Hi @carrie5 so glad that you are going to get your treatment closer to home. Long journeys only add to the stress and worry, more so if you are going through chemo and treatment that affects your health and do not have anyone to take you. I hope you get your start dates rearranged soon. I am making the most of every day at the moment and trying to get my garden in order before chemo starts. Also planning to add an assortment of cotton beanies to my wardrobe ready for my hair loss. Take care of yourself, keep in touch and enjoy every moment that you can. I use a mindfulness breathing app to help me relax when my anxiety plays up or when my brain wonāt shut down, it really helps once you get the hang of it. It either calms me or sends me to sleep. Hugs and best wishes x
Hy guys got my re-incision today they didnt bother with the nerve blocker and the pain was worse than first time so i had to get morphine. I spoke with surgeon and asked him what happens if i still dont get clear margins he says iāll need to get mastectomy, they shouldve done that in first place 
x
What is zometa ive never heard of this? i stay in Stirlingshire Scotland and nobody had mentioned this x
Hi @lucy99 happy gardening, definitely must appreciate every good day. @caz591 really sorry to hear your 2nd excision caused so much worry and discomfort. When do you hope to get results? Really hope its a positive outcome.
Yes I would also like to know what kind of medicine is Zometa . Havenāt heard of it or it being mentioned by the treatment team or nurse. Thank you
Iām not too bad thanks. Just taking paracetomol and going to the coast for a trip out later.
Hi all, hope your day is going better than mine, just been to see the oncologist to be told that I donāt qualify for chemotherapy first, I have to have surgery, I just feel so overwhelmed by it all, I just want this out of me, the oncologist actually said donāt stress mistakes happen. Iām not one to complain but sheās told me that I shouldnāt have my injection for chemical menopause ( even though itās prostrap a drug used in the endocrine part of my treatment plan, if that is still the plan) so now Iām in full meltdown thinking Iāve made the situation worse.
Hi everyone
@caz591 That sounds bad. I too should have had a mastectomy in the first place. I was having to fight for one in the end which is why I switched to Marsden. I hope and pray that they get clear margins for you this time.
@sms Zometa is the name of zoledronic acid. Many of us are given this. It helps to stop cancer spreading to the bones and it also helps to stop osteoporosis, I believe. I think women of a menopausal age tend to get given it. Worth asking your team about.
Enjoy your trip to the coast @Linda_Corinne - you really deserve it.
@Jobiejo - Sometimes they do surgery first. I had quite a bit of surgery before chemo. If they donāt think itās in your lymph nodes then I guess they just want to remove the whole thing them mop up any stray cells with chemo. Thatās if you have any. Surgery may remove it all. Do you have an idea of when it will be? We all want it gone, of course we do, but itās quite normal for some Health Authorities to do it this way around.
Salbert
xx
And the Zolendronic acid is given 6 monthly by infusion for 3.years
Thank you @salbert 
We will check with our treatment team. Trust you are doing well. Sending you lots of healing and healthy vibes
I had surgery first and got clear margins and no lymph node involvement which meant I was cancer free on 5 July 2023. Then followed by chemo for 12 weeks and Herceptin for the next year it didnāt feel like it, this treatment was then preventative rather than to shrink it.
My oncology team said it depends on the size of the tumour and if lymph nodes are involved will depend on whether chemo is first or second. My sizing for the decision found a second primary tumour in the other naughty boob so I had bilateral lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy.
Like @naughty_boob said, my understanding of the timing of surgery and chemo/targeted is based upon size of cancer. I was informed that if it was greater than 2cm then Iād have chemo etc first and if less than 2cm, surgery first.
As for the hormone treatment, if you werenāt informed to stop it then you didnāt know you had to. Donāt be hard on yourself. X
Hi all,
Thanks all getting back to me. When I first posted I was still in shock, the reason for my little meltdown is that when I went to my original breast appointment 2 weeks ago for my surgery date, I was told Iād be having chemotherapy first and they apologised for not sending me straight to oncology then to wait for the appointment and to be told that actually I should have had my surgery by now! Sorry for not being clear I just couldnāt get my head round it
Thanks for listening
Donāt apologise, thatās what the forum is for and this thread.
As @mrsjelly says 2cm is the cut off for chemo first. My largest tumour was 2cm and the other 0.9cm. They go by the largest tumour so for me it was surgery. But I had also been told it could be chemo first so I joined a monthly chemo group in June 2023 and continued on that thread which gave me an insight to what to expect with chemo. Then I joined the Sept
2023 group when I actually started chemo.
I guess youāre anxiety is about the cancer growing as you have been delayed but I was also told that cancer grows relatively slowly even the more aggressive HER2+. Approx 0.5cm per six months, so a month or so wait doesnāt make that much difference to your outcome or treatment plan.
Iām sure your team will get back to you with a date for surgery soon. I was given a date 8 days after the final decision was made in Wales.
Hi @naughty_boob, thank you, the oncologist put the fear of God in to me and I was reacting to it, Iāve since spoke to my breast cancer nurse and sheās arranged an emergency appointment for me on Friday as she was unaware of the chemotherapy appointment today ( apparently itās because Iāve not gone through the menopause that itās surgery first) itās just knocked my confidence in the system ( not the people) and felt a bit like I was being passed round without any clear outcomes. Thanks for the information about growth size etc it really helps.
Thanks again
Hello everyone on Kadcyla ā¦ this is a question for you
I have just started Kadcyla ā¦ got my first infusion 2 days ago. When are you, based on your experience, getting side effects if any?
Thank you
Hi! I donāt really have many side effectsā¦ Maybe feel a little more tired 3-4 days after for a day or two but still doing everything as normal (it doesnāt stop me at all). I got blurry vision due to dry eyes about 2 weeks after my first one and that fluctuates and is now my biggest bugbear. Other than that I get a small non itchy rash on my chest after about 10 days each time. I was given hydrocortisone cream and it helps. I feel decent on Kadcyla and donāt have any days where I really struggle after an infusion - Iām 5 cycles in so far
Hello @musestad. My partner has had one cycle of Kadcyla which is now on pause because of radiotherapy. Her symptoms started to kick in almost after a week ( although it doesnāt really happen to everyone) -extreme fatigue, muscle pain, splitting headaches and red spots on the inner thighs, back and arms ( thrombocytopenia) , after which we went in to get it checked in the emergency. Her platelet count was extremely low suddenly and we were asked to monitor closely. The symptoms thankfully were gone in a day or so and she was fine after that. Having said that most people seem to do quite well on Kadcyla and have very few symptoms that are manageable. Good luck with your health and healing. Take good care and stay hydrated 
Mine is nausea but now I take metoclopramide religiously for 3-5 days and that seems to see me through. Joint and muscle pain but thatās more likely to be the letrozole. Good luck x