Brilliant documentary. Thankyou and well done Gail and the others who participated.
alex
Well done & thank you Gail. My appointment with the reconstruction clinic is next week, so very timely for me. Also, my husband has avoided watching the DVD the hospital gave me, but he sat & watched the documentary with me last night, which pleased me as he now has a better idea of what I might be going through.
My only disappointment is that I wasn’t treated at that hospital myself, as I think there I would have been offered an immediate reconstruction, which I couldn’t have in Leicester.
Did not get to watch as forgot it was on BBC2 scotland. Will try and watch it on BBC iplayer. Have book marked it now
Take care all
Chrissie
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Hi Ladies,
Ive just watched the documentry on bbc iplayer. Fantastic well done to all the ladies who took part.
Take Care
Leslee x
Just finished watching on iplayer,very well done.
Thanks ladies,you should be very proud of yourselves.
Little H xx
Very informative and also gives an insight into the reality of cancer and how we deal with it, have posted the link to all my friends. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Sandra x
Thank you to all the ladies involved in making this documentary. You were very brave and I admire you for doing this.
You have helped me to understand a few things about my own breast cancer and perhaps helped my friends and family to understand me. XX
I was diagnosed in 2006 aged 60. I required a mastectomy and was offered an immediate reconstruction at the Canniesburn Unit at Royal Infirmary in Glasgow. Professor George along with Mr Malyon (who was in the documentary) performed the operation and reconstruction.
I can only give the highest praise to the doctors and nurses during my time in the Royal Infirmary. They were fantastic. This also applies to the aftercare.
The nurse in the film also did my tattoo, her team were excellent too.
My congratulations and thanks to the ladies in the documentary for allowing their stories to be followed. It takes a lot of courage, but is also inspiring and hopefully will help anyone going forward for reconstruction.
Thanks again ladies, and my best wishes and thoughts are with you all for the future.
Love and take care
Thistle xx
I too have just watched the breast cancer documentary and would like to say how inspiring this was.
My hubby sat with me and watched it,never moved and it really has made him realise how hard this is for us all
Many thanks to all and keep smiling xxx
Well done to everyone who took part in the programme, just watched it on i player. I laughed and cried along with you gail, what you said is exactly how i have felt throughout all the treatment etc.
Good luck for the future and keep positive
Marg xxx
I have also watched the documentary and found it inspiring. Best wishes to all those who took part.
The link to the programme is below for anyone interested in watching:
bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mqglb/My_New_Breast/
Kind regards,
Jo, Facilitator
Excellent and informative - physical and emotional aspects of having this disease addressed really well and sensitively. Some scary bits, but now feel more able to ask questions about my own surgery (after chemo). Am so glad the outcome was a good one for you Gail and hope your life has resumed some “normality”.
I watched the documentary last night and thought it was great. Well done to ladies who took part.
It brought back so memories of being diagnosed which upset me a bit but also felt good when gail finished the chemo & rads treatment as i could still remember that feeling.
Great work ladies.
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What a fantastic documentary - but all too short for me - it highlighted that breast cancer recovery is not a quick fix. The ladies were very different and very inspiring. I am going to watch it again to really take it all in - the surgeons and staff were brilliant - to see part of the ops that we’ve had is amazing - Love and best wishes to all of you out there. Lyn x
a really good documentary about primary breast cancer and it’s treatment. thankyou girls and sincerely wish you all the best for your futures. xxx
I just watched this documentary and I thought it was excellent and would like to thank the ladies who agreed to be filmed. I have one misgiving though. I know that the documentary was about ladies having reconstructions but I thought the language used about ladies having mastectomies without reconstruction was very negative. (This is a general observation and isn’t confined to this documentary). Narrators and presenters often talk about “disfigurement” “mutilation” “loss of womanhood” when talking about mastectomies. This isn’t very helpful to ladies who decide not to have a reconstruction. How can we build our self esteem when we hear mastectomies referred to in these terms?
We are all in this together and it is a personal choice whether to have a reconstruction or not. I support ladies who have a reconstruction just as much as I support those who choose not to. However I feel that ladies such as myself who opt not to have a reconstruction are treated in a different way.
I hope this makes sense!
Love
Maude xx
Hi Maude,
I dont know if i speak for anyone else here but i dont think the documentry was intentionally giving a negative outlook on women who choose not to have recon. They are correct in that we are disfigured and mutilated the same as if it were any other part of the body. I am 34 was dx at 32 with grade 3. I have had bi-lateral mx with immediate recon and had oopherectomy and hystrecomy i have the brca2 gene. Even though i opted for recon i still feel like my body has been mutilated and i am disfigured. I think like you say its a personal choice for everyone.I hope this comes across right.
Take Care
Leslee x
I watched the documentary completely engrossed, I am awaiting surgery and it was a real eye opener for me… well done x
Hi everyone
Just watched this in iplayer - really impressed. Thanks so much to you Gail and the other ladies who kindly agreed to take part.
Maud, I agree that people shouldn’t (and have no right to) judge if you decide to not have recon (I’ve had DIEP), however, there is also negative judgement levelled at women who have had recon, insinuating that they are somehow ‘weak’ or ‘vain’ in wanting to be ‘put back together again’ and this disgusts me. This is just as ignorant as those who see women who don’t choose recon as not ‘real women’.
Whether we do or do not recon is a personal decision. Recon is not the ‘easy option’ any more than not having recon. We’re all in this together and it both infuriates and saddens me that there seems to be this ridiculous judgemental attitude when all we’re all trying to do is what’s right for us to try and move on.
Lots of love to everyone. Cathy x