Hi Everyone,
Was looking for some support, this website seems to be a bit of a comfort blanket for me. I spoke with one of the lovely nurses yesterday who suggested I chat with all of your lovely people.
I had a mastectomy and lumpectomy in August 2015, chemo fec-t and five weeks radiotherapy finishing in May 2016. I had 16 lymphs taken out and only two were infected. I am taking anastrozole which makes me ache all over. I am back at work and I caught a cold which lingered for 3 weeks, I wasn’t well on it but carried on walking the dog and working, I rather lazily couldn’t be bothered to go to the GP to get signed off. I did however go and see my breast consultant and breast care nurse during this time with chest pain. He gave me a good check over and said my radiotherapy was peaking and that was why I was having shooting pains. I have been feeling breathless about a week ago, so I did go to the GP for a chest infection, she sent me for a walk in X-ray on the Friday, she rang me at work on Monday to tell me it has metastasized onto my lungs - my world has fallen to bits so soon after I completed the primary treatment. How can GPs be so insensitive to tell such devastating news whilst I’m at work. I had a CT scan on Saturday morning but now have to wait until 5th Jan for my breast consultant to see me for the results. It is the waiting ladies that I can’t deal with, this time last year I was in the middle of chemo and not particularly well, this year my husband and I wanted to celebrate 12 months on with the family. I am struggling to find positives and deal with anxiety, any help would be greatly appreciated.:womansad:
Hello flowerpot
Firstly welcome to our support group where u will find some lovely kind ladies with help and advice.
Well, you must feel you have been hit with a double decker bus with news like this and given so insensitively on the phone when you were least expecting it.
Your oncologist will put a treatment plan into place as soon as you get the appointment so it’s going to be a waiting game over Xmas which is not the best timing!!
I think we all expect to have the treatment and then move on with our lives but in the real world sometimes this goes pear shape!
Sending you lots of Xmas hugs xxxx
Hallo Flowerpot You must be feeling totally gutted. We don’t always get given bad news in the most sensitive way and now you have a long wait for an appointment at a time when you feel you’ve got to appear happy and cheerful and you are still in a really dark place. Waiting can be the worst thing. On this site you will meet lots of women who have been where you are now but have learnt that life can and does go on. Life won’t be the same but it carries on and we deal with it. You need have no doubts about saying how you are feeling here, people will recognise where you are and support you.
Lots of big hugs Bonariensis xxx
Hi, so sorry you received this news and especially in such an insensitive way. I am surprised that they would give a a dx like this without confirmation from a CT or scan. Must be agonising to wait so long over Christmas, have you asked your BCN if there’s any chance of seeing someone this week? Especially if you are still experiencing symptoms.
I was dx just over a year ago after repeatedly asking for a scan and being told it was just the after effects of primary treatment. Confirmed in lungs and liver plus blood clots which was what was causing the breathlessness and pain (which was horrendous btw but resolved quickly once treated).
If the CT does confirm mets then please know there are lots of treatments available and while none are a “cure” it can be managed quite well these days. A year on, I feel so much better than last Christmas.
Sending you lots of hugs and best wishes
Paula
Hello flowerpot
Ps …don’t Google …you will find more info here if you move around the threads from real ladies !!
Xxx
Hi Flowerpot, I will have had lung mets for 4 years this coming February. I am about to change treatment but have been largely stable for the last three years. Eat well and keep walking your dog - I have a Lhasa Apso called Molly who is the love of my life. Long walks by the sea with her really help. I hope this gives you some hope, you will feel better once a plan is in place xx
Oh thanks ladies, you have given me hope tonight, I did speak with my BCN this afternoon, she is watching out for ct scan results, if they come through by Thursday she has got me a very late slot with consultant, if they don’t come through I have to wait until 5th Jan. My dog is such an energetic Jack Russell he needs exercise all the time. Tell me ladies do you all manage to work and are your employers good and do they understand the need to take time off when you are not well. My BCN told me that gp has written straight to oncology and excluded my breast care team,
Hi Flowerpot,
So sorry you’ve had to join us - and at this time of year too. Glad you’ve got a proactive BCN though.
I have more or less carried on working full time but I am lucky that my employers are flexible and I can work from home sometimes which helps me manage fatigue. In case you don’t know, cancer is counted as a disability under the Equalities Act and employers have to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to support you. There is more information about it here - macmillan.org.uk/information-and-support/organising/work-and-cancer/information-for-employees/your-rights.
Hope you get some answers soon - we’re here if you need us.
Best wishes,
Marion
Hi Flowerpot,
Sorry you didn’t get the results, particularly as you are struggling with your breathlessness. Waiting’s bad enough without feeling rotten too.
Hopefully once they’ve got your treatment sorted, you may see an improvement in your lungs fairly quickly (I did) so try to go with it for now and use Christmas as an excuse to stay on the sofa!
Maybe you could use some of the time to research the different treatment options so you are prepared when you see the onc and can get started straightaway? There’s info on this website and / or ask on here if you have any questions.
Hang in there,
Marion
Hi Flowerpot, sorry to hear about the delay with your results. If only the medical profession knew the strain it puts on us. Seems a lot of us have appointments/results around the same time so lets hope for some positives. Please let us know how you get on. x
Hi All, hubbie took me to a and e on 2nd Jan, I couldn’t breathe at all. Upshot is I have mets in lung and liver, I have a chest drain in that has taken off 3 litres of fluid from my right lung, I am devastated, I have also seen oncologist I start chemo on Tuesday, tablet form, I’m hoping many years of keeping this all under control, hoping to be out of hospital by Friday as well, going to start looking at posts on liver and lung mets, oncologist told me I have been so unlucky getting secondary so soon after my first lot of treatment, that doesn’t help
Sarah