@virgo123 Here is the link to the Breast Cancer Now helpline -Call our Helpline | Breast Cancer Now
Here is the link to the Younger Women section of the website -Younger women - Breast Cancer Now forum
x
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@jjjane97 - Welcome aboard and please do not apologise for coming here to find comfort , itās why we all find ourselves here essentially to start with and you are certainly in the right place x
First off , what a terrible shock ā¦ a cancer diagnosis leaves you reeling because once youāve heard āthat word ā itās hard not to allow your mind to spiral not the unknown . One thing youāve already been advised , step away from Dr Google ! There is a lot of outdated information on there and medical papers that will just frighten you . Stick to credible sources like Breast Cancer Now , MacMillan etc ā¦ I actually found that once I stopped falling down the Google rabbit hole and just read up the legitimate info on sites like BCN and chatted to other forum users , I felt less terrified !
Remember that you only hear the horror stories with cancer and you donāt hear so much about the billions of people of survive cancer and are living healthy lives . One of my friends is still here living a full life , travelling etc after a her2 breast cancer diagnosis at 35 twenty years ago , I only recently realised too that sheād had a mastectomy !
For me ā¦ getting on the treatment train and just taking each day as it comes has been how Iāve dealt with it , I lost my dad in April
Last year then had the shock of my breast cancer diagnosis in August , Iāve had a single mastectomy and just had my last chemotherapy (nab paclitaxel) on 30th January ā¦ and am having Herceptin , however mine is by infusion still as my body doesnāt like it ! (I like to be awkward 
)
Good luck today with the oncologist today xx
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@salbert Iāve literally laughed out loud at your dad and his mobility scooter 
Iām so sorry ā¦ Iām chuckling at his indignance that he canāt understand why he canāt ride his scooter 
bless him , it is horrible to
Lose independence like that but he sounds like heās a tad scary on that thing !
My dad rode his Harley until the pandemic struck and his health declined but he was very proud of holding his AA advanced motorist award for fifty years , heād not long received the framed certificate before he passed so Iāve put it on the bookcase next to his ashes as I figured that would make him happy 
@erica Iām so glad to hear everything went well , the armpit pain I swear I was not expecting either when I had my mastectomy and nose biopsy . Donāt forget to start your exercises when you feel up to it x
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Quick question about post mastectomy if anyone can help? How long did you wear your post surgery bras? I am 5.5 weeks post surgery and my post surgery bra is causing chaffing and soreness on my sternum. I am thinking I should be okay to go back to my ores surgery bras which arenāt wired now
Any advice appreciated xx
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I have scans next week mri and ct scan for surgery, i have dcis too hoping the idc has been zapped by the chemotherapy 
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Hi All, howās everyone doing?
Iām living all the positive energy on here, itās my daily dose of positivity.
Iām now in the fear zone, surgery on Friday and although I cannot wait to get āgirtā( yes Iāve named the tumor, just so I can tell it that I hate it) itās the being put to sleep but I guess this is the easy bit. How long after surgery did everyone start their chemotherapy, Iām determined to have a little holiday before it starts.
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Hiya,
I had my surgery last Friday, I was terrified as never had an op before.
It went much better than I ever thought it would and the anaesthetic wasnāt as bad as I expected.
Iām now waiting for the lymph node results before my chemo and radiotherapy dates confirmed.
Wishing you lots of love for your surgery, youāll be ok 
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@salbert oh bless your dad!! It must be really hard having that independence taken away, but sounds like for good reason 
Cycle 7/8 went alright, so far just feeling a bit tired and wired to the steroid moon haha. Iāll need to read back in the thread for the context of the bench slapping in preparation for my last cycle in a few weeks, make sure I do it right! Then onto thinking about/preparing for the mastectomy 
Hope itās sunny wherever you all are today. Hereās a little wiggy selfie for you!
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@arty1 Great to hear about your friend who is 20 years post HER2+ bc diagnosis. You are quite right in that people donāt tend to post info like that as they are busy getting on with their lives so itās brilliant to hear. By the way, my Dad banned himself from the mobility scooter after pinning the craft stall woman to the wall; he wants to drive his car again!!! He thinks the mobility scooter is not stable but that he would be just fine behind the wheel of a car. Thankfully I managed to distract him last night by singing Mario Lanza and Ying Tong Diddle I Po. He was eccentric before the strokes!! Thatās lovely that youāve put your Dadās AA advanced motorist award next to his ashes, really touching. My Dad is also proud of his many years of accident free motoring. It must be a man of a certain age thing. 
@galdiolus - I am back in bras that are comfortable and have decent support. I tried an old underwired one but it cut into my tissue expander so I thought Iād go middle ground and just wear sensible but attractive bras. I had my mastectomy back in August and I would say about 2 months later I started wearing the less surgical variety, if that makes sense. If it feels ok to you and your bc nurse says itās ok then it must be better than chafing and soreness.
Good luck with scans, our @shannon27 - let us know.
Hey @jobieejo - Good to hear from you and Iām doing great! Hope you soon will be too. Friday will be here before you know it and youāll get shot of unwelcome āgirtā! (Good name!) Iām sure youāll have a chance to have a holiday before chemo. Tell your oncologist as soon as you get the chance to speak to them and theyāll no doubt be able to give you a window of opportunity. Definitely the way to go. @erica thanks for reassuring jobieejo.
As for you @sooz1, all I can say isā¦how is it even possible to look that good after 7 of 8 cycles of chemo?!! Like, seriously! You look amazing, so pretty. Nobody would believe for a minute that you are where you are in treatment. The image I had in my head of how I would look during chemo was nothing like the reality. I love it that you have posted a pic for future women who find themselves here to see. Pics like this smash the stereotyped image of how a chemo patient is supposed to look and remove fear. 100% brilliant. With regard to bench slapping, this is done in place of the bell as many hospitals donāt have one to ring. So basically you go and find the nearest bench and you give it a good slapping instead! Or if you are @mrsjelly you slap your own buttocks. 
Todayās outing with my elderly parents after work is to the garden centre for birthday present shopping, tea and cakes, swiftly followed by Dance Fitness to try and shed the large slab of salted caramel sponge that I will doubtless be inhaling around 4pm this afternoon.
Salbert
xx
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Hi @jobieejo good luck with the banishment of Girt. Thanks @salbert for your constant stream of seeing the brighter, more humourous side of things. All the best with your Dad, I did the driving thing with my husband when he had Parkinsonās, he really had no idea how his judgement had changed and I hated being the one to point it out.
On an oddment shopping trip this afternoon I wandered in to Boots trying to learn a little more about eyebrow shaping, pens etc. I was pretty clueless despite having done the online workshop with lgfb. The workshop pointed out how important eyebrows are in communication and as I have an autistic grand daughter I wanted to up my knowledge. A lovely assistant in Boots helped me with what line size each pen did, colours etc and spent ages demonstrating. I felt Iād come away with a product that would work.
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Hi Iām just wondering if anyone has had the same as me as Iām a little worried after speaking to my oncologist yesterday. I have a cancerous 3cm tumour her2+ in my right breast but they also found a very large area of concern in the same breast which my oncologist wanted to look closer at on the mri before I started my chemo. Yesterday he confirmed the size of the tumour but then said the large area is pre cancerous cells which will not respond to chemo therefore I need to prepare for mastectomy as the area is too large to remove without mastectomy. I am fine with this as I had asked for a mastectomy. I am a little worried now that if the cells donāt respond to chemo and I am due my 3/6 next week is there any chance they will turn malignant in the time between chemo and surgery or am I overthinking this. I do feel really grateful that the lump was only found due to me noticing a change in the skin and slight redness of my breast which is the area where the precancerous cells are. Neither myself nor my gp nor the consultant could feel the lump.
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Hi just wondering if thereās anyone on here on the same combination of drugs as me who can share there side affects and if they got worse as the cycles went on. Iām on docetaxal, carbo & phesgo injection
Hi @virgo123 i had the same treatment as you. I had loads of side effects but this is not to scare you but to say that they kind of happen one at a time and for every side effect you MAY have you will be given the tablets, cream, mouth wash etc to take home with you so you have them ready. Its really important to note in a little notebook each effect, how long and how you dealt with it so you can report to your team as they may want to adjust your next treatment doses for you. Also to say, that what Iāve learnt from this great group is that we all react differently to the same drugs so its hard to compare. Much like the same flu/covid virus will give one of us a headache and the other a sore throat etc. If there is anything specific you are worried about ring your hotline number or breast care nurse ASAP so you dont wait too long. Good luck x
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Sorry forgot to say that most symptons eased by each cycle but for me the gastro side increased, but again thats me not everyone.
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Hi Kadcyla ladies. My heart function is improved all on its own (a strange blip!), and Iāve been cleared to start my 11 Kadcyla treatments starting tomorrow. Iād already booked for an easy pilates class the following morning because iām struggling with pelvis and hip pain through too much sofa time after radiotherapy and missing classes for other reasons. So my question is am i crazy to think Iāll be ok to do the class or best to cancel now???
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@virgo123 i was on the same treatment as you my worst SE was white coating on tongue no taste and constipation for 6 days. I was given mouthwash clairgel and fybogel to relieve symptoms, constantly gewing gum helped a bit with tongue, but you will get through it, i reminded myself that the good days will come after the bad days. It is ok to have a cry let it all out. I found the relaxation classes at Maggies Centre helped to let all my anxiety out .
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@jayveebee well done on getting to cycle 11 of kadcyla. I will find out on 10th April if ive to start on Kadcyla or continue with phesgo. Now i know that its doable if you have got this far x
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Hi @caz591. I had 4 rounds of chemo and 7 phesgo injections before lumpectomy. Because they found residual cells with lumpectomy and it was after chemo, Iāve been offered Kadcyla. The aim is to have 18 rounds of herceptin which is in both phesgo and Kadcyla. Therefore Iāve got 11 Kadcyla now to get to 18 herceptin doses in total. Its first one tomorrow. Iāve just looked at a few Facebook pages for Kadcyla and thinking maybe a bit unrealistic to think Iāll be at pilates on Friday! Though i was ok on the 3 phesgo injections on there own. Its so hard to know. Its like a full time job next to your regular work!
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@jayveebee @caz591 thanks ladies, I was told that itās quite a toxic combination of treatment and so the side affects are likely to get worse as i go through my cycles, not sure if either of you found it got worse as you went on? I have had a persistent headache after my second cycle that seems to ease with tablets but can feel a pressure like throb when I turn my head which is strange, I have contacted my team whoāve said they arenāt really worried but have ordered a head scan for me anyway, so Iām glad theyāve listened to me. Did either of you suffer with headaches or any pressure like feeling?
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@virgo123 hi I am on the same treatment as you and am having terrible headaches/migraines. I have had 2 treatments 3rd one due next week. The only thing what will take mine off is my Triptan migraine tablets but only takes it off for 24 hours then itās back on again. Xx
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