Rae, come to the one in Brighton at the end of November rather than wait til March - it doesn’t matter where you live. If you’re close to London you can get a fast train to Brighton which takes about 40 mins x
Hiya,
I am nearCambridge. I have my surgery in September. Do you think I will be good to go then?
Rae
X
Should be plenty of time
Oh bother, I hadn’t even thought about the dates with my surgery. I’m due to finish chemo early October, does anyone know how soon after chemo they do your surgery (i’m having chemo first, then surgery, then rads) I guess it’s different for everyone and am prob best asking oncologist? X
Jellytot, they’llwait at least 2-3 weeks for your last chemo to take effects and let you recover. There would also have to be The pre-op checks etc. so 3-4 weeks minimum?
I had last chemo two weeks ago, and had an ultrasound today. I’ll hear more about timeframes tomorrow or Thursday.
Hiya Jellytot,
I had my last Tax Mon 6th August and my surgery is scheduled for the 29th August. My onc told me that they do like to get on with it as long as the WBC is where it should be.
Hope your chemo is going OK.
WSX
Hiya Jellytot,
My Onc said i need to have surgery 4 - 6 weeks after my last chemo. At a push they can wait 8 weeks…but not really any longer than that.
Rae
x
Thanks ladies, looks like the timing might just be perfect then 
x
Posted on behalf of new user Jen
hi ladies,
I was diagnosed July 20Th aged 28, i have since had a mastectomy with implant recon, currently going through fertility treatment as i do not have children and due to start chemo in the next couole of weeks. I would really like to chat with others in a similar position as although family and friends are amazing they do not really understand.
Jen : 
Hi Lucy, Please put Jen in touch with me, get her to add me as a friend and she can direct message me. I was diagnosed aged 28 (am now 29) and I don’t have children. I’m having chemo 5 of 6 this Friday so would be happy to chat and give any advice. I’m having surgery post chemo so i’d like advice from her too x
hi ladies,
I was diagnosed July 20Th aged 28, i have since had a mastectomy with implant recon, currently going through fertility treatment as i do not have children and due to start chemo in the next couole of weeks. I would really like to chat with others in a similar position as although family and friends are amazing they do not really understand.
Jen :0)
Hi Jen and welcome to the BCC forums
In addition to the support and shared experiences here (see post above from jellytot) I am posting a link to the BCC ‘Younger women’ information where you will find services and publications specific to your needs including the ‘Fertility issues and breast cancer treatments’:
Our helpliners are on hand 9-5 weekdays and 10-2 Sat if you feel it would help to talk your concerns over on 0808 800 6000
Take care
Lucy
Hi Jen,
Welcome to the forums.
I’ve sent you a private message. to access your messages, go to the top of this page. Look at the column on the left and under the “people” heading you should see “messages”, click on that and there should be a message from me
Jelly xx
Hi Jen,
l am a little older than you at 37 (although still young in BC terms)
i like you had fertility treatment before chemo. I now have 7 embryos frozen. i have had my chemo FEC-T, and had my mastectomy 2 weeks ago. I did want an immediate reconstruction but due to a clot I developed it was not possible.
I am happy to share any experiences as if I am honest I have felt quite isolated times through the whole process. Mainly as there were no younger women in my area.
feel free to contact me, I am more than happy to answer any questions you might have re chemo.
hope you are on the mend after your mx.
Rae
x
hiya jelly,
hope you are doing ok on chemo. I don’t know what surgery you are having but am happy to share if you have any questions.
Rae
x
Thanks Rae, I have chemo number 5 (have had 3 FECs and 1 T so far) on Friday and then I’ll be down to 1 more.
I think what’s scaring me at the moment about surgery is that it’s so unknown as I’m having chemo first to try and shrink the lump. Also I’ve kind of got into a routine with my chemo, as in I know i’ll feel rough for about 15 days after chemo, feel *normal* for a week and then chemo again.
I don’t know yet what kind of surgery I’ll be having but at the start my oncologist mentioned a lumpectomy because he was hopeful that the cancer would be shrunk so much a lumpectomy would be *all* I would need. I don’t even know what a lumpectomy is and I’m too nervous to google.
I’ve read about CT & bone scans and things on other forums - do you have those prior to surgery? Do you know how they decide what kind of surgery they’re doing?
Thank you x
Oh and have a look at lumpectomy on here or Macmillan. Don’t look at other sites.
xx
Hiya,
I have has 3 MRI scans during my treatment to see if the chemo worKed. I did have a very good response to chemo and my lump shrank from 5 cm to pretty much nothing.
i had also had a sentinel node biopsy where they take a couple of your main lymph nodes out to see if the cancer had spread and mine had. at this point they gave me a ct scan to see if the cancer had spread to any other organs. Luckily it had not.
as for my surgery. I was told I would still need a full mastectomy. I did question this as my tumour has shrunk so much, was it really necessary. I was told yes due to the fact my original tumour was so big, and it had gone to the lymph nodes already. They wanted to make sure that they had taken all the bad cells. They did explain it to me as even though the chemo worked the tumour doesn’t necessarily die from the outside in and could die in like a honeycomb pattern if that makes sense so there could be solie cells left. They were playing it safe with me really.
as I said I did want an immediate recon but I had developed a clot in my armpit due to my portacath and the decision was no.
i am getting used to being one boobed but it was not as traumatic or awful as I thought it might be.
i would ask your team if they are going to do an MRI , or confirm those they are going to decide what op you will need. Definitely ask any questions you have to your onc / surgeon beforehand. I met with my breast surgeon 3 times before I was comfortable and had a chance to answer questions.
Anything else you want to know, feel free to ask or message me i don’t mind.
Rae
x
Hi all,
My name is Hannah, I am 28 and was diagnosed in June, I have had my surgery and am now halfway through chemo, had mylast FEC on Tuesday (thank god) and start T in 3 weeks. I have been extrememly lucky in the support I have had from family, friends and the treatment team and not wanting to come across as smug but I haven’t encountered many difficulties so far. However since my last chemo my arm has now become quite sore and warm and I was wondering if anyone had expereinced something similar.
I thought I would post on the younger women’s forum as it would be lovely to hear from others of a similar age, I do feel rather isolated when going for treatment as more often than not I am the youngest by a good 20 years. This does not discount the experience and advice from other ladies, but after having fertility treatment (I have no children but hope to some day), my periods stopping, a bewildered boyfriend and anxious grandparents/ parents, I feel it does make the experience a bit different to those going through it at a different stage in their life.
Also if anyone would like to chat/ moan/ whinge it would be lovely to hear from you,
Much love xxx
Hi Hannahberry, I’ve sent you a private message, I’m Jo and I’m 29 and also mid chemo x