Hello everyone ,
I am on the Cant Sleep Bench ! Not sure why really but I need to catch a sleep fairy so are there any hovering in the wings ? Please pass by and drop me some of your fairy dust to let my eyes close and sleep as I am at work in just under 5 hours! I will pop by another day to see how you are all doing.
Hope the benches are not too full this weekend and we can all have some quality time with our family and friends. Love Tracy x
FF there was a bug going around that made you feel tired and have nausea so maybe thatās still hanging around you, it seemed to last around a fortnight, hope you are feeling better soon. I do not have the energy I used to have but mine is a combination of things not just the bc, I have slowly become more accepting of the idea that Iām not as ālivelyā as I was before and I really have to work hard at keeping energy so I can do the things I want to doā¦kinda same as spoon theory. I saw a pain psychologist for around 18 months and he kept telling me that I expected too much of myself and not to feel guilty (back to the guilt again) if I felt tired so I try and work my life that way now. 
!
Takes a lot of adjustments and the guilt is disappearingā¦Iām allowed to feel tiredā¦xx
Itās not just guilt at feeling tired, itās frustration at having to ask for help. That goes against the grain for an independent cuss like me!
My son has been here today and taken some more off the tree for me, so that I could do the easy bit - chopping it up into bags to take to the tip and/or put in the garden bin when theyāve emptied it. He has expressly forbidden me to do any more sawing and says if OH doesnāt want to do it, heāll come back next w.end (he lives 70 miles away) to take the rest off. He is a gem. We must have done SOMETHING right, when we drug him up. 
Looks like it probably was a tummy bug*er (as my nephew used to say), FF. Hereās hoping so.
Sorry to change the subject, but what are your thoughts on this ladies? I have posted it in another more appropriate thread tooā¦ but wondered what you think, and also if Dame Grumpy has been posting on the DM website tooā¦
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2257448/Wash-amp-Grow-Shampoo-trigger-hair-growth-twice-normal-rate-say-makers.html
Asking for help JCJ??? Constantly was in trouble from psych for just that (not asking)ā¦still find it VERY difficult to do but at least I donāt feel guilty over it all 
! Well sometimes maybeā¦mine is to do with my independence and my brain does not want to accept that it is OK to need help regardless of how many times I have been told, itās a work in progress.
What a good lad you have xx
nanna, canāt remember but are you taking ta"poxy"fen? xx
Asking for help is something that pre bc I would never do. and I mean never. Independent to a fault I suppose. I used to do the gardening, painting, wallpapering, small plumbing jobs etc. etcā¦ To have to ask for help now is just awful, especially as I know that yesterday my son really had other things to do. I think my real worry at work is that school will feel Iām not up to the job and find some way to get rid of me!
However I went into school today for three hours and things are looking fairly shipshape and still got Monday to finish off.
Lamp shopping with daughter went ok and as predicted. I pointed one out, she said āthatās horribleā. She pointed one out, I said āthatās horribleā. She bought the one she liked (okā¦ itās not horrible but there were others I liked better).
Why she takes ME for a second opinion, I donāt know???
Four days back on tapoxifen and tummy still ok. So, yes ,probably a tummy bug*er ( love that, will adopt it for future use).
I echo your son JCJ - stop sawing!!!
Itās an advert. In the Daily Mail. So Iād take it with a LARGE pinch of salt. The āscienceā doesnāt look particularly scientific either - they mention āclinical trialsā but there is no mention of a control group - people who didnāt use the shampoo, to compare with.
Have you read the comments at the bottom of the web page? Several people less than impressed with the product and some saying theyāll try anything - yep! thatās who the advert is aimed at.
If you want to spend Ā£25 on shampoo, that might help, itās your decision, but youād be better asking for advice at the Looking Good, Feeling Better clinics, or a reputable hairdresser.
Marketing to cancer patients in this way always makes me angry. There are sooo many products and amazing ācuresā, out there that they know we vulnerable people will clutch at, desperate to get back to ānormalā. If they were as good as advertised, donāt you think the BC specialists would be on to them and recommending them?
Ooops! Sorry. Iām off to the Soapbox bench - itās right by the Stroppy Cow one. 
FF, Iām sure your school will value you FAR too much to want to get rid of you, just because you need a bit more help and/or time to get things done to your high standards. They know how precious a decent caretaker is!!
My nephewās other gem, along with ātummy bug*erā was āear wackā. When my sister corrected him āDo you mean ear wax?ā he replied with absolutely brilliant logic: āNo. Itās only in one ear!ā He was 2 or 3 at the time.
JCJ - My sensible side knows you are right and school has been massively supportive and kind to me. Itās just that niggle at the back of my mind. When I think about it rationally, itās only six days a year that Iām asking the staff to help me BUT I didnāt have to before. As you said, itās the frustration!
Your nephew is just so right!!
I have mentioned on here before my complete lack of cooking skills and this lack was picked up quickly by my daughter. As I took out a baking tray to start dinner one day, she said "What are you going to burn today Mummy??..She was 4 at the time!!! Had obviously heard her fatherās complaints!
In my early days of married life (40+ years ago), we used to go to a Frozen Food place. Saw my mm after we had been and we discussed whT we had bought. I had bought Cornish pasties amongst other food. Mum commented that they had sold out of pasties when she got there.
durIng the week time came to cook and serve pasties, (with chips of course). OH was on his second one, smothered in tomato ketchup, when he said that his tasted a bit different from usual. closer inspection identified the Cornish pasty filling as apple! I had bought apple turnovers And served then with chips and beans!
took me years to live that down, but he was on his second so his taste buds canāt have been that good!
hey Ho, at least the labelling is better these days!
kay x
Ha ha Kaytee, love that, I haver similar stories from early cooking trials (like the cauliflower cheese I cooked without washing the cauli - it was full of blackfly and to this day my sister thinks it was black pepper in itā¦)
JCJ, Iām pretty sure you are right, and maybe Iām clutching at strawsā¦ seeing onc on 14th, so will see what they have to say about the chances of my thatch coming back.
Katytc, No, Im on Anast *rsehole :0 , and its either that or the Taxotere/Docetaxol that is the culprit.
Hi JCJ, Iām just on my way to the HGF bench ( Hopeless Gullible Fool) bench. Iāll scuttle by the Soapbox bench, hiding my bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
lol
kay x
Kay, let us know if they work - if you can see past your thick forest of long hair to type!
Oh, JCJ, you wag!!! This thread about hair is really making me laugh, 'cause mine is SUCH a nightmare. I always just had long straight hair that I never had to worry about, even after it really stopped being appropriate to have it, I just pulled it back into a pony tail and carried on. Now it not only sticks straight out, but it is also REALLY, REALLY thin, especially in the front along what used to be the hairline. So, even though I KNOW those ānostrumsā are complete baloney, I find myself lingering over those pages in the newspaper or fashion mags or those adverts on tv with the women with luxurious hair that they are clearly (even in the flat 2D pictures) tossing about like horses. I even dreamed about it last night. Kay, if you get a FOREST of long thick hair, please be sure to let me know!
And your story, Kay, about the pasties reminds me about the time I found a recipe for mashed potatoes and pears that I made for dinner (donāt ask me why now Iām thinking about it, it was from one of those flash chefs who blinded me with his style) OH could not believe I would serve him such a back-hander, and still hasnāt let me forget it, 10+ years on!
FF, I completely understand your concerns about your job. The Library where I work were so nice to me during chemo, but now I feel like I need to prove that Iām still up to snuffāeven though, in truth, no one has said a word to me. But I know Iām slower than I used to be, and it makes me feel guilty. Hmm. I oughta be taking a stroll down to the lake to visit the aligators, shouldnāt Iāyou want to join me Foxy?
Nana, hope youāre keeping your chin up through the rain and dark nights. Just took the xmas tree down, and am considering going out for some forsythia branches to force into bloom, to remind me that Spring is on itās way. Hope everyone else is doing ok. How are you, Shawshank? Iāve been thinking of you? RevCat, are you practicing for your mountain climb? Do you have a fundraising page yet?
LOVE to all.
Q.
Quail, anything will be an improvement. I currently ave very very sparse thin white hair, about half an inch long!
mashed potatoes and pers would probably go quite well with apple turnover and beans methinks!
will post photos of my lush locks as they develop
kay x
Oh what fun catching up on the Benchland worldā¦ I am so busy in the Land of NED it is great to take five and chillax with you all.
These food faux pas stories remind me of something my grandmother made a way back in the 1980s which involved pears, shredded white cabbage and some sort of cream cheeseā¦ it was evil! Poor woman, she had seen the recipe in a magazine, adapted it and wellā¦ We still chuckle all these years later. 
Hope that tums, noses and other afflicted body parts are feeling better - there are so many bugs around just now it is untrue.
Oh how we hate having to accept help or admit our limitations! I remember reading somewhere it takes a long to get over the treatment as to have it which was true for me; I also read that it takes 18-24 months to get back to what might laughingly be termed ānormalā. One thing that I have learned to do a teeny bit more is to ask for or accept helpā¦ it is not a sign of weakness, itās a sign of strength. Of course you may all need to remind me off this after I get my match-up job in February!!
Quail I think you might be mixing me up with someone else? I climbed Ben Nevis for good ole BCC last September but this year will only be hiking for pleasure. This year I want to support a local charity for vulnerably housed young women, so who knows, there might be a mountain in there yetā¦
Big hugs to each and all, and if perchance I post less it is because I am busy in Land of NED, not for any sinister reason.
You sure it wasnāt a typo: mash and PEAS?!
It was a typo , should have read mash and PEARSā¦ mmmm yum
Evening allā¦
Thank goodness the festivities are over, itās been fun but exhausting. Millie went to church on Christmas morning, and had to do āshow and tellā with her new coat along with all the childrenā¦ poor wee pup, she hadnāt a clue what was going on!!! It was a combination of Vicar of Dibley and the RSPCA Open Day!
Hope everyone is starting off the new year in the best of health and spirits, and that your xmas decs are all packed away for next time.
grumpy