The Lacies are back for cancer support thread 56 - all welcome!

[WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo]

Hello again, and welcome to our 56th thread. Some of us have been here ages and others have just joined. I hope you've all made it safely over to the new thread.

An extra special welcome to anyone who is lurking and feeling a bit shy. We are all quite friendly and we definitely don't bite, so please do say hello if you'd like to.

All are welcome here. We started off as a breast cancer support thread many years back, but all cancer types are welcome and at any point in the "journey", even if you haven't yet been diagnosed. We have all had different experiences but there's almost certainly someone here who will understand how you are feeling.

Our previous thread is here.

I have started the new thread a little early, and I will explain why in a moment.

Well I've got through surgery ok and look like I have a lovely new breast. I'm doubled up like an old lady when I'm walking though until my tummy has recovered so that's pretty tough.

Had a scary moment yesterday when I was given my 3rd dose of penicillin. Although the Dr's don't think I had a classic anaphylactic reaction I suddenly couldn't breathe and ended up with the entire crash team at the end of my bed. Took iv antihistamine, steroids, oxygen and an inhaler to get my breathing back under control. I have never been so scared.
Other than that everything is going well so hopefully home on sun or mon.

Can't go back and check on the thread right now but hope those of you going through chemo are OK- think some of you are having it delayed, I know what a pain that is. Thinking of everyone else

Glad the surgery went well minty.
Wow that's a really scary thing to happen , glad they got it all under control. I had a clot on the lung after my op and the not being able to catch a breath was scary.
Best wishes for a good recovery

Minty, great to hear from you and good news the surgery went well. oh but that scare you had! Luckily you were well looked after.
Hope it is all smooth from here on.
Take care.

TeamGB I'm on Herceptin and Tamoxifen and the joint aches are unfortunately getting worse. They started from the very first lot of herceptin and at first it was a bit like chemo in that as the weeks went by the aching got less but now I've reached dose 12 of 18 it seems to stay the same pretty much the whole of the 3 weeks, and most days I resemble an arthritic crab. I started Tamoxifen about 4 weeks ago and I don't think my joints are worse but the hot flushes definately are! My onc told me to take painkillers to deal with the pain and stiffness which is fine at night but they make me sleepy during the day too so its not ideal but sometimes necessary.
I've not been on here for a while so am out of touch with everyone's treatment but I hope that all of you having chemo only have the minimum of side effects and for those having surgery that everything heals really well and that everyone else on here has a restful weekend!

minty glad the surgery went well. Sorry about the antibiotic reaction though. That must have been terrifying

rover that sounds awful. Are there no other painkillers they can give? I hope it will improve quickly once you've had the final dose

Exit excellent news about the lump :) don't worry, we don't really have protocol here. Anything goes (within reason! )

mishmash sorry you've got to wait so long. I hope the time passes as quickly as possible!

FlyChickie lovely to see you :) sorry you've been having such a tough time though. Was the rads the last bit of your treatment? (Apart from the Tamoxifen)

chewing I hope your biopsy went alright and you're not too sore today

royal sorry you've got the extra worry of the CT scan

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I am home from holiday now. I perked up a bit the last couple of days, but spent a lot of the week in bed or on the sofa. At least I could see the sea from the living room window! On the worst days I just walked to the bench on the seafront in front of the house for a few minutes of sea air :)

Did anyone get hand foot syndrome during chemo? Any tips? My hands were really dry and then my fingertips started cracking. I've been moisturising obsessively and they're finally healing up. At least I have an excuse to avoid washing up

Minty glad your surgery went well, listen to your body and rest when you need to.

Am back in with the onc in October to discuss Zoladex injections but tbh I think I'll just push for ovary removal. Am nearing 40, body has produced 1 lovely baba, no point flogging a dead horse for the sake of fertility when I've 10 years of tamoxifen anyway...

Hope all the rest of you are doing well xx

Evening all, just catching up and I hope everyone has managed to enjoy some sunshine - my sister took me to the seaside today blew away some cobwebs that's for sure!
leslie glad you managed to feel a bit better for some of your holiday, I didn't have any hand issues on chemo but maybe your chemo nurse can give you something stronger for your skin??
exit back fat is quite a thing isn't it. I've never been overweight and now I can feel a fold on each side I don't have a bra that fits at all, I'm still in denial stretchy crop tops after rads as my skin is still upset.
minty how frightening for you such a scary thing - will they now treat you as allergic to penicillin going forward? I assume so! Glad the rest of the op went well and hope you're recovering ok.
fly I'm pretty much with you on the ovary removal thinking, I'm seeing the onc in November and they reckon 6 months post chemo to check if that triggered the menopause, but I'm not tempted by zoladex. I should be on letrozole by spring....
rovercat I've done almost exactly 4 weeks on tamoxifen now, the hot flushes are grim aren't they, not noticeably worse than from chemo but making me a bit down from the interrupted sleep, several a night and the acupuncture hasn't made much difference either so far. I don't think there's anything we can take to help either, unless anyone knows of anything safe and effective??
chewing I hope your biopsy went ok.
Waves to everyone else - we're watching the Olympics here, thoroughly enjoying all of it

Good Evening Lacies.
Not sure if anyone will remember me but I was diagnosed with breast cancer Nov 14 and I posted shortly after finding the lump in my left breast.
I had chemo,mastectomy ,node clearance and radiotherapy.
My treatment finished Oct last year.

Today I have found a swollen area just below my left collar bone.
I have a follow up appointment on the 26th Aug, should I wait till then or phone the breast care team tomorrow ?

Any info or experiance of this ?

Fly that sounds sensible, and you have a while to get used to the idea too :)

pepper don't envy your hot flushes. My aunt got this thing called a Chillow when she started the menopause. It's a special water filled cooling pillow. I went to their website to see if they're still available and they also make cooling pants for men trying to conceive called Snowballs

clean I remember you sorry you've got this new worry though. I'd say contact your team tomorrow as there is no point waiting all that time feeling anxious if they can squeeze you in sooner.

When you say a swollen area, is it a hard lump or squishy? How big/where exactly is it? Could it be lymphodoema?

Chillow website just in case anyone wants a look!

Thanks Leslie,

Its like a raised pad,like that part on your hand below your thumb.

If you feel your collar bone it dents in above and below......mine does not sent in blow,it is raised

....mine does not dent in below the collar bone

clean there's some information about lymphoedema here.

It can appear in any area of the upper body on the same side as the breast cancer — areas that were accustomed to draining lymph through any of the vessels or nodes that were removed or damaged during treatment.

So depending on the type of swelling that could be a possible explanation.

Thank you Leslie I will have a look.

Ah, cross-posted, sorry. (I've actually got bowel cancer so I'm not really that knowledgeable about breast stuff, except what I've soaked up here and from friends elsewhere with breast cancer.) I hope you can speak to someone tomorrow and get an appointment asap.

Hell. May I join ?

Sorry that should have been Hello !!!

Hi Tutti
Everyone is welcome here, whether you have breast cancer, another type of cancer, are undergoing investigations or just want to cheer us along

Hi, EtTuTuttiFrutti of course you can join us, though I'm sorry you need to

Do you want to tell us a bit about yourself?

Breast Cancer diagnosis early July. Also in two lymph nodes that were biopsied; so had lumpectomy and axial node clearance last week.

Still got the bloody drain in and am feeling quite grumpy today.

You will feel so much better once the drains are out. The ANC in particular is a hard going op.

Have you got a plan for chemo yet?

Not yet; I'm getting the drain out tomorrow and having the dressings re done; and then I've got the histology appointment with the consultant a week later.
At the initial diagnosis they said 6 months of chemo and a three weeks daily radiology.

I hope you are recovering well from the surgery, and I hope the drain can be removed soon. Are you still in hospital or are you at home now?

I went home an hour and a half after the op.
I think the drain is getting me down. It's VERY sore now; thank God tonight is the last night that I have to try and sleep with it in.
I think I'm recovering quite well. It's the dead weight of the upper arm that I'm finding really disconcerting (they cut the nerve to remove the nodes); and just the plastic on the two wounds constantly sticking together in the heat.

Evening all
Glad your op went ok minty and hope you are recovering well.
Hi Tutti. I had my diagnosis in June and not had surgery yet but the drain doesn't sound much fun in this heat
My biopsy went ok and they managed to get quite a few samples. Hoping to have chemo tomorrow if bloods are ok. Having MRI scan of my spine on Thursday and that will be all for this week
Hope everyone is doing ok