Due to start chemo in one week
Comments
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Hi Bronwyn, That is amazing that your nodes were clear with a lump of that size, that is fantastic. Not knowing is definately the hardest thingm but hearing of people's negative experiences is also hard. Although hearing from all of your and your positivity is leaning me towards the treatment, as I do believe i really have no choice.
I am very keen on hearing your thoughts on nutirition and chemo, as the doc says to change my eating habbits now will be useless, but if yu have suggestions on a healthy eating plan that can help me through chemo, I would be very grateful.
Thank you for your support.
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Wow, very inspiring this 80 year old. 7 rounds of chemo and i am freaking out about 1!!!
I dont have a physio at the moment, but my arm movement is great and I am only 3 weeks post surgery, so I will keep an eye on it and see how it pans out.
Thank you so much for all your advice, this is probably the most positive I have felt since being diagnosed. You have all helped me beyond words can explain.
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I'm so so glad you feel better about it all. Good luck for next week! I'll keep you posted as to how I go. I've got 12 weeks of FEC (feck!!!!) which is for doses every 3 weeks. Then 12 weeks of one the one that starts with a P that will e delivered weekly. Then supposed to have radiotherapy post.
I got a little hysterical about the drains post surgery, I think I channelled all my stress into freaking out about them. They were uncomfortable and awkward but manageable. The portacath bloody hurt for 3 days but it has settled.
Take care!!
Liz0 -
Good Luck tomorrow, and I am eager to hear how you go as i start FEC next wednesday for only 3 rounds, then three rounds of something esle but thats not weekly.
I agree with you, that drain was a nightmare....
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Hi,
It's all really good advice above. I am 39 and pregnant and have had 3 rounds of chemo. I had never been sick, always active and healthy and admit I am a sook when it comes to needles and pain. BUT something takes over, you know you have to do it to get better, it's a mental decision you need to make. The morning of my first cycle I told myself I was looking forward to it because it was one step closer to getting rid of this thing. I found my friends scared me more than anyone, not their intention ofcourse because nobody knows quite how or what to say to you and sometimes it comes out really really wrong! I heard all the negative stories and how dibilitating chemo can be blah blah blah. But I went in with a " right come on let's get on with this" attitude and I have kept working full time apart from the odd early day. I have even thrown away the anti nausea drugs they give me every time I have the treatment. My experience may very well not be yours of course but it's true that it won't be as bad as you are expecting. Hair loss is the worst part of the whole treatment in my experience and even then, it doesn't take long to accept it's just a part of the process you must go through. It's all temporary, I get on with my life as normal as possible. Yes it's on my brain 24/7 but reading, positive affirmations, green juices and juice anything and everything every day give you the energy, lots of fruit, manicures, pedicures, getting lash extensions, going out of your way to help others in need, being in a peaceful environment and surrounding myself around positive people are things that help me personally.
I wish you all the best, my partner and I laugh about my first treatment, he dropped me home while he went to work because I felt fine and the steroids in the drugs gave me the biggest energy boost I have had in a long time. I vacuumed, washed the car, went for a 1 hour walk and cleaned the house from top to bottom! Choose your attitude and tap into that inner strength girl
God bless x0 -
You are an inspiration Kimmie, going through all this while pregnant and yet still so positive!! I may just have to take all these negative thoughts away and start being positive to get through. I wish you all the best with fighting this and especially with you new bundle of joy, I hope it is everything you dreamed of.
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Thanks for your perspective Janina and for everyone else today. I found it very very helpful. It's funny, that while I guess I always knew it could come back, I hadn't thought of it the way that LucVia put it, that chemo doesn't guarantee it won't come back. I've been very lucky that I have trusted all my doctors, while at the same time I have had some encounters with health professionals during this episode and with doctors in the past where I haven't felt confident with them. I second Janina's recommendation to get a second opinion if the reason you've been nervous about chemo is because you haven't had good communication with your doctor.
I guess my oncologist made it very clear there would be side effects but they were absolutely manageable. If she hadn't, I'd probably feel much more stressed. I've also found the Breast Care nurse incredibly helpful.
Janina, I'm originally a NQ girl from Townsville with family and many many childhood holidays in Cairns. I've heard the public Occupational therapist specialising in Cancer care in Cairns is brilliant.
One of my post chemo celebrations will be to head back North for a holiday, there's certainly a fair chunk of my heart there0 -
That was absolutely helpful, thank you for your support and advice.
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Thank you Janina, It really has helped knowing that there are people out there that are going through the exact same thing as me. My Onc has been great, I have a meeting this afternoon with the Chemo Care Nurse who will provide me with more education and answer all my questions so will definately make the decision this afternoon. Although after all the wonderful advice and positive thoughts I have receieved here I am def leaning towards the chemo.
Good luck on Monday you will be in my thoughts from way down in Sydney!!
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I had chemo ed today as we'll. I hope you had a great nurse and that he/she was able to answer all of your quezzies and help you feel better about your decision.
I thought if pass on a couple of things I've learnt while on here incase you haven't had the chance to see yet. There is a post on here about things that have helped others through their journey here - http://www.bcna.org.au/user/9176/blog/28978. It gives some pearls on things that helped others. Baking soda and salt mouth rinses for example come up a lot. As do icy poles for mouth sores. There might be some ideas on there to help you.
For me, the main two things are having copious amounts of antibacterial handwash around the house and antibacterial wipes in the bathrooms. I found some hydralyte icy poles as well which I'm hoping won't taste awful next week because they will do great things for keeping me hydrated in this tropical weather!. Fingers crossed!
All the best lovely, take care
Janina
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I'm relatively new to BCNA as well and have posted my story in a separate blog post, however was also diagnosed in November and had a tumor and sentinel lymph node removed then had a full clearance as they found further cancer in the sentinel. The nodes removed came back clear and I am going to be undergoing 12 weeks of FEC then 8 weekly hits of Taxol and then will be on Tamoxifen for at least 5 years.
I'm fourth generation breast cancer in my family, with the majority being male and have found out I carry the BRCA2 mutation so will be having bilateral mastectomies once I get through Chemo then ovaries removed later down the track.
Soooo... I started FEC on the Friday just passed and have so far been okay. The medications they provide do help, however I too am nervous about the things I read and how I'll cope once the drugs wear off a little. My lads are a bit older than yours but again, I still worry (particularly with a Melbourne heatwave that's about to hit) how we'll get through the ups and downs.
My dad was diagnosed with pancreatic and then breast cancer and given 6 months to live and was considered terminal from the set go, however with the Chemo he undertook we had him in our lives for a further 7 years and he got to see my boys grow up. Everyone has to make their own choice and one that's right for them, however hopefully some of the positive stories on here can help you choose the path for you to take.
Happy to share any experiences I have, given I'm just starting off on the journey too.
x Peta
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I'm relatively new to BCNA as well and have posted my story in a separate blog post, however was also diagnosed in November and had a tumor and sentinel lymph node removed then had a full clearance as they found further cancer in the sentinel. The nodes removed came back clear and I am going to be undergoing 12 weeks of FEC then 8 weekly hits of Taxol and then will be on Tamoxifen for at least 5 years.
I'm fourth generation breast cancer in my family, with the majority being male and have found out I carry the BRCA2 mutation so will be having bilateral mastectomies once I get through Chemo then ovaries removed later down the track.
Soooo... I started FEC on the Friday just passed and have so far been okay. The medications they provide do help, however I too am nervous about the things I read and how I'll cope once the drugs wear off a little. My lads are a bit older than yours but again, I still worry (particularly with a Melbourne heatwave that's about to hit) how we'll get through the ups and downs.
My dad was diagnosed with pancreatic and then breast cancer and given 6 months to live and was considered terminal from the set go, however with the Chemo he undertook we had him in our lives for a further 7 years and he got to see my boys grow up. Everyone has to make their own choice and one that's right for them, however hopefully some of the positive stories on here can help you choose the path for you to take.
Happy to share any experiences I have, given I'm just starting off on the journey too.
x Peta
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Hey Peta and LucVia. Peta, thanks so much for sharing. Just thought i'd say i'm doing really well, although i realise the second week of FEC is usually the worst.
I've only had short naps in the afternoons. Although, i often do have freqent breaks/run out of energy faster than i normally would. I did get up at 6 this morning and worked solidly and super productively on the computer for an hour and a half. I also spent a few hours at the markets today with family including my two very precious nieces (3 years and 3 months). Got
some good cleaning up done and a good 30 min walk.
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Hi Chris
Is it that you are happy to have chemo, but would like to have Full Axillary clearance as well? I think it can be helpful to find out the risk reduction of full axillary clearance on top of chemo. Also do you know if there were just isolated cancer cells in the Sentinel nodes. How many nodes did they take out each side?
I had single mastectomy and Sentinel node biopsy which found isolated cancer cells in 1 out of 3 nodes. So the next week they did a full axillary clearance. I've just finished 24 weeks of chemo, about to start 5 weeks of Radiotherapy.
I got through 22 weeks of chemo and then in the final week my arm blew up with lymphadema. This is a costly condition (in terms of time it takes for visits to physio, my time to do all the self massage at home and putting on garments, cost of garments ($150-500 ever six months for possibly rest of life). If there was good evidence of no significant risk reduction by doing FAC, then I would think the risk of lymphadema (which over 10 years is very high) is worth avoiding.
But you need to do.what you need to do for your own peace of mind. I have to say, initially when my arm flared up, I was very very worried about having to have compression glove and sleeve on y, all day for rest of life. I'm really really hoping this is just a temporary problem due to chemo, which physio.and doctor say it may just be. To be honest I'm glad I had the FAC, but mine was Grade 3 Stage 2b tumor 4.8cm. I'm not sure if Grade 1 has less chance of being in the other nodes.0
