Hi Michelle, yes surgery is at the same hospital and only a day unit so should be home by afternoon which will be good as the children are on half term that week. I’ll have them around to look after me too! I nipped onto the May chemo page and the ladies on there all said they had had the achy legs etc after chemo, it seems the norm… just another thing to deal with, but at least no more chemo. Was very strange to get to this Monday and think I would have been having chemo… I’ve had th pre-op assessment today and all went well so just need to get through Tuesday and then get that arm moving again… more exercises… grrrr…
That’ll be nice Kip to be home in a day and have your kids look after you. Yes I imagine having been through doing the exercises once it must be a pain to have to go through that again. Sorry if I’ve said this already but I found swiming great for releasing the tightness, although it was a good few weeks after the op.
I am meeting with a choir member tomorrow who has told me she had breast cancer 4 years ago. I am looking forward to talking to her as apart from on the forum I haven’t spoken to anyone who has had this. She is on Tamoxifen so it will be good to hear how that is too.
Also tomorrow I am going for my first haircut. Although I cold capped my hair thinned out and I had some bald patches. I’ve never been so excited about a haircut but I have to keep telling myself that the hairdresser is not going to be able to make the stubby bits of my hair longer! X
Wow Michelle - first haircut… that’s exciting… made me smile about wishing she could make it longer though. I ran a brush over mine yesterday, I don’t have enough to brush, about 1/2 cm - 1cm in places but it felt good! My daughter found that funny.
Feenix - had to tell you I just braved the bathroom scales, my jeans feel very tight and I have put on 1 and half stones since diagnosis… eek I have never been this big before. I really must do something, I’m telling myself its the steroids and that it will go now I’ve finished chemo… who am I kidding, its the biscuits, cakes and sweets! That hula hoop will be spinning faster than ever… although having surgery next week will scupper that for a while again. Trouble is all I can think about now is food… and the biscuit tin… help!!!
Oh Feenix, that has made me smile… a flasher in bright orange… well I never… If it was round here I could really scare him by whipping off my wig and flashing my baldie back at him!
I can’t resist a biscuit or 5 myself… loving digestives at the moment… but really trying to resist… .Its even harder because I work from home, so never more than 5 steps from the kitchen… eek!
CDC, we must name the numb toe, perhaps “numble” then we can have “tingle and numble”. My Tingle is still odd, and I get odd pins and needles in my hand/arm too. At the moment though its the aches and pains which are the worst, I have lower back ache, leg ache, arms etc… and of course I panic and think… its spread… so having a low day today. Also had a row with my son before he left for college, because he has invited 5 mates over on Tuesday for an XBox day and takeaway and I am having surgery that day so don’t really want all these youths lounging around, but apparently “its only an operation”, door slam and off he went… I burst into tears even though I know he didn’t mean it. He then texted me to say sorry, which made me cry even more and he’s now worried as to why I am so scared about the operation. I think he thinks I’m hiding something from him. Then he text again to say he has just purchased another bus ticket (£13 every 5 days!!!) and has left it on the bus… this is not the first time and its costing a fortune… so thats just made my day and its only 9.25. My daughter said again last night that she “wants to go back to how it used to be when she didn’t have to think about chemo, radiotherapy, operations and cancer”! Breaks my heart. Doesn’t help that every where she goes at the moment its Stand up to Cancer. She saw an ad yesterday about a lady who died from her breast cancer after it returned… that has terrified her now (and me too to be honest). I want my old life back… feeling like I can’t see ever not worrying again.
Sorry ladies, having a black hole day today… the biscuit tin is looming I think!
Eat the whole biscuit tin if it gets you through Kip. It is tough dealing with teenagers at the best of times let alone throwing cancer into the mix. I have seen lots of stand up to cancer ads too, but not the bc one. That does sounds terrifying. My daughter hadn’t even realised it could come back until she watched a documentary with me. It wasn’t until later I found out this had upset her and now I am kicking myself for letting her watch it. You just want to shield them from it all and let them live without worrying, after all our chances of it NOT coming back are high. Hopefully in a few months time this will just be a nasty memory. I have found the further away from chemo I have got the better I have felt, mentally and physically. I do still have numb/tingly feet though, so I’m not sure how long that lasts. It goes with my numb arm!
It was good to chat to my choir friend yesterday. She is 4 years away from cancer now and says she has moved on from it. She said she gets the odd night fears but tries to put it all in perspective. She also said she does a lot more now rather than procrastinating about stuff, lives for the moment more.
My haircut went well, it’s short but it looks like a style now! It’s amazing how something as simple as a haircut can improve how you feel.
CDC I’ll be interested to see what your team put you on. I have been having menapausal symptoms since I was 45, I’m 48 now. My last period was in Jan, I started chemo in April, I have been told I will have Tamoxifen for 5 years and then probably shift to the other.
Jean I laughed out loud at your flasher story! Not only because of the way he looked but also because you’re not intimidated by him! Good for you!!
I think we should all spoil ourselves with chocolate, biscuits, cake, whatever takes your fancy. We have all been through so much this year and if a sweet treat makes us happy for a while then why not.
Come January when I think we are all through the worst of our treatments we can start up a fat friends slimming forum!
I hope everyone has sunshine it is a beautiful day here, a great day to be starting radiotherapy!! X
Sorry me again! I would like to apologise in advance for this emotional out burst but…
I just wanted to add I love you ladies! And together we will get through this, Jean is already there on the other side leading the way for us and one by one we will follow her. We will feel better and we will get our lives back. We’ve come so far it is the homeward straight now xx
OMG Thank you Michelle, that post has really lifted my spirits… if not lifted the biscuit tin lid… too right I deserve a biscuit and so do we all. And do you know what… I LOVE YOU ALL too, it is totally amazing that non of us have ever met yet we all get how each other feels. This was the first place I had to come to this morning when feeling teary, I knew you’d all understand. I am fully intending on still coming on here when I am through all my treatment, I already pop onto the Sept and Oct chemo thread, and it breaks my heart to see more ladies at the beginning of all this crap and it takes me back to my initial threads when chemo was stretching way ahead of me. So thank you all lovely ladies for being there… we are fabulous… tingly feet, hands, bald heads and all…(and flashers in orange clothing too!)
And glad you have a fab haircut Michelle, can’t wait for one of those…and to get rid of this flipping dark nail polish… when can that go?
Just reading through your posts this morning and wanted to say you lot are fab, you are all doing so very well, let the wobble days happen they are all part of our recovery from bc. Life does get better honestly, I celebrated 2 years post surgery on 13 October, life on the whole has gone back to normal following the end of my active treatment in January 2017.
The best thing that happened to me when I started my treatment was finding this wonderful forum and the wonderful ladies on here. I know I do not post in the same way as I used I still come on regularly, probably more so in the next couple of months as I recover from my hysterectomy
I really should wear my glasses when reading this I thought you said “Bc effects are like nipples on a pond!” BC admin can also be a full time job in itself , managing those appts etc! I’m interested to know how you get on with the moving forward course. I’m going to sign myself up too, but not for a few weeks.
Glad you’re feeling a bit better Kip, I took my varnish off before my surgery, like you I was sick off it! My nails are fine, a black area on one thumb and vague stripes on the rest that are only really visible to me. I point them out to people and I know they think I’m being too fussy, but I can see them so to me they are a reminder of chemo!
Enjoy your walk and work off those biscuits Jean! X
Thanks Jean, I’m sorry to hear you’re getting tired on the letrozole. I think the stress of it all tires us out too.
Rad 1 all done, 19 to go! Ala in all it was ok but was asked to get there 1/2 hour early for no reason and they were running late, I’d been there 2 hours before i went in! Hopefully it will be quicker tomorrow!
Have a good evening everyone, I’m off to choir! X
So Numble and TIngle it is! Tingle doesn’t get cold but the flippin pins and needles are annoying. Im still aching a lot too, hoping that goes off soon otherwise I will be doubly stiff after the op on Tuesday. I think you are right that my son just tries to do normal things to keep the BC stuff out of his head, he is very apologetic about upsetting me yesterday and for losing his ticket! I did give myself a stiff talking to and thought about how it must be for them to go through this too, they do need their friends and we have sorted everything out now. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter too much in the scheme of things… if his friends annoy me I will show them my drain… that will shock them!
Hi Feenix, not sure how the menopause will pan out, can’t work out if the hot flushes are chemo induced or hormones or both… its a guessing game alright.
I am just about to hit the biscuit tin… those digestives keep calling to me. Also have a large bar of chocolate which is just begging to be eaten… oh when will I be able to stop… you are right carrots and cucumber…blurghghg!
Today was much quicker, in and out in 20mins! Even time under the machine was quicker, which was a relief as yesterday my arm seemed to be up for ages it was really quite uncomfortable.
So back home now, not sure what to do with myself. Think I’ll have a cup of tea and a Twirl or two whilst deciding, have to confess to buying a pack of 4 on my way home.
Well if I can’t eat treats now then when can I? X
Hope you all had a good weekend? I have been getting very stressed about the surgery tomorrow but have just had a nice chat with the BCN who has answered some questions for me and put my mind at rest on some issues, so trying to calm myself down. Didn’t sleep well last night and guessing I’ll have little tonight, have to be at hospital for 7.30 so a very early start too. Just want to get it done and home again. Unfortuantely she did say I’ll have a drain again… thought I had seen the last of those blighters, but hey ho, it wasn’t too bad I guess just a pain having to carry that lovely floral bag around with me… so here we go again!
Might just have to have more biscuits to see me through!
Feenix, yes you are right I think ,sometimes too much information can blow your mind, I’ve not asked or been given any prediction as to outcome, not sure I can handle that either. But actually you reminded me that at my last appointment with my surgeon when we discussed me not having rads to my armpit area (they are only doing breast wall and collar bone, she said that way I can keep Rads to the axillary area as a back up for the future if needed, so you are right, you have some weapons in your artillery should you ever need them, fingers crossed we never need them but they are there. As my OH tried to tell me this monring, we should, in a way, be grateful that we are the ones being monitored for any other nasties, the rest of the people out there could be carrying something they haven’t found yet… I guess he’s right… still scary though.
I am 8/8 oestrogen positive too, so should avoid that biscuit tin…but its soo hard isn’t it. Just found a bag of haribos…now eating those… oh dear! Oh well can’t eat after midnight to night… so better stock up now.
Well I’m home and already had cake! Op went well and was first on list… In theatre at 9 and baxk jn recovery at 10.30. And home by 2.30 so very happy. Surgeon was nice he did level 2 clearance and said it shouldnt make too much difference to next treatment as chemo should have done its stuff so will trh to think positively.
Thanks for all your kind wishes it makes all the difference.
Back home already Kip, that’s great! Pleased all went well. Hopefully you won’t have the drain in for too long.
Rads going ok Thanks Jean. I’m playing a little game with myself, counting the number of radiologists that see me topless, I’m up to 10 so far! It’s going to get harder each day as I try to remember if I’ve seen them before.
Yes I think that sums up how monotonous rads is, still almost 1/4 way through!
Hope everything is good with you x
