@cass2 Bench slaps… somewhere back on this thread one of our wonderful ladies was looking to mark the end of a treatment stage and I think there wasn’t a bell… … i forget the exact detail… but ended up slapping a bench outside. The idea stuck with us and has become one of our possibilities for celebrating a milestone - any milestone any time! I would point out that other forms of celebration are also available, or indeed several can be combined! @hasnae87 very pleased you seem to have found a better therapist. Despite all the rubbish you are dealing with you always keep others here in mind. Thank you for your generosity.
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Hey lovely ladies! I am back. I just needed a breathing space from everything related to the C so i took myself away for a few week including this app, you ladies have helped me through the darkest of times and i will be forever grateful for the support i have recieved. A lot has happened while i been away, my partner his two uncles as passed away in a space of like 2 weeks apart, it was a year ago on the 31st july my beloved grandad passed and it also marks my first chemotherapy cycle too ( don’t miss them days )
I been on two holidays since and we got a new touring caravan 
i also got two new lil piggies therapy guneapigs as i call them and my 3 year old started nursery for the 1st time! She starts full term in september 
I have my LAST phesgo on Monday! And i have mixed emotions about it, a milestone and happiness of my official treatment plan being complete but also nervous because i feel like my safety net is being taken away. I also will start my zolodronic acid monday too, any tips or advice from anyone who has had this? Heard it can make you poorly… which i rather not as i have recently only just felt better from having lovely Covid these past 2 days 
Also a big Hello to any new members recently 
rocking my new Top today proudly 🩷
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@carrie5 ring that bell as loud as you can, you deserve it. My daughter videod me ringing the bell and i still view it. I dont know how to post pictures on here, im not on social media so i think thats why i cant do it. @jeml good to see you backx @hasnae87 you stay strong, my sister went through a marriage break up with her cheating rat of a husband who left her with 3 kids, now 15 years later she has a great life 3 grandkids who her ex doesnt get to see because her kids dont talk to their dad and he has nothing, he is depressed and has a lot of regrets. Your life will turn round so look after yourself and your son kick cancers arse and your husbands x
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Found my old hospital compression socks and been wearing them since yesterday afternoon. Think I can finally verbalise what my feet are doing (I was saying buzzing or feeling alert), I think they feel like they’re purring. When my cat lies on me she vibrates when she purrs and it feels just like that.
Weird.
Compression socks not working yet, making me notice the purring more than before even but I’ll stick with it and see if it improves.
My oncologist referred me to the peripheral neuropathy team before I was discharged from their care last week (I’m still not thrilled wbout that, have to see how helpful the HER2 team are before I can make up my mind, if thry just send texts I will not be impressed), so hopefully they have some ideas. I hope they don’t touch my feet, I hate that.
I only rang one bell after chemo. Seen them dotted in other depts (radiotherapy etc.) and I’m back having Kadcyla in the same dept as my previous chemo. I’m not ringing a bell every time. Wish I’d just done it after EVERYTHING. The bench slapping feels more satisfying and an audience is unnecessary (I always hated attention) so it feels more personal.
I managed to walk all the way to and from work yesterday (my parents live mid route so I usually stop at theirs after work for my lunch or tea and break up the walking up hills), quite pleased with myself. I’ve probably walked longer on a flat surface but where I live it’s really hilly and I get out of breath very easily. I did okay yesterday, rewarded myself with a chippy tea as the fish&chip shop is on the way so that was good motivation.
Kadcyla 7 on Tuesday so will be midway through. My nosebleeds didn’t appear the last two (although I had an extremely runny nose) so hopefully that’s over with.
Spirometry test on the 11th so I can find out if I’ve lost any lung capacity.
My sneezes have returned and I love it. I always did obnoxiously loud, satisfying sneezes and I lost that during chemo. It’s been so frustrating to have lost the ability to sneeze since last Autumn. I have to tell people can they imagine having nothing but those fake out sneezes where it stops before you can sneeze for months. My boss came in my office from another room and accused me of making our whole village shake. After I explained, she encouraged me to continue sneezing but commented “Damn, that’s weird” 
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I just wanted to share a post that i put on social media today as I also want to acknowledge and say a big thank you to the amazing support I have had from this group.
What a year! Today marks my one year Cancerversary. A year today I heard the words “that’s breast cancer and you will need a mastectomy” I felt like I had been sucker punched and my family and friends rushed to my side and stayed there throughout.
What a 12 months it’s been, chemotherapy, targeted therapy (which is still ongoing) mastectomy and reconstruction, hair and nail loss, so many blood tests, scans and hospital appointments.
I have been so blessed and felt so much love from my tribe throughout this journey and have been so blessed to have found so much additional love from the cancer community, from the Boobie brunch, the walkie talkie group and of course 5k your way. Your guidance and lived experience has helped me navigate my treatment and side effects.
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Awww i know the feeling! It was same for me back in June… what a journey it is! But we did it!
No one seems to call now and appointments are less which is a good thing… but i find myself feelint quite vulnerable as if people think ’ she okay now’ x
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Thanks @jeml I can’t help but wonder if I will feel that way. I have three more Herceptin to go, and feel like that is when I might panic a bit. Hopefully everything I learned in the moving forward course will help xx
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Hi @jeml nice to aee you back . I’ve had two zolendronic acid infusions, after the first i felt slightly feverish and achey the next day, but after the second one had no side effects whatsoever.
I didnt think i needed a support group after i finished treatment, after all i have all you lovely ladies on here. Friends who have been lovely dont really get how things are now, that the experience changes you and they dont really get it. So a nice lady i met at my moving forward course has set up a local group for us, just five of us so far, but a space to air our feelings now that active treatment has finished. We have had slightly different treatment plans, but neverthelrss bc survivors. I only went along to support her endeavour, but i think it will be useful just to have chats with others who get it. Its a bit like an extension of the Moving Forward course, which i would urge people to go on if there is one in their area.
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