Have just been told I have breast cancer,still sinking in but any advice on things to take to hospital clothing/cream after rad etc would be very helpful
Hello Jellylegs
Welcome to the forums, I’m sure you will soon get support from other forum users. It the meantime you may find it helpful to give our Helpline a call on 0808 800 6000.
best wishes
June
moderator
Hi Jellylegs, welcome to the club no-one wants to join. This is the place to come for all the information the medics forget to tell you, a place to rant and laugh and get angry and get support - we’re all on the same path, though of course it’s a different experience for all of us. But all of us seem to go through that initial shock, the feeling that it’s all unreal. And the paranoia! But we’ve all found that once you get a treatment plan and get started, it begins to feel better, you feel as if you’re fighting back against the nasty little b*gger.
What treatment are you having? Surgery first, chemo…?
Hi Jellylegs,you will got lots of help and support on here whatever stage you are going through.I remember it all being a bit of a blur at the start,such a surreal time,but Im now 6 months post diagnosis and out the other end.
For hospital you should take button down front pjs as it can be a bit difficult moving your arm post op. Wet wipes are handy to freshen up,good book or mags,i-pod,money for tv card,mobile, sweets to suck post op as can have a sore throat,squash,some prunes or dried apricots etc to get things moving…
I was advised to drink plenty before and after op and to get up and walk about as soon as was able, ooh and you have to eat to heal !
Might be an idea to take an eyemask and ear plugs too if you have difficulty sleeping, hope that helps,am sure others will add on what worked for them. Good luck and keep chatting,it helps.
Sandra x
Sorry to hear you had to join us, Jellylegs.
I found it helped to just gather information for the specific bit of treatment I was about to embark on. There’s so much you can get completely overwhelmed with information at a time when you’re trying to come to terms with your diagnosis.
Depending on what you have first, that’s what you need to know about.
If it’s surgery, depending on what type of surgery, and whether you have drains, you could be in hospital for a shockingly short amount of time, or you could be in significantly longer. The best advice on that would be from your surgeon or your breast care nurse. They usually have a fairly good idea how long you are likely to be in the hospital. Also, some hospitals have a policy of not discharging you while you have drains in, whereas others don’t.
Sandra is absolutely right about front-buttoning pyjamas. Also if you are going to have drains they could get messy, so a change of pjs might be a good idea if you don’t want to rely on the hospital nightwear. Squash is always a good idea to take away the slighly horrible taste of the water (why hospital drinking water always tastes horrible, I don’t know). Also make sure you’ve got something front buttoning to wear when you are discharged so that’s easy to get into as well.
I’d also second her advice on earplugs and eyemask, as if you’re on a ward it can get very noisy, even if you’re on a ward where tvs are not allowed.
If you wear glasses, I’d definitely make sure you’ve got a case to put them in, as you’ll need to remove them, and you don’t want them damaged. I’d also take a dressing gown with you. I got taken up to get a guide wire put in for my op (wide local excision with sentinel node biopsy) AFTER I’d had to put on my gown for surgery (starkers under an open-back gown) and then had to go halfway across the hospital, through public areas, and I was VERY grateful to know I wasn’t flashing anyone.
If you are going to be in hospital the night before surgery, I’d make sure you’ve got visitors to help take your mind off it, and have visitors organised for the following day or evening (depending on when you’re likely to be back from surgery).
If you are having radiotherapy after surgery, you’re going to have a couple of weeks at least after surgery before they’ll start. I’m starting rads next week, after surgery mid-June, to give you an idea of the kind of timescales you could expect (my planning session for radiotherapy was 22nd June).
All the very best of luck with starting this journey - it’s a long one, but take it one step at a time, and keep on posting!
Thank you so much I am overwhelmed by all your kind responces.
I go back to hospital on the 11th of August.I have been given a choice between M/x and lumpectomy.Then rad. I think I will choose lumpectomy…I’m still a little confused at the moment and keep changing my mind.
Hi Im new here and just got diagnosed on 30th July with breast cancer. I am having the small lump removed on 10th august so this thread caught my eye.
Didnt have a choice but wondering what is M/x?
Dear gocat,
The abbreviations used are very confusing. If you click on the link below it will take you to a reply to someone who asked the same question! The other forum users are always very quick to respond to any queries so always ask!
breastcancercare.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=22656&p=337048&hilit=abbreviations#p337048
Kindest regards
Janet
BCC Facilitator
Hi Gocat
Mx is an abbreviation for mastectomy. You may see tx - which is short for treatment and px which is short for prescription. WLE is wide local excision, which just is another term for lumpectomy. You will soon learn the lingo!
Cathy
x
And FEC is one of the chemotherapy treatments. It must be said with an Irish accent (Father Ted) to get the full effect!
Thanks for your replies Janet and Cathy. Makes sense now.
Now wondering how do I start a new thread to introduce myself lol.
Thanks Susanne (and anyone else who has replied. Think Im on pre-mod lol)
Dear gocat,
I will try and explain how to start a new thread! If you look down the list of categories on the left hand side of the page and decide which one your post best fits into. Then click on that category and when the next page comes up you should see “post a new thread” in the pink band at the top of the page. If you click on that, a box will come up where you start writing your post and then just click on “submit”.
I hope that helps.
Kindest regards
Janet
BCC facilitator
Jellylegs, I had that choice to make too,and went for the lumpectomy,some people feel the need to have the whole lot off but lumpectomy plus rads gives the same re occurence rate so purely down to how your brain is wired. I am more than happy that didnt have to come to terms with loss of whole breast and I’m lucky that they got clear margins first time round and didnt need further op. Any questions you have just ask away, I had no knowledge at all re breast cancer before I found myself here,and through these forums I know a lot more,there will always be someone to help you. Big hugs.
Sandra x
Hi Jellylegs and welcome, Gocat. Sorry you’ve also had to join us.
I wasn’t offered mastectomy. I think it’s probably down to individual factors whether you are or not as each of us has a diagnosis as unique as we are. I wasn’t because of breast size and location (and maybe also size) of tumour.
As I understand it, and Sandra has said, a WLE followed by radiotherapy has the same recurrence rate as mastectomy, so both are as safe a choice as each other.
Are they doing a sentinel node biopsy or a node clearance?
With the mastectomy, if you choose that, you’ll also have to think about reconstruction. It may be that even with lumpectomy or WLE you might have to have some adjustment made if there’s a noticeable difference in size post-op. Also, with lumpectomy/WLE, there is the prospect of further surgery if no clear margins.
Either way, you need to make sure you get all your concerns and questions addressed so you are happy with the decision you are making.
Hi Have been shopping today to get sensible p.j’s etc unforunately got distracted by the nicest black boots you’ve ever seen.I hummed and haahed and said to my daughter “Perhaps not now” To which she relied “There’s nothing wrong with your feet” So will look forward to wearing them. Have to find comfy bra?
Comfy bra a good idea. My surgeon advised me to wear one all the time, including in bed, so if you’re currently an underwired bra wearer, you might want to go for a non-underwired one, or if you’ve an old underwired bra, take the wires out.
Enjoy the boots - you need to have fun things to look forward to wearing!
Hi, I’ve not had a very good day today. Have been what only be could discribed as EVIL. Managed to get comfy bra from Matalan and Bio Oil,will start using tonight.I’m having surgery on the 11th August,has decided to go for lumpectomy. Hope they leave me something though!!
Hi Jellylegs & all. I’m a newbie too, and have little to offer but my experience so far. I was diagnosed on 29th June, had to have MRI etc so surgery wasn’t until 20th July. The MRI was invaluable as it showed there were some stray cancer cells not associated with the tumour we knew about. I had to then choose between quadrectomy and chemo, or mastectomy +/- chemo, radiothereapy depending upon pathology. Not a great choice.
I went for quadrectomy in the end as I felt it was starting with the least invasive and left me with a number of options; and as it turns out my surgeon got good margins round the toxic-titty-tissue. Unfortunately I have to have a lymph node clearance on Thursday as the pathology showed there is involvement there, which is disappointing
I think your choice to have lumpectomy is a good one (of course this is only my opinion). My take on it is that if (heaven forbid) the pathology comes back and you do find yourself facing further surgery on your breast, it will be because you *need* it - it will be an evidence based decision. If as planned the margins are clear, then you will be able to walk away from this, in tact.
BTW I have titchy boobs (36a) and my surgeon did an amazing job - not too lopsided at all Good luck to you
L
x
80% of WLEs are successful - good odds for the less radical option.