Breast Cancer Now Forum

Let's hope indeed!!! x ... View more

Agree! 😄 Btw i will still post here on a regular basis, i don't plan to go anywhere -- but if we have to slowly, progressively move away from c-talk towards the normal chitchat of human rapport, at some point it'd have to be elsewhere, or we will get the boot!  ... View more

lol 🙂 I promise you that the spin-off will be better than the original series! ... View more

True, Sheena 🙂 x ... View more

Thank you! 🙂 x ... View more

"you just go round peoples houses and look in their draws ,inspect their fridges"   Pretty much spot on! You have a BIG catalog of buildings (private homes, offices, embassies, schools, you name it -- as long as they have some architectural interest) where you can go, knock on the door and have a look inside. Year after year, it has grown fancier and fancier, now you often get refreshments and little gifts as well, etc. All free. Last year in a John Lewis office I was almost embarrassed by the treatment, coffee, cake, super nice private guide, coffee table book...  It's hands down the very best London event of 'em all (and I have an interest for architecture and deco). But now it's famous and everyone goes; the most coveted buildings have either ballots or 3-4 hrs queues. On the other hand, there are gems that nobody cares about, and they make for nice visits. Sadly it's only for two days, which means that one must be ready at the starting post with good trainers and a well planned itinerary. $deity give me strength! 😄   Thumbs up for the mobile number! x ... View more

Oh, btw, this is the book i mentioned a few days ago: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007MF0OKM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o02_ The title makes it sound like a load of new age claptrap and I bought it with the intent of sniggering, but, had it been written explicitely for me, it wouldn't have had a word different, so it was a huge surprise. I've never felt so validated, not even by my shrink (even if, at the end of the day, he says exactly the same things, it's just he doesn't push it much).   speak later x ... View more

i am going to Open House this weekend, plus I want to buy some turntable fodder. Open House could have been glorious but i've been so driven to distraction by the treatments that I've forgotten to book anything! I'd have to make do with the modest places that don't require bookings. Hopefully there will be some gems, but i haven't even started to plan my itinerary, something that normally would have been done to the nines, one month in advance. Ah, bloody cancer! lol   At some point I might be less present on this board (it's precious and dear and super useful to me, but when I see the logo around town my blood pressure briefly but painfully skyrockets, and one day or another I shall have to bike without stabilisers, i suppose), but I'd like to keep in touch with you. We shall exchange emails or something, if you want too x ... View more

Jill, how are you faring? The end of the rads chore, i see, it's not all bells and whistles. Personally I am in a decent state of mind but I have the energy of a jellyfish dragged ashore. ... View more

I am in bed reading the comments sections in The Guardian and the Daily Mail, to gauge the orientation of the respective trolls, and generally because I am so done and dusted that I cannot do anything better. I am taking delivery of a turntable later tonight, I was planning to tidy up to make space for it but really cannot be bothered...   My boob looks like i had been bludgeoned by a clumsy madman, but I am not too inconvenienced, in fact right now i am resting on it, something I am surprised i can do without discomfort. Possibly the nerve endings as well have been cooked.   I won't be writing here till after the weekend, as I have hectic plans; not sure where I will find the energies but it may be that tomorrow morning i will wake up in great shape! I hope...  x     ... View more

Yo! All done... and I am totally exhausted, more mentally than physically really. How are you? x ... View more

Jill, June x   I am basted, fried and cooked (and possibly eaten, digested and expelled). I am knackered! The boob is peaceful apart for a tiny itch, but the thought of seeing the hospital another three times makes me wanting to scream. I will reply in more detail soon, but right now I am operating with one neuron only, and i don't know where I've put the other... good night ladies, sleep tight x ... View more

Oh man, breaking at the roots? that sounds more serious than it should be.    Found online:    "that far from using 'chemical free' organic type shampoos we should be using good old fashioned head and shoulders - high zinc levels encourage hair growth. They have one out called endurance which actively promotes growth. It also releives itchy scalp a bit. I suffered horribly with this and wanted soemthing to stop me looking like I had nits as I was scratching all the time and this, of course, can break the weakened hair shafts. Other than that, avoid direct sunlight but do keep scalp warm to ecourage blood supply and therefore growth. If you can afford a silk pillow case, it reduces hair breakage from friction." ... View more

Wow, that's a lot in so little time O_O -- but it's going to stabilise, correct? I heard that the side effect settle down after a while.   I've read a lot of horror stories about tamoxifen and letrazole, specifically that they can lower one's mood. But it won't happen to us, correct? 😉  ... View more

Does it work? It's supposed to stick to your hair and plump them up. You're not the only one who's fiddling with their hair -- I bought a black hair mascara, because I've got dark hair with an independently-minded white strand growing at full speed on the top of my cranium. Too lazy to dye the lot because of it. Does it work? hmm... to an extent 🙂   Today i spent the morning in bed buying stuff online, ended up buying (among other cr**) a book that says that cancer treatment should be accompanied by mental healing in order to work, because cancer is borne out of hopelessness. It did strike a chord, very heavily in fact, as I remember having those tiny pains in my armpit while my relationship with a much beloved partner was going down the drain, and my company was going a bit meh as well and I was watching myself becoming older by the minute and yes, I was hopeless. I will finish reading it tomorrow and maybe elaborate. I don't have a New Age bone, a few friends said of me "the exact opposite of a hippie" but I do believe in a mind-body connection. I usually skirt away from that kind of stuff but right now it makes sense.   It did something overall as tonight for the first time in years I felt the need to cook something from scratch! My hoisin and sriracha chicken was amazing, especially considered that I've cooked from scratch last time when the Millennium Dome still was a thing 🙂   I won't miss the Niagara falls for sure! Almost tempted to buy chocolate for the technicians, as a form of affectionnate but firm goodbye. ... View more

🙂 xx ... View more

Ladies, I am going to sound ridicolous but there's the two things that push me up: Aspirin and roast chicken. They both give me a curious sense of peace and warm fuzziness. Just had the chicken, now rummaging till I get to an aspirin 🙂 ... View more

Sheena that's nice! x I am a *sigh* good customer of Apple, a pity you guys are so far away! bad friends good friends, hey, no worries dear xxx ... View more

Absolutely Jill -- statistics are only an educate guess. Unlike most things, probabilities don't make sense in hindsight, when the statistical sample is 1. I shouldn't have got cancer in the first place according to those.   For the hair, a nice hat maybe? I love hats! And a nice script for a few weeks more off work. I can bear my job right now only because it has little to no emotional content: I go, I write my stuff, people come to me with their gripes but it's never heated, never heavy stuff. I just can't imagine the depth of philosophical realisation you're going to need to stay grounded in front of other people tragedies or -- maybe even worse -- petty problems. You will do it no problemo but you do need to take your time. ... View more

I understand perfectly for the hair; I don't particularly like mine but I would be upset if I lost them, as horrible as they are (imagine thick, irregularly extruded and super hard polyester threads), they are mine. Plus, they are a visible sign. Maybe put the problem out of sight till you deal with the boob and the tiredness? I am not suggesting you cut them or use a wig, but maybe that filling powder, or using a fluffy, no-partition hairstyle. Out of sight, out of mind... plus, it's not likely to become much more serious.   And looking at the boob shouldn't be allowed more than once a day max 😉 As for googling statistics, may the lightning strike me if I do it again.   This cancer experience is so imbued with loneliness. I am glad there's you gals, and my cat. My friends are nice but what do they know? My cousin who phones me "hey, we ought to go for a couple of weeks to the seaside" -- lol, it bothers me to go as far as Cricklewood, let alone Spain. Sigh. I am tired and I am tired of being tired, and I need to sleep at least a week to trigger my natural "f**k everything and let's have fun" reaction. I am sure we will feel better in the near future but takes a while. ... View more