Breast Cancer Now Forum

Thanks for your info. My Line Manager and HR are supporting me in taking ill health retirement but occupational health told me a cancer diagnosis may not fit the criteria! It's not just the cancer though because I have been fighting the disease for 12 years and have had 2 recurrences in the last 3 years, the latter requiring surgery and chemo. i also have bone mets and lymphoedema which is painful all the time despite analgesia. They don't seem to take on board the psychological impact of diagnosis, possible prognosis and living life feeling like you are a walking time bomb! Sorry to moan! Thanks again. Christine x ... View more

Ah!crying with laughter at pixie's post. ... View more

Sorry to hear about your experience margietee. I too had a bad experience. Went to. Gp with breast lump and was told it was bony callus as I had fallen and broken a rib 6 months earlier. 6 months later I still had the lump and my breast was changing shape. I had a grade 3 tumour with lymph node involvement. Had it been diagnosed properly the first time.....who knows? The outcome may have been different. Thinking about you. Cancer plays with your mind all the time. We'll it does with mine and I'm sure everyone else experiences this even if only at times once they become more confident. Regards to all Christine xxx ... View more

Thanks Hilary. I think I needed to be away from home to look at the situation from the outside to make sense of it all. I will have plenty to do to keep me busy. Christine xxx ... View more

Hi everyone. Am on holiday at present in somerset. Went back to work last week for one day. Had had a bad week. Wondered what I was doing driving myself to work. Day went okay tho was bombarded with information. On way home I thought. I can't do this. Was unwell at night and not good next day. Came on holiday yesterday and promptly went into meltdown. Crying and vomiting. OH hadn't realised how I'd been feeling. We've talked things over and I've decided to retire at the end of the year. I'm not well enough mentally or physically to continue. Now that I've made the decision I can't wait to be at home and be able to spend more time with my daughter and my grandsons Sorry to those of you who have sore feet and other see. Sorry to ihave been a moan. Christine xxx ... View more

Hi Hilary. My lymphoedema has been especially bad lately and I'm now having to wear a combined sleeve and glove. Bit of a pest as it gets really warm. And when you want to wash your hands . . . . . But without it my arm gets really tight and swollen and becomes painful. So I suppose it works up to a point. Hope everyone has a good weekend. Christine xxx ... View more

Thanks everyone for good wishes. Today is actually the best I have felt in a long time. Was awake early and got up and organised myself as if I was going to work. Even did a work-based module and passed. So quite pleased with myself. And I haven't had to lie down for a sleep today. That's progress but tomorrow may tell on me as I'm looking after my grandsons all day. Will be good fun but I will probably be knackered afterwards. Can't believe I'm goin back to work next Thursday. Where has all that time gone? Spent most of it in my bed I suppose. Looking forward to GBBO tonight. Regards to all. Christine xx ... View more

Hi Everyone, I'm also NED at present afetr my 3rd and then 6th Taxotere. Long may it continue although it's always on my mind. Regards to all. Christine xxx ... View more

Hi Vanns, My nails are rubbish too. Have horrible ridges and bumps on them and also have black lines on them which look like dirt. Also the nails on my left hand appear to be growing faster than the right hand. And I wore the dark nail polish too. Now I wear it to cover up the mess. Congrats on the gundog comp.Wish I could get my retriever to stop jumping at me. Regards to all Christine ... View more

Hi everyone, Soprry that brain is befuddled. Can't take things in. So good luck to everyone whatever is happening or about to happen or what has happened. What a load of twaddle I'm writing. Still tired almost 9 weeks post chemo. Skin peelimg off my feet in sheets. OH taking care of me. Going back to work for defo on 4th October for one day and then on annual leave for about 19 days to Somerset. Anyone live down that way? Chrispie xxxxxxxxx ... View more

Hi everyone, Haven't been able to post as I've been in Morecambe since Monday to take my parents for a break. i call it the annual endurance test. Sorry i haven't been able to concentrate on new posts and all the info/questions on them. So if you have finished chemo - congrats. If you're having rads good luck. If you've still to have surgery I hope everything goes well for you. I am 8 weeks post TAX and still have sore fingers and feet and skin is peeling off them. Fed up smothering myself with aqueous cream! My friend's husband died last week and I'm going to the funeral tomorrow. He was a wonderful man, a true friend and a gentleman. Latterly he had Parkinson's disease.They went for a respite break a week past on Monday and he took a massive stroke on the Tuesday morning. So I'm going to sign off hoping that I can be everything I need to be to his widow. Having been widowed myself 15 years ago, I know it's not an easy road. Regards to all of you. Love chrisp1e xxx ... View more

Hi everyone, Haven't posted for about a week I think. Serves me right for having to wade through 61 new posts. Life has been very busy between one thing or another. Went to my niece's wedding last Thursday. I didn't wear the hat or the wig but went commando with a pair of dangly bright pink earrings! I haven't worn anything on my head since. My hair didn't fall out on Taxotere but thinned quite a bit. It's about 3/8 of an inch long but there is no sign of bald areas growing any hair 7 weeks after chemo. Only things I do have are muscle pain in my thighs and arms and the skin is peeling off my fingers. My lymphoedema has got worse and I am now having to wear a combined compression sleeve and glove. Bit of a nuisance. I'm going back to work 4 weeks today on a phased return but to be honest I don't know if I'll manage to work full time again. Just now I'm considering dropping dpwn to 3 days a week after Xmas. sara - you've inspired me to carry on with this idea by telling us about your career changes! I would like more time with my grandsons. I've managed through my illness without the money so I know I can manage on a part time wage now. My mum got her new kitchen in so that involved me carrying everything back into the kitchen for her so that she could put things away herself while I set about getting the house back to its usual and battering round the house with the hoover. Then her washing machine broke down and I had to take her for a new one and then she wanted some shopping. I didn't get home till 8 p.m. Could hardly walk by that time! And I've had to do her washing as well as mine all week! She says she doesn't know what they'll all do when I go back to work. My younger grandson was 1 year old on Sunday and I ended up with all the family at my house as SIL wasn't well and none of us wanted to catch the lurgy. And so it has continued all week! I'm going back to work for a rest! sara - glad you're home now after your surgery. Here's to a good recovery. I didn't have any swelling in my limbs after surgery but did have a seratoma in my wound area both after Mx and recon and had to have them drained. Gadget Gal - hope your results don't take too long and that they are good. Waiting for things like that drive you nuts psychologically. Campo - congrats on finishing your treatment. I'm finding it's taking me ages to get over chemo with rotten SEs continuing. sarabee - I've got hooked on GBBO. I love it! I've been going commando for a while now. Lost my nerve for a few weeks after my daughter told me I had a bald patch on top and went back to my wig and scarves but am OK with my scraggy look now. pepihorse - I did my injections by myself and didn't find them too much hassle. I felt it would have been more hassle to have to wait for DN coming in to do them cos once I take it into my head to go out somewhere, I'm off! vanns - sorry you're having such problems with fluid retention. It must be difficult when you're used to being active to be unable to do so. Mind you if they get you on the right dose of water tablets you'll be taking up running again! pixie - glad to hear aboput Bertie and that you're keeping him. He sounds lovely. I've enjoyed my Golden Retriever so much while I've been off sick. I'd get another one but OH isn't being talked into it - yet! Hope your mum's leg is OK. It doesn't sound good. Could be an ulcer but whatever it is her dressing isn't going to do it much good! Regards to everyone. Enjoying the spa. Every time I have my reflexology I'm on that hammock! Christine xxx ... View more

Thanks to everyone for kind wishes. The infection is due to the coxsackie virus. My hands and feet are a lot better though still tender. It was like what you get with Taxotere but with anpther dose on top of it. I feel like my shoes are pinching my toes but I've been wearing them for ages and they were OK before this. When I put my hands into warm water my fingers felt like they'd been scalded. Big M - sorry you're not feeling good just now but congrats on getting through the wedding. My niece gets married today but it's not in a hotel or anywhere that I could go and have a rest. So I'll just have to keep going. Sara - hope everything went well with your surgery. Sending hugs to you. Lee - PTSD describes exactly how I feel right now that chemo is finished. I hadn't hought of it like that before but it makes sense. We've been through all the stress of diagnosis and treatments, but we expect to be able to pick up where we left off with no problem. Some people probably can but others like myself are finding a bit of difficulty with it all. I can't even concentrate enough to read a full page of a magazine article. Wendy and margie - yea had all the same problems with hands and feet but didn't have the peeling. I don't have great nails normally but they are a comlete mess just now. Hope everyone is coping. Sorry to those I haven't mentioned but I need to get back to bed and try to get some sleep. I go from one extreme to another. Either sleepy sickness or insomnia. Christine xxx ... View more

Managed to get up and go shopping with OH. Feet much better today but hands still spotty. Will need to cover them up for my niece's wedding on Thursday. Wedding of the year - not! Still thinkin of and laughin at the arsonists. It's got all the qualities of a Carry on film! Christine xxx ... View more

pixie - you need to write a book of your mum and aunties escapades. It will be a sell-out! Sarabee - your feelings are entirely normal. You probably feel life was going along quite nicely till bc came along and wrecked everything. It's easy to say follow your heart - I need some dog training tips! - but then you worry in case it leaves you worse off than you were before. Life is never easy! I too can't afford to go back to work part-time. It will need to be full-time. No choice in the matter. Feet are still killing me. Would help if my pooch would stop standing on my toes! Regards to all. Christine xxx ... View more

Well, thanks to my grandson I now have hand, foot and mouth! I tell ypou my feet are so sore - like when you've had pins and needles and then you get that painful feeling when the blood starts flow again. Fingers are sore and hands are itchy. Grrrr! Please God, can you gie me a break! Christine xxx ... View more