Breast Cancer Care Forum

Janey, what a brilliant picture, how lovely to see so many names from this thread. I hope you’re not too stiff tomorrow though! xxx ... View more

Lee, what a rollercoaster you've been on! I'm so happy for you, but heck, I hope you don't have a scare like that again. Massive hugs for you my friend. Xxx ... View more

Delly, lovely to hear from you again! Answers to the questions you asked... hubby had a hip replaced in November and is now recovering well, I no longer have to put his shoes and socks on for him, which is a great improvement. And I made him get a chiropodist to do his toenails, there are some things I'm  definitely not doing! He's now fully retired after several years of doing three days a week so I'm working on a list of jobs for him... I ended up having two breast reductions to my good side for symmetry, the first gave a distinctly lopsided result. High tech it definitely wasn't, but the end result is good, and I don't need to use a partial prosthetic any more, so I'm happy. And I know a lot of authorities are refusing to fund symmetrising surgery so I was lucky to get it.    The number of mammograms after treatment...I was told it would be diagnostic mammograms  every year until five years after diagnosis, and every 18 months for the following three years, then discharge back to the routine screening programme after that. I'll check again when I have my next one in a few weeks.   Helena, hope Colin gets his care arranged so he can get home, it must be very hard for both of you at the moment. But at least now you both should get the right support, it should make a real difference. Xxx     ... View more

A quick check in from me to say happy Easter to all the Fluffies, a big hug for Helena spending Easter on your own, I hope you got to take Colin some chocolate. And a hug for Delly Delicious, it's lovely to hear from you again. We're a bit infrequent on this thread these days, but hopefully it's a sign of moving on from the dark days at the beginning when we were comparing notes on surgery and rads, and getting nervous before appointments. Happy birthday Janey, nearly forgot! I hope you had a lovely day, great weather for a birthday...   Love to all Xx     ... View more

Helena He did manage tò get away on Monday, though he still had long delays. This windy weather is getting on my nerves! ... View more

No, definitely not happy with it! My son should have been flying from Exeter tonight to Amsterdam but his plane has been cancelled. We have wet snow, not settling. It's hard to believe I was sitting outside in a t-shirt a few days ago. ... View more

Hi Simi I was diagnosed with 5cm of high grade DCIS, and was offered either mastectomy or lumpectomy. I was very concerned about the cosmetic outcome of both procedures since there was a large area to be removed. In the end, I chose to have a lumpectomy with oncoplastic reconstruction.  That is, during the op the surgeon moved around the remaining breast tissue to recreate the right shape, and resited the nipple. It did leave me with a significant size difference compared to my other breast, and I've since had reduction surgery to the other side to restore symmetry.   When you're first diagnosed, there is so much to get your head round, and you have to make decisions while you're still reeling in shock from the diagnosis. In the end, I followed my surgeon's advice and I've always been really glad that I did. I still have both breasts, the scars are barely noticeable and two years on, I have my life back. But I have been in your shoes and know how hard it is. So sending you a hug, wishing you all the best for the future.   ... View more

Oh dear Delly, that leak sounds a bit unfortunate! But maybe it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise, to give you a bit of a nudge to get on with finishing the job...I hope you get something sorted quickly.   Love to all the Fluffies old and new, hope you're all keeping warm in this weather. Xxx ... View more

Lee,  Happy New Year and congratulations on finishing treatment. The combination of chemo and radiotherapy must be really tiring, but hopefully will improve with time and rest. Hopefully you have some nice summer weather to sit in the garden with your feet up! Xxx ... View more

Happy New Year to everyone, I hope 2019 will turn out to be a great year for us all.😁 ... View more

Happy Christmas to friends old and new, and thanks for your company, jokes and wonderful cartoons over the last year. (specìal mention to Rubycat here!)   🎄🎄🎄🎁🎁 ... View more

Jak Lovely to hear it's gone so well, that knee has been a problem for so long. So this is the annoying stage that will lead to a new you when you're fully recovered and able to do things again, and pain free. My husband is three weeks past a hip replacement and improving really quickly now, hopefully by the time the weather is fit for long walks he will be as well, we had to put that on hold this year and most of last.     ... View more

Charys Funny, I was just thinking about how things were two years ago, it's  2 years ago today since I started radiotherapy. I was in such a state, and coming on here really changed everything for me. You were all wonderful and I felt massively supported just knowing other people going through this, and not having to pretend all the time. And there were lots of giggles along the way, we had lots of lighter moments too.   And here we are mostly still posting from time to time, and with newer voices too, what a good job you started this! ... View more

Janey, hope all goes well with your colonoscopy  today, big girl pants at the ready and us in your pocket. Tons of love   Helena I hope you enjoy your outing to the hairdresser today, after being stuck at home for so long.   Xxx     ... View more

It's better to build back up slowly Helena, your insides have been through a lot! ... View more

They told Mike that after his hip replacement he'll need to contact the insurers to see when he's covered to drive again. Hopefully it'll be no more than six weeks or I think we'll both be stir crazy! ... View more

Hi Lyn Usually the issue with having injections etc only arises if you're at risk of lymphodema on that side. It doesn't usually apply after WLEs for DCIS as we don't usually have any lymph nodes sampled. As far as I know there's nothing to worry about in terms of having injections or blood tests on that side unless you did have a sentinel node excision. I did have a flu jab after mine, and the nurse was careful to ask me about lymphodoema, so they do take it into account. Hope things have improved now. Xx ... View more

Afternoon fluffies! Just got back from on holiday to some beautiful weather here, we even got the grass cut. While we were away we came across a chapel dedicated to Saint Agatha, who is the patron saint of breast cancer sufferers. Okay, she does a whole heap of other things as well, (so to speak!) But I was tickled to find out we have our own saint.   Love to all Xxx     ... View more

Hi leilankita   I remember that feeling so well, I was knocked sideways by my diagnosis, mine was high grade DCIS, and every appointment I went to the news seemed to get worse and worse. I had two operations to remove the cancer and another two on the other side to create a match, plus radiotherapy and tamoxifen.   But I can see now that I was very lucky that it was DCIS,  I'm two years past treatment and it is in the past, I have about a 95% chance that this will not come back. The cosmetic results have turned out okay, I prefer my new smaller shape.   This stage seems overwhelming when you're first diagnosed, it feels like the world has collapsed around you. But you will get treated, and hopefully you will come out the other side and get your life back on track,  this experience changes the way you look at life. But there is a future after treatment, and life will be good again. Sending you a hug Xxx           ... View more

Hi Mouse I have private medical cover and expected to use it for my treatment. But when I discussed it with the surgeon he told me I wouldn't get anything by going privately that I wouldn't get anyway via the NHS . That certainly seemed to be true as regards surgery, but I then had long delays waiting for the oncology appointment and starting radiotherapy. The oncologist was quite frank that I wasn't a clinical priority as I only had DCIS and they prioritised women with aggressive and fast growing tumours.    I'm now more than two years past diagnosis, and able to take a more reasoned view of the delays and anxieties that I went through. And I'm left with the impression that when there's clinical evidence that treatment is needed urgently, the NHS will get a real move on. The problem for me was my anxiety levels were going through the roof and it seemed like no one was doing anything, so private treatment that speeded things up would have helped my mental state. But there would not have been any effect on outcomes in the end.   Everyone has different experiences, my family has dipped in and out of private treatment in the past. We paid for my son to see a consultant and moved his surgery date date forward by 5 months for the sake of a £200 private consultation (the operation itself was done on the NHS) So it can make a difference. But I'm not sure whether it does in urgent cancer cases.   I hope your mum comes on here where there are so many women who have been through the same experiences, this site was a real life saver for me. But you are doing a great job in supporting her, I'm sure you could do with support yourself, our families also go through so much. So sending hugs to you both.    Xx ... View more