Breast Cancer Now Forum

The last sentence should read has anyone found a way to get rid or at least get relief from it ? ... View more

Hi just wanted to say that a lump that goes up and down in size is most often benign but obviously you need to be sure. I hope this proves to be the case for you. The wait is the worst regardless of the result, your head will be spinning until you know for sure , but you will get a lot of support on here. So thinking of you and all the best for your appointment . Nicci x ... View more

I work in an outpatient clinic and at the end of each consultation the doctor dictates a letter to be sent to be typed up by the consultant secretary, and sent to the gp practice. The letter from the consultant to the gp normally takes about two weeks to get to the gp after your visit ( or that is the case in the hospital I work in). If your gp is saying they have not recieved a letter, phone the hospital and ask for the consultants secretary,and tell them what the gp has said ,and request that a further letter be sent to them.They may say that the gp has to request a copy ( some hospitals have different policies). There is no reason why your gp couldn't contact the hospital and then phone you with the results. Most hospitals have the test results in a central computor data base which can be accessed at any time in a matter of minutes. As lulu34 says maybe it's time to find a gp practise that you feel more confident in and comfortable with.Just one doc who knows you well to go over it and through it with you. Nicci x ... View more

I was told it can take a year from the end of treatment before you feel pretty much normal. Everyone is different but don't knock your pan in to meet what you feel are the expectations and needs of your colleagues ,you may feel that you should(I certainly did) but I'm sure your work won't want you to. My brain was still chemo fried at the point your at, so your recovering a lot quicker than I did.Phased return is definitely the way to go.The best advice I can give is listen to your body very closely when it says stop do it. I went back a year after treatment ended to a very physical job,( I was an auxiliary nurse in a surgical ward and out patient clinic) and still found it very tiring, I also found I was very sore and was back on the pain killers within 2 days. As I said you sound like you have recovered very quickly which is great but don't put your recovery at risk. If your not under pressure to go back then take advantage of it and set yourself physical goals before going back to see how much you can do before you have to rest. It might make it easier to go back if you have a good understanding of how quickly your body is catching up with your brain. Let your body rule your head for a while. ... View more

Made me stop and think bout how much pressure I have placed on myself. Between meds for epilepsy,19mth old baby,work, and the 5yr chemo hangover, the tiredness and stress never really gets less, and the guilt at not being as good as others at daily tasks gets worse. Wish I'd known about this when I was diagnosed ,it would have been the best way to explain it, and maybe it will work now for the epilepsy. Sometimes I found that it was those closest who understood the least. The sister of a friend is about to go through it all soon, and I think the spoons is one of the most helpful bits of advice I could give her. ... View more

Big congrats . I had my 19mth old girl 3.5 yrs after mast,recon,chemo,and rads. I breastfed her for the first 2mths. I had to stop due to mastitis. I loved it while it lasted and wished it could have lasted longer(I had fed my son for a year). I was so thrilled to be able to do it after everything that had happened. It made me feel sort of normal, yet very special. With only the one breast the mastitis brought things to a swift end, as i couldn't keep the milk going. There was a degree of guilt as my daughter has been ill often yet my son is rarely ill. All in all a wonderful experience that I thought would never happen, but she's here and it did. So very pleased for you. Nicci xxxx ... View more

Thank you ladies. Since I posted last my mum has been told it is also in her pelvis and her ribs. She will have a full body ct scan to see where they need to aim the radiotherapy, she will also be getting 6 doses of taxotere. In a way this is good news as they wouldn't be offering her so much if they didn't think it would make that much difference. They gave her some sort of acid to help relieve the neck pain and the nerve problem causing her fingers to be numb with pins&needles. When I talked about christmas, I, at the time ,just meant the first christmas without her, but looking back I probably had it in mind that she might not be here for this christmas as it all seems to have come on so quickly. Your right Linda, it mostly is my darkest fear, as the oncologist said she maybe would have a year but I have worked in an oncology ward and have heard the docs say many times that they can only really guess and there is no way to know that she will get that much time. The baby side of things started when my mum was first diagnosed. I have fertility problems and whilst mum was being treated we talked about how she had to get well and see me finally get pregnant and have a baby. She has gotten to do that, and she even got the auburn haired boy that she wanted!{I aim to please}. So this diagnosis has come whilst I'm in the process of trying again hence the goal of getting pregnant as soon as possible. Your right scottishlass there is only so much I can do but part of me needs to do this as it represents the living life as normally as possible that mum wants us to, but, there is the fact that it is not normal and that we can't ignore the "pink elephant in the room" as it were. Peppapot I know from other times, and other people, that what seems like little things often mean the most, just like the hug I got from my friend at the school gate today, all she said was "will you cry if I give you a hug?" and kissed me on the head{I'm 4'11" she is 6'} some people make it easy to just be. The support on here makes it easier to cry, something that I spend all day trying not to do and I know I need to. Thank you for being there. ... View more

Hi I had picc line put in after 3rd fec as it took 5 atempts to cannulate and was excruciatingly painful. I can only say I wish I had had it put in before the whole thing started. I had all the glands removed from one side so it meant they could only use one side for all blood tests as well as treatments. I worked in oncology for a while so I asked for the picc line to be put in and the onc agreed at once . The community nurse came round to check the dressing and they taught my husband how to flush the line with sterile water to make sure the line was ok. It was the best thing I ever asked for and I would recommend it to anyone. Not everyone feels comfortable with it but it did make life much easier when it came to treatments etc. It only took 20mins to put it in and be talked through the care side of things, I did like having to get my hubby to wash my back when i had my bath and as we didn't have a shower that wasn't an issue. As for keeping it clean again that is something the community or practice nurse at your gp can do. hope all goes well. ... View more