Hello beautiful people,
I am sorry I haven’t been on here to write more before now.
My sister had her mastectomy 3rd February and 7 lymph nodes removed. 6 of the nodes were HER2+ so we know have met with the oncology team and she will start chemo either next week or the week after.
My sister had a seroma under her armpit which kept filling up with fluid. I know this can be very common.
They drained it a couple of times.
Then when she had her paddle removed under local anaesthetic she developed an infection in the aroma site and ended back in hospital on IV pain relief and antibiotics.
I think I’m going OK but to be honest it’s all been like a roller coaster of days flying by and up and down to the hospital visiting my sister and attending our patient appointments. It’s my pleasure to do this and support her.
Then our old dog got very sick right in the middle of it all and he’s picked up now but my sister kept saying “Drake can’t die when I’m not there with him and I’m in hospital” 
. The best were amazing, the dog pulled through and we enjoy each day as it comes.
My main fear right now is how I’ll be able to support my sis during chemo on days when she has side effects. It’s the fear of the unknown I know.
thank you for all your sharing and posts. It really does help so very much indeed to know there are others out there at different stages of this journey.
I agree - I had no idea that women as young as in their 30a were going through diagnoses.
My sister is 54 and I’m 57.
I think she’s handled the mastectomy and the DIEP breast reconstruction very well. Yes pain, yes sickness and off her food at time and hard to get all the pills on at the right time of day. But she was fit going in to this as went to the gym a lot and I can see that’s helped her recovery post surgery.
Medics and surgeon are incredible. My sisters not looked at her new body and scars yet. I’ve seen them and I have to say her new reconstructed breast is beautiful and I had no idea surgeons could do work like that now adays.
I know we have a journey ahead of us with her 8 rounds of chemo over 16 weeks if the timetable ca be followed as planned. Then radiotherapy then immunotherapy.
I love when you spoke about sitting chatting to your sister having a cuppa on the day she didn’t get out of bed. Luckily I’m not working full time just now in an office so can be flexible to be around for my sister.
I am thinking of you all and sending my love and good wishes to you and to those you know going through healing from breast cancer. It’s brutal. People are very very kind and caring though.
Bar my initial first thoughts on waking in the morning of “of my God, this is a nightmare and I can’t believe this is happening to my sister”, I tend to push those thoughts away, get up straight away and walk the dog and get on with practical tasks and to do lists things plus housework and that seems to be keeping me on a reasonably even keel.
We did have a laugh as I’m not the best cook and one night when I’d made dinner and my sister was eating, I asked her afterwards how as it and how many marks out of 10 did my meal warrant. She said 3 out of 10 and we both burst out laughing!!!
I am learning the importance of not faking it to laugh in a false way but seeing the humour at times and also being grateful for me being able bodied and being well enough to care for someone else and trusting deep down inside and having faith that we can cope, she can cope with chemo and she can come through the other side.
I’ll keep in touch more regularly here.
I send all good wishes to you and yours xxx 
Sending you, your sister and family all big hugs. I hope you find comfort in the many stories here of people that have been in similar situations. Once those little chemo soldiers go in and kill off the cancer cells, you could start seeing things shrink and hopefully that will also fill you with hope