Tuesday 26 June 2012

Tamoxifen and weight gain.....

I am coming up to a 1 year anniversary, its one year since I finished chemo and joyfully, and it's one year since I started on the dreaded tamoxifen, its taken the best part of a year and much munching on my part (increased appetite) and whilst I am eternally grateful for the drug and the fact that I have access to it I am not so happy about the weight gain, admittedly I have been chomping for England lol but seriously not that bad, I have given up red meat and only eat chicken once a month, I green juice everyday and drink a pint of the good stuff, I have to admit that chocolate has become my one weakness and I will happily woof down a whole bag of Revels but what else can you nibble on, trying like mad to cut out cheese and butter, basically just looking at anything with fat in it makes me put on weight. Up until this dx I had stayed the same size since the age of 18 size 8-10, able to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and didn't give the weight issue any thought, now I am a size 12 and feel that even the size 12 clothes I have are tight on me, this is a nightmare, going to have to do some more exercise and try and loose this weight the only trouble is I'm not sure if you can loose weight on tamoxifen, I been given to understand that the way tamoxifen works with your metabolism it slows it down, this makes sense but the side effect is weight gain, also as I am now in early menopause naturally weight will go on especially round the middle, its a total bummer, will be looking on the forum too see what others have experienced and what can be done about it.

I was starting too feel sort of normal again and then I realised I'd put on a mountain of weight and feel a   bit crushed now, ah well I suppose the alternative and not taking tamoxifen is just too awful to comprehend, added to that I also am suffering endless bouts of constipation and as a result have a sore rear end, breast cancer is such a shit! this disease just keeps on giving :0(

Misson accomplished.....

A quick post to say we did it, we did the run for life, walked the majority but actually ran the last little bit of it lol, we have raised somewhere in the region of £250 but after we have collected in all the rest of the donations it will be in around the £350 mark, so a big thank you to all who sponsored us and donated, the only way we can beat this cancer shit is with more research and that unfortunately costs money.

Here's some pics of us on completion of the race only very slightly achey legs lol but very happyxxx



Saturday 9 June 2012

Race for Life.......

The big C, the little c, canser, cansir, cancer it really doesn't matter which way you say it, it all adds up to the same thing, a skull drag through hell is the best way to describe this terrible disease, the statistic's are that 1 in 3 people will suffer with this, so myself and my mate also called Sarah are doing the 'Race for Life' (or as I call it 'the walk for life' lol cause I ain't gonna be doing any sprinting thats for sure! but we will complete the course its being held in Plymouth down on the Hoe on the 24th June 2012 and we will do 5k, if you wanna donate that would be so fab you can donate via this link to our page entitled the Sarahi (a result of a joke when we worked at Archant together) here's the link http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/sarahi6
Thank you for sponsoring us or donating every little helps fight the fight and brings us a step closer to a cure.

Love and light to you all

sarah xxx

Friday 8 June 2012

Tiny, stable and possibly NED......WOW

WOW WOW WOW wanted to share my fantastic news with you all (I find it really uplifting to read of others good outcomes and hope this gives someone inspiration) The results of my latest ct scan were great! They actually told me that the nodules on my lungs are still unchanged (stable since last June) and tiny and the doc said "we don't actually know if it is cancer it could be scar tissue on your lungs!!!! but because the nodules are so tiny we cant biopsy them", she personally didn't think I had any cancer left on the lungs and the rest of the scan was clear, how amazing is that!!!!!, I'll be honest I was full of the fear and dread before I went into the cubicle thinking OMG feeling all tense and fragile, came out feeling elated and on top of the world so went and had a massive crab sandwich and bought some new 'Bare Minerals' makeup from House of Fraiser (good ole bit of retail therapy to celebrate), its the first bit of good news since all of this breast cancer shit started, it makes all the treatments, surgery and changes I've made feel worth while like cutting out caffeine and sugar, drinking a pint of green organic fresh juice daily, taking supplements and generally looking after myself, life is finally good again miracles CAN and DO happen something I am ever so ever so grateful for.

Sending all who need and read this absent spiritual healing
love and light to all
Sarahxxx

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Note to self... Can I come back as a cat in the next life....

Feeling perky today, went into town shopping for some of those shape-up shoes only too find none in my size in TK Maxx and I'm not buying them anywhere else cause they are way too much money at £89 quid in TK's they are only £20. Made an appointment with the lovely lady on the 'Bare Minerals' counter for a make over as this range is paraben free and basically trying to take my mind off the fact that I get my CT scan results on friday....no its not working I'm not taking my mind off anything only kidding myself.

Anyway back to the title of this post, thats right gonna come back as a cat in the next life please cause they got it good, here's some pics of my gorgeous pair, my partner Lee bought Mitzi a Bengal for me nearly 4 years ago only too find that he'd bought a pregnant cat we let her have her kittens and found great homes for all of them, we kept one and named him Ted he's massive and looks a bit like a Maine Coon breed of cat, I love them both so very much. Mitzi is my constant companion, she would sit with me when I was going through the awful chemo and keeps me company on my off days, besides the fact that she knew something was wrong with me she kept nudging and sniffing the affected armpit and breast. Anyway here's the promised pics xx






Monday 4 June 2012

Banging headache

So after a lovely evening on friday talking about Leylines and meeting new friends, woke up with a banging headache again..... took some paracetamol/codeine which knocked me out and put in no position to go over to Lee's parents for the bar-b-que so spent the day by myself dozing on the pills and watching the jubilee pageant on the tv, starting to worry about the headaches I always used to suffer with migraines before getting breast cancer I always put it down to hormonal headaches that accompanied my monthly periods, obviously now that I am in early menopause (thanks to chemo and tamoxifen) I don't get periods and so the migraines stopped for a while, started getting them back every month and figured they were the same old migraines I had before, had a really bad episode whilst at the hospital back in Jan (see post 'day from hell') had a quick emergency ct on the brain which showed nothing bad but am starting to worry they are something more sinister it's such a nightmare. Will be going to a appointment on Friday to get the result's of a routine check of the neck and torso ct done last month so will mention the migraines then.

Beautiful weather today, typical that it was raining for the Jubilee parade yesterday, oh well the sun shines today and my headache has nearly gone.

xx

Saturday 2 June 2012

Celebrations, and places of power.....

Its Jubilee weekend and we are starting the celebrations off with a bar-b-que (well not for me I don't eat meat but will have some veg) around our friends house meeting with one of their friends whose into Ley Lines, I am also into this and asked if he could bring a map showing all the Ley Lines in this area, (Ley lines are straight tracks aligning with ancient places of worship like for example Glastonbury Tor and stone circles, where they cross over is supposed to be a point of power and healing) also looking at some slides on dowsing, so it promises to be an interesting night, will keep you all posted on what I've learnt.

Sunday going over to my partner Lee's parents for another bar-b-que and get together with Lee's family.

Monday theres a Jubilee boat parade down in the village (I live near a village right on the water) our neighbour has invited us to join him on his large fishing boat, everyone is bringing some food and wine and we will follow the parade, I was never really into this sort of thing before moving here, but my neighbour is so fantastic at getting us involved in everything (he's born and breed in the village everyone knows him) will be taking loads of photo's especially if its a fair weather day, hope it keeps nice for these bank holidays.

Still reading the book Love, Medicines and Miracles and still feel inspired, encouraged and healthy, off to juice my veg for the day.

Love and light
xxx