Hi all I was only diagnosed last thursday 27/th Nov 2008 , there was a lump I didn’t know if it was a lump or not at first but as soon as I knew it was deffo a lump I got to Drs the next morning ! ( which was good ) the Dr said has it been hurting ? I said yes it has been like a stabbing in it ( not all the time ) he said that was a good sign ! . Got my appointment for hospital the next week ! . I thought it wouldnt be cancer as no body in our history ( as far back as 5 generations ) has never had it !
When the consultant exanined me she drew on me , then she drew on me again ( I knew this wasn’t a good sign ), I said to my hubby " I think they have found another one " then went for a mamogram ( which wasn’t as bad as I feared ) and that nurse said " you have a lump on your left breast I said “yes” then she said " you also have one in your arm pit " so I said " well I didn’t know about that but I figured it out when consultant drew on me". so then I went for a scan and also a core biopsy ( which surprisingly was not as bad as I feared )! I had 3 from my breast and 4 from my armpit . Then I was taken to a quiet room with my hubby , the consultant came in and said " you actually have 3 lumps ( I thought oh my god ) then she said but 1 is a cist ( a small snippet of good news I suppose ) but we think the other 2 are cancer ( bombshell or what ). I asked might the other 2 be a cist she said deffo not.
But she did say I dont want to overwhelm you with too much information at the minute but she said I have chemo first to try and attack the small one in my arm pit as that is a enlarged lymph node !
Then surgery .
Do all people who have chemo loose their hair???
It is sods law ( honest ) I have never had my hair long my mum wouldn’t let me, So ths is the longest I have ever had it ( I am 41 now)
God why am I even bothered about my hair ( it should be the last thing on my mind )!!
I am going back to hospital on Monday to discuss treatment and such. so thats where I am now !
cheesed off to say the least my poor kids are deverstated as is my hubby.
Also I did want to make the point that a young girl who posted yesterday ( I couldnt log in ) said her dr said it was good if her lump hurt I don’t want to frighten her if she reads this but mine was hurting well it was like stabbing every now and then and also tingling sensation.
The consultant told me it is a myth about it’s nothing serious if it hurts.
I would like to say I’m sorry if I have posted on the wrong bit this is my first time here !!!
and may I say GOOD LUCK TO US ALL AND GOD BLESS !!!
Am I on my own out there???
Nobody has answered me I have just been reading blogs all about sore mouths sore feet ect
This doesn’t sound nice and I am scared stiff what the future holds for me.
Hi AyoJoy1
I am sure you will get plenty of replies soon with lots of helpful advice and support from other users, in the meantime, I would like to welcome you to the Forums and point you in the direction of some of our services and information.
Below is a link to a Breast Cancer Care publication Resources Pack which can be ordered on line, it is filled with information to help you better understand your diagnosis, test results and the various treatments available.
breastcancercare.org.uk//content.php?page_id=7514
If you would like to talk to someone outside of your family about how you feel at the moment please don’t hesitate to use the Breast Cancer Care helpline. Here you are able to talk to someone in confidence about your fears and concerns and the team on the helpline are happy to talk to you and just be a listening ear if you feel you want to offload. Breast Cancer Care are here to support you so please use us if it will help. The helpline is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturdays 9am to 2pm. The number is free phone 0808 800 6000.
Also, our ‘Live Chat’ service gives you the chance to ‘chat’ online in real time to others affected by breast cancer and many issues are discussed in these sessions, they are held on Thursday evenings between 9-10pm. If you feel these services would be of help to you now or in the future please contact us for more details or look under the ‘Support for you’ tab on the homepage of the website for further information
Kind Regards
Louise
Facilitator
thank you louise for answering me !
caron
Hi, I had chemo, 4 x fec, 4 x tax then 15 rads in 2006 and have been on Herceptin since. I used the cold cap throughout my chemo and my hair thinned, didnt loose it all. I had the usual side effects bit of sickness, constipation, aches and pains but you are given drugs to help counteract any nasties. Probably a lot of other ladies will have other side effects but we are all different. Some friends of mine still lost their hair even with the cold cap but seemed to sail through chemo, we all cope differently.I am sure your hospital will explain things fully for you, try not to worry too much, I know thats very easy to say, but good luck. I am sure you will get more replies soon.
Jan x
HI jan,
I dont even know what a cold cap is !!!
I figure you put it onyour head to try to minimise hair loss?
I dont know what treatment I am having yet she just said I have to have chemo 1st then surgery so I expect a full masectomy ?
But it’s got to worth it for the price of a life?
I didnt think I had it I knew it was a possibility obviously I am not daft I think my consultant was a bit shocked as to how I took the news , I am probably still in denial?
anyway thanks for the reply caron
Hi there,
I to am having chemo before surgery, different types of chemo have different side effects.The chemo is supposed to shrink the cancer so you can have a lumpectomy rather than a mastectomy…
I have had 2x AC chemo which made me feel very sick and very tired for about 6 days after that i was ok ish, it didnt shrink my tumour it went from 4cm to 10cm and i have 3 nodes in my arm pit.
I am now on Taxotere which makes me extremely tired all the time i have a mouth full of ulcers and my finger nails are sore to touch but i dont feel sick and i have a good appitite.
I lost my hair a week before my second chemo, i worried alot about it but once i had had it cut and it was all gone i felt relieved… it was something less to worry about.
Good luck and god bless.
Shell.xxxxxx
Hi Caron
Yes the cold cap is used to prevent hair loss but as i said it does not work for everyone. The cap is very cold, kept in freezer, and pulled down quite tightly on your head, and changed a couple of times during each treatment, I cant remember how many times. Some ladies found it very uncomfortable but its whatever suits you, like Shell wrote maybe its one less thing to worry about.
Best wishes,
Jan x
Hi shell also !
So if I have chemo first then will the chemo attack both the cancer ie Breast one and the node one? my breast one is quite big alraedy but it has grown in the last 2 weeks already!, and I didnt even know about the other one ( node ) .
I went from one week to being ok ( well I thought I was ) to being diagnosed one week later , thats quick isn’t it,
Jan I dont think I would like the cold cap to be honest .
Shell what is 2xAC ?
I dont know what all this jargon means yet, but i’m sure i will SOON eh lol
love caron
I have given all my 4 children a front door key cos my hubby won’t be with me all the time he has to work away so I’m thinking that in the worse case seario that I can’t get out of bed so they can let themselves in from school and so on .
My hubby was just trying to teach my daughter Chloe ( who is a angel ) how to make a NICE LOL cup of coffee!
But now I read I might go off tea and coffee ?
Or well look on the bright side I may loose some weight lol
not that i’m overweight anyway im 10 stone but you know what us women are like I’m too fat !!
caron
Also can I ask you know when you have chemo, Do you have to stay in hospital? or can you go home when your done?
caronx
Hi Caron,
You usally have chemo in rounds of 6 or 8 -… so 4x AC is(Adriamycin Cyclophamide) Thats the drug name, its easier to say AC.Then 4 x (Tax)Taxotere.
You have them every 3 weeks through a canula in your vein and it takes about an hour, then if you are feeling ok you can go home.
I only had 2 x AC then changed to Tax because my tumour is still growing…
The chemo is supposed to kill off any other stray cells that may of escaped from the tumour site.
It is alot to take in especially as you dont know what chemo you will be getting. A great site to visit is cancerbackup.org.uk.
I found my lump on the 15th Aug and was diagnosed 19th Aug, very quick i wasnt expecting what i was told.
Im only just 37. My cancer is invasive, which means its aggressive and its spreading,dont no where to though. The chemo is supposed to kill off all the stray cells and shrink the tumour, unfortunately my tumour is still growing and its inflammatory, i may have to try another chemo next week.
I will have a scan on weds to see if there has been any shrinkage,if so i will continue with the Taxotere if not try a new one.
Hope this information is useful to you.
Take care, Shell xxx
I may not answer now till tomoz cos I am going to my aunties now for what might be my last night out for some time !
love Caron x
Hi Caron
For what it is worth, everyone is a bit shell shocked at first and it does take some time to get your head round things.
I sort of jumped straight in the deep end when I was diagnosed last year with secondaries (my 43rd birthday was on Monday). My own experience with the cold cap was that it gave me a sore head (brain freeze!) and I passed on this after the first chemo. I had taxol weekly for eighteen weeks and my hair did come out. I eventually got what was left shaved when I got fitted for a wig.
The kids adjusted quite well. In fact, my son (15) came up with an old joke when he told me I should draw rabbits on my head. Why? Because they look like hares from a distance…He almost got thumped for that one, but I couldn’t catch him 
My hair grew back after I finished chemo in Feb and, as you’ll probably see from some other threads, it grew back curly. I’ve never had curly hair in my life!
This is a great site for gaining information from shared experiences and it has helped me a lot just to know that it isn’t just me although sometimes everyone feels thay way.
take care
Hi Shell ( back at ya ! )
I am 41 and live in Grimsby , very tired today hardly slept last night worrying what the specialist is going to say today.
I know what you mean about how could you or your hubby not have known I have been thinking exactly the same ! I now realise that my BC breast is much firmer than my other one ! I just thought I was 18 again !
I don’t know how big mine is but I think it’s big ?
It must have been harder for you to know as it’s quite hard around the nipple area anyway.
I have also found out that it’s very likely that my great grandmother died of BC but I didn’t click on ( as usual ! ) cos my nana ( who died bout 3 years ago bless her )
said that she had to look after her mother for 2 years when she was bed ridden and that her mother sent her out for the night and when she got back she said that in the corner of the room was filled with blood soaked newspaper up to the ceiling ( probaby an exaggeration but it probably seemed like it to her at the time she was 17 then ) and her mother was dead. But if she did have cancer it had to have started somewhere.
And I worked out in that case my great grandmother would have been about the same age as me now.
I will not give up hope I have got in my mind that I will be alright in the end but it’s a long journey to get to the end !
love Caron x
Hi gill also,
So why does your hair go curly then? I have heard it can ggrow a diffrent colour .
I would have tried to swipe your boy and all checky bugger ! lol
I have just heard from my sis she has coughed up some blood this morning and she has to go for a chest x ray ! ( things just keep getting better and better ! ) Not.
Keep well all of us !!! love Caron x
Hi there Caron, I just wanted to pop by and say how sorry I am that you find yourself diagnosed with BC and posting here with us… Its so much to get your head round. I’m a few steps ahead (surgery done, half way through chemo) but I’m still learning about this illness. Everyone is different in how they take on board new information… What has worked really well for me is to stay with the step I’m on. Its very tempting to go reading about other stuff further down the journey, especially with the Internet but I think it makes me anxious and leaves me feeling overloaded. I used the resources given to me by the hospital and some of the recommended reading on this site. Firstly about ‘getting a diagnosis’ and then when I knew it was imminent ’ having surgery’ I left all the chemo (which came later for me) reading until I got to that point. This helped me to focus on where I was and not to stress/ worry about the big picture any more than I was doing. It also helped me to focus on my treatment rather than get distracted by all the different variations of treatment given to people who’s circumstances are different ( age, where they live, type/location of tumor etc). I hope this is helpful… good luck with your reading and hope you get to grips with all the jargon quicker than i did!!! Wishing you lots of strength as you go for your next appointments and become clearer about what BC means for you. xxxx carmel
Thank you Carmel for your kind wishes and back at ya too !
I will not get ahead of my self either ( I don’t think ! ) Its like I just said to Steve ( hubby ) when I start my chemo at least I will think well thats one less ! no matter if I am really ill on it I will still think that ! or I couls sail through it just have to wait and see.
I have a appointment today at 2 pm to see the specialist to talk about what treatment I will need .
I do honestly think that I will have to have it taken off which I know some people would find that very hard but to be honest I woud rather it taken away and be cancer free than for the sake of having a breast!
I will just say this though which is quite funny now I think about it me and my hubby will make a right pair cos he has got a false testicle ! He had to have it removed when he got thrombosis in it after a operation to remove 1 vein !
talk about us being lopsided !!! love Caron x
Hi AyoJoy1
By the time you read this you will probably have seen the people at the hospital and have a better idea of what is in store for you. I just wanted to send you a BIG HUG and assure you that we are all here for you at this very frighening time.
I was diagnosed in August this year with what has turned out to inflammatory breast cancer. I had a clear mamogram and then within months found both a lump under my arm and a lump in my breast which seemed to grow on a daily basis . I also didn’t realise that one breast was larger and harder than the other until it was pointed out to me at the hospital. Initially I wondered how I could have been so stupid not to have noticed but time moves on and now I am just grateful that I am having treatment which will hopefully deal with it.
I am having my chemo before surgery because the lump was larger than the surgeon was happy dealing with. I had 4 x AC which did start the tumour shrinking and now I have moved to 4 x taxotere of which I have only had the first one so far.As everyone says the chemo is different for everyone and also each chemo can have slightly different side effects(SE for short)I found my first chemo not too bad at all, then the second one hit me like a ton of bricks. It is hard but I try to hang on to the thought that each one is one nearer the surgery which will follow next year and the point that they finally cut this cancer out of me.
I lost my hair after about 2 weeks. It gradually changed texture and when I ran my hands through it, it began coming out fast. In fact I was losing hair faster than my cat was moulting. I then gave in and took my husbands clippers to it. Although the hospital have given me a reasonably good wig I find it easier to wear scarves and hats. I am told that once the chemo is finished it all grows back , sometimes even better than the original. To be honest I have found the loss of my hair has upset me more than the thought of losing my breast.
Although at the begining reconctruction was mentioned I am thinking that I will not bother After chemo, surgery and then radiotherapy I think I will have had enough.
You will find that the support and advice on this site are amazing. All the answers are here and if you cann’t find them just ask. Someone will have been through exactly what you are going through
Love and Hugs
Andie
Hi Andie,
yours sounds like mine !! I think it bother me losing my hair more as well my hair is really long as well !
Also my cancer is growing at a alrming rate ! daily seems to be bigger now i am thinking was it this big before and i have not noticed ?
My poor hubby is crying all the time ! I hope he holds it together when we go to the hospital? mind you I might be a wreck then?
see you soon love Caron x