hya Ang
Feeling a lot better today, think it must have been my period bringing me down. I am 51, and I do not think I have had any symptoms of menopause yet, or very little, none that I would really put down to that. Probably if I have chemo it will send me into the menopause then? but then will I have another menopause after chemo? Sounds like you live in a lovely area Ang, walking to the river and back up the hill, I am in a town so no rivers or hills. So when I walk its flat. Got a friend coming round tonight, going to have a chinese and some wine. Looking forward to that. Do you watch X-factor, I love it, sado aint I. That reminds me must tape it tonight. Take care Ang
Luv Angela xx
Hi all
Have been off line a while something happened with my computer.
Just to let you know - I went to see the Oncologist yesterday Thursday 23 Oct, we discussed chemotherapy. She told me they have removed 80% of the cancer and the benefits of me having chemo were around 2%. Taking my case into consideration and the effects chemo would have on me she thought it would not be worth it ,in my case, for me to have chemo…Hurray…Hurray…Hurray. Quite honestly tho it felt odd when she said this as I had set myself up for having it. As the day progressed the information sunk in a bit more and now I feel great knowing I dont have to go thro it. She gave me a prescription for Tamoxifen which I now have to take. I will take the first one today, I have heard all sorts of rumours about this and so I have decided I will take it with my breakfast in the morning. I also have to have radiotherapy, everyday for 3-4 weeks. I have now been referred to another Oncologist for radiotherapy, I have an appointment for him on Monday.
Good luck to all you people out there who have to have chemo.
Lots of love to all
Angela xx
Great news Angela,glad to hear you don’t need chemo.I didn’t either and was so relieved!
I am on Tamoxifen and have had no problems so far,so hopefully you will be the same,
Love
Dot
xx
Angela
forgive me for being thick but why have they ‘only’ got rid of 80% of the cancer. Will the rads get rid of the rest? Why wouldnt chemo be best for getting at the last 20 %. How do they come to a benefit from chemo as 2%. Sorry but these are all the qstns that I would need answers for but then you have probably already asked them!!!
take care
good luck with s/es from Tamoxifen
Chris x
Good news Angela - hope the Tamoxifen goes well - I will get that after all the other stuff! let us know how you get on
Best wishes
Tanya
Hey Ang.
I think you may have got mixed up about the removal of cancer numbers. From what you’ve said before they removed all of it in surgery, or at least all that they know of, ie there wasn’t any in the lymph nodes was there?
usually after surgery the oncologist will see you and talk to you about your prognosis and this involves numbers that sound a lot like the ones you mention. Ie after the surgery there’s an 80% chance you’ll be alive in 10 years. Having chemo as well would make it an 82% chance (ie 80 + 2).
What you have to remember is these are just numbers generated by a clever piece of software (not unlike software I’ve worked on) that looks at what’s happened to other people who were of a similar age and had similar type of breast cancer over the last 10 or 20 years. So while it’s clever it’s really important to remember it’s just statistics and don’t tell you what’s going to happen to you, they’re a guide to help you make decisions about what to do next that’s all.
Having said that the guide has given you a good prognosis as they say, very good. I did suspect that you wouldn’t need chemo as for tumors that respond to hormones have as good a or if not better response to drugs like tamoxifen as they do to chemo so are often the better choice if your tumours respond to them (one of mine wasn’t hormone responsive so tamoxifen wouldn’t help there so chemo was a given for me).
Anyway do talk to your onc about the numbers if they don’t make complete sense, it’s really important that you feel you’ve understood what they have to tell you and most of us are anxious when talking to them so it’s easy to forget or misunderstand things which is why I always take my poor OH, so I can grill him for the following 3 hours with questions like “he did say blah meant thingy right?” 
Anyway they’re really good numbers Ang.
Hi All
Not been visiting here for a while, been quite busy. A friend drove us to London on Thursday of last week (went with my daughter and a couple of friends), had a lovely time. Went to see a couple of shows, i.e. ‘We will Rock you’ and ‘Billy Elliot’, I can recommend both. Billy Elliot made me weepy somewhat, although I am one of these soppy people who cry at anything (get on my own nerves really!).
I dont know whether I did too much whilst there but suddenly I feel very emotional, I keep looking at my body and sometimes I am not liking what I am seeing (where have my boobs gone) I do keep trying to keep positive and tell my daughter that this T-shirt I am wearing needs ironing properly, but now It does not seem much like a joke any more. What has happened to my boobs! What is happening! I feel down, depressed and want to keep crying at the moment. Reality setting in or what? Could it be the Tamoxifen? Everything still just seems surreal. I have just gone along with the flow of everything and now everything is slowing down somewhat. I had loads of phone calls and visitors at one time, where have they gone? I probably need time now to come to terms with myself, so lack of visitors is good.
Anyway just have to get on with it…(sob, sob) (where have my boobs gone…)
Dotchas: Thanks for your message. Let me know if you do get any side effects off the Tamoxifen. I have had 11 tablets so far and counting - According to my surgeon I have to take it for 5 years - so that means I have another 3,815 to take - over 5 years, if my sums are right. Although the Onc said I would take Tamoxifen for 2 years then switch to another (a post menopausal one). The BCN said it would depend if I have symptoms of the change, if I do not have symptoms I will be kept on tamoxifen (who knows eh? cos I thought Tamoxifen can bring on symptoms of change).
Dipstick: Think I may have got a little confused but Vertangies explanation sounds about right!
Tanya - thanks will do. Hows the chemo for you?
Vertangie: Thanks for your explanation, that sounds right, I do get confused over all these figures. Back to see my Surgeon on 18 November. So will get a proper explanation then. Thanks Ang. xx
love to you all…(where have my boobs gone…!!!)
What I forgot to add, maybe you can answer vertangie, Did your ribs hurt?
I feel I can’t turn, or reach, cos of aching/pain in the ribs, this is/has definitely got/getting worse. Will this improve over time?
Hi Angie
sorry you are having a ‘sad’ day but just remember you can still have lots of good times as you have had last weekend, boobs or no boobs. I think we get dragged along with all the treatement and then when its over we are left high and dry. A bit like our friends, I think they believe after the treatement ends we are well and dont need any more support, encouragement which leaves us feeling a bit flat. I will be in your position in December, as my last tax is 27 nov, no date for op yet. Thankfully our bodies heal usually quite well, it is harder to get our head around what we have been through but we will get there and it will become our ‘norm’. I am 51 too. Are you having recon at all, I dont know if to bother or not. I bought a couple of bras todayfor after the op but my head is in a muddle and I dont know really what to do.
By the way, has anyone seen saturdays x factor, who got booted off?
Hope tomorrow brings you a happier day, you are well now and thats got to be good x
Chris x
Austin was out on Saturday’s X Factor - compelled to watch
Chemo is ok Angela but pretty unpleasant - will be glad when its all over
Best wishes everyone
Tanya x
Heya Ang.
My ribs did hurt actually, but it was rib pain that alerted me to the tumour in the first place in my case, Right rib cage was tender, then I found the lump. Then they found the left lump (which was not tender), then the bilateral mx and yes it felt tight over my ribs and I did get a feeling that I can only describe as pulling on a tender bruised bit, but there was no bruising on the surface. Saw the consultant surgeon after 3 months and he confirmed that it does take a long time for the deeper tissues to heal and yes it would take a *while* to return to normal. But if it’s worrying you do get it checked out.
Mine still hurt a little but only if I prod hard and I’m thinking prodding that hard may very well have hurt before all of this LOL.
Sorry you’re feeling so low, I did have a few days of feeling like that during chemo but my sheer bloodymindedness has kept that at bay for now. I hope something lifts your spirits soon.
Lots of love
Angie
Hi Angie, I wonder if you can give me some advice as I had my bilateral on July 23rd, had rads to left hand side, finished on 26th September, 4 nodes out on right and 3 on left hand side, the left arm was worse than right, feeling heavy and aching but did start to feel much better until today. Now its really feeling heavy and my chest wall is hurting (cant really explain how it feels)- do you think this is normal with the time scales?
Thought I was getting back to “normal” - now Im not sure,
Shirley
xx
Hey Shirley
I found (and still am finding) that the healing goes in waves, a few months after the op I felt great, was out walking with the dog and scrambled up a bank from the river and that caused me all sorts of pains for a week or so, then things got better again , but occasionally I still get odd feelings they’re just not as bad anymore so it really could be just normal healing but I’m just one person and no expert so I think I’d personally call the breast care nurse who knows you and ask them.
It’s certainly fits and starts isn’t it.
Lots of love
Angie
thank you Angie, I think thats right - my OH says that I do too much, lifted logs in last night cos I felt OK, but I suppose we dont realise what has gone on inside our bodies and that it takes longer to heal inside, cos the outside scars look OK, but I will phone her tomorrow about my arm, its certainly fits and starts!
thanks again
Shirley
xx
Hi Ladies
Thank you all for your replies. Am feeling loads better today. I think maybe the thought of going back in hospital for another op might have been looming over me. I dont think I told you that last week when I saw the cons radiologist he thought I needed another op to take more lymph nodes from my left arm, but I saw him again on Tues and after discussing me with my surgeon and I do not. Hurray… I had to have some blood taken, I think wth feeling down, and I have Hypothyroidism which I take medication for, this has not been checked for a while so this could be my problem of low mood. The Phlebotomist tried to get it out of my feet, as with having nodes taken from both arms the Lymphodema Nurse insists I cannot have blood taken from my arms. What a carry on that was, I must have been there for an hour, The Reg came eventually and she tried, after trying to warm my feet (poor woman), I was not giving any, now my feet are all bruised. All they got was a very small amount, I think there may have been enough to check my Thyroid. The Phlebotomist actually took my sample to Pathology himself as he did not want it to get lost after all the trouble it took to get it.
Went to a support group last night, I really enjoyed it. We made a Xmas card, the ladies were lovely. There’s always someone worse than yourself, and I dont mean this to sound horrible, but it certainly made me think how lucky I was.
Dipstick - I had bi.mx. and my cons would not let me have recon immed cos if you have to go for rads it can damage the implant apparently. I did think about it at the time then after the op decided I do not want recon (further surgery puts me off quite honestly…I’m a wimp) but I can decide at a later date, so not too late to change my mind. However I went to a support group last night and was talking to a lady there who had breast reconstruction and although I did not get to see them, her cleavage looked great, she had one taken from the stomach and an implant in the other. (Would love to see it…does this sound pervy…) She said she would show us her scars on her tummy next time we go…which will be January. She is very pleased with her results. Are you having bi.mx Chris? I also bought a bra for coming out but if you are having bi, it does not really matter cos you can go home without it and not look odd. I see you are a saddo…like myself…X-factor fan eh?
Tanya - Another saddo who watches X-factor…I love it though…I think Simon Cowell thought he was going to get an award, but it went to ‘strictly’, did you see his face? I also like ‘I’m a Celebrity get me out of here’ which is on soon. Yippee…
Vertangie - I think my rib pain may be a little easier today but don’t want to speak too soon. It sounds like I just need time to heal. I dont think we realise just how our major surgery has affected us inside.
Bessieboo - I had my bi.mx on 2 Oct Shirley and dont need chemo but do need rads which I am awaiting a date for. I need rads to the right breast wall and axilla. I had 4 nodes taken from the right breast. However only one node came away with the left breast which was cancer free. Shirley, have you been doing a lot of repetative work with your left arm. Looking at your latest post I think you maybe have. Please take care. My lympodema nurse told me not to do a lot of repetative work with your arms, espec if you have had lymph nodes taken (so no cleaning for me then!) She told me that repetative work can cause lymphodema and once you have this you cannot get rid of it only manage it. Maybe you should call your BCN or Lymphodema Nurse.
lots of love to you all - Angela xx
Hi everyone,
Just wondering how everyone is?
I go for planning for rads tomorrow and start on 24 November for 4 weeks.
Angela xx
heya Ang.
Good luck with the rads. Finished mine just over a week ago. It’s really not too bad but be prepared for some sun burn like itchiness and maybe need about a gallon more sleep that you’re used to and forty winks during the day. I’ve lost my appetite too but that might just be the year finally catching up with me (and the fat reserves chemo left me with LOL).
Lots of love,
Angie
thanks ang. So you did not find rads too bad. Did they give you Aqueous cream to massage in, my friend got aqueous cream and she said to put it in fridge cos its cooling. I suppose after chemo its quite a lot easier, I’m lucky in that respect cos dont need chemo.
I have been marked up today with lines and crosses etc. they put tagaderm on top to keep the marks there. They asked me if I wanted to be tattooed but dont know whether I should or not. Did you get tatooed Ang? Does it make things easier, and how easy is it to keep these pen marks on. I can keep high necked sweaters on so people wont see my pen marks. I wont be able to wash the area for 5 weeks to prevent the pen coming off but dont find that any big deal. I suppose I wont be able to massage the area either. Got some Bio Oil the other day its lovely, really nice to massage in and smells georgous. However cant use this during rads.
They told me I would be having electrons as my radiotherapy treatment. Do you know anything about this?
Apparently, cos I’m soooooo thin (I wish, only my top half is thin…they never saw my legs…) they say electrons will not penetrate as far. Does this make sense?
Anyway I may decide to go to bed for a month, cos I’m always tired anyway.
Hope you doing ok ang, lots of luv
Angela x
Why cant you use bio oil with rads ?
Chris x
Dunno dipstick, she told me just to use the cream that they will give me, which I am told will be aqueous cream. will ask next time I go.
Angela x