**JUNE BREAST CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY CHAT**

Thanks, I already take Omeprazole at bedtime but maybe need to try something different...and I've bought liquid Gaviscon instead of tablets to see if that makes a difference x

Hi  I was really struggling with heartburn too & tried a few different things that didn't help enough, then my oncologist & GP gave me Omeprazole it helps me most when I take it in the mornings before the heartburn kicks in and I've been advised by a nurse that it's ok to use liquid Gaviscon together with Omeprazole. So I sometimes use that in the evening too which I've found really helps when its bad. Its worth checking with your nurse, GP or oncologist to make sure you'll also be ok using both together. 

I was advised to try to sit & sleep more upright or try to lie on my left side instead of the right which has helped too. And I've also changed my diet a bit, thanks to Google I found a few food swaps really made a difference last week...next chemo today so hopefully these changes will still help even with the cocktail of medications I'm about to have again, if not I'll be asking for lansoprazole next thanks ! 

Hope this helps, if not speak to your nurses or docs

I was also told by my chemo nurse it was good to take as it protected your stomach lining from all the nasty drugs I was taking. I wished I’d asked for something sooner. 

Popped along to docs and she's doubled up my omeprazole to night and morning, and got a script for Carbomer gel eye drops, which I've just put in and feels instantly soothing...and I bought a lemon, ginger and manuka honey tea

Although I don't start my chemo until next Tues which is officially July I thought I'd jump in here and say hi.  Very glad the waiting is over but very nervous about what's in store.  At first, before diagnosis I felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to fall, I've now realised that this beast has many legs and it is a waiting game all along, waiting for the next shoe to fall.  I'll be glad when it finally has no legs but not sure that will ever be the case.

XOXO

Hello..I hope I haven't horrified you with my post chemo updates! 

Day 4 yesterday got my heartburn and dry eyes mostly sorted but felt like I had a fine tremor/wobbly legs all day (wondered if this was because 1st day without Dexamethasone)...subsided by Love Island time lol. Had another great sleep last night and I'm on no.1 coffee and hungry for breakfast.

Have a good day everyone, hope it's not too hot in Englandshire x

I too have not yet started chemo, but will next week, I guess. I had refused it initially two years ago. Then I had a recurrence in a cluster of three  lymph nodes earlier this year.

Had an ECHO of my heart today (your heart is very good, I was told afterwards), and see the oncologist tomorrow to be told my treatment plan. I know I'll have radiation later as well.

Felt very good today about it. But received bad news about my sister in law this evening, who lives in another country and was diagnosed with breast cancer around the same time as me, She is now in a vegetative state, after brain metastases were found some weeks ago. They expect her to die tonight, or soon after.

It's a strange situation. I know I'm much better than she was when she was diagnosed, but 

Hi  

Just popping by to offer a hug ...so difficult to know how to handle such devastating news and to be supportive to family and friends when you are in the the thick of it yourself. Of course its also difficult for those around us who are trying to judge not only how much to share with us but also whether to reveal how fragile and in need they are.

Very challenging to have such close experience of someone else's sadly different outcome of similar circumstances.

Gentle hugs

Hi All, 

Just wanted to pop in and say Hello and keep going, you are all amazing and for those of you who are just starting out, it is daunting however there is always someone to can talk to here. It seems a long road to the end of chemo but it really does go quite fast. 

I had a mastectomy last Oct, Node clearance in Nov and started chemo 1st week of January, it seemed ages till April when I’d finish chemo. Now I’ve had radiotherapy, my treatment is over apart from Tablets.

The oncologist said everything looks really great and I’m in Remission! 

Chemo might bring SE’s etc but just know it’s all worth it. 

Gentle hugs Tina x x

Thank you, ShimmeringUnicorn.

My sister in law is still fighting.

And thank you all for sharing your experiences.

My own treatment will begin in early July. Six cycles, every 21 days.

The cocktail will be docetaxel, carboplatin and Herceptin.

I'll be back when I'll have tasted it.