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Evenin everyone,
Lisa - I hope your mammogram was ok today. It must have been a very stressful morning for you. Thinking of you! 
As for waking up early, it's really annoying. I tend to be awake for a couple of hours at night on the steroids - I try not to stress about it and just make sure I get some extra sleep after lunch. You've got a very good excuse for an afternoon nap!
My chemo didn't happen yesterday as my neutrophils were too low. Someone somewhere on the Forum called them "Naughtyphils" which definitively applies to mine! I was a bit disappointed initially, but actually now I'm quite pleased, as it gives my body a short break from all the strong medication. In fact I feel so much better today, still tired, but no aches, cramps, funny tastes etc. which makes a very nice change. Hopefully by next week, my bloods will be back to where they should be and I'll be ready for another round of SEs!
Hope everyone has a reasonable night. Gaby x
Hi everyone,
My MRI shows a "partial reduction" in the tumour and a change in its' structure which at this reliatively early stage of treatment is good news. I'm so relieved that the treatment is working!! 
Just have to keep at it now, through all the various lovely SEs, and get rid of the blasted thing altogether.
My oncologist also showed me a gragh for my hemoglobin, which shows that this has crashed from a healthy level to rock bottom over the past 2-3 weeks, which explains my problems with breathing. The last few days I've actually noticed a marked improvement in this and I'm hoping that my doulbe-dose of carboplatin and paclitaxel tomorrow won't bring a return of the breathlessness. Still, if it comes back, at least I know what's causing it.
Lisa: I hope you're feeling betterand your bloods come up ok. Waiting for those blood results is always a bit nerve-wracking.
MamaTony: hope the meeting with your surgeon went well.
Gx
Anniej: thanks for the tipa bout Boots insurance. I'll definitively look in to this nearer the time of our holiday.
Galligirl: looking at and eventually booking somewhere lovely for a holiday gave me something nice to do for a couple ofhours, definitively to be recommended. I'm very tempted to book a short weekend somewhere in the UK in Spring, but until I have my dates for surgery and radiotheraphy, I'd better not.
Seeing my oncologist tomorrow and should get the results from my mid-way MRI scan. Fingers crossed the tumour has reduced at least a bit. Had another choice comment from my darling son, who suggested that the tumour may just have "dropped off" - even he realised that this is a very unlikely scenario and collapsed into a heap of giggles! I really wouldn't mind if it had just decided to "drop off", but I'll happily take a reduction in size tomorrow.
Have a good week, everyone.
Gx
Hi Lisa,
I haven't actually contacted any insurance companies yet, but the Macmillan website has some useful basic information on this matter. It seems that we may face higher premiums (thanks!) or can opt for a cancer-related exclusion. I'll probaby opt for the latter, though quite frankly I don't see why once I've finished treatment, I should then be punished by the insurers through higher premiums etc. It's not exactly as though I/we have had any choice on this, but I guess that's how they operate.
I'm going to speak to my mother-in-law about this as well - she's had breast cancer three times (now in her 80s! I look at her and think, yep, it's absolutely possible and I will be fine.) and travels regularly, so someone must still be willing to insure her. I'll let you know if I find out anything useful.
Got a day out with husband tomorrow: Royal Academy exhibition followed by a nice lunch I just wish the restaurant had a couch for a post-lunch snooze!
Gx
Good morning everyone,
I'm hoping to persuade my oncologist to postpone the start of my EC by a few days, so that I don't have to go in to hospital the week of Christmas. Usually we host my parents for Christmas Eve (my dad is Danish, so Continential style) and then we head of to my in-laws for Christmas Day. Haven't really thought what I'm going to do about Christmas Eve yet. It's hard to plan, when you don't know what you're going to feel like. Luckily my husband loves cooking (though he makes a mess!) and will probably do most if not all of it. I just hope I'll be able to taste all that lovely food.
On a positive note, we've just booked ourselves a lovely holiday in Tuscany for next August. 
When I started chemo I couldn't face thinking about any sort of "future", but now I am really looking forward to next summer, by which time I will definitively have finished everything and, as my lovely daughter said, will "need some sunshine" to recover properly. It's given all of us something fantastic to look forward to that is beyond chemo, surgery, radiotherapy and SEs!
Have a lovely Sunday.
Gx
Hope everyone is having a reasonable weekend.
Just wondering: is anyone having problems with their eyes? Mine are dry, I constantly feel as if I had something gritty in them, I keep getting annoying twitches in my eyelids, and all the lights in our house seem duller than usual. Very odd and rather irritating. I've lost a lot of my eye lashes which may account for some of these problems, but I've still got a reasonable amount left, especially on my eyelids.
Gx
Lisa: Try to stay positive - at least you know this lump hasn't been there for long and it's been spotted. But yes, you must be in in complete shock, I'm so sorry. Good they've given you an appointment quite soon; the waiting and not knowing is one of the hardest parts of this whole horrible progress. I'll be thinking of you - and do use us all here to sound off and share your thoughts, it helps!
Aley: how sweet of your son. It's the thought that countsm
Had my MRI scan today, so now have to wait for the reults next week. Also had another lot of Paclitaxel. Interestingly my cough and breathlessness are slightly improved since I had some treatment from my amazing cranial osteopath on Monday. She was horrified at the tension in my ribs and the lack of bloodflow to my lungs, so worked on that and it seems to have helped. I just hope today's chemo doesn't have too much of a negative impact. It's so nice being able to breath a bit more freely and not to be coughing every 5 minutes.
Gx
Thanks, Galligirl. So glad you're feeling better and hope the physio helps tomorrow. I had a very decent night last night and am also feeling much more positive - amazing what a bit of sleep can do. The music for the MRI is ok, yes, but last time I could hardly hear it, as the machine was so noisy! Also rather undignified, having to stick your boobs in to those cups 
, but then we've all had to go through so many tests that involve whipping your clothes off in front of complete strangers and having them squeeze and plod bits, I gues we're all rather used to it. In fact I sometimes forget to go behind the curtain to change until reminded by the nurse, and I'm not usually very relaxed about undressing in public!
My 11-year old son made me laugh tonight - he suggested suffing socks in my hat to bulk things out! He didn't want to offer me his, as he didn't fancy them on my head?! Not sure I fancy his socks on my head either actually and defintively not sure that this is a good alternative to a wig or a properly fitting hat, but at least we had some fun. My 17-year old daughter just groaned at his (and my?) immaturity.
Gx
