Oh yes, yes yes and yes!!! Completely! It totally floors you, its emotionally draining, so what's happening to you is normal....just know it does get better ( eventually) I'm still suffering post treatment but much better than I was.....you'll get there....one foot in front of the other Hun...just remember that...xx

Thank you [@Jolamine]‍ x. I'm so glad to hear that you're still managing to live a full life, in what must have been an exceptionally hard 10 years. Getting it twice seems unbearable. It gives me hope too. I have to admit that I feel so sure it's spread based on the time I've been experiencing this shoulder and back pain that I feel ready to throw the towel in already. Pretty pathetic eh? I don't feel I have what it takes to face what's ahead. As you all know, waiting to know the extent of it is horrible. I'm going to see the GP today to see if there is anything she can give me to help alleviate the anxiety. My husband is amazing, but I already feel guilty for checking out of childcare the last couple of days with my youngest as he battles with her frequent tantrums. I have to really try to internalise some of the amazing advice you have all already given me about taking it one step at a time and trusting that whatever I'm told I'll feel better once I have a treatment plan in place. Lots of hugs to you all xx 

I'm sorry to reach out again so soon, when you all have so much to deal with yourselves, but I just wondered if anyone who had had a bone scan, knows what i might expect? Xx

Hi Irener

Sorry to hear the reason you are here. I was diagnosed in March with bc, I have two children aged 7 and 10 and thought my world had fallen apart, I had aches and pains all over the place waiting for my scan results. I had MRi, ct, per X-ct and bone scan.  Bone scan I had to get some radioactive liquid injected then went back after an hour for the scan, it's an open scan, the scanner is close to your body but nothing like an MRI. 
 

So my scans showed I had appendicitis so had to have that removed before any treatment. Then I had chemo, and because I responded so well (8cm tumour to zero) I was able to have a mastectomy with immediate reconstruction, nipple saving and lymph node removal on Monday. So I'm currently in hospital recovering. I will need radiotherapy but then I'm hoping to here that I will be cancer free. So it's totally doable, the scans were the scariest bit of the whole thing. You can totally do this and there are loads of us who will support you all the way. 
x

Hi,

sorry you have had bad news, I was diagnosed with grade 1 breast cancer in April, I like you was totally shocked and thought ‘I’m gonna die’, I think it’s a natural thought as until we go through it we don’t know anything about cancer and think ‘it’ll not happen to me’, you will find the courage, I couldn’t believe how I coped, yes I cried and yes I was scared but it will be fine, as I said I was diagnosed in April had my lumpectomy in May had the results in June, mine hadn’t spread to the lymph nodes, started radiotherapy in July and finished in August. I have to take letrazole for 5 years. From the ages of your children you are a lot younger than me. Don’t read about things on the internet, and although this site is amazing and the people are lovely, there are a lot of stories that will frighten you but we are all different. Once you get the diagnosis you will know what you are facing and you will find the strength. If I can be of any other help please don’t hestitate to contact me cos nobody knows how you feel unless you have been through it and come out the other side, sending lots of love and prayers xx

Hi Irener,

I have had a few bone scans and there really is nothing to them - no tunnel to go through, no loud sounds and no pain caused. It doesn't even take that long.

You will get a radioactive dye injected into the body. You then need to wait for 3 hours before you have your scan.

You lie on the bed and it moves back and forth towards a big machine. The machine has 2 plates which move as the machine rotates. It moves up and down towards your body and then in and out. It is nowhere near as claustrophobic as an MRI. It is usually all done and dusted in about 20 minutes.

Many of us convince ourselves that cancer has spread before we get a proper diagnosis, but fortunately,

 this is seldom the case. I am glad to hear that you are going to ask your GP for something to alleviate your axiety.

I'm glad to hear that your hubby is amazing. Don't let yourself feel guilty if he has to cope with the children for a while. My children are grown up, but were teenagers when I was first diagnosed. I certainly couldn't have coped with them if they had been younger, in my early cancer days, as I was utterly exhausted. You will learn  to take any help that is offered with household chores as well as childminding.

You can do it!

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Thank you [@Woollylamb]‍. It seems insane that you've been kind enough to get in touch, when you're in the thick of recovering from your op. Having to have that appendix out before you could even get started must have knocked you sideways. I wish you all the best for the next stage of your treatment. When you feel able (and if you even want to say) I'd be grateful to know what you said to your children about what was happening.x. Dear [@GeorgieS]‍ it's amazing how far you've come since April and I imagine you've had many dark times, thank you for sending love and prayers, it means a lot to me. I'm 46 btw - had my last little one as a surprise in 2017. Thank you [@Jolamine]‍ for the reassurances and details about the bone scan, it's so nice to get some actual experiences from you all rather than getting drawn in to the dreaded internet and not knowing what applies to you and what doesn't, but always fearing the worst.  I'm certainly going to take up the offers of a few friends and family to help out with the children and housework. The propranolol bbs seemed to have helped and I took nytol so see if I could actually get some sleep last night. Is it usual to be sweating through your sheets every night? Xx

Thanks for your kind words . Just say yes to all help you are offered, it felt really hard for me and my husband as we live away from both of our families and usually find a way through things. But we just said yes and our family and friends have sorted out support between them, they have sat with me for scans, sat with me when I've been admitted at daft o clock in the morning so my husband can see to the kids, have taken the kids off for their tea etc it's been so helpful.

So we decided to tell the kids what was going on when we had definitely dates and to tell them is sections and not use the word cancer. So we said that I had a bug and i needed special medicine to kill it. That the medicine would find the bug and kill it but that I also have some special soldiers that keep me healthy and the medicine would knock those down too, but they would recover as they are special but the bug wouldn't, and I needed to do this 6 times. We told them that I would be tired, look poorly and lose my hair. This was the one thing they got upset about the most as they didn't want othernp people to be mean to me, so I got a hair system made exactly the same as my notmal

hair.  When I got through the chemo, I was fortunate in my lump disappeared, so we told

them that the doctors has said that they had found the  bug and it was in my boob  and in order to make sure it couldn't come back I needed a op to take the boob away and give me a new one and after that I need to be zapped with a laser.  Sorry that was a long winded response.  The boys have asked some questions more about what do the scans feel like, when will I be better , is the army of soldiers lying down or standing up at the minute. My youngest has become a little more clingy and huggy, my eldest has been the same really. Hope that helps. 
 

wl

Hi Irener,

Unfortunately, it is perfectly normal to find yourself and your sheets drenched throughout the night. I first of all bought a 'Chillo Pillow' , but this did't help. Your GP can prescribe Clonadine for this, although I found that that it didn't help me.

My breast care nurse advised that some people find Venlafaxine (a mild anti-depressant) helpful. This reduced my sweating, but didn't stop it. I still have this problem 10 years on and still take the Venlafaxine. Have a word with your care team and see what they advise.

I'm glad to hear that your Propranolol helping and that you are accepting offers of help. WoolyLamb's advice on telling her children is spot-on. Telling them needs to be age appropriate, but young children don't need chapter and verse, just a simple explanation.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx