Dyane I suffered just like you on my 1st Tax. Fortunately I havent this time and got away with just the white slimy tongue and gums. It must have been the 20% reduction that made the difference. The only thing that helped along with all the things you are already doing is rinsing with Bicarb and putting Igloo on my ulcers. I could drink anything other than water through a straw and eat anything other than porridge with honey. I hope you get it sorted tomorrow as I have to say it was one of the most horrific SE I have had. My tongue was so swollen I couldnt even talk and when I did I would bite my tongue 
Sending hugs to you x
Afternoon Lovely Vals,Well this is the third time I have tried posting,ysterday morning site crashed twice,so waited til today,Did have lots of personal messages,can’t remember what I wrote now.
Diane,well done for taking part in gene trials,hope you can sort in your mind if you are going to have surgery.All these decisions to make ,life is hard at times.Roll on good times.
Kath really loved the poem,I am definitely a make up girl since the age of twelve.I won’t put the bin out until face is on.At the moment it’s face and hair,that comes before anything.Tup what an eyebrow nightmare,I pencil mine in,never used to bother with eyebrows as I am fair anyway and they looked ok,but need a bit of definition now.Only got half length lashes now too,still put mascara on though.
Kath was lovely to join you in your garden via your diary today,really felt like I was there.We have been up the allotment,did some weeding,neighbour gave us some of his tomato plants so popped them in as they are ahead of mine.We have a flock of green parakeets up the allotment which is alongside the cemetery,they love the trees there,noisy creatures,squawking their heads off.Saw a long tailed tit today and a squirrel.Did about a months dusting this morning,determined to crack it before going out,couldn’t stand the cobwebs and dust shown up by the appearance of the sun.
Family just arrived for dinner,daughter to be late as her friend and employers toddler son had to be ambulanced to hospital,going blue,turns out chest inf and tosillitis,keeping him in.She has packed the mums bag and is delivering it to the hospital now.
Well what a surprise brother in law just knockred on door,he lives Ipswich,he had meeting in Canterbury,so he can have dinner too.
Love and hugs to all Chris xxx<3
My last chemo will be on Thursday, they don’t want to give me more than the standard dose so don’t want to give an extra session and the Onc said that 5 1/2 rather than 6 cycles won’t make any difference to risk of recurrence. Can’t help thinking that if that really is the case they why doesn’t everyone get a lower dose… but either way, last chemo on thursday 
We’ve been enjoying the good weather again over the weekend, went to a local animal park yesterday and today we’ve been down to Ullswater.
My nails have gone a bit stripey, other half says it’s barely noticable, but I can see it, they’re also starting to peel a bit at the top.
Tup , I rubbed my eyebrow off the other day, I never usually wear makeup unless I’m going for a night out or something, so I’m not used to having to keep my hands away from my face, I keep ending up with odd eyebrows and panda eyes where I’ve smudged my eyeliner. Will definitely look in to the liner sealer Diane , thanks for the tip.
Good luck tomorrow Elaine , hope it all goes smoothly.
Karen , I’ve noticed my posture’s gone rubbish too, I have to keep reminding myself to stand up straight.
Hugs to all
Jo
x
Evening Valentines.
Hope you are all doing ok? It’s so nice to hear of so many of us nearing the end of treatment. My last one is a week Tuesday. Then I’ll have Rads and Herceptin to go but looking forward to putting that tick in the box!
Love to you all. Xx
Good to hear from you BlueRose. Come on you sleep fairies bed time!
MMM x
Oh Mandi hope you get some sleep,im now at the stage thinking have i been to sleep or is it all in my head im tossing and turning all night but not tired at all ive had a great round 5 so hopefully 6 wont be so bad.Good luck today Elaine…xx Went to the charity evening Saturday actually went out at 3 got the train to Glossop and visited OH friends pub (but hed gone away) then had a late lunch,got the train back at 5 quick change and then met up with friends in the local to go to the charity event had a great night dancing and maybe drank to much the girls who organised it did a great job didnt get in till the early hours,Dads just called to pick something up ohhh gosh were all in trouble its Mums birthday today and weve all forgot how the heck can we all forget.grrrr quick change and dash into town…hugs to all…Paula…xxx
Morning Valentines. FEC T 3 (done); TAX 3 (done) day 4. Herceptin (3 of 17 done). So chemo all finished now!
Apologies for not posting for a while - been using the Facebook group.
A belated good luck to Elaine today - I hope it all goes well.
Dyane - your mouth sounds very painful. My leaflet also says to contact the chemo team if mouth ulcers are preventing eating and drinking. I get a very nasty mouth for about the first 10 days after TAX - furry, fuzzy, nothing tastes right. Last time I ended up in hospital I also had mouth ulcers but the antibiotics seemed to help.
I had a dreadful night’s sleep which is quite usual for the this stage of TAX - really vivid scary nightmares which made me wake up frightened breast panicky. I know they’re not real but it takes a while to recover!
But it looks like we’re in for a lovely week here in the South East; the doc has signed me off for a month and then I have two weeks leave so not going back to work till mid July; my 83 year old Dad is going to make the trip from Donegal to visit me next week; and my daughter will be back from uni in less than three weeks. So loads to look forward to!
Have a good day all.
Angie xx
Don’t know what breast panicky is! Just meant frightened and panicky! Xx
Angie, I love the term ‘Breast Panicky’! I think it sums up my life, for the past 6 months absolutely perfectly! Hensforth, I shall adopt it for everyday use
M x
I think you’re right Mandy - on reflection it does sum up my life too since last November! A xx
Hi Valentines
My mouth is still very sore but slightly better and the ulcers themselves don’t look as bad today, so I’m hoping for improvement by tomorrow. Like Funki I have been eating a lot of porridge as its the easiest thing to swallow and drinking through a straw. Hopefully it’s the Difflam mouthwash starting to work. I got this at the very beginning of chemo as some clever person on here suggested it, so whoever it was, I thank you from the bottom of my heart because I think this is why I’m starting to improve.
My dad wanted to contact the out-of-hours number over the weekend, but I put him of as I hate making a fuss.
Thanks girls for all the support & virtual hugs, I’m sure that has helped as well.
Love to you all
Dyane
FEC 100 5/6, day 13, Antrim Area Hospital
Morning Valentines – just got our broadband back after three days without it – my, what a lot of postings I had missed. Hope your final session has gone smoothly today Elaine, and welcome to the car park!!! Good luck to the others of you who are cresting the hill later this week and next!
After two TAX cycles with virtually no side effects during the first ten days, I got hit by a bus – felt more like several buses – for this last one. Felt fine for the first three days and then had every side effect I have heard any of you mention, plus all the ones I had on FEC too! Between the mouth ulcers and the pain of all parts of the digestive tract, I just couldn’t eat at all (lost another 10 lbs since May 24th). Finally started to pull out of it yesterday when I managed to get down a canned peach and a little piece of boiled chicken breast. Had a croissant for breakfast this morning with strawberry jam and actually both tasted and enjoyed it – so hoping the mend is happening. I sure hope so, as I really can’t take much more!!!
Finally bit the bullet and cancelled our attendance at a 2-day Plant Fair the end of June. We are completely running out of stock and have already sold all my remaining chutney (I don’t dare make any more at the moment – even if I felt well enough – because of the potential of hair in jars!) Husband did a 2-day show this weekend and is totally exhausted. He has two NGS open gardens to sell at this week, and then a big 2-day show in the middle of the month, and then it will be over for the time being. At that point the nursery will be just about empty. Let hope I feel well enough in late summer and Autumn to give it a big cleanout and start things afresh for 2014!
Hugs for everyone XXXXX Louise
Oh dear, Louise and Dyane you both sound like you’re in a bad way,hope you both feel better soon.
I’ve been and had the latest seroma drained this morning. It was only half the size of the last one but the pain relief was instant 
the radiologist who did it using ultrasound said it was pressing on scar tissue which it is why it was sore. I wouldn’t have bothered but it was like having a niggling toothache in my armpit, if you know what a t I mean. Let’s hope it stays away this time.
Angie - breast panicky is a wonderful description. I think we all know that feeling.
X Yvonne
For those who can’t read this message on Facebook, it is about my friend and neighbour who had lung cancer which had spread to her brain and bones:
RIP Gail Bennett, A wonderful partner, mother, grandmother and friend. Lost the battle at 5.10am Sunday June 2nd 2013. She will be sadly missed. My condolences to all her family and friends.
When I found out I felt really strange and scared.
Love Kath xx
Really shouldn’t read the Mail Online but if it’s true that Nadine Dorries really thinks that having thinning hair is the same as a mastectomy I’d like to pay her a visit and show her my scars. Anyone joining me? Xx
What about sharing our ‘dead’ spots beneath armpit. and seromas!! She can have those any day. I’m in.
OMG Nadine Dorries is an *****!!! How low can you stoop to keep in the media?? I wonder how she would cope with BC??? I mean really loosing her hair and a boob.
Hooray! Cheom 6 day 1
I’m in the car park! Yay! Just have to find car and hope there are no pot holes!
Thanks for all the good wishes girls Had to have another blood test to confirm count carried on up over weekend, white cells fine so could go ahead bur red cell quite low so may have to have blood transfusion next week but like the chemo nurse said, it will be the first time I go to them for a treatment that will make me feel better and have more energy! So looking forward to the day the last Val finds her car! I will celebrate for myself and have a party, going to have friends round for a summer solstice as had to miss New Years as recovering from 2nd op. Won’t be as good as raising a drink to you all once we are all there though xx
Alison, love the “scrap book year” idea, might have to do that once rads are finished, I have so much planned. The Dartmouth trip looks good too. think my son would enjoy that. I haven’t looked into it yet but do you know if dogs are allowed and will you be taking yours? x
Dianne, hope the visit with your Dad was good x
Kath, I’m always up for reading diary entries as well as poems and reinvented song lyrics and anything else you want to share x
Posture does seem to be an effort to keep straight these days but pre bc I used to go to yoga and zumba and have regular sports massages and accupuncture to keep it in check and we’ve all be put through the wringer so bound to take its toll, I’m sure it will right itself, with a bit of effort on my part :-/
Chris, you sound like a dynamo bunny, allotment, dinner, surprise extra guest, party!!! What are YOU on? Coz I want some!! x
Jo, I was worried because I had 3 x FEC100, then got infection on 1 Tax so was changed to FEC75, was told they are all pretty similar and lower dose on 1 or 2 wouldn’t make any difference x
Angie K, think you have come up with new Valentine’s phrase “Breast panicky” very apt! x
Glad you are feeling a bit better Dyane, hope it continues to improve x
Louise, hope you are still improving too! Sorry you had to cancel the plant fair but think you have done amazingly well to keep up with all your plants! Well done x
Kath, so sorry about your neighbour, very sad xx
Had to switch breakfast TV off this morning as Nadine was making hubby so mad, saying men who go bald just have an affair??? We both know plenty of men who have low self esteem because of hair loss. As for comparing it to loss of a breast like that…
Hoping you are all bearing up, probably won’t be on for a few days as get very lazy after FEC!
Hugs to all
Elaine x
TCH cycle 3 day 14
We are having a really wonderful holiday up here in north west Lancashire. Weather is superb and forecast to continue. Side effects staying away, but I am taking it easy and not overdoing things. Sleeping like a log and eating like a pig. I am struggling a bit with this Tablet so apologies for no personal replies. Back next weekend ready for round 4 next Tuesday. So glad we made the decision to risk coming away. Hope I’m not tempting fate.
Love and hugs to you all, Linda xxxx
xx