Thanks, I will keep in touch,i have had you in my thoughts,i am pleased that your operation went well, when i read your post i can fully understand where you are at, i feel the same i am not a crier as such, but the flood gates just keep opening without any warning at the moment, these past few days have been my hardest yet, i hope once i get my results tomorrow and know what treatment i am having that all these emotions will settle down a bit, and you don t sound selfish at all, we all deal in different ways theirs no right or wrong way we all have to go with the way we feel,i like most people have been on some journeys in my life but this is by far the hardest yet
I send you big hugs and love, Wendy xxxxxxx
HI, to all you other lovely ladies i send you all big hugs.xxxxxxx
reading all you comments about how the emotions keep coming to the surface makes me realise im not going mad and can stop botteling it all up, i think i will have a good cry(havent really let it all out yet), i am in the same boat as most of you had my op last week (lumpectomy and snb)next app 3rd dec when the next treatment will be sorted but do know it will be RADS for possibly 4-5 weeks. find reading all the postings a comfort and feel that there are lots of lovely people out there. so keep your chin up i feel so much better just for waffeling on to you(i know i am rambling)
thanks donna x
Hi everyone, I went to see the Oncologist today thinking I was going to get my Rads schedule but find myself going back in for surgery Monday to have some more lymph removed:-( I knew there were cells in the sentinel node but was lead to believe they were too small to worry about. I asked how I could be sure they had not spread further and was told I couldn’t! My oncologist said I could have Chemo or take some more lymph and if the lymph is clear then no chemo, so I have opted for that. Has anyone had a level one lymph clearance and can offer advice and what the after effects are please??
So sorry to hear your news, just when you think you are beginning to handle this thing, it throws up yet another conundrum!
My next door neighbour had bc 12 years ago and had all her nodes removed + mastectomy. She has not suffered any major effects all these years as a result of having total node removal if thats of any help. I also met a lady last week when I was on the ward who thought having had ‘total’ lymph node removeal 21 years ago, that she was in the clear. Apparently not - lump appeared on armpit scar line, surgeon opened her up last week to remove tumour and also found 1 remaining node that was deeply embedded and missed previously. She too however had not suffered as a result of having had them ‘all removed’.
My understanding of chemo is that if you have a cancer that is oestrogen positive and your type of breast cancer ‘feeds’ from the oestrogen then having chemo can/does address this by eliminating any rogue cells that may be left despite surgery/radiotherapy etc. It can mean an earlier menopause but if the cancer is obliterated it is an option well worth consideration.
My thoughts are with you, try and stay positive love & hugs
Hi Vicky, I had lymphnode clearence,16 taken and 1 with cancer in.It felt very strange after, it was like I had a tennis ball stuffed under my arm and the upper part of my arm was numb. If you have total clearence they will give you exercises to do,make sure you do them they do help.you should ask you oncologist what your percentage would be with and without chemotherapy.I had chemotherapy because of the positive node.
Hi All
just to add - I think treatment policies seem to vary depending on which hospital you go to. I have grade 3, lump was 16mm but lymph nodes clear and I am being recommended to have chemo + radiotherapy and, as HER+, Herceptin too. I see the onc tomorrow for intial treatment discussion and tests having had WLE etc 3 weeks ago
Maggie
Hi to all,
I had Mastectomy and Lymph node clearance 3 weeks ago,Have found the arm more of a problem than the Mastectomy physically because they had to remove more from armpit than first thought, lots of numbness and by the evening it feels like my arm and side have been pumped up,pins and needles too.results were 2.5cm tumour attached to rib so no clear margin there and 14 out of 16 nodes removed cancerous,grade 3 Invasive ductal HER2 positive.
Saw Oncologist yesterday and wants Chemo (TAC) asap plus CT scans and Xrays because suspect results could mean it has moved, followed by Rads then Herceptin.He said better to start chemo now and change later if need to, the way my visits have been going I expect they will change.It really is good to have this site because no matter how other people and family stand by you no one can understand how you really feel except someone who has gone through the same thing, it is a total mind twister. You want and know that you should stay totally positive but at the same time you are so scared of the unknown that you drive yourself silently mad, or maybe thats just me at the moment.Maybe it does get easier but then what is easier about cancer at all.
Sorry to sound so down but just need to let it out sometimes to others who know.
Love and Best Wishes to you all.
You are all helping in different ways so please keep posting.
Thank you for the replies and advice. I am having a very wobbly day today and am very weepy whch is unusual for me. My daughter is 28 today and we are having lunch so I must get my act together! I found out yesterday that that my cancer is herceptin negative but is Oestrogen and progesterone positive which I understand is good. I am waiting to hear now about when my Rads are likely to start. Will I make the Christmas staff lunch is what I want to know!
I am not looking forward to the op on Monday, but whatever it take to get well we have to take on the chin!!
Keep writing, I am finding this forum a great help as we are all in the same boat and know how I feels. Friends and family, kind as they are, can’t empathise as well as my new online friends.
Hi Vicky, sorry you are feeling down today,but it is understandable,just think what you have been through.First diagnosed with cancer then surgery, then to be told you need more surgery,its all just too much sometimes isnt it.Sending you a big ((((hug))) and wishing you get good results from next surgery and that you get to have xmas lunch,which i’m sure you will.
Thanks for your kind words and you are right, it is all so much to take on board. I have been so strong for everyone and myself but this was the straw that broke the donkeys back. Had a great lunch with my daughter and her friends although I had a bit of a wobble when one of them asked me how I was doing. I am lucky to have my daughter as my rock, my husband doesn’t really grasp how I feel about it all. You have had so much more to cope with than me, so lots of admiration to you. Thanks for the hugs I am sending them back.
I have had you all in my thoughts, I did post on 25Th but it has not showed up on the forum.
I went for my results on Wednesday 25Th Nov and they were really good,I had a 17mm invasive ductal tumour,oestrogen positive, the WLE had a clear margin also three lymph nodes that she took were all clear, I wanted to share my news with you all, but I do feel guilty as so many off you are going through more surgery and also waiting for your results.I will keep my fingers crossed for you all.
my treatment plan is six weeks of radiotherapy and eight boosts,I am not sure what happens with the boosts yet and tamoxifen for five yrs. no chemo.
This forum has helped so so much as when you first get your diagnosis its such a massive shock not only to you but all your family and friends.
Luffy i tried to send you a pm, I hope you are ok and that it arrived.
love and Big Hugs to all off you.
Wendy xxxxxxxxxx
I am really pleased for you, I am confident mine is only a minor setback and you have no need to feel guilty. We all have our ups and downs and no one wish would anything but the best outcomes and minimal treatments for all our forum buddies.
By the same token I know we can all reply on support no matter what BC throws at us.
Before my last surgery I gave up wine but this time, what the heck! “Cheers everyone” down the hatch with the Chilean Rosé.
Just a quick update when i got my results on 25Th Nov i was told i would need Rads and Tamox but since then have been recommended Chemo as grade 3 and age 43, so i will start Chemo on 29Th DEC. like everyone being told they need Chemo i am very apprehensive to say the least.
I don t post a lot but i follow a lot of the threads and belive me they have kept me sane in the last couple of months. THANKS X
I hope that everyone is as well as they can be with this s— disease.
Best wishes
love Wendy xxxx
I’m 42 and had a grade 3 with one lymph node involved. I’m currently on chemo and so far so good. I just kept in mind that its whizzing around killing any stray cancer cells, so its got to be worth it!
Hi Wendy,
Im 52, grade 3. due for my 4th FEC on Xmas Eve before rads net year so half way through chemo. its not the most pleasant experience in the world but you will get through it. Take everything and anything you can to minimise the side effects. it IS doable and with modern medication, nothing like the horror stories you used to hear.
good luck for the 29th!
Karen xx
I think the worst thing is not knowing how its going to affect you as everyone has different side affects, well I will find out tomorrow
and let you no how I get on.
This forum has been a God send.
keep smiling both
