Breast Cancer Now Forum

Hi Si ân @hopeful1974 , How are you?  My treatment went well yesterday my bloods were all fine though I didn't get told what they were exactly.  I am still on a 20% reduced dose my only issue was the canulation as it took 2 attempts and she ended up using the vein in the back of my hand again, after the one by my wrist blocked and blew up so I have a lovely bruise and it is a bit painful.  I was given paracetamol and emend before they started, then I was given the perteja followed by herceptin over 30 mins with a short flush in between and given ondansentron before my docetaxel and carboplatin, which were both given over an hour again short flushes each time and I was finished by 3.30.  Though my next session (19th Aug)  they have amended to 1pm start instead of 9am and I have been given the emend to take at home beforehand as they are getting alot busier and most of the time are waiting for the meds to come down before they can even start. I also have to have my bloods checked weekly I think they are trying to ensure my magnesium levels are staying up with the added chewable tablet which I now take am & pm and as my platelets were lower this time they are watching them too. I do feel alot more positive this time, as I feel I know what to expect more and hopefully can manage things better with the extra anti sick meds; also I felt alot stronger going into the treatment this time, I know it's not easy to have to wait for your delayed treatment but I do think I could have done with having a longer delay to build myself up more before my second treatment so think your team are making sure you are fully recovered.  Here's hoping your neutrophils keep improving, what treatment are they offering you?  Do you have the filgrastrim injections? Or are they giving you an injection prior to your treatment day, I know one of the patients yesterday had had a blood transfusion, so maybe they will offer you that if things don't improve.  I do hope you are feeling well in yourself though, I assume you are feeling very tired so the sooner they can build your levels up the better you will feel.  Sending you lots of love and hugs 🤗 🤗 🤗 🤗   Yvonne xxx (simply eve) ... View more

Hi all Welcome @Chynadoll, @Mum2boys, @Jennet as everyone has said non of us really wanted to be here but we are a great team now, helping and supporting each other, I hope we can do the same for you too, any questions just ask and I'm sure someone will reply. Well quick update for me, back from caravan on Monday went for bloods, got phone call Tuesday to say kidneys ok but to keep up the fluids as much as possible, infection rate down, so only problem was magnesium was still dropping, so I had to collect a prescription for magnesium chewable tabs which I have to take am/pm for the next 21 days. Had a face to face with my Onc today and have discussed keeping the added sickness tab, the extra steroids and trying immodium instead of loperamide and if that doesn't stop my gut problems I can try co-codomol so will see how the treatment goes tomorrow. Fingers crossed I manage this one better, I feel a lot more positive because I actually feel like my old self the last couple of days. @Heels to walking boots  - you mentioned surgery, I had my first surgery at the end of March, my tumor was just below my nipple and so my surgeon offered me a choice of lumpectomy with the removal of the nipple (though I do still have the areola) and SNLB at the same time or mastectomy, at the time my tumour was recorded at 1.2 mm which is why I was not given chemo first, so I opted for the lumpectomy, unfortunately after my surgery it turned my tumour was a lot bigger at 4.2mm and I had a 1.4mm macrotasteses in my sentinal node, so I then needed a second surgery to remove all my lymph nodes and had 2 further macrotasteses so had 3/15 positive nodes. In hindsight I wish had asked for a little time to consider things, but I thought it was a small tumour and unlikely to have spread so I went for the lumpectomy and nipple removal. My advice would be if you have any concerns talk it through with the surgeon and if you aren't quite sure maybe a day or so to think it over and talk it over with your hubbie, my hubbie wasn't able to be present with me, so I made my decisions without having talked them over as really I just wanted to get the tumour removed. I hope my comments to Jennet and Mum2boys may also be of use to you when it's time to make a decision, I too have photos and would be happy to share them with you if the site allows. I had my lumpectomy on the 22nd March came home the same day, had very little pain, the district nurse came to change my dressing and I did have to have a further dressing, I started my excercises as advised and was surprised at how easy they were to do. I had to go back for results on 7th April and was scheduled for second surgery (ANC) on 15th April I had to have a drain, so stayed in overnight, this was a harder surgery and had the drain removed by district nurse on 26th April but would agree that it took me longer to get over, my results appointment was 5 May so nearly three weeks after and was probably 4 weeks before I really felt completely over it. Thanks for the good wishes I am very positive that this treatment will be better this time around!. @Louise65 Happy Birthday! I hope you had a lovely time with your family and you are managing to cope with the depleted energy and food and fluids. I would definitely recommend getting in touch with your team if you are still struggling, I had an extra sickness tab at the of my last session and my Onc has agreed I can carry taking it as my Cyclazine doesn't last quite long enough to take me through 24 hours. @Trowster  - hope you too are feeling better and the cream for your head has improved things for you. I find I need to eat small portions and often so end up with custard cream biscuits, I also find the alpro vanilla desserts quite nice they just slide down and rice pudding, basically really bland. @Mum2boys - please don't be hard on yourself I too have carboplatin  but with docetaxel and my first chemo literally wiped my entire gastric system out, I ended up in hospital, but the result has been that my team are really supportive, my dose was reduced by 20%, my steroids have been extended to over 5 days and my antisickness meds changed. Whilst my second treatment wasn't perfect it was so much better and I feel the more treatments I have the better they will get, so my advice is to contact your team as soon as your feel you are not coping and let them help you. Also last treatment I got very low and anxious over things I could not control, then after a comment form Sian (hopeful 1974) I remembered my Oncologist telling me that the steroids could affect me and I really think that was the case this time, so now I have been prescibed some diazapam and so am prepared if I feel my anxiety is getting out of control again. @chynadoll - you have such a wonderful positive attitude I'm sorry I can't give you any advice on EC as I am not receiving that particular treatment, but I do hope you continue to get through your treatments, you are doing amazingly well. @hopeful1974  – Sian you sound as if you are coping well again, you are always so supportive and helpful, I bet you are great at your job, but totally agree you shouldn't consider working until your immune system is able to cope again. @Jennet – as I wrote to Mum2boys I've had my surgeries and was told if I had chosen mastectomy I would have had to wait for a reconstruction so think that too may have affected my decision at the time, though now I feel that would not have been a problem had I gone down that route. I now have one breast nippless and much smaller than I thought and so will probably try a prosthesis, but also have to had radiotherapy which may well change my shape/size further. My radiotherapy will be in November I think and as I'm having trastazumab and perjeta treatment which will continue until around June next year, I still have a fair way to go. @JessicaB  I'm so sorry to hear of your problems with your MIL, when you live a distance away it is difficult enough and with the current situation it must be making your life so much harder and you really do not need the stress at this moment in time. Good luck with your Chemo tomorrow, I hope you manage to use the cold cap and slow the loss. I'm glad you are managing to find some pleasure in your garden, I have been out giving my front garden some much needed tlc this week, I had beautiful lavender in a pot, which my hubbie unfortunately had been forgetting to water when he did my others and its taken a bit of a battering, but I 'm hoping I can manage to revive it. @GonnaGetThruThis  So pleased that your genetic results were good, I too worried about passing a gene on to my daughter but the surgeon reassured me that mine was age related and not genetic, I'm 62, sorry can't help out with menstruel issues for this reason obviously. I hope you all have a lovely day celebrating with your daughter. As this has been such a long post, I won't names everyone in the group but  I do hope you are all staying well and I'm sending your all positive vibes, big hugs and much love Yvonne xxx ... View more

Hi Anabel @Heels to walking boots  That sounds really good, I think I will wait to see how I cope with my treatment on Thursday in that case, thanks for taking the time to reply, hope you are doing ok. Love Yvonne xx ... View more

@Trowster Thanks for the info, they do sound lovely I have next treatment on Thusday so will have to see how I cope but might give them a call tomorrow to see how quickly I can get appointment hope you are still feeling ok.   love Yvonne xxx ... View more

Hello Ladies   Just checking in whilst relaxing in the caravan. It's so peaceful and quite and totally relaxing here. I hope everyone is still feeling well. @Louise65  sorry that you had to sit and wait around for your treatment but hope you are coping I know it's hard when you suffer with the delayed nausea and I too find from day 6 onwards I seem to struggle even more and eating and drinking becomes such hard work, but from day 11 this time I have recovered more quickly even though my bloods haven't been quite right, so I'm hoping I can try and push through better when I have my next treatment on Thursday and then I am halfway through. Here's hoping the PC won't be as hard for you as the EC has been. @Trowster  so sorry I didn't wish you well I didn't realise you were having your next treatment last Friday, I hope you are continuing to do well and not struggling like you did last time. Mcflurries sound great! @hopeful1974 I hope you managed to enjoy the last few days of your holiday and you are still managing to cope, I found I had headaches with my first treatment but the last I was nowhere near as bad and at least you know why they have decreased your steroids now. @Heels to walking boots , I'm so sorry that the cold cap didn't work for you, your hair is beautiful and will be again as it grows back, but in the meantime I love the wig and really think the colour is great! I was talking to my friend yesterday and she has offered to come with me to Morgans if hubby doesn't want to come so I have a nice outing to look forward to. @Impatience , @Fairie , @JessicaB , @GonnaGetThruThis , @Flower123  hope you are all relaxing and enjoying the weekend, we have a lovely blue sky and sunshine here in Angelsey. Take care all.   Much love Yvonne xx ... View more

  Evening Ladies I thought it time I checked by in and let you know I am still in the land of the living and improving (fingers crossed). Although overall I have been very much better since Monday, my blood results were still concerning the team, as my kidney function was still detiorating despite my taking on as much as I could fluid wise, personally I think the heat played a large part too, so it meant having bloods again on Tuesday, I also took a water sample, but although the could see bits of something in it, it hasn't been identified as yet but doesn't seem to be getting worse atm. Anyway after bloods on Tuesday it was decided I needed fluids, so was to go in to IV unit for an hour on Wednesday morning, then unfortunately it turned out my magnesium level had also dropped again, so instead of being there an hour I spent 6 hours yesterday on a drip getting that too. Repeated bloods again today and they are now happy with the kidney function and magnesium, but apparently my platelets are still low so now I get the weekend off and get bloods repeated again on Monday, given I only have one good arm its beginning to look a bit like a pin cushion. But the good news is hubbie and I are off to the little campsite we found last time for 3 nights tomorrow so I can ready myself for the next battle with chemo! @GonnaGetThruThis  I was so pleased to hear your wonderful news, it it proof positive for all of us that this journey is worth whatever we have to go through. @hopeful1974  I'm so sorry you have felt ill and hope it hasn't spoiled your holiday too much,my last Chemo was the first time I had extra steriods and it was to help with the sickness, basically I took 4 am/lunch for day before, day of treatment and day after chemo, then the next two days I took 2 each morning. I also had Emend over 3 days and then switched to cyclazine straight away. I do think though that my anxiety was a by product of the extra steroids and so will definitely use the diazapam next time round. @Impatience that's a great tip for the heightened sense of smell I have a few yankee candles so hopefully I can find something more tolerable too. @Fairie I do hope you are starting to feel better and that you have managed to get in touch with your Oncologist. I have a team that I can contact any time and they have been really great in trying to ensure I am feeling better. Though I do think it is trial and error at first as we are all different in our response to the treatments we receive. @Flower123  I hope your bone pain is being managed and that your team can do something to improve your next treatment, though I do think as we go through each treatment we become more aware of what to expect so hopefully can plan better. @Louise65  Good luck with your treatment tomorrow, I hope it is better than the last one! @Trowster  thanks for the advice about Morgans I will definitely go and have a look at what is on offer. @JessicaB , @Heels to walking boots  I hope you are both well. Have a good weekend everyone and here's to moving forward together.   Much love Yvonne xxx   ... View more

Hello Ladies, Sorry for the long absence, but once again I have found myself struggling to get through my treatment and in particular the last 5 days, though the lower dose has helped tremendously I have continued to suffer with Nausea and the cyclazine dose of 3 per day just simply wasn't enough.  Whilst I have avoided hospitalization I have had to get additional meds for my nausea and to be honest have found it a mental struggle too so have been given diazapam for days when I feel I cannot cope.  I had my bloods done on Thursday last week and they showed my kidney function was starting to decrease again, so I have desperately been trying to increase my fluids, the heat hasn't particularly helped, tomorrow I have to go for a repeat test, so fingers crossed that I have managed to do enough.  Today I am finally feeling like I am on the up so hopefully from here on I will be able to manage to get back to some sort of normality. @hopeful1974  good luck with your treatment tomorrow and I hope you have a really lovely week away with your family. xx @Trowster  I love the wig, I was looking at making an appointment with the wig lady in Chester too, but just haven't felt well enough to make the effort, seeing your photo's has inspired me to look again and maybe I can sort something out after my next treatment. @JessicaB @Impatience @Flower123 @GonnaGetThruThis @Heels to walking boots @Louise65 @Fairie I do hope you are all managing to cope with whatever stage of your treatment you are now at.   I have been logging in regularly and seeing your posts just didn't have the energy enough to summon a response, despite trying several times.  Despite being low, it has been really helpful to be able to read your posts and hear how everyone is getting on.  Take care everyone. Much love to all Yvonne xxx   ... View more

@JessicaB   So glad you seem to be coping well and I love your photo's,  Thanks for posting them.  I know you had one on your profile, but I really like the short hair cut too. Much love Yvonne xx ... View more

@Louise65    So sorry to hear you are struggling at the moment Lousie and I fully get the horrible mouth as that is exactly what I started with after my first treatment, I now have an antiseptic mouthwash which was given on 11 of my first treatment, the improvement was almost immediate and I would highly recommend asking for it.  I was originally advised to take it 4 times a day, then as mouth improved I reduced it to morning and night and then followed up with my aloe vera toothpaste, I talked about it on the unit yesterday and was told if I had similar problems again I could up it to 4 times a day again, I have managed so far today, but if I feel my mouth is deteriorating again I will definitely increase it.  Hope this is helpful to you. I have been lucky with the bone pain, I do have a painful shoulder as I broke it a few years back, but it is really only when I sleep on it so I usually sleep on my back or my front atm. Love Yvonne xx ... View more

Morning Ladies @hopeful1974  sorry to hear your treatment has been delayed, but good to hear you can still get away and hopefully the weeks break will give you time to build yourself up can I ask how many filgrastrim injections you are having?  I have to take them for 7 days, after my 1st chemo I started them on day 4, but now I start them on day 3 so may be worth checking if yours are different to mine as they have not changed the dosage of the injection despite lowering the dose by 20%.  I also ate three steaks last week - expensive but I enjoyed them so helped my protein levels no end. @GonnaGetThruThis  I only get my bloods done the day before and all my appointments start at 9am, so yesterday my bloods showed my magnesium levels are still too low, so they have given me the soluble sachets and I have to take 2 a day for the next 7 days, so I think if they have any concerns even on Monday they will either check your bloods again, or medicate on that basis.  Hope that helps, it's so difficult when it's all new isn't it.  Seeing your children go up to high school is really emotional isn't it, they seem so grown up all of sudden.  @JessicaB thanks for the good wishes, so far things seem to be ok, my meds have been changed quite alot so I am hopeful that things will continue to improve.  I hope you too found your first session to be tolerable and any questions of worries don't forget to ring your team, we're all here for you too xx @Trowster How are you lovely?  Have you managed to come home from hospital and get those birthday pressies yet?  Sending you  🤗 and stay  💪 you can get through this xx @Impatience thanks for the good wishes and just love the verse, it say's it all and so positive, hope you are well too xx @Flower123 glad you enjoyed your rocket ice lolly I enjoy the plain orange ones and have a stock in my freezer now too.  Glad to hear you are still doing well long may it continue xx @Louise65  hope you are doing ok xx @Fairie how are you my lovely, hope you are feeling well after your treatment xx @Heels to walking boots  Hope you are still feeling well and your hair is still lovely after the cold cap. xx Look after yourselves ladies and I'm pleased to report I am feeling ok, even managed to do a bit of long needed cleaning this morning, so onwards and upwards.  Have also booked a look good feel good make up session for the beginning of August. Much love to all Yvonne xxx ... View more

@hopeful1974      Thanks Sian, you look lovely too and I love your wig, did you get it online?  I was advised to look at a website in Liverpool called Hairy Fairy but I assume I could look at any website as they don't do fitting as such. I will definitely look at the make up course too. Lovely to put a face to the name I totally agree. Love Yvonne xx ... View more

  Good afternoon Ladies, @Trowster  so sorry to hear you have been unwell, but glad that you got some treatment and am keeping my fingers crossed that you are still hoping to be home tomorrow. What a shame you had to be admitted for your birthday, but at least you have some pressies to look forward to when you come home aren't our husbands amazing. I would never have thought mine would have be so capable and thoughtful as he has been, as I said to the Oncologist when I saw him, hubbie has been my rock and don't honestly think I would have coped with the treatment at all if I hadn't had his love, care and support. @JessicaB good luck 🍀 with your first treatment tomorrow, hopefully I'll be having my second one, I have been for my blood test today, so am assuming they will notify if there is a problem, though my bloods were ok last week when I saw the Oncologist. I agree that a positive attitude is very important in all of this, but if you do have any side effects, my own personal advice would be to contact your team sooner rather than later. @GonnaGetThruThis  I do hope you have found the mouthwash has helped I was given an antiseptic mouthwas called Chlorhexidine Gluconate, I use it morning and night at the moment as my mouth has improved tremendously, though it recommends 4 times a day and after my treatment if I find my mouth in deteriorating again I will up the dose again. I hope your genetic testing results come back to soon and you get good news. Interesting that they wouldn't take bloods from your picc line, I had something similar when I had a canula for my drip, where they wouldn't take blood from it, so the phlebotamist had to take it from my “nodeless” arm, which meant I couldn't have a tourniquet she did it quite well though and I only had a small amount of bruising. Yes I have bloods taken the day before my chemo treatment, the chemo ward issue me with the BT request, I make an appointment with my local surgery and then just go there. I was told I would have an assessment after my first treatment, which I did and now I already have a telephone appointment for assessment after my second one, but I think that is because I was so unwell after my first one. @hopeful1974 thanks a million for the link to the diet, it was really useful to read through it and get some info 👍 , though I must admit I had tried most of the foods recommended in my first week and think it was the really dry cotton mouth that caused my the real problem. I hope your treatment on Friday goes well for you too. You must be feeling so much better as you had such a terrible time with your first set of Chemo, you give me hope that the reduced dose will work as well for me thank you 🤗 . @Impatience  so glad to hear that you feel you are tolerating the treatment and your energy levels are rising, I totally understand the apprehension as I have my next treatment tomorrow. Although I feel a lot stronger that I did this time last week I too feel that my admittance took a lot out of me. @Heels to walking boots thank you so much for the good wishes, we went to a local carvery for lunch to celebrate 🎉 . I'm so glad to hear that you have coped reasonably well with your treatment, I too have not had many problems with bone pain, though I have a torn meniscus in my knee which has been playing up a little, but I think this is down to lack of exercise. I also hope that your coldcap keeps working for you. I didn't try it so now have short spiky hair which is still coming out but is not such big clumps and is managable, if I can work out how to add a pic of me I will! Though be warned I'm no sinead o'connor 🙈 @Flower123  It's lovely to hear that you are feeling well enough to take your lovely doggies 🐕 for walks and I adore sausage dogs, we don't have any pets anymore and I would really enjoy having a dog or a cat, but think this is not quite the right time. I too think I will sign up for the look good, feel good, course. I don't tend to use a lot of make up either really, but think it can't help to try and improve myself, I also think it will be easier to do it online than in an actual face to face group. Several ladies on this forum have said how good it is so I hope you enjoy it. I also think this forum is a wonderful place to come and be able to say exactly how you feel and not be judged but have the support of all the lovely ladies on here. @Louise65 I hope you are doing well after your second treatment. I like you am thrilled to have lost all my “whiskers” I finally have a lovely top lip and chin, however my arm and leg hair is still there, but my leg hair is very fine now anyway but it would be lovely if the underarm hair would also disappear then I wouldn't have to worry about the numbness 😉 . @Fairie I have left my comment to you til last my lovely, because I wanted to wish you good luck 🍀 with your second treatment tomorrow, I hope you find it easier than the first one. The way I do the posts to include everyone is to open my open office writer (it's equivalent to microsoft word/office but it's free) then I also open the June 2021 page and go through the posts, then I reply by just typing @Fairie etc once I have finished, I just copy and paste in to the reply to message section.  I usually just click reply to the last post, as it always appears at the top, mind you I do use my laptop as would find it very difficult on phone or tablet, I too apologise for the long posts ladies, but can I just say how much I appreciate each and every one of you, your replies and advice are always helpful and supportive and I do think that together we are stronger. Good luck to us all, here's to health, happiness and a bright future ahead. After tomorrow I will be a third of the way through my chemo treatment doesn't that sound good!  Sorry about the photo's think the chemo hat makes me look more scary than the bald head  🤣 Hats definitely don't suit me haha grade 1 Love to all Yvonne xxx     ... View more

Afternoon Ladies Just thought I would check in and see how those who had their treatment are doing; glad to hear so far so good despite the vein problem!   @Louise65 I have now had my head shaved too as literally every time I ran my fingers through my hair it came out in clumps.  I have to say it was easier than I thought, I had a grade 1.5 to start and then my hairdresser went over it with a 1 so I still have some hair but it is now very short and I have two chemo hats, I have decided to hold off on a wig at the moment. @JessicaB I'm so pleased that you have finally got your start date, I know how anxious I was with the waiting, but once I had my plan in place I was able to relax more, as silly as that sounds. @Fairie   I am just about  🤞 over my tummy problems and for the first time since before my chemo have coped in the bathroom without meds of any sort, but understand exactly what you mean, I was trapped in a cycle of  Laxido, Loperamide and Laxido, but having spoken to the Oncologist on Wednesday he has advised me to reduce the first dose of Loperamide to one tab instead of 2 and then 1 each time and if I haven't been again after 24 hours to take Laxido and start off with one sachet a day then two the next etc, etc but all the while to get as much fluid intake as possible.  He also said he would reduce the strength of the Ondansentra which in itself can cause constipation, which was my initial problem.  It may be worth checking with your team if you have had similar problems.   Sorry if this is too much info ladies! We have managed to get away in the caravan for a few days and I am typing this from the middle of a field surround by sheep and with the sunshine coming through the window but it is oh so relaxing and I am beginning to feel a bit more like my old self, though I still get tired really easily and had to have a sleep after setting up yesterday. Today I managed to walk around the village to the local butcher, veg shop and a coffee shop that does take away sandwiches, so am really pleased to have been able to get out and about a bit. Hope everyone is keeping well and staying strong.  Love to all  Yvonne xxx   ... View more

Morning Ladies, Thanks all for your very valued support.  It helps tremendously to be able to come on here and read that the lower dose has worked well for you @hopeful1974, I am so sorry that you too have been unwell @Fairie. I do hope that everyone is now well on the road to normality.  I'm feeling much better and know that with all the support on here we can get through this together. @Impatience @Louise65   Good Luck today ladies, my thoughts will be with you today. Stay safe everyone and have a good weekend. much love Yvonne xxx ... View more

Hi Ladies I hope everyone is still feeling well and coping with whichever stage of the treatment you are at. @Heels to walking boots  huge congratulations on your marriage, what a wonderful thing to be able to do and I am so glad you were well enough for your special day, you certainly have a memory like no other! @Trowster  wow getting out on your bike, how fabulous, and your photo's are great. @JessicaB  I'm so sorry to hear you haven't been able to start your treatment yet, but regardless of when you start you are still a valuable member of the June group. @hopeful1974  sounds like you have this treatment cycle sorted, I am so pleased your treatment has been better than the first lot of chemo. @GonnaGetThruThis congratulations on your 20th wedding anniversary, sounds like you had a lovely day and you are managing well. @Louise65  glad to hear you seem to have overcome your problems and good luck with your treatment on Friday. @Impatience  really hope you are starting to feel better and your positive attitude is so amazing after all you have been through, having read all your recent posts I am thinking to myself I need to be more like you! @Flower123  so sorry to hear you are feeling rubbish, if there is one thing I have learned from my personal journey it is to get help sooner rather than later, the team are there to help you, but they can only do it if you let them, so don't hesitate to give them a call as soon as you feel you are not coping. You'll see below why I am saying that. Ok so this is why I haven't posted recently, I had to be admitted to hospital on Friday as I had acute kidney injury caused by the nausea and diarrhoea and ended up having 4 x 8 hour saline drips and 2 x 10 hours over the course of Saturday till Monday, during this time I still continued to have diarrhoea, so stool samples were sent off, all my results have come back negative for infection, the outcome was I was discharged yesterday and have seen the oncologist today, they have delayed my treatment from next Tuesday to Thursday (as Imp said gulp!) and will lower the dosage, I now have a mouthwash which has helped tremendously, also have changed my antisickness from metocloprimide to cyclizine (as yet untested) and I will have additional steriods to take over day 4 and 5 not sure of dose yet, but they will give them me after my treatment. The Dr today advised me that I am what they call a delayed sickness type, basically my nausea doesn't start until 4 or 5 days after treatment. He has reassured me they will keep a careful eye on me with this next treatment and if I still am not tolerating it well they will look at other options. So I am putting myself in their hands and praying the next round will be kinder to me and my poor hubbie, who quite frankly has been amazing in all of this, we have been married 42 years next Wednesday (7th) and he's still with me god knows why! Hopefully we will get a meal to celebrate though it may be a take away/delivery. We are also going away in the caravan from Friday to Tuesday as we both need a good break. My hair is now falling out at a rate of knots, so I have an appointment on Friday morning to get what's left of it shaved and they are going to paint my nails with my dark nail varnish in readiness for my next treatment. A couple of you commented about age and fitness, I really don't think BC takes account of any of that, my sister has had BC twice first time age 37 she had to have a mastectomy, she had DCIS over a large area but required no further treatment, then again at 52 but it was IDC that time and hormone positive, so opted for Mastectomy again, and has been on hormone therapy since, but no other treatment and she is now 65 . Whereas I am 62 and have IDC which is triple positive so totally different treatment again. Our Breast Cancers are different and there is no common gene, so it is simply a matter of luck I have decided. I hope you are all feeling well and rested tonight and good luck to those of you having treatment on Friday.  To everyone else stay strong. Love to all Yvonne xxx               .                             ... View more

@Louise65  I think it is totally understandable that you feel so emotional and whilst we are all aware that this treatment will mean we loose our hair the very fact that we trying to overcome the treatment itself at the time means our emotions are heightened so much more. I had delayed purchasing any headwear but when I read your post I realised that to an extent I had been burying my head in the sand 😣 and so have ordered a couple of items off Amazon to arrive over the weekend and will hopefully get an appointment with my hairdresser on Monday or Tuesday to do the shave as I discussed it with her when I cut my hair shorter. love Yvonne xx   ... View more

@hopeful1974   Hope your son is feeling better today and that you are managing to cope.  I do understand the need to hug, I haven't seen my daughter since September last year, they are desperately trying for a second child unfortunately she had a miscarriage in October,  yesterday after I pressed her she told me she has had two positives that failed within days and I just so want to be there for her and give her a big hug and cuddle and tell her it will be alright. Unfortunately they live in France so it's not possible. Love Yvonne xxx   ... View more

@Trowster  @Heels to walking boots  Just wanted to wish you both well today be 💪 you've got this ladies.  much love to all. Yvonne xxx   ... View more

  Evening Ladies Hope those of you who had treatment this week are all doing well.  Those whose treatment is about to start Good Luck and   @JessicaB  I do hope that you manage to get your appointments over quickly to you can move forward.  To my triplet sisters, you have done amazingly well ladies, unfortunately I have not fared quite so well. I was doing very well up to Saturday when I started getting serious gastric bloating issues, so started taking the metoclopromide, by Sunday I started vomiting and wasn't able to keep up my fluids which I know I needed but had such a disgusting taste in my mouth found even water difficult to tolerate. So on Monday morning having vomited again overnight and as soon as I tried to drink something that morning I decided I wasn't coping and rang through to my team. They were really good and rang back very quickly discussed my symptoms and advised that they thought I should go in, so the nurse actually called an Ambulance for me 🙈 Normally I would have been horrified to have an Ambulance come to the house but felt so awful I really didn't care. Anyway long story short I was taken to A & E where I had an incredible team who were so kind and the nurse I had looking after me was 2 year post BC and gave me some great advice on lolly ices and how to add fluids in any way I could, she also called my unit told them I was there and before I was released in the afternoon, they came over and went through things, I had been constipated for 3 days before I took laxido, but have now been told not to leave it, if no movement after 24 hours I can take it and they will give me a repeat prescription as and when, in terms of the mouth furriness I was advised to rinse with salt mouthwash up to 4 times a day. I also had gastritis which was causing me a lot of pain so they will look at changing the metoclopromide as it may not be working for me. My blood count was below 300 but had chest x ray which was clear and urine test was clear, but still have antibiotics to take and now have appointment to see Oncologist next Wednesday. Today is the first day I feel a bit more like my old self, but the important lesson for me was to take action if I had left it another day I think I would have been hospitalised rather than being allowed home. I hope this doesn't cause any of you extra concern and anxiety that is not what the post is about, it's really meant as a positive thing, that every member of the NHS from Ambulance guys to A & E to your Onc team are all there for you all the time and providing you ask for help you will get it in Spades. @Fairie  (Sharon) I too have some itching in the lower regions, but found a warm bath with Sanex sensitive bath foam helped @hopeful1974  (Sian) luckily I don't have spots ….. and hopefully I won't, think I've had enough to deal with to be honest, but I'm assuming you have contacted your team and they have been able to give you something if not I would highly recommend it. All the best to you ladies and stay strong, we can definitely do this. Love to you all. Yvonne xx ... View more

@Heels to walking boots  Have just read your post and wanted to let you know I too am receiving my treatment at the Maelor, I just want to reassure you that the staff are all lovely, very kind and caring and my journey this week has been better than I expected, yes there have been ups and downs but that is just trying to work out how your own body is responding to the treatment as we are all individual are we not? Hope you managed to get your second covid jab and get to enjoy a lovely weekend, we too have a caravan, bought it in May, after having sold our last one in 2000!  It is a great way to be able to get away for short breaks and hopefully will help get us through the stresses of the next few months.  If you have any questions you'd like to ask please do.  Yvonne xx ... View more