Good evening 

She is right arm dominent and has broke her right arm. 
 

mastitis would be fantastic tbh... considering the more sinister alternative. I have majority of symptoms of mastitis apart from the heat, but my youngest is 5 and I am not breastfeeding and haven't breastfeed for 4 & 1/2 years. I'm praying it's not the type of breast cancer it can be associated with. ( I'm just overthinking) 

You organised for Christmas? 
 

alicia xx

Hi Alicia,

Poor wee soul. She must be finding it difficult. I'm praying for you to have a good outcome too. It's all too easy to overthink things.

I'm more disorganised than I've ever been. I am in the process of selling my practice with a view to finally retiring. This is involving a lot more work than I expected. My son is going into hospital tomorrow for a discectomy. He broke his neck two years ago and developed further problems with his lumbar region last year. Cortisone injections have been of no use, so it has to be surgery. We are aware of the risks, but hope that all will go well.

How about you - are you ready?

Regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi jolamine, 

how did your sons operation go? 

i was mostly organised for Christmas. I felt I really couldn't enjoy it this year. As I type this message, my 5 year old is just being the cutest wee soul. 
 

I haven't left my front door in two days. I'm seriously struggling to find motivation to do a lot of things that I wouldn't usually struggle with. My husband is back at work (he's a postman) so being home with four children over Christmas is overwhelming. 
 

I feel like I'm constantly checking the swelling under my arm which is obviously there and the lump in breast is there. 
 

I am feeling very overwhelmed. And I still have to wait until the 10th January. 
 

Hope you've had a lovely Christmas. 
 

alicis 

Hi Alicia,

Thank you for asking. My son got through his operation without suffering any paralysis, which the surgeon said was a strong possibility. It's too early yet to say how successful the operation has been, but we're ever hopeful. I'm sorry that you couldn't enjoy Christmas this year, but I'm not surprised. It's almost impossible to put this to the back of your mind, even for a day or two. I hope that the children enjoyed themselves regardless.

How is your daughter coping with her broken arm? I hope that it hasn't hampered her too much over the holiday. We usually advise people to keep busy with some sort of hobby or pastime, but with 4 children, I don't expect that you get much time to yourself anyway.

Most of us would agree that waiting to be seen and then waiting for test results are some of the hardest times of our cancer journey. Try not to look too far ahead. Take things day by day for now.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

I'm so glad your son got through his operation. I hope his recovery is going well. 
 

she's coping well with her broken arm. 9 days until her cast removal already... she's counting down the days

ive spent two weeks having a pitty party to be honest... doing the bare essentials! But the past few days or so, I've made a conscious effort to reach out to my close friends and open out to how I feel. And it's helped. 
 

obviously no one wants cancer, but this wait to find out if I have it or not if horrific! 
 

happy new year!! 
 

Alicia 

Hi Alicia,

It's such a relief to have his operation behind us. He even thinks that he can feel a slight improvement already. It's early days yet, but we're hopeful that it has helped.

It is all too easy to have a pity party. You will also find that if you portray this image to some friends thet may turn away. The more positive you can appear to be about the outcome, the more your friends will stay around you and they can be a great support. You will soon get to kow who you can genuinely open up to and who you can't. I lost some friends in the early days, but I have gained so many more along my cancer journey. Those original friends, who stuck with me are among my closest friends.

 I agree that this wait is horrific. Most people describe it as one of the worst parts of their cancer journey. It helps if you can put a brave face on and get on with life - not easy, I know!

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

That's fantastic if your son can feel a benefit already... even though he has a long recovery ahead of him, the fact he can see a benefit already if fantastic! 
 

ive had a better couple of days. The kids have been back at school so I think I've been forced out the house, into a better routine so I do feel better for it (as I'm typing this at 23.13). 
 

my anxiety is still very high, but the fact my appointment is only days away is providing me with some comfort! I feel like I'm days away from having at least a basic answer of some kind. I have a few worrying symptoms that I know myself as a third year nurse just isn't right. 
 

hooe your well ️
 

Alicia xx

Hi Alicia,

I am so glad to hear that you've had a better couple of days and have managed to get back into a routine of sorts. It's down to the number of sleeps before you attend the clinic, which must be a relief in a way. 

That's the problem - as a nurse, you know too much and tend to think the worst, but this doesn't always turn out to be the case. I hope that  laost doesn't mean that your sleeping is upset too. I had terrible trouble sleeping at this stag. Even whn Iid manage to fall asleep, I would wake up with all sorts of dark thoughts going through my head.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Monday!

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi 

Across my local health boards they've been cancelling non urgent appointments... but mine is urgent but I've been dreading getting a phone call to say tomorrow is cancelled. 

but here I am .. thank goodness... tomorrow is my appointment!! 
 

alicia