Hiya love. Glad you’re doing ok. Im good thankyou. I finished all my treatment just before Christmas. Then was discharged from main cancer hospital not long after. But can contact my local hospital if ive any concerns. Im just taking ibandronate daily for 3 years and just told to check myself regularly and will have next mammogram in December. It is good but still a scary feeling. Im doing a moving forward course next month but apart from that carrying on like before. I didn’t go back to work as im not up to it with arthritis and other things just not physically up to it. I appreciate you checking in. Take care xx
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Hi All
My mastectomy went well today. I came home this evening. Pain is manageable with paracetamol so far. The consultant said it went very well. I am glad to be home and not having obs all night. :o)
I hope treatment is going well for all of you. Big hugs Anna xx
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Great to hear the mastectomy went well @anna_x51 and wishing you a good recovery 
. When do you get your results?
I start my last cycle of Capecitabine chemo tablets on Weds and hopefully that will be the end of my treatment on 16th April after 16 months 
.
Sending positive thoughts to everyone on here xx
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Hi All
I hope treatment is going well for everyone. Keep on keeping on! I will send positive thoughts and vibes out!
@diamonddapple wow well done on getting to the end of treatment. Its good to look back at what you have achieved in the past 15 months and you have done it with such positivity even when you hit bumps in the road!
I too am done. Mastectomy complete, portacath out (they let me have it in a pot) and histology all clear. The mastectomy is healing nicely and exercising and stretching everyday helps me have a good range of movement. And an added bonus i had very little side effects from zolandronic acid. I will just have annual scans going forwards. Coming to the end of treatment is amazing. I didnt dare think about it a year ago and yet here i am resuming all regular activities albeit 2 boobs and a couple of teeth lighter but happy and grateful! Thanks again to all you lovely people on here that have provided support and encouragement. I will be paying it forwards! Xx
Big virtual hugs Anna xx
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That’s brilliant @anna_x51 that you too have completed treatment and fantastic that your histology was clear 
. I went back to the hospital on Weds morning after I had downed my last lot of chemo tabs and had a clotted cream and jam scones for breakfast 
. I went back and rung that bloody bell so hard to celebrate the end of my treatment. Very liberating but also a bit surreal.
Like you say it has been a long journey with bumps along the way, some bigger than others but doable, especially with you lovely ladies on here with your ongoing love and support and fantastic oncologists, BCN’s, surgeons and chemo team, what a brilliant job they all do.
I am now looking forward to lots of celebrations with lovely family and friends.
Those of you who are just starting or are part way through your treatment although it is long, YOU CAN DO IT.
Sending love and virtual hugs to everyone on this chat xxx
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Hi everyone. I hope to don’t mind me joining in. I’ve lurked on this forum since my diagnosis but didn’t feel I had the energy to post. But I’m feeling pretty lonely now and could probably do with the camaraderie.
I was diagnosed with TNBC in September. Completed 4 x pembro/carbo with 12 x pacli then 4 X EC. Had a mastectomy with clear margins and SLNB 6 nodes removed all clear.
But unfortunately after all that chemo there wasn’t a complete response: 6mm of residual disease before surgery. So I found out last week I need to take capecitabine for 6 months. I am gutted.
My stamina and morale are low. Struggling to come to terms with the mastectomy. I’m heavier than I’ve ever been (put on 12 kgs when my thyroid packed up part way through treatment), with a whole host of side effects which I know you’ll all know about! And I don’t know how to keep going.
Anyway, sorry for the moan. My husband has been amazing but is struggling to deal with my low moods so I try to pretend I’m ok. I feel like you will understand.
I see that some of you are coming to the end of long treatment plans and just wondered how you kept going.
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Hi Mumsy well done for reaching out. You’ve achieved so much already. I think everyone gets through it differently. I have made some great ‘in person’ friends during my treatment. One had a SMX like me and she’s been a life-saver. I met her at an oncology exercise class. Just knowing you’re not alone is so important.
Unfortunately our TNBC diagnosis means we are likely to have twists and turns. I was diagnosed last January and finished chemo August, but after 3 ops, more TNBC was found growing - which was bigger than my original tumour hence the SMX. So I’m now having radiotherapy and then the 6 months of capacitebine like you from mid July.
Work has been a good distraction for me (I can work lots from home) and quality time with my favourite people.
Is there an option for you to have counselling? I’m loving mine. It’s great to talk to someone who is there for you and you don’t have to worry about being a burden. I’ve never had it before but I never run out of topics to talk about. You are dealing with so much in such a short space of time. Also have you spoken with your GP? I’m seeing mine soon for a ‘wellbeing check’. They’ve been helping me mainly with not being able to take HRT to manage the side effects of that.
Gaining weight is tough too. I’ve gone to slimming world since I finished chemo. I’m not as slim as I’d like but my group have been amazing support to me throughout my diagnosis too.
Keep in touch mumsy xxx
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Hi @mumsy 
Good idea to reach out, we’re all in the same boat. I’m still in the middle of my treatment, just switched to EC after Paclitaxel & Carbo (had to cancel immunotherapy because it messed up my thyroid as well).
Really sorry to hear about your situation, I can only imagine how upsetting it is. I sometimes catch myself making plans for after the treatment but then stop myself and try to take one day at a time. You never know when the treatment is actually over.
Same as for lillytiger, work helps to distract and to have a feeling of normality. I also try to do something nice for myself everyday, literally “what can I do today to make this day better?”. It can be as small as eating ice cream in a sun.
And of course therapy/counseling is a great help, don’t reject it if you have the opportunity.
Don’t hesitate to write and/or moan, we are all here to support each other in this tough journey. It will end at some point, there will be more happy days 
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Thanks for your reply. I appreciate your encouragement.
I do feel very lonely although I have met one person with TN who i keep in touch with via what’s app. On a daily though my friends aren’t really as supportive as I’d have hoped. I think they don’t want to be bother me but I wish they would.
How have you found recovery from your mastectomy? It’s 5 weeks tomorrow for me and I’m still struggling with a rock solid hematoma and lots of bruising and it’s all.cwry painful. I’m just fed up.
Do you know very much about the side effects from capecitabine? My oncologist has been great all the way through but last time seemed dismissive and rushed and I was so shocked about being told I’d have to take chemo tablets that I didn’t ask any questions.
My job is very public and I’ve been off work since January at the suggestion of my oncologist. Too many germs. I was planning a return to work but not sure if that’s safe on the cape.
I’m starting counselling on Friday. I hope it helps. At the moment I cry a lot on my own so as not to upset anyone else. I need to talk to someone and get this stuff out of my head.
I’m glad you’ve found SW helpful. I followed the plan last year and lost 2.5 stone. Which adds to my frustration at putting so much back on.
I haven’t seen my GP. I hardly know them tbh so i wouldn’t even know what to ask them.
I hope EC goes ok for you. And sorry to hear about your thyroid.nSame for me but I’ve been on levothyroxine and finished my pembro.
I really like your suggestion of finding one thing each day to make it better. I’ll give it a go.
I’m going to see my boss next week and see if we can work out a plan for September. I’m very nervous about being immunocompromised on the chemo tablets which is putting me off going fully back to work.
Thank you and @lillytiger for replying. I think it will help to be with others going through this.
I’m going to get my wound drained for the 3rd time tomorrow. Really hoping it will give me some relief. I’m in so much pain 
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How are you coping @mumsy ? Have you started with capecitabin yet? I hope your body is recovering and you’re feeling better.
I had my lumpectomy this week and now waiting for the pathology report which will take 3 weeks (crazy!). In case they find cancer cells, I’ll have to take capecitabin as well, so I’m kinda preparing myself for it, not to get too upset later…
May I ask why do you have to take it they cut it out and the results were clear? Did they find some residual cancer in the tissues?
I am on my last cycle of Cape also for TNBC, I have found it to be ok, a bit tired, and a few diarrhea episodes but managed to carry on as normal, my white blood cells were ok throughout xx
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Hi @chita . Thanks for checking in.
How are you feeling post surgery? I’m glad to say I am much improved after my mastectomy in May. It’s been tough though, not gonna lie! I still have some swelling and a big hard lump near my armpit but I’ve started scar therapy through a local hospice and it really helps.
It’s frustrating how long the results can take! And I am normally impatient so that doesn’t help. It’s funny how this journey changes you though. I’m learning to let myself get carried along the investor belt of treatment - results - appointments etc without railing against it because that just makes me more stressed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not always cool calm and collected but an accepting frame.of.mknd helps me manage I guess.
To answer your question, they found 6mm of residual disease in the tissue they removed at surgery. That’s the reason I’m on capecitabine. I think it’s good to prepare yourself in case, that way you might feel less disappointed. I have managed to get through those feelings somewhat now, with counselling and lots of tears! I’m coping well with the tablets so far although I’ve only just started cycle 2. A little nausea and joint pain and very dry hands which I’m moisturising like crazy to try and avoid the worst of hand-foot syndrome! Last night I went out for a meal with a friend and took my evening dose at the table! It felt weird but also good
Take care with your recovery and when you’re ready let me know how you’re getting on.
Hey! Nice that you’re feeling better after the surgery and about everything. 
Will you have radiotherapy as well? I heard that it makes scars much less visible, at least something positive about it.
I felt quite well after my surgery, almost no pain but had a seroma in the armpit and now 2 weeks later ended up in emergency because it started pressing the vessels, so now they have to drain it.
Yeah, I’ve also learned to be more accepting, because none of the plans I made this year came true, it’s all so unpredictable.
Tbh for me it’s a given now that they’ll find something, pCR is too good to be true. Not sure I’m ready for some really bad outcome though but not sure you ever can be…
It’s amazing that you’re coping with the pills so well, it seems they are not that scary and you can live a normal life. It seems to me that processing these news and feelings might be harder than the side effects.
Can you come back to work while on these pills (maybe you’re already working, I don’t know 
)? My plan was to get back to work at least 50% after my radiotherapy but if I have to take capecitabin, I don’t know how it’ll feel.
@caz1970 I’m glad you managed well on the tablets. How many cycles did you have? Do you know what your next steps are?
Hi,
I had 6 cycles finished last Thursday 
I am feeling a bit breathless but otherwise ok
My next stage is radiotherapy, I have a planning scan at the end of August, the plan is for 5 days of treatment! I am also on zoledronic acid as post menopause, I have 5 more treatments which are every 6 months for 3 years 
certainly a long journey!!
Hope cape treats you well and you are feeling ok with it all.
x
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Hey @chita
No radiotherapy for me. I was glad first of all but I think if I could choose I’d rather have had 3 weeks of radio than 6 months of chemo tablets. Hey ho. When do you start and how many sessions will you have?
When will you find out the pathology results?
Sorry to hear about the seroma. I had mine drained a few times and the feeling of relief each time was lovely 
yours sounds like it got complicated. I hope it’s calmed down now. It seems these things are never quite straightforward.
I had planned to go back to work in September but my consultant has asked me to stay off until January! That’s mainly because I work in a very busy environment and the risk of picking something up is very high. So I’m going to do some work from home but it won’t be much. I’ve signed up to do an online course from September so that should keep me busy.
I’m half way through cycle 2 and the aide effects are slightly more noticeable this time. Some nausea and my hands are so dry and I’m so tired! Yesterday I went out for the day with my best friend and maybe that was too much 
I have a quiet day planned today.
I hope you and @caz1970 are both doing ok today.
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I’m not doing too badly but starting to have some problems with my feet. Tingling and burning and tender when I stand and walk. I know hand foot syndrome is a thing so I’m guessing that’s what this is. I have some cream with urea so using that regularly. It’s a bummer because it doesn’t feel nice to walk and that’s been my main source of physical activity Did you have any issues with your hands/feet?
Yours is certainly a long journey indeed. I’m sorry. It takes a lot of physical and emotional stamina to get through, doesn’t it… How are you feeling about radiotherapy?
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Hey! It’s completely understandable, I would also choose just radiotherapy and no chemo pills (no, I would choose none of it if I could 
). I might need to do both if my pathology report is not good… I’ll know next Thursday already, so quite soon. Don’t know much about radiotherapy yet but I think it should be around 10 sessions.
How long did you have seroma before it stopped filling? They inserted a drain for 4 days for me but now when it’s out, it’s filling again 
probably will have to go drain it next week. It’s been almost 3 weeks now after surgery.
How many cycles of pills do you have to do overall? I hope the body can keep recovering after the first most intense chemo even while on pills. I’m so looking forward to just feel normal again!
I didn’t have any issues with hands and feet thank goodness? Mainly a dry mouth which has been annoying!
Not too worried about Radio just want to get it done, hopefully after everything else it might be ok 
Yep been 14 months so far so defo been a long journey!!
Take care
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