Hey

no date yet. I had my last chemo on 11th sept,seen them surgeon twice and he referred me to the plastic surgeon as my preferred option is done by plastics. Seeing him on Friday , he may say no to doing it with immediate recon. Got a ct scan to check my tummy blood vessels as they take the fat from there and put it  in the boob and connect the blood vessel back up. I'm desperate to get a date as I would like to be in reasonable health for Xmas too.

how are you feeling after chemo, I'm still struggling with fatigue and my fingertips are numb.

wl

Hi , 

Hopefully you will have a date soon and fingers crossed all goes well with your meeting on Friday . 

Im still very tired after chemo and still have aches and pains . Luckily I didn’t have any numbness in finger tips . 

Let me know how your meeting goes on Friday will be thinking of you . 

Take care 

j x

Hi Woolylamb,

I hope that all goes well with the Plastic Surgery guys on Friday. Don't be surprised if they decide not to do your recon at the same time as surgery. If radiotherapy is planned after surgery they tend to leave recon until later.

I hope that it all goes ahead for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Jolamine, 

Thank you so much for your advice . To be honest from the start I said I never wanted reconstruction so that really doesn’t bother me . 

Oh wow there seems to be a lot involved with the lymphodema you poor thing . You are an inspiration. I know I’ll manage . He did say something about a sleeve too . 

I hope your son is doing well. Thanks again for all your advice and support. I really appreciate it.

take care 

j xx

Hi Jolamine 

Thanks for your message. My original surgeon is happy to do an immediate LD flap recon even though I need radiotherapy.  The surgery I prefer is the Diep one which is done by plastics, my original surgeon thinks they won't do it. So I'm guessing I may have the choice of delayed recon if I want Diep or immediate if I'm happy to go with the LD flap. In my head I'm thinking I want to get it all over and done with, it's a hard decision, one I never thought I would have the chance to make.

Hope you are ok.

x

hi yes got my operation was looking up clear margins on you tube they use a whole device once tumour is removed they put it on breast tissue if it bleeps changes colour etc the tissue needs removing the USA  had it first my surgeon told me he is trying to raise funds for it save him doing more surgery and patients like myself I got told he did a fair bit of work inside breast he's hoping it's all gone won't know for 2 weeks my surgeon off on holiday said don't worry you will get treatment once we got all cancer breast tissue out hopefully he said you won't need a third I hope not I'm not sleeping good until I get told clear margin and my treatment can be started sorry device called margin probe it's in Manchester hospital so here's hoping we get it too in Scotland also my surgeon said I knifes with special light on end if it can show him where cancer cells are so they are gettin* more results I'm going to raise money for my hospital  I will do a raffle buy something worth 200 pounds see if I can raise 500 hand it to my hospital do you know  jolamine where I can get information on raising funds etc ty I'm praying no more surgery and my results comes back clear this time x

Hi Lorraine,

Waiting for pathology results to ensure that you've got a clear margins is always a worrying time, but it is imperative that you do get them. I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer. First time was 10 years ago when I had a lumpectomy. I was told that the pathology results showed that my surgeon hadn't got a clear enough margin, but he assured me that he had realised this at the time and had removed an extra sliver, which would overcome this problem.

I was informed that I had pure mucinous breast cancer, which was a less aggressive form. However a year later, I had a second bout and had a double mastectomy. We will never know for sure, but I suspect that there still wasn't enough removed first time around. I know that it's a pain to have to return for more surgery when your surgeon hasn't achieved a clear margin, but it's way easier than having to go for more radical surgery because he didn't go in again.

Three weeks is a long time to wait for your results, so I hope that you can keep yourself busy enough in the meantime.

It is so good of you to try and raise some finance for your hospital. I am no expert in fundraising and, there are so many different ways of doing this. Could you ask someone well-known or famous to donate something that you could auction? You could ask a number of people for donations and hold an auction night. This would boost funds. Smaller donations could either be raffled or put into a Tombola. A go fund me page on Facebook might also generate some money. What about holding a dance for relatives and friends? Many venues will offer the venue free if there is a bar to bring up their takings. I sincerely hope that you have success with this.

Don't forget to let us know how you get on.
Kind regards,
Jolamine xx

Hi BigJean,

There are different degrees of Lymphoedema and I count myself lucky that mine could have been more debilitating. It can be awkward finding sleeves that are wide enough to fit over my arms and the 2 weeks of manual bandaging can be a little tricky. It also took some time for me to find the right type and size of compression bandage. The early ones tended to dig into different parts of my arm and some were very uncomfortale. We've overcome this now and, I now know what is comfotrable, but still gives me the necessary compression.

All of this is a small price for still being here 10 years after my first diagnosis.

My son is having 3 weeks of intensive rehab at the moment, but is doing well, all things considered.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Woolylamb,

I hope that all goes well for you when you meet your plastic surgeon tomorrow.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx