Breast Cancer Now Forum

😄 great thanks Joe Sue x ... View more

Hi Madwoman I know it doesn't seem real. It takes a while to sink in and then you're so busy thrown into the op, chemo appointments, radiotherapy, breast surgeon check ups, oncologist check ups.....all great and reassuring as it's all helping you get through it and recover but you don't really get time to think about what you're going through. But we do, you will :). We are much stronger than we think. The breast nurse will go through everything but take something to write things down as I found everything hard to take in and then remember once I'd got home. It really helps. I got given the Breast Cancer Care Primary Breast Cancer pack at Carlisle hospital. Did you get one? I took that with me and wrote down stuff in there quite a lot. It has a lot of helpful stuff in there too. I also found phoning the clinical nurses at Breast Cancer Care really good too if I had any further worries or questions. If you phone the helpline for Breast Cancer Care there is a different number they'll give you to speak to one of the nurses. Do you have support at home for when you get home after your op? I know you mentioned your daughter is a long way away? Sue x ... View more

Are you having your op at Carlisle? I had mine there and they were wonderful. All the staff were and the breast surgeon was lovely and very good. You'll be in good hands 🙂 Sue x ... View more

Hi not quite so madwoman 🙂 I had my treatment between Whitehaven and Carlisle too. They were as you say all lovely and positive but I felt it would have helped me a lot to have been able to meet up with people more locally who were or had gone through bc too as any advice, experience and support can help such a lot. I'm putting some contact details up in Whitehaven so if you have a look then give me a ring or text or apparently you send me a personal message on here or I can you but I still haven't worked out how to do it yet! I live fairly near Cockermouth and no there isn't anything so that's why I wanted to set something up. I know how you feel about telling your daughter and I wondered whether to at first but now I'm so glad I told mine. It was definitely the right thing to do. Yes they worry of course but knowing that you're getting treated and found it early is good. And mine would have been very mad at me if I hadn't told them! It's been positive in a way for them too as they have now downloaded the check your breasts app and have told all their friends to do the same :). The mind and memory do get better. You have ups and downs mind wise and 'chemo brain ' does exist! Concentrating and managing things that require a lot of information or sequencing things can be a bit of a challenge for many people but it does get better :). Have you had your op now? Sue xx ... View more

Oops sorry sent that twice as it said not sent first time! Sue x ... View more

Hi madwoman. Just to say that I felt just like you when I was diagnosed. I went for a routine mammogram had a recall and was sure I'd be fine. I was in total shock when I was told I had breast cancer and was in a kind of alternative reality and a daze for a while. I have two daughters in their 20's and it was very hard not to worry about them and try to stop them worrying about me. It's really good that the hospital is getting you seen quickly. As Helena said the pre op is fairly straightforward but can involve sitting around a lot. Ask as many questions as you want to. They are all really lovely usually and will want to be supportive and reassure you. I hope it goes ok and I will be thinking of you today. Big hugs, Sue x ... View more

Hi madwoman. Just to say that I felt just like you when I was diagnosed. I went for a routine mammogram had a recall and was sure I'd be fine. I was in total shock and disbelief when I was told I had breast cancer and was in a kind of alternative reality and a daze for a while. I have two daughters in their 20's and it was very hard not to worry about them and try to stop them worrying about me. It's really good that the hospital is getting you seen quickly. As Helena said the pre op is fairly straightforward but can involve sitting around a lot. Ask as many questions as you want to. They are all really lovely usually and will want to be supportive and reassure you. I hope it goes ok and will be thinking of you today Sue x ... View more

Crikey I get what you're saying! My dad died of heart failure just before I got bc and my mum has also had a heart attack but is ok now. My Gran died of a heart attack too. No breast cancer or any other type of cancer in the family so I'm the first to have had cancer and not heart disease :/. It's all hard to make sense of but getting all the info you can and talking to people who are or who have gone through it will help (I'd recommend only going on Breast Cancer Care or MacMillan for sensible advice! Don't randomly google stuff! My doc banned from anything other than these sites....). It's probably the toughest challenge you can go through - it certainly has been for me, but we do come out the other side 🙂 It feels like our body has let us down and we don't have any control over what is happening to us but our bodies are also amazing at coping with things and recovering. Which we do 🙂 Sue x ... View more

That's great Joe :). Let me know if your mum wants to meet up at any point. Sue x ... View more

Thanks Jill 🙂 ... View more

Hi Joanne. No group set up as yet.... There are two cancer support groups, one in Carlisle and one in Whitehaven which are for people with cancer but not specifically breast cancer. A lady I spoke to several months ago who is having treatment at Whitehaven hospital told me she hadn't found any breast cancer support groups either and wanted to be able to meet up with people going through the specific issues and experience and possible advice regarding breast cancer. We meet up informally to support each other and would be happy to give your mum any support we can. We are currently in touch with Whitehaven hospital about us setting up a support group as there is definitely a big need for us to all support each other in any way we can here in West Cumbria. You or your mum can message me personally about more info on this but I don't know how you do this! Can you help Jill? As to the forum definitely encourage your mum to use it as I did find it very helpful but also encourage her to speak to the Breast Cancer Care helpline as they can also arrange for someone to support her through their 'Someone Like Me ' service which I also found invaluable. We often think we can deal with these things ourselves or don't want to bother anyone or ask for any help or support but if it's one thing I've learned from breast cancer being always fiercely independent it's let others help where they can and meeting up with or chatting to people going through the same thing can really help you through it. Hugs to you and your mum and let me know if I can help in any way. Sue xx ... View more

Thank you Jill. I will 🙂 Sue ... View more

Hi Jill. I'm in North West Cumbria but I met a lady from further South who said there isn't a lot down there either support wise specifically for Breast Cancer but I guess I'm initially thinking North, Mid and West/East Cumbria. Not that I'm leaving South Cumbria out! As you say, it's a very big county! I will speak to Cancer Care in Lancaster though. I know I will need a lot of help but I would like to make a start with something however small at first. Apparently a lot of women don't know how to check themselves or go to their mammograms either according to my lovely female GP who has been very supportive to me so I'm hoping to get to some other local groups to give them some leaflets/ information ( with Breast Cancer Care + others permission) and talk about my experience if they would find that useful/helpful. That's a separate issue though :). I think you're right re online first though with a support thread and then think about occasional meet ups. Sue ... View more

Hi Jill. Thanks for your reply. Having gone through breast cancer and treatment I am determined to do something to try and make a difference in Cumbria as I have met a few people who have struggled with the lack of support / groups here. I did myself but have come through it wanting to try and get some changes happening as I doubt I or the other couple of ladies I got talking to are / have been the only ones! I would like to do it through Breast Cancer Care as it has helped me so much and I honestly don't know if I would have coped as well without BCC but I still missed actually being able to meet up with people and a lot of people have said the same thing to me when I have asked them. Any advice would be much appreciated! There are no Moving Forward groups here either - it seems to be a forgotten area of the country! I used to live in Yorkshire a couple of years ago and found that there is a lot of support there I could have got to but in Cumbria.....nothing! A lot of people are told they have Breast Cancer and are then just left to get on with it apart from the people you see during treatment which I have to say has been very good. I did a lot of googling and research etc and found BCC and it was a real lifeline for me especially just after diagnosis. Sue ... View more

I really hope that you can still go Sue. Keep your fingers crossed maybe they will sort it out before you go! If you've booked the 2 things separately then you can't claim from BA for missing the cruise but if you've just paid the cruise people inc the flight then they have to sort it out or refund you. You may well know this though! Hope it works out for you and you get your hol 🙂 Hope everyone is ok and doing well. Thinking of you all. Sue F xx ... View more

Hi all. I think it must be very individual. I've been on Letrozole for just over 2 months now and no se's at all so far so keeping my fingers crossed lol. I guess it's just down to what suits you. Great news Mary re your bone scan and NED result :). Hope your other issues get sorted asap. Sue F xx ... View more

Hi Fairycake. Unfortunately there are some ignorant people out there (and I mean that in the true since of the word). They really don't have a clue what to say or how to behave when they come across someone who may be going through or have had cancer. I've had people stare and sometimes re stare! I lift my chin in the air and stare back at them!! They usually then look uncomfortable and stop and hopefully realise that it's not a nice thing to experience and may think twice if they think about doing it to someone else. It is very different from just a brief glance which is fair enough - we all do that. I have found though that thankfully these people are by far in the minority. Most people are either too busy getting on with whatever they are doing or just smile if they catch your eye like you would normally do and so I just smile back :). I haven't even had to put up with the 'sympathy look' so far lol. It is hard though when you're trying to deal with the emotions of having lost all or most of your hair and having to go out with a headscarf or even no headgear at all (which is what I'm doing). It's too hot for me to wear a scarf all the time and I ditched the wig because it was too hot and also annoying me some time ago. I think you just have to try and let it go when you get the odd stupid comments. Just have to try and ignore it and not let it get you down. Generally people are very good. I worked for years with children with a disability, some severely so and you should have heard some of the equally ignorant and stupid comments made! Unfortunately a few people are just like that :(. Hold your head up high with or without your headscarf and just think of a suitable retort if you feel like saying something should it happen again so you're prepared! My two daughters came up with yes I have had breast cancer what's your excuse? :D. Too much for me to say but I'd probably say yes I've had breast cancer which affects 1 in 8 women so I hope you won't be one of them...... Big hugs Sue F xx ... View more

You've got more than I have! 😄 My last infusion was the 9th Feb so I guess if you add the 3 weeks onto that it would be around the 2nd March. I was pretty much totally bald after the last round of chemo. Sue F xx ... View more

Walking not walling! 😄 Although I could take the dry stone type up around here 😄 Sue F x ... View more