**Tamoxigang Thread 52** With virtual tea, cakes and chat for all with cancer concerns

[Lilymaid]

We were almost at our 1000 post limit for Thread 51 - hope the title is OK but wanted people to know that we aren't just about people on Tamoxifen but for all with cancer concerns!

Very nice weekend thank you. Took a little shopping trip to try to find something to wear when DH and I escape to Paris in July, first foreign trip sans enfants. I failed but a good time was had. Unfortunately this morning DH informed me he might have to go to Singapore four days before our holiday, that would not be so good.

Oh mrs I wish it was that easy. Took me 3 days to get hold of my BCN. She then told me to let her know what the GP said, so I did. An automated email came back saying she was out of the office....AGAIN. Maybe she will get in touch tomorrow!

But think I need to just grin and bare it till my appointment in June. Xx

Hot chocolate - I didn't have chemo , only lumpectomy and radiotherapy, followed by Zoladex which suppresses your ovaries ( I think). I haven't had a period for two years. Being in mid 40s, I thought that was it for me.

Consequently, suddenly having a period was unexpected and a surprise. Looking back, I got pmt ( thought I was just having a moody weekend!). Unexplained bleeding should always be investigated. Not sure what happens on chemo.

Marshy - glad you're okay. Hope you have your feet up and are taking it easy.

Morning all,
I've taken an annual leave day today as just feeling a bit bleugh so gonna have a day at home. Didn't sleep well last night and had a bit of a upset tum too, something and nothing really.
River I hope I've not been really insensitive going on about the hysteroscopy when you're still awaiting your gynae appointment. It was entirely doable. I just think I'm a bit over sensitised to pain and discomfort at the moment having had to put up with quite a lot of it lately for various reasons. A friend of mine who is in her 70s had the same procedure recently and sailed through it.
Off to sit in the garden for a bit now whilst it's still sunny and before winter comes back tomorrow!

Marshy - not insensitive at all. Good to share experiences, although I haven't be brave enough to google hysteroscopy although I can sort of guess from the name. Enjoy the sunshine.

I noticed in my garden earlier one of my plants looks dead. I gave it plenty of water earlier thinking it was thirsty but it still looks ill. Did we have a frost despite the nice weather? At least if it rains we won't have to water the garden.

Hi marshy, I hope you feel much better again tomorrow and that you don't have to go through that again.

Hi all I wanted to update as you were so kind when I first posted - saw Dr at breast clinic today. He thinks it's benign and wants an ultrasound to confirm it but I'll have to wait till next week for that as they were busy (and presumably I'm not a priority). It's good news and I'm relieved but the appointment was so quick and not what I had prepared for that I feel in shock tbh!

Thanks for your support (I can't seem to do flowers on my phone!)

IseeDad : that all sounds very positive.

River: I think we had a frost a couple of nights ago.

I saw my GP and she organised a blood test which I had a few minutes later (wow). I was bleeding heavily and very tired. She phoned me with the results and I am not anaemic thank goodness, just have low neutrophils, unsurprisingly.
The BC nurse said the chemo just hadn't reached my ovaries yet. Nowt to worry about.

Hope you are all having a happy puddle day.

I saw a lady with a kids cancer charity stall today. I stopped to chat to her and felt all emo about the poor little kids. :( I am so glad that it's me going through this, and not my children. I couldn't cope with that.

Good to hear Iseedad - really positive.

Are neutrophils different from white blood cells (thicko emoticon). I had a blood test before I left the UK and it came back as 0.6 so I was given the injection again to boost it, but am not sure if it was WBC or neutrophils they were measuring...

Am having fun with my port now it has finally healed.

Isee that's fab news!

Boobz did you draw on it? Very cute ?? Nice top as well.

Hotchoc glad you got some reassurance.

I've had a good day at work today and feeling better in myself again. Dd is home from uni tomorrow for the weekend, bringing 2 friends with her and dh is back from a short break away with his brother. So I'll have a house full after being just me and ds all week. Enjoying an evening of peace and quiet now!

Thanks all, and glad to see everyone seems to have had relatively positive days today

Is it really mad of me to still be slightly worried - I'm not sure the Dr felt the lump which is why he thought benign and ultrasound to check next week. I was in such a state because he'd started by asking about family history and then examined me whilst I was still sobbing and my brain was mush it was only outside the clinic I thought 'did he even feel the lump'?

Very worried about my mum, I think it's spilling over

Very normal to still be worried isee. I need results confirming in at least 3 different ways before I start believing good news! IME doctors tend to be cautious when making pronouncements. I'm sure he had a good feel and would have had you checked there and then if he was concerned. It will be good to have the ultrasound done to get further confirmation but it sounds as if you have reason to be optimistic.

It must be tough being so worried about your mum. How is she doing?

Lthewife. If your lymph node is tender, that might actually be more suggestive of infection. Obviously no guarantee, but bear in mind there are other possibilities than cancer that could cause those clinical signs. Hope it goes well for you on the 19th.

Yes I'm a born worrier (can you tell?!) but it's just a very stressful time too. I think they could have communicated with me clearer today - it was pretty quick (I had been told to plan for 2-4 hours and I was done on 25 minutes) and as I say the sobbing didn't help

Mum isn't great tbh. She was diagnosed 4.5 years ago with grade 1, no node involvement and had rads and lumpectomy. Still on tamoxifen and found out this week that she now has secondaries :-( I don't know anymore than that at the moment but it's a shock for everyone.

Sorry to hear about your mum isee. It's such a scary disease, my diagnosis sounds just like your mums and I try to be optimistic about the future, it should be ok, but then you hear about people who are not ok ....

I'm sorry if I was insensitive Mrs. I think the shock comes from the many many stories and statistics with good prognosis rates - that is all true. But 99% means there's the 1% I suppose. The chances of you being in the 1% is, well, small.

My mum also has and had a very unhealthy lifestyle (bad diet, lots of sunshine, drinking, history of smoking) which might have contributed - again, the stats tell us this the case.

Don't worry isee, I'm sorry too. What you said did shock me and it has given me something to think about for the last hour or so, but you and your mum are actually what's important now. There are others on here who have secondaries and are still leading very busy lives. Hopefully there are still many treatments available for her.

It also sounds like you had an underwhelming time at the breast clinic and its unusual to have to go back another day for the scan. From my own experience I would always want a scan or mammogram to reassure me that everything was ok, it's just worrying for you to still be waiting.

Hello - I have found this thread a bit scary as everyone seems v knowledgable and medical on it. Plus lots of you have breast cancer already so as I am just at stage of being reffered to clinic and thinking its prob okay - well its hard to feel part of your "gang".

My story is that I went to GP with neck lumps and after feeling a bit of a fraud I was referred to hospital. But in between times I also found an armpit lump on the same side as neck lumps. Saw a consultant who referred me for an ultrasound of neck. Plus "maybe I will refer you to breast clinic". Then nothing for 2 weeks. After speaking to consultant secretary have now got appointment for both neck lump and armpit lump.

Both of them are clearly swollen glands but have been going on now for nearly 3 months. I feel fine - great actually. Hard to know how to feel. Have told no one except DH (and for info only).

Mrs and isee, I guess having an experience of breast cancer, or any other kind, no matter how fleeting, is a sharp reminder that we all live with uncertainty and it's just that most people don't have cause to think about that.

Isee I'm sorry about your mum, it must have been a real shock for you all. As mrs says there will still be options open to her. And Mrs, your odds are still excellent.

Hi Karen! There are always people dropping in and out of this thread, often awaiting appointments and results. This was never a subject I wanted to become knowledgeable about but found myself having to unfortunately. My knowledge is based on my experience and everyone is different which is why exchanging info here can be so helpful. I hope your stay is a short one, but you're very welcome

Sorry about your Mum, Isee.

Nice mouse Boobz.

Hope you're not here for long Karen.

I've just heard from the clinic, they're going to do my ultrasound on Tuesday evening by if I need a FNA or biopsy I'll have to be booked in at another date it's very frustrating, I'd just like a definitive answer tbh

Afternoon all. Trying to catch up a bit.

Hotchoc- I had two periods after starting chemo then they disappeared until 6 months after finishing treatment.

Marshy- hope you are feeling better now. It didn't sound nice but hopefully you are less sore.

Boobz- looks good; I didn't have one of those, I had a picc line in my arm.

I see- sorry to hear about your mum. Hopefully you wont need a biopsy and can be reassured very soon. The waiting is horrible I know.

Karen- welcome and hopefully you will get some answers very soon. This really isn't a scary place. We've all had different paths but it is a great place to get advice and share feelings/knowledge.

Hope everyone going through treatment is coping ok.

Gorgeous sunshine here. Have just had my hair done(it's getting longer!) ready for a work ball tonight.

Hello again. Just thought I'd check in with an update and thank you for being welcoming. I had my neck lumps checked today and was told nothing to worry about - just enlarged lymph nodes but not too enlarged. I've got the breast clinic later this week and am now not 100% sure whether I need to go but I think I will otherwise I will be worrying about the lump under my arm.

That sounds good news Karen! Probably best to go to your breast clinic appointment to put your mind at rest but sounds like they could be related to the neck nodes - maybe you've been fighting an infection, sometimes they can take a long time to go down.

Hi All, just back from the breast clinic. Just like ISee my 2-3 hour appointment at the one stop clinic turned into a very quick look by the breast surgeon (the GP did a more thorough check) with instructions to wait for an ultrasound appointment as all the slots for today were already filled. Considering I was only the second person to be seen in the clinic this morning that was a little surprising. Frustrating, but there you go. So fingers crossed I'll get an appointment letter through this week and it won't be too long to wait.

He did say that I won't see him again unless they do a biopsy and the results come back as malignant which I thought was a little odd. If I do need a biopsy I'm not sure I like the idea of not knowing if I'll get a results appointment or not until a letter turns up with a date and time.