’s mad. I’m only 33 but as far as I’m concerned it really should come down to whether you want kids and that’s it. My Mum went through the whole HRT and osteoporosis debate for years. I think they’re finally learning that there’s a much bigger picture and bone strenght can be helped with diet. Are you on bisphosphonates as well to strenghthen the bones ?
Anyway time for the sun.
Lots of love
Angie
Hi, yes on biphos as well which seem to be doing the job as there’s no twinges at all whereas I had started to feel them just before I started chemo.
On a separate note I also got a sore throat the 1st time round about the same time as you. I just had some antiseptic lozenges that I’d already got and they seemed to help. It didn’t develop into anything else.
Would be good to know any interesting facts from your books. Maybe we can all come up with other things we’d like you to research for us
Take care
Nicky x
Heya Guys
Wow this is a strange day. I live in a small village and one of my friends ex wife has secondary BC and I knew she was in palliative care and had this strange need to just stop in the middle of the green and was thinking about how she’s doing and wished her well. Just got around the corner to home to see my Friend who just informed me that she died this morning. He found out a few hours later but woke up like a shot when she died a 5am strangely.
Isn’t it odd when things like that happen. Naturally I’m upset and thinking of the kids (who are all twenties I think). I never knew her as she didn’t live in the village but still feel really sad as I’ve heard a little about what she’s been through in the last few months.
So happy travels J hope you find a really nice afterlife.
Hope you don’t mind, had to share that. How strange it is that we seem to know these things deep down inside.
Angie
Hi hope you guys are all starting to pick up now and watch out for the low immune bit and stay out of crowds.
Angie really sorry to hear your bad news, which is always unnerving whether you are close or not.
I also got a sore throat and that is one of the things that you have to report while on chemo. There is a big list in my treatment diary, for if I am out of the area and need some treatment. The BCN advised me to start rinsing with Difflam mouthwash every 4 hours, after food. This resolved it really quickly. In my case it was not actually a sore throat (even though it felt exactly like one ) but the effect of the drugs on my mucous membranes. That was the slimey mouth we were all moaning about and it lasted a week or so.
In for bloods on Monday and then if ok epi number 2 on Tuesday. Lolly and Lisa are you ready for it? I am definitely not feeling like going round again.
Hi Everyone
Angie - sorry to hear about your news. It must have been a really strange feeling when something like that happens. My thoughts and hugs are with you.
Im having a weekend in bed feeling really sick and lifeless, after my second cycle of chemo on Thursday. Losts of rest hopefully do the trick and be back to feeling a little more human in a couple of days.
Hope everyone has had a good weekend and my thought are with you all xx
Kirsty
Kirsty
so sorry to hear you are laid up in bed, but you are doing the right thing listening to your body so it has time to repair itself. Hopefully this will have you back on your feet very soon or at least a little more like yourself. Take it really easy this cycle when your immune systems drops, to make sure you don’t pick up anything. Hope you feel a little more chirpy next week
Hugs
Lily x