Cancer Support Thread 98: support for those diagnosed and going through treatment

[FcukBreastCancer]

Hello 👋

@Tiddlywinks63 im so sorry to hear your shit news. I’ve been having chemo since Nov and it’s a bloody rollercoaster but hanging on in there, just. Are they positive it’s not curable? I know
someone who; after chemo they couldn’t fully remove the cancer so they “boxed it in” if you will and she’s been like that for over 20 years now and still happy and thriving.

@cantbelieveIamhere @Ventress and anyone else I’ve missed, how are you all? I’ve been struggling with a few things, had my second dose of EC yesterday and was given a lot more taken home meds this time. Still feel horrendous but at least managing to eat this time around… for now anyway. Cold cap was doing wonders for 4 months but the new treatment has done an absolute wonder on me and all my hair is just falling out in bucket loads so partner took to it with scissors.

if anything I think that’s been one of the most traumatic things for me, my hair was long and thick and past my bum and now I’m a skin head. Hey ho got to think of the end goal.

i hope everyone is as well as can be. Finally got my date to sit down with my surgeon to discuss options in a few weeks, oddly looking forward to it. Hoping for a free boob job on the NHS (have to joke about these things or I will cry!)

@Bangersndmash definitely not curable unfortunately. Definitely sending you a big 🤗 xx
Does the fact that it’s in both lungs make it Stage4?
At the moment I’m feeling quite resigned to whatever happens next, it’s the PETscan in 2-3 weeks then biopsy 2-3 weeks later, then….???

@Bangersndmash sorry to hear about your hair - some of the chemo is worse than others and affects your hair more I think. I was lucky the cold cap helped and I have lost a lot on top but you can only see by sending a drone up - cold capping is supposed to help it grow back quickly - so hopefully it will for you as mine is growing back already.
I dont know how you are doing it with children, most of my chemo left me like a zombie unable to do anything other than get up and sit still all day. I dont think everyone is so ill but I was - they say its bad for a week, not so bad for a week and then you have a week to recover before you start again but mine was bad for over two weeks, barely got better and then hit by the next lot.
Its now week 5 since my last chemo and I am still exhausted, have watery eyes and itchy arms - all apparently the after effects of chemo. Am now waiting for scan results in terror. But I am able to taste some food now! How many more have you got to do??

@Tiddlywinks63 I know someone who has lung cancer, he has had it for four years and had chemotherapy, then carries on with his life and occasionally goes back for maintenance chemo so although he thought thats me done he has continued on and they keep the cancer under control. I am not curable either and have just finished 6 cycles of chemo and having continuing treatment via injections. Good luck with your scans and biopsies and try not to google.

the day i wrote my last message was my dog Oscars last day, he had multiple seizures that night and has gone, I am heart broken - he was only 6 and had seizures on and off for some time but they got worse since my diagnosis, hes been there for me when i am up in the night not sleeping from chemo and now I have to manage without him.

@@cantbelieveIamhere so sorry to hear this, my animals have been absolute stars through my treatments, go gently.

So sorry to hear this @cantbelieveIamhere Poor little darlin. My precious elderly retriever got me through my operations, significant bereavement and chemo, then passed of cancer himself. So very sorry. 💐

@Bangersndmash gah, I remember looking in the mirror with my hair cap on and my last eyelash hanging in there, saying to myself “I look like a proper cancer patient now!” FWIW I also cold capped and went from waist length hair to a short Emma Thompson (& grew out my greys). I went thin on top but now I’m post-chemo, my hair has come back quite thick. I think the cold capped protected the follicles, so hang on in there.

@Tiddlywinks63 so sorry to read your news. Keep buggering on.

waving to any who remember me from my full on chemo days. I’m now on tablet chemo for three years (& AIs) and gently picking up life.

So not sure why im posting tonight, just want a bit of a sounding board…

got my scan today to see how my body has been reacting to chemo and don’t know how to feel. I’ve got x2 chemo sessions left.

had two lumps… breast cancer completely gone, cancer still in lymph nodes but reduced 50%. You would think I feel more happy but because it’s not completely gone I can’t allow myself to feel happy or celebrate the win.

don’t know how to feel about the news.

Hi @Bangersndmash - I came on here for a whinge and saw your post. How are you feeling now? I completely get the feeling that the news is positive but not positive enough. Have they given you a plan for what happens next?

I posted a while back but haven’t been on for ages. I’ve got stage 3 melanoma and have been having immunotherapy which seems to be going fine. But I’ve got a lump in my groin which my surgeon thought was a lymphocele from the surgery I had back in October and very relaxed about: said if it got bigger to get an ultrasound and a fine needle aspiration if necessary. Went for the ultrasound today - was told it looks a bit concerning and to come back next week for the FNA. Bit pissed off that it didn’t all happen in one go given the referral from the surgeon, and scared this means the immunotherapy isn’t working. Gah. Also have scans in early May, and scared as to what they’ll show. But I look so bloody well, I feel like a fraud.

Rant over!

@Onewildandpreciouslife i have looked well for so long, living with cancer secretly growing, living with 5 months of awful chemo, it’s only the last couple of weeks it’s all caught up to me and I look like a bowl of scrambled eggs now. You’re not a fraud.

also, there’s so many different chemo drugs that do different things, and immunotherapy is that, immunotherapy. There are targeted drugs for certain things, so if you do get, some unwanted news, it just means they may switch up your drugs.

if all sounds very shit and I’m sorry and hope you get some positive news soon.

its been very much what do I want in terms of surgery. It’s not in my breast but I unfortunately carry a rare and shit gene which means im 70% likely to get bc again, so im opting for removal and reconstruction. Double M. When I’ve finally finished chemo in a couple of months.