Help....All happening so fast

Hi All,

 

I have had my breast surgery, my dressing was taken off today, after finally getting over the shock of my partial mastectomy I now have more and more hurdles to jump. 

 

I had stage 2 - IDC in my right breast (2 tumors next to each other), thankfully it had not spread into to my lymph nodes, just got this information today, I feel relieved but terrified at the thought of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, breast reconstruction, herceptin, hormonal treatment for the next 10 years! Oh and potential fertility, I am only 39 and do not have any children?

 

Even though I have the most amazing friends and family I am feeling  so lonely and overwhelmed with all these changes which are about to happen to me.  My chemo is due to start in 4 weeks and keep hearing horror stories, like loosing all your teeth and chronic sickness, desperately trying to stick to this forum and not look at any other breast cancer sites!

 

Is there anyone who has just finished their chemo, if so it would be great to hear how you got on, I know if effects people in different ways just need some hope and inspiration right now :slight_smile:

Booboo, that is great news there was no spread into your lymph nodes. I haven’t finished my chemo yet but want to let you know it is doable. I won’t lie and say its fun but the oncologist are great and will do everything they can to help prevent and side effects. Do you know what chemo you will be having? Try not to listed to the horror stories, I met a lady last week who had just finished and she looked amazing. There are loads of us on this site who are fairly young. You may want to consider also joining the younger women with breast cancer facebook group. There are lots of people in the same position as you and they are the most supportive group of girls you could wish to meet. This is the link if you are interested. facebook.com/pages/Younger-womens-breast-cancer-network-Manchester/345101828919866 I wish you all the best and just remember this is a journey and each little step along the way gets us closer to the finish line xx

Hi Booboo. Welcome to this very supportive club. Everyone writing in this forum knows exactly how it feels to have our lives turned around by the diagnosis of breast cancer, but of course nobody knows exactly how YOU feel. But you will find women on this site who can identify with different bits of your situation. There is a younger women’s group, which may provide you with support on the fertility issue, and if you look in on ‘my’ monthly thread, May Moonbeams, you’ll find plenty of us just finishing chemo, and you can read our stories. But all the monthly threads will give you information and - I hope - encouragement that you can and will get through this. (The monthly threads are set up by women about to start chemo at the same time, so there will be a group for you to join. It’s really encouraging to know that you’re not alone, and every day, when one of the gang droops, others will be having better days and can pull you back up.)

 

Try not to Google - you’ll find all the info and answers you need on this site! You will get through this.

 

Hugs

Jane x

Hi Booboo

My treatment plan is exactly the same as yours except for the reconstruction as I had a lumpectomy.  You don’t say what chemo you are having but I finished 6 cycles of FEC a few weeks ago and as you willl see on here, it is doable. Just like you I was terrified at the thought of it but it really wasn’t as bad as I thought-honestly! The first cycle was fine and I was quite blase thinking “yeah this is ok”. The second cycle, I felt less well and vomited but I told my Onc and he changed my anti sickness to Emend with great success-no further vomiting! Otherwise the main side effects I had were some nausea though this was managed well with tablets, altered taste and dry mouth (pineapple helped with this), sore cracked lips (I used Bonjela), tiredness and fatigue. I used the cold cap with great success, my hair has thnned quite a bit but I still have a good head of hair and don’t need my wig. My advice would be to take all medication given by the chemo unit, get plenty of rest-don’t overdo it and speak with your Onc about any problems you may be having. Chemo isn’t a walk in the park but is doable.  I started Tamoxifen 2 days ago and start radiotherapy 24th Sept. I’m waiting to start Herceptin. Hope this helps and I wish you lots of luck. Inbox me if you want anything else or just to offload. Take care Lynne x

Hi Boo Boo

 

The best thing you could do, is to join one of the monthly threads in these forums. There is a thread for every month, the lastest one is the September Stars. But, there should be an October one starting shortly. Maybe you could be the one to start it. 

 

You could also pop into any of the other months and read what the members have said. I’m a February Valentine, we have all finished out chemo now and moved on to other treatments, but there  are a couple of them who are still having Herceptin. I am not a Herceptin patient as my tumour was 100% er positive and 70% progesteron positive, so I am on Anastrazole for 5 years, but it might well be 10 years before I finish.

 

Wishing you luck and sending hugs.

 

Poemsgalore xx

Hi Nicole

I don’t mind you asking about the tumour at all. Mine was a grade 2, 21mm primary breast cancer which was ER positive and also HER2 positive, hence the need for chemo, Herceptin and Tamoxifen. Like I say, the chemo is doable, honestly. Please let me know how you get on. Thinking of you x PS Sorry, no. I’m from Staffordshire Lynne x