Breast Cancer Now Forum

Thanks Michelle.  I think I’m still ok for chemo 2 on Monday.  I’ve had a bit of a scare with what I thought was hay fever but which turned into a nasty cough with raised temperature (close to the 37.5 x 2 but not quite there).  I really didn’t want to go to A&E on a Saturday night.  Better today, temperature down.   With regard to self-injecting, I was terrified of this at first and the District Nurse did it for me.  When I finally made myself do it, it was nothing much and I’m happy to self-inject whenever it is needed.  I was injecting Filgrastim for white blood cells and did get aching joints for a while.   I tried to shave my hair with an electric bikini-line trimmer.  Useless!  It just chopped off a few bits here and there.  I had to laugh.  I’m wearing a cap just to stop hair falling on everything; there will soon be nothing left to shave.   The thing about having cancer is that just feeling a bit better feels wonderful. ... View more

Do hope things go well for you, Christine, and I hope the reconstructive surgery is a brilliant success.  You’re right: getting back some sort of normality is worth it.  Sending hugs.   I was badgered into agreeing to take on something I really didn’t want to do yesterday.  Explaining my cancer treatment didn’t help.  I weakly agreed but, thank goodness, later sent an email saying I’d changed my mind.  It’s the first time someone has ignored what I was saying about cancer - weird and upsetting but fixed now.   My hair is falling out in clumps now.  Time to shave my head.   The picc line must be an improvement on the cannula, Noah&Willsmum.  I asked for a picc from the start as I had been forewarned about cannula problems.  Chemo2 on Monday.  That’ll be another one down. ... View more

Glad you’ve got plans to ring if your throat’s not better.  Moany can be useful to those suddenly on planet cancer.  It was helpful to me to know that I wasn’t the only one having difficulties swallowing.  This forum is great when I don’t want to burden friends who haven’t been through this.     ... View more

Not moany at all.  Sounds really uncomfortable.  I’m with Michelle on this one - worth talking with your medical team.  Even if they can’t do much about your sore, swollen throat, they will be aware that there is an issue.   Do hope you feel better soon x ... View more

Hi Kath   It’s great that you’ve had a better experience of chemo than you expected.  I know I terrified myself imagining how awful it was going to be.  Hope your courses of chemo follow the same pattern.  If complementary therapies help, thank goodness for that.   Hugs   D ... View more

Good news for you, Fiona!  Must be such a relief when the sick feeling goes.  Perhaps with better medication the reflux will stop.  Hope so because a bad night makes the following day very tiring.  Hope you have a great day in this gorgeous sun.  About hair loss, I feel better just being prepared for it.   Planted some geraniums I bought yesterday.  The garden is bursting with life.  Hope you are all having a lovely day.     ... View more

Chocolate sounds like a good idea.  I was told very firmly to maintain my weight - if chocolate helps that’s great.  Thornton’s stuff is lovely; hope you and your daughter enjoy it, Christine.   In the week after chemo1 my weight quickly went down.  I tried to stuff the food down (like stuffing a cushion) but it felt like indigestion all the time.  Now, by day 11, I feel almost normal but it’s still a struggle to keep my weight up.   Michelle, I’m full of admiration for your long walk.  I’m sure it helps recovery, despite the tiredness.   Thanks, Jencat, for the encouraging info about hair regrowth.   🌞 🌞 🌞 all weekend, I hope ... View more

Hi Blissie.  I’m wondering, too, about how bad chemo 2 will be and whether the effects are cumulative.  Even if they are, I’ve another magic week before the bus hits me again.  I’m grateful for what you wrote, Michelle, as you’ve had the second chemo session.   Went to my favourite exercise class (Fitsteps) today and it felt wonderful.  I’m in bed now but it was worth the effort.  I’d forgotten my picc cover and the sweet girl on reception gave me her own piece of tubigrip when I asked if they might have some in first aid.  I didn’t want other people in the class to see the mess on my arm.  They know what’s happening but I don’t want them to see the off-putting details.  That’s where this forum is so helpful.  I don’t have to guard against oversharing with kind friends who have no experience of what is involved.   Thanks, Fitfulhead, I never thought of Pinterest for headscarf ideas.   Hope you all are having a good day - sunshine!       ... View more

Glad the cold cap is working for you, Christine.  While your treatment must be very hard for your elderly  parents, that you are in this situation is in no way letting them down.   I like the suburban turbans better than any of the other head coverings I have seen.  I’m going to get one of the headband ones to cheer me up after chemo 2.   Hope it goes well tomorrow, Fiona.   xx ... View more

So sorry for this bad patch you’re having, Michelle.  When you’ve gone through cold capping and this happens it must be a bitter disappointment.  It sounds as though your hair is quite long.  I hope you get the emotional support that can help.   And your body hair is going, too, Fiona.  I’d gladly exchange my pubic hair for the stuff on my head but that’s not going to happen.  Day by day I can feel my hair getting wispier.  As it’s short, I guess it’s just washing down the plughole.  I keep running my hand over my head to check and more hairs fall out.  I think tearful is exactly how I feel.  I got my wig out to practise, and the caps I’ve bought - didn’t make me feel noticeably happier.   Hope you’re feeling better, Gigi.  With the best efforts in the world, what we’re going through is a tough call.   The dressing the nurse put over my picc line has removed a strip of skin.  Can’t say I’m thrilled about this as I’m terrified of its getting infected.   Moan over.    Hugs   xxx   ... View more

Hi Michelle.  I took myself to the cancer talk.  It was advertised locally, to be given by a local GP.  It seemed too helpful to miss and I wasn’t sure if and when there would be another one.  Even if the information was a bit premature for me, I realised, from the numbers there, that I’m far from alone even in a small town.   I hope you manage to get out to social events, Christine.  Company of friends has helped  to make the process bearable for me.  Not a single person has been anything but kind, even those who do not know me well.  People want to know how I am but the conversation moves on to other things.   I’ve already decided to wear a rather pretty cap when my hair goes.  It makes the point that I’m having chemo to anyone who notices, without me having to say anything.  My (fright) wig is so I can pass for normal among strangers.  Well, that’s the plan, subject to change like all plans at the moment.   Whytefawn, you’ve given me unexpected expected hope!  I’ll be having Docetaxel after the EC and the thought that I might get a bit of babyfuzz as a result really cheered me up.  I’ve been told to get my nails painted with dark varnish for the Docetaxel - did anyone else get that advice from the oncologist?   Thanks for the tip about salt mouthwash; it’s working well.   Hope it’s been a good day for all of us. x ... View more

It’s so lovely to have the help & support I find here.  Thanks for all the tips on mouthwash.  I’m going to try salt water for now but I’ve kept the details of all the recommendations.   Went  to a Macmillan event on living with cancer today (first outing since Monday chemo).  The event was excellent but way too soon for me.  Wiped out by the end.  The information will be useful later, when I can give it some attention, so I’m glad I went.   Thanks, Fiona & Michelle, for reassurance that I’m not alone in the swallowing problem.  I’m also reassured by the reactions to chemo round 2.  It all feels like chemo boot camp.     ... View more

Morning all.  Do hope it goes well with the cold cap.  I dread losing my hair - probably in the coming week.  The closer I get to this, the more I cherish my short, grey, ordinary hair.   Today I choked on a tablet I was trying to swallow.  In what used to be normal life I could swallow a handful of supplements in one go.  Now I gag on anything bigger than a tiny anti-sickness pill.   Off to the chemist for sennakot, baby toothbrush, mouthwash.  No one ever tried to kid me this was going to be fun.   Big hugs    ... View more

So sorry about your hair, Michelle.  Maybe crying is not such a bad response.  It’s still you, hair or not.  My hair is going to fall out soon because I thought the cold cap wouldn’t work for me.  My hair is very ordinary but I’ll miss it all the same.   lots of hugs xx ... View more

Good luck tomorrow, fitful. ... View more

You’re so right, Michelle.  I know I will have said the wrong thing in many situations and never known because the person I spoke was too kind or polite to tell me.  That’s why I try to be kind and polite, too.  I’m positive in my own way, which comes down to accepting what has happened and dealing with it.  Some days, and for good reason, I feel down and I sit with it until it goes.  On other days, often because the sun is shining, I feel full of gratitude.  I’m still me.  I’m just ill and going through treatment.   I’m not “battling” anything - agree with you, Christine.  Battle is a daft term.  Going through a process might be more accurate.   Sorry I got your name wrong, Jencat.  Fat finger accidentally deleted half of it. ... View more

Hi Jenc What you’ve described is exactly what I’ve experienced.  My real friends ask me how I am and listen to what I say.  It’s those who are backing away who come up with the idiotic remarks.   Hope your treatment is going well after six months of it. ... View more

Sometimes  I suspect that “stay strong, you’re  so brave, keep positive” is a way of saying “so I don’t have to feel bad thinking about you”.  Depends who’s saying it.   ... View more

So glad you’ve had a great day, fitful.  One thing cancer seems to have done for me is make great days really great in a way they were not before.  Clear margins is fantastic news!  I was told I’d need a mastectomy as my bust is small but the surgeon did a brilliant lumpectomy on a tumour about the same size & in the same place as yours, so I kept my nipple, too.  Only I can tell my left boob is even tinier than it used to be.   You’re right, Christine.  It wasn’t as bad as I’d terrified myself into thinking it would be.  I cried when I was told I needed chemo but for now the reality is that it’s just something unpleasant but necessary.   Do hope it all goes well for you, Michelle, when you have blast no 2.  I agree with everything you said about positivity.  I have bite my tongue - not even an eye roll.  They mean well.   xx   ... View more

Had my first chemo, EC, via picc line yesterday.  Everyone at the hospital was kind and helpful.  The actual administration of the chemo was a surprisingly friendly affair.  Hope I see the same people next time.   While I don’t feel well, it’s not yet anywhere near as bad as I’d feared.  The anti-sickness meds are working ok.   I get tired of being told to “stay positive”, as though forcing myself to look on the bright side will cure all.  It’s working medication that’s made me feel positive.   i don’t expect chemo to be a breeze - time will tell - but I wish I hadn’t scared myself silly in advance.   Hugs  D x ... View more