Breast Cancer Now Forum

I began posting on this site early this year and thought it and all you ladies were fantastic. Then the website changes lost me a bit and i stopped because i could not find anything i wanted to. However, having read all the new posts on this thread i an determined to start checking it every day again as it really lessened the lonelieness. Val. I hope you have a lovely wee break in your caravan and that the weather is kind to you while you're away. I have been on hormones and bisphosphonates since shortly after my diagnosis in late august 2011. I feel more stiff than sore now. like an old lady, but the only pain i have is mild discomfort in back, hips and ribs. Usually I only take my painkillers now when i have to go somewhere. My next check up is at the end of July and for the first time, no scan has been organised. I have been told to look out for symptoms and that's a bit nerve wracking. I think suffer more fro the side effects of the medication than from the bone lesions. I feel that the Zometa has given me so much relief from the pain and my dentist is aware i'm on it and has prescribed toothpaste with extra fluoride just in case. i am happy with it and only had a flu like reaction the first two doses. But i guess we all make the decisions that are right for us Love to you all, Louisa ... View more

Isobel, how awful it must have been to hear you bone fracture like that. I have had two relatives go through this operation annd it is a difficult and painful recovery. Glad it has been fixed now and i hope you recover quickly from your ordeal.I understand how this will have dented the confidence you had in your medical team, but I suppose they make mistakes like the rest of us-it's just the consequences of those mistakes fall hard on us, don't they? Maybe if you talked to them about it they could restore your confidence a bit, cause it's so important to have it. I think i may have the same oncologist as you and Val. My mets are in hips, pelvis,spine,ribs and the base of my skull - riddled ! But they have been stable since i was dx in Aug 2011. So far no spread to my organs. i am grateful that i feel well, just sore and tired. Is this constant tiredness common? I feel like such a weakling and a big wuss! Some days i'm exhausted but cannot sleep -other days i keep nodding off and on a few precious days i feel quite normal, so i make the most of that. I posted a few times before they changed the forums, then got a bit discouraged as i could not navigate my way round the new site. I had asked for advice about. DLA and the DS1500. To update - the macmillan advisor was brilliant and i got the DS1500 and full dla and esa. I really cannot thank him enough. I am going to try to access some mobility aids to help with bathing as on a bad day i can be very stiff and Letrozole has made my hands a bit useless and my grip is weak. Kind wishes and thoughts to you all. xx ... View more

i agree about the all-bran and water. if things get really stuck get up and walk about till the bowel comes to life again. or rock about on the loo. My sister has been constipated all her life and i used to think she was making a terrible fuss over nothing. Then i found out the hard way how utterly miserable and unpleasant it is. I had to laugh at the thought of phoning my husband at work cos i was stuck on the loo. I considered doing the exact same thing! All in all it's better to stop it happening long before you feel like you are squeezing a brick out! My gp gave me some sachets that you mix with water( movical, i think they were called) and i needed twice the recommended dose to get things going but go easy with it at first, cos we are all different. Good luck all you affected ladies. Louisa x ... View more

But nice to have a few square inches that is cool! The rest of me is boiling most of the time. I'm asssuming that these "chillows" and cool pads for under your sheet will work on the same principle. At the moment i'm sitting typing by the open window, fan beside me and i'm still boiling. OH and sons are moaning about being freezing -it's my revenge for all the dishes i wash! Louisa x ... View more

Hello everyone Just read the last few pages. Val, I am so glad to read the good news about your daughter. I look out for your posts as they are always helpful, warm and wise. Re DLA - always always appeal these decisions. I helped my clients with these claims for years. Most of the first decisons are refusals or underestimates of the help applicants need. Many are overturned through requesting a re assessment or appealing, so please never give up. Tara - so dreadful that your GP won't prescribe these "expensive" patches! That made me so angry to read- you'd think they were paying for them themselves! My GP suggested them to me and initially I wore a couple at a time for lower back and hip pain. The effect is supposed to increase over a couple of weeks and that's how i used them at first-every day for 12 hours. As we all know, bone pain tends to be quite unpredictable, so now i save them for bad days or if i'm going to do anything in the garden (although all i usually do these days is limp about and supervise my very reluctant sons and partner!. I hope you can shame the GP into prescribing them for you as they may help. Be warned though as they can be difficult to apply as once the backing is off they are tricky little b*ggers and want to stick to themselves all the time. Best way i've found is to peel back an inch of the backing, get it in the right place and then take off the rest. Good luck, Louisa x ... View more