Hi xxx
I’m Kittyqueen popping in from the March 2012 thread to wish you all the very best. Seems like a lifetime ago that I started my treatment last March and it was a beautiful hot day (27th March) can you believe that!!! It wasn’t pleasant but definately nowhere near as bad as I expected. I am triple positive to so am still ongoing with Herceptin until June and tamoxifen for 5 years. Our thread was a wonderful lifeline to us all throughout treatment and we are having our 2nd meet up this coming weekend. The online support is amazing. Any questions feel free to ask.
Lotsa love
KQ
Hello All
I’m six weeks on from my MX,ANC & DIEP - due to start chemo mid March. I’m trying to get my treatment done in France as my hubby is working on our retirement home there. The decision rests with my PCT, just waiting to see if they agree - fingers crossed! It will be interesting to share our experiences from either side of the channel if it works out for me.
Here’s to Us (March Mallows perhaps?) 
Hi Angela I also am from the Valentines,I posted long post today on how I am getting on to date FEC round1 day11 cold cap.I think it helps to drink plenty of fluids before having drips as it plumps veins up.Good Luck Love Chris xxx
Hello everyone! I have also been following Valentines and love reading all your posts so I know what to expect. I was diagnose in Dec worst Xmas ever! But feel blessed to be lucky and now free of cancer! I have got young children and thats my main worry. Starting my FEC on the 18th of March getting a little anxious but got no other choice. So looking forward to sharing my experience with you all I am sure we ll all need each others support x
Hi and welcome Suzy and Lili. The March group is growing steadily, and although I’m a February Valentine I will be popping in here to share my experiences as it will be March before I start.
xxx
Hi ladies
Like Kittyqueen I’m from the March 2012 chemo thread too and just wanted to say hello. It seems surreal when I look back, almost like it wasn’t me - but it was and I survived to tell the tale, and you will to.
I had 6 x FEC and worked through to number 5, I also had a 4 year old daughter and although I felt rubbish and there were some hard times, I pretty much carried on a normal. Please feel free to ask any questions.
Take care all
Lydia x
Wow! Miss a day and look at the response… FANTASTIC. Well I’m trying to keep up with Valentines, but the posts are so many i cant keep up and my OH (or SO…significant other) is feeling neglected! So i’ll just pop in and out of that occasionally, and focus on we March ladies. there’s a lot of really good tips on that months post though, so well worth going through it. I hope that we can be as good a support to each other as the valentines are. Through thick, thin and bald!
Mungosmumhave you been told yet about chemo or not yet?
Poemsgalore, i’ll be thinking of you on 28th whilst i have emergency dental work completion of root canal treatment that was interupted by my op.
Karen, thanks for advice, i have corsodyl already so i know it’s good, and have now got a soft toothbrush too. love your new photo you look wonderful. thinking of you x
victoria, we can all journey together, i’ll be thinking of you on 4th x
Patchit, Maire & Kittyqueen thanks for the greetings and encouragement. There IS light at the end of the tunnel
Suzy52, I asked my oncologist if i could delay my chemo til we had settled in to our new home in Spain (departure 30/03/13). i thought she would explode and fall off her chair! SO i guess the answer was No!!! For me at any rate. so, we’ve had to delay our departure til August at least. I like “Marchies” and “MarchMallows” too What shall we be ladies?
Xmas52, thanks for the tip & I’ll look at your longer post on Valentines too.
Lili, welcome to the March group!
We’re in it to win it!
chat again soon (need to give my SO some attention!)
Angela x
hi to chascat too, and thanks for the encouragement too x
Angela - I hope your dental treatment goes smoothly and painlessly.
It is very wise for everyone to have a check up so any treatment can be carried out well before chemo.
My dentist found a low grade infection in one tooth that I had no idea about, no pain or discomfort whatsoever. I was told to have this seen to ASAP as chemo plays havoc with our white blood cell count and any infections can flare up and cause untold problems. I ended up having the said tooth extracted yesterday and will be having a remedial filling next week. Then hopefully my teeth won’t cause me any problems when chemo starts. The extraction didn’t hurt, but the bill certainly did!!
My photo by the way was taken last week - I am wearing my new wig, bought well in advance of needing it so I can get used to wearing it and hopefully lose the self consciousness.
Linda xxx
Thanks Linda. i didn’t realise you had a wig on, it looks great. how did you go about getting it so early? i won’t get a fitting til my first chemo appointment apparently. i have been looking at “Headcovers” website. It’s American and the hats and scarves etc are lovely. I’ll wait to see the Headstrong ones at St. Thomas’ Hospital (London) before i order any from US tho’ they might be just as nice… the new us! we’ll have a newer and maybe even better image if we work at it!
Hi all,
Still waiting to hear when my Onco appointment is! Having a bad day today, went to dentist (late because of emergency road closure on my usual route) to find that I need 2 fillings, came home and burnt my soup (!!!) and to cap it all, my get up and go has succeeded!
Linda, I hope you recover well from your extraction, and don’t mind the fillings.
Will keep in touch, must go as my teenagers need attention. strike that, food.
Best wishes to all,
Christine
As far as wigs are concerned, if you want to buy one before your treatment starts your breast care nurse will be able to tell you which wig salons in your area are approved suppliers. An approved supplier is one that does NHS wigs - some hospitals, but not all, will give you a prescription towards the cost of the wig - you just pay the prescription charge, which is about £50. Certain benefit claimants can have their wig for free. Apart from that, you can buy any wig from anywhere, but you pay the whole cost. I Googled and found a specialist wig salon fairly locally, made an appointment, had a consultation and tried dozens on before buying. I’m not sure I would want to spend all that money mail order - I think they are something you need to try on first. I am going to buy another one later so I have a change.
Best wishes to all the Marchies,
Linda xxx
Hi Christine, so sorry your having a bad day. Dentists yeuk! i don’t like going either, and to cap it all, my appointment on thursday is with a different one as my regular one couldnt squeeze me in (need 1 hour slot!). Tomorrow is another day, onwards and upwards. are your children understanding what you’re having to deal with?
Take care, love Angela
ooh, sorry Linda i didn’t see you there. Thank you for your tip, i will go onto google and see what i can find
A
Hi Marchies
Hope your group becomes as close and full of sisterly love as the Vals are. You cant beat having a group of ladies who are sharing this experience
Angela, I went to my onco appointment today and she cleared up a few points for me. Also had blood test in preparation for Thursday. This will become a well known ritual to you when you get started. Other things you will need, are a digital thermometer (most important) and a diary to keep all notes about SEs, and other issues you might have about chemo.
Take care. Kath xxx
Hi all, Angela I wish I could be as relaxed as you, I can’t hardly eat at the moment. I am terrified of the chemo. Has anyone else felt this bad? People say I will be better as treatment gets underway, I hope thats true
hi jnegus, we are all different and have different coping mechanisms. i am blessed at having a faith which has been my mainstay, and i can honestly say that since before diagnosis i have had total peace ( which is amazing as under my own steam i would have lost countless nights of sleep and been worrying like mad). I did have one wobble when i was told that my cancer had been upgraded to a 3, and that i would need chemo instead of only rad and hormone treatment. however the peace has returned. i’m sure i’ll be nervouse when i actually have the chemo, but just read the post from others and you’ll see that it’s not so very bad. it is the unknown which is scary, so i have found this forum really helpful.
Also, all the staff at Kings College Hospital, London have been amazing too, without them it could have been a different story.
keep in contact and let us all know how you are coping. this is a very good way to support each other. i have been much helped by all the ladies that have written on this thread (oh wow, i’m using words that i’ve only used in sewing terms before!!! hope it’s the appropriate use of the word?)
Kath, thank you for your advice x
Hi Angela,
A warm welcome under such circumstances! I think I’ll be a Marchie myself now although I did gate crash the Valentines thread 
I agree, those lades have given me much advise with their experiences. Like yourself I have felt pretty much the same as you to the point of being a bit blasé…however last two days for no reason I can explain I have been very teary. I had my WLE last Monday all margins came back clear albeit just after they found the cancer was also in my nipple. I’m not overly worried about how my boob looks I am however pretty damn fed up of not being able to rest as I’m quite uncomfortable. I have my first appointment with the ONC Friday. I will also be getting a Port put in for 2 reasons 1. I’m petrified of needles 2. as soon as I see a needle my veins are off out the door!! I know it’ll be uncomfortable at first but for me it’ll be a little stress free.
Lola - I’ve just realised you start your chemo on my birthday I’d completely forgotten! I will be thinking of you then.
I’m planning to go back to work this Thurs for just the morning in the hope to get me from moping around.
Lisa
Hi Ladies, Im Funki from the Valentines thread
Just to add re the wig discussion. Depending on where you live you may get a free wig without being on benefits. I was given a voucher for a wig, not sure how much it was worth in real money but I am not receipt of any benefits and it was not means tested. I got 2 wigs, one with the voucher and paid for the other one.
hello Lisa, nice of you to drop by. i hope it goes well on friday, let us know. the site of your cancer sounds really uncomfortable. I hope it heals really quickly and then you’ll feel more relaxed.
Hi Funki, thank you for this info re wig and voucher… i wonder if i’ll get one
Ax
PS hey everybody did you know you can not only get wigs, but FALSE EYEBROWS!!!
Lisa - I haven’t got a date to start chemo. I see the Onc on 5th March and hope to start soon after that.
I’m also wondering whether to have a port. I have herceptin infusions for 12 months after chemo, so may need one anyway.