Breast Cancer Now Forum

Hi AJJ, I live in Herts (Watford) rather than Bucks but I used to work in Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross, and I now work (when not off sick!!) in Chesham so pretty close to you. How are you doing? Linda xx ... View more

I haven't posted here for a while but just wondering how everyone is doing. I've had 4 FEC and 5 Taxol (weekly) and have been feeling fine but sadly it seems the Taxol is not doing the job for me and an ultrasound yesterday showed that my lump has grown slightly since finishing the FEC - I'm having chemo to shrink the tumour as it was too large for surgery at dx. The good news is that I had such a great response to the FEC (15cm reduced to 4cm) that the breast surgeon examined me yesterday and says that he can operate now. So no more chemo for me for the time being and I'm skipping ahead to surgery. Just waiting on a call from my BCN with the date of surgery but should be having Mx and ANC by the end of the month - just need a little time to make sure bloods are ok after my chemo last thurs. The next step will depend on the pathology results following surgery but my onc thinks he may give me a couple more cycles of FEC followed by rads. So bummer that the Taxol hasn't worked but I always knew Mx was in the future so glad to get on and get it over with. Not looking forward to more FEC - esp as my hair shows signs of returning - but will do whatever it takes to beat this thing and at least I know that the FEC did a stonking good job last time! I need to know something works as I'm triple neg so no help from other meds for me. Hope you ladies are managing ok and making progress toward that tiny light at the end of the tunnel! Linda xx ... View more

Hi, Welcome to the forum, I'm sorry you find yourself here but it's a great place for help and support. I'm 43 so a similar age to you and was diagnosed at the beginning of November. I had CT, bone and MRI scans before I started treatment. The MRI scan was just on my breasts and was to measure the tumour accurately and check that there were no abnormalities in the other breast. I'm also having chemo before surgery and will have a repeat MRI at the end of chemo to check progress. Maybe that is the purpose of your MRI. I understand how you feel about wanting the cancer cut out asap but my oncologist and chemo nurse both (independantly) pointed out that by having chemo first you are able to see if it is having an effect on the tumour, something that is not possible once the tumour has been removed. Since not all tumours respond to all types of chemo this is a definite advantage. In my case my tumour has shrunk from 15cm at diagnosis (massive!) to 4cm after 3 cycles of FEC. The response has been so good that it has now been marked with a wire in case it should vanish completely by the time I finish chemo and my oncologist is confident that any stray cells should have been eradicated. Chemo itself is not fun but for many of us it's nowhere near as bad as you imagine it to be. I have been lucky so far and only had a few minor side effects for the first week of each cycle. I have been able to carry on my life (which includes looking after 2 small children) pretty much as normal. I hope that your experience is similar to mine as I couldn't ask for much better under the circumstances. Linda xx ... View more

I can't help you at the moment as I don't start weekly Taxol until next thurday (just finished 4xfec), but there was a thread about it recently which may help - http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=24936&hilit=+taxol&p=387662#p387662 From talking to my onc and chemo nurse I understand that SE's are similar to Taxotere but generaly milder and so it tends to be better tolerated. It is supposed to be equally effective and there has been a recent study that indicates that in some circumstances it can give and improved long term prognosis (a few % increase) over 3 weekly Taxol or Taxotere. HTH ... View more

Sorry things aren't going to plan for you, Leigh. Let's hope the epi is doing the job for you. Good that your white cells and neuts are ok though, at least that's one less thing to worry about. Hope you don't suffer too badly with the tiredness this time around. Linda xxx ... View more

I'm another one who wants to join the "I love my port" club 🙂 I had it fitted before chemo started - and was immediately grateful as they struggled to find a vein to give the sedation for the fitting procedure, so glad I didn't have to go through that every chemo! It was sore for about 10 days after the fitting, mainly due to the dressings irritating and pulling my skin, but has been fine ever since, I can feel it when I move sometimes but it doesn't bother me. It's very easy to live with, no special care required, the fact that it's under the skin is great for me as I have young children so no fear of them yanking it out! Blood tests and chemo have been fine through the port, no problems at all (I've had 4xFEC so far and 12xTaxol to come). I have a tube of Emla cream (local anaesthetic) that I apply to the skin above the port about an hour before my appointment and I don't feel a thing when the needle goes in. Might be worth asking chemo nurses or GP about this is you find the needle uncomfortable - I wasn't that worried but since they offered the cream I took it! BTW I live in Watford although I'm not being treated at Mount Vernon, but my friend had cancer treatment at MV and found all the staff there to be lovely so I'm sure you'll be in good hands for the port fitting. Good luck with the port, it's definitely worth having! Linda xxx ... View more

Well I made it to the hosp for my 4th FEC today, blood counts were good so all done and dusted. That's the last FEC for me, I start weekly Taxol in 3 weeks time - another step into the unknown but at least I can now say I'm halfway through chemo. Naz, Leigh and anyone else having chemo today - hope it all went well for you too. Linda xxxxx ... View more

Hi Helzbelz, Well done on finding the courage to get your lump checked out, I was exactly the same when I found my lump in October - tried to convince myself that I was imagining it / it would go / it was hormonal etc etc - but finally gave in and visited the GP at the beginning of November. Very glad now I didn't put it off any longer! Your doctor is right that the majority of lumps are benign so try to hold onto that for reassurance while you wait. I don't think the presence or absence of pain is much of a clue as to the cause of the lump unfortunately, I know of women whose lumps were cancerous who had no pain while mine was very sore, equally there are many women whose lumps were simple cysts that were also pain free. As far as the wait for tests is concerned most NHS referrals for investigation of breast lumps are classed as urgent which means you should get an appointment within 2 weeks so, yes, 2 weeks is the norm. Hope you get an appointment through quickly and the time goes fast for you - the waiting is by far the worst part. Good luck and let us know how you get on. Linda xx ... View more

You're welcome. I saw your post and remembered reading something about vaccines and chemo earlier today so I just had to trawl back through my browsing history to find it. Glad I could help! ... View more

My two both love "Bolt" and "Toy Story". Their latest favourite is "Monsters vs Aliens" (esp the 2 yr old). And somewhat bizarrly they adore Michael Jackson's "Moonwalker". For after chemo on Thursday I've bought "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs" so we'll se how that goes down. ... View more

Cancer Research's website says there is no risk at all from being in contact with a child who has had pre-school boosters while you are having chemo. The full article is here: http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/about-cancer/cancer-questions/immunisations-and-chemotherapy It is only live vaccines given by mouth (rather than by injection) that can pose a risk and they aren't used in the UK anymore. HTH Linda xx ... View more

Lily - my kids are a similar age too. I have two boys, the oldest will be 5 in March and the little'n is 3 in April. I love them to bits and thinking of them keeps me going when the battle seems so hard but boy can they be hard work sometimes! Luckily the 2 yr old is pretty happy to amuse himself with colouring or puzzles so I keep telling myself that I only really have to find some energy after chemo on Thursday from 3.15, when I pick the eldest up from school, until bedtime at 7pm. I've bought a new DVD and some unhealty snacks and plan to be a bad Mummy, stick them in front of the telly and hope for the best! Linda xx ... View more

((((hugs)))) I understand exactly how you feel. I'm going for my 4th FEC on Thursday so perhaps we can hold each other's virtual hand! It's a very strange feeling to feel perfectly well but know that on thursday we will have to voluntarily submit to something that we know will make us feel lousy - in my case the effects last for about a week. Although I've been lucky and SE's have been pretty mild I still feel vaguely nauseous just thinking about it. I hope it all goes well for you on Thursday and I'll be thinking of you and willing you on! Linda xxx ... View more

Sorry you're having such a bad time. It seems that insurance companies will do everything they can to wriggle out of paying up. My friend had a similar experience - she had a swollen gland in her neck, went to see her GP who gave her antibiotics, didn't clear so had another course of antibiotics. During this time she bought a new car and took out a loan along with payment protection insurance. 3 months later she was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma and started intensive chemo. As she couldn't work she contacted the insurance to take over the loan payments, they refused as her initial visit to her GP was before she took out the insurance. It was so unfair as obviously she had no idea that she had anything serious wrong with her (and at that time neither did her GP). EVentually she managed to get a refund of the insurance premiums - on the basis that she wouldn't have taken the insurance if she'd known it would be invalid - but that didn't help much with the actual loan. I hope you manage to get it all sorted out. My friends doctors were very helpful in trying to get the insurance company to change their mind, didn't manage it but did contribute to getting the premiums back, so maybe see if your oncologist or GP can help with a supporting letter. On the hair front, I have no underarm hair at all and just a sparse crop in the lady garden but my head is still pretty well covered. My current worry is my eyebrows which have been very itchy over the last few days so I'm concerned that they may be on the way out - eek how strange will that look???? Linda xx ... View more

Hi Muscat, So sorry that you're having this worry and I hope that everything turns out ok for you. The waiting really is the worst part! I am having private treatment as like you I also asked for a private referral. I had private health cover (BUPA) through my work so it seemed silly not to use it. I was told that I'd get an appointment within 2 weeks but with the private referral I phoned the hospital myself and was seen the same day. Do you know where you are being referred to and when you are likely to be seen? My referral was to a breast surgeon at the local private hospital where they run a breast clinic. At my appointment I first saw the breast surgeon who asked lots of questions then examined me. I then went for a mammogram and ultrasound. During the ultrasound the doctor performed a core biopsy on my lump and lymph nodes. I then went back to the breast surgeon to discuss what had been found. In my case the news wasn't good and he was 99% sure it was cancer, this was confirmed when I saw him again 2 days later for the biopsy results. From what I understand most breast clinics (whether NHS or private) operate in a similar way with all the relevant tests being carried out in the same visit so you are likely to come away with a good idea of your diagnosis which in most cases in nothing sinister. Good luck, let us know how you get on and please don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions or just need support as we all understand what a worrying time it is. Linda xxx ... View more

Wendy - Glad to hear it all went well for you, hope you continue to feel ok. Anne- best of luck for tomorrow. I'm sure you'll be fine. The first cycle is the worst, in my opinion, due to fear of the unknown. It's hard when you don't know what to expect or what effect the chemo will have on you. I hope you are reassured by the fact that so many people on here cope very well and don't find the SE's too bad. Everyone else - hope you're all doing ok and things keep going well for everyone. I'm now 2 weeks past my 3rd FEC and can honestly say that I'm feeling great! The few SE's that I've had (mainly tiredness and constipation) vanished last friday and since then I've felt absolutely normal. Today I walked my older son to school, went to my GP to organise a new sick cert (feel a total fraud but my job involves close contact with loads of coughing and sneezing members of the public so onc advised avoiding!), spent a couple of hours trawling the local shopping centre for clothes for the kids who both seen to have had a growth spurt, came home and made a batch of pasta sauce before repeating the school run and I feel no more tired than I did before this whole rollercoaster ride started! I have one more week to enjoy feeling good (hopefully) before my 4th, and final, FEC next thursday. After that I'll be moving on to weekly Taxol which I'm already starting to feel slightly nervous about as it's another step into the unknown. I'm having chemo before surgery as my tumour was so large (Grade 3 and extremely fast growing!!) and so far it has shrunk from 15cm to 4cm (woo hoo!!!), my onc thinks that I'll probably still need a mastectomy even if it continues to shrink but it's for the breast surgeon to advise. I'm seeing him on Monday for the first time since before chemo started so interested and also nervous to hear what he has to say. Keep well, ladies. Linda xxx ... View more

Fresh blood on the toilet paper or on the surface of the stools is most commonly due to piles or an anal fissure. Piles in particualr are quite common during chemo usually as a result of constipation caused by the anti-nausea drugs. It's worth mentioning to your wife's dr/chemo nurse but probably nothing to be concerned about. There was a recent thread about similar problems which you might find helpful - http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=24934 HTH Linda xxx ... View more

You're right Flora, PICC and Hickman lines do leave you more open to infection because they provide access for bugs at the point where they enter the skin so they need some care to keep them clean and infection free. Portacaths are different as they are implanted fully under the skin so once the wound from the insertion surgery is healed the risk of infection is much reduced with the risk being associated with introduction of bugs when a needle is inserted into the port for admin of drugs or taking of blood samples. Linda xx ... View more