I have just got back from having lumpectomy and sentinel node. When I was dx last week the dr thought that the lumps were localised and the lymphs were clear. Coming around from op yesterday they told me the nodes looked abnormal and did total clearance!
The cancer is grade 1, but my earlier optimism about everything has dwindled.Is there anyone out there who can bring back my positivity?
Andi
Hi Andifloss,
Hang on to the fact that your BC is grade 1. The outlook is much better than grade 2 or 3. You should be getting more info soon and I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
E
One step at a time. Waiting for the final results is the worst. Once you know what you are up against, you can concentrate on fighting it. At least they took the nodes out straight away and now it’s all gone. All the very best to you and here are some cyber hugs to help you on your way.
Love Maria
When I came round from my op my BCN said the cancer is gone - now it is a case of stopping it from coming back. You are past the first hurdle. As Maria says - try to take it one stage at a time and just deal with the each stage as it comes along. Good luck.
I had the same experience - came round to hear they had taken them all there and then as they looked misshapen. I’m afraid the news was then that 20 of the 23 were affected. BUT I had clear bone and CT scans so as far as I’m concerned, I’m cancer free.
It depressed me for a short while, but there is nothing more we can do, the surgeon has saved you having further surgery, and yours was grade 1, so that is better than not being!
Take care xxxx
Thanks for your posts.
Common sense should tell me that it is the best thing and that it saves more surgery but there is this little area of doubt that seems to be taking over as they were so sure that the lymph was unaffected.
Does this mean that chemo is the next stage now? If so,is it feasible to start after the Summer holidays? My boys are 5 and 8 and they really need a quality summer not Mum disappearing then throwing up!
On the positive side my husband has used the washing machine for the first time and hung the laundry up!!!Oh boy will this bit be fun…
love Andi
Hi Andi
Hope you’re feeling less down about things.
If chemo is required then it’s best to have it as soon as possible. There are all sorts of reasons why we don’t want chemo - work, children, relationships etc but it is a crucial part of treatment if prescribed.
take care
Elinda x
Hi Andi
Sorry you have had to go through this journey. As Elinda says it is better to get the chemo started as soon as possible. Not everybody has the same side effects. I am having chemo no 5 next week, I always find the first week the worse but I have never actually been sick just tired and nausea. It is amazing how well I have felt on the chemo, maybe I am one of the lucky ones. My BC was a grade 3, so I am also having 20 rads. I had my son’s graduation on Thursday and a wedding reception tonight, so as you can see you can still do normal things.
Wishing you well on your journey. Please let me know how you get on.
Love Anne.
Well done to your husband , now teach him how to use the oven !!
Just write off the rest of this year and look forward to all the others you will have with your family in the future .
Good luck ,
Kris
Hi Andi,
Sorry that you find youself here on our little adventure…the one that we don’t choose to go on but you are in great company I assure you.
I echo the others when they say gen on with the treatment as quickly as you can, it’s not too bad, first week not brill but after that nearly normal.I haven’t been sick and just had 2nd treatment just nausea and dizziness and tiredness but can still get up and do bits in between rests.
Good luck, take care of yourself…get the boys a paddling pool and sit and watch them have fun in the garden…they are also cleaned and the garden watered lol
Hugs Suze xxxxx
Hey Andi
That’s the spirit, find something good to get out of this. OH learning to do the washing, you should see what Sandra gets her OH to do theses days, mowing the lawn and goodness knows what else !!
Hugs and smiles
Maria
Thanks for your kind thoughts.
Mmmm…the oven. That is probably a step too far at present.
Think the cooking is more likely to be done by the boys.The clearing up however…
I wil take your advice re chemo. It is just the thought of six weeks with my oh so boisterous boys a little daunting without the thought of a holiday.We are scheduled to go to Spain on Aug 14 I suppose that is still possible if it fits round chemo sessions?
Doing my exercises religiously to keep the dreaded lymphodema at bay!
love
Andi
Andi, I am going on holiday 10 days after my 4th chemo for 2 weeks so my fifth will be after 4 weeks instead of 3. In 2003 I did the same after my 1st chemo. Each time the onc said this was not a problem. Good luck with your holiday plans.
Holiday hugs
Maria
Hi
I think it must depend on your onc. I had a holiday in Spain booked and my onc was happy for me to go and start chemo when I returned, as long as chemo started within 6 weeks of surgery. That’s what I did.
Once I started chemo, my onc said ‘no’ to any holidays abroad saying that I needed to be within striking distance of the hospital in case of a problem. We had a couple of short breaks in the UK.
As soon as I finished rads I was on a plane the week after…
Good luck with your treament.
Mal
Thanks for the info.
Guess I’ll have to wait and see.The holiday is booked for 14-27 Aug which would mean starting Chemo 8-9 weeks post surgery. I know someone who flew back from Portugal, had her chemo then flew out again. This could be possible as we’re only flying to Malaga.
Has anyone suffered with itching and a rash post op? I rang the hospital yesterday and they said it could be a reaction to the dye.Great! It will only take about a year to go then! So on Piriton and co-codamol and sleeping a lot!
Feeling very patriotic, blue boob, red body and a white face.Who needs all that England stuff!
love Andi
AndiFloss,
When are you due to start chemo and what regime will you be on ?
I have 4 children, and this time last year I was in a panic having just started FEC - felt very rough for a day or two after each one, and had to get help with my 2 younger children (5 and 9), but felt hugely better in the middle and almost normal in the final week (3 wk cycle). Admittedly we’d already planned a UK holiday, and it fitted around chemo, but at the time my onc had said he was happy for his patients to go abroad “as long as it’s not trekking through a swampy jungle”. But each team will advise differently i suppose. Less than 3 weeks after chemo we went on a long haul tropical holiday - again prebooked prior to my dx - and the onc was totally fine with that. I had no problems whatsoever, and actually immunity/blood counts etc would have been at their very lowest then. I also had no problems with photosensitivity which can be an issue during chemo.
My timetable was different to yours in that after chemo (FEC x 4, then 12 x weekly Taxol) I had mx and full node clearance, (16 -18 affected having previously been told it had “got” into only 1 or 2…) then rads. Again we went away soon (2 weeks ?) after rads and I was fine.
So I hope you can work something out - I have to say it seems a long time to wait for chemo though, so it would probably be better to have the firdt dose before you go.
Thanks onestep.
Not sure what regime I will be on yet. When dx, was told isolated lump,none in lymph so only required rads. How things can change!
Going back 7/7 to get all results and next step treatment. I believe that chemo is the option now that the lymph nodes are compromised.
A bit of a longer and tougher journey than I had originally signed up for but as they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
Could do without the itching and rash tho!
love
Andi
Well good luck with the results.
I can’t deny I didn’t have a few dark days after finding out following the mx/clearance that I had quite so much lymph involvement, but just over a year following dx here i am feeling very well and positive. I completed my reconstructive surgery recently and I’m ready to try and draw a line. It took a mental leap following treatment to accept the cancer was gone, but it’s for me the only way to look forward and get on with my life. I reckoned I had 4 children looking to me to take their cue, so I’ve tried to keep as active as positive and take the usual interest in the world around me, so that they’ve been able to see I’m still the same after all the treatment. I hope things go well for you, and that you manage to go on your holiday.
Hi Onestep,
I too have heavy lymph node involvment. Due to start TAC on 9 Jul. I see you had chemo before op.
How did that affect your lymph node involvement? What other treatment did you have?
Thanks for any thoughts you can pass on.
Dotty2xx
Hi Dotty,
When the surgeon removed the nodes he said he could see there had been activity in 16/18; the extent did vary from node to node, but he told me the chemo had visibly “shrivelled” the affected ones, so I’m hoping with all my heart the disease has been stopped in its tracks. I’m not ready to go anywhere yet !
Before dx I was fit, slim and ate well - lots of fruit, veg, pulses, wholegrains, fish, cooked with olive oil etc.,so I wasn’t impressed when handed a leaflet about healthy eating. I was terrified that in spite of all my habits, I’d been caught in a deadly way. But I’ve tweaked my diet to include green tea, more berry fruits, turmeric and aromatic herbs, and less alcohol.Who knows…
However I’m strongly E/P positive (8/8 for both) so basically I’m assuming my hormones exploited a weakness in my immune system some years ago, and my large lobular tumour grew simply because I’m female. My 4th child (yes I breast fed them all for an average of a year…) was 5 years old at dx - I understand the extra flood of pregnancy hormones wasn’t great either.
I so much want to be around for decades more, and will do almost anything to achieve that. If it comes back I’ll deal with it somehow, but for the moment I’m feeling very well, and my energy is coming back.
What about you ? How do you feel ?