Breast Cancer Now Forum

Thanks Swissmiss, have had a brief surfette through the pages you posted (not all were there/accessible) and haven't had to change my undies. I believe my brief reading and brain have deduced thus so far but tell me if I have grabbed the wrong end of the stick!! There does seem to be a debate over the affect of micrometastases on long term survival though it does appear they aint great for your long term chances, it is not clear whether the micrometastases are being spotted more nowadays due to a change in testing/staining, someone has decided an arbitrary cut off point for size from when your individual cancer cell becomes a micometastases and thus whether you should be treated as node + or - and therefore have adjuvent therapy and there seems to be some debate over whether the smaller bits are a break off from surgery or actual spread. Many of the studies seem to be in relation to sentinel node biopsies and whether these are useful in determining treatment through the discovery of micro mets however mine were discovered following clearance after my mastectomy so I have no idea whether any of the nodes removed following that were sentinel nodes. Hmm, lots of things wurring around in head but not in a bad way. Am now keen to see my path report and try to order the thoughts in my head so that I can go and see Oncologist like a sensible well read patient but not a having swallowed a whole load of medical journals neurotic patient 🙂 ... View more

Thanks Jo, having just posted a whole heap of questions under another thread on micro metastases under this topic I think I will email the nurse. ... View more

Just got to say i had mammo when b/feeding and it didn't hurt a bit!! And i'm a wimp too....xx.. ... View more

I was shouting EIGHT...just to be clear that it wasn't confused with three. 3 and 8 can be mistaken. Sorry! Jane ... View more

Thanks everyone for kind comments, I think you're right Emily, it's the little things that can really bring you down on chemo. My eyes have been running constantly for over six weeks and now my nails are so painful and look disgusting - am a sorry sight and to be honest is making me feel really low. Oh well, hope the antibiotics start to kick in soon, good to hear they worked for you Jeanie. Don't know how long nails are supposed to take to get back to normal Swissmiss, I did ask my bc nurse but she said 'everyones different' which seems to be the answer to all my questions! Hope your nails survive Pauline, think I was just unlucky to have picked up an infection (I did take the children pond dipping a week or so ago so it could have been that!). Take care all, Love Louisa xxx ... View more

Hi I was dx at 36 weeks pregnant. My tips are like the others posted here: take any help take it easy when you can ask for help from the hospital- i have heard of social services paying for child care if needed good luck and it can be done!! I cant believe how many of us are here with young babies, although the lovely H is a 2 year old now 🙂 Remember there are mums all over the world in extraordinary circumstances. Your children will not judge you, so try not to judge yourself. My partner has disabiliites so I knew it would be a bit different for us, just didnt realise how different. xxsam ... View more

Dear Swissmiss Good to hear you have finished your herceptin. I'm also on tamoxifen. I'm getting on OK with it. However, I have put on over a stone in weight and of recent, it's been getting me down. Whilst I know it's not a serious problem, it does affect how you feel about yourself. I would like to think that now we are coming into a better period of weather I can lose some weight. Must try hard! I finished my treatment in November 2005. However, I have had medical negligence - GPs refused me a mammogram on three occasions saying I had nothing to worry about and I was not eligible for a mammogram as I was under 50. You could say I have had a double blow. By the time I put myself into the system my cancer was at Stage 3 and I had 15 lymph nodes with cancer. I am taking it further and I guess for this reason, BC is never far away in my mind. I do lots of campaign work which I find helps my psychological state. My e-Petition finishes on the 23 March 2008 so if any of you care to support it that would be great. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/JeannieBC/ With regards to perineural, I have taken the following wording from a cancer site. "Sometimes breast cancer cells grow around the little nerves that are in the breast. This is called perineural invasion". I think you are correct in your understanding about it being invasion of the nerves. My BC was found within the perineural channel which I see as a lymph channel that surrounds a nerve trunk. Whilst I know we cannot change things, I personally feel I benefit from knowing what I had etc. I met a lovely lady when I was first diagnosed. She said to me knowledge was power and I have to say I agree with her. I didn't want to know anything when I was first diagnosed. From memory, I think it was about a year before I started to get interested, then I went like a sponge and absorbed everything. I'm now three years down the line and I would like to think I have a more balanced approach to it all. Love Miss Blobby (Jeannie) ... View more