Hi Jasssscared,

I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your nail after taking Letrozole for 5 years.

I took Tamoxifen for 1 year and Letrozole for 6½ years and have had bother with my nails ever since. They haven't lifted, but look very dry and lifeless, have longitudinal ridges on all 10 fingers and break on a daily basis. My hair is also much thinner than it was before. I have tried all sorts of lotions and potions in the past 16 years but haven't found a solution yet - if you do, please let me know.

How is your daughter doing?

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Joalamine.thank you for replying ,and  Sorry for my late reply back to you. Yes i have ridges as well,and my hair isnt as goos as it used to be,before  all the treatments from chemo,letrazole. Its a lot thinner,and its dry brittle and breaks and splits  too. I guess many others on here ,have  experienced the same after all thier treatments. Thanks for asking about my daughter ,she will be having her 6th lot of chrmotherapy. Its much more than i had to have ,my daughter is on it from wed,through to the friday ,cones of chemo pump at 4pm,she takes the chemo pump home with her,so she doesnt have to stay in hospital, its every 2 weeks. My  son  when he had his chemo was on his from the frid at hospital in london till monday eve at 8pm,he had to stay in hospital as at the time Covid was rife. I has mine during covid,but it was just the day in hospital,and went home  around 5.30pm. My daughter is coping well,few side effects  ,neuropathy in her fingers/hands,srnsitive to cold,and  when she takes her first bite of any food her jaw hurts,but it is gone after the first bite. Her hair is good,hasnt lost it,but she does think it may be a bit thinner. My daughter has been told she will have a chemo port,put into her chest ,there is a 3mth waiting list,my daughter has a pic line,like i had for now. As its spread to her liver ,at both ends ,and is stage 4,we are hoping the chemotherapy and targeted drug,which stops the blood supply to her liver,which will starve the cancer cells,and hopefully stop it from spreading . My daughter has been told that they will do more scans eventually to check on  how the che mo and targeted drugs are working. 

Im praying every night ,god answered my prayers as her wedding was able to go ahead on the 24th Aoril . The wedding was perfect ,twilight wedding,and my beautifull daughter looked fabulous and was well enough to enjoy the day. Which im so gratefull for. We dont know how long my daughters treatments will be going on for,and  if the chemo works and shrinks the cancer liver lesions,if  an opperation  may be possible  on the liver in the future. Ive read the liver can regenerate itself by 75,%.  Hope your doing well Joalamine. Im ok, have more blood tests 3 on thursday. My thyroid is overactive,my cholestral is high,my calcium was high,and i have a fatty liver. I have a dexter scan on the 18th this monrh,and a colcospy gynocologist appointment check up for my vin 3( pre cancerous cells of the vulva) on the 22nd of this month. 

Had to go back to my dentist as had a lot of trouble with a tooth i chipped,and that my dentist filled. She made me bleed ,and had trouble stopping the bleed, then she filled the tooth. It never felt right,but not long after that was when my daughter waa ill,and diognosed with bowel cancer,so i just left it,as i had too much worry and stress,and going back wards and forwards to visit my daughter when she was in hospital .

My gum swelled and kept bleeding,when i eventually went back to my dentist,she took xray and said the tooth wiuld have to be taken out,as the root was rotten. I cried and said my daughters getting married,i cant be without my tooth as it was one at the side of the front teeth. She said ok ill give you antibiotics,hopefully it will be ok to wait till after the wedding,then the wedding was in 6wks time.   I then had to wait for an appointment,and i asked her to make me a flipper tooth,as was told id have to wait 3/6mths to have  any work done. 

So last thursday i had the tooth taken out,she broke the tooth, and couldnt get the root out,she said it would br ok to just leave it  ,and have a bridge done in 3mths time. She put the false flipper tooth in  and i gagged lol,it felt awfull,looked ok though. She said you will get used to it. Oh mt goidness trying to eat  even soft food was a joke,it kept pulling on a crown i had on the opposite  side. So on sat just gone,i made an appointment to see the dentist again. Id also googled about ,if a tooth broke whilst being taken out and the dentist couldnt remove the  root ,waa ut ok to leave the root in,and have a bridge done. Google said no,leaving a root in could cause an infection even a few days,months ,years even  10yrs  down the line.

Anyway she had to file the denture plate as it was covering some of my teeth ,and she didnt dispute what id learned  from good old google. She said ill refer you to hospital ,there is a long waiting list 6mths/1year. But ill put it as urgent,so hopefully it wont be as long. Denture fits better,and i can eat lol,but i still dont like the feeling of it and because i need to go see a dentist surgeon at hospital ,i will have to wear it longer than id orriginally hoped lol. I said to my dentist,if the hospital dentist says its ok to leave  the root in lije you said,ill just leave it in. But she said no they wont say that,they will say its best to take it out,and they will have to take a piece of jaw bone out,to get at it. Great i wont be looking forward to that lol. But its nothing,when i think of what my girls going through. Next week is going to be hot again ,which will be nice. Xxx

Hi Jasssoscared,

These side-effects seem to be pretty common, although I was never advised of them before I started treatment. I only had hormone therapy and never had any other treatments, so I was quite surprised when this happened. I am so glad to hear that your daughter's wedding went well and that she was well enough to enjoy the day. What bad timing that you had to get tooth trouble just before it. I am glad to hear that you were able to hang on to the tooth until after the big day, but my, what a time you've had with it since! I've never heard of anyone leaving the root in. Mostly, I've heard of having to get the gum cut back so that the dentist can reach the root. That should heal quicker than having to get part of the jaw bone removed! - I agree that it's not something to look forward to, but with what your poor daughter is going through, it is minor by comparison.

I hope that all your blood tests are satisfactory and that all goes well with your DEXA scan on 18th. I was referred for a DEXA scan in January and am still waiting for an appointment. This is something I'll need to chase up as soon as I get the time - my hubby has not been well since November and has spent a lot of time in hospital. Fatty liver is a common problem affecting about 1 person in 4 in America and the figures are still rising. I have had this for the past 16 years and I get my liver checked out every 6 months as a result. When I moved down to England my diagnosis somehow or other changed to Cirrhosis, which worried me. However, I saw the Hepatology consultant last month and she told me that she didn't think that I had cirrhosis. After doing an ultrasound and a Fibroscan, she was able to confirm that she was correct, as my liver is now much better than it was when first diagnosed. The liver really is an amazing organ and is indeed capable of regenerating by up to 75%.

It sounds as if your daughter is being very brave and facing her diagnosis head on. It is good to hear that she is coping fairly well with chemo and the targeted therapy - here's hoping that she continues to hold on to her hair. Even if it is a little thinner than it was, this is better than the trauma of losing it all. I sincerely hope that these treatments can shrink the cancer.

How are you bearing up? You have had a really tough time with the three of you being diagnosed one after the other - I don't know how you cope!

Thinking of you, as well as hoping and praying for good results for all of you.

Jolamine xx