Hello to all new and existing members of this website , this post is especially aimed at the Younger Women forum and In Your Area forum.
I live in St Neots in Cambridgeshire, more towards Cambridge area than Bedfordshire. I will have my operation at Bedford Hospital. Heard only good things about it. Will have my treatments probably at Adenbrookes.
I have just been diagnosed with primary breast cancer at 43. Total shock to me and my family as there is no history of cancer in either of our families, but only received positive and heartfelt support. I have two children under 10 and am fighting primarily for them. I am very positive and upbeat about it all, I am lucky I suppose that my tumour was diagnosed at an early stage (1.6cm and clear lymph nodes at the moment). Awaiting operation serenely, but am unsure about treatment after. I know I will have Radiotherapy at Adenbrookes, I am not sure I will go with Chemotherapy (I know I cannot have hormone therapy due to the result of my biopsy) although it will be advised for me to have I am sure, well given I cannot have hormone therapy. I wonder if I can stop at Radiotherapy? I don’t think so, having spoken to nurses.
I know treatment and chemotherapy in particular cannot be optional in some cases, and we have to go for it. I am very against invasive chemo and the side effects it creates in your body. I will need to weigh up the positives against the negatives. I would be very happy to hear from some of you who maybe decided not to have chemo or weighed it carefully before going with it and your views on the matter. I am very well informed and aware of the potential risks, just need to weigh the % of risk against the negative effect of chemo… I don’t care so much about the hair loss (I do but it is not my main reason for being against chemo) or the physical aspect of things but the fact that it attacks the healthy cells as well as the bad cells in your body… if it is not essential why do it?
I would like to create a local group too, I was told there is a Young Women with Breast Cancer in Huntingdon. If it is still up and running I would like to join it. If not I will try to create a group for the Huntingdon/St Neots/St Ives area? If you are interested please let me know.
If you wish to comment or contribute to this post I would be very honoured as any advice or help at the moment would be very helpful. xxx Thank you m-c
im not in your area but know rae is and im sure she will be in touch as she was hoping to set up a group.
im response to your questions about gettng chemo or not… Im not sure if your cancer is her 2 + but if it is then its highly likely you will be offered chemo as you have to have chemo before you can get herceptin treatment. If its neg for her 2 as well as hormones then this is usually a grade 3 tumour and people with grade 3 tnbc are usually given chemo to help reduce the risk of recurrence and spread.
I have had breast cancer three times and had chemo twice… The first cancer was grade 1 and hormone positive so didnt need chemo for taht one but then had grade 3 tnbc folowed by a recurrence despite neg nodes so had more surgery chemomand rads for that and hope it doesnt rear its ugly head again.
good luck
Thank you Lulu, I will definitely reconsider chemo as I have read so much on other forums on this website that the benefits outweigh the negative effects. It is just so scary!!! Thank you for your advice and all the best with your 2nd cancer xxx
Rae, shall we try and meet up one day? I have just met with a lady in my town undergoing double mastectomy this Monday after a chemo treatment, she was a real inspiration and put my mind to rest for many issues I had… I will be getting in touch with other ladies in our area and would definitely like to meet up for a coffee and perhaps create a Younger women group with BC. What stage are you at now? Please keep me informed, positive thoughts towards you.
I am having my pre-op assessment this Friday, then will wait patiently and serenely for my op. I never had an operation or aenesthetics before so very unsure about what to expect. Any tips, what to eat or not to eat and I suppose be as calm as possible. Hope to hear from you soon M xx
Hi m-c teacher, I’m not sure if you have joined our younger woman’s Facebook group, but you are more than welcome to. I set it up because of the serious lack of support for the younger women with breast cancer. the BCC forums are great, but come at the wrong times for people, and it means many of us go through dx and treatment without ever seeing or speaking to another younger lady with breast cancer, which found incredibly isolating. I set the group up 2 weeks ago, initially for ladies local to my Manchester area, but it soon became apparent that there was a much wider need and now the group has members from every corner of the uk. We have over 80 members now, and people are starting to make links with each other due to location, or stage of treatment, or personality, but the one thing we have in common is we are all younger ladies who have had a breast cancer diagnosis. It is so normalising to see a Facebook group of lots of other girls who have been through the exact same thing as me. Please do think about coming to join us, search for “younger breast cancer network(uk)” , or else follow the link that’s on the BCC thread I posted about the group, I shall bump that thread up now for you. Xxx
, this post is especially aimed at the Younger Women forum and In Your Area forum.
(I know I cannot have hormone therapy due to the result of my biopsy) although it will be advised for me to have I am sure, well given I cannot have hormone therapy. I wonder if I can stop at Radiotherapy? I don’t think so, having spoken to nurses.