CANCER SUPPORT THREAD 65 - for anyone with cancer or waiting for cancer tests (pets welcome!)

[WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo]

Good morning everyone,

Welcome to the new thread, and the club that nobody wants to join. Our previous thread is here.

Anyone with any type of cancer is welcome. And we will hold your hand if you're waiting to find out whether or not you have cancer at all.

If you've got a loved one with cancer then you can get support here.

Please feel free to reintroduce yourself so we don't all have to remember from the previous thread!

It is quite peculiar to lose such a physically defining part of the body too, especially as I'm an H cup. I won't get 'evened up' until next year so I have a stuffed breast in the meantime... I joked with hubby about getting in the pool with only one boob, I wonder if I'll tip over 😂

Hello @FluffyAnimalsRule hope your not here long. I'm BC but I'm sure someone will come along soon with advice.
@KnickerBockerGlooooory glad your feeling ok. I can't believe it takes so long to even you up. Are you having reconstruction? I'll start having those conversation for my mx soon and I'm listening to everyone's advice. At the moment I'm verging in just the mx and no reconstruction. But I'm a C/D cup so that's a bit of a difference to yourself, if you don't mind me saying.
Waves to everyone else. I'll be better at replying to everyone when I've read everything properly.
Now, what I want to know is who will be first to be prescribed cannabis!!

Hello Fluffy 😊 pull up a chair, hopefully you won't need to be here long but feel free to hang around as long as you need to. Do you have real life support? The waiting around is honestly the worst part of it

Thanks!

@purpleu I have plenty of RL support - DH, two DDs and two adorable warm hugs bundles of miniature long haired dachshund in addition, who are currently curled up next to me sleeping and acting as hot water bottles

Hope you're not here long fluffy but it's a good place to be for support! We love dog pics so please share if you want!

I have my PCA meeting tomorrow, a week ahead of starting chemo. So I'll be meeting my nurses/keyworkers for the first time and this is my chance to ask any questions. Of course I can't think of anything to ask! (I know how often and for how long etc chemo is). Can anyone suggest any good questions to ask?

Also has anyone had a picc line fitted? I'm getting that in a couple of days. Does it hurt?

Hope everyone is doing as well as poss. I especially enjoyed the photos earlier of random body parts. I laughed out loud!

tahiti I have a picc line. It has been a godsend to stop the cording/bruise feeling in the veins tbh. They fit it via US and the line goes from your arm to your heart internally. It freaked me out a bit at first. For approx the first week I hated it as my shoulder ached when I raised my arm and I had odd sensations in my wrist. It is basically foreign body inside you that for a while your body tries to reject. After about a week it was fine and I have got used to it & the aches stopped, although when they clean it (picc line care is done weekly) I get a weird metallic taste in my mouth which makes me nauseous if I don't have a boiled sweet whilst it is being cleaned & flushed (it may be a hangover for my first EC chemo that made me constantly nauseous, am not sure)
Good luck though, it is worth doing, it just takes a bit of getting used to in my opinion. I also got a patterned cover for mine which made it look less medical. Happy to post mine to you if you want to pm me your address as mine is coming out next week...

Me & the fog had a cracking walk purple

Waves & hello to everyone, just about to enforce bedtime & then sort tea for me & Mum. I nearly forgot my steroids this am, so took them at 11:30am then 2pm so I think I can wave goodbye to sleep tonight!

The pic line didn't hurt tahiti more a niggle than painful & they used local anaesthetic when putting it in.

Tahiti they'll give you loads of information so it might be worth taking a notebook to write stuff down so you don't forget. They'll talk you through all the side effects too but don't panic, you won't get all of the them but they have to tell you everything just incase

Fluffy I need to see your furry friends! Hope you’re off out of here soon. I have growths in my liver (or I did, not sure now) but that’s spread from bowel so may not be anything like what they’re checking you for. But if I can help ask anything!

Tahiti I didn’t have time for a pre chemo briefing so i’m not sure what it covers but I’d be wanting to know how they’ll be managing side effects, and what they suggest you do in advance to get ready.

Picc lines are no bother. The idea is waaaaay worse than the reality and they make everything so much easier.

Ignore the dodgy bedding!

I've tried to photo my picc line with one of the covers my mum made me!

I was very anxious about having mine fitted, but touch wood it is the best thing ever. Totally worth having.

Ranout having had surgery and radio on the other breast already this year, I was advised to leave it 12 months. It was choice to have a mastectomy this time as I was recommended another lumpectomy - wish I'd had them both off first time round! I've not had reconstruction and at the moment I'm not planning to, I'm almost looking forward to no more bra shopping and struggling to find tops that fit properly! I'm hoping to be brave and opt for a beautiful big tattoo instead 

Welcome fluffy hope the waiting isn't too bad for you. I have to say I appreciate the wonderful NHS every time I have a procedure done so fingers crossed your 'lot' are great too x

This is my new left tit for now - I have named it Bobo 😆

Emily, I have peau d'orange on my doctor's description of my presentation, and I very definitely DON'T have inflammatory breast cancer. I have common or garden invasive ductal whatjammycallit, oestrogen postive breast cancer, the most common and best-understood type.

Please try not to worry.

knicker is totally getting reported to MNHQ for her explicit boob shots!

Bobo looks more comfortable than I imagined. For some reason I pictured those horrible chicken fillets we used to wear in the 90s but I guess those were bad enough after a few hours and are not much good for day to day use.

Love your tattoo idea btw. Surgeon suggested I covered up my giant liver resection scar with a tattoo (too late by this point to suggest maybe he just didn’t cut through quite so much of my torso ) and I’m way too much of a wuss for that but I may cover my radiotherapy tattoos. If I get braver!

Having a total wobble tonight. Dd3 is having a wee overtired, emotional bedtime cry after watching Dr Who with her sisters and the hormones are rampaging.

Have just been lying with her soothing her whilst weeping myself over how shit the situation is and that she's too young and how can I possibly make this better for her.

It's all just shit. She's only little. I lost my mum when I was 32 and it was shit even at that age.

Dd3 is only 10 and shouldn't have to worry about this. She should be worried about Halloween costumes or christmas lists NOT her mum having sodding chemo.

It's all. Just. Shit :(

Name change apparently I get fitted for a proper prosthetic silicone number further down the line, weighted and colour matched. I am planning to ask for a pair of tidy little B cups after the second Mx just for those occasions that might require them! At least I can lose my uncomfortable sports bra soon!

Ah keep it's heartbreaking eh. I lost my mum at 15 and my DDs are 14/12. One is coping really well but DD2 does wobble. Luckily her school have been excellent. Has your DD got a good group of friends to support her? Or a local support group for children? At least you are communicating and being honest. My family swept it all under the carpet and pretended everything was fine...

bitoffun and ranout I am also following surgery/reconstruction options - my surgery will probably be mid next year now though. I am DD cup so think I will go for some sort of reconstruction although am put off by horror stories for both.

Sorry meant to finish off with hugs for you @KeepCalm ** 

keep - I totally get how you’re feeling. It is so shit. My DDs are only 4 and 3 so we haven’t really explained anything to them - they think I hurt my arm as the only thing they’ve been able to see is the bruising and bandage from when I had my port fitted

@Namechangeforthiscancershit is your scar a long one? Back and side? My organ placed knowledge is not great 😳 some surgeons just seem to hack away - my second C section scar was a right mess!

KeepCalm it is absolutely shit. And I have no wise or comforting words.

Cancer is just fucking shit. Have a hand to hold...

Thinking of Leslie.

keepcalm that is shit. It is always at bedtime when they (& us) are tired and emotional too. How it affects the kids and how you feel in relation to what the kids are going through is the worst bit of all this I think. I had a book called Mummy's Lump as mine are 4.5 & nearly 8 - but although it is clearly and well written I couldn't bring myself to read it, I just told them it was there if they wanted when I eventually told them a couple of weeks later (after waiting for a less emotional feeling type time to sit them down)