Hello Ladies. This thread is a tonic in itself! :manhappy: Thank you Soosie Sue and Naz44 for your kind words just knowing others know how you feel is a big help to how I feel and I take on board what you say. there is a gap in the market for us to publish a “Rough Guide To Breast Cancer”. It would have been great to have the knowledge beforehand what it is REALLY like. I have researched Fatigue and it is linked to Cancer and Tamoxifen but not very well understood by Doctors! great! I also think there is a lot of stress we go through/deal with without realising - waiting for tests/waiting for results/operations/recovery/self image/confidence/getting on with life…the list is endless. All spread over months while keeping that happy face in place! With that combination I guess there are times when our body says “enough is enough”. I have also had the news last week my brother has cancer. I couldn’t make it up! Life is crappy sometimes. So I think I have self diagnosed and I just need some time out.
Following this thread I feel like I have made new friends and I thank you for your support…xx
Thank you so much FizzB! I’ll give it my best shot. Shame about nipple reconstruction… What about the tattooing? It seems pretty good, and it should be covered… Anyhow, great to know we are there for each other.
I did want to say though that sometimes saying things in a nice and quiet way not to make a fuss doesn’t get you heard… I am Italian so apparently less worried about how other people will feel if I am outspoken about my needs/opinions… I guarantee that it feels really good to speak up, sometimes, instead of apologizing if someone steps on your toes… ?
Ladies I am reading the thread with great interest. My new problem postLD 12 months, is that in the last few days my arm and back is really achey, but not painful, with a sharper pain in my reconstruction,not bad enough for pain killers, but close. Any ideas suggestions. I have been doing all the usual stuff.
- When they make a new nipple do they use a bit of the other nipple to make it. ?
3 The idea for a meet up has gone to ground seems to have fade a little, is any body still interested. I wo nt be able to make the end of the month , unless its a week end as I will be working. I am willing to arrange something still.
To Susie Soo I was reading your original thread, I am wondering if there ever comes a time when you accept the muscle lump. Is there any one out there who does think it all hunky dory, I am thinking that with the weakness, stiffness etc etc , that i cannot see myself thinking its all ok. I know its ungrateful, because I am “healthy” but I seem to me that i have a residual sorrow, that it is difficult to lift. I feel that no anti depressants or counselling will lift it. I just wish the LD could bugger off!!! and leave me alone.
Hello again! Re: stiffness in the ribcage, I have the same issue, when I am tired…no idea of why. Just last week was at a work meeting, sat on the sofa and when the time to get up came I struggled to pish myself up… mortifying really, cannot explain why to my colleagues! and I always dreamed I would so cross country skiing one day ?.. these little things are reminders of the “new” reality, I swing between a sense of defeat and a willingness to get old self back, which is not going to happen. I went from being quite young for my age to aging ten years in a few months. But I don’t cry, perhaps I should do it more.
Hello Soosie_soo, Poppy3 and everybody reading this, please try to stay positive as much as you can ?.
I thought I should share I went back to Pilates, dragged by a friend who is a nurse… well it was somehow more like hatha yoga… nevertheless, the shoulders are much better… there was a funny contraction in my chest with certain movements which involved using the latissimus dorsi, but the overall feeling was great. And also getting out there, forgetting for an hour about all the stress, fear, pain… wonderful! Nothing helps more than a good laugh with friends!
Totally agree Soosie_soo, although 2.5 years down the line -hear hear- I am playing rugby! Stiffness gone, thanks to Pilates. Yes, I have been told by the Italian breast cancer consultant the surgeon “killed an ant with a missile”, as I probably didn’t need the TWO mastectomies with LD flap… if I could go back, I would not have LD flap. In the end, it is true, a woman without a breast is still a woman. And as far as nurses care etc., I guess the “stiff upper lip” thing might be to blame. British ladies, from a foreigner’s perspective, are expected to “hide” their fears and need for reassurance, so I guess the nurses do not have expertise in empathy and reassurance?
Happy New Year Soosie_soo! I didn’t have a wobble this year, as I have started my very own “law of attraction” resolution. I try to always think positive things about my life, regardless of what it was or could have been. I got to celebrate another year with my children and extremely grateful for that. I hate the impact that treatments have had and still have on my looks, but have decided to make the most of it too. I used to be an attractive woman, now I am going to be a patient and wise woman. Those are long lasting and more attractive than good looks to people who have a soul! And as far as your aiming for 95% wellness, you can be 120%, if you so decide! You can get there! Hugs
Daniela xx