Breast Cancer Now Forum

Another positive story : I am approaching five years since diagnosis with IBC !!! Had chemo, mastectomy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy. Small hick-up shortly after finishing treatment (2nd primary, mastectomy and radiotherapy). Good news is : NED ever since 🙂 Hoping this will provide a little bit of hope to other IBC ladies. Hugs ... View more

Hi fightforlife, just wondering how you got on. I hope the news is good for you. Thinking of you, ... View more

Hi Katy, be kind to yourself. You have just completed a triathlon of treatment which is bound to leave you a little more exhausted than you may imagine. Radiotherapy can cause immense tiredness, and typically the worst of that is about 10-14 days after finishing the radiotherapy. After that things get better, slowly. Your body and mind have gone through lots. Be kind to that body and mind. Going back to work is good. It helps recovery and a sense of normality. But please take it easy. And when one day you feel very well, remember to take things easy too, avoiding to get over exhausted the next day having done too much on that well-day. Pace yourself gently. For me going back to work after my treatment was very important to me too. It was not easy. But worth it. Writing down how you feel each day and keeping a log of what you have done and when you do to much helped me cope with the return to work. Does your employer offer any counselling or CBT to help you work through this? Big hug, x ... View more

Hi Pam, yes it can come back in that area after a mastectomy, but the little lump may also be a little bit of scar tissue formed as part of the reconstruction (I have some of those, internal stitches related, they really worried me but I was told they were just scar tissue). Do get in touch with your BCN, tell her you are worried and ask for it to be checked out. Fingers crossed. Very best wishes, ... View more

Big hug to all you ladies with a new primary or investigations. I have been there too. It is tough. I had my second diagnosis within a year from finishing my first lot of treatment. Very best wishes to you all. ... View more

Hi there, I agree with the other reply, a nipple that looks different from what it used to look like, inverting, definitely get it checked out by you GP. That is what they are there for, you are not wasting their time. Nipple inverting was how I discovered I had BC.I hope there is another reason for your nipple changes, but please do get it checked out soon. Very best wishes, ... View more

I had this too. Frozen shoulder and radiotherapy. Agony. Do they have the possibility of hydro dilitation at your hospital? Check patient.co.uk. It is a procedure where they inject fluid in your shoulder, under local anaesthetic, and in many people it is instant relief. I had it, and wow, it was excellent. ... View more

An alternative to adcal 3 d is to take just the vitamin D part (different pill altogether) and to make sure that your diet includes sufficient calcium (cheese, yoghurt, milk). The people who do your deXa scan should be able to advice on this, or oncologist. ... View more

Hi, the nhs hospital in Chelmsford has a very good reputation - but I have no personal experience with them. Perhaps some others her might have ? About going private? One thing that concerned me about this was that with the NHS you have a multidisciplinary team looking after you, which includes breast surgeons, radiologist, oncologist, radio therapist etc. and I don't know what private hospitals do about this - I think this is something that the helpline may be able to advice about. I choose to stay with the NHS 🙂 Does you friend have a breast care nurse who she can talk to, and discuss her concerns with? Christine ... View more

Congratulations! That's excellent news. Thanks for sharing. It makes me happy (ibc lady too) Anyone else ? Christine ... View more

Congratulations! That's great news. Very happy for you. Big hug. Christine ... View more

Hi Lorna, Just wanted to say hello, and very sorry to hear you too have been diagnosed with ibc. Are you on chemo now? Have you tried some of the very soft bras, and a few cup sizes larger - this worked for me. Warm wishes, christine ... View more

Hi bumblegirl, I am sorry your mum has been diagnosed with BC. So much to take in isn't it? For your mum and for you and the rest of the family. Mammograms and ultrasound scans provide different views of what is hiding in our breasts - and some tumours may show up in one type of scan but not the other, so this may well explain why the measurements for your mum's tumour show up differently on her scans. An MRI should give a better picture. It will help the surgeon figure out how to operate so all the tumour is removed in one go. (My tumour never even showed on a mammogram) The anastrozole is a 'hormone tablets' part of your mum's treatment. The ER8/8 part of her diagnosis means that her tumour thrives when it can feed on oestrogen. The anastrozole stops her body from producing oestrogen, so the idea is that the tumour stops thriving. Whether that means it grows slower, or stops growing, in your mum's case I don't think anyone can tell. There is probably a good leaflet on anastrozole on this website - search for aromatise inhibitor, of which anastrozole is one type. It has been shown to be a very effective drug :-). I am sorry about all the confusion and worries you are having, with things being not quite as straightforward as they may have seemed before. I hope once your mums MRI results are back and they have agreed a treatment plan, things will get a little easier for you all. It sounds like her surgeon is being thorough - and so he should be 🙂 your mum deserves the very best. Does your mum have a breast care nurse whom she can call if she has any questions? She may be able to tell her a little bit more about lumpectomy and scars, and mastectomy and reconstruction. The breast care nurses often will be able to show some pictures of what the results could look like. This may help her decide what to do. Also, from my own experience, it is very wise to take a little notebook to each meeting with any doctor, and write down any questions your mum may have before the meeting, and note down what was said at it straight after the meeting. So nothing gets forgotten. Waiting rooms tend to turn our brains to mush, and breast clinic waiting times can be lengthy... About the armpits - it sounds like the consultant has not felt any problems with the lymph nodes. That is good news. If he had felt something then the likelihood of there being cancerous cells in the lymph nodes would be high. He may still need to do more checks to be sure there is no problem. He will want to make sure he is not missing anything in helping your mum to get rid of the cancer. You are not on your own, nor is your mum. There are lots of lovely ladies here to help, and answer any questions. Also, have you tried the helpline? They are fantastic. Wishing you both the very best, and hope the treatment goes smoothly, and you may enjoy a little bit of Christmas together 🙂 Christine ... View more

Hi H, good to hear you have a plan now 🙂 When I was first diagnosed I had to tell my children the same day - as I had to start chemo within 10 days, and we had to rearrange family plans, and I had been in and out of hospital for weeks, so the kids knew something was up. It was really tough telling the kids! But it did help us all to stay as open as possible about what was happening. My son was ten at the time. It appeared he did not want to talk about the cancer and treatment much. It took me quite a while to understand his feelings - then it suddenly became clear to me - it was the fact that this was 'breast' cancer, which he found hard to deal with, had it been 'leg' cancer', or cancer of any other thing and not about 'breasts' then he would have been easier about it (being a ten year old boy). Once I understood this and we talked about that issue, it became easier to talk about the subject. I wonder if other mums of boys of similar age have had a similar experience... Christine ... View more

Hi Emma and Pie, I had chemo first, before a mastectomy. Seeing and feeling my breast shrink throughout chemo was really good - it made me feel so much more confident about the whole treatment. I hope this works for you too. Good luck and warm wishes, Christine (Ps nearly two years post treatment and feeling good :-). ) ... View more

Hi Bigfoot, I had chemo, mx and radiotherapy followed by tamoxifen for the first bc, then for the second one I had mx of the other side, and radiotherapy, oopherectomy and then moved to letrozole. The good news is that my last ct scan showed no problems :-). So I am well, and felling well. After the 2nd diagnosis, I felt rotten, numbed and like you not believing this was happening. Like having entered a parallel universe. As soon as the mx date was known and I knew I was to have radiotherapy, I was a little bit happier. At least I knew what was going on a little bit. I am now two years on from the second diagnosis, and have had no further problems, and I am starting to feel more like I have re-entered a world of normality. Jo - thank you for providing the link - this leaflet is really good. Christine ... View more

Hi Bigfoot, Just wanted to say hello and send you a big hug. It's just rotten when you are having to deal with more of this bc stuff again and so soon. I had a second primary within a year of finishing my first lot of treatment. No fun. Once you have your new plan in place for dealing with your recurrence things should get a little easier, I hope. On helping your daughter - have you been in touch with her school? They may be able to support her too. Or just keep an eye on how she is doing. There is a form on this bcc site which you can fill in to inform the school - it has some very useful tips too. Your daughter will probably have had lessons about cancer in her biology curriculum - which may help her understand treatment etc. Big hug Christine ... View more

Hi paged, Definitely worth mentioning your findings to the consultant next week - you know best what is 'normal' for you, and if you feel any changes like what you describe it is best to have it checked out. It is very unusual to develop a second primary so soon, but it can happen, even when on tamoxifen. I hope you will be ok. Fingers crossed. 🙂 Warm wishes Christine ... View more

Recommend book called mummy's lump to read with children - electronic version available from this site. christine ps just sending short messages as longer post which took ages to write was lost with a blib on this site ... View more