What has helped you through your journey?

I got the sore sore tongue.

mix 1 tsp bicarb with 1/4-1/2 tsp salt in warm water, mix to dissolve and gargle as often as you can, this really helped...

The salt can sting sometimes and when too bad I would leave the salt out and just use the bicarb, but it really helped, the other things that helped were biotene toothpaste , not as strong flavoured as most others, and biotene mouthwash, also not strong and no alcohol, which can dry the tissues out.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck, and congrats on being nearly finished, only 1 more to goo - woo hoo!!

Sharon

Hey Shaz

forgot to include you in my last post...have a read at what I replied to Julie and Vicki.

So very very exciting to know you are done with chemo huh!!! Now you just need to get over your last one. Dont be in a hurry. It takes some time to get over it. I am still getting over it my last one at the end of April. Nothing too bad tho. After about 4 weeks, I started feeling like me again. I'll never forget that feeling.

Hope all is well with you 

Tania XX

Its all good Vicki. Bald and fat is fine! It only took me about 2 months to kick the chemo weight. I finished chemo at the end of April. Hair is growing back. I am finally waking in the morning with "bed hair". It made me so happy to wake that first morning noticing that I had to do something with my hair before I walked out the door! 

Julie, the nurses were straight onto it when I had my allergic reaction. I started feeling weird and turned...said nurse...something is wrong and then it was on! So scary. I couldnt breathe, my entire body went bright red, I had this loud ringing in my ears and thought I was going to vomit and poo my pants...All at the same time. Absolutely aweful. They pulled me straight off chemo, gave me a relaxation pill to slow my adrenaline then gave me antihisthamede (sp?). They kept me off for about an hour and then hooked me back up again. From then on, everytime I had chemo I had to have a Zurtec tablet and IV antihisthamede first and then my chemo. It only happens to 5% of us. Day 10 of my first chemo landed me in hospital with no red or white cells and that only happens to about 8% of us. Lucky me huh!! Its all over now so its ok. I am fine. The reaction was over as soon as they took me off chemo. Amazing Nurses...I tell ya.

Hope your both travelling well

Hugs to ya XXXXX

Hi Tania

Isn't it lovely when some one just surprises you with a lovely gift. And champagne at that..... nice.

Great to have hit a milestone finally, and to have a little reward to celebrate.

Only have 4 more chemos to go... that light at the end of the tunnel is approaching. Then radiation.

It must have been scary to have had an anphilatcic reation. What did the nurses do? Atleast you are alright now.

Anyway enjoy that beautiful bottle of "bubbly" with some chocolate me thinks.... :)

Love Julie XX

I also have found strangers to be wonderful.

I walk around bald, indoors most of the time and I rarely get stared at, and have had cancer survivors come up to me to tell me it is OK, youcan get through it, they are ..... years cancer free.

I took cupcakes for everyone at chemo on my last day (even though I still go every 21 days for my Herceptin, my actual chemo was over) and I also took a container of mixed dried fruit and nuts for those who were watching there diets as some patients do (not everyone at our chemo clinic is on chemo, some come for blood transfusions etc as well, and there are those who like me have Herceptin and are over the actual chemo), I am not one of them :o) I eat whatever my body is interested in as my appetite is still poor.

A few people have thought I have shaved my head for the shave for a cure thingy and have asked me and I have just laughed and said no they shaved there heads for me :o), It is a chemo style :o)

What a lovely man to give you the champage, and you obviously put his mind at rest seeing you have your reaction to know that if it happened it could be dealt with and off you go. Were you able to continue with that drug after an anaphylactic reaction odid you have to go onto a different drug?

Tamoxifen is used to treat estrogen positive breast cancer (BC), there is another med that is used to treat progesterone positive BC.

Tamoxifen is a single tablet once a day and this slows or stops the bodies production of estrogen starving the tumour and helping to prevent any returning or the chance of mets/ secondaries.

I started on the Tamoxifen last night, I don't need the progesterone med becasue I am ER+ but PR- and am continuing on with my Herceptin (had my 1st solo herceptin on Monday) as I am also HER2 +.

Is a hormone therapy drug that blocks the activity of oestrogen in the breast by binding to the cells to reduce the change of cancer returning.

I am absolutely blown away by strangers Vicki.

My girlfriend threw me a "Hair Raiser" fundraiser. One of my best mates pulled me aside to tell me she put $100 in the pink bucket from her brother in-law's Mother in-law. Hope that makes sense?? Anyway...I have never met her. Amazing

An ole fella I sat with when having chemo bought me a bottle of French Champagne "Verve Clique" on my last chemo. He wanted to wish me well as he had witnessed me having an anphilatcic reation to chemo on my second round and said it helped him. Showed him what would happen if he was allergic to chemo too.

I am sitting here recovering from more surgery trying to remember other random acts of kindness from strangers that I have experienced and for the life of me cant think of any. But there are many many more.

It gives me amazing amounts of hope and appreciation of life!

Hope you are travelling well

Tania xx