Breast Cancer Now Forum

@Beckett Usually cording occurs along the arm, from what I understand, but that is something to be on the watch for, too. Your BCN or GP might be able to refer you to a physiotherapist, who would be able to assess you and suggest targeted exercises, if they might help. I know some of my June chemo folks found physio super useful for cording and other stuff that didn't seem to be resolving.  ... View more

Whoops -- I edited the thread subject accidentally while battling the reCaptcha on my phone!   @Marlyn - Benefit's Ka-Brow is a cream-gel with a little brush. I used pencils in the early days to fill in when I started to lose hairs, but when I got very thin, I was terrible at it and it took forever. I found the creamy gel with brush faster and easier, and people kept telling me how amazed they were that I'd kept my eyebrows -- you had to get fairly close to tell they were drawn. I still use it since my eyebrows are coming back inside half first. There are similar products that come with stencils, too.  ... View more

Hi @Wahini - My experience, and that of quite a few of my fellow June 2018 starters, was that we started to see hair growth once we switched from FEC (or AC) to T. However, many of us did lose eyebrows and eyelashes on T (having kept them on FEC). In my case, I lost much but not all of both; some lost all. It's hard -- but if you haven't done it yet, book in to a Look Good Feel Better workshop (amazing goodie bag as well as advice), or check out their videos online. I never wear make-up but have become quite adept with an eyeliner and multiple eyebrow options! 💕   p.s. 🤨The brow option I ended up liking best was Benefit's Ka-Brow! And as @Kip's instructor told her: they are siblings (or cousins?), not twins! ... View more

@GeorgieGee I'm getting Herceptin, but also Zoladex to turn off my ovaries, and I'm having no trouble sleeping -- just wake up sometimes from hot flushes (less so than during chemo), and once I've regained a comfy body temp, I get back to sleep quickly. But I've always been a pretty good sleeper, even when I'm anxious about one thing or another. My mother says it's because she'd vacuum in the room with my crib when I was a baby, in hope I'd learn to sleep through anything. (Downside: I used to have a real problem sleeping through alarms.) I have found that I sleep the very best when I've had some good walking during the day -- though walking isn't the exercise for everyone. I've also been working tons over the past month, and getting back into a routine of work has helped me -- less time thinking about treatment, more time thinking about other stuff (but also taking more of a what-gets-done-gets-done attitude to it, as my OH has me under strict orders to decrease work-related stress).   Herceptin does sometimes cause hair thinning! I've been using the Lush red dot shampoo (called New) recommended by Shi and my hair has come back pretty well -- though it seems to have stalled, growth-wise over the last couple weeks. I'm definitely still in caps, as much because the little wiry grey stuff does not like to sit flat. Looks like I've got terrible static. And it doesn't look like anyone's idea of a haircut, not even a brutalist pixie, just yet.   How is the not-UTI pain? Has it got better for you? I hope so.  🤞 ... View more

@Beckett I found that I was getting shoulder aches, and I think it was from hunching forward a bit after surgery, without even realizing it. Hopefully, it's something like that for you, too. I found doing the post-surgery exercises more regularly and (gently) pushing myself to stretch more each day, as well as watching my posture, has helped quite a bit.  ... View more

@Kip I'm so glad you got yourself in to Add-Aspirin! One thing to keep in mind about the trial -- if the evidence is clearly and hugely supportive for adding aspirin, I believe they'll publish and switch all placebo participants to the protocol asap. And if you're assigned placebo, you'll be doing the same thing you'd be doing anyway, since you don't take aspirin regularly, right? So it feels like a win-win to me, since the aspirin dose is pretty low (low chance of SEs) and I suspect you will indeed get extra monitoring. But do ask about what side effects you might get, and how to report them.  💊 🏆   @Feenix Your baking is an inspiration. 🧁 I keep meaning to make pumpkin bread, but been too busy with work projects. Maybe tomorrow evening it will finally happen.   Day 3 of radiotherapy done; just 17 to go! 😎 😎 😎 No SEs yet, but I'm not expecting any until late this week or early next. As I mentioned elsewhere (and @Feenix saw), I do expect some burning based on my intro session -- I use 50+ SPF sunblock whenever I'm out in the sun (not just chemo!), because I burn very easily, and the radiographers said those who burn easily seem more likely to get burns. We'll see. I've got the diprobase they supplied as well as aloe vera gel and Udderly; I'm airing out as much as I can given the chilly weather; and I'm drinking lots of water to help with fatige. Only worry now is that my OH has developed a bad chest/head cold, and I have now got the sore throat he started with. We'll see how well RT goes if I'm hacking and sneezing like he is.  🤧 Especially as the end of this week will be busy -- Thursday: RT + Herceptin injection + Zometa (bisphosphonate) infusion; Friday: Zoladex (ovaries) injection + RT + starting AIs (exemestane). ... View more

@MrsG1962 Hurrah! I was thinking of you last night and came on the site specifically to see if you'd had your drains out. You must be beyond thrilled. And a record-setter, gah.   Sorry to be so slow in seeing your happy news -- I either didn't get a notification or missed it.   I'm on my way to day 3 of radiotherapy for my left breast. Only twinges of pain thus far, but given how easily I burn in the sun, I am expecting some burning. Just one more step on the journey... ... View more

@Michelle21 Swift errands and safe travels. (I hope the winds of Erik don't cause any delays.) As others have already said, I suspect it will be an emotional and immensely rewarding journey (and trek) -- and I hope there is as much joy and wonder and pride and happy exhaustion as everything else you'll experience on the way. I can't wait to hear about it when you're back. ☸️ 💜   xoxo    Everybody else - stay dry and warm and sheltered! Though I really, really want to get out for a walk or two this weekend, after all of last weekend was spent working on a deadline (project shipped late last night, hurrah!) or OH's A&E visit. Trying to figure out how we can cover his cast so it doesn't get too, too wet.  🌧 ️ 🌬 ️ Erik is a blighter.  🌧 ️ 🌬 ️  ... View more

Grrr. Just saw my empty post! My mobile does not like the new interface.   @Aneebel I wrote to say that my understanding, from reading the pharma pamphlets, is that they are concerned when ejection fraction falls below 50% or 10% lower than your starting point -- though each doctor will look at each patient and their medical history, of course. Hopefully, you will hear from your BCN soon! 💕 ... View more

@Kip What a comprehensive final appointment. I have questions -- but will post tomorrow, when I'm less tired! ... View more

My poor American kindred, the grey squirrels. I don't think either of us has the heart to have them killed, no matter what damage they do. ... View more

@Michelle21 My nose won't stop running! I also get some leg fatigue in the 2-3 days after each Herceptin injection (taking a long country walk is a abit tough), but then it's gone. My last Herceptin injection will be mid September.   I wish I could take full credit for the cleverness -- my parents should get it all, as my initials are actually RED. My one grandmother always called me Robin red-breast, which made me cringe and blush as a preteen. I appended my OH's initials and liked how I sounded: 'ready'.   Now trying to decide: how to deal with the 2 squirrels that seem to be making a nest in the roof of our block of flats (pretty much right above our flat, as it happens)? They woke us in the middle of the night --  ugh, 2 nights in a row without much sleep -- and my OH has confirmed it is squirrels, and at least 2 of them, by watching the tree out back until he saw them leaping to and fro with materials. Better than a rat, I suppose. I don't want them to be exterminated (i.e., killed), but I do want them to be quiet, little scratchy paws. And the more they explore, the more worried I become that they're going to come through a pipe hole in the kitchen. ... View more

@Kip I don't know if I should be frustrated or relieved that a long, whingey post I wrote earlier got eaten by the new site set-up. (Really? You time out log-ins after I've typed something up and hit post?)   Short(er) version: Haven't booked a flight to the US yet as I can't afford to, literally, because of having to turn down so many freelance projects over the past year because of treatment schedules and side effects. My sister is buying the ticket for me using frequent flyer miles, but the ideal time, near Easter, is colliding with the airline's blackout periods. I have to be post-RT (last session 7 March, if all goes to plan), and fit between Herceptin injections (every 21 days) and Zoladex injections (every 28 days). It's proving difficult. However, I have priced travel insurance for the US, and happy to say it won't bankrupt us. I was really worried it would be over a thousand pounds -- though I guess about £250 for 2 weeks isn't exactly cheap.   Separately, my OH has joined @cdc's daughter as a fracture clinic patient! (@cdc, how is your daughter getting on?) He mashed his hand on a railing when the bus he was on stopped abruptly, and ended up with a bad spiral fracture in the hand bone connected to his small finger. Thankfully, the ortho he saw today said he can get away without surgery to insert a pin, though his finger won't ever align quite like it used to. Still, he needs a cast for 3 weeks, then, if the bone is healing okay, he'll switch to a hand splint for 3-6 weeks. I'm not sure how we're going to manage the launderette while I'm having RT. Supermarket shopping for us as well as his mum is also going to require some rearranging. Oh, well.   Also (though this belongs more in the chemo thread): @Kip, I've tried using the Lush New soap on my eyebrow area, like you said you did, and my eyebrows are coming in! It may just be coincidence, and they're only halfbrows right now, but it is super exciting. So thank you for mentioning that you did this!   @Michelle21 & @Feenix -- You must be on the wing very soon! ... View more

@absolutelyannie I'm a June 2018 chemo starter and thought I'd weigh in on the SE transition from FEC to docetaxel. I used polybalm on my nails after @GeorgieGee recommended it (it was trialled at her hospital in Cambridge), and I managed to keep all my nails. Don't know if polybalm was why -- I also used cuticle oil regularly, as polybalm is pricey. I found the aches and pains and fatigue much harder on T, but I wasn't neutropenic (or, that is, I didn't land in hospital for it, like I was on FEC!). Otherwise, I think it was mostly the cumulative effect of chemo -- all the antibiotics from my neutropenia scares in FEC left my gut without any good bacteria, and some unpleasant stuff ensued as a result; plus, I got shingles -- but that is super unusual. The Udderly cream with urea that Shi rec'd is great -- I had to switch to it near tje end. Keep an eye out for blisters on hands and feet, which can be a serious SE; I only had real trouble with this after my last cycle. And report and tingling in hands and fett, too -- I got this, and they were very attentive to whether the perpheral neuropathy was getting too bad to maintain my dose, but thankfully it has gone now (about 2.5 months after last cycle). Oh! Nail p.s. I did put cold packs on my hands and feet during the docetaxel infusion, following tbe model of cold-capping. Research is mixedon efficacy, but it doesn't harm so long as you do not put the freezer packs directly on the skin. Because I was also getting Herceptin and Perjeta, and there wasn't room in the ward freezer for my packs, they were usually starting to thaw by the time I was gwtting docetaxel. But the cryotherapy may have helped a bit with my nails and peripheral neuropathy. I don't know for sure.  ... View more

Go, Clare! You are a champion. ... View more

Grrrrr. I wasn't done writing that. Anyhoo, thanks for the invitation to crash, and the good wishes. Love hearing about your trips and treks, and gives me heart that a trio to the wilds of Virginia will be doable cine April. (I haven't seen my parents in person for more than a year now.) Have a wonderful time, both. xoxo Robin ... View more

Aw, thanks Michelle & Jean! I feel as though I know all the May surgery folks (even though I am a December surgery person, because I've been lurking off and on to keep up-to-date with everyone on the June chemo thread. ... View more

@cdc - Crashing May surgery very quickly to say how lovely it is to hear you're doing so well -- and so pleased to hear your results. Wonderful news. Fingers crossed that rads is off the table for  you, post bi-Mx -- would be nice to have one less treatment, right? (I start my rads for left breast on 7 Feb, eons away.) ... View more

@Jayne1966 Our tumors are twins! I will DM tomorrow, if you like, with the reassuring info I gathered about bilateral breast cancer. It may be late in the day, however, as I am on a tight deadline for work (which is why I am still up). ... View more