I’ve also decided that should I need chemo which I was told is likely because I’m triple positive…I’m going to get my hair cut short…it’s shoulder length at the moment. But I am going to wait for my treatment plan to be confirmed first. Although I did also get my eyebrows tattooed last week as a precaution! I’m also going to get myself some of the budget bio oil as already the wounds are looking pretty nearly…but I am pleased that I’ve managed to keep my shape x
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How long do you need to wait after surgery until you can use the Re-gen stuff? Mines been glued together on the outside?
Hi @naughty_boob I totally agree that man around think I’m over it and on the mend. It couldn’t be further from the truth. TBH these days and weeks are harder in many ways than when in the midst of full treatment. I have found out about the moving on course our local Maggie’s run, and will be entitled to enrol on e radiotherapy is over. I learnt today it’s planned to start 15th Feb for 10 treatment days.
Did you know you can buy artificial tears without a prescription? They are not very expensive. Ask for hypromellose eye drops 0.3%.
Take care - thinking good thoughts for you 
.
Sue
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Oh @salbert how tough. Losing any loved life from the family is hard. Sending love and giving thanks for the good news of your results. Keep sharing - it’s good to be here for one another. Xx
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So sorry to hear about your dog Sal. It doesn’t matter how old a pet is it’s never nice to have to say goodbye and as others have said it’s nice you were able to do it at home. Sending hugs xx
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Hello my friends
@chellebelle I’m so glad to hear that surgery went well and you are back home. You moved fast on the eyebrows. Well done! I decided against it as mine are fair so you can’t see them anyway and I thought it would look odd if I suddenly had some! 
@suedot Thanks re losing our Reilly. I just saw a picture of him and was in floods again. Grief just hits you, doesn’t it. But I wouldn’t want life without animals just so that I don’t have to go through the grief of losing them. They have done nothing but enrich my life but, oh, the pain when they go.
I have an appointment at 2pm tomorrow to discuss my scan results in detail and book me for an MRI to double check these lung and liver non-specific nodules. I started to worry about them today then thought ‘No - I can’t be bothered to worry. I haven’t got the energy or brain space’.
My son has a school friend whose mother has been through this and she got in touch and offered to come and have a coffee and share her experience which was 5 years ago now. I said yes please so she will be arriving in about an hour. It’s good to talk to people who have been there. Well, you know that!
Love to you all, you wonderful women,
Sal
xx
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So pleased your surgery has gone well. Take it easy and do your exercises as much as you can. I was given the breast cancer now leaflet, if you can’t move onto week 2 don’t worry, pick it up when you can. Do what you can. Glad you were able to keep your shape, my surgeon was able to do one incision on each side (bilateral cancer) which can only be seen on side ward view, a couple of indents so far. Not sure what will happen after the radiotherapy, as there is a possibility of skin and shape change.
I would wait until your wound has been checked at your two week appointment, if they are happy you have healed you can they apply the oil. I used it twice a day, gently rubbing it in.
I cut my hair but I was a short bob and probably didn’t need to. I would recommend booking the www.lookgoodfeelbetter.co.uk course who do it with www.cancerhaircare.co.uk so much advice to help make an informed decision. Also www.coldcap.com from Paxman . I wish I had known more before starting chemotherapy. I kept most of my hair but it will depend on your treatment plan whether your able to cold cap.
I would recommend the scar therapy course at www.pennybrohn.co.uk they recommend gentle massage or touching techniques. No professional involvement until 6 weeks.
Most of all rest up and all others to care for you. If you’re on co-codamol for main you may need senna or lactulose to help you go to the loo 
Take care🥰
Hi ladies. I had my surgery on the 23rd. This morning I was woken up to a horrendous bought of diahorea…is that normal after surgery? I felt ok just sore yesterday but today I’ve already gone to the toilet twice and both times very watery.
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@chellebelle I didn’t have diarrhoea, the opposite in fact. I know now that general anaesthetic stops your digestive system which has to get working again so now I take laxatives after surgery. Therefore, diarrhoea is not normal for me. However, it could be your system waking up again. Might be worth a call to 111 for advice or do your doctors take calls about things like that? Just for peace of mind.
@naughty_boob Thanks for yet more brilliant advice. I’m going to book the lookgoodfeelbetter course for sure. Also going to try to cold cap and actually just look at all your links as it’s all so valuable and informative.
This is just the best community.
Love to you all, fabulous women!!
XXX
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Hi ladies
It seems I celebrated prematurely. I saw my consultant today and got good news in that after my total node clearance, it was still only in 2 of the 18 they took. However, he STILL hadn’t got clear margins on the DCIS so now it is a total mastectomy which includes removing the nipple. This will be my 5th op in just over a year.
Because of the two small nodules in my right lung and 1 small liver lesion, they want me to have an MRI scan to check my brain and a PET scan to see if the liver and lung nodules are cancerous or benign. I will also have a follow up CT scan in April to see if lung nodules have grown. I did have a pleural effusion 10 years ago in my right lung and it is the pleural area where the nodules are located so I am hoping they are due to that. When I said that surely it was good news that there were only two lymph nodes involved I was told that the cancer can bypass the lymph nodes entirely and still lodge in other places so that is why I must have all the new scans. I was told it was complicated.
Even the degeneration in my neck vertebrae cannot be ruled out. He said it could just be a degenerative vertebrae or it could be cancer.
And so now I am waiting for dates for all of the above.
It feels like the torture is never ending and that I will never get to my chemo and Herceptin let alone radiotherapy.
If anyone, anyone can shed any positive light on any of the above then please, please do. I’m struggling again after today’s appointment.
Thanks
Sal
xx
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Sorry to hear about the diarrhoea, if you’ve not already call your breast care nurse or the number they gave you from the hospital. It could be a reaction to the anaesthetic or something you’ve eaten. Loperamide/Imodium could help but best to get medical advise. I didn’t have an upset stomach after surgery.
Take care🥰
So sorry to hear your news. It’s a lot to take in. I had to read it twice so can’t imagine how you have absorbed this information.
I hope you get your scans as soon as possible to give you the full information about where you are.
I’ve learnt something new today because I always though DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) was early cancer in the ducts only and had not spread to the rest of the breast (invasive bc) or lymph nodes. But then HER2+ is more invasive and can spread I presume as in your case.
I am sending my love and thoughts. 
I’m so sorry to hear about your update hun and I hope you get an update soon. Sending you positive thoughts xx
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Hi Naughty_boob! Just for clarification DCIS is by definition stage 0 breast cancer and does not spread. If anything has spread in regards to Salbert’s breast cancer it will be because of the IDC that was found with it.
Salbert, investigations like the one you are going through is common but it doesn’t make it any easier. I hope the scans happen quickly, you are cleared, and then you can start treatment. Remember you’ll have immunotherapy. The one for HER2+ breast cancers is the best treatment for breast cancer out of all of them. Don’t lose hope yet.
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Hi @salbert, I’m sorry you are going through all of this and having to endure the waiting game.
Im not sure if it helps but when i was diagnosed in November they thought it had spread to my liver as I had 2 suspicious lesions. After 2 weeks of waiting for MRI results and thinking the worst they then confirmed they were benign. I just want to remind you of how quickly things can change on this journey and you think you are going down one path and then things can change. Try not to give up hope and keep sharing as many of us understand what you are going through xx
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@clay83 @Kay0987 @chellebelle @naughty_boob It all helps. Thank you for reassurance. I’m trying to get a second opinion now as I have lost confidence in my consultant. I asked for a mastectomy two surgeries ago and he wouldn’t do it. Now I feel like he wasted time. I cannot get my Herceptin and chemo because he just wouldn’t budge on the mastectomy and now I have to heal all over again. I have just had a call from the MRI department who have said they have to check I can have an MRI at all as I have had surgery so recently. Just when I think I am getting to the end of it all the goalposts move yet again. This is such a never ending nightmare.
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Thanks for clarifying. My chemo brain does not remember as much information as I used to. It’s hard to keep up with everyone’s individual diagnosis.
Sorry I got mixed up with your earlier post re DCIS, my brain doesn’t seem to retain as much information as it used too.
Well done for deciding to get a second opinion, you are so strong to push for this. It’s so easy to go with the flow. So sorry that the MRI could be delayed due to healing from the surgery, it’s not what you want to hear.
Sending all my love
@salbert I am so sorry to hear you are now being asked to do more tests and that these mean more waiting. The only positive I can think of is that they must be coming to the end of all the tests as scans are there to look at the whole body. That is not much comfort though. As many of us have said the waiting is the worst part. I think you are right to ask for a second opinion now you have lost confidence in your treatment team. I hope you get that soon. I am thinking of you and sending much love.
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I’m sorry, Salbert. I don’t know if it helps to know I agree with you 100% (why the NHS refuses to let women choose for themselves the surgery they want appalls me) but I do. If you can get a second opinion quickly that may help speed things along. I know this is so tiring and stress inducing and despite knowing that breast cancer tends to move slow it still does nothing for the severe anxiety that all this waiting induces.
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