Hi Jo,

I was far from brave or strong just after my diagnosis.My mum had breast cancer and died 11 years before I was diagnosed. She was treated very shoddily with her cancer and, I was terrified that I would have to go through the same. Fortunately, there have been a number of changes in diagnosis, surgery, treatment and after care in this time. There is just no comparison in the care I have experienced and that which my mum had.

I really feel grateful to our friends at Cancer Research and elsewhere, who are struggling to improve all areas of cancer care and,, it is reassuring to know that they are constantly striving to improve matters as we travel along our cancer journeys.

I am glad to hear that you have a date for your op now - 13th June is not  too far away.  Instead of worrying yourself sick over the the next few weeks, try to keep busy, preferably doing pleasurable things. This should help to keep your mind off the wait and, at least distract you for a little while.

I shall be thinking of you on 13th June and hope that it all goes well. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi dear, 

Yes am glad you are feeling OK apart from the tiredness, hopefully that will also be controlled soon. 

Yes I have my mum and hubby helping me, my mum has been a star, I don't know how I would have been able to manage with out her. 

My diagnosis is similar to yours, high grade dcis with micro invasion. 

Did you have lumpectomy or mastectomy? I am having mastectomy with immediate recon using implant.

I hope to have clear lymph nodes too. 

Will keep you posted. 

Cheers xxx 

Hi AWW,

I am glad to hear that you have your mum and hubby on standby  to help you out with the baby for the next few weeks, as you will be a little tender for a while after your op.

I shall be thinking of you next week and hope that it all goes well for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

 Thanks Jolamine, you have been so helpful. 

Hi AWW,

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis but it is good news of the bad news that it is early stage. Did you also find out if yours is hormone positive?

I am glad that you have a good support team to help during this difficult time. I had lumpectomy but it was called LICAP flap so it was a reconstruction from my own tissue. Do you know the date for your mastectomy?

I will be thinking about you.

All the best with the operation. Keep us posted.

Canarijaune xx

Thanks for your kind words, yes my op date is May15th. 

Is LICAP flap using your back tissue? I can't remember reading about LICAP flap. 

Hi Canarijaune,

I am happy to accept your friend request, but seem to have lost your request before I managed to post a reply.

Could you please try and send another request? This has happened to me a few times in the past week, but I'm not sure why. 

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi AWW,

i will be thinking of you on the 15th May.

Licap flap uses the back/side tissue and it involves an incision quite big starting from under the breast and goes all the way back to your shoulder blade. The scar isnt too bad now so i amhappy with the result. However in my case as the tumour was near my nipple my surgeon had to remove the whole aerola area so I have another scar there without a nipple. Just a patch of skin. In a year’s time there will be the possiblity of nipple reconstruction and tattooing to make it look same as the other one.

Thank you for explaining to me, i am loosing my nipple too so I guess it will be similar to yours. 

All so daunting but at the same time reassuring because of you all sharing your experiences and showing us that it is do able.