Thats great news Tinger, Now you can move on from being a bag man to being a chemo man.
As I often say, go to the appointment armed with a notebook and write everything down, so you know what the treatment will be, what chemicals will be used, What provision is made for side effects like sickness and what the proposed shedule of treatment is. It is all a bit of a shock at the moment and you may feel an information overload, so the notes will help to make sense of it all.
When they explain about your operation and their findings, write it down so you can be a clever clogs and say you are a DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) or similar as the acronyms save a lot of typing. They should talk of lymph nodes and/or sentinal nodes having markers or not, what sort of node clearance was done and how many tested positive. They should also give you a cancer Stage of I, II, III or IV. I realise that you may not know or care what any of it means but you make be asked for travel insurance or other insurances in years to come so it is handy to have it written down.
Don’t be afraid to question an oncologist or ask them to spell medical terms. You should ask if your treatment is the current “standard” or “new thinking”; try and make the Onco explain their reasoning.
You may get such information as “dont carry heavy shopping bags”. For men this is a little odd but what they mean is don’t carry a sustained weight on your mastectomy side, as this causes the muscle to bulge with blood while the weight in your hand will slow the return flow, which could induce lymphoedema.
All this will sound bleak but I have tested my lympho arm with some serious cuts falling off a trials motorbike and a severe test when chopping firewood and hitting my knuckle instead. Neither of which brought on Lymphoedema but I still wont carry things in that hand or do gardening without a thick leather glove.
best regards and don’t let it get you down.
Clunk.
Thank you for your info, I shall certainly do as you suggest, note book and pen,and of course my Dear wife.
I shall let you know the details on thr 29th.
Best wishes.
I just wanted to update you re me visit today with my Consultant after my op and to find out the details of the test results on the tumor and the lymph nodes.
4nodes where removed two had signs of cancer spread and two were clear.
As for treatment it was suggested that I will rads on my armpit and around they removal site on my Brest,as far as chemo this will be discussed next wednesday when I see the oncologist and my breast consultant.
It was suggested that the benefits of chemo for me would not out weigh the side effects, but it is my desion.
The reason is I am a very fit 77 year old going on 60 gent.
I am confused as I would like to live a lot longer and I just don’t know what I should do,at the moment I favor deciding on having thr chemo.
Best wishes to you all.
Tinger,
I think the first question for oncologist ought to be along the lines of: what treatment would you suggest for an active 50 year old man with the same diagnosis…
The surgeon only removed 4 nodes and found markers in 50%. By comparison, my results were 2 out of 10 which is 20% and i had chemo.
I thought that the chemo was to chase down any escaped cancer cells and kill them off in a whole body treatment, while RT just fries and atrophies the local area.
chemo is horrible at the time, you feel awful for about 3 or 4 days after, then you improve daily and in the 3rd week just before the next treatment you are nearly feeling ok - then you have another poisoning. 6 sessions at 3 weekly intervals is 18 weeks, so really you are looking at 6 months before you feel ok again.
I had my chemo on a thursday, had friday in bed, recovered saturday and sunday and went to work on Monday admittedly at a desk job but I still did things on the other two weekends and got on with life.
I had 3 x FEC and 3 x Taxotare folloewd by 5 years of Arimidex/Tamoxifen tablets.
our priority is always Outcomes - length of life but also quality of life.
keep making notes, read up anything sensible and satisfy yourself that you are receiving the treatment best suited to you on that basis.
very best wishes.
Thank you so much for your latest input, this is how I felt last night whilst trying to get to sleep.
I felt that I was being put off the chemo by the breast consultant. I will certainly ask the ? What treatment would you sugest to a 50 year old man.
I was going to ask about if there was any residual cancer cells left behind when my breast was removed, I want my best chance of surviving for a few more years.
I feel my best chance is to have the chemo.
Kindest regards.
Hi Phil,
I had breast cancer 12 years ago and there used to be around 4 regular guys posting on this site, in both the mens’ section and the regular sites. Recently all seems to have become quiet during the past 5 years.
Unfortunately men are not well-known for discussing their feelings, so the men’s site is not well supported. Many of the postings are from women enquiring about the breast cancfer of men they know.
I hope you are able to get any information you want from the Breast Cancer Care booklets, but keep looking in at this site too.
David S
I must say that I was givin a stack of books to read when I was diagnosed with my breast cancer, they were all very helpfully to me.And I must say the were all Came from Breast cancer care.
Now my own update information I had my appointment with the oncologist yesterday who has agreed that I am to have 6 times FEC T & 4 weeks of rads. The chemo to start after Christmas.
Because of my age I will have to have an angiogram to check my heart ,prior to the start of my treatment. I was given more books on chemo,rads and tamoxifen.j
Have a really good Christmas Tinger and enjoy all the different tastes and flavours. Keep us up to speed on your progress and ask anything you like.
Thank you for your good wishes,I hope you have a a good Christmas and best wishes for the new year.
The heart check yesterday went very well, no problems at all,on Friday I am having a CT scan on my chest abdomen,pelvis with Contrast ie some dye to drink and the scan 1hour later.
I will then be able to start the Chemo.
Seasons greetings to all at Breast cancer care.
Well I am now a chemo man. I had my first FEC today, I was very apprehensive when I got to Oncology at ten am. I was called in at ten,ten by a very nice staff nurse.
She sat me down and put a hot bean bag on my hand and arm, gave me an Emend anti sickness tablet and explained in detail what the procedure would be.
I felt at ease after her chat, the Oncology suite at Lincoln County Hospital is very nice, the staff are so helpful,plenty of tea and biscuits and a sandwich for lunch.
All went well and my treatment was completed at two thirty.
It is just after nine i am writing this in bed and so far no ill effects apart from feeling very tired.
A very happy new year to you all.
Tinger,
I wrote a reply but somehow it was lost…
I am so pleased that your chemo went well, now just make sure that you have plenty of rest through the grotty bit and don’t push yourself too hard - but keep up those arm exercises!
You made good time through the day and I hope that continues too.
keep us up to date and fire off sany questions to us.
very best regards,
Clunk
Clunk,
Thank you very much for your good wishes I have been lucky so far no sickness at all.
I am feeling tired today but I am in good spirits.
Kindest regards.
Best of luck everybody…I got Diagnosed on the 8th jan this year…im worried about something…THE CHEMO…
Im self employed and its been a very bad last 3 years…Will Chemo stop me from working?..Its just i cant afford time off
Thanks for listening…
Hi Peter
Firstly, welcome to the discussion forums, I’m sure you’ll find them to be a supportive place for you.
Whilst you’re waiting for others to share their experiences, I just thought I’d let you know about a couple of our services which you might find helpful.
Our Helpline are available to talk through any concerns or issues you might have, they’re on 0808 800 6000, weekdays 9-5 and Saturday 10-2.
We also have an ‘ask the nurse’ service which is available by email. Here’s the link to the information about both services:
http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/breast-cancer-services/ask-us-your-questions
Hope this is useful
Kind regards
Louise, Facilitator
Hi Peter, it depends what you do for a living, I worked through chemo but am an administrator and work from home, I think if your job is physically demanding you may struggle. Might be worth contacting Macmillan to speak to a benefits advisor x
Perhaps you could spend more of your time on admin and looking for new business leads whilst you’re doing the chemo, Peter, so you would still be doing enough hours to qualify for working tax credits? I think it’s sixteen hours, but not sure. It might be worth contacting Macmillan or CAB for advice - or you could try the turn2us website if you wanted some sort of an idea before getting in touch with anyone. Should come up if you google.
Hi Clunk,
Just an update, I this is my best day this week am beginning to get back to my old self.
The worst problem has been the indigestion it kept awaits wake and it was bad when I tried to take in water, and I was not eating enough. Got some tablets so I am ok Now, best of all I have had no nausea .
Today my apatite is back and I have been fed well by my dear wife, it feels so lovely not been hungry all the time, it’s the 8th day after first chemo and all is well with me.
Best wishes to all the new guys .
Hi Tinger,
Indigestion will be a problem because the chemo kills off the friendly bacteria in your gut but the acids are still active, so acid reflux can be a problem. Make sure you drink lots to keep things well flushed and try to eat food that is easily digested.
My big fear used to be hiccoughs because once they started, they could carry on for over an hour and made everything sore.
Well done, it sounds like your using the tablets well.
Clunk.
Hi Peter K,
Welcome to the club that you never wanted to join.
As someone else said, it depends how physical your job is. The official line is that everyone is affected differently but you will suffer the effects of the surgery and chemo is controlled poisoning so that if you are on a 3 week cycle, you will feel quite battered for 3 - 5 days after a chemo session and then you will improve every day until just before your next treatment you might even feel quite good - then back to square one again.
I also felt that the chemo was accumulative as recovery was a little longer each subsequent time. But there are some unknowns about how sick you will feel in the first few days and how bad the drug side effects will be; any sort of steroid will rob you of sleep if taken too late in the day and other drugs mak make you feel somehow slightly removed from reality, but the unknown is how much and for how long.
After mastectomy, your upper arm on that side will have a sort of nettle-rash tingle and you’ll probably have no feeling in your armpit. they will show you what arm exercises to do, so make sure you do them every day.
About being self-employed, in this I can sympathise. I am a self employed engineer and spend my day in front of a computer, so it’s not exactly strenuous, but I found the mental detachment was hard for me.
I had Chemo on a Thursday, spent Friday & Saturday in bed, moved around a bit on Sunday and went to work on Monday. It was a 45 minute drive so I went early and didn’t take my pills until I was safely at work to reduce the side effects. At work I shuffled along like a man of about 90 yrs old (I was 54) and it was tough to concentrate.
I would imagine that if I had a physical job like a plasterer, I would have neede to take on a lad to do the lifting and holding as you really would struggle with carrying and positioning a sheet of plasterboard certainly in the first week of the cycle.
On the other hand I was riding motorbikes in the 2nd and 3rd weeks when I felt like clearing my head a bit.
The only light at the end of the tunnel is that it is usually finished in about 21 weeks - about 4 months.
I hope that helps you to plan things.
Very best wishes
Clunk.
Hi Peter,
I had my first chemo,on the 5th of Jan, I was a bit rough for 5 or 6 days then since then I have been alright.
I got my appetite back and I am eating well.
I wish you all the best, it is not nice is it but you just have to look positive and get on with the treatment.
Good luck.