Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
Comments
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Hello Sylvia!
This is my second attempt as I have just lost a long post to you.....
I have been incredibly busy as usual - mostly nice things, though also a lot to do for both my father and Tom.
To answer your questions regarding calcium supplementation and low-dose aspirin: the latest research for the former is making me somewhat nervous and so for now I am compromising and taking one calcichew every other day.I do not eat a diet high in calcium (no cow's milk and little cheese) and am unfortunately not fond of sardines.I do eat a lot of almonds, however!
I am on the fence regarding the aspirin - while it makes sense to reduce inflammation in the body, I am nevertheless leery (I have picked up an Americanism!) of the possibility of gastro-intestinal bleeding.
I am not very au fait with the possible side -effects of metformin, but I am not keen on the idea of taking yet more chemical substances, especially when they are prescribed originally for a very different purpose.What do you think of the latest idea of prescribing a statin for everyone over the age of 50? I do know of people in their 70's who had to stop taking a statin because of severe muscle weakness.For every benefit, there seems to be one or more awful side effect.
I am writing this at 11pm, when I should be getting to bed, as i have to be up at 7am tomorrow for school! Only this week, then half-term holidays.I am hoping to get a lot done on the allotment, but the forcast is for rain......
All for now,
With love,
Sam
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Hi Sylvia
I haven't posted because I was away at the weekend and then the internet crashed again. I had written a long post and then lost it before I went.
I have joined CancerActive and have recieved some interesting stuff
I attended a wedding in Wicklow on Saturday in my brother-in-laws garden. The weather was glorious. It was too hot for me but I found a seat under a tree and sat there whilst the waiters kept filling my class with champagne. It was a beautiful and informal wedding with a short blessing. The theme was sunflowers and the bride wore a short 50s style dress with white doc martens with bright yellow laces.
My darling little man was there and we tied a yellow balloon to him and I could spot whereever he was. He is soooooooooo cute and adorable but getting a little rough and tough.
I have been busy doing a first aid course and I did manage the CPR despite my arm and pain but couldn't manage the Heimlich manoeuvre . Also been doing flower arranging but running out of space to put the arrangements!
My training for the mini marathon came to halt when I had the flu and never really got back on track but two of the others have sore ankles so that they will be slow too. Wish me luck I will need it.
I am still hoping to set up the bra fitting service and must decide on what style to order for a preliminary stock. I wonder does anyone wear Royce bras and what style do they prefer.
Yes feeling quite sorry for myself lately and I think all the wedding thing didnt help. I would have loved to dress up and feel glamorous but finances and my weight put a stop to that. Anyway after 3 glasses of champagne and hugs from my DLM Oskar I didnt care!
I have recieved my appt for the pain clinic for June 13th so not too long to wait. Still no news of my claim for invalidity and money stops on 10th June[ mine and my daughters birthday and my 2 year diagnosis ] and I rang my dermatologist for a recommendation for a cream to hear that he had been taken into ICU that morning and was seriously ill. I do hope that he survived and is recovering.
Well of to do 30 mins on the tread mill so wish me luck for monday.
Enjoy the Jubilee. I think that I was given a silver spoon at my birth because it was the queens coronation week. Unfortunately I lost it digging in the garden when I was small!
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Hi Bernie ellen
Hope things are well with you.
Thanks for always making me smile
It's the laughter that makes this life liveable.
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Hi Caroline
I saw on another thread that you live in Tipp.
How are you doing?
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Hi to everyone, been a bit quiet lately. Massive renovations going on here. I live in a really old cottage. Have inherited down through the family from my great grandfather. All the original lime plaster has been falling off and all the drainage has had to be redone because of damp problems. That's just on the inside. I'm very slow with the painting due to the arm issues.
Other than that, everything is good.
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Hi everyone
Thank you for your posts. I am glad the thread has come alive again. I shall post to you individually latter today.
Sylvia
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Hello sam52
Thank you for your post. It was so lovely to hear from you. I was glad to know that you have been busy with mostly nice things, but understand that looking after your father and Tom also take up a lot of your time.I can understand your being cautious about calcium supplements and low dose aspirin. I am taking just one Solgar calcium tablet in the morning together with a magnesium tablet and about 800 ius of vitamin D. Like you, I do not eat any dairy products or sardines, but I do eat canned wild Pacific salmon with bones and a daily helping of almonds. Of course, I am not taking any bisphosphonates.
As for aspirin, so far I have not taken any, but I did buy some low dose aspirin and thought I might take some from time to time. I am worried about aspirin and its side effects. I can see how it might help prevent breast cancer, recurrence or metastases in that it is an anti inflammatory, but I do not think that it can work on its own. I think I might get an opinion from my oncologist. I am concerned about possible bleeding in the brain or stomach with aspirin. I think I read somewhere that as you get older it becomes more dangerous.
I agree with your reservations about metformin. I can see a possible connection with cancer prevention in that it lowers blood sugar level and we know there is a connection between breast cancer and sugar, in that they say cancer cells feed on sugar. I think I have read that research shows that diabetics taking metformin do not develop as much breast cancer.
I am very wary indeed of taking statins and certainly do not believe that everyone over 50 should be given them. I have a friend who was put on statins and developed an awful disease known as rhabdomyolysis, which has resulted in his muscles falling away from his bones. He suffers terrible pain. His GP prescribed the statins without bothering about other medication that he was taking. He was very ill and a consultant found out that he had developed this disease because his medication did not agree with the statins. My aunt and her sister also developed problems on statins, and are fine now that they have come off them.
I do not believe in taking statins to lower cholesterol. I believe that cholesterol increases naturally as you age and that you need this for brain function. There appears to be a connection between low cholesterol and dementia.
I have recently been reading about bicarbonate of soda as a breast cancer preventive. Apparently they are going to do trials with this.
I do appreciate your having taken the time to post late at night, especially when you have to get up at 7 am for school. Tomorrow will be freedom day and I do hope you will have a good half term. I hope you have enough good days to work on the allotment.
Wishing you all the best.
Love
Sylvia0 -
Hello linali
Thank you for your posts. It must be so frustrating to spend time doing posts and then losing them. It is so much easier to write them in Word, save as you go, and then copy and paste to the thread. This is what I do.I was so glad to know that you have joined CancerActive. It is very worthwhile and full of useful information.
I was most interested in what you had to say about the wedding you attended. I can visualise you sitting in the shade of that tree and sipping champagne. You seem to have a talent for descriptive writing.
The happiness with your grandson shines through your words.
You certainly know how to keep yourself busy and that is a very good thing.
I was sorry to hear that you had to stop your training. I am sure you will do alright anyway and I wish you all the luck in the world.
I also hope that your bra fitting service will be successful. You are certainly very resourceful. I know nothing about Royce bras, but someone else may do.
I do hope all will go well when you go for your appointment at the pain clinic on June 13th. I shall be thinking of you. I do hope you will be able to sort something out financially. I shall be thinking of you too on June 10th and hope you and your daughter will have a wonderful day. You should celebrate being two years out from diagnosis. I see that you share a birthday with the Queen's husband!!
I do hope that everything works out well with your dermatologist.
Have a good weekend and take care of yourself. Good luck for Monday. I do hope it is not too hot.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello BernieEllen
Thank you for popping in to say hello.You certainly sound very busy. How long do you think the renovations are going to take?
Please take care with your arm.
It is true that you have this gift of making us all feel good. I think it is something to do with your being Irish. I know that I try to imagine how you are speaking and I always imagine it to be in a very spirited way.
Pop in whenever you can.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
My baby Calva now seven months old. She is the one at the back. her nane is latin for venus. 0 -
Hello Bernie_Ellen,
Thank you for the lovely photographs of your dogs. You must be very proud of them.
I was browsing on some of the other threads this evening and read some of your jokes. You are quite a joke teller. It was good to read something light hearted. Is it my imagination or are more and more women being diagnosed with TNBC and more and more becoming stage IV? It is so awful. Are more and more American women being diagnosed? I find it all so sad and depressing.
I think I shall be doing a lot of gardening tomorrow. It seems to soothe my brain.
I hope everyone who posts on this thread will not hesitate to post if they are having a hard time.
We are here for you.
Sylvia.
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An african ambassador visited Russia and was entertained by his opposite number, the Russian ambassador. For three days, the African ambassador was wined, dined, and generally treated to the best hospitality that Russia had to offer.
On the last day of his visit, the Russian ambassador said, "As your stay is coming to an end, it's time for you to play our traditional game, Russian roulette. One of the six chambers of this gun is loaded - you spin the cylinder, point the gun at your head, and pull the trigger."
This phased the African slightly, but he was a proud man of a warrior people, and to show fear would be unthinkable. Both men took their guns, spun, and pulled the triggers.
Both chambers were empty, and both ambassadors breathed a sigh of relief.
The African ambassador was impressed with the courageous game, and thought hard about the subject before the Russian Ambassador was due to visit his country the next year.
When the visit came, the African ambassador treated the Russian with all hospitality, until the final day of his stay. Leading him to a private room in the palace, the African ambassador spoke, "Now, time for you to sample our game, African roulette". He then led the Russian into the room, the only occupants of which were six stunning and naked women.
The African ambassador said, "These women are the most beautiful members of one of our tribes. Any one of them will give you a oral sex take your pick".
The Russian was not entirely averse to this idea, but he couldn't see the connection with Russian roulette. He said, "Well, ok, great, but where's the roulette part? Where's the danger?"
With a big grin on his face, the African ambassador answered:
"One of them's a cannibal."0 -
Hello BernieEllen
What a tale spinner you are! Your latest post made my husband and me smile!!!
Where do you get all your jokes from?
It is pouring down with rain this evening in Exmouth. The rain is well needed, but it is a pity the weather has turned cold and wet for the four day Bank Holiday here. The Exmouth seafront was quiet and the sea looked turbulent.
I have spent a lot of time doing gardening work in the grounds. I am getting quite good at shaping shrubs!
Have a good weekend.
Best wishes
Sylvia
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Evening Sylvia...I have been back in hospital..again! Even though i had the Nuelasta jab...my doctor ..my Oncologist and most importantly myself ..have decided to stop all chemo..So i will be having surgery by July..a full masectomy..then i have to wait to see what they find..and take it from there...So it's going to be quite scary..once the results are in..Obviously this will affect my prognosis..but they wont give me one anyway..
Apparently i wasnt up for trials..she muttered something about causing heart problems...but the next chemo would have been Tax and i hear that can affect the heart also..So can rads..
I was hoping to get at least two years more..when i first knew that i had Metaplastic..i googled everything i could about it...and now..i just want a 'quiet' life..and be able to go out and get some fresh air..and be most of all 'normal'..i do have a sense of humour..even black at times..but it all helps me..
Have you any ideas on what i can do? i have a young friend with two little ones and she is same diagnosis as me...and we are glued together for support..which is nice for both of us..
I hope you are enjoying the holidays..
Dulcie xxxx
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Hi all - hope you are having a great Bank Holiday and Diamond Jubilee. I am marking Economics papers for the exam board at the moment so not much of a holiday for me!
I just thought I would pop in with an update. I am recovering well from my bilateral mast but now have a frozen right shoulder - apparently not unusual after surgery. I also have been having tummy pains just below the sternum which radiate around my back. I was admitted to hospital last Bank Holiday weekend when a blood test found that my pancreatic enzymes are adbormal and in one week I lost eight pounds in weight! They thought it was gallbladder problems but an ultrasound ruled that one out. My GP has taken further bloods and I should get the result for those on Wednesday (pancreas and liver) and then next week I have an endoscopy (the camera will go right down in to my small intestine). So, I am not sure what is going on. The tummy pain did subside after I went on a diet of steamed veg but then I ate a 'normal' meal yesterday and my tummy pain is back with awful back pain. So watch this space!! Meanwhile I am back at school teaching and keeping myself busy marking for the exam board at the moment. My body is doing odd things at the moment but then again, over the last two years I have been through major surgery, chemo, radiotherapy so not surprising!
Karen X
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Hello Dulcie
Thank you for your post. I was so sorry to hear that you had been back in hospital, even though you had had the Neulasta shot, which is supposed to help with low white blood cells. Has your medical team any idea why you are having such trouble while going through chemo?I think that if I were in your situation and being so poorly, I would probably also stop the chemo to give myself time to recover. You can always go back to chemo after your surgery. I do hope that you will be able to have your surgery as early as possible in July. There is nothing to fear in having a mastectomy. I know from my own excellent breast consultant that it is a routine procedure and is not considered major surgery. I was in hospital for five nights and came home as soon as the drains were clear. I think women are sent home even sooner now after a mastectomy. At least with the surgery the diseased breast and the tumour will be gone from your body, and that will be a relief. After that you will be able, with your medical team, to plan the rest of your treatment.
For the moment, concentrate on doing all you can in June to build up your strength ready for surgery.
I know this will be a worrying time for you, but just take one day and one thing at a time. I think you know that I am a great believer in this.
The waiting will probably seem long, but in June do things that you enjoy and try to keep cancer at the back of your mind. You may be surprised and a have a good pathology report. Whatever it is, just carry on and do not take any notice of words of doom and gloom. I was told at the outset that the prognosis was not good, but that was nearly seven years ago now. I think my bad prognosis was merely based on the fact that Tamoxifen would be of no use to me after standard treatment. Stay calm and carry on!
Please make sure that your oncologist explains things clearly to you. Muttering from medical people is no good to patients and patients are their priority. What kind of trials were you hoping to go on? I think we all have to bear the side effects of chemo. Once again, I can speak only of my own experience. I do remember asking my oncologist why she had chosen the specific drugs that I had. I was particularly interested in the two taxanes, docetaxel (Taxotere) and paclitaxel (Taxol). I was given docetaxel and told that it was less damaging to the heart than paclitaxel. Since we do not have complete check ups here, I suppose we do not know the shape our heart is in until we have symptoms that something is wrong or we have an emergency situation. We do not know either to what extent we shall have any of the side effects. The question I still ask myself is whether a breast cancer patient can get through and survive cancer with just surgery. I know there are patients who opt for surgery only, and do not have chemotherapy or radiotherapy. There appears to be ongoing debates on this on the breastcancer.org forums. I do know people who have had only surgery, and one who lives near to me had surgery about twenty-five years ago.
I do think it will probably be good for you to stay off Google. Just live your life normally and live each day to the full. I am glad to know that you have a sense of humour and you are welcome to share that with us. I think laughter is one of the best medicines around. Whatever helps you is good. It is better to have the glass half full than half empty.
You ask if I have any ideas on what you can do. I can only say how I dealt with my situation when diagnosed and going through treatment. I lived as normally as was possible and just carried on, more or less, as I was before. The only difference was that I rested more during chemotherapy.
I am so glad, Dulcie, that you have a young friend with the same diagnosis and that you are able to go through this together. I know that you are triple negative, but that is just the receptor status. Do you think that the metaplastic factor has made it more difficult for you to tolerate the chemotherapy drugs?
Do we know your age? I ask this because in our group of regular posters I have most of the ages. It is interesting to have the ages because, as you know, we are told that TNBC affects more younger women than older. I have found there are a lot of exceptions. Do you know whether metaplastic breast cancer affects mainly younger women?
My heart goes out especially to all these young women with young children going through treatment and worrying about their young children.
I am not doing anything special for the Bank Holiday. I have been very busy lately so yesterday I had a rest day.
Thinking of you and sending you warm wishes.
Sylvia0 -
Hello Karen3
Thank you for your post and thank you for updating us all.I am sure we are all glad to know that you are recovering well from your bilateral mastectomy, but sorry to hear that you have developed a frozen shoulder. I understand that it can take quite a time to recover from a frozen shoulder. It would be interesting to hear from any other women on the thread if they have had problems with a frozen shoulder after surgery.
I was sorry to hear that you have been having tummy pains below the sternum that radiate around your back. I was extremely sorry to hear that you had to be admitted to hospital last Bank Holiday weekend and that you were found to have abnormal pancreatic enzymes and that you lost eight pounds in weight in one week. I do hope that you will have good results with your blood tests on Wednesday. It must be an anxious time for you with all this going on. Please let us all know how you get on with your blood test results and your endoscopy.
It does seem strange that your tummy pain subsided after you went on a diet of steamed vegetables but then came back when you had a 'normal' meal. That would tend to make you think that it is connected to what you are eating. It does, in some ways, sound like gall bladder problems. May we ask what is a 'normal' diet for you? I would think that you are on a very healthy diet. Fatty food is usually associated with a lot of problems.
I do admire the fact that you are carrying on with your teaching with everything that is going on. It is probably good in a way that you are keeping busy and marking for the exam board will certainly require concentration. As you say, you have been through a lot during the last two years and your body will not have recovered. We are told that it can take years to recover from breast cancer treatment. Karen, we all wish you well.
What were the Diamond Jubilee celebrations like in Leeds? Not much has been happening in Exmouth, apart from a few flags. Did you watch any of the pageant on the Thames in London on the television? The weather could not have been worse, but that is the UK for you!
Take care of yourself and keep in touch.
Kind thoughts.
Sylvia0 -
Hello Karen_Sheffield
We have not heard from you in a while and I was wondering whether all is fine with you. I hope you recovered well from your mastectomy surgery and that all is going well with your chemotherapy that started on May 10th. How are you coping? Have you had the second dose. I do hope you are not having any problems and have not had to be hospitalised.Wishing you all the best.
Sylvia0 -
Hello everyone
It is the start of another week, although here in the UK we have holidays Monday and Tuesday.To our American ladies, christina1961, bak94 (Brenda), mccrimmon324 (Heather), LintRollerDerby, I hope you are all living life to the full, post treatment.
Heather, I am glad to know that everything seems to be going well now that you have left Florida. Keep well.
Youngmommy, Have you started your radiotherapy? I hope all is well.
To Maria_Malta, BernieEllen and linali. I hope all is well and that you had a good weekend.
To my fellow Brits sam52, BuddhaWolf, Iz_and_Lys_Mum, and Coxy1803 (Sharon). I hope you are all enjoying the extra long Bank Holiday weekend.
Best wishes to everyone.
Sylvia0 -
Hello Sylvia,
Thanks for the concern. My wife had Radiation scan last wednesday and would be starting Radiation on June 11. She has to go for a rescan today since the RO wanted some fluid out of the Tissue Expanders (which was done last Friday).
Would you ladies recommend any special supplements/creams etc to use during Radiation for better efficacy and fewer side effects.
Wish you ladies a wonderful day.
Regards,
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Hi all, hope you are enjoying the holidays.
Slvia, I saw you posted on one of the other sites - re: the royals. I totally agreed with what you said.
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Hi again Sylvia. I thought I could give info about my experience with a frozen shoulder. It happened some time after I was done with tx. It was not painful at all. I simply could not raise my arm higher than shoulder height. I saw a physical therapist twice who showed me exercises (which I did every day) and it rapidly improved. I don't have quite full ROM, but it feels fine and doesn't bother me.
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Hello youngmommy
Thank you for your post. It was very nice to hear from you. We shall all be thinking of your wife on June 11th when she begins her radiotherapy. If I were your wife I would listen to what the radiologists recommend in the way of creams to put on the skin. I just washed my skin in aqueous cream throughout. I know that aloe vera is good as well as calendula cream. I think that what you have to use will depend on how affected your skin is. I also took some homoeopathic treatment prescribed by my consultant at the Royal Bristol Hospital here in the UK. I was prescribed X-Ray and Belladonna orally and Arnica cream to help with healing.I do hope others will post if they have other recommendations.
Most people find radiotherapy easy after chemothrapy.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello BernieEllen
Thank you for popping in. We seem to agree on many things and I was glad to know that you share my views on the 'Royals'. I do not suppose I shall see an elected head of state in my lifetime. I was listening to Question Time on BBC2 the other evening and picked up on comments by Polly Toynbee of The Guardian. There was a discussion about the Jubilee etc. I picked up on the fact that Polly said that the Irish President costs the Irish taxpayers about a third of the cost that British taxpayers pay for the Royal Family. She also said that you do not need the Royals to bring in tourists and that tourists flock to France to visit palaces etc. even though they are empty!I hope you had a good day today.
Best wishes
Sylvia0 -
Hello gillyone (Gill)
Thank you for your post. It was so nice to hear from you. I am glad that all is well with you.It is so useful when someone responds to a post to comment on a problem from which someone else is suffering. I am sure that Karen3 will appreciate what you have said. It will be of some comfort to know that it improved for you and that it does not bother you.
Post whenever you like and about anything of interest to you and others.
Wishing you all the best.
Sylvia0 -
Hello Karen3
Having read through some posts on other threads, I got the impression that some women seem to be suffering pain post-treatment associated with heartburn. I know from friends and acquaintances that heartburn pain can be nasty and frightening. Do you think you may be having heartburn, given that on steamed vegetables you were alright, but on reverting to a 'normal' diet you had pain again?
It is just an idea.
Did you watch the concert last night? I enjoyed seeing Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, Paul Mccartney and Shirley Bassey, but the most enjoyable for me was Alfie Boe and Renée Fleming and their opera singing.
It it is pouring down with rain here today and is cold! Flaming June!
Best wishes
Sylvia
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Hi sylvia
Yes I have heartburn too - but the tummy pain is odd and never had anything like it. I am not overweight, exercise and do not drink alcohol at all. My diet is good BUT since I was told to cut out ALL fat from my diet, I quickly realised just how much fat is in the food that we all eat! I alway ate lots of veggies and fruit but cannot have sauces etc. at the moment. I am eating lots of steamed fish though - so I am probably on a really healthy diet at the moment. It seems that my body just cannot deal with any fat just now. Apparently I have a text book case of gallstones except I do not have any (according to the ultrasound anyway). I know from the PET/CT scan I had last October that my oesophagus is very inflamed so it may all be connected in some way. Some days my tummy swells so much and I cannot eat a thing. The pains in my back are uncomfortable and keep me awake at night. But, like I say, the new ultra healthy diet seems to help - the tummy pains if not the back ache. I am hoping to find out this week whether my pancreatic / liver enzymes have gone back to normal (my GP took some bloods last Wednesday). So, who knows. I am not too concerned to be honest. I am sure there is some benign condition behind all this.
I so enjoyed the Jubille Concert on TV! As for local celebrations - nothing much in Leeds although I heard fireworks last night.
Karen X
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An 80-year old man was having his annual check-up and the doctor asked him how he was feeling. "I've never been better!" he boasted. "I've got an eighteen year old bride who's pregnant and having my child! What do you think about that?"
The doctor considered this for a moment, then said, "Let me tell you a story. I knew a guy who was an avid hunter. He never missed a season. But one day, he went out in a bit of a hurry, and he accidentally grabbed his umbrella instead of his gun." The doctor continued, "So he was in the woods, and suddenly a grizzly bear appeared in front of him! He raised up his umbrella, pointed it at the bear and squeezed the handle. And do you know what happened?" the doctor queried. Dumbfounded, the old man replied, "No." The doctor continued, "The bear dropped dead in front of him!" "That's impossible!" exclaimed the old man. "Someone else must have shot that bear."
"That's kind of what I'm getting at," replied the doctor~
Like · · about an hour ago near Waterford ·0 -
Hello BernieEllen, Thank you for your witty joke,
It is strange that you should post it just when I was getting ready to ask everyone how you think we should proceed with the thread. I am asking this because someone posted on another thread saying that the threads were supposed to be about breast cancer and not about things in general. This comment came about after a discussion about the royal family.Of course we all know these threads are about breast cancer and I think that the threads do stick to this most of the time, and we talk about diagnosis, standard treatments, chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, receptors, stages, possible side effects etc. We talk about our own experiences and how we dealt with them. We are all aware that we are not doctors and that we cannot give medical advice.
We have a mixture of people on the threads, all at different stages and many who have finished treatment but stay on to help others and offer tips and information to others.
I think we can all understand that at various times we all suffer from cancer fatigue and just want to switch off and not think about this disease that so changed our lives. At such times I cannot see the harm in posting about other things and putting breast cancer away in a dark cupboard. Do you agree?
In our small group of posters I feel that I have got to know about you as individuals and I care about you. We are all so much more than our breast cancers and all have so much more to offer than our experience with this disease. I am sure we enjoy photographs posted, snippets about our daily lives in different parts of the world or in different parts of our own country, jokes, philosophies of life etc. There is such a lot to learn from all of you. I find the threads an enriching experience and am very proud of this one that we have built up together. Keep up the good work.
Best wishes,
Sylvia.0 -
Hello Karen3
Thank you for your post.I do hope that you will solve the problem of your tummy pain.
It does sound as though you are on a very healthy diet. We seem to be doing the same things. I am not overweight, do not drink any alcohol, eat loads of fruit and veg, no dairy products or eggs, no meat or poultry. I do eat fish and prawns, but have been wondering about them lately because of all the pollution in the seas and oceans. I lately read about all the oestrogen that is going into our water, much of it from birth control pills and HRT. This is resulting in the feminisation of fish and some think there is a connection between this pollution and breast cancer, low sperm count and inability in women to become pregnant. There was an article about all this in the Observer the Sunday before last. I also eat plenty of nuts, seeds, pulses and beans. I cannot make up my mind what to do about fish and seafood. There is also the problem of mercury in fish.
It is strange that you have all the symptoms of gallstones but they do not show up. Could you have IBS, colitis, or possible Crohn's disease? Let us hope it is nothing. Do you think you might be allergic to wheat? I know that it causes a lot of pain and bloating in people.
Please let us know how things go this week.
I was glad to know that you enjoyed the Jubilee concert on the television.
Wishing you well.
Sylvia0
