Next Steps

Hi everyone. 

My wife has recently finished her main treatments for primary breast cancer. She is 41, underwent a mastectomy and then had chemo and radio and will be on tamoxifen for 10 years. We have two young children under 10 and we have kept this away from them as far as has been possible. It has been a difficult time but we got through it just about so far - now the main treatments are done we had hoped to be able to look forward - but we are lost with fears of recurrence. She will have the usual monitoring but I know this won't include body scans etc ... 

We have always followed the advice of the specialists and they have been great so far but I wanted to hear if anyone had any experience of other steps that could be taken to keep her well - and any extra monitoring we could safely have done to pick any recurrence up sooner ?

She is healthy living - always has been - so on lifestyle things she has always done the right thing not smoking or drinking and being a bit of a fitness fanatic with a healthy diet.

I am doing all I can to reassure and support her but don't want to leave any stone unturned in taking steps to keep her well. I just wondered if anyone out there had any experiences/tips ? The fear of recurrence does feel overwhelming at times and it is tough trying just to move on with  normal  life again.

  • Hi Berty ... Glad to here your wife has finished her main treatment ...  bet that feels good ... I wish I could say after treatment we could all forget about this journey we all find our self's on ... But I don't think many can do that ... As somewhere in the back of our heads it just stays there, but the good thing is because we have had this we are more alert for symptoms so we may notice something earlier ...

    Unfortunately , even though some don't smoke , drink , and eat heathy and keep fit ... It still finds us .. that cancer has no boundaries ... Although it prob gives you better odds ... 

    It sounds like your both doing all you can and doing a great job ... I know I made a promise to my self , that cancer may change things but I wouldn't let it take one more day more then it has to ... It wouldn't change me.  So every day , I make the most of life and live it to the full... And every good day is like slapping cancer in the face , and saying to it. "you didn't effect me today" 

    If I get any thing come up ... My daughter in law has said to us ... We will handle things , as they come .. and not ponder on what might happen ... We will sort it TOGETHER ... she is amazing and keeps all my family's feet on the floor .. but we've talked \ hugged \ cryed and yes even laugh at things  ...

    So my thoughts for you is take the time you have been given ... Grab life by both hands and take each day as it comes ... You sound so amazing caring husband , and I'm sure your both proud of each other ... All the best to you all ... Big hug chrisie xx

  • Thank you chrisie - kind and wise words - all the best to you and your family