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Sodastream
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since
17-04-2014
252
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06-07-2014
10:56
Thank you so much for the insurance tip, it has perked me up and given me hope that I can holiday next year and if I'm really lucky may try to get away before surgery this year. Went out today and had a lovely lunch although was conscious when the wind blew that my thinning hair was obvious. My husband and daughter have spent the rest of the day reassuring me it looks fine bless them. It's funny how everyone has completely different side effects to the chemo and how just as we get used to these we get put onto the next one and it starts again. Sounds like aches and pains are the worst, does a soak in the bath help? My hospital has a centre attached that does complimentary treatments so may well look into having a massage once I start the Docetaxol. Hope you all feel better soon. X
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06-07-2014
08:01
Morning everyone. Well I'm starting to feel back to normal on day 10 of my 3rd FEC. It really knocked me this time re energy even to the stage yesterday I had to sit down to iron as I was ok standing but the combination of standing and ironing was too much. My vein has swelled again this time so have been using cream and icing and elevating when I can. I was fine last time when chemo was administered via my hand but these inside veins on my arm obviously don't cope as well. Only 1 more FEC so I'll keep my right hand for that next time. Yesterday we were meant to be flying to Mexico for 2 weeks of pure luxury. Our friends have still gone so I can't help but constantly think I wonder what they're doing. Quite down as I live for my holidays, it takes me months of planning and then months of looking forward to it. Unfortunately for me it's not knowing when I'll next get a holiday abroad as my treatment won't be over until next spring and then I've got to have reconstruction. I also worry about whether I'll be able to get holiday insurance. Today as I'm feeling better I've decided to go to the kitchen showroom to look for new kitchen and then out for lunch with hubby and daughter. Hope everyone else has nice plans for today. X
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03-07-2014
04:46
Hi Penningfarthing. I had a shortish bob but luckily my hairdresser had experience with cold cap and knew it would go bald underneath so advised the one length bob rather than the graduated one I wanted. You keep all of the top layer of your hair albeit it thins out a lot but you sound like me where you are lucky to have thick hair to begin with. I found by having it slightly shorter then I didn't have to brush it quite as much but that being said I am still washing, brushing and blow drying it every day which goes against what I read but it's worked for me. If you can try it I do recommend it as it really has boosted my moral on the days I've been low trying to get through chemo, thinking about the masectomy and reconstruction still to be done, I've felt at least I still have my hair which has cheered me up. Good luck.
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03-07-2014
02:11
Hi Sugar8. I'm on FEC-T x 8. The nurse sprayed my hair and used the hospital conditioner, first nurse wet it a lot, second not much and when she went to wash her hair I sprayed it more and third nurse again not much. Hasn't made a difference to how wet to how much hair came out. Am now day 7 cycle 3 and still no need for wig. I was blond but dyed it back to my natural colour of brown. I am bald underneath at the back but my top layer totally covers this (plus its nice and cool in this weather) and I am thin in the parting. However my 18 year old daughter had the ingenious idea of getting dry shampoo for dark hair that I spray on my scalp and it colours it brown so not noticible at all. If you want to PM me I'm happy to discuss further and send you photos if you want to see. Good luck.
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02-07-2014
08:20
Ruth that's great news that you're half way now, definitely time to celebrate (when you have more energy). Things didn't quite go as I'd planned out with my surgeon so I was feeling down last night but by talking and a good nights sleep I've woken up in a better frame of mood. I'd gone into the appointment with the view to having a double masectomy and then reconstruction after radiotherapy using implants. I then got the realistic view from my surgeon which was a single full masectomy and then reconstruction using the muscle and skin from my back but that couldn't happen until skin was healed after radiotherapy. Problem was I was so hung up on short term and he's looking at long term. Luckily he agreed I'm going to need to see a physcologist to get me through this. I've also realised I need to concentrate on the battle of getting cancer free before getting hung up and upset on the next stage. As I've been told one day at a time. Glorious sunshine today which helps lift the mood. Hope you all have a good day. X
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01-07-2014
07:23
Hi Penny. I'm on my 3rd FEC and haven't found the side effects too bad. I did end up in hospital on the first cycle but that was due to an infection I already had. On my second cycle I felt really rough the evening of the chemo but absoulutely fine for the whole of the 3 weeks. I'm day 5 of my third cycle and find I do not have as much energy but certainly feel well and have been able to do housework, cook etc. You will learn that you just need to pace yourself, when you do the school runs you'll probably need to sit down afterwards before launching straight into the next activity. Please try not to worry, once the first FEC is done you'll realise it's not that bad considering. Also just to say I'm doing the cold cap and still have a full head of hair. Good luck.
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30-06-2014
08:55
So glad to hear surgery went well and you're recovering well. Take it easy and listen to your body and remember to do your exercises to keep that arm mobile. X
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30-06-2014
08:44
Hi hay578. I don't have any advice for you but just wanted to say that I feel the same way as you. I am also seeing my surgeon on Tuesday to discuss this. My cancer is very big at 7cm and I have a small cyst in the other breast too. Due to the size of the cancer they are doing chemo first so my surgery is schedule for November once chemo has finished. I am 43 and mum of 2 so can totally understand that you want to do the most you can to avoid recurrence. Hopefully they'll be able to sit down with you and have statistics to show the difference in life expectancy with or without the double mx. Good luck and let us know how it goes. X
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29-06-2014
12:30
Hi Ruth and Linda hope you're both well. Most of us post daily on the Facebook group and it reminds me I have to also post on here so I can keep in contact with everyone. I had quite an eventful week last week. I've had my muga heart scan which was quite nice just to lay there and chill for 20 minutes especially after it had taken them 4 needles to get the radioactive dye in as my veins have definitely had enough now. I then had an ultrasound to monitor my breast tumour. It's feeling much smaller and so went in hoping they were going to agree however last time they measured it on ultrasound as 5 cm and now it's 7cm. She did then show me 2/3 rds of it is now fluid so good news is chemo is working and she said it's like a water balloon inside and wanted to know if I wanted it draining. However I was really reluctant after ending up in hospital twice due to the infection caused from the original biopsy so she said she'd leave it up to the oncology team to decide. I then saw the oncologist 2 days later and boy was I in for a treat. My usual oncologist was off so I had one of her team that I'd met on my first appointment and thought he was hopeless then. Firstly he thought I'd had 3 cycles not 2, then he argued my 2nd had been delayed due to my hospital stay which it hadn't. I then had to ask for advice re ultrasound which he then queried why I'd had one and went off to check my notes and came back and said it's fine. He then said I was having 6 not 8 cycles which I argued with him about but he insisted it was write and wrote me out a prescription for my T chemo. I asked for stronger sickness medication and was met with a blank and when I mentioned stronger constipation relief was told to eat more greens and veg soup. I argued that I did so was told to drink more water to which I replied did he think I should drink more than 3 litres a day. He then said try exercising more, yes I really feel like exercising when the little energy I have needs to be used to run a household. To say I could have throttled him is an understatement. I had 3rd FEC on Friday wondering if this was my last and I was half way through. When I asked the nurse about sickness medication she said they hadn't written any up so she would sort it and put me on Emend. She also said pharmacy were querying if I was on 8 or 6 so she'd go and check with my usual oncologist and returned and said it was definitely 8 as that is what she gives all her ladies having chemo before surgery. Luckily I hadn't got my hopes up too much but was still slightly disappointed as it would have meant all my treatment would have finished by Christmas instead of now running into next year. I have an appointment on Tuesday with my surgeon to find out my next stage. I'm now day 3 and sickness has been under control this time but I was really tired yesterday. However have woken up with more energy and have managed to do washing and cook a batch of raspberry cupcakes. Sorry for long post but now and again you need a rant. Sheryl x
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28-06-2014
09:08
Hi hbunny I read your post about freezing the pineapple to suck on in chemo. I did this the first session and by the end my tongue was a little rough and beginning to get frostbite. The only problem with me is I had two more pineapple at home to eat to get rid of the metallic taste but every time I looked at them I associated them with chemo and felt sick so had to chuck them away. The second time I sucked on the icicles that you buy and then freeze yourself which was better on the tongue. The first round of chemo I got 2 mouth ulcers one on each side of my cheek. The second time I got 2 on my tongue and 2 right up in the gum socket. I've just had my third chemo without sucking on ice to experiment if it makes a difference and will let you know.
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24-06-2014
04:57
Forgot to say Gill be wary when eating too much beetroot. I love it and would eat it everyday for lunch. One day in the staff room I mentioned I was worried and needed to book a doctors appointment because I had blood in my urine. Someone pointed out it might not be blood but something to do with the amount of beetroot I ate!!!! Cancelled Dr appointment and stopped eating beetroot and sure enough wee stopped being red. So this is a warning if you wee red it's not the effects of the chemo but the beetroot.
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24-06-2014
04:52
It has been quiet on here. Must remember to post the good times as well as the bad times. I've got my 3rd FEC on Friday and hope it goes as well as the 2nd. I've had a dream second cycle with no side effects to moan about (had the usual constipation and mouth ulcers) and have had loads of energy throughout so life has carried on as normal. I can also report I still have a full head of hair so it's only my enlarged breast that reminds me daily that I have cancer. My taste hasn't been effected too much this time either so have been able to taste chocolate for all three weeks which is bad news for the waistband. Had an ultrasound yesterday and the tumour is larger but now about 2/3rds fluid which they wanted to drain but I wouldn't let them due to my infection from the biopsy. Meeting with oncology tomorrow and surgeon next week so will see what they say about draining it. Ruth I'm jealous you're going to see George Benson, he was on loose woman today and I love his music. Glad to hear we're all fairing better than we did on the first round when most of us ended up in hospital. Take care everyone. Sheryl x
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21-06-2014
11:10
Hi Ladies. I've popped in from the April forum just to give you my experience of the cold cap. I've had two sessions of FEC, my third is on Friday and I can report that I still have a full head of hair. I wasn't sure whether to go for the cold cap and hadn't heard many success stories when I did my research but decided to give it a try. Before I began I asked my hairdresser to come round and to sort my hair out. Firstly I had been having blonde highlights for years and as you can't dye your hair during chemo and ideally for six months after I had to tether to dye it back to my natural colour of brown. She has several friends that have had the cold cap and advised against going too short so instead I had it cut into a short bob. Since chemo I have washed (using whatever shampoo is on offer), brushed and blow dryed my hair every day. On day 20 of the first cycle it started to come out but just a small handful each time. I have lost most of it from the nape of my neck but my bob haircut covers this up and you can't tell unless I was to wear it in a ponytail. The cold cap adds 2 hours to my chemo session but it has been worth it to me. On the first session I found it unbearable for 10 minutes but after this your head goes numb and you can't feel anything. On my second session I didn't find it uncomfortable in the slightest. To me the cold cap has been amazing as like I said I still have a full head of hair with no bald patches. It means when I get up in the morning and look in the mirror I'm not reminded of cancer in the reflection I see.
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20-06-2014
11:50
Hi Sheila. Great news about the lump under your arm. My breast lump is 6.5cm and after 2 chemo sessions I can definitely tell it has shrunk, I have an ultrasound Monday so will find out how much. I had to do the injections this cycle, they're to boost the white cell count. They're really easy to do and if like me you have a spare tyre around your middle I didn't feel a thing when injecting. Lots of us on this forum are doing them, some have suffered with aches and pains where the bone marrow is producing them but just to reassure you I had no side effects what so ever from them. Sheryl
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19-06-2014
05:50
Hi Jinny just popped over from May forum. Like you I ended up in hospital on my first cycle having IV antibiotics and blood transfusion thinking how am I going to get through 8 cycles of this. I am now day 14 of cycle 2 and have had a completely different experience this time, I have sailed through this cycle with minor side effects and have been able to lead a completely normal life getting out of the house every single day. Hoping this will bring some hope to you that just because the first cycle was bad the second might not be. X
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19-06-2014
08:02
Hi there are two Facebook groups for Metaplastic and I've joined both. Im sure One of the ladies in the group has Sjogren's so definitely worth joining and speaking to her.
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19-06-2014
07:59
Hi Sheila. So glad you're out now and feeling better. It is so important to take temperature when feeling ill and to get to hospital quickly. I was in hospital on my first cycle for 5 days and like you it just hits you, one minute I'm fine and literally 1 hour later in hospital. I'm day 14 on cycle two and have breezed through this cycle the worst side effect being I have two tiny little mouth ulcers so hopefully this will provide hope for you that it won't all be like your first cycle. Sheryl
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17-06-2014
10:33
Ruth have you tried peppermint tea. I couldn't stand it before chemo but it seems to hit the spot for now.
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17-06-2014
07:48
Hi all. Hope those that have had chemo this week are not finding the side effects too bad. I seemed to have got off lightly this cycle with very few side effects and a good level of energy, I even managed a day shopping in Kingston and lunch with my friend yesterday. I have lost my taste which isnot a bad thing as I can't taste the disgusting penicillin tablets that I have to take twice a day. Whenever I go out I order salad these days as its the one meal that really hits the spot and refreshes the mouth. I started to read the May moonbeams thread last night to see how they were getting on a year later. It was really inspirational to read they're planning a weekend break to meet up and celebrate. However it was so sad to read that one of them sadly passed away earlier this year. It really upset me as like me she was 43 and a mum. Throughout this journey I've been so positive and always considered I am going to be one of the lucky ones as will 8 out of 10 of us but then it hit home 2 out of 10 of us won't as this amazing lady didn't. It really hit home that I'm so glad I am living life to the full during chemo whilst I'm able to by going out and meeting up with friends whenever I am able to. Sheryl x
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15-06-2014
07:10
Forgot to ask in my last post, what are your concerns regarding Metaplastic BC and neutropenia? Do you have a previous medical condition causing neutropenia already or are you worried the chemo will cause this?
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