Starting Chemo in October

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Hello Ladies,

Welcome Jude to the club, sorry you’ve found yourself a member of it and hope everything goes well for you with your treatment. You will meet some amazing people through this experience, which will enrich your life beyond measure. That’s what I have found so far.

Clare, well done with the Picc. Like many of the things on this journey, it is the idea that is painful, the actual reality is infinitely easier!

GIJane I read your posts avidly as you give such sound practical advice. Some of this stuff you find yourself facing, you really just have to laugh. I keep hoping to get rid of the hair, it has always been fine, lanky and greasy - I’ve hated it all my life. And it’s still here, damn it! Only, I wear a bandana now as it is very thin and a little whisp at the front does frame the face a bit better - especially after the steroid ‘moon face’. Hope FEC does the job and I grow some nice curly thick hair back! I’ve read that rubbing vit E into your scalp helps so I’ll be giving it a try. My BCN didn’t tell me anything about the nail polish I read about it all here and painted them the first week. Then I thought how nail polish always dried my nails up in the past so I took it off. My nails have been weak and broken for years. I used to get the centrum multivitamins and they’d grow but just split and break after a week or two. Then I tried boots own brand with the probiotics in them. I thought I’d see how they worked out though I didn’t hold much hope - and my nails grew, and grew and grew and stayed long! And they are still growing now - I can’t believe it - I had to cut them the other day. I am so chuffed at that!

Yesterday I went to Dalston in London and found quite a few wig shops with really cheap wigs of absolutely every colour and shape, extensions, ponytails the lot etc. I will go back for a few, including an afro that looked surprisingly good on me. I’m finding a new look and freedom with my style. In East London where i live, the asian ladies wear gorgeous scarves, framing their lovely faces so beautifully. I tried it too and will be wearing some that way when the weather is cooler. Also, the afro-carribean ladies use wigs, extensions and scarves as a norm so I’ve been checking the way they wear their scarves and wigs and will get a new look or two going. Plus I have my long blonde wig from the NHS to wear but it’s a bit too like my old style. I feel a new me coming on!

Flutterby, sorry to hear about your SEs, I hope they ease up from now on. I will be doing FEC next so I am gleaning all the info I can get. Not had my op yet, still trying to shrink the tumour.

By the way, after the first Tax, my tumour went from 4 cm to 3.5 cm and my lymph node ones seem to have shrunk to the extent they can’t be felt. I’ll be getting an ultrasound before the next round so we’ll see how things are then. Hope still shrinking and shrivelling! So far Tax is working.

Have a good week ladies, be strong and listen to your body.

Love love love you all. Bella x

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hi again everyone

Well my long awaited wig appointment finally arrived today after much chasing. It’s next Friday before I have my next chemo, when strangely enough all my hair will have fallen out anyway!. Not impressed. I will have to get my scarf tying skills up to speed this weekend.

Head hair shedding and lady hair more so! Leg hairs don’t look like they want to let go yet unfortunately, mores the pity. I was given an opportunity to travel 30 miles or so for an appointment tommorrow but I have to take daughter to doctors again as she keeps having dizzy spells (she has had then before a few months ago and then they went). So I am worrying about daughter and worrying about headwear - why can’t I have an easy life?

And to top it all I have a serious amount of work to do for work and try and balance some accounts for them. This will not be easy and I really don’t feel up to it

Hope everyone is having a better day

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Wow! What a lot of us there are now!

I’ve just spent 20 minutes reading all your posts and now I’ve run out of time to write!! Off to pick up kids…

Big hugs to all.

Pizzaface. aka Lola xx

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Hi Dizzy,

We started on the same day and my lady garden is definitely on it’s way today, head hair still fine but I did use the cold cap, did you? , I can’t remember. I have had one wig appointment where I chose some wigs to try from a catalog but they won’t arrive till Friday next week, so if the cold cap fails then I’m a bit stuffed as well!

Clare - so glad your pic line went well, hopefully you wil be fine tomorrow, good luck.

Simone - you used the cap, how is your hair doing?

Hope everyone else is doing ok, and good luck to anyone else starting this week.

Jules
X

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Jules I didn’t use the cold cap. Not much of my head hair is shedding, but it is definately more than normal! Luckily I have very thick hair so it doesn’t show yet. I have only been washing hair every few days to try and keep it for longer

Clare - good luck

Have managed to do a bit of work,but it is taking me ages …

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hello my name is jackie and ive just had my mastectomy, i am starting chemo on the 20th this month , ime terrified and dont know what to expect, HELP

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hi Jackie

take a deep breath and try not to worry yourself - easy to say I know, I remember having the very same feelings myself. What type of Chemo are you due to have?

I had my mx and reconstruction back in August and after 6 weeks started my chemo. I am having 6 x EC, though most people have FEC or TAX. I can honestly say the side effects I have had have only been very mild so far (I am 13 days in after my first treatment). I had a few days of feeling spaced out directly following treatment, a week or tiredness and loss of tastebuds, and am now experiencing my first hairloss. Some people experience some nausea, though I have not had any yet. Obviously side effects can vary depending on the chemo regime you have

Please don’t be scared. We are all here to support each other though our treatment.

You might find it useful to read more of the threads in this forum I have read most of the posts, especially those involving people at various stages in their chemo treatment plans so I know what to expect as my treatment progresses

Good luck, and keep posting xx

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thanks so much dizzycloud ,i dont know what kind they havnt told me yet , i have my first one on the 20th , ime still recovering from the mastectomy , i dnt opt for reconstrution yet i cdnt face it,its been really hard for me to accept it all and is it normal to be really teary , i cant stop the tears sometimes even though i keep telling mysely to pull yourself together . sorry ime trying not to sound pathetic but failing miserably i know , thankyou jackie

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Hi Everyone, hope everyone’s day has been copable (if that’s a word!!)

Hi Flutterby, seeing chemo nurse day before next chemo session to have a word and hopefully improve meds!! The LGFB sessions are really popular, I’ve managed to sneak in on an extra one being done in November otherwise would have had a January appointment, so I’m guessing the goodies really live up to their name!!! Glad you’re feeling a little better xxx

Hi Dizzycloud, what did the company/organisation do with their accounts before you worked for them??? sorry to sound all frowny (wow I’m just making words up at a rate of knots!!) but you are way more important than a bunch of figures that somebody else could do, even if they had to hire a temp accountant for a while!! The company cannot pressure you into doing work and need to tread carefully when it comes to employment and equality legislation!! Hang on a minute just getting down from my soap box!! I like you have zero girly skills, but found the following quite useful, some disastrous and hilarious attempts to start with but after a few goes didn’t turn out too bad! youtube.com/watch?v=kCHVW-PuXDQ&list=FLoHhHR2AEiss5whDEDRZWhQ&index=2

Hi Jules, I did have a go at the cold cap, and it seems to have worked, had my 1st chemo on 29th Sept and to date have had minimal hair loss. My hair is really thick anyway and I’ve kept washing my hair to twice a week and only seems to have thinned a little! Not sure I’m going to continue as my hair will grow back and I would rather spend less time in the hospital, plus had a really bad headache after!

Welcome to all the new ladies, sad but glad you found us xxx

Hey Clare, all the best for tomorrow, will be thinking of you xxx

All the best and tiny se’s for everyone out there, Simone xxx

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Hello peeps

Wow busy day today but im finally completely organised and all set for tomorrow. Thanks for the good luck wishes. Im still remarkbly calm and collected, hope i dont turn into a pathetic mess tomorrow…no im going to stay strong!

Got brand new heels to wear tomorrow and im going to get myself a pair of new shoes for every session so i feel fabulous before it starts. Got that idea from a very clever lady on this site ;o)

Hugs to you all. Will post when i can to let you know how i get on xx

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Jackie - tears are quite normal, they will pass and you will find your way through this. You are probably feeling really raw from the mx, it’s a big operation to go through. I know I felt out of control for a while, because I couldn’t decide what was going to happen to me, it had already been decided by the consultant and I had very little choice. Oh, and you are not sounding pathetic, you are completely normal xx

Simone - Thanks for the concern. I quite enjoy the work once I get into it. Feel obliged to do it as work are paying me while I am off most of my normal wages. The girl doing my job is doing ok, but misses quite a bit of stuff and the end of year accounts need to be done soon. The accountant doesn’t seem to want to do a lot, so it falls to me as I know what I am doing, and the girl at the office doesn’t! To be fair I havn’t done anything much for the last five weeks

Clare - new shoes, what a great excuse! You will be fine tommorrow xx

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Hi Dizzycloud, hope I didn’t come across too ranty and maternal!!! lol!! xxx

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Hi Everyone

I’m new to the club, joined on Tuesday. I’ve got Inflamatory Breast Cancer and I think I will just be starting chemo in October. Haven’t seen the oncologist yet, but his secretary is booking me a chair for either 27th or 28th October, so I guess I can post here. I’ve got to have chemo before mx then radiotherapy afterwards, hope to find out more on 21st when I meet with the oncologist. I’m hoping to work as much as I can during treatment but don’t know how practical that will be.

Good luck to anyone else just starting and hope to see you all the other end. I was thinking about having a wonder round the woods I’ve been reading about, it sounds like there are lots of goodies there. I’ll pop over there if I’m allowed later.

Weme.

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As an oldie round here, you’d be very welcome in the woods Weme… all you need is a sense of humour… tents are provided, as is food, drinks, a lagoon, gremlins are shot, and we try to share the sleep fairies aroudn fairly! There’s a bonfire tonight with baked potatoes - come along! See you there! Jane

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Simone - of course you didn’t!. I think I have done too much tonight for work - absolutely shattered, but wanted to get a portion finished. Just have to email a huge list of work for my colleague tommorrow morning which will make me feel good. I thought i was surplus to requirements at work with my colleague doing my work, but it appears not from what I have gone through! When I go back I will be managing rather than doing, so I guess what I am doing now is good practice.

Weme - welcome to our friendly thread, you are very welcome to post here. The woods are very friendly too - I think I left my tent pitched there during surgery. I will be finding my way back there soon

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well all set no new shoes but a few hats and sweets and a lot of well wishers to try keep the nerves at bay fist session tomorrow pm all the best to claire, and all others on the scary journey xx

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Good luck Clare & Joy, hope all goes well. Welcome Weme.

Hope everyone is doing ok and not feeling too bad.

Pat x

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Hi Joy and Clare, good luck for today hope all goes well xxx

Hi Pat, how are you doing, hope you’re good xxx

Hi Weme, hope you had fun in the woods xxx

Hi Jackie, know how you’re feeling. Before I had my first chemo, I had no clue, I have no experience of bc prior to my diagnosis! They say ignorance is bliss, well that’s great if you have no imagination!!! The day before my first session my mind had whipped itself up into a right old frenzy and so the vivid awful dreams I had the night before were awful!! Thankfully, when I got there it was the complete opposite. The staff were so kind and dare I say it “normal” and there was even a bonus when I found one of my childhood friends working as a staff nurse on the unit! I did suffer a little afterwards with a bit of sickness, turns out I’m not the hard nosed mare that everyone had me pegged as!! (even me!). Even though it was a bit rough the first week for me it was doable and I live by myself, only had to ask a couple of shopping favours from friends. You’re stronger than you think and you’re now part of the October Posse and this fabulous site which is the best, ((hugs)) xxx

Best wishes to all and hope everyone has a fab weekend, Simone xxx

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Hi All , I am new to this site and finding it difficult where things are so bear with me . I had my first lost of Fec T on Monday the 10th October and have been feeling sick and tired since , is this the norm ?

I am dreading my hair falling out and just cant imagine myself bald , Have been and purchased a wig in readiness and another fitting for a 2nd one on Monday … oh the joy

Does everyone manage to carry on working while on this chemo ?

Love and hugs Jax

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Hi Jax, I’ve found that everyone has different reactions, so “norm” appears to go out of the window!!! Whilst I’ve always thought of myself as being a bit of a tough cookie, turns out I’m the complete opposite and felt very sorry for myself for the first week after my first session!!! feeling tonnes better now though! Surprising how great you feel one day and then wake up the next feeling like you’ve done ten rounds in the boxing ring!! Have you been offered the cold cap treatment, there’s no guarantees but some ladies have found this has prevented some hair loss. I had it with my first session and it’s rough for the first 15 mins but doable after that. Don’t think I’ll be continuing though as it means spending 2 more hours in hospital and the stench of the conditioner made me feel quite ill. Personally I’m not fussed about losing my hair, it’ll grow back, but we’re all different and that’s no bad thing that there is no right or wrong!

With regards to work, I made the decision to adhere to my work’s sickness policy and have taken a few months of work while I get used to all this, not just physically but emotionally this is a massive adjustment, whether I think so or not, so I’m going to give myself a fighting chance. That should take me up to Christmas and then I’ll go back on a phased return, doing what I can when I can. However, there are some ladies on here who have felt able to work whilst having treatment, the advice and support from this site is fantastic and the overwhelming concensus seems to be, listen to your body and see how you get on.

Sad but glad you found us, Simone xxx