Hi, I had fec 2 on wednesday, & I am as naggy as hell, good thing I live on my own. I am taking it out on my children when they phone:( God I hate how this thing is making me feel. Like you I shaved my hair off after fec1, & it seems to be coming back, & had to bic it off in the shower. Just had a call of the district nurse re my injections, they wont e to sit a clinic to wait to see someone, the whole point of the injections is to avoid ending bacck in hospital with an infection, so sitting with people who could have all sorts makes no sence at all!!. Told them I need a home visit. Sorry Im ranting on a bit, just fed up of feeling like my life is crap.Could be worse I could be on Jeremy Kyle!!! Lesley xx
Hi Kitekat I actually waxed some of mine off this morning then used a shaver to take off the bits I missed! Waxing worked quite well!
Hi all,
I’ve been lurking for a while but this is my first post. I started FEC chemo on the 16th (2nd FEC is next weds) and haven’t lost any hair yet (well, not from my head anyway - it started coming out ‘down below’ when i wash in the shower). The waiting for it to start falling out is driving me mad but at the same time i don’t want to go ahead and shave it until i know for sure it’s definitely coming out. Argh - what to do and how long after body hair comes out does head hair start going? I did use the cold cap but don’t hold out much hope for it working for a variety of reasons related to it’s application.
Morning everyone - thanks for birtday wishes for my Zeyna, yes i agree the benefits of having a dog far outweigh any health risks and I told my onc my dog is my baby, she makes my heart fill with gladness and i love her totally and she understands and comforts me when i am low and when no one in, she snuggles up and i know she knows im not quite right… she certainly makes me want to get up and look after her as i dont want her to miss out just cos someone up there decided i was gonna endure bc! ha, rant over, im fighting fit today - FEC2 this afternoon, hope as I just read about choccie that they give me that Emend today, tho then again maybe nothing cos managed without last time as threw it all back up!
Blood ok yest but temp bit high and on antibio for infection but they let me go home cos bloods real good so fingers etc crossed!
Yes that thread good for animal/dog lovers etc… oh my hair still here, as u all prob know had it cut from waist, but now coming out but stil got full head of hair but contemplating having cut short short as in pixie crop as im malting everyone, - i can relate to the beans thing as i made cauliflower cheese and u can guess the extra ingrediant and i was wearing my bandana!!!
Well, FEC2 here i come, be great to say 3 down 4 to go, then after the 3rd thats the FEC done and onto Tax— Good luck to all you feccers today, just realised its now April!!! xxxxx
Silvershar, good luck today, you go girl xx
Silvershar i agree my dog is everything to me and good luck for today
my hair is now coming out everytime i touch it
my kids are having a cut mums hair day on sat then i will shave the rest off with help from hubby i go for blood test monday then FEC2 on wed
have a great weekend everyone
maxine xxx
Hi everyone,
Just done FEC2 this morning as planned because my bloods were fine. I am still not too rotten yet (mainly a headache that paracetamol won’t shift) but I know tomorrow an the next days will be worse. It’s great to thing 2 down 4 to go, and to think that the next time I’ll be half way through (if we stick to plans).
My hair has finally started to come out properly, 21 days after FEC1. I washed it this morning and 2/3 of it fell out in blotches. I have to say the thought of how I would react was worse than reality. I don’t really mind, having it fall out as I do the second FEC is good because I am busy feeling bad so not too bothered by how I look.
My pubic hair is also coming off but I haven’t noticed if it started to come off together or after the head hair. Still have my eyebrows and lashes by nurse warned me that they might take longer to go.
Big hugs to everyone, and good luck for all of you for the next cycle.
Hi all.
I’ve been a lurker for a while too, learning valuable things about all the side effects of the FEC through you all and I thank you for it as it made my first FEC on the 22nd March, not quite so daunting.
I have a beautiful 9 yr old springer spanial who was my baby after BC got me the first time. she was my reward when I finished all the rads I had in 2002.
I have unfortunately secondaries now in Liver and bones but didn’t have chemo the first time so am starting my chemo journey with FEC.(always makes me giggle that word as it is a well used swear word in Ireland)
FEC1 was bearable, had no sickness at all, actually felt good on the next day but then a wall of unbelievable tiredness hit me the following day which lasted till yesterday, coupled with the inability to walk much, it was hard but today after a week of good sleep I feel so much better. The only and rather uncomfortable SE is oral thrush, in my mouth but also down my throat, I have developed a rather sexy, husky voice too which many have commented.
I had bloods done today as had transfusion on monday and had low platelet levels, handy to have them done half way through as it will flag up the white count too.
My hair (head) seems to be in place, I am trying the cold cap which initially was horrid for 10 mins but your body soon adjusts to the low temp. One good thing is that I am losing my leg hair and a few pesky hairs I had on my big toes that so amuses my children if I missed them when shaving:o)
You all seem one treatment or a week ahead of me, useful for any new SE to watch out for.
Good luck to you all with FEC2 today and next week and hope you all have a SE free weekend as it is supposed to be lovely.
Clare x
Sorry , me again, was I upbeat, just then? GROAN… remind me to not count my blessings, quite so fast please. Just had a call from the nurse who took my bloods this morning, platelet level, dropping badly again so must watch any bleeding, clotting issues over the weekend and the white counts have plumeted so also have to be on temp watch too and to phone Oxford if it rises…I had such a nice visit arranged for this weekend, to catch up with an old friend that I haven’t seen since all the rubbish in my life started again…ho hum, lets hope they are bug free and we can still see each other tomorrow.
The nurse mentioned about lowering the dose of FEC next session, has anyone had that before?? I am on day 9.
Many thx
Clare x
Potmaid (Clare), so sorry to hear the cancer came back and that your platelets are down. I was told that bloods hit their worst about a week after chemo so hopefully they will rise again before the next go is due. You must be local to me, I am having my treatment at the Churchill hospital in Oxford and I live near Wallingford, south of Oxford.
Potmaid
May I ask why you didn’t have chemotherapy first time round with BC?
Thanks
CM
Hi there,
Barbwell I have a few things done at the Churhill but the Hospital I have chemo at is Banbury as I am nearer. I live in a village ,near Deddington, north of Oxford, if you have heard of it and Banbury has just reopened a lovely new, very personal unit where I have most of my bloods, Chemo and see the oncologist there too. There are only 3 nurses and its a nurse led unit so they are really on the ball and coupled with the mcmillian nurse in a few times a week, I couldn’t have beter treatment.
CM I was one of the lucky ladies, who found their lump in the shower one day at 36, it was non agressive, grade 2, clear margins, I had most of my nodes removed and they were all clear so it wasn’t thought necessary for me to have chemo. Instead I had a lumpectomy, node clearance, then rads and on Tamoxifen for 5 yrs. I have the same oncologist as I did then and have the utmost respect for her and she said presented with the same case now, she would not have treated me any differently. Its a hard pill to swallow now, of course, as I have arrived on the wrong side of the percentage scale of it coming back!!
Now I say in the back of my head ‘what if’ but I was happy at the time and no one can really predict what a body is going to do, mayb it was just one of the few nodes that were left in, who knows but I can’t change a thing.
When faced with cancer the 2nd time, its never easy but I am thankful my 4 year old then is 13 and my 9 yr old is 18. I have my off days but mainly I am grateful to have found the cancer again as it was purely a chance encounter through an ultrasound scan I had for gallstones…so onwards and upwards with the treatment as it is something to focus on and a plan of action for all us ladies for the next 5 months or so.
Its great to have such a supportive and knowledgable site to hand :o)
Clare x
Clare, you sound so focused on the positive, I am sure you have your moments and days but what you wrote is very wise. My children are three and part of me feels that if I could go until they’re 13 without anymore treatment and bad news and feeling good and positive, and then get it again, it would be a deal that I would be tempted to sign up to. How did you feel after the first one? Did you leave with a constant big worry or did you feel you were fine and had a good quality of life also from the psychological side considering that as far as you knew you had caught it early and you were clear for so long ?
Just had a chat with silvershar, who was meant to have FEC2 today. Unfortunately it was postponed as she’s had a bit of a bad throat so will have another go on Monday hopefully.
Hi There,
Sorry to hear Silvershar thay your FEC2 was postponed, hopefully with a weekend rest you will be ok for Monday, fingers crossed and hugs x
I am generally a positive person Barbwell, or at least try to be. It was hard when I was first diagnosed cause as we all know, such a mixture of feelings and thoughts run through our heads, not just once but a constant buzz. I woke up thinking cancer and went to sleep thinking cancer and it was only as the years past that I realised that for a day perhaps that I hadn’t thought about the C word, then it just slipped out of my mind…very refreshing, but it did take a long time. I felt it was a huge injustice that I had got it so young (36) until I came on to this forum and realised that actually I had had a great life with kids and women just on the brink of their carears and marriage and children, all much younger, had it too.The scales of injustice doesn’t recognise age or any other factors so I felt if all the other ladies could manage their lives then thats what I would do, and really have had the same attitude throughout.
The sticky problem and wall that I cannot face and haven’t really, though I have talked about it very matter of factly to people, is the children…
They were my first thought 9 years ago and they were at diagnosis the 2nd time. I have been through all the practical things, talking to them now and watching how they are coping ( I am so proud of them both) I have planned for their future if I am not around but confronting the fact that I may not see them grow up a see their lives unfold, in my mind is just a blank, I can’t even go there as I know it will be a dark place and know that its one thing I wont cope with very well, so I have put that bit in a box at the far reaches of my store cupboard, which is what I try to do to keep positive. I take things, issues out the cupboard, take a peek, then put it back, deal with things one at a time so you are not overwhelmed.
Last year also I separated from my husband, he still was living at home when I was rediagnosed for finacial and health reasons and has turned into a different person, one I quite like. I’m not thinking of getting back with him but we are developing that friendship that we had at the beginning of our relationship 24 yrs ago, so thats a positive too.
I have been writing a few poems when sleep aludes me, one of them is about the wine glass being half full…thats they way I like to try and live.
Goodness I hope that all didn’t sound smug, I just cope really…don’t you have too. Its harder this time as my fitness and my ability to walk is hindering me, I walk with a stick now instead of a walking miles with my dog and working all weathers as a gardener. Its the outdoors i miss…
Enough about me, I am guessing that you have twin 3 year olds Barbwell, thats a handful, don’t you go doing any deals, we all need hope and with the treatment and the advances day to day I am pinning my hopes on it that some will work for all of us.
Please all have a lovely weekend
Clare x
Hi ladies
i have just read the breast cancer care book MUMMYS LUMP to my 7yr old daugther to let her understand i have breast cancer i alway said mummy is poorly she really understood the book and also i have had my head shaved so iam now sporting a gorgeous bandana the kids had a good laugh at mummy being bald
have a good weekend
maxine xxx
Potmaid, thank you for opening your heart to all of us on here. I really love how you express things. Also for me the most sore point is the children, and the first two days after the diagnosis I found it very difficult to be with them. Now things have reversed, I take a huge amount of comfort and joy from them. I also cannot really think about the possibility that I might go sooner rather than later, and I think that we shouldn’t push ourselves to do it - it is hard enough as it is.
Well, day after FEC2 and feeling fantastic considering. I don’t understand why. After FEC1 I felt quite bad for 3/4 days, no energy, spent most of the day in bed and couldn’t face eating lunch nor breakfast. Today I entertained my kids, I cooked scones just for fun, I cooked dinner, I did two washing machine loads, plus more. And it was the same dose. I can only think that the last time I was seriously sleep deprived and this time not because I am now on regular sleeping tablets. I must say that the thought that they got the dose wrong crossed my mind but I did mention it to the nurse yesterday ( I thought I counted more syringes the last time but I think it’s because they gave me the anti-emetic and steroid through injections then) so I don’t think it’s possible. So, good news, I am very pleased.
Hair horrible now, all patchy but not shaving it off so that kids don’t have to be faced with a big change. I don’t really mind it, so chuffed I am feeling human after FEC2 I don’t care about anything else!
I’m convinced the terror, dread and utter panic of FEC1 pushed me completely over the edge first time, so on top of having a change of anti-sickness meds, I’m on the road now so less terrified, dreadful and panicked, so that too must help.
Hi all , sorry silvershar your having a bad time at the moment. I love your attitude to life Potmaid, very inspiring thanks for that. I did want to ask you a question, I’m caravanning out your way in a few weeks ( barford st micheal) and my unit I could go as long as I am close to a hospital so I thought Churchill was closest, but going by your post you mention Banbury is that a closer hospital and do they have a 24hr oncology unit.
Thanks Ruth x
Hi Ruth,
Barford st micheal is literally 2 miles from where I live, pretty village, hope you enjoy your trip. Banbury isn’t a 24 hr oncology unit, so you were correct about the Churchill as thats the one I ring for out of hours service but I’m sure if its within 9-5 Banbury would help. They are a nurse led unit and very friendly and welcoming, fingers crossed you wont have to meet them, enjoy yourself instead.
Clare x