High blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid and possible diabetes????

Ok as you will presume from the title of this post I'm being tested for all of the above. High blood pressure due to it being in the family and I've only just found out. High cholesterol as when I have my thyroid checked they found and I quote my GP "your cholesterol level is off the scale" then never got back to me on it as she wanted to concentrate on the thyroid problem first which then seemed to disappear and all was forgotten about until I went in demanding a blood test to which another GP exclaimed "ah yes we were going to get you back in for checks as your blood pressure was high as was your cholesterol and also a little problem with both thyroid and possible diabetes" uh yeah!!! So whilst this doesn't worry me (only a little) it is annoying to find out I was in possible danger before but they forgot about me. Anyway I've had the blasted blood test now waiting for results urghhhh..... when will it ever end. Will keep you all posted on the results.

UPDATE I am now on Statins, as my cholesterol is sky high, considering I don't eat dairy and try to live a green, clean life with the odd cake chucked in once in a blue moon I can honestly say I don't know what to do about it. My new GP told me that she believes its side effects from all the chemo, and other drugs I am on and has nothing to do with what I eat or how much I exercise, so another bloody pill to take on a daily basis. My blood pressure was also high so for the past week I've been checking it twice a day and it does seem to go up and down. I am also borderline diabetic which they will continue to monitor and at present I don't need to go on drugs.

Cancer just keeps giving and giving.......

Thyroid.......that old chestnut!

Can't believe I'm back in this spot again...... the dammed thyroid conversation......... Last year it was suggested to me that my thyroid might be playing up so I went for the test with my GP, this first test did show a problem with my thyroid being very sluggish but the protocol for these tests is you have one test and re-test 3 months later, so this we did and the second test turned out normal. Due to this my GP told me they wouldn't be putting me on thyroid medication as the tests weren't consistent. At this point I dropped it and tried to move on although I still suffered with symptoms associated with an under active thyroid.

Fast forward to last week, I'd been experiencing bad fatigue and when I say bad I mean it! Everyday waking up late and exhausted, some days not being able to climb out of bed or just about drag myself to the sofa where I slept for hours during the day!!! Obviously this was becoming a problem so I phoned my breast cancer nurse and told her about it, I even suggested maybe it was the Herceptin, she didn't agree that it was Herceptin but told me it was a sign of under active thyroid....... here we go again!!!! and as I'm still putting on weight she reckons its a sign of an out of balance thyroid and told me to go back to my GP. So there it is, what to do? going back to my GP and being re-tested, I'm currently not feeling fatigued this week but think when I am fatigued they should conduct the test, I think its up and down with the thyroid which is why we can't seem to get to the bottom of it. Prior to all this cancer shit I didn't have anything wrong with any of my bodily functions including my thyroid.

So want this to get sorted out its starting to really get on my nerves.

If you can't take the heat.........

Ok, so as you've probably guessed I've reached a corner stone. Today I went for a routine appointment with my GP and asked him for anti-depressants, why? you may ask well to be honest I've had enough of the flaming hot flushes, I've lived with them for 5 years battling on hating it feeling embarrassed whenever I go red in the face not a good look when you've put on 4 stone and have a face the colour of a tomato, not to mention the broken sleep and feeling nauseous, so finally hit the fuck it button and went to the GP's he was happy to give me Citrolapam its only 10mg at the moment he said we'd start off on low dose and build up if we have to. I just cannot carry on with the heat anymore, its ridiculous its not living, its making me bloody depressed so anti-d's it is. Of course if my cancer wasn't Estrogen fuelled I would of probably opted for some form of Estrogen based therapy. If you want to know how this is going to pan out then watch this space I shall be monitoring everything, migraines, weight, side effects (which no doubt there are), and every other shitty thing that happens or maybe it might all be alright. ha yeah right.....

A new tablet to add to the already massive selection that I am taking which includes supplements urghh.... and all this from the girl who never took a tablet or went to the Dr's in her life!

Cancer is fucking bollox.

Ah it feels so good to swear my fucking head off, fuck fuck fuck you Cancer!

Blood test results

Finally got hold of the GP who ordered the blood test's to verify the status of my thyroid although have to say she wasn't keen on testing my thyroid she seemed to think I needed a test for my blood sugar. So the results were as I thought something is wrong with my thyroid its under active so this means I might need thyroxine tablets to balance it up, however the GP wasn't worried about it and said that usually in this instance they would test me again in 3 months and then if all was the same they would prescribe thyroxine tablets, BUT as I am a cancer patient she didn't know if this new drug would interfere with any of the other drugs I am on so it waiting until I've seen my oncologist which is fairly soon at 11.30 this Friday. I thought that was all but no there is more..... my cholesterol levels are off the scale!!! what the fuck!!!!! I was like "thats to do with diet isn't it?" GP said "yes it can be but in your case its probably to do with all the treatments and drugs unbalancing your body etc" my response was "what shall we do about it" GP reply "I'd rather deal with the thyroid problem first and then we will look at the cholesterol" my response is "urghhhhhhhhhhhh" for fuck sake!!!! So if the cancer doesn't kill me then the cholesterol will eh!!!! GP doesn't seem to want to jump on this and I am very worried about it, herceptin affects your heart muscle not in a good way otherwise they wouldn't be checking my heart every 3 months and now this high cholesterol means my poor ticker is wacked out!!!! Will be seeing my dear Onc. this Friday and taking the test results in so he can ponder over it see what he comes up with. I'll keep you informed of my progress and of course the much anticipated CT scan results urghhhhh it never rains and then it fucking pours..........

What a grey day......

Should of known that today was going to be a shit day it started off being overcast bleached white sky and misty so bad you couldn't see across to the other side of the road!!!! This turned out to be a precursor to a shit day.

To start with I was looking for my smokey quartz pendant that my parents bought me for my last birthday and its still missing and I think after turning the whole bloody house upside down it is gone for good. Fuck. It was particularly special to me as it was a large smokey quartz pendant used to dispel any radioactive material from my body I always felt safe when wearing it especially if I was going for a CT scan (which I did last Friday) where they use radioactive dye or any other nuclear substance for that matter. I am so utterly gutted. I even looked in our rubbish bags thats how desperate I am.

We popped to my GP's because I wanted to be tested for thyroid problems GP also wants to check for blood sugar and blood pressure I also mentioned about the Saturday meltdown in Totnes so she's decided I need to see a counsellor she also asked why I hadn't seen one before now which I explained that at the time of my dx my then neighbour who was a cancer counsellor at my local Macmillan centre lost her sister to breast cancer that had spread onto her brain all within the same week that I was dx so it didn't seem appropriate at the time and I also didn't want to see someone who knew me. So, friday I am going for various blood tests and possibly an appointment with a counsellor.

Then the shittiness moved on to our new old car the cam belt is broken and now the water pump is being replaced, my partner always fixes things on our old bangers because we can't afford to take it into a proper garage, to be fair to Lee he always fixes it bless him, but its taken all day and he's missed a day off work he'll also miss tomorrow as well because he has to take me to the dammed hospital for my Herceptin shot urghhhhhhh......

All in all a totally shit day full of shitty things. Life still very sucky!!!!

New Year, New Views, New Me........ well kind of

We are now in 2015 WOW didn't think I'd make this landmark its nearly 4 years since being dx with this shit and I am still thriving still living still here, amazing!!!!

So far the year started off with a very bad flu bug that needed anti-biotics to shift it and I've only just managed to get rid of it albeit I am left with an annoying cough. Life is back to some sort of normality although..... I am now getting nervous about the usual scans, results and cancer shit that just keeps going on and on...... urghhhhhhh

Feeling ok other than the flu bug and the cough, had a marvellous xmas with family really enjoyed it this year again I had a slight wobble on xmas day wondering will I still be here next year but thats what life is like when you live on a knifes edge this cancer thing is a constant monkey on your shoulder.

Life is returning to some kind of normality after the events of late last year what with the deaths and the scan worries. I've started to look forward to painting and exhibiting (big show on this year in May very excited).

Going to see GP at the end of this month to address all the horrible side effects that plague me which are:

1. Migraines
2. Joint pain
3. Sickness
4. Acid Reflux
5. Cough
6. High Blood Pressure (a recent development)
7. Abdominal swelling
8. Inward chills
9. Pain in affected shoulder and arm
10. Really bad foot skin peels off and nails drop off
11. Possible prolapsed womb (another recent development probably due to menopause and coughing)

So just a few pointers then lol. Thought I'd better go and address these problems so booked a double appointment, wish me luck. xxx

Life goes on.....

We are still coming to terms with the tragic loss of our lovely Ted we also found out on the same day that one of my close friends mother had lost her battle with Myeloma Cancer we were dx at the same time 3 years ago and had built up a support network for each other both of us enjoying juicing and living life healthy then wallop she's gone, the chemo she had been on stopped working this coupled with a fall in the night where she broke her leg (she was 70) was the final straw and she was put in the hospice and never came out. We will be going to her funeral tomorrow and yet again I am reminded how fragile our existence really is. The weird thing was Christine was also an avid cat lover maybe Ted and Christine are together I know he's in good hands with her. Its so hard Teddy was such a character cat and loved the woodland garden. We walked down through bluebell wood this afternoon and it was stunning somehow it just didn't seem the same without Teddy he loved this time of year.

So, life moves on. Lee has booked up his training course for the offshore Rigging in May and will be away for a week and a half when he returns we will take the next step and see about getting him some offshore work for a 3 week period after which we will be able to afford to move which is what we both want now more than ever due to our recent loss.

I had an oncologist appointment to find out what the hell was going on with the 'something' on my Liver apparently the radiologist wont budge and continues to sit on the fence ie: he wont say whether or not it is cancer. So we are back in square one again and I'm to have yet another blasted CT scan in about 6 weeks time!!! because of the back log. I ask you this is so fucking out of order. I feel like giving up. Then I was asked about my migraines to which I replied yes still getting them infact they have increased last week I had 3 and so far I've woken every day this week with a migraine. Thanks to Sumatriptan I am able to function but its not good to wake daily with extreme nausea and a pounding headache so now they want to do an MRI scan on my head to determine if its cancer or just normal migraine stuff, like ya do!!! The only plus from the appointment was that she (registrar not onc) asked how I was doing on the Tamoxifen I decided as we were being honest and open that I would let rip about the shit. I told her about my aching joints and my massive weight gain nearly 4 stone! she agreed that the side effects were extreme (not everyone will react this way) and that weight gain was definitely a result of taking the drug, they have decided to re-check my blood and see if I am through the menopause if I am then they will take me off the dreaded Tamoxifen and replace with another AI that apparently does not cause weight gain although the joint pain might increase. I don't mind this as my joints are taking a bashing with all this excess weight that I've been carrying around. Bloody hope and pray I am through the menopause. It was left that I shall go back for results in July!! seems like a long flipping wait then! Going to see GP about changing hospital only trouble is I'm worried that if I do it now that things could be forgotten about during the transition, so not sure whether its bad timing to change at the moment.

I've been trying to paint but all this shit the deaths, the drugs, just general cancer shite doesn't inspire me to be creative. However I have managed to finish one painting and I've got some prints done so will drop off at a lovely gallery in Weston.

Will keep you posted as too the Liver and now the Head crap. xx

Fair weather health....

Hi all, it's literally the calm after the storm, we had rain all night quite heavy with thunder and finally the oppressive atmosphere has finally lifted including the way I was feeling (see previous post), so I am glad to report back to being my upbeat self again. My mood swings have been quite bad recently and I am putting it down to the tamoxifen and the endless migraines, the headaches come with nausea and are therefore migraines, I've had one a week for the past five weeks they seem to occur on a Friday and can last all weekend. I went to see my GP as I was running out of Co-Codamol (my life saver) otherwise I think I would go out of my head! He prescribed some more of the strong stuff as well as taking extra Clonidine so I now take three of those twice a day and thank god it seems to be working. So I'm hoping I can say ta da to the head fuck headaches and the extreme nausea and hello to some fair weather health and feeling more like a human being, trying to get back to some sort of normality.

I am cooking a sunday roast but not like you would imagine, yes there is a freerange chicken but no roast potatoes instead I am cooking sweet potatoes in there jackets first time ever also some green beans and broccoli, have to admit really looking forward to this meal, so will post soon, but promise to be a more positive and happier soul. Love to ya xx

The first day of summer......

Today was an especially good day, the sun was out yipeee!! and the garden looked wonderful, birds singing, bee's bimbling about, I managed to do some weeding obviously taking long breaks but feel great just for being outside and taking in the fresh air. Tis good to be alive.

Saw my GP today I usually don't manage to get my actual GP always seem to get one of the other Dr's but I specifically asked for him today and amazingly got an appointment with him, it was probably the best GP's appointment I've had in a very long time, he didn't rush me and sat patiently listening to all my aches and pains I also asked if he could find out when my next CT scan was as I was told they would be every 3 months initially its been nearly 5 months since the last one and I've had radiotherapy since then so really really want to know what the situation is with my lung mets and he agreed that of course I would be anxious to know considering the period of time and the treatments I've had, so he's going to write to my Onc. and ask him, he also gave me some Codeine for my cough and too help with sleeping, also some Clonidine to help with the terrible hot flushes and apparently it might help with the dreaded migraines, he even rubbed my rock hard shoulders and neck (probably due to anxiety) and told me to get some acupuncture. Can't tell you how much this means to me. RESULT.