Hi Linda,

What's sleep?

XXX

Hi Karyn,

Wait and see. 3rd of June is a few weeks off xx

Hi Sue,

I know my minds running away with me at the moment.

It's just the waiting game again but even after everything I've endured it doesn't get any easier with that side.

Karyn xx

Hey ladies, 

How's things? 

Thanks for sharing Karyn, you are a fighter and a TNBC warrior with what you have been though. I wish you all the best with scan results. The waiting is the worst and nothing we can do about it eh. Sending positive vibes! 

How's your rads going Claire, are u finished now? 

Davia, u doing OK? 

I got a last minute call yesterday to go for my mapping, so guess where I am with me mask on. There is a delay here as they had a covid patient in so they need to sanitize big time!

My rads will start on the 04 June for 3 weeks. When does your start again Linda, end of this month? 

How u feeling Sue about things? 

Btw something less serious, how do u cope with hot flushes with these masks on! I'm gonna melt or pass out. Do u ladies still get flushes? I seem to be getting quite a bit more now I'm finished chemo. No cycle yet tho, heard it can take up to 6 months or never come back! 

Hugs all around xx

Hi Mich

Thats great your having your mapping done today, not so great that they had a covid patient in, I'm having mapping on Monday 18th then rads start Tue 26th for 10 days. I'm having no flushes and I've not seen anything from my cycle since Jan, i was in the peri menopause a few months before I was diagnosed so hopefully I wont get any flushes.

Hope the rest of you ladies are doing ok.

Hugs 

Linda x

Hi Karyn

It's so very hard waiting for test results the anxiety really ups a notch, sending big hugs and hoping all is well

Hi Mich, 

Great news your having mapping done, not so good to hear of the Covid patient is your oncology department seperate to main hospital? I hope your not kept to long, it takes around 40 min for them to map you I ended up with a stiff neck, so maybe put a hot oat bag on your neck and shoulders when you get in.i suffered with loads of hot flushes during chemo, and sometime after, I would get upto 10-15 in a day, but they have eased off now I only get around 1 or 2 a day, I don't have periods anymore, before diagnosis I was perimenopause so think the chemo finished them off. 

I'm feeling OK, I have a dry cough from rads, the radiographer said it would happen as top of lung is clipped, and I'm still tired, it's getting me down now, we drove to deep countryside yesterday had a lovely walk, only around 3-4 miles, when I got home I had to go straight to bed, I was pooped, it's frustrating as I was the sort of person who never slept in the day, and I could walk all day, I read people saying they feel great while having radiotherapy, and here I am 3 weeks after my last dose still exhausted. My friend who had chemo and rads 10 years ago said it takes a good 2 years to be back to your normal strength I think I'm feeling very down to, and that doesn't help, I'm going in my garden today to plant up a couple of plants and weed, that will make me feel better

Sue, how's it going? And how you feeling now?

Claire how are you, I've not been in for a while and I've missed lots of messages, hope your doing well.

Take care ladies, virtual hugs to you all  

Hi Mich

Yes the waiting surely is the worst part of this journey as my tests on Tuesday literally took me right back to my darkest moments last year when I was diagnosed and many of the flashbacks came flooding back.

It was also not very pleasant going to the hospital because it wasn't the same one I was originally treated at and I was unfamiliar with the layout.

When I arrived it was pretty much deserted with no other patients at all in the breast screening department and the staff weren't very approachable either.

What concerned me was that they didnt even know what I was there for in the first place and I had to go over everything I'd had done over the last 19 months!

I was also taken through two wards of Covid patients to get to the radiographer for my MRI and I found the mammogram extremely painful having completed radiotherapy  8 months ago now but both breasts in particular the left are still tender.

My mammogram results will be 2 - 3 wks and MRI ones to view online 9th June which seems odd!

Mich well done for coming as far as you have and believe me you have nothing to fear about the radiotherapy at all as compared to chemotherapy it's a walk in the park and the staff take really good care of you.

I would recommend staying hydrated by drinking lots of water to help combat fatigue as by going to the hospital  daily it can leave you feeling very tired and even once you've finished the effects can be lasting.

I'm still struggling with fatigue myself and just have to accept some days that I'm being unrealistic expecting myself to achieve so much, basically I've had to just listen to my body and stop when I feel fatigued and take a break but with 3 children its virtually impossible to do that.

I had my collarbone treated with radiotherapy too which gave me a very sore throat and it was painful to swallow for a while.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the covid patient at your mapping session but its positive  that everything gets thoroughly sanitized after every patient and even more so now.

Regarding the hot flushes I did suffer terribly with them during chemotherapy and still have the odd one now but use Femarelle Recharge which is a menopausal herbal supplement and I finds it helps with these.

I haven't had a period since finishing chemo and was warned that they may never return as well.

My Oophorectomy in June will put me into surgical menopause if I'm not in it already; I'm assuming I am which doesn't help with all the mood swings etc.

My preventative double mastectomy will hopefully be in August with reconstruction and I'm due a review mid June.

In the meantime though it just feels a never ending rollercoaster and I look forward to the day when it's all done and hopefully then I can slowly move on.

Big hugs and keep positive 

Karyn xx

Thanks Davia

I'm trying to keep busy but its hard to focus whilst waiting and to console myself, I'm thinking no news is good news and that's what's helping at the moment.

It's very much living from day to day still with the fear of recurrence but its something we will all have to try and live with and I'm hoping that over time this fear will fade for us all.

Chemo and treatment can certainly affect you for several years afterwards in terms of fatigue and various aches and pains so we much just listen to our bodies and rest when we need to.

Big hugs to you and hope you are feeling better.

Karyn xx