Hi Ladies
This thread is for anyone who is starting chemo this month.
I hope you can all help and support each other through this challenging time.
Best wishes
Sue xx
Hi! First time posting
Starting 6x ec on Thursday 6th, after having lumpectomy and 3 nodes removed (clear) Her2 positive so chemo needed ?.Also will be getting radio, herceptin injections and tamoxifen after. Feeling very nervous and massively emotional lol. Xx
Hi,
Like you Bee starting chemo on Thursday 6th. 3*FEC and 3*T. Was diagnosed on 27july and have had no treatment to date. I know I am T4 as nipple skin affected and that I am not hormone receptive. Lump is like a golf ball in size and need a mastectomy.
Can’t wait to get started to get this battle underway as it’s winning just now?
Have my wee chemo bag packed and ready for action and going to give the cold cap a go, fingers crossed ??
Wishing everyone all the luck in the world and so comforted that not going through this alone.
Lots of love ?
Hi ladies, it’s my first time posting too. Starting first chemo on 5th Sept - 3*FEC and 3*T. Had mastectomy and lymph node dissection already and then will need radiotherapy and tamoxifen afterwards. Feeling so nervous but pleased I’ve found this group as its reassuring to know I’m not going through this on my own. Wishing everyone luck ??? xx
Good luck from the June thread ladies. You’be got this and the forum is a great source of info and support. Kxx
Good evening ladies.
I was in your shoes September 2013
This monthly chemo forum was an absolute godsend & I am still in contact with a number of ladies that I met back then.
I was triple neg, had a mastectomy, axillary clearance, 6 rounds of Fec-t and later reconstruction.
As this is my 5 yr anniversary I felt drawn to come back here and will continue to pop in now & again to see how you’re getting on.
If you have any questions, pls ask I’ll do my best to answer x
Ooh top tip drink lots of water especially the day before, the day of and the day after chemo.
Best of Luck xx
Hello all, my first time posting since diagnosis in June and surgery in July. Am due to start 3 FEC 3 T on Tuesday 4th. Am feeling very apprehensive and a bit overwhelmed by it all like many who have trodden this path before I guess. I want to wish you all, all the very best for treatment. With each other’s support we can do this, we are strong ? lots of love xx
Morning!
This is my first time posting. Had a single mastectomy end of July and skin sparing reconstruction. I’m HER2 positive and ER+ and they’ve said they’re throwing everything at me. I’m starting 6 rounds of FEC-t in next few week, then will be starting Herceptin injections alongside chemo. When chemo stops, I’ll start radiotherapy continuing with the injections. My mind is blown and I’m really hoping to gain support/advice from eachother going through it at the same time! I’m really positive, but do feel nervous at all the possible side effects. Happy Sunday!!! X
Hi all!
Im probably not alone on this but im so nervous about possible side effects??? Ive been reading through all the past posts to prepare myself as never been through something like this before!! The main thing im stressed about is my hair! Its shoulder length ,im not even tempted by cold capping it just isnt for me. So im gonna brave the shave (is that wise???) cant bring myself to do it tho!!
Love & hugs x
Hi Bee,
Chemo is what I’ve been dreading the most. Despite the diagnosis and having 2 ops, I feel fine (although not emotionally!). Chemo is now getting worryingly close and I suppose it’s a fear of the unknown and how I will cope! With 3 children (8 - 14 years) I think it will be harder for them to see me like that too although they seem ok at the moment. We’ve all been wig shopping and they approve of my new look ?.
I’m not trying cold capping either as my hair is not great anyway … not helped with stress! I will probably shave mine shorter when it starts to fall out. When were you thinking of braving the shave? Big hugs ? xx
I didn’t cold cap & decided enough was enough day 19 of first chemo (day 1 is chemo day). It gets sore a bit like pony tail head. I clippered it to a grade 3 & although it was v emotional it felt so much better. I couldn’t bring myself to actually shave it off and allowed to do its own thing, it was all gone a few weeks later. I didn’t like the scarves on me as I felt that I looked like a cancer patient.
The good thing about this time of year is that you can mess around with hats, I tended to wear beanies when at home and wiggy when I went out.
It soon grew back once treatment finished xx
Hi Bee, I also decided to shave my head when the hair started falling out in handfuls, about two weeks in. I knew I didn’t want a wig and found shaving my head very liberating. Went straight down the pub for lunch, and then to Y11 prom the next day!! Now the weather is getting colder I have found scarves and beanies a bit warmer. I have finished FEC and had one dose of T and my hair is coming back as a light fuzz. The other benefit is not having to shave pits and legs!!! If you scroll back through June you will find some pics of us after we braved the shave.
Ladies, don’t be scared of the side effects. Everyone is different. With FEC the biggest problem is nausea, but your unit should be on top of it. If your meds aren’t working ring up and get them changed. Some of us found Metoclopramide which we were given as an as and when medication helps.
Please feel free to ask anything. No secrets here! You will find that people pop in from other threads quite often to see how you are doing.
Good luck to you all having chemo next week. Much love Kxx
I’ve booked myself in at the hairdressers for Tues to have a really short pixie cut. I wear my hair short anyway, but thought it might ease me in gently to when it does all go and it’ll be easier for my daughter to get used to mum with hardly any hair! She’s nearly 10 and handling it all so well at the mo.
We’ve challenged eachother to wear the silliest hats once it does go, so we can make eachother laugh walking across the school car park.
It’s such a challenging time for us all isn’t it x
Hi September Ladies,
I am Georgie Gee and I mostly appear on the August chemo starters thread.
Please feel free to ask as many questions as you need to.
Sometimes it helps to have ‘real people’ to talk to!
Just in case it helps anyone, I am currently having FEC-T chemo, with 2 cycles of FEC under my belt now and 1 more before I start the T part, also known as Docetaxol, and will also then have Herceptin once every 3 weeks for a year. Also 3 years of bone protection IV once every 6 months. As I do not have any hormones involved, I do not need the 5 or 10 years of tamoxifen or other hormone drugs.
I had surgery before the chemo, for removal of a 29mm grade 3 HER2+ invasive ductal tumour and complete node clearance from affected side. Also had 2 lymph nodes with cancer plus one with micro metastasis.
You will be starting to know the new terminology we all now have to understand once diagnosed with breast cancer, and one of the things I began to realise straight away when I joined this forum is that we speak from experience and help one another along the way as and when we need it.
Most of of the NHS hospitals seem to be similar with treatment, and we compare notes and share experience with one another on the forum.
All the best to everyone starting treatment this week.
Georgie x
Hi Ladies,
I just re-read some of the posts on here and see that a lot of people are worried about hair and how to deal with it.
There is no right or wrong way to do any of this; everyone is individual, but with FEC I have noticed that for many people, hair begins to get a bit weak after around days 10 - 15 and it is then that people tend to feel the need to make changes. I personally decided to buy in and play with a few scarves as soon as I found out I would need chemo, as I didn’t personally like the wig option. Many do though… and love them.
When on about day 13 I was bringing more than my hairbrush away from my hair when I brushed it, I decided to have my thick curly hair cut short. A few days later though, my daughter took it back to a grade 3 with clippers. By this point, the short cut was ‘lumpy’ under a scarf, and falling out unevenly. I haven’t actually shaved it, but I’m wearing scarves and sleep hats all the time now, and there is still a little tiny 2 or 3 mm sparse bit of hair coverage, which I expect will be completely gone in a week or so. I still ‘wash’ what is left, but it dries in a few seconds?!
Best wishes everyone ?
Thanks Mai7 and Georgie Gee. It’s always reassuring to know someone is going through the same thing and there is a light at the end if it all.
Good luck to all you ladies that are starting treatment in a couple of days. I’ve still not got a date but I reckon it could be next week.
Lots of love x
Hello all September ladies! Im .from June cbemc thread too! Its very scary starting chemo, fear of the unknown etc but as the others have said these forums really do help, we ask all sorts of things and sometimes just rant… Its good to get it all out there. i i ha had 3 x fec and 1 x T, having my next T today and final one on 24th September, the cycles do come round quickly really altough some days it xoesnt feel like it. Overall they have been .doable with some days when you feel bleuh but yiu geg through just listen to your body and always rinb uour nurse or hotline if you have problems, they will always hve something up their sleeves to try… don’t suffer in silence.
Hair… Mine was long but i cut it to pixie cut before chemo then about by day 15 of first cycle it was falling out quickly so had it had shaved to grade 1… Was very emotional i wont lie but son got used to it and its now startjst to grow back on firsf cycle of T. I have a wig and several hats but usually go bald at home… Saves a fortune on shampoo.
Those of uou with children… j have a 16 and 13 year old and tried to be very open with them and they seem to be ok, son took GCSEs during this and pased them all!! Get school on board tell them whats happening, our schools have been great with them offering the chance to meet and chat if they re worried. Their biggest worry was seeing me ill but iI’v only had a few days when ive not felt great but otherwise continued working (from home so very lucky). If you can and feel able try to get out for a stroll even a litle one helps.
Oh and book yourselves onto Looking good Feeling better course if you can, nice pampering session with loads of freebie make-up!
Take care… big hugs
kip
Xx
Hi everyone,
I’m starting chemo for stage 2 triple negative on the 12th Sept. Waiting for this date is nerve-wracking, but I am being kept busy by my medical team with all sorts of tests etc. Am having a Picc line put in on Thursday. I have to go in for weekly chemo until December (is anyone else on a weekly regime?!) and can’t face having needles poked in to me every week. I am also going to try a cold cap. I’ve got lovely long hair, but have a hairdresser appointment for next week to cut it short in an attempt to prepare myself for hairloss; not looking forward to that at all! I am hoping the cold cap will help, but there is no guarantee of course. Have decided not to go for a wig, can’t face that. I’d rather order myself lots of fun hats and scarves - my 11 and 17 year olds will help me choose!
Like others here I have been completely open with my kids, who have been absolutely fantastic. Am meeting with my son’s school today to discuss what they can do to help him over the next year, should he need it. My older daughter wants to tell school herself, which is very mature of her. Although this illness is deftinively the worst thing that has ever, ever happened to me, it is also revealing so much kindness and strength in so many of my friends and family, it’s quite overwhelming.
When I was first diagnosed in early August this forum and the replies I got back were so incredibly helpful and comforting. It really does help to off-load and to know that we are not alone in this.
We will get through this together!
xx
Hi all!
Its so lovely to hear from you ladies who have been there, really helps Thank you ?
I have a 6yr daughter who has been great she knows whats been happening and whats about to happen, i will letting the school know on Wednesday (when she goes back) other mums have already offered to help with school run if needed. I will be off sick from work all the way through due to working around alot people (supermarket) get full pay so thats a bonus lol.
I will more then likely cut hair very short just after first chemo, dont wanna see big clumps!
Hi alittlepixie, Lisa, Mama Tony and Millie (good luck for tomorrow ?) xx
Hugs & love bee ? x
Hello everyone!
It’s so lovely to meet you all. I agree, it really shows how lovely friends are and how helpful and kind human nature is. I’m meeting my daughters teacher this aft before she starts back tomorrow. I’m not actually sure what I’m gonna say yet - think I’ll just wing it whilst I’m there. Eve (she’s 10 end of this month) has been so good about it and the Breast Cancer Medikidz comic she was given has been an absolute godsend. She reads it all the time and it’s even helped me understand the medical jargon!! X