Breast Cancer Care Forum

Hi Amelia, I had the same and it seems that the removal of the port is usually done only under local anaesthetic. The whole thing took less than 15mins and I chatted with the surgeon while he took it out. You'll only feel some tugging and pressure on the neck when they pull that part of the port out. Congrats on finishing your active treatment and wishing you speedy recovery x ... View more

hi Anita, few of us responded to another thread recently, pls see https://forum.breastcancercare.org.uk/t5/Living-with-breast-cancer/Removal-of-Ovaries-vs-Tamoxifen/td-p/1007764 xx ... View more

HI Bevrog, I was dx Jan 2015 at 41, had wle + anc followed by 16 of chemo + 20 RTs. Also put on Tamoxifen as er & pr status was 8/8. Periods came back in Dec but I decided to have ovaries out instead of Zoladex as I've had enough of side effects from meds and like you had completed my family. So now I'm going through menopause for the 2nd time and have stopped taking Tamoxifen for 2 months to let hand rash caused by Tamoxifen to settle before going on Letrozole.  I didn't want to take another med (Zoladex) with it's potential side effects and contra effects with Tamoxifen. Also having the ovaries removed gave me peace of mind re ovarian cancer and irregular periods and pms.   The keyhole op itself was very straigh forward, only had discomfort for the first few days and then back to normal exercise within 2 weeks. I've since started taking sage tablets as a natural approach to settle hot flushes and it's been even more effective than I expected.   Having ovaries out has worked for me but you need to decide what's best for you. Good luck with the decision x     ... View more

I would have loved to be able to talk a bit of Irish during this journey as I lived there for a couple of years but my chemo was EC+T ;-) I was so concentrated on getting through the 9 months of treatment and thought I'd just be taking Tamoxifen and then that was it. And all was good for 1.5months and then the draft of side effects started appearing - for some reason I seem to attract some of the more unusual ones too like hand rash (dermatologist was soooo excited about it due its rareness while I was just "DO something to stop it!"), caught also impetigo from my toddler in my hands (surprised even the chemo unit nurses with this) and now on back of that my nails are peeling again... I'm getting weird aches and pains in my back but since I've lost all confidence in my own body I can't tell whether it's just wear and tear, muscle pain from exercise or bad posture from lying down on the sofa! Blood markers are clear have to wait another month before my regular oncologist checkup to see if they want to investigate.  Hope you get some relief soon and feel free to moan here xx ... View more

Snap Max! It's so eerie to read your post as I'm 41, diagnosed just over a year ago (her- but highly er+ & pr+ with lymph node involvement (8/17), on Tamoxifen since August and exactly the same lymphoedema & nerve pain from rads but on right side.  My periods came back just before xmas so I had oophorectomy two weeks ago, and couldn't be happier. I didn't want to take zoladex (or for that matter any other med) with its side effects and possible contra effects to what meds I'm already on. Also the op removed a lot of worry although I'm now going through menopause for the 2nd time.  Just go for it and set your mind rest xx ... View more

Hope you get away with op and rads only. The daily rads are tiring themselves (really kicks in around 2 week mark) but I also found driving to hospital day in day out was tiring and I only had less than 30min drive each way. You can request your rad appointments for specific time every day but there's no guarantee that you will get them so you need to factor working from home some of the day during treatment at least. I know all about bad timing: I was only back at work for 6 weeks after maternity leave when I got diagnosed and we moved too while I was off! ... View more

hi Kmk, sorry to hear about your diagnosis but you're in a good company here as the ladies here are amazing.   Re your question - it all depends on what treatment you are on (there are different chemos and everyone reacts to them differently and the daily rads will make you really tired). I personally have been off for a year now although I did work the odd days during first lot of chemo (1-2 days during the 3rd week of the cycle) but could do that when the weekly chemos started and rads just finished me off.   Having said all that I know there ladies here who worked through all of their treatment so hopefully they can give you more reassurance x ... View more

Tat, make sure you stock up on moisturiser and keep using it liberally during and after the rads. 33 sessions is a seriously long slog so have some treats planned along the way and keep yourself hydrated too (with any means possible including gin and silly jiuce) xx ... View more

Hi Tat4tit, this journey is also a 'gift that keep giving'... I got lymphoedema in my arm and upper torso thanks to the lymph nodes being infected and thus removed. I also got nerve pains from rads and I'm now about to go through menopause for the 2nd time (1st one was caused by the chemo but ovaries decided to start working again and I didn't want to take another lot of medication with its side effects and contra effects to meds I'm already on. I'm not having any more kids hence the op to remove them). At home now recovering and parched for the diddle of silly juice but might have to wait until I'm off the (strong) pain killers at least  . I'm def up for a meet up and will come with a couple boxes in tow xx   ... View more

I thought originally my journey was coming to an end when the weekly/daily hospital appointments finished but Unknown to me I had extendable ticket covering the side effects land. So here I am meeting new people (pain consultants, lymphatic drainage masseurs and more surgeons), taking in the new sites (another hospital, had a special tour of their operating theatre yesterday), losing some unwanted package along the way (the pesky ovaries started to work again so they had to go) and experimenting with local cocktails (the medical kind ones). I'm still looking for the 3 litre box of silly juice (aka rose wine) that I lost somewhere along the way so if any of you come across it I'm more than ready to drink it on one go 🍷🍷🍷 ... View more

thank you ladies. I will try the  O.P.I. strengthener and they seem to also do a set with cuticle oil on Amazon so I'm thinking double attack :-) x ... View more