Beating Breast Cancer | Symptoms And Breast Cancer Treatment

Thank FEC it's over !

Well - thats's me finished with FEC and relatively unscathed. Mild nausea and tiredness but nothing to grumble about.

My hair never did fall out completely so Gordon helped me shave the remnants last night and I now have a beautiful smooth head - no more jaggy stubble - hurray !!

My eyelashes and eyebrows have only thinned a bit and not fallen out so I can cope with that but it did give me a good excuse to spend lots of money on posh makeup today - which cheered me up no end.

My next appointment at hospital is for a "simulator" which - despite sounding like something I would refuse to go at Alton Towers theme park - I'm assured has something to do with lining up the radiotherapy beams and ... wait for it ... tatoos !

So - four weeks of radiotherapy and four sessions of taxotere and then I'm done (a year of herceptin excluded of course)! Roll on - doesn't time fly when you're having fun !!!

Marjory

Labels: chemotherapy, epirubicin, hair-loss, radiotherapy

posted by Marjory @ 9:51 PM 3 comments

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3rd time around.

Well, I'm fast approaching my third FEC chemo treatment. Slightly apprehensive as I've heard of the accumulative effect of chemo and as I've been feeling great I really dread the thought of that being compromised.

Also slightly worried about my poor old veins with epirubicin. My veins in my left arm feel bruised and pretty uncomfortable because of the epirubicin being pumped in and I'm kind of suspicious there might be an accumulative effect here as well - lets hope not!

My two eldest children are taking me for my drip-drip this week as poor Gordon has run out of holidays.

Ally(19) and Amy(17) are very interested to see what goes on. I guess like most people they thought the whole chemotherapy treatment was very scary involving beds and sick buckets. When I explained what really happens they looked very unimpressed-what no drama? Just you and a drip stand? How dull. If only they knew!!

One of the nice side effects of chemo I was promised, was my periods stopping-well they lied! I've had two now and really wish they would stop. I'm considering asking for total hysterectomy when I have my left mastectomy next year. Get rid of it all then no more worries!

Marjory

Labels: chemotherapy, epirubicin

posted by Marjory @ 8:41 AM 5 comments

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Too busy to blog.......

Well it's been a while since I posted a blog which is bad, but good as the reason is I've been too busy. Sounds lame I know but it's true!

I've now had my second dose of FEC and will have the third next Wednesday. I've just about lost all my hair but not quite. I thought I would wear my wig all the time but since we seem to be living in tropical conditions (yes...Scotland!) I have taken to wearing much cooler, and I think quite fetching, bandanas.

The first two treatments have gone pretty well I think. I start to feel tired and sick about six hours after 'the hit' and just go to bed to sleep it off. The next day I feel a bit better then better still the next day, and by day 3 or 4 back to normal. I've not had any side effects so far (fingers crossed!) apart from a slightly sore arm from the epirubicin.

The one thing that did happen was that my pre chemo bloods came back with a very low-0.97-neutraphil count. This panicked me but the nurse on the phone reassured me and said just to come in slightly early the next day and they would recheck it. By the next morning it had risen to 1.72, boy was I relieved as the cut off for chemo is 1.00, so the chemo went ahead as planned. At least I'm prepared if it happens again.

My eye lashes are thinning.........NO!!!! Can cope with the rest but really want to keep them, or maybe it's just I know I'll be useless at the false eyelash thing.

Talking about eyelashes that reminds me of the most recent Kylie interview.

Now, i ask you? Yes she's had breast cancer, yes she's had chemo and yes it's horrible but not once did she acknowledge how hard it must be for all the other women out there who have money worries, or who need to work full time, or who have kids who need looked after.

Or come to think of it have a team of Chanel stylists to stick on their false eyelashes! I still think that Kylie is great but as a fellow breast cancer sufferer the interview left me saying ' come on Kylie, get a grip' - ( sorry to any die hard Kylie fans! )


One of the positive things to come out of this is that Gordon and I have decided to change our diets. We've cut out dairy products and are increasing natural soya products and are now eating mostly unrefined foods. We decided to do this after reading material about the low incedence of breast cancer in China and the thoery being that they eat no dairy but a large amount of soya.

Gordon has had problems with high blood pressure for years and it has fallen dramatically since starting this diet hey - Fab or what! So he wont have a stroke and I wont get breast cancer again.....well thats the theory. It does make me feel I'm doing something positive though.

Anyway, life goes on as normal. My daughter passed her driving test today and believe me, I've had a lot to worry about recently but none of that compares to the worry of your child hurtling around the country side in a metal box! Still, does mean somebody else can do the shopping run.

Labels: about-marjory, chemotherapy, epirubicin, hair-loss

posted by Marjory @ 1:57 PM 1 comments

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