Breast Cancer Now Forum

All perfectly normal. I drove my poor hubby mad...one minute I was all positive...the next, sobbing, fearing the worst. The poor thing didn't know what to do to help me. It gets easier.x ... View more

I was diagnosed with grade 2 idc aged 36. I didn't need a mastectomy so cannot advise you about reconstruction but my biopsy was the same as my final result after surgery. The only thing different was that the lump was a bit larger than the scans had measured, but not much. I do think they are pretty accurate. My little boy was 3 at the time and he can only remember bits of what went on. I have an amazing husband who did so much to help me during good days and bad. Just except help and you will get through it fine. I am now 38 and life goes on as it did before....but you are different for what you have faced and overcome.x  ... View more

Hi Kat87 My cancer breast did go a bit more veiny and there was some cording in it after all the prodding, poking and biopsies but it went back to normal again after the surgery.   ... View more

Hi Julo  I was diagnosed at 36 too. Had Grade 2 IDC and 1x positive lymph node. Had surgery , chemo then rads and my treatment finished January this year. I started Tamoxifen in December but my hot flushes had already started in the November as the chemo had sent me into the menopause. I was offered egg freezing (or whatever they call it) but I already have a little boy and was not planning any more. I take the Tamoxifen at bedtime as it does make me feel a bit dizzy. When I get up to the  loo in the night I feel a bit whoozy and at the beginning felt nauseous, but that stopped. I get calf muscle cramps every morning but I also have Multiple Scelrosis so it could be that rather than the Tamoxifen. I have the Wockhardt brand which some people find horrid but I don't have any real complaints. The 12 months post diagnosis will be hard and will pass in a blur but you will feel better this time next year, honest.   Good Luck mandyj.xx ... View more

Hi Barbarino My understanding of it is that you must have a healed wound before rads as the skin will break down further if its not healed, and you don't want that. I was told that they like to start rads no longer that 6 weeks after chemo but as you have not had any chemo you may be able to have it at any time. Ask your onc, they will tell you what the time span should be. mandyj.x ... View more

Hi Art Just been reading your thread and I thought I would pop in to say I am a year down the line and feeling great. I too had IDC Grade 2 but had the surgery before the chemo and rads. Your lives will change forever after a cancer diagnosis as you will see things so differently and much more clearly. Plan your honeymoon for next year as this gives you a goal and you will want a holiday after the treatment is done. I believe that your honeymoon will have even more meaning next year, in many different ways, as over the next 12 months you will really get to know one another more than you ever thought you would. Be there for her whatever she says, screams, shouts, cries and do talk to your friends or the helplines as my husband struggled not having anyone to listen to his worries. You will both get through it, just hold on tight!! mandyj.xx ... View more

Be aware that your body temperature naturally peaks at around 6pm each evening so check it then so you know what it is before your chemo starts. Then you will not panic if after a dose of chemo you feel hot and bothered and your temp is higher around that time. If your temp does rise do not take paracetamol straight away as this will artificially bring it down and it may then mask something more serious. Firstly, strip off and get some fresh air, check your temp again 20 mins later. If its still high call your chemo unit for advice. I, as an ex nurse, bought the Braun Thermoscan Thermometer. Its a bit more expensive but I have always found them to be accurate. Used them where I used to work. ... View more

Hi Shelley I was in your shoes a year ago. I had my surgery in July and started chemo in August 2012. I completed my radiotherapy by mid January this year. I was 36 at the time, married, with a little boy aged 3 and a half. It is a very scary time and chemo is no fun but one year on I have had my first mammogram showing no signs of anything nasty, I love my new short and funky hair style (albeit alot greyer than it was before) and can remember clearly the words of my BCN who said "this time next year you will be sitting in your garden in the sun having a drink thinking, 'god... remember this time last year'!! She was right. My advise is grit your teeth and get on with it. When the treatment is finished you will find it hard to remember all of it and its horrid side effects. its a bit like childbirth, you cannot describe the pain to people. The dark thoughts pass and life does return to normal. Well as normal as it can be after a cancer diagnosis. I know its hard to see that day coming yet but it will come. You won't feel rough everyday with chemo so enjoy the good days. FEC is nauseating so ask for Emend antisickness tablets if you are suffering. I almost didn't complete all of my chemo as you do have a wobbly from time to time and won't want any more but I am glad that I did do it. I said after every dose that I was not having another one! Join the thread for August chemo as you will have amazing support. Good Luck. You can and will do it. mandyj.xxx ... View more

Hi Spudgirl I had my chemo between August and November last year. By the november my upper back molar was giving me some grief. At first I thought it was a chemo side effect as it gave me excruciating ear pain, as though someone was sticking a hot pin in my ear. I had to sleep on the settee propped up as it got worse lying down. It was referred pain from my tooth. I had one more chemo to go and the onc team did not want me to have any dental work done until a month after the chemo was finished. I was in agony!!! A month!!! They said I was welcome to get my tooth fixed but the chemo would have to be delayed a week or so. I managed on painkillers until chemo was done and then the pain went. Finally had it done at the beginning of Feb this year. Hope that helps. mandyj.xx ... View more

Hi ladies Had a rough time getting over all this treatment too. I don't think having multiple sclerosis helps!! Had backache since boxing day! They held off doing a bone scan as I thought it was ms symptoms and I was half way through rads at the time. by the time I saw them for the post rads review 6 weeks later I still had it, so, BONE SCAN Aagghh! Had it done and then went travelling around Europe for a month - fantastic! Got back from hols on Sunday (May Day bank hol) to find a letter saying 'Attend for a lumbar xray as there is something on the bone scan that they need more detail on'. Well the panic set in, the tears flooded and as it was bank hol I could not phone the onc. He finally called me back 3 days later!!! I hoped, as he had not rushed to call me, that all was ok. Thankfully he said it was not bone mets but they need to see what the problem is. I have had back trouble since I was 18 and 20 years in a nursing career has not done it any favours. It is getting better now but I managed to pull it on a rollercoaster ride at Disneyland Paris! As for the hair, it is fifty shades of grey and I actuallty like it! I love not having to do much with it every day. I have kissed goodbye to the need for hair straighteners - hooray! Have my mammogram and onc appt for xray results on 3rd June so wish me luck. Great news that you are coming through your first year checks fit and well. Lets keep in touch. Luv mandyj.xx ... View more

Hi Tigger77 I am now a year on since my diagnosis and have got through a therapeutic mammoplasty (lumpectomy with boob uplift), axillary node clearance, chemo and radio. Its hard but you will get through it. I am now 37and have a 4 year old boy and I told him from the start that I had a poorly boob and that the doctor had to chop the poorly out and then give me medicine that is soooo strong it will make my hair fall out. He took it all in his stride. Ask your BCN (breast care nurse) for a book called 'Mummy's Lump'. It is aimed at small children and I think I read it to him every night for two weeks, then he just stopped asking for it. You will feel more in control once your treatment plan is sorted and the dark thoughts that I know you will be having will pass eventually. Just concentrate on yourself, look after you and your family as the rest of the world will still be there when your treatment has finished. Good Luck mandyj.xx ... View more

Hi Happyshopper So glad it all got sorted and you got tier 2. I felt bereaved when i first finished and cried a bit. This only lasted 2 weeks! I retired due to ms and did not get any time to enjoy my retirement before the cancer turned up, so now treatment is finished I am looking forward to starting my retirement all over again. As frazzledfifty says, you become an expert at 'ladies that do lunch'. I've done just that today! When my little boy starts school in September I will look for something to do, either paid or unpaid (as you can only earn a little bit before they start messing with your pension) purely because I know I will get bored, plus i miss meeting people and having a good laugh with colleagues. Don't feel guilty, just enjoy having time to do what you want, when you want. mandyj.xx ... View more

I was told at my first dose that my hair would be gone for the second dose of fec...and it was. About 2 weeks after first dose i was chatting on the phone twirling my hair in my fingers and noticed it coming out. After that i could pull it out in clumps. My little boy quite enjoyed helping me and making what looked like birds nests out of it. Got very sore and painful so got it shaved off. I finished chemo at the end of november and now have 1/2inch of grey hair!! Its sooo soft and everyone says it makes me look 'distinguished'. If you had told me a year ago that i would happily go around with hair this short and grey i would have thought you had gone mad! But, after being bald you realise its just hair, there are more important things and you are so thankful that your body has remembered to grow it back again. Good luck hun mandyj.xx ... View more

Thanks Linda/Cornishgirl for the links.xx ... View more

Hi Cornishgirl I don't suppose you have the references or links to the resarch studies that you mention as I would be interested in reading them. Many thanks.x ... View more

Hi Littlescoot I had ER positive cancer so it feeds on oestrogen. There is alot of it in cows milk apparently so I have decided not to add any extra oestrogen into my body. There has to be something in it as they are pumping me full of oestrogen blocking Tamoxifen for 5 years! I read a book by Jane Plant, as advised by a friend who had BC treatment 10 years ago and has been dairy free ever since. I also look at Chris Woollams website, Canceractiv, for info. It's a personal choice, alot of people believe cutting out dairy makes no difference. Have a read of the things I have mentioned and decide for yourself.xx ... View more

Just thought, your friend may not be needing hair products for a while! Sorry, did not think. I have only just starting shampooing again after my months of baldness! ... View more

I may not be much help as I have not looked into it all in any detail yet, as I too have quit the dairy, but not yet managed the sugar!! I do buy Timotei Pure shampoo and conditioner. It is Paraben free, amongst other things, and you can get it from Sainsburys. It's about £2 a bottle for each. ... View more

Well done Mand. Been thinking of you. Onwards and upwards gal!! You will soon feel human again and its a relief after everything we have all been through. Lots of luv mandyjxx ... View more

I was in the process of claiming ESA due to my Multiple Sclerosis when I was diagnosed with BC in May last year. I contacted them and they said I would automatically go into the support group due to my cancer treatment and just had to get a letter from my GP stating what treatment I was having. I then found out that I had been put into this group for my MS but either way they were very helpful and did not ask for any more information from me. If I was not in it for my MS I wonder how long they would pay ESA for cancer Treatment, as they did not say? mandyj ... View more