Breast Cancer Now Forum

Gosh Ladies, what a lot has been going on since I was last on here! I wish more of it was better news.....   LainieG so sorry you are back in hospital and I hope your scan has already been done and you are out asap. I'm in the posse with a reindeer costume and home made goodies.   Junash  - what a nightmare! I bet you will be glad to get the infection out - got to be better out than in.   Peta so pleased you are in your new home for Christmas, that must be a great feeling.   Zelda hope you are feeling much much better - I have got better every day since last Tuesday when i turned a corner and managed a good 4 mile walk yesterday.   Murphy - I hope you have called the helpline - I don't think there is much point in waiting, i would do it straightaway. Bettypoppit have you been out today with lurcher girl?   Can't remember who mentioned crying buckets - well I reckon I have cried Lake Windermere by myself and think the bucket measurement is a too small!!   But how about this ladies? I had a date last Friday!!   A friend of one of the guys I golf with asked me out - I was not at all sure about it, not because of him but because of me, the BC, having never worn my wig out etc etc, but then I thought, why not what do I have to lose? So I accepted and was treated to a really nice dinner out. He wasn't fazed at all by the BC, the treatment and SE's etc and wants to see me again. That was an unexpected early Christmas present!   Sorry if I have missed any of you ladies having treatment this week or recovering from last week. My next session is on NYE - joy! xxxx     ... View more

chin up Zelda, I am on the same as you T1 Day 7 and just in the last couple of hours I have started to feel better - mouth less furry, some energy returning, actually interested in what's going on around me.... I doubt I will be back at full energy levels tomorrow but I have defnitely turned a corner. Hoping the same will happen to you soon as xxx ... View more

Completely with you Zelda. I can't believe how much my fingernails can hurt! Managed a shower this morning (having one was just a pipe dream at the weekend), put a load of washing on and had to sleep for the best part of two hours! Not sure what to do other than give in to the tiredness and hope that it gets better soon. xx ... View more

Am on day 4 of T1. Still in bed with pjs, socks, dressing gown, and two hot water bottles and still cold! Legs ache, can't get up the energy to eat anything, mouth feels furry......can't wait for this to be over... Hope you other ladies are faring better Xx ... View more

Glad you are home Murphy - it so much nicer to be in your own bed.   Good news that they have a solution for you Debtex, hope it is easier for you.   I'm on T1  day 2, slept better than expected, have been awake since 6.30am. Don't seem to ge the energy burst that others are getting - keep hoping it will come but in the meantime I will write my christmas cards.   Picked up my wig yesterday - Is till have some hair left but it's extremely thin with patches of scalp showing through. The wig lady said not so shave what I have off as it's difficult transition to be bald and it's pyshcologically better to keep what I have as it's not bad enough to be shaved off. Very happy with it though and feel that it gives me a lot more confidence to go out and about in fact looking forward to gong to the shops later today with it on!   Hope all se are minimal and hope it goes well for anyone going to the bar today. xx ... View more

HI EnzoBenzo - welcome to our posse!   I had my first T today and have not side effects at all. TIred from not sleeping last night and don't expect to sleep tonight and tomorrow. Most worried about Friday and Saturday as coming off the steroids and having the GCS-F injections on Friday I think will hit me hard... hope no though! I hope you get to enjoy some of your wedding anniversary, it must be really difficult   Murphy, I really hope you are doing better and your neuts are getting better - found it strange that they waited so long to give you the injections.   Ladies, I need to reconvene the Porkscratching Posse - a golfing acquaintance of mine sent me a message saying that he hoped I would soon be over "my setback" - I doubt I will see him soon and I so want to wrap my driver round his neck - so we need to go round there!   Hope you all are doing well / better and se are minimal - will keep you all updated on T se. xx ... View more

Hi ladies went to have my bloods done and see the oncologist today (bloods were fine thank goodness). Appointments were about 4 hours apart but whilst  having the bloods done the BCN came to me to say that the oncologist was actually on holiday and they have forgotten to cancel his list - would I mind talking to her instead. Given that a) it meant not spending half the day at the hospital and b) I get more practical answers from the BCN I agreed.   Since this all started I have focussed on end of March being the end of my treatment - my granddaughter is due to be born then too so it all seemed to be nicely timed. However I was quickly disabused of thta notion, apparently my last chemo is on 21st Jan and I have to go through the full cycle of three weeks before they will consider the operation which can take 1-2 weeks to schedule. Then it will be 5 weeks after the operation before they start radio and that will be at the very end of March so I won't end treatment till nearly my birthday at end of April - and that's if there are no complications. Cue another bucketload of tears.   She is going to try and get me in to see the surgeon on either Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve (chemo due then too) to talk about what happens but of course it may not be my surgeon as he will probably be on holiday.   She also told me that as I have a triple negative cancer with no node involvement that the highest risk of recurrence is in the first two years after treatment and will reduce every year after that. Unfortunately until I finish the treatment they can't tell me what % risk that is. Still that's a bit more than i knew before.   Dreading the SE from my first dose of Tax on Weds..........   Hoping everyone is having minimal SE's or feeling better day by day xxx     ... View more

That's good to hear Jingo_x... and thank both you and LainieG, I am feeling a lot better since yesterday. I have no idea why though!   Am pretty terrified of this week - first tax on Wednesday assuming bloods are ok tomorrow. I still have just enough hair left but and thin eyebrows and full eyelashes but think none of them will last after this and I will have to resort to a wig.   I cannot say how much I admire you ladies with young chidren, I don't know how you do it. My adult children have rallied round (well 2 of 3 have) and sorted out Christmas between them so I don't have to put up any decorations, drive anywhere, cook anything, or basically worry about anything at all which is marvellous and takes a huge weight off my mind. For that alone i am very lucky.   Debtex glad you are out of hospital and Murphy hope you soon are.   I have appointment with the oncologist tomorrow  as well and had a list of questions but have forgotten where I put it!   ... View more

I've been crying for no reason all day and that story just gave me a reason Peta!   I'm dreading my life after this - at least now it has a focus but when it's all over I will have no job and I'll still be single and netiher of those things were anticipated let alone this BC.   I feel like I will be on the border of Belgium and some other country.....rather than with you all in Brussels - which is lovely by the way.   Murphy I really hope you start to feel better soon. xx ... View more

Having a bit of a crying jag today - no iidea why. I should be feeling fine - 8 days to my first bout of T....   ... View more

Right Ladies, here is my Porkscratching Posse Party menu for next year!   Canapes Mini vegetable kebabs (vegan) Thai salmon parcels (v) Mustard and honey cocktail sausages Goats cheese and red onion mini muffins (v) Sticky pork belly bites Haddock and gruyere tartlets   Mains Chicken and wild rice bake Potato curry (vegan) Toad in the hole Spanish chicken with chorizo Cabbage, potato and cheese bake (v) Black bean pasta salad (vegan) Savoury rice (vegan) Moroccan lamb Stilton and leek tart (v)   Desserts Coffee and walnut cake Lemon layer cake Bilberry tart Chocolate and hazelnut meringues Key lime pie   Hope you are all hungry! xx   ... View more

Thank you to all the ladies in my Posse - it's really cheered me up!   Going to start tomorrow with a more positive attitude. Murphy, hope that things get better this week...... and to all you lovely ladies with treatment this week - may the force be with with you and get you through it... xxx ... View more

You could say that Peta! Not the kindest thing and coming 2 weeks after I lost my job - then the diagnosis 3 weeks later - it was a triple whammy.   The thought of everyone turning up with various hairstyles and sorting him out is most appealing though and made me laugh for the first time in a while!   I'll ask about going away between chemo and surgery but have been lead to believe that there will not be much time between the two.   So far on the food front I'm thinking a lamb roast (get a man in to do that) with a variety of salads and loads of delicious desserts (I'm best at cooking those but need to choose what to do!)   Loving the pork crackling analogy! xxx   ... View more

Hi Ladies Back from a couple of really poor days, down in the dumps and totally fed up of being out of control of my life.   I've been looking at all the holiday talk and wishing I had an OH - mine dumped me after 9 years between referral and diagnosis - it would be so nice to have something like that to look forward to.   I'd also like to say I "had cancer" but unfortunately my chemo is neoadjuvant and I won't have my surgery till February so I still have to say I "have cancer".   This is all so dark and miserable that I have  decided to plan a party for all my family and friends who have been helping me through this grim time. That should give me something to look forward to and time to decide what to cook etc.   I hope you are all feeling well and are going to have a good week xx ... View more

Morning Ladies I had my third FEC yesterday and so far se have been minimal apart from a poor night's sleep which is only to be expected. Think it will hit me on Sunday though as I come off the steroids then. I have lost so much hair that the cold cap really hurt me this time - what I have left is so thin . I think there is a good chance I will lose it all this cycle   The best I could get on a prognonsis was the Registrar on Monday who said to me "we are confident that this treatment will give you the best chance, that in five years time you will have no problems or issues with this cancer" - not entirely sure what to make of that!   I hope you are all recovering well and the se are minimal today. Sorry a bit tired to reply to everyone individually, but you are in my thoughts. xx     ... View more

Great news LainieG, so pleased for you. Hope the bloods go well on Weds.   Strange to think we are all now desperate to have the treatment and not have it delayed! ... View more

Great news LainieG, so pleased for you. Hope the bloods go well on Weds. Strange to think we are all now desperate to have the treatment and not have it delayed! ... View more

Hi Jingo-X , I hope it goes well today - really interested as to how you get on as I'll soon be on T.   Peta, goodness me - I hope you have a lot of help moving house, I'm not sure I could do it.   Lah21, I hope you made it through without ruining your make up today.   Had my bloods done today, neturophils at 3.3 so all stations go for FEC no 3 on Wednesday.   NanaJane hope your bloos are ok too...   Good luck to all of us having treatment this week......and hope everyoone who had treatment last week or the week before is feeling a tonne better xx ... View more

Hi NanaJane, you are on the same cycle as me then. I have my bloods checked tomorrow for FEC No 3 on Wednesday. I too have to have the injections after each cycle, though I am told they would be given as a matter of course for the last 3 cycles of Taxotere.   Lah21, how do you know your PICC line has moved? I have one too which I am really grateful for when I hear of the number of blood tests LainieG is going through. So far my line has been blocked but they did manage to unblock it, but said if they hadn't managed it they would remove it and put in a new one.You can do it, we are all here to support you   I hope all the ladies here have had a good weekend - I even managed a round of golf yesterday! - and that we have a good week to come xx     ... View more

Why not have a good cry LainieG - we all need that from time to time. And goodness knows you have enough reason to! I feel like crying for you to be honest. I really hope you get home tomorrow. xx ... View more