Hello Ann, Tara and everyone, Well done on getting through the final treatment on Wednesday. Do you expect to have some tough days now? Were you still on FEC or on Docetaxel? I’ve found Docetaxel easier to handle, round 4 was a bit grim back and forth to hospital with side effects, but round 5 was the most manageable yet, no triage trips needed. Did you get to ring a bell? We don’t at our hospital but we do after radiotherapy in November. I’m having 2 weeks. I asked the Consultant were they still doing the condensed one week treatment at a higher dose and he says that is how radiotherapy is evolving - they used to do 5 weeks, then three, but trials in the last few years have showed that fewer sessions at a stronger dose are effective. I believe mine will be a week on the right breast and a further week more closely targeting the tumour area. It’s really only a precautionary clear up of any last cells lingering (could there be any after 6 x chemo?) and the consultant said it only offers about an extra 1% chance of cancer not recurring but I’m glad to have all the layers of treatment (tamoxifen is something like 7%). Tara, I had my tattoos done on Monday. Felt very cool telling my 15, 13, 10 year olds their boring old Mum has tattoos but they weren’t terribly impressed 😄 It’s horrible that you had bleeding, I didn’t have more than a pin prick. Throughout chemo I found I limited my reading on the forums and generally online, has done quite a bit to learn things early on but hadn’t the mental strength to cope with it after the treatment started. Recently I came across a sort of virtual conference bus Penny Brohn, about integrating other types of help around traditional treatments and I attended some of these sessions. They were very well run. I feel this will help me for the onward Journey to plan some of the things I know I need to improve (stress and exercise and sugar intake). Maybe some of you might like a look, I believe you can still get tickets for the recordings: https://yestolife.org.uk/event/your-life-and-cancer-2020-1/ All the best, Anna
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