Cancer support thread # 75 - come on in!

[Bloodybridget]

This is the new thread for anyone at any stage of cancer, from noticing a possibly warning sign, through tests and scans, diagnosis, treatment and beyond. Come on in for advice, sympathy and support.
The last thread is here.

If you've been on a previous thread, please come and say hello and introduce yourself!

If you are a relative or friend of someone with cancer and looking for support, there are other threads on this topic - this one is for cancer patients ourselves.

iVampire - oh bugger, I’m sorry. When is your appointment next week?

Whatever it is , you will deal with it. All bloody unfair, but one foot in front of another... (I know you’re very good at that! )

Thanks Toofar

Not that I’m putting my feet anywhere much right now. I’ve not yet been discharged by the orthopods and am still under orders to rest.

So this makes 3 things wrong at once, which is a bit of a bugger.

Appointment is Thursday. Having now read the accompanying notes, there’s a breast care nurse I can call who might be able to tell me more about reason for recall. So that’s Monday’s job. You’re also meant to tell them if your shielding - as that’s been paused, I’m wondering if I should, little as I want this appointment, I think I want it changed even less!

DC told - both seemed OK enough about it (but DD looked worried). It’s really shit having to do that. I’m feeling less calm as bedtime approaches. I would try and mindfully stay right here in the here and now, but it’s so damned hot that that’s not exactly pleasant either!

to you all, my lovely Lacies, and here’s to a calm Sunday and a shock-proof week for us all

@iVampire, damn and blast it, I am sorry. Another one of us on tenterhooks this week. Holding out my hand to you.

@Piggles39 how are you getting on?

And to those of us in heatwave areas, how are you managing? I bought two fans yesterday, and my bedroom is a comfortable temperature now, but I still can't sleep. And we have run out of Magnums

Hello all.
Hope this is the right place to ask.
I had a double mastectomy and reconstruction many years ago but now the right breast(which was the one treated with radio therapy) is noticeably smaller and has less movement in than the left which has grown with weight gain.
I'm very aware of it in some clothes but particularly in a swimming costume and so was hoping to get some kind of enhancer to balance things out but don't know where to start.
Can anyone advise me what might be a good option please?

Hello all, I had pooped on thread briefly as I’d had a mammogram recall after a nipple bleed. Well breast dr called on Thursday to say the biopsy (which was a horrendous experience) has shown a papillary lesion and I need to go in fo another larger biopsy to be taken. I did not manage to take in anything else she said.

Biopsy 1 had to be taken 3 times before they collected a sample that had calcification in it so my boob is black with bruising. I am terrified of the thought of having to go through this again so soon. Does anybody have any advice on how to mentally prepare for this?

Calcification is (I'm saying this cautiously) a positive sign really, because it's an alternative explanation for what's going on.

I wish I could offer you some comfort about the actual biopsy, but I know from experience that it hurts like fuck.

Oh, and feel free to poop all over the thread- God knows we all feel like it sometimes .

Thanks @balkanscot and @Bloodybridget, surgery went fine yesterday and I’ve just got home from the hospital. Should find out the pathology results in about ten days’ time.

They sent me off with lots of laxatives as well as painkillers so if anyone’s going to be pooping all over the thread...

@treewitch I found it helped with the biopsies to take some painkillers an hour or so beforehand (just not anything with aspirin as it thins the blood so could impede healing), then they have a chance to start working before the local anaesthetic wears off. But you are right biopsies are grim!

bitoffun I will try not poop on the thread anymore (but you have made me smile this morning. Must remember to spell check

@Ledkr sorry, I have no experience of breast cancer/surgery, hope someone will come along with advice soon.

@Ledkr, I'd see your doctor first- have you checked everything is okay?

Yea its all fine its just as i have got older and fatter the size difference ia more notable.

I hear you- mine are completely asymmetrical now. The manky one is firm and high, and the healthy one is droopier than a Great Dane's chops.

@ElaineMarieBenes I hope you take it a bit better than me. At one point it was SO grim I was convinced they must have given me the wrong dose, kept thinking I was literally dying, etc. Hope your BRCA test comes back negative. The oncologist prescribed me an additional epirubicin cycle because of it - ah, the joys of crappy genes! 🤬

@iVampire I am so sorry to hear about the uncertainty you are going through. It’s utterly dispiriting but it may turn out to be benign. Easier said than done, I know. Thinking of you!

@TopOfTheCliff @Starmer The yummy stuff is called Laxido and has been banished to the back of the medicine cupboard! DH couldn’t find any prunes in the shop yesterday but I did manage to land several, ahem, eagles, since, by just drinking and eating a whole packed of sliced watermelon 🍉. Anti-sickness wise they gave me Dexamethasone and Grainsteron, with Metoclopamiride as a back up. The sickness has eased off considerably today, though. And I have been feeling more awake - managed loading several washes in the washing machine, I even had some crackers & cheese without retching, yay! Still feel unable to face the outside world - maybe tomorrow.

Sorry to read about the tough time many are having on here

I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer last week. It's such a shock. I am 40 with two primary school aged children. I have to have some more scans to check whether it has spread, then chemo to start in about 3 weeks.

I'm trying really hard to stay positive but with every twinge or need to clear my throat etc I'm finding it hard not to panic about where else the cancer may already be. I know it won't help to Google but would be very grateful for any advice on how to cope with the uncertainty while we have to wait. I believe that even if it has spread there will be treatment available that could be effective for a while so I guess it might be helpful to hear examples of where people have been able to live their lives for years post stage 4 diagnosis?

I don't know where my head's at really but very grateful for any advice!

@gillmoregirl That’s encouraging. Incredible how we all jump to all sorts of negative conclusions - and I am totally guilty as charged! Hope the consultant gives you a plan of action that will put your mind at ease.

My biopsy in July was grim, the surgeon (!) burst a blood vessel and it hurt like hell for about a week (with a lovely side dish of being swollen like mad, totally putting me at ease - NOT 😡).

@Bloodybridget I am in Scotland where it wasn’t so hot, although it was quite stuffy. My rescue remedy was watermelon, as DH failed yet again (besides the pruned business) at procuring any ice lollies!

The whole flat is a tip at the moment - we had joiners in all last week fixing our sash @ & case windows, dust absolutely everywhere which I still cannot force myself to clean. Plus the smell of drying linseed putty is driving me crazy. NOT envy

@Piggles39 Pooping all over the thread, ahem.

Sending everyone good wishes and strength for the week ahead.

@Lubballoo I am so sorry! It’s really hard, especially when you have little ones, too (mine is 8). I was absolutely terrified of my recurring BC (I found a lump in my lymph nodes at the end of June, 3.5 years after I was successfully treated for BC, stage 2) spreading around, I was in mental anguish until I got the CT and bone scan back (thankfully all clear). I also thought that every tinge, soreness that I have experienced over the last few month must have meant grim news. I had to put a stop to googling which helped enormously. It not easy, but I just had to otherwise I found my mind spinning out of control. And then the news about Kelly Preston, I was in absolute mental distress (if she, with all the money & best medical team in the world couldn’t make it, etc.)...

My surgeon told me that even with secondaries the medicine has come a long way and can keep it at bay for years and years. Fingers crossed for clear scans! And good luck with chemo - I have just started my 1st cycle, due to finish on 12th Nov. Then surgery a few weeks after.

Thank you balkanscot, that's helpful to hear. At both appointments I've had to date the news has been grim, so I feel I need to be prepared for it to be worse again, so I think knowing that even if it has spread, there is hope for good treatment and years of life is really helpful.

I hope your chemo goes as well and as side-effect free as possible! Thank you again.

@Lubballoo my lovely DD who is very wise calmed me when I was panicking about the CT scan. She said we are all dealt a hand of cards with cancer and we have to play them as best we can. Some are turned over and some are hidden. By having that scan you are turning over a card and this will help you play a more informed hand.
I had my scan last week and the oncologist said “Nothing jumped out” at him. I am waiting for confirmation but it seems to be good news

I got a bit over excited this weekend. I was feeling so well we went sailing and I was happily winching away. Afterwards I realised I had been squirting blood round the picc line I think the nurse might be a little cross tomorrow! But it was worth it for a fab day out before round 2 chemo on Tuesday.

Thank you @TopOfTheCliff, your DD is very wise, that's a great way to think about things. I really hope you get good news from your scan. Your day sailing sounds great. We spent most of last week camping with some friends which really helped with waiting for the biopsy results (had been warned to expect bad news, though stage 3 was still a very unpleasant shock) and I found lots of fresh air and time outdoors was so helpful. Hopefully you don't get too much disapproval from the nurse!

Did you see my post?

Yikes! It didn't post.

What I thought I'd said was that I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in September 2018. I was told to see it as a chronic condition like diabetes. Not curable, but manageable.

Obviously that doesn't stop me googling my life expectancy, but to be honest, apart from the pain (which I get great drugs for), I feel pretty well.

Hi @BitOfFun, thank you for sharing that, that is really encouraging and just the sort of thing I needed to hear this evening. It's great to hear you're feeling so well too. Thank you xx

Also i am so sorry you and everyone here is having to deal with all these things and so grateful for your help.