My lumpectomy scar is all the way around my nipple and that boob has a slight indent. Symmetry was definitely high on my list of concerns but I do love my boob now for its differences. Though they are small in comparison to some it was something that really concerned me and I was suprised at how easily I accepted it.
For our whole lives our boobs have been sisters. I think after all our treatment the best we can hope for is that they are close cousins haha. Even with 2 implants mine wont be identical and Iāll be missing nipples. So itās going to take a lot of work to love them again and accept them but we can all tackle this together
Sorry itās taken me a while to reply. Iām day 6 today and after the steroids wore off this week I felt consumed by fatigue. So much more than in previous cycles but it could be the cumulative effect and possibly some relief too. S/E wise Iām generally managing with what comes - more of the same (well more or less) - will be glad to get back to being able to taste and enjoy food again - I always lose a couple of pounds this first week and then put it back on again .
Your hair is looking good - Iāll use the Rosemary stuff too on my eyebrows in due course. Not having really sore eyes just my usual eye problems but Iāll see what happens in the next week or so xx I do sometimes use the eye drops that @sam1204 recommended - beginning with H ? Sorry I canāt remember the name ! My husband had blephitis and uses something called blephasol to wipe his eyes each evening and that really help xxxx
Sorry I havenāt caught up - sounds like people moving forward with some decisions about surgery choices. We have to switch heads quite quickly donāt we !
I would agree with what others have said - itās about doing the thing that we feel helps us to have the most information about our future and making a decision from there. Might look different for us all but youāre right @foxgem - we need to make friends with our new bodies - even though that might take a bit of time. Theyāve got us this far (sometimes limping but still !) and although itās tough I feel quite proud of my body for getting to this point. Iāve been trying to help it in the best way possible with food and creams and care but wow - itās gone through some toxic stuff the last months ! I know some of us are still in that place with more cycles to go so still cheering you on too
I hope you get your surgery dates sorted soon and that all goes well for you next week @jululemon They booked me in before Iād had my last chemo but Iām a lumpectomy with Sentinel Lymph Node removal and not had anything surgical yet so that might be why Iām in so quickly ?
Oh absolutely, Iām also fine with them not being strictly identical. Mine have been uneven in size my entire adult life and itās never bothered me so subtle differences like scarring etc. through surgery arenāt a problem. Iād even be fine with missing one nipple! But a radical difference, such as having one whole breast on one side and being completely flat on the other, would be too big for me to learn to love.
Yes I can see that @mssteel two similar or totally flat rather than such a big difference makes sense. I guess we donāt know how weāll feel until we are put in the position of making that choice xxx Iām in favour of people doing what they prefer for them rather than what a surgeon thinks any day
I agree, in my case even thinking of opting for reconstruction left me feeling cold. I weighed up previous surgery making DIEP type reconstruction almost impossible. The idea of implants is not right for me either. I would worry too much about developing an allergy to the ruddy things. having and three complex em c/secs inc one preterm that was a cat 1 with crash teamā¦for meā¦ā¦the blood biker placed on standby to run to the blood bank outside the main theatre for the second was anything but fun. Signed for that one not expecting to live. The thought of anyone going anywhere near those keloided scars after the obs team warned me never open that up after DD nearly died and needed The local childrenās hospital to even survive for the third made me go no way is anyone going near there if l have a choice. Add in a nasty allergy to penicillian and you can understand why I opted for aesthetic flat for a SMX with the option of using a prothesis as and when l feel like it.
my first surgeons patriarchal and condescending attitude of knowing better than me that all woman would want a reconstruction proved tome he was not listening to me. my new surgeon who is the lead plastics breast oncology surgeon listened and is doing all they can to make planned SMX and auxillary lymph node clearance this as safe for me as they can.
I think being treated as an individual nd listened to by surgeons really matters no matter what our decisions be they reconstruction, flat, maybe later etc,
Gosh what a busy old thread! Belated congrats to @clarabelle1 and @m1sty.george for getting to last chemo!
Iāve been away on my hols and had a lovely time - center parcs was a great distraction from week 2/3 side effects. Still battling some that are lingering (funny mouth tastes are intermittently back, boo!!), and getting a bit of tiredness, but gently going in the right direction. This coming Wednesday would be my ānextā chemo date if I were still having them, but I am HER2+ so will be going back to chemo ward every 3 weeks for up to 12 months for Phesgo injections (pertuzumab/trastuzumab), unless something changes in my treatment plan after surgery. Will be interested to see what side effects the Phesgo is responsible for versus the Docetaxel. I suspect it is the culprit for bowel-related things.
@big Iām also feeling a bit anxious about surgery so glad to have lots of reassurance from those of you whoāve been through it already. Iām confirmed for a therapeutic mammoplasty on the 28th of July, going in to see the breast clinic nurses this Friday for a pre op and radiology to get savi scout placed so they can see where theyāre going.
anyone got anything theyāre looking forward to in the next few weeks? Iāve organised for my sister and nieces to come and visit for the 5 days before my op, so me and my daughter (and husband too I suppose ) are very much looking forward to that - and it coincides with my 37th birthday so will be finding some nice things to do to celebrate.
saw oncologist today. TO deal with the start of peripheral neuropathy they have reduced the dose of Abraxine as it will be my last round before surgery. THey hope this will reduce the risk of the latest side effect becoming permanent so I can still accept broidery bespoke commissions next year. I am the idiot who forgot to mention to m I was working as an artist and made church vestments wen l was diaognosed.
They have also said l could aim to go away for a few days as long as itās the first week of August, in the UK and I am not too far away from a hospital as so far chemo has thrown me some pretty tough side effects. They have arranged blood tests end of July so if I did need another blood transfusion or similar that can be sorted out so l am as fit as l can be to go away. The aim is to get me as physically fit for surgery on the 19th August as is possible to give me the best chance of not needing an emergency transfusion and thus shorter time in hospital.
I could honestly cry at how supportive and encouraging the team looking after me have and continue to be. Being willing to disclose dealing with the impact of multiple hospital traumas and growing up with a sister who had antisocial personality disorder has made a huge difference. Wish all teams working in hospitals were like them.
My unwanted lodger is HER 3+ with knobs on. I too face either Phesgo for 12 months or kadcyla depending on histology post surgery. My oncologist has said compared to the mix of taxel and other Chemotheraphy drugs itās less likely to cause side effects,hair starts to regrow and doing chemo before surgery can be pretty tough.
Hope you manage to find some fun things to do before surgery and that the nurses can answer the questions, seemingly silly or otherwise, that you have. Hope all goes as well as it can when you have your surgery. Yours will be approx three weeks before mine.
@sam1204 my opthamologist provided me with TheolozDuo eyedrops to use freely and Theoaloz Intensive over night single use drops plus an Optimask to use as a hot eye compress. Oncologist happy for me to use as they were concerned as chemo made my eyes more than dry and was causing styes to form and making it painful to open my eyelids. IT does not trigger my skin allergies either. For me that has really helped. Sharing in case that can help someone else.
@big I totally agree with @katie91 - the surgery is over quicker with recovery starting sooner too! Biggest noticeable difference for me was after surgery I still looked (and felt) relatively well, whereas chemo has taken away so much in terms of skin, hair, energy, not to mention the mental impact of the long hard slog of it all. Chemo is so all-consuming with its side-effects bingo, I would prefer surgery over chemo any day. Hope it all goes smoothly for you. Youāve got this!
@clarabelle1 youāre not alone with that fatigue - Iāve been SO much more tired after this last one. Took me by surprise a bit, although it really shouldnāt have! Guessing it is accumulated effects and perhaps a bit of mentally letting go. I too am looking forward to being able to enjoy food again as Iām utterly fed up with eating bitter cardboard. Itās the worst. Iām wondering what all you lovely ladies are looking forward to enjoying as a delicious tasting meal? Iām craving a really tomatoey veg lasagne with lots of cheese browned on top.
Hopping over from the April starters to see if anyone can shed any advice on eyebrows and lashes!
I have 2 paclitaxel left (4 EC 4 paclitaxel) and so far have maintained an ok amount of head hair with cold capping but am struggling with blepharitis due up lack of lashes and my eyebrows have disappeared almost overnight! Can anyone offer any experience how quickly lashes and brows started to grow back?
Well done on getting so far @kawan and for continuing to cold cap thatās impressive stuff. Honestly I dont think any of us here would know the answer as we are still in the throws of treatment really. I wonder if one of the earlier threads can help? Maybe from last year as they should all have hair grown back nicely by now.
I put some essential oils on my eyebrows in the hope it will help them. Its a mix of castor oil, rosemary oil and vitamin E oil but who knows if it will work or not. Ive tried to put it on near my lashes but I didnt like how close to my eye it is so thought better of it.
I havent been brave enough to put it on my scalp yet because I feel like it would need a really good wash after and my hair is still shedding so I dont want to rub anymore away
Ah thanks, I think I was being overly optimistic hoping eyebrows and lashes immediately started sprouting post treatment. Good shout, Iāll ask an earlier group see if I can get a rough idea.
The cold cap has been absolutely brutal for me and Iāve literally got jaw ache at the end of the treatment due to my gritted teeth. I canāt wait to be able to wash my hair again properly in the future but similarly am terrified Iāll just rub it all off x
Hey @kawan I finished 3 weeks ago (3 EC and 3 docetaxel) and like you kept some hair on my head but not so much on my brows and lashes!! I called the GP last week because up until about a week after my last session I had a few eyebrow hairs and lashes left and then they just disappeared overnight then my eyes started watering constantly and theyāre pink and irritated, doctor said it was most likely blepharitis and only thing they could suggest was bathing my eyes twice a day with warm water. I also got some preservative free eyedrops which I use 3 or 4 times a day and a preservative free eye mist. The pharmacist said as long as theyāre preservative free theyāre all pretty much the same!
On my eyebrows Iāve been using rosemary oil from Holland and Barrett and theyāve started growing back pretty quick! I can see a few tiny eyelash stubbles poking through so I think pry of the irritation is the hair follicles starting up again (hopefully )
Iām open to any other ideas but like @foxgem said it might be worth reaching out to the earlier groups who are abit further out of treatment.
Sending love and solidarity at how annoying blepharitis is!! Xxxx
Iāve not been on much recently as I found myself in the dreaded waiting room AGAIN waiting for biopsy results I had a cyst and fibroadenoma that was found incidentally when I was diagnosed, they were biopsied and benign but they wanted to keep an eye on them, so off I went for a checp up mri on them a couple of weeks ago, they had resolved but there was another area they wanted to check so had an ultrasound, they wanted to biopsy it to be safe! Iām due to start radiotherapy tomorrow too so in a slight panic results wouldnāt be back on time but luckily came in yesterday and it was benign which feels like a huge weight off my shoulders! Just another cyst that had ruptured apparently, so roll on getting radiotherapy started tomorrow!
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) are very much looking forward to that - and it coincides with my 37th birthday so will be finding some nice things to do to celebrate.
Guessing it is accumulated effects and perhaps a bit of mentally letting go. I too am looking forward to being able to enjoy food again as Iām utterly fed up with eating bitter cardboard. 
Itās the worst. Iām wondering what all you lovely ladies are looking forward to enjoying as a delicious tasting meal? Iām craving a really tomatoey veg lasagne with lots of cheese browned on top. 
then my eyes started watering constantly and theyāre pink and irritated, doctor said it was most likely blepharitis and only thing they could suggest was bathing my eyes twice a day with warm water. I also got some preservative free eyedrops which I use 3 or 4 times a day and a preservative free eye mist. The pharmacist said as long as theyāre preservative free theyāre all pretty much the same!
so had an ultrasound, they wanted to biopsy it to be safe! Iām due to start radiotherapy tomorrow too so in a slight panic results wouldnāt be back on time but luckily came in yesterday and it was benign which feels like a huge weight off my shoulders! Just another cyst that had ruptured apparently, so roll on getting radiotherapy started tomorrow!