**Tamoxigang thread 51**... no more sangria, but maybe some mulled wine!

[MarthaCostello]

Hello all,

The old thread has nearly run out so I hope no one minds me making a new one. And am I allowed to mention the Big C... Christmas?! our last thread was started in July so I reckon this one might take us into December.

In honour of that, I will lay out some mulled wine, mince pies and I have wrapped myself in tinsel.

A warm welcome to jomidmum, but sorry you've had to join us. No one wants to be in this club, but this thread is a rather nice place to be. Wishing you a speedy recovery from your op, and hoping the pain eases soon.

Massive hugs to beccajoh

A big yippee for Marshy, what utterly fantastic news.

Sitting on the paranoia box for ConsiderablyBiggerBuns, I hope your MRI results are good - when will you hear?

Waving and sending love to everyone else.

I wonder if seeing as we are on a new thread, it might be worth just giving a bit of history for new posters? I will put mine anyway, and then others can if they want to. I am coming up to two years since my bowel cancer diagnosis (grade 2, stage 3c, T2N2M0R0). I had major bowel surgery and six months of chemo.

Happy Christmas everyone. Hoping for a healthy new year for us all.

Hi Everyone,
I've not posted on here before because I'm not on tamoxifen.
I had DCIS everywhere + a tumour which was also in situ 2 years ago. I had 5 lymphs removed, (clear, thank G,) then a mx with LD flap recon.
Last year I had more recon at the front & surgery to tidy up my back. It got infected & all split right open, I was having it packed twice a week from 1st Dec - end of Feb....ow!
Anyway, on another year, just had 2nd all clear, (yay!), but I still feel like I get red hot needles in my back. Also, (turn away if squeamish), it doesn't matter how often I bath & soak or shower, but my armpit always smells, (DH says he can't smell it love him!), but I can. I'm really conscious about it.
Has anyone been through similar/got any advice?

Also, since my diagnosis, my Aunt, (Mum's younger sis), has had BC. I'm not on any tamoxifen or the other one. Is this right, I don't know.

Hi Frances. This thread isn't for just those on tamoxifen. I am not having it either and have had a very warm welcome here since being diagnosed in March. Am afraid I don't know about the type of surgery you have had but hopefully someone will. Do you have a breast care nurse you can ask?

They give tamoxifen and Herceptin only depending on the type of cancer. My larger tumour was classed as triple negative which meant that neither of those drugs would help but then they found a tiny lump that would respond to Herceptin so I have had some doses of that to target that one. Am sure if you would have benefited from having one of those drugs you would have been given it. Fab news on being 'all clear' at your last check.

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Went for a lovely walk in the sunshine today.

Frances I am also not on Tamoxifen currently though have taken it for a short time to allow me to go abroad on holiday. And I haven't had surgery or rads, but have had plenty of chemo. There's so many types of BC and so many treatments that we have all had different experiences. And some of us have had other types of cancer. Perhaps our next thread title should explain that (in a humorous way)?

Welcome Frances as the others have said you don't have to be on tamoxifen to post here, or have breast cancer for that matter. I had a lumpectomy so a bit different, I did have node removal but don't notice my armpit smelling any more.

Hope everyone is ok, I'm back from the sunshine to the cold :(

Thanks for welcoming me.

Mine smelled for a short time after the sentinel node removal/wide local excision but it's cleared up now. I have an impending mastectomy so will be interested to find out if the smell comes back then! It wasn't a BO smell as it was quite sweet.

Hi frances like everyone has said, this is the right place for all sorts of queries. I had a full node clearance in my armpit in April at the same time as my BMX. I've not noticed a smell and am hoping no one around me has! Do you have a breast cancer nurse you can ask, if not, I would ask my GP. If it bothering you then it should be taken seriously.

I had SN & 4 others removed before my mx 2 yrs ago. I wondered if anyone else had experienced anything similar.
Also, my LD flap recon & more surgery 12 months later which get infected & came apart. I still get hot stabbing pains & the whole muscle still feels tight. Is this the norm?

Hi frances, I had a lumpectomy and sentinel +3 node removal in May so I've been around here since then. I didnt experience any smell afterwards. What I really wanted to say is that I've been on here for the last eight months and I haven't read anything like you are describing. You obviously can't read back over the many years of this thread to find somebody with a similar issue, but you can be sure no one has described this recently. I also haven't been aware of anyone having the type of reconstruction you have had so dont know if your pains are normal.

Not very helpful I know, but in a round about way I suppose I'm also suggesting speaking to your breast nurse, if you have one, or contacting your surgeon again. You're obviously still in the system, so you should be able to request an appt.

The nearest I have to tightness is in my armpit and across into my breast when I lift my arm. I'm assuming this is scar tissue, which I think is made tighter by rads. Must do more exercises. I hope you manage to speak to someone soon.

Hello to everyone else, hope you're all enjoying the festivities. I bumped into my surgeon in the changing room of Hobbs the other day. He was with his wife. Very surreal experience, he was as lovely as usual.

Thanks Mrs Rhod Gilbert. I'm due to go back to see my breast nurse in March for my tattoo, so I'll ask her then. I don't like to call for something that's not urgent, I remember trying to speak to her when I was going through it all & I don't want to take her time up over something relatively trivial. Thanks.

I wouldn't say what you're experiencing is trivial. Apart from the smell you mention, you are having pain and discomfort. It sounds like you have been through some major surgery and you have every right to speak to her. If she is as lovely as mine she wouldn't want one of her patients to suffer in silence. You are as important as everyone else.

Alternatively, I contacted Breast Cancer Care by email a few months ago. I was worried about something one weekend when I couldn't get hold of anybody else. I expected an email back but actually a very friendly nurse phoned me back and I was able to talk through my issue. I was very impressed.

Mrs Rhod that's good to know about breast cancer care. I used the Macmillan helpline when I was first diagnosed and very much in panic mode and they were helpful. I agree Frances that if you're in pain seek help

Hello All,you may or may not remember me.I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June and had a MX in July.
I have been following the thread ever since but felt I didn't have anything to add as so many,much more experienced people than me,were giving great advice.

I have recovered really well and all turned out to be in situ so no further treatment required.
I was fitted with an expander and am now going to have implants on both sides beginning of January.
I have been reading up about it and spoken to my surgeon and the advise given post op is very different.My surgeon seems to think it is quite a big deal and I will be out of action for quite a while. No driving for 6 weeks for starters.No lifting ( anything remotely heavy) for 4 months.
When I google info it seems to say people are almost back to normal after about 3 weeks!
I was back to doing most things after a couple of weeks after my MX and riding horses after 6 weeks so don't really know what to expect.
Anyone have experience with this?
The implants will be placed under the muscle and I will be going from an A-cup to a B-cup.Thanks for reading.

Hi nelson I have expanders both sides but mine were done at the same time as my MX. But I was driving again after three weeks.
I was advised no heavy lifting for months though, and no heavy weights at the gym or exercises that involve the pecs for 6 months.
I do know a lady who had surgery in Feb and was back playing polo in June but don't know what type of surgery.

Hello all, hope everyone has had a lovely peaceful Christmas with nice gifts and minimum stress

We had really the best Christmas I think I've ever had. The kids were lovely, I got some gorgeous thoughtful gifts, the whole day was perfect with lots of cuddles with my DC and resting on the sofa. And (best bit) DH has finally agreed we can go and choose a KITTEN in the new year! All of this has helped me to get through cycle 5 (tax) with minimal SEs and I am back to normal less than a week later - even went for a nice frosty jog this morning, hurray.

Nelson, lovely to see you again, I have no idea about recovery time but I am guessing it's quite personal. If you were on a horse within 6 weeks of your expander being done then I would guess you're unlikely to need 4 months of no heavy lifting, but I would question it again and see if there's anything you can do to be up and about quicker.

Frances, welcome! My armpit stank after lymph node clearance but mainly because I couldn't wash or shave it (yuk) - now it is fine.

Waves to everyone else, does anyone have anything fun planned for New Year?

Hi Nelson - I had an expander swapped for an implant and an implant put into the other breast in Jan this year. It is a very straightforward and painless procedure (much more minor than having an expander put in).

I think I didn't drive for about 3 days but didn't stop doing anything else. Fortunately there are no drains required.

I had 3 weeks working from home but that was more to do with me having only finished chemo a few months before so part of general recovery.
Hope that helps. The implant is much more comfortable than an expander so you should lose that 'boulder' feeling .

Hi Nelson. I currently have expanders in after a bmx in Oct that entailed a six week recovery but am about to have them swapped for implants in about 3 weeks. My surgeon said that this op is much easier and I should be ok by two weeks. Probably won't be able to do too much lifting but she said I could drive and go back to work. There will be no drains this time which is good.

Kitkat- am glad to hear the implants are much more comfy! I have been a difficult patient and changed my mind about having more saline put in. I swear that they have shrunk over past couple of weeks so am going for more next week after saying I wanted to stop. Hope my surgeon isn't too grumpy with me!

Elporto- glad you had a lovely Christmas.

Elporto, sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas, and you were able to avoid (or ignore) too many SEs. How does it feel now you only have 1 more cycle to go? Must be amazing :).

I had a fairly quiet week and am spending this week trying to tidy and deep clean the house and cook stews etc for the freezer. I've got my op on 8th jan so just trying to get organised for that. DH is still totally rubbish at housework but did buy me and DD tickets to see Swan Lake on the 18th so I've got something to look forward to during my recovery. Not quite the same as a trip to Oz ;) but I'm so looking forward to a girly day out with DD.

I had my pre op assessment yesterday which was all straightforward, if very slow. The only thing was, whilst I've got used to smell of the chemo unit which is in it's own building, the smell of the main hospital corridor instantly reminded me of all the reasons why I don't like hospitals! I haven't been worried about the op, but it did cause my heart to tighten momentarily.

Anyway, hope everyone else is enjoying a festive break, very jealous of you malt getting away for some winter sun

Couldn't help but think of becca's family on Christmas Day. They're never far from my thoughts

Thank you so much for your replies. Very reassuring . That's what I thought,that recovery would be much quicker than last time. That's why it was such a shock when the surgeon said no driving for 6 weeks,no lifting for 4 months (I have a pretty physically demanding job) and no riding for 6 months!
Let's hope she was being over cautious,I will let you know.

What I also meant to ask the people who have had implants,is were yours placed under or above the muscle?
Mine are going to go under the muscle,so don't know if that makes a difference?

Nelson- Fairly sure mine are going under muscle as that's where the expanders are so can't imagine they stretch the muscle only to then put implants on the top. It is worth checking with your surgeon again maybe to check the recovery as it seems different to others experiences on here.

My implant on mx side is under the muscle and the one on the other side is not.

Re exercise I was at the gym within 2 weeks of the Op - but not doing any wieghts with uper body but I left it 6 months before playing golf.

Also for both of you - the new implants take around 6 weeks to 'drop' so don't be disappointed if they still sit really high (like the expander) when they are first done - they do look more natural after time.

Thanks kitkat. My expanders are quite uncomfy and poke out of the sides so am looking forward to waving them goodbye.

Speedy - my expander always felt like it was into my armpit as well but the implant does not feel like that .