I’ve got the white fuzzy duckling hair coming through now!! Feels really funny!!
I’ve been cold capping but still lost about 70% - so it’s starting to re-thicken back up. EC all finished. 5 out of 12 weekly paclitaxel done. Phesgo injections every three weeks. Sleeping terribly!!! Argh
Hang in there peeps
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It feels so soft … I can’t stop touching it, but then I get scared I’m going to rub it out of my scalp 
Oh the sleep is awful … I sleep in about 2-3 hour blocks and then wake up… normally in a huge puddle of sweat!! 
Keep going … 
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@charlie22 soooo good to hear from you. Glad you’re getting through the chemo. Don’t worry about the cancer plan… just focus on you and getting through your dads funeral. Take each day very very slowly. But glad you’re signed off from work - gives you a bit more space to focus on you and your family. Sounds like you’re doing all the right things for you so keep on going. You will get to go swimming again… I keep looking at my arm and it makes me smile as there is nothing there except a small scar/dot … so picture that swim in your head Charley!!! xx
As for bloating and wind… well… I am definitely letting big ones out at the moment - I hope this isn’t now a permanent feature of my life as I can’t seem to hold a fart in !!! Obviously I’m still at home most of the time but imagine when I get back to the office and social events!!! Some of it must be my erratic eating habits but I hope it rights itself soon.
And eyebrows… I was a bit smug as I’d kept most of mine (v thick brows) but now I have a few straggly hairs where they once were. Hair is looking a tad fuzzy … but still v v bald. My boys kindly said I can dress up as Voldermort for Halloween but I personally think I look more like this guy… pretty grim and trying not to look in the mirror for maybe a couple of months!!!
Happy Sunday everyone xx
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@charlie22 lovely to hear from you. I lost my dad a few months before being diagnosed so can’t imagine how tough it is dealing with all the things you have to organise and sort out whilst also grieving, on top of chemo. Sounds like you’re doing all the right things though. As for your treatment plan, I find it best to just focus on one step at a time.
Re the bloating/wind I’m glad it’s not just me and I too hope it settles down before returning to the office 
As for the eyebrows/lashes, it’s weird how they go now at the end of chemo. I have a few randoms left for now. Hoping they might grow back better as they were thin from 1980/90s over plucking
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@donna_51 and @wjs … thank you … and absolutely love I am not alone re the bloatvissye … and this is why o love this group … no topic is off the menu and 99% of the time we are all going through it 
Yeah … I realised something had to give last week and work just seems the obvious choice … I can’t see it being for too long though … I need to be busy!! But for now the rest is much needed and welcomed… as I am sure my children (and partner tbh) agree … I’m a lot less stressy at the end of the day … which incidentally is when they come alive 
Aren’t teenagers great @donna_51 … mine suggested Uncle Festa 
I’m sorry for your loss as well @wjs …its a horrible experience for anyone 
I’ve got the look good feel good course this week … I was going to cancel but I was really looking forward to it and I know my dad would be really annoyed if I didn’t go… he was all for doing anything that made this whole horrid affair easier for me
Is everyone embracing the Breast Cancer Awareness month … I’ve tried to wear something pink every day and we have asked that in lieu of flowers at the funeral any donations to be made to Breast Cancer Now charity so hoping we will at least raise some money for a good cause through the sadness
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@charlie22 I have the LGFB course this week too, on Tuesday. I’m sure it will do you good to have a bit of pampering. Lovely idea re the funeral too, thank goodness for BCN and helping us through all this. I bought an Amy Dowden Tickled Pink t-shirt from Asda and wore it for my last chemo.x
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Good to see you @charlie22. I think youre doing wonderfully and I do admire you. I totally think that giving up work for the time being is the right thing to do!!
Hi everyone else. I hope you’re all ok and that the various stages of side effects aren’t bringing you down too much xx
From my point of view -
Eyelashes - 3 on each lower lid and a few on the top lids. Woerd, why have they survived. I guess they’ll all go eventually.
Eyebrows - half of right one gone and the rest thin. Left thin all over. Noticeable as I have very very dark lashes and brows.
Tummy - bloating ++ after first Docetaxel but not since, but very windy 
regardless of what I eat.
Lots of love to all 
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Hi everyone
Just catching up and great to hear people putting themselves first and being honest with others!! Im with you there. Self care all the way xxx
I have felt generally better 2 weeks post my last chemo (but also have fuzzy white hair, limited brows and eyelashe, and still very red rashy and dry face…)
I have been soooo tired and my flu type aches have stopped but now have aching stiff joints, particularly my hips. Ive turned into a 90 year old overnight.
At my oncology appt on Friday, i was told to be patient, respect that my body has taken a battering and sadly aches are to be expected and likely to continue. I was menopausal anyway but now body is slammed into it, and the next anti hormone therapy will continue that on…
I felt really down about it Friday but got my head around it a bit and went to a very nurturing workshop with yoga and yoga nidra on Friday eve…another amazing group of women! Then Saturday, had my first day/night away with my partner. We went to Knepp (if youre into nature they run an amazing rewilding programme, worth a look up) and i was so lucky to see rutting deer! We then stayed nearby just in a pub, fairly basic but good to have a change of scene and be ‘normal’.
Radiotherapy planning scan this friday, hopefully find out when that will be.
Off to go research glucosamine, omega and turmeric supplements now…!
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@nicd goid to hear you are all finished with chemo too, and that the planning for the next phase is happening already. I have been very tired too but I think that now the side effects from the last chemo have gone I have more energy than I have over the last few sessions. Maybe because I know I won’t have to do it all again next Monday.
Great to hear you had a little trip away 
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@charlie22 I’m so sorry about your dad, nothing can prepare you for the loss of a parent, and even more so with everything else going on too.
I got through the weekend eating cake which tasted of nothing 
looking and feeling like Gollum and today my amazing hairdresser gave me a number 4 all over, which feels so much better and even I have some regrowth above my ears. Some eyelashes and brows are still in tact, for the moment.
Hope everyone has a good week 
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Oh @jojoh wow! Bournemouth? I think they are fab. Maybe we should meet at the hospital one day? Be great to meet you!!
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@nicd fab you got some time away.
I know it’s still hard and we are still on a journey but I hope that a bit like me I felt my Saturday night away was the first time feeling a bit more “normal” if that’s possible! We attended a black tie do with 100 people - a little scary - but the venue was large - we had a nice meal and we even did a couple of dances! Ok we were never going to stay to the end but both my hubby and I lasted longer than we thought and loved being around more people! Got a croaky voice as a result and hope nothing else … back to work today after not working last week after chemo so a reality check again.
Good luck with your research and your scan on Friday.
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Well done @collywobbles ! Thats a massive achievement, its our new normals that we’ll discover, and things will get better im sure! x
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Definitely wow @collywobbles, I recognised some of the chemo nurses in your picture! It would be great to meet sometime!!
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I was bloods Monday’s and chemo Tuesday. Next week I’m there Wednesday for mammogram and ultrasound.
@jojoh it feels like I’m there all the time and yet next week we are not destined to meet 
- another time!!
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Fab that a few of you have mentioned you are started to grab those normal moments again after chemo. And I suppose it will take a while for our bodies to get back to full strength so we all definitely need to be patient with ourselves … not that we’ve been anything but so far really!!
I have been reading about bone broth … and the health benefits of that for hair regrowth, muscles etc. I have order some … yes I could make it but not got that energy right now and stops me spending on more unnecessary clothes Be really interested to see what other health supplements you guys discover?
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Remember that the cancer hair care charity said that Holland and Barrett’s skin hair and nail supplements were just as good as the more expensive products. I asked my consultant who told me that I can start taking them 3 weeks after my last chemo. See my notes at 968.
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