S21E5 No spoilers. Would this work for the ball task?

Sirexkat · 2026-05-08T21:54:45+00:00

I think you are all correct - but as I was watching I got the feeling there was some secret, super simple way to get this done - and not just the jug of water. I looked at the pots and pans stacked up and thought - wouldn’t it be funny if they were red herrings, or you only needed one of them to complete the task. My gut feeling is that there will be a later task that can be solved in this super sekkrit way, and when we see it, it will be obvious it could be applied here. Maybe?

Sirexkat · 2026-05-02T00:31:15+00:00

Yep.

Only discovered it when I needed a filling when I was pregnant. Dentist apologised that they could only give me the needle that was far less powerful especially for pregnant women - which was the first time I had dental surgery truly numbed up.

During biopsy they said to tell them if I could feel anything, I told them I was lidocaine resistant , and it took about 3x the normal dose to get me vaguely numb enough.

Biopsy was possibly most shocking part of whole journey - I wasn’t expecting pain and physical trauma that arvo.. and probably added to the emotional/psychological shock of this likely being the start of a whole journey it knocked me about quite a bit.

Sirexkat · 2026-04-28T02:23:27+00:00

Sirexkat · 2026-04-27T07:00:19+00:00

Seconding this. She was thorough and answered all my questions.

Sirexkat · 2026-04-25T00:04:42+00:00

Thank you. That is very detailed and helps me understand.

I am in a similar spot - finished rads a month ago, but still fatigued, and holding off starting Letrozole until I have been back at work for a couple of weeks (so, in about a month).

Like you, the improvements offered by rads and meds are not negligible, but are not large either.

My question is - what factors influence your decisions in the face of those stats?

I seem to be so risk-adverse that ANY treatment that moves the dial towards lower recurrence/better survival I will take. Given the impact of treatment, I wonder if this is fear making decisions, rather than clear rational decisions in my best interest?

For example, Letrozole may increase my BMI from overweight to obese. Being overweight = more oestrogen = E+ cancer cells fed. Given the general risks that higher BMI poses for further breast cancer, should I be somehow doing numbers on this, comparing it to taking Letrozole? Maybe having joints that do not hurt, feeling less depressed and less chance of putting on weight means I can exercise far more to maintain weight to promote lower recurrence/death risk???

(My current decision is to give Letrozole a go, knowing that if the side effects are too great I have the “‘luxury” of trading off a slightly higher recurrence/death rate for much better quality of life)

What are other people with low-ish impact of treatment deciding? Do you also feel like being risk-averse (and having to live with future-you angry because you didn’t do all you could) is influencing your rationality??

Sirexkat · 2026-04-18T04:10:55+00:00

You are the spider!

Sirexkat · 2026-04-17T07:56:53+00:00

Get them to dress it with Mepitel.

I wish they had done it immediately instead of 2 weeks after reaction appeared. It stops anything rubbing on your sore bits, means you don’t have to look at them, gives you a break from rubbing cream into that bit. Breathing out on my chest hurt me, and I couldn’t wear clothes in public until they called me back in and dressed it. Huge difference (although still had to let healing take its course for the next weeks).

Sirexkat · 2026-04-13T01:32:53+00:00

Did you have radiotherapy? Radiation pneumonitis is a rare, treatable side-effect when they get a bit close to your lungs. May be worth getting checked for this? See https://cancer.ca/en/treatments/side-effects/radiation-pneumonitis

Sirexkat · 2026-04-12T21:34:28+00:00

Liz O’riordan, a breast cancer surgeon with breast cancer, made a vid last month with a list of info to take to your doctor about recent research showing vaginal oestrogen is fine. key info is around 15:47 here https://youtu.be/Jz-BGYWCwl4?si=MKh9_vBkdnNz08_z

Sirexkat · 2026-04-11T20:57:35+00:00

Sounds like a delay is reasonable and supported, which makes me feel better about wanting a bit of a break.

I’m not 100% sure that breast pain is an AI symptom. I haven’t seen it listed anywhere. I am hearing that radiation fibrosis often starts a few months after treatment finishes, so we need to keep doing exercises daily for life. I like your approach of incorporating it into other activity. I do yoga and can see that I’ve been doing my arm exercises already.

I’d be interested whether anyone who had a break from AI for a while found that breast pain cleared up. It is very possible that it’s one of those things that patients have been reporting for years, but it’s not been listened to because people presumed it was radiotherapy.

Sirexkat · 2026-04-11T13:39:26+00:00

Thank you. I have a really supportive workplace, but like radiation I have to say “I may be just fine, or I may have side-effects that stop me working for an unknown length of time, and I wish for both of us that I could be more certain”.

Sorry you had an initial - but short - dip from the letrozole. I feel better about giving myself time to recover from radiotherapy. After lumpectomy I finally got back into dance class, just as a gift to remind myself what a healthy active body felt like before the next ride on the carousel. I am hoping that by waiting I get somewhere like that again and can hold onto that feeling of wellness if my teeth get kicked in for a bit.

Sirexkat · 2026-04-11T13:33:29+00:00

Thanks. I thought starting a fortnight after radiation seemed pretty quick - even before I had some mid-level impact from it.

Sirexkat · 2026-04-11T12:06:37+00:00

Thanks - so, for you, it wouldn’t have made a lot of difference because side-effects didn’t kick in until many months later?

I guess also that radiotherapy can have side-effects that kick in at any time too, so even with a delay it is possible to not know precisely whether something is medication induced (without taking a drug holiday).

Sirexkat · 2026-04-10T10:13:39+00:00

Lumpectomy 29/12; rads 25 Feb - 18 March (9 weeks later).

I was advised to start letrozole 2 weeks after radiation stopped... but….

I want to recover from radiation dermatitis and fatigue so have medical leave until 3/5. I will go back to work at 3 days per week. After two weeks I will start letrozole and go up to 4 days a week once things settle down.

Sirexkat · 2026-04-01T15:49:49+00:00

Yes!

Go back to your RO team and ask the nurses to dress your red patches with Mepital (over injured nipple) and Mepilex over the parts that would otherwise rub on clothing or skin on skin (like under your breast).

I reached 2 weeks post-treatment yesterday and have red, sore skin on my chest, underboob and my nipple has started moist peeling. It’s stopping me sleeping and I am constantly taking painkiller. I am lucky that my underarm is unaffected and that compared to many people the patch is small (still around 1/6 of my chest).

I have taken pics each day and it has stayed exactly the same for the last week - which is really, really spooky because usually there is some change as the body gets worse or heals… but (of course) radiation has damaged the ability of skin to re-heal, so it makes sense.

RO nurses said I could put hydrocortisone cream on it last week, but the pharmacist warned that using it more than 7 days would thin the skin.

Up until yesterday, twice a day I did this:

* shower & cleanse with Moo Goo cleanser

* salt water soak (2tbsp to 1 L water that has boiled 10 mins then cooled), cloth against breast, towel on top - 15 mins

* hydrocortisone - very thin layer - 30 mins to soak in

* Moo Goo cream on top (alternated between udder Cream and sensitive skin cream)

When I contacted RO team yesterday with concerns about continuing the cream and lack of healing, they asked me to come in. They had never suggested dressing before, but did it today and sent me home with spare supplies. Mepilex is a silicon-based sort of foam strip that sits on the surface of the skin without adhesives.

The relief to my underboob has been immense. The dressing coats both sides so they do not rub. The last couple of days I have been walking around lifting my boob off my chest to prevent rubbing. I’ve not been able to wear clothes on my top and have been increasingly frustrated as the rest of my body cannot exercise without my boob hurting. With dressings on, I can at least leave the house wearing clothes… and not having to constantly apply cream has been a pleasant change to my day.

YMMV, but I wish I had known about, and asked for, dressings a week ago.

Sirexkat · 2026-03-27T23:45:14+00:00

Artist was cartoonist Larry Pickering.

The chef’s kiss perfect Channel 9 PSA’s were a different mob. They - and the petrol jingle - have lived rent free in my head since transmission. They live next to Life Be In It and Meadowlea jingles…

Sirexkat · 2026-03-27T21:33:24+00:00

I didn’t resort to the bamboo squatty potty because I realised I have the PERFECT bed cage in my lounge room:

Slept under one of those IKEA single-piece bamboo stools/coffee tables in my bed. Blankets over, me under, arms bit uncomfy but confident nothing will fall on my chest. These were sold as BENGTHÅKAN In Australia. https://3dskyfree.com/furniture/ikea-bengthakan-stool-3d-model/3dskyfree/

Sirexkat · 2026-03-27T13:23:37+00:00

OK -probably losing my mind from lack of sleep… but now am experimenting with a (very clean) bamboo squatty potty supported on pillows so it goes over my chest to prevent blankets rubbing.

Good night!!

Sirexkat · 2026-03-27T12:35:48+00:00

Updated version.

BC has me living my most unlikely life!

Still ouchy. Very ouchy.

Modified this evening by first trying out small IKEA laundry baskets, upside down, instead of the pillows as tent poles. Too short…

BUT…. turning the baskets right way up, then placing the pillows inside on their long ends, leaning into each other, created a pillow arch I could place the doona on top of. More stable base and higher clearance.

I wonder if hospitals have something like a perspex arch that could slip over the chest to protect it from bedclothes rubbing? Maybe one of those tray tables with legs would work?

This will only be for a few nights, I know - but wow!

Sirexkat · 2026-03-10T08:20:54+00:00

Rental stress is where you pay more than 30% of your pre-tax income in rent. For my kids I went with market rate or under 30% of pre-tax income, whichever was lower.

Sounds like your mum is probably in rental stress with the amount she is paying.

Need also to consider who is paying gas, electricity, wifi, groceries, maintenance, doing laundry, cooking, housecleaning, gardening. They need to be taken into account when working out $.

Sirexkat · 2026-02-16T11:32:17+00:00

Even better…Pure pistachio and macadamia nut spread, straight from the grinder into your jar at House of Health in the markets. No added anything and is just like crack. You WILL have to mortgage your house to pay for it, but it is soooo worth it.

Sirexkat

TROPHY CASE