Breast Cancer Now Forum

Well girls, I have come out of my grump. The only thing that is bugging me at the moment is acid reflux, so can't really complain. As long as I avoid acidic foods and use gaviscon it's manageable. My husband is the same as yours in the kitchen Rosie. He loves to cook, but it would never occur to him to wipe down the surfaces. I really admire the way you have managed your chemo every 2 weeks. I don't think I would have coped without that 3rd week of feeling vaguely normal. I think you should be fine 2 weeks post op at your son's wedding. I managed a flight at that point for my mum's 80th. You might not be the life and soul of the party if it's a long day but I'm sure you will manage to enjoy the day. Perhaps no wild dancing on tables, but definitely be able to participate in such a lovely occasion. Top tip my husband came up with to avoid post op infections after the dressings have been removed was to use the hair dryer to dry yourself so you don't have to touch the wound area with a towel. Also to avoid embarrassment whilst in the hospital it's best to wear pyjamas with a button up front. The staff will be forever inspecting the wound, so it's easier to undo PJs rather than lifting up a nightie. Also it's easier to manage the drains with PJs. Hope everyone else's day went ok. We are so near the end we can almost touch it. Positive of the day, I've got stubble in my eyebrows, how lucky am I? ... View more

Hi everyone. Hope you all had an ok weekend. Anyone in Yorkshire must be having an amazing but logistically challenging time. I had my penultimate Tax on Tuesday. I thought I would feel very 'up' about being so near the end, but actually feeling rather grumpy for no particular reason other than I think I have just had enough of my life being on hold. I shouldn't complain because I have had my surgery, so I really am close to the end, other than a year of herceptin and many years of tamoxifen. Feeling a bit guilty for nagging my 13 year old son all weekend, especially as he was the star of the show in the school play last week. I felt so proud of him, as all the parents kept telling me how great he was. Term is nearly over now, prize giving on Thursday, so we will see what that brings! Ironically my side effects have not been too bad. The gradual reduction of the steroid dose over a few days seems to have helped. Just feeling tired, useless, funny mouth/sinuses and a bit achy. Hoping to pick up tomorrow. Wishing you all well. Hope everyone has a good nights sleep now it is a little cooler and hoping all goes well for Rosie tomorrow. ... View more

Rosie, I can see where your surgeon was coming from. My surgeon told me that a mastectomy is a straight forward operation where as the reconstruction is the complicated bit, so the recovery time post op is a lot quicker if you don't have the reconstruction at the same time, which would be good for your son's wedding. Also, if you have an implant it can cause problems when you have radiotherapy, so if they know you need radiotherapy they are not keen on putting an implant in before the radiotherapy treatment is completed. I was offered 3 options for my reconstruction. Most straight forward was an implant and a 'calf skin sling to support it'. Next option was the one where they use a muscle from your back to support the implant, so slightly more complicated or the one where they use your stomach muscle. For the last one I would have had to travel to the uk for the surgery and it involved 48 hours on intensive care. I decided on the first option. The position of the tumour can also have an impact on the decision. If it is near the skin surface or attached to the chest wall it can make the decision more complicated. ... View more

Hope everybody has an ok afternoon. I'm thinking about you Rosie, you must be at your surgical appointment now. Hope the surgeon tells you what you want to hear. I've just returned home after having a nice lunch with some friends and taken my 2nd dose of steroids in preparation for tomorrow, penultimate Tax. I thought I'd wash down my tablets with a few squares of Galaxy. Well I'm gutted, it tasted horrible. Perhaps it's the steroids, not the chemo that makes everything taste horrible! My son's school play is on Thursday and Friday so I'm hoping to at least make it to the Thursday performance, before any aches and pains arrive. Well done Rolicarpet on getting to the end of the chemo journey. Must admit I'm really looking forward to being in your position in 3 weeks time. Beginning to think about the next phase. I've had a mastectomy and immediate reconstruction, so am hoping to get away with just herceptin and tamoxifen and avoid radiotherapy. However, I'm now beginning to think perhaps I should go for it and have radiotherapy as well. However, I have an implant and the radiotherapy can damage the tissue around the implant. If the damage becomes infected you can end up back in theatre having the implant removed, so it's a tricky one. Plus, the added complication that I don't live on the mainland, so I would have to fly over to the uk and stay there for 6 weeks whilst I had my treatment, leaving husband and kids behind which would be a logistical nightmare. Are you all having radiotherapy? My oncologist told me that we can keep the radiotherapy up our sleeves in case there was any local recurrence. Tough decisions. ... View more

Hi Rachel, I haven't tried antihistamines for the aches and pains, but I did take one paracetamol and one 200mg ibruprophen at the same time which I found was enough to make it all very tolerable. I had one day when I was completely floored and just sat on the sofa watching daytime tv, but otherwise have found the Tax much more manageable than the FEC. Although, for the first tax I was given Emend and was not nauseous at all, so now they have not given me Enend for my next cycle. I hope I don't end up feeling sick again, especially as it's my son's end of year school play next Thursday and Friday. He's in his last year of his school so he has quite a big part. I'll be gutted if I can't watch him, as he fancies himself as a bit of a thespian. Had bloods done today, all good to go on Tuesday. Hope all those having treatment today/tomorrow goes well, without any delays or too many side effects. ... View more

Louise, the only advice I was given re fatigue was to listen to your body. So when you're tired, stop and rest. Having said that I was also told to do a little exercise everyday. ... View more

Glad everyone seems to be emerging from the chemo fog. My energy levels are returning. Been to the supermarket this morning to stock up on BBQ food for this afternoon and done several loads of washing. My son returned home last night and the aroma from the suitcase was shall we say 'interesting'! My mouth still feels a bit odd and water still tastes funny, my finger tips feel a bit tender but otherwise I seem to be ok. Hope you have all got lovely weather like we have. Enjoy your weekend. ... View more

Evening ladies, hope you are all surviving the football! I've had an ok day. Really looking forward to picking my son up tomorrow night. He's been away on a school trip in France for a week. The weather is supposed to be good here for the weekend so hoping to meet up with friends for a BBQ on the beach. Not that I can really taste much, although it's better than feeling sick! Still prefer tax to FEC. ... View more

Welcome newbies to our thread. I have found this forum invaluable, especially as a few members are about a week ahead of me so I can see what might or might not be in the pipeline. Maybe I over did it on Sunday going to a BBQ because I paid for it yesterday. I was absolutely floored yesterday. Had to go back to bed after my morning shower. Got up about an hour and a half later and basically sat on the sofa all day. Even watched Coundown, Deal or no deal and Escape to the seaside. However, feeling better today. Managed a walk and coffee with friends this morning and watched Eastbourne tennis on telly this afternoon. Have to admit I did nod off but managed to wake up in time to collect my son from school. Let's hope things continue in the same vane/vein (?sp) for the rest of the week. ... View more

I'm glad everyone seems to be chugging along ok. The aches hit me yesterday and felt very tired having not slept well the night before. Resorted to a nap in bed in the afternoon and still fell asleep on the sofa at 8pm last night! I have found taking one ibuprofen and one paracetamol at the same time seemed to help with the aching. Not feeling so achy today but functioning at about 50% of my normal speed. Feeling rather bored but my brain us not functioning well enough to read a book. Despite eating loads of fibre, constipation has hit me this time. Have taken two senna to see if I can get things moving. We are going to a friends for a BBQ this afternoon so I hope things get moving before then or there could be some interesting consequences! Might have to consider making 'go cake' tomorrow if nothing happens. Hope everybody has a tolerable Sunday ... View more

Rosie, you have really been through the mill. Glad you managed to carry on with your chemo though, so that's another one ticked off. I'm day 3 post first Tax and day 2 post herceptin. So far things have not been too bad. No nausea, yay! Mentally feeling a bit knocked off so wouldn't want to drive at the moment, my reactions would be too slow. I've got a slight ache in my pelvis but nothing much. Hope I'm not jinxing myself and the train doesn't hit me tomorrow. Hope you all manage a decent nights sleep ... View more

Thanks for all to good wishes. So far so good. My friend picked me up from the hospital and we decided to go out for an early lunch. So just got home. Feel fine, possibly over did it eating pudding as well and I do have a terrible thirst but otherwise ok. The nurse who gave me the chemotherapy said that I might be lucky when I come off the steroids on Thursday if I haven't found they made me too jittery. However, she did say if I feel terrible on Thursday then to give them a call and they will give me a few more steroids so I can come off them more slowly. Hope everyone is enjoying a sunny day. ... View more

Rosie, so glad you are feeling better. It has been a grim few weeks for you. I hope all the ladies who started Tax last week will turn the corner tomorrow and the aches and pains subside. I am all dosed up on steroids ready for my first hit of Tax tomorrow. Hoping it all goes smoothly, as my husband won't be home until late tomorrow night and I don't want the kids to see me feeling crap. Had a great weekend visiting my son's new school. All kitted out now with a suit and sports kit. I will have loads of name labels to sew on when they arrive in the post. Was thinking I will have to do it while I'm watching Wimbledon on the telly in a few weeks time. One advantage of having chemo is an excuse to watch the tennis all afternoon. Hope I'll feel up to it. ... View more

Rolicarpit, thanks for your helpful comments. There are several of us on this thread starting Tax this week and I will be next week. I hope I react to the Tax as you did. Rosie, I hope you are ok and the gastroenterologist can sort you out. I've had quite a good day, but have to admit to feeling tired now. I've been taxiing 5 boys round. Listening to 13 year old banter can be very amusing. They are all bright boys so some of the comments can be quite geeky! The highlight of the day was taking them to a burger van outside a builders merchants for a bacon and egg bap. Delicious! ... View more

Evening ladies! Hope everyone is coping with their various symptoms. Rosie, hope your bottom is behaving itself tonight! It must be really debilitating having to rush to the loo all the time. Hope it settles down soon. Pasta always bungs me up! I don't want to speak too soon but I've had a pretty good day. It's been sunny here so we went on a family walk to one of our favourite beachside cafés for lunch and then walked back, an hour and a half each way. Not as impressive as doing the race for life but feeling like a normal person at last. The only thing that is concerning me slightly is that the area around my last cannulation site is quite sore. Seems more sore after my long walk than earlier today. Hopefully it will feel better in the morning. Really don't want to have a problem with it as I am taking my son to see his new school and meet his new pier group next weekend. We are all really excited about it. Flights are booked, so will be gutted if there is a problem. ... View more

Joan, I had my breast cancer diagnosed via my first screening mammogram. Where I live you get sent a letter from the GP to tell you to sign up for the screening programme. I was 50 last May and eventually got round to sorting myself out with an appointment in the January. They found 2 very small lumps in one breast. I always wonder what would have happened if I had gone a few months earlier. Perhaps the lumps would have been so small they would have missed them and then I would have waited another few years before the next mammo. Since then 2 of my friends have been diagnosed as well, they were symptomatic, but I think they acted swiftly because of me! Rosie, whenever I have ever had an upset tummy I have always been advised to avoid dairy products for a couple weeks and then reintroduce slowly. My sister in law once had dysentery and was taking months to recover. She stopped dairy for 4/6 weeks, then reintroduced slowly and was then fine. My positive for today is that it is my birthday, so my husband and kids have bought me some lovely presents which would not normally happen as we don't normally make a big deal about birthday presents. Tonight my husband is going to cook roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, so really looking forward to that too. Sun is shining, life is sweet. ... View more

Smoke, my oncologist said there was some evidence that having some red wine during chemo was beneficial! So enjoy. ... View more

Hi ladies, glad we are mostly getting over our latest dose of chemo. I have to admit this one has taken me a bit longer to recover from. Haven't really bounced back yet, but not feeling sick so I suppose I can't complain. My brain is pretty useless, can't concentrate on anything too complicated. Good news is that my son passed his school entrance exam so I'm now trying to comprehend the email containing loads of information about what he is to expect in September. Hope he can get his head round it because I'm struggling! He's so excited he keeps looking the school up on the internet and telling me all the things he can do. I agree with you guys about the diet thing. Eat healthy and balanced is my mantra. Not a believer in excluding certain food groups. ... View more

When I saw the onc on Wednesday she mentioned putting fingers and toes in ice cold water to protect nail beds during Tax infusion. The nurse listening was a bit sceptical but I wonder whether that's because it is a pain for them. However, the nurse said it was worth having nails done. The onc said there was no evidence that painting your nails was effective, but the nurse said 'well it's an excuse to get your nails done'. So far I seem to be coping with fec3 better than 1 and 2. Not so nauseous and just got hick ups this evening which is way better than feeling sick. Let's hope they stop before I try going to sleep. ... View more

Rosie, I only really had the trots for 48hrs and it was never a 'shoe filler'. Just seen onc who asked me if I had taken my temperature when I had the trots. Had to admit I hadn't, so got told to do so if it happened again. She also confirmed that the TAX is less nauseous making but makes you feel fatigued in a more chronic way than FEC, ie. less hard hitting but lasts longer, can't wait for that then! Had blood taken and all systems go for me on Friday. I'm trying to focus on next Tuesday when we should hear if my son has passed his entrance exam for his next school. Just booked everything up to go and buy his new uniform and meet his new peer group in 3 weeks time, so he bloody well better have passed. I think I'm almost as excited as he is. ... View more