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Surgery decisions
Hi everyone, So many decisions. I am having ALL the treatment started with 8 weeks of 4 F/N treatment of AC medication. By the end i was cooked. Now at the half way mark of my intended 12 weeks PAC treatment i don't think ill make thr full course as the side effects ramp up. Then Radiotherapy of up to 5 weeks of targeted therapy. They weren't lying when they said prepare for a marathon. I have hormone related lubenal BC to my left ONLY. Based in Melbourne. Post radiotherapy i have to make a decision about surgery. A mastectomy is required as the chest wall has shown intrusion there so I have been advised the surgery will mean they will take half or all the chest wall. And they also want to remove the lymph nodes. The surgeon has shown me pictures and he wasn't lying when he said it can be quite disfiguring. I thought I was certain I wouldn't care about being flat but the disfiguring images have made me reassess. I will not have the opt to do an implants. The choices are as follows. 1.Left removal stay flat or left removal diep recon. Dispose other half of diep flap. 2.Double mastectomy removal remain flat or diep recon using all flap. Im so overwhelmed and worried that if i choose flat especially on left that i might regret not doing recon. Recon and mastectomy and recovery time and double wound sites of areas that didn't need to be cut also flip me each day I think im going this way then I flip and go another way each day is different mostly im unsure whether I should continue cutting into parts of my body that have no issue. What im hoping to gain from the group are lived experiences as to what made you come to the decision you did. Any experience that might have had similar options presented to you. What was recovery like? What did you prepare for post surgery? What tips could you recommend for pre and post surgery rest and care. I fly at least once a month for my work and am told I will need compression stocking on my arms before during and post flights. This BC is like a gift that keeps giving the worse gifts. Then to find out in review that even the Hormone blocking meds come with its own side effects some people reporting its worst than treatment! Anyway sorry for the long post but will welcome anyone's share of experience. Thank you and i wish you courage and bravery if you are straddling this journey too!Looking for suggestions after double Mastectomy
Hi everyone. How good is this website? I have learnt so much. I have been recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer 😒 and will be having a double mastectomy in the coming weeks. I am looking for suggestions/ideas for post surgery. For example clothes to wear, pillows, chairs, sleeping positions and the like. Looking forward to your ideas. Thank You
Regrowing hair
This possibly sounds silly and vain however, I am looking for advice on regrowing my hair post chemo. I have been looking online but hasn’t been helpful. The first hair that came through was grey and crazy and is now an inch long and there is a black ‘sheen’ coming through now. Should I get number two all over to tidy up and have hair all same length and then start growing OR just persevere until it gets some length and then deal with it. I have mostly been accepting the au natural look which is looking very nutty professor at the moment. thanks in advance
Starting Radiation
Hi All, Tomorrow I will starting my first of 15 rounds of Radiation. What recommendations for creams post treatmen for skin burn. I was given samples of QV cream and LaRoche-Posay Lipikar baume and Cicaplast Baume B5. I already have Dermaveen and Sorbolene Cream at home. Thanks AllWhat The Heck Radiation and Chemo? What to do and the side effects, are freaking me out.
In July, I had a mastectomy with lymph nodes out, then they found cancer somewhere else in the body with completely no relation to the breast cancer. If the breast cancer wasn't enough. So, now I have to deal with the other cancer site, which is colorectal, and I have just had an appointment with the radiation and chemo doctors at Royal Brisbane Women's, and I don't mind admitting I'm freaking out. The side effects of the 50/50 cure seem to be so much worse than the actual disease. Yes, I know that the disease, if left to run riot, equals, you know. But, after all these years of funding and funding, why do we not have something better? It's so weird that since my surgery, I have had posts popping up on my socials left right, and centre. Like the "Cure from Japan with Bee Venom" seriously makes me want to find a hive and fly into one with wanton abandon. A "Breakthrough in South Korea, scientists can turn cancer cells back to normal cells," .. Say WHAT? (frantically looking up flights to S Korea) Then there is Ivermectin, Febendazole, and something blue? I mean, I have never paid attention to these things before, but now, my ears prick to the slightest twitch and rustle, like a kid who hears a lolly bag open within a 10-mile radius. I can't help it, I am confused about everything, am I the only one? When I confronted the chemo doctor about all of my concerns and questions, he said If you don't do this, you will be in palliative care in 3 months .. What, hang on what the heck???? I mean, just like that, he said that without any pause or thought, I was never advised that before, and then said, "Whatever you decide, we start therapy on the 28th July, and proceeded to walk out. This journey is brand new; everything has happened since July, and it is no lie, akin to riding a faulty wooden roller coaster with loose nuts, bolts, and rotting timber, operated by a maniacal, crazy clown, in the middle of a thunderstorm, who looks like he has been dragged through a hedge backwards. Just to clarify, the clown is the cancer. I have questions, a thousand of them, with no end of these questions in sight. Where are the natural alternative therapies, like, singing bowls, or is humming drums? What about the milk from an Aztec goat? Yeah, or the petals from a rare flower that only grows on top of some hidden temple in the Amazonian forest, which, on recent reading, is currently swarming with giant anacondas in a breeding frenzy, ugh! Ok, I made up the goat and flowers. No, there is only radiation and chemo. Sigh! I don't know what to do with this option. I have been told my cycle will be 28 days straight of radiation with chemo. I can look forward to a burning bum hole, diareah, burnt skin, possible issues with legs and bladder, and kidneys, and all sorts of other stuff. However, I was told that everyone is different and responds differently. Well, I have to say I don't feel that comforted at all. I am overwhelmed. If anyone can share with me their experience with radiation and chemo, I would love to hear from you. And if anyone knows where I can get my hands on an AZTEC goat in Brisbane, I would love that too!! Goats are ravenous but cute.Cost of breast reconstruction
Hi, I had a mastectomy 2 years ago and am looking at reconstruction, my breast specialist referred me to a plastic surgeon. His quote has come in where I will be $16000 out of pocket after medicare and private health rebate. I think this is really quite costly. Should I go back to my specialist and ask for a referral to another plastic surgeon or is this the going rate?Radiotherapy and exercise
Hello everyone - After a DCIS diagnosis and lumpectomy with a re-excision I now have clear margins and, although I could have refused radiotherapy, I have opted in as it is still standard treatment. And I wasn’t prepared ‘to roll the dice’ as my surgeon put it. I will have about a three-quarter hour train commute and a 10 minute walk each way from the train station. So all up I reckon it’s going to be three and a half or so hours each day. I have heard that exercise helps combat the fatigue. My question is - yoga? I’ve found a fabulous YouTube yoga by Lisa Moore which is about thirty minutes, gentle stretches etc. Walking I could definitely do in fine weather. I also have a rowing machine at home that I enjoy. Have people kept up resistance training while going through radio? I work four days a week but I can be fairly flexible about hours. Any survival tips welcome!
Tamoxifen taking it 10 years after surgery?
hi wondering if anyone is in similar situation? I had cancer 10 years ago & mastectomy. no chemo or radiation. Tamoxifen was discussed as an option. choice was mine as it was considered borderline. I didn't take tamoxifen due to side effects. Now 10 years on I need iodine mri's as remaining breast tissue is dense. options given are don't worry, 2nd mastectomy or take lower dose of tamoxifen rg 1/2 dose every 2nd day for 3 years. Is it unusual to take tamoxifen after 10 years? is it just a knee jerk reaction more for peace of mind? how bad are side effects on the lower dose? thanks
Is there a window period that chemo should start?
I was recently diagnosed with IDC - had lumpectomy and 2 sentinel nodes removed in first surgery on 17th June, in one section of the margin they found DIS right to the edge so needed 2nd surgery 2 weeks later which was all clear thankfully. Was due to start chemo 2 weeks after that however developed post surgery infection and was in hospital for 4 days, chemo has been delayed another 3 weeks so its been quite a while since my first surgery. I'm concerened about the delay, has this happened to anyone else?
