Storm Riders/A Town Called Determination

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1001

Been awake since 2.30am thanks to a) Monty barking for no discerable reason and b) blinkin steroids. Took 3 (instead of 4) this morning and just one of the other anti-sick meds. I don’t feel sick so hopefully that will be sufficient. Prunes/dried apricots combined with laxatives are also being effective so thanks for that tip Carole. I’ve discovered Sainsburys ready to eat vanilla prunes and vanilla apricots. Delish.

After my sleepless night watching a Big Train dvd then a bit of Gavin & Stacey, I went back to sleep at about 7.15 for an hour until daughter wanted me to plait her hair for her. Then again at about 9 until my friend phoned to see how I was. Asleep is how I was, so I didn’t answer the phone. Then the postman knocked on the door 10 minutes later. Was just drifting off again when said friend phoned again. I still didn’t answer, but gave up and got up.

Hair everywhere on the pillow Mary, I think I’m going to have to resort to the clippers today too because it’s just getting irritating finding hair everywhere and it’s really too thin now to wear out so I’m going to have to go with scarves anyway.

Piper - EPO is Evening Primrose Oil. It’s component is GLA which is something Linoleic Acid I think. Good for PMT actually - I used to take it a few years ago when I was suffering with that a bit.

Back and legs been aching since I had the chemo, I mean really aching enough to take painkillers. They did last time as well and I thought it was just because I’d been so tense beforehand, but now I think it’s probably a side effect although what’s causing it I don’t know. I also have sausage fingers. Typo’s galore in typing this - my brain won’t co-ordinate my fingers to type in the right order. Most irritating, although also amusing as my first attempt at that sentence said my brian won’t co-ordinate. Dang that Brian.

Donny Osmond was my young heart-throb. Then the Bay City Rollers. I had their autographs from when my dad once stayed in a hotel they were in. I wonder what happened to those… the autographs, that is (might be worf somefink on ebay), I know what happened to the BCR. Well, Les McKeown is in rehab and a right old state anyway.

Right I’m off for a hot bath to soothe my achey breaky legs. Toodles. :smiley:

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Helen, remind me what your drug regime is. Speed, acid, skunk or what? lol That tale of the staples in shower made me laugh, Sandra. I remember going to the loo after my first baby and passing a blood clot the size of tennis ball. As you say, AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH. Nobody tells you that could happen!

What sort of yoga teacher did you have Carole? Rags up your nose? Mine is much more down to earth - we don’t even do the ommmm. It’s definitely not a spiritual thing for me - purely physical and a nice contrast to all the other tearing around like a lunatic sort of exercise I’m prone to:D

Mary, losing your hair is tough and you are bound to feel very emotional about it. Your hair is very much part of your identity and now you’re going to have to adopt a new persona. What about Kojak? He was a hard dude with a lollipop - who loves ya baby. Now, maybe you won’t all know what I’m on about - I’m showing my age again:(

I haven’t been tempted by daytime tv yet - I think I’d have to be really desperate. I think silence would be far better, but usually it’s the radio.

I must say I’m very disappointed to be surrounded by a load of ex teeny boppers. Eew! I was much more of a hippy/hard rock type. Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, faded and ripped jeans etc. Haven’t changed much! lol But, having said that, the Osmonds, Bay City Rollers etc were around when I was in my teens, and you’re all younger than me, so you must have been pre-teens when you had those crushes, so I’ll forgive you. My one embarrassing confession is to loving Cliff Richard when I was in primary school. But he was cool in the 60s - honest!

Went to physio this morning and had a really good one - that’s a turn up for the books! But, next week is his last week and then he does his rotation in another hospital - b*gger. Anyway, the shoulder feels better already and he’s told me the things to concentrate on, so I’m feeling better about it now. He agrees with me that the root of my problem is having to wait a year for the rotator cuff to be repaired. Got talking to him about decisions made by orthopaedic surgeons etc and his quote was “they’re rubbish”. Which is what I’d been thinking for nearly three years, but now I feel vindicated. I may even write that letter of complaint I’ve been thinking about for six months.

Hope Brian is behaving himself now Gen. lol Maybe he could clip your hair for you. I hope you’ve taken the phone off the hook and you’re catching up on your sleep before the children get home.

I’m off for a walk.

1003

Never fear Sal, ex rock chick/hippy here too. My teeny bop moments were early teens and younger, then I graduated to Deep Purple and Black Sabbath with Thin Lizzy and Status Quo thrown in for fun along with the whole biker jacket and studded belt thing. I had a Woodstock thing going on too(although obviously was a bairn when Woodstock actually happened). Oooo memories of patchouli and incense sticks.

What you’ve never tried shoving a rag up your nose?! It’s an advanced yoga thing for cleansing your, well, nose. Goodness nose how they do it, but it’s supposed to come back out your mouth or something. Wacko if you ask me. Glad your physio’s got something sorted before he goes. Enjoy your walk!

Vanilla prunes and apricots, now that does sound delish! Glad they’re working for you Gen. I can’t get anything to work properly during chemo. The prunes are great afterwards, but I’m just going to have to wait it out I think. I know what you mean about aching. The back of my legs and buttocks ache while the drug’s in me, and go a little numb if I sit too long. Must be the impact on the nerves. I get tingling fingers off and on too. Strange side effect, but the nurses weren’t worried about it. Hope you manage a good sleep this afternoon. I only take 2 steroids in the morning, and one at lunchtime (if I feel like sticking to the prescription). The other anti-sick I take right through to the evening.

I can hear all the clippers buzzing! :slight_smile: Just in time for the warm weather too. I had to take my scarf off when I was walking the dogs this morning - once I was in the safety of the woods that is. I can handle a few chaffinches staring, and the odd raven having a good guffaw at me, but not the rest of the world. I’m a big wimp. :smiley:

1004

Hi everyone…:smiley:

carole i had the tingling fingers from my first cycle to a couple of months after my last - was starting to think it was never going away but finally has… (it can be permanent sometimes…)

gen - sorry to hear you are feeling achey… and chemo brain definatly exists… lol i’ve always had a brilliant memory but not anymore…

1005

Yawnnnn…mmmm! fell asleep onthe sofa…thats a first!! Until the phone rang and the breast nurse asked me what I was doing!!! Glad she rang though…I actually got lots of info out of her that I didn’t know, including my HER2 which she said is negative!!!Mind you I’m still not sure if its better to be negative or positive. So not worrying about it!

Yeeha got the staples out…they did actually ping and pong a bit…the nurse said it was because they were loose…I oohed and aahed in my head a little…but it was fine! I don’t actually know what I’m on drug wise Sal, but there must be something in the water, cos I preceded to tell the nurse about my little story from earlier. She didn’t invite me to sit down…mmmmm can’t think why, it seemed like she wanted me out of the room quick sharp!
Oh she did ask me if I wanted them as a souvenir…er, no!

Gen…hope you have managed to catch up on some sleep before the children get home…poor you!!!
All you gals having chemo…and the stuff that goes with it…I feel for you all…and mary its like Sal said its bound to be emotional loosing your hair, but you are with folk that CAN understand what you are going through…but hey Yul Brynner was my hero…how handsome was he!! I remember Kojak…fancied his lolly more than him though!
One hippyish / strange thing I remember doing at secondary school…was wearing a bell round my neck. When there was a few of us running down the stairs…it was like a herd of cows gathering moooooooo!

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I’m very relieved that there are other rock chicks on the site - when there is nothing on tv I usually put on a radio station called Planet Rock because I haven’t yet grown out of it. I find it really motivating ( just glad you can’t see me doing the air guitar bit.)
The appointment this morning wasn’t pleasant with too much internal interference, but the sonographer reckons I only have fibroids - he will arrnge an MRI scan some time to make sure.
The gynae registrar told me something no-one in Oncology had bothered to mention - that epirubicin has a noticeable effect on the cells in the womb lining - anyone else heard that ? Maybe there is something somewhere in your body that it doesn’t screw up , but it seems to find any weakness going.
Been pottering in the garden since lunch and slowly being driven even barmier by next door’s constantly barking dog.
I had visions of the staple removal - legs turning to jelly and all that - because I sat with my husband while he had 45 taken out of his head - lovely blanket stitch pattern left behind afterwards.
Anyone actually retaining their hair ? I’ve still got stubble over 3/4 of my head - the nurse actually reckons it’s growing !
On that totally freaky note , I’ll wish everyone good luck for any procedures tomorrow and go and cook dinner - regards, Ros.

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Ros my hair started to grow back when i had had 2 of my 4 docetaxol cycles…

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Hi Ros - glad you have it all out of the way - in what way does it affect the womb lining? good or bad? Just curious! Keep well!! mary x

1009

I’m going to hazard a guess at bad Mary lol.

Didn’t go back to sleep, but did have a bath. I’ve lost the art of running a nice hot bath though from all the years of trying not to scald my kids, and it wasn’t hot enough. Very disappointing.

This afternoon I have made a tree costume, a rat costume and a tropical fruit (orange) costume for my children’s school play in a couple of weeks.

I have safety pinned the leaves to Maddie’s tree costume, then she comes home and announces that her teacher said not to pin the leaves because they might fall off. They must be sewn on. There are 14 leaves on there. Sod that. If teacher wants them sewing on she can jolly well do it herself!

Another rock chick here by the way. I love Planet Rock.

1010

Phew, that must be a relief Helen. What happens to you now? Sorry, should try harder to remember. I’m working on the HER2 neg being good 'cos it means I don’t get another 18 months of injections after this. The bell is definitely a new one! We used to paint our shoes with flowers and stuff. Not sure how we managed to get away with it without a clip round the ear. :smiley:

Glad you added the word “children” to the costume description. Although the sun’s out. I see you in the tropical fruit costume, a touch of samba, pineapple with a straw…could be a good look. :slight_smile:

Good news so far from today Ros. If the Epi affects womb cells that would certainly explain a lot from this period I’m on. Without going into gross and yucky detail, it feels like I’m dealing with 2 womb’s worth! I’ve still got stubble all over, and I’m pretty sure it’s growing. It’s very sparse stubble, ie 100 year old man type stuff if it grew in, but it’s not leaving. When I shaved off the fluff I definitely had areas of my head that were smooth. Now I have stubble all over, although like I say the hairs are well spaced out. I reckon it’s hair that’s strong enough to survive the chemo, like general body hair, and once the drug goes out your system these follicles are strong enough to start growing a little before the next dose. Nurse said it’s not at all unusual and can mean once you get onto the CMF your hair will start growing pretty quickly. Excellent news. Eyebrows are definitely about half what they were, but there’s enough that a pencil can do the rest of the job. And the eyelashes are holding on even better. Bit thinner but not much.

1011

Love pink Floyd. The wall is still one of my favorite albums. Bay City Rollers, had the pants, the jacket and the monkey boots. LMAO at the image of me all those years ago. Good job I have no children they would take the mick big style. Although I have to confess, to buying a Barbra Streisand DVD today. It was of her 2006 concert (only came on sale Monday) and I WAS THERE!!! I’m her number one fan and that was one of my life time dreams, to see her live. I actually cried for weeks when I got the tickets. Sentimental fool that I am. lol

As for sparkling red wine. Have any of you tried putting strawberry liquor in champaign? FANTASTIC. Tried it last week end, for the first time. Mmmmmmmm Yummieeeeeeeeee. In fact, might celebrate with that next week, when rads are finished. See the onc at rads on a Wednesday and got some liquid paracetamol from her yesterday, for my throat. I have to take it before meals to coat my tubes as I am finding it difficult to swallow. Anyway its YUK YUK YUK and just what we need to give the bosses boys. That will get the baddies running.

Good luck to everyone having stuff tomorrow.

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hi folks, I had strawberry in champagne Jane…at the new year at my sisters…thought it was deeelish!! What a good way of celebrating!
I think I’ll mosey over to the saloon…
helenx

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Clippers and mowers - I guess we’ll hear them all buzzing in the sunshine tomorrow:) Ros, I know exactly what you mean about barking dogs - we’ve got one near us and it drives my husband crazy. And it’s not even a proper bark - just one of those annoying little yappy things. Glad you got good news from the hospital anyway, even if it was all a tad intimate:(

I’m also glad I’ve got some fellow rockers here. When we were in America a few years ago on holiday, we found a rock station and it was brilliant. What frequency is Planet Rock? I must check it out. I could do with a bit of head banging. Jane, how on earth do you go from Bay City Rollers to Pink Floyd to Barbra Streisand? Now that really is eclectic!!

Gen, glad to see you in stroppy mode. Damn teachers - who do they think they are?

Helen, are you telling me you haven’t got the staples in a little jar on your mantelpiece? How disappointing. lol Like Carole, I think being HER2 neg is good - the sheriff even said so when he told me I was HER2 neg. I can’t remember bells round the neck either, although I do remember the headbands:/ Our children may poke fun at our little sartorial mistakes, but at least we didn’t wear ra ra skirts!!

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Sal, I just love music. Its happy, its sad, its full of memories, it lifts me up, it gets me down but i just could not live without it. Tomorrow morning at 9am I will be on line trying to get tickets for pink. She has just announced an extra date in Manchester, in October. Hope I get on line before they sell out. Fingers crossed for me everyone.

1015

No Sal …not got the staples, but in hindsight I could have used them to make a design in the back of a denim jacket!!..thats something my older brothers did way back! Oh no hold on they used studs…nah guess staples wouldn’t look as stylish!!
I also remember leg warmers worn down by the ankles, and a miniskirt,mmmm bit of conflict going on there…but kinda stylish?!
Way to go Gen…if she doesn’t like the safety pins…STAPLE them!!!
and if I had mine you could borrow them!!!
I’m waiting for results again Carole…will get them on the 3rd of April…so couple of weeks yet!

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Jane - sorry i never replied the other day when you asked if the rads had given me problems with my throat… No i seemed to be okay - although when i was having all those problems with my chest recently the pain was starting in the middle - just where the rad line starts… Hope the liquid paracetamol helps… {{{hugs}}}

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Have you all heard about Google Street View going live today…? They have had vans going around taking photos so that they could create 360 degree images of streets around the country… So far it is just major cities plus their outlying areas…

They seem to have done quite large areas in Scotland - i’ve been looking at our old house in East Kilbride, plus where i grew up in Birmingham, lived and worked in London and where I worked in Cardiff… (We’ve moved around quite a bit due to my husband’s job lol)

1018

hi all

what would we do without music. i cant sleep at night without my MP3 player (also drowns out OH snoring). great invention. think if i was put on a desert island thats one of the things i would have to take. what about the rest of you.

seen BCnurses today, two of them fussing over me like mother hens. they are so lovely and really cheered me up. i would like to show them my appreciation, and i know its their job but they do it so well. any ideas.

i hope everyone is progressing, i cant really keep up with what everyone is up to but i do read all the posts and you are always close to my heart.

i hope the good weather is making everyone able to look forwards everything always looks brighter when the sun is shining.

martina

1019

Hi all, just wanted to drop in and say hi, I’ve enjoyed reading all your mails today, apologies for not posting but right arm is completely knackered at the moment so typing is painful … hope the saloon’s open - mine’s a double!

Di xx

PS Helen I used to wear a small cowbell on a blue rope around my neck, I actually still have it - circa 1968!

1020

Planet Rock is on DAB digital radio, so I don’t know the frequency as it just shows the station name. If you have Sky it’s on channel 0110. Or you can listen to it on your computer - think it’s planetrock.co.uk but you can always Google it if that’s not the right address.