Long road ahead...

Still can’t believe it’s happening to me. Diagnosed with IDC, ER+, HEP2 + Grade 2 with confirmed lymph node involvement. Need 8 cycles of chemo, followed by surgery and radiotherapy. Doctors all sounding very positive but it just feels so unreal. Maybe it’ll kick in when treatment starts? 

Butterflyfree

 

Hello and welcome to this forum where you will get loads of help and support from the lovely ladies on here.

 

It is early days for you and you have so much information to take in, give yourself some time to adjust.  I am assuming that you have had your treatment plan which will set out what you are going to have and when which will help going forward.

 

Come on here as when you want and there will always someone on here to help.

 

If you go on to the Going through treatment section there is a thread entitled chemotherapy where you will get lots of support

 

Sending you a hug

 

Helena xxx

 

 

Hi Butterfly free
Sorry you had to join this club that noone wants to join. I just wanted to reach out and tell you that I had a very similar diagnosis to you last Sept and found the early days really difficult but I’m now on the other side of chemo surgery and rads. Still having Herceptin and Tamoxifen but once treatment starts you will feel calmer. Feel free to ask any questions am sure you will get lots of support on here
Claire x

The early days of diagnosis are such a shock, Butterfly, so what you’re feeling is quite normal, although horrible to go through. We’ve all been where you are now. It feels like it’s happening to someone else. 

There’s no reason not to be positive as your Drs are saying, with your diagnosis, there are lots of effective treatment options & now it can be dealt with. 

These feelings do settle down & there’s loads of support here, so do come & chat whenever you need to.

hugs

ann x

Hello,

I have just had my third round of chemo after being diagnosed just over two months ago, very similar diagnosis to you with lymph node involvement too. I was the same when I heard the word “chemo” I thought hang on!! Then talk of surgery and radio it all gets a bit much. I have only just started actually reading up about the type of cancer I have as I couldn’t bring myself to read any information I was given, my husband read up on it but I told him I didn’t want to know. We all deal with things differently and make sure you allow yourself as much time as possible to get your head around things. Big hugs X

Hi Butterfly, sorry to hear of your diagnosis and welcome to this lovely forum. We’re all members of the same club which none of wanted to join. I’m similar to you except the HER2 bit, I’m HER2-.  I’ve recently had my 5th out of 8 chemos of the FEC-T. Finding out you need chemo us quite scary but once you get started you just deal with it somehow.  Of course I would rather not have to have chemo but I know I need it so have to toughen up.  Get yourself prepared in advance with wig, headscarves etc whilst you can still shop freely.  Make sure you join the treatment, chemo monthly thread on this website and others will join you who are going through treatment at the same time. The support you give each other is incredible. Have a read through previous monthly threads to see how others have managed their side effect, like It’s really important that you drink plenty of water.  I wish you well on your treatment journey. You can do this. Xx

Hello,

 

I am HER2 positive and have had chemo and am still on Herceptin.

 

I did not believe them we they told me because I looked and felt perfectly healthy!

 

I used a cold cap and kept lots of hair so you might want to try that. I limited my food intake before chemo because I followed the guidelines of Valter Longo (Google him) and I was a lot better off that most others that did not follow the guidelines in that I did not have tummy troubles or cold sores/mouth ulcers. I still got a bad taste and after a few treatments my blood counts went low making me very tired.

 

I had surgery first, then chemo, then rads plus Herceptin for a year (2 injections to go).

 

I still take Claritn hay fever tablets because of this:

theonc.org/author.asp?section_id=2368&doc_id=264569

 

Herceptin can cause runny nose so I still take it and I don’t have many problems on the Herceptin.

Hi Butterfly,welcome .There is such a lot to get your head around when you are already in shock isn’t there.We used to joke that what you need when first diagnosed is a cook ,cleaner ,driver (preferably George Clooney or similar ) to take you to appointments ,plus a personal assistant to help you get organised .All you actually get is a lovely breast cancer handbook to read !!! Do you have plenty of practical support ,in some areas MacMillan have volunteers who can provide practical support during treatment .

Hi butterfly. Sorry you’ve had to join us. I remember how scared I was when I was diagnosed in April I too had lymph involvement. Mastectomy and full lymph clearance followed. The op wasn’t half as bad as I’d expected. I was enjoying a pub lunch within 48 hours.
I’m currently going through chemo. I had my second session of fec last Tuesday and I’m using the paxman cold cap. I haven’t lost any hair off my head yet. It seems to work best of your hair is thin so the cap gets a really good tight fit so if you have thick hair you might want to consider getting it thinned out.
This is a scary time when your thoughts are all over the place. I can promise you, things will get better. Breast cancer is very treatable. Sending you a hug. X