Cancer Support Thread #81 Newbies welcome

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This is a kind and friendly place for those with cancer or those worried they have cancer (or who used to have cancer) to hang out.
Please introduce yourselves and chat away. No issues are too big or small here.
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@balkanscot Good news.

@thereisonlyoneofme Grrr, I hate it when they don’t do what they should. I am lucky at my GP because the HCA usually just asks me what blood tests she needs to do. I’ve been having quarterly tests for years for the same medication.

@HerbalRefreshment Glad to hear you came through your op, hope you are now recovering at home.

My bag is half packed for tomorrow, battery pack is charging and I’ll throw the last few bits in the case in the morning. I should be first on the list and home the same day but I have pyjamas just in case. I will strongly make the case to leave though, I dislike trying to sleep in hospital - just when you drop off there is someone bustling along to do your obs or hook you up to a drip.

@MrsPnut thinking of you tomorrow and hoping you're home tomorrow evening and back in your own bed Xx

Hope all goes well tomorrow MrsPNut and good luck for you and your DD getting through mocks next week.

@HerbalRefreshment I hope you are now back at home continuing your recovery.

@MrsPnut good luck tomorrow! I know what you mean about being poked. & prodded just as you are about to nod off. Although, I have to admit, I quite like being fussed over while staying in hospital, food being brought to you, buzzer to summon the lovely nurses anytime there is a need… feels like a weird bubble, completely detached from the real world.

I am home, and had the lasagne that I made yesterday for dinner.

I was in recovery by 11am and on the ward by 11:35. Home at 3 but only because they were very short staffed to do the full three sets of obs I needed before home.

No pain relief needed this time, my surgeon has just gone in my vertical scar from last time and taken a bit more tissue. I've got a surgical bra and a pico dressing though.

I'm still in hospital recovering but should go home Friday morning. Immediate recon meant a lot of extra days and lots of checks!

@MrsPnut well done to get home so quick! I've been following your story since this time last year so hopefully this is almost the end of the treatment road for you?

Glad your operation is over and your are home MrsPNut.

Hope things are OK for you in hospital Herbal

Hi, you all seem like such kind, knowledgeable and supportive folk, I hope you don’t mind me popping on. I am waiting on breast biopsy results (Friday) and having a bit of a wobble.

I am 49 and peri-menopausal. I have annual mammograms due to a slightly higher risk and they have been fine - ‘slight benign micro calcification’ in my left breast last year.

My left nipple started being itchy randomly about 3 months ago and nothing helped. There was also a slight discharge. Then about 2 months ago I found a hard, ridged lump (similar to a flattened walnut shell in size and feel) in my left breast. As I had a telephone appointment on 12th November with my GP to renew my HRT I mentioned the lump and itchyness. She wanted to see me and examined me, referred me to the breast clinic and advised me to stop the HRT until I had been seen.

I had the clinic appointment last Thursday. The mammogram didn’t show any changes from last November but the lump was visible on the ultrasound- apparently I have dense breast tissue. The radiologist did 3 core biopsies and inserted a titanium marker. When scanning she said that it was good news that my lymph nodes looked clear. When I then saw the consultant surgeon he said that the radiologist also wanted me to have a breast MRI- my appointment came through yesterday for 23rd December.
This is what has been giving me a wobble- why would I need an MRI? The biopsy could be ok… Or does this mean it’s a forgone conclusion that it’s not going to be good news and I should prepare myself? Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this? My mind has been going into overdrive.

I’m sorry this is long and that I am stressing over this when you are all dealing with an actual diagnosis.

Welcome Nik Sorry to hear you are waiting. I have just been diagnosed with lobular breast cancer so am new to this, I had exam found lump, mammogram found lump but with lobular early stage lumps can often be missed, ultrasound showed lump so biopsies told, told cancer that day, biopsies confirmed a week later, sent for mri and ct, ct was to see if at stage 4 and if they are confident its not you do not get that.

I would imagine they are doing mri to look to see if its cancer, not sure what your chances are but hope its all clear. If not we will be here with you and at least you have had regular checks so should have been caught early. I am surprised they have not said one way or the other by now or that they dont know. Maybe phone and see if you can get further information or maybe gp could call if you cant get further information over phone, sometimes they will tell another medical professional more. Mine also sent letters to gp with biopsy results, at our hospital I get an email copy.

Hello@Niknakpaddywhack
I had an mri after a biopsy and marker, I think it's done to establish the size of the lump/mass. I have very dense breast tissue too - mine didn't show up on the mammogram, the 3D mammogram or the ultrasound. It was the mri that established the size. Hope you get some answers soon, it's good that they are being so thorough although the waiting is awful.

Yes as @Silkieschickens says, maybe ring the hospital to ask why? Have you seen a breast care nurse yet? Mine are amazing - I can ring them and ask any questions and they'll always get back to me. They are a fantastic point of contact.

@HerbalRefreshment Hopefully just radiotherapy in Jan/Feb. I’ve booked a weekend in Seville at the end of March so I better be all done by then. I hope you manage to escape soon, I had a neighbour for about 2 of my 3.5 hrs on the ward and if I had been there any longer then I may have committed murder. She rang every person in her phone constantly and waffled absolute bollocks. She also told me I needed to be positive and I’d get through it, which as you know is my absolute red flag. I am not sure I could do days in there. I’d be staging a jail break.

@Niknakpaddywhack Every breast unit does something different, if you have dense breast tissue then the MRI might show up the area more clearly. If your appointment isn’t for a few weeks then they may have referred you before getting the biopsy results to avoid further delays.

Hopefully there will be some answers at your appointment on Friday and you can also ask about the MRI and why they have requested it.

@thereisonlyoneofme I'm really sorry about your CA125 and know the anxiety of it all too well. I had mine done last Monday and it wasn't back for my monthly review appointment on Tuesday which made me worried, still not back when I rang the chemo unit on Wednesday and the nurse queried if it had indeed been taken. I said I presumed it had as they took a gold vial as well as the purple - in the end it came through on Friday! Apparently there was a backlog and they are taking up to a week which is just unacceptable when we need them for meds etc.. I do hope you've managed to get another one done Xx

@MrsPnut pleased you're home and hope you're resting well Xx

Just realised you have an appointment on Friday Nik They should explain everything then Nik and will give you the answers and that is when they first contacted my GP. If you are nervous if you ask they may allow someone with you if that would help.

DH drove to IKEA to get me a recliner for after my operation and they had none even though said 1 in stock, the only one for the whole of south of England, unless you want one which looks like the sort 90 year olds get. I got quite tearful about this but have snapped out of it.
Find out if spread round body on Friday or just at stage 3. I normally manage to be quite stable considering, mainly pretending its not happening but for some reason the lack of pink chair tipped me over the edge.

Good luck for operation on Friday Ineed Everything seems to happen on Fridays here as well. I have been doing a bit of freelance work for an Australian economics professor and I told him and he was so sweet offering to contact doctors in Australia. I thought he would stop sending me work but he has just sent me 2 big projects and I am not sure how long I will be out of action after the mastectomy for (and possibly reconstruction). I will wfh and just need to use a laptop, excel , word, internet though he does love video calls and I can think of nothing worse than a video call after an operation you can't wash hair after. I hate video calls at the best of times though the work he is sending is great. They are also at silly times with the 11 hour time difference though he does the silly time bit at least and seems delighted to have someone to discuss things at 1am with.

I've lurked on these threads a couple of times in the past when I've been to the breast clinic. Both previous times got a 'nothing of concern' result. But I've got another mammogram tomorrow (later this morning UK time) and have a question. I know you probably won't be able to answer specifically.

So one of previous investigations was after I noticed an indentation on my left breast. At the breast clinic appointment I had a biopsy done. This was about 4 years ago. Last week I felt a lump in the same area the biopsy was taken from. I can only feel it when lying down and it feels a little bit tubular, not quite round or oval but not massively tubular either. My question is could this be scar tissue from the biopsy 4 years ago?

I'm currently living and working in South America (probably just outed myself there!) so am also navigating the investigations stage in a different healthcare system and a different language. This has been really stressful so far. Hopefully the mammogram will be fine and I won't need any further investigations, although if I do I have a good private health insurance through work.

Sorry to delurk and plop a question that's probably going to be answered at my appointment in a few hours 😁

I don't think a biopsy would leave scar tissue but vast majority of lumps are benign so hopefully you will get the all clear.

@MrsPnut what is with people like that, airing their family business out constantly on a ward? Like we are all uncomfortable can you be less obnoxious for a little while? I had 4 days on a 4 bed cancer ward a few years ago and it almost broke me. One young woman was extremely unlucky in her diagnosis and she had no fucks to give at all, so between her (understandable) weeping about not being around for her kids and some miscommunication about her progression, amongst quite a few visitors, it got to be a lot. Until the 90 Yr old Asian woman in the bed next to mine coded in the toilet and the whole extended family showed up round the clock for the last day and a half I was there. I had this surgery done privately so I could get my own room because that experience was so traumatic! So for the most part I am just relaxing, doing physio, and watching TV and have been able to get pretty good sleep.

@chuntersalot It could be a bit of scar tissue from the biopsy, it depends on how and where the previous biopsies were done. My tumour though was tubular but much bigger by the time it was found. Hopefully they will be able to see on your Mammogram and you’ll know either way. Sending you a handhold.
@Silkieschickens After my massive surgery earlier in the year, I kicked DH out to the spare room and made myself a nest of pillows including some ikea V pillows to get myself comfy whilst I had the drains etc in.
Much cheaper and easier than buying a recliner and the V pillows come in handy for taking to chemo if you need to have it.

@HerbalRefreshment I know, I would have gone private if I’d had to stay in this time although last time our bay was lovely - I had the nurse who’d done my colposcopy where I was diagnosed with cancer and an older lady who’d had a bowel cancer resection. We were the cancer bay!

@Niknak Your situation sounds similar to me when I was first having my lump investigated. I also have dense breast tissue and it makes it very difficult for the doctors/radiologist to assess the size of the lump, which in turn affects what they may offer you in terms of operation to remove it if that is needed. I had 6 mammograms and an ultrasound (plus biopsy) on my first visit and they still couldn't really tell how big the tumour was so I was referred for a breast MRI which gave completely different results. In the end, when they removed it, the ultrasound was the most accurate.

In my case the doctors were very certain my lump was cancer straight after the ultrasound, I also had clear lymph nodes. If they haven't told you that they think it's cancer there may be more uncertainty. If possible try to remain positive until you have the biopsy results. If it does turn out to be cancer then we will be here for you.

FizzyOrange I wonder if thats whats happened, The other results were through though, for platelets etc. I would have thought they would all be ready together ?

@chuntersalot and @Silkieschickens good luck to you both today!

@Niknakpaddywhack good luck tomorrow!

I am literally petrified to the bone. Went for a repeated blood test at lunchtime, now all I can do is wait. I was calm until I left the surgery, and ever since then a huge panic wave has enveloped me.

Thanks for the answers and good wishes. At the hospital now waiting to go in. Have navigated communicating and proving my insurance will pay for the mammogram. That's a success!

@thereisonlyoneofme all my other blood results, platelets etc. were through the following day too! I think I would ring the unit to see if it's come through yet.

Thank you for sharing your experiences @Silkieschickens @needabitof @MrsPnut @SewingBees and for the good luck wishes @balkanscot, especially as you all have your own worries to think about - I really appreciate it and feel less overwhelmed now.
By 3pm tomorrow I will hopefully know more, and if it’s not good news I know I just have to deal with it as best I can.
Sending love and best wishes to all those waiting for tests, results or operations or having to deal with the crap that cancer throws at you x

FizzyOrange Are you at Maidstone by any chance !