Hi

i had a similar visit 5 days ago, except I've never been through this before, I'm still waiting on CT as my lymph nodes were also affected 

I don't know how I'm meant to feel, I just feel like I need all the results now and the wait is excruciating 

I have a 3 week wait for CT due to coronavirus although I am on an emergency cancellation list

i would welcome any advice at all on how best to deal with this, I'm 43 and have 3 young children 

xxx

Hi AMil,

I am sorry to hear you are joining the club no one wants to join!! I think my advice would be to always try and remain positive. Medicine has moved on so much that breast cancer has a really high survival rate - in the 90%'s. Talk to people - friends/family or even us. I found that people who had been through/were going through BC had a better understanding of what I was going through but my friends and family were still amazing. Try and keep busy, between appointments. Waiting for scans/results is definitely one of the hardest parts!!! 
Remember, this is just a 'blip' The 3 of us all had very different journeys but we were there to talk about it and share worries and advice. Happy to do the same for you.

Caroline

Hi Girls,

I think I am going to change my photo from the "heeland coo" to something that relates to my nom de plume, so I'm going to put up a photo of Archie!

The reason I am actually writing just now is to metaphorically scream!  I've just had a call from my BCN to say they want to do more biopsies because they couldn't get any of the calcifications to test last time!  Aaaaaaagh!! I told her how delighted I was to hear that, in view of the fun I had last time - NOT!

My sensible head says it's better to be sure than to wait a year, but I'm not looking forward to being stapled to the machine again. Still, he might find a sample straight away, this time and be done in one go.  Ever the optimist!  I am waiting for a call with my appointment now.

I hope you are not being washed away by the rain. My back garden is looking like Venice with canals instead of paths. 
Take care, stay safe

 Christine xx

Oh Christine that's pants! I got my mammogram was "satisfactory" letter so that's good but then got a call today to say that my annual check up tomorrow, with my consultant has now got to be changed to a telephone call!! Yet again!! So again I have no one giving me a physical check over!! :angry:

Caroline xx

Oh Caroline, 

That physical check by someone who knows what they are looking at and talking about is so important. I found the telephone call very unsatisfactory as a check up. Even going for the mammogram and biopsies doesn't feel particularly satisfying because the people involved only know their bit of the business and can't answer the questions about how I'm doing with regard to recovery, remission or possible recurrence etc.

Thank goodness we aren't going through those early days now, it must be terrifying. 
I wonder if the moderators will censor this. It's a bummer!

Chin up and try to remember your questions tomorrow.

C xx

Hiya!!

Caroline
You'll maybe not surprised to know that I'm not a fan of muted colours, the thought of a grey or beige house is not my idea of fun, my house is quite colourful and my current and ex-curtains ( the latter now being a cushion cover) follow my love of bright colours.  The boyfriend is more of a Farrow & Ball lover, another reason why we could never live together...
Is Eddie sleeping through yet?  What has he eaten? When I visit my pals cockerpoo we have to put shoes on the tops of dining table chairs so that they remain intact...little monkey.
Good that mammo all clear, hope annual check up all good....am sure it was. I got to see someone F2F by asking that they check out my lumps & bumps (which were confirmed to be scar tissue)...just to be on the safe side.

Christine 
Whilst Eddie is cute, Archie definitely wins in the fluffiness dept! Good to see him in all his glory, and he so looks like butter (well fat balls in his case) wouldn't melt ...
Whilst its good they're determined to find out what's going on in that boob, its pants that you have to be hole punched all over again...no fun at all.  I do wonder given they couldn't get a decent sample last time what they'll be doing differently this time? 
Hope your garden is a little less soggy now.  I came across a large mud & horse muck bog last night that was the breadth of the bridlepath I was cycling on, no way I could cycle through so got off but 2 ft deep bog got the best of me and sucked me in so I fell over, had a very soft but smelly landing.  Then the dog walker behind me pointed out the way she was going and there was actually a way round...great!  I do like to think that I at least gave her some amusement with my muddy/horse cr4p covered ar5e/feet & legs/hands.  I do think that ingesting horse muck must have medicinal properties, lucky for me.

Spent the weekend harvesting about 80 bl00dy chillis!  I was dreaming about de-seeding chillis Saturday night and now have enough green chilli sauce, marinara sauce, picked and oil infused ones to last right through the winter.  I now know I'd never make it as a farmer.

Well I now have a weeks holiday...lovely. What that means nowadays is longer bike rides, doing chores (cue a clean house), last of the bulb & bedding plantings and more cushion construction!  A thrilling week indeed...will hopefully be seeing a pal over from Southern Ireland too in sunny Bedford (!!)....think its far enough away from dodgy bits of the Midlands.  Let's see what Boris has to say later though eh?

Having now gained (lymphodema created) sausage index & middle fingers I'll be doing super long massages...still no date for compression sleeve fitting, at this rate it will be delivered by Santa.  Think I've also got mild asthma from radiotherapy....these don't really bother me just a tad annoying more than anything, gives me something to moan about & focus on I guess!  Still waiting for confirmation of DIEP date...lucky I'm a tenacious person eh?

Right time to go to gym, that chest & back aren't going to work themselves out!!!

Hope all good in the naughty north & sunny south X
 

Hiya!

Sam you make me laugh even when you are reporting a catastrophe!  I won't even take the dogs on muddy paths when the weather is wet. You can imagine what Archie looks like after a muddy walk, and Smudge has the same kind of coat, just a different colour. I hope it was only your pride that suffered in that fall!

As I was reading your message the phone rang - the landline - only ever rings when someone wants to sell me something or scam me, or worse, number withheld!  That was the case today, so I answered it, don't answer unknown numbers but withheld means the doctor or the hospital and sure enough it was the BCN with my appointment for what she euphemistically called a "procedure". So tomorrow's the day for pinning me to a machine again. 11 o'clock, whoopeedoo!

I was checking up on the calcification thing and apparently if they are large in clusters they are usually totally innocent but if they are tiny and spread apart, as mine are, they can be sinister. Unfortunately, being tiny means they are difficult to grab!  I thought with the new increase in local Covid 19 cases that they might delay my "procedure" but, alas, they are eager to get me done. My daughter says it might be a way to get the other boob lopped off, as I wanted originally! She's very optimistic - or something!

I think you are having it worse than me, with your fat fingers and asthma and all. I'm well impressed at your horticultural and culinary activities! I love chillies, in all forms, but never thought of growing them. The nearest I got to growing anything, recently was planting the base of a head of celery and sure enough it started growing and I followed the instructions to water daily, but it should be ready for picking now, after five months but all I've got is an abundance of leaves, the stalks have not grown at all. Still, it looks nice and smells good.

Enjoy your week off, I hope Boris doesn't scupper your plans to meet up,with your friend..

Caroline, 

Did your telephone consultation happen and how was it? 

How is Eddie? He sounds like a delight and looks adorable.  I'm impressed with his sitting etc. It took me nearly three years to get Archie to learn anything! It didn't help that he only took notice of Faith, who sabotaged everything I tried to teach him. He's a much nicer dog now. 
 

I'm expecting to be in a bit more of a lockdown after Boris speaks to us today as we are on the list of the boroughs expected to be on the top tier, even though we are very near the bottom of that list. One of my girlfriends has tested positive this weekend. She works as a bus escort for children with disabilities and has been worried about her exposure to the virus since the schools went back. She has lost her sense of taste and smell and is very fatigued, (and bad tempered, she says) but not feeling too bad. Her husband and son have to self isolate, too, but are keeping out of her way. It's difficult keeping isolated within the family. 
 

Stay safe, stay well

Christine xx

Just a question!  Do you find yourself checking on some of the people you have been in contact with, on here, if you haven't seen/heard anything from them for a while?

I do! Not the most sensible thing to do, I know. One person I was in touch with was diagnosed with the cancer that killed my dad within ten weeks of diagnosis and this person's posts became more and more worrying then stopped. I knew he must have died. He had no one, just his dog. I was heartbroken!

x

Hi Ladies, 

Firstly, between the 2 of you, you never fail to make me smile!! Sam, your tale about falling over in the mud was funny:laugh: and loved the addition of numbers into the naughty words! :wink:

Had a funny old week last week. Not sure if it's my hormones or what but felt very emotional all last week. Had my phone appointment which was very quick. But they are going to send me for a bone scan as I mentioned that I've been getting quite a lot of hip pain. I don't think it's anything sinister - more likely old age/wear and tear or muscular. Consultant said if it is fine, they will discharge me which actually made me very emotional as I feel like I am being deserted! Then I was 50 last week too and think that made me very emotional too!! So I've been a bit weepy, tired and down for the past week. But on the positive side my family and friends thoroughly spoilt me and I set up a fund raising page on Facebook to raise money for a local cancer charity and we ended up raising £1200! So that's positive. I saw a few friends over the weekend so did manage some very small celebrations.

Eddie is a handful - especially when he has his hyperactive spates!! But he's sleeping through the night and will choose to go in his crate by himself. He's not destroyed anything yet! (Touch wood) he has found an old pair of slippers, which he likes to chew but I know I shouldn't let him. 
Christine, I have everything crossed for tomorrow!! Let's hope they manage to get the samples and all is fine. 
I have a couple of people on here, who I message privately every now and again but that's all. Very sad re the gentleman you mentioned and I suspect your prediction is correct or he found the support somewhere else.

Right off to pick up youngest son from the gym!!!

Caroline xx

Hi lovely ladies,

Today I feel like I can breathe again! My bone scan results came back - no cancer in my hips!! Relief doesn't even come close to how I feel! I had worked myself into a real state and was convinced I had secondary cancer in my hips! They said I do have degenerative changes in some of my joints but that might run alongside my osteopenia. I'll just keep taking the adcal and joint pills! I have never felt so frightened and was convinced my time was going to be cut short so now I need to stop letting this cancer take over my head! Life is too short for me to spend time worrying over things that might come back, so cancer is parked - done and dusted!!! 
Hope you are both well!!! 
Caroline xx

Oh Caroline 

I am absolutely delighted with your good news but feel quite sad that I had no idea you were going through all that fear again. I just thought you were suffering from hormone related problems. I blame everything on the Letrozole!

I haven't been on here for a couple of weeks because I have been too grumpy. The second attempt at capturing a sample of the calcification in my right breast was another failure. This time it was a different team and the doctor said he would send away the tissue he had got (from a dozen attempts) to see if he had managed to capture the elusive chalk and then it would go to the MDT for a decision on what to do next. The experience this time was worse than the first, probably because I knew what to expect.  The staple effect wasn't as bad as the first time  but I nearly hit the roof when he injected the local anaesthetic it hurt so much, then I was trapped by the boob in that chair for an hour while he tried again and again to get a bit of the chalk.  It really knocked me for six. I think my body went into shock because I felt ill for the next two days. 
I had just about got over it by the weekend, then on the Saturday i did something to my knee as I was getting up from the toilet and have hardly been able to walk since. The steroid injections I had a few weeks ago didn't help my right knee and I was in so much pain the doctor I spoke to sent a prescription to the pharmacy and a man turned up in the afternoon with 50 Tramadol and 100 Paracetamol! The first night the Tramadol knocked me out for a blissful eight hours, less on the second night and failed to do anything for the pain the third night. I was worried about taking it during the day in case it made my head spin and reverted to my codeine and paracetamol but my daughter, who cannot function without a huge number of meds every day, has told me to try taking the Tramadol as prescribed every four hours to see if it works. She has been walking Archie for me and wants me better!  My own doctor rang and said I probably hadn't done anything to the knee, that it was the arthritis causing cartilage to slough off and touch the nerve. He has ordered an X-ray of the knee and is referring me for knee replacement surgery. Apparently the two MRI scans I have had on that knee are not acceptable as evidence that I need surgery! It just shows how bad the pain was that I accepted that I need it.
In the meantime a letter came via email with an appointment to see the breast cancer nurse on January 5th and one came in the post telling me the biopsies showed only breast tissue and not to worry, except we knew it was breast tissue and wanted chalk!! 
Then to cap it all my lovely brother in law has died suddenly and we don't know anything else as his daughter was too upset to tell us any more and we won't be able to go to his funeral as he has too many closer relatives .

See why I've been grumpy? I think I need chocolate!

Take care!

Sam, I hope you are ok, managing to stay on the bike and get to the gym. Have you had your DIEP date?
 

love

Christine xx

Oh Christine!!!

Im so sorry to hear that your brother in law has died. A  friend from school contacted me a couple of weeks ago to say his mum had died after a fall whilst in hospital. As well as it being a shock and sudden, the fact they can't have a proper funeral is really hard. 
I hope they don't subject you to any more needle biopsies. If they are still worried, then surely they can do regular mammograms to check for any changes. And then your knee, to top it off!! Let's hope they can do something sooner rather than later as no one should have to put up with that pain. 
Sending you virtual hugs. 
Caroline xx

Oh Christine!!!

Im so sorry to hear that your brother in law has died. A  friend from school contacted me a couple of weeks ago to say his mum had died after a fall whilst in hospital. As well as it being a shock and sudden, the fact they can't have a proper funeral is really hard. 
I hope they don't subject you to any more needle biopsies. If they are still worried, then surely they can do regular mammograms to check for any changes. And then your knee, to top it off!! Let's hope they can do something sooner rather than later as no one should have to put up with that pain. 
Sending you virtual hugs. 
Caroline xx