Breast Cancer Now Forum

Yes Angie I think we are all there waiting for the ballerina to join us! 🙂 See you soon Kate X ... View more

Sugal   You should be able to get a prosthetic from your BCN but if you don't have one get a referral to your breast care centre from your GP and they will have a room full of prosthetics and will find one that fits you perfectly to match your other breast, they do part forms as well as full and there are many many different sizes and shapes to suit everyone. You can buy them online but I wouldn't recommend it for your first one as you may not get the right size and fit. I had an mx with expander in March 2013 and have recently got my first prosthetic as I was managing with a softie.......it has made a huge difference to my confidence as I can wear tight tops again without having a difference in my size or shape.   Good luck Kate ... View more

This time next week I'll be falling asleep in Manchester with you ladies rather than falling asleep in Sussex with my hubby! 🙂   See you soon Kate x ... View more

Diggy, Lynn I'm up for shopping and sightseeing rather than spa too. I have been to Manchester once before about 35 years ago so I suspect it's changed a little! 🙂 Kate X ... View more

Sandy, good luck today. I had mine at the end of Jan and was very worried beforehand but elated afterwards when told it was clear. The radiographer said 'try not to worry in future, oh I know its easy for me to say that' which is true but I knew what he meant! Diggywiggy, sorry to hear of your sad loss, glad you were all there and your mum passed peacefully. My OH said the same about us knowing each other when we meet up.....'the short haired happy women' was his expression! Hope you all had some sun this weekend, we did and I have a red face to show for it.....I might have to find the green makeup from the LGFB session this morning to go to work! 🙂 Kate X ... View more

Philomena, Costa works for me........see everyone there very soon now!! 🙂 Kate X ... View more

Lori, Lynn My train is due at 15.07 so I will be there about 15.20.....as they are never on time! 🙂 As we now have each other's mobiles I'm sure we will be able to find each other. I still haven't had a full hair cut (just the tufts around my ears) but it is beginning to look frizzy during the day so maybe I will have to see about it before Manchester! Colouring isn't going to be done until I can work out what colour I have....some people say its light brown, others mink....I think its grey but not really sure! Roz - I think there was a request for spa appointment details, I don't want massage or anything but if everyone else is going I will have a manicure, if only a few are going to the spa I won't bother. See you soon Kate X ... View more

Hi Lori, Lynn Happy to meet at the station, I will PM you my mobile number later so we can have contact if the trains are late etc. I change in London but once on the train in Euston I go straight to Manchester.....Piccadilly I believe. Kate X ... View more

Evening ladies,   Sorry I haven't posted for a few days, been busy celebrating my nephew passing all his training to get his green beret of the Royal Marines! He joined just after my surgery last year and is now a fully fledged Marine and we are all very proud of him.   I have just booked my train tickets for our weekend in Manchester, I will be arriving in Manchester about 3pm and leaving again on the Sunday on the 12.15 train. I hope everyone else is getting sorted now and we can have a great celebratory weekend - with some sleep included I'm afraid as I think I'm still going to be sleeping for England!   Angie - great news that you feel 'normal' again, I hope I do soon! I was told by my Onc that the '1 year check' is one year after treatment ends so I pushed for my mamogram to be done now and not in 10 months time! I would suggest that you just ask for one - if necessary get your GP to refer you again to the breast care clinic.   Philomena - I couldn't be a vaccination nurse as I'm a 'wus'! 2 days a week and all the school holidays off sounds great though, maybe I should get over my 'wussiness' and get a job like that too!   See you all soon Kate x   ... View more

That's fantastic news Judy, hope you have had a few drinks in celebration!   My week has been a busy one at work but its now a rest day followed by the weekend so I'm tired but happy tonight.   Carol - the lady who is about a year ahead of me at work has been told to take vitamin D by her GP as she was feeling tired constantly so maybe its a good one to start boosting! Angie - please call your BCN again and get to see someone soon, its the only way to put your mind at ease.   Hope everyone else is okay Kate x ... View more

Evening ladies   I have just had my part-time accepted for a few months (initially a trial) so I will be booking the train for Manchester this weekend, planning to arrive mid-afternoon Friday and leaving again around mid-day Sunday. I think my journey will be around 4 hours including the transfer through London.   Hope you are all doing okay and slowly getting back to some form of normality.....although not sure what normal is anymore! 🙂   Kate x   ... View more

Wow Spudgirl you really have gone through a tough time, I'm sure everyone would feel tired after that without everything that came before it! Take the time you need, rest and recuperate at your own pace as it will be better in the long run than pushing things too soon. Fecinora, I have only had single mastectomy and therefore cannot give any advice or info on your questions. How about asking for a peer to peer 1:1 with someone on this site that has had a similar experience, there must be someone. Good question around checking for lumps behind a reconstruction, I hadn't considered that but assume someone will give advice at some stage. Its worth someone asking the question of their breast surgeon or cosmetic surgeon, I'll add it to my list of questions but I'm not expecting to see either until Mar or April. Hope everyone is doing okay, we have sunshine today so off for a walk along the seafront and hopefully some lunch......a 'Victorian afternoon tea' was suggested so I may be getting a bit spoilt today! Kate X ... View more

Whooo hoooo, today has been a good day! I saw the ONC this morning, had a discussion about multiple things including a lump on my chest that he decided was a cyst (caused by chemo apparently) which he then burst! After some discussion about hot flushes, contraception and me not having any big issues he then sorted out a mammogram for me which I had and got the results  an hour later with the all clear for my remaining breast! I was on a high and hope that you all have similar experiences during your 1 year check.   I'm now sharing a bottle of champers with my OH feeling particularly relieved!   Hope you are all okay   Kate x ... View more

Good afternoon Angels,   Angie - hope you got to speak with your BCN about the pains and she has either got you seen by someone or put your mind at rest about it. Fecinora, hope you are okay and getting some support around the next surgery, it can't be easy to get your head around the big step you are now taking. Lynn, hope your return to work is going okay. I am officially full time but I'm using holidays carried forward from last year to keep to 4 days per week still. I really can't imagine that I would see any of the weekends if I was doing 5 full days so my life wouldn't be balanced at all so I'm going to ask that from February I go part-time and do 4 days per week officially without having to use holidays to do it, I'm not sure what the response is going to be but I really don't want to work and sleep and do nothing else. Amber - sorry to hear your mammogram wasn't a good experience, I have the same view as Judy, I've only got to go through the pain for one boob in future - assuming they don't do a mammogram on a reconstructed boob!? I have hit a major milestone today.........went for a haircut! Well it wasn't really a haircut, it was a few straggly hairs trimmed and the rest left to grow but it feels lots better! The hairdresser didn't charge me for it as she said it was only a few bits.....didn't feel like it to me! 🙂   I think I missed responding to the meal on our meet up - yes please I'd like to go to the world buffet with everyone else! I checked the trains today and the cheap fares to Manchester have been released but not the return so I haven't booked yet but hopefully at the weekend I will get that booked.   I have an appointment with the ONC on Thursday so I'm hoping to get a date for my 1 year mammogram and answers to a few questions......   Hope everyone else is doing okay and not suffering too much. Kate x     ... View more

Yes Angie give them a ring.....I was dx in Feb also but haven't got a 1 year mammogram appt as was missing from their records! Happy New Year to everyone, hope 2014 is good in all ways Kate x ... View more

Oh Judy, just when things were starting to get back to some form of normality they throw a curve ball in, hope its nothing and hasn't changed when they do the next scan. I'll have an extra glass tonight to join your drinking session! I have an appt with my ONC on 16th Jan, I finally bit the bullet and rang them as I haven't seen anyone since July....apart from the radiologists every day for 3 weeks! They asked when I'd last seen the breast surgeon and when I said March they implied something had gone wrong and I should have been seen by him and the ONC in the last 6 months! Ooops but hopefully now I'm back in the system they are going to sort my one year from dx mammogram too. Hope 2014 brings you all some good health and lots of happiness Kate X ... View more

Morning Angels,   Sorry I wasn't around on Christmas day, we were busy chatting to family about the presents that had been received as we changed our present giving process this year and it was great! Yesterday we had lovely weather so went for a long walk in the sun but today we have wind and rain again, some of the roads are closed with fallen trees but so far our house has survived and we haven't lost power yet.....am I tempting fate there!   Its good to hear you all had a good christmas even if you had to bite your tongues a few times!   My OH is back at work today, but luckily from home, so I'm having a restful day tidying up a bit and doing some washing before I'm back at work on Monday.   Kate x ... View more

Oh good grief, I responded to Angie's post and then my page refreshed and I got all the others showing that everyone isn't alright and looking forward to Christmas!   Mel - I hope you can get some help locally, you have been through a lot so take any help they will offer. I feel more emotional now 4 months post chemo than I have all the way through the year! I think its just everything coming to the surface and me starting to worry about my 1 year check up.   Judy - hope your christmas isn't too tense and you manage to keep the peace for the time you need to.   For us this christmas is going to be hard as my OH has no family left now so I think he will feel it this time of year. We are off to my family for the weekend this weekend which will be fun but tiring so I'm looking forward to a rest on Monday or Tuesday when I've done the last few bits of food shopping.   Thinking of you all   Kate x ... View more