Breast Cancer Now Forum

Hi everyone, Just wanted to pop in and say there is always hope and a light at the end of that long tunnel ! I was diagnosed in september 2013, finished my six rounds of horrible chemo with two overnight stops and one week in hospital with nuetropenia, had two ops as i had lymph node involvement and 4.5 weeks of radiotherapy that finised in september. My surgeon declared me ok a week before christmas and my next visit for a check up is june ! Yes it was horrible, i was sick and had all of the yucky side effects but chemo is the worst bit and it does honestly get better 🙂 my chemo was worth it my lump went from 4.5cm to 1.0 cm so it did its job ! I had beautiful bottom length hair before i started, was only bald for six months and i now have a thick head of different colour curly hair:) Im 41 now, i wont be able to have children l, im on tamoxifen for the next 10 years but im here and alive and starting to feel well again . I followed everything the hospital said, had a great diet, watched lots of funny films and tried to stay postiive through it, it feels surreal already and time has flown. Hang in there ladies, have a count down for each part of your journey, celebrate at the end of each bit, be positive, dont be too hard on yourselves you can get through it 🙂 Best of luck and lovely wishes to you all Kay x ... View more

Hi daiseykins, Depending on which hospital youre with depends on what you can use ! There are lots of creams, lotions and potions that people use, aqueous, e45, aloe vera gel ! My radiotherapists only let me use their tubes of aqueous cream as it had no metal particles in at all ! I ended up stopping the aqueous after my main treatment of 3 weeks and starting my boost for 1.5 weeks. To let the skin dry out ... its an easy treatment to have, skin can get a bit red, itchy, hot but im out the other side and am just peeling now 🙂 sad but was so happy to actually get a bra on yesterday 🙂 Good luck youre nearly there ! Oh if you get a rash underneath ask for mepilex dressing, they gave me some on my last treatment day its great stuff takes the heat away and stops any itching Kay x ... View more

Hey atat Hows that itching now 🙂 Mines gone and my skin is just all peeling now ! Made my very last trip to hospital last week for a skin check and all is well and im free now 🙂 well till my scans in around january !!! Cancers butt has been kicked 🙂 Hope youre all healing well Kay x ... View more

Hi Melykins Im with the other two lovely ladies on this one! Everyone is different with side effects, chemo wasnt pleasant with sickness and other side effects for me but other ladies i spoke to while having treatment breezed through . Time does fly by, i set countdowns for each stage and rewarded myself for each bit, even if it was eating something nice that i fancied or going out for a walk somewhere nice 🙂 The hair is everyones concern at the begining, dont stress about it mine was down to my bum before chemo i cut it short before it fell out, some other ladies hair just thinned. But it fell out in november 2013 and started growing again after chemo number 4, feb 2014, just sprouts to start but it was hair, today its an elvin type style thicker than before and darker but its a lovely head of hair ! Look at a positive winter is good for chemo if you get hot sweats and you get to wear scarves and lovely hats through winter, made me feel less odd 🙂 For the short space of time you are on chemo it was worth it in the grand scheme of things for me, they gave it to me to shrink my lump and for me it worked it went from 4cm to 1cm which meant my op took a lot less tissue ! I finished all my treatments a week ago and ive kicked its butt 🙂 it is scary before you start but we are all strong ladies and im sure you are too, good luck with what ever you chose to do x it was worth it for me to shrink that little sucker and remove it so that it never comes back x ... View more

Hi I had chemo from oct to feb of this year, the docetaxel did the same to me, odd sensations, numb toes and fingers and odd needly pains popping up here and there ! The numb fingers and toes gradually came back about 4 weeks post chemo, I still get odd needly pains here and there but with time it fades away 🙂 I had chemo before my operations, just finished my radiotherapy a week ago and I now have needly pains around my wound sites but they said its normal because the nerve endings are now starting to repair !!! If you're feeling terrible make sure you keep an eye on your temperature because you can get and infection and get very ill very quickly if you don't get antibiotics ! I was in hospital for a week with nutropenic scepsis but was lucky that they treated my infection before my bloods dropped ! Good luck with the rest of your treatment hope all goes well xxx kay xxx ... View more

Hi ya Sorry to jump in on your thread 🙂 I had oral thrush really bad and split tongue and lips with docetaxel ! They gave me difflam which did help, also gave me fluconazole tablets that helped clear it ! Ice lollies helped sooth although is diffetent for everyone and if the furryness gets too much I got some plain lemonade and held it in my mouth, the bubbles helped lift the horrible stuff ! Lastly every day I took one tea spoon of Manuka honey and swished it around my mouth, it's expensive but very good for helping with healing 🙂 Good luck x hope this helps a little x ... View more

Hi ya I had lots of scans before I started my treatment to check for spread, also had a pect scan as they thought it had gone to my liver, turns out i was a lucky lady and it hadnt spread ! All of the scans are easy,ct, bone scan is similar quite comfy and didn't take long, the pect scan was a bit weird had to sit still and not talk for one hour, they were checking my liver on a molecular level, but the scan itself was easy ! Worst one for me was MRI just because of that small tube !!! None are painful or uncomfortable, waiting for results is really the worst bit 🙂 If just finished all my treatment one week ago now just got a couple of check ups and I'm free for a little while 🙂 I had chemo first, then two operations, lymph node clearance, 4.5 weeks of radiotherapy !!! Good luck to everyone xxx you can do it xxx ... View more

Hi ya The itching is insane isn't it ! My nurse gave me dressing called mepilex last week, it's for underneath where the rash is worst and its done a treat ! It's spongy and breathable, took all the itchiness away and dried all of the skin out !!! I found that cream just made it worse when I used it ! I've got another dressing for the top which is just getting itchy now, I'm four days post radiotherapy now ! Hope everyone gets on ok xxx ... View more

Hi to you all Just finished my last treatment today, I'm all done now 🙂 just got a skin review on 16 th ! Happy to be out the other side of this now 🙂 Oh the nurse today gave me two kinds of dressing, I think they use them for burns victims, one is thick and foamy a bit sticky but not gluey, ill try and find the name if anyone needs it ! It works a treat for underneath where the rash is bad and then I have a thinner one that is used on the front and top! Feels cool when it goes on, it breaths and keeps it all nice and dry, have nt been itchy at all today 🙂 Good luck to everyone Kay x ... View more

Oh My nurse today also said the side effects are at their worst around 10 days after treatment is finished ! So ten days after main treatment finishes and then ten days after boost finishes as it affects different areas ! ... View more

Atat I finish tomorrow (Wednesday) instead of Thursday 🙂 then just a couple of weeks to heal yay ! Had review today and they want me to see the nurse tomorrow as they want to give me some new dressings I can use 🙂 ... View more

Hi atat Brill thanks for the tips 🙂 Nice you only have three left, I was supposed to finish Thursday too but they doubled up and overlapped the main and boost treatment before the bank holiday ! Isn't it a relief to have light at the end of the tunnel isn't it ! You having a celebration 🙂 Kay x ... View more

Great news you ve finished treatment 🙂 I've had 20 got 3 left starting tomorrow ! Skin looks really burnt and rash underneath makes me want to scratch myself to pieces ! But just three to go 🙂 Good luck for the future x ... View more

I was told i can not shave at all until 10 days after my treatment finishes ! I am starting to look like wooly mammoth 🙂 ... View more

I'd also say follow what they tell you with creams and soaps ! It makes it easier 🙂 I only used the aqueous cream they gave me and simple soap they said to use, kept me going well for the first three weeks without too much skin damage, this week I was told to stop both and only use water as my skin is now rashy and burnt and peeling, it's helped it dry out and is certainly more comfortable. I'm not wearing a bra now because they said avoid friction and non cotton products so I just wear a soft vest and sound funny but I put some soft jersey cotton underneath when I'm at home, stops it from getting too hot and rashy under there 🙂 Got a few tiny blisters last week, didnt hurt wasn't sore, they said don't use cream on them they needed the blisters to dry out, I did that and I haven't had any since ! It's a doddle compared to chemo! Have you started yet ??? ... View more

I agree with Samantha on the temperature front !!! I wasn't so bad with nuetrophils until I got to the taxotere ! The hospital gave me little temperature strips but we went and bought a little digital thermometer for accuracy as I thought I was just being paranoid, I had two over night stops and a week in hospital with neutropenic scepsis ! Is vital to keep on top of temperature as I avoided nasty infections by checking and getting help straight away ! All three times late at night before bed ! Again the nurses will help you just have to ask even if it means calling the emergency numbers they give you in the middle of the night, they told me not to wait till morning as it can be dangerous with letting infection take hold ! Good luck to all of you from someone who has been through it recently, lots of positive thoughts Kay xxx ... View more

Hi I am going through radiotherapy at the moment, 23 treatments and I only have five left to go now 🙂 I was told 2-3 litres a day but it does include things like tea and cordial ! Try to drink some water before and just after your treatment, it helps 🙂 they said it helps your cells regenerate 🙂 Hope this helps Kay x ... View more

Hi serenity The first one is a shock to the body ! I had my chemo between oct and feb if this year the first three made me really sick ! But don't suffer in silence call your chemo nurses, they can really help with the sickness and what drugs they give you ! I had three lots of anti sickness pills and there was more on offer if I needed ! I found that I took the domperidone as a preventative, nurses said I could overlap it with what they gave me in hospital because it works in a different way ! The receptors in the brain are saying I'm dizzy and I want to be sick and there are drugs that can help ! Again ask your nurses I'm sure they ll help x I had a very good diet through my chemo, took multi vitamins, drank lots of water, made smoothies and veg juices depending on whether my body could take them ! That's what helped me, you can't stop side effects but between diet and the hospital helping it can ease them a bit ! I've had two operations since my chemo and nearly through my radiotherapy now 🙂 it's a slog its not easy and it really is a test of your strength, but have a countdown of some kind it helps, by treatment or weeks or months, it helps x Hope this helps a little, good luck Kay x ... View more

Hi ladies, Please don't despair x I was diagnosed two months before my 40th birthday last sept. I had 3 x ec and 3 x docetaxel from October to feb this year. I had hair down to my bum before it fell out, felt like the end of the world until I realised it was the least of my worries! I was very sick with the ec and had three stops in hospital with the tax, once for a week with nutropenic scepsis. The chemo did its job for me, my lump went from 4cm down to 1cm so the two operations I've had since they didn't need to take much tissue, also had node clearance as they found it in 5 of my 14. I'm now over half way through my radiotherapy and I finish my treatments on sept 3rd ! The time has flown, no it's not been pleasant but the is light at the end of that bloody long tunnel ! What would I say helped me .... Ask lots of questions, if you aren't well the chemo staff can help with the drug mixtures they put you on. Take in fluid it helps body process the drugs. Take in lots of vitamins, my hubby made me fresh juices and smoothies every day, if I could drink them. As well as a good multi vitamin. If you fancy something to eat have it 🙂 it'll make you feel mentally better. Lots of comedy, funny films or music I liked helped lift my mood 🙂 it's amazing what a little prance around the living room can do for morale:) I even had a stupid evening where I decided to pencil on silly shaped eyebrows 🙂 Find a good support line and outlet, I am lucky with family and friends but I'm glad I found this forum because so many people are going through the same thing ! Love and luck to you all, it is hideous but you can get through it Xxx kay xxx ... View more

Hi ya I'm going through radiotherapy, 13 weeks from operation number two, my scars have healed really well. Had blast number 7 today only another 16 to go !!! Swollen, sore and a bit tired but doing ok 🙂 the team at my hospital have been amazing, southend hospital, essex ! Really helpful and caring about trying to keep the side effects to a minimum ! It's a heck of a lot easier than chemo and I'm glad to be in my last 3.5 weeks of treatment 🙂 the hair has grown back and I'm actually feeling a lot better than I have for a while, be gone cancer and I'm sticking my fingers up to you 🙂 Hope everyone is doing ok on here xxx I'm having a power nap in the afternoon which is helping, is anyone else doing the same ??? ... View more