Cancer Support Thread #81 Newbies welcome

[TopOfTheCliff]

This is a kind and friendly place for those with cancer or those worried they have cancer (or who used to have cancer) to hang out.
Please introduce yourselves and chat away. No issues are too big or small here.
Top

I’ll kick things off. I’m 61 and just completed a pentathlon of breast cancer treatment last week. I’m now on anastrozole and bone builders for a few years. I am infamous for having fractured and dislocated my ankle during chemotherapy but I’m fit and well again now having done the Macmillan SafeFit trial and worked my way back to fitness. On this thread I am Tigger, always bouncing and full of energy!

@JeanLannes when you get your results they will tell you whether they got the tumour out fully with clear margins and whether any lymph nodes sampled were affected. This will determine whether you need another operation, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Fingers crossed for the all clear! It’s a nerve wracking wait. You sound as though you are doing pretty well with your recovery.

Best wishes to all who pass this way
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Thank you @TopOfTheCliff. My BCN has said she will be there for results and hopefully DH can come along too.

To introduce myself, I’m 51, married with 2 DD. Diagnosed April with her2+ er/pr- breast cancer with spread to lymph.

Have completed 18 weeks of chemo alongside Phesgo and just had a mastectomy with full axilla clearance. Phesgo is ongoing for the moment.

Thanks for the new thread Top.

Just to reintroduce myself, I'm 45 & was diagnosed with stage 3 oesophageal-junction cancer in Feb of this year. I have two DC's aged 5 & 9. I decided to stop treatment a couple of weeks ago. I realised I had become more scared of the chemo then the cancer. New oncologist accepted this and so it's the end of active treatment for me.

I've been devising a post treatment treatment plan over the last 6 months, so I'm implementing that and quite excited by it, mostly diet, supplements, exercise and a big fat dollop of woo 😄

@TopOfTheCliff how long it did take for you to regain some level of fitness? I've lost a lot of muscle and feeling pretty feeble so thinking of getting a PT. I need to get fit without burning too many calories.

Annoyingly I've been having pain when swallowing after the obstruction so have an endoscopy on Friday. I figure its either trauma from the obstruction or there was something more sinister there already, hence the blockage.

Big hello to everyone, I did read the last thread but my brain is not retaining info very well but I am thinking of everybody and sending good vibes ✌️

My third chemo tomorrow. Stocked up on ginger biscuits, fruit, jelly babies and fruit pastilles today and trying to make sure I'm hydrated. Feels like preparing for some big sports challenge except I didn't have pasta for dinner.

Hi everyone. I'm 48 and just diagnosed with BC. Surgery should be 2/11 (although I was hoping for an earlier date). Just want to get on with treatment ASAP. Have 2 kids (8 & 11) and the wait is so hard!

Hi @JeanLannes quick intro: I'm 51, diagnosed early Sept with stage 1 breast cancer found only because I am taking part in an imaging study. I'm HER neg, and its not aggressive. So my treatment so far has been a WLE and lymph node biopsy exactly two weeks ago now, and reconstruction planned in a second op.
I got my pathology results on Monday, so here's what they told me. They were really not sure about margins because the tumor was quite invisible. So instead of one 27mm tumour they found three smaller ones, which is good apparently. Lymph nodes all clear. This informed what they will do tomorrow: they will take a bit more margin on one side and then do the flap based reconstruction. I've been recovering well from the first op, shame they have to do it all again and more tomorrow. I might even have to have a drain this time.
And I guess I can expect Radiotherapy next.

@quinin I hope you get some answers on Friday.

Hi @silky86 welcome to the place nobody wants to be. That in-limbo time till treatment starts is hard I agree, and for me it was quite surreal as I was fit and well, running a charity race the weekend before the surgery. I hope you find some fun/distracting things to do in the intervening weeks, go away at half term maybe?

Just place marking the new thread, will post tomorrow as I have a temperature tonight and I am pretending it’s not happening.

@Quinin I was at an all time low last January after finishing chemo, having my ankle pinned and breast surgery with total node clearance. I couldnt sit up in bed or get up off the floor. I felt 90 and all my joints hurt and I weighed a stone more than on diagnosis. I signed up with SafeFit and had a lovely online coach three times a week while I also lost weight. I got a private PT who treated me twice a week. Now nine months later I am feeling much better although my joints still hurt. I am loving the exercise but find it hard to give up cake. I am cycling, gardening and doing gym classes and yoga.

@NewlyDiagnosed I was a fit long distance cyclist before I was diagnosed, no symptoms and enjoying life. It felt like hitting a wall at speed. My career ended the next day and I am now retired.

@silky86 welcome, may your stay be short and comfortable.

@SewingBees good luck tomorrow xx

Waves to all
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Introducing myself, I'm Paddington, 40 and was diagnosed in August with Folliclular Lymphoma, going through chemo and treatment now.

@SewingBees all the best for tmw

@MrsPNut I hope the temperature goes away 🤞

Temp is back down this morning to something nearer normal but I shall lounge around all day just in case!

I’m MrsPnut, 45 and I was diagnosed last November with vaginal cancer after a smear and some investigations for unexplained bleeding.
After a CT scan, I was referred to the breast clinic as well and diagnosed with breast cancer which had spread to my lymph nodes.

I’ve had 25 fractions of radiotherapy, 5 rounds of cisplatin, 3 rounds of brachytherapy, double breast surgery, 7 rounds of FEC-T and a partridge in a pear tree!

I am part of the select group for whom, if it can go wrong, then it probably will which is how I ended up with an extravasation of FEC from my port into my chest.

The last thread took some time to fill up!

Im HerbalRefreshment, dx'd at 42 with Stage IV de novo breast cancer mets to bones only. Now 44 and two pills a day have kept me stable/shrunk my tumors over the last few years. I travel, exercise, and work a normal job and you would never ever know looking at me that I am lugging around a breast tumor and have an incurable disease. Hoping to keep it that way for as long as possible!

Hello, I feel a bit bad posting when I haven't even been seen by my GP yet, but I'm panicking and just need somewhere to talk about this before I drive myself crazy. I hope that's ok?

At the weekend I noticed a slightly tender area on my breast and upon further investigation (read me prodding and poking it a lot in various positions) I've found a ridge like 'lump' with what feels almost like a cavity below it. I do have generally lumpy breasts and it is in exactly the same place that I usually get hormonal lumpiness, but this feels different.

I had a telephone appointment with my GP who wants to wait until after my next period to see me, I understand, but since finishing the call I'm feeling increasingly anxious that it's already been there ages and the extra 2 week delay could make things even worse.

Someone please talk me down!

Hi @mrshodgeheg, it's always concerning but please remember the vast majority of breast lumps are not cancer. It's worth asking the GP to make the referral, explain your concerns.

I always forget to come on the thread to see how everyone is getting on.

I was diagnosed with stage 4 triple negative breast cancer in December 2020 (previous stage 3 treatment ended July 2020). So far this year I've had 2 types of radiotherapy, chemo (Abraxane) and immunotherapy. It's working apart from a tricky area that's not playing ball, so I'm about to start a different type of chemo (Carboplatin).

The hardest part is definitely coping mentally. I've used a psychotherapist since my initially diagnosis. I highly recommend talking to therapists and charities to anyone struggling to process a cancer diagnosis

Hello to another new thread Thanks Top for kicking it off. I'm 49, was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer last December and since have had FEC-T chemotherapy, mastectomy, radiation, currrently on Kadcyla and planning reconstruction surgery mid -2022.

Hi @mrshodgeheg I am a GP recently retired after 37 years in the NHS.
I am sorry to hear you are scared. Most lumps are innocent and wax and wane through the monthly cycle. That is why your GP wants to see you after your period. When you feel the breast don’t use your fingers to poke for lumps, use the flat of your hand. This will even out hormonal tissue and make it easier to discriminate between sinister and innocent things. The breast feels a bit like lumpy porridge anyway! Step back and look in the mirror for skin changes and puckering of the tissues when you raise your arms. Check in your armpit for lymph nodes. If you find any of these things report them to your GP.
Quite likely the tender area will have gone by the time you see your GP. I hope so but we are here to hold your hand anyway. It will all be fine!

Best wishes
Top

Hi, thanks for the new thread. I was diagnosed with stage 3C HGS ovarian cancer in 2019, after 6 lots chemo told inoperable. Another 6 lots of chemo and told operable now! Had op in March this year,
and put on Niraparib, which Ive now been taken off ,temporarily I think ,due to side effects. Been struggling mentally since diagnosis, mainly due I think to living alone with no relatives, but trying to get out and about more now that Covid has abated slightly.

@thereisonlyoneofme, have you asked your team if there's any help available at the hospital or charities nearby? I'm lucky to being treatment at a cancer specific hospital and have access to a MacMillan funded psychotherapist and there's also a Maggies next door. They're both a huge support for my mental health.

The link for anyone looking for their local Maggie's

Hi all I
‘Buddy’, dx’d with colon cancer in feb 2018. I also have Barratts Oesophagus and a Hiatus Hernia. Due to covid, my yearly endoscopy was postponed and I’m on tenterhooks waiting for my appointment letter to drop through the door.
Regarding my bowel cancer, I had surgery and got the all clear. Therefore I’m in remission however my tumour showed I have Lynch Syndrome which is a genetic fault meaning I have a higher chance of getting colon and other cancers.
So hello to you all and I’m happy to chat to anyone who is starting their cancer journey x x

Sorry that should say I’m ‘Biddy’ 🤦‍♀️

@TopOfTheCliff thank you. I can't see any visual differences at all which is good.
I can feel lymph nodes in my armpit, but I'm quite slim and always can, again particularly on this side.
I can still feel the lumpy area with my flat hand, it's almost as though there's something under a layer of tissue pushing it up (rather than a defined lump if that makes sense?)
I suffer a bit with health anxiety and my mind is running away with what if this has been here ages and I've not noticed? What if it's spread? Will an extra 2 weeks mean it has chance to spread? Etc etc. I wish I could switch it off but I just can't.

Drains are now out but sore with shooting pains which I have been told are just the nerve endings. I suppose I should expect to be sore a week after surgery. Really trying with the exercises though.

@quinin - have had my fingers crossed for your endoscopy

@silky86 - the wait is horrid. It’s actually much easier once you’re in the swing of things.

@NewlyDiagnosed - pleased that your lymph nodes were clear. Good luck with the rest of the surgery.

@SewingBees - hope the chemo went as well as possible

Hello and best wishes to everyone else x

Hi

I'm Lou, 52 with 2 adult sons and an amazing partner. Diagnosed with grade 2 lobular breast cancer in June. I had a lumpectomy in August, 3 lymph nodes removed which were cancer free and clear margins. I'm triple positive, ER, PR & HER2+

I started EC chemo on the 1st October, I have 2 more cycles every 21 days and then move onto weekly Paclitaxel with Herceptin every third week.

Chemo wasn't as bad as I expected and only felt rough for 4 days, by day 6 I've just improved each day and have managed to go on daily walks, lunch with friends and kept myself busy with reading, jigsaws and crap TV.

It's been hard to slow down as I'm a full time primary school teacher so am normally on the go pretty much Mon-Fri.

I've got an amazing group of supportive family and friends which has made such a difference.

Just waiting for my hair to start falling out next.

Hi everyone, thanks for the good wishes for my chemo, so far this time it hasn't hit me as hard but the steroid effect is wearing off and I'm feeling tired again today.

I forgot to give my background for the start of the new thread. I'm 48 (birthday very soon) and have a husband, an active 5 year old daughter, and a goofy dog. I'm being treated for breast cancer, can't remember all the details about positive or negative etc etc, but lumpectomy in July removed it with clear margins and a tiny amount found in a lymph node. Just had my third of 6 chemos, on track to finish by Christmas. Then it'll be 5 radiotherapy sessions and on to pills. I'm still pre-menopausal so it's likely to be Tamoxifen for now.

So far we're coping ok as a family though my daughter has recently shown signs of hiding away her worries about school in an attempt not to burden us further, so we're going to talk to her gently about it this week. We've been very open with her (age appropriate of course) and there are no secrets but it's hard to know exactly what she understands and doesn't. We're planning a few days away at half term which will be useful decompression time - hopefully we'll have decent weather and can make the most of Northumberland's wild empty beaches to clear our heads and reconnect.