I’m having counselling with Macmillan, there’s a Mac centre at my hospital so I have been in for chats. I wasn’t sure I needed it as I was FINE, and then I wasn’t. I believe Maggies Centres offer this too. Mine is on the phone so I don’t have to travel.
Good luck take care x
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I was originally having radiotherapy 2 1/2 weeks after chemo ( normally weeks in Cardiff) but I was ill for two weeks and because of Christmas and a dental appointment I’d booked before chemo for root canal ( not looking forward to that, the dentist wanted to do it during chemo but my team were very clear it was too high a rocks of infection , even now I need antibiotics just in case) now 1 day less than 4 weeks. 
I’m glad it’s given me time to recover from chemotherapy, I still have side effects but each day seems better. I have 5 days before I start on the 10th.
The MacMillan book I was given on diagnosis says it’s usually 4-6 weeks. Obviously this could be for those who have surgery and then radiotherapy and need their wounds to heal.
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Hi @daffodil1 , my oncologist told me my radio would start 3 weeks after my last chemo session but in the end it has worked out at just over 4 weeks which I’m pleased about as it gives me time to recover.
I know what you mean about the end of treatment, it will feel
Strange not being under care. I have been having counselling, but tbh I don’t think it has made much difference , maybe that’s just my counsellor. She constantly tells me how well I am doing . I don’t feel we talk about what really matters . What is really concerning me is my annual checkups will be by mammogram and I don’t feel
Confident that it will pick up Invasive Lobular Cancer in my other boob, which is what I had.
I think I will sign up for the Someone Like You programme that this site offers . I’m sure it would help to talk to someone who has been through the same as me.
Good luck , hope you get a date soon xx
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Hi romabee, naughtyboob, copperycat, that’s all really helpful thank you. It would be good to know when it will be starting. Sounds like 3 to 4 weeks would be ideal. I guess if the other date they offer is miles away I would have to try and go with the 12 days after chemo option.
Thanks for the information about counselling too. I think the Someone like me option could be really helpful.
Have as good as possible a weekend everyone
xxx
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Hi copperycat, I know exactly what you mean. My breast cancer was mammo occult so not convinced by future mammograms picking anything up.
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Happy weekend to everyone. Whether it’s recovering, getting moving, processing or shopping!
X
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Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone’s experiencing nausea as a side effect? I started on Thursday so only had 2 sessions so far (I’m on a 3-week protocol). Woke up at 04:30 today because my nose was bleeding and been nauseas all day today with no energy at all and I mean, none… I didn’t think I’d begin to suffer so quickly after staring and really didn’t expect it to floor me like it did. Can anyone relate at all? xx
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Hi there. Sorry you are feeling so tired. I have a few weeks before I start mine so can’t share direct experience yet but just a message to say I hope it is soon over and you are feeling much brighter. I always get tired this time of year anyway (I know fatigue is another level though) so hoping we are all a bit better come the nicer weather and we can get back to enjoying normality a bit more xxxx
Hi everyone! Hope you’re all coping as best you can with radiotherapy. I was diagnosed with triple positive bc in April, had neo adjuvant chemo which was really gruelling, lumpectomy in October and now 5 sessions of radiotherapy, which I started on 3/1/23. Had 3 sessions so far, another one this afternoon and finish tomorrow morning followed by a review. I also started Kadcyla on Nov 24th which will be for 14 cycles, 3 weeks apart. Also started on Letrozole and Zoladex before that and am having a lot of hot flushes, sometimes feel quite down but that could be the situation, trying to recover from chemo, not being able to return to work as yet and my children returning to uni and living alone for the first time. It’s hard to tell with being on so many different types of treatment at the same time So far, I’m finding the radiotherapy okay (everything is comparative to chemo🤦♀️) , fatigue, discomfort and tenderness similar to a week or two after surgery and a strange symptom of blurry vision when reading. I was due another round of Kadcyla after radiotherapy today but I thought that was too much so have pushed that back till Wednesday. Think the Oncologists forget we are human at the end of the day!
Finding the breath hold okay. Hold it for 50 secs twice in the session, the rest of the time the holds seem to be around 10-20 secs. Sounds difficult but actually when you’re doing it, it’s fine, you have a camera on a phone in front of you and you just take your breath and move the bottom line to the line higher up. I also know if I can’t manage it for each blast, the machine switches off straight away, which is a comfort, takes off the pressure a bit.
Good luck to everyone, we are all doing so amazingly.xx
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That is such a lot to have to deal with, I’m in awe just reading what you have been through. Breath holding for 50 seconds is magnificent - I can only manage 25 at a push but thankfully this got me through the CT scan! I’m sorry you sometimes feel down, it’s hard going through so much. Kids off to uni is mega, been through that before BC and it’s so hard! so to deal with it on top of everything else must be very difficult. I hope you have a good friend to help you through. Good luck with the final two sessions of radio, hope they go smoothly xx
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Hi @Nellby73
Wow only one more radiotherapy to go. How have you got on with your skin?
If you’re triple positive are you on Herceptin/Phesgo as well?
I’ve been there with two children off to university it was bad enough without cancer going on and crying at the drop of a hat. I even cried at the GP today as I couldn’t think or say what I wanted to say and I became emotional with frustration. Like cancer you get to find your new normal. My children are 26 and 28, so it was a while ago. We always arranged a specific day and time to call and catch up. Depending how far they are, we would visit monthly or six weekly and take them out for a meal and top up their food.
I start my radiotherapy on Wednesday🥰
Hi. Thanks for your support @copperycat and @naughty_boob. Back from the radiotherapy session at Preston -I’m amazed I’m able to do the hour’s round trip there, the most I’ve driven since before chemo. The radiotherapy is proving okay so far. Everything is comparable to chemo I guess. How many sessions are you having @copperycat and @naughty_boob? My skin is a holding up well so far, just a little pink and sore at times. I’m moisturising 2-3 times a day with Moogoo Udder Cream which seems to be doing the trick. My vision is affected though which I will mention at the review after my last session tomorrow.
Yes, my son was already at Oxford Uni and my daughter and I had planned to move south (I’m separated from my husband, happened before all of this) ahead of her starting at Oxford Brookes. I found the lump 3 days before my 50th birthday in March, and away we went on this crazy path of treatment, which meant I had to stay up here and say goodbye to both the children in Sept/Oct. They both looked after me all Summer during the awful rounds of chemo but it was v tough to try and start to get back some strength ahead of the lumpectomy in October with them away. and learn to live alone. I want this for both of them though and I’m feeling I could cope with a house sale and move now, to join them as we’d all planned a while ago, before all of this started.
What did me in was being HER2+ as that meant a totally different path involving chemo first, Phesgo for 8 rounds and now Kadcyla for 14 cycles because despite a really good response to chemo, there was still 0.9cm of disease left when they did the lumpectomy. I was lucky it wasn’t in my nodes though so can’t complain. So, 5 sessions of radiotherapy, the hormone therapy for 5 years, and Kadcyla until the end of August. An oophorectomy has also been planned for the end of this month, but I’ve asked for a bit of a breather to give myself chance to catch up and do due diligence on the pros and cons of that surgery. I’m on Zoladex to suppress my ovaries in the meantime anyway. The Kadcyla is more than tolerable though, nothing compared to chemo so far, just means I still can’t mix much or go on a foreign holiday due to my immunity and blood levels being affected. Also haven’t been able to return to work as yet either because of fatigue.
The chemo fog is awful and I have cried on more than one occasion with the frustration of not being able to find a word or finish a sentence, and the constant forgetfulness. I used to be so sharp but hopefully it will return over the next year. Hope you’re doing okay @naughty_boob, it is hard with chemo and its after effects.
Good luck with your sessions starting soon. It’s more than manageable compared to chemo and will be another part of the treatment plans ticked off. Hugs.xx
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Sorry to hear that you were diagnosed just before your birthday and it prevented your plans to move. I don’t think moving house at any time is good, I sold the family home last September, nearly 2 years after my mother died. Nothing with the house sale was easy, I paid extra for the estate agent’s to accompany the viewings as i live 100 miles away. They booked them at around the same time but them we had a lot of cancellations, so I’m not convinced they were very accommodating.
I hope when you do decide you have a better agent. I can understand you wanting to move closer to your children at university, mone haven’t returned home since they left. One went to Keele, returned home for a year to work then went to Swansea while the other was in their final year at the same university. They are both still in Swansea 70 miles away.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets frustrated with the chemo brain/fog. As you are HER+ there is a group with others with the same diagnosis if you are interested in joining HER2+ and need some buddies - #39 by naughty_boob Link for anyone else with same diagnosis aswell, as the HER+ treatment goes on for a while.
Hope the rest of your treatment goes well.
Hi Romabe99
Just wanted to say hope all goes well for your final Radiotherapy session tomorrow and I wish you all the best going forward!!
Xx
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Thank you! It’s not until 3.50, whereas all the others have been morning, I’m in a bit of a quandary, as I feel fine (at the moment) … do I go back to work? Maybe Monday? I realise fatigue may have kicked in by then.
Hope you’re ok too xxxxxx
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Hi romabe99
Mine have all been between 4-5 pm so I’m used to the ‘waiting all day’ ha ha. I’m pleased it’s the last one one but I’m definitely a little scared that I won’t know until the next mammogram if everything is ok and the cancer has gone
I’m 64 and retired so it’s easy for me to be able to rest, but I’d say that it’s a good idea to give yourself time to absorb it all and begin healing. The whole process (from the first mammogram to now), has been such a rollercoaster of emotions appointments tests operation etc etc and I’m only just realising what it’s really all been about I think. My brave face, is not quite as strong right now as I feel a little vulnerable. I’m sure the fatigue will also be kicking in soon and I’m unsure how that will affect me (I have Multiple Sclerosis and it’s been a long haul so far although the staff throughout my treatment plan have been wonderful!!).
But hey…… we’ve (almost), finished the treatment yea!!!
Well done to everyone on this path, we didn’t choose it, but we’re doing the best we can so…. Go for it!!! Xx
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Hi @Nellby73 I am having 5 rounds starting on 22 Jan. This is the last stage of my treatment, which began on 30 Aug with a mastectomy on one side and reduction on the other. Then had 4 rounds of Docetaxel starting in Oct and just finished a couple of weeks ago. I’m waiting for results of an MRI scan I had on my back on 28 Dec. Fingers crossed its nothing to worry about. Not sure what to do about going back to work. I’m self employed and work from home but I am going to allow myself a few weeks recovery after radio as the nurses advised I might be tired then.
House moving is huge, but if you feel able, then maybe it’s a good time to be closer to your family and have their support going forward. BTW, I have chemo fog too, and often just stare at my husband when I can’t think of the words. BUT the same thing happens to him or he says the wrong word and he’s perfectly healthy 
. I think its maybe stress where he is concerned !
Best of luck with the rest of your treatment , another milestone ticked off xxx
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Hi , I would give yourself a couple of weeks before considering a return to work particularly if your job is demanding . The effects of radiotherapy can continue to build up for 2 weeks after your sessions finish so you can get a big slump at that point , also as someone else has said mentally you can feel rather wobbly when treatment is over when your brain starts to process all this carry on !!
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Hi everyone
So some ladies here have started radiotherapy, some have finished and some due to start. Hope it goes/is going/has gone well for everyone.
Has anybody on here had 15 days of radiotherapy and how did that go? I’m a little worried about RT making my pain in chest and underarm worse (pain since op). I’m also wondering how much time to take off after treatment ends.
I had surgery 28 July, started chemo 7 Sep and due to start radiotherapy 31 January. I think it’s only then I will be able to start processing things so feel I need some time to allow for that but am equally aware that work may feel like some normality.
Best wishes to you all
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