Tamoxigang thread 50 with summer sun, sangria and maybe even some sand

[foofooyeah]

Welcome to thread 50 .... Yes FIFTY.
Lots of us are rising 50 so rather apt!

minty the massage sounds great and I'm glad they've at least agreed to extend it a bit. Hopefully they will be more generous when they next review it. Four weeks seems ridiculous, I can't believe they haven't had other people needing more time. Cancer is fairly common so they ought to have a better plan for it. It sounds like your boss is being a bit less dickish now?

Great idea to share our histories.

1. Dx November 1992 with DCIS in L breast. Wire localisation excision November 1992. Further excision January 1993 as cancer extended to edge of original. 6 weeks of rads February - March 1993. 5 years of Tamoxifen.

1. Dx November 2011 with 2 tumours, one ductal and one lobular, one grade 2 and one grade 3 in R breast. Mx November 2011 with sentinel node clearance. Clear margins around each tumour, no node involvement and no evidence of vascular invasion. Tumours were hormone+ and HER2+. 6 cycles of FEC January - May 2012. 3 weeks of rads May - June 2012. 18 cycles of Herceptin July 2012 - July 2013. Arimidex prescribed for 5 years.

I had a mammogram on 28 December 2012 which showed NED.

1. Mammogram February 2014 showed areas of microcalcification. Core biopsy confirmed grade 2 invasive carcinoma. Ultra sound and core biopsy of lymph nodes confirmed lymph node involvement. Mx 17th April 2014. 6/19 nodes affected. Cancer was hormone- and HER2+. CT scan showed suspicious liver lesion. MRI confirmed 2 cancerous tumours.

I am currently having 6 cycles of Docetaxel and 18 cycles of Herceptin. I will complete the Docetaxel at the end of September. I will then have CT and MRI to check my liver. If any cancer remains I will be referred to the liver unit at the QE in Birmingham for an operation. Arimidex suspended during chemo but will re-start thereafter.

After that, who knows? Certainly 10 years of close monitoring at a minimum. Possibly further treatment. Only time will tell.

mrsrhod I crossposted with you. I'm sorry you're suffering, although good that your rads are over. I hope the skin reaction calms down quickly, and that you start to get your energy back.

You have every reason to be optimistic. There's really no point comparing your case to anyone else's, as even if they sound similar, there will be tiny differences. The vast majority of people in your position will be absolutely fine.

Enjoy your wine and hopefully now that MNHQ have stepped in you will return to a calmer thread :)

From what I could see on reading the posts, Really's 'pronouncement' wasn't an attempt to pull the wool over anyone's eyes or to deceive anyone. Neither did it seem to be inaccurate. The one fact I do know, having been through my own 'cancer story' this year is that we need kindness and sensitivity. I'd hate to think that Really has felt that she's being accused of misleading/ lying. She's just had good news, from what I understand. Those moments are gold dust. I don't know how long my 'moment' will last, but, for now, I'm prepared to embrace it - in the full knowledge that things could change at ANY moment.

mrs wine is great for the soul!! During early days of chemo, I asked my lovely Onc if ok to keep drinking wine. She said, no problem, it's important to keep enjoying the good things in life! So enjoy your vino tonight.

I have taken her advise to heart... Regarding all the good things in life, not just the vino.

I found a lump in 2007 age 33 with a new baby. I was sent home twice with a diagnosis of normal dense breast tissue. The third time I went in the lump was huge. I was told it was Dcis. Then I had a bad lymph node. Then mx and lymph clearance. 7cm + 6cm tumours 13 of 15 nodes involved. Er + 8/8. 4 x EC and 4 x Taxotere radiotherapy,and five years of tamoxifen. I thought I was clear.

Then I had pulmonary effusion and enlarged lymph nodes. 8 cycles of capcitabene and talc bonding on my lung (ouch). Currently fit as a flea. On letrazole and zoladex at the moment. I won't be seeing my children growing up though. Hoping for ten more years.

This thread is a great support for me. I want to help support other people going through this horrible disease too.

mrsrhod if you meant my post I am sorry if it freaked you, but as rahrah pointed out rightly that you shouldn't compare your cancer to anyone else's as they are all different and behave differently - it seemed unlikely at the end of my treatment that I'd find myself sometime later with secondaries,but this has happened, equally my SIL started out with a very bad prognosis and has been clear of disease for ten years.
anonymust absolutely no one has shown unkindness towards really - all the posters who have commented are long time members of this thread and I have seen nothing but kindness and care from each and every one to anxious posters & I count them as dear friends - this thread provides valuable support and also strives to make sure that it tells the truth - if things seem confusing or don't appear to make sense then it's right that people point it out.

trice - fantastic news that you feel fit as a flea right now - such a change from before your 'bonding' op

Waving to Trice. Glad to hear you sounding so upbeat. Fit as a flea sounds good.

update from me: dx March 2010 aged 44 extensive DCIS, aggressive stage 3, 1.7cm lump, 4/22 nodes so mx, nodal clearance, 3 FEC/3 Tax, 25 rads, still on Tamoxifen. Periods stopped with first chemo and now officially post menopause. Also chose to have elective mx on other side in 2011,so I now have 2 silicon nipple less breasts!

I know I rambled on and said this earlier, but this place is so important and special and it's worth shouting about that from time to time.Three cheers for the ever lovely MAS, as she started it way back in 2009!

Just wanted to add something my bcn sad.

Cancer is different for everyone and unpredictable.
She had one lady with the tiniest lump who later got secondaries, and a lady who had 24 out if 25 lymph nodes affected who is clear 15 years later.

When I believed I was stage IV I wasn't devastated, I wasn't best pleased, but I felt it was living with cancer rather than I was terminal.

None of us know what our future holds, there is enough tragedy out there to prove that, we just need to live our lives the very best we can.

Foofoo I'll second that. In the past fortnight two of my friends have had their husbands die suddenly in their early 50s. None of us know what's round the next corner. As the saying goes "live each day as if it's your last ".

Yes three cheers for MAS for starting this thread, it has provided support for many many people. :)

And I will "third" that! I was in a car accident when expecting DS1 and we both could have died. I realised then the fragility and randomness of life.
Now, with secondary cancer, I make sure I keep positive (most of the time) and make the most of life.

I would also like to add that this thread was a complete life-line for me a year ago. Everyone in RL saw only the 'strong' and positive side of me - it was the ladies on here that held my hand, gave me advice and supported me through the whole process.

I had the luck (if you can call it that!!) to be diagnosed at the same time as a lovely group - Malt, Lilymaid and Betsy - and we helped each other (at all hours of the night and day) through everything. And all of us benfitted from the advice and guidance from the 'old-timers' - none more so than Amber with her up to date research information.

Have not been here that long but this thread is a wonderful source of support and information and has helped so much.

Diagnosed in March aged 40 with 1.8 cm lump (triple negative)then another 5mm lump which is Herceptin positive. No node involvement. Am in middle of chemo but end is hopefully in site (one or two more to go). Can't have Herceptin yet until my heart function improves but taking tablets. Surgery next- opting for BMX and then I don't have a clue about radiotherapy yet. Veer between feeling positive and scared about what future might bring.

Sight not site!

so agree with speedy this site has kept me and dh going since january not sure how we would have coped without it .

My story.
Diagnosed 1st August 2013, thought small lump, booked for WLE, but MRI first to check
Lump much bigger 9cm, started FEC chemo Sep 13 finished 31dec
BMX with expanders done Feb 2014
Found in lymph nodes so clearance done Mar 14 4/15.
Staging CT showed 2 lesions in liver.
Decided I wanted agressive treatment so referred to Basingstoke for liver surgery: PET scan clear, MRI showed hermangiomas, no further treatment needed but will be rescanned in Oct to check no changes.
In the meantime have completed 4 x Docetaxol
Radiotherapy booking in thing is 31/7 due to have 15 lots starting mid August.

Hi,

Hope you don't mind me hopping on to this board. I have a long history of breast problems and am currently waiting for referral to the clinic (again). Symptoms in right breast started 2 years ago with burning, sharp pains, breast became fuller and nipple looked like it had 'moved' a bit. Consultant was excellent, mammo & u/s clear.

These symptoms waxed and waned over the past 2 years, I now have a very slightly pink area near the nipple. Went to a gp last week, she said she felt lots of lumps both sides, some of them tender. She also thought the nipple looked slightly out of alignment when I was sitting up, but more normal when lying down. One of the lumps in the painful breast she got the trainee doctor to feel as well. Though weirdly the breast is no more painful on examination than just when resting. She said she would refer me to the clinic so they could drain the cysts and make me more comfortable.

Anyway, freaked out and phoned my own gp the next day. He said that her notes didn't suggest anything worrying and lymph nodes were normal (she did the briefest check on my arm pit). Just 'lumpiness'. I do have history of fibroadenoma, some clinics have said I'm fibrocystic and some haven't. I do get the odd shooting pain in my arm put and my upper arm feels more swollen and achy than the other side.

I suppose my question is, does this sound suspicious or not? I haven't yet been referred as we're off on hols so they won't refer until we get back (2 weeks). Do you think the gp would have said if she'd found something worrying?

I am nearly 40 and my mother had LCIS aged 57.

This thread has been busy - took me a while to catch up but just wanted to say thank you to amber for your reply regarding Tamoxifen and polyps

I agree with everyone's comments regarding this thread - not sure where I would be without it!

Me: Diagnosed Bilateral Breast Cancer December 2013 aged 45 years. Originally found lump in left breast and ultrasound revealed lump in right breast also. Six days after diagnosis I had surgery, then further surgery four weeks later to gain a better margin from right breast. 1. Right breast grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma 8.5mm 0/4 nodes positive, ER/PR negative HER2 positive 3+ 2. Left breast invasive ductal carcinoma grade 2, 12.5mm 0/2 nodes positive, ER positive, HER2 negative. I have completed 6 FEC, 15 Radiotherapy sessions, 2/18 Herceptin injections and now taking Tamoxifen.

My journey so far: diagnosed Oct 13 with Grade 2 invasive ductal carcinoma with high grade DCIS ER positive, HER2 negative.

Started chemo Oct 13 with 4 x FEC followed by 12 x Paclitaxel. Had a bmx and 10 nodes removed from left side in May 14 and finished 3 weeks of radiotherapy. Started tamoxifen a month ago.

I lurch from feeling very positive about the future to blind panic (usually in the middle of the night!). I am 49 but my youngest is just 7 years old and so I need to be around for a few years yet.

I only found this thread at the start of the year but it has been a total lifeline.

Hi worredkat I can't give you any advice but if previous tests have been negative that must be a good thing.

They will always refer you, so its a waiting game but no reason to start wiper tying now. Enjoy your holiday.

Hi all, been away from the thread for a few days for my surgery, which apparently went well. I was very nervous going in, and had 2 nights in hospital but am now at home with a drain and obviously quite a lot of painkillers. Missing the liquid morphine from the ward though. I am too scared to really look at my chest in the mirror. The left breast has gone and also they did a lymph node clearance which is the bit which hurts the most. The surgeon did an immediate reconstruction with an expandable implant but it's not been expanded yet so it looks quite odd, and I am sore and stiff. And also sad and feeling very old and decrepit

It has been a relief to get some proper sleep though, I slept so much on the ward, it was a very comforting place to be. Being home feels a bit more 'real' and not in a good way, although I am feeling better than I thought I would and am able to do the exercises with just some discomfort. Any advice other than to take it easy? It's so damn hot this evening, hope I can rest up and not get too sweaty. DH washed my hair for me this evening, poor DH, I know we promised in sickness and in health but we're not even 40 yet and dealing with this. I would like to have a good long cry but I think it would hurt my chest to do that. Right: more painkillers and then sleep.

Elporto, am so glad you're home! I reckon post op is always tricky - the GA alone knocks you sideways. It would be weird not to feel overwhelmed, angry, scared, confused even, but you've just ticked off one of the huge hurdles you need to get through. That's a massive achievement and a step closer to the end and so to the future too. Hooray for you and your lovely sounding DH. I hope the drugs help you sleep. Keep talking to everyone on here - it really does help. Gentle hugs from me xx

Worried I'm no expert but I think it sounds like pesky cysts. They refer if there's a hint of doubt, but 9 out of 10 referrals turn out to be nothing sinister so that's something to keep hold of. Go enjoy your holiday and try not to worry.

Thanks for your replies. Come to think of it, I knew someone with a testicular cyst and it was painful and swelled right up on one side. Maybe it's the same with breast cysts hence the fullness and nipple alignment. Clinging on to that thought.

My mothers lobular cancer grew on the site where she had had a large cyst removed. Her gp said the cancer was another cyst and referral was delayed (back in the day when 2 weeks was only if a gp noted red flags). I keep reading that cysts and cancers are not linked though. Mind you her gp was imo rubbish, he diagnosed her secondary cancer as anxiety.

Thanks for talking to me, I've found it difficult to find a forum for this that has traffic.