Cancer support thread #73 - come in, we're here for you.

[Trumpton]

Welcome to the new support thread for anyone who has cancer, at whatever stage of treatment, is worried about symptoms, or is waiting for tests or results.

This is the place to worry, moan, ask questions, share experiences and good and bad news, and celebrate milestones!

If you've got a loved one with cancer then your best place for support is probably on the Life-Limiting Illness board.

Our previous thread is HERE

Current members, please do introduce yourselves smile

squiffy I am half way through chemo. Finished 3 rounds of EC, and about to start 3 rounds of docetaxel and perjita and herceptin. I had an MRI just before xmas (after the EC finished) and got my results on Monday, which showed my tumour had halved in size. I thought it had done something, because I can't feel it anymore, but it was good to hear from the consultant!

I'll be having another MRI once my chemo is finished, before my operation.

Can you ask your breast care nurse whether you'll be having scans?

Skap - our Radiotherapy centre is also very swanky; a modern, super-clean annex to the big NHS hospital. The best things are the private (free) carpark and the lovely staff. I also have three lovely tattoos - a dot on each hip, and one buried in my pubes. Which may or may not fall out as the rads progress.

LittleMissnotLittleMrs - I can't believe you had a burst appendix to deal with as well, what crap luck.

Trumpton - glad you have an op date to aim for, and hope the rest of the chemo goes OK.

CaptainNancy1 - when do your rads kick off? I hope you don't feel you've been fobbed off regarding the side effects. I found I had more support from the radiography department than from the oncologist - they took plenty of time to take me through everything, and what steps I could take to mitigate them. Yes, you are right, bowels and bladder likely to bear the brunt of pelvic rads....plus the tiredness. Nothing for me yet, but I've only had six sessions so far. I have two brachy sessions tagged onto the end, but I don't know the details yet.

Feeling sick! Got an appointment for the 17th January so next Friday to go through all the plan and what stage etc but then got a phone call tonight to say that the specialist needs to see me sooner and so I'm in tomorrow morning at 11am. Now I'm spinning all sorts through my head
Sorry just needed to say that. Don't want to say it out loud to dh and make him even more worried

hippie
Cancellation????

No the nurse said the doctor wanted it earlier after he got my results! How are you @Stinkyeddie? Xx

hippie
No answers for you but a handhold in the wee small hours I

hippie Well, you'll get some answers today at least? Xxxx

I'm ok. And not ok. Just trying to keep busy.
I wonder if they've even looked at the scan yet??

Rather negates sending me as an "emergency" appt?

Sigh.

Anyway, mum is ill so taking her to drs this morning then a lot of errands to run.

hippie you are in my thoughts x

Ok big girl panties on. Warrior war paint (well make up to make me look alive after 45minutes sleep) and a notepad full of questions. Thanks for the hand hold and messages @Trumpton and @stinkyeddie

Good luck at your appointment Hippiechick

I find it helpful to take a notebook and write stuff down as there’s often a lot to take in. It might be good to ask if there’s someone you can contact with follow up questions

Ha! Cross post Hippie

@Stinkyeddie hope your mum is ok. Fingers crossed for results soon. Keep me posted xx

Warrior war paint is an excellent phrase

I hope it goes well today

Ha thanks @Toofaroutallmylife. I've added that question.

Good luck for today Hippie and I hope you catch up on sleep tonight.

Hello to everyone else. I joined this group back in April when I was about to start chemo for breast cancer. Yesterday, 8.5 months after it all began, I finished my treatment. Chemo, surgery and rads all complete. I have been extremely lucky and am cancer free now. I will head off into the sunset to resume normal life, but of course will check in from time to time and buy a round at the Patience bar!

Good luck to all of you, and I wish you the best possible outcomes from treatment, scans and tests. I didn’t exactly enjoy having cancer (!) but this thread and the other incarnations of it were a truly fantastic help while I went through it. To my cohort - @Bloodybridget, @WTF99, @Borntobeamum, @meercat23, @snowsinwater, @milesjuppismybitch, @Skap, @ellenanora5, @Trumpton, anyone else I may have overlooked, thanks for your company and the laughs. You’re all amazing, wise, kind and funny women. ❤️❤️❤️

Hippiechick. Thinking of you today.

Stinkyeddie. Hope you Mum is OK

Brassica. Wayhay on the end of treatment. Thank you so much for the support and encouragement along the way.

Brassica no oidea why I posted you a football!!

brassica so happy for you

hippie now I have a mental image of you dressed as boudica - blue woad and all! :)
I'm sat in costa raising my cortado to you xxxx

Mums ok thanks
She has copd (andmant other things...) so needed to get herchest checked.

@Brassica so pleased you are done with treatment, you have been a brilliant companion for me over the past months. Thanks for all your kindness and support.
@Hippiechick162 good luck today.
@Stinkyeddie sending good vibes and warm wishes to you and your mum.
Waving at everyone else!

How did you know @Stinkyeddie? Got a fair few looks in costa I can tell you lol!
They can't tell me the grade stage etc because they've found 7 more pockets of it on the mammogram. So, I've got to go back for .ore biopsies (one under the mammogram thing and one under ultrasound) on Tuesday and plan by Friday but they are referring me to Christie's. Hey ho more waiting and dusting off my boudica outfit/warpaint xxx

@Brassica so pleased for you!

Thanks for the thoughts @iVampire @meercat23 and @brassica xxx

hippie gosh, what a shock for you! They seem to be really "on it" though? I've heard very good things about the Christie.
I'm thinking of you xxxx

Hippychick so sorry to hear that. It must have been a nasty shock. I have also heard good things about the Christie and it is always good to know that you are in the best hands available.

Well done on completion @Brassica and thanks to you too for your company along the way.

I'm trying to negotiate post-treatment life. It has its challenges and I'm glad that back in November I put some counselling sessions in place for this month....feeling like I need them now.

Good luck everyone.....I'll be lurking

WTF How did you find the right counsellor? I am thinking that is a good idea and perhaps I ought to do the same.

So happy to read your positive post brassica, you have been a brilliant support to many of us. Do drop by occasionally.
Good wishes to you Hippie, and I hope you get your treatment plan very soon. As you have been referred to the Christie, I presume that you are a fellow Northerner? If so I raise my flat cap and wave my whippet at you.
CaptainNancy and Cointreau - re brachytherapy. I'll be honest and say that the treatment I had was grim; however you may have the other kind which is easier to tolerate. The treatment itself is painless, and I felt no side effects from it. While the difficult part for me was the 24 hours lying flat with the rods in, I felt so much better as soon as they were removed. It was uncomfortable to pee for a day or so because the catheter had been in place all that time, but that's it really.
I had my first brachytherapy the day after the combined chemo and radiotherapy ended, and I was on my knees at that point (needed 2 units of blood before they would go ahead). You will probably be in a better state than I was, so don't be too scared of it.
Interestingly, while I was in the midst of it a woman on the ward who came in for brachytherapy was told that due to other issues she wasn't going to have it. She was over the moon, but my thoughts were that if that had been me I would have been disappointed as I had been led to believe that it's the treatment which makes the biggest difference to outcomes. I wouldn't have wanted to be deprived of that chance, and now that I am on the other side of it I'm really pleased that it was on offer and that I had it.

@Brassica I am so pleased for you, onwards and upwards. You have been a great support for me since I joined this thread last July and I wish you future good health. We all know here that it's never over when it's over, sometimes nearest and dearest think you are all back to what you were before and actually, inside, you're not, so please pop into the Patience any time.

@Hippiechick162 Ok so not great news but you've already had the worst news ever. Clearly there is a solid team on the case. I too have heard great things about Christies. I may have posted this before but there is a group called UK Breast Cancer Support Group on FB. It's a closed group and it's very different to the lovely people on this thread but there are things for which it's very useful. Firstly it's huge so absolutely anything that happens there will be someone else who has had the same. Secondly there are some very knowledgable moderators on there. It can be a bit fluffy and "Hun"y which I don't like but you might do.