Thanks Merc for starting May thread,
I had dx in March, WLE, 15mm lump grade3 on 2nd April, nothing in lymps.Really thought i would only have rads and tamoxifen.
Saw onc on friday and chemo was put on table…Shock. weekend to feel sorry for myself and found this amazing site!
I go for pre-ass in Wolverhampton Mon 30th April then start 6xfec followed by rads then 5yrs tamoxifen.
Feel really honoured to join this thread…every cloud has a silver lining…even a really sh***y one like cancer.
Good luck All
Viv x
We’ve all gone quiet for a couple of days. We’re probably all paralysed with fear about starting next week.
It’s worth looking on the Starting Chemo in April 2012 stream because they are just a bit ahead of us and give loads of advice about side effects (known as SEs)and how to deal with them. They also suggest we think of the chemo drugs as “sparkly stuff” that helps. I thought that was quite a nice idea.
I am having a portacath inserted on Tuesday because my veins are rubbish. All feedback about that is very positive - it’s a bit uncomfortable getting it done apparently but saves months of injections. You may like to consider it.
It’s 4 weeks since my mastectomy but I am still extremely tired. I go to bed from 4 30 to 7 30 nearly every day then manage to function for the evening.
Ambarose - thanks for the info about wigs. Through the website you gave me I have found a supplier in Shepperton so will go there. People on other threads have also said that they have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the NHS ones.
You said you live in Reading - I am visiting friends in Burghfield Common today so will wave to you as I leave the M4! I am trying to do normal things from now till next Friday when the chemo starts.
You are right about feeling apprehensive about next week. I too think that the idea of sparkly magic(April thread advice) going through my body makes it a bit more positive. I am going to my 6 year old grandsons birthday party today so glad it came before the chemo next week as 30 little boys and girls at a swimming party at the leisure centre would not probably be too easy on 4th day after chemo!!
Vivibell-I too had what sounds exactly like your diagnosis-15mm grade 3 with no lymph nodes but vascular invasive.
Hey Mary - you had a portacath too? Hmmm - I have rubbish veins and am dreading it, but felt they wouldnt even consider it as I am only having 6 x FEC-T.
Well, I gotta party to go to tonight - whilst I still have a full of hair! Tuesday is D-day, so Im going to make the most of it tonight!
Just wanted to wish you all the best as we approach May 2012! You will all be fine. There WILL be some grotty times, some of you will have worse se’s than others, some of you might sail through, but the main thing is you WILL get through it.
If you can get PICC lines put in, do it. It will be sooooo much better for your veins. Even if you are only have x6 FEC or whatever they should give you a line if you want one. Portacath is quite often reserved for those on herceptin. Hydrate a lot before each chemo, and take some sweets to suck while having your chemo, there is one of the drugs which quite often gives a really metallic taste as its going through, having a sucky sweet helps.
You may find that for the first day after chemo you feel ok and then go downhill for a few days after that. Listen to your body, take it easy if you can, snuggle down under a duvet, snooze if you want and drink lots of water and take your pills. Try and get EMEND if you are feeling really sick. Its a miracle drug and should be offered to everyone but sometimes isn’t cos its expensive. Insist on it if you feel really ill.
Thinking of you all. Feel free to ask any questions of either the May 2011 girls or as some of you have been doing the April girls.
Wigs - you should have been given a “prescription” for one (if you live in the UK). I had to pay £60 towards mine, but it was as good as one my friend bought in Selfridges in London… (I took her with me, wearing it to compare!) I found the wig uncomfortably hot with the sort of stocking thing they tell you to put on underneath it when you’ve got hair… so when I lost my hair I went into scarves in a big way (that was by far the most emotional time through the whole thing, losing the hair)… anyway… I was all co-ordinated and looked good… BUT I felt I was telling everyone “I’ve got cancer”… so… inthe end… I put the scarves away and used the wig (no stocking) and I was less aware of it than the scarves… but we’re all different. May I recommend BUFFS… buy online or in an outdoor shop or bike shop. They are not glamorous, but they are so comfortable, and easy to keep near the front door if you don’t want to frighten the postman! or in a pocket… I wore one at night as well to keep head warm/cold. As we have to be careful about sun (anyone remember what that looks like?!)you can get UV buffs too…
You WILL get through this girls… and we’ll hold your hands virtually next week… if you get offered any sort of line, take it. Lots of units don’t offer (like mine!) God bless… Jane
Thanks for all your support Girls, I have my Pre-asse this mon.
It is so odd feeling well and facing chemo. Hope it will mean i travel through it ok.
On a lighter note i actually rang the treble in our local church Armitage this morning, which was quite thrilling as i have been told it can take ages to get back to bell ringing after the opp…only one month! Only rang for 10 mins but it was enough for me to feel good.
Had my hair cut at a model afternoon, really short pixi, never had the courage to go so short before but feeling great about how good it looks and the young trainee was thrilled to cut so much hair off in one go…not sure for how long though…lol
Good luck to everyone getting ready for chemo this week, i am trawling through threads for things to ask, any suggestions?
Viv x
Hey Vivi - its my chemo pre-ass on Monday to. I’m booked in for my first dose Tuesday (1st May), and not sure if I want to scream, walk or run away from all this. But …
…as far as I will concern myself now, I HAD a cancer: my surgeon cut it out, and the chemo, rads, and hormone stuff is the ‘insurance policy’. I’m starting to wake up to the reality of it, and after reading Caron Keating’s story, I refuse to feel kicked in the teeth by the ‘cancer’ word (as I could soooooo be tempted!), but accept the fight.
I feel well now, and although I have some difficulties with lymphoedema and post-op healing, realise they are annoying - not life threatening. The NHS have provided me with professionals to do the LIFE SAVING stuff, and as I do not entirely understand all of their knowledge, I have made an INFORMED decision to choose to place my trust in their experience. I will be taking out a few extra policies to compliment the medical science ones - mainly directed towards the pyschological power boost factor.
I guess I appear to be objective, logical and stong at this time. However, I also am under no illusions that in two or three days time I may feel completely different and that it may go down hill from there on in. But please guys - remind me that ‘LIFE IS NOT ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS - IT IS ABOUT LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN’.
I have cried, thrown tantrums, and cursed this cancer. I know I will have to watch my hair fall out, and feel like there is no where left to go. But I have one thing the cancer hasn’t got - I have all of you to hold my hand.
Just wanted to say to Viv and Merc hope all goes smoothly at your pre-assessment tomorrow. Don’t forget to let us know how you get on.
I’ve had a lovely day today - snuggled up on the sofa with my 10 year old daughter watching films - can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday! We looked outside at the awful weather and decided that we weren’t going to venture outside at all. Got a new cookery book from my daughter - Biscuit by Miranda Gore Browne so we’ve been trying to decide what to bake first!
Got two days at work - Mon and Tues before day off on Weds and EC 1 not sure what the rest of the week will bring!
Good luck on Wednesday, Julie - I really can’t blame you for having a duvet day! I spent Sunday with the family - and look forward to next Sunday. The next film I want to watch? I want to watch the MATRIX films again!
I found my last day at work before chemo regime really difficult - I even brought back personal emergency kits (girlie periodic stuff) so work wouldnt have to hand it back later to my family!
Does it sound lame to say I need to go pluck my eyebrows now? I am cultivating my leg hair - I will so enjoy it falling out - NO MORE RAZORS!
Brave words ladies… and we hear that underneath the knees are knocking… remember it so well…
someone gave me the following verse, and i thought you might find it helpful…
What Cancer cannot do:
It cannot cripple Love
It cannot shatter Hope
It cannot conquer Faith
It cannot destroy Peace
It cannot invade the Soul
It cannot steal Eternal Life.
When you get fed up, you might want to wander into Benchland… there you will find assorted benches (CantBeBotheredBench; FFuriousBench; *****offBench and many more) RevCat keeps it supplied with lace hankies… there is a lake for dumping guilt in (NO FISHING) and a few comfy sofas for bad days… but whatever sort of bench you need in this journey, you’ll either find someone else there waiting for you, or a space for it… Now you know… how completely bonkers the ladies ahead of you are! BUt we have had some laughs as well as held each others hands (virtually!)
Hey Merc,
Same as that, looking in the mirrow this morn thinking should i pluck my eye brows? lol
Wolverhampton Hospital seems massive after Stafford, got lost a few times, in the hospital!!
The chemo nurses seemed as nice as nurses in stafford though.
Chemo nurse said lots of stuff that i have heard before (mostly on this site) but also said nails get brittle so good to paint them a bright colour to make them stronger and they can go off colour. Anyone else heard this? I thought nail varnish stopped nutrients getting to nails, and they go off colour.
My first chemo is Friday 4th 1pm. They same day mt 17yr old daughter has planned her Birthday party, and i am staying at my brother’s house.
Cancer will not steal specail times from me and my daughter!!
Even if i am spoiling her.
GIjane it sounds as though you ladies have kept each other sane by being a little bit crazy.
I was told to paint mine dark for the whole time, as (particularly the T I think) can make the nail beds loosen and research shows that protecting them from the light helps… Then my Onc said to KEEP them painted for a year afterwards or they would flake off… done that and they’re great now… Good luck! Jane
I am starting chemo on 10 May, I have IBC so am having chemo first plus Herceptin I think. I am almost looking forward to it in a strange way at the moment as I just want to get this s**t out of my t*t.
Sending hugs and best wishes to everyone else starting treatment this month, hope it all goes OK for everyone.
GIJane
i was given the same info about the Tax being light sensitive and to paint my nails dark. Only had FEC1 so far but am wearing black varnish with a glitter topcoat to take the harshness off the black. Fingers crossed it works for me too.
Sorry to butt in unannounced i’m from the april chemo thread.
Good luck everyone with your chemo
sharon xx
Hey Sharon,
As far aas i am concerned i welcome any advice, as i seem to be getting more info here than from the chemo dept in one hour appointment today.
Hair, Nails and look good feel great was not spoken about until i asked.
Might seem a bit petty with everything else going on but it sort of distracts me from the worst to come that i will have very little controle of.
Anything to make things a bit easier.
Viv x
I cant believe its 1 year on 6th May since I had my first chemo. A whole year. Before you know it, you will all be saying the same.
Regarding the nail situation…
I also heard that painting them dark would stop them dropping off. And yes, for a while my nails had never been so good; long and strong. Everybody complimented me on them. And lets be honest, it was all I had left to be complimented on!!!
However, I finished my last Taxotere on 19th August and exactly 3 months later, 5 of them lifted and came off 2/3rd of the way down. The other 5 just looked unsightly. I was devastated at the time as I thought I’d got away with any nail damage. My big toe nails are now in the same boat; thick, discolored and lifting.8 months later!!! So they are constantly painted!!
I personally think, if this stuff is going to damage your nails, its going to damage your nails. But by all means enjoy having long, strong painted nails whilst you’re going through it all. I did!!!
My advice is to go into all this with an open mind. I was told that the nausea was bad with the FEC, but a fellow patient, who’d had 6 cycles of FEC, told me she had no nausea. I too had no nausea!!! At all!!!
It just goes to show, we are all different.
Good look to everyone getting started in the next couple of weeks.
Hi Everyone,
Well done to all who started today. Its 2 days to go for me and I finished work today for this week as tomorrow the NHs wig appt and then next morning the start of the next 5 months. Its strange but i am trying not to look at the long summer ahead as it all seems surreal and slightly dream-like. Does anyone else feel like this. I keep being really positive and feeling well at the moment since my op site started healing properly. Have lovely books/kindle loaded up which hopefully will keep me going over first few days and then hope to go back to work when feel OK on flexible reduced hours.