Breast Cancer Now Forum

Hello again all Thanks for replying back and offering me all your support and advice. I moved from England to Ireland after the chemo was finished and I lost all my back up and support from the medical team that looked after me as well as leaving my family and friends behind, so when I find I have any worries or concerns then I feel there is no-one here to go to and feel quite lost at times, my GP is pretty useless and not the type you dare have a heart to heart with. I live in a very rural area and so changing GPs is not an option. This site is a god send and the support everyone offers is just unbelievable and very appreciated. I am going to give the helpline number a call as advised (when I get a quiet moment in the house). ... View more

I had Mastectomy and chemo back in 05 and had recon just 4 weeks ago and was also told that having recon should make no difference as the damage was already done. I must say that up to now although early days I know, I have noticed no ill effects at all in fact I have noticed an improvement but I know this is only due to having rested a lot to recover from the recon. I am hoping not to have to rest for too much longer though as I am desperate to get back on my horse again 🙂 ... View more

I am so glad I read this post as I have been treating myself for thrush as I thought that this was the cause of the itch that I get from time to time. I could not understand why the thrush treatments were not working. I would never have guessed it to be a side effect of the menopause. ... View more

Hi Everyone and THANK YOU SO MUCH. I went to see my surgeon and am now all sized up and ready to go. I have to be at the hospital by 7.45am on Monday and its a good 1 1/2 hours drive away. Not looking forward to the drive home LOL. Most of the way home is on bad country roads EEK!!!!! I am sooooooooooooooo scared its unreal but I have put it off now for 3 years and this time I am not backing out. I have spent today shopping for front opening PJ's and tops and getting on top of the cleaning as I know I may be out of action for a little while. The things us women have to go through. Love to you all Neenie xx ... View more

Hi Kookey I have been having these strange goings on too! I had Left cancer/mastectomy chemo but no rads. I haven't mentioned it to anyone, but I have been having problems with my heart jumping about and missing beats etc too and even get niggling little pains which I never had before the chemo. I had chemo 3 years ago and they started around that time although I just ignored it and put it down to one of those things! I thought it would settle but it hasn't. Sometimes my heart skips beats when I am asleep and it wakes me up and I have found that if I take a deep breath and hold it then it seems to settle it down quicker. I just thought I was a bit odd until I read your post and realised that there are others out there experiencing the same thing. Hugs Neenie xx ... View more

Hi Lou Thank you so much as I feel so much better about the op after hearing from you. I am off to see the surgeon now for sizing up apparently LOL, just want it all over and done with now. This time next week it will be too late to back out hehe! xx Neenie xx ... View more

Thanks so much Lou, its great to hear that I am not the only one who is having this done as a day case. They are hoping to get a permanent implant in on first go but if not then an expander will have to be used. Did you get sent home with any drains? Everyone who has recon seems to have drains and no drains have been mentioned to me and if drains are required how does this work as a day case? I really do hope I am making the right decision. Lou, I hope you don't mind me asking, but does your implant move upwards or is it held tight under the muscle? I know it may sound like a strange question but I am wondering if there is any movement at all like when you wear a push up bra or is the position quite fixed? Neenie xx ... View more

Hi I haven't posted on here for a while. I live an hours drive away from Belfast. I am 35 and was diagnosed back in 2005 and went through mastectomy and chemo and am considering reconstruction, went to see a surgeon in Belfast last week. How is your sister doing? How are you doing? Its so hard for everyone, I remember thinking to myself how much harder I thought it was for all my loved ones to see me going through the op and chemo etc. If I can help in anyway please feel free to contact me. Even if you just need a little support yourself and someone to talk things over with. Hugs Neenie xx ... View more

Hi I had a Hickman Line and it was my best friend. Flushing it was easy enough too. I was asleep when they fitted it as they did it at the same time as my mastectomy but I was awake when they removed it and with no sedation or anything and it was not sore at all and I mean that. They removed it in a hospital room and it was a very simple procedure. My 4 yr old Nephew also had it and he was great with his too. We both experienced stiff necks for a week or two after having it put in but that soon passed. Best wishes Neenie xx ... View more

Hi Sarah Mine were 1, 9 and 16 and I just decided to answer questions as they asked them. I found that they all came to me and asked little bits at a time which I explained as simply as I possiblly could and I found that it worked very well. My daughter (9) came to me and asked to see my mastectomy scar. I tried my best not to look shocked as it was totally out of the blue in the middle of a normal conversation as were most of her questions and tried to look matter of fact about the whole thing and explained to her what it looked like and then showed her, to which she replied 'is that it, gosh Mum its fine isnt it'? My 16 yr old son suprised me as he had a friend who had a brother who had been through cancer and he already knew more than me about chemo etc. He was of course worried and made me promise to tell him if things started to go wrong, I of course agreed and this seemed to be enough for him. He knew no news was good news. My 1 yr old never even made strange when I lost all my hair, but he noticed his nan had changed the colour slightly of hers! All I said to him when I knew my hair was getting ready to fall out was that I had taken medicine to make me better but that it would make Mummys hair fall out. As he got a little older he asked me where my other boob was and I told him that when I was sick and had lost my hair the doctors had taken it away, he then replied 'why dont you buy a new one in Asda'? I found that by staying as calm and as matter of fact about the whole situation and treatments etc as I possibly could (on the outside at least) in front of the children, they took my lead and seemed reasured by that. Sending you lots of hugs Neenie xx ... View more

It certainly does make sense and you are not a drama queen at all. Being honest it is the way I like to approach things. Some people think that I am being negative when I say that I look at the worst and almost prepare myself for it, but I am not negative, as anything better than what I have imagined is brilliant and something to be positive about. Neenie ... View more

Hi Lisa and Jill I am also not that good in crowds and at meeting new people, well unless I have had a glass of wine LOL and then you may find me dancing on top of a table somewhere without a care in the world LOL LOL! Nooooooo I am not quite that bad. I have thought it would be nice to be able to meet up with people that have or are going through the same thing as myself but do not know of any local groups. I know it must sound awful but what is the relay for life, I have not heard of it before, probablly as I am new to the area. Lisa, I also found that the chemo was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, I was only sick on the 1st night of my very 1st chemo and then I rang my doc and they gave me some different anti sickness tablets and they worked brilliantly. I actually had a much better social life during my time on chemo, my Mum was a little more keen to do some babysitting which I did take full advantage of while it lasted LOL. It was my friends birthday and we all dressed up as naughty nurses and went out around Liverpool and had a fantastic night, I had lost my hair by that stage and so bought a really over the top long sexy wig which just added to the whole naughty nurse look LOL. I also went twice to a big theme park called Alton Towers and left my wig at home and just wore a bandanna (I was afraid of losing my wig on one of the crazy rides). The list goes on and on believe me, I think I realised life was to be lived. I basically just tried to carry on as normal as possible and to enjoy myself whenever I had the energy too. On one of my visits to the hospital for chemo, I met a lady who was just back from a weeks skiing holiday which she had fitted in around her chemo sessions, her doctor had not been totally pleased with it but had let her go anyway as he obviously new it was pointless to try and stop her as she too had the new lease of life that many seem to experience after the big diagnosis. What I am trying to say, is life can go on even during chemo, I did find that the tiredness did take a hold on the last 2 sessions of my chemo but I did push myself to the max I suppose. I was also, of course, really worried about losing my hair and what everyone around me would think, especially my children who where then 1, 11 and 17. My 1 year old never even seemed to notice anything different about me despite seeming to notice that my mum had coloured her own hair differently LOL, and my 11 and 17 year olds told me I had a cute round head lol and still happily brought their friends round to our house and never seemed to want to lock me in any cupboards in shame LOL in fact they seemed very proud of me and it brought us all so much closer. I didn't really wear my wig very much once I got used to being hairless, I mainly wore a bandana or a hat as I felt more comfortable like that but went quite happily around the house and in the garden and in front of my friends with no wig or bandana on. Everyone seemed fine with it and why shouldnt they be, its only hair!! I think that once they seen I was OK with it then they relaxed. My best friend told me that before I lost my hair she was worried and realised that it was only because she was afraid that I would be embarrassed about being bald and she didn't know how she was going to be able to handle it as so not to upset me even more but once she seen how relaxed I appeared to be (at first it was just for show of course) she relaxed and she just seen me as me. You just have to take things at your own pace and do whatever you are most comfortable with and whatever helps you get through all this the best way you can and hang on to your sense of humour and always remember that you are not going through all this alone. Wow thats a bit long hey! We really should all try and meet up someday and save our fingers from repetitive strain injuries LOL. Will catch up with you all again very soon, well the next time I can get my daughter to come off the computer that is and let me on it LOL. Big hugs Neenie xx ... View more

Hi Everybody, I hope I can maybe help you feel a little more positive by possibly giving you back some hope in hearing my own experience of Lymphodema. I have had it for almost 3 years now after a mastectomy and full axilla clearance (left side). I have it in the whole of my arm and it extends up into my back. I was totally devastated and thought I would never be able to do all the things I really enjoyed in life and treated my arm almost like a ticking time bomb, but thankfully over these past 3 years I have discovered that I can still do the things I love but just with more care than before. I am crazy about horses and own one myself which involves a lot of excercise and carrying of heavy equipment etc. I ride at least 3 times a week (and fall off quite regularly LOL). I do have a bit of weakness in the effected side which I know is because I have learnt to live with the lymphodema and so unconsiously use the effected side a little less, for example, I carry the heaviest shopping bags in my good hand or if the horse is playing up then I hang on to him using my good hand taking up most of the pressure. It becomes second nature to look after the effected side a little more. I know everyone is different but I hope hearing from someone else also effected by lymphodema and still managing to live a fairly normal life can give you some hope and lift your spirits a little. Wishing you all the best and sending big hugs to everyone now having to deal with Lymphodema. Neenie xx ... View more

Thanks for your replies lillacblushes. I will deffinatley have to phone my previous hospital and ask about my notes and will try and use the ask the nurse on this site. No one has ever mentioned pregnancy to me and I am curious as my partner keeps it to himself but I know he would love a baby. I started to think about it but worry about rocking the boat as I am doing well and now nearly 3 years post dx. Woooohoooo yey! I was wondering if being only slightly hormone receptive could be a good or bad thing with regards to prognosis and possible risks of reocurrences and also pregnancy. I really wish I had thought to ask all these questions at the time! Ignorance in my case is deffinatley not bliss. Neenie xx ... View more

Hi I am basically trying to find out more as I moved to Northern Ireland form England a year ago so have had to change Doctors, Onc etc. I am under a General Surgeon, no oncs etc and to be honest they don't have much info on me at all and keep asking me questions on my appointments which is a little worrying. They said they have received my notes but that they are very minimal as is common when medical notes are transfered (I dont know why only minimal notes are sent, I would assume all notes should be sent especially regarding anything relating to cancers etc.) I was originally given tamoxifen which I stopped taking (not long after starting on it mainly due to severe depression due to other major problems all happening at once). I have asked would it be beneficial at my stage to go back on it and no one seems to know. I also ask as I would like to know if I was to get pregnant how dangerous it could be or would it be ok to carry on with a pregnancy with regards to hormones and also possible prognosis etc. Any info would be interesting and very much appreciated. Neenie xx ... View more

Hi Ladies I know this is from May but I just noticed it. I have found that I am better to wear a sports bra as it stays in place better. I send off for pockets from the internet and sew them in myself as best I can. I have lost count of the Mastectomy Bras I have tried and never been totally happy with. I find they move or ride up or across etc. My good old sports bras are not the prettiest but are so much more secure and I find give me a better shape too. If I want to wear pretty bras then I wear my Contact Light prosthesis, mainly for special occasions of if I need to wear a strapless bra, but nothing beats my sports bras for support and fit and security, I have even taken to buying clothes dye to change the colours of them as I have found they only usually come in white or black or natural. I hope this may be of some help to someone as I know how hard and dissapointing the bra shopping experience can be for lots of us. Neenie xx ... View more