wwow that was good to be back home so soon,glad you got some sleep hope you are feeling less ender now…
your’e right about the staff on the day surgery ward, good luck with the oncologist,
Hi Im in Colne, diagnosed with grade one tumour 10 days ago, how do you decide on which surgery?
Hi Rockchik, have you been given your results yet. The consultant will advise which route to take. It depends whether your lymph nodes are involved, were they clear etc. We just have to trust in what advice we are given and hopefully take everything that is sent our way.
I assume you are at Burnley General, they have a good team there.
Good Luck xx
Hi Taffy, thanx for the reply, my lump is 1.5cm so small, and the biopsy of the nodes looked clear but they said not for sure until I have cnb. My problem is they just gave me a choice…I am so small even lumpectomy and rads will leave me with pretty much nothing! but cant bare to loose my nipple by having mx and recon! has all been making me sick, bf finished it on friday and i feel so alone. started to think I dont have any treatment and let it take its course, since I thought that my head has stopped driving me crazy.
hugz xx
you’re not alone chik, x have you joined the macmillan comunity, they have a live chat room and there are always folk in there chatting xxx
Hi rockchik, you are definately not alone. Have you discussed all treatment areas with your breast care nurse, this might help you with your decision. I assume you go to BGH for your appointments. We all seem to be given different advice about the type of treatment we need, relating to the size and grade of our tumours and we rely on our surgeon to tell us the best path to go down. Hoping you get all the help you need to make your decision as easy as possible. Big hugs xx
Hi Lola, Good to see you have now got a plan of action. Good luck with everything xx
I had my first meeting with the oncologist at Burnley yesterday and it all went quite well. I am going to have FEC x 6 then Herceptin x 18 (I’m HER2+++) and radiotherapy. I’m not having the Tax chemo because my nodes were clear, and apparently they don’t give Tax to node-clear people. He is also arranging for me to have a portacath fitted because of the number of infusions I will be having. The PICC lines are only used for people on chemo only.
I am also eligible for a trial of a new drug called Perjeta, which is for HER2+++ patients with early stage breast cancer. He is arranging for me to have a meeting about this to find out more details before i make up my mind.
Pre-chemo chat arranged for 18th March at Burnley. Then all systems go!
xxx
hi lola im having my oncologist meeting on 12/march, im chemo only, but have been invited to a trial on rediotherapy im going to accept, its called supremo im her2 - im getting used to all these terms i had never heard of 10 weeks ago,
hi lola im having my oncologist meeting on 12/march, im chemo only, but have been invited to a trial on rediotherapy im going to accept, its called supremo im her2 - im getting used to all these terms i had never heard of 10 weeks ago,
Hi Tabitha,
It’s getting close now! We will maybe see each other in the chemo suite.
xxx
hi lola, what happens on your 1st visit to your onc?, i dont want google lol
Hi Tabitha,
It was all fine, nothing to worry about at all.
I didn’t see the main man - he wasn’t in clinic that day for some reason. I saw his Registrar. It was in the outpatients department at Burnley and there was a nurse there with him. Hubby came with me. He asked me what I knew, and as he realised I knew as much as there was to know about my diagnosis etc. he showed me the Adjuvant! webpage. This is a webpage only available to the medical profession and not the general pubic. He typed in my details and diagnosis, and showed me a graph that showed my chances of dying of cancer in the next 5 years without any treatment at all. Then he showed me how these chances of dying decrease with chemo, radiotherapy and herceptin (my suggested treatment). The decision to accept chemo treatment was entirely mine, but looking at the graphs it was a no-brainer. The treatment makes a huge difference. He did a lot of talking and answered all my questions. Some of it went in one ear and out the other and I was glad hubby was with me!
He then told me what chemo drugs he would prescribe, I signed a consent form, and he got on the phone to arrange a pre-chemo assessment date and told me I would be having a portacath fitted. This is because I will be on Herceptin infusions for 12 months after chemo. He said those who just have chemo and no Herceptin will get a PICC line. He also told me about a clinical trial I would be eligible for and we agreed he could organise a meeting for me to discuss this with the trial people. That was about it really. Oh, he gave me some Macmillan print outs about the chemo drugs I will be on and the side effects, which he talked about a bit.
The nurse weighed me and measured my height, and took some blood. I was given a date and time for the pre-chemo assessment and am waiting for an appointment for the portacath fitting.
Be aware that the Oncology department covers the whole of Lancashire and South Cumbria, not just East Lancs. My portacath fitting will be at Preston but my chemo will be at Burnley.
Hope that helps. xxx
im having a line fitted in preston, and i need a heart scan they Willdo that at blackburn, once again the team were brilliant,.I got the printoff from the macMillan site ,
Hi
Thanks for that really useful and detailed post, Lola. I’ve recently had an mx and node removal at Burnley and am seeing the oncologist next week. Like you, I’ll need Herceptin for 12 months after chemo so I was interested to hear about the Portacath.
Hope all goes well for you - may bump into you in the chemo suite or on the April thread on this forum!
All the best
Wendy x
just got my pre chemo chat. im there on friday, and now i am nervous
Good luck on Friday, Tabitha - let us know how you get on.
Wendy x
Hi Wendy, nice to see someone else from our area. The three of us are sure to meet up at some point. Hopefully anyway. I actually joined the February Valentines group because I fully expected to start chemo in February, and I got to know all the girls on there so decided to stay put, but I do pop in to the March and April starters.
Good luck on Friday Tabitha. I was going for mine on Friday but it got put back to next Monday as the oncologist wants another word with me about my treatment and he can only be there on Monday. No idea what he wants to discuss, but all will be revealed on Monday!
I still haven’t got a date for the portacath fitting.
xxx
Born in Burnley but moved to Preston 20 years ago. I had all my chemotherapy and radiotherapy at Preston Royal Hospital and all my surgery at Chorley. I had a picc line fitted without anaesthetic and it was okay. Had to have an xray afterwards to make sure it was in the right place. I made some pretty stretchy covers to go over the tubes when I was wearing short sleeves. My active treatment finished a year ago and I am now 9 days away from having my breast reconstruction operation.
Hope everything goes well for all of you.
I am coming over to Burnley on Saturday so if anyone wants to meet up for coffee and a chat I can fit that in. I am going to see my Uncle who is in a nursing home in Nelson.
Hi Supertrouper,
Pleased to meet another Lancashire Lassie and good of you to pop in. Thanks for the offer of coffee and a chat, but Saturday is a no no for me. I live in the Ribble Valley, so Preston and Burnley hospitals are equidistant for me. I will have my rads at Preston and the portacath fitting.
Great to hear you are finished with all your active treatment - and my very best wishes for your forthcoming reconstruction.
xxx