Breast Cancer Now Forum

Anne, no, not offended nor scared - in fact it's good to hear of someone whose treatment is working well for them should I ever end up with secondaries. (Sorry if that sounds completely self-centred - I AM pleased for your sake too!) I couldn't agree more that the profile of lobular needs to be raised. I found a thickening at the beginning of last year and had a routing mammo in March. I was completely reassured when it came back clear - fortunately as I'd had bc before (in 1991) I got a bit twitchy when the thickening wasn't going away so finally managed to see the breast clinic in November. Another clear mammogram, and a clear ultrasound, and they tried to tell me the thickening was just left over scarring from the previous surgery. Fortunately the surgeon agreed with me that it wouldn't have just started in that case, so I had a biopsy. Finally I understood how easy it is to get to a 4cm tumour without noticing it! Fortunately I seem to do lazy cancers so it hadn't gone anywhere. I'm currently pondering whether to have a mastectomy on the other side or whether I'm just too completely hospitalled out to have more surgery. Enjoy the wine, Lynni - cheers Lyn ... View more

Apologies, I see that I addressed that to the wrong person - should have been for LolaP. And I used to be an editor... Lyn ... View more

Hi psheehan, I can't help with the problem, I do know where you're coming from but it's just one of the things that I eventually worked through. It was almost a relief when I found myself moaning about something trivial. What I would say, though (and forgive me if you think I have overstepped here) - if money is tight, be careful of putting too much faith in being able to earn a full-time living through freelance proofreading and editing. Unless you have a very specific expertise (like you can edit foreign or scientific texts) the competition is ferocious for the declining amount of work publishers do in editing their material. I used to work in electronic publishing and received an enormous number of applications for freelance work, none of which we used. Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear - and sorry it's not more help with the #### customers either. Lyn ... View more

It must also depend on what the PCT sees as the borough's most pressing needs - I see that the top 10 for spending in mental health are London boroughs (if you count West Essex as London). I find that relatively heartening - I don't want to start a "who's worst off" war here, but raising money for cancer charities is a doddle compared to trying to get money into mental health. So some of this may well reflect the fact that there are fewer resources available outside the NHS to help patients with other diseases. (I suspect I will need to retire to a bunker after this statement - but where's the Pink October for autism or dementia?) Lyn ... View more

And I should add further - in between making me laugh out loud, it made me think - good combination. Lyn ... View more

Rowena, 'Cancer made me a shallower person' is very funny, get it and read it - it made me laugh out loud. Warning - non-cancer people probably won't find it quite as funny as I did. Wonderful concept - from funeral orations, it's clear that everyone who dies of cancer had the fatal "she was so full of life" syndrome - well, it cracked me up anyway. Lyn ... View more

Unfortunately being a long time NED from breast cancer doesn't prevent you having another new one - I did 16 years NED before being diagnosed with a new primary in December last year. But that, of course, isn't the same as recurrence - something I've now had a lot of experience explaining. And I'm also getting used to handling the most frequent next comment - "Oh, well, that's all right then" Lyn ... View more

And I like this comment from an American journalist, Molly Ivins, who died of IBC - she wrote some great stuff about being a cancer patient - "I am one of those people who are out of touch with their emotions. I tend to treat my emotions like unpleasant relatives—a long-distance call once or twice or year is more than enough. If I got in touch with them, they might come to stay." Lyn ... View more

Ostrich, I opted out of reconstruction, but the issue isn't just where the scar is, it's also which muscles you use. If you're on the beat you probably have a fairly active lifestyle and choosing back or tummy muscle might make a difference. A delay while you talk to a plastic surgeon (and to people on here) is not going to make a difference to your survival. You're right, your husband is just panicking and wants it gone, but you do need to do the research so you will be happy with what you have. On being in denial - I'm pretty good at finding jobs that need doing, or a glass of wine, to stop myself thinking sometimes - I know I'm doing it, and so what. That's how I cope. Other times, I can think it through just fine - so let yourself not think about it if that's what works for you. Lyn ... View more

It does very much depend where you are - in north-west London, some hospitals now seem to discharge you back to your GP's tender care after 2-3 years if you had an "unproblematic" cancer. Thereafter the assumption is that you will find any problems that come up for yourself. My first diagnosis, in 1991, I was discharged back to GP after 5 years - this time round, from a second diagnosis in 2007, I understand I'll be discharged in 2010. I do know this doesn't suit a lot of people, but it works for me - I think I'm going to pick up any symptoms of recurrence before they do, and I really hate the whole hospital environment. Lyn ... View more

Avonlea - in the interests of copyright and honesty - the poem about fear actually comes from Frank Herbert, author of "Dune" - I'm afraid Sophia's little book may have lifted it without attribution. Not a good thing for her to do. Best, Lyn ... View more

Good site - it's fortunate we don't have quite the same pressure to reconstruction as they do in the States. I haven't had a reconstruction - I had bc back in 1991 on the same side, and had lumpectomy and radiotherapy, so my skin isn't really in a good enough state for implants, which I didn't fancy anyway, and I felt slicing one bit off my back to sort out a bit sliced off my front wasn't for me. Because I mostly work at home now, I don't even usually put a prosthesis in. Of course that means that sometimes I've ended up nipping out to the postbox or to the shops with no tit in - the first time, I was very conscious of it, after that I decided tough on anyone who was staring at me enough to notice. I had a Canadian friend who simply refused ever to wear a prosthesis (I think Audre Lord did too) on the basis that the rest of the world needs to get used to what bc pemanently means for women. I haven't quite got the face to go that far yet, but like Emily, I do find myself wondering about options for a mastectomy on the other side and get rid of all the hassle with bras and plastic. Lyn ... View more

Hi Lizbou, Were you given any contacts for a breast care nurse? If so, get on the phone to her and tell her you're coming to see her. If not, get on to the hospital and say you need to see someone on the team where you got your diagnosis. Squeak loudly - the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and too many of us are hesitant about bothering the medics. For what it's worth, it seems unlikely to me (as a patient and no other expertise) that the cancer would have progressed to a lump and be painful since you last saw someone, if you were diagnosed around two weeks ago. It might just be inflammation from an unconnected infection, but much more reassuring to have a professional have a look at it. Sitting at home wondering what's up now is just the pits. Look after yourself, and keep us posted, Lyn ... View more

Go for it - you do need to watch out for lymphoedema, but if you spend your whole life never doing anything that might be a problem, you're going to get bored enough to lie down on the railway tracks and get it over with. I was first diagnosed back in 1991, by 92 I had taken up scuba diving to go with the motorbiking I already did. Scuba involved some serious weight lifting - which no-one had told me was a bad idea - and some absolutely wonderful times. Within reason, don't limit yourself, and enjoy as much as you can! Lyn ... View more

Tracey, Don't know about NO side effects, but I've been on Arimidex since about March and I get a little stiff, and I have slightly creaky fingers - but nothing like the side effects that some people have. I think we hear about the people who are suffering because they're the ones who need some help and support. If it's doable, you don't post about it! I do hope your mum is one of us lucky ones with minor effects, arthritis is quite enough to be doing with on its own (oh, I do get the hot flushes, though!) Lyn ... View more

Signed and also passed it on to a community cancer centre I know of, so hopefully there may be a few more there. Lyn ... View more

Hi, Yes, she warned me about BP and injections - and thanks, Sam, have read the BCC leaflet. I'm probably panicking early because most people aren't going to be looking at their arm in quite the same way, or be so conscious of a very small degree of swelling. Lyn ... View more

Hi Bahons, Thanks for your input, and unfortunately, yes, I do have to go through her. What bugs me is that immediately pre-op, she gave me a long lecture about how forever in the future my arm was as delicate as crystal and the merest scratch or graze had to be washed and covered in antiseptic instantly. I know that having surgery in a nice sterile theatre is a different matter, but it makes it difficult to take her initial advice seriously if a 5-inch incision and being immobilised for a couple of months really isn't any risk! Lyn ... View more