Thanks Lily - all the support helps keep a positve mind xxxx
hi everyone
anyone else, got a sore arm, mine seems to be really tender running up the forearm. its been sore for about 3 days, its on the arm where i recieve my fec treatment.
nicky
i am losing lots of tiny hairs, i shaved the rest of when it was falling out, it was making such a mess everywhere. and if these tiny hairs keep falling, theyll all be attacked with the shaver too.
i wish i could keep my appetite under control. i just cant fill myself up. people say its the steriods but shorly that cant be the case, they must dissapear out of your system. i know they inject some when we get fec, and i was on them for 3 days. but im now about 10 days after treatment.
what with a bloated tummy, swelling in the shoulder and under arm (lymphadema) and a bald head, one boob. what a misfit.
michalin man,kojak, or just some undiscribable human being! (dont worry im not having a crisis, im glad to be alive. no matter what i look like)
take care girls, if its a good week look forward to tommorow. if not rest until your good days arrive.
Hi
I haven’t had a sore arm myself but was advised on here to massage over the vein used so did with vitamin E cream (just what I had handy ), so might be worth a try. Some ladies use arnica to help the bruising. Hope it feels better soon. Everyday what a magic picture you paint. I was very hungry, you must recall the meringue talks. I just went with what my body wants and it did settle in the third week. Off on the next dose on Tuesday so will be interested to see if I get the sam again. Got the meringues ready!! Did you get the horrible mouth part?
Take care everyone, don’t go near the chinese takeaway!
Lily x
Hi
Yes (again!) have had sore arm after having FEC. From what I’ve read on here this is quite common but keep an eye on it as it can become an infection (don’t think this happens too often though). You can use ibuprofen cream on it or I use arnica cream (as Lily says) as a natural alternative and it does help. Also I try to keep straightening my arm rather than keeping it bent which seems to stretch out the veins a bit.
My appetite is less for the 1st few days whilst I’m feeling grot but I have felt hungrier this time round but have yet to reach the meringue stage!
Take care to all, bald, fluffy, hanging on in there or whatever!
Nicky xx
Afternoon everyone.
Hope you did all have a great weekend in the end and Monday is being good.
I did phone the chemo nurses and they concurred that it’s probably just hay fever so I’ve taken an antihistamine and that seems to have solved that for now but I have noticed that my gums are bleeding easily and spots are reappearing on my face so I guess the low neut days are encroaching. Steri’d water at the ready and OH is cleaning down all the sideboards now (he sensibly pointed out doing it a week in advance would just allow new bacteria to start up).
Am feeling well though and happier than yesterday.
Had strawberries in strawberry jelly last night, oh wow did that taste good. May I recommend jelly and ice cream for those of you with an appetite, it’s mainly water right 
Nicky. Is the pain surface level or deeper because arnica is more for surface bruising, there’s a remedy called bellis for deeper bruising.
In case you’re interested an excerpt from whatreallyworks.co.uk
"Bellis perennis is the common lawn daisy and is generally described as either a delicate wild flower or the blight of perfect lawns!
This is a deeper acting Arnica, we use it in the same way but for large bruises in big muscles or internal bruising, Bellis is also effective at reducing swelling around the injured area. Both Arnica and Bellis can be used around the time of childbirth to help the body cope with the process of delivering a baby.
Bellis can also be used for sore and aching backs, perhaps from too much digging in the garden (maybe bending to remove the daisies from your lawn!). It is also handy for falls involving the coccyx (the last few bones of the backbone), which can be particularly painful and usually take a while to heal."
I bet you never see the common daisy the same way again 
Hi Thanks Dr for that! You really are a treasure.
I didn’t know about Bellis but will investigate it now. The bruising around the veins is mainly surface so arnica does seem to deal with it quite well but I do bruise easily so I will get some bellis for those occasions. Hope you’re feeling OK and the gums don’t get you down.
Strawberries and ice cream for me today - I felt I deserved it - delicious Again, just fruit and calcium I guess?
Good Luck for tomorrow Lily and anyone else having their next doses, hope it goes well and your bloods have been good to you.
Everyone else enjoy the sun whilst it lasts - a nice change from early last week.
Nicky x
Thanks Nicky,
you will be on the eating bit just as we all go off our again! Lolly and Lisa if you read this good luck this week.
The blood test went without a hitch, so now I wait to see whether the system works when I get my blood taken at the little local unit and have chemo in the lager main hospital.
Lily x
Hi Lily
Hope that was a slip of the keyboard, or just wishful thinking that you are going to the lager hospital?
Good luck, hope you feel OK after as well
Nicky x
Hi Everyone
Just a quick message to say best wishes to all who are going through treatment this week… my thoughts and hugs are with you
Im feeling a little bit better after spending the weekend in bed…sleep…sleep…your body always tells you whats best for you!!!
Take care and big cyber hugs
Kirsty xx
hi there everyone
i too like lots of you, am just accepting what my body wants to do, and feel relitively calm, so it must be right thing. normally im always itching to get back to work or push onto them jobs that need doing. ( cant be bothered). going to check out arm at docs tommorow, but thanks for all advice much appreciated.
still cant stop eating, (and have no willpower at all) tried huge salad for tea, but just had to have some choc peanuts after!
Welcome back to the proverbial land of the living Kirsty.
Good Luck tomorrow Lily. I’ll try and send you some calming energy from the Lakes. Just return to sender if not needed or wanted
Hope everyone else just enjoys the summer and is happy, even if this is the week of treatment.
Hi
thanks everyone and so glad to hear you all on the up again. Calming energy in my lager hospital would be fab. I did laugh at that, maybe a Freudian slip but probably chemo brain can’t spell again. I would not be safe let loose in school at present, good job I am permanently at home until further notice. I can imagine having to ask the kids what month it is every day !! I let my body do what it needs and cannot believe how much I slept right up to about day 17, just switched the alarm off and woke naturally. Will see if my theory helped the blood counts or not.
Thanks for your kind wishes, take care
Lily x
Good luck lily hope it all goes well - sending you my positive thoughts!! I do have some
Vertangie - glad you okay. Im back off for my second on Wed - aaarrggh and bold now apart from my Dennis’s (fingers crossed they stay).
p.s. I live in the lakes too - sunny Cumbria or what#xx
Hi Lisa
Hope you have a nice day today and that all goes well for tomorrow. Remember it’s another one of these horrible things ticked off. And if we all feel this rough afterwards imagine what the little bc bits feel like!
Nicky x
Hmmm, I’m suddenly feeling teary and ratty like a really bad and sudden bout of PMT, reckon the neuts must be dropping now (day 9) waaah.
I want to go an eat junk food to cheer myself up but I know I mustn’t as it could do me in, and is generally not a great idea to comfort eat anyway.
Help, meringues just don’t do it I need STEAK.
Hi Vertangie
I know how you feel when you say you need steak…I had a craving for it and had rump steak, covered in pepper sauce and chips 3 days on the run last week…I just couldn’t help myself! I was on days 8-10 after FEC #3…must be a side effect? lol
Anita
hi everyone
been doctors to check arm, shes give me antibiotics and some cream. but got to take on empty stomach (whens that going to happen) i will start them at bedtime i think. hope everyones keeping chin up
sun helps a little
everyday - finding a empty stomach time - hard or what! Someone asked me today if I was eating healthy!!!
Thanks all - had steak twice this week - more than the last few years!!
Hope all well
xxx
Hi
I just lost my first post so this is attempt 2! That really annoys me when it does that.
I had epi dose 2 yesterday and it went really well for a change - hooray. One nurse held the port (inside my chest!) and the other put the needle in , boy was it long, but they did it first go. Had numbing cream at home to apply before I got there so did not feel it. Had the cold cap on again as more hair still on my head than the floor so far. Left a lot of hair in the helmet when they took it off though and had reflexology while I waited too, lovely.
Lisa hope it goes well for you today. How were your blood counts? Mine were lower but still way above the minimum, I think the meringues did it!! Just been up to the doc for another sick note and she signed me off for 6 months. It will mean the school can get supply for a term and the kids won’t suffer. I have got the red face starting already so the first thing she said was my you look really well!
Hope everyone else is improving, whether from bites, nausea or fatigue. I went out and filled up with petrol as I have to have that 97 opetrol for my car and not all the pumps have it. Also got roll on insect repellent after seeing a gang of midges haniging over our stream waiting for me!! I am always surprised how we can be affected by quite normal things while on chemo
Take care everyone. I am making the most of today before the dark sleep hits me again!1
Hugs
Lily x
Afternoon Ladies.
I’m using Skin so Soft to keep those midges etc away. It seems to work and no nasty deet which makes me happy.
I think my Neuts dropped yesterday as I was a miserable b***h most of the day. Stuarts wife dying on Sunday and Zotams Lisa yesterday really upset me too it was just a really bad day. I don’t do suffering in silence very elegantly. Phone Mum last night to ask what I should take to cheer myself up and she rightly pointed out that sobbing your eyes out because people you relate to have died is a really natural and healthy thing to do… so I sobbed some more and drank a galss of wine more that I should have (not too much though, no hangover).
Feel a lot better today though and am bunking off work to spend time with OH working on out campervan so we can escape for the longest day next weekend. His photo exhibition starts July 1st so there’s much to do here which is a welcome distraction from the chemo side effects. It’s nice to be able to complain about good old fashioned muscle ache from DIY Oh yes I did have my steak burger, with mushrooms and onions… Yummmmm.
Glad the Epi went well yesterday Lily, hope the next couple of days are happily controlled by the drugs and the steroids don’t stop you sleeping too much. I made sure I took them by 3:30 and that really helped, although they did make me sleepy during the day too.
I think the hunger is not just the steroids. I think it’s also our poor tired bodies crying out for help which we interpret as *feed me*
Lisa hope yours is a breeze too. So you’re a lady of the lakes too. Why aren’t you out there taking in the scenery? You’re probably not far from Ennerdale. I can’t wait to go see that now that they’ve turned it back to nature. Google for “Wild Ennerdale” if you’re interested and not just too knocked out by your cocktail.
Everydaymatters… empty stomach… yeah right, not in this house. I’d have to get OH to slip it in my mouth when I’m sleeping. Or set an alarm to take it at 6 am
Anita, You should have seen me at the butchers… steak burgers, 2 slabs of steak, and a pork joint!
Hope everyone’s having a good day. Lots of love.
Angie