Breast Cancer Now Forum

Lefteye sorry to hear you've been affected by covid too. Hopefully your rads can go ahead! The end is in sight! xx ... View more

Sorry to hear about your appointments shablah, that's rubbish. I haven't had anything cancelled, just doing it all by phone mostly. I've done 5 of 8 rounds of chemo, started docetaxel with pertuzumab and trastuzumab on 11/12 May. My arm was very painful and turned out I had a 14cm blood clot (yay) so they put a PICC in straight away. Much prefer it to cannulas which were making me very anxious (and the pain of course!). I've found docetaxel MUCH harder than EC so far, felt awful for about 11 days, but am in the third week now and feeling mostly much better.  Hope your appointments are back on again soon xx ... View more

Thanks Jem, yes, they just told me I'll be in I we two days - pertuzumab the first day and wait for an hours, the trastuzumab and docetaxel the second day and wait for 6 hours. I'm also going to need a PICC line as my veins were reluctant today! Good thing as I'm getting increasingly squeamish and nervous about cannulas and needles as the weeks go on...   Glad you have a slot sorted with Asda, it's such a weight off knowing you can get food! I've definitely taken it too much for granted in the past xx ... View more

Thanks for checking in! Glad to hear your lump was scar tissue, that must have been such a worry for you.   My treatment hasn't changed, I'm in hospital today for an echocardiogram and my fourth round of EC before moving on to docetaxel, trastuzumab and pertuzumab. Being cooped up in a flat with a 4yo and a baby and no garden isn't much fun but fortunately I'm a natural hermit so not the end of the world  😉 The hardest thing has been getting hold of food but some lovely friends and neighbours have been helping and we now have priority delivery slots (when we can get them) plus I've been using local businesses for top ups and emergency supplies. Costing a fortune!   I'm loving my walk to hospital and back, have to say 🙂 I've been here pretty much weekly for scans, chemo, bloods etc. Otherwise I've been out a few times to take my son out for some fresh air and on his bike, just avoiding shops really. Except the M&S in the hospital as I figure I'm already here so it's not really an increased risk!    Good news is my tumour has shrunk by about half so far. They found another lesion but it's small and they're not going to biopsy it as apparently it wouldn't change their plan to do a mastectomy. I'm still very nervous/scared about surgery but it's at least another 14-16 weeks away so no point worrying. ... View more

Thanks all. I didn't have any injections, just steroids and anti nausea pills for the first few days.    I'm still feeling crappy on day 14, awful cough and sore mouth. Hoping it passes soon! Exhausted from lack of sleep as well. Got some manuka honey although it's not very strong as it's so expensive! But hopefully it'll help. Does anyone know if I can use bonjela for the ulcer? It's too painful to eat and drink now.   Looking forward to feeling better! Next chemo a week today.   Hope you're all okay x ... View more

How is everyone? I'm feeling less well now post-chemo - have felt very cold-y/flu-ey for most of this week, everything aches, sore throat and headache and now a cough too 🙁 Doesn't help I'm only getting 3 hours' sleep a night! I'm napping when I can.   Jemma did you continue to feel okay? I'm on day 13 now. ... View more

Hope you're all doing okay! Thanks for checking in, Shablah.   First round of chemo has been fine, I felt quite positive going in and have been really lucky I think as the side effects have been minimal. I'm more wiped out than usual, even accounting for the newborn, but overall it's not a patch on last week's stomach bug!! So can't complain.   How are you doing? x ... View more

*different direction!! ... View more

My mum lives 60 miles away sadly! Hers was DCIS so she had very similar treatment to you and no chemo fortunately.    All three cousins on my dad's side are also being treated for BC at the moment, they're all 20-odd years older than me so it hit around menopause for all of them. They're all 60 miles away in a Dufy direction. Would be nice to have some family support with cancer treatment and a new baby but never mind!     ... View more

Glad to hear radiotherapy is going well! My mum has just got halfway through with hers too. Her main issue has been that it's been at different times every day which makes it really hard to plan work around!   Baby is doing really well, she's a little superstar 😊   I was meant to start chemo last Monday, turned up and was in the chair ready to go and it turned out they didn't have my drugs ready. Rebooked for Thursday but then we all came down with a stomach bug on Weds so had to cancel. Trying again on Monday!! I'm having 4 cycles of EC then 4 cycles of docetaxel with targeted drugs (forget the names but one is Herceptin), then will have the targeted therapy for another 14 cycles after that. And surgery and rads too although not sure of the timings.   I still can't decide whether or not to cold cap. Partly I feel like it's a lot of extra time and hassle and then potentially I'll have rubbish hair which I'll be self conscious about, whereas if I don't I'll at least know I'm definitely going to lose it. But I've also heard that it reduces the risk of permanent follicle damage, and I wonder if it's at least worth trying. But then I burnt my hand the other day and had to hold it under cold water and only managed about 2 minutes as the cold was unbearable... 🤣   How is everyone else doing?  ... View more

Sorry I've been a bit absent. Had my baby girl this afternoon! She's doing well although is very small and has been admitted to the special care unit for help with her breathing. Glad I'll never have to go through childbirth again!!! ... View more

Thanks for asking! We decided to deliver baby first so that will be this week. Hopefully will know exactly when after tomorrow's scan. Also had a pre op assessment today and have been referred for an MRI after baby is here so they can decide the best course of treatment.   How was your appt Friday Shablah? And Jemma, how was your first round of chemo?    Re mastectomies, I was told it's a 90 minute op or thereabouts and is day surgery which is partly why I'd prefer that without recon! Don't know yet though if I'll have surgery first or chemo - will have to wait for baby / MRI / team's decision. It will have been a couple of months from my diagnosis to starting treatment which makes me a bit nervous but hey!   Thinking of everyone x ... View more

Sending loads of luck and hugs for tomorrow Jemma!   And glad to hear you're recovering well Shablah.   I'm now off sick from work until baby arrives, no decision yet but looks likely it'll be next week. Things may change though, seeing obstetrician and consultant on Fri.   Hugs to all! x ... View more

Thanks Shablah! It was on the 1st and I had a nice day thank you 😊   Glad to hear you're doing okay and keeping up the exercises.   I had the results of my biopsy on Thurs, the extra calcification they found is DCIS so I'll need a mastectomy. But we have to decide whether to have surgery before delivering baby (in which case they won't be able to do a sentinel node biopsy) or deliver baby first so they can do the full screening for me. If we go with the latter I'll be induced in less than two weeks' time at 34 weeks! No idea what to do but everyone seems to be leaning towards the latter option as it's potentially slightly better outcome for me. I'm not ready to meet this baby yet!! We're going to end up with two children very close together in terms of birthdays as my son's 4 on the 20th...   Hope everyone is doing okay xx ... View more

Well done! Rest up and do your exercises, my mum said they're important!   Happy new year to you all xx ... View more

Yes, good luck Shablah! Hope it goes well, you'll be enjoying a post-op cuppa in no time 😊 x ... View more

Well we're all in the same (or very similar) boat right now! I hope you can relax a bit over the weekend x ... View more

If it's any consolation I'm absolutely terrified of surgery, and the prospect of possibly having multiple types over the next few months fills me with dread. If I need a mastectomy I can't see that I'll cope with reconstruction as well as I can't even think about it without feeling sick! But I'm trying to take one day at a time and things will feel more 'normal' when they're actually happening! My BCN said everyone has something that worries them and that thing is different from person to person. My hospital has a BC support group which meets every month, is there anything like that near you? Could be good to meet others who've been through it or are going through it, especially as you found the someone like me service so helpful xx ... View more

Glad your appt went well Jemma, great news that the CT and MRI were clear! And glad your surgery went well lvp84.   Shablah, has your BCN spoken to you about emotional support? Is there any self-referral available on the NHS where you are? I think it's totally normal to be feeling emotional and anxious at this stage especially since you're still waiting for the full information. I was definitely in shock the first week or two but even though I don't have a treatment plan yet I feel much better 3 weeks after diagnosis, just trying to stay busy and remind myself that nothing will.change with worrying. But if you're really struggling please reach out, there will be people out there who can listen and support! x ... View more