Breast Cancer Now Forum

Good morning ladies , glad you are all keeping well and your families too . Rosie your plans for Christmas are the best you can get this year I think ☹️ , you will of course miss your lovely family in France and hopefully it won’t be too long until you can see them in the new year 🤞 . It will be lovely to see YS and DD even in these restrictive times . We are having YS back for about 2 weeks over the Christmas holiday and ES and DIL for Christmas Day , mum and dad are going to my sisters but only for about 2 hours for their lunch ! My elderly aunt is staying on her own which I find very sad - but that’s what she wants to do , we will take her Christmas dinner down to her house 😪 . We always go to my sisters in the afternoon and join my mum and dad , nieces etc but that’s out of the question now . Joan I hope you managed to sort out your new laptop and you are not too full on with more work ! How is your YD now ? Will you be joining them for Christmas Day ? Cassie you are a busy lady with your knitting projects - so good to have a hobby as there hasn’t been much else to do !  Wildpurl hope you are well . We are meeting ES and DIL this morning for a canal side walk which will be nice but muddy ! We had so much rain Thursday and Friday parts of our area were flooded yesterday !  Enjoy the rest of the weekend ladies !  ... View more

Good morning ladies , as you say Rosie I just can’t believe how quickly the time is passing ! Rosie I am so sorry to hear your lovely dog has passed away , I know how much she meant to you , it’s very hard losing a pet as we know sadly . What a good age though for a large dog in a hot climate . my elderly dog is doing ok but at 14 years old I am also trying to prepare for the day when she sadly leaves us 😪 . I enjoy your daily photos and the riverside  goings on ! Joan I am sorry to hear your YD is struggling , it’s very difficult at the moment in so many ways - what an awful year . Good news though your ED is well and negative . YS has regular covid tests working at imperial college and has always been negative and ES had a test last week as a department in his workplace had several cases , he was negative too thank goodness . OH starts jury service next Monday which will be an experience ! He could be doing it for a day or several weeks so we shall see ! my dad is very very slowly improving but I don’t think he will recover his previous health after the 2 operations he had in the summer - he still can’t walk unaided and has the district nurse several times a week - mum and dad both had a flu jab finally last week - a separate nurse came to the house to do it ! Cassie and Wildpurl I hope you and your families are well . I better take my dogs out now - it’s not very appealing in the dark and cold winter mornings ☹️ ! Take care ladies 💐 x ... View more

Good afternoon ladies , hope you are all well and coping yet again with the new restrictions about to begin ☹️ . Rosie looks like you had a good trip last week , I enjoyed your photos as always ! I suppose that will be it for a while 🤔 , hopefully you will be able to continue shortly . I am watching the U.S election and finding it quite fascinating , can’t believe it’s so close after all ! Wildpurl lovely to hear from you , you sound busy with your knitting projects and work etc . Joan hope all is well with you and your family and Cassie too ?  I think this lockdown people are feeling much more despondent about it all / certainly the people I know are , the winter months don’t help either ! I continue to be very quiet with work ☹️ - I can’t see it getting better any time soon really . stay safe ladies .  ... View more

Hello ladies - pretty much the same here too! Just plodding along trying to make the best of things .. my work is still at half and I think it will be the same for a while sadly . we had our trip to Norfolk as our Wales holiday was cancelled - wasn’t that great as it rained the entire time so consequently my elderly dog got a nasty urine infection so we returned home slightly earlier and then had a large vets bill for antibiotics for her ! Rosie glad you enjoyed your trip - lovely photos ! And so nice to see DD and family , have a lovely time down at Plymouth - I think it’s going to be a long winter ☹️ ! Joan and Wildpurl I hope all is well with you snd your families . Cassie enjoy the rest of your week off - at least you have plenty to keep you occupied ! ... View more

Joan that’s good news about YD , what a relief ! I hope things improve for the family - it’s all such a worry with jobs etc at the moment and of course with all the pressure that brings .. can’t remember if I mentioned but OHs company he works for have made redundancies - they supply the car industry and that’s not good at the moment , with Covid and brexit it’s a disaster .Joan you asked about my drop in work - it’s a combination of a lot of people working from home so therefore not sending the awful double cuff work shirts ! And also people not going out as much socialising or having visitors - so not as much bedlinen ! we are off to stormy Norfolk shortly !! ... View more

Thanks Rosie ! It will be just nice to get away 😲 ! I really hope your trip isn’t cancelled either 🤞 ! ... View more

Hello ladies , well I am very disappointed - my much looked forward to trip to the Gower was cancelled over the weekend ☹️ .. I spent most of the time yesterday trying to find somewhere else to stay in Norfolk or Suffolk which so far seems to be fairly ok to book ! Had no luck at all until a friend of mine offered her chalet in Cromer for  just £100 for 3 nights ! It’s a bit basic but I don’t care- looks over the sea and it’s surrounded by woodland and we can take the dogs 👍 🐶 🐶 - so South Wales will have to be next year I hope ! my dad continues to be a worry , some days he’s very much improved and the next he’s back to the start again , he has the district nurse still several times a week but she seems happy with the healing of the operation sites at least . Rosie I think it must be very challenging self isolating for 14 days , but at least you have another trip to plan for and look forward too which I’m sure really helps ! What an awful year it’s been and still no end in sight . ☹️ Joan I hope you are well and able to get out and about a bit too . Cassie have you had any recent trips ? I expect work is very busy for you at the moment . Wildpurl i expect you are continuing to work from home ?  I am still at half capacity with my business , I think it’s going to take a long time if ever to recover to be honest ☹️ . Take care ladies ! ... View more

 ES and DIL at wedding last week! ... View more

Good morning ladies , Rosie so glad you made it to France and spent time with your family ! Did you get a bike for GS ? I saw some of your photos on FB and he looks a lovely little boy ! The weather has been very nice and hopefully will last a little longer - we are off to the Gower in South Wales in just under 2 weeks - so looking forward to it 😊 . Its been and continues to be quite stressful with Dad at the moment - he is recovering slowly but it’s taking its toll on mum who was also unwell last week with  her diverticulitis mainly through stress . I think it’s going to take quite a while to see much improvement in dad - but keeping hopeful anyway . YS came home for a few days and then returned to Dorset for a small break after his holiday to Croatia was cancelled . ES and DIL had a family wedding last week which was only parents , grandparents and siblings , it was my DILs sister , this was their 3rd attempt at the wedding since April ! We are busy in the garden at the moment - and the tedious task of painting fence panels 😬 ! Rosie I hope the time goes quickly for your quarantine-I think you may well run out of space for all of DHs purchases 🤣 !! I hope everyone is well .  ... View more

Evening ladies - just a quick update to say Dad pulled through his latest operation and the surgeon seems happy so far - he will be in hospital for a few more days and then we will hopefully get him home , poor mum is lost without him . Fingers crossed this latest surgery has been successful because sadly there are very few more options available to him . ... View more

Good morning ladies , good all is well with you , except your DH of course Joan , really very unpleasant having vertigo I hope he is recovering now . sadly my dad had to go back into the vascular unit on Tuesday ( i took him back in ), his wound has been really pouring out with clear liquid so the district nurse wasn’t happy , the consultant wanted him on the ward to use intravenous antibiotics and monitor him , they did a scan and have discovered the first operation hadn’t worked and the arteries are narrowing again so another operation is scheduled for Friday ! Dad is quite despondent understandably . My mum was very tearful on the way home from the hospital too .made worse by not being able to visit him of course . Anyway the stress continues ☹️ . Rosie have you decided to go to France ? I certainly don’t blame you if so ! Seeing your YGS with his new bike is worth it 😊 . Cassie I can’t believe your GS is such a grown up young man - must cost ED a fortune to feed and clothe him growing so quick ! Glad you had a break , Bristol and surrounding area is so pretty ! Take care ladies ! ... View more

Oh Rosie , what a dilemma ! I hope you have managed to sort out your trip to France , I completely understand why you want to take GSs bike for his birthday - I can’t believe he is 5 ! I can remember when he was born and your poor DIL had such a bad time 😲 . Good luck with it all !  ... View more

good morning ladies , I can’t believe it’s been 2 weeks since our last posts - it’s flying past despite the surreal times ! my Dad has his operation and thankfully so far is going well , it was done using epidural rather than a general as the tests on his heart showed it wasn’t strong enough to cope , he was in hospital for 5 days but recovering at home now - quite tired which is understandable ! Rosie how is DH now ? I hope things are settling down for him , I saw your photos in Somerset , looked very nice , I love that area too . How was the family meet up for ESs birthday ? Must have been lovely to have them altogether 😊 . Joan Glad you are able to get out more now and do fairly “ normal “ activities - not sure if things will ever be back to pre COVID ! A relief for you too that SIL has a new job . My business is still fairly quiet , obviously a lot are working from home or furloughed do not needing me as often .My ES has been furloughed since March but returns half days starting the 1st September which is better than nothing - he’s relieved ! I can’t help feeling the summer has gone now , it’s much cooler in the mornings and evenings now and darker too ! I really dislike the cold , dark morning dog walks ! ES and DIL have gone to stay with DIls sister in London this weekend and have booked to go to Kew Gardens on Sunday so fingers crossed it’s a decent day ! Have been gardening quite a lot too this week , the high wind on Tuesday brought down our large fig tree so I have been booking slots at the waste site and taking it - problem is you can only have 2 visits over 2 weeks 🙄 - so I was sneaky and made alternative email addresses and went 4 times ! Cassie hope things are ok with you and your family ? I expect GS is back to school ? Out schools returned this week but I think most areas are next week 🤔 , will he be happy to go back after such a long time ? Wildpurl are you still working from home at the moment ? hope all is well with you too , a busy time harvesting your produce I expect ! We grew carrots , onions , peas, chard and leeks and most have been successful - although I didn’t like the chard very much ! Take care ladies and have a good bank holiday weekend whatever you are doing 😊 . P.S I went to the garden centre yesterday and the Christmas stuff was all laid out ! 🙀 ... View more

Good morning ladies 😀 . Cassie what fabulous photos of your holiday ! How nice to have got away and even better just before the latest restrictions on returning ! Joan , I hope you enjoyed the few days with your ED and managed to get out and about a little bit - the weather was very hot for sight seeing though ! Lovely to catch up with her even in these weird times ! Glad you are managing to return to some kind of normality with meeting friends etc - it’s been very difficult when shielding . Also very good news SiL has a job -it’s all such a worry . my mum and dad have found the last few months very hard - it’s about to get even harder though for us as Dad saw the vascular consultant on Monday after having a scan just the previous week regarding the blood flow to his feet and the ulcer refusing to heal - basically he has to have surgery to insert 3 separate  balloons into his tummy and groin area to have a chance of keeping his foot and keeping healthy generally ... he is admitted to the same hospital as I had my surgery on Monday for observation and heart monitors and surgery on Thursday , he is very high risk as before when he was extremely poorly ( same time as your dad Rosie ) he had 3 cardiac arrests during surgery last time because after his heart operations his heart can’t cope .very worrying times for us 🙁 . its his birthday tomorrow (85!) and he has to go to the hospital again at 3.00 p.m for a Covid test , he’s had an appointment 4 days this week at different hospitals for various things - it’s a shame they can’t do things altogether as it’s hard when you are elderly to get yourself there and of course I can’t go with him or even drive him ! YS spent 5 days at home again last week which was lovely , he had been given the all clear to return to imperial college to work on Mondays and Fridays which he is so happy about as working from home doesn’t suit him at all . its DILs 30 th birthday next week so we will take her present over on Sunday and spend some time with them . Rosie I hope you are enjoying some time with DD and family and she is settled in to the new house now - are you sightseeing up in the north now ? Been good weather for you ! Wildpurl hope all is well with you . Take care ladies 😊 ! ... View more

no it’s completely disappeared - how annoying ! i haven’t time to rewrite it now , but I was just checking in and seeing how you all are ?  Rosie I am so glad DD has moved in to her new home , expect DH has been busy with little jobs for her ! we visited ES and DIL today as they are no longer in the lockdown area ! i raised my glass to you all on Saturday 18th and hope next year we will be able to meet up again ! Take care ladies and I hope you are all keeping well . ... View more

Hi Rosie , I did post this morning but can’t see it now it’s disappeared ! Will see if I can find it 😲 ! ... View more

Good morning ladies , I hope you are all well ? i certainly thought of you all on the 18th  and raised my glass to you - hopefully next year we will be able to meet up ! Rosie , I love Cornwall and port Isaac is one of my favourites , it does get very busy in the summer though 😬 , glad you have managed to get on some trips finally ! I expect this past week you and DH have been helping DD settle into her new home - what a relief everything went through ! Not much happening here , we have resumed our weekly dog walking group , but not going to the pub at the moment as it’s all quite a faff particularly with the dogs 🐶 ! So each week we are going to each of our gardens for a glass of wine instead ! Its a beautiful start to the day - but I know it’s not going to last sadly , we will walk the dogs shortly and then mid morning we can finally visit ES and DIL as their area is no longer in lockdown , the city has also opened the non essential shops etc so hopefully the virus is more contained . Certainly it looks like our lives are going to be very different for the foreseeable future . i was taking my dad to hospital for a CT scan Monday but we have been informed only 1 person can accompany him , mum has insisted she is going to take him and the details say at least 2 hours waiting there so it’s looking like I can’t go !  Anyway ladies take care in these worrying times !  ... View more

Good morning ladies , thankfully we are not included in the area of lockdown in Leicester - only just though ! - our village comes into the market harborough council district and is 8 miles south of Leicester , but 4 miles away it’s lockdown again which includes ES and DIL who are very fed up again 🙁 . I am not surprised at all this happened and after seeing the demonstrations and raves etc it seemed inevitable , it’s also well known in the inner city for having many small textile factories employing illegal workers and housing them in appalling conditions on less than the minimum wage - the owner of one in particular factory is also known for this - he drives a brand new Mercedes 4 wheel drive and lives in a large house in the suburbs ! Been raided many times but seems to get away with it . YS leaves tomorrow and it’s been lovely having him home for a week , he’s working from home until at least next January which he doesn’t enjoy at all . Rosie I read the sales of motor homes and caravans have rocketed recently - people are feeling safer holidaying this way , although looking at the news it appears the holidays in Spain etc are now back in some sort of business ! Cassie - I hope the situation with ED and her ex have settled down a little , very difficult . Joan , hopefully you can relax this weekend now you have finished your work project , not sure if it will be in the garden though as here it’s blowing a gale and grey skies ! Wildpurl , glad all is good with you and you are able to get out and about in your area and work from home too . My Dad has the district nurse visit twice a week to dress his ankle now - waiting to see another consultant and also to have a CT scan to see what’s going on in more detail . Have a good weekend ladies - it will be interesting to see what happens today with the pubs reopening !!  ... View more

Good afternoon ladies , regarding our meet up this year , I would have fitted in with everyone else - I can understand the reluctance to travel on public transport etc but I would have been ok with doing so myself . What a shame, but next year will soon come round . 😀 Rosie , how nice to have things to look forward too - it has been very difficult missing out on so much this year , it will be much appreciated I am sure by your ES and DIL having some help with the move !☺️ Fingers crossed also for DDs smooth house move - all very stressful . YS has finally returned for a week - he has a weeks holiday booked from work so it’s lovely to see him ! It’s been difficult for him living and working in London alone - very isolating !  Joan , sounds like you are hectic at the moment - I hope you manage to finish everything and then can relax !  Cassie I hope everything is ok with you? And your ED too ? Very difficult to cope with a relationship breakdown without the added stress of the virus . Wildpurl , good things are returning to a new kind of normal even though you are working from home still   I continue to plod on with my work - surprisingly busy the last few weeks which is good news . OH and ES have had redundancies at their work which is all a worry but not surprising . i continue to enjoy your photos Rosie 😊 - I will look forward to the ones further afield ! 👍   ... View more

Good morning ladies , the week seems to fly past , can’t believe we are half way through the year , what a strange year it’s been too 😏 . Things are gradually returning to what will be a new normal I suppose , we have seen ES and DIL in each other’s gardens a few times , haven’t seen YS since January though ! My mum and dad are obviously still isolating except for dads health care appointments which he had at the hospital on Friday - he has an ulcer on his ankle which will not heal - after months of mum dressing it and seeing the nurse , he was referred to see a consultant , after ultra sound scan on Friday it’s discovered he has 2 blockages in his leg caused by his usual issue of vascular disease , the dilemma given to him was : surgery to “ strip “ the veins again in his leg or leave and possibly have his foot amputated 🙁 , dad his adamant he won’t have any further surgery as it resulted in 3 cardiac arrests and more damage to his heart 5 years ago when he had it before ... so that’s the situation with Dad .  It looks like we are heading for some hot weather later in the week , our dog walking group haven’t met at all so far this year - we hope to resume this week , but it won’t be quite the same without the cold glass of wine at the pub followed by fish and chips !  Rosie , when are you going on your trip for ESs birthday get together ? A couple of my friends booked various holiday cottages for July last week 😊 , I am going to book somewhere maybe for September - quite fancy the Gower as we haven’t been to that part of Wales , love Pembrokeshire and have visited many times and north wales too .  Any recommendations would be very helpful ! Take care ladies . ... View more