Glad you’re doing ok! Enjoy the mash and hope you sleep well in your pillow fort 
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Hooray for getting through it!! I also remember feeling less pain than I expected, and yes, that battered and bruised feeling. It really is just amazing how the body heals and adapts to change, though.
Glad you’re being looked after tonight, and that you have all the pillows!!! Sleep well, and take it day by day. Wishing you all the very best xxx
@zebramoon well done! Glad it all went well and wishing you sweet dreams. x
Feeling broken today.
Went for my pre op, which in itself is stressful enough. It started with a pig of a man who basically attempted to ram raid us in order to secure the parking space we were waiting for which did nothing to calm my already frayed nerves.
I got lost in the hospital. I couldn’t see the signage due to not having glasses on. Couldn’t find glasses. Looked at hospital letter but had wrong letter out. Tried to find appointment on the phone but couldn’t work out how to bring up the message. Screwed up letter and shoved it in my file, had a mini-meltdown in the corridor. Cue an army of wonderful NHS workers who virtually carried me to where I needed to be.
Added to this, I am covered in chemo rash on my face. I look like a lizard with eczema, and my face is pounding, itchy and sore. I can’t seem to find anything to soothe it. All suggestions welcome.
I’m now sitting in my own blanket fort feeling sore, tired and dejected. However a special mention goes out to the lovely nurse who agreed that shoes are indeed heavy items and that I was in fact only 74kg as opposed to the recorded 75.1kg on the scales. He deserves a medal.
Thanks for letting me moan. Not that you had much choice.
Love to everyone! X
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Best thing I’ve found for eczema (as I’m allergic to almost every eczema product!) is this particular Neutrogena hand cream
It has the texture of Vaseline but is made from glycerine so no petroleum products or lanolin and the red cap one has no fragrance - it’s about £5 in the supermarket and sometimes on sale too. I’ve also found Rosehip oil ok but very liquid so makes a mess!
So sorry you had an awful experience especially when you’re so vulnerable. Did the actual planning part ok? How are you feeling about the choices you had to pick (often none feel ideal!). Is there anything you like doing that you feel well enough to do to cheer you up? Really hope you find something to feel better xx
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@Jaygo Sorry to hear about your day, that’s a lot to have happen plus the chemo rash too…I can sympathise on that one as my face also has it! I’m trying the cetraben cream the hospital gave me but I don’t think it’s touching it! When it’s happened over the last cycles I’ve tried La Roche, Aloe Vera, anti histamines…it’s like day 10 strikes and it appears! I’m sorry I don’t have an answer (I wish I did!) but just wanted to say you’re not alone with it! x
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Thanks @zebramoon I will look this up. We went for a small drink on the way home and it was nice to sit in the garden to enjoy it. Not overly sure I made any choices. I just made it clear that I didn’t fancy the dog ears, but apart from that no.
I will get there. On the plus side, reflecting over our glass of rose I did remark that we are seeing the end of the road on the horizon, albeit still a bit in the distance, but it’s there. xx
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@anncuk yep, day 10 and TA DAAAA. To be fair it goes almost as fast as it comes (or has up to now). Thinking of auditioning for a bit part in Dr Who in the meantime. xx
@Jaygo Love the humour there! 
Mine usually lasts about 5 days but for those 5 days (which coincide with me venturing back to the office typically!) I want to put a bag on my head!!) x
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@Jaygo @anncuk I’ve been prescribed a 1% steroid cream for my spotty cheeks. Also a moisturiser called Enopen which is fantastic for all over.
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@grateful Thank you for this! I’ve one more cycle to get through starting next Wednesday and am thinking can I ride this out again or do I need more help! 
It’s like the final insult of each cycle when this appears! x
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What a horrible start to your pre op! So glad the NHS army came to your rescue! Hope the appointment itself went ok once you got there!
I was also getting a chemo rash towards the end and the pharmacist prescribed me a 1% steroid cream too - said to use it very sparingly and only on the worst ones on face. Thankfully it has largely cleared up since stopping chemo.
I know! Still, a glass of rose put things right. Just got appt at doc to get some cream for the rash. X
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@zebramoon thank you for posting so soon after surgery and saying how you are feeling, I have mine on the 17th March and starting to feel pretty nervous!
@Jaygo oh goodness, this sounds like a nightmare you poor thing! Have you tried “Udderly Smooth, Moisturising Cream” or “MooGoo” both have really helped me with my skin.
It is on the horizon, and kinda feels nice but also really weird!! I am tired all the time at the moment, and I think that’s because I have been so focused on the next chemo every 2 and then 3 weeks and getting over the side effects in between, and now its been 3 weeks tomorrow since my last chemo and I dont have it tomorrow and my body is just relaxing and now tired all the time. Also with the nerves of surgery too.
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@tessie86 I was mainly worried because I’d never had a general anaesthetic and I have underlying conditions that could mean a higher chance of anaphylaxis. The staff were amazing, I was really listened to. I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome so I’m prone to dislocating various joints but they took care to use pillows and be careful with me, I can tell they were careful while I was under as my shoulders, knees, ribs, back, jaw and neck are already delicate and nothing was painful after. The actual surgery site is under two small dressings (I had left sided single mastectomy with immediate implant and full lymph node clearance), it’s pretty itchy but mainly painful when getting up from seated or lying down. I’ve been out for lunch yesterday, breakfast today and the supermarket (only had it done Tuesday 3rd). I’m trying to only take one tramadol at night and otherwise go without cos painkillers can make me feel sick and I’m pretty comfy if I stay still. I think you’ll be glad to put it behind you and start the recovery. My dad gets very sick with IV morphine - I told the anaesthetist and she gave me fentanyl instead and put IV ondansetron through first, took me a couple of hours to come round after but I felt good and was able to have some biscuits and then a normal dinner at home after. I’m gluten intolerant so I took my own snacks and a bottle of water as I knew they’d want to see me eat, drink and use the loo before being discharged. As far as I can tell with the tape and the surgical bra on the reconstructed boob looks pretty much the same as before the surgery too! Best wishes for yours, let me know if you have any questions about mine, I’d say the pregnancy pillow is the best thing I bought myself to help recovery xx
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@zebramoon glad they were gentle with you during the operation and hope your recovery continues to go well.
@Jaygo sorry you had such a tough time on pre op day, and hope skin is settling down now? Glad you enjoyed your rose !
I’ll be skipping final chemo now and going straight to radiotherapy , but no dates or details yet, so feeling a bit weirdly in limbo rather than celebratory
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@zebramoon thank you so much for going into more detail. I have never had anesthetic either so very nervous about that. But I am also excited to have this done now and finally have the tumor out of my body after finding it in August, so close!! I have a V shaped pillow ready and a heart shaped pillow, but will look into the pregnancy pillow. Thank you 
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Has there been a problem with your last infusion? Are you missing the last one or have I misunderstood? I’m hoping I can get my wisdom tooth sorted before radiation - just waiting to hear back from the surgeon. Hope you’re doing ok xx
Ah sorry @zebramoon I forgot about where I wrote about what happened . I saw my oncologist on Tuesday and he felt that, looking at the pattern of progression from cycle 1 to cycle 2 of docetaxel, the peripheral neuropathy was quite serious and would almost certainly get worse with another treatment, with possibility of being long term/permanent. He said that as was not a huge amount to gain from having one more cycle of adjuvant chemo ( I will have got most of the benefit from the treatments I’ve had already.) I could choose to cancel my final chemo cycle. He left it with me to make the choice.
Over next few days pain got worse esp in my heels, agonising burning pain kept me at night, and then I finally made decision to cancel final treatment and go straight on to radiotherapy. It felt like the right decision for me. No dates yet re radiation and will be seeing a different oncologist who covers the hospital nearer to me
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Stupid question - am I supposed to take the surgical bra off to check for maybe swelling or bleeding etc? I saw the district nurse the day after surgery and as far as I can tell everything seems fine. I assume it’s more hygienic to leave the dressings alone and they look clean from the outside, I have a spare bra but wasn’t sure how often to change it.