Hi everyone
It is my first day on the site and have found it very interesting, I found a lump a couple of weeks before my 40th birthday in April, by the time I had been through my doctors and got a hospital appointment I did not get diagnosed until 17th May, I had a lumpectomy and lymph nodes removed, the results came back and even though not in lymph nodes a mastectomy was advised as margins not fully clear, I have just had my mastectomy and am waiting dates for my chemo and then radio, I have been advised not hormone receptive not sure if this good or bad? My main upset came when they said I could lose my fertility, I asked if there was anything I could do freeze eggs embryo’s etc but was told unfortunately the cut of age is 40 so no, has anyone else experienced this, I do not have any children so it is very important to me, I now there is the option of going private but I have no idea how much this would cost or if worthwhile at my age?
My situation is a little different, I am 30 and my BC is hormone receptive. I have not been able to do anything to preserve my fertility due to the type of cancer, and I have so far had 3 of 6 chemo cycles and no periods since before chemo. I spoke with my onc today, and she advised quite normal not to have periods and due to age they should return. Basically the nearer to menopause the more likely it is that chemo will put you into the menopause - but at 40 you are still young in terms of menopause. I can totally understand how you are feeling as I too do not yet have children and would like to one day. It’s horrible that my fertility is being left to ‘chance’.
I’m sure there will be lots of ladies posting on here soon that can give clearer advise.
I am 38 and although fertility is not particularly an issue for me I was concerned about going into an early menopause due to the long term health implications. My onc thinks that I will not go into menopause with chemo but that I will probably go into an earlier menopause in my late 40’s. I am 2 cycles into chemo and my periods are still normal for now.
When we discussed a premature menopause my onc said that normally in those cases a woman would be prescribed HRT but even though my bc is not hormone responsive she would not recommend it. As once you have had a cancer diagnosis it would be risky.
Also it is work finding out if your cancer is HER2+++ ( they wont know this until after it is removed) As that treatment takes another year and I am not sure if you can have herceptin if you are trying to concieve. Good luck with your treatment. debx
So sorry to hear your position. Who told you the cut off age was 40? Is that the cut off age on the nhs, even for cancer patients? I do not know loads about this but i would definitely try and get a second opinion about it.
I was told that your periods are more likely to come back if you are under 40 and less likely the more over 40 you are, so at 40 theres probably a good chance they will. But you wont want to leave that to chance, plus they tell you to wait 2 years after dx ( or treatment? cannot recall which, sorry)before trying to get pregnant, so even without cancer, just being 42/43 might affect your chances.
As you do not have a hormonal cancer then i thinkthat the ivf needed for egg harvesting is alright for you to do, though obviously you need to check this with the experts. Therefore, i think its probably best for you to look into finding private clinics to help you, as your oncologist will want to crack on with chemo so you need to get the ball rolling asap. From my understanding, frozen embryos are much more successful than frozen eggs too,
hope that helps, i decided not to go down that route in the end. I already have 2 boys and even though we wwere trying for a third baby when i was dx, i decided that i would just be grateful for what i had,
Thanks for all your comments it really does help speaking to people going through the same kind of thing, it is very much appreciated, Tor this may sound like a silly question but where would I find the old link?
i have added a comment to it so its on the pages if you scroll through them, i will bump it up again now so you can see it.It should be sitting near this one if nobody posts on either between times! Find it by going onto “latest posts” on the forum page then keep scrolling down tl you see a "fertility " title, theres only this one and the one i started around at the moment,