Breast Cancer Care Forum

Wild wet and windy night here in Glasgow. I am always more tired this end of the week - but really looking forward to lunch at 12md tomorrow (Saturday) - have a good journey ladies (and not too much breakfast!) x ... View more

Popping in again to let you know that Ladygrey sends her greetings and all very best wishes to everyone - I had a lovely lunch with her today and she was telling me she is doing well and feeling good - she had tried to get onto the forum but was having trouble with passwords and stuff so was happy for me to share this - she is looking good and has just had her hair cut - it was great to see her! Hugs x x x ... View more

Oh LainieG… these things take so very long and progress is so difficult to recognise… thank goodness work is not a demand for you over the next several weeks and you can get some quality time for You, dog and OH… glad to hear your plastic surgeon is being more positive that others, so I hope you do not have to wait too long for the next appointment and that there will be some positive options to discuss. Wishing Everyone Strength and Fortitude… hugs x x x ... View more

Me oh my… what a lot of things we are all still coping with… just called by to say "Hello" … I'm sure we had all hoped to see BC and Associates receding into the very far distance by now… but so many folk still having to wrestle with it all … or new aspects … I send you all strength and perseverance and ongoing determination … as someone on the thread said, we all have more of these Phenomenal Attributes now if not before, and more than we ever dreamed possible… … and now we're all meeting First Anniversaries… of First Find… Diagnosis… Surgery/chemo/radiotherapy … good that we're also getting to No Wig, First Haircut, First Colour and First Full Week … and now First Holiday - gives us some things to celebrate and enjoy. (At last). Someone else on the thread (sorry I'm still so rubbish at remembering names and details) said we may never again be Who We Were - and I believe that is always true in a very low key way as we gain year on year - we can never go back to Before X Experience - it's just that BC is such a Huge Hurdle we cannot ignore the fact of Time Moving On … great to know we are still here to meet, register and assimilate these anniversaries as they arise… I hope the sun is shining for you … I am away for a few days in one of our favourite hotels - The Four Seasons Hotel at Loch Earn - GLORIOUS sunshine yesterday, thunderstorm thru the night, pouring rain this morning… and now… now just the teensiest weeniest sliver of sunshine … and it makes all the difference! The aches and pains of Letrozole, the worry of Next Mammogram, grey curls, going to bed early, fatigue and scar pains (I think that may relate to recovering nerve endings… so kinda good really…) all settle down for a sleep in the corner for a while and are less demanding for a bit… Wishing you sunshine … even as teeny slivers… with loads of love and hugs x x x ... View more

What a Good Place this is today - full of good news and positive results - end of Heparin injections (Yay! Fantastic! … but … Where the heck did those 6 months go …) - so sorry you're holiday plans have been mushed Bexter - can you get away somewhere in UK? It really is so important to get away if you can… So very pleased we are all still here on the forum and that things sound to be improving… albeit so very slowly … so frustrating that energy takes so long to improve… hang on in there and enjoy what you can. I met a lovely lady this evening who travelled this path 12 years ago - she was so positive, encouraging and just LOVELY. .... And very well indeed. She recommends 2 brewers yeast tablets a day...... So I have some more reading to do… going away for a few days … See you soon. x ... View more

We can always find space for another one of us on the podium - Welcome! Friday night; tired as tired - but pleased I managed to walk from the car park to work this morning! This used to be my daily walk… but not for the last eight months since starting chemo (I think I even managed to do it a few times after my DIEP before chemo started). My Beloved OH has been taking me to the office door all this time… getting back to walking the distance has been another milestone along my way… so once this week… hope at least once next week … then a weekend away to Loch Earn (unexpected gift of an Unknown Benefactor - Thank You So Much). X, ... View more

Hi Heroes - O Lord, some of yous are still having to deal with so so much… I knew I'd not called in for a while but geeeeeee… I am still struggling with tiredness, chemo brain, sore feets and hand and knees, unpredictable gut, forgetting to take drugs… forgetting loads of things… and working full time! Yup - all much as loadsayous here - and nothing like so much to cope with as as someofyous … so sorry I've not been here alongside yous all … my week in Budapest was lovely … much too late before going to bed tonight … can of cider and friends staying a few days…much too tired to post really - but had to say "Hello" and "I miss y'all" and "I'm still here"… and "I love yous" … hang on in there… back soon… hugs… x x x ... View more

Kerumbs … it is now June 2015… first anniversary of finding my breast cancer has just passed. Re-reading these posts reminds me how slowly time passes during chemo - then you are suddenly at the end of it and can't quite believe it… my Hickman line certainly helped my morale as I would have found chemo direct into my arms very difficult indeed. As I took clots in my lungs from a DVT in my leg I ended up with the line for several weeks longer than expected (removal complicated by blood thinning therapy). Still another 2 months of Warfarin. Minor scarring from the line but this is really not noticeable, not sore and fading steadily. Being alive is good - Life is good - ENJOY! This may be the best it gets - time will tell - but I aim to enjoy life as much as I can. Join me. Hugs x ... View more

Hi Heroes - for that's what we all are - we have each been thru various hells and found strength enough to get through it - and are even now still brave enough to remember what it was to face it, not now hiding but still brave enough to talk and share about it, and so find/reach a point where we know what has assailed us and that it has NOT beaten us. Catching up on all the posts I have missed has been very moving - so good to hear good news from some (including AMdriver - how fantastic to get the all clear from that postoperative results) - and LainieG getting your tattoos - hope all settled and looking good Gal! - but so many difficult things - more ops , persisting SEs , other problems and insensitive staff/comments… But despite all this - CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF US! We are still here and still ourselves! These last few weeks I have been working full time - and struggling - so am very glad that for one reason and another May gives me a month of 4 day weeks (incl a week away in Budapest). Hopefully these last 3 nights of waking intermittently but NOT needing to dash to the loo will be a positive step forwards. Maybe my energy levels and continuing SEs will have improved by June - which will be my year thru since first noticing anything amiss on 1 June 2014… We all started a new chapter in our lives with the BC diagnosis … that chapter was about diagnosis and treatments … this next chapter is about accepting The New Me - a year older so I cannot expect to be Who I Was ever again - The New Me Of Now may not meet my present hope, but is a new starting point for Whatever Comes Next. Hopefully recovering energy, new achievements, Good Times. I hope these for me and for you - for All Of Us. I have missed you these past weeks - and Thank You All for the love and support you have shared with us all through these months. None of us are as we were - all of us have experienced things we hoped never to encounter - if we are now brave enough to 'take stock' we will find we have gained insights and understandings that can somehow strengthen and enrich us … we just need to keep on keeping on - something we are all astonishingly good at… ! Hugs x x x ... View more

Hi - I too relate to this hot & cold stuff … sometimes at the same time… trying to explain you have freezing feet (thick socks do help) while at the same time your top half is on fire so you have to throw the duvet back is hard to accept for yourself, let alone expect your nearest and dearest to understand… LoL … x ... View more

Hi Bettypoppit - I'm hoping for you that the guideline of rads side effects get worse for 10-12 days after last treatment is true so your tissues should start making real progress… x Fatigue Friends … I am now 6 days after last rads … and I thought I was tired yesterday … but today has been much more so … short dog walk in the park had me breathless and very glad to get home … had been ironing 6 or 7 shirts in a row, no bother … 2 was enough today … so a"2 shirt day" … LoL… (tho I shall try to do some more when OH is cooking supper… ) … LainieG … take a deep breath and congratulate yourself … you are nearly there … I think you said you will be starting tablets and getting home tomorrow… just one more hospital breakfast to go! … with all best wishes and hugs to Everyone … x x x ... View more

Hi Peta - have you told the staff about the throat problems? If you are having any difficulty with swallowing please please tell the staff as soon as possible - please don't try to ignore it. LainieG - so glad you are still smiling thru all this - one step at a time can feel so slow… Bettypoppit - hope the new cream is helping the Comfort Factor. .. How many days have you now reached post-rads? … this really is a more demanding sequence of treatments than we can realise before we start … … and the low energy, tiredness/fatigue is so difficult to accept, let alone explain to anyone else… Hugs to Everyone… x x x ... View more

Hi Noltan9 - I was born and grew up in Woking - so feel great sympathy for your treatment and travel demands - hope you find it works out ok - much too soon yet for me to know if rads have affected my new boob - much to give thanks for - especially as side effects of chemo decrease - as we get through this it seems vitally important to me to look forward and appreciate each day, each friend and Loved One, each breath of fresh air and shaft of sunshine - Life is a precious, previous thing. Hugs x ... View more

Hi - despite only one DM to be found and one slipper, and now too fat to fasten my tutu - I made a second foray to visit our pal LainieG - what a lady! - she was most hospitable and was in good spirits (not the bottled variety - customs search at the door made sure of that! - so it was lucky they forgot you can use grapes for more than just a snack… heh heh!) Hope you get a good night's sleep Lainie - and a free pass for tomorrow - and get well from this ASAP… x ... View more

Really good catching up with LainieG this afternoon. She kindly reminded me about the fb page that I have not yet joined … (I think I was in a "difficult place" when this was first happening and lacked energy and motivation to engage with anything) … have I missed the boat - or can I still join the FB page? … please… x ... View more

… and I have had 15 sessions over 3 weeks. As effects are accumulative I guess it may well be a bit longer than this re 20 sessions /4 weeks. All very best wishes. x ... View more

I was visiting an October 2014 thread person in hospital today - the same ward I was in a month ago. One of the nurses was asking me how I was getting on, so I told her my last radiotherapy session is tomorrow - and she was adamant it takes about 6 weeks to get thru the initial fatigue - this is longer than other professionals had said, so I queried, and she was very definite about the six weeks - so be gentle on yourself ! x ... View more

Hi Noltan9 - my core biopsy at initial diagnosis indicated an invasive ductal cancer. Treatment before surgery was not considered to offer any benefit, and because it was right behind the nipple and I am/was not particularly large in the breast department, the only option was full mastectomy - but I was offered immediate reconstruction. I jumped at the chance … not realising how long this would take to arrange… (first realised breast things amiss 1 June 2014… saw GP 4 June … diagnosed 25 June … both oestrogen and progesterone sensitive … operation 3 September…). SNB between diagnosis and mastectomy sampled just one node as surgeon was convinced there was nothing there … but found macromet. He was keen to do full axilla ray clearance - I was not keen for this, favouring radiotherapy oblation of axillary (armpit) lymph nodes instead… Histology/lab check of breast tissue after operation revealed invasive lobular cancer (usually difficult to diagnose). Some say this is more likely to appear in the other breast, some dispute this… Anyway … this is how I ended up with surgery, chemo AND radiotherapy… and now Lectrozole for (?) 5 years … :-| … and radiotherapy finishes TOMORROW … yay! x ... View more

… meantime, ladies on the finished-active-treatment-podium - please get ready to shove up a bit as I hope to be able to join you in 2 days time! Hoping you are making steady forward progress with minimal side effects… Hugs to Everyone x x x ... View more

… meantime, ladies on the finished-active-treatment-podium - get ready to shove up a bit as I hope to be able to join you in 2 days time! Hugs x x x ... View more