Hi Alison,

Welcome to Cancer Chat. Firstly I'm sorry to read what you're going through at the moment and I can certainly imagine there must be a lot of emotion at the moment. I'm sure the uncertainty must be difficult too.

I hope it's not too long to wait for your results and then there will be some next steps to take and some more information about what's going on.

Prior to then it may help to keep your mind off things as much as possible and to keep busy - although I know this is easier said than done.

Whatever happens, this forum is a safe space to talk to others who understand or simply to write down any thoughts you may have. We're always here for support.

Wishing you all the best,

Ben
Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi Alison

Saw your note in your reply to sheltie-lady.  Not sure what your diagnosis is but your treatment schedule sounds similar-ish to mine however they didn't discover the node involvement till after my mastectomy...somewhat annoying (!!) as needed 2 bl00dy operations rather than just the one but hey and indeed ho.

Not sure what chemo you'll be having, I also had neo-adjuvant (pre surgery) as you are as mine also needed stopping in its tracks!  I've found personally and also from reading of others experiences that if you're having 2 types of chemo drugs (not sure if this is standard, was for me and many others) that often one is better to you than the other.  I was unusual in that I tolerated the EC very well (most don't) and taxol was my nemesis, but still manageable as was able to change treatment when I challenged oncologist re bad side effects. Worth stressing that you may not get all the side effects that you'll read and be told about so please try not to assume the worst in that respect.

Surgery (both times!) was fine, just annoying waiting for things to recover...I'm quite impatient and like keeping fit, radiotherapy (suspect you'll be having this too) fine just very boring (may also be due to the fact that cv has stopped social jollity!) and again, like surgery, time to recover is annoyingly long (for me!).

So its all very doable, I am an eternal optimist though which I think helped me, my friend and family and those treating me too! I do however understand why it can be daunting and a worrying time but I just focussed on the phase I was at and getting on with that before my attention moved to the next phase.

I had a CT scan post node clearance and all clear so the treatments did work for me as they have for many, many others.  Not sure if you're ER/PR/HER2 positive but if so (and may be the case with other types I'm not familiar with) there are long term drugs that will also help to keep the cancer at bay.

It may also help given there's ALOT going on for you at the moment, to take someone else to meetings as they can take notes, ask questions and help clarify things for you after the meeting - I found this really useful as have a pants memory at the best of times and there can be an overload of information at some of the meetings you'll be having.

It may also help to talk to nurses on the charity helplines, I found the breastcancernow charity's "someone like me" service useful as you can talk to someone who had been through your diagnosis/treatment. I also found the forum on MacMillan useful for monthly chemo thread so you can "chat" with those going through the same as you at the same time (and the top tips link is very useful too).

Good luck and probably best to be prepared for more biopsies (I had loads) and lots of prodding and poking (still amazed at the number of people who have now seen my boobs!).

Happy to answer any other queries you may have.

Sam