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Your wig look the same as mine! Plus great you are dancing again. I used to dance a lot and taught rock ‘n’roll jive - such fun! Now teach yoga but would love to teach dance again once all this is over! Always good to see a dancer!

Yes apparently a lower dose with the new drug - but still with using cold cap it means for a long treatment as have to wear the cap before the treatment starts and when it ends to maintain the freeze on the hair follicles. I wear it half an hour before and one and a half hours after - it’s no walk in the park but tolerable so far. I do have a wig on standby but not needed it yet. We have a hair loss service in Saint James in Leeds and wig was without cost - that seems to be a post code lottery but worth enquiring about. The breast care nurse pointed me in their direction  - just for info!

Pacing myself was something I had to learn - albeit a bit late in life! I now have a mantra ‘There is grace in Pace’. Definitely now is the time to draw on that x

I dance with a local Samba / Salsa Teacher she is so inspiring. Afterwards I have to lie down sometimes. Don't know how it happens I am like Eeyore done days. Haha  I'm the purple birdie as she calls us. This was Dec 2021 x

Trendco have a Trichologist who does messages on email about diet to optimise hair growth when at that stage. I'm going to see her. The lack of oestrogen at menopause is what affected mine. I'm well past menopause now. Letrozole hot flushes are something I'm having to get used to again. At least I can turn the heating down and save money. I feel we are lucky to have treatment, I know it's hard to see that sometimes. My Morhers bowel cancer was picked up too late. XxxxxxxxxX 

Hi and no the kids enjoy playing up, especially the few who like attention. Your lessons will need to be water tight so they don't get the chance to upset you. You are very brave get as much rest as you can now.Hope the new teachers do well. Has the oncologist signed you off sick or the GP? Do they know you're doing this work from home? Look after yourself xx

Hi again!

Yes, I'm going to need to make sure the kids don't get to me... Will be as on it as I can with my lessons!

Everyone is happy with the work I'm doing, I'm not signed off but have a Med3 from my GP surgery that says I need 'Amended Duties'. If I want to be signed off, I can be. My school is letting me work on what I can, because I have asked for that, but there are plenty of days when I don't work at all, just focusing on resting and making myself feel better! 

How are you feeling? I wish you all the best with your treatment and recovery too.

X

Hi Blue Rose, no problem with questions, ask away

I find the cooling cap harder very other session, no idea why. As you get less hair you can ask for a surgical cap to go underneath. It looks a bit like a j cloth, I guess like surgeons wear. I find it does help and hasn’t affected the cooling cap when it’s put in. I have the small size for both cap and outer cap. I find I take my paracetamol just before I start to use it rather than half an hour before. 
It is strange looking at yourself with less hair. I still find it hard but I generally walk around with a beanie when I’m at home and use my wigs for going out. 
Yes I have found a difference in how I felt on both chemo drugs. When I had EC I just had 1 slow release blood booster injection. This made my skin, muscles and bones sore for a couple of days. So from about day 4-8 were my worst days and then I started to feel better. On top of it I felt really tired and rested. 
With the docetaxel I had targeted treatment too (for HER2 positive) so on the day I get hydrocortisone and piriton which make me sleepy as I reacted to the Phesgo. This is only normally for the day of treatment. The following day because I have steroids to take still I have a steroid high and manage to go to work. After that I do crash for about a week. I feel really tired and just end up in bed for at least one and then on the sofa for the rest. I do try and move as I’m scared of blood clots, I feel crap too but I think that’s the blood boosting injections as I have to have 5 of those and they also make me feel a bit nauseous (luckily I have drugs to help for that). So by about day 10-11 I start to pick up again but it does seem slower. I think it is harder on the body than EC but everyone seems to be very different with how they are affected. Some have said they find docetaxel a breeze compared to EC. I’m the other way round. It could be a combination of the Phesgo too. I have found my taste has been yukky on this too, making it harder to enjoy my food. 
Obviously it doesn’t mean you will feel the same as we are all different. I’m 52 so I don’t know if age plays a part in it too. 
Any other questions let me know Happy to help.

Hugs from cuffcake x x x x x

Thank you SO much for this, I've totally taken on board what you've said about the cold cap, and will persevere with it. I had a chat with my hairdresser today and she has cut my hair into a short pixie cut. I already feel less stressed about it, as it doesn't look straggly now, for now! 

I do have a wig, I don't remember if I said that before, so will start to wear it when I go out and see how I feel.

I am HER2 negative, so I don't know if my second set of drugs will be different from yours, people seem to have different protocols so I'll have to see. The booster injections I have at the moment certainly make me feel a bit rubbish, so I expect that will continue to be the case. At least, in this second cycle, I have known what to expect. Mentally, I've found that easier.

The taste thing sounds horrible. A friend of mine recommended sherbet lemons to help with that, I don't know if you have tried those...

I don't know if age plays a part either, I am 46, so not much younger than you.

How many more sessions of chemo do you have? Will you then have surgery too or have you already had it?

I hope your next treatment goes well. Hugs and best wishes.

XXX 

Hi Blue Rose, I have the extra drug Phesgo because I’m her2 positive. As you are negative you won’t get that. Are you having docetaxel? I’ve found a product to help nails both finger and toes called polybalm. I got it on Amazon. It’s quite expensive but it’s supposed to help prevent your nails from getting damaged. Some people have said they get black nails and they start to come away from the nail bed. I’ve used it for a while now and hope that it will help. It smells nice so it’s a bonus. 
Your haircut sounds lovely. I didn’t do anything with mine. 
I have one more cycle left on 13th April. Then I start radiotherapy on 3rd May. I’ve already had my surgery I had that before chemo. I had first surgery 6th oct and then as a sentinel node was positive I had to have an axillary clearance on 3rd nov. After radiotherapy I have a year of Phesgo injections every 3 weeks and 5-10 years of tamoxifen. 
Have you had your surgery ? 
Hugs from cuffcake x x x x x

Hi again Cuffcake,

Thank you for the polybalm tip, I'll get some. My 4-5-6 chemo treatments will be docetaxel, so hopefully it will help. A friend of mine said that she had had issues with her nails but that they had gone back to normal quite quickly. 

I haven't had my surgery yet, they decided I should have the chemo first. The surgeon said that she would most likely be removing the tissue where the tumour was once I get to that point. My Mum was diagnosed at the same time as me, but has not needed chemo. She had surgery on 10th Freb and had her radiotherapy last week. She's now on oestrogen blockers (not sure which ones) for 5-10 years. She is a lot older than you, but she said that the medication was making her very tired. They told her to expect that until her body gets used to it.

My final EC treatment is on 12th, so your last one will be the next day! I'll be thinking of you! Where are you being treated? I'm in Milton Keynes, the Cancer Centre there is only a few years old, so it's quite a nice place to go to, even though I'd obviously rather not!!

I read your story (by clicking on your name, as you suggested). Your family sound great, I hope your sons are doing well and that the mock exams went okay for the older one. My son is only 2 (a late parent here), so thankfully he is pretty much blissfully unaware of what is going on around him. He thought it was funny yesterday that I had had my hair cut similarly to his !!

Take care please. Hugs from BlueRose too. XXX