Hi everyone I was diagnosed with ductal breast cancer I am 52 1st routine mamagram and this was my results feeling scared and sad although after speaking to my surgeon I’m feeling positive .the corona virus has put surgery on hold for 3 months I’m on tablets than have been assured that these will keep my cancer at bay after surgery to get radiotherapy and remain in tablets for some time afterwards can you beautiful courageous people let me know how you all felt with tablets and how surgery was for you feeling vulnerable
Hi sandrad123, sorry you find yourself here. It’s understandable that you are feeling vulnerable with a cancer diagnosis during the corona outbreak. Cancer on its own is enough to cope with. You didn’t mention which tablet you’ve been prescribed. Are they a chemo type of tablet so you don’t have to go to hospital for chemo during the outbreak? I had chemo intravenous for 6 months followed by surgery and radiotherapy. The chemo reduces your white blood cell/neutrophil count which is probably why you’re being kept away from hospital. I found the surgery psychologically difficult. The physical healing takes time but its all doable and you get through it. Just take it one step at a time and try and not look too far ahead. You can also chat with others on the “going through treatment” thread on this forum. I found this really helpful and still keep in contact with my chemo buddies. Feel free to ask any other questions here or offload any concerns away from your loved ones. Xxx
Hi Sandra
There is never a good time for getting a cancer diagnosis but these are extraordinary times and your anxiety levels will be soaring. It’s important to be proactive about anxiety and get into a routine of meditation, mindfulness, YouTube hypnosis videos (they saw me through everything), whatever works for you.
As Mai said, without knowing what tablets you are on, it’s hard to say. Tablets vary according to the type of cancer and there are so many variations (please don’t Google - it’s disastrous). I had surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and then hormone therapy with some chemo top ups of biphosphonates every 6 months. Surgery was radical - mastectomy and full axillary clearance - but it was nowhere near as bad as I feared, Even having the drain removed didn’t hurt. The worst thing was an allergic reaction to the adhesive dressings - as bad as shingles until my GP prescribed medication. I can laugh now but boy, that was bad. Maybe it took my mind off my discomfort. I certainly wasn’t fazed by the loss of my breast - that saved my life so I wear my scar with pride! You are given exercise which it’s essential to do, regardless of pain and drain, and keep doing till you have full movement and beyond. Those exercises will become part of life.
Radiotherapy varies from person to person. Having collapsed into zombie state during chemo, radiotherapy seemed like a doddle to me, once I had had some physio to ensure I could get my arm into the required pose. It was months later that I started feeling any pain and my GP prescribed a suitable medication for that. It takes 5 minutes max, no more than about 2 minutes actually receiving radiation. The rest is positioning you and you are given tiny tattooes on the first visit to help get it perfectly placed.
Again echoing Mai, it’s all doable. There are thousands of us here who’ve been through the mill and live to tell the tale. Survival rates of early detected cancer are over 90%, pretty good odds. There’s certainly far less reason to be terrified than say 50 years ago when things were more primitive and knowledge more limited. You just replace that with worries about the virus - but what’s the point? We just don’t know and we’re learning as we go along. Trust your surgeon and oncologist. They know what they’re doing and they will have discussed your case in a multi-disciplinary team meeting and agreed this is best in the circumstances. Your recovery is their goal.
Take good care of yourself. You may want to ask a specific question about the specific medication you’ve got - that will help you more perhaps.
Best of luck,
Jan x