Hi everyone. I’m new here just thought I’d share some of my experiences. To be honest I feel very isolated. In Exeter where I am there’s no support groups for over 50’s I’m 53 now. It started in 2016 and since then I’ve had 3 breast cancers and 3 lumpectomys. I decided not to have any other treatments for personal reasons. It’s a nightmare. I know this year will be horrible again. Do I want to know this time ? I’m having trouble with that. Anyway… sorry to rant straight away. Take care all of you x
My breast cancer was discovered while I was unconscious with sepsis. Surgery was delayed because two months before that I’d had a heart attack. It was delayed further because a CT scan of my chest showed a shadow on the opposite side lung which was dismissed as an infection. I challenged this when I finally learnt about it. It didn’t make me popular and when a further scan made it clear it was a lesion the BCN told me my situation was terminal, treatable but not cureable. After all of that I was seriously considering not bothering with any treatment at all. Seeing a different breast surgeon helped, mainly by telling me that because of its position it was impossible to tell how serious the lung cancer was without operating. I went ahead with the lung op and all the biopsies taken during the op from other places in the lung and nearby lymph nodes were clear and showed it was unrelated to the tumours in the breast and axilla. That xxxxing nurse was wrong! I had the mastectomy two weeks ago. I’m isolated though I live in a city and do worry about how I’ll cope alone going through chemo and radiotherapy. The good news from the lung biopsies made me reconsider. If the breast and lymph node biopsies give a very different picture I will reconsider. Have you tried speaking to the nurses on the helpline. I’ve found them a very different breed to my BCN team. More knowledgeable, sympathetic and, unlike the hospital BCNs, their priority is me not their surgeon, the hospital or themselves.
Hello
I’m not surprised you are scared again, bless you xxxx
Take care, we are all thinking of you x