Breast Cancer Now Forum

Evening ladies   Good to hear that you are all coping well with the first dunk, my advice for food would be like i did, eat whatever you fancy and when you fancy it! Yes i put 2 stone on whilst on chemo but my GP referred me to a local gym after treatment where i got a preferred rate and i lost it all in 12 weeks.   Don't worry about weight at present just concentrate on eating what you feel like. Apart from the wig i got on the NHS, i also purchased a couple from a site on Ebay and depending on mood, chopped and changed them about although at home i went 'au naturalle' - scared the postie a couple of times when answering the door lol!   For wind and burping i found mint tea helped and also sucking aniseed sweets although i was still pretty bad with it lol!   take care xx ... View more

Elaine, its the only way i know how to show this pesky disease that it will not win. Always keep a positive attitude, try and look on the bright side, such as showering will be so much faster without hair, you don't have to worry about bad hair days and the wigs keep their shape so much more than our own hair! If you are suffering from the 'metal mouth' a few days on from the dunking, i found that strong tasting foods was the way to go - onion, garlic etc and funnily enough wine gums! But whatever you find works for you, go with it.   Sally ... View more

Hi again ladies   so glad to read that you are all coping with your first dunks. Believe me 'wind' is a major side effect, most of us OO's from last year were always talking about it lol! My hair started to come out on Day 14 and i could just stand there and shake my head and the floor woul dbe covered. I have shortish hair anyway but come Day 16 i couldn't stand it any longer and had a 'shave' day with my hubby - he is bald so i shaved his and he did a cut 2 on mine. You may find your scalp feels tender as it begins to fall out but this goes once your hair has gone. Try to take positives out of this - what i did was to put into a piggy bank all the money i didn't need to use on hair appointments, hair products and shampoo and condiditoner. i had a lovely nest egg come March/April as my hair began to grow again and now i have a 6 month regrowth have booked into a 'posh' stylist for my first hair do in over a year!   Sally x ... View more

Talking about being dunked Xmas week, this happened to me last year i had my 4th dunk on Monday 23rd December, i still had a couple of glasses of bubbly on Xmas day and cook the dinner! The only difference for us was stopping too many visitors so that i couldn't come into contact with any coughs/colds.   Look upon each dunking as a means to an end, each one takes you closer to the finish, my life was run on 3 week cycles for those few months!   Sally x ... View more

Hi ladies   So sorry to see you having to go through this, can i echo what Sarah & Sam have said, i too am an October Optimist from last year and it does seem a dim and distant memory now.   Its not an easy path to go down but it is doable, i was out driving the day after chemo and doing all the things i normally did unless my body told me to slow down. That is definitley the key - listen to your body and drink loads of water it really does help fluish the drugs through! Do as we did and set up a Facebook page, there you can post pics, we all did of the various stages of hair loss and re-growth and you can ask each other all those (what you may thinkg at the time) are silly little things,  but having others going through it with you is a great help.   Please feel free to message me if you have any questions that i can help with. You will all get through this, it is the fear of the unknown that gets you to start with.   Love and hugs   Sally   ... View more

Hi Sarah and Marion   In a double whammy i was made redundant a week before my diagnosis so i have not worked since but i do know of ladies that have managed to work albeit on a part time basis.  I am feeling well and to be honest i just feel rough the week after the dunking. I have been really lucky and so far have suffered only minor side effects such as tiredness, i lose my taste buds and get a metallic taste for about the first week and i find eating strong tasting foods during this time helps me - little and often'. The nausea is under control by taking all the pills they give me and i can stop using these by day 6/7. I use the mouth wash daily all the way through and that has stopped my mouth so far from getting sore.   I do get periods of hot flushes and my hubby tells me i am hot most of the time anyway! I am back driving around the day after dunking and just get on with things as and when needed, if i need a nap i have one! As for dunking day, i am on 6 x FEC and although i did take a book the 1st time i do not bother now as the nurse sits administering the drugs all the time and we sit and chat and also with other ladies there at the same time. My local chemo unit is really nice and not the scary place you may think, we get plenty of tea/coffee as well as biscuits and the nurses are all brillliant. Best tip ladies is to stay positive and do not let this little blip in your lives take over! You will get through it and be stronger, wiser women for the experience!   Sally x   ... View more

Hi Sarah   I can appreciate that you are scared, so was i when diagnosed back in July this year. I had a grade 2 ILC with no node involvement but some vascular invasion so i was advised to have chemo. i started this in October and am due my 4th dunk on 16th Dec, whilst it is not a walk in the park it is doable. Just drink as much water/liquid as you can as this flushes your system through quickly and listen to your body - rest up when you feel tired, avoid all those dodgy foods like you do when pregnant and just have some me time. It is a fear of the unknown but please join the monthly thread where ladies going through the same thing at the same time will be able to keep you going, i'm a member of the October Optimists and without those ladies, life would be so much harder.   take care  Sally xx ... View more

Hi ladies   Hope you don't mind me butting in, i was diagnosed back in July with multifocal IDC grade 2 after a routine mammogram, i had a mx in August with SNB which showed my nodes were clear but i had vascular invasion. After a chat with the onc, it was decided that chemo was the way to go to mop up any possible stray cells that may have escaped. I started 6 x FEC in October and am due my 3rd dunk tomorrow, once this is finished i go onto hormone therapy. Whilst chemo is not a walk in the park, it is doable and i am a member of the October Optimists which are a great group to help each other through this journey.  ... View more

Morning lovely OO's   Will be thinking of you on Thursday Sarah xx  Just remember your imagination makes these things seem a lot worse.   Off out to meet up with pals as today is my 53rd birthday!  Planning on having a big blow out once treatment is over in the New Year, if the queen can have 2 birthdays so can i lol! ... View more

Hope the trip went well Lulu xx   have my 17yo on standby for the eyebrows, makeup is one of her fortes lol!  I love ginger beer and drink those Crabbies ones with rapsberry - yum yum!   ... View more

Hi All   Day 2 and still feeling fine although i have a lovely rosey gloW to my cheeks!    Sorry to hear that you still have the 'gin bott;e' attached Sam   Have a good day all   xx ... View more

yes i must admit i took a book with me as well as phone but spent my time chatting to the nurses.   Also a sandwich at lunch was provided 🙂 ... View more

Afternoon fellow OO's   back from my 1st dunking, was nowhere as bad as i had anticipated but these things never are! Trouble finding a vein that wanted to play so i was ready to come home at that point lol! Treatment went fine and feeling ok but with a 'woozy' head, drinking tea for England and using the loo a heck of a lot more!   Sally x ... View more

Thanks for the good wishes for tomorrow ladies, will get back online as soon as Hi Squilli, sorry you have had to join us but you are on the right place for support   Sally xx ... View more

Morning OO's   Awful day weather wise here so will not be going out far!  Just starting to up my liquid intake ready for tomorrow , glad to hear tha your son is back but will it be as we Mum's temd to do - you looking after him lol!   Have a good day peeps   ... View more

Glad i'm not the only one who cant find Lulu's profile lol!   Hope all goes welltoday Sarah xx ... View more

Evening OO's   Had my pre assessment this afternoon and up for my first dunking on Monday morning.  Not a lover of Guiness 😞 Glad to hear everyone is coping so far, hugs to all   Sally x ... View more

Afternon all you wondeful OO's    Off for my pre assessment in a couple of hours so will hopefully know then when my dunking's start. A huge welcome  to the new girls on the block xx   An FB page sounds like a brilliant idea, who is going to set it up?   Hugs to all Sally x ... View more

Hi Bridget   so glad to hear that all went well on your first session xx ... View more

Glad to hear Teffy & Tracey are coping well with their chemo.   Biddlybee  thinking of you  xx   Hi there Alabamasam.   Off for my pre chemo assessment on Thursday so should know then when i get started. Have already ordered a couple of wigs to see what styles i fancy, the idea of a cold head does not appealt ot me and like others the idea of prolonging treatment is not something i want to do.   Sally ... View more