Breast Cancer Now Forum

Hi Mael, my very perceptive sister came to see me 2 days post op as I was bouncing around making everyone lunch,etc. A couple of days later she asked if I'd come down off my adrenaline high yet - a high I completely denied being on but a phase she later described as my "Mary Poppins on speed"! Once I got my results a week later I took a real slump in both emotional and physical energy. My results were the best I could have hoped for but I think I was living on fear that week whilst trying to convince myself and those around me that everything was normal! Being self employed must be really tricky at a time like this but do pace yourself and look after yourself as well as your business! Did you sleep last night? Hugs, Kitt Xx ... View more

Phew! Great news! Hope you get a good nights sleep! Don't overdo things for the next few days !!!! Hugs, Kitt X ... View more

Hi Mael, I've been thinking of you today - yes, that minor cancer detail is a b****r , isn't it! Well, by the time you read this it will be gone and then the next bits are about doing your best to make sure it doesn't come back. I have no experience of chemo but hopefully you won't need that and if you do there will be plenty of advice on here. Radiotherapy and tamoxifen are totally manageable. So I hope today went smoothly, no goats fainted and you are being kind to yourself!! Huge gentle hugs, Kitt X ... View more

Hi Sharnie, I started my tamoxifen as soon as I got it which was 4 weeks post op and about 3 before I started my rads. I was keen to get on with it and had no ill effects at all. I suspect your oncologist will also say it's up to you. Good luck, Kitt X ... View more

Hi Mael, How have the appointments been going so far this week?? Kitt X ... View more

Hi Sparkle, Having been told the dye would stay for "a few weeks" I was surprised to still have a bit of a dusky nipple 5 months post op. Apparently this was entirely normal and I would say at 6 months it has now gone. I don't think there's anything to be done about it but it will go eventually. Kitt X ... View more

Well, Doll, Marks and Spencer lingerie section call them crop tops and do a 2 pack for £14 , Asda call them comfort bras £6 each , not sure what Sainsburys call them but they're equally cheap and have the best range of colours and better support than the Markies ones IMHO. I'm a 38DD and I found them supportive enough for sleeping and I still wear them when slobbing about the house although I wouldn't go out in them 😜 .During radiotherapy the advice was to go braless but I found that really uncomfortable so the crops were good for me. Kitt X ... View more

You're just boasting now "Dolly"! 😜 Didnt wear the crop tops at night with a bra, they gave me enough support for comfort when sleeping on their own. But I then hid them under pj's or nightie ! Kitt Xx ... View more

Hi Nicky, At my first clinic appointment I had mammograms, ultrasound and biopsies taken. After all that my surgeon told me he "expected" it would be cancer. That was confirmed one week later when they were able to tell me the type and hormone receptor status of the tumour. I know many ladies seem to wait a lot longer for results which must be really hard. Being of an "it'll be fine" mindset, I was floored! Then the conveyor belt starts! My way of coping was to get as much information as possible. I wrote every question on my phone as they occurred to me (2 to 4am being a favourite time 😁 ) since I would have had no chance of remembering them all in the stress of appointments. Hugs, Kitt X ... View more

Morning lovelies, I'm doing great, thanks, Nicky. I was fortunate enough to have a smallish (18mm) tumour of the most common type - invasive ductal - which was removed with clear margins and no node involvement so no chemo required. It was early stage and low grade. Radiotherapy was fine - tired with a hot peeling boob at the time but totally manageable - and I have no side effects from my tamoxifen. So all in all, if I had to have this thing then things couldn't have gone better. Shaz, great that you managed a good night out. Sometimes plastering a smile on our faces is the last thing we feel like but actually the fake becomes real and you do get a wee vacation from the all-consuming thought of breast cancer. Thinking of you both. Kitt X ... View more

Chortle, Mael! Do you have some very soft bras to wear in bed for the first few nights? I liked the wee crop tops from Sainsburys and they were good during radiotherapy too. Although I usually sleep without nightwear too, my vanity just didn't let me sleep in just a bra! Husband would have coped but the cats would have pointed and laughed! Hugs, Kitt X ... View more

In my Christmas round robin letter I wrote a tongue in cheek list of positive things about having breast cancer (a good excuse to get out of the work Christmas party, etc.). Top of my list tho was new jammies! 😇 Kitt xx ... View more

Hi Mael, Hope it all goes well for you on Wednesday. I saw your comment about staying in a gown. I went to theatre at 8.30 am and was sitting up looking for my lunch by 1pm. My nurses were surprised that I wanted to change into my pj's since I was only in for the day but the other ladies in their gowns all looked so awkward, especially back and forwards to the loo! You won't have a drain so loose or front buttoning jammies feel so much more normal. None of us got home until well into the evening but I was the only one that spent the rest of the day in my chair instead of in bed - far too easy to slip into passive patient mode! The anaesthetist doing his post op round actually passed me by thinking I wasn't that day's surgery and had to come back to look for me! I'll be think of you Wednesday. Hugs, Kitt Xx ... View more

Hi Shaz and Nicky, The waiting is horrible, isn't it! Do keep reminding yourself that more ladies come away from breast clinics with good news than bad. Obviously with the nature of this forum, most of us on here got the news that none of us ever dreamt we could cope with but actually, once you know what you're dealing with we are as tough as we need to be. The medical teams out there are amazing and great support on here too when you need someone who has been there themselves. Hopefully you won't need to join us but no part of my treatment was anything like as bad as I imagined when I was at your stage last October. Huge hugs, Kitt Xx ... View more

Hi Jets, I've also had 3 different brands of Tamoxifen and no side effects with any of them so they are definitely not inevitable. Kitt X ... View more

Jings, I do hope we're not just confusing you with all our different experiences, Mael! If nothing else you will now have a long list of questions to ask your team for their version of the advice! No drains for me. I'd sum up my experience as really wishing I'd had a crystal ball when I was at your stage (last November) - I worried about every single thing, from the radioactive injection, through surgery to tattoos and radiotherapy. There genuinely wasn't a single stage that was anything like as bad as I had imagined it would be. Unfortunately there wouldn't have been a thing anyone could have told me to make me really believe how manageable it would all be - I had to find that out for myself! You're obviously a feisty lady with the sort of sense of humour that will see you through this. Hugs, Kitt X ... View more

Again, lots of differences - I took my stockings off when I got dressed to go home and only advice was that I kept them to wear on long flights due to slight risk of blood clots on Tamoxifen. Apart from during radiotherapy, not told to not use razors although 3 months after finishing rads that armpit is virtually hairless anyway. Well that's 5 seconds saved in the shower of a morning! 😊 Kitt X ... View more

Just as long as there's a pocket for a small piece of very good chocolate, I'd be happy! Kitt Xx ... View more

Ha ha! I can see this being a profitable sideline for you, Mael! Boob-blinkers!!! Kitt X ps - and since you ask .... blue poo too! 😜 ... View more

Just shows how different we can be - my internal stitches were steristripped then a large dressing which I took off to shower the next day. The steristrips were removed by my surgeon at clinic the following week and although multicoloured bruises, my scar was very neat and no dent. I just wore non-wired sports bras, nothing special. I do wish I'd put it on when I first changed into my pyjamas post op - I was back and forward to the loo (take it you've been warned about the bright blue pee?! 😳 😳 ) supporting myself and didn't put my bra on until I was changing into normal clothes to go home - instantly more comfortable! I did have a really good blub in recovery ... first thing I did on waking up was to feel my boob and the normality of it was just such a relief! You sound very much like me - information is king! When it came time for my radiotherapy I found a couple of ladies on here who were a few weeks ahead of me at the same centre and I found that so helpful to know exactly what to expect. Hugs, Kitt X ... View more