Hello lovely ladies, just had my counselling and was chocked when the therapist asked to stop the meeting because I am more positive than I was while on chemo and she said (we just chit chatting now !!!).
What the heck,what counselling for to ? Is to chat and talk and empty all what inside my heart and I was going to mention the bad things after the positive but she stopped me after 15min, should I make a scene or cries my eyes out to hear me !!! Is that normal.
Then she said to email her when I need counselling again !she said I donāt mind to carry on but I donāt think we doing much !!! I was waiting to talk to someone for too long and hear her advices.
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@hasnae87 Suggest you email and point out that the difficult stuff is hard to talk about and you need some more time ( or maybe a different counsellor if available) knowing what a hard time youāve had over the weeks Im a bit surprised you only got 15 min. Good luck.
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It sounds like sheās not the right counsellor for you if sheās ready to discharge you already for sounding more positive. Mental health care can be tricky to access in this country though. Is it something you accessed through your GP? Like talking therapies? There are various pathways that you can go through on the NHS as well as a number of charities that can provide support on that front. It all depends on what you want to get out of it.
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Yeah itās one of the big charities counselling funded by the NHS(8 hours in total).
I decided to forget what happens to me and I took my son for walk near Windsor side river and we get on Windsor wheel as well.
I have a date for my surgery which the 15july, will have to order v shaped pillow and drain bag.
My twin sister will come from Canada on the 13th to be with me.
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@naughty_boob - yes I must admit itās rather disappointingā¦I will make a gp appointmentā¦we wonāt be moving for over a year but O know Iāll be transferred to the N Wales cancer centre at Glan Clwyd , but you are right in that a lot of surgery and specialist care is referred outside of Wales , for example my uncle has skin cancer and is under the team at St Helens ā¦ and mum is under Broadgreen in Liverpool for her heart issues ā¦
On a nicer note ā¦ I went to my lovely bra shop in Cirencester and descended on her in tears telling her about my mastectomy etc and showed her the ugly āfreeā mastectomy bra I was wearing ā¦
She announced that I absolutely could have pretty bras again and even my favourite underwire as long as they were comfortableā¦
45 mins later I walked out feeling like a new women with a beautiful properly fitting gorgeous every day bra and a lacy black underwired number that you canāt even tell Iāve had a mastectomy with just the bra on ā¦ I felt so happy . She also said the other bra wasnāt even the right size ā¦ itās made such a difference . I feel like treating myself to some new tops ā¦ just need to lose 3 stone now and grow some hair ! 
@hasnae87 - your counsellor sounds very unimpressive ! I think Iād be putting a complaint in and asking for a referal elsewhere . She doesnāt sound like a good fit at all ā¦ counselling isnāt just about pouring your heart out and crying ā¦ chats like this give an experienced counsellor and insight in how you are managing ā¦ it doesnāt mean you donāt need help anymore ! Also and I say this as an ex RMN , a patient who just chats and doesnāt touch on the subjects that actually need exploring , is quite often exercising avoidance behaviour because itās difficult to talk about ā¦ Iām not impressed with your ātherapistā
@cruising - well done on ticking off the pac , fingers crossed youāll start to recover from those SE . I had rotten neuropathy on it (I had nab-paclitaxel)
@sez - I went back to work in Aprilā¦ it was really way too early and Iām knackered but Iāve enjoyed the sense of ānormalityā and I think itās been a great mental health boost
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@arty1 delighted to hear your bra story! Good luck with the next step regarding reconstruction advice. @hasnae87 well done for finding a nice thing to do, but donāt bury the distress, maybe now surgery is the next focus, so glad youāve got your sister for supportā¦but if you feel you still need to talk pursue it, there are plenty of good counsellors out there and I agree with @arty1 that they should know to look beneath the surface.
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I would report back to whoever runs that programme to see if you can get someone else assigned if you can. It definitely isnāt right how she treated you. Itād be one thing if you had said you feel better and didnāt need it but it shouldnāt be dictated by the counsellor.
I swear Iām not stalking you but Iām also in Windsor at the moment 
your day looks more fun though. Iām just waiting for my Kadcyla to get here from the pharmacy so I can have treatment (number 13 of 14!)
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@cruising - Woo-hoo!! Amazing! Congrats on finishing with chemo.
@hasnae87 - Thatās a plain NO. NOT for your counsellor to decide you are fine and through with your counselling just because you are not bawling your eyes out. It sounds to me like they were just looking for an excuse to offload you. You must absolutely follow that up. Well done on getting out with your son and giving you both a chance to have some fun in the sun. If you see someone jumping up and down dressed in sports gear and eating a potato from your vantage point on the wheel, it will likely be @kartoffel! Great to hear your sister will be with you in time for your surgery.
@arty1 - Such lovely news to hear that you had such a positive trip to your bra shop. I feel like I have been wearing sensible post-surgery bras forever. I have a friend who was a bra fitter for Bravissimo for years who has offered to take me bra shopping. You have made me think I should take her up on the offer. Iām so happy you have been given such a boost.
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@salbert itās a real confidence boost ! I say go for it ! X
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Iām definitely going to go get fitted for some nice bras after Iāve had my reconstruction, definitely could use a little boost since Iām not really a fan of my boob with temporary expander. If I have my top off it looks so funny and barbie boob like compared to the other one.
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@arty1 so glad you had good experience for fitting a bra, I am not sure what bra should I buy so bought two different sizes before my surgery 
@carrie5 I will call them and ask for different counsellor for sure.
@kartoffel are you living close to Windsor ?good luck with your 13/14 kadcyla.
@salbert thank you so much for your kind words.
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Thank you @salbert i did feel a bit guilty by not checking in at the same time. But i always will be back! Fab group this, so grateful for you all!
@arty1 how strange! They told me they would take some skin somewhere for reconā¦ i wonder why they said no to you?! I would get another opinion about that they can do all sorts these days!
And the piggies are defo helpingā¦ love them! Always had them but not had any for a good 5 years now so it was time again 
had them running round kitchen this morning was chaos lol Eden loves it! They make fab pets.
I just wanted to ask anyone thats on Zolodex injections, since i had my last injection i feel wiped out! Proper exhaustion and skin been quite bad tooā¦ anyone else feel so so tired on them? I cant seem to shake it off.x
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@hasnae87 I live in Henley and work in Slough so Iām always near there nowadays 
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Hi all,
I had a bit of a spiral today and wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced something similarāIād really appreciate any advice.
I finished my last round of chemo plus Phesgo on 12th June. My surgery is likely to happen on 22nd July, but itās still not confirmed yet as it requires coordination between two hospitals. I was due to go in for my 5th dose of Phesgo today, but about an hour beforehand, I got a phone call saying it had been cancelled. I was told thereās now a new nationwide practice to stop Phesgo before surgery.
Iām triple positive and quite worriedāstopping Phesgo now, combined with needing time for post-op recovery, means there could be a long gap without treatment, which feels really risky. It also felt like the decision was final, with no space for discussion. What upset me most was the lack of communicationāno prior explanation or chance to talk it through. I was left in tears after speaking to the BCN, feeling powerless.
Has anyone else been told to stop Phesgo before surgery? I just donāt quite understand the rationale. Iām in my 30s, otherwise healthy and fit, and it seems like more harm than good to have such a long break. I even phoned the Macmillan support line, and the nurse there was surprised tooāshe hadnāt heard of this being a nationwide policy. Iād really value hearing your experiences or thoughts. 
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@jan30 I hope you are ok. I am in a similar position to you I finished my chemo 27 May and surgery is 10 July and my oncologist stopped my phesgo between chemo and surgery. It did worry me (well everything is worrying me) as well as hearing others carried on with phesgo. I am her2+ only. My oncologist didnāt offer any explanation just said no it stops until we get results of surgery.
I gathered from the Macmillan nurse that it might be something related to funding cutā¦not sure if it is the case, it would be really unsettling to know that is the only cause they stopped Phesgo before surgeryā¦
That is terrible isnāt it if itās funding cuts and itās our lives!
Iām private and missed phesgo on my op day then it was stopped but I asked for it to be restarted as I didnāt want to prolong it. I ended up staying on it anyway which was always the plan even tough I had 4.5mm of live cancer removed. I have had bc twice and got sepsis in November which stopped chemo early etc so they were the reasons.
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Hi @jan30,
I understand your worry. I had my last chemo with phesgo on 7th April and was also told they stop it for surgery and the results. My surgery got brought forward though and was on 24th April but I didnāt get phesgo again until 30th May and I felt like that was only because I made a big deal about it. I had a lot of residual disease and was stressed that I hadnāt had any treatment restarted (there was a whole discussion about kadcyla for me as still have cancer in my skin post mastectomy but they didnāt want to switch it before radiotherapy).
Sounds like maybe it is protocol, although definitely causes anxiety not having any active treatment in your system. Guess it depends how long your results etc take, just keep questioning it if you feel worried until they give you a reassuring answer š«¶š»
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I had my last chemo with phesgo on 13th June and my surgery is likely to be end of July. I am getting my next phesgo tomorrow and they told me I would keep having every 3 weeks unless it falls near my surgery then it will just be delayed a week or 2.
Its so strange how different it is in different places, but looks like you are not the only one that had theirs stopped between chemo and surgery x
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