Hi

i had a similar visit 5 days ago, except I've never been through this before, I'm still waiting on CT as my lymph nodes were also affected 

I don't know how I'm meant to feel, I just feel like I need all the results now and the wait is excruciating 

I have a 3 week wait for CT due to coronavirus although I am on an emergency cancellation list

i would welcome any advice at all on how best to deal with this, I'm 43 and have 3 young children 

xxx

Hi AMil,

I am sorry to hear you are joining the club no one wants to join!! I think my advice would be to always try and remain positive. Medicine has moved on so much that breast cancer has a really high survival rate - in the 90%'s. Talk to people - friends/family or even us. I found that people who had been through/were going through BC had a better understanding of what I was going through but my friends and family were still amazing. Try and keep busy, between appointments. Waiting for scans/results is definitely one of the hardest parts!!! 
Remember, this is just a 'blip' The 3 of us all had very different journeys but we were there to talk about it and share worries and advice. Happy to do the same for you.

Caroline

Love hearing from you ladies!  

Ahh PUPPY!!!  I'm so envious, I love dogs and their general stupidity (anything that makes me feel intellectually superior is good...only found dogs that do it so far..ha!!), my pal has Jaffa the cockerpoo, he's a lot more '***' than 'poo' though but is a loon and a delight at the same time.

I did have a fabby weekend, consumed a zillion calories (feel like the stomach fat roll could cope with a JJ reconstruction!) as last night the friend doing BBQ did me a lovely cheese platter (am not a pudding person...odd I know).

And Caroline I know how you feel re big birthdays, it was my 50th last year which conincided with blummin' diagnosis!  These diseases starting with 'C' spoil all our fun eh?  Am sure, like me, you'll manage to still have lots of fun though.

Christine, impressed with and surprised that your daughter let you become a temporary tree surgeon and water carrier...most impressive, you can add those skills to your already extensive repertoire.

Think my trainers ahve now (finally) dried out post last week's soaking ...just in time for today's cycling adventure...hurrah!  And no rain expected so think we'll stay somewhat drier this time.

And the Father is fine, he was chucked out of hospital yesterday and announced on arrival home that he needed a shower!  His poor partner just left him to it and stood near the phone ready to call for an ambulance...he is an idiot.

Good to hear from you & that you're both well X

Ha - love that CRUK ***'d out the first 4 letters of the type of puppy you're getting!!

Hi girls! 
I am happy to say I had my mammogram today. What a difference to last year. If you remember from my very first post, the clinic was heaving with women, all crowded into the waiting area clutching their gowns as they waited for the next stage of their examinations. Today there was one woman and her partner in the corner and I was the only other patient. I was immediately taken down to the mammography waiting area and it was no more than three minutes before I was called in.  Five minutes later I was on my way.  I used the  visit to town as an excuse to do some shopping. Nothing very exciting, just some spring bulbs and plug pots from B&Q then groceries that I had forgotten when ordering my delivery. 
Our local paper was boasting about the town keeping our Covid figures down, we are still doing well compared with neighbouring boroughs. I suspect the reason is we are all staying home in our outlying villages, and only surfacing when essential.

I'll update when I get the results. 
 

Stay safe!

xxx

Congrats Christine, you finally got that elusive mammogram, hope you get the results and don't have to guess like I did.

I've just invested in some new bulbs too, planting this weekend I think, love them spring flowers.  But as a tight northerner not yet ready to uproot current bedding plants (which are looking vvv tired...bit like me!) given that another summer beckons next week.

So lots happening here, back at work 5 days from next week...we'll see how that goes as was absolutely shattered Thurs/Fri after quite a full on 4 day week..asleep on sofa by 8pm!  Not good, I should be drop dead gorgeous by now considering all the beauty sleep I've had over the past 2 nights, unfortunately it seems to be eluding me.

Had a wildlife adventure in the week - found a stupid and injured teenage swan on the cycle path, all the Surrey yummy mummy's were just walking past it, commenting and then carrying on with their days! I ask you. I decided to stick around to protect it from dogs until the ranger that I called turned up and took it to a local wildlife refuge...what was odd is there's no ponds nearby, I think it had been out on an illegal rave with fellow swans.

I've got my 6 monthly follow up appointment this week, expectations are vvvv low, found out yesterday its via phone (cop out!)...not heard any good feedback about these.  I'm also due to have a bone and CT scan soon in prep for DIEP, they want to check that am still cancer free before moving bits of body around and putting me on Dr Frankenstein's table (I'd actually enjoy a few jolts of volts, might wake me up).  And then, rather randomly, an oncologist follow up in Nov that seems odd but I'll take it.

So have a draft date for DIEP, 8th Dec (Happy Christmas & all!), not quite sure how my zolodex injection the week after will work but will find a way...and ask the chemo nurse when am there in a couple of weeks.

Father is recovering well and off oop north next weekend to see him & his poor suffering partner...yay!! Would like to visit the northern mother too but she's in a naughty area of west yorks so still in lockdown and not sure if it's warm enough to do much outside...she's just going to have to wait I guess.  Just hope my Friday drive isn't quite as challenging as last time was (over 6 hrs).  So am not really working 5 days but Monday will be hard work (not having worked one since January).

The southern mother finally managed to wrench herself away from the cricket to meet me for lunch at a lovely place near Winchester (handy as midway between us) ...smoked salmon then a hoooge portion of fish & chips, still managed to polish it all off ( I am such a pig!), just as well I'm doing all this exercise isn't it?  She gave me a large bottle of raspberry vodka for my birthday...let's see how long that lasts eh??

How are the pared down 50th plans (there must be some) going Caroline? Whatever you do they will be better than mine last year as coincided with diagnosis...timing always one of my specialities. Your mammo is the day after my follow up, hope its not too painful and is as quick as Christine's and mine were.  Have you got little Eddie yet?  Jaffa, the one my pal has,was called nightmare for its first year...

Tell us when you get your all clear Christine...did I tell you my middle name is Nostradamus?

X

Hi Sam,

congratulations on being back at work. I think it is a good milestone, even though you are cream crackered at the end of the day. 
We had a similar wildlife adventure this week. My daughter's house looks out onto a fishing lake with lots of different water birds. We were delighted to see that the Muscovy ducks had managed to keep half their ducklings. Some years they lose them all to the foxes and pike. We met a neighbour who is big into rescuing, one year she took a clutch of ducklings and reared them to adulthood in her garden pond. She was looking for "Gully" a seagull that apparently had a broken wing. My daughter looked down at the grass edging the lake and said "I think you"ve found him" there was this little gull all curled up, and I think he was breathing his last, but this lady grabbed him and carried him off in her arms to who knows where. We haven't seen her since to ask about him but I don't think it will be good news.

Welcome to the world of telephone consultations, let us know how you go on. I hope you get your DIEP, done. It looks very unpromising for the immediate future COVID  wise, so you might have to wait a bit longer. I hope not, though. 
 

I have had a busy week, the first for many months. Last Friday I went for the mammogram, as previously reported, then on Monday my son arrived back from caring for his in-laws in Ireland. He told me he would probably go home and self isolate before coming up to see me, depending on how much interaction he had with others on the ferry. Anyway, he hardly saw anyone on board so made the detour to come North before going back down South. It was lovely just spending a couple of hours with him. Then on Tuesday, my niece, who lives as far South as possible, on the Kent coast, came to see me. She and her husband were staying at a holiday cottage just up the motorway from me so they brought their gorgeous dogs, a whippet and a lurched, and we had a lovely time catching up. 
Today I went to the Lympho clinic and everything is going well. I just need to carry on the drainage exercises. 
When I got home I had a couple of missed calls from a withheld number- the hospital with my mammogram results. Apparently that area of dead fat they found last year has shown up as calcification so they want to do a biopsy to check it out oh joy!  While I was writing this my phone rang again with my appointment for next Monday at 11 am. No messing about there. I don't have any reason to think it is anything serious. Last year I had been frighteningly fatigued for a couple of months before my diagnosis and this year I've been a roofer, a lumberjack and a removals person in the last few weeks. My daughter needed to move a big metal tambour unit from her porch to her garage. Unfortunately the garage is about ten feet higher than and twenty yards away from the porch up a series of steps. We managed! I think I'm going to write a new CV offering my services as a general handy woman!

Keep well, both of you! 
 

Christine xxx

Hi ladies!

So mammogram was today. I was worried to be fair, more because my "back flap" boob still hurts so I was worried about it being squashed. They were very good and did stop when I said it hurt. I found it pulled on my back scar too. Just got to wait now - 2/4 weeks for the results.  I'm not too worried about the results though. 
I met up with my 'cancer buddy'  for a cuppa as her mammogram was a couple of hours after mine. We met at the 'non stop' breast cancer clinic last June and were diagnosed on the same day. 
Then this afternoon I went and had a tattoo!! I will have to see if I can put a pic on!!
Christine, what a bummer re having to go back for a biopsy. Fingers crossed all is fine! 
Sam, you sound like you are mucking along, getting back to the normality of work!  I have everything crossed that your op will go ahead as planned. All this Covid increase isn't really anything we haven't been expecting but such a pain in the ***. 
I actually like staying in than going out nowadays!! 
We pick up our new puppy on Sunday! I'm expecting the hard work to come and have booked to work from home next week! My sleep is pretty crap now I'm taking my tamoxifen again, so I'm such getting up for a puppy will be a doddle :laugh: 

Make sure you both stay in touch - let's get through this first milestone without any major hiccups!! 
Love to you both.

Caroline

Hey Caroline,

Ouch! I forgot you would have to put your "bad" boob through mammogram as well as the remaining "good" one. I only had dangly DD to squeeze so no pain there.

I love the tattoo! Where is it? I can't tell from the photo.

You will have to put a photo of your puppy on here so we can drool. The one thing I did manage to train Archie to do was to go to the toilet outside. It involved l o n g stretches of time during the first week, in the garden saying "Weewee Archie" followed by extravagant amounts of praise when he did his duty. He cottoned on to what I wanted him to do after only a few days, in fact, I still have nearly a full pack of the one pack of puppy pads I bought, we had so few accidents. Any other attempts at training failed because Faith kept interfering, she wanted to be his boss, not me.

I am sure all will be ok when I have the biopsy, I'm just not looking forward to the event itself. The nurse said I will have to go into the mammogram machine again before getting an injection of local anaesthetic and then they'll do the biopsy. I read later that calcification only shows up on a mammogram, not on ultrasound so they have to put me in again to see where the chalk is,weird!  That's how she described it.  Still, the fact that they have got me in so quickly shows they are still working that end of the job properly, even if they are failing on the normal follow ups. It would be too ironic, if, after all the fuss I made about getting both breasts removed, last year and being refused,they had to do it anyway! I don't think so, though.

i know how you feel about staying in, after being sociable with my visitors, this week, my daughter suggested the two of us went to the pub for tea the next day. Then that night I saw that our local Covid infection rate had doubled in a week and we were now in the top fifty for cases, we decided to stay in!  So it came as no surprise when it was announced today that we were included with the rest of Lancashire now for more restrictions.  I'm so glad I got my visitors this week!

I'll let you know how I go on with the biopsy. You must let us know when you get your mammogram results, and you, Sam, must let us know how you go on with your DIEP plans and what your oncologist has to say.
 It's been a funny old year with one thing and another, 2019 and breast cancer has sort of faded into insignificance compared to 2020 and the pandemic! Who would have thought it?

Take care, stay safe,

lots of love

Christine xxx

Hi Christine,

The tattoo is on my right inter arm. Oh and just to make you chuckle - I was doing a good deed last week and went to pick a friend up, for a birthday meal and got caught speeding!!! 
Caroline xx

Hi Caroline,

So many people I know have been caught speeding, we have come to the conclusion there is a money making drive on, to compensate for the lack of people driving ( and speeding) during lockdown. 

I did chuckle! Horrible person that I am. :)

C xxx

Hello ladies,

Just to let you know all good here.  Had my follow up meeting, by phone and it was OK, mainly as had low expectations thanks to yours and others experience.  I gave the nurse a list of actions at the end of the call and she's done OK so far. I was back at hospital today to have lumps and bumps around armpit checked, I had to laugh when she declared that I needed an ultrasound as one wasn't clear scar tissue, turns out, as I suspected, all fine.

I now, post falling off bike!, have lymphodema so am being fitted for a sexy compression garment.  I find its got better after I looked for lymphodema massage on you tube (sounds like what you do Christine?), not sure why the nurse didn't suggest this....

So Caroline you're turning into a right outlaw, speeding and a tattoo!  Like it (on both fronts).  And agreed they are generally money making machines rather than increasing road safety but, as Christine will no doubt testify, the courses are actually, and surprisingly very good. So enjoy!

I'm surprised they mammo'd your recon boob, presumably there's still some breast tissue in there?  As they removed all mine I'll only ever have mammo on RHS.  Good you're taking the drugs again, pants they affect your sleep, I am so lucky that I can sleep well.  How's the naughty puppy getting on then?  What's he eaten so far that he wasn't meant to?

Christine - what news of the biopsy?  I think I might have had calcification in the LHS that was removed via wide local excision...a breeze vs mx.

I see that a lot of the north is on lockdown, was lucky got up there a couple of weekend ago to see my Pa, who is recovering well.  Also went to the Yorkshire Sculptue Park, never been before, I heartily recommend it, interesting pieces in a lovely setting. Am lucky that my Father is in the better behaved North Yorks!

It sounds so lovely where you are with ducks and all, do hope that gull is OK, hate the thought of any animal in pain.

What skills have you added to your extensive repertoire since metal manoeuvrings?

I was due to have a bone scan to check no spread pre DIEP on Friday but en route to hospital got a call to say they'd messed up and it would be in Nov!  Surprised? Sadly no, so we're now on for 2nd Nov...I have a banging CD at the ready!  I remember last time I had MRI the best 'music' they had was big band type stuff...not really my taste..

Tomorrow is first full (9-5) work day!  What a milestone...may need an early night after spreadsheet overload tomorrow.  That said I think I managed to kill my new work laptop earlier so may be having a nap whilst I wait for IT (lack of) support...

Anyway, what's really important is that (cue drum roll), just to show some doubting Thomas's wrong, I have actually completed a cushion cover!! Yep, you read correctly, its been over a year in the planning but finally I overcame the procrastination and cracked on. Just to make life challenging it was a wedge pillow thing that will come in handy post DIEP so normal cushions will now be a breeze! If you don't look closely it looks quite good.  Not bad for what used to be a roman blind.  I'll see if I can add a picture.

Glad you're both doing well and remain lurgi free!

X

Hello ladies,

Just to let you know all good here.  Had my follow up meeting, by phone and it was OK, mainly as had low expectations thanks to yours and others experience.  I gave the nurse a list of actions at the end of the call and she's done OK so far. I was back at hospital today to have lumps and bumps around armpit checked, I had to laugh when she declared that I needed an ultrasound as one wasn't clear scar tissue, turns out, as I suspected, all fine.

I now, post falling off bike!, have lymphodema so am being fitted for a sexy compression garment.  I find its got better after I looked for lymphodema massage on you tube (sounds like what you do Christine?), not sure why the nurse didn't suggest this....

So Caroline you're turning into a right outlaw, speeding and a tattoo!  Like it (on both fronts).  And agreed they are generally money making machines rather than increasing road safety but, as Christine will no doubt testify, the courses are actually, and surprisingly very good. So enjoy!

I'm surprised they mammo'd your recon boob, presumably there's still some breast tissue in there?  As they removed all mine I'll only ever have mammo on RHS.  Good you're taking the drugs again, pants they affect your sleep, I am so lucky that I can sleep well.  How's the naughty puppy getting on then?  What's he eaten so far that he wasn't meant to?

Christine - what news of the biopsy?  I think I might have had calcification in the LHS that was removed via wide local excision...a breeze vs mx.

I see that a lot of the north is on lockdown, was lucky got up there a couple of weekend ago to see my Pa, who is recovering well.  Also went to the Yorkshire Sculptue Park, never been before, I heartily recommend it, interesting pieces in a lovely setting. Am lucky that my Father is in the better behaved North Yorks!

It sounds so lovely where you are with ducks and all, do hope that gull is OK, hate the thought of any animal in pain.

What skills have you added to your extensive repertoire since metal manoeuvrings?

I was due to have a bone scan to check no spread pre DIEP on Friday but en route to hospital got a call to say they'd messed up and it would be in Nov!  Surprised? Sadly no, so we're now on for 2nd Nov...I have a banging CD at the ready!  I remember last time I had MRI the best 'music' they had was big band type stuff...not really my taste..

Tomorrow is first full (9-5) work day!  What a milestone...may need an early night after spreadsheet overload tomorrow.  That said I think I managed to kill my new work laptop earlier so may be having a nap whilst I wait for IT (lack of) support...

Anyway, what's really important is that (cue drum roll), just to show some doubting Thomas's wrong, I have actually completed a cushion cover!! Yep, you read correctly, its been over a year in the planning but finally I overcame the procrastination and cracked on. Just to make life challenging it was a wedge pillow thing that will come in handy post DIEP so normal cushions will now be a breeze! If you don't look closely it looks quite good.  Not bad for what used to be a roman blind.  I'll see if I can add a picture.

Glad you're both doing well and remain lurgi free!

X

Hi girls, 

Sam, I hope you have survived your full day at work, are you working from home?

Sorry about the mixup about your bone scan. It's little things like that which cause stress even when you weren't stressed before. I hate MRI scan music, too. 
Now I've pretended to be a kind, caring old dear, I'm going to show my true colours and say "What??? I am stunned beyond belief to hear you have completed a cushion cover!!!"  Just shows what can be done with determination,  Just kidding, I knew you could do it. 
Alas we have had no update on "Gully" we do not expect good news. The ducklings are still doing ok, though, which is really pleasing. 
My biopsies were the delightful experience you can imagine. I don't think they actually got a sample of the calcification because after ten or more attempts with that horrible punch thing that felt as though he was stapling my boob to the mammogram machine, while I was pinned under it, the doc stopped it as I'd been through enough, his words.  They were all saying how brave I was as he kept trying and trying. I asked did people usually cry, and was told they usually scream!   My daughter's neighbour said she had only had one and she passed out and wet herself! My daughter says she now knows where she got her toughness from.  As I said, the outcome of the efforts could be nothing as the doc said I'll probably just be advised to have another mammogram in twelve months. I'll let you know if I hear anything different. 
I'm sorry you've got lymphoedema, my exercises were given to me by the nurses at the lymphoedema clinic and I was referred by the physiotherapist at the hospital. I don't think the breast nurses know much about it. I find things that you would expect to be part and parcel of the breast cancer nursing agenda are often dealt with by a totally different department and ne'er the twain shall meet! 
 My knees have been playing up again, recently, so I phoned the GP to see if I could get another injection. He said he was happy to do it as arthritis is always worse in the Winter but I would have to sign a consent form because there is a risk that steroid injections can lead to a more severe illness should I contract Covid 19. I signed the form and I go for the jabs tomorrow, then I shall just have to be extra careful about my social distancing. I was quite surprised that I hadn't heard this before. 
Caroline, I love your tattooI. I sometimes think I would like a small one, somewhere discreet but I would never have the courage. I never had my ears pierced in case it hurt and don't even mention micro blading my eyebrows!!! I am a right wimp for someone as tough as my daughter thinks I am! I hope all is well with you. How is the puppy doing? I hope he's not like Archie with his taste for everything inedible. 
Stay well, stay safe!

Christine xxx
 

Hi ladies,

Puppy pic in my profile picture! Oh god! I'd forgotten how much work puppies are!! It's full on! I worked from home last week and this week am doing 2 days at home,2 days in the office as in-laws are on puppy duty. He does now sleep through the night until 7/7:30am. Only a few toilet accidents inside - mainly due to us not taking him out on time. But you do need eyes in the back of your head! He hasn't wrecked anything yet - fingers crossed!!! 
Still no mammogram results. But I'm going on the notion that no news is good news! My RHS - (dodgy rebuilt boob) does still have some breast tissue, across the top, which is why they mammogrammed it.
Sam, good luck with full time work! I can't manage that in normal circumstances :laugh: So do you now have a lovely arm bandage for your lymphodema? A bit pants re your bone scan. I had a dexa bone scan last year, to assess my bone density but it was done and dusted really quickly. None of the awful MRI music or banging machine. Hopefully it will all be fine too.

Christine - oh I remember those biopsies!! And have to agree with your daughter that you are really brave while they tried all that many times! I had 3 done at my initial assessment and that was bad enough!! 

I see my consultant on the 7th and am assuming I will be formally discharged then!! Then it's a case of "get on with it" which I actually don't mind. I don't seem to be feeling as anxious now so am happy to get on with a cancer free life!!

Caroline xx
 

Caroline,

Am loving that puppy...especially like his 'in mourning' black arm band on front paw!  He looks like a wee devil, but a cute one.  Once he's all toilet trained etc you'll be chuffed with your efforts and can reflect on your achievements (as I am with my cushion ones...puppy's, cushions...very similar I think you'll find).  What's his name, for some reason I think he's called Eddie but have no idea why & probably made it up (like I do a lot of things).

Yeah I'll be getting a compression sleeve which I think is for when the arm is active. The bone scan is to check for cancer spread, its different ( so I'm told) to the density one...I'll be having one of those when I finish bisphosphonates in 3 yrs to check there's actually some bone left or something, they 'assume' that the bisphosphonates are doing their job in the meantime (!!).  Fingers crossed & all that.

Good assumption on the mammo front, if there was something amiss, even in this day & age, they'd be on it straight away so in this case no news is good news.  That said I would check in the not too distant future as things can get missed (just to be on the safe side).

So on the 7th that's when you're told you're formally in remission is it?  I remain a tad confused as to whether I am or not, as no-one has ever told me (but I've never asked).  I have an appointment with onc mid Nov and was thinking that would be the discussion then??  Glad you're moving on and anxiety levels are low, its the way we ladies should be but, sadly, not all can achieve.

So you two have lovely animals as your avatars and I now have a cushion!  Decided after 5 mins of inability to do elsewise to show you my homemade delights this way.  Amazing what you can do with a sewing machine complete with dummyesque instructions and an idiot determined not to waste old curtain material (such a tight northerner!).

Christine - I had one of those punch biopsies, it was fun, no peeing or crying though, I'm a tough old boot too who thankfully has a high pain threshold.  Good that they tried many times though...!! Your boob must resemble emmental by now.  Well done though.

Full work day fine...as expected.  Its good to be being productive (work-wise) once again, I will however miss my long morning cycles and trips to the gym whilst its nice & quiet.  That said, and the reason why I'm sending this mid-day I have now managed to break 2 laptops this week so am awaiting IT to sort me out (they're never in a rush). And no stresses at this end...well not until I was discussing the date of my DIEP and figured that the secretary was making an appointment for a Fulham hospital and I was assuming it was the local hospital, where I had my initial consultation...so need another date for that or trips into bl00dy London which I really don't fancy on so many levels.

Actually, now I've been 'seen' and had it confirmed its lymphodema it seems to be a lot better, think my massaging technique c/o youtube is most excellent...I can see the bones on the top of my hand again.  I seem to be lucky that although I get a fair few side effects they're only temporary.  Still will get a sleeve as it may come back.

Hope the steroid injection was more pleasant than 10 punch biopsies...you'll leak when you drink at the end of this week I reckon.  And more importantly hope it works and doesn't lead to more side effects (nothings for free re drugs & bodies is it?).

Have a fabbo rest of week both XX
 

Loving the cushion!!! Lovely colours and very trendy looking. 
Yes! Puppy is called Eddie. The black front leg is a very distinguishing feature!! He looks like he is wearing an arm band or bandage. He's a very quick learner and has already learnt to sit and give you his paw. 
Do we get told we are ever in remission?? I don't know! I suppose we will be classed as being 'cancer free', which sounds fabulous in itself!! 
And you'll breeze the DIEP!! Walk in the park :wink:

Here's to hoping you get a quiet afternoon while your lap tops are fixed! I am working from home - in between doing puppy sitting and housework :laugh::laugh:

Have a fab weekend!! 
 

Caroline xx

Hi Girls,

I think I am going to change my photo from the "heeland coo" to something that relates to my nom de plume, so I'm going to put up a photo of Archie!

The reason I am actually writing just now is to metaphorically scream!  I've just had a call from my BCN to say they want to do more biopsies because they couldn't get any of the calcifications to test last time!  Aaaaaaagh!! I told her how delighted I was to hear that, in view of the fun I had last time - NOT!

My sensible head says it's better to be sure than to wait a year, but I'm not looking forward to being stapled to the machine again. Still, he might find a sample straight away, this time and be done in one go.  Ever the optimist!  I am waiting for a call with my appointment now.

I hope you are not being washed away by the rain. My back garden is looking like Venice with canals instead of paths. 
Take care, stay safe

 Christine xx

Oh Christine that's pants! I got my mammogram was "satisfactory" letter so that's good but then got a call today to say that my annual check up tomorrow, with my consultant has now got to be changed to a telephone call!! Yet again!! So again I have no one giving me a physical check over!! :angry:

Caroline xx

Oh Caroline, 

That physical check by someone who knows what they are looking at and talking about is so important. I found the telephone call very unsatisfactory as a check up. Even going for the mammogram and biopsies doesn't feel particularly satisfying because the people involved only know their bit of the business and can't answer the questions about how I'm doing with regard to recovery, remission or possible recurrence etc.

Thank goodness we aren't going through those early days now, it must be terrifying. 
I wonder if the moderators will censor this. It's a bummer!

Chin up and try to remember your questions tomorrow.

C xx

Hiya!!

Caroline
You'll maybe not surprised to know that I'm not a fan of muted colours, the thought of a grey or beige house is not my idea of fun, my house is quite colourful and my current and ex-curtains ( the latter now being a cushion cover) follow my love of bright colours.  The boyfriend is more of a Farrow & Ball lover, another reason why we could never live together...
Is Eddie sleeping through yet?  What has he eaten? When I visit my pals cockerpoo we have to put shoes on the tops of dining table chairs so that they remain intact...little monkey.
Good that mammo all clear, hope annual check up all good....am sure it was. I got to see someone F2F by asking that they check out my lumps & bumps (which were confirmed to be scar tissue)...just to be on the safe side.

Christine 
Whilst Eddie is cute, Archie definitely wins in the fluffiness dept! Good to see him in all his glory, and he so looks like butter (well fat balls in his case) wouldn't melt ...
Whilst its good they're determined to find out what's going on in that boob, its pants that you have to be hole punched all over again...no fun at all.  I do wonder given they couldn't get a decent sample last time what they'll be doing differently this time? 
Hope your garden is a little less soggy now.  I came across a large mud & horse muck bog last night that was the breadth of the bridlepath I was cycling on, no way I could cycle through so got off but 2 ft deep bog got the best of me and sucked me in so I fell over, had a very soft but smelly landing.  Then the dog walker behind me pointed out the way she was going and there was actually a way round...great!  I do like to think that I at least gave her some amusement with my muddy/horse cr4p covered ar5e/feet & legs/hands.  I do think that ingesting horse muck must have medicinal properties, lucky for me.

Spent the weekend harvesting about 80 bl00dy chillis!  I was dreaming about de-seeding chillis Saturday night and now have enough green chilli sauce, marinara sauce, picked and oil infused ones to last right through the winter.  I now know I'd never make it as a farmer.

Well I now have a weeks holiday...lovely. What that means nowadays is longer bike rides, doing chores (cue a clean house), last of the bulb & bedding plantings and more cushion construction!  A thrilling week indeed...will hopefully be seeing a pal over from Southern Ireland too in sunny Bedford (!!)....think its far enough away from dodgy bits of the Midlands.  Let's see what Boris has to say later though eh?

Having now gained (lymphodema created) sausage index & middle fingers I'll be doing super long massages...still no date for compression sleeve fitting, at this rate it will be delivered by Santa.  Think I've also got mild asthma from radiotherapy....these don't really bother me just a tad annoying more than anything, gives me something to moan about & focus on I guess!  Still waiting for confirmation of DIEP date...lucky I'm a tenacious person eh?

Right time to go to gym, that chest & back aren't going to work themselves out!!!

Hope all good in the naughty north & sunny south X
 

Hiya!

Sam you make me laugh even when you are reporting a catastrophe!  I won't even take the dogs on muddy paths when the weather is wet. You can imagine what Archie looks like after a muddy walk, and Smudge has the same kind of coat, just a different colour. I hope it was only your pride that suffered in that fall!

As I was reading your message the phone rang - the landline - only ever rings when someone wants to sell me something or scam me, or worse, number withheld!  That was the case today, so I answered it, don't answer unknown numbers but withheld means the doctor or the hospital and sure enough it was the BCN with my appointment for what she euphemistically called a "procedure". So tomorrow's the day for pinning me to a machine again. 11 o'clock, whoopeedoo!

I was checking up on the calcification thing and apparently if they are large in clusters they are usually totally innocent but if they are tiny and spread apart, as mine are, they can be sinister. Unfortunately, being tiny means they are difficult to grab!  I thought with the new increase in local Covid 19 cases that they might delay my "procedure" but, alas, they are eager to get me done. My daughter says it might be a way to get the other boob lopped off, as I wanted originally! She's very optimistic - or something!

I think you are having it worse than me, with your fat fingers and asthma and all. I'm well impressed at your horticultural and culinary activities! I love chillies, in all forms, but never thought of growing them. The nearest I got to growing anything, recently was planting the base of a head of celery and sure enough it started growing and I followed the instructions to water daily, but it should be ready for picking now, after five months but all I've got is an abundance of leaves, the stalks have not grown at all. Still, it looks nice and smells good.

Enjoy your week off, I hope Boris doesn't scupper your plans to meet up,with your friend..

Caroline, 

Did your telephone consultation happen and how was it? 

How is Eddie? He sounds like a delight and looks adorable.  I'm impressed with his sitting etc. It took me nearly three years to get Archie to learn anything! It didn't help that he only took notice of Faith, who sabotaged everything I tried to teach him. He's a much nicer dog now. 
 

I'm expecting to be in a bit more of a lockdown after Boris speaks to us today as we are on the list of the boroughs expected to be on the top tier, even though we are very near the bottom of that list. One of my girlfriends has tested positive this weekend. She works as a bus escort for children with disabilities and has been worried about her exposure to the virus since the schools went back. She has lost her sense of taste and smell and is very fatigued, (and bad tempered, she says) but not feeling too bad. Her husband and son have to self isolate, too, but are keeping out of her way. It's difficult keeping isolated within the family. 
 

Stay safe, stay well

Christine xx

Just a question!  Do you find yourself checking on some of the people you have been in contact with, on here, if you haven't seen/heard anything from them for a while?

I do! Not the most sensible thing to do, I know. One person I was in touch with was diagnosed with the cancer that killed my dad within ten weeks of diagnosis and this person's posts became more and more worrying then stopped. I knew he must have died. He had no one, just his dog. I was heartbroken!

x