I am new to all this and not sure if I am going to get this all to start with, some of the jargon is above my head and I am not familiar with a lot of the terms used.
I was diagnosed on June 3rd after going to my gp concerned about a lump I had investigated in 2006, I was refered to the local Breast care centre and was told I had primary BC, I had a Lumpectomy and sentinal node biopsy on June 13th and now I go for my first visit to see the oncologist tomorrow…and I am really scared
Hi Marion and welcome to the BCC forums where you will soon find lots of support and shared experiences
In addition, our helpliners are on hand during the week 9-5 and Saturdays 10-2 with emotional and practical support and information so please feel free to call and share your concerns and queries on 0808 800 6000
I am posting a link below to the BCC ‘Just diagnosed’ pages where you will find lots more information to help you to understand your diagnosis and possible treatments and support services from BCC which I hope you will find helpful:
Take care
Lucy
Hi Marion, sorry you have to be here but you will find loads of support on here. I can so understand your feelings at the mo. when i went to get results i was scared to think positive incase i was rong and more scared to think the worst. Whatever will be will be and whatever the out come it’s a new chapter and a knew challenge that we will over come and will be better people for it. You will be scared its natural be strong and my thoughts are with you tmoz. friend me if you wish. Sarah
Marion I am sorry you have to be here too.
I am halfway through chemo and it is doable. I was terrified beforehand. Absolutely. But once it got going, I suddenly became more positive and the side effects are not as bad by a long chalk as expected.
If you can, take someone with you to the Oncologists appointment who will make notes for you.
There will be an August chemo group on here either already or someone will start it! You should join that.
Remember when reading posts that some people only put the negative about chemo.
You might get just radiotherapy I suppose !
Take care and its one day at a time and baby step.
Best wishes x
Hi Marion, sorry you’ve joined the club that no one wants to be in but you will find tremendous support and help from the lovely ladies (and gents) on this site. It’s only natural that you feel scared at the moment but I can assure you that once you have a clear treatment plan you will feel much calmer as you’ll be more in control. Do keep posting, have a rant/cry/ ask any questions-none of them will be silly or too trivial- and we’ll do our best to answer them and help you through this. Best wishes Pat xx
Hi Marion
So sorry you find yourself here. As far as the visit to the oncologist is concerned, you might not need chemo. she might just want to discuss radiotherapy with you, depending on the type and grade of your tumour. If you had a grade 3 tumour, you probably will need chemo. also, if you have a lower grade tumour but it was HER2 positive or triple negative, you will still need chemo. However if you were graded 1 or 2, and the cancer was ER+ and/or PR+, you might just need radiotherapy and a tablet for 5 years. I see you are at the clinic today, so hope all is going well, and that you have taken someone with your to remember things you might forget.
Sending hugs and good wishes for whatever treatment you are to have.
Poemsgalore xx
Hi Marion hope everything went ok at clinic for you.post and let us know how you get on
Hi Marion, how did it go?.
As the others have said this website is helpful with the various blogs as it has certainly helped me. I found it best to get the full facts and I contacted the Consultant’s secretary and asked for my pathology report. As you rightly referred to, there is a lot of terminology you will not understand. Phone the nurses on this site and ask them to explain. You should of also had a breast care nurse designated to you so you can phone her also.
It is scary and everyone’s situation and treatment is different but there are some common treatments each of us have had or we are currently going through. Take care , take every stage as it comes. Katy.
Good luck honey, we here all here if you need us
Hi all, well I had my visit to the oncologist and she told me that the tumor which I was originally told was 1.5cm was in fact 3.5cm and classed as grade 2, she said I had an invasive ductal carcinoma with lymph node involvement but only 1 in the 5 they removed had cancer cells.
The results showed that it is oestrogen receptive but HER was negative and not in my vascular system
I have to hve FEC-T chemo, 3 x fec and 3 x t followed by 15 sessions of Radiotherapy on both my breast and armpit then 5 years on Letrosole or something beginning with A which I cant read.
How does that all sound? good and bad news in there I think
I will have a look on here to see what the FEC-T involves and how others have coped on it but for now I am only concentrating on my holiday next week to Devon
Thanks for the lovely welcome all of you, its a pretty scary time xxx
Hi Marian,
Once you start treatment you will be suprised at how fast the time goes, you will meet people along the way too which helps. I finished my treatment in March had 6checo like you fec t and 15 radiotheraphy. I am taking anastrozole and calcium chews with vit d now, and hair is all growing back. Good luck keep in touch on here it helped me loads and still does have a great holiday Take Care xxxxx
Hi Marion,
I joined forum today. Your time line mirrors mine. I had a mastectomy and a second op to clear the nodes. Yesterday got results that 3/11 affected. This news has upset me the most and I have been in a terrible state since. I thought a forum wasn’t really my thing but I am glad I have joined. For me, I just want to get chemo started asap, as then at least I will feel I’m traveling in one direction, rather than the unbearable wait for results and relentless knockbacks… I know finding out about risks and side effects will freak me out. It will be good to be able to hear how you are doing and swap experiences…Amanda
Hi ladies all these stories sound like mine, Amanda I felt exactly the same as you when I found out nodes were affected in my case it’s 2/19 before that I was sort of led to believe that it would just be rads and tablets for five years , then came the bomb shell of chemo! Which is starting 22 July and like you I just want it to start and get it over with. Marion I hope you have a lovely holiday, and it sounds like our Treatment plans are pretty much the same. So we must all just hold hands and get on with it I guess. Kirstie its good to hear your through it and out the other side. Hope that next spring we will be able to tell others what you have told us. It really does help to hear that things do get back to normal in a few months Lynda
so sorry to hear your news
i live abroad - when i had bc in 2007 i couldn’t understand most of it
the doctor was great - he just said take thetreatment and don’t worry or look for answers - so i didnt
quite frankly it was better like that for me
i just took the treatment and hoped for thebest
good luck and a big big hug
Hi all, thanks so much for your support, its great to know there are some lovely, helpful people out there.
I have an appointment for my chemo chat tomorrow and seeing the consultant on Tuesday with a view of starting my chemo on Thursday, very, very scary now its all getting closer, fingers crossed for more good days than bad
Hi Marion - if you start chemo in July you may want to consider joining the “July Junkies” thread - its for those of us that start our chemo in July. You may find it helpful, or you may already be on there - I confess I have not read all the posts on there recently. Good luck with your appointments and whilst I know everyone is different I can honestly say that the fear of it was far greater than when it actually happened and the side effects so far have been sooooo manageable. Good luck hun, and let us know how you get on.
Oh I am on FEC x 3, T x 3 + Herceptin and had 7/17 nodes affected (it had only shown in one on ultrasound).
Hi everyone…Marion…I am now 14 months post chemo…and 22 months post dx… I had right Mx and 6 FecT and am now on Tamoxifen…chemo isn’t a walk in the park but it is doable…there are lots of meds for any side effects and you will get lots of support from your chemo unit…I was terrified when chemo was mentioned…I ended up sobbing in my GP’s surgery and was so bad with my nerves I was living on Diazipan…this was before the chemo!!..I managed it all by just taking one session at a time and dealing with any se’s as I experienced them…I was hardly sick…I had some muscle pain from the Tax but all in all it was not as bad as I thought it would be…there is lots of support on this site for us ladies one to the other…also…join a thread for your months of chemo…lots of ladies will be going through it at the same time as you and the support is really helpful…I found I was not wonderful the first week…the second week I picked up and the third week I was OK…there is of course the loss of hair but you can use the cold cap if your chemo unit has one…I just had my hair cut short before chemo started and had it clipped once it started to come away…there are some lovely sites for pretty headgear…I used Annabandanna…I think that’s how you spell it…the scarves were reasonable prices and really pretty…in fact… I loved them…my hair has now grown back…it started to grow on the fifth dose of chemo…I’ve kept it short as I quite like it…much easier than my old style…best of luck with your treatment and at least you are free of your gremlin now…PS…there is on the left of this screen at the top…a list of various things.underneath where it says…FORUMS…about 10 lines down is GLOSSARY…it’s a list of abbreviations used…this will help you understand the jargon used on here…big hugs…apple
Hi Marion
i also have been recently diagnosed and I’m trying to stay positive , mine as already spread to the bone and is HER2 positive so I already know that chemo is on the cards and also herceptin my first oncology visit is tomorrow although I haven’t posted on the site I have read some very uplifting posts from other people in the same position as me, lots of luck to you and keep positive.
Hi Marion
i am a newbie and this is my first post.
i was diagnosed on June 21st and had mx and recon on July 3rd, some nodes were removed and found 3/5 were affected, so now waiting for date for full aux clearance, then followed by chemo I think.
it has all happened so fast and I too am worried and scared but so glad I have found this forum.
so many amazing people affected, but also ready to support others!
x