Breast Cancer Now Forum

Half the names on here are now numbers! What is going on? Anyone else  have that? Sorry havent posted on here for a while, have been in hospital with neutropenic sepsis, but am now released and feeling ok again. hope everyone I don't see on facebook is still ok xxx   ... View more

Tasha yes I had that for first two FECs, did not happen with third. Hope this reassures you 🙂   ... View more

Morning all! Well it's  alovely day here in Birmingham. Eldest has gone back to school, youngest about to go to a friend's to play, and OH gone to work- I will be alone for the first time in 6 weeks! Whilst I will miss them, I have to say I am really looking forward to a couple of hours of peace! I'm sorry to hear that those of you on Tax seem to be having a hard time. I'm just getting all FEC no T (I wonder how they decide who gets what??).  Anyway, need to do a bit of work this morning, followed by wallpapering that feature wall in the lounge which I started last week (when I say started, I mean 'took the curtains down and got all the stuff out hoping OH would take the hint and do it over the weekend'. He didn't take the hint). Need to get it all done before next Monday when I have dose 4.  Good luck at the bar today ladies. Jackie x   ... View more

Oh poo. So much for the 'my periods have stopped' thing. So for those of you having the premenstrual symptoms followed by noting- beware- it can appear out of nowhere! Particularly cross because I'm taking the kids to the fusion festival this weekend to see McFly, JLS and Jessie J, the Wanted and Neyo (not my cup of tea but the kids love them all) and could have done without too many visits to festival toilets! Anyway, the sun is shining, and it should be a good day. Have a good weekend everyone, hope those of you who have had a recent dose are doing ok. xxx ... View more

Just popping on to wish everyone at the bar tomorrow good luck 🙂   ... View more

Hope all jewels have had a sunny day. Had an eventful day out at Shugborough in Staffordshire, a lovely day punctuated by a little funny turn in Patrick Lichfield's apartment - and lots of tea and lemon drizzle cake to aid recovery. Always takes a week for me to feel vaguely ok again - but just think I overdid it a bit in the heat.  Anyway hope all of you are ok. It is great to see that people will be heading for end of chemo soon (though as one of the 'last' ones, still have a long way to go, don't leave me behind!!).  Ann - having those extra doses as not oestrogen sensitive would make sense wouldn't it. ANd I have had a few hot flushes on chemo (never had them before)- mainly when on my steroids but not always.  love to all jackie x ... View more

Ann  good to hear from you and glad to hear that you have already had a radiotherapy chat despite not yet finishing chemo- I was worried than in the transition from the Alex to the QE we might fall through the cracks and have a big gap. Sorry to hear youve got more rads than you thought though- did they say why? Really tired today despite coming off steroids more slowly this time so off for an afternoon snooze. Hope everyone is ok x   ... View more

Logged back in I think - missed all you non facebookers this week, hope you were all ok? Am not feeling too bad though INCREDIBLE wind today!! A friend has driven down from yorkshire to take my girls out for the day so I can have an afternoon snooze as I reduce my steroids today and always feel a bit rubbish at this time in the cycle. What a friend she is.  Would be great if the non-facebookers could join our secret group but I will still come on here to keep up with anyone not wanting to do that, would hate to see the group fragment after such amazing support so far. xxx ... View more

Chelle great idea have Pmd you my details - glad we can all be in touch next week too. Nicj love your motivational phrases 🙂 ... View more

Ha ha Jill your kids' key saga made me laugh!! I bet you weren't laughing at 1am!! Cress sorry I missed that you had been incarcerated too- hope you are feeling a bit better now home x ... View more

Oh I do wish I could take away everyone's pain. Much love to all feeling rough. Feeling very emotional today (am guessing late night and the wine tasting menu have not done me any good). But the meal was lovely - 12 courses!!!! (- to be fair, it was a tasting menu, so all very small, wonderful dishes, with accompanying wines with each course, I was rather merry despite giving some of each little glass of wine to OH). Felt almost normal For a few hours, a real treat. , Joan that must be so hard in hospital next to someone with secondary bc, not surprising you are finding that difficult, i do hope you are better soon. and Fiona that sounds really painful, hope your feet get better soon too. Ha ha Gus/Clare. My name would be Amber Meadow...That doesn't sound very sexy does it, more like a children's author! I could go for second pet, second street and then I'd be Saxon Avenue, but that sounds more like a teenage metal band... Have you all had the email saying that for a week (?) from Monday there will only be one thread on here whilst they swap over? Will miss you all!!! Jackie ... View more

Hi everyone sandra, hope you escape today and are ok. NicJ- what a frightening event in the restaurant! Hope he is alright and you have all recovered from the trauma. I am envious of your trip to Greece, it looks beautiful. hope you enjoy the rest of your time there. Fiona I'm sorry you are having a hard time, about upsetting your mum- if I was her, I think even at 86 I'd want to know if my daughter was finding things tough and I'd be glad if she felt she could open up to me. I do understand how hard that must feel though when the relationship changes from her looking after you to you looking after her. But I bet she's a tough cookie just like you, in her core. Sometimes breaking down and having a good cry is all there is left to do. Big squeezes X Marion, my youngest has just turned 10, yes Fiona she's the poet (though have to say her more typical poems usually involve words that rhyme with bum, poo, wee etc etc). she's a real character and really helps me through the tough days. good luck to your son Emma on his a level results. I am a uni admissions tutor and this week would normally have been a crazy one, with today in particular being a marathon of phone calls etc. instead I'm at home, doing very little, feeling rather helpless, and hoping that the work I put into admissions earlier in the year pays off and we don't have too many (or worse still, too few) students...ah well, these things seem relatively trivial, now. Your picture with your neice is lovely, and well done to her on a 1st from Cambridge! Dropping the kids off with my mum overnight, so OH and I can have our posh night out (cancelled from last week). We are off to a restaurant called Simpsons in Birmingham, I may even shake the dust off my wig as its so posh 😉 hope all at the bar today do ok xxx ... View more

Just a quick one, had reflexology session this morning and slept all afteroon, feel very groggy today and I'm in week 3- what's that all about? Youngest daughter woke me at 4.15 saying 'i was going to make you a cup of tea but then I remembered I don't know how to make tea so I brought you a biscuit instead'. I don't know why but it made me laugh and cry at the same time. Emma have a lovely holiday in Condom hee hee hee. Hope everyone not suffering too badly, staying positive and looking SO well, 😉 Jackie x ... View more

Morning everyone, I've missed you! Had a great weekend in Cardiff, kids loved the Dr Who Experience, we even got to go on set inside the new tardis, very exciting! feeling well this week, gearing up for the next dose next Monday. Cress I feel exactly the same about the halfway thing- I'm not even there yet, but feel like its taken everything to get to here and I have nothing left in the tank for another three!!! Fi, so sorry to hear about your ex-partner, it must be a really difficult time for you xxx Ann tell me more about the handsome docs please, it's a long time since I saw anything that could be described as such in redditch hospital 😉 good luck at the bar today ladies. every time I come on here I plan to respond to everyone's posts, as so many of you already skilfully do, and then fail every time, I have no working memory left. But I read all your posts and they make me laugh, cry, and feel supported every day. Love to all of you x ... View more

Good to hear form you NicJ! We missed you. Doesn't sound like you've been having the easiest of times, so big hugs for you. I have elevated liver enzymes too but am waiting to see what they are going to do, no ultrasound or anything scheduled for me yet, more of a watch and wait i think. And Gus, so glad you got your dose. Hope the se's are not too bad. Sorry to hear those of you having Tax are having a hard time...hope you all feel a bit brighter soon. Thanks to everyone for your lovely anniversary wishes, we had a lovely day at a national trust house and evening at a lovely riverside pub with some live music, I wore my wig and felt almost normal. We are off to Cardiff now for the weekend to the Dr Who experience, kids very excited. So I will catch up again on Monday. X ... View more

Today I answered the door without wig or headscarf- completely forgot. Frightened the log delivery man into complete stunned silence. Shut door, put scarf on and opened it again and he could speak to me. Hilarious. It's our 15th wedding anniversary today. I don't want to get all sentimental but my husband has seen me through some tough times - including preeclampsia, traumatic birth, gallstones, diagnosis of my heart condition when our second child was only a few months old, a pacemaker going in when she was 2, and now all this. He's also always been an amazing support to me in my career, his has taken more of a back seat as a result, and does his bit at home, is the main cook in the family, and all this with a smile on his face (most of the time). I know I am so lucky, and he means the world to me. Unfortunately our grand plans for a wild night out (ha ha) have been scuppered as my mum is not well enough to have the kids overnight. But we will do it another time, and will take the kids out for dinner tonight to celebrate anyway. Kids are trying to earn some pocket money today so eldest is weeding the garden and youngest is cleaning out the fridge - they banded together like a little union and demanded minimum wage!! I negotiated them down to £5 per hour plus tips in chocolate cake. Hope those of you who've been to or are going to the bar yesterday/today tomorrow are ok- especially those changing regimes, that must be tough. Vicki you could never alienate any of us with mush! we love it 😉 Jackie x ... View more

Just a quick one before my oldest friend comes over with her family (my godchildren) for the day, can't wait to see them. Just wanted to wish those at the bar today good luck and send healing vibes to all feeling low xxx It's sunny here, I've got a nice headscarf on and a bit of make up and feel almost human again. May even try a medicinal cava with lunch 🙂 Chelle my hair is not as thick as yours but lots of wispy bits and definitely has grown between cycles, will be interesting to see if it drops out again in a few days. Couldn't go scarf/wig free as I do look odd- but would probably do so if I was completely shiny neat bald! Lots of love to all. Can't wait for York next year x ... View more

Chelle I think we may have been twins - permed sun-in hair, pearl lipstick, electric blue eyeliner- we ROCKED that 80's look 🙂 Gus, is it maybe an option to ask them to delay intil after the weekend, so you can do the things you want to? My team let me delay for a few extra days so we could go away. I think it would be worth it. You certainly deserve a break xxx ... View more

Debs, yes to the unexpected sudden wee! Happens to me too, apparently the drugs can affect nerve endings and make you want to wee more - had a near miss today in the shopping centre 😕 ... View more

Oh no Jill how frustrating! Hope you are ok. Gus I love the detail of your additional delivery bags! The only major substitution error we ever had was 2 bottles of bells whiskey instead of a bottle of Gordon's gin one christmas eve - I was NOT happy. Not even 6 boxes of condoms would have cheered me up 😉 hope you feel a bit better soon Ann. I'm sure I will try to tell them to stuff it, and I'm sure I won't be allowed to stuff it, but at the moment I like the idea of telling them, at least. Sitting on the sofa with a bored 10 year old. Run out of creative entertainment solutions that dont involve me being physically or mentally active so now she's watching. Spongebob and eating sweets, not a high point in my parenting history... ... View more