hurray - can finally log on and post!! Hi Squeakmouse, glad you’re feeling ok after your first dose! I had mine quite late in the day - 4pm so didn’t get home till 6.30 ish and then was so hungry I had a big bowl of pasta for dinner which in hindsight was probably a mistake! I started to feel a bit queasy about 9pm so went to bed with a big glass of water. managed to sleep (despite the steroids) but woke up at 2am felling really sick - and I was!!! got the chills/shivers after that and must have sweated most of the drugs out!!! anyway felt better this morning and so far still ok. Just feel a bit washed out like Im getting over a tummy bug or something. Lets hope this is the worst of it for us both!!! How are all our other May buddies doing??Em x
Hello Darling Buds
Thank goodness it was easier to find you all today and hope all the new chemo buds are ok and not having too many SE. I am definitely better and now daren’t stop taking the Domperidone in case it all comes back again. The sun coming out where I live near Reading today was a real tonic and I spent most of day in garden "supervising " husband puttting plants in where I wanted them to go. It was so nice. What a difference not feeling sick makes to us. To all who are still feeling it remember to let your BCN know so they can do something different next time. I am now utterly obsessed with my awful hair!. Everytime my daughter comes back from work she looks straight at my head and not at my face-she is going to cut it and clip it when it starts so is also focussed on it as well. I would normally have got my hair cut and coloured last week but am not going to spend wasted money so it looks dreadful… I almost want to shave it off now and wear the wig but that seems ridiculous. I was reading the April thread and all their hair is now gone and they seem liberated by it. Here’s hoping we feel the same!
Lots of love X
Hello darling Buds,
Gillian - good to see you here - my 2nd dose is the day before your first so
it would be good to keep in touch!
Well, I am now starting to feel better. Last Saturday I could not cope with
the headache any more - I was barely conscious / coherant so OH called the SE
line. I came out of hospital Wednesday evening. Blood pressure was through the
roof (228/84) and photophobic. Anti-emteics helped (didnt realise I felt sick
until they gave me IV), and after CT scans and x-rays, it turns out it was a
migraine!
I went back to Ambulatory Care for a check up yesterday, was given
anti-migraine pills - and a PICC line ! Can’t tell you how glad I was to have it
- every blood tests and cannula they tried in the hospital was hopeless - and
I’m needle-phobic!
Ambarose - good to see you are feeling a bit better to - its about day 12 for
you too?
Going to get my wig sorted this afternoon, and then Monday I am going to the
lymphoedema clinic as my mx arm is 3 times the size of the other now.
Hope you all manage to have a good weekend
Hugs to all,
Merc
xxxx
Hey Toni,
How did you get the emoticons to work?
Merc
xxxx
Hi to all the buddies,
Good to hear your progress. Merc - you poor thing. It sounds like you had a really tough time but that you are a bit better. I too have a picc line so we can compare notes…I am a bit nervous abou mine so it was good to be reminded of how helpful it (amazing how quickly I had forgotten the nightmare of being given drugs and tests without it).
Ambarose- you sounds better too. In case this helps - when you go back try and get them to review the ‘cocktail’ of anti-emetics. Like you, I suffered terribly from sickness (and morning sickness interestingly) when I had ec and they were able to try out different drugs. Did you take EMEND? Domperidone-doesnt it sound a but like Don Perigon (the champage-cant spell it!).
Em and Squeaky mouse- hope you are doing okay. This time last week, I was in bed feeling horrible. But today managed to do the washing, and tidy up and planning to go out with daughter later. So excited.
I bought my wig yesterday. I am seriously self-conscious in it. Will need some major moral support to have the nerve to wear it…
Lots of love, Rattles xx
Hi Merc, emots r easy press : then - then ) if smiley face or ( if sad face lol, give it a go 
: -)
Just practising my smiley face!! Merc good to have you back, sounds like you’ve had horrible time - do you normally get migraines? Good luck with the wig fitting. I’ve asked my hairdresser friend round next Wednesday to give me a short cut - ill look like a bloke I just know it, oh well! Hope you get your arm sorted too, x hi Rattles I’m feeling pretty normal today, no nausea just the odd tummy cramp, prob due to the constipation tablets I’ve taken!! Hope Squeakymouse ok? Same chemo day as me, hope u not suffering at all, x Hi Ambarose, it’s lovely here in Cheltenham today but have felt too lazy to do any gardening even though it desperately needs it. Bit of sunshine can make such a difference to your mood, x
Was really upset yesterday when my son’s school called to say he’d been in tears over my cancer, he’s only 12 and I think he’s finding it hard to deal with and talk about.
Take care all, Em xxx
Hi May Buddies
Merc, Ambarose and Rattles - glad you are feeling better. Merc - your migraine experience sounded scary hope you don’t have another one!
Em - Glad you are feeling not too bad, and sorry to hear your son was upset, I hope he found support from the teachers and his friends.
I am not feeling too bad now - have had no sickness or serious nausea (touch wood) - took the last of the steroids today and am on Dom Perignon and wearing acupressure wrist bands. I have had very painful stomach cramps and gurgly tummy since yesterday afternoon, but have just drunk two big mugs of peppermint tea which have helped a lot - I wish I had thought of this at 3am this morning! However this is trivial compared with some of the side effects other people have had. I am feeling very tired with wobbly legs but managed a short walk around our housing estate and did some cleaning around the house while the steroids were still working. And have taken lots of breaks sitting in the conservatory watching the birds in the garden and the fish in the pond.
Hope everyone else is having an OK weekend. Squeakymouse xx 
Hi Merc
Hope your wig fitting went well.
Hope all you ladies are enjoying the weekend, it looks like we are going to have another sunny day. Going out for lunch with Husband & daughter. Feeling fitter since mx & recon, starting to get nervous about first chem. it’s the same sort of feeling I felt before I had my op. it’s the not knowing what to expect. Going for pre assessment Tuesday so hopefully they will go through what to expect.
Take care
Gillian xx
Hi Buddies,
What do you think of the new profile pic? I so love Pixie’s idea about co-ordinating like the April Bunnies have - I often visit the warren.
Rattles - Ahh the PICC line - feel free to PM if you wanna v2v chat sometime. I was really surprised to be honest - no problem with putting it in, but is a little sore atm still. Gotta have mine flushed and checked on Monday. I am so ashamed to admit that any attempt to bringing a needle within reaching distance of me results in me dissolving into floods of tears and hysterical rigors. When I had to go in with the migraine, all they seemed interested in was taking blood regularly, and giving me injections etc - I sooooo wish I had had it in then!
And the wig - I know what you mean about having the confidence to wear it out - I wore it all afternoon at home, and although very conscious of it, it started to feel more …erm…cant think of the right word - acceptable?
Squeakymouse - I hope so too. This one lasted 7 days, and whilst I used to have a ‘monthly’ migraine as a teenager, I haven’t really had one for 20 odd years - and believe me, I have never experienced anything like that ! I can honestly say that it was then that I fully understood why some choose to withold consent for treatments.
Hey Em - try the smiley without the - in the middle. Seems to have worked for me ( thanks Toni!)
Gillian - Wig fitting was amazing! Apparently it takes 10 years off me - makes me wonder why the heck the family didnt happen to mention I was looking like a knock-kneed-knackered-old-nosebag!
Ambarose - thinking of you hun - your next one on the 22nd? Re: your hair - not sure if this is right or not, cos it’s not what I have been hearing here - but when I went for my wig fitting yesterday, the lady warned me not to cut my hair any shorter (I have gradually had it cutter shorter in anticipation of loosing it), as it could result in patches not growing back after the chemo…???
How about all the other lovely ladies too? Viv? Jane? Where is everyone?
Hope you are all ok - look forward to hearing from you soon…
Hugs
Merc
xxxx
Just sitting in garden in the sun after cleaning out the kids 2 guinea pigs- both children busy doing other more exciting things!!! Megan riding and Dan on PS3 with mate, despite the lovely weather. Oh well I’m making the most of feeling ok. The thing I really hate is the horrid metallic smell I’m giving off at the moment - is it just me?? So Merc should I just get a shorter cut this week without going too cropped? Then wait for it to shed before going for the clippers??!
Gillian- the actual chemo session wasn’t bad at all , I think the waiting for it to happen not knowing what too expect is worse. It was all done in an hour and a half, sitting in comfy chair chatting to nurse, X
Love to all, Em x
it worked!!!
Hello to all the buddies,
Gillian- good luck for Tuesday. I think you will feel alot better after your visit on Tuesday. Do lots of nice things between now and then. It will feel good to get started and have the waiting over.
Merc- very impressed with your technical skills- how do you do the bold? I completely understand your fear re needles. You are not a wuss. After my op in Feb. I counted 20 pin pricks where there had been (failed) attempts to get my blood. I think I am even more of a wuss, as I dont appreciate the picc enough. I just don’t like the idea of it being there, and its a permanent reminder of it all and having had an infection, this worries me too. I am trying to feel more positive about it and it certainly came into its own on chemo day.
Its a good idea to have a practice run re. wig. For what its worth, my hair started really falling out about a week after my second ec last time. After I had a short cut, I then had it shaved off. I was later told this would mean that it would grow back uniformly. I don’t know whether this is tue or not, but in fact it did grow back evenly. I suspect though that hair loss and regrowth might end up being a bit like all our experiences of chemo - all a bit different!
Em and Squeaky- you sound like you are both doing well. I feel for your son Em. Its hard for our children. My daughter (4) said I looked like a pirate in my scarf. I showed her my wig and went through a well-rehearsed speech about how the special medicine would make mummy’s hair fall out. She seemed fine. A few hours later. in the bath she posed this question: ‘Mummy, has your body argued with your hair?’ It took me ages to realise that she thought ‘falling out’ meant ‘argue’ !!
Its been nice to get out in the fresh air today. This time last week was in bed! What a difference a week makes.
Rattles, 
No prob Merc glad it worked 
Starting chemo tomorrow, bit scared,
but will be 1 down, 5 to go, I’m expecting the worst, so if it’s not that bad it will be a bonus,
All the best for tomorrow, Bikerchic
I will attempt to post AGAIN! I am starting chemo (FEC) on Tuesday. So just pooping on to say ‘hi’. I don’t think that I can face typing out previous post (frustrating.com). I’m ready to go now, have wig, short hair,PICC line, new bag, books, friend… pretty sorted I am thinking. Bound to be somehing important?! Will take the time to get to know all the Darling Buds. I hope the forums get back to being as user friendly as before. I’m struggling with it at the moment. But then that could be me! Cannot even start a new paragrapgh at the moment as my cursor keeps bouncing back to the end of the sentence (grrrrrr). Anyway nice to meet you all! Sarah x
Good luck for tomorrow Bikerchic
Take care
Gillian xx
Thanks Gillian, and Squeakymouse, don’t want today to end, have had a great weekend, ready for Monday :-/
Hi i have no idea if im in the right place but i started my chemo on 3rd may. I am having 3x docetaxel then 3x FEC. I am 35 and found out when i was 30 wks pregnant. I had my daughter at 32wks by c section and she is now home and doing really well.Thank goodness. I will have surgery after chemo 5.
I am feeling ok now but the first treatment was hard. Is anyone else having Docetaxel?