You do what works for you. I just wore singlets at home for first few weeks. I am now 2.5 years post mastectomy and I still wear the post mastectomy bras… but I find them comfortable. Stay strong!
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I finished chemo on 15th November and my hairdresser still won’t colour it but said it’s improving.
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Hey folks, thanks for all the advice so far and hope you’re all having a good day today. 
My oncology appointment went really well yesterday! She’s v nice, also a researcher as well as a doctor and completely understood my need for all the information and data 
She really put me at ease and even got on well with my husband/secretary to the point where they were vaguely ganging up on me 
I have a bunch of other health conditions and also a tendency to downplay symptoms etc as I hate making a fuss, and so she personally assigned him the task of ringing the helpline even if I say I am fine lol.
Awaiting appointments for an echocardiogram and also having a central line put in, as well as having my pre-chemo meeting with the oncology nurse next week, with the goal of starting w/b 7th or the following. I’ll be having TCHP for 6 rounds, ahead of surgery, radio and then hormones, what fun…
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@genericuser1 Well done you (and secretary) for getting info you needed. You have a plan now.
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Aye, and I already feel heaps better! A little freaked out by the giant consent form I had to sign but then I guess super-toxic drugs are a better alternative to letting the cancer win
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@sez when I was nursing the thing that drove me insane was when drs were doing their ward rounds . They would stand at the end of a patients bed discussing their diagnosis like they were a number … it used to grind my gears . That was over 20 years ago though .,
I tend to find that as I’m an ex nurse my Health care team tend to chat to me more in medical terms and there are times when I want to say … I’m not a nurse right now I’m a patient and I’m scared … please explain it to me as though I’m about five !!
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I’m going to try and catch up on all the posts … I was away at the weekend attending a trade show and then ultimately paid for this with two days in bed - I saw my oncologist who told me off for over doing it and also confirmed that I’m
Now post menopausal …
I’ve had under active thyroid for 24 years and I’m currently not maintaining on my meds and my thyroid is under active again, this explains the 1.5 stone weight gain and my now moon face , however my gp wants to monitor to see if my TSH recovers in case it’s transient , rather than increase my meds but im definitely symptomatic so I’m pushing for a meds increase
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Sorry you have been feeling so rotten. Glad cold capped worked.
Couple of link to help regarding colouring below
@genericuser1 I’m pleased your appointment went well and the doctor got that you just needed to know. Please don’t down play any symptoms, I was like you, just muddle through, but while having chemo, if something doesn’t feel right please call your help line. Let your husband/secretary/personal assistant help.
Having your plan is such a relief after the waiting.
@arty1 please look after yourself. I think many of us think chemo is over time to get on with it. I’m now 6 months finishing Herceptin and only now getting my energy back. Stopping Letrozole has helped aswell.
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Aye, she underlined the point a lot with me, it was kinda funny actually, she wheeled her chair towards me, took both my hands and said ‘You are not making a fuss. Ever. Call the helpline’
We also talked about how it’s a team approach but that I am the most important member of the team and actually it was really kinda inspirational! Though at the end of the appointment my socially-awkward self wasn’t sure how to end it correctly after such an emotional yet motivational chat so I was like ‘High five!’ and to her credit she giggled and high fived me
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She sounds amazing!
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Hi Salbert and everyone
I hope everyone is ok. I had what I thought was going to be a face to face appointment with oncologist yesterday having had my 3rd treatment Monday afternoon. I am really disappointed and angry with myself really as basically the nurse took myself and my husband into a really tiny room and said the oncologist wants to examine you. So we thought he would examine me then have a short chat afterwards. He came into the room and said you’ve just had one treatment haven’t you (he had no notes the computer system was down for upgrade) to which I said I had just had the 3rd treatment. On examining me he said I can still feel a lump and then measured with calipers and said it is 2cm. The mri before chemo measured at 3cm and the ultrasound on diagnosis measured at 1.9cm. He then said because the cancer is in the middle of a large area of precancerous cells (calcifications) the mri scan could be picking up some of the precancerous cells in the measurement. So now he is referring me for an ultrasound scan not an mri to see if any change I think. I am so mad at myself that I didn’t ask more questions but I really at this stage thought that he would have spoken to us both after examination. I have rang my breast cancer nurse up this morning and she has said that having an ultrasound after 3rd treatment is normal and I am not to overthink about the size of the lump until it has been checked on the ultrasound. Sorry for the long post but I have got myself in a worrying state now thinking there is change in the lump size
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I think I’ve been very lucky! Meeting the onco nurse next week so hoping she’s as nice!
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Just had my surgery and lymph nodes results.
Lump removed successfully with clear margins and lymph nodes clear too.
I’m now being passed to oncology to discuss my chemotherapy, radiotherapy, herceptin injections and I’ll be taking a tablet for 5 years.
So pleased the cancer has been removed, now anxiously waiting the next step.
Keep thinking about my hair, sorry if I sound vain. Worrying about it and the effects it will have on my son too if it all comes out.
This is one hell of a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
Sending love and positivity to you all 
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@erica fabulous news about your clear results post surgery.
I was also lucky that one surgery was enough to make me cancer free and then went on to chemo/herceptin/AIs for 5 years.
@anb1 I’m sorry you feel disappointed with your meeting, it would have been better if they had prepared you for this review at the beginning of your treatment. Reading many chemo starters threads it is not uncommon to have ultrasound to check the size of the tumour. Once you’ve had your scan, write down any questions you have so at your next meeting you can ask them. I had surgery first so can’t comment from experience. But there are so many lovely people on this thread that have had chemo first and will be able to share their experiences with you.
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@anb1 ao sorry you have been worried by this new scan request. I hope I can offer some reassurance, I started TC Phesgo in September and had a scan after the 3 and 5 treatment to check that the chemo was having the desired effects. It did. I am sure this is just the routine ultrasound they are requesting but if you are worried reach out to the consultants secretary and just ask for a quick phone conversation to out your kind at rest
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@galdiolus @naughty_boob
Thank you for your replies. I know I overthink things and also am a terrible worrier. It’s worried me that he measured the lump on the calipers and got the same measurement as the ultrasound before starting chemo so of course I’ve got it in my head the chemo isn’t working. I have only had 2 treatments that can have affected the tumour as the 3rd treatment was Monday afternoon and the appointment was first thing Wednesday morning. It’s their lack of any explanation or reassurance he literally left the room with me still on the bed and my husband the other side of the curtain. When we went to the consultation to get results they couldn’t have been more different including my husband xx
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Afternoon all
@arty1 Thanks for your kind words. 
So you were also thrown into a paroxysm of fear by ill-conceived words. Looking back, I see exactly how the wrong words and the way in which they were spoken had a colossal effect on my levels of anxiety at the outset of this journey. If only there were some guidelines in what to say and how to say it. Welcome to the post-menopausal society, by the way. There are lots of benefits, I find. Those hot flushes and mood swings have completely stopped and now I realise, with hindsight, I was something of a nutter for a while! You don’t stop, do you. I admire you for it but you don’t need me to tell you not to overdo it, Missus!
@carrie5 It’s a relief to hear that I’m not expected to dish out sage advice. Twaddle….that I can do!
@sez Thanks for explaining how it all works from a GPs side. As @magl says, it’s good to be prepared. I’m very aware of how under the cosh GPs are and it must be a super-stressful job so I do empathise. I have medical friends who are quite blunt when it comes to talking about medical conditions so I wonder if it is a way of getting through the workload and being straight and honest with people. And of course, not everybody has that bedside manner or they have it in varying degrees. Actually your description of your Romanian guy did make me laugh. I guess you have to be a certain type of person to be a surgeon!! Oh and I’m glad I’m not the only one who has major hair fails. How is it that no matter what hair dye I choose, it comes out orange or purple? I’ve lost count…
@maria1970 Thanks for finding out that info. I had also tried to discover what the data was for EC-T but gave up. Well done and thanks for sharing.
@mrsjelly I’ve just changed my M&S Sparks card to Breast Cancer Now. Good call!
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@purple_rain I haven’t yet dyed my hair as a)the novelty of being a brunette is fascinating me, b) it’s so nice not to have to keep doing my roots every 6 weeks and c) I bought a blue hair dye kit and managed to divert myself with cleaning the kitchen for which the subtext reads, I sh*t myself and chickened out. And there sits the Electric Blue hair dye on my bathroom shelf where it shall probably remain until my husband once again erupts into laughter at my likeness to my mother! Easy with the recovery. You’ll get there and will be doing 4k daily once more.
Oh @susieq3 you and me both! I tried on one of my old sexy black push-up underwired bras a couple of weeks ago and was back in that comfy post-surgery bra before you could say mastectomy! It’s all about the comfort these days. At 54 I think I have earned it.
@Linda_Corinne I’d be interested to know what your hairdresser says about colouring and when it’s advisable.
@genericuser1 Your Onco sounds awesome. What a relief. Sounds like you are in very good hands there. Great news.
@anb1 I’m sure that must have been discombobulating. From what I have read on this thread and others, it’s not uncommon as @naughty_boob says, to do another scan to be sure of what they are dealing with. Also you have only had 3 treatments so far, so there is still lots they can do so don’t despair. I would make sure you push for information so that it puts your mind at rest. It sounds like they are being very thorough.
@marymop I absolutely had down days. I was in a terrible state to begin with which is why I started this thread. Once I was on the treatment path and got the steroids overreactions sorted, it was an upwards trajectory but I will never forget the terror and trauma of the first few weeks. It’s why I feel so strongly about this wonderful forum.
@erica 
Great news re your results. We all worry about our hair; it’s the next stage on the worry timetable. I definitely recommend the Cancer Haircare courses and of course we have just had the discussion on to scalp cool or not to scalp cool. Ask away but for now, celebrate that good news. We love to hear news like that.
So…last night my father and I sang Bing Crosby (wasn’t sure about most of those songs so I did some generic background warbling) then Dad fell asleep. He awoke 10 minutes later when we moved onto Fred Astaire and Perry Como then he fell asleep again. As I left to pick up Mum from WI where she had made a very fetching Easter card and painted an egg (I joked with her that it was like Brownies for old ladies) Dad shouted out “Hey! We haven’t done Frank Sinatra!”. That’s the entertainment for Mothering Sunday tea sorted then. My brother will be spitting feathers. 
And now I’m off to teach a Musical Theatre class where I shall endeavour not to get carried away and sing more loudly than the kids but then we’re doing Defying Gravity so I defy anyone not to find themselves belting it out at top volume.
Happy Thursday all,
Salbert
xx
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Got some news, I’ll get my central port ‘installed’ on Monday and it looks like as I’m getting SGRT on the left side I won’t need the tattoos, they said there was a 99.9% chance I won’t need them 
Next week will be so busy,
Monday - port installation, pre-Kadcyla blood tests and echo
Tuesday - first dose of Kadcyla
Wednesday - radiotherapy planning (scans and that)
Thursday - topless post surgery ‘photoshoot’ for my surgeon
My hair has started to look a bit like Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s baby (thanks to my botched dye mess) now the colour is fading a little, good thing my eyebrows and lashes grew back so I don’t look as sickly as she did.
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Hy ladies sorry i dont post a lot but i read all your posts. Met with my oncologist today with which i got a bit upset, i had residual from my surgery which i found out was left from my her2 negative tumour, her2 positive tumour was completely away so BCN told me i would stay on phesgo and have 5 sessions of radiotherapy, but oncologist is starting me on kadcyla in two weeks and 15 sessions of radiotherapy. Extra radiotherapy is not bothering its the kadcyla im not looking forward to x
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