Breast Cancer Now Forum

i would like to wish everyone a very happy christmas and a very healthy new year, i only joined this thread 6 months into my treatment as i didnt find the confidence to post before then, i too started my chemo on dec 17th like sjb and i sometimes wonder how on earth i did it!! i wanted to ask you all if anyone has changed their diet since being diagnosed, i am a chocolate junkie and i love a glass or two of red wine in the evening with my meal, i mentioned this to my onc and he said it was fine, has anyone been told otherwise, i dont want to risk any re occurrence of this terrible disease? thankyou xxx ... View more

thankyou lotttie, yes you have helped me,i will have to make it my christmas treat  to have dark hair again, mine too is pure white with a little bit of grey running through it,its so precious to me and that is why im so worried to dye it too soon,  ... View more

hi jules, im sorry to read that your arm is not good, at least its nothing sinister though so that is good! i would just say to keep on exercising it as much as you can and ask about the massage technique that a lot of women seem to find very helpfull, i have a cough at the moment and instead of just thinking 'oh ive got a cough' im already worried its something bad, i wonder if i will think like this with every ache and pain i get in the future?good luck with your remaining herceptin treatments x ... View more

hi petal, yes im getting hot flushes, i carry a fan in my bag as i get approx 15 a day! i know when im about to get one as my feet start to tingle then the heat just flushes all the way up through my body, i start back to work on monday, i work in a coffee shop so serving customers whilst 'hot flushing' will be fun haha! sjb, yes i think you are right no news is usually good news so no worries there with the results of your scan, ... View more

hi petal  i was wondering how you are getting on with taking letrozole? I find it ok but my lower back is beginning to get very stiff which makes my legs stiff too, i feel like an 90 year old lady sometimes haha, but actually i dont want to complain because hopefully it will give me a better chance of living longer it seems a small price to pay and im very grateful to be offered it x ... View more

thankyou joanne1973 it was lovely reading your post, i too had my follow up appt this week and i felt the same as you, its hard to believe what we have all been through,its not until i look in the mirror and see my G.I.Jane hair style that it hits me and reminds me and i think wow it really did happen to me and i did it, i actually fought for my life, and it feels good that i done it!!!! good luck to you too and lets have a great summer!!! x ... View more

sorry i think that m&s do stock mastectomy bras now, 8 years ago they didnt and that is why i ordered through the nicola jane catalogue, i will have to go and have a look myself its time i bought a new one! my fam treated me to a mastectomy swimming costume from the catalogue but they are very expensive, my mother in law sewed some pockets into my ordinary swimsuits so i have more than one to wear now! funny story while on holiday once in spain i was wearing my costume with a waterproof prosethesis and decided after a long day swimming to wash my hair at the side of the pool, i used body wash and when i looked down the prosesthesis was bubbling up foam which i found hilarious!! i dont think nobody noticed tho haha ... View more

hi sjb the m&s lady came to my breast care centre on an open day so i was lucky enough to have it done then, but im sure you can get measured there without having to buy one, i dont think they sell mastectomy bras tho at m&s, ... View more

hi sjb i was given my prosethesis before i got my bra, i then got myself measured properly by a lady from marks and spencers then with my true measurements i ordered my mastectomy bra from the catalogue nicola jane, the bra i got is great as you can pop the prosthesis inside the pocket of the bra and never worry about it falling out! i have ordered about 3 now from this catalogue and i am very happy with the quality of them, good luck with your rads it will go quickly, i love yr profile pic you look very good with yr short hair ... View more

hi petal, i have been taking letrozole for a month now and (touch wood) have been ok with it, i have hot flushes tho and put on a little weight and i also feel tired but i have just finished rads so the tiredness may be due to that, maybe your feeling down is due to the problems you have had with your arm, i hope it is a temporary blip for you, radiotherapy compared to chemo is fine so lets hope you get to start yours soon, hoping your arm gets better and your sickness feeling passes quickly, stay positive! x ... View more

hi kaz i too had my last radiotherapy session today, the staff there wished me lots of luck and hoped not to see me again (in a nice way) i had my final review also and was told that the red rash i have on my chest and back will reach its peak over the next 10 days and gave me some oatmeal cream to use,after the 10 days it should all start going back to normal then hopefully i can get back to some kind of normality, i wont miss the hosp appts either but even so i did feel a bit sad saying goodbye today the staff have been lovely and have after all helped save my life,good luck to all the dec angels and i wish i had the courage to have posted earlier and got to know you all better, xx ... View more

hi kaz-16, oh you did make me laugh! i can so relate to your post, if only everyone knew what its like, and setareh i take an hour to get ready too i even take time to do simple things like hanging washing on the line incase the neighbours are watching haha and im hoping to see some hair regrowth soon i cant wait!!! xx ... View more

hi jinny just to let you know i was in exactly the same frame of mind as you just 7 months ago i couldnt eat sleep or focus on anything other than the negativity of my situation, i felt like i was in a tunnel with no light at the end of it however somehow through the support of family and friends and reading this forum, then day by day that light at the end of tunnel grew and i am now reaching the end of my treatment and im ready to live life to the full again,please hang in there i know its a shock and hard to take in but believe me when i say you will get through this and find the light at the end of your tunnel too xxxxx ... View more

hi booksandwine, i had 3 fec and 3 tax and i found both completely different, the tax had more side effects for me but i prefered it to fec because there was no nausea or sickness and i am one of those people who cant cope with feeling or being sick, my experience with tax was that on day 4 i would wake up and feel like i had been hit by a bus sort of like the flu but worse , i had the tax on a weds and i knew that on the sat i would have to stay in bed until the monday morn when i would wake up and feel absolutley fine! my other side effects which werent too bad to cope with were slimy mouth, sore feet,runny eyes and manky nails, i hope this helps you get an idea, you may not get any of these side effects! good luck ... View more

hi curly 05 i too can relate to how you are feeling, i have meltdown moments but my story is 8 years ago i had a mastectomy of my right boob and a year later i had recon and it is perfect! it made me so happy unfortunately i had a mastectomy in my left boob in nov and i intend to have recon in a year time so as 2013yw says remember its only temporary and there is a light at the end of the tunnel, please stay strong and try to think ahead of when you get reconstruction too!! thats what i do when i have my meltdowns xx ... View more

hi sjb yes my chemo would have been tomorrow also but i too still feel wiped out by my last dose 3 weeks ago! i start radiotherapy on the 29th april so not long to go i hope i get some energy back by then, my legs feel like they have lead pipes in them! anyway good luck with yr op i hope all goes well x ... View more

hi I also had my last chemo and i agree the worst side effects yet! i wonder if its because its all accumulated in our bodies? ... View more

i tried to join but when sent the email i had to cut and paste a link which i had no idea to how to do! I have to wait for my daughter to sort it out today ready for the next live chat, i felt a bit frustrated at this. ... View more

thankyou SJB and good luck with your op, i have had mastectomy to both breasts the right one was taken 8 yrs ago and my left in dec, i have reconstruction to the right which i am very happy with and have been told i can have recon done a year after my radiotherapy to the left hand side, my advice to you is to make sure you do all the arm exercises after your node removal sometimes i didnt feel like doing them as it was such an effort but im so pleased i did as now i  have perfect movement in both arms and touch wood i havent expercienced any swellings either, i wish you well x ... View more