Breast Cancer Now Forum

Hi Paula, I'd be grateful if you could post how you get on as I've not seen it mentioned here before. My understanding is that it's still a hormone treatment but progesterone rather than oestrogen . I've only been in it for 3 weeks now but it does seem to be doing the trick. Good luck x ... View more

Hi , I've been on tamoxifen for 2 half years now and also had ovaries removed in January, the past few months have been horrendous with continuous sweats . Eventually I went to doctors as was fed up with arms sticking to desk at work ! Doctor spoke to oncologist and I was prescribed megace. What a difference. Sweats are few and far between and an added bonus is that I no longer have any joint or general bone pain. Sorry I kind of rambled in there but it is so nice to feel human again and I even felt cold last night!!! ... View more

Hi beaudiddley i had my ovaries removed in January, 2 things swung them to decide this was best option 1 my periods were returning and therefore hormone level was higher 2 I had cysts that were not going away and changing I was a bit shocked when gynae suggested this, then thought , actually they're right as it decreases my recurrence rate and stops the worry of ovarian cancer. the op itself was easy and other than uncomfortable bloating after , there wasn't too much pain. now I have painful joints and moods wings but I think this is as a result of the chemo and tamoxifen and perhaps aggravated a bit by lack of ovaries. (I have ovaries and tubes removed) the other side is that I no longer have any concerns about anything going wrong down there and I no longer have any pain so I am glad I went ahead with it. My flushes are no worse than they were before. it was a big decision, not family wise as I have all the children I want (would have been horrified if I fell pregnant!) but it just because I was losing yet another bit of my body. nb there is no genetic history for me. good luck deciding & hope it goes well if that's what you choose. ... View more

Hi Poppy333 i had similar experience. After scans I was also told had cyst, they left this 3 months then rescanned to see if it had disappeared as this is quite normal. My cyst was still there and had changed to multiseptated (no idea what that is). I was referred to gynae who made the decision to remove the cyst, ovaries and Fallopian tubes. The decision was taken as a precautionary measure. I had the op 3 weeks ago and have to say feel better than I have for months. ... View more

Hi glad I found these posts as I have just had bilateral salpingo opphorectomy on Wednesday. Mine was recommended following scans showing cyst that had changed to multiseptated (whatever that is) over few months. Think along with other symptoms I was having they decided to take all rather than just cyst. I'm 47 now so not huge loss I suppose, although i do feel that I am beginning to lose more body parts than I would like to. Still on tamoxifen for another 3 years then will be moved to something else. However, main reason for post is that now you ladies are a good few months post op have you had any problems. I thought i would experience menopausal symptoms straight away but actually feel so much better than I did before op! Is this normal what can I expect in coming months? Thanks for any advice, currently I'm a bit bewildered by it all ... View more

Thanks Lulu34 Think it reduces risk of recurrence as I was strongly eostrogen +ve. There is no concern that I carry the brca gene as there appears to be no family history. The main reason for removal seems to be the fact that i have this cyst and have already had bc. Ultimately, i trust the docs and that they are doing this for my benefit and as Ov is difficult to diagnose it can only be good, just wish I could see into the future to see if its really necessary. ... View more

Now I understand what bumps about! ... View more

Hi Fiona So glad it isn't just me that kept blocking the flow! Your veins will probably stay a bit tender and mine had little hard lumps after a bit, but this was all fine. I also only had the one injection the day after, I went to docs to get this done, couldn't imagine doing it myself, it also made me het out and do something the following day rather than just spend the day in the house. Glad it all seems to be going well for you, hope your results are as good as everyone elses seems to be. Whilst I remember, one more se I had was a constant runny nose (not sure if this was because I had no hair in my nose!) and about half through really watery eyes. There were times I could see people looking to see if I was crying, quite embarassing! I found the spray that you put on closed eyes really helpful & sunglasses as they also seemed to be sensitive to light. x ... View more

Hi - I was on trial 2 years ago. I had 3 Tax with Avastin 1 Fec with Avastin then a further 2 Fec. I ended up in hospital the week after my first treatment with neutropenia. They pumped me full of antibiotics and all was well, after that I had the neublasta? jab the day following treatment to pick things back up. During 2nd treatment I had a reaction to treatment so they had to stop and give me intravenous antihistamines. Was all bit odd as I couldn't stop sneezing and my face was on fire! Nurses were terrific and very quick. All was quiet for the following treatments, although if I remember rightly I had extra steroids and piriton before treatment. I had treatment on a Tuesday, the Wed & Thurs were okayish, Friday I was completely floored could do nothing but sleep. After that things picked up again, found the tiredness lasted longer with FEC. Side effects not nice but definitely doable and like Ali H had good results with one tumour disappearing, one shrinking by a good deal and the other just not caring and staying put!! Originally had 3 nodes with cancer cells and this reduced to 1 after treatment. Treatment finished just before New Year, had mx in Feb and then 20 rads in April. Now everything is still good, prognosis was very good. They downgraded me from 3 to 2 so all in all definitely worth it. ... View more

Hi - I'm due to get this done Monday as a filler prior to a reconstruction. Apparently they can't do a reconstruction on the BC side as there is too much damage from rads and there is nothing to build on. Has anyone else had this done in this way? Apologies if this is answered in this thread already and I've just not picked it up, chemo brain still very much in existence 2 years later!! ... View more

Elf, I was also exactly the same. All the way through treatment I kept myself positive and really had no doubts that all the treatments would get rid of the cancer and that would be that. I had chemo before my op and rads after and I can remember almost skipping out the hospital after my last rads. That was April last year, by the September I was a wreck. Same as you, every ache & pain sent me into a frenzy. It got to the point where I couldnt sleep and my anxiety level was suffocating. Like runnergirl, I went to docs and was prescribed anti depressants. The relief of getting a full nights sleep was amazing and eventually losing the fear that the 'worst' was going to happen is bliss. I only needed to take them for about 4 months. I still have some and if I have trouble sleeping then i take one as I find they knock me out within 20 minutes. I've no guilt doing this, after all we've been through and with all the SE's we still have to put up with, we deserve to make our lives as comfortable & easy as possible.x ... View more

That's awful. I know from my appointment with Occ health whilst going through everything that i was 'protected' by the disability act. This I think meant that they had to give time off. Not sure what it all entailed exactly but i know they had to be careful not to breach it. This must be the same for everybody. I hope it all goes well for you, you don't need the additional hassle on top of everything else, but as you say, having to go through all the treatments and facing the unknown does give you strength you may never have had before. I've always been a bit of a woose too! Good luck & hope they get their comeuppance. x ... View more

Sorry hit the wrong button there. I think you're being brave putting yourself first and think you're right to do this. Are you able to take long term unpaid leave, this could give you the time you need to get yourself back in the 'right' place ... View more

Hi FluffyChick I wish I had the courage to do what you are doing. I just keep hoping that redundancies would hit my team again and if they do my hand will be up there. At the moment I'm waiting for an oppointment for my reconstruction and whilst I'm desperate to have this done I'm eually desperate to have the weeks off recuperating. Think it's a bit sad I feel like this ... View more

I admit I would happily give up work. Whilst I was off it seemed like a luxury to be able to manage house, children & dog etc at a pace that seemed normal instead of the 'trying to do everything' which I seem to have fallen back into. Walk the dog, clean the house, go to work.........I realise this isn't the life I want on a full time basis, I want to enjoy things a bit more and i want my family with me to do that, however, how do you change this when financially it's not possible?? Sorry for sounding so pessimistic but I don't want to waste time in case something changes for the worst. Is this just normal feelings, does this change and settle in time? I'm not unhappy with each individual thing I do, just the way they are all lumped together in a never ending cycle. I think I'm looking for that magic answer. ... View more

My last chemo was end of December 2010, by the time I had my op in the middle of Feb 2011 my hair was coming back. I madwe a decision at that point to try drop the wig. i wasn't entirely brave enough though and once back home some days I wore the wig others I didn't, quite funny as i could see the confusion on the shop keepers face as my hairstyle continually changed!! By the time I went for rads at beginning April I was wig free and using the colours. not sure when it all returned to normal, actually think my hair is more like it was in my 20s as opposed to the hair i started off my 40s with. The colour I'm not sure about, it is grey in part but it seems to have a sligt tinge to it. Over Christmas I bought a colour stripper so i could see the real colour but either it didn't work or it's not the same grey as it was. Very odd, but not unwelcome, feels like a small prize after all the horrible stuff ... View more

Hi, practically from the word go. Once my hair had grown enough that you could then see the grey, about 1/2 inch. There seemed to be a huge amount of grey to begin with but its not as bad now. ... View more

If you can still get hold of it try using using Wella Toners & Shaders, these were a blessing when my hair started to come back in. You use like shampoo but leave for a couple minutes. ... View more