Try to be kind to yourself, you have had a really hard time over the years and added stress now is not going to help you.
As @marionse25 has said keep mentioning your heart issues and ensure your cardiologist is in the loop. You may be able to call your cardiologist’s secretary and let them know your diagnosis just to be sure. I have a phone number and email contact from mine as I used to send them copies of ECG’s from my Kardia device.
@marionse25 I see you have responded on the HER2+ thread aswell. Pleased the op went well.
@deesie1894 welcome to the forum. Yes I agree, it’s ok to feel scared. I hope you have seen my comment yesterday regarding chemo starters for September 2024. You may find it really helpful to join when you start.
@naughty_boob , I’ve made an appointment to see my cardiologist on the 9th so I can keep him in the loop, so hopefully he can follow me through my treatment. I could certainly do without all the stress right now
My appointment with the surgeon has come through for the 10th , I’ve spoken to the breast nurse today and she said I won’t be put on the list for surgery until I’ve seen the surgeon so my operation probably won’t be until October will will be over eight weeks from diagnosis , I’m not happy as it’s high grade and could be having a party in that time but she reassured me it’s fine … Hard to believe though
It’s very easy to picture cancer cells rampaging through our bodies, but I am not sure it is really like that. When I was diagnosed last year the surgeon wanted to operate about four weeks later. However I had a holiday booked so he quite readily delayed my operation until afterwards. I am sure if he felt surgery was that urgent he would have told me to cancel the trip.
The wait between initial diagnosis and action can feel very difficult but your team need to get the full picture to give you the best treatment. If that means a slight delay to check out your other health issues then that is what they will do.
It’s hard not to picture the cells going on an all you eat buffet in your boob
I’m glad you got your holiday in before surgery .
I’ve spoken at length to my breast nurse , she’s reassured me that nothing bad is going to happen if they wait a couple of weeks more , she said it’s important to get the full picture before starting surgery and that it’s important I discuss all my options with the surgeon first .
She said that in theory although I would usually have chemo due to my her2 status , a firm decision won’t be made until after surgery but with my health issues , if they still find the invasive is only tiny , they might not give me chemo if it’s felt the risks outweigh the benefits … but she said that’s further down the line . Obviously I want the best chance so if they recommend chemo I will take it .
I hope you are feeling ok and less alone with the lovely ladies on this forum.
apologies for the late reply I was home late last night after being I did not sleep much last night but just had a long nap and feeling better.
I used to be very fit until I had a horrible new job and a few losses which put me into depression. My gp convinced me to take antidepressants and tried 4 and I ended up with 15 extra kilos that I never managed to get rid of. It’s been quite upsetting . Stress and anxiety impacted badly on my degenerative eye disease, and my left eye vision went from 40% to 1%, with my overall eyesight constantly blurred. It is quite incapaciting and I remain at high risk of
Glaucoma and also further sight loss. Chemo has side effects on eyesight too and I started to have further blurring while on EC. My BCN got in touch with Moorfields where I have been going for a while but they have been really uncaring and telling me if I get cataract or anything else they will operate. I was hoping for prevention! I am going there on Monday, dreading the long commute ao soon after my DMX.
As you can imagine my BC treatment has given me a lot of worries. Losing my eyesight would be the worst thing ever. My heart is like you a worry but it has been coping ok. I am not fit anymore but I am sure I have some left over fitness from my active past. And so do you.
Your cardio and onco teams will not take risks with your heart. There are more ‘gentle’ treatment options available if needed, and chemo doses can be reduced without any loss of efficiency. My paclitaxel was reduced from my 2nd infusion and until the 12th one, and my tumours managed to disappear.
Thank you! It went well and I can’t wait for the pain to go. A dmx is major surgery and I am so relieved I did not have a full node clearance!
Waiting for the results is tough and we have all been there, it is the worst bit. I really hope and pray there won’t be cancer cells left as I don’t want more chemo.
I can honestly say finding this forum has been a lifesaver … I’m just sad that we are all going through the same journey .
You sound like you’ve been through the mill , I’m not surprised you were worried about chemo , it’s a hell of a blow when you feel like you’ve been dealt enough crap without cancer on top .
Good to hear you are home from hospital and things went well , I hope you are able to manage your pain , I won’t lie aim dreading the surgery .
Thank you for the reassurance re the treatment , it’s caused me a few sleepless nights since they said I’d need chemo but I’m glad you’ve been looked after so well .
I’ll try not to get too hung up on it until it’s chemo time and hopefully they’ll do an echo first
I know it is a while since we were discussing this but just thought I would put this information out somewhere.
I was talking to the nurse administering my Herceptin about the heart scans. My most recent one was back to 57% which she said was good. She also added that the highest she had seen was 64% so I feel that gives a feel for where people might be starting.
x 54% is great for after chemo .
… I’m just sad that we are all going through the same journey .