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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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