Cancer Support Thread 93 - The Thread for the Dread and the Not Yet Dead? Everything you need to know about Cancer but didn’t want to know

[LemonDrizzle10]

Shiny new thread.

@MothralovesGojira I just don't like the thought of it, if it comes down to it then ok but I'd like to avoid it as much as possible.

Love the " fuck it bucket" attitude!
Post meno here too and also becoming rather " fuck it, CBA" ( can't be arsed!) I knew there had to be a perk to being drowned in sweat at 3am every blooming night!'

Well done for getting back to work. That's my next mission, once this fluid is drained.

@catmomof3 I'm going to request a porth/ picc also, as my veins are screwed big time. Canula insertions and blood tests are becoming nigh on impossible. You have to do what you have to do, to reduce trauma and pain.

@Enigma52 I agree, as of now I'm hoping the veins in my arms can hold out ok. I will cross about the picc if it comes to it but the thought of it actually keeps me awake at night, you'd think it be the cancer but it's actually a needle being forced into my hand or being told I need a picc. I think they'd actually have to put me under general if it came to that to install one because I don't know if I could remain calm.

@catmomof3 deep breaths...
Your brain is going into overdrive ( totally normal)
One step at a time and plenty of distractions 🌺

@catmomof3
I didn't like the thought of it either but it took them 2 hours to find a vein on the back of my hand until I was on the point of screaming the place down so it was a no-brainer for me. Once it was in I was just plug in and go on the chemo unit which was quick and simple. DC is a T1 diabetic and wears a CGM which I insert on them every two weeks so we debated who was more cyborg - them or me. Other people found it fascinating when I explained what a picc was but it didn't both me - customers asked about it a lot!
To be honest there's a lot of stuff that I've had to do that I didn't want or think about - like the time I had to have a CT scan half naked because I wore a bra, jeans and a t-shirt with metal in them (chemo brain fog made me forget about the metal thing) and they'd run out of gowns much to the embarrassment of the two male but very gay radiographers. They taped blue roll to my bits to protect their modesty 😳but just so hilarious!

You need to do what you feel most comfortable with and I do understand. I am also ASD (among other conditions) and I absolutely hate being touched so having people wanting to touch me in examinations has been really difficult and I have huge anxiety about it but I do it because I must. If you have dodgy veins already then I would 100% endorse a picc or port.

@MothralovesGojira My veins in my arm atm are ok and the one the nurse bruised from the ct scan last week has nearly healed so I'm hoping they will hold up for as long as possible 🤞🏼

Do you need to have a cannula for when you have radiation? I was hoping for my mri it wouldn't be with contrast as I read some don't need it but nope my gynae has requested the contrast. My right arm veins are looking good but I've probably jinxed that now 🤣🤣

@catmomof3 We often say, "Don't borrow tomorrow's sorrows" on this thread when one of us shows signs of going down every possible rabbit hole. So I would like to very, very gently introduce you to this saying. I think you're being smart to develop an awareness of the different access methods for veins, but please don't let it worry you too much at this stage. You could be one of those people who have the easiest treatment plan ever, where everything goes perfectly to plan!

(And if you're now tempted to say, "But what if it all goes wrong?", then I'll just counter with, "But what if it goes right?")

Sending much love, you're in the hardest week of all, where the countdown to the treatment plan is very much ON.

@demivolte that's great news!! 😁Just what we all hope for.

@catmomof3 it's understandable you don't want a PICC but if it comes to it the fitting is painless and quick and it makes life much easier. It's fear of the unknown, the reality is better than you think.

@KentishMama good news about the boss lady departing. Let sweetness and light prevail.

"Let sweetness and light prevail." Not just at work. Can we have this as the title for our next thread, @TopOfTheCliff ?

@demivolte
Excellent news! I'm so pleased for you x

@catmomof3 no you don't need a cannula for radiation. But you might need one for the CT scan.

They are very blood thirsty though. Weekly bloods for chemo at the very least. I had a blood transfusion as well.

I didn't have a port but they didn't give me the option for one until I rocked up for my first Chemo and I wasn't prepared for it so said no.

HellonHeels I was just told I needed full node clearance (on awaking from mastectomy!) and not given the radiotherapy option - had radio after chemo though. The full node clearance the "good" thing about it is you can see how much cancer is in the nodes they take out - in my case none, not even a single cell just in the sentinel one they took before. I like knowing that. It was a lot more painful than the mastectomy but that pain went within a few days and could be managed with painkillers. I think after 3 weeks I could return to swimming though check and needs to have healed. That was in Jan 22 and still have no lymphoedema but was told its a lifetime risk and need to exercise to increase chances of not getting it. I do feel slightly lobsided swimming but that more the mastectomy which I am awaiting reconstruction for. I can swim all strokes and full range of movement but front crawl feels a bit strange as numb under arm. Radiotherapy I found super easy but I guess disadvantage is you would not know how much cancer was there. I did go on a US breast cancer site who were shocked I was given full node clearance and they said there they have moved to radio to reduce lymphoedema risk. Generally if I am offered a choice and not sure I push it back to oncologist and say if it was you which would you do. I don't think it makes a massive difference, I would just pick one and do it. If radio get some creams for the area, something like Aveeno or a burns cream though I never got any burns, a lot of people get tired after radio but never got that either and its quite short lived if you do.

So today's update.... kidney function has improved slightly- presumably due to immunotherapy coming out system and steroids going in. Calcium and Vitamin D are low but they'll retest in a week. Thoughts/shoot me now?

@JlL2013 Thank you for letting me know. And blood thirsty is fine just need my veins to co-operate 😅. MRI tomorrow so one step closer to treatment.

@catmomof3 hope it goes well tomorrow and fingers crossed for some news Friday x

Sitting at our local reservoir trying to up my vitamin D 😀

Hello everyone again.Just been trying to catch up again. Had the mastectomy and clearance and now waiting to get started on radio and the cdk drugs. I scored 4/18 on the lymph node front.
I didn't expect it all too be as easy but also it's been really difficult the last bit of healing as have a large cord. Seeing physio this week. Not sure how arm is going behind my head for 15 mins but will keep on doing exercises.

I've even got through another MRI ... And didn't dissolve too much! I didn't realise how often my big girl pants would have to be pulled up and I'm not sure I'm ever wearing small ones again!

Saw the surgeon yesterday and he is booking an MRI pre surgery.
He could no longer feel the tumour in my breast.
Then saw my oncologist this morning.
She has stopped my chemo,due to side effects.
I have had 12.
Her advice is that mastectomy will clear any remaining cancer cells.
Lumpectomy will mean at least 5 radiotherapy sessions.
I feel very conflcted and worried about being lopsided.
Any advice gratefully received. X

My MRI went ok thank god, I only needed the contrast dye after 45 mins and they was so nice to go get my mum from the carpark (it was in a mobile unit) so she could be with me while they did that. Clearly had a crappy nurse last week at my ct scan because I did not feel a thing today, the guys in the mri mobile unit were amazing, also very accommodating when I said I have autism and kept telling me how long each scan would take and apologised when they said I’d need the dye etc. However didn’t expect it would take nearly an hour in the machine and the urge to refrain from dancing when Taylor Swift came on the radio was hard and then I thought I had wet myself 😅. I hope every other one I have now is just as accomdating and the clinicians working there are just as nice.

Now to wait and see what is discussed at Friday's MDT.

@Zoopet are you worried only about being lopsided after mastectomy or also after lumpectomy? I can't advise on mastectomy (others on here can though) but I can tell you about my WLE (lumpectomy) and the repair job.

Do you have a breast cancer nurse team? I was able to book an appointment with a BC nurse to look at outcomes of different treatment options (i was having WLE but the tumour was in an odd place so tissue loss was an issue). I could have just had the lump taken and no reconstruction, lump out and some reconstruction using belly fat, lump out and a lift to even out the hole, or lump out with a reduction and a symmetry reduction (therapeutic mammoplasty) on the other breast.

I had massive breasts (hated them) 38 H so went for the last option. It has worked out well for me (i have yet to start on radiotherapy though). At my hospital they actively offered all these options and wanted to do the symmetry surgery in the same operation, so no waiting around lopsided. Its possible not all hospitals will offer the same options.

Wishing you the best! How are you feeling after your treatment so far?

Well done @catmomof3! Glad it was a better experience this time.

I've only had dye while under a GA so no idea what happened for me, but I've read that having it can make you feel like you're going to wet yourself even though you don't 😱

This was before they injected the dye, I was laying in the mri thinking I've wet myself and it must be over soon and then they pulled me out after 45 mins and said sorry they do need to do the dye. Luckily was only back in the scanner after that for 5 more minutes and was glad to discover I did not wet myself 😅 I'm just happy it was a positive experience and I didn't come out shaking or feeling like my arm was gonna drop off lol.

@catmomof3 hope all goes well (as well as it can do in cancer land) tomorrow and you come out of your call with a plan. Will be thinking of you x

@JlL2013 Thank you 💜 Feeling very nervous and scared in all honesty. Been a rough day today as well with feeling so tired and nauseous which could be down to worrying. I'll be annoyed if they haven't had a chance to look at all my results and I have to wait another week though. Do they plan the treatment in that meeting?