40 somethings in similar position?

[sam3]

I have no idea yet what type of surgery I will need. Forgive my ignorance, I still need to look into all this. Does your surgery mean there is never the option of reconstruction for you? If it has been a success then that is all that matters xo

[rosa1]

@sam3 i do have the option of reconstruction in the future but it may have to be under private as there is long waiting list for NHS especially as it’s not an essential surgery. I’ll see how I feel after treatment finishes as will also need radiotherapy after chemo.

[pod123]

Hi I’m 45 and was diagnosed in May this year with a Grade 2, EER/PR +ve, HER2 -ve cancer. Ultrasound of the axillary nodes was clear but unfortunately I had 2/6 sentinel nodes involved at the first surgery so I proceeded to full axillary node clearance on 21st Aug. Thankfully only one more node was affected, so that was a total of 3/29. I’ve seen the oncologist and will be starting EC/D chemo next Wed. I was offered participation in the OPTIMA trial but decided against it as I was afraid of not being given chemo, after the oncologist had said the standard treatment for someone like me is chemo, and NHS predict showed a potential 9% benefit in 15 year survival with chemo. I have one 6 year old boy so can identify with all you ladies wondering what and how to tell your children. He knows I had a “sore thing” removed and that I’ll be getting “powerful medicine” which will make me feel sick, tired, and leave me with a haircut like his dad I’m not sure he believes me about the hair but he’ll soon see, I guess. I got my wig yesterday and it’s definitely a lot less terrible than I expected, so I’ve decided not to get my hair cut short yet as I’d initially planned. I’m going to wait til it’s nearly time for it to come out and then cut it at home and donate it to the Little Princess Trust. I figured it might be stranger to go from short hair (which I’d probably hate for the next 3 weeks anyway) to no hair and a long wig, so I’m skipping the short stage. Sorry this ended up long and congratulations if you’ve read this far!!