I had antibiotics for three rounds while on chemo that weird.
And I had nystatin for a month as well.
I had this a lot too - gallons of water helped & staying on top of the nystatin. I know some people recommended bicarbonate soda in water as a mouth wash. X
1 Like
Yes! Iāve found itās lactose so removed milk and yogurt from my diet and it helped loads. 2nd Docetaxel due this coming g Friday so stocking up again on lactose free milk and yogurt 
1 Like
Hi everyone, just catching up on the chats. Iāve had a rough few weeks.
I have 2 Paclitaxel left, then I get a few weeks break before my radiotherapy starts. Will be having my Herceptin injection every 3 weeks.
So far the cold cap has kept the majority of my hair so thatās a positive.
I am finding these last chemo sessions really difficult, itās like Iām so close to the finish but still so far away if that makes sense.
Had trouble finding a good vein last week and taking blood was hard too.
Think Iām just in a low spot at the moment, worried about ongoing treatment and the future.
Friends and family all brilliant but they donāt fully understand how I feel and of course how would they, only us going through it know what the journey is.
Sorry for the negative rant, just finding everything hard.
Hope you are all staying strong and well š©· love to you all xx
8 Likes
@erica no rant at all thatās what we are here for. Iām so pleased that the cold cap has allowed you to keep your hair 
.
I also have two Paclitaxel sessions left before moving on to RT. I completely sympathise with how you are feeling. These last few sessions do feel like a mountain. I guess we have been so focused on getting through the chemo that the reality of the situation is starting to creep in. I started to feel really low and worried about the future ever since finishing round 5. I find the fear of reoccurrence sometimes puts me in a really dark place. Iāve lost faith in my body because it tricked me to believe everything was fine so how do I now know when something is wrong. I find it hard to get my head around the fact that I am high risk, as determined by my oncotype score, but as there was no detection in the nodes, I donāt qualify for any scans to check for spread. Every time I have a pain I think it must have. I try and keep rationalising myself but it is hard. I am just hoping that these feeling get easier with time. I think I am going to try and get myself on the moving forward course when I finish and Iām hoping that provides me with some ways to cope when those dark thoughts creep in. On a nicer note, I did attend the ālook good feel betterā session yesterday and I can highly recommend as it definitely cheered me up no end. The ladies were amazing! I hope everyone is doing ok?
7 Likes
Hi everyone hope youāre all doing ok
@erica and @sunflower9 sorry to hear youāre finding these last sessions tough, Iām feeling the same and canāt wait for it to be overā:weary:. Itās what happens next which is worrying me itās hard sometimes to think what it will be like not having treatment anymore and the NHS support network. Im having radiotherapy next are you both? After feeling ok immediately after my first EC the following week went downhill my blood test results werenāt great and they decided to postpone my second EC and I canāt deny I was so upset although I know it happens! Then I ended up in hospital with a chest infection. But luckily I got back on track with 2nd EC yesterday so 2 to go and itās over! But given recent experience Iām not counting my chickens too soon 
@sunflower9 glad you enjoyed the make up workshop and itās cheering me up still testing out the free products. The nurse said I looked very nice at chemo yesterday I said hospital is the only time Iāve been out recently so like to make an effort!!
Sending love and hugs to everyone and enjoy the last of the summer if you can x
P.s. itās steroids night so good time to catch up as I canāt sleep 
4 Likes
@susan501 sorry to hear that you were poorly following your first EC 
. It sounds like you have really been through it. Glad to hear that you are doing much better now and I hope you are being kind to yourself.
I completed chemo session number 7 today 
so only one more to go. I am having radiotherapy once I finish. My oncologist said that he was going to refer me over and I should expect to start RT 4-5 weeks after my last chemo sessionā:crossed_fingers:. Now just waiting for appointment date to come through . Iāve found Paclitaxel a lot more manageable and have able to do quite a lot more but just need to know my limits and rest/nap when I need to. I hope everyone else is doing well?
3 Likes
The chat is getting quieter and quieter now that most of us are on the second half of chemo. I guess it all feels like a bit of a routine at this stage, hence not much to say. I hope you are all doing fine!
My first Paxitaxel didnāt happen last Friday as my white blood cells were too low, so I will attempt again this Friday. Hopefully my body is working hard in rebuilding those cells. Still have a rash, which Iām managing with an antiseptic cream and finding myself worried for some reason today, as doctors said normally EC is not meant to cause a rashā¦ But itās been continuous for meā¦ I hope it wonāt happen again with Paxitaxel.
An achievement this week is that I think, I finally processed and digested all the things that happened to me over the last 4 months, and now I am calmly working on thinking what does the ānew meā look like. What maturity can I take away from this experience and how do I approach life going forwards, once the treatments is over. I seem to have some anxiety about going back to work and generally about living at the pace and speed I was living before. But also, I have no clue how could I do it differentlyā¦ I hope some wisdom will come to me in the few months of resting that I still have. Does anyone else feel the same?
4 Likes
@sim2 sorry to hear that you had to postpone your last session and hope that your white cells are back in business for Friday. I know how frustrating it is when you have to postpone a session .
I am definitely feeling the same. As I approach the end of chemo all sorts of thoughts have started popping up in my head and I wonder about how I am going to navigate life/work after treatment (although, I will still need to take tamoxifen for 5 years and hearing about the side effects of these hormone pills also really scares me). I too am going to spend time during the last part of my leave to reflect and device myself a sort of plan about my future and what I would like to try and accomplish/do under my new norm. I always felt like there was time to do things but the fragility of life and how everything can be taken away in a moment has really effected me mentally. I am hoping that I can find some practical ways to help myself mentally and physically to move forward without the feeling that I could fall apart at any moment and to turn this rubbish show into something positive. I think Iām going to start by signing myself up to a Pilates course in September and hope that my body can cope with the new spiritual me. I have also brought some new wigs as the realisation has hit home that Iām not going to finish treatment and suddenly have hair 
. I canāt move forward looking in the mirror each day like an extra from the Witches . Anyway, I hope everyone is doing ok and that you have some great plans for the end of treatment.
5 Likes
Hi all, itās been said by a few of us May starters, itās gone a bit quiet on here! We are probably all winding down to our last treatment, so are all feeling a bit exhausted by it all! I had my last MRI on Monday, that will be discussed next week at the surgeon meeting so i should know for certain what op I will be having. My last chemo is 27th before surgery and continuation of phesgo for a year i think unless anything changes. Iām really glad to be coming to the end of chemo as Iām struggling with feeling so worn out, I hardly recognise myself these days! Onward and upward girls! We can and will do this! Thank you all for continuing to be there. All the best for your treatment journey going forward! X
4 Likes
Hello everyone I have my 7th and last but one chemo next Monday after just scraping through my blood test this week!
It has been quieter on this group as we all approach the last leg but agree weāre probably all knackered. Although my oncologist reminded me yesterday that fatigue is a good sign that the chemo is working and targeting those cancer cells. Am also finally starting to realise what weāve been through and starting to think about what will happen next. I know things will probably never be the same. I had semi retired in December and then one month later was diagnosed with BC. I really am not sure whether I will go back to work now but had been so looking forward to having what I saw as a perfect work-life balance.
@sim2 hope you get your next session done today. My last session was postponed due to low WBC count so know how you feel!
@sunflower9 glad to hear you have only one session left. Sounds like I have similar plan to you left. My oncologist also referred me to start radiotherapy 4-5 weeks after finishing chemo yesterday. I will have 5 sessions. Like you Iām suddenly realising it may be Xmas before thereās any proper hair back on my head!!
@sassy3 glad to hear youāre also near the end of chemo now and hope you get some clarity on your surgery soon.
Hope everyone else is doing ok? Xx
5 Likes
Ah so glad to hear it was your last one 
you moved through it so quickly. It must be such a relief!
My first paxitaxel happened today and all was ok. WBC still on a low side but we were able to go ahead. Iāve still got 3 more months of chemo to go.
3 Likes
Hi everyone, just catching up on the messages.
Feeling the same as you all, chemo finished and waiting for radiotherapy to start in September.
Still having Herceptin every 3 weeks and starting Tamoxifen soon.
I feel so tired physically and emotionally.
Lots of appointments this week, heart scan tomorrow, breast examination Thursday as Iām experiencing pain and CT scan Friday in prep for radiotherapy.
Feeling anxious about my breast examination and hoping the pain is just from the chemotherapy. Had a lumpectomy but that was back in March.
A lot of family/friends donāt realise this is a long journey and now my chemo finished they think Iām ābetterā now!
Trying not to worry and think too far ahead but itās difficult.
Sending love to you all xxx
5 Likes
Hi Erica, I hope your scan comes back all negative. And totally hear you on people thinking youāre all better now. Itās strange cause everyone panics when you first get diagnosed, and they want to be very involved, and then it just becomes the old news and youāre sort of left quite lonely with itā¦
But we are all here for you
4 Likes
Iām finding myself awake at 3 am due to back painā¦ Had my first Paxitaxel on Friday and was given some Pelgraz as my WBC were low, and Iāve literally been in pain since yesterday.
Has anyone else had a really bad back pain and joint pain with this stuff? Dr thinks itās due to Pelgraz and recommended Paracetamol, but I had used it before and it was never as badā¦ getting a bit worried.
1 Like
I had my 3rd EC yesterday - 7/8 done in total so just one to go now. Like you @sim2 Iām wide awake but on the steroids!! When I had paclitaxel I had terrible back and joint pain with filgrastim injections - it almost made me want to give up chemo - but my consultant prescribed morphine which helped at least to get some sleep.
@erica I hope all your appointments go well this week and you get positive news.
And yes same as you both friends and family think Iāll be raring to go after last chemo as radiotherapy is not as bad
But thatās the great thing about this forum we all know what itās really like. Itās good to know itās not just you!
Hope everyone else is getting through this as best they can 
3 Likes
Thank you Susan. Iāll see how today goesā¦ but I may have to ask them to prescribe me some stronger stuff tooā¦
1 Like
@erica well done on finishing chemo, thatās no mean feat. I hope your appointment goes well this week. We will be thinking of you.
@sim2 sorry to hear that you are suffering from bad back pain. I havenāt had Pelgraz so canāt comment but do know that when I had the Filgrastim injections that I was very achy. I hope that the paracetamol has eased the pain and you are doing ok.
@susan501 well done on completing number 7 and I hope the steroid come down is ok.
I agree, everyone has slowly gone quiet over time and as we put on a brave face in front of friends and family, there is an assumption that you are very much ok. They canāt see the internal physical and mental wounds which we carry, but we know they are there and thankfully we have each other to get us through. We have got this ladies 
.
2 Likes
Have you tried taking Clarityn (the antihistamine)an hour before bedtime? I have to take filigrastim injections after chemo and the clarityn along with max strength cocodamol realt helps. (Oncology nurse can prescribe cocodamol)
1 Like
@sim2 I had the achy joint pains on my 1st and 2nd pacs, my oncologist said I should not be having joint pains because Iām not on filgastrim. But when I have chemo and told
this to the nurses they said itās quite common symptoms. Paracetamol did not work, I took codeine to get relief. Ask them for a much stronger medicine.
1 Like